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One World with Zain Asher
Both Countries Agreed to Curb Tariffs While Trade Negotiations Continue; Trump: China has "Totally Violated" our Trade Agreement; Ukraine: 7 Dead and Dozens Injured in Russian Strikes Overnight; State Department: Chinese Student Visas are National Security Issue; Thousands Forced to Flee as Fires Rage in Parts of Canada; Texas 13-Year-Old Faizan Zaki Takes First after Runner-Up Finish Last Year. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 30, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: President Trump's on again, off again tariffs appear to be back on, and everybody's feeling the whiplash.
"One World" starts right now. All this as Trump accuses China of violating its trade agreement with the U.S. We'll look at how the markets are
responding.
Plus, as the U.S. State Department plans to revoke visas for Chinese students, frustration and anxiety is growing. I'll speak with the Executive
Director and CEO of the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors. And thousands of people face evacuation as massive wildfires explode across
parts of Canada. Hello, everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off. You are watching "One World".
President Trump is again taking aim at China in his trade war in a Truth Social Post this morning, the president accuses China, in his words, of
totally violating its agreement with the U.S. In the deal he's talking about, the U.S. and China agreed to lower the tariffs they had hiked on
each other for three months while negotiations continued.
Those talks have apparently stalled. It is the latest twist in a wild week. On Thursday, a federal appeals court reinstated the president's sweeping
tariffs on a temporary basis, and less than a day earlier, a lower court halted most of those tariffs ruling that Trump overstepped his authority
when he used emergency powers to impose them.
The Appeals Court has set a deadline for the plaintiffs to respond by June 5th, and the administration by June 9th. Let's see how U.S. markets are
reacting to all of this tariff chaos a bit muted all down though the DOW, S&P 500 and NASDAQ down by less than one percentage point.
For Donald Trump this is what the tariffs are all about. It's the trade deficit. And as you can see, these numbers from April show U.S. exports
were up more than $6 billion but imports fell a whopping $68 billion after Trump imposed those sweeping tariffs. Let's break down all of these
developments.
Vanessa Yurkevich is in New York. We'll begin with Betsy Klein in Washington. And Betsy, this post on Truth Social by the president really
took everyone by surprise. It was a lengthy post, but essentially, he said that China had violated its agreement with the United States went on to
close it by saying so much for being Mr. Nice Guy.
It did appear that U.S. officials had been expecting China to ease some of its export restrictions on items like rare earths, minerals and also some
further issues that they had negotiated appear to have been stalled. This confirmed by the Treasury Secretary. What does that tell us about where
these negotiations are now?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, President Trump's displeasure with China is very clear, front and center and broadly behind
the scenes, officials are making clear that they believe China is not holding up its commitments that were agreed to during that meeting in
Geneva just a few weeks ago.
Now, after those talks U.S. officials had been expecting China to ease export restrictions on certain rare earth minerals. These impact things
like iPhones, dishwashers, electric vehicles, all the way up to fighter jets. They had not done that. Listen to how U.S. Trade Representative,
Jamieson Greer, who is part of those Geneva talks, is thinking about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMIESON GREER, U.S. TRADE REPRESENTATIVE: The Chinese are slow rolling their compliance, which is completely unacceptable and has to be addressed.
We made a huge effort in Geneva to accommodate the Chinese. And listen, it always ends up being this way, whether it's United States or other Western
countries.
Have always sought to accommodate the Chinese. We've had open markets, et cetera, and time and time again. You know, we see the -- you know, the
Chinese come down and not comply with their agreements. You know, slow roll compliance. You know, not open their economy like they should.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Clearly unhappy there, but the Trump Administration has taken a series of punitive measures against China in recent days, revoking the
visas of Chinese students, as well as limiting critical technology sales. And all of this comes as there is so much uncertainty for the president's
economic and tariff agenda.
President Trump really has spent the first several months of his administration, of his second term, transforming the U.S. and the global
economic system, but now the courts are trying to transform Trump's economic agenda. We saw that three-judges panel at the U.S. Court of
International Trade, including one Judge that Trump appointed during his first term, block the president's global tariffs.
Then an appeals court restored the tariffs temporarily in place for now. Buying the administration some time here a temporary reprieve while the
appeal from this Court of International Trade is hard.
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Now, officials have turned to a familiar playbook, really taking aim at the judicial system. Stephen Miller, the President's Deputy Chief of Staff and
a top aide, called it a judicial coup. Others have called it judicial activism. President Trump, for his part, saying in a post to social media,
quote, the ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong and so political. Hopefully the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible
country threatening decision quickly and decisively.
Under this decision, trillions of dollars would be lost by our country, money that will make America Great Again. It will be the harshest financial
ruling ever levelled on us as a sovereign nation, the President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those who are
doing it economic and financial harm.
But there has been so much uncertainty in the U.S. economy as the result of the president's on again and off again tariffs. And there are two really
major outstanding questions at this point. Number one, what happens to these international trade deals that the U.S. is negotiating?
U.S. officials are trying to tell their counterparts that we need to proceed as planned, but some of their counterparts are saying, hey, let's
take a beat and let this play out in the courts before we make any deals. See what happens here.
Number two, what happens to that big, beautiful bill that has passed the House still has not passed the Senate. It really requires the revenue from
these tariffs to pay for some of those tax breaks that it includes, but the administration says they are prepared at this stage, Bianna to take this
all the way to the Supreme Court. We'll be watching quite closely.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we will be watching Betsy Klein stand by for us. I want to go to Vanessa Yurkevich. And Vanessa, we did see markets turn south,
following that Truth Social post by the president, because out of all trade agreements and negotiations, that Wall Street, that markets that investor
really had been paying close attention to.
It had been with China, and it appeared, as these negotiations were ongoing that things had calmed down between the two sides and ratcheted down in
terms of what the two agreed to, China, lowering its tariffs, the United States doing that as well. Now that's raising a lot of questions about
where these negotiations stand and what happens after these two months?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly. And investors that I've been speaking with for months now, the key trading
negotiations that they've been looking to are with China. And it's interesting, though, if you put markets back up there, yes, they're lower,
but they're a bit muted.
It's not the dramatic drops and increases that we've seen sort of in April and even a little bit after that. I think investors, really, that I've been
speaking to at least, are kind of just waiting and seeing what's going to happen, because they realize that things are changing so quickly.
A Truth Social post can come out from the president one minute. Later in the day, we could hear from the Commerce Secretary or the Treasury
Secretary that negotiations are actually going quite well with maybe China or another country. So, investors have sort of latched onto this phrase.
And I don't know if you've heard it Bianna taco, not the kind of taco you eat, but it stands for Trump always chickens out. And what it's signaling
to Wall Street is that often Trump makes these threats like he is right now on Truth Social and then sort of backpedals and doesn't really follow
through with some of the threats or some of the high tariff rates that he puts in effect.
And ultimately, investors are sort of not really, maybe believing the president at his word, or at least his written word, and are very much
expecting this up and down, the seesaw effect, and that's kind of what you've been seeing in the markets for the last couple days, you know,
ticking slightly higher, slightly lower but not these dramatic swings that we saw in the earlier months of this trade war.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, taco, an acronym that president appeared to have not heard prior to being asked by a CNBC Reporter earlier this week at the White
House, and was not happy when she explained what that stood for, really sharply responding to her there.
But clearly this has been something that the markets have been focusing on and wondering how steadfast he was in terms of holding up his tariff
policies. It does appear from all of his advisers that he is committed one way or the other to implement tariffs.
I do want to ask you about other data that we got this morning. Consumer spending slowed for last month as well. Maybe not that big of a surprise,
given all of this uncertainty and perhaps what this suggests for the future of the economy?
YURKEVICH: Consumers pulled back in spending in the month of April, maybe a little bit more than economists had initially predicted. So, in the month
of April, consumers spent about -- consumer spending increased by 0.2 percent but if you look at that compared to march, that's a dramatic
difference.
But in March, remember, consumers were spending a lot. They were trying to get ahead of higher prices that they expected in the month of April, and
going forward.
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And what people were spending on in the month of March were big ticket items like cars, even car parts and then footwear and apparel. These are
items that they knew were going to be tariffed at high rates. But if you look at April's numbers, what you see is a reversal, that there was
actually a decrease in spending on you see right there, motor vehicles and parts clothing and footwear.
But people are still spending to go have experiences, to go out to eat, to go on vacation. So, it's a sign that while consumers are pulling back in
certain areas, they are certainly still spending. Also in this report personal consumption expenditure, we got inflation data, and what it showed
in the price index is that inflation on an annual basis, is up 2.1 percent just a wisp away from the Federal Reserve's preferred rate of 2 percent.
And just a slight, a slight one month change of 0.1 percent. But the thing is, Bianna, I don't think the Federal Reserve is going to be popping any
champagne bottles, because we're very close to that 2 percent rate. Just because of all of the trade uncertainty that Betsy laid out there.
It's just so unknown what is actually going to stick in terms of tariffs? How long they're going to be in effect? And at what rate they're going to
be in effect? So, the Federal Reserve really walking this absolutely delicate line of trying to figure out, looking in the rear-view mirror, the
economy looks pretty good, but what is ahead is really just so unknown.
Also, investors, we follow this fed watch tool we're in -- where they take a sort of a sampling of what investors think is going to happen in the next
Fed meeting. Investors are saying they think the Fed is going to hold rates steady despite this good economic data, just because of all of this trade
uncertainty Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Oh, to have been a fly on the wall in that Oval Office meeting this week between President Trump and Jay Powell, the Fed Chairman. We'll
talk to our next guest a little bit about that. Vanessa Yurkevich and Betsy Klein, thank you so much.
Let's take a closer look at how the tariffs are affecting the economy. We're joined by Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at B. Riley Financial
Art. I haven't seen you in years, so this is a welcome treat. Thank you so much for joining us. So, this warning from the president, no more Mr. Nice
Guy, I guess, or so much for being Mr. Nice Guy, saying that China has been violating its agreement with the United States.
It had been very much seen as a relief that the two sides had started talking and had constructive meetings earlier this month that, coupled with
the revoking of Chinese students' visas, what does that tell you? What does that tell the markets about any optimism about a detente between these two
sides in the near term?
ART HOGAN, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, B. RILEY FINANCIAL: Yeah, I think that's the great way to frame it up. I think the latter is probably more
important, because that's the largest monkey wrench that was just thrown in to the process, right? So, you know, it being the illegal use of the
Emergency Power Act sort of eliminates the president's power to universally apply tariffs, at least using that code.
Now there's multiple other ways to address this, and certainly appeals was the first step, but the administration to take a step back and try to use
other avenues of imposing tariffs. That's all going to take time, and it's going to take time to even appeal this.
So, at the same time, if you're in the process of negotiating a deal with someone, and they're well aware of the fact that you just hit a bump in
your road, they're probably going to slow walk, as the president said, the process of getting that accomplished.
So, I think that's where we are right now. So, in effect, we've gone from de-escalation on tariffs to where we thought we had a template for trade
looking at the UK deal, to where we just don't know where we stand. So, I think we've elongated the process, and that's probably not a great thing.
And then the market likely will see this as not as negative as the post Liberation Day, when the massive, chaotic, reciprocal tariffs were
announced, but much more of a -- you know we thought we're getting closer to the end of this game, and it seems like we just extended and went into
overtime, and there's multiple more innings to play.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and reading the market's reaction yesterday, they were also a bit muted, perhaps suggesting that they're very much aware that the
president is determined to implement tariffs, and whether they go with the reciprocal tariffs on Liberation Day.
If that doesn't work, they clearly have other avenues that they are going to turn to, and perhaps they will be more restrictive. But we know the
reciprocal -- we know that the sectoral tariffs will still be in place, and that can include everything from the steel and automotive industries to
threaten tariffs against pharmaceuticals.
What are you advising clients and consumers? What do you tell the American public about what the next few months may look like, assuming that they do
go with Plan B?
HOGAN: Yeah, going with Plan B probably gets us back to a place where we thought we were two weeks ago. And likely at the end of the day, we'll see
a 10 percent tariff on all imports except for China.
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And China probably lands somewhere between 25 and 35 percent. So, with that as a backdrop, if that's what we think we're heading towards, and depending
on how long that takes as a consumer, you just know that universal tariff, if you think of everything we import, will have gone from 2.5 percent to
closer to 15 or 16 percent.
If all of that becomes the rules of the road, and so therefore that's going to be a one-time price increase. You have to factor that into -- you know
how much you can spend on things. We saw that in the first quarter of this year, a lot of consumers pulled forward demand, and we saw that in the
April retail sales numbers.
So, we'll likely see a slowdown in retail sales in the second and third quarter just because of the pull forward and the eventual higher prices of
things. I think once this sort of settles through and understanding that wages continue to go up and employment remain pretty high, I think will
come out of this and OK, shape, it's just going to take longer than we thought, you know, just two weeks ago.
And I think that's the frustrating part for both consumers and investors, and I think we have to kind of ride this out, thinking that a lot of things
would have been decided by July, made well, pushing into the fall.
GOLODRYGA: And a reminder that even 10 to 25 percent tariffs are historic records for the U.S. to be implementing, and something that consumers
should be preparing themselves for. And in that vein, it's an unenviable position that Jay Powell finds himself in.
We know there's no love lost, at least between how the president feels about him. Jay Powell has been quite diplomatic in his response when asked
about some of the statements the president has made, but as noted, the two of them met in the Oval Office this week.
We got some data just today suggesting that inflation is cooling, but with so much uncertainty, the odds are that the Fed is not going to move anytime
soon to lower rates. I'd like to play or to at least show you what the response was from the Federal Reserve when asked about this meeting.
And here's what they said, Chair Powell did not discuss his expectations for monetary policy, except to stress that the path of policy will depend
entirely on incoming economic information, and what that means for the outlook. What position does the Fed Chair find himself in right now if
these tariff negotiations are marred in the courts?
HOGAN: Yeah, I think that's exactly. Think about it like this. The president likes these 90-day timeouts to negotiate things, but every time
he puts a 90-day timeout on the potential level of tariffs. He gives Jay Powell 90-days to wait and see how this is going to impact both
unemployment and inflation?
And I think that's exactly the way the Chair Powell and the rest of the FOMC are looking at this. We have time to see this flow through the data
stream and see at the other end of this how much it impacts inflation, if that's a one-time event? And how much it slows economic growth? And do we
see unemployment going up?
At that point in time when the data catches up with what's going on in this trade war? The Fed and Chair Powell can make a decision. They will likely
make a decision, but probably not until the fall. Their first move will likely to be to start to ease. They're probably too restrictive in the here
and now.
But there's way too many -- there's just too much fog in this trade war right now for them to make a decision with the current data we have,
because it's backward looking, and we really haven't felt the impacts of higher prices yet, or the slowdown in economic activity that will likely
see in the second and third quarter.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. And this being mired in the courts, one would imagine it's can go all the way up to the Supreme Court. Hopefully they would see this
in an expedited fashion. But all of that is to be determined, and as we know, so much uncertainty still looming. Art Hogan, thank you so much for
joining us.
HOGAN: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: And we now have a CNN exclusive that just gets more and more bizarre as we dig deeper into it. On Wednesday, U.S. Homeland Security
Secretary Kristi Noem claimed that an undocumented migrant had sent a letter threatening to kill Donald Trump. Some media outlets seized on the
story, and the president's allies said it showed the danger of undocumented migrants.
But sources tell us, as authorities looked into the threat, they discovered that the letter may have been a hoax. CNN's Whitney Wild has the rest of
the story.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: It is not immediately clear who actually put pen to paper here, but sources we spoke to believe
this is what happened. They say that Reyes was the victim of a crime. This was an assault and battery case that was supposed to go to trial, or is
supposed to go to trial later this year.
What sources we spoke to believe happened is that this was an effort to try to benefit the defendant in that case, and the intention here was to try to
get Reyes deported before that case actually went to trial. Investigators figured all of this out through what are pretty standard means.
They went to interview Reyes as they were investigating this threatening letter, and they asked him to produce a handwriting sample, and what they
found was that the handwriting sample Reyes produced did not match the handwriting of the letter that went out to multiple different agencies.
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Further, law enforcement reviewed jail calls involving a person that they believe was involved in some way in pending these letters and sending these
letters out. The Milwaukee Police Department says that it is investigating an identity theft and victim intimidation case related to this incident,
but no one has been charged.
The Department of Homeland Security, in response to our questions about this, when we brought all this information to them, said that the threat is
still under investigation. And through their investigation, they learned that Reyes is an undocumented migrant and he is going to remain in custody,
back to you.
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Whitney Wild for that report. Ahead on "One World" several dead and dozens injured; Russia ramps up its attack on Ukraine
overnight. This as the U.S. threatens to abandon peace efforts. Plus, Hamas says an Israeli backed U.S. ceasefire and hostage release plan does not
meet its core demands, and it has issued a counter proposal. We'll break it all down just ahead.
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GOLODRYGA: Kyiv reports at least seven people were killed and dozens injured in an overnight Russian attack. You're looking at fire crews in
Ukraine fighting an inferno that broke out after Thursday's attack. In the South an official says a drone strike was less than five kilometers from
NATO's eastern border.
Ukraine says in the last 24 hours, Moscow launched 90 drones and two ballistic missiles. The latest attack comes as Turkey's Foreign Minister on
the right there in this picture visits Kyiv for peace talks. This as the U.S. warns that it will consider stepping back from its peace effort if
Russia keeps attacking Ukraine.
Let's get right to Nic Robertson with the latest. And yet another bombardment from Russia, just as it's saying it's about to issue another
memorandum on future peace negotiations, days after the president said that he'll be sure if President Putin is serious about peace talks in the next
two weeks. Where do things stand Nic?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Ukraine is saying is that Russia should really hand over that memorandum right now. That was
their understanding, the Russian memorandum that lays out their view of what peace talks could look like.
The Ukrainians say that the understanding was that both the U.S. and Ukraine will get this document from Russia, and they say the fact that
Russia, and we've just heard from the Russian Foreign Ministry in the past few hours saying that they won't be handing over this document before their
team arrives in Istanbul for those talks on the 2nd of June, Monday next that this document will be coming with them.
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So, you know, Ukraine's position is that they think that Russia is playing for time. They think that they are not really wanting to push with speed as
President Trump wants, as they want, as Ukraine's European allies want, towards a ceasefire and a lasting peace deal.
The Russian Foreign Ministry says their team is committed. They're sending this team. It's the second round of talks. The memorandum will come with
them. But what Russia has done, as you say, overnight, these strikes, 90 drones, two more big missiles fired into Ukraine.
Does fly in the face of what President Trump's Representative at the UN Security Council was talking about last night, that Russia should stop
attacking Ukrainians if it is committed to peace. And if it doesn't stop attacking Ukrainians, then the United States would consider its position
and pull back.
The representative also said that -- you know if Ukraine and Russia can work together to get a peace, the United States is ready to help them.
Ready to work with the UN ready to work with European partners as well over it.
And I think it's worth noting here that what President Zelenskyy says, particularly on reflecting on the those comments we've heard from the U.S.
Representative at the United Nations Security Council, is that Ukraine wants the United States to remain diplomatically engaged in this process.
But it really seems as if the scene is set for these talks on Monday, Ukraine yet to say whether or not that they will go the both sides at odds
already. Ukraine's handed its memorandum to Russia and the -- and the very real sense from Ukrainian side and its European supporters that Russia is
playing for time.
And an increasing sense there from the White House that Russia is not committed to a peace process. But where will it all stand at the end of
Monday, I don't think anyone is expecting it to have advanced very far.
GOLODRYGA: Not committed to a peace process. And even going even further, reports indicate they are prepared to launch a new offensive imminently
against Ukraine as well. Nic Robertson, thank you. Good to see you. Up next on "One World", a student visa battle, we'll talk to an expert on global
education about how this fight is impacting students.
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GOLODRYGA: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Here are some headlines we're watching today. President Trump is slamming
China, accusing it of violating its agreement on trade while negotiations are held. The White House says China is slow rolling its compliance. This
comes as an appeals court paused a lower court decision blocking most of Trump's sweeping tariffs.
The suspect accused of ramming his car into a crowd of people and injuring 79 of them in Liverpool, England, has appeared in court. Paul Doyle faces
multiple charges, including dangerous driving and causing grievous bodily harm. Monday's incident shocked residents. It happened as Liverpool
football fans celebrated the club's Premier League Title.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has notified Congress about sweeping changes planned for the State Department, including massive restructuring
and staff layoffs at its Washington Headquarters. He says the overhaul would shift the focus closer to Trump Administration priorities like
controlling the border and would cut human rights offices at the diplomatic service.
Chinese students are taking to social media to express frustration after the U.S. threatened to revoke their student visas. Sources say the Trump
Administration is cracking down on the student visas as a way of showing its frustration over trade talks with China. With more on the student visa
issue, we now welcome Fanta Aw she is the Executive Director and CEO of the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers.
Fanta, thank you for joining us and taking the time. So let me start right there with what sources are telling CNN may be the reason behind the timing
of the administration revoking Chinese student visas, and that in -- that's in connection, perhaps with these trade negotiations which appear to be
stalled.
What do you make of the connection, if there is one here? And how do you counter that to what the administration is saying publicly, at least, that
they pose a national security threat?
FANTA AW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CEO, NATIONAL ASSOSIATION OF FOREIGN STUDENT ADVISERS: Thank you for having me. And I think you know, again, I
would not want to speculate on what the reasons might be or the rationale? But I think for many, timing seems to be certainly an interesting timing to
have this for a myriad of reasons.
And I know that there's been many who believe that trade has something to do with it, and for us, most importantly, it's the timing as it relates to
the peak season for students and scholars who normally would be making their way to the United States.
So that is definitely a timing that we are quite concerned about, and that I know students and scholars, as you've indicated, have taken on to social
media to really express their frustrations about. And it's not only China, as you very well know, there's been a visa pause for new incoming students.
And again, it's happening at the peak season. And if, in fact, let's take them at their word, and that is -- that it's for national security reasons,
national -- if it's for national security reason, it is precisely for national security reasons that you would want to have international
students and scholars here in the United States.
Having them in the United States serves the interest of the United States in a myriad of ways. It builds bridges among our countries allow for
greater cooperation with people who get to know more about the United States, get to appreciate the United States, and can be their informal
ambassadors.
And more importantly, it helps -- it helps with our economic situation, because international students are to contribute tremendously to this
economy in ways that I think many in the public seems to not understand or aware of.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, that speaks to the soft power policy that the U.S. has been implementing for decades, going back to the 70s, specifically as it
relates to Chinese students coming to the United States to learn here, to build bridges, as you said, to build core relationships. And to also once
again elevate the United States global standing, both politically and from an education standpoint.
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Let's just go through these numbers, because last year the 2023/24 academic year, the U.S. hosted an all-time high of 1.1 million international
students. The top countries of origin were India, followed by China with 277,000 then followed by South Korea and Canada.
In the last two months, we have already seen the number of international students declining, or at least in terms of applications for visas,
declining by 11 percent. Can you give us the rationale, in your view, for why it is so important, in addition to what we just talked about, but why
it is so important that now, of all times, to have these students know that they can still come to the United States?
AW: It is vital because international education has been a very invaluable part of U.S. higher education. We have the best and brightest from around
the world who come to the United States to acquire an education to get to know more about the United States. But it's also critical, not just from an
education standpoint, their engine for innovations.
When you talk about AI, when you talk about all of these different areas of major discoveries, whether it's in health and it's in industry and so
forth, international students have very much contributed to that, in addition to international scholars. So, they have been a major engine for
innovation, for creativity and for economic growth in the United States.
And for us to at this point in 2025 potentially lose a good significant number of those students will be a significant loss to the United States,
and not just in the short run, because this is not one where you can just turn on the switch back on, and then students will come.
Students and their families are seeking certainty. They're seeking predictability and they're seeking clarity and transparency. And when we
don't have that, we will lose them to other countries. And we already know that in our -- in our studies, we had for the spring of 43 percent decline
in interest in the United States.
These students will not cease to go and study overseas. It simply means they'll go to other destinations in Europe, in Asia and other parts of the
world, and that is a significant loss for the United States, economically, innovation wise.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, we're already hearing reports of multiple institutions around the world and countries trying to take advantage of this situation
here right now by trying to attract some of these students to come to their -- to their schools. And talking about economics I mean, just last year,
international students and their families contributed some $44 billion to the U.S. economy as well.
Give us a sense of how perhaps a nationwide cap of what we're hearing is perhaps even 15 percent is what the number that's been floated out. What
that might do for our institutions here in the United States and for the vital research that they continue to do and thus far have dominated around
the world?
AW: It poses a significant threat to advancing research in this country, because, as we also know, the majority of international students come at
the graduate level are in the STEM fields. And the STEM fields are critical in the research area, and there's a massive skill gap in the United States
as it relates to that.
So, this will have very serious detrimental impact on research. But it also will have significant impact in terms of communities, because international
students also contribute to the communities in which they are. So, whether it's small businesses, whether it's rentals, everything you can think about
that is part of the ecosystems of communities' international students contribute to.
In addition to the 44 billion that you mentioned, it translated into over 330,000 jobs. 330,000 jobs in local economies in this country.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, it is unbelievable how within just a matter of a few months, we've gone from having a dilemma where there was a lot of concern
from a bipartisan level, that students come here and then take their education and what they learned back to their home countries.
The incentive they want is for them to stay here and continue contributing to the economy. And now, just fast forward, a few months later, there's a
push to make sure they don't even come here at all. We'll continue to follow this story. Fanta Aw thank you so much for being with us.
AW: Thank you. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Hamas has issued a counter proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza in response to the latest U.S. plan supported by Israel. An Israeli
official in the White House confirmed that Israel is backing the new plan for a 60-day truce, but Hamas says the latest framework does not meet its
core demands.
[11:40:00]
The group wants assurances that the fighting will not resume after the 60- day truce. It also wants all humanitarian assistance carried out through UN channels. And it's demanding that the IDF pull back on positions they held
on March 2nd before Israel relaunched its military operations.
Alex Marquardt joins me now live from Washington. And Alex, where do things stand today? Because it was just a few days ago that we heard from Steve
Witkoff at the White House there expressing quite a bit of optimism about this proposal that he said perhaps was just days away on the precipice of
having an agreement on that could lead to a further long-term ceasefire. Where do things stand now?
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, I think if there's one thing that both the Trump and the Biden Administrations have
in common throughout the ceasefire negotiations is a persistent belief that things are close that the next ceasefire deal is going to get across the
finish line.
What I have been hearing from Hamas officials is a real frustration in the way that things have evolved over the course of the past few days. They
believe that the document that has been put forward by Steve Witkoff is essentially as one senior Hamas official told me an Israeli document that
they had, they thought an understanding with Steve Witkoff last week.
And then we saw the Prime Minister, Netanyahu's top aide Ron Dermer, come to Washington this week, and it's in those meetings, Hamas believes that
everything changed. Now Hamas and Israel are on the same page in terms of agreeing what could happen in this next ceasefire, in that it would be a
60-day pause in the fighting.
And we would see some 10 Israeli hostages who are still alive and 18 who were deceased come out of Gaza. But the major gap that remains Bianna is
something that we've been talking about for months and months, and it is this question over whether the next phase of the ceasefire should mean a
permanent end to the war.
Hamas has repeatedly said that they will give back all of the hostages if Israel will agree to end the war. Israel, saying we want the hostages back.
We will agree to a temporary ceasefire, but we will not agree to end the war fully, because Israel believes they still need to eradicate Hamas.
Just last week, Prime Minister Netanyahu giving a rare press conference in which he said, yes, he is ready for a ceasefire, but it would only be
temporary. So, we have seen the Israelis accept this latest Witkoff proposal for 60-days the return of 10 living hostages and 18 deceased. We
have seen counterpoints from Hamas.
It has not been an approval or a rejection yet from Hamas. They say they're still studying it. But what Hamas wants is that commitment that after the
60-days, there will not be a return to the fighting, and that is something that Israel, so far has not yet agreed to.
Hamas, as you noted, they want the humanitarian assistance to go through the UN channels. Currently, it is this foundation, called the Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation, that is running the humanitarian aid, which we heard one UN official say today is just a trickle of the humanitarian aid
that is needed.
And then Hamas is also insisting that during this 60-day ceasefire, if it comes to pause, that the IDF withdraw from the positions that they are
currently in, that they go back to their positions in early March, where they were before Israel relaunched this war. So, this proposal Bianna is
not yet dead, but there is a significant gulf consistently over this question over of whether a ceasefire could lead to a permanent truce or
not, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: And time, as we know, is of the essence here, to say the least. Alex Marquardt, thank you. And we'll have much more on this in the next
hour of "One World" with CNN Political and Global Affairs Analyst Barack Ravid. Still to come for us here, mass evacuations as dangerous wildfires
burn across Western and Central Canada and the hazardous smoke blowing into the U.S. that report just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
GOLODRYGA: States of emergency have been declared in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada. Massive wildfires are burning out of control, forcing
about 17,000 people from their homes in Manitoba alone. Officials say it is the largest evacuation the region has seen in recent memory.
The federal government is sending the military in to help. Thousands have also been evacuated in near neighboring Saskatchewan. Joining us now from
Atlanta is CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. These images are just horrifying. Allison, is there any relief in terms of rain coming soon?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. Right. So, yeah, the main concern really is going to be this cold front that's going to be sliding
through the area, because it's going to not only bring some windy conditions, which is the last thing you really want to see in a lot of
these so it's going to take a lot of those flames that you see behind me and really kind of fan them out elsewhere.
But it's also going to do the same thing for the smoke. And not just in Canada, but we're also going to start seeing some concerns and impacts from
the smoke even into the United States. So, here's a look at where all those fires are located? Again, you've got a tremendous amount of them. A lot of
them kind of really hyper focused across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, but they are in other provinces as well.
We are looking at a threat level of five again, as you mentioned, the highest level possible in Canada. And over 20,000 square miles have burned.
That's roughly the size of Lithuania. Just to give you some scope on the size of the fires, but we also talked about the smoke. So, here's a look at
the satellite.
Now, you see this darker color over here, like as grey color. This is the smoke, the brighter white color that you see over off to the right-hand
side, that's actual clouds. But you can see a lot of that smoke really starting to infiltrate down into portions of the U.S., and there's likely
even some smoke underneath those clouds as well.
So, states like Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, likely seeing some hazy skies. And here's a live look right now at Minneapolis. What should be the
city back there in the background? Again, it looks hard to see. You have to kind of squint, and it's because of all of the hazy skies that are taking
place in Minneapolis.
And again, they're not the only ones especially the farther north you go into Minnesota, it starts to get really thick up around International
Falls. This orange, red color that you see here, that's where the smoke is really very dense, and it's going to continue to slide south and eastward
over the next 24 hours, as that cold front begins to push southward as well.
So, it's going to spread all of that smoke farther south, even as far south as the State of Missouri. Now here's the thing, as we transition into
Saturday, we still see the smoke, but it starts to transition into a different area. You see it starts to begin to shift a little bit farther to
the west.
So, the Dakota has become more of the target point for a lot of the smoke on Saturday compared to today. But it still sticks around, and it's still
very thick, and so that's why you have a lot of these states that are under these air quality alerts. You can see Michigan, Wisconsin and even
Minnesota all looking at the air quality alerts, not just for today, but some of them may even linger into the day on Saturday as well.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be following it all. Allison Chinchar, thank you. Well, turning to some good news, at least for Knicks fans, the Knicks desperately
needed to take game five against the Pacers in the NBA's Eastern Conference Finals. So how did they do? I think I gave it away with those Knicks fans
being happy. Our Andy Scholes is going to break it down for us up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
GOLODRYGA: The Knicks did not get ousted by the Pacers who were threatening to do so, being up three games to one. But in game five of the Eastern
Conference Finals, New York got its much-needed victory with an incredible 17-point win over Indiana. But for more on the NBA Playoffs, let's bring in
our MVP, CNN Sports Andy Scholes.
What an incredible night? Bronson -- I mean, the whole team really just giving it all their all and delivering to that home crowd that was there to
take it all in.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Yeah, that New York crowd needed a performance like that to get some more confidence in this team, because,
you know the Knicks they're 0 and 15 all time when they're down 3-1 in this series. But you know, the fans really hoping this is finally going to be
the time they break through and pull off that epic comeback.
But all the stars, they were out again for this one at Madison Square Garden yet. Vince Dillard, Timothy, Chalamet, of course, Spike Lee all
courtside for game five, and they got to watch another fabulous game from Jalen Brunson, the Knicks Star, setting the tone from the start.
In this one, he would score a game high, 32 points. Tyrese Haliburton, on the other hand, after amazing game four, just eight points on seven shots,
the Knicks, they never trailed all night, winning 111-94 to force a game six Saturday in Indy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS, NEW YORK KNICKS CENTER: We have no more room for error. You know, it's -- it's our backs against the wall. And, you know, it's
every game is do or die.
JALEN BRUNSON, NEW YORK KNICKS GUARD: Yeah, I mean our backs against the wall. So, I mean, we got to get everything up.
TYRESE HALIBURTON, INDIANA PACERS GUARD: As a group I feel like we approached the day the right way. But I feel like I could have been a lot
better. So, you know, put it on me and, you know, I'll be better in game six.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Are the Oilers, meanwhile, eliminating the stars to set up the 12th rematch in Stanley Cup Finals history with the Panthers Connor McDavid
showing why he's the best player in the world with this incredible move for the goal there. Edmonton would win 63 to take the series in five.
Now afterwards, McDavid touched the Clarence Campbell Bowl Trophy, and it's a huge superstition in hockey to not touch the conference finals trophies,
and while Edmonton fans they were freaking out about this at their watch party.
David said he didn't touch the trophy last year and they lost. So, he's just trying to change things up. But man, the fans there, they were quite
distraught. Look at that guy there in the aisle. He certainly didn't like what he saw from McDavid touching the trophy. That's so good. But finally,
we have a new spelling bee champion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your word is Eclaircissement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eclaircissement. E-C-L-A-I-R-C-I-S-S-E-M-E-N-T.
[11:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: So, Faizan there is confident as they come, spelling, Eclaircissement, a word none of us have ever heard, but he certainly knew
it right away. Bianna he is a 13-year-old from Allen, Texas, avenging his loss from last year, when he finished as the runner up. But
Eclaircissement, at least we all know that word now.
GOLODRYGA: Eclaircissement I love that. He's a fellow Texan, and I got to say, my favorite part of that was when he was finishing the spelling, the
word the last few letters, and he realized that he got it right. And just the excitement and enthusiasm in his voice really the true MVP of the
segment, I have to say.
SCHOLES: Yeah, you could tell right when they said that word. He knew it. He started breathing heavily Bianna he got excited. Certainly, cool to see
him.
GOLODRYGA: All right, what do you think? What do you think happens in Indiana?
SCHOLES: You know, I would be awesome if the Knicks could go in there and win game six and force the game seven. Game seven in Madison Square Garden,
Easter Conference Finals. That place would be amazing. Fingers crossed that happens. And, you know, the Knicks can do it. I'm really hoping they do.
GOLODRYGA: And then you got to take on Oklahoma City, I don't know who wants to take on --
(CROSSTALK)
SCHOLES: That would be --
GOLODRYGA: They're unstoppable. All right. Andy Scholes, thank you. Have a great weekend. And finally, this hour, a suburban neighborhood in Cape
Town, South Africa, got an unexpected visitor this week. An elephant seal, the massive one-ton seal, made his way into town, more than half a mile
away from the coast, nicknamed Gordy by the locals.
He took his time to see the sights, posing for photos on top of out of all cars, a police cruiser, as well as stopping traffic. After nine hours of
corralling the portly and rather charming creature, Gordy was safely returned to the sea. All is well. Gordy is back home, and our Producer
Catherine, is happy we got this segment in. All right, stay with CNN. I'll have more "One World" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
