Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Iran Has Submitted Revised Proposal To End War; Sources: Houthis Seized U.S. Equipment As USAID Disbanded; Iranian Strikes Damage 16 U.S. Military Sites In Middle East; Cost Of Jet Fuel Soars, Sending Ticket Prices Sky-High; Kenyan marathon Record-Breaker Welcomed By Ruto; Strategy To Living A Longer, Healthier Life; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired May 01, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:38]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. The weekend is almost upon us. Could another round of peace talks possibly be around the corner?
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "One World" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I mean, Iran is dying to make a deal. I can only tell you that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Iran has sent its latest peace proposal to Pakistani mediators. It isn't clear what's in it or if Trump will accept it. We'll have the
latest from the White House.
ASHER: Plus, unprecedented destruction. CNN investigation shows that most American positions in the Middle East have been damaged by Iranian forces.
Response from the Pentagon is coming up.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to beat him. That's my job.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want what's best for him, but I want to beat him, for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: True family affair. Meet the father and son set to go head to head in this year's Kentucky Derby.
ASHER: And later, could living to 100 become the norm? We'll talk to the father of biohacking.
All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching the second hour of "One World."
A new sign of progress, Iran has submitted a fresh peace proposal to Pakistani mediators. And now, the key question is, what's in this deal? And
whether President Trump will accept it.
ASHER: Yes. It's not clear the answer to that what is in the peace proposal. We do know that in earlier version, this week, that Trump
signaled that he would not accept a proposal that wanted to settle Iran's nuclear issue at a later stage.
Let's discuss all of this with Kevin Liptak, joining us live now from the White House.
So just in terms of the two questions that Bianna brought up, what is in this deal? And is President Trump going to accept it, Kevin?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Both very good questions and both ones that I don't quite have answers for at the moment. Although, we
will hear from President Trump potentially. He's about to leave here to go to Florida.
I think ahead of this new proposal, there were some very specific things when you talk to administration officials that they were looking for.
One was Iran agreeing to actually talk about its nuclear program because that original proposal that they got last week, they tried to separate that
out from the question of the Strait of Hormuz. That's something that the president rejected.
He wants to talk about those nuclear issues right now. They're also looking for some concessions, whether it is the stockpile of highly enriched
uranium. President Trump making pretty explicit that he wants the U.S. to take possession of that.
And then this question of whether they would agree to a pause on enriching uranium further. The original proposal that the U.S. put on the table was
20 years, Iran had said five years. The question is whether there's something in the middle that they come to some kind of agreement upon.
I think my question is if this proposal does not meet the president's demands, then what happens next? You know, we know that last night the
president received a briefing from military officials and commanders about updated options for potentially restarting the bombing campaign inside
Iran.
That's something that the president has appeared somewhat reluctant to do just given the war's unpopularity, questions about what it would inspire in
terms of retaliation on the part of the Iranians.
And so, you know, even as we see the diplomatic gears turning, it is evident that the president has left on the table this idea of restarting
the war. And if this proposal does not meet all of his demands and does not meet all of his red lines, I think the question is, does he sort of start
this all over again and what that would mean for him politically?
So, potentially, we'll hear from him a little bit of how he's viewing this proposal as he leaves this White House momentarily.
GOLODRYGA: And, Kevin, it's as if the president had been watching our show in the last hour. We brought up the subject of tariffs. And sure enough, in
the last few minutes, the president has taken to Truth Social, saying that he'll be placing a 25 percent tariff on autos from the E.U. effective next
week. He's accusing the bloc of not complying with the trade deal.
What more do we know about what brought this on now?
LIPTAK: Yes. And he's not saying specifically what the breaches in the trade deal were between the U.S. and the European Union.
[12:05:02]
Of course, it is against the backdrop of the president's general frustration at European countries, in particular Germany, where a lot of
European autos are manufactured for not participating more robustly in the war in Iran. He has been on kind of a tear against the Chancellor Friedrich
Merz over the last week or so.
This would increase to 25 percent, as part of the deal that he negotiated with Ursula von der Leyen last year. The tariffs on European autos were at
15 percent. So this is an increase from that.
We also don't know precisely under what authority the president is applying these tariffs, given that the Supreme Court ruled that it was illegal to
put on tariffs under the emergency authorities that the president was relying upon.
There are a number of other avenues that the president could be taking, but those all require a study and a review, whether it's for national security,
whether it's for trade imbalances at the Commerce Department. And it's not evident that the president has done that to apply this new tariff.
So, a lot of questions about what the president is doing here, but certainly reflective, I think, of his general frustration and anger towards
the Europeans about many, many things, trade included.
ASHER: All right. Kevin Liptak, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: CNN is learning that U.S. funded equipment has ended up in the hands of Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, after the Trump administration
dismantled the U.S. agency of international development.
ASHER: Yes. Former U.S. officials say that more than $120,000 worth of U.S. assets were seized last year, a consequence of how quickly spending cuts
and drastic changes were implemented at USAID.
GOLODRYGA: Jennifer Hansler brought us this reporting and joins us now from Washington.
Quite disturbing, specifically the fact that this got into the hands of the Houthi rebels.
What more do we learn -- what more did you learn in your reporting, Jennifer?
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Zain and Bianna, basically what happened here, according to these former officials,
is because of how quickly that aid to Yemen was just cut off, as well as the dismantlement of USAID.
They were not able to conduct the proper channels and mechanisms to make sure that this supplies and equipment, that included vehicles, did not end
up in these Houthi hands.
So typically, what would happen here is if an organization was no longer receiving U.S. funding, they would work with USAID to come up with a plan
to transfer their goods, their commodities, food, for example, hygiene kits, equipment to another organization that might be able to use it, or
they would destroy this equipment so it did not end up in hostile hands.
This is not what happened here. Because the aid was so suddenly cut off, and most of USAID at this point had already been put on leave, and the
remaining officials were not allowed to talk to the organizations, they were not able to come up with these plans.
And because of how violent this group is, the Houthis, they were able to come in and just seize those commodities.
One of these former officials talked about an example where there was a group that was receiving U.S. funding for warehouses where they were
storing hygiene kits.
When that funding was cut off, they were no longer able to pay for that warehouse, and it is very likely the Houthis just went in and took it.
In this particular instance, there's $122,000 in U.S. assets, which included vehicles, came out in a USAID watchdog report earlier this -- or
last month, rather in April. They said that the -- the USAID officials had attempted to do what was right here, but because of what had happened with
the organization, as well as with the Houthis just going in and taking it. And because these organizations feared for the safety of their staff, they
were not able to prevent this from falling into their hands.
I should be clear, guys, this did not include U.S. weapons or anything of that sort, but this still is things that taxpayers had paid for to try to
help the Yemeni people and it fell into the Houthi hands.
Guys.
GOLODRYGA: Jennifer Hansler reporting for us. Thank you so much.
ASHER: Thank you, Jennifer.
All right. A CNN investigation has revealed that Iranian strikes have damaged at least 16 sites used by the U.S. military in the Middle East. In
other words, the majority of American positions in the region.
GOLODRYGA: Damage has been inflicted on high-value U.S. targets, raising questions about the Pentagon's footprint in the Middle East.
Tamara Qiblawi reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER AND WRITER (VOICE-OVER): Camp Buehring Kuwait. American soldiers enjoying it karaoke night at one of
the biggest U.S. military hubs in the gulf.
That was then, this is now. A once-bustling American microcity in the desert, nearly empty and heavily damaged after a weeks-long barrage of
Iranian missiles and drones.
One of many U.S. military facilities in the oil-rich Arabian Peninsula targeted by Iran even as the U.S. and Israel pummeled the Islamic
Republic's large arsenal.
[12:10:05]
So, what impact have Iran's strikes had on America's footprint in the Middle East? A CNN investigation found evidence of unprecedented
destruction. We can reveal that strikes damaged at least 16 U.S. installations across eight countries.
According to our analysis and sourcing, that's the majority of American military positions in the region, and some of them are virtually unusable
now.
A U.S. source familiar with the situation told us that they'd never seen anything like this at American bases, that these were rapid, targeted
strikes using advanced technology. Iran's main targets? Multi-million dollar aircraft, like this Boeing E-3 Sentry, which gave the U.S. a huge
amount of visibility over the gulf.
It's out of production. And in today's money, it's worth nearly half a billion dollars. Critical communications equipment. Look at these giant
golf balls. They're known as radomes, and they protect satellite dishes vital for data transmission. In this space alone, Iran destroyed all but
one of the ray domes less than a month into the war.
And crucially, radar systems. Highly sophisticated, expensive, difficult to replace, and critical to air defense.
A second U.S. source, this one a congressional aid familiar with damage assessments, described these as the most cost-effective of the targets.
"Our radar systems," they said, "are our most expensive and our most limited resource in the region."
QIBLAWI: For U.S. allies in the region, there's a dilemma. In some ways, Iran's show of force makes the U.S. presence in the region even more
necessary to gulf security.
But there's a new reality here, which is that U.S. military installations, previously seen as formidable fortresses, have turned into sitting targets.
As a Saudi source told me, the war has shown Saudi Arabia, that's the U.S.'s longest-standing Arab ally, that the alliance with the U.S. cannot
be exclusive, and it is not, in their words, impregnable.
QIBLAWI (voice-over): To get a sense of just how vulnerable U.S. facilities have become, have a look at this. It's the War Room at Qatar's Al Udeid Air
Base, the theater command and control hub for U.S. air power across 21 nations.
Struck not just once, but twice. And according to a U.S. source, causing significant damage. The base had been largely evacuated at this point, and
no casualties were reported.
Iran's visibility over its targets has never been clearer. In 2024, according to "The Financial Times," Tehran secretly acquired a Chinese
satellite, known as the TEE-01B, a massive upgrade from its own satellites.
That means that Tehran went from looking at images of this quality, to this. This is the first time America has fought an adversary with
satellites that capture high-res imagery, almost as detailed as its own.
As the scale of the damage comes into focus, many will wonder whether America's presence, once a protective shield in the Middle East, has turned
into its Achilles heel.
Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Responding to CNN's findings, the Pentagon officials said that the Defense Department does not discuss damage assessments, but that U.S.
forces remain fully operational with the same readiness and combat effectiveness.
GOLODRYGA: CNN also understands from its sources that the vast majority of U.S. troops evacuated their positions in the Middle East, with many working
from the relative safety of hotels and departments in the Arabian Peninsula.
ASHER: All right. You may have felt the sticker shock if you try to book an airline ticket for travel. The summer jet fuel prices have roughly doubled
since the start of the war with Iran.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Airlines are even urging governments for a plan for rationing, as CNN senior producer Bijan Hosseini reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Two months ago, a single dollar could get you this much jet fuel.
Fast forward to today, and that same dollar would get you about this much jet fuel.
Since February, the price has nearly doubled in the United States, going from $2.50 a gallon before the war in the Middle East started to more than
$4 a gallon.
Fuel accounts for roughly a quarter to a third of all airline operating expenses, and we're already seeing major carriers start to respond.
United trimmed its plan schedule by five percent over the next six months. And Qantas is pulling five percent of its domestic routes.
Over in Europe, the spike is really being felt. The International Energy Agency has warned that some European countries may have as little as six
weeks of jet fuel remaining.
As a result, Lufthansa is cutting 20,000 short-haul flights this summer. Virgin Atlantic has raised some ticket prices by nearly $500 and added fuel
surcharges to economy seats.
And when it comes to budget airlines, the threat is even more costly. Low- cost carriers are built on razor thin margins and cheap fares.
[12:15:04]
Spirit Airlines already in bankruptcy warned in March that the jump in fuel costs could upend its recovery deal with lenders and push it into
liquidation.
So, what does this mean if you're trying to book a flight? Well, in the short-term, prices are already rising.
And even if jet fuel prices do eventually come down, don't expect ticket prices to follow. United CEO came out and said the longer passengers are
willing to pay higher fares, the more likely the airlines are to keep them that way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Bijan Hosseini for that report.
FIFA is saying that Iran will compete at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and play matches in the United States. That is despite the war, which has cast doubt
over the Iranian team's participation.
ASHER: You know, the announcement came at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver, British Columbia on Thursday.
U.S. President Donald Trump spoke out shortly after that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little while ago, the president of FIFA said that when the World Cup is here in the U.S., the team from Iran will be playing in
the games.
TRUMP: Well, if Gianni said it, I'm OK. Are you OK? Did Gianni say it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did? What if --
TRUMP: Gianni Infantino, that's a piece of work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if they win?
TRUMP: Well, they -- we wouldn't have to worry about that. That's nothing. I'm going to have to worry about that one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Iran is scheduled to play two group stage matches in Inglewood, California and one in Seattle, with its opener against New Zealand set for
June 15th in L.A.
GOLODRYGA: Coming up for us, the Kenyan marathon runner who was -- who smashed what was once an unthinkable barrier, receives a hero's welcome in
his country. More Sabastian Sawe's incredible athletic feat, just ahead.
ASHER: And also ahead, millions will tune in this weekend to watch the horses run in the iconic Kentucky Derby. But the fashion is a show everyone
can participate in.
GOLODRYGA: The hats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I probably should have pinned it, but honestly, once you start drinking, it's kind of a sobriety test, whether or not your
hat's going to stay on or not. And it's doing good so far. Check in with me in about an hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: The Kenyan man who broke the once elusive two-hour marathon barrier is back in his home country after receiving a hero's welcome.
ASHER: Yes. Sabastian Sawe was greeted at the State House in Nairobi on Thursday by President William Ruto, who awarded him nearly $62,000.
Sawe won the London Marathon on Sunday in grand style when he became the first person in history to officially clock a marathon in under two hours.
Ruto hailed the victory as a landmark moment in human endurance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[12:20:15]
WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Sabastian, you have not only broken a record, you have expanded the horizon of human potential.
You have done what many believed could not be done. You have made the impossible possible. And in so doing, you have inspired a nation, you have
inspired a whole generation, and you have inspired the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Incredible.
CNN's Larry Madowo joins us live now from Nairobi.
I mean, it's well known that the Kenyans and the Ethiopians, obviously, do dominate long distance running globally, but this is a spectacular feat.
I have so much admiration for anyone who can run a marathon. I'm sitting next to a marathon queen, Bianna. How many marathons have you run? Six.
GOLODRYGA: Ten.
ASHER: Ten.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wow. Wow.
ASHER: Incredible.
GOLODRYGA: Sebastian's record, he's basically almost two hours in the last -- I mean, it's crazy.
ASHER: But just to last that long is -- is -- is an enormous feat. Larry, take it away.
MADOWO: Yes. And Sabastian Sawe has been preparing for this his entire life, running that in under two hours.
And when he was -- when he was done, by the way, he looked like he could keep going. That's how incredible this achievement is. And he just won
Berlin last September. So he's started running marathons, started in Valencia in December 2024. And he's basically been undefeated in every
single marathon he's run in that time.
This is what he -- he talked about during this grand honor that the Kenyan president threw for him a welcome estate house, a full national
celebration, $62,000 in bonuses on top of his earnings from the race and sponsor fees, et cetera.
This is what Sabastian Sawe said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SABASTIAN SAWE, LONDON MARATHON WINNER (through translator): The work I did in London was on behalf of all of us to build our country's name to
continue shining. It is joyous for all of us. I want to say thank you. And we will continue working hard on our talents to build the country's name to
remain at the top.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: Here's the extraordinary thing. Sabastian Sawe thinks he might run 158 in the next marathon, because after he completed marathon -- the
marathon in London in this record time, it was said that two hours could not be done. That just the human body has not advanced that much. And yet,
he did.
Kenyans have been frustrated by some of the international conversation around the super shoe, the Adidas 97 gram shoe that he wore. And Yomif
Kejelcha from Ethiopia who came in second, also ran under two hours war.
Yes, the super shoe is great, but these guys are beasts. I am a Kenyan. I have these expensive shoes. I have trained with these guys, and I did
poorly.
As Bianna will tell you, who has run many marathons, running at this pace, 26 miles per hour, sprinting for two hours is incredible. And most people
cannot do that.
Sabastian Sawe could have won this marathon if he was barefoot. So puts a little bit of his name. The shoe is great, but most of it is just
superhuman strength.
Bianna, don't you agree?
GOLODRYGA: Yes. I think Adidas will edit out that last line of what you said that he could have run this race barefoot, but I absolutely agree with
you.
And the fact that he crosses the finish line and acts as if he just ran across the street as opposed to 26.2 miles. We'll see if he can beat his
own record. The Australian, the Sydney marathon is up next. That's the next major. So we'll see it.
ASHER: Listen, I walked 26 blocks in New York and I'm exhausted. I can't even imagine it.
Larry --
GOLODRYGA: He's incredible.
ASHER: You're funny, Larry, by the way. Really funny. See you soon.
MADOWO: I try. Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Festivities for the Kentucky Derby are officially underway, but it's not just about the horse races.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Spectators are already on the ground showing off elaborate hats and fascinators.
We are actually going to go to the White House lawn where President Trump is taking questions before he departs for Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They want to make a deal, but I'm not satisfied.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, why are you not seeking congressional (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: Because it's never been sought before. There's been numerous many, many times and nobody's ever gotten it before they consider it totally
unconstitutional.
But we're always in touch with Congress, but nobody's ever saw it before. Nobody's ever asked for it before. It's never been used before. Why should
we be different?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE). Are you willing to step anybody in Islamabad for influence?
[12:25:02]
TRUMP: We have great respect for Pakistan and Islamabad and tremendous respect for the prime minister and the field marshal. And they're working
with us. They continue to work with us.
But the trip is a very long one. And we're doing everything in terms of negotiating right now in terms of the negotiation telephonically. They've
made strides, but I'm not sure if they ever get there.
There's tremendous discord. There's tremendous -- they're having a tremendous problem getting along with each other in Iran. The leadership is
very disjointed. It's got two to three groups, maybe four, and it's a very disjointed leadership. And with that being said, they all want to make a
deal, but they're all messed up.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I spoke with your -- the winner, a very good man. As you know, I was very strongly in favor of him in Iraq. And we had a long conversation
yesterday. I congratulated him. He won. And with our help he won. And -- and we want him to do very well. And I told him that the United States is
with him all the way. It was a great victory.
The -- the new head of Iraq is somebody that we support very strongly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pakistan -- Pakistan -- thank you, Mr. President. Pakistan has opened the land (INAUDIBLE) with Iran. Do you think
(INAUDIBLE) opening it up to Iran? And are you aware of it?
TRUMP: That was a vicious V. I -- I know everything about it. Yes. I have great -- I have great respect.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Are you from Pakistan? I have great respect for Pakistan and for the field marshal and for the prime minister. And, yes, I know them.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the European Union yesterday, you talked about Italy and the withdrawing of troops from Europe, from Italy and Spain. Can you
clarify your words?
TRUMP: Well, I'm not happy with Italy and I'm not happy with Spain and that they've done.
They don't -- they feel it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Anybody that feels it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon is not very smart. And
it'll be a terrible thing in the future.
If -- if they were ever allowed to have a nuclear weapon, you would have problem. The likes of which the world has never seen before. And it's not
going to happen.
And aside from that, right now, they have no navy. They're wiped out. No air force. It's been wiped out. They have no anything. They have no anti-
aircraft. They have no radar. They have no leaders.
Because frankly, their leaders are very disjointed. They have a lot of problems right now. They're not getting with each other.
(CROSSTALK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. There, you've been listening to the president taking some questions before he departs for Florida for the weekend, saying that
he has seen the counter-proposal that was submitted by Iran to Pakistani mediators, says that he is not satisfied with the deal.
Went on to say, he's not even sure if we will get a deal at this point, blaming internal discord inside Iran and saying that their leadership is
disjointed.
We'll continue to follow any statements and developments from the president and the White House.
In the meantime, we'll take a quick break and be right back with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:19]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher.
It's hard to imagine that a little over 100 years ago, life expectancy was around 50 years old in the United States.
Today, thanks to modern medicine, technology and early preventative intervention, life expectancy has grown significantly.
GOLODRYGA: And yet, many of the biggest drivers of death today, factors like high-blood, sugar, obesity, and pressure and chronic disease, are in
many cases still preventable.
What if we could drastically reduce some factors that cause premature aging and disease? Will living over 100 be the norm rather than the exception?
ASHER: Yes.
This is somewhat of a phenomenon. He took control of his health by losing over 100 pounds, which he says helped improve his cognitive performance
significantly.
Joining us live now is Dave Asprey, who is known as one of the creators of the biohacking movement. Dave, so good to see you.
This is a topic that I find endlessly fascinating, this idea of longevity. And one of the things I think is so interesting is that the person who has
been recorded to have lived the longest in modern history is a woman named Jeanne Calment. I think I'm pronouncing her name right.
She lived to over 122. She was a French woman. And by all accounts, she did nothing special. I mean, she smoked cigarettes. She ate chocolate. She
apparently ate sugar.
And then you have people, and I'm sure you've come across many people like this in your field who do everything perfectly, who do intermittent
fasting, who exercise regularly, who never fail to order the kale salad when they go to the restaurant. But yet, who still gets sick.
And so it seems as though, yes, so much of longevity and biohacking is all about control. But so many factors in terms of how we live and whether we
live a long life when we die is beyond our control. Life is inherently fragile.
And so my perspective is, yes, obviously, you do your best in terms of living the most healthy life you can with the understanding and the
humility that it may or may not mean that much.
Give us your take on that, Dave.
DAVE ASPREY, LONGEVITY EXPERT AND CREATOR OF THE BIOHACKING MOVEMENT: If you're trying to extend your life because you're planning to not die, I
hate to tell you something, the Earth's crust will crack into at some point and the universe will collapse. And therefore, we're all going to die.
So the real game is, how can I feel really good now and for as long as I choose until I'm done? And not stress so much along the way.
So a big mistake that some longevity people or biohackers make is trying to do everything perfectly. The deal is more energy today equals more years
later.
So you focus on what's going to give you the quickest results. You have more energy, so it's just not so hard anymore.
GOLODRYGA: Dave, it's great to have you on. You helped spark what is now, I believe, a $63 billion biohacking industry. You've transformed your own
health, built an empire around it and around human optimization, really.
But how do you separate genuine scientific breakthroughs from expensive placebos? Because we know they exist too, were on the market and there --
there is a huge demand for them.
ASPREY: Oh, absolutely. One of the things that you do is you actually talk to the people who do the research itself.
I started in the longevity field in Palo Alto where I ran a longevity nonprofit starting in the '90s.
And I interviewed the leaders in the field every month and I've interviewed 1,400 of them now. So you can go out and say, what does the guy at Harvard
think? What does the guy at Berkeley think?
[12:35:01]
And they're right there on any of the online social networks, whatever you follow, they're sharing the info.
And then you get these influencers who come out and haven't really done the deep work and they're using A.I. to just copy the other stuff, dumb it down
a little bit and say it.
So look at the credentials of the people you're listening to and then get a sleep tracker. And if something's working, your morning readiness score
will be higher.
So it's not in biohacking about doing what's supposed to work, it's about doing what actually works for your biology today. And if anything in the
last 10 years has come out of this field, it's that there are no two identical humans.
So your goals are different than your friends, your genetics are different than your friends and your brain is different than your friends.
But here's the good news, most decline is environmental, it's not genetic. Studies show about somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of how you age is
environmental. And we can control our environment.
But that's the definition of biohacking, change the environment around you, so you feel the way you want.
ASHER: So if somebody wanted to, I don't know, improve their cognitive performance, right, in the next 30 days, what would you say was one, one
important thing they can do to change everything, within 30 days?
ASPREY: There's one thing that'll make your brain work better than anything else and reduce your age and it's completely free. And it is learning how
to get a good night sleep. And it turns out that sleep quality, not the amount of sleep, but the quality of sleep will drive cognitive performance
the next day and the next week and it'll drive blood sugar regulation and all the things that make you old happen if you're bad at sleeping.
GOLODRYGA: That -- that is great advice. And I have to say my husband and I are somewhere in between where Zeke Emanuel is. And I know you are aware of
his work, his book. And he's very critical of those in this movement right now that are arguing that you're over promising what living past 100 will
look like, that there is just always going to be an inevitable aging to our bodies and that no matter what medicine you take, no matter what life
hacking skills you use, our cells will ultimately die.
So there's that argument. And he's saying eat your ice cream and live life to the fullest and socialize as much as you can.
My husband and I -- he has the -- the -- the ring that so many people sleep with.
ASPREY: Oura Ring.
GOLODRYGA: -- now. The Oura ring. We have the Eight Sleep at home which I love on our bed.
But at what point do we not get overstimulated by all of this technology that's available besides -- besides just waking up and saying, hey, I don't
feel great. I didn't get a good night sleep versus let me track all my 15 devices that'll tell me the same thing.
ASPREY: You'll notice I'm not wearing a sleep tracker right now. And there's a reason, I already figured it out.
But when I wasn't good at sleeping and I was getting five minutes of deep sleep a night, I used the data. And so I recommend track what you hack and
you can sort of ignore the rest. And find the things that make you feel the best and track those. So eventually, you learn how to be better at living
in your body when you become a biohacker.
And some people do say, you're just going to die so why bother? But centenarians, people living over 100 are the fastest growing demographic
globally already. So we're already extending life. We've already extended the average lifespan by about six and a half years over the last 30 years.
We've had to change the definition of elderly back in the '90s because people over 55 were considered elderly and they're like, we're not done
working, like, we feel great. So it's happening. It's just hard to see because we only live one life -- one lifetime.
ASPREY: Dave, why do you think that human beings are fundamentally -- I'm not saying you, but a lot of us, are fundamentally afraid of death? And do
you think the biohacking movement reduces that fear? Or is it driven by it?
ASPREY: My most recent book became the best-selling philosophy book, even though it's about altered states and meditation because it answers that
exact question. We fear death because the mitochondria that drive ourselves are motivated by that.
And when people do any kind of personal development, whether it's meditation, prayer, fasting in a cave, it doesn't really matter.
What happens is you become more at peace and you recognize that everyone's born and everyone dies. And that there's nothing you can do about the fact
that it will happen, but that stressing about it isn't worth the time. And that's just an important part of -- of becoming wise.
GOLODRYGA: You said a word there that a lot of medical experts highlight as one of the causes of premature death and that is stress, cortisol right and
the unnecessary stress. There's obviously the -- the -- the necessary part that keeps us alive and keeps us avoiding catastrophic mistakes and death-
like scenarios, but it's also something that can be very harmful. How do we manage stress in this environment?
[12:40:15]
ASPREY: Recognize that the vast majority of stress doesn't come from your thinking. It just feels like it comes from your thinking. It actually comes
from your body.
So if your body is experiencing physical stress because you ate something that was toxic, and yes, there are toxins in food, this ultra-process
stuff, or because you got a bad night sleep or you're hung-over, that'll translate to stress in the body. And then the mind will make up a story
about it being, you know, your mother-in-law's fault or something.
So under the stress is biological, more than psychological. So when you understand that, you start making your body healthier and your stress goes
down.
And then you learn the tools of biohacking, certain types of breathing and other techniques, and yes, some gadgets, but you don't need them, but
sometimes they help.
They can help you dramatically shift so that instead of wasting your precious energy on stress, you can -- you can point it where you want. So
you can be kind to another person. You can take care of your family or you could have been stressed about it.
It feels like it's not in your control, but it is. And a lot of biohacking is finding the tools that work for you to shift out of stress, make your
body make more energy so you're less stressed, and then do something that matters.
ASHER: After this conversation, I am acutely aware that so much of longevity and biohacking requires an insane amount of discipline that I do
not have. I need to work on that. I need to work on my discipline first, if I could live longer.
ASPREY: Like what's -- what's your energy back? It's not that hard. Yes, I'm going to go to bed about the same time. That wasn't expensive.
I'm going to make a better choice at breakfast, but I make it every morning anyway. I'm going to just make small shifts to existing habits. So it's --
I don't find a --
ASHER: You make it sound so easy, Dave.
GOLODRYGA: First step, stop blaming your mother-in-law, I guess.
ASPREY: Yes.
ASHER: Dave, good to see you. Thank you so much for that. I'm motivated.
GOLODRYGA: You made us happier.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: And a little less stressful. That's a good, Dave.
ASHER: Thanks Dave.
ASPREY: Beautiful. Thanks, guys.
GOLODRYGA: All right. That does it for "One World" today. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. "Marketplace Africa" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKETPLACE AFRICA)
END
