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One World with Zain Asher
Time is Running Out for Platner to Quit Maine Senate Race; Judge Blocks DOJ's Bid for Info on Georgia Election Staff; U.S. Launches Strike After Iran Hits Ships in Strait of Hormuz; Trump Threatens Another Round of Strikes on Iran Tonight; Khamenei's Funeral Procession Draws Thousands in Iraq; U.S. Reimposes Sanctions on Iranian Oil After Series of Strikes. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 08, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone, live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". The U.S. President is threatening to attack Iran again, and says
civilian infrastructure could be targeted. Donald Trump has been speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and any moment now, we're expecting him to give a news conference as he wraps up his visit to Ankara. Earlier, he met with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the Syrian leader, he promised to give Ukraine the capability to make its own Patriot missile
defense systems. This was a first.
ASHER: Yeah, but the summit has, of course, been overshadowed by the flare- up in the U.S.-Iran conflict. The U.S. President describing Iran as the bully of the Middle East and its leaders as cuckoo.
GOLODRYGA: On Israel, he said that it would withdraw its troops from Lebanon, adding that Israel would not exist without him as president.
ASHER: CNN's Nic Robertson begins our coverage. Joins us live now from Ankara, Turkey. Nic, just in terms of some of the headlines that we got.
I'm not actually sure if Nic can hear us. Nic, can you hear me? Nic, can you hear me? It's Zain. Can you hear me? There's a slight delay, maybe we
don't have Nic just yet.
But just in terms of one of the things that I was going to ask Nic about, it's really just this idea of not just the headlines that we saw out of
Ukraine, where the President Trump essentially giving the Ukrainians permission to build Patriot missile systems in Ukraine. One of the key
issues with that, though, is the fact that those missile systems take a couple of years to build.
They're about worth about a billion dollars. They take a couple of years to build, and for Zelenskyy, he urgently needs them right now. I mean, that is
really going to be the key for him in terms of turning the war around.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, though it was seemed to even surprise President Zelenskyy to hear this idea from President Trump, which I think he embraced
wholeheartedly. Let's bring in David Sanger, who has been covering all of this and listening in as well. David, so many topics here to cover,
obviously, that bilat with President Zelenskyy, as President Trump introduced was much friendlier than what we've seen between the two --
ASHER: -- seems quiet --
GOLODRYGA: -- White House at all, but we've seen the arc of their relationship here, and President Trump quite friendly and quite optimistic
about Ukraine's future here, but specifically as it relates to giving Kyiv the ability to license those Patriot missiles, those interceptors, that
production.
Walk us through what that would entail. And how long do you think it would take for this to be implemented?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: One thing that's clear, Bianna, is the Ukrainians are extremely good missile builders. And
in fact, when they were still a Soviet state, much of the missile production facilities that the Soviets used were in Ukraine.
So, they know what they're doing, and they've shown with their own missiles and with the drones they've produced that they've got a pretty advanced
defense industrial base that they have built up. So, I think it would take them less time than it would take probably many of our own allies to go do
this, and in some ways, it would be pretty impressive.
What is most notable about this, though, is it's the first time, really, in a year and a half where we have seen the president willing to do a direct
transfer of something from the United States to Ukraine in order to help them win the war, and of course he would do it because it would bring
profit to the U.S. I think that would be his first argument.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, but he also argued that Raytheon, who makes these missiles defense programs and arsenals and systems. He said Raytheon wasn't even
aware at this point.
ASHER: He has no idea.
GOLODRYGA: So, this was literally, if we were to take the president at his word, a spur of the moment decision.
SANGER: Yeah, my guess is the Raytheon executives learned about it the same way we did, probably to their shock and concern.
ASHER: All right, David Sanger, do stand by. Let me go now to Nic Robertson, joining us live now from Ankara, Turkey, on the sidelines of
that NATO summit.
[11:05:00]
So, Nic, just in terms. Some of the headlines that we got, we were just speaking to David Sanger about the fact that President Trump did say to
Zelenskyy, it seemed to be a spontaneous spur of the moment thing that he would allow Ukraine to license Patriot missile systems.
One of the things that Zelenskyy has been very clear about is really how much of a game changer these Patriot systems would be for the war in
Ukraine, just as sort of state-of-the-art defense systems, the interceptors. I was saying to David Sanger, or Bianna, rather, that they do
take a couple of years, and this is where I want some clarity from you.
They do take a couple of years. My understanding is it's about 24 months or 30 months to actually build. They cost about a billion dollars, and when
you think about the urgency on the battlefield for Zelenskyy. And by the way, when -- just in terms of them being targets in and of themselves, I
mean, if you have Ukraine building these systems, Russia, of course, will target the systems as well.
Just talk to us about how tricky it will be for Ukraine to sort of build these quickly in time in order to make a difference on the battlefield as
soon as possible.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Difficult, but Ukraine has always played the long game here. They have decided to, you know, to
build these long-range drones because they perceived that was going to change things on the battlefield.
I mean, let's face it, this isn't the first time Ukraine has cried out for military support. It was, you know, artillery shells at the beginning, and
then it was modern battle tanks, and NATO, and United States, part of NATO, you know, they just sort of said -- I can't get there, can't do it.
The nature of that conversation has changed over the years, but President Zelenskyy has been pressing and asking for these Patriot missile defense
systems for some time now, for quite a number of, well, probably going back, not specifically on these, but a couple of years, pointing this out,
but the battle space has changed.
And Zelenskyy has been very accurate in his analysis of how it has changed, that it is this war is going to be decided in the air that Ukraine does
have these long-range drones that are now systematically targeting the energy production refinement capability inside of Russia, deep inside of
Russia, in Moscow, in St. Petersburg, and way deeper than that as well, which is putting pressure on President Putin.
But the reverse has been true, that Putin has been improving his ballistic missiles, improving his drone capabilities, jet-powered drones, these sorts
of things. So, the defensive missile systems are the balancing part for Ukraine if they're going to win the battle in the air.
So, can it be done quickly? Not as quickly as Ukraine needs. They have shown a resilience and a willingness to play the long game, fight the long
game, a war of attrition, but a war of attrition that is changing because the technology and the persistence of Ukraine is changing.
So, you know the president joked there, I think, there in the meeting, President Zelenskyy, that this could be done pretty quickly, because the
Ukrainians are smart with this. Look, they will probably be quicker than most countries, because of what David said, their historic experience,
their engineering skills.
Not only that, but the pressures of war, the need they need to do this. This is their survival. There is every motivation for them to go as fast as
possible, just as quickly as the Raytheon executives can get up to speed with what it is they're going to be able to provide, exactly, you know, how
many.
There's a blueprint, right? But there's a lot between a blueprint and a produced defensive missile, you have to have the factory space, you have to
protect it from Russian attack. It has to be secret, presumably. You have to have the machine tools to do it. You have to make the machine tools
today.
You have to have the right size of machine tools. But we saw that with Ukraine, with the battle tanks, they got there. They got these super
sophisticated modern battle tanks that could outmaneuver the Russians' old- fashioned battle tanks, which they're now producing more modern ones, a T- 90.
But Ukraine got these battle tanks that NATO nations are using, where they can sort of go into high-speed reverse. Russian battle tanks couldn't do
that. So, it's there, it's available, it'll come with time, would be my assessment on this right now.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, there's also the IP question, are there any legal concerns here for the President to just unilaterally say, hey, we're going to give
you Raytheon's technology here to build your own Patriot defense systems. And David Sanger, while there are probably a lot of phone calls into the
Pentagon right now.
I do want to ask you about what else the president said, and what has been a consistent MO we've seen from Ukraine right now, and that is those long-
range deep targets into Russia, that the drone strikes that have hit the nation's capital, St. Petersburg, as well.
[11:10:00]
President Zelenskyy joking that one of the reasons he may not want to come for a meeting in Moscow is because it may be too dangerous, given the
incoming drone attacks from Ukraine. The president was asked about these deep strikes, and he said, quote, an escalation can bring an end to the
war.
So, he did acknowledge this as an escalation, but this may be the first time we actually heard him take President Zelenskyy's side on this, and his
analysis that it could bring President Putin to the table. From everything you're hearing and reporting, is that accurate?
SANGER: Well, there's no consistency here on the part of the president. At various moments, he, like Joe Biden, before him, was quite worried that if
there were strikes that went deep into Russia, and particularly that struck Moscow, that if anything, it could bring about a much harsher military
response from the Russians.
And there is still within the U.S. government and in defense circles, certainly at the Pentagon, concerned that Putin's reaction could be the
other one, that he would go the way he went in 2022 and begin to deploy out tactical nuclear weapons to argue that basically to keep this up, Putin
himself could change the nature of this.
And there was obviously a big crisis in October 2022 that occurred during the Biden Administration over the concern that Russia was getting ready to
use nuclear weapons. So, we just don't know, I mean, maybe it could be a deterrent, but my guess is, given the history of Vladimir Putin, he would
not want to show the weakness of backing down because of strikes into Moscow.
ASHER: Nic, let me bring you in. Just in terms of, if you look at this holistically over the past, I guess, year and a half, just the sort of
efforts that Donald Trump has made to try to end this war, from speaking to Vladimir Putin directly, from trying to get Ukraine to give in, in terms of
territory, from trying to get both sides to meet, from really sort of, now we're seeing him sort of push and encourage Ukraine to build these Patriot
missile systems within their country, giving them the licenses to do so.
Who knows if they're even allowed to do that, given that it's owned by Raytheon? But if you look at the various avenues that Donald Trump has
tried to go through to try to get end this war. Is it fair to say that we've reached a point where he is completely out of ideas? What other
avenues are there left to actually try to get a ceasefire on the cards?
ROBERTSON: Well, I think one part of the picture has to be that the Iran war is really hanging over the president, and he early in his presidency,
before he became president, he said this was a war, the one between Russia and Ukraine, that he could fix within a day.
And sort of over the years, the narrative became I thought I could, and then I couldn't, when we think back to those talks that the U.S. was sort
of middle man on in Saudi Arabia, what was that, a year and a half ago, 2.5 years ago now, where both the Ukrainians and the Russians sent
representatives, and you know, positions were hammered out.
But it has become clear to President Trump clearly that President Putin is not going to bend to his will, whatever kind of relationship and good
relationship and phone calls he has with President Putin. And so, against the backdrop I suppose of doing -- being in a bind over Iran over this
particular war.
He does now seem to be shading towards putting the type of pressure potentially through this missile capability, this defensive missile
capability, not the other weapons that he sells to Europe to sell or get sells to Europe to give to Ukraine through the Pearl system and others,
that it is time to sort of wait the scale to put the thumb, his thumb on the scale at a moment where people, in particular, President Zelenskyy is
saying this is where we need your thumb on the scale.
And we don't need you to send all your tanks and all your fighter aircraft and all that, just give us this defensive capability. It does seem over all
this time that President Trump has not wanted to anger President Putin. And as David was saying, we don't know how Putin is going to react to this, and
how he's going to see it, but he's not going to see it as a positive.
I think that's pretty clear. How he treats this, we just don't know what that will be. But it does appear to me, at least, that President Trump,
even if it isn't his intent, is now shading the war as defined by President Zelenskyy, more in President Zelenskyy is favor.
[11:15:00]
Let's face it, if Ukraine doesn't have those ballistic missile defensive systems, it is going to have a very painful, very cold, very frigid winter,
as President Putin decides, as he has done, to go after some of the more sensitive structures that Ukraine has, and Ukraine will be less able to
defend them.
It is a potential crunch point in a war of attrition, and this could be a changing beginning of a changing moment in it.
ASHER: Right, Nic Robertson live for us. David Sanger, live for us. Thank you so much. We will -- we're waiting for the press conference to happen
any moment now. We'll bring that to our audience live as and when it does. President Trump is going to be speaking on the sidelines of the NATO summit
in Ankara, Turkey. We'll be right back after this short break.
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ASHER: All right, we're still waiting. There's the podium. We're still waiting to hear from President Trump before he leaves the NATO summit in
Ankara, Turkey. Lots to talk about, especially given what we've seen this morning, but we will bring those remarks to you as soon as it happens.
GOLODRYGA: Also, lots to talk about here at home as well. Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has just five days to make a decision that could
affect the outcome of the November election. Now, under state law, if he doesn't drop out of the race by then, his name stays on the ballot.
His own Democratic Party is demanding that he quit after two women came forward with allegations of disturbing and violent behavior. They both
spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNDSEY FIFIELD, PLATNER'S FORMER GIRLFRIEND: This is a man who is so hostile to the feelings of women, and he thinks he is disgusted by any show
of emotion.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Jenny told her story, what, if anything, aligned with your experiences?
FIFIELD: The eyes, it was almost like looking at, like a pit bull, where they just -- there's -- it's nothing, like, but not just nothing, but like
a capacity for violence, and you see it, and you know it's there, and it's terrifying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Platner denies all the allegations of non-consensual behavior. Now, Maine Democrats are accusing his campaign of trying to influence the
choice of a replacement candidate.
[11:20:00]
Jeff Zeleny joins us from Washington with the details. So, this sort of inner debate within the party, within the state, there as to who is in
control now over Platner's replacement. What is Platner saying right now, given the party pressure that he is now receiving?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN U.S. CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, the ball is in his court. Graham Platner has to formally step aside before
anything can begin, or anything matters. But I am told by people close to his campaign that he's not trying to find a way to stay in, they're trying
to exit a way out.
But they do believe they have a bit of leverage, but that has also caused some controversy, as you were saying there, and a fairly extraordinary
message from the Maine Democratic Party released late last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEVON MURPHY-ANDERSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF MAINE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: Unfortunately, Graham Platner's team has repeatedly reached out to us in an
attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like. We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner's team that they have no role
in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, never mind the actual race for November at this moment. This is Democrat on Democrat trying to sort through all of this, but once Platner
resigns, and people do believe he will step aside, then the race to fill the position begins, but it's a fine balance, a fine line here of trying to
capture that energy that Graham Platner had, without someone being associated too closely to him who could be sort of brought down in the
general election campaign.
So once this is sort of out of the way, there's still going to be very much alive the debate that's really animating so many Democratic primaries this
year, the energy on the progressive side versus the pragmatism on the establishment side, if you will. So, the reason all these matters are
because Democrats had hoped once upon a time that this might be one of their easier races this fall. It's turned into anything but that.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and his biggest advocate, Bernie Sanders, also later than others. But yesterday afternoon, calling for him to step down as well. Jeff
Zeleny --
ZELENY: And we're nearly 24 hours after that Bernie Sanders' statement, which is also fairly extraordinary.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, yeah, you'll be covering it all for us, Jeff. Thank you.
ZELENY: You bet.
ASHER: All right. In a blow to the U.S. Justice Department's investigation into how the 2020 election was handled. A judge has blocked a grand jury
subpoena for information on 2020 election workers in Georgia.
GOLODRYGA: The Georgia election, which was won by Joe Biden, has frequently been the target of President Trump's claims of election rigging. A district
judge ruled on Tuesday that the use of subpoena power was not legitimate. It is the latest in a string of legal defeats for the Trump Administration
as the president remains fixated on his unfounded claim of massive election fraud in 2020.
All right, still waiting for that press conference from the president in Turkey. We will bring it to you when we come when it happens live. In the
meantime, we're going to take a quick break and come right back.
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[11:25:00]
ASHER: Right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here's some headlines we're watching today. The U.S. President is threatening attacks on Iran again tonight, and
says that critical civilian infrastructure could be targeted. Donald Trump says he may reimpose a naval blockade after Iran attacked a number of
commercial ships near the Strait of Hormuz.
ASHER: President Trump says the U.S. will help Ukraine boost its Patriot missile defense systems. He made the announcement during a key meeting with
Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Turkey, but Trump said the U.S. does not have many Patriot missiles and
would not be able to provide them to Ukraine immediately.
GOLODRYGA: Search teams from Pakistan are scouring the Arabian Sea for a Boeing cargo aircraft, which lost contact with air traffic control while on
its way to Karachi. Authorities say the plane with five crew on board went missing after reporting a navigational problem.
Flight radar 24 tracking data suggest the plane was descending at an abnormal rate.
ASHER: Immigration officials say that one of their agents shot and killed a man in Houston Tuesday. According to a statement, agents tried to pull over
a car to arrest Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. They say he tried to ram their car with his, so they opened fire. Democrats are now demanding evidence. This
is the second ICE involved shooting in a week.
GOLODRYGA: Well, after declaring the U.S. ceasefire with Iran is over, President Trump is threatening Tehran with a major attack that will quote,
knock out a lot of stuff, including critical civilian infrastructure.
ASHER: Earlier, Iran's President had openly mocked U.S. foreign policy in social media posts accusing Washington of bullying and cheating. It follows
a major escalation in the Gulf overnight, with the U.S. and Iran exchanging strikes.
GOLODRYGA: At the NATO summit afterwards, Trump declared that the interim truce with Iran was done and reimposed sanctions on oil sales of Iranian
oil. The president also slammed the Iranian regime as scum, calling them evil, sick people, and likening them to cancer that needs to be cut out.
The U.S. President also spoke about Israel, the other key player in the war with Iran. Donald Trump says he thinks Israel will withdraw its troops from
southern Lebanon, where the IDF has been launching attacks targeting Hezbollah. He also had praise for the Israeli Prime Minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Like with Bibi, I like Bibi. I think Bibi was a terrific wartime prime minister, but Bibi
said rough things yesterday about Turkey and Erdogan, and I said, you know, I spoke to him. I said he could have gone into the war because he doesn't
like Israel much, and he doesn't like Bibi much, and he didn't go because of me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now from Jerusalem, and the prime minister is paying close attention to this trip in particular, giving a
number of interviews to U.S. outlets. Most recently, yesterday, CNN, speaking with our Dana Bash. We took that live here, where he once again
stressed his views opposing the sale of those F-35 planes to Turkey.
Oren, where did things leave off? The president said he would consider them. I know President Erdogan said that he's expecting five planes, but no
decision was ultimately made, correct?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: We don't know of a decision being made yet, and the sales process, especially for advanced U.S.
military technology like an F-35 stealth fighter jet, is not just a quick one and done decision.
Congress is supposed to have a say here, so this process could be drawn out over years. The F-35 in particular, is a very specific and special piece of
equipment.
[11:30:00]
Israel is the only country in the Middle East, in the region that flies F- 35s and they've used them very effectively in the war with Iran, and that's one of the issues here. Israel doesn't want to see arguably one of its main
regional adversaries in Turkey getting its hands on an advanced U.S. stealth technology, that would be a major concern here.
It's such a concern, in fact, that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after not really doing many interviews with Western media, has done a number of
them, and this has been his main talking point. This, it seems, is the message he's trying to get to President Donald Trump, not only potentially
to dissuade him or members of Congress from authorizing the sale of F-35s to Turkey.
But also trying to get the message across that Turkey isn't exactly the model ally for the United States. In fact, in that interview with Dana
Bash, Netanyahu said he, that is Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he's not exactly a model ally of the United States.
He threatens to destroy my country, the one and only Jewish state. So that seems one of the primary messages that Netanyahu was trying to get across
to either Trump, who could stop this unilaterally by himself, or to members of Congress, who at least theoretically have the power of oversight on a
sale like this.
Although it's unclear if Trump would just try to steamroll them. The problem is from Netanyahu's perspective, Trump is getting very close to
Erdogan, it seems, as we saw in those comments here, although in the sound bite, we played, he is complimenting Netanyahu.
He then also says it was Trump himself that stopped Turkey from attacking Israel. Trump, it seems, is well aware of the adversarial dynamic here
between Israel and Turkey, and at least from these latest comments here, it seems he's coming down on Turkey's side, and that would be a major concern
for Israel, Bianna and Zain.
ASHER: And Oren, just in terms of what we saw in that brief news conference there with the U.S. President, he was with Zelenskyy at one point,
obviously he was with al-Sharaa of Syria as well. But just in terms of what he said about Iran, he talked about the Iranians not being trusted in terms
of their negotiating style, obviously the ceasefire, according to President Trump, is effectively over.
You know, this idea of the Iranians not being trusted is something that Netanyahu has been trying to get across to the U.S. President for quite
some time. What is Netanyahu's likely reaction to all of these new developments?
LIEBERMANN: Right now, Netanyahu, and it seems most of his ministers are staying relatively quiet to wait to see how this plays out. They definitely
don't want to be seen in the U.S. as trying to push Trump back into a war. That being said, Netanyahu has long been clear that he's very skeptical of
Iran's intentions behind these negotiations, and believes they're not negotiating in good faith, and that they're simply trying to draw out time
here.
So, the idea that Trump is now threatening to restart the war, to cancel the memorandum of understanding, to re-impose sanctions, that's music to
Netanyahu's ears. The question is, is this really the long-term plan, or is this Trump being angry and essentially riffing here, and that is why Israel
is very carefully watching what's happening here to wait to see where Trump goes.
We saw more than 80 U.S. strikes, but mostly focused on Iranian military positions near the Strait of Hormuz. So, this hasn't gone all out yet, even
if this is a very significant escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Nevertheless, Trump has also made clear before the last 48 hours or so that
he doesn't want to return to full-scale war, because the main concern there is the price of oil and the price for American taxpayers at the gas pump as
we get closer and closer to the midterms, there.
So, Israel is waiting to see how this plays out, and what Trump decides here, but I think Netanyahu has made it repeatedly clear that if this goes
back to a war with Iran, especially if it's joint U.S. and Israel strike on Iran, that's something he would very much like to see.
GOLODRYGA: All right, Oren Liebermann live in Jerusalem for us. Thank you.
ASHER: I want to bring in Firas Maksad, he's the Managing Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Eurasia Group. Firas, thank you so much
for being with us. Just in terms of what may have stood out to you from everything this morning that President Trump said about his negotiations
with Iran.
Obviously, he called them dirty players, he said they can't be trusted, that negotiating with them is a waste of time, but I think that one of the
things that concerned me the most, if I'm being honest about my own sort of view, is this idea that he might potentially strike desalination plants.
And obviously that would be devastating for ordinary people, ordinary citizens of Iran. Is that something that you actually think that the U.S.
President would actually go through with or just bluster, and just making threats at this point?
FIRAS MAKSAD, MANAGING DIRECTOR FOR THE MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA AT THE EURASIA GROUP: A lot of flowery language from the president. It's not
language that we haven't heard before. He's made these threats, he's leveled them at least on a handful of occasions, and hasn't come through
with them.
[11:35:00]
Part of the reason why he has not come through against Iran with these threats is because he has been made to understand by a lot of America's
Arab partners, particularly in the Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, that they too have desalination plants that are
particularly vulnerable to an Iranian response, and therefore, they do not want to see enough caution the president time and again against exercising
that military option.
That military option, and others on the table being considered in Washington, continue to be unattractive. And so, the president very much
frustrated, understandably perhaps, with Iran's continued attempt to exercise control over the straits, but also to monetize that control
through something that could be perhaps described as extortion against the global economy, and particularly these GCC countries, but that doesn't mean
that the president is likely to go through with those threats.
And in fact, has left the door open to talks, further talks, if his negotiators in fact want to pursue them.
GOLODRYGA: Firas, this latest wave of escalation began after Iran struck two ships, two carriers there, through going through the Strait of Hormuz.
One of them, a Qatari ship. So, what are you hearing in terms of Qatar, we should note, is a mediator in all of this? What are you hearing from other
Gulf states at this point?
We're nearly halfway through the 60-day MOU. There's not much of a ceasefire being kept in place at this point. Are there strategies vis-a-vis
President Trump and the U.S. and its position here? Are they changing at all, or are they still hoping and pushing for continuing this MOU?
MAKSAD: Yeah, great question, Bianna, and in fact, the Qataris, despite the fact that they are a principal mediator, along with the Pakistanis, have
emerged as a target, at least their LNG shipments, which is crucial, because the Qatari economy, their lifeline, are these LNG, Liquefied
Natural Gas shipments that have to transit the straits.
And so, the fact that Iranians are targeting them is quite noticeable and noteworthy. I think the Iranians understand that, unlike some of the other
Gulf countries, say the UAE, Saudi Arabia, they've got alternatives, they've got pipelines that traverse the straits that go straight out into
other waterways, whether it's the Red Sea or the Arabian Sea.
The Qataris don't have that Liquefied Natural Gas as the infrastructure is currently in its existing form has to go through these ships and so the
Qataris got deep pockets, they don't have much of alternatives, the Iranians understand that and seem to be wanting to take advantage of that.
I think the Iranians, more broadly, Bianna, are frustrated because they thought that through this Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S., they
would not only be able to put in place a new regime for the waterways. They want these ships to go through the Iranian route, the northern route in the
Strait of Hormuz, rather than the Omani route, the southern route, or the international waters, they haven't been able to successfully do that.
Only 25 percent of shipping since the MOU have gone through the Iranian route, and they want to monetize it. And so, their inability to monetize
this new understanding is a point of frustration, which is why we expect the Iranians are going to continue to want to lash out.
ASHER: And just in terms of Firas, another threat that Donald Trump has made, it's not the first time he's made it either. In addition to the
desalination plants, this idea of somehow seizing or bombing parts of Kharg Island. I mean, obviously that is where Iran's sort of key export terminal,
oil export terminal is.
And if the Americans would be in a massive problem, because if they bombed Kharg Island, yes, they would take out massive oil revenues for Iran, but
also, what would that mean for the global oil economy? What would that mean for oil prices? You sort of would end up shooting yourself in the foot, it
would backfire on the U.S. significantly.
Just talk to us about the president's option as it pertains to Kharg Island.
MAKSAD: Yes, and no, Zain. I think your rationale and your logic is very sound, and it is a double-edged sword. If you take Iranian oil off the
market, that's going to impact global energy prices and undermine the U.S. economy. President, that's leading into the midterms, all of that we
threshed out and discussed before.
But I think one of the more interesting factors and dynamics that have emerged since the MOU is the fact that oil prices are significantly lower
than most anticipated, that the conflict has not had the lasting impact on oil prices in the global economy that many thought it will have.
And as that continues to be the case in the days and weeks ahead, that is actually a point of leverage for the American side, and so it is more
likely that President Trump, given sustained low oil prices, is going to be act, or at least the downside of acting, against Iranian energy, including
the potential targeting of Kharg Island is not what many had feared it would be.
[11:40:00]
And so that is a point for actually an incentive I would say for the American President to act if Iranian intransigence in the strait. The
determination to extract, monetize a price from the strait continues, but that said, again, I want to emphasize that there are other factors,
including that lack of attractive military alternatives on the American side.
That will probably dissuade the president from taking action that is significantly greater from what we're seeing, which is very targeted
against the source of fire, radars, missile systems, but not an all-out return to open war between the U.S. and Iran.
ASHER: Firas Maksad, always good to have you on. Thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
GOLODRYGA: Thanks Firas.
ASHER: All right, the funeral commemorations for Iran's Slain Supreme Leader crossed from Iran into Iraq earlier. This is day five of a six-day
state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
GOLODRYGA: Live pictures here from Karbala, where mourners are paying their respects. Earlier, the procession carrying Khamenei's casket made its way
through the Holy City of Najaf. The Iraq portion of the funeral procession carries deep religious weight.
Fred Pleitgen has those details for us, and we should note that CNN operates in Iran only with the permission of the government, but maintains
full editorial control of its reports.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Iranians are lashing out at President Trump after the U.S. President said he believes
that the memorandum of understanding between Iran and the United States, that of course guarantees a ceasefire between the two countries, is, as he
put it, over.
When Iranian official that I spoke to said that he believed that President Trump's words, as he announced all this, were quote, disgusting. Other
Iranian officials also ripping into the United States and into President Trump, especially after those overnight U.S. air strikes, and of course the
U.S. also revoking those sanctions waivers for the export of Iranian oil.
In fact, the chief negotiator for the Iranians with the United States said that the time, as he put it, of bullying and extortion by the United States
is over. As you can imagine, a lot of folks here on the streets in Tehran speaking about the events have been unfolding over the past hours. Here's
what they told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm criticizing the authorities of my own country when they were supposed to give the right response to those people overseas.
They didn't do so. Negotiations were against the will of the nation. They will have wasted all the efforts of our armed forces.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the last 47 years, we have seen this type of threat so many times, and on the basis of these threats, day by day, we are
getting stronger and more experienced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Was a very kinetic night in the Persian Gulf area, with the U.S. accusing Iran of targeting several ships looking to transit the Strait of
Hormuz. The U.S. then hitting several Iranian targets, they say around 80, around the Strait of Hormuz area, for instance, in the port town of Bandar
Abbas, the Iranians themselves then saying that they hit back at U.S. military assets in this region, themselves striking 85 targets, that
according to Iranian officials.
But one of the other things that makes all of this even more difficult is that right now Iran is still very much in a period of mourning as the
funeral commemorations for the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are still going on. In fact, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's body is set to be
laid to rest in one of the holiest cities of Shia Islam, in Mashhad, in eastern Iran on Thursday.
And so, therefore, the Iranians are saying this standoff at this point in time for them makes everything even more egregious. Fred Pleitgen, CNN,
Tehran.
GOLODRYGA: All right, thanks to Fred for that report. And just to note to viewers at home, we are still waiting to hear from President Trump before
he leaves Ankara for after this NATO summit. And as we've said in his meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, Trump apparently gave
permission to Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles.
Now this comes as Ukraine says that its capital has been hit by another deadly missile strike, its third in a week from Russia. Kyiv's Mayor says
that the strike sparked fires in a storage area and nonresidential building on both sides of the Dnipro River. Authorities say at least one person was
killed in Kyiv and at least six more across the country.
ASHER: Moscow has also stepped up its air attacks recently. These images show you really the scale on the key suburbs earlier this week, following a
barrage of overnight strikes that left multiple people dead across the country. So far this month, strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region have
killed at least 60 people.
GOLODRYGA: All right. We'll be right back after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: The quarter finals are now set after a stunning round of 16 at the men's football world cup. Argentina was just literally during the
commercial break talking about --
GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable.
ASHER: -- Egypt. Argentina fans are erupted as the defending champions avoided a massive upset against Egypt on Tuesday. You see a fan sell it.
What a relief, right, for Argentina fans celebrating, Buenos Aires as Argentina edged out Egypt in a -- everybody was on the edge of their seat.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
ASHER: It was beyond thrilling.
GOLODRYGA: Do you remember we went to our reporter in Argentina, and then in the midst, I think Messi just missed a penalty, and they were on pins
and needles, so nervous. That was a different reaction. I mean, incredible. Argentine superstar Lionel Messi overcome with emotion after the final
whistle.
Get this, if you weren't watching, if you have not read, his side trailed Egypt for much of the match, but rallied with three goals in the last few
minutes of the game. The winner coming in stoppage time and leaving Egypt with a massive sense of injustice. "World Sport's" Patrick Snell can tell
us all about that.
ASHER: Egypt almost had it. They almost had it.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah.
GOLODRYGA: Patrick, there have been a lot of moments here where there has been criticism about some of the refs' calls, and that is understandable,
that is part of the story here, but you can't take away what makes Messi subhuman. I mean, he is just, I mean, not subhuman, makes him beyond
immortal and not human.
ASHER: Other worldly.
GOLODRYGA: Yes, other worldly.
SNELL: You're absolutely right. It was vintage Lionel Messi in most likely his last World Cup at 39 years of age, but of course you never quite know
with Lionel Messi. Yeah, absolutely. And we will get to Messi, but first up, the controversy around the second Egypt goal that wasn't.
It came just past the hour mark from Mostafa Ziko, finding the back of the net, a wonderful finish, but the controversy around that one, and the
reason why Egypt and their fans, their players, were so unhappy about it was the fact that it was a wonderful goal, free-flowing move, but they
checked it on VAR, as they do with all goals, and they went back almost 100 yards down the pitch to the other end of the pitch.
There was a foul on Lisandro Martinez, but question was, did it raise to the bar of having to check it, and also it was more than several seconds
before the ball hit the back of the net. Yes, they have the right to check it. Yes, it was a foul, and yes, many people will say the goal was rightly
disallowed, others will say absolutely not.
[11:50:00]
It mattered not to a certain degree, because a few minutes later the same player did put Egypt two-nil up with another fantastic finish after another
breakaway counter attack. But this is where we have to give credit to Argentina. I do want to say the Egyptian Head Coach, Hossam Hassan, calling
it an injustice and utterly unfair.
There is reporting out there. The Egyptian FA has submitted a complaint to FIFA about this whole matter about the French referee in question. We've
done our own reach outs on that as well. We'll let you know when and if we hear back. But Argentina, I will say, with just over 10 minutes to go,
we're two-nil down, facing elimination from the tournament as the reigning champions, Messi's last World Cup.
As I said, most likely, what do they go and do? They score, they get one back, they give themselves hope. That was a messy assist. Then Messi
turning magician, four minutes later, smashing it home for 2-2 utterly unsavable. Remember, he missed a penalty, his second of the tournament
earlier in the match, and then the winner, the winner from Enzo Fernandez.
It was a stunning header as well, in the second minute of stoppage time. No wonder those Argentinian fans there in Buenos Aires went absolutely
delirious. I was actually in the fan zone here in Atlanta, where the match was played afterwards, couple of hours after the game, those fans still
buzzing.
Some of them fighting back tears, given the emotion of the occasion. I want to hear now from one of the Argentina players, Lautaro Martinez. This is a
team very much pulling together as one for that man, the icon, Lionel Messi. Take a watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAUTARO MARTINEZ, ARGENTINA FORWARD: He's our guide, our reference point, our leader. Today seeing him emotional at the end of the game was very
special. I told him on the pitch to enjoy it, because he deserved it, and that we would continue to give everything for ourselves, but more than
anything for him, because it's his last World Cup, and he has given us so much.
JULIAN ALVAREZ, ARGENTINA FORWARD: The World Cup he's having is incredible. We just try to help him, support him, and enjoy every moment alongside him.
We're grateful for everything he does for us, and for the way he is with us as a person. He's a legend, the greatest player in the history of the game,
so there's really not much more to say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: I think you know some people think Argentina have their name on a trophy once again. We shall see who do they play next for place in the
semis. They take on Switzerland, who beat Colombia on a penalty shootout after it ended goalers after extra time. So, the Swiss actually through
doing really well through to the last date for the first time since 1954.
It is all to play for as this FIFA World Cup gets to, oh, here we go. Here's some video. Where's this from? Where's this video from? This looks
like -- sorry, the beer. We're seeing video. There we go. Zurich, Switzerland. There's Zurich, Switzerland, Swiss fans, beer in hand, and why
not?
They've absolutely earned the right to celebrate. This is a terrific achievement for Swiss football. They won it on the drama of a penalty
shootout. Great to see, and their reward, if you can call it that, is a match up against the Alvis Celestine. Mind you, nothing to fear against
Argentina, right?
In my book, they scrape past Cape Verde. They should have been in Egypt more convincingly, in my opinion. The Swiss have nothing to fear in my book
against Argentina. Back to you guys.
GOLODRYGA: I have to say, I was watching those. I really hate penalties, like my stomachs in a knot. I just -- I mean, it's exciting, but at the
same time, you really hope to avoid them.
SNELL: Oh, yeah.
GOLODRYGA: But that was quite something. A lot of stunned Colombian fans, Messi is a god. Go back and watch that equalizing goal. I just --
SNELL: -- unassailable --
ASHER: You know, I feel deeply for Egypt. I feel so bad.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah.
ASHER: I mean, that -- there isn't a loss that would have been more painful for a soccer team than what Egypt went through last night. So, like, so
what?
GOLODRYGA: No, I'm not so what -- It's always hard, but you know what, that's why we love this game so much.
ASHER: -- They were robbed, you know, they came so close, they should be so proud of themselves though. All right.
GOLODRYGA: Patrick -- disappeared. We'll be right back. We could go on and on and on --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
GOLODRYGA: All right, welcome back. We are still waiting to hear from President Trump after the NATO meeting in Ankara. We will bring you those
remarks when they happen. In the meantime, stay with us. We'll have more "One World" after the break. We'll continue to talk soccer.
ASHER: Egypt -- that's it --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
