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Study Aims to Help Young People Find Purpose and Happiness. Aired 1-1:45a ET

Aired October 27, 2025 - 01:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. And this is CNN Newsroom.

U.S. President Donald Trump is on his way to Japan right now, the next leg of an Asia trip which is expected to lead to the framework of a trade deal with China. People in Jamaica getting ready for what could be the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall at that island nation. Forecasters expecting flash flooding and landslides in the coming hours. And in the midst of all the negativity in today's world, one group is looking for ways to spread a little happiness. What is the key to happiness?

We'll tell you in a few moments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: We want to be in with U.S. President Donald Trump as he's expected to arrive in Tokyo in just a matter of hours after leaving Malaysia. This will be now the second stop of Donald Trump's six day, three nation tour of Asia. And his goal, according to the White House, is to strengthen his diplomatic ties in the region. He's currently planning to meet with the Japanese emperor and then newly elected prime minister in that country. But all eyes, they are on his upcoming summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

That's not happening until later this week. But already Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offering a preview, saying that he believes that the U.S. and China, they've already agreed on a framework for a trade deal. And all of this after a new round of trade talks that happened in Malaysia. Now if this deal is finalized, it could avoid a heavy tariff hike of 157 percent on all Chinese goods. So it all adds up to a lot on the line here.

Let's go now to CNN's Hanako Montgomery, who is in Tokyo ahead of the president's visit. But first, wonder can go to Kristie Lu Stout, who's in Hong Kong with more on the details on this potential U.S. China trade deal, Kristie. So, give us a preview of what we could potentially expect later this week.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'll give you the preview and also give you the market reaction because, Polo, right now, global investors are very pleased to see progress. Let's show you the global market picture at the moment where we have seen buoyancy in the markets, especially here in Asia, as the punters price in what they are anticipating to see as another trade truce between these two economic heavyweights. As you see Shanghai Composite, the Nikkei, Hang Seng, the Kospi all trading stronger. And if we take a look at American future -- U.S. Futures, the U.S. markets will be opening up in just a couple of hours from now, green arrows across the board. As we've been reporting this afternoon, the U.S. and China have reached a framework deal on trade. This easing tensions ahead of that highly anticipated meeting between the U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.

We heard from the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia over the weekend, and he said that he expects China to delay export curbs on rare earths for a year. Now remember previously we heard from Donald Trump, he threatened to impose a new 100 percent tariff on Chinese goods in response to Chinese trade groups on rare earth minerals. Donald Trump is confident that he will get another trade deal with China.

Now the Chinese are taking a more cautious approach. I want you to listen to this.

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LI CHENGGANG, CHINESE VICE COMMERCE MINISTER (through translator): The U.S. position has been tough, whereas China has been firm in defending its own interests and rights. Over the past more than a day's time, we have experienced very intense consultations and engaged in constructive exchanges and exploring solutions and arrangements to address these concerns. The two sides have reached preliminary consensus on these issues and next we are each going to go through our domestic internal approval processes.

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STOUT: The rare earths have been a major sticking point in the U.S.- China trade relationship. And China absolutely dominates the global supply of rare earths, which is used in everything from our phones or screens or EVs, also in the U.S. defense infrastructure. In addition to rare earths, U.S. and China trade officials also discussed U.S. port entrance fees, fentanyl as well as TikTok. Scott Bessent said that a final deal has been reached on TikTok, a deal that he said Xi and Trump will quote, "consummate" when they meet at the APEC summit in South Korea. Again, China has yet to confirm whether that meeting will in fact take place.

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Polo, back to you.

SANDOVAL: And U.S. stock futures, they are climbing with anticipation right now. Kristie, thank you so much for that preview.

Before that meeting happens, though, we have Japan and that's where we find Hanako Montgomery right now.

Hanako, great to have you as well. The president heading your way right now. You're at the Imperial Palace. Tell us a little bit about what we expect once the president is wheels down in a few hours.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Polo, I don't know if you can see, but actually the police are securing the area behind me right now in expectation of the U.S. President Donald Trump's arrival. Now at the Imperial palace just behind me, Donald Trump will be meeting the Japanese Emperor Naruhito for their second official meeting. Now, the two are expected to exchange niceties and formal greetings.

Now, during Trump's official visit to Japan, he will also be holding bilateral talks with the new Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi. He'll also be visiting the Yokosuka base where he'll expect to be meeting U.S. troops. And he'll also be attending a working dinner with Japanese business leaders.

So there are a few things on Trump's agenda, but really all eyes on this bilateral summit with the new Japanese prime minister. Now, the two have never met in an official capacity, though they did have a phone call on Saturday which Trump said went very well. He also complimented Takaichi, calling her great, beautiful and very friendly. So the experts I've spoken to, Polo, say that the two are likely to get along. They're actually both conservative leaders.

They also share a lot of the same political and personal values. And also, Polo, I do want to note here that the Japanese side said that they're going to be using this bilateral meeting to really emphasize and bring the U.S. and Japan closer together, to bring the relationship to new heights. In fact, at his regular press conference, the chief cabinet secretary said that they were using again this summit to use it as an opportunity to build a personal relationship of trust and also to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and work together toward realizing a free and open Indo Pacific.

But, Polo, even though it sounds as though the two leaders will likely get along, there are potentially some roadblocks ahead for the two, especially when it comes to matters related to trade. So, as you know, Japan and the United States do have a trade agreement, which they agreed to in September. But there are still lots of questions unanswered about how Japan will be investing USD 550 billion in the United States. So that's part of the trade agreement. But there's still no details about how Japan will be investing that money, where it will be going, how it will be rolled out.

But it is a massive sum for Japan. It's actually more than a tenth of Japan's entire annual economy. So we are expecting the two to discuss matters related to -- related to this investment during the bilateral summit.

Now we're also expecting Trump and Takaichi to discuss defense. Takaichi has long pushed for Japan to boost its defense spending, which Trump has also advocated for, especially from other allies in the region. In fact, last week Takaichi said that Japan would be boosting its defense spending to 2 percent of its GDP, a long goal for Japan. But they're going to do it by March 2026. So they're bringing that deadline up by two years.

Two years early they will be meeting this defense spending target, which will of course be music to Trump's ears. He will be very, very pleased about that.

So again, Polo, lots of things to discuss during this bilateral meeting. Takaichi also will likely lean into her personal relationship with the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who very famously had a wonderful relationship with Trump as well. They played many rounds of golf. They also enjoyed sumo. They enjoyed hamburgers.

So Takaichi again expecting to use her relationship with Abe to get even closer to Trump. Polo.

SANDOVAL: Who doesn't enjoy those things. But listen, it is certainly, in all seriousness, this is certainly going to be a defining meeting for the next chapter of U.S.-Japan relations.

Hanako Montgomery, Kristie, Lu Stout, thank you both for your reporting. Really appreciate you.

Elsewhere, Jamaica is preparing for what could be the strongest ever hurricane to make landfall on the island nation. Hurricane Melissa is now forecast to strengthened to a rare Category 5 storm before hitting Jamaica late Monday basically in a matter of hours. The U.S. National Weather Service is now warning that damaging winds and heavy rainfall will likely cause catastrophic and life threatening flash flooding. The concerns also about landslide. All of this expected in the coming hours. The intensity and slow moving nature of the storm, that's what's really causing a lot of uncertainty among Jamaicans right now.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Usually when a storm -- they say a storm is coming, usually it doesn't hit us. We don't get the full impact. So me personally, I've never witnessed a hurricane that has damaged Jamaica. So I'm not sure if I'm scared because I don't know what to expect.

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SANDOVAL: Let's take you now to Kingston, Jamaica, where CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking the storm.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hurricane Melissa is strengthening once again. Conditions are really starting to deteriorate as expected. Here in Kingston, Jamaica, we're getting this kind of first taste of the gusty winds. Some of the palm trees starting to sway back and forth and of course, the heavy rain is just now beginning.

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And that is the concern about this hurricane, this slow moving catastrophe that will unfold in this island nation over the coming days. This will be a long duration event that has the potential to drop months worth of rain and in a matter of a couple of days. And that will most certainly lead to catastrophic flash flooding, landslides, mudslides. On top of that, we have the potential, according to the National Hurricane Center, to experience hurricane force winds in excess of 24 hours. Imagine that, a whole day of winds in excess of 70 -- 75 miles per hour.

That is just so intense, it doesn't give any of the residents here any time to come out and assess damage, assess the situation and try to recover. It is going to be this long duration rain and wind event and storm surge event that could isolate this island nation of 3 million people for several days with the National Hurricane Center warning of communities being isolated because of the heavy rain and flash flooding for days. We need to rush to completion our protection of life and property. If you haven't already done so, these are the critical moments. What we're seeing is a slight westward jog in the projected forecast landfall point.

So that would bring Kingston, where I'm located, into some of the worst rain, but perhaps spare it from the strongest of winds. Remember, you can hide from the wind, but you need to run from the water.

CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam Kingston, Jamaica.

SANDOVAL: Earlier, I spoke with Tannecia Stephenson. She's a climate science professor at the University of the West Indies. She's in Jamaica. Here's her firsthand account of how the storm is unfolding as we speak, where she is and how the island is preparing.

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TANNECIA STEPHENSON, CLIMATE SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UWI: We passed by the coast on my way to my parents and the waves were -- we saw large swells coming in. So that's how it was earlier. But right now we have quite a lull and it's quiet.

SANDOVAL: You shared with us that there's a high level of anxiety among many people there that you've seen and spoken to, have you seen residents heed those warnings that we've been hearing for days now for people to get ready that this was going to be likely a historic storm landfall?

STEPHENSON: Absolutely. What we have been seeing are a number of images of persons getting ready, fishers working together to bring boats in, farmers doing early harvesting and having to consider that this is as much as we can do right now and we'll ride out there after. You see homes and persons take initiatives to batten down homes, secure homes, secure businesses. So persons are indeed taking the warning seriously, especially since last year we had a burial that we encountered. A lot more activities are underway to ensure that we're prepared.

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SANDOVAL: West diplomacy stalls between the U.S. and Russia, the Kremlin seems to be saber rattling, touting its latest nuclear powered cruise missile. Still ahead on CNN Newsroom, why Moscow claims that the new weapon is, quote, "invincible." Plus, an update on the Louvre crown jewel heist investigation. Coming up, what French police are sharing so far about two people they now have in custody.

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SANDOVAL: With diplomatic relations faltering between Washington and Moscow, President Vladimir Putin says that Russia has successfully tested its latest nuclear powered weapon. Russia's top general even claims that this long range cruise missile traveled 14,000 kilometers or 8,700 miles. And this during Tuesday's test, it stayed in the air for about 15 hours according to Russia. Moscow will now work to deploy the new missile which it describes as invincible and also able to evade missile defenses with an unpredictable flight path and nearly unlimited striking range. Ukraine's capital is currently reeling from yet another barrage of Russian attacks. Officials saying that three people were killed and that dozens were injured after Moscow launched more than 100 drones toward Kyiv overnight into Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will be choosing which countries can take part in the international stabilization force in Gaza.

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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We control our own security and we have made clear that in regard to international forces, Israel will determine which forces are unacceptable to us and that is how we act and will continue to act. This is of course accepted by the United States as well as its most senior representatives made clear in recent days. Israel is an independent state. We will defend ourselves by ourselves and we will continue to control our fate.

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SANDOVAL: And the plan, according to the Israelis, is that the stabilization force would handle security efforts in Gaza under the U.S. backed peace plan. Sources say that the Israeli prime minister told U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance that he objected to Turkish troops going into Gaza.

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As for the Red Cross, officials there met with Hamas on Sunday. They discussed finding missing remains of Israeli hostages. Israel says that Hamas is currently violating the existing ceasefire by not returning the bodies of 13 hostages.

President Javier Milei's party claimed a strong victory in Argentina's nationwide midterm election. With 90 percent of the votes counted, Milei's party has nearly 41 percent and the main opposition at 24 and a half percent. That would give the president's party 64 seats in the lower house of the National Congress, which is 31 for the opposition. U.S. President Donald Trump, he's been very open about his support for Milei's government. The election has really been seen as a de facto referendum on the Argentinian president's policies. Well, to France now, where police have two suspects in custody who they say are linked to last weekend's crown jewel heist at the Louvre museum. And that's according to local media reporting that's now showing that one of the men was arrested at the airport while reportedly trying to leave the country. CNN's Melissa Bell with the latest from Paris.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A breakthrough in the case around the heist at the Louvre museum last Sunday morning. Two arrests were made on Saturday night in France, according to the Paris prosecutor's office, including of one man who had preparing to leave France at Charles de Gaulle Airport. A hundred investigators have been working on this since the break in at the world's most visited museum last Sunday morning. And the fear had been that the suspects might have left the country. In the end, it was here that they found these two.

According to French press reports, the man preparing to leave the country had been trying to get to Algeria. They are say French media reports two men in their 30s. The prosecutor's office is not giving much more away and the interior minister is urging caution as they continue to build their case. But clearly very good news for the BRB, the French unit of police that has been looking into this case and under a great deal of pressure to come up with some results. For now, we understand that there isn't much word on where the jewels might be, but certainly the fact that two men have been taken into custody, good news after a week of desperate searches for some information that might lead them to some conclusions in what's been described here in France as the break in of the century.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

SANDOVAL: So here's a question, does someone give you 400 bucks to make a difference in your community? How would you use it? Would it lead you to happiness, perhaps? Well, right now there's a closer look that we have for you. It's going to be on the contribution project that's currently aiming at giving people a greater sense of purpose.

That's on the way.

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SANDOVAL: Hi, welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

So amid all of this doom and gloom happening in the world, this next story may provide us with a little bit of hope. You see, there's a study from Cornell University, it's called the Contribution Project. And the concept is pretty simple. If you were given $400 to make a difference in your community, what would you do with it? So Cornell surveyed a bunch of Gen Z participants in two groups, those who got the money, no strings attached to use it toward whatever matters most to them and those who got no money. Well, after eight weeks, those who received the contribution scored much higher on a number of psychological measures. And this is interesting. It included a greater sense of belonging, a greater sense of purpose, and stronger feelings of being needed and useful. So basically contributing to others leads to an increased sense of purpose, which leads to more happiness.

Kimberly Kopko is the managing director at the Purpose, Science and Innovation Exchange. She joins us from Ithaca, New York.

Kimberly, thank you so much for joining us.

KIMBERLY KOPKO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE PURPOSE SCIENCE AND INNOVATION EXCHANGE: Good evening, Polo.

SANDOVAL: This study, it's, I mean, perfect timing right now. It's obviously badly needed and we'll get to that in just a few moments. But I was certainly struck by some of this research at Cornell which reveals that achieving happiness, it may actually be easier than we think, that it could just be a matter of thinking about our true purpose and then taking even a smaller step towards fulfilling it. So I'm curious practically, how do we apply this in our day to day lives?

KOPKO: Yes, it's a very good question and thank you for the opportunity to talk with you about it. So what we're doing on the research side of it is also choosing students for the $400 contribution to do a contribution project.

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But we're randomly selecting only 50 percent of those students. So of all the students who are selected, we're asking them to identify on measures of well-being, sense of purpose, emotional belonging.

And then we're randomly selecting 50 percent of those folks, giving them $400. They're doing the project. Six to eight weeks later, the project is done.

We also -- we ask the question of all of the participants again. And we're seeing very significant findings on all of those measures increasing for the -- for the students who received the $400.

SANDOVAL: It's absolutely fascinating because if you think about it, if you remove the $400 factor here, it essentially invites us to think about the contribution that we all make. And then leads us to eventually to find that greater purpose.

Now, we've talked also about some of the perhaps physical health benefits that -- to really living this philosophy. What are some of those benefits you think?

KOPKO: Oh, absolutely. The purpose research is full of all of the positive outcomes -- emotional, physical physiological. What we -- what we're trying to do and you made a very good point on the money. And that's one of the -- that's one of the things we're looking at in the research, right. Is it -- is it the money? Is it -- we don't really think it's the

money because some of the students did not spend the money. They went off and they crafted a project without spending the money.

So, you know, this is kind of a living laboratory where we're discovering as we go. But it may not be the money, it may be that we didn't ask students, what is your sense of purpose as though there's something out there that they should go and find, right.

We just said, what is the contribution you want to make? And so it might not be the money. And we also were wondering, is it the mechanism, is it the opportunity to craft a sense of purpose or to have a lane in which to find your sense of purpose through this, through the -- through the contribution project and through contributing?

SANDOVAL: I think it's fascinating, especially because it probably told you a lot about high schoolers and college students as well, that they are especially the ones that you -- that participated in the study. They want to contribute, to give back in some way, shape or form.

Now, I do want to ask you, given the world that we live in right now, I mean, why do we need this kind of research, this kind of philosophy right now, do you think?

KOPKO: I think -- I think it's just one of those stories, one of, you know, piece of research that gets at the human element and the sense of connection and kind of the goodness. I mean, we hear all the stories about youth, you know, being on their phones and being disengaged. And social media is having the impact that its having and, you know, setting all that aside. We don't see that in the students we work with.

And now, you know, with this contribution project, we're also seeing that they're going out and doing good in the world. And to your point, about a third of the projects that they've done have directly impacted their campuses. And another third have directly impacted the community where their campus is.

So they're not doing this for themselves. And yet, when we measure them after the fact, they've gone up significantly on all of the measures of well-being and sense of purpose and sense of belonging.

And so there's something there. And that's what we're trying to untangle with this.

SANDOVAL: Kim, finally for me, as I was reading the research, I couldn't help but also think how this could apply to people who are perhaps have left a job, have been fired perhaps, or are preparing for retirement and have found themselves in that point in life where they are essentially redefining what the rest of their life, what they want it to look like.

And I think that they could certainly take something like this to see what is their greater purpose beyond what they were doing. KOPKO: Oh, absolutely. This is -- I mean, we are studying youth. This

is not just for youth by any means. I mean, purpose is something that is just a through line in all of our lives. And the ability to find it and cultivate it and have it have positive outcomes in our lives is available to all of us.

And so it's a very good point, especially at those times in life that you just mentioned. Maybe those are the times where it matters more, which is -- which is another good -- very good research question, actually.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Kim Kopko, thank you. And the rest of the team, may we take this and hope to flourish. Appreciate your time.

KOPKO: Thank you Polo. Likewise.

SANDOVAL: Well, Mexico City, gearing up to celebrate the Day of the Dead. Ahead, we'll explain why this year's Dia de los Muertos celebration has a very special theme.

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SANDOVAL: A quick programing note for you. Don't miss our newest anchor, Elex Michaelson, as he launches his new show, "THE STORY IS" tomorrow, right here on CNN. You want to catch the premiere at 9:00 p.m. Monday in Los Angeles? That's 5:00 a.m. in London. If you're in Hong Kong, that's noon.

His first guest will be California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Check out these amazing pictures that you're looking at here of the Day of the Dead exhibition in Mexico City's main square and their zocalo. It commemorates the city's 700th anniversary. Some of the statues, they are as tall as ten meters.

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SANDOVAL: Mexico City, it was once an ancient Aztec capital, and the towering display is inspired by the mythical journey of the Aztecs to settle what is now Mexico City. Beautiful.

Switzerland is taking the business of cheese very seriously. Raclette, it comes from the French word "scrape". It's a traditional Swiss dish that's made with melted cheese.

The Raclette world championship brought cheesemakers from 13 countries together in Morgins, Switzerland. Judges ranking five categories of cheese in the competition, including varieties made from raw and pasteurized cow's milk, as well as milk from sheep and goats.

All of them vying to scrape together the heartiest, most delicious possible meal. It looks delicious.

And with that cheesy ending, I want to thank you so much for joining us on CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Polo Sandoval. We leave you with "WORLDSPORT" and then the news continues right here on CNN.

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