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Added Economic Pressure for Iran; Israel to Construct New Housing Project; President Trump Hopes to Meet Kim Jong-un Again; Spain's Huge African Workforce Helping To Feed Europe; Prince Harry & Family To Move Back To Britain From The U.S. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired August 21, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in Hong Kong and all around the world. I'm Will Ripley. Just ahead on CNN Newsroom.

Trading threats. Washington vowing to ratchet up the economic pressure on Iran as Tehran threatens to use more destructive weapons if the war restarts.

Israel moving forward with a controversial settlement plan in the West Bank, critics say it would kill any chance of a Palestinian state.

And Donald Trump says he plans to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but Kim's powerful younger sister says she knows absolutely nothing about it.

We begin this hour with the U.S. war with Iran. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance says economic pressure is the most effective tool against Iran, but he cautioned that it's a delicate balance.

Vance's comments come as President Trump threatens to wage an economic war of attrition with Iran. The vice president says economic pressure is the best way to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear capability. Iran's foreign ministry condemned Mr. Trump's threat of an elevated economic campaign as unlawful.

The IRGC warned that it could deploy more destructive weapons if the fighting restarts. Meantime, the Trump administration imposed new sanctions on Hezbollah in Lebanon and re-designated the group as an Iranian proxy. The move is meant to signal that Hezbollah is acting on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

It comes as the White House works to broker peace talks between Israel and Lebanon.

Live now to CNN's Leila Gharagozlou in Abu Dhabi.

So, we know Iran is already heavily sanctioned. I guess the question now, Leila, is what could Washington actually hit? LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, Will. Yes, so Iran, as you said,

is heavily sanctioned and has been for the last 20 plus years, if not even longer than that. So, it's really difficult to tell what else they're going to kind of target through increased sanctions and economic pressure.

As you know, we also have this economic blockade on the Iranian ports, which has caused quite a bit of damage to the Iranian economy. But all the key industries in Iran are already sanctioned. Most of the people who are in charge of those key industries are also sanctioned. Many of the Iranian airlines are sanctioned.

So there's really not a whole lot more that can be done in terms of economic pressure. And a lot of Iran analysts and experts that I've spoken to have said that even with whatever increased economic pressure that the U.S. could put on Iran, it's unlikely that Iran would capitulate or change what they're already doing.

And we've seen that over the course of the last number of decades, it hasn't really worked, right? They've been under some of the strictest and strongest sanctions that we've seen anywhere in the world. And the behavior of the Iranian government has not changed. And that's largely due to a strategy of resistance economy that they've implemented since the Iran-Iraq war and have continued to build upon over the last 40- plus years.

Their whole strategy for that government is to create an economy that is independent, that's not tied to the global economy, and can withstand immense amounts of economic pressure. And while the people that I've spoken to on the ground in Iran, businesses and ordinary people, are absolutely feeling the pain of that economic blockade and the economic pressure, they still have quite a ways to go before they're going to have to make some sort of deal. And that's what the Iranian government is banking on.

They're essentially saying that we can keep this going until at least November to put the maximum pressure on the U.S. in terms of the midterms and withstand the pressure on our economy.

Now, it's going to be interesting to see what President Trump decides to do when it comes to economic pressure on Iran. But at the moment, there's no signs that Iran is going to capitulate even with that increased pressure, Will.

RIPLEY: Really appreciate that analysis, Leila. To think of this lasting through the midterms in November and beyond is just staggering. But here we are, the war that never seems to end.

Appreciate that. Live in Abu Dhabi, we'll be checking back in with you. Thank you.

[02:05:00]

For more on this now, let's bring in Maha Yahya, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. It's good to have your expertise as we talk about this. It's interesting, the U.S. promising what it's calling the toughest

sanctions in history. But here we are. You're watching this in the region, nearly six months of war. Is this a sign you think that Washington still has leverage, or is it a sign that the military strategy isn't working?

MAHA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: Good morning. Thank you for having me. No, it's a sign, frankly, that the military strategy is not working. It doesn't want to work from the start. You don't launch war against a regime in the way they did without taking into account all the ripple effects that are likely to happen.

I mean, the war was launched with the idea or the wishful thinking that the regime in Iran is just going to collapse. I think in President Trump's scenario, it was more like a Venezuela scene where, you know, you take out the head and then the whole thing just adjusts.

They were warned from day one that this would not be. Iran is not Venezuela. It's much more complicated than this, in a different way. Every country is complicated.

So, I think it just indicates that, A, the military strategy is not working. They can increase sanctions on Iran. Iran is finding workarounds, some of these sanctions. It is suffering economically, as you heard from your previous reporter. But I think for them there's this sense that they really have very little left to lose. It's an existential crisis for them. It's a question of survival. And they're willing to inflict maximum pain on everyone else on their way down if they're going to go down.

RIPLEY: And as you know well, there in Lebanon, the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Hezbollah just yesterday.

Do you see that having any realistic impact?

YAHYA: Not on Iran, no. I mean, not at all. It will have some impact here, but again, it's minimal. This is not the first time that sanctions have been imposed on members of Hezbollah or on the organization. They will continue to be imposed. Sanctions work up to a point, but after that point, they become so politicized. After a point, they start, they become just a blunt tool, frankly. So, they will have very little impact on decision-making in Iran in any case, and nor will they impact decision-making here, at least within the Hezbollah circles.

RIPLEY: Israel says it won't withdraw from southern Lebanon until Hezbollah disarms. Do you think that's achievable?

YAHYA: Is Hezbollah disarming achievable? Yes, it is. Is it achievable in the way they're talking about it? No. You cannot forcibly disarm an armed group. This is not particular to Hezbollah. This is what, you know, examples around the world, lessons learned from around the world show us.

When you have a political party that is also an armed state, armed militia, that also has an entire network of social services, that also has a significant constituency, the only way to disarm it without it being an attack against a single community is to have both the military and the political process.

You need to build internal consensus around this as well. The Lebanese, for the most part, want these arms to be done away with, but the current trajectory, which is trying to place the army face-to-face with Hezbollah, will only drag and bring more civil strife.

I think from Israel's side, this conditionality is really about open- ended occupation, and it's almost like a chicken-and-egg situation, and they're the ones who are supposed to verify whether Hezbollah has disarmed, whether the Lebanese army is making its, is basically living up to its obligations, et cetera.

The problem with where we are today is I'm not seeing a way out. Israel persists in its occupation. It reinforces Hezbollah's narrative that armed resistance is necessary to liberate occupied Lebanese territory. And the devastation is severe.

RIPLEY: Stepping back a bit, just bigger picture, how are the Gulf states looking at all of this? And how do you think this is likely to affect the balance of power and their relationship with the U.S.?

[02:09:58]

YAHYA: I think for the Gulf states, they've really taken a big hit at every single level. The fiscal space that was there before this war started has shrunk. They need to invest a lot more in their own economies, in their own. I mean, they're all suffering in every single way, without any exceptions.

I don't think they expected this kind of escalation. Most of them were pretty upset that, you know, Israel and the U.S. decided to go to war without even any consideration of what that would mean for their own countries. So, there is a lot of angst around this.

But they've also doubled down on the relationship with the United States. There's a security umbrella there that has been-it's not an umbrella, really, but agreements that have been in place for decades. You don't move out of these agreements overnight. So, it will take time.

What I'm seeing them do, I mean, it varies from country to country, is to try and diversify their relationships. We saw this new pact that came out between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Turkey. Other countries may join. We still don't know what it actually means effectively, how is this going to translate. But there are moves within the region where various countries are trying to create an alternative security architecture, one that can protect them in any kind of future event.

They're also building-strengthening their relationships with China, among other countries. So, I think the name of the game now, even more than before, this had already started before but even more than before, is to try and hedge your bets and try and build as broad a network of alliances as one possibly can. In the case of the UAE in particular, they've also doubled down on

their relationship with Israel, which was not clear it was going to happen initially. But it looks like they've now doubled down on that particular relationship. Come with me.

RIPLEY: Yes. You mentioned China, Beijing, kind of sitting back and watching all of this unfold, looking at the United States, the actions that are being taken, and how they can try to benefit as much as possible from this chaotic situation.

Maha, really appreciate your expertise. Thanks for joining us from Beirut. Appreciate it.

YAHYA: Thank you for having me.

RIPLEY: Israel's government is moving forward with a settlement plan in the occupied West Bank that could split the territory in two. The scheme would divide the West Bank into north and south, making a contiguous Palestinian state impossible, while splitting East Jerusalem.

Israel's housing ministry is asking for bids to construct more than 1,200 housing units near Jerusalem, with the goal of creating a continuous block of Jewish settlements from East Jerusalem to the West Bank.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the E1 settlement project is one that right-wing Israeli politicians have sought to carry out for years now, but it's been delayed over repeated international criticism of the project and warnings to the Israeli government. But last year, the Israeli government finally approved the project, and now the Israeli housing ministry has issued a notice inviting bids on the construction of more than 1,200 housing units as part of this project.

Now the Israeli government wants to create this project in order to connect Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem to Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But from the Palestinian perspective, one of the reasons why this is so controversial is that this project would also cut off Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, and it would also sever the major artery between the northern half of the West Bank and the southern half of that same territory. And in doing so, it would threaten the possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank with East Jerusalem as its capital.

And that is exactly the goal of some far-right Israeli politicians, like the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who said that the Palestinian state is being erased from the table, not with slogans, but with actions.

Now this is already drawing fierce criticism from the international community, including from the British foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, who said, quote, "this Israeli government's publication of a tender for the E1 settlement project is an unacceptable and destructive act. The Israeli government must halt E1 plans immediately, retract the tender, and stop all settlement expansion."

Now not only the United Kingdom, but also a number of other European countries have threatened sanctions for any companies that would participate in the building of this project, and they've also threatened diplomatic action against Israel for moving forward with this project, one that of course will be keeping a very close eye on.

[02:15:06]

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

RIPLEY: The European Commission is warning about the growing threat of hybrid warfare following a new incident on Thursday.

Look at this video. It shows Romanian F-16 jets striking a marine drone near an offshore gas project in the Black Sea. Romania says it believes the explosives-packed drone was launched by Russia.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin is not letting up on its attacks on Kiev, where air raid alerts sounded at least three times on Thursday alone. That followed a massive barrage the night before, when Ukraine said at least 17 people were killed and dozens of people wounded.

The war in Iran, inflation, the upcoming midterms, despite all those priorities on the plate of the president of the United States, Donald Trump is reaching out to North Korea's Supreme Leader, who says his nukes are non-negotiable. So, what does Trump hope to gain?

[02:20:00]

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RIPLEY: Here in Hong Kong, two organizers of what used to be this city's annual vigil to remember the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing have been found guilty of inciting subversion. The verdict is part of a years-long crackdown by Hong Kong authorities in the name of national security.

On June 4, 1989, China's leadership sent troops and tanks to break up pro-democracy demonstrations in the middle of Beijing. Judges ruled the pair had engaged in activities intended to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party. Beijing and the Hong Kong government say the national security laws enacted here in 2020 were needed to return the city to order and stability. The two organizers face up to 10 years in prison.

The annual U.S.-South Korea war games will end in the coming hours, just five days ahead of their original schedule. They were supposed to go on into next week. President Trump scaled them back, saying he made a new outreach to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

But despite the apparent goodwill gesture, no one in Pyongyang is confirming the two leaders are even in touch.

Tonight, a new suspected ballistic missile launch from North Korea, the third test South Korea and Japan tracked just this month. But North Korean state media is unusually silent, as one of Pyongyang's most powerful voices pushes back on President Trump's latest claims about Kim Jong-un.

The North Korean leader's younger sister, Kim Yo-jong, says she knows absolutely nothing about any recent communication between her brother and Trump. Perhaps it is the only matter I do not know about in relation to our Supreme Leadership's foreign policy, she says.

The statement follows an extraordinary few days. Trump touting how great he gets along with Kim, posting this old picture and even a meme of Kim on the phone, saying, hey, Donald, we cool, right?

At Trump's direction, U.S. and South Korea are abruptly cutting their biggest summertime military exercise from 11 days to five. Trump calling the exercises costly and hostile, blaming Seoul for failing to help denuclearize Iran. Kim's sister seems unimpressed.

Reducing the scale or duration of an exercise does not change the nature of military exercises that are provocative and aggressive, she says. South Korea's President, Lee Jae-myung, posting on X, he respects President Trump's effort to create conditions for dialogue and says he hopes it can restart talks with Pyongyang.

Trump telling reporters he plans to meet with Kim this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He has 57 very powerful nuclear weapons. They should have never allowed it to happen. They should have never allowed it. I?f I were president, I ?wouldn't have allowed it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: But experts say Kim's nuclear arsenal has only grown since Trump's historic diplomacy during his first term ended with no deal. And Kim is no longer nearly as isolated. His closest military partner now, Russian strongman Vladimir Putin.

This weekend, as Trump was posting about Kim, Kim was publicly praising Putin and their anti-U.S. alliance, invoking their shared struggle for justice. North Korea is supplying weapons and manpower for Putin's war in Ukraine, giving Kim's military modern combat experience. Kim's sister acknowledges her brother still has personally good memories and feelings toward Trump, but says, nevertheless, the United States' hostile policy has not changed.

In fact, earlier this year, the North Korean leader told his parliament the Iran war proves he was right not to give up his nuclear weapons. The United States is now resorting to acts of state-sponsored terrorism and aggression, he said. The hostile forces wanted us to make a different choice, preaching a payment for our giving up of nuclear weapons. But the present situation clearly proves our nuclear possession is irreversible.

Which raises the question, if nukes are off the table, then what would Trump and Kim actually talk about?

For more analysis, we're joined from Zurich by Duyeon Kim. She's an adjunct senior fellow with the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security.

Duyeon, it's been a long time. It's good to see you. Good to talk to you.

I have a feeling we might be talking a lot more in the coming months, because now all this buzz is whether there's actually going to be a meeting or not.

But I just want to start with, if Kim's sister, which publicly she's stating she knows absolutely nothing about any communication with President Trump, I mean, if there's anyone in his inner circle who would know about this, it would probably be Kim Yo-jong, right? So, do you think there was any communication?

[02:24:59]

DUYEON KIM, ADJUNCT SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: Well, Will, first of all, thanks for having me. It's great to see you again.

So, we just don't know. That's the short answer to your question. However, you know, even if there were communications or there will be communications going forward, I would expect North Korea to play a little hard to get before they decide to meet Trump, if they even do decide to do it.

Perhaps President Trump felt that saying it publicly was his way of communicating, quote unquote, to his, quote unquote, good friends, Kim Jong-un. So, this all remains to be seen. But you know, all joking aside, really, there are serious issues on the table.

And North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he really does not have an incentive to meet President Trump right now, because he gets everything he needs from both Russia and China. And so, I'd actually be really surprised if Kim Jong-un does decide to meet Trump. If he does, you know, we can really expect him to want, first, recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapon state and allow North Korea to have nuclear weapons indefinitely, and even to stop all U.S.-South Korea joint military exercises, among many other key items that North Korea might demand.

And so these are issues that are very difficult, or I would, it's hard to imagine Washington would be prepared to give back in return.

RIPLEY: And those would probably be the concessions just to get Kim to the table, right? Just to agree to talks.

KIM: Right. And so, we've heard North Korea say time and time again that the United States has to drop its so-called hostile policy towards North Korea and not lead with denuclearization for any type of summit discussion between the two leaders. And so, these, that's a very high demand, but that's something that we do expect North Korea to make North Korea tends to give very little and ask for a huge price or huge rewards and concessions in return.

And so, you know, it's not going to be easy. And if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants to have a photo-op, sure, maybe the photo-op is enough for him. But again, in practical terms, it's receiving everything it needs from both Russia and China. And so, and Kim Jong- un, he's really not, he's very calculating and he's very strategic. And so this is where President Trump will have to go in if they do meet with a clear strategy.

RIPLEY: So is there any scenario where the North Koreans actually would need the United States again? Where the United States would actually have leverage? For example, if the Ukraine war comes to an end or the other regional situation changes somehow with Russia and China?

KIM: Sure. And that's precisely a good point. So if, you know, the Russia-North Korea relationship starts to fizzle or has a falling out, sure, I can imagine North Korea wanting to rekindle its relationship with the United States. And so, and for various reasons, for economic assistance and others.

And so that's one scenario. And also, you know, North Korea, even though it's enjoying its close relationship with Moscow, it doesn't like to put all of its eggs in one basket. And so, in order to diversify and even have so-called insurance policy for its survival, there might be a point in the future if that relationship with Moscow goes south, then perhaps North Korea will want to start to reengage the United States.

But for now, at least until the Ukraine war lasts, it's very difficult to imagine what he would actually want to receive from the United States when we know that North Korea is very clear-eyed when it comes to dealing with President Trump.

RIPLEY: And Kim Jong-un has really maneuvered himself into such a strong position, kind of looking at all of the instability and chaos around the world, and planting himself right in a spot where he's really indispensable to Russia right now. But as you point out, it's a very transactional relationship, and things can change.

Duyeon Kim, we have to leave it there. I wish we had an hour to talk about this, but I have a feeling we'll be talking much more. So it's great to have you on. Thanks very much for your time.

KIM: Thanks for having me.

RIPLEY: This week on CNN's new streaming show, Meanwhile in Asia, I sat down with co-hosts Ivan Watson and Kunal Sehgal for an in-depth look at this story that is making headlines all week, this possible diplomatic opening between the U.S. and North Korea. Here's just a piece of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KUNAL SEHGAL, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: President Trump constantly talks about how South Korea has not done enough militarily to support the U.S. troops that are making --

(CROSSTALK)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Because the (inaudible) are marching off the Americans.

SEHGAL: Yes. I mean, what do you make of that? Like, what can the South Koreans do now?

RIPLEY: Look, I think President Lee in South Korea would actually love it if President Trump were to resume diplomacy with Kim Jong-un and make some headway in defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. That's something that he asked President Trump to do fairly recently. He asked him to be the leader, to be the peacemaker, and he said he would be the pacemaker to keep the talks pumping along, keep them alive.

[02:30:04]

So I think that South Korea does understand the situation that they're in, and they're going to try to work with the United States as best they can.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's incredible. The most isolated country in the world now has kind of resumed positive, good, friendly relations with China, its longtime friend. It now has a mutual defense treaty with Russia, which presumably North Korea is making now potentially billions of dollars a year off of contributing to Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine.

Does Kim Jong Un need anything from the U.S. right now?

RIPLEY: And also, Russia has veto power at the United Nations so it can protect them from additional sanctions.

WATSON: There you go.

RIPLEY: As well as China.

WATSON: It is a tremendous reversal. And it comes back to that argument or that question. Is North Korea more dangerous than ever before? And it certainly looks more confident, I think, than we've seen it in quite some time.

RIPLEY: From the perspective of the West, you could look at North Korea and say there's really nothing stopping them from continuing to grow militarily and also to grow economically.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: We talked about a lot more than that. So, check out the full episode of "Meanwhile in Asia" right now on our streaming site, CNN All Access if you're inside the United States. If you're outside of the U.S., you can find it right now on CNN's YouTube page.

Okay. Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong. Well, Africans flooding into a Spanish territory became fuel for Europe's right wing. Many other migrants play a vital role in the European economy. We go inside what's known as the continent's vegetable garden

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:36:04]

RIPLEY: Spanish police are helping move hundreds of migrants from a beach camp in the tiny territory of Ceuta into temporary shelters. Many first waited in parking lots before the voluntary relocation. It's meant to offer better living conditions to people who have been sleeping outside. Tents and bunk beds are being provided by the Spanish government. This is coming just weeks after tens of thousands of migrants crossed from Morocco into Ceuta. Spain says most of them have now returned home.

Images of those illegal crossings set off outrage across parts of Europe and far beyond, even though many of those same areas rely very heavily on migrant labor.

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh traveled to southern Spain to meet some of the migrants who helped feed the continent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chaos and utter human despair at Spain's doors scenes, the fast became fuel for the far right and growing anti-immigration voices on both sides of the Atlantic but behind these images lies a more complex reality, as we found on our journey to try to understand Europe's immigration debate and what drives so many to risk everything to get here.

KARADSHEH: We are in the middle of a sea of plastic so vast its visible from space greenhouses everywhere you look. This is Almeria in southern Spain. It is often described as Europe's vegetable garden because of this concentration of greenhouses, it produces millions of tons of fresh fruit and vegetables every year, enough to feed half a billion people.

KARADSEH (voice-over): In the shadow of one of Europe's agricultural heartlands exists a darker side rarely seen slums like this one that have been around for years, home to part of the massive African workforce helping feed this continent. In a scene of squalor in modern day Europe, we find migrants from North and West Africa.

In his previous life, Amoateng Foster was a math teacher in Ghana. Two years ago, he left it all behind, saying he paid smugglers about $2,300 for a perilous journey through Libya and across the mediterranean, eventually making it to Spain

AMOATENG FOSTER, GHANAIAN MIGRANT WORKER; And I'm not going to recommend anybody to do so. Very dangerous

KARADSEH (voice-over): He shows us around this rundown shack he shares with another worker.

FOSTER: So this is my place. KARADSEH (voice-over): Amoateng story is that of so many parents

enduring the subhuman conditions, all for the future of his kids, he says, to save enough to put them through college.

KARADSHEH: A lot of people are saying, we don't want any migrants close the borders. I mean, how does it make you feel?

FOSTER: It becomes a little bit worrying. Everything that they are doing here is farming and the workers that they are using, all of us are immigrants. These white people can't do it. The government saw that we are helping them. They are also helping us. It's a mutual benefit.

KARADSEH (voice-over): The Spanish economy relies on migrant workers so heavily that the government announced an amnesty in April, offering legal status to hundreds of thousands already in the country. Amoateng hopes being here legally would bring him rights and respect.

FOSTER: If you are outside the fence, you may think that it is rosy here, it's not rosy here. Look at the environment that we live in. But when you are outside, you may think that, oh, Europe is, Europe. No, no, no, no, there's no roses here because you suffer before you can get a cent. Do you know how much they are giving us here, how much they give us here to work in this farm? For one hour, they give you five euros. This hot environment like this, you kneel down like this, work continuously, just like that. And they give you five euros.

KARADSEH (voice-over): We get a glimpse into that grueling reality. Amoateng described inside one of the countless greenhouses.

[02:40:00]

These men spent hours delicately planting tomatoes. Their hard labor will soon fill the shelves of European supermarkets. In the sweltering summer heat, temperatures must remain constant in here.

KARADSHEH: We've been here for a few minutes, and this heat is intense. I'm sweating and I can't begin to imagine what it's like for these guys working in these conditions, in this heat. Apparently, it hit 44 degrees or 111 Fahrenheit earlier today, and they have to do this for hours and hours.

KARADSEH (voice-over): The owner of this greenhouse told us he only hires documented workers and pays the legal minimum wage.

But across Almeria, you find so many who are undocumented, vulnerable to exploitation, some of it happening in plain sight. At roundabouts and street corners, they wait to be picked up for off the book jobs that pay well below the minimum wage.

Off camera business owners told us they pay what they can afford to still make a profit.

The arrival of foreign labor helped revive a region that was once in decline. All around here, you find thriving migrant communities that have left their mark on this place, and the far right has seized on that.

In suburbs like La Canada that overwhelmingly voted for the populist radical right party Vox, in the last election, we find pensioners echoing the rhetoric of these parties.

If they can work and have papers, great. The rest is an invasion. They tell us they are people who don't want to integrate.

It's a narrative that's been gaining traction across Europe. Fears of demographic change and migrants being blamed for the rise in the cost of living. Scattered graffiti hints at brewing tensions this one reads no Muslims, no NGOs.

Perhaps a message for the groups on the frontline of this crisis, like the Mercedarian Sisters of Charity, the calls for help to this Catholic NGO helping migrants get back on their feet seem nonstop during our visit.

SISTER FRANCISCA, MERCEDARIAN SISTERS OF CHARITY (translated): No, I'm sorry my boy.

KARADSEH (voice-over): Sister Francisca turned 80 this month, but there's no rest for this woman on a mission.

SISTER FRANCISCA (translated): The most common thing is that ask us for is a sandwich, and they tell us, "I'm hungry".

KARADSHEH: So they come saying, we're hungry, we want a sandwich.

SISTER FRANCISCA (translated): Of course, they come here asking for something to eat.

KARADSEH (voice-over): But their food distribution center, the hungry queue for donations from local supermarkets. Emil (ph) tells us she hasn't eaten today. Sometimes she doesn't have money to buy water and bread. She had to leave her six and four-year-old children in Morocco, she tells us, and came here on a contract to pick strawberries. After a dispute with her employer, she found herself on the street begging for any work.

"It was poverty that brought me here," she says. "If I had something back home, I wouldn't have come."

Sister Francisca remembers a time when there were no migrants here. Then the greenhouses came. The road to a better life has led so many to this miserable place. It is in this land of plastic and shattered dreams, where Europe's paradox is laid bare.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN. Almeria, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: The U.S. has deported its first group of migrants to the West African nation of Liberia. The group of 20 arrived in the capital, Monrovia, Thursday. Liberia's information minister says most would be from Latin American countries, including Cuba, Colombia and Venezuela. The U.S. has not publicly disclosed their nationalities. Their arrival marks the start of a new agreement for Liberia to accept up to 1,200 deportees from third countries over the next year, as part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to remove migrants who cannot be directly returned to their home countries.

Similar arrangements are in place with several other African nations. Rights groups have raised serious concerns about the risks faced by those deported to third countries, where they have no family, no resources. Also, the lack of transparency surrounding the process.

Prince Harry and his family are moving back to Britain. So how do Londoners feel about the spare son returning home? As you can imagine, there are lots of opinions

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:49:29]

RIPLEY: Royal watchers here in Hong Kong, Britain, all around the world really are reacting to the news that Prince Harry and his family will be moving back to the U.K. later this month. On Thursday, the British prime minister, Andy Burnham, was asked if the government will provide and pay for their security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, this is a private matter. It's a matter for Harry and for Meghan and we wish them well in the move that they're making.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: But no mention about the cost of security.

[02:50:00]

People on the streets of London, they have some opinions about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLIVER, ACCOUNTANT: I'm not especially happy about it because they trashed the whole country numerous times, betrayed -- betrayed their family, betrayed his king, his father, went off to America. And now they're bored. And now they want to come back.

EDWARD OWEN, SHIP BROKER: But maybe he's just truly British at the end of the day. And he just misses -- misses home. But, I don't know. It's very odd. It's all been a complete surprise to us, hasn't it?

HANNAH PERRY, WORKS AT A THINK TANK: I guess I think it suggests hopefully they're in a happier place. Perhaps they feel more welcome. And I hope it means good things for them as a couple.

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RIPLEY: Let's go to CNN's royal correspondent, Max Foster. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a move nobody saw coming; Prince Harry and Meghan returning to the U.K., six years after they stepped back from official royal duties and fell out with other members of the royal family.

Both the Duke and the Duchess of Sussex have spoken out repeatedly about the unfair treatment they believe they received in the U.K., including tabloid intrusion and racism in the British establishment.

In April, Meghan told young people during a visit to Australia --

MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: For now, 10 years. Every day for 10 years, I've been bullied and attacked. And I was the most trolled person in the entire world. Man, hold on. I'm still here.

FOSTER (voice-over): Why the couple have decided to return now is unclear. A source close to the couple only remarked how much they enjoyed their visit to the U.K. last month.

In July, King Charles hosted Harry, Meghan and their children at his private country residence in Gloucestershire. It was the first time in four years that the King had seen the whole family.

However, Harry has made several solo trips back to the U.K. since moving to California, including after King Charles' cancer diagnosis.

FOSTER: CNN understands that when the family moves over to the United Kingdom, they'll be staying in a private residence, not a royal residence. And they won't be returning to their full-time royal roles.

Where that residence will be is a mystery at this point, but the British media speculating it could be in the affluent Cotswolds in the countryside and Oxfordshire. It could be near Althorp House, which is the Spencer family ancestral home where Princess Diana, Harry's mother, is buried. Or it could possibly be near friends that they've retained here in the United Kingdom.

The other big question is about security, how that will be afforded. Prince Harry recently lost the case against the government's decision to downgrade their taxpayer-funded security.

FOSTER (voice-over): In the BBC interview last year, he said the decision made it impossible for him to return to the U.K. with his family explaining --

PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: I can't see a world in which I would be bringing my wife and children back to the U.K. at this point, no matter how much private security I have around me. There's only so much that I can do and -- and operate and function within the U.K. when it comes to supporting my charities, visiting my friends, all of these things.

FOSTER (voice-over): However, the couple's children, Prince Archie, seven and Princess Lilibet five, have now been enrolled at British schools. The new school year begins in September, meaning, their move is likely to take place soon, possibly within a matter of days.

MEGHAN MARKLE: Are you feeling excited for your parents?

FOSTER (voice-over): Once back, the couple are expected to carry on the kind of charity work they've been doing in California and outside the U.K.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Australia.

FOSTER (voice-over): It's not yet clear how long they'll stay, or how closely they'll coordinate with the Royal household to avoid clashes in public engagements and how they'll be folded into private royal family events.

CNN understands the king was only told on Sunday about their decision to move back.

The Sussexes may have kept their secret until now, but how much privacy they can hold once they're back in the U.K. remains to be seen.

Max Foster, CNN, Buckingham Palace, London.

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RIPLEY: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. We're live from Hong Kong and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:56:38]

RIPLEY: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, have added another property to their portfolio in Europe. A spokesman says the couple bought this gorgeous 19th century castle in southeastern Ireland. It's a gothic style mansion overlooking a river. It's located about 120 miles from Meta's European headquarters. The property is worth reportedly as much as $35 million. Spokesman said Zuckerberg and his family are looking forward to spending time in Ireland.

Happy birthday to Ethel Caterham, named by Guinness as the world's oldest living person, she just turned a youthful 117 years old. She was born in 1909. She's been the last living subject of King Edward VIII, the eldest son of Queen Victoria, and she says her secret to a long life is just to say yes to every opportunity, because you never know what it will lead to. That's great advice. Ethel's own adventure began at 18, when she left England for India on her own.

Happy birthday Ethel.

Thanks for joining us this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, live from Hong Kong. I'm Will Ripley. I'll be back after a quick break with more news.