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Kushner, Witkoff Meeting Putin in Russia For Ukraine Negotiations; Hurricane Lowell Becomes Third Storm in Weeks to Threaten Hawaii; Musk's Political Power Play; Judge Declares Mistrial in Clancy's Triple-Murder Trial; Rethinking the World Map. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 05, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: -- as both Kushner and Witkoff have started their meeting with Putin.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, they arrived at the Kremlin not too long ago. And these meetings, which have started, are focused on potential ways to bring this years-long conflict to an end. But already we are seeing some acknowledgement from Russian President Vladimir Putin of the challenges ahead, making it clear that these are not going to be easy discussions.

Now, as the U.S. delegation is making this trip, both sides have agreed for a three-day pause on attacks when it comes to the cities where these negotiations are taking place. And Moscow is expected to be the first stop on this trip. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy has confirmed that there are plans for these two to visit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, tomorrow. And that stop would be the first for these envoys, as the country has been seeing a barrage of Russian missiles in recent weeks, and as Ukraine has been pleading with the United States for more Patriot missiles to help intercept those attacks.

Now, President Donald Trump, he's spending his weekend here in New Jersey at one of his properties nearby. But as you pointed out, he did speak on this. He previewed the trip while in the Oval Office yesterday. He said that both Witkoff and Kushner are great negotiators, and that essentially, they're going to see what they can get done during this trip.

He also commented on the complicated nature of these discussions. And that part is notable, because as he started his second term, he repeatedly said that he believed this conflict would be the easiest to bring to an end, and that it would happen very quickly. He now says that he and his team have some ideas for peace as these discussions take place. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Now, we have an idea for peace. Look, I said late wars. Most of them were supposed to be, in my opinion, more difficult than Russia-Ukraine. There's a personality problem in Russia-Ukraine. You have President Zelenskyy and President Putin. They truly hate each other. Do you know what hate is? They have serious hate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Previous attempts at bringing an end to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine stalled last winter after multiple rounds of talks mediated by the United States. And those talks failed over disagreements when it comes to security guarantees and territory specifically.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Julia Benbrook reporting for us from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Thank you.

Let's continue the conversation. Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt joins us now. He's also former assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs in the George W. Bush White House. Thank you so much for joining us this holiday weekend.

So, let's start with what you think it will take for Vladimir Putin to take an off-ramp from this war at this point. And is it an ominous sign that we are now seeing more brazen gray zone attacks against neighboring NATO allies?

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET), FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL-MILITARY AFFAIRS AND U.S. ARMY (RET.): Well, on the first issue with Ukraine, I don't think he has any intention to end this war until Ukraine in general and Zelenskyy in particular agree to his basic war termination goals. He gets to stay in the Donbas. He gets to ensure that Zelenskyy does not get the country to join NATO. And he has absolutely no plans to offer reparations. And those are the key demands of Zelenskyy. So, I think we're going to see this war continue for quite some time.

GOLODRYGA: And on your concerns of continued strikes using sort of gray zone tactics against neighboring countries, the majority of them NATO countries and members?

KIMMITT: Yes. I think that that may be a bridge too far for Vladimir Putin to cross, which is any kind of actual attack into the NATO countries. He's been conducting gray zone attacks, hybrid attacks for years and years, whether it's shutting down some of the electricity, shutting down the internet in Estonia seven years ago. Those gray zone attacks aren't new.

What we need to be concerned about is the chances of Russia doing a full-scale attack into NATO. But I would say if he can't beat one non- NATO nation, he'll have a hard time beating 27 NATO nations.

GOLODRYGA: Let me switch gears now and turn to Iran for a moment, because we did get breaking news with CENTCOM this morning announcing that U.S. forces struck three Iranian oil tankers after Iranian missile attacks on two U.S. warships.

[14:05:00] The U.S. is saying that these tanker strikes were retaliation. In your view, is this exchange a sign of restoring deterrence on the United States' side, or is this driving perhaps yet another escalation between these two factions?

KIMMITT: Well, I really think that's up to Iran, not the United States. The United States, up to this point, is conducting a series of tit-for-tat attacks. The IRGC shot a couple of missiles at our warships, and this is what is being done in response.

I think the United States is perfectly happy to continue on the diplomatic and the economic track without having to use military personnel, military equipment, or, more importantly, military ammunition. So, I don't think we'll see the Americans, unless something dramatic happens like the sinking of one of our warships, going back into full-scale military escalation, instead hoping that economic and somewhat diplomatic efforts will turn the tide at this point.

GOLODRYGA: I'd like to get your response to perhaps -- and I don't think that these are two deviating points being made, but two really significant and well-sourced articles this weekend, both in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal suggesting that the first time in six months that's time may actually not be on Iran's side, specifically as it pertains to trying to hold the Strait of Hormuz.

Oil has barely been able to get through since July for the country that has been under dire economic strife since even before this war began. That's only been exacerbated. And then The New York Times also reporting that, per U.S. intelligence, Iran feels even stronger and more emboldened going forward in the months ahead. Where are you on this particular issue?

KIMMITT: Well, I would say I've never been a believer in sanctions alone driving a regime to change its behavior. All we have to do is point to Cuba, where we've had sanctions on them for 65 years, and seeing that sanctions alone can't make the difference. The question is, will a combination of sanctions, military, and diplomatic efforts make a difference? I think in the general population in Iran, they would say, yes, let's get back to the negotiating table.

But the fact remains, to your second point, it still remains a closed society with regards to governance. The first people that will suffer if the country breaks away from their attitude about maintaining a stiff Islamic revolution are the IRGC and the ruling class. They're the ones that are going to lose. So, I think they have every reason in the world to continue a hardline approach.

So, there's no doubt that the economic sanctions are having an effect. 70 percent inflation. You can't buy a loaf of bread without a wheelbarrow full of their money. The pressure is on the country and on the people in particular. That's our best hope. But our worst hope remains the fact that the country is being essentially running by a dictatorship. And as we see inside of Russia, where Putin is not willing to change his behavior, we're seeing the same thing in Iran as well.

GOLODRYGA: And looking at these two wars, obviously Russia and Iran have been closely tied economically and providing intelligence and missile technology for many years. How important is it, in your view, that both Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff present some sort of ultimatum or threat, at the very least, of Vladimir Putin to knock it off?

KIMMITT: Well, look, the fact that Russia is providing support to Iran is the least surprising piece of news that we should look at. The fact is that we've been providing intelligence and support to Ukraine for years and years, and for him to do the same with Iran should not surprise anybody. I don't think that Kushner and Witkoff will have any effect on President Putin delinking himself from his support for Iran.

GOLODRYGA: But you're not linking the two different arguments here, right, that perhaps Vladimir Putin will be making that, oh, it's OK for us to support Iran if you support Ukraine?

KIMMITT: Well, I certainly am. I mean, why in the world would he not support a country that's killing Americans, as long as we're supporting a country that's killing Russians?

GOLODRYGA: But do you think that's a valid argument?

[14:10:00]

KIMMITT: I don't think it's a valid justification. And in fact, I think it is everything that Witkoff and Kushner ought to be negotiating for. But for -- to suggest that somehow, it's either news or it's somehow unpredictable that he would do that, or unable to predict that he'd do that, I'm simply saying it shouldn't surprise us that he is doing it.

You can go back to any major war that we fought, where China was supporting North Vietnam and the Viet Cong. It goes on and on. And we were supporting Russia in its fight against Nazi Germany for years and years before we entered the war. It's the old concept of the enemy of our enemy is our friend.

GOLODRYGA: General Mark Kimmitt, we appreciate the time and perspective. Thank you.

KIMMITT: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: And still to come for us, 10 days after devastating flash floods hit Nepal, rescuers are still finding people alive. Two more people pulled to safety just today. We'll show you the amazing rescues.

Also, Hawaii on alert again as a hurricane bears down on the islands, the third storm in as many weeks to threaten the state. This one is the strongest one yet. We are tracking this Category 4 storm and its path.

Plus, the world map you grew up with may soon look very different, a push to change how we see the planet and the parts of the world that could look very different.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:15:00]

GOLODRYGA: And major developments tell you about a Nepal where two more people have been rescued. Disaster workers pulled a woman alive from a flood damaged building 10 days after devastating flooding swept through the region.

Video shows a 60-year-old woman being lifted from the upper floor of a four-story building. Nepali army officials said she sustained a deep injury to her right leg. A relative now tells CNN that she will undergo a leg operation.

There was another remarkable rescue to tell you about. A joint team of Nepalian international rescuers pulled a Chinese national alive from a tunnel. Officials say he was found about 245 yards inside the tunnel. These rescues come 10 days after catastrophic flooding hit the country's border with China, killing more than 1,300 people, according to a CNN tally of official reports from both countries.

And Monday on "The Whole Story," Anderson Cooper reports from Nepal as rescue team continues to search for survivors from the floods. "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" airs Monday at 9:00 p.m. on CNN and the next day on the CNN app.

And we are following a new hurricane threatening the Hawaiian coast, the third storm in less than a month. Right now, Hawaii is under a state of emergency as it braces for Hurricane Lowell to arrive Monday. The National Hurricane Center says the system is fluctuating between category four and five strength and is currently at a high category four with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour.

New video from NOAA hurricane hunters show crews flying inside the storm Friday as it makes its way to the westernmost Hawaiian islands. Forecasters say a shift of less than 100 miles east could mean more direct impacts and are bracing for dangerously rough seas and coastal flooding.

Well, as for the continental U.S., Labor Day marks the unofficial end to summer, but high temperatures will be here all weekend. More than 50 million people are celebrating while under heat alerts. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar takes a look at the holiday forecast ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. More than 50 million people are under some type of heat alert. You can see the heat advisories. That's the orange color on the screen and then the extreme heat warnings in the pink. And for a lot of these areas, they're going to be under these heat alerts for several days because the temperatures weren't just hot today, it's going to continue for the rest of the holiday weekend. Sunday, look at this 101 in Oklahoma City. Same thing in Dallas, 94 for both Atlanta and Nashville. Now, we do see a slight cool down for some of those cities, but it's actually because we're going to be adding in the chance for showers and thunderstorms because a lot of the heat that's out there is what's spurring the storms across many areas.

Now, you can see through much of the evening hours, we're still dealing with those pop-up showers and thunderstorms across areas of the southeast, spreading down over along the Gulf Coast region. But we also have new storms that are going to develop through the overnight hours so that by the time we get to early Sunday, you're actually looking at a line of storms here across portions of the Midwest.

Also, some showers and possibly even thunderstorms for areas like Las Vegas and portions of Southern California. By late Sunday, we're still continuing to see the moisture out to the west, but we've also got the new development that will start to fire up late into the afternoon and evening hours across the southeast and the Gulf Coast region once again.

For today, there is a risk of severe weather. You're mainly looking at damaging winds for areas like Charlotte, Raleigh, Richmond, stretching up to Indianapolis and then back down to Atlanta. And then we could be looking at some strong thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday as well.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:20:00]

GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Allison. And the toughest Week one opponent many college football teams will likely face today, the punishing heat. Several matchups this afternoon will see temperatures approaching triple digits, and the heat index will add another 5 to 10 degrees more. Some locations are even under heat advisories or extreme heat warnings. University of Georgia versus Tennessee State could also break the record for the hottest UGA season home opener. The school tells CNN affiliate WSB that misting tents and water bottle refill stations will be in place. That's good to know. Wow, those are high temperatures.

All right. Still to come for us, the world's richest man is putting his money into the midterms. Elon Musk's super PAC now spending to help Republicans, including Ken Paxton's Senate campaign in Texas. What fellow Texan, Musk, may be betting on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:00]

GOLODRYGA: All right. Now, to some new CNN reporting and the midterms. Elon Musk, the world's richest person, is opening the wallet of his super PAC to help Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton close the fundraising advantage of his Democratic opponent in the Texas Senate race, James Tallarico.

Joining me live is CNN reporter Patrick Svitek. So, Patrick, what are you learning about this and his role? PATRICK SVITEK, CNN REPORTER: Yes, this is a major development as we see Republicans start to get more organized and coordinated in their outside spending ahead of the midterms. And so, Elon Musk's super PAC, known as America PAC, made its first independent expenditures in the midterms in recent days. And we've since seen a little more spending from the group. About close to $4 million has been disclosed in spending.

And a lot of that spending has gone toward the Texas Senate race, which is an urgent priority for Republican leadership right now. The Republican nominee in that race is in a very tight race against Democrat James Tallarico. Of course, Texas is a historically red state. It would be a political earthquake if Republicans were to lose that state.

And as far as Elon Musk's interests in Texas go, they are vast. I mean, he has business interests. SpaceX is headquartered in South Texas. His companies are developing a huge semiconductor manufacturing facility outside of Houston. And he's also very politically connected to the state these days as a result of those business interests. The statewide officials there, including Governor Greg Abbott, have welcomed him with open arms.

And so, it makes a lot of sense to the extent you can read the tea leaves on this early spending by his PAC, that he would focus on Texas.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and he has been quite open about just this scenario, about him opening his wallet and helping Republican candidates ahead of the midterm. So, perhaps this shouldn't be as much of a surprise. And Paxton isn't the only Republican who's benefiting from his influx of cash here. Who else is Musk boosting?

SVITEK: Yes. If you look at these campaign finance filings, his early spending is targeting a number of other pretty traditional battleground races, or at least races that we all know are part of the battle for control of Congress in November. And so, for example, he's also targeting the Alaska Senate race. He's targeting House races like Arizona's 6th Congressional District, which is represented by Republican Juan Ciscomani. It is a traditional battleground district. Donald Trump won it by just one percentage point in 2024.

And so, beyond the Senate race in Texas, so far, this Elon Musk group appears to be focused on what we all agree are some of the most competitive races in the midterms.

GOLODRYGA: You'll be following it for us over the next few weeks. Patrick Svitek, thank you.

SVITEK: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, speaking of Elon Musk, the tech billionaire has thrown his support behind Germany's far-right party, which could win one of tomorrow's state elections, making it the first far-right party to lead a German state government since World War II. CNN's Fred Pleitgen shares this report from Dessau, Germany. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Despite the captivating grin, some believe this might be Germany's most dangerous man. Ulrich Siegmund, candidate for the Right-Wing Alternative for Germany, or AfD, could soon become the first far-right state governor in Germany since World War II.

The other parties have lost voters' trust, Siegmund tells me, at a campaign rally. For decades they did exactly the opposite of what they promised.

I caught up with Ulrich Siegmund on the sidelines of an AFD event in Dessau in the East German state Saxony-Anhalt ahead of this weekend's election that Berlin's political establishment is watching with trepidation. The AfD is miles ahead of all other parties in pre- election polls. The top issue by far, folks here tell me, immigration.

I ask Verena whether there's a bandwidth of issues or if immigration tops everything. I think right now with the children. For me and the children, yes, it's immigration, she says.

The AfD openly calls for mass deportation of undocumented foreigners and foreigners who committed crimes, a policy AfD chairwoman, Alice Weidel, controversially calls re-migration. Cheered on at a 2025 campaign event by the self-declared AfD supporter, Elon Musk.

The federal government in Berlin ultimately decides immigration policy, but many Germans fear electing a far-right state governor could seriously damage the whole country's reputation. I can't imagine international investors turning up for groundbreaking ceremonies with an AfD state governor, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz recently says.

[14:30:00]

At his rally, Siegmund tries to brush off those concerns. There are many countries where people are seeking positive change with conservative parties that put national interests first and don't believe they have to save the world, he says.

Here in the former communist East, Siegmund portrays himself as the common man's man, often riding an old East German scooter or displaying communist-era Trabant cars at events. But while his appeal is local, he makes no secret that the AfD's foreign policy agenda aims to change both Germany and Europe, weakening the E.U. in its current form, seeking a return to close ties with Russia while stopping all support for Ukraine.

We hope that starting from Saxony-Anhalt, we can usher in the beginning of the end of this crazy policy for all of Germany.

Only about 2.1 million people live in all of Saxony-Anhalt, one of the least populous states in Germany, but one that's drawing global attention ahead of Sunday's vote.

Fred Pleitgen, Dessau, Germany. (END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Fred Pleitgen, thank you for that report. And coming up, mortgage rates approaching their highest levels in years. We'll look at what higher borrowing costs could mean for the housing market and the broader economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:00]

GOLODRYGA: Turning now to the Lindsay Clancy's triple murder trial that came to a dramatic end Friday. The judge declared a mistrial in the case of the former nurse accused of murdering her three young children. After seven grueling days of deliberations, the jury emerged deadlocked. Clancy's attorney said a single holdout juror prevented the jury from reaching a unanimous decision. The triple murder trial has also ignited a frenzy of social media speculation about the case. CNN's Tom Foreman takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to put it all together. And when you do, the questions become very simple. Is Lindsay physically capable of doing what they're accusing her of?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): True crime fans like crime queen, court watchers and amateur sleuths like VSED 19 are flooding social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lindsay Clancy did not strangle her kids and we may now have proof of it.

FOREMAN (voice over): With a torrent of commentary on the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy. The former nurse who was admitted to strangling her three children even as her lawyer says she is not criminally responsible because she was experiencing severe postpartum psychosis. A top theory she did not kill her children at all. Her then husband, Patrick, did. Among those who have made that argument, a T.V. actress and reality star who later deleted this post.

LISA RINNA, ACTRESS: That isn't what a woman would do, they don't strangle.

FOREMAN (voice over): Testimony and video showed Patrick was not even in the house when the children were killed and his wife tried to kill herself. His attorney issued a statement saying, in part, the facts are indisputable. Patrick Clancy has suffered an unspeakable and unimaginable loss, compounded by patently false, defamatory and injurious public statements.

DAVE ARONBERG, FORMER STATE ATTORNEY, PALM BEACH COUNTY, FLORIDA: There is evidence that she was taking these severe drugs, and she had the psychosis and she had insomnia, and she was crying out for help.

FOREMAN (voice over): Some internet detectives have latched on to the idea of prosecutors or medical professionals hiding information about Lindsay's care and mental issues. The New Yorker's Erin Obey has an idea about what's driving that.

EREN ORBEY, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: The fact that Lindsay was roundly revered as not just a great mother, but an authority on infants, a well-regarded labor and delivery nurse made her a kind of potent symbol for advocacy.

FOREMAN (voice over): And on it goes ideas about outsiders sending secret signals to jurors, theories about inherent sexism against the accused woman's defense, and uproar over the whole notion that Lindsay Clancy just couldn't help herself.

Tom Foreman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: And coming up for us, the world map that you grew up with could not be as accurate as you think. A push to redraw the map by the United Nations is getting people to see the world a little bit differently.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:40:00]

GOLODRYGA: Mortgage rates hit their highest level since July of 2025, climbing closer to 7 percent. And that's making it more expensive to buy a home or refinance an existing mortgage. Economists now expect rates to stay somewhere in the mid to upper 6 percent range through the end of the year.

Joining me to discuss is founder, editor, and publisher of The Pinpoint Press, Rick Newman. Rick, it's been a while. Good to see you again. So, the Fed hasn't touched rates since December, yet, as we've noted, mortgage rates are up almost a full point since February. Help walk throughers (ph) through that. Who's actually setting their mortgage rate right now if it isn't the Fed?

RICK NEWMAN, FOUNDER, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, THE PINPOINT PRESS: It's not the Federal Reserve. The Fed does have some power to affect long- term interest rates, and it has done that in the past. That has typically been an extraordinary intervention in markets when there's been a crisis. That happened during the COVID pandemic in 2020. It happened during the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009. But normally, it's the market. It's investors buying and selling long-term bonds based on what they think fair interest rates or fair returns on their money are likely to be.

And what's been happening is even though the Fed has left short-term rates steady for basically since the end of last year, those rates mainly affect banks. So, we're talking about the Federal Reserve all the time. The irony of this is the interest rates that affect most ordinary people are not set by the Fed. They are set in the markets.

[14:45:00] And what's been happening is investors think inflation is going to be a little bit higher in the future. And when inflation is higher, that means if you're an investor, you're going to demand a higher interest rate to lock in your returns over a longer period of time.

Now, one thing that is definitely a factor here is we've known for a long time that the U.S. government has a gigantic national debt. We're issuing more than $2 trillion worth of debt to finance deficit spending every year. We're getting to the point where that's too much. The market is saying with all this debt on the markets, look, there's -- you can almost think of it as there's an oversupply of debt on the market.

And for us to -- you know, investors are looking at corporate bonds. They can buy those. A lot of those are coming on the market. They can buy all kinds of government bonds from all over the world. And the borrowers, the people paying the interest rate, they have to pay more in order to get investors to buy those bonds. So, this is not a crisis, but it's definitely, I mean, going to affect people at a time when affordability is many people's top concern.

GOLODRYGA: Of course. Let's take a look at some of the trends we're seeing specific to the housing market. We know pending home sales just hit their lowest point of the year, and Redfin sees rates stuck in the upper sixes through at least December. So, is the housing market simply frozen until 2027, or is there a scenario where it thaws?

NEWMAN: I mean, transactions are clearly happening, but at a much lower volume than we're used to. And, I mean, there are a couple things going on here. So, let's just use a 7 percent mortgage rate as a baseline. That's about the average mortgage rate, historically speaking. You know, going back to the 1950s and '60s, 7 percent mortgage rate is totally normal.

But what we have now is we have a housing shortage. We're not building enough housing for a variety of reasons. A big one is just federal -- rather, local zoning just makes it hard to build a lot of new units. And we also have prices that are elevated from the COVID pandemic when we had super low long-term interest rates, and people -- when the cost of the buying -- the loan is cheaper, demand for homes went up, and that pushed the price of homes up.

So, we have elevated prices with not enough new supply coming on. You combine that with mortgage rates going up. And, yes, the affordability crunch for housing is just getting worse.

NEWMAN: Rick, I have to ask you, I know you've already made the distinction that the Fed doesn't actually set mortgage rates, but the president, so much of the focus is on what the Federal Reserve does and their every action. The president is now saying that he will halt trade with every deficit country if the Fed doesn't cut rates. You said back, I believe in May on this network, that Trump himself has made it nearly impossible for the Fed to do just that. So, does this latest threat make a cut more likely or less?

NEWMAN: I mean, I can only laugh at what Trump said, because if he's serious, we're in deep trouble. So, let's hope that was just kind of a deranged remark from a dark corner of his mind. Inflation is a big factor in setting interest rates. And Trump has made inflation worse in at least two important ways. One is the tariffs. That's just him choosing to basically raise prices for businesses and for consumers by putting an extra tax on imports. So, that just raises prices. It means we're going to have higher inflation.

The other is obviously the Iran war, which has pushed oil prices, you know, now once again close to $100 a barrel. And that trickles through. Energy goes into the cost of many other things. So, diesel fuel just hit a record high. That raises the cost of harvesting food, which means food prices go up. It raises the cost of moving products by truck, which means any transported good now gets more expensive. So, those are two things Trump has done just of his own accord that have made inflation worse, not better. And that's why the Fed is in a pickle.

They cannot cut interest rates when inflation is going up, because then you get even worse inflation. And if they were to do that, which is what Trump wants, we could get in this very weird situation where the Fed cuts short-term interest rates and long-term rates go even higher.

GOLODRYGA: Yes.

NEWMAN: So, Trump should leave the Fed alone or the situation is going to get even worse.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, and the Fed -- let's remind our viewers, the current Fed chair is Trump's handpick, Kevin Warsh, as well.

NEWMAN: Right.

GOLODRYGA: Rick Newman, thank you. Good to see you again.

NEWMAN: Thanks, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And coming up for us this weekend, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are in Moscow and Kyiv, pushing forward with talks to end the war in Ukraine, the key meetings scheduled and what they're hoping to accomplish.

And she fled Iran believing America would help keep her safe. Instead, she's now scheduled to be deported to a country she had never even heard of. Why the United States says it's planning to send one woman to Africa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:00]

GOLODRYGA: Well, the United Nations General Assembly says size does matter when it comes to world maps. The assembly voted Friday to adopt a new world map that better represents countries' relative sizes. Many of the world's maps are based on the Mercador projection, which distorts sizes based on their distance from the equator. Larry Madowo shows us why African nations are applauding this change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The map you learned in school, the one that is taught everywhere and has been in use for nearly 500 years, is wrong. This is it. It's called the Mercador projection. From 1569. Great for navigation, terrible for accuracy.

[14:55:00]

So, here's an example. This is Africa. This is Greenland. The reality is Greenland is actually not this big. What this does, it stretches countries in the North Pole and the South Pole and shrinks countries in the middle. And regions like Africa, Latin America, and South Asia. This is the equal Earth projection, which is more accurate.

Now, Africa is bigger, stretched over here, and Greenland is so much smaller. In fact, Greenland is 14 times smaller than Africa. It's the size of one African country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And the United Nations now just voted overwhelmingly to adopt this, the equal Earth projection, which gives a more accurate picture of the world relative to the surface area.

Every country -- almost every country voted for it, 164. Six abstained, but only one country voted against it, the United States, which is considered ideological and the reason why the U.N. is losing credibility. But for the African Union that pushed for this, Africa has undergone strategic minimization in the people's collective imagination for nearly 500 years, and it's time to correct the map. The Togolese foreign minister spoke at the U.N.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT DUSSEY, FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER OF TOGO: Africa must be represented in accordance with its true reality. Correcting the map will not own its own resolve of the imbalances of the international system, but it's an important symbol of an African determined to fully participate in shaping the representation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: The U.N. resolution is non-binding, but what happened is the Earth is round, obviously, but maps are flat, and so some distortions are introduced. Most maps are digital now. This is Apple Maps. This is Google Maps. They still use the same marketer projection, which is distorted. So, Greenland is almost the same size as Africa here on Google Maps. This is what you have on your phone and devices everywhere, similar to the Apple Maps projection.

And what the African Union is asking is for companies, tech companies like these, to begin to update their maps, to correct the map so that regions of the world that have been traditionally shrunk in favor of centering Europe can get their rightful agency. It's about proper representation, they say.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi. (END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: That's a fascinating explanation there from Larry Madowo. We should note New Zealand previously pushed for a new map, saying the old map was pushing the island nation off the map due to its position in the bottom right corner. We'll stay on this story.

All right. A nonprofit is giving the homeless in Syracuse, New York, not just a small home to rent, but also hope. A tiny home for good is celebrating its 10th anniversary by acting as developer, landlord, and case manager. The charity stays active in its tenants' lives, helping ensure support and housing stability. Here's CNN hero's honoree, a tiny home for good.

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ANDREW LUNETTA, "A TINY HOME TOR GOOD": We take for granted the stability that a home affords us. If you were to just imagine doing anything without a house, like, oh, no, that's what I have to get first. That is where our tenants are coming from constantly. A tiny home is a really, really solid model because it pairs this independent and also private living.

RHEA HOLMES, "A TINY HOME TOR GOOD RESIDENT: I wish people understood that the homeless population are still human at any time. Circumstances can change.

I was living at my husband's grave for eight months. My whole life was turned upside down. When I finally got to the end of the rope and became out of my home, the only place that I felt was home for me was the cemetery where my husband was.

LUNETTA: In its simplest form, stable housing made it so Rhea no longer had to sleep in the cemetery.

HOLMES: Come in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

HOLMES: It's so good to see you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The next step after that was long-term case management supports to help her address the things that hopefully she's not going to have to deal with anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so proud of you.

HOLMES: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all helped me out.

LUNETTA: Oh, man --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all got me focused.

LUNETTA: Where a tenant moves in, they don't necessarily understand that they're being housed by this organization that cares a whole lot about them.

Yes, dude, you've been knocking it out of the park.

So, when all of a sudden, we're knocking on their door, there's a little bit of like, well, this is different.

Hey, buddy. You want to walk?

But as time goes on, and I think that it's seen that we mean it, it's really pretty profound, some of those changes.

This wouldn't exist without the tenants.

HOLMES: You're a great leader, sir.

Peace is now what I have. It's like freedom to just --

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