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One World with Zain Asher
Trump: U.S. To Sell NATO Weapons To Send To Ukraine; Trump To Unveil AI And Energy Investments At Tech Summit; Poll: Half Of Americans Unhappy With Handling Of Epstein Case; Opening Statements Begin In Poisoned Shake Murder Trial; Moscow Reacts To Trump's Threat Of Tariffs, Sanctions; U.S. Appeals Court Pauses Trump Efforts To Deport Afghans; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired July 15, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:43]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. More weapons for Ukraine will soon be on the way. Russia isn't happy about it.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The second hour of "One World" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifty days is a lot of time. And as we have seen time and time again, Russian attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and cities is
only increasing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump says he's giving Vladimir Putin an ultimatum. What will it take for the Kremlin to agree to a ceasefire?
ASHER: Also ahead, brand-new CNN polling on how Americans really feel about the Jeffrey Epstein case.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of the week, you will be an entirely different person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happens in Thailand, stays in Thailand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Emmy season is upon us, and the Television Academy has decided which shows are the best of the best. So, did your favorite make the cut?
We'll discuss.
ASHER: This is one of my favorites, honestly.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It's a great one. And it's ours.
ASHER: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I am Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You're watching the second hour of "One World." The White House is giving the Kremlin a 50-day deadline to end
its war in Ukraine, issuing new threats against Russia and promising more weapons to Kyiv. But so far, Moscow appears unfazed.
ASHER: U.S. President Donald Trump said he'd imposed 100 percent tariffs on Russia itself, and any of its allies buying Russian energy. He also
announced the U.S. would sell weapons to Ukraine through other NATO countries.
And a White House meeting with NATO Secretary General on Monday, the U.S. President, had this to say about Vladimir Putin in a phone call with the
BBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you done with him? I mean, I know that sounds a simplistic thing.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I'm not done, but I'm disappointed in him. But I'm not done with him, but I'm disappointed in
him.
I thought we had a deal done four times, and then you go home and you see he just attacked a nursing home --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TRUMP: -- or something in Kyiv. I said, what the hell was that all about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you trust him?
TRUMP: I trust almost nobody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Critics say the 50-day window allows Russia to continue its campaign and ferocious aerial attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
ASHER: CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us live now from the White House.
So, Kevin, you and I, and Bianna, I'm not going to forget about you. We were on air just yesterday talking about this new announcement by the U.S.
President. It's this idea that there's going to be this sort of 50-day window, 50-day deadline, and after that, the U.S. would essentially slap
tariffs, 100 percent tariffs on any country that buys Russian oil and gas.
One reporter I remember asked him, what happens if Moscow ramps up its attacks on Ukraine in that 50-day window? What's the plan? And the
president appeared not to have any.
And so that begs the question, you know, what is the U.S. going to do if this strategy of economic punishment does not work on Russia?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. The president dismissed that question out of hand. He said, don't ask me that. He seems pretty
defensive that this plan could potentially not work out the way he wants it to.
But I do think it's an open question. You know, this is not a president known for sticking to these deadlines. We think of the two-week deadline.
We think of some of these tariffs. Oftentimes, they're quite squishy.
And one thing that I don't know that we got specifics from the president on is what exactly he wants to see Vladimir Putin do in 50 days. He says he
wants a deal by that time, but could potentially Putin saying he's open to coming to the negotiating table, cause the president to rethink some of
these economic measures that he says will go into place?
It's not precisely clear. And so that's why I think you do hear some questioning of whether or not this will essentially become a rolling
deadline for the president, who right now appears disillusioned with the Russian leader.
But in the past has been known to really kind of go along with what Putin is telling him. And so I think a lot of questions that I think remain
unanswered here.
The other question that I have is what the U.S. will be willing to put on the table when it comes to the ceasefire. You know, a couple of months ago,
we were all talking about this idea of a backstop, a security backstop in Europe to allow the European nations to help enforce security in Ukraine.
The U.S. would essentially be a partner in that, but not on the frontlines. We haven't heard about that in a long time.
[12:05:05]
At the time, President Trump seemed sort of skeptical about that idea to begin with. Has he come around to this potential prospect of how to end the
war? I don't think any of that is clear.
Perhaps, the next month and a half, these 50 days, will provide more answers there, but it's not necessarily clear that Putin is any more
willing to go to the negotiating table than he was before President put this deadline in place.
And so when you listen to some of the President's critics here, particularly Democrats on Capitol Hill, they say that this 50-day timeline
essentially just allows Putin to ramp up this offensive, this summer offensive that seems to be underway in Ukraine.
When it comes to the weapons, I do think it could potentially be a different story. The President, very interested in ramping up these
shipments, starting with the patriot missiles to help Ukraine defend itself.
But we are learning today that the President does remain open to allowing some longer-range missiles to go into Ukraine.
And we've learned about this phone call that the president held with Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month, in which he asked Zelenskyy whether
Ukraine, given its capabilities, could potentially strike Moscow or St. Petersburg.
Now, the President was not in asking that question, telling Zelensky that he should do that, but it did sort of open this window into the President's
thinking that potentially down the line, he could offer these new capabilities to Ukraine that could potentially, in his view, turn the tide
on the battlefield.
But to this point, he hasn't necessarily greenlit those long-range missiles. And so all of that remains kind of in the perspective phase. It
doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to do it.
And so while, I think, on the one hand, we have seen certainly a hardening of the president's position in rhetoric towards Vladimir Putin and towards
Russia, I think in terms of actions, we will still need to see how this all progresses over this 50-day window that the President has now opened.
ASHER: Kevin Liptak live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, any moment now, U.S. President Donald Trump will be heading to Pennsylvania for an energy and innovation summit. While he's
there, he's expected to unveil a $70 billion investment package in artificial energy and technology.
Let's take a closer look at this trip with our Clare Duffy. So, what are we expecting to hear from the President? We know that he's going to be
surrounded by a number of executives with some $70 billion worth of investment on the line there, too.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes. This has really been a key priority for President Trump since he started his term this year. He wants to invest
more in U.S. AI infrastructure. That means data centers and also the energy resources that are needed to power these data centers. These are
essentially warehouses full of computers.
They need a whole lot of energy to power this technology. And so that is what we expect this $70 billion investment to focus on.
As you said, that the attendee list here is full of high-profile names. Just a few minutes ago, I saw that Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was
speaking at the event, also a number of major corporate executives from companies like BlackRock, the chipmaker Arm, Amazon Web Services,
ExxonMobil, Anthropic, CIO of Alphabet, Google's parent company.
And we expect that these are companies are going to be working together to make this $70 billion investment investing in data centers, energy
resources.
We just heard a bit ago that Blackstone announced a $25 billion investment in data centers and coal power plants in Pennsylvania. So, those are the
kinds of things that we're expecting to hear from these companies today, ahead of Donald Trump's speech at the event, which is expected to take
place at 3:30.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Clare Duffy, we'll be following it all. Thank you.
Joining us live now is one of the featured attendees at today's AI Summit. Varun Sivaram is a Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate at the Council on
Foreign Relations. He's also the founder and CEO of Emerald AI, a company focused on the intersection of AI and energy consumption. Varun, thank you
so much for being with us.
So, talking about $70 billion just in terms of investment. Walk us through what you want to hear from the president today.
VARUN SIVARAM, FOUNDER AND CEO, EMERALD AI: Look, I think the president and all of his team have already been very clear that energy dominance for the
United States and energy abundance is going to be critical for the United States to win the AI race, to stay competitive, for example, with China.
We've already seen today at the summit. I'm calling you here from the summit. We've already seen today announcements both from the private
sector, and then I spent some time with his team with Secretary Doug Burgum, who leads the Energy Dominance Council about what it'll take to
power all of this AI.
In fact, in the United States, energy is the limiting factor for us to get AI data centers up and running.
In China, it's not energy. You might have a shortage of chips, for example. But here in the United States, for us to reach our potential, we need to
rapidly get these AI data centers up and running and they are consuming more energy than AI and the IT industry has ever consumed in the past.
[12:10:12]
Today, about four percent of American electricity consumption is slated to rise up to 12 percent by 2030. And that's why we're very excited here at
Emerald AI, the company I lead, to help you part of that solution and we're honored to be among the 60 CEOs here presenting at the summit.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Varun, you have said energy is the binding constraint for AI progress here in the United States. Can you talk to us about some of the
biggest obstacles in scaling energy capacity for AI investment and expansion? Because some critics here, especially given the size and some of
the scope of the president's new spending bill, really slashing green energy, renewable energy that was all meant to stabilize and expand and
make more efficient and affordable AI investment in the energy space.
They're saying this is actually more of an obstacle now given what he's done and the renewed focus on fossil fuels. Give us your take on that
argument.
SIVARAM: Look, I -- look, I think that President Trump has been clear that he wants AI data centers up and running to the United States as competitive
and he wants to unleash American energy dominance and that is a shared priority across both parties. It's a real bipartisan priority because we
have to compete with China.
And you asked, what are the obstacles? Well, today there's between 1,500 gigawatts of demand for data centers. It's pent up in the system. We want
to get those data centers into the system and there's multiple trillions of dollars of investment sitting on the sidelines, but only a fraction of that
can connect to today's power grids with today's power supplies.
We at Emerald AI are supported by NVIDIA and by a range of other leading AI names in order to make it possible for those data centers to connect to
power grids much more quickly.
The way that we do it is complementary to all of the other announcements you're hearing here today at Senator Dave McCormick's AI and Energy Summit
in Pennsylvania.
In addition to building more energy and more batteries and getting more supply to the grid, Emerald AI makes these data centers more flexible in
their power consumption so that we can fit these AI data centers onto today's existing power grids and more prudently increase our power
infrastructure so that we break the link between new AI data centers and rising electricity rates.
The worst thing you want to happen is you get all these AI data centers in and they raise rates on communities around the country.
What we're doing is making it possible to have responsible AI data centers that are able to flexibly modulate their -- their power consumption, while
at the same time meeting the stringent performance requirements of these AI workloads training and using these next generation models.
We can do that at Emerald AI with the help of NVIDIA and our other partners such as Oracle and the power utilities that work with us. And we're excited
to announce our next demonstration here in the state of Pennsylvania today at the summit after we demonstrated the technology first in Phoenix
Arizona.
ASHER: And, Varun, you know you touched on this in your first answer, just the idea of the importance of competing with China. Where are we when it
comes to competing with China in AI?
And also, obviously, this technology is incredibly transformative, but there are so many questions and this is perhaps a tangential topic to what
we're discussing today, but there's so many questions about profitability as you know, despite these large investments that are happening. Give us
your take on that.
SIVARAM: Absolutely. Look, these AI next generation models were invented here in the United States. You know we have a strong AI ecosystem here in
the United States. I see many of the president's AI advisors here. David Sacks spoke this morning. I just ran to Sriram Krishnan in the hallway.
But China is rapidly advancing. Earlier this year, we had this momentary moment of freak out and panic when DeepSeek released its very energy
efficient model.
Nevertheless, American companies, whether Open AI or Anthropic, the leading American companies continue to push the frontier.
But in order for us to keep scaling, we'll need to continue to build out AI infrastructure. There is probably no other way to make sure that America
leads than to build out AI infrastructure.
And you see our leading companies Oracle, Project Stargate with OpenAI, Meta, Google, Amazon, Microsoft et cetera, all doing so.
You know, going forward, I think that breaking that link between the advent of these AI data centers and the energy demands they have, that link
between that and rising rates, is going to be the critical way that America continues to lead.
Because if we can't break that link and if we have to make the AI data centers wait around, while we wait to upgrade the grid, we won't be able to
compete with China which is a formidable competitor.
And this is a race the United States can't afford to lose. We currently have the lead, we absolutely need to keep it. I'm proud of Emerald AI that
we are a part of that solution alongside other resources and of every stripe, batteries, natural gas.
[12:15:13]
We're making it possible for these existing data centers with NVIDIA GPUs or other energy intensive but very powerful chips to get connected to the
electric grid today to help the grid bolster its reliability to limit during the peak moments of stress on the grid, to limit the stress that AI
data centers bring and to make rates go down, not up, because that would be a fantastic thing if AI data centers could actually be the resource that
brings grid's relief rather than additional stress.
That's the technology that we've developed with a team of PhD AI scientists around the country and that we're bringing to market alongside NVIDIA
Oracle and others.
ASHER: Varun Sivaram, thank you so much. Appreciate it, CEO of Emerald AI.
All right. Turning right now to the war in Gaza, video circulating on social media and verified by CNN, shows machine gun fire near an aid
distribution site. I want you to look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNSHOTS)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Here you can see Palestinians trying to duck out of the way to avoid being shot as they wait for food. It's not clear from the video who
is actually behind the shooting. Multiple eye witnesses do tell CNN it was the Israeli media, the -- Israeli military. The IDF says that it is
reviewing the incident.
Meantime, the U.N. gave an update on the number of people killed at aid sites and the enclave as of Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THAMEEN AL-KHEETAN, OFFICE OF THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: As of the 13th of July, we have recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while
trying to get food, 674 of them were killed in the vicinity of GHF sites.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The U.N. says their data was based on our own information gathering through reliable sources, including medical human rights and humanitarian
organizations.
All right. Turning out the story that just won't quit, the Jeffery Epstein files. President Trump's MAGA base is not letting it go, even though the
commandant in chief is eager for this story to go away.
GOLODRYGA: And we have brand new CNN polling showing half of Americans are dissatisfied with the information that the government has released about
Epstein. Convicted sex offender about whom lured conspiracy theories have swirled.
Forty percent of Republican surveyed said, they too are dissatisfied.
ASHER: For more on this, let's bring in our numbers guy. Harry Enten. Harry, break down the numbers for us.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. I'll break them down for you. I mean, I don't think you can find an issue in which you find so few
Americans satisfied than the amount of issue that has been released by the government with concern to the Epstein files.
What are we talking about here? All right. The Epstein case, amount of information released. You mentioned that at the top, just 50 percent,
excuse me, at least we have a number that's really high, 50 percent who are dissatisfied.
Compare that to just three percent, three percent of Americans who are satisfied with the information released? That is less than the percentage
of the Americans who think we faked the moon landing.
Then you get 17 percent who say that they've not heard enough. And 29 percent who say it doesn't matter.
But the key nugget here is this 50 percent of Americans who say they are dissatisfied with the amount of information released.
Now, you were breaking it down a little bit by party. I'm going to do some more digging into the data here.
All right. So the Epstein case, amount of information released. Look at this. Amongst those who are either Republicans or independents who lean
Republican, look at this, 43 percent are dissatisfied. Look here. Amongst that Republican base, only four, one, two, three, four percent of Americans
are satisfied.
How about lean Democrat? Look at this, sixty percent of those who lean Democrat are dissatisfied compared to just three percent who are satisfied.
So, it doesn't matter whether you're on the left or on the right.
You are very dissatisfied with what's going on and less than five percent and members of both parties are satisfied.
So, this Epstein case and the way the government is handling is bringing Americans together in ways that few other issues do.
The final way you can see that is get this. You know, we often talk about white college graduates and white non-college grads. Of course, the white
non-college grads being a base within the Republican Party and white college graduates increasingly becoming a base of the Democratic Party.
But the Epstein case, amount of information released, dissatisfied. Look at this. Fifty-five percent of white college graduates are dissatisfied. And
53 percent of white non-college graduates are dissatisfied.
So, the bottom line is Donald Trump has a lot of work to do on this issue. He has a lot of work to obviously do on the left, which he often has a lot
to do. But he also has a lot of work to do on the right amongst the Republican base and among white non-college graduates who, of course,
elevated him back in 2016 and continue to be a massive part of his base today.
[12:20:08]
The word of the day is dissatisfied. Guys?
ASHER: All right. Harry Enten, live for us. Thank you.
ENTEN: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Still to come, the murder trial begins for a Colorado dentist accused of putting poison in his wife's protein shakes. We have a
live report as opening statements get underway.
ASHER: Plus, subway surfing, it's a problem. And the New York Police Department is trying to put a stop to it. More on this dangerous trend.
Gosh, up ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Now, opening statements are underway in the case of a Colorado dentist accused of fakely poisoning his wife back in 2023. A
prosecutor's alleged that James Craig put the poison in his wife, Angela's, protein shake. She died after being admitted into the hospital three times
in 10 days.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Craig is also accused of plotting to kill four other people, including a detective. He's pleaded not guilty to a set of charges,
including first-degree murder.
CNN law enforcement correspondent Whitney Wild joins us from Chicago. What can we expect to hear in these opening statements, Whitney?
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: These opening statements are well underway. And what prosecutors are saying that there are three
timelines they're going to focus on. And the beginning of all of these timelines starts with this emotional affair that he was beginning with a
woman from Texas.
This was a woman he had met professionally. He started this very whirlwind, very intense emotional affair with her. He told her he was getting a
divorce and invited her to come from Texas to Colorado. And that's where they say the timeline began.
So what they're doing is this countdown of when he invited this woman from Texas -- from Texas to Colorado, when she was due to arrive. And all of the
ways that James Craig was basically trying to get rid of his wife, Angela Craig.
Around the beginning of this timeline, he starts googling, you know, certain things like, you know, things about how long it takes to poison
someone, top five most lethal poisons, things like that.
And then slowly what we see is Angela Craig saying, you know, in text messages, there's also video and photographs from their home that she's
starting to feel sick. And over this 10-day period, as you said, she was hospitalized.
Meanwhile, James Craig basically has this alter ego he has with this woman that he had met, saying he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her,
that he was going through this divorce, and he was looking forward to -- to moving on in his life with this woman.
[12:25:09]
And so as this woman is preparing to come to Colorado, prosecutors say James Craig was slowly killing his wife, Angela Craig.
As you said, he was putting poison in her -- her shakes. He had purchased cyanide online. He purchased arsenic online. In one of these cases, he was
actually purchasing more poison as she was hospitalized. And so this ends with her the third hospital stay happened after she had a seizure. She had
this rapid decline. She was in the ICU for three days. And then she passed away in the medical examiner saying plainly that she died of poisoning.
And so what prosecutors are doing right now, again, is showing these two sides of James Craig, the one murderous side, the one who was presenting
himself to this woman, Karen Kane, as this loving man who was just trying to get out of a difficult marriage.
Then there's a third timeline. And it starts as this case is unfolding. While he was behind bars, prosecutors say, he plotted to kill four people,
one of whom was the lead investigator in this case.
And then further, he was trying to mastermind this plot, you know, try to - - to drum up and basically fabricate pieces of evidence to support this idea that Angela Craig was suicidal. And so this idea that Angela Craig was
suicidal will be key to James Craig's defense.
At this very moment, again, prosecutors are laying out these very detailed arguments. They include video, photographs, text messages between James
Craig and his wife, James Craig and Karen Kane, the woman he was having this emotional affair with and trying to really build, again, this
narrative that he wanted to have an affair with this woman.
She was due to come -- come to Colorado in a matter of days. He had a problem. The problem was Angela Craig and his solution for that problem was
to kill her.
So again, prosecutors laying that out today and we will see how this trial unfolds. Back to you.
ASHER: Unbelievable story.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. So many disturbing details there. Whitney Wild, thank you so much.
ASHER: All right. Police in New York arrested four boys on Thursday who they caught surfing on a subway.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Let's hope their moms have a good talking to them. Look at how fast this train was going.
ASHER: How would you do that?
GOLODRYGA: And they're standing up on it. Now, the boys range in age from 12 years old, my goodness, to 16. A transit drone team captured this video
while conducting operations to stop subway surfing.
Apparently, it's a growing problem since November of 2023. Police have arrested hundreds of people for doing just this.
ASHER: I haven't actually seen them on top of the subway cars. I've seen them hanging on the sides, but not actually -- I mean, this is one of the
most dangerous things I've -- I've seen just in terms of subway surfing.
All right. Still to come here. After the Afghan war, the U.S. promised to help those who helped the U.S., but that promise has not been kept.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Donald J. Trump, please help our Afghan allies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want the U.S. government to fix this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: After the break, hear from Afghan refugees who say they've been betrayed.
ASHER: Also ahead, will a new White House stance on Russia alter the Kremlin's course in Ukraine? We'll have Russian reaction to Trump's tariff
threats when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:59]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to One World, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: More now on our top story. Moscow is reacting to Donald Trump's threat of tariffs on Russia and sanctions on countries that buy its oil.
ASHER: Russian Foreign Minister at the Shanghai Corporation Organization talks in China said Moscow could cope with any new sanctions. And Sergey
Lavrov questions Trump's 50-day timeline. Something critics say gives Russia time to finish its brutal summer offensive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We want to understand what is behind this statement on 50 days. We really want to know
what motivates the President of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's chief global affairs correspondent Matthew Chance is in the Russian Capitol and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Kremlin controlled television, President Trump's U-turn on Ukraine was
breaking news.
Trump's now following in the footsteps of former U.S. President Joe Biden, the anchor says, promising weapons to Ukraine to force Moscow to the
negotiating table. But we all know, she adds, that Biden failed.
This is the Russian onslaught President Trump says he's trying to end. But amid this barrage of mass drone and missile attacks on Ukraine, Trump's
threat of tariffs and secondary sanctions if there's no peace deal in 50 days seems more like a green light than a deterrent to Moscow.
In 50 days, oh, how much can change on the battlefield and in the mood of the U.S. and NATO, posted one prominent Russian lawmaker. But our mood will
not be affected, he warns.
TRUMP: Because Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening.
CHANCE (voice-over): But President Trump's most recent mood change against the Kremlin and in favor of providing weapons to Ukraine is being widely
criticized in Russia with handpicked guests on state television now openly accusing the U.S. president of fueling the conflict.
This man is deceiving you, Ukraine, warns the senior Russian politician. Trump just wants this war to continue, he adds.
After months of being heralded in Russia as a potential peacemaker a warmonger is how President Trump is now being cast.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Thanks to Matthew Chance for that report. Time now for "The Exchange." Let's bring in Alina Polyakova. She specializes in
Russian foreign policy.
Alina, it is good to see you. And it is interesting because it's quite noticeable to see this change in posturing, in language, and even policy
from President Trump towards Russia and Vladimir Putin. But at the same time, I think this 50-day window before leveling new sanctions against
Russia has raised some eyebrows, not only from Sergey Lavrov, but for different reasons from even some Republicans in his own party.
[12:35:11]
And Thom Tillis, who has been a big supporter of Donald Trump, nonetheless announcing that he's going to be retiring early because he spoke out
against the recent spending bill, says that this 50-day delay in sanctions in Russia worries him.
I'm wondering if you share that concern. What do you make of this deadline that's, you know, a bit longer than many had hoped for?
ALINA POLYAKOVA, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS: Well, I think you're certainly right that we have seen a significant shift
now, not just on rhetoric, but also on policy from President Trump and the White House and Russia.
And I think the main reason for that is that from day one, it was very clear that Putin was and is the main obstacle to having some sort of peace
deal in his war against Ukraine. Russia is the aggressor here.
And I think the president is showing now that he recognizes that. But at the same time, you know, the positive news, we should give the White House
credit for that. But this 50-day timeline you mentioned was a -- a bit odd.
You know, in the past, we've seen the president really stick to these two- week timelines. He often moves those when it comes to terrorists, for example. But that was probably the expectation that many people had or were
hoping for. There would be much shorter more of a pressure on Mr. Putin to actually change his calculus.
I think the way things currently stand, Russia's accelerating and intensifying attacks in Ukraine are likely to get even worse, because the
Kremlin will certainly see this as the time to really get as much territory as they possibly can.
ASHER: And also, when you think about the fact that just practically speaking, China and India are two of the largest importers of Russian
fossil fuels, China, especially. I mean, they don't have very much time to reorganize and come up with a plan B. Fifty days is not long enough for
them to be able to do that.
So just practically speaking, obviously, Putin is aware of that fact. So, it's not as if they're simply going to be able to snap their fingers in,
you know, six weeks and say, OK, we're not going to buy any more Russian oil and gas. So that part of the puzzle is also problematic too.
POLYAKOVA: Well, you're really talking about this idea of secondary sanctions. You know, President calls the secondary tariffs, they're
secondary sanctions.
And what that really means is that the United States has now said, with the president's announcement, that we are going to include costs on countries
that do trade with Russia, which also happened to be similar to our largest trade partners, China, India, even Europe is still buying some Russian oil
and gas as well.
So, I think what I want to see in the next weeks is whether the administration will share information about how they're going to act on
this threat that we've seen from the president and the secondary sanctions pieces.
The big question mark, as you say, that's incredibly complicated. Sanctions enforcement, just direct sanctions enforcement in Russia has been a big
challenge for multiple administrations. Secondary sanctions are multiple times more complicated and difficult than that.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And in terms of ultimately deterring Vladimir Putin and really bringing him to the negotiating table in earnest as soon as
possible, someone you and I both know and follow closely, Tatyana Ustinova says that Putin is not going to sacrifice his goals in Ukraine just to win
favor with Vladimir -- with Donald Trump.
Obviously, he would love to have Donald Trump in his corner, but that's not what's going to end this war harsh rhetoric from the president.
So in your view, what is the easiest, or not the easiest, because there's nothing easy about it. What is the most timely way to bring this war to an
end or at least a ceasefire?
POLYAKOVA: Look, my view has -- has always been that the only way to change Putin's calculus is to apply the maximum pressure possible on him. The --
the individuals around him, the oligarchs that depend on him, as well as the Russian economy.
We don't know, of course, if that will change his calculus, if that will change his behavior. But that is the only way is to make Russia's war
machine more difficult to sustain and impossible to continue to move forward.
You know, Russia now is spending almost eight percent on this defense, which really is much lower than what the U.S. has been spending, which is
around 3.4 percent, as well as broader NATO allies.
The Russian war machine supports Putin's rule. And when we see that, what that means is that it supports the war on Ukraine. So, I think the
administration, if it does -- if it makes good on the threats that we saw from President Trump yesterday, if it follows through secondary sanctions,
turns of the pressure, provides significant military support for Ukraine, that is not an easy path, but I think is the only path to bring an end to
the war.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Alina Polyakova, good to see you. Thank you so much.
POLYAKOVA: Pleasure.
GOLODRYGA: Well, the U.S. Appeals Court is keeping in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that for now will keep them from being deported.
Those protections were set to expire Monday as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to remove people with temporary protected status.
[12:40:12]
ASHER: But the court says this day will only last one week. CNN's Dianne Gallagher spoke to some Afghans in the U.S. who feel betrayed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just west of Charlotte, the spices of Kabul drift out of S.B. Afghan Marketing Kitchen.
ZIA GHAFOORI, CEO AND FOUNDER, INTERPRETING FREEDOM FOUNDATION: We have these from Afghanistan.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): For decorated former interpreters Zia Ghafoori and Bahroz Mohmand, this is their American dream.
BAHROZ MOHMAND, INTERPRETING FREEDOM FOUNDATION: Over here, it's land of opportunity.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Now, U.S. citizens, they've worked to help hundreds of other Afghan allies and their families with resettlement through their
nonprofit, the Interpreting Freedom Foundation.
GHAFOORI: We have to and keep our promises that we made and we need to help those who help us.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): But today, the Trump administration's rapidly changing immigration policies are making the IFF mission feel impossible.
GHAFOORI: It's a big chaos right now.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): New refugee admissions paused indefinitely, leaving Afghans overseas in limbo. Special immigrant visas for interpreters and
allies are still being processed, but their resettlement support programs have been suspended, altered, or eliminated. And many legal avenues for
Afghans already here are stalled or ending, including temporary protected status on July 14th.
In her termination explanation, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cited notable improvements in the security and economic situation in
Afghanistan.
DHS says the situation in Afghanistan has improved. Has it?
GHAFOORI: No. This is -- that's funny. That's really, really funny.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Last month, President Trump included Afghanistan and his new travel ban, citing security concerns.
MOHAMMED, AFGHAN REFUGEE: I'm scared from myself. I'm scared from my family.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): We spoke with Afghan refugees who fear retribution both back home and here. So, we're protecting their identities.
Mohammed, a former Afghan Commando with temporary status who worked with the U.S., began to worry in April that his family would be deported after
DHS sent an email saying, it is time for you to leave the United States.
MOHAMMED: They want to deportation us to Afghanistan. We can go to in Afghanistan and say, OK, you work with the U.S. government for a long time.
And then they -- they kill us. They -- they kill our family.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): It was not a legal order, but it went out to thousands. Nashinus, an Afghan Christian who says he was tortured by the
Taliban for his faith, got one too.
NASHINUS, AFGHAN REFUGEE: If I go -- go back to Afghanistan, it is like I sign my suicide mission.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): In a statement, DHS pointed out TPS is supposed to be temporary and noted, quote, anyone who was here on temporary protected
status can still apply for asylum and other programs.
As more aggressive immigration enforcement tactics play out across the country, legal cases are backlogged for years.
MOHMAND: Some of them, they can't even step out of their house right now to go grocery shopping because they think that the ICE is waiting for them,
and as soon as they go out, they'll grab him and deport them.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Bahroz Mohmand and Zia Ghafoori.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): In his first term, President Trump mentioned Mohmand and Ghafoori by name at a Medal of Honor ceremony.
Last year, believing his tough talk about the way the U.S. left Afghanistan would mean better treatment for Afghan refugees, they say they voted for
Trump.
MOHMAND: We did have the assumption that when President Trump become the president, he might make this process even faster. You know, he might even
give more support to Afghan interpreters.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): They still want to believe that if the president hears their pleas --
GHAFOORI: Our president, Donald J. Trump, please help our Afghan allies.
GALLAGHER: -- maybe he'll reverse course.
MOHMAND: I want U.S. government to fix this, you know. You promised, stand on your promise.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Charlotte.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:29]
GOLODRYGA: The world's largest AI data center is being built right now in the UAE. It's called Stargate and promises to make the UAE a leader in
artificial intelligence.
ASHER: Yes. Along with Stargate will be the world's first AI university which aims to unleash the technology's full potential. Our Eleni Giokos
takes us there in today's Marketplace Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got a heart full of room for you.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a friendly robo dog to this shape-shifting tech, these projects were built by students in the UAE
at the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, the world's first AI university.
According to McKinsey & company, generative Artificial Intelligence is expected to add economic value of at least $5.8 billion to the UAE. This
potential could largely be realized from one AI campus.
TRUMP: The formation of Stargate, so put that name down in your books.
GIOKOS (voice-over): This mega project in the United States is set to open its first international branch in Abu Dhabi with plans to build more AI
infrastructure.
Stargate UAE is proposed to become one of the world's largest data center hubs and it's receiving backing from tech giants, Open AI, NVIDIA, Oracle,
Softbank and Cisco alongside local AI company, G42.
GIOKOS: I want to talk about Stargate and the billions of dollars of investments into the UAE. How are you envisioning this reality?
ERIC XING, PRESIDENT, MOHAMED BIN ZAYED UNIVERSITY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: It's a confirmation acknowledgement of the university's
important role in contributing to the UAE ecosystem. That the way it was selected, you know, to be the country to be the place to build such
infrastructure.
Eric Xing is a decorated computer scientist. He's a strong proponent of open source platforms and accessible artificial intelligence.
XING: Because the AI center is to be built in here, I bet a lot of business will come to here, you know, to try to leverage our AI capability and the
AI output. We will be showered with new problems and new opportunities.
So our faculty and students, when they graduate, and the students will graduate, I had a better chance to come in and stay here for work on those
interesting projects.
GIOKOS: Where do you think you'll be wanting to plug into Stargate? What work do you think right now is going to be fundamentally impacts from a
university perspective?
XING: The public health project, right, the -- the --the world model Asian project and the -- the -- that clean energy. These are already happening
and having the compute close to us and become more accessible will speed up their progress for sure.
Another topic people sometimes do not necessarily appreciate is that having a gigawatt computing power in one place which amounts to half a million to
one million GPUs is actually a -- a massive, you know, power of infrastructure, which actually requires people to operate either you're
automated or you train people, you know, to operate them.
GIOKOS (voice-over): With an initial 200 megawatt, AI cluster expected to launch next year. Perhaps we'll see more robo dogs at the university or at
work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN Marketplace, Middle East with Eleni Giokos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:25]
GOLODRYGA: Well, for the first time in 30 years, a woman is sitting down at the final table of the World Series of Poker.
ASHER: Yes. Spanish player, Leo Margets, is one of nine gamblers to reach the end of the main event. Almost 10,000 players enter the tournament. And
the winner will be crowned over the next two days.
Margets is an accomplished professional who has over $2 million of tournament winnings in her lifetime first place at the World Series. Main
event is worth $10 million.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be rooting for her.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Well, the Emmy nominations are out, longtime favorite "Severance," and "The White Lotus" lead the way among the best drama
contenders, new show. "The Pitt" also scored a big nomination in that category.
Contenders for Best Comedy include past winners, "Hacks," and "The Bear."
Though watch out for newcomer, "The Studio," which has become a Hollywood darling.
ASHER: And in the Best Limited Series Category, the viral hit, "Adolescence" scored a nomination as did "The Penguin," a series about the
Batman villain.
"The Pitt, "White Lotus," "Hacks," and "The Penguin" are all, by the way, HBO shows. HBO is, of course, part of CNN's parent company, Warner Brothers
Discovery. Very proud of our
GOLODRYGA: Our contribution.
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: We did nothing.
GOLODRYGA: We watched.
ASHER: We literally just sat here, but, you know.
GOLODRYGA: We watched. CNN's Lisa Respers France has been pouring over all of the nominees she joins us now.
So some surprises, obviously, "White Lotus" "Severance," really, really some of the top contenders here.
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: Yes, absolutely. And, you know, these are shows that people are obsessed with. And "Severance" led with the most
nominations with 27, which made it a really, really good day for Apple TV Plus. That show has been a tremendous hit for them.
And then, of course, that was followed by one of ours, which we love, which is "The Penguin." And you guys mentioned like "White Lotus" and things like
that.
Again, these HBO shows, they really factor into people just really wanting good quality T.V., you know, and that's what the Emmys are here for. The
Emmys are here to celebrate the best in television.
You know, people are really excited, by the way, about Kathy Bates, who was nominated. She's the oldest actress nominated in the category for lead in a
drama for Matlock. She's 77 years old. Lots of conversation about that because of ages and when it comes to women in Hollywood.
But she's actually not the oldest because Harrison Ford scored his very first, if you could believe it or not, Emmy nomination for "Shrinking." And
he's 83 years old.
So, you know, it's -- it feels like the Emmys right now are all about celebrating movie stars as well.
[12:55:05]
It used to be a time, ladies, remember when, like, it felt like there was this deviation between movies and T.V. And if you did movies, you couldn't
really do television. If you did television, you wanted to do movies, but no more.
Now, you have movie stars that are, you know, knocking down doors to try to get television shows. And we love to see it, because it just means better
content for the rest of us.
ASHER: Yes, you're right, because interestingly enough -- yes, if you were a movie actor, it was considered that, you know, television was a little
less highbrow, that it could ruin, I won't say ruin, but wouldn't be good for your career.
And I think that one of the first people that I saw do it well and do both consistently very well was actually Will Smith.
Will Smith had a very successful T.V. show with "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And then went to be -- I mean, he can -- I mean, listen, I can't say his
name without thinking about what happened at the Oscars.
FRANCE: Right.
ASHER: You know, I just can't get it out of my head.
Lisa, I was actually at the Oscars.
FRANCE: Were you?
ASHER: -- that day. So I saw. And I -- I didn't know whether it was choreographed.
FRANCE: Right. Everybody thought it was a bit.
ASHER: It was real.
FRANCE: I was -- I was watching it.
ASHER: I just what was there.
FRANCE: I thought it was a bit, too. You know, I mean, like, nobody expected that, you know. And full disclosure, I grew up in Baltimore, and
Jada Pinkett and I traveled in some of the same circles. So, um, so there's that.
ASHER: Wait, wait. I think we're all -- we're all name dropping now. Do you know what I mean? We're all just name dropping, you know.
GOLODRYGA: No one is -- well, I was at home watching it. I was at home watching it on my couch. And I can tell you I didn't expect it either.
And I can also tell you --
ASHER: That it is time to go because my producer is yelling in my ear.
Golodryga: Chris Rock -- Chris Rock -- I think Chris Rock also didn't expect it.
Lisa Respers France. All right. Thank you, Harrison Ford. That guy has a future in television, right? That does it for "One World." I'm Bianna
Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Thank you so much for watching. "Amanpour" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
