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One World with Zain Asher
Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Syrian Capital Damascus; Trump Threatens "Secondary Tariffs" on Nations Buying Russian Oil; Ghislaine Maxwell in Focus with Spotlight back on Epstein Case; Qatar has been a Key Intermediary in Talks with Iran and Hamas; Trump Hosts Crown Prince of Bahrain at White House; Trump Holds Talks with Bahrain's Crown Prince at the White House. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 16, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". This hour, we expect to see President Trump greet the Crown Prince
and Prime Minister of Bahrain.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, Bahrain is a key U.S. ally, which hosts an important military base. Now this visit comes on a very busy day across the Middle
East. We begin this hour in Syria, where Israel has carried out a series of powerful air strikes on the capital of Damascus. This video from a Syrian
television channel shows the Ministry of Defense being hit live on air.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Yeah, terrifying moment there. Israel's Defense Minister shared some of the footage saying, quote, the painful blows have begun.
GOLODRYGA: This video, just in shows an Al Jazeera reporter on air then ducking for cover. Israel says it is escalating a campaign in support of
the Arab Druze minority community, which was involved in deadly clashes with Syrian government forces over the weekend.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Jerusalem. There's a significant community of Druze in Israel as well as in the surrounding
countries, including Syria. They're an offshoot of Muslim groups there, as a minority in the country. There is reporting, though, after several days
of escalation between the Druze and the Bedouin community within Syria.
Jeremy, that a ceasefire, at least a fragile one, may be in place. Can you tell us what you're hearing?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, indeed, we know that there have been discussions between some of these Syrian Druze spiritual leaders and
the Syrian government. There are indeed some reports of a ceasefire coming in now, although we have yet to confirm how many of the different Syrian
Druze factions are actually signing on to those negotiations and to this supposed agreement.
What I can tell you right now is that the Israeli military has carried out a series of very powerful strikes, both in and around the Suwayda region,
where there is this very strong Druze population in that area, but also in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
And you showed a couple of those videos where you see these extraordinarily powerful blasts hitting the Syrian Defense Ministry, which the Israeli
military has said is basically coordinating the deployment of Syrian government forces, including to the area of Suwayda.
And that is exactly what Israel says it is trying to prevent is for the Syrian government to be able to send reinforcements to Suwayda. Now the
Syrian government has said that it is sending forces there in order to try and stop the clashes that have erupted between the Syrian Druze community
and these Bedouin tribes in the area.
But the Israeli government says that it is enforcing its kind of unilateral, demilitarized zone that it has established in the southern part
of Syria. And so, the Israeli government's involvement is twofold. On the one hand, it is a purely, you know, selfish national security imperative
here being carried out by the Israeli government.
They say they want to prevent some of the jihadist elements that are comprised of some of these Syrian militias from being on their border. On
the other hand, they also point to this connection that they say Israel has with the Druze community. Indeed, there are members of this Druze minority,
not only in Syria, but also here in Israel, where they serve at very high rates in the Israeli military.
These communities are very connected to each other, but we should note that they are certainly not monolithic. They have different interests, different
alliances, including within the Syrian Druze community itself, where we have seen that one of the Druze leaders in Syria has called for
international and Israeli intervention.
The others have said that they want to work out a solution with the Syrian government, a very complex situation, and one that seems to be potentially
-- has the potential for escalation, despite these reports of a ceasefire agreement, as Israel says that it is diverting a group of troops from Gaza
towards the border with Syria, as we are also, of course, seeing these hundreds of Israeli Druze trying to go into Syria, crossing that border
line.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, expressing his concern now and calling for de-escalation as well.
[11:05:00]
Jeremy Diamond for us in Jerusalem. Thank you.
ASHER: Right, President Trump's August 1st tariff deadline is looming large over negotiations with countries around the world. The levies could hit
across key sectors, like, for example, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors to. Now, the U.S. has launched an investigation into what it is calling
unfair trading practices by Brazil.
This comes a week after President Trump threatened a 50 percent tariff on imports from the world's 10th largest economy, after he said the Brazilian
government was carrying out a witch hunt against the country's former far right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro is currently facing trial for
attempting a coup.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, meantime, Indonesia has confirmed a trade deal reached with the White House that will see the U.S. impose a 19 percent tariff on
Indonesia's exports. Now that's down from the 32 percent Trump had initially threatened to impose. Jakarta described the deal making as an
extraordinary struggle.
ASHER: Yeah. The Indonesian President described Trump as a tough negotiator. Anna Stewart, let me bring you in. She's live for us in London.
So, Anna, what's interesting here is that when you actually look at the terms, there does appear to be a pattern in terms of what we saw previously
with Vietnam.
This idea that imports, or rather U.S. exports going to Indonesia, would have no tariffs at all -- pattern here, right? And it's, sort of similar
format to what we saw with Vietnam as well.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a deal, though, Zain. I mean, recently, we've heard the president call all these tariff letters he's been
sending out to different trading partners as deals. But this one is two sided. Both sides have negotiated the terms of this deal.
It does appear to be fairly favorable to the U.S., 0 percent tariffs for their goods going into Indonesia. In return, they're charging a 19 percent
tariff on any Indonesian imports coming into the U.S. On top of that, Indonesia will commit to buying $15 billion worth of U.S., energy, 4.5
billion dollars in U.S. agricultural products, and 50 Boeing jets.
Now, at this stage, we don't actually have a timeline or anything sort of in paper to confirm how these financial arrangements will work, but that is
the deal. It's possible that, in addition to that, the U.S. may drop the threatened 50 percent tariff on copper. It's one of the main sorts of
exports for Indonesia, copper exports.
So perhaps that's to come. And we've also been told that the president thinks India is working along similar lines. So perhaps we will see another
deal. And by deal, I mean two parties reaching an agreement before August 1st.
ASHER: -- that she had to clarify --
STEWART: -- United States --
GOLODRYGA: 0 percent, the United States paid going into Indonesia, 19 percent the other way around. But hey, A deal is a deal, as he said, prime
minister calling him a tough negotiator. Anna Stewart, thank you so much. Well, for more on this, we are joined by Congressman Greg Stanton of
Arizona.
And congressman, I do want to get you to weigh in on what appears to be thus far significant revenue brought in by the United States, some $50
billion given all of these trade deals and the incoming payments from other countries now. And the fact that at least thus far, most of these countries
have acquiesced to the president's demands.
We do have an extended deadline to August 4th, that coupled with the economy continuing to chug along, despite concerns echoed by bipartisan
group of economists, tells you what about the standing of both the U.S. economy and the pressure that the president is able to inflict upon other
countries to increase the amount of money they are bringing in with their goods?
REP. GREG STANTON (D-AZ): Well, inflation is going up. As you know, yesterday's Consumer Price Index report indicated that inflation is already
up near 3 percent and of course, that's with only a fraction of the tariffs that the president wants. As you know, he's threatened to implement tariffs
across the globe.
If all of the tariffs went into place that the president wants, it would be an over 20 percent tariff on goods. That's a tax on the American people.
That would be the highest tax on the American people since the 1920s with the Smoot-Hawley tariffs, and the president actually hasn't explained to
the American people, why?
What is he trying to accomplish? Is it to bring manufacturing back to United States? Is it to raise revenue for the United States, or is it to
use leverage on these other countries? At same time, China is our real economic competitor, and so we should be focused our energies on winning
this economic competition with China.
We can only do that in closer partnership with our allies in Europe and Asia and Canada and Mexico, and instead, the president is really putting us
in a much more difficult situation with our allies.
ASHER: When you look at what happened post Liberation Day, one of the reasons why the Trump Administration paused some of the tariffs is because
of the reaction we saw in stock market.
[11:10:00]
That was really what got them to sort of change their mind, at least temporarily and do an about face. Now, when you look at the data, not just
in terms of stocks, the stock market, pretty much across the board, is either at record highs, depending on which index you look at, or near
record highs.
And when you look at some of the other hard data we're getting, you know, you talk about CPI, you talk about the inflation numbers we got yesterday,
month over month, it was up 0.3 percent that is only a marginal increase when you look at the jobs data. Yes, the last jobs report that we got was
certainly mixed, but -- prior to that, we have seen quite robust jobs numbers.
Are you concerned that, given the fact that we're seeing record highs in the stock market, given the fact that the hard data doesn't appear to yet
show, you know, massive signs of an effect from these tariffs just yet. Are you concerned that now Donald Trump will have sort of free reign to
continue these tariffs, and what consequences will that have on the U.S. economy, do you think?
STANTON: Well, remember, we were supposed to have 90 deals in 90 days. Nothing's happened on that. We barely have any deals in place. But the
president has also promised that these threats of tariffs were to come in and get low trade barriers, reducing in trade deficits.
The president has also said the tariffs are to increase manufacturing in the United States and to increase revenue, those are policy goals at war
with themselves. The president has to clearly state to the American people why he is doing this. As you know, the inflation associated with the
tariff, the small number of tariffs have actually gone to places already at 3 percent and growing.
The president keeps threatening new tariffs, but then changing his mind. So, there's kind of this back and forth, this whiplash effect. And in so
many cases, for small businesses in America who are trying to plan months and years in advance about buying equipment, et cetera, they don't know
what the tariffs are going to be.
It could change any moment, and that adds so much uncertainty in so many ways the whiplash effect of what the president is doing is worse than the
tariffs themselves.
GOLODRYGA: Let me ask you about geopolitics. You sit on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, a different form of tariffs. We could say are sanctions
that the president, for the first time this week, said that he would be imposing on not only Russia, but secondary sanctions on any country,
specifically China and India that continue to buy natural gas and oil from Russia in 50 days, though.
And there is some frustration concern, both within the Republican and Democratic caucuses, that that is giving Russia too much time to continue
its war and not a threat enough for Vladimir Putin to take seriously what the president has been saying now, and sort of this change in tune from him
in tone, in bringing Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table in earnest.
The Russian stock market actually was positive following the news of this 50-day timeline. What is your interpretation of the president --
STANTON: -- president is learning the hard way that Putin is a bad faith player. You know, I would been a member of Congress since before President
Trump was a president. I was solid supporter of Ukraine in their battle against Russia. It is critical for the international order that Ukraine be
successful, that Russia cannot illegally invade their next-door neighbor and just grab territory from them.
I think I was disappointed when the president, early on in his administration, President Trump, seemingly switched sides to be on the side
of Putin. I guess maybe he thought he could negotiate with Putin and get him to end this horrific and deadly war. And I think now the president has
learned the hard way that Putin is yanking his chain, and the president is pretty frustrated.
I would be supportive of additional sanctions on Russia. This war needs to end, this illegal invasion needs to end, and the United States needs to
stand solidly on behind the people of Ukraine.
GOLODRYGA: But specifically on the 50-day window, I think that there had been some hope that there could be a bill passed sooner and signed by the
president that would enforce some of these sanctions immediately.
STANTON: Well, look, it's disappointing that the Russian Foreign Minister openly mocked President Trump, believing that with the 50-day window it was
never going to actually come to fruition. I think that's unfortunately, part of the impact of this president's whiplash effect on tariffs, where he
keeps saying we're going to have very high tariffs, but some point in the future, and then when that date comes, he extends it even further.
It does hurt the United States credibility on the world stage. I think that's what Russia is reacting to, and I think the Congress reacting to, I
would much rather move smoothly with the strong sanctions against Russia. They are engaged in horrific behavior towards the people of Ukraine.
[11:15:00]
ASHER: And congressman, I just want to get your reaction to Israel launching airstrikes in Damascus in defense of the Druze minority there. I
mean, obviously this is a country that has seen, you know, so much instability after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad back in December by
Islamic insurgents. Just walk us through how concerned you are about the overall stability of Syria at this particular juncture.
STANTON: Well, in this interview, I've been very critical of the Trump Administration. But on the issue of eliminating the sanctions on Syria,
I've been supportive of this administration, and I support Secretary Rubio in the comments that he made that this violence in Syria needs to stop and
we need to get to a negotiating table to solve the issue of what to do with the Druze and violence against the Druze, but we need to be supportive of
the interim president in Syria.
There's new hope that Syria can be a positive player in the Middle East. Who would have thought just a year ago that we'd be having that
conversation about Syria, Assad Regime falling has been a great thing for not only the region, but peace on planet Earth.
And this new regime so far has worked, I think, in good faith with the United States, and we want to continue that positive effort. So, I agree
with Secretary Rubio that the immediate bombing should stop and we should get to the negotiating table for a peaceful solution, peaceful solution for
everyone involved, including the Druze.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, this isn't the first bout of sectarian violence that we've seen in some of the clashes since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. Some of
the concerns that were raised immediately then. Congressman Greg Stanton thank you so much for your time.
ASHER: Thank you, congressman.
STANTON: Thank you so much.
ASHER: All right, another sleepless night for Ukrainians. The country's leader says that Russia launched 400 drones and a missile in overnight
attacks on four different regions, killing at least three people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's hometown of Kryvyi Rih in central Ukraine, was one
place that came under bombardment.
An official says the attack started several fires and left parts of the city without power and water. Meantime, U.S. President Donald Trump says
that new patriot defensive missiles are on their way to Ukraine. And said the U.S. is not sending longer range missiles, is not sending longer range
missiles will not be sent there, and added that Ukraine should not target Moscow.
GOLODRYGA: And the president is defending his decision to give Russia 50 days to make peace or face tariffs and secondary sanctions. Russian
officials say they aren't worried about that threat, though.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: 50 days, it used to be 24 hours. It used to be 100 days. We've been through all of this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins us live now from London. So, Nick, you know, obviously, Russia, to nobody's surprise, has stepped up its attacks
on Ukraine, even after President Donald Trump has made some economic threats. When you think about that 50-day window, I mean, what are we
expecting? What can Russia actually accomplish in terms of attacking Ukraine in that 50-day window?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, that is less of a knowable thing, frankly, given that they appear to have
been putting as much pressure as they can on certain parts of the front line over recent months, the Ukraine has suggested for some time that
there's 160,000 Russian troops potentially amassing.
So, there may be a moment where they choose to apply greater pressure to one specific area, but the 50 days has a different real impact in that, as
you heard there from Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, just adds to a series of deadlines that we've heard the Trump Administration set,
mostly towards Russia to achieve a kind of peace.
And so, I think for China and India, who are predominantly who those secondary sanctions would impact if indeed they were implemented, I think
you're more likely in Beijing or New Delhi to calculate that Trump will change his mind on the deadline or not even honor it than you are to
entirely recalibrate your energy market and stop buying the Russian oil and gas that they're both so desperately dependent upon.
But it has, as you say, suggested that there is a window of the summer for Russia to move ahead in. And maybe what we've seen in the aerial assaults
here, some analysts suggest, might be a prelude to that, or a bid for Russia, who's not seeing success yet on the front lines to exact some kind
of cost against Ukraine's population.
It was Kharkiv hit quite hard today, two dead in the areas, around those 16 drones landing in 14 minutes, said a local official there. And President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his hometown of Kryvyi Rih indeed hit by what one local leader there called it the largest attack since the start of the war.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who's been host to Trump's envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, over the past days, in fact, suggested in an interview that the
capital Kyiv hadn't been hit over past days with a substantial attack because Kellogg had indeed been there. He joked that perhaps they should
give Kellogg a Ukrainian passport get him to move there.
But suggested the lack of attack perhaps suggested that Moscow was afraid of the United States and didn't want to see hit their envoy in a
substantial wave of drone attacks.
[11:20:00]
It's hard really to assess quite what Moscow's immediate goals are. They clearly use these aerial attacks to terrify large amounts of Ukraine and
hit its key infrastructure. But it's another sign of how urgently need Ukraine needs air defenses. Trump has suggested that patriot missiles may
be there within days or on their way.
Germany suggests it may take months, potentially for new batteries to arrive, but that at least military gesture is one of the smallest things
Trump could have done, and Ukraine urgently in need of more.
ASHER: Right, Nick Paton Walsh, live for us in London. Thank you. We right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Well, growing rift in President Trump's base over his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files is only getting
deeper. Trump was clearly angry this morning when he posted on Truth Social about demands for more information on Epstein, calling it a scam led by the
Democrats.
The president even suggested he no longer welcomes those supporters who are buying into it. But now even U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has joined
calls for more transparency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): You should put everything out there and let the people decide. Pam Bondi, I don't know when she originally made the
statement. I think she was talking about documents as I understood they were on her desk. I don't know that she was specific about a list or
whatever, but she needs to come forward and explain that to everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The president says he doesn't see why there is so much interest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of interest to anybody. It's pretty
boring stuff. It's sorted, but it's boring, and I don't understand why it keeps going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Well, interest in the case has taken off after the Justice Department released a memo last week, saying there is no evidence the sex
offender, convicted sex offender, kept a client list, or that he was murdered at a news conference on Tuesday. Attorney General Pam Bondi said
that memo speaks for itself, declining to release any more documents.
GOLODRYGA: Now, all this comes as the Justice Department is urging the Supreme Court to deny an appeal from Epstein's former associate, Ghislaine
Maxwell, who was convicted on child sex trafficking charges. She claims Epstein's 2007 plea deal should have covered her as well as CNN's Randi
Kaye reports.
[11:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AUDREY STRAUSS, FORMER ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY AT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Maxwell was among Epstein's closest associates and helped him exploit
girls who were as young as 14 years old.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ghislaine Maxwell, a friend and former lover of Jeffrey Epstein's. She dated the accused sex trafficker in
the 1990s and the two remained close. Federal investigators accused Maxwell of serving as Epstein's madam, recruiting young girls for Epstein to abuse
and taking part in the abuse herself.
STRAUSS: She pretended to be a woman they could trust, all the while she was setting them up to be sexually abused by Epstein and in some cases by
Maxwell herself.
KAYE (voice-over): Long before that, Maxwell had a privileged life in the English countryside where she grew up. She's the daughter of Czech-born
newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell, who died in 1991 after falling off his luxury yacht near the Canary Islands.
Multiple people say Maxwell introduced Epstein to affluent social circles. Maxwell's own exclusive circle included then future President Donald Trump,
seen together here in this photo from 2000 alongside him, Melania, who he was dating at the time, and Jeffrey Epstein.
That's Maxwell in the background of this photograph of Prince Andrew with Virginia Roberts, who later became Virginia Giuffre. She had alleged she
was trafficked by Epstein with the help of Maxwell and forced to have sex with Prince Andrew when she was 17.
The prince emphatically denied all of it and settled Jeffrey's lawsuit against him for an undisclosed amount. Jeffrey died earlier this year by
suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breaking news just into CNN long time, Jeffrey Epstein, confidant and friend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been arrested.
KAYE (voice-over): In July of 2020, the year after Epstein took his life in jail, Maxwell was arrested in New Hampshire. She was charged with six
federal counts, including one count of sex trafficking children. She pleaded not guilty yet at her 2021 trial, four women allege that Epstein
sexually abused them and that Maxwell not only helped facilitate but also participated in some of the abuse between 1994 and 2004, the women were
under 18 at the time.
Maxwell was found guilty of five of the six charges against her, including the most serious charge of sex trafficking a girl named Carolyn. When she
said she was just 14 years old. Carolyn had told the court she participated in sexualized massages with Epstein and recruited other young girls for
him.
Carolyn recalled how Maxwell groped her naked body, telling her she had a great body for Epstein and his friends. In court, the defense tried to
portray Maxwell as a scapegoat.
BOBBI STERNHEIM, GHISLAINE MAXWELL TRIAL ATTORNEY: Clever and cunning to the end, Jeffrey Epstein left Ghislaine Maxwell holding the whole bag.
KAYE (voice-over): Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, but appealed her sex trafficking conviction.
KAYE: For now, Maxwell will continue serving time here in Florida. She is behind bars at FCI Tallahassee, a low security Federal Correctional
Institution with a detention center. Her scheduled release date, July, 17, 2037. Randi Kaye CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Right, still to come on "One World", we'll be going live to the White House ahead of that meeting that we told you about between the U.S.
President and the Crown Prince of Bahrain, how that key ally could play a role in easing tensions in the region.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ASHER: Right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. Here some of the headlines we're watching today.
ASHER: Hundreds of Russian drones rained down on Ukraine overnight, Ukraine says the attack targeted four separate areas of the country, claiming at
least three lives. This comes as President Donald Trump said U.S. patriot missiles are on their way to Ukraine.
GOLODRYGA: In Gaza, at least 20 people waiting for aid supplies were killed in a crowd rush at a distribution site run by the controversial Gaza
Humanitarian Foundation. GHF says armed individuals affiliated with Hamas instigated this chaos. The Palestinian Health Ministry says tear gas was
fired at the crowd, setting off a crush.
ASHER: And U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson has joined a growing number of Republicans saying they want more transparency on the Jeffrey Epstein case.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said her department's memo on the investigation speaks for itself, and also said there was no need to release any more
information.
President Donald Trump, meantime, says he doesn't understand the continued interest in the case.
GOLODRYGA: At any moment, we expect Donald Trump to greet the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Oval Office. Later
today, he will have dinner with the Prime Minister of Qatar as he pushes efforts to ease some of the unrest in the Middle East.
Let's go to the White House now and CNN's Kevin Liptak, and as always, obviously, so much focus on geopolitics in the region there and these two
countries as pivotal players and either intermediary, but also Kevin, as with the president, business deals are also expected to be announced.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and we've seen some of that already the Bahrainis and the U.S. signing an agreement on cooperation
for civilian nuclear elements. So, you do see these companies all starting to come together. The Bahrainis also agreeing to buy certain aircraft.
So, you see, sort of the way that the president incorporates some of these business dealings into his diplomatic dealings here at the White House.
Bahrain, obviously an important country, hosts the Navy's fifth fleet, geographically, there on an island in the Persian Gulf, quite critical to
the U.S. sort of strategy within the Middle East, particularly when it pertains to Iran.
Obviously, Bahrain very close to Iran, and as the president continues to try and work towards some sort of agreement where that country will fully
abandon its nuclear program, clearly, he's trying to cultivate some of these diplomatic relationships in the region. He has been close to the
Bahrainis previously, including during his first administration.
They were among the first countries to sign on to the Abraham Accords, normalizing relations with Israel. And so now you see the president really
trying to maintain that relationship. Going forward, he will also meet later today with the Prime Minister of Qatar, that's for dinner this
evening at the White House.
Qatar has obviously acted as a key intermediary as the U.S. tries to finalize this agreement with Israel and Hamas to bring the war in Gaza to
an end. At one point, you know, about a week ago, we thought that, that was potentially happening very quickly.
There do seem to be some hang ups in that deal Israel-Hamas not yet coming to the terms that would allow them to end the fighting there, but President
Trump still very confident, I think, that this will result in some kind of ceasefire, and that will be an important point of conversation with this
Qatari delegation who will be here.
[11:35:00]
That has been acting as something of an intermediary with Hamas, who does - - the U.S. doesn't deal with directly. They need these sorts of negotiators to help them come up with some sort of final agreement. We saw the
president meeting last week with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, really trying to press him towards agreement on that Gaza deal.
Now, I think what you'll hear from the president at that dinner tonight is trying to encourage Hamas to sign on the dotted line to bring that war to
an end. So, you do see all of this Middle East diplomacy really, kind of trickling up really, kind of bubbling up as the president makes his efforts
known there.
And it looks like he's about to drive into the driveway here. He's a little bit delayed, but certainly an important meeting for the president this
morning.
GOLODRYGA: Flags coming out in real time behind you, anticipating that arrival as well. Kevin Liptak at the White House for us, thank you.
ASHER: Yeah. For more analysis on this as we wait for the crown prince to arrive. Let's bring in CNN's Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier. So,
Kimberly, as Kevin was just laying out there. I mean, obviously Bahrain is part of the Abraham Accords that have normalized relations with Israel.
But interestingly enough, when you look at the Bahraini, sort of population, ordinary Bahrainis, a lot of them are very much pro-
Palestinian. Talk to us about how the issue of Gaza is going to come up in the discussions today.
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: This will be an opportunity for President Trump to hear from one of the leaders in the Arab world about
how Arab street has been reacting to what's going on in Gaza. Too often it seems like the president is hearing just from one side and just from one
portion of one side in the Israeli factions that you can't trust anything coming out of Gaza.
You can't trust the casualty figures, et cetera. But across the Gulf especially, they are still glued to the TV, still very worried about what
is happening every day, with sometimes dozens of Palestinians killed in accidental air strikes that sometimes the Israelis admit, or most recently,
an alleged incident at an aid center where several people were killed in a stampede. And the reports of that are still coming out.
GOLODRYGA: Right. And also in the region, as if there weren't enough fires to put out, we're seeing increase in tensions and fighting, and Israel now
getting involved on its border with Syria there, the sectarian skirmish is continuing to expand, this time, between the Druze community in Syria and
the Bedouin community there, there have been calls for a ceasefire.
Not sure where that stands, but the fact that Israel, given its proximity, both in sharing a border with Syria, its skepticism about Al-Sharaa and his
intentions, and obviously its commitment to the Druze community and connection to it in Israel as well.
What can the White House end these meetings today with some of these other regional players? What can they do to help quell this increased tension?
DOZIER: It's hard to see how the White House could stop the Israeli response right now in support of the Druze. The Druze, which are a faction
of Shia Islam, are part and parcel of the Israeli community. They serve in the Israeli military. There have been many decorated soldiers who are
Druze.
And so right now, what Benjamin Netanyahu has trouble with is that Druze members of that minority are streaming over the border into Syria to try to
protect their brothers, who are under attack by parts of the current Syrian government. That's why you saw the Israeli Defense Forces take strikes,
including on ministries in the middle of Damascus today.
So, this is going to be playing in the background as the Bahraini leader and Trump meet. Of course, Bahrain has its own issues with a Shia minority.
So, I don't think that they will be able to act as a bridge in this particular case, but an important part of the Bahrain visit is that they're
coming with $17 billion investment in the U.S., so Trump will be able to -- his --
ASHER: Right, Kim, I'm so sorry to interrupt. We are looking at live pictures here on CNN of the U.S. President welcoming the Crown Prince of
Bahrain as you laid out just then, there is an important economic aspect to these meetings. Bahrain essentially promising about $17 billion worth of
U.S. investments.
[11:40:00]
We've also been talking about the foreign policy aspect of all of this. Bahrain a signatory of the Abraham Accords.
They of course, take their foreign policy directive from the Saudis. And so, a big part of this will be, of course, what is happening in Gaza, even
though Bahrain has actually technically normalized relations with Israel, there is a big population in Bahrain that is definitely pro-Palestinian.
I do want to talk about another aspect of foreign policy as it pertains to Bahrain, and that is the issue of Iran, because Bahrain does have somewhat
of a complicated relationship with Iran. And this comes at a time that the U.S. is seeking to completely get Iran to sort of reduce its or limit or
stop entirely its nuclear capabilities. Walk us through how Iran is going to come up today.
DOZIER: Yeah, after Saudi Arabia brought back relations with Iran, brokered by the Chinese, the Bahrainis have also opened diplomatic overtures to
Iran, so they do have some communications. But how this will basically come up is there are two issues that have to be resolved so that the Middle East
can turn to this business opportunity that Donald Trump keeps emphasizing.
One is Gaza, as you've mentioned, and the other is coming up with some sort of nuclear peace deal with Iran. Otherwise, all of the sanctions that were
originally part of the 2015, Iran nuclear deal snap back against Iran come this fall, and that will have a resulting economic impact throughout the
Gulf.
It also might spur Iran to do something to close traffic, and that kind of traffic through that see in the region impacts our friends. Business
impacts the entire Gulf. Business really impacts the whole world. So, a lot to talk about very complicated and all interconnected.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, president scheduled to have lunch with the crown prince today, in just any moment now, and if they do open it up for questions and
cameras in the Oval Office, obviously. We will take that live tonight, he's scheduled to have dinner with the Prime Minister of Qatar.
So, a very busy day for the president focused again on the Middle East. Kim, stand by. We're going to take a quick break and come back for more of
our coverage in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back, everybody. We are standing by for a bilateral meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and the Crown Prince
of Bahrain, who just arrived at the White House moments ago, as we wait for that, let's bring back in Kimberly Dozier, CNN Analyst -- Global Affairs
Analyst for us.
So, Kimberly, one of the other things that is on President Trump's schedule today is, of course, meeting with the Qatari Prime Minister. The U.S., of
course, backing a 60 day pause in fighting in Gaza. Obviously, Hamas wants a complete end to the conflict, as does, in some ways, President Trump.
Just walk us through what the U.S. President needs to say to the Qatari Prime Minister on this. The Qataris, as we all know, have been heavily
involved in mediation.
DOZIER: I think that the Qataris and the U.S. see eye to eye on this. They are trying to lever Hamas into a position where they agree to what's before
them, but Hamas has asked for changes, including the banning of the U.S. funded aid group that has been so controversial, handing out aid in Gaza,
but staffed by U.S. contractors, rather than UN contractor types who normally do this job, and they've been a number of violent and disturbing
incidents there.
So, the U.S., the White House has remained committed to this organization, but Hamas has said this has got to stop, and a lot of the international
community has also joined in saying this organization doesn't do the job professionally, doesn't hand out enough aid, and when it does, there are
frequently these clashes, sometimes with gunfire, which get blamed on each side.
So that will be one of the points of contention that the two men discussed this evening, but when it comes to trying to bring an end to this, the
Qataris have been working very closely with Steve Witkoff, also on the issue of Iran. Even as the U.S. was ready to strike Iran, Qatari
negotiators weeks ago were still trying to intervene and come up with the next day peace deal that they immediately started talking about once those
bunker busters had fallen.
GOLODRYGA: Can I go back to the GHF, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which has been quite controversial and has had several missteps as it's
started taking over the humanitarian aid distribution in Gaza, a lot of chaos, obviously, a number of civilian deaths as well.
But the fact that Hamas chooses this issue, which, let's be clear, and what's been obvious, is that there's little regard from Hamas to the
Palestinian population, either, and the fact that Hamas has chosen to pick this issue as something that they're holding out from signing on to a deal,
says what?
Because the Israelis say this indicates that Hamas wants more power, and by power. It's having control and working closer with other international or
UN organizations. What more can you talk about that?
DOZIER: Yeah, Hamas had a close working relationship with the UN agencies that were providing aid inside Gaza for years, because they were the
governing power. So, they had to have that kind of communication. Of course, there have also been accusations that actual members of Hamas were
members of UNRWA, the main UN agency in Gaza that the current White House is demanding be dismantled.
The Gaza humanitarian organization was set up in order to be what the U.S. saw as a neutral party that would get food to the Palestinians and that the
Israeli military could trust. Problem is that makes them targets for militants. It also shows that there are -- that the incidents that we've
seen with dozens hurt or killed trying to get to these very few distribution points that have been laid out.
They seem to be new at the job. So, you have a combination of lack of professionalism. The GHF chief actually resigned because he said, we can't
properly --
GOLODRYGA: We're going to -- sorry we're going to interrupt you now because we're going to go to the Oval Office, where the president is now speaking
with reporters sitting alongside the Crown Prince of Bahrain.
TRUMP: -- your son, your beautiful son, who has a great reputation, you know --
SALMAN BIN HAMAD AL KHALIFA, CROWN PRINCE & PRIME MINISTER OF BAHRAIN: Thank you, Mr. President.
[11:50:00]
TRUMP: Great reputation is a smart hard-working guy. So, it's good to say hello to you. Congratulations. We've had a tremendous relationship. I have
personally with Bahrain over the years, and has been a fantastic ally. And anything they needed, we helped them, and anything we needed, they helped
us.
And we're going to be talking about a lot of different things, including the most perfect military maneuver that anybody has seen, probably in 50
years, which took place a few weeks ago, and Iran knocked out their entire potential nuclear capacity, and it was obliterated.
I used that term they said, well, maybe that's too much. As it turned out, it was more than obliterated. They can't go back. And we're just really
going to talk about some things, including trade. We're going to be discussing trade. We do a lot of trading with Bahrain, and we're going to
have lunch after this, but we'll take some questions.
At first, I'd like to ask the crown prince to say a couple of words, and he also has a father who's living in well and doing fantastically, as I
understand it.
AL KHALIFA: He is.
TRUMP: And somebody he's respected all over the Middle East and all over the world. And thank you very much for being here.
AL KHALIFA: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, one and all. It is indeed a great honor to be here on this fine morning to put into action the
relationship that exists between our two countries. We will be discussing security issues. We'll be discussing trade and investment, which is very
important.
We're very happy to be announcing $17 billion worth of deals that are coming to the United States, and this is real. This is --
TRUMP: This is real money.
AL KHALIFA: These aren't fake deals. These aren't real.
TRUMP: They don't have to borrow the money.
AL KHALIFA: We don't have to borrow it. It's coming in, and it only builds upon a legacy that we're very proud of. We have had a relationship in the
civil side between our two countries since 1893 and formerly since 1948. So may it long continue, and we look forward to many, many or more years of
productive partnership.
TRUMP: Yeah.
AL KHALIFA: Thank you, Mr. President. We will honor us.
TRUMP: We will have that indeed, many good years. And I'd say right now is, is your top year, and we appreciate the investment. It's a great we left as
you know, Saudi Arabia. We were just there Saudi Arabia, and we Qatar was so great. He was great. We had UAE, we had a couple of other visits, but
all great places.
And we left with $5.1 trillion of investment. And they all want to be investing in the United States. We have, I think we have over $16 trillion
of investment coming in, which is a record, and we're only a little bit into the year. And let's say the first two months, I sort of took it easy,
because we had to fix up the Oval Office.
Devote my time to fixing it up, but now we had to fix up our country. So, we have, I think everyone is saying we have the hottest country now
anywhere in the world. We were dead a year ago. We are a dead country, and now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. And its great honor
to have you here.
AL KHALIFA: Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Any questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the developments in Syria at the moment --
TRUMP: Well, I can comment, I think I'll ask Marco to say a few words on Syria.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Yeah, it's complicated. Obviously, these, these are historic long-time rivalries between different groups in
the south west of Syria, Bedouins, the Druze community, and it led to an unfortunate situation and a misunderstanding it looks like between the
Israeli side and the Syrian side.
So, we've been engaged with them all morning long and all night long, with both sides. And we think we're on our way towards a real de-escalation, and
then hopefully get back on track in helping Syria build a country, and arriving at a situation there in the Middle East is far more stable.
So, in the next few hours, we hope to see some real progress to end what you've been seeing over the last couple hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Mr. President, Jerome Powell, do you have plans, or if you're back, considering firing Jerome Powell? What's your justification
if you're thinking about this --
TRUMP: -- he's always been too late, hence his nickname, too late. He should have cut interest rates a long time ago. Europe has cut him 10 times
in the short period of time, and we cut him none. The only time he cut him was just before the election to try and help Kamala or Biden, whoever the
hell it was, because nobody really knew.
Obviously, that didn't work, but he tried to cut him for the Democrats, Kamala. And how did that work out? You'll tell me, it didn't work out too
well, did it? But he's -- I think he does a terrible job. He's costing us a lot of money, and we fight through it. It's almost, the country has become
so successful that it doesn't have a big impact, but it does hurt people wanting to get a mortgage.
[11:55:00]
People want to buy a house. He's a terrible Fed Chair. I was surprised he was appointed. I was surprised, frankly, that Biden put him in and extended
him, but they did. So now, we're not planning on doing anything. We're very concerned. He's doing a little renovation for 2.5 billion, of the fed
building a renovation, and they have a close to $900 million cost overrun.
And it's a shame, but the biggest cost overrun is the cost overrun for interest rates, because we should be paying three points lower, and we
would save a trillion dollars a year in interest if that were the case, and all it is the stroke of a pen. And that goes for his board too, because his
board is not doing the job, because they should try and rein this guy in.
She's doing a lousy job. But no, I'm not talking about that. We get -- fortunately, we get to make a change in the next one eight months or so,
and we'll pick somebody that's good, and we'll pick somebody, I just want a fair job. We want to see lower interest rates. Our country deserves it.
We're making a lot of money. We're doing great as a country. We have no inflation. Record stock market, record business, record, everything's a
record now. We had the worst inflation in history under Biden, and now we have almost no inflation. We've done a great job, and we should have the
interest rates cut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you're saying today that Scott Bessent you're so happy with him at treasury that you know he's not your top option to
replace Trump hell, whenever that may be, whenever you decide what you want to do with them.
TRUMP: Scott's doing a very good job. Now, I'm very happy with your list -- Kevin, somebody would consider Kevin is fantastic. We have a lot of good
people for that job. It's not a tough job, to be honest, assuming you're smart, it's not a tough job. If you're dummy, then I guess it's a tough
job, but it might be one of the easiest jobs I've ever seen.
And now, on top of it, he's building a close to $3 billion little nest egg for himself. He's not doing the right job. We should be saving a trillion
dollars here in interest. You know, when he talks about cost, we should be saving, think of it a trillion dollars a year. Add that with the tariffs
and everything else.
But he just doesn't want, he's a knucklehead. But we'll, we'll see how that, we'll see how he's listed together. That's a strange conversation,
but, you know, we like to say it like it is. But we have a lot of people that want that job very badly. And I'm only interested in low interest
people, frankly, because you don't need, I know.
So, they had a, you know, the 71 different economists and people that they experts, that they picked about a month ago, I was the only one, along with
one person from maybe the Wharton School of Finance, the two of us got it right. 69 people, including Powell, got it wrong, and he wants to hire
thousands of new people to help him decide where we're going.
It only takes one good mind. It doesn't take 5000 good minds. So, they're expanding the fed. It's the dumbest thing I've heard of but you know, it's
very autonomous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Are you completely ruling out the idea of firing Jerome Powell?
TRUMP: I don't rule out anything, but I think it's highly unlikely, unless he has to leave fraud. I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved with
the 2.5, $2.7 billion renovation. This is a renovation. How do you spend $2.7 billion and he didn't have proper clearance, et cetera, et cetera.
So, you know that's going on. So, you know there could be something to that, but I think he's not doing a good job. He's got a very easy job to
do. You know what he has to do? Lower interest rates.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- decide that you are going to fire him. Have you drafted a letter?
TRUMP: I -- drafted a letter.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- to Republican lawmakers last night?
TRUMP: No, I talked about the concept of fire him. I said, what do you think? Almost every one of them said I should, but I'm more conservative
than they are --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- firing --
TRUMP: We talked about, in fact, we had 11 of the 12 people here yesterday looking for a very big bill having to do with crypto, et cetera and other
things. And we -- all of the votes, are going with us every single vote. But during the conversation, when we were talking about it, I asked, what
would you do about that? They all said, would fire him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
