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One World with Zain Asher
Russian FM: Security Talks without Moscow a "Path to Nowhere"; White House Pushes Putin-Zelenskyy Meeting, Kremlin Refuses to Commit; Texas House Could Vote Today on Redistricting Measures; Texas Republicans Closer to Approving New Electoral Maps; McDonald's Cuts Prices of Combo Meals; London Residents, Activists Criticize Chinese Embassy Plans. Aired 11-12a ET
Aired August 20, 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)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Will they or won't they meet? Russia plays down the chances of a Putin Zelenskyy Summit, "One World" starts right now.
As diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine accelerate, Russia is continuing to pummel the country with aerial attacks.
Plus, this hour, Texas Republicans moving forward with their redistricting plan, as Democrats in California push back with their own plan to boost
their numbers in Congress, we'll explain. And we'll take a look at the hundreds of thousands of everyday household items that could get a lot more
expensive thanks to President Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs.
All right, coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher, and you are watching "One World". As NATO military leaders discuss how to provide
security guarantees for Ukraine. The Kremlin is warning that nothing will happen without its consent. 32 Defense Chiefs from NATO members held a
virtual meeting today to thrash out how to prevent future Russian aggression against its neighbor.
It follows two high profile summits aimed at ending the war, both involving the U.S. President, but despite diplomatic efforts, Kyiv and Moscow remain
far apart on the big issues, and Russia is continuing its relentless bombardment on Ukraine.
The Kremlin meanwhile, is criticizing European Leader as well, also praising Donald Trump. Russia's Foreign Minister said earlier that no
progress would be made to end what he calls the conflict without Moscow's involvement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEI LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Now it is proposed to resolve security issues, collective security without the Russian Federation. This
will not work. We have already explained more than once that Russia does not inflate its interests. We will firmly and harshly ensure our legitimate
interests.
I am confident that in the West, and above all, in the U.S., they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without
the Russian Federation is a utopia and a path to nowhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Russia still refuses to commit to a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, despite the White House saying that plans are
underway. Hungary and Switzerland are said to be among the locations under consideration.
CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us live now from the White House. But first let's go to Clare Sebastian joining us live now from London. So, Clare, the
probably the most contentious issue out of everything is really this issue of security guarantees. Because Ukraine wants to make sure that whatever
happens, if any peace deal is agreed to, that Russia cannot simply come back and re invade.
Sergei Lavrov is saying that no security guarantees should be discussed without Russia's involvement, it makes you wonder what kind of security
guarantees would actually have both Ukraine and Russia's satisfaction.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, look, it's obviously a little bit of an upside-down world where Russia is demanding the ability to sign off
on a deterrent that will eventually --
ASHER: Right.
SEBASTIAN: -- be directed against it. But I think, look the key point is that this is one of the key wins that the Trump team came out of the Alaska
talks last Friday touting. Remember, Steve Witkoff said that Russia had essentially signed off on security guarantees for Ukraine, including
Article V style protections from the United States.
Then we had Trump in that meeting on Monday, openly embracing the idea of U.S. involvement in security guarantees. Of course, he walked back the idea
of any potential U.S. troops on the ground. And I think, look, Russia has obviously observed how that has supercharged the process among Europeans.
We've got the 32 members of NATO sending their defense chiefs to virtual talks today. We've got all sorts of discussions. The Coalition of the
Willing has met twice since Sunday. It supercharged the process among European allies to try to come up with a concrete plan on security
guarantees.
And all this talk of reassurance forces would not have gone unnoticed in Moscow. So, I think, look, Lavrov is trying to now influence these
discussions, making it clear that they do not agree to many of the proposals that are being discussed. And I think this is a signal Zain to
the president, who has so far, of course, coalesced to Russia on so many points, not to mention, of course, the ceasefire idea.
He has now rejected that idea of putting in a ceasefire before peace talks, much to the dismay of Ukraine and Europe. So, I think it's a signal from
Russia to Trump that they need yet more concessions if they're going to sort of stay at the table, stay part of these diplomatic discussions, and,
of course, continual playing for time from Russia.
ASHER: And just in terms of a potential meeting between Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, a lot of people are skeptical that any such meeting would
ever take place. I mean, what on earth would be the incentive right for Vladimir Putin to sit down with Zelenskyy?
[11:05:00]
SEBASTIAN: Well, I think it would take a lot, right? And I think what we're getting certainly from the rhetoric coming out of Moscow, which is either
that Putin has only proposed sending a higher level of delegates to future Istanbul talks. Of course, it would be hard to get any lower than the level
of delegates they have sent so far.
The delegation headed by a former culture minister and writer of historical textbooks, but that apparently, is what came out of the call on Monday
between Presidents Trump and Putin. And on the other hand, we have Lavrov, who's now said a couple of times this week, yes, of course, we agree to
this in principle, but a lot of work needs to be done beforehand. A lot of conditions would need to be met.
They see this as way further down the process. They are hoping that the pressure will ramp up on Ukraine, on two tracks, right, that Trump will
continue to put pressure on Ukraine to cave to Russia's demands.
And two, that Russia will have time to put pressure on Ukraine militarily, and only at the point at which it's clear to Putin that Ukraine is willing
to discuss his key demands, among which, of course, is giving up territory, including territory Ukraine controls. Only then, I think certainly,
according to all experts that I've spoken to on this, Will he agree to sit down with the Ukrainian President.
ASHER: Clare Sebastian live for us there. Thank you so much. Betsy, let me bring you in. You're joining us live now from the White House. The White
House is saying that there are plans underway for both Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin to meet, even though the Kremlin is indicating to the
contrary.
Trump is also saying that the two leaders should actually meet without him, that he should not be present in this meeting. What do we know for sure at
this point, Betsy?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, what we know for sure is that the White House says that there are plans to progressing toward
this potential second summit between President Zelenskyy and President Putin.
But it is very clear that the momentum and the urgency that we had seen leading into that Alaska Summit and that summit on Monday here at the White
House has very much stalled. And there was a clear shift in the goal heading into those meetings on Monday, the president said that he wanted a
sign of success for a trilateral meeting between him, Zelenskyy and Putin to result from that meeting.
And came out of that meeting then saying it needed to be a bilateral meeting without him. So, to that end, we have learned that the White House,
the Trump Administration, U.S. national security officials, are involved in the planning for that potential meeting, and a number of potential
locations are under consideration, including Budapest Hungary, as well as Switzerland.
But White House officials caution that this is still very much in flux, and no final decisions have been made yet. Of course, White House Press
Secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Putin has indeed promised to hold this meeting in the next couple of weeks or so, but the Kremlin
remaining noncommittal. Now I want you to listen to how President Trump talked about this potential bilateral meeting when asked about it
yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I had a very successful meeting with President Putin. I had a very successful meeting
with President Zelenskyy, and now I thought it would be better if they met without me just to see I want to see what goes on.
You know, they had a hard relationship, very bad, very bad relationship. And now we'll see how they do and if necessary, and it probably would be,
but, if necessary, I'll go and I'll probably be able to get it close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KLEIN: Now for all the reasons that Clare just laid out, the Kremlin has made clear that any meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy is not imminent.
And it's really unclear when that could happen. But we see that every moment and minute that Putin is able to stretch this out is good for
Russia.
It allows them to cement some of those gains and push forward into those territories that they have conquered. We've also seen Russia continue to
launch air strikes. Zelenskyy reacting to that yesterday, calling for additional pressure. But the question right now to President Trump is what
it's going to take for him to apply more pressure on Russia, whether he can apply additional sanctions and whether he plans to do so at this point,
Zain.
ASHER: Betsy Klein, live for us there. Thank you so much. I want to bring in Jill Dougherty, she's an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University and
a Former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief, joins us live now from Washington. Jill, thank you so much for being with us, just in terms of this potential,
highly unlikely, but still potential, meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin.
What are the political risks, especially in terms of how such a meeting would be portrayed to their domestic audiences for both men?
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Well, for Zelenskyy, obviously this would be a place where he would be called upon to figure out and negotiate
with the Russian President these territorial issues, and they are very serious and very complicated and fraught with political problems for
Zelenskyy.
And as you know, we've been discussing and CNN has been reporting, the territorial issue has to do with Zelenskyy saying number one, the Ukrainian
constitution forbids giving up land without complete referendum among the people.
[11:10:00]
It's very complicated and politically for Zelenskyy, if he were to agree to things that the Ukrainian people do not want it would mean political
suicide. So, for him, it's very serious and potentially threatening for him, himself and as well as for Ukraine.
Now with President Putin, I think it's very interesting to watch what they are doing right now. So, President Putin, I think if you look at the
Russian people, they will probably go along with pretty much whatever he decides, but what he decides is very complex for him, too.
And so, I agree totally with Clare that they are trying to drag this out. Give them more time, not only militarily, but kind of diplomatically, to
begin to divide Europe, the United States and Ukraine. And we for quite a while thought, of course, that they would try to separate Zelenskyy from
Trump.
But now that seems to be on the back burner, because the meeting isn't happening very soon. So, they are going after the Europeans. And if you
look at propaganda today, Russian media, any type of statement, they're -- you know they're calling the Europeans passive and kind of patsies of the
year, of the United States, sitting there just accepting what the American President says.
That level, you know of messaging. And it's all aimed at an old aim of Russia, which is to divide and conquer, divide the United States from
Europe.
ASHER: And just in terms of President Trump's comments, because he suggested that he should not be present if a meeting was to take place that
it should just be both of those men without him. How would the dynamics of the meeting change depending on whether or not President Trump is present
or not?
DOUGHERTY: You know, it is interesting, because I do not think that President Trump is well versed or maybe even interested in the nitty gritty
of which cities, which towns, which borders, et cetera. That is not what he focuses on. He's focusing on the big picture.
And the big picture for him, number one, is how he will be perceived as the American peacemaker, the world peacemaker. And so, I think, what if he were
there, he would be urging both of them, and probably trying to manipulate both of them, as you've seen him, go back and forth and back and forth over
just the past couple of hours, practically trying to manipulate them into getting a deal.
Now with Trump, with Putin and Zelenskyy, those are two people who know these issues inside and out, it is really existential for both of them. So,
they will be very eager to, I guess, challenged, and eager to get to that challenge of trying to figure out where you set the borders.
So, it's a very different dynamic. I think it could be much more fraught if you have the two leaders together, without Trump. And that seems to be the
plan, two leaders first, and then Mr. Trump comes in. But as we know, Zain, all of this is very, very flexible.
President Trump has been really, I'd say, all over the map on where he is going? What he wants exactly? But you can bet he does want them to get
together, but what the format is? Where it will be? It is a long way before they even get to those meetings.
ASHER: Yeah. What's interesting is that Zelenskyy has been trying to push for a potential meeting with Vladimir Putin only to show to the world that
this is a man who is not serious about peace. If Vladimir Putin keeps on giving excuses, installing a potential meeting with Zelenskyy, doesn't that
eventually prove to President Trump what Zelenskyy has been saying, that this is a man who is absolutely not serious at all about peace with
Ukraine.
DOUGHERTY: Well, I think you definitely could say that there's no question. And the Russian approach is, really, we can't talk to Zelenskyy because he
is not a legitimate president. He is not a legitimate president because, as we know, the elections in Ukraine for president are for a five-year term.
And the five-year term expired last year, and in the conditions of war, Ukraine says it cannot hold an election. So, the Russians have translated
that into he is illegitimate. And then to take it further, we know that President Putin has said, and by the way, Ukraine is not a legitimate
country.
[11:15:00]
Now they seem to have been dropping that part of it, but they're still pounding away on that idea that Zelenskyy is not a legitimate president.
So, would Putin want to sit down with an illegitimate as the Russians, you know, claim president? That's a big question. That's one of the excuses
that they are using not to go to these negotiations.
But I think, you know, if you were to back up and look at what the Kremlin is doing right now, it's very complex. So, what they are doing is they are
doing the calculus on -- you know you could almost think, I think of it as kind of a legal sheet, pros and cons. So, if they do this, does it work for
them? Or if they do that, does it not work for them?
Or could they do this in order to get that? So that's what we've got. It's almost like maybe a billiards game. You hit one ball and you're never quite
sure exactly where it is going to go or what other balls it may hit, and President Trump has set that game in motion.
ASHER: Jill Dougherty, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, turning now to the Middle East, where we are still waiting for
an official response from Israel to a new ceasefire proposal put forward by Arab mediators. Hamas says it has accepted the proposal.
Meantime, in the face of mounting frustration in Israel, the Prime Minister's hostage coordinator says that negotiation efforts are taking
place around the clock. This as Israel is set to call up 60,000 more reservists in preparation for a takeover and occupation of Gaza City, a
major escalation in the conflict.
Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem with the very latest. So, Oren just explain to us what's happening here. Israeli military essentially saying that it's
calling up about 60,000 reservists for this military operation that's set to take place in Gaza City. Gaza City's, of course, Hamas is political and
military stronghold.
It's also the last place of refuge for a lot of Gazans who have been displaced. Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering there. Just talk
to us about the significance of Gaza City and also the goal of this expanded operation.
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: And you make an excellent point right at the end there. There's up to a million Palestinians in and
around the area of Gaza City, where this operation is planned to take place, as Israel says it's targeting one of Hamas' last strongholds.
You get a sense of the scale of the forced displacement that will happen with evacuation orders and military operations, all of those being pushed
towards southern Gaza, the Mawasi area. Another sense of the scale comes in the 60,000 additional reservists that the Israeli military has begun to
call up, that's only part of it.
The military says it will take 120,000 reservists in total and active-duty forces to take part in this operation or fill out forces elsewhere, on
other fronts. In addition, 20,000 reservists will have their orders extended, and that's why you see some of the opposition we've been hearing
from reservists, certainly from hostage families and from those opposed to the war.
Now as Israel presses forward with this operation or at least begins the planning of the more advanced stages of it, as we see the preparatory
stages, frankly, the bombings of Gaza City that have begun Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet responded to the latest proposal, one that
very closely matches a ceasefire proposal that he had accepted a month ago before the talks collapsed there.
Hamas accepted the proposal a couple of days ago, and now the ball is very much in Israel's court. Netanyahu has not indicated how he will respond,
nor has he convened his limited security forum to discuss the proposal on the table, but the ball very much in his court at this point, as mediators
Egypt and Qatar, wait to see what he will decide and how this will proceed, if at all.
ASHER: And just in terms of going back to the expanded military operation in Gaza City and all of these reservists being called up what will this
expanded operation mean for Gaza's very acute humanitarian crisis?
LIEBERMANN: It's very likely to worsen it. And we have reported that the IDF Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has warned about that
and a number of other problems and factors that should perhaps have led the political echelon to reconsider whether to go forward. Whether to go
forward with this, and yet they dismissed all those concerns.
And we see those warnings from now a growing number of countries who have warned of what they see as a -- as what will be a catastrophic humanitarian
crisis. In Gaza, we have already seen the starvation numbers children dying of malnutrition, and that is very much expected to get worse if this
operation moves forward.
Because of the number of Palestinians that will have to be displaced, of once again, moving such a large portion of the population in a territory
that's already besieged and has been destroyed after nearly two years of war. And yet none of those international warnings have convinced Israel to
change course in this case, perhaps because none of those warnings have come from the United States.
[11:20:00]
ASHER: Oren Liebermann live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, who gets to tell America's story? Donald Trump says the Smithsonian is not
doing the job the way it should. What he's doing about that coming up. And also, Texas is one step closer to new Congressional district lines and
likely more Republican seats. An update on the state's redistricting fight coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, at this hour, Texas lawmakers are moving closer to a vote on redrawing Congressional maps in the state. The State House has begun
debating the move, which would potentially give Republicans five more seats in Congress.
At this point, Democrats have no viable way to stop the plan, despite recently leaving the state to delay the process, now they've returned.
Democrats have to have around the clock police supervision whenever they leave the House floor. Some of them are staying in the House Chamber
overnight to protest the move.
Let's go live now to Austin, Texas, where we find Arlett Saenz. I mean, this is really key, this idea that this plan is actually going to go
forward and Democrats really have no viable options in terms of stopping it, Arlett.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Republicans are hoping that they could potentially hold votes on this redistricting bill
today, though some of the timing around that still remains in flux, but these maps certainly could be assigned into law in the coming days.
Now the Texas House has reconvened. They've been in there for about 20 minutes, and they will soon begin debate on these this redistricting bill.
This will allow Democrats and Republicans to make their case for and against the bill, and there also will be an opportunity to introduce some
amendments.
We've learned that state representative Gene Wu, who leads Texas House Democrats, he plans to file an amendment that would actually not allow for
these Congressional maps to go into effect until the full Epstein files are released. It's unlikely that that's going to pass, but it's one of those
political show votes that Democrats want to hold to try to put Republicans in a tough spot.
But at this moment, Democrats don't have any legislative tools left to stop these -- this Congressional map, from moving forward. Now we have seen
those protests from lawmakers who were against the 24/7 police escort that House Republicans were mandating if they wanted to leave the House Chamber.
[11:25:00]
State Representative Nicole Collier kicked that off two nights ago, refusing to leave the House floor under escort, and then she was joined by
six other Democrats overnight. Here is how Representative Wu explained their thinking around this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GENE WU (D-TX): This is a civil discussion, and there's a disagreement, and in order to win, the other side is willing to use force,
to use the arms of a state to get what they want. Good guys don't do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: And as you've likely heard behind me, there are groups here who are rallying in support of the Democrats efforts to try to block these
gerrymander efforts. So, a lot of activity happening in the Texas State Capitol today as the house could begin voting on this redistricting bill in
the coming hours.
ASHER: And you did a really nice job concentrating Arlette, despite a lot of the noise behind you. I imagine it's quite tough to stay focused, but
you're excellent. Thank you so much. All right, a little later this hour, we're going to be speaking to Abha Khanna a lawyer specializing in voting
rights and redistricting.
Donald Trump has escalated his attacks on the Smithsonian Museums, this time saying that there's too much focus on, in his words, how bad slavery
was. In a social media post, he said the Smithsonian is, quote out of control. Said that in all caps for emphasis. Last week, the White House
ordered a review of the Smithsonian's Exhibitions. It's part of Trump's push to reshape American culture and even American history to fit his world
view. Brian Stelter takes a closer look.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: We are hearing from groups of museum curators, groups of historians, experts in this field, who, frankly,
have been bracing for this fight, who have been preparing for this fight. Is not a fight that the museum community wants to have.
They're not trying to get into a tiff with the President of the United States. But there was an executive order back in March that disparaged the
Smithsonian, and that was a signal of what was going to happen this summer. So even back in March, we saw some of these organizations preparing for
this fight that is now underway.
And here's a new statement from the American Alliance of Museums. This is a group that represents not just Smithsonian type institutions, but also
local museums you might have in your community. They say, quote, people trust museums, because they rely on independent scholarship and research
when any directive dictates what should or should not be displayed, it risks narrowing the public's window into evidence, ideas and a full range
of perspectives.
Now, the alliance went on to say that it believes a chilling effect is happening, is occurring where this threat against the Smithsonian is also
affecting other institutions. And we have heard stories in recent months, since Trump returned to the White House, about some museums, some art
galleries, hesitating or sometimes holding off on certain exhibits or certain art because of concern about political backlash and political
reactions.
So, this is not happening in a vacuum, and in some cases, in some ways, this is an argument that's gone back decades, you know, between liberals
and conservatives about how to represent America in its fullness? Whether you hear oftentimes, the liberal argument is about hearing the full history
of America, including the abuses and the egregious sins?
Conservatives have tended to argue that America's exceptionalism should be emphasized. So, in many ways, Trump is just leaning into that old tug of
war between liberals and conservatives that's been going on for a long time.
ASHER: All right, we appreciate Brian Stelter for delivering that report to us. All right still to come here, Hurricane Erin may not have come ashore,
but authorities are still warning people living along the coast about potential dangers that story coming up. Plus, Texas Democrats are running
out of options. We'll look at the state's redistricting push again and what comes next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ASHER: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some headlines we are watching for you today. Nearly 80 people, including
children, were killed when a bus crashed and burst into flames in Western Afghanistan. The bus was carrying people deported from Iran when it
collided with a motorcycle and a fuel truck. It comes as Iran steps up deportations of Afghan migrants.
Russia's Foreign Minister says discussions by other countries on Ukraine security without Moscow's participation are quote, a path to nowhere. The
Kremlin is refusing to commit to a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The White House, meanwhile, insists plans for meeting
are actually underway.
Within the past few hours, Hurricane Erin has strengthened a bit and continues its past path, rather up the U.S. East Coast, bringing life
threatening rip currents and dangerous. The category two storm is not expected to make landfall, but the National Hurricane Center has forecast
it to become a category three major hurricane later today, and beaches up and down the coast have issued no swim advisories.
The Texas State House is discussing a bill on redistricting by withdrawing its Congressional map, the Trump backed proposal could deliver five more
Republican leaning Congressional seats before next year's midterm election that could help the party hold on to power in the House.
Here's why this is a big deal right now, the U.S. Constitution says the Congressional districts must be withdrawn every 10 years after the census,
states are supposed to redraw the districts to reflect changes in population, but sometimes the districts are drawn deliberately to actually
produce a specific result.
Over the decades, there have been many battles over what's known as gerrymandering, drawing a Congressional district to benefit one group or
party or to reduce representation of another group. Now we are in another battle in the State of Texas, and even though it's five years before the
next census, Texas Republicans are hunting for more seats, and they're hoping to get them by redrawing the Congressional map essentially in their
favor.
And in a few minutes, California Democrats will begin their fight to add more Democratic held seats in their state to counteract what Texas is
doing. So, can it be legal? How can it be legal rather to draw lines to benefit one party? Let's ask Abha Khanna she's a Voting Rights and
Redistricting Lawyer at the Elias Law River.
Abha thank you so much for being with us. First of all, just when you look at what's happening --
ABHA KHANNA, PARTNER, ELIAS LAW GROUP: My pleasure.
ASHER: -- when you look at what's happening in both California and Texas, just explain to us how you think that all of this is likely to affect the
midterms next year, and actually the presidential elections in 2028 as well.
KHANNA: Well, I think ultimately, the reason that Texas has tried, and is trying to, you know, strong arm its way into even more Congressional seats
in a more gerrymandered map is because I think Texas Republicans, and Republicans, writ large stemming from the White House, are nervous and
understandably nervous about reclaiming the House after the midterm elections.
[11:35:00]
Right now, they have a very narrow majority, and it's a dwindling majority, and it's one that that I think, is -- you know, a lot of the policies that
have come out of this administration have been increasingly unpopular with voters. And the way that Texas is choosing to -- you know, strong arm its
way into drawing another unfair redistricting map is essentially a way to inoculate legislators and inoculate members of Congress from the will of
the voters.
And so that, I think, is really the ultimate goal here, California is standing up to make sure that Congress does not become a rigged game by the
Texas -- you know a gambit here. And I think ultimately the voters, I think across the spectrum, are just as disgusted as the rest of us when we see --
when they see legislators and congressmen trying to essentially insulate themselves from actually having to listen to their voters.
ASHER: You know, both states have seen changes just in terms of population, demographic, demographic shifts in Texas, obviously, more minorities, a
growing population of minorities. How are minority communities going to be affected by these redistricting outcomes do you think?
KHANNA: Yes. And we should make no mistake that the Texas attempt at this new gerrymander is unlawful for a host of reasons. To be clear, we were
already in litigation against the 2021, map that Congress -- that Texas enacted for its Congressional districts, that we contend was already
unlawful, a violation of the Voting Rights Act, a violation of the Constitution.
This latest effort doubles down on the -- on that illegality. And to the extent that it's trying to extract more Republican seats, it does so on the
backs of minority voters. It does so by purposefully and intentionally eliminating majority minority districts, going after urban communities,
urban minority communities precisely because of their racial composition.
And that is unlawful. That's unlawful under the laws that existed for the last century, and certainly the laws that exists today. So, you know, the
good news is that our federal laws, the Voting Rights Act and the U.S. Constitution, protect minority voters from these kinds of attempts of the
majority in power to essentially silence and suffocate minority voting strength. And we intend to fight Texas's attempt to do this unlawful
maneuver in court very aggressively.
ASHER: You know, we have a lot of people watching who are -- you know international viewers, viewers from other countries around the world. And
just this idea that you can try to sort of change a Congressional map to benefit one party over another is sort of confusing and bizarre I imagine,
for a lot of our international viewers who are not American.
Just explain to us what reforms and what changes are being proposed to make redistricting fairer across the country?
KHANNA: Absolutely. And it does seem strange, right? That there are -- we allow politicians to essentially draw their own maps and inquiry -- and
choose their own voters. There are ways to do it, right? And obviously there are ways that that end up in an abuse of power.
Democrats have proposed in Congress, on a new -- a number of occasions, nationwide redistricting reform, that it would essentially depoliticize the
process in all the states. And in fact, you've seen many Democratic led states institute those reforms on a state level when it comes to electing
their state legislators to ensure that they're no longer, you know, at the political whim of the people who are already in power.
And I think those efforts should be applauded. They need to be scaled up on a national level. And certainly, when we're talking about Congress, which
is a national body, we need to make sure that all states are playing by the same set of rules and norms.
And in fact, and we need to nationalize and federalize those norms, because it is -- when Texas tries to gerrymander its districts that does not just
affect Texas voters. It affects voters across the country, because it affects our U.S. Congress. It affects the composition of Congress and the
policies that it enacts.
And we need to make sure that all Congressional delegates are being elected to Congress on fair maps that are responsive to the will of the voters and
that are all playing by the same set of rules.
ASHER: It's interesting, though, because in the meantime, you have this bizarre situation where Texas, Texas Republicans are trying to get five
additional seats, and then California retaliates by trying to sort of do the same thing and beat the Republicans at their own game by adding five
more potentially adding five more.
Obviously, it has to be voted on in California because the rules are different, potentially adding five more Democratic seats. I mean, do you
sort of see a scenario until it does become fairer, whereby redistricting fights become just even more common and sort of perpetual in this climate,
especially, you know, given who is occupying the White House right now?
KHANNA: Well, look, I think one thing we can't forget is that the courts are still a major player in this. Texas' effort has not yet been enacted in
the state legislature. And once it is, if and once it is, then it will be up to the courts.
[11:40:00]
As I said, we're going to continue to fight very aggressively against this. And it is my position that Texas's effort here, even the very undertaking
of this re redistricting, this mid-decade redistricting, that's unprompted and unneeded, is unlawful. It's unconstitutional.
So certainly, there is a way for the courts to put a stop to this. In the event that the courts are unable or unwilling to put a -- put a bar, put an
end to what Texas is trying. I applaud that California has taken these efforts to say, OK, if Texas is going to do this, then we need to respond.
Because ultimately, it's not helpful for one side to just unilaterally disarm. That's not helpful for voters anywhere. It's not helpful for voters
in Texas or for voters across the country, if you have two different parties playing by two different sets of rules.
I think ultimately, we hope that it doesn't end up in a constant escalation. I think legislators, for instance, members in Congress in
California will realize that there's going to be political consequences to what Texas is doing, and they'll put pressure on their party as people
realize that there are political consequences across the country for Texas's this kind of gamesmanship that we're seeing.
And hopefully that will end up in ratcheting it down and de-escalating, and ultimately in everybody coming together on some kind of national norms and
national rules that we can agree to, to depoliticize, or at least take down the volume when it comes to the political influence that comes in when
drawing these electoral maps.
ASHER: All right. Abha Khanna live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, McDonald's is cooking up some changes. Coming up
what it's doing to convince customers that it's affordable again, that story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, hundreds of common items just got a lot more expensive to import into the United States because President Trump's 50 percent tariffs
on steel and aluminum have actually kicked in. Initially, the tariffs were only expected to be charged on raw materials, but due to a last-minute
change, they now apply to goods containing steel and aluminum.
And that's a lot of items, by the way, includes everything from baby strollers to spray deodorants, who fire extinguishers. Meantime, as many
prices go up, McDonald's is slashing the prices of its combo meals, hoping to convince customers that it's affordable again.
For more on all of this, let's bring in Matt Egan. So, Matt, let's just talk about these tariffs kicking in. Essentially, we all thought that it
was just the raw materials, steel and aluminum.
[11:45:00]
But when you think about everything that contains steel and aluminum in this country, it's a lot of items, and so things are about to get very
expensive across the board here.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yeah, Zain, you're right. This is a very big deal, and it's coming even as inflation is heating up. We see the Trump
Administration quietly moving to make it even more expensive to import a whole range of household items.
So, as you mentioned, we're talking about the 50 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. Originally, we thought this was just about the raw materials,
but starting this week, we have these new tariffs that are kicking in on all products that actually contain steel and aluminum. So now that 50
percent levy applies to the steel and aluminum content in more than 400 categories of products.
Now, a lot of this household items every day, essential things, everything from butter knives and baby strollers to spray deodorant fire extinguishers
and furniture. So, all things that are going to potentially impact consumers when it comes to prices, but there's also some industrial items
here as well.
Look at this, wind turbines, rail cars, bulldozers, cranes. It's hard to see how putting a 50 percent tariff on the still and aluminum content on
these items is going to help the Trump Administration achieve some of their key priorities around trying to make housing more affordable and trying to
drive American energy dominance.
And look, we've already seen a wide and growing list of companies say that they've already increased prices because of tariffs, or they plan to soon,
everyone from Procter and Gamble and Nike to toy makers like Mattel and Hasbro, Adidas, Ford, Walmart and the latest, of course, being Home Depot,
just earlier this week.
And so, you got to imagine that this list of companies hiking prices because of tariffs, it's only going to get larger. Zain back to you.
ASHER: And Matt, just in terms of foreign manufacturers. I mean, they have an option here. They have a choice as to whether or not to absorb a lot of
the costs or to pass it on to consumers. What's your -- what's your reporting telling you?
EGAN: Well, certainly the argument from the proponents of tariffs from inside the Trump Administration and outside of the administration. They
argue that, yes, foreigners, that these exporting companies that they're going to eat the tariffs right by slashing their prices to try to maintain
U.S. market share.
But that is not showing up in the economic data. What you would expect to see is, if exporters into the U.S. were slashing their prices, then we
should see import prices going down. But we're actually seeing the exact opposite. Look at this. Just in July, there was a 0.4 percent increase in
U.S. import prices. This is higher than expected.
And remember that this really measures the pre tariff price. So again, if they were eating the tariffs, this should be a down number, and it's not.
And so that's why Samuel Toombs over at Pantheon Economics, he says, look, foreigners are not paying for President Trump's tariffs. That leaves U.S.
consumers and businesses shouldering nearly all of the additional costs.
And look, Zain, as you know, we've already seen some readings on inflation start to move in the wrong direction. We know the cost of living maintain -
- continues to be a major frustration for a lot of different voters, and again, you got to wonder whether or not this latest round of tariffs is
just going to make matters even worse, Zain.
ASHER: All right. Matt Egan, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
EGAN: Thanks.
ASHER: All right, slumping sales and a public backlash have prompted Target to get a new leader. CEO Brian Cornell is stepping down after 11 years at
the retail giant. He'll be replaced in February by Target's Chief Operating Officer.
Increased competition from Walmart, Amazon and Costco have hurt Target's bottom line, as did a backlash when the company ended some of its
diversity, diversity equity and inclusion programs. Its stock is among the worst performing companies in the S&P 500 this year.
All right, still to come here on "One World" Beijing is in the planning stages of major construction in London. But not everybody is on board.
We'll tell you what all the fuss is about next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ASHER: All right, the British government is due to decide soon whether to allow China to build the largest Embassy in Europe in the heart of London.
Beijing's plan involves transforming a historic London building, which it bought in 2018. But what people are objecting to the so-called Super
Embassy, while there's also mystery about what exactly is in China's plan? CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hong Kong Activist Carmen Lau looks nervously at the building behind us.
CARMEN LAU, SENIOR INTERNATIONAL ADVOCACY ASSOCIATE, HONG KONG DEMOCRACY COUNCIL: My heartbeat right now is actually quite vast.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): We are standing at the gates of what could become China's new Embassy in the heart of London. Critics have dubbed it a Super
Embassy. If the proposal goes ahead, China will invest millions in what would become the largest Embassy in Europe on the sprawling 5.4-acre Royal
Mint Court.
Beijing bought the historic parcel of land in 2018 for around $312 million. Lau fears the site will be used to spy on, harass and potentially detain
and torture opponents of the Chinese government, including herself. Fears the Embassy has dismissed.
Lau fled Hong Kong for London about four years ago. She says, after she faced persecution for speaking out against the Beijing government. Hong
Kong Police later issued an arrest warrant for Lau, accusing her of incitement to secession and collusion with foreign elements, charges she
denies.
Now, she says her sense of safety has been shattered yet again. This is why, in February, her neighbors received the sheet of paper a wanted poster
promising a reward for information or --
LAU: Take her to the Chinese Embassy.
ABDELAZIZ: Take her to the Chinese Embassy, and what's the reward?
LAU: It is 1 million Hong Kong dollar.
ABDELAZIZ: And when you think about that Embassy being right there and getting posters like this.
LAU: It's not hard for everyone to imagine, if I got taken into this site, what would happen to me? They could do whatever they want.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): This 2022 video speaks to her concerns. It shows a pro-democracy protester being dragged into a Chinese Consulate in the
English City of Manchester and beaten up. Lau's fears of a black site grew after a blueprint of the Mega Embassy showed several rooms, including the
basement area marked redacted for security reasons.
The current Chinese Embassy says it needs more space and called opposition to its plan despicable slandering by anti-China elements and unfair.
ABDELAZIZ: Chinese officials also noted that the UK is seeking to rebuild its own Embassy in Beijing. The United States says it is deeply concerned
that China will exploit the critical infrastructure of one of its closest allies. That's according to a senior administration official.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): British officials have asked Beijing to provide more information on the redacted areas and clarify how it will address the
concerns of local residents.
MARK NYGATE, ROYAL MINT COURT RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION: All the way along to edge.
[11:55:00]
ABDELAZIZ: All the way over there,
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): like Mark Nygate --
ABDELAZIZ: And your flat is just right here.
NYGATE: Yeah. Yeah. And the sites closer to building now.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): His flat is just a few feet away from what could become a housing block for dozens of Chinese Embassy staffers and their
families.
ABDELAZIZ: Do you feel like you have -- you'll have your privacy?
NYGATE: No, not at all. We were told we've had to put our blinds down people with their privacy.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): China says it aims to foster friendship and cooperation between Britain and China. The UK is expected to make a
decision on the proposed Embassy in the coming weeks. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: And stay with CNN and we'll have much more "One World" after the break with my colleague Bianna Golodryga.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
