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One World with Zain Asher
At Least Six Killed In Jerusalem Shooting; Kremlin Calls Western Sanctions "Absolutely Useless"; Florida's Top Doctor Embraces End Of Vaccine Mandates; YouTube Sisters Help Keep Food Bills Low As Prices Get Higher; Confidence Vote Underway In French Parliament; Source: Trump Economic Officials Almost Came To Blows; Venezuela's President Mobilizes Country's Militia; Carlos Alcaraz Wins His Second U.S. Open Title. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired September 08, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:31]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: The Israeli Prime Minister says an attack in Jerusalem will lead to harsher measures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: This is one of the deadliest shooting attacks we've seen in Jerusalem in more than two years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Gunmen open fire on a bus stop in Jerusalem with people running in fear in the middle of rush hour.
Also ahead, the wrong track. New polling says 62 percent of Americans think things in the U.S. aren't going well. We'll break down the numbers.
And later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARYNA SABALENKA, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: Hello, everybody? It's going to be a fun media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The winner circle. CNN sits down with the U.S. Open champions.
Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga. Zain is off today. You are watching the second hour of "One World."
We'll have much more on those top stories in just a moment. But first, the European Union's second largest economy may be on the brink of political
collapse.
In the coming hours, the French Prime Minister will face a confidence vote that he called for over his deeply unpopular austerity budget. It's a huge
gamble and one that Francois Bayrou is expected to lose.
Now, if that happens, a significantly weakened President Emmanuel Macron will be searching for his fifth. That's right, fifth Prime Minister in less
than two years as the country slides deeper into political instability. We're going to speak with a member of the French Parliament in just a few
moments.
But we turn now to that fatal shooting in Jerusalem, the deadliest attack there in almost two years. At least six people were killed when two
shooters opened fire at a bus stop around rush hour. The shooters were later killed.
Israeli authorities identified them as residents of the occupied West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israeli troops are encircling the
West Bank villages of the attackers and he's promising to take harsh measures. An eyewitness describes the horrific scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAZAR TOLEDANO, SHOOTING EYEWITNESS: While it was happening, I saw people falling, getting hurt while trying to escape. I saw a woman who suddenly
fainted and another woman who was bleeding, things like that.
Then later, I returned to the scene and saw two tragic bodies, which really made me suddenly realize that this was a very, very serious event. Thank
God I was spared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The attack in Jerusalem comes as Israel ramps up its strikes in Gaza City.
(EXPLOSION)
This was the scene today as Israel took aim at a high-rise building. Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier warned of a, quote, massive hurricane
to come to force Hamas to lay down its weapons.
Israel's military says that it will destroy marked buildings because Hamas' infrastructure is in or near the sites. All of this comes as the U.S. puts
forward new principles for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Here's what President Trump said Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think -- I think we're going to have a deal on Gaza very soon. It's a hell of a problem. Again,
it's a problem we want to solve for the Middle East, for Israel, for -- for everybody. But it's a -- it's a problem we're going to get done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins me now from Jerusalem.
Jeremy, first to that horrific shooting, the identity of those six victims have been made. And we now know that the gunmen were killed by two
Israelis, their one-off duty soldier and one civilian. Have they not taken action? Who knows what -- what the tragedy and the death toll would have
been after that?
Tell us more about what we're learning about this incident and the response from both the prime minister and the Palestinian Authority.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna. I was on the scene of this attack at this Jerusalem bus stop. And, you know, when you --
when we arrived there, we immediately saw a number of emergency response vehicles that were on the scene and cleanup crews that had begun to sweep
away the damage.
We saw shards of glass on the floor, pools of dried blood sticking to the pavement. And this was the aftermath of an attack that killed six Israeli
civilians as well as wounded at least a dozen others.
[12:05:04]
Those two Palestinian gunmen who the Israeli authorities say carried out this terrorist attack, they were indeed killed on the scene by an off duty
Israeli soldier as well as at least one, but perhaps multiple Israeli civilians who were armed and were able to immediately exchange fire with
the gunmen and killed them on the spot within minutes or if not moments of this attack actually unfolding.
But there's no doubt that this was one of the deadliest attacks that we have seen in Israel over the course of this war. The last deadliest one
goes back to October of 2024 with that terrorist attack that happened in Jaffa in the Tel Aviv area.
The Israeli Prime Minister indeed getting to the scene within hours of this attack and talking about the harsh response that will follow. We have begun
to see at least the initial moves of that harsh response as Israeli forces entered and began raiding the two Palestinian villages from which these two
attackers originated, not clear whether they have detained individuals there, but we do understand from Israeli police that at least one East
Jerusalem resident was detained on suspicion of involvement with Monday's attack.
Obviously, this comes in the broader context of the escalation of violence that we have been witnessing across this region with the latest moves being
made by Israel in Gaza City as this offensive is taking a new toll over there.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Jeremy Diamond reporting to us live from Jerusalem. Thank you so much.
Turn to Ukraine now where President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns that Vladimir Putin is testing the world following Russia's largest aerial bombardment of
the war. And he says he is counting on a strong American response following the deadly nationwide attacks.
At least four people were killed in the strikes and a government building in Kyiv was hit for the very first time. It comes as a Kremlin is
dismissing Donald Trump's latest sanctions threat as absolutely useless.
On Sunday, the U.S. president who has already issued a series of deadlines for Putin that have come and gone indicated that he was ready to impose
additional measures on Moscow and he said he was going to speak with the Russian president very soon, but that he wasn't happy with him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's such a horrible waste of humanity. So no, I am not thrilled with what's happening there. I believe we're going to get it settled, but I
am not happy with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Kevin Liptak joins me now live from the White House, the president repeating that phrase. He's not happy with Vladimir Putin's
actions. We've heard that increasingly over the past few months, and yet, it doesn't appear that he's taken significant action to back up those words
instead issuing sanctions against countries like India for purchasing Russian oil and natural gas and now putting more pressure on the Europeans
to cut back on their purchase, which they have of oil and gas since the war began from Russia.
What more if any actions are we expecting this White House to take?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the president did say that he was ready to enter what he calls the second phase of these
sanctions, the first phase being this secondary tariffs that he has applied on India for purchasing Russian oil. The president now says he's ready to
move on to the second phase, potentially sanctions on the largest consumer of Russian energy, which would be China.
But so far, the White House, the Treasury Department, President Trump himself have not laid out in any specific detail what steps they're
prepared to take.
And you're right, we've seen these threats kind of come and go only to sort of melt away as the president seems to get on better with Putin than their
relationship deteriorates again, then they seem to be on better footing. So, it remains to be seen what exactly the president is prepared to do.
Now, today, here in Washington, the top European Union envoy on sanctions is here meeting at the Treasury Department with representatives from the
Trump administration, including officials from here at the White House to discuss ways to punish Moscow more, to put more pressure on Russia and to
coordinate those steps together.
And so you do see there are some signs that potentially the administration could be moving more towards these new punishments on Moscow about whether
or not Putin can dissuade Trump when they speak in President Trump's view later this week, I think, remains to be seen.
And so clearly, President Trump, growing frustrated that this summit that he held in Alaska several weeks ago with Putin has seemed to accomplish
very little. But what he's prepared to do in response, I think, remains very much an open question.
GOLODRYGA: We'll continue to follow this.
Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.
Let's bring in General Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. General, welcome to the program. Good to see you again.
[12:10:07]
What message is Vladimir Putin sending at this point, setting new records nearly every week in terms of the size and scopes of these strikes on
Ukraine?
WESLEY CLARK, FORMER SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER OF NATO: It's a message that he intends to follow through on his original objectives. He's going to take
Ukraine. He's going to get to the root causes of this. He's going to take care of the Baltic States. He wants NATO pushed back and he's going to use
force to do it and he's daring someone to stop him.
GOLODRYGA: And that someone would be Donald Trump in your view and what should the president do in response?
CLARK: I think the sanctions and tightening sanctions is certainly a -- a good approach, but it's not a complete approach. So, what else could we do?
$300 billion of Russian funds in European and American banks. Take those funds, give them to Ukraine.
Fleet of tankers, shadow tankers that are moving Russian oil, stop it. If it's guarded by Russian aircraft, run off the Russian aircraft. More
military assistance to Ukraine, not just assistance provided by European buying Americans.
But this is in our national interest. Eighty years of American global leadership is being directly challenged by Putin. Turn our back on it. It
sends a very clear message to adversaries and -- and allies.
So, we can't walk away from this and we can't expect that sanctions alone are necessarily going to stop it. I think it would be wonderful if the
Russian economy was like the Western economies and the consumers would react strongly and protest to the government, but none of that happens in
Russia. He's got lots and lots of slack in that economy that he can pull tight and he's got China behind him and pushing him.
So, if you really want the war to stop, let's face reality here. It's about conflict. It's about military forces on the ground and striking deep
targets in Russia. That's what it's about.
GOLODRYGA: In terms of striking those deep targets, you know, one way in which Europeans and Americans can't help Ukraine right now is their
manpower issue, but they can continue to help in terms of not only intelligence, but weapons delivery.
There isn't likely going to be another supplemental here in the United States, from Congress, from this president asking for one, but there are
still ways that the U.S. could get its equipment and some of its arsenal sold to the Europeans and then delivered to Ukraine.
Is that the best bet at this point? And what can be done to expedite that process, if so?
CLARK: Well, I think there should be another supplemental to go to Ukraine. And I think the senior members of Congress and the Republican Party should
push this forward to the president right now, so he has the option on his desk.
But in addition, there's still a little bit of drawdown authority and there is the option, if you take the $300 billion, give it to Ukraine, they can
buy the weapons themselves.
I will say the administration has done a good job of providing additional shorter-range rockets that can be air-delivered and ground-launched that
could go after Russian troop concentrations in occupied Ukraine.
But to really go after Russia, you've got to take out key Russian systems like the petrochemical complexes. So, Ukraine's damaged or disrupted about
20 percent of that. But can they sustain the disruption and the damage to it?
This is the difficulty with this war is that it's -- it continues. And so it's really a technology race. And it's a race of offense against defense
on both sides. This is a very difficult military problem.
But Ukraine's done it -- they've done a great job with the limited resources, but we have to understand, this is a challenge to the
international order that the United States put in place at the end of World War II, and it's a challenge to our European allies. And somehow we've all
got to come together to deal with this. Sanctions alone are not enough.
GOLODRYGA: Does the president understand that at this point? We have seen him sort of mend relations with NATO members. And I think some of the major
concerns going into the second term have been avoided thus far in terms of his relationships with European countries.
But that -- that doesn't seem to be resonating with Vladimir Putin. He is not urgent at all in terms of coming back to the negotiating table in
earnest.
What will it take to get him to that point before he thinks he can just draw this out for as long as possible and bring Ukraine to the table in a
position that is not beneficial to them?
CLARK: Bianna, that's exactly the right question. But I don't think you can get him back until he sees himself losing military momentum. When he starts
to lose more forces and lose terrain in Ukraine and see the momentum, the sustainability of the Ukrainian counter-offensive working, that's when
he'll come to the table.
[12:15:18]
Until that time, he's got a three-fold program. Use diplomacy to stall, punish the people of Ukraine, try to break their morale and give time for
this slow grinding offensive to somehow consume the armed forces of Ukraine and -- and hope there'll be a breakthrough.
So, we don't want that to happen, and that's why I say it's military. Got to face up to the reality of this. This is a military challenge. It has to
be met by greater military assistance to Ukraine.
GOLODRYGA: It is stunning at this point, President Trump seems to care more about dead Russian soldiers than Vladimir Putin does. He talks about it way
more than we've heard Vladimir Putin mention them, and yet, it's not bringing him anywhere closer to bringing this war to an end.
General Wesley Clark, thank you so much for joining us.
CLARK: Thank you, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Coming up for us, a president under pressure. France is being thrown into new political uncertainty. We speak to a French lawmaker and
ask how we got here.
Also ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JOSEPH LADAPO, FLORIDA SURGEON GENERAL: End all vaccine mandates in Florida law. All of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: With Republicans raising more and more questions about vaccines, we'll tell you how the American public views them.
Also coming up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today's video is more broke meals. Meals to make one when you're broke.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: It's no secret that prices at the grocery store are rising. These sisters are on a mission to help you get the most out of your food
budget. Find out how they're doing it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LADAPO: The Florida Department of Health, in partnership with the governor, is going to be working to end all vaccine mandates in Florida law. All of
them. All of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: That was Florida's top doctor announcing last week that his state would no longer require vaccines for school children.
On Sunday, he made a surprising admission to CNN's Jake Tapper. He confirmed that Florida has not done any data analysis or projections of how
unvaccinated -- how an unvaccinated population might fare in such an outbreak.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[12:20:03]
LADAPO: We don't need to do any projections. We handle outbreaks all the time. So, there's nothing special that -- that -- that we would need to do.
And secondly, again, there are countries that don't have vaccine mandates and the sky isn't falling over there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: And despite the skepticism about vaccines from Republicans, a brand-new poll finds strong support for them among the American people. The
NBC News poll finds 78 percent of Americans are in favor of vaccines. The battle over vaccines is just one of several issues where Donald Trump and
Republicans are losing in the polls.
The CBS News poll released over the weekend showed over 60 percent of the country thinks things are going badly right now. If we're talking about
polls, we simply must bring in CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten for more details.
That was quite a stunning interview to watch with Jay --
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Oh, yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- over the weekend. And the fact that he came out and said that the whooping cough does not prevent or the vaccine does not prevent
whooping cough from spreading was just patently wrong. It takes one search on any website.
I looked at ChatGPT and we can go to Google anywhere you want. And the data is there. It's just mind blowing that here we are in 2025 and talking about
the efficacy of vaccines at this point that have been in place for decades.
How do Americans feel about this?
ENTEN: Yes. I mean, look, you've said it in that intro there. You -- you know, you had the surgeon general, God bless them, you know, down in
Florida. Then you showed the polling which showed that most Americans do, in fact, support vaccines, support the idea of vaccine mandates.
And then obviously you have RFK Jr. going around, you know, as the head of HHS, doing whatever it is that he is doing. You see it there right on the
screen right now, 78 percent view of vaccines prevent, you know, diseases. You see it.
Strongly support 48, somewhat support 30, 78 percent overall. But I -- I think it's part of a larger picture, Bianna, which is that whatever Donald
Trump, and obviously Donald Trump is RFK Jr.'s boss and obviously has been allowing this movement to build up under him, whatever Donald Trump is
doing has been against what the American people. And you know -- what the American people wants. Sometimes I feel like, you know, we see these trees,
but we lose the trees amongst the forests, right?
And I think it's just so important to note just how unpopular Donald Trump is and what he's doing.
And I think an easy way to do this is just look at his negative net approval rating. It has been negative. Get this. Since March 12th, since
March 12th, days in a row, it's been 181 days in a row. Donald Trump has been negative since last winter. My goodness gracious.
And, you know, you mentioned vaccines, right? This is an issue in which Donald Trump is going against the American people. But it's not just on
vaccines. Again, I don't want to lose the forest amongst the trees.
Look at this. We have all the issues up here on the board, all the other major issues, crime, immigration, two of the strongest issues. He's under
water, foreign policy, under water, minus 12 points, the economy, which of course we spoke about last Friday, the reason that he was elected to a
second term. He's under water there.
Trade, of course, the tariffs being such a big thing, way underwater there at minus 17 points. My goodness gracious. No matter what issue you look at,
Donald Trump is underwater.
And more than that, he is lost his support amongst the groups that help get him elected. What are we talking about?
Remember, back in 2024, Donald Trump did historically well for Republican nominee, for president among those under the age of 30 and Hispanics. But
look at the trend lines that we have here.
Back in February, the last time Donald Trump was in positive territory, he was at plus two amongst those under the age of 30. Now look at this. He is
30 points underwater. That's a 32-point shift since the beginning of the year.
Hispanics, he was underwater back at the beginning of the year at minus six points. But look at where he is now, 34 points underwater. That's a 28-
point shift.
So, again, the vaccines, it's important to know it's not one issue in which Donald Trump is going against the American people. It is on a slew of
issues, all the major issues Donald Trump is going against the American people.
And that is why he is in the negative because simply put, if you do things that the American people don't want, they're going to turn against you no
matter how much they might have supported you in the last place.
And unfortunately on some of these issues, like vaccines, I have to admit, I'm quite worried that the public health ramifications that they could be
quite dangerous, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And you're not the only one who's espousing those concerns. And it is notable because this isn't just an indictment on President Trump.
He can't run again.
But on the Republican Party, these are all the same issues that they're embracing because they're supporting what the Commander in Chief is doing.
He may say he's not following this data or looking at the numbers, but he is someone who has long followed trends and polls. So, we'll see if he does
any about face here.
[12:25:00]
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten know about face needed from you. Always great to see you, my friend.
ENTEN: Nice to see you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Grocery prices were a huge issue during the last presidential election. Both candidates promised to bring them down.
Now, despite that, prices continue to rise. That's why two sisters are using YouTube to help people stretch their food budget.
CNN's Elle Reeve has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE SOUTHERLAND, YOUTUBER: Today's video is more broke meals, meals to make when you're broke.
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These YouTuber sisters are a different kind of momfluencer.
EMILY ANDERSON, YOUTUBER: We're going into the Dollar General market first.
REEVE (voice-over): Making super low budget food videos for people who are broke.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They have a clearance event? What?
REEVE (voice-over): How to eat on a dollar a day, a week of meals for $10.
These videos are in demand as a growing number of people are struggling to afford rising food, power, and rent bills.
SOUTHERLAND: It doesn't look like inflation's going anywhere, except up.
REEVE (voice-over): Since last year, eggs are up more than 16 percent, coffee 14 percent and beef 11 percent.
SOUTHERLAND: Oh, my gosh, that is $43.
REEVE (voice-over): There are fears tariffs could raise food prices more in the future. Electricity prices have grown more than twice as fast as the
cost of living.
And Central Services, a food bank here in Morristown, Tennessee, says it's seen 22 percent more new families this year than last.
Brooke Southerland and Emily Anderson have expertise in how to make something from nothing because they did it as kids.
ANDERSON: Most of the time growing up, it felt like it was me and Brooke against the world. I'm going to try not to cry (INAUDIBLE).
REEVE (voice-over): Southerland says she wanted to start making these videos after their older sister died.
SOUTHERLAND: When my sister passed away, me and my mother were going through her purse, and I got this little card out and it was from the food
bank. And it said her next available date to pick up a box of food.
She had never told anybody that she was struggling like that. And that just made me sad that she thought she couldn't talk to family about her food
insecurity.
REEVE (voice-over): The sisters said they want viewers to feel less shame about having to make tough choices.
ANDERSON: You all taking one, take away the extra pack of franks, hot dogs.
SOUTHERLAND: And get a bit.
There are some viewers that think that vegetables are the most important choice. And, to me, that just shows that they have never had to really
struggle. Fresh vegetables are really a luxury in some instances, and that -- it shouldn't be that way at all.
REEVE (on camera): Sometimes, you have to go to a whole bunch of Dollar Generals?
SOUTHERLAND: Yes. Everybody in our area wants to save money. And they take everything off the shelves before we can get to it.
No.
REEVE: How many hours a week do you think you put into this?
SOUTHERLAND: Eight, 10 hours.
REEVE (voice-over): We talked to more than a dozen people in Downtown Morristown. Everyone was mad about prices.
LINDA BRADLEY, MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE RESIDENT: Sometimes, things is four times what they was a year ago. A roast I used to get for $12, $15 is $35.
It's awful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything, you know, just keeps going up.
TONY MAYES, MORRISTOWN, TENNESSEE RESIDENT: I used to spend $40 a week. Now it's $140 or something like that. I -- I just don't think it's going to go
down for a long time. They're not concerned with people like us.
BRADLEY: They said these tariffs that they have got on, it's going to bring prices down. They're not, because it's going to have to charge more to make
up for them having to pay to bring it in. And I just see everything's going downhill.
REEVE: Did you vote for Trump this last time?
BRADLEY: No, I didn't. I didn't see no choice of a good president. No choice, I'm not choosing. Maybe we'll get somebody good in the office and
it'll change. Not before I'm gone, though.
(LAUGHTER)
REEVE (voice-over): For Southerland, she says she wants to keep the conversation positive. And to do that, she bans certain words from her
Facebook page.
SOUTHERLAND: The banned words I can give you a list as long as my leg, Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, tariffs, Trump, Biden.
REEVE: So I was looking for videos kind of like yours on TikTok, and the nasty comment I saw the most -- and maybe that's just my algorithm -- was,
well, this is what you voted for. You know, that's what you get.
Did you get -- do you see stuff like that?
SOUTHERLAND: Yes. The politicians are politicians. And they're doing a job. They're making money. But we are here together. We are real people. And we
need to help each other get through this, get through these hard times, because they're not seeing us on a personal level. But we can see each
other on a personal level.
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Morristown, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:19]
GOLODRYGA: Well, breaking news to bring you. The French Parliament has begun a confidence vote that will likely see the removal of its Prime
Minister Francois Bayrou. He would be the fourth head of government to leave in less than two years. He does so as the nation grapples with
spiraling debt, which Bayrou says has become a matter of national survival.
But he's facing backlash over a deeply unpopular savings plan worth $51 billion. It would see two public holidays axed. This as borrowing costs are
soaring. France's 10-year bond yields are now approaching the level of Italy's.
Melissa Bell is live outside of Parliament in Paris. Our Anna Cooban is following the economic developments from London.
Melissa, just for our viewers that haven't been following the day-to-day politics and France, talk to us about how we came to this point.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this goes back really, Bianna, to June 2024. It was that decision by the French president
of the time on the back of European elections that had seen the far right to particularly well to dissolve Parliament, wanting to get clarity, hoping
that his party would do well.
In fact, far from it, the snap election delivered his centrist party on loss. The extremes both left and right gained seats. And what you've seen
since then is now the third prime minister in a row try to lead from the center in the wake of the snap election with no majority in Parliament and
fail.
Francois Bayrou expected in that vote that even now underway, Bianna, to lose the confidence or not to get the confidence rather of French
parliamentarians. What that means is that we're kind of back to square one where the French president will be expected to see whether he thinks he can
choose a prime minister or allow a Prime Minister to form a government that might have some hope, not just of leading, but, of course, of governing as
you say at this crucial time, when a budget needs to agree -- to be agreed upon by the end of the year and what all of those who have led so far and
failed have hoped to do is slash the budget in order to fix this looming debt crisis.
[12:35:17]
It is expected that France's national debt will reach 116 percent of the country's national economic output by the end of the year. And it is that
crisis that Francois Bayrou had hoped to fix by slashing 44 billion from next year's budget.
In fact, what we're seeing or we believe we're expected to see shortly when this result comes in is that France's fractious and divided parliament is
nowhere near agreeing on the very need to carry out those cuts.
So, he is likely to fall. We expect him to tender his resignation if he does by the end of the day. The question then what the French president
decides to do, find another prime minister to try and lead France. Maybe this time from the left rather than from the center in the hopes of
placating those parties that did so well in last year's snap election or indeed to dissolve parliament.
Again, this is a French president, Bianna, who has long since run out of palatable options, especially given the progression you've seen
electrically for the far right here in France.
GOLODRYGA: And French president who's about to see his fourth prime minister ousted.
Anna, if I can turn to you, you have a veteran centrist in Bayrou who has been a longtime ally of Macron's and describes the national debt as a grave
problem, one of national security for the country.
What do you see as the core reason of his failure to pass that point along through France's parliament? Because he's facing unified opposition from
the far right, from the Greens, from the socialists. All of this as what he is saying is imperative for France.
ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS REPORTER: Yes. Well, as Melissa said, the big reason why there is this huge impasse right now is because of
these snap elections that Macron called last year. France's parliament is now more divided than it was before.
But there is -- there is general resistance in France to spending cuts to - - cuts that might impact the welfare state there. But Francois Bayrou has made the point that this is, you know, as you said, of grave importance.
Earlier this summer, he said that servicing this debt alone, the interest paid on this debt will reach about 100 billion euros by 2029, which will be
the single largest expense in the French government's budget, big in the education budget, for example. So, that gives you a sense of the -- the
scale of this.
But I was talking with a Nobel Prize-winning economist at the weekend, Joseph Stiglitz. He -- I asked him the question, are we looking at a
situation in France which is as serious as the Eurozone debt crisis was about 15 years ago?
You'll hear some people sort of worrying about this at the moment. And this is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH STIGLITZ, NOBEL-PRIZE WINNING ECONOMIST: A political issue that is not resolved could lead to a financial problem. But what I'm suggesting is
I think it's a financial problem that where -- that for which there is a political solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOBAN: So, he's essentially saying that France is -- this is not the case that France is about to, you know, get a bailout from the IMF. It is not in
the situation that Greece was in in 2010, 2011.
France is the second largest economy in Europe, one of the world's largest economies. It's also a growing economy. The IMF predicts it will grow this
year and next. But it is facing financial difficulties and tough financial choices. But it needs to get its political house in order before it can do
so.
And no doubt a black eye for Emmanuel Macron, who has been unable to do so now for a number of years and a number of prime ministers later.
Anna Cooban and Melissa Bell, thank you so much. Don't go too far. If we get any news, we'll come right back to you as soon as we do get that.
In the meantime, we're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:40:32]
GOLODRYGA: Well, CNN has confirmed two of President Trump's top economic officials nearly got into a fistfight last week. Treasury Secretary Scott
Bessent threatened to punch federal housing finance agency director Bill Pulte in a face -- in the face at a MAGA-aligned dinner. Bessent accused
Pulte of speaking negatively about him with the president.
CNN senior White House correspondent. Kristen Holmes joins me now.
This is not a page out of the onion (ph). It appears that we have confirmation of this episode as well, Kristen. And this isn't the first
time that we've seen a potential or a near fight among the President's top advisors, also the last time involving Scott Bessent, and I believe Elon
Musk.
What do we know about this latest incident?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean that was described to me by a source who witnessed the events and said it was one of
the most insane things that they've ever seen.
Essentially, they were at the executive branch, which is a club for the ultra-wealthy MAGA supporters, the social club here in D.C. in Georgetown,
that was started by some of Trump's biggest supporters, including his son, Don Jr.
And this is one of their opening dinners at the club. And during the cocktail hour, Bessent and Pulte got to talking.
Now, it's unclear who exactly started the conversation, but this source witnessed this escalation in their conversation, essentially with Bessent
accusing Pulte of badmouthing him to the president multiple times, saying he wasn't going to put up with that.
At one point, one of the co-founders of the actual club had to pull them apart with Bessent yelling, we could take this outside. And I was told by
the source that Pulte seemed confused by that and also was certainly surprised at how quickly this had escalated.
Now, both of these men did end up staying at the event, which ended up being a dinner, but they didn't sit anywhere near each other. The White
House hasn't comment. Treasury hasn't commented. Pulte hasn't commented.
But one thing to keep in note here and keep in mind is the fact that Pulte's stock has really risen with President Trump in recent weeks. He has
been the one who made the accusations against the Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook about mortgage fraud. He has been pushing these criminal
allegations against her. And she -- he really has the president's ear.
Now, that's not to say anything about the Secretary of Treasury, who also is very close to President Trump. We heard President Trump praising him
just on Friday night when they were at a dinner in the new Rose Garden.
But it does give you something to think about as one person's stock rises. And the other thing, of course, as you mentioned, was sources told us that
there was another escalation like this involving Bessent way back the beginning of the administration over who is going to lead the IRS, that
escalation, that fight, which was overheard by President Trump, was also similar in the sense that it became a vulgar shouting match or a rant
diatribe, if you will.
GOLODRYGA: All super classy.
Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. Reporting to us live from the White House.
GOLODRYGA: Well, now to escalating tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. Hundreds of Venezuelans with no military training are signing up for the
militia units as President Nicolas Maduro vows to boost troops along the country's coast to fight drugs.
It comes after the Trump administration ordered 10 fighter jets to Puerto Rico in its new approach against drug cartels.
CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon reports on what's happening on the ground in Venezuela.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST (voice-over): On a regular day, Hector Carrillo is a pastry chef working early shifts to bake cookies and cakes
for his community in a slum outside Caracas.
[12:45:07]
But when duty calls, Carrillo is a reservist and a member of the Bolivarian militia, a civilian force tied to Venezuela's military, ready to defend the
nation.
As sources tell CNN, the White House is considering strikes on Venezuelan territory, allegedly to hit narco traffickers, Carrillo warns any U.S.
intervention against Venezuela would be catastrophic.
HECTOR CARRILLO, MEMBER OF VENEZUELAN MILITIA (through translator): I've been almost 30 years in the army and I still feel prepared to defend the
fatherland. I would tell him, do not think about it because it will be bad. It will be the end of the American empire.
POZZEBON (voice-over): In recent days, President Nicolas Maduro has called for a special mobilization of the militia.
NICOLAS MADURO, VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Our mobilization will be permanent and never stop. The armed forces will deliver the plans
for people to sign up.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Maduro told the nation claiming as many as eight million Venezuelans signed up. Experts dispute these numbers for how
effective this corps would be in real combat.
POZZEBON: While militiamen like Hector are unlikely to deter any intervention plan from President Trump, they definitely send a message to
everyone in the community, the government is on every street.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Today, Carrillo's job is to provide security at this government fair where citizens get access to basic services like subsidized
medicines or medical consultations while the militia patrols the street.
Top prize at the spinning wheel, Super Celita, a super woman modeled on Maduro's wife, Celia Flores.
POZZEBON: Seems like I didn't win.
POZZEBON (voice-over): At the heart of the fair is the food stall with Maduro looking on.
POZZEBON: One of the tasks of the militia is to oversee the logistics of the government handouts which are crucial for vast parts of the Venezuelan
population as the minimum wage here is still less than a dollar a month.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Used to living under an authoritarian government, most Venezuelans seem unmoved by the prospect of U.S. strikes. Even Maduro
now strikes a more cautious tone.
MADURO (through translator): Please don't let yourselves be deceived for one more fratricidal war in South America and in the Caribbean.
POZZEBON (voice-over): The White House says more actions are coming against the Venezuelan leader.
While here, his supporters close ranks prepared for what is next.
Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Petare, Venezuela.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And to Nepal now where officials say police opened fire on protesters in Nepal's capital. At least 17 people are reported dead and
more than 145 injured, including dozens of police officers.
Huge rallies were held in the wake of the country's ban on most social media. Tens of thousands of people filled to the streets, chanting that
corruption should be stopped, not access to social media.
The government says it gave social network platforms a chance to register their companies. Those that failed to do so were blocked.
And for the second year in a row, Aryna Sabalenka gets the -- gets to hoist the U.S. Open Championship trophy. She and the men's winner, Carlos
Alcaraz, both speak with CNN after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:50:27]
(CHEERS)
GOLODRYGA: And with that, Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz won his second U.S. Open title. He beat his Italian rival, Jannik Sinner, in four
thrilling sets.
After the match, Alcaraz told CNN's Andy Scholes what it was like hoisting that championship trophy for the second time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Carlos, congratulations. You only dropped one set on your way to your second U.S. Open title. Now the number one
ranked player in the world once again. How's it feel to make -- to get this win?
CARLOS ALCARAZ, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: Well, It was a -- it was a great feeling and it is a great feeling. You know, my -- my goal -- my
goal, you know, since I got the chance -- it was almost at the beginning of the year and I -- and I achieved that.
For me, it's -- its' -- it's great. So I just -- it's something that -- that I'm working for and I'm really happy to be able to lift this trophy
today.
SCHOLES: Now, you and Jannik have won the last eight Grand Slam titles. Do these kinds of wins have a little more meaning when you -- when you win
against your biggest rival?
ALCARAZ: Yes. Absolutely. When you -- I think it's a better taste when you win a -- a Grand Slam or -- or a tournament when you beat the best player
in the world.
So for me, it's great to play as much as I can with -- with Jannik in the biggest tournaments in the -- in the biggest stages.
So for me, yes, it's -- it's a better feeling when I -- when I beat him. I can't -- I can't say -- I can't say all the things about it.
SCHOLES: Yes. Second youngest in the open air to get a six Grand Slam titles. Only 22 years old. What -- what are we thinking when you're all
said and done, 20, 25, 30?
ALCARAZ: Well, I don't know. I mean, I can't -- I can't stop here, to be honest. I can't take anything for -- for granted. So, I just have to keep
going.
I wanted to -- to -- to keep improving, to keep giving my 100 percent if I want to -- to win more -- more of this trophy. So, it's a long journey, but
I'm -- I'm ready to take it.
SCHOLES: Could you use the golf swing celebration with the trophy?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: All right. We want to thank you now back to Paris where the French parliament is concluding that confidence vote in Prime Minister
Francois Bayrou.
Melissa Bell is live outside of the parliament. What is the latest, Melissa?
BELL: Well, voting has now finished. We're waiting to get those results. But clearly, we take a massive surprise for the vote to go any other way
than the French political classes and the French media have been predicting that it will go tonight for weeks now ever since we saw the current prime
minister throw down the gauntlet to his fellow parliamentarians as he sought to slash that 44 billion euros from next year's budget, saying that
he needed the confidence of parliament to do it.
The figures have been stacked very firmly against him. And I think what we're likely to see over the coming hours, what we're certainly expecting
to see is to see him lose that confidence vote and to resign, which will then leave in the hands of the French president the tricky question of what
to do next to name another prime minister from the center in the hope that he might become fourth time lucky, the one who manages to govern this now
unruly and very fractious national assembly behind me, even as he tries to -- he or she tries to push through deeply unpopular budget cuts.
Or does he tag to the left going for a prime minister drawn off draw from the parliamentary block that came out the best from the snap election that
was held last year. Those are his fairly unpalatable choices as we look into this evening and how the parliamentary arithmetic is likely to fall
precisely.
But there's a little doubt here in Francois Bayrou is set to become tonight the third prime minister from the center to take power and lose it very
quickly in the face of a parliament that simply was not prepared to back those cuts needed to tackle France's looming debt crisis. Bianna.
[12:55:09]
Are there any names, Melissa, any of those that have been floated now thus far that would replace Bayrou to be the fifth prime minister under
President Macron?
BELL: There are a few names that have been bandied about. I think really what is -- what is considered his big -- big options is again choosing a
centrist, someone like the current foreign -- foreign minister, for instance, who would try and cobble together some kind of government despite
the fact that Emmanuel Macron's center -- centrists are in such minority in the parliament with such anger from the far left and the far right.
Perhaps, I think, the speculation has tended to be that he might go for the left. Remember this is a blog that came out very strong from last year's
snap elections. They had managed in the second round to seal off the threat from the far-right that had come off first.
And there's a lot of deep-seated resentment in that part of French politics that not having been able to name a prime minister that was able to lead in
the next few months.
So, a lot of speculation about whether that might happen after -- after tonight's vote. And there have been a few names from sort of center-left
that might appeal to a wide group of those left-wing lawmakers.
Remember, not united terribly much at all enough, certainly, that they could cobble together a government. I think then the question remains wide
open, Bianna, about whether any government at this stage could get that very fractious parliament, whose by the way, spelled -- smelled blood at
this stage.
A lot of them calling also for the departure of the French president himself, whether then when it comes to pushing through what's likely to be
a very deeply unpopular austerity budget, any of them would manage to get that through at all, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Marine Le Pen calling for a snap election. That -- the likelihood of that happening, I would say, is probably low at this point.
But assuming that Bayrou loses this confidence vote, again, we're expecting the results. Any moment now, are we going to hear from the president
himself?
BELL: Well, for now, he has entirely ruled out standing down ahead of 2027, as you say, the far-right in the shape of Marine Le Pen, but also the far-
left have been calling for exactly that.
He may decide to speak to the country, but that's probably unlikely until he's decided what he's going to do. Name another prime minister, which
prime minister, what kind of negotiations to begin or whether to announce another dissolution. And I think there'll be a lot of speculation about
when and why he decides to speak.
And beyond that, I think you're right. One of his calculations in the question of whether or not simply to dissolve parliament again and give it
another go is that what the opinion polls show is that the far-right has actually progressed and would likely take even more seats than it had
before, making it even harder to imagine that this centrist president might get through any of the measures that he hopes to get through to the end of
his presidential term in 2027, including, again, that necessarily difficult budget that has to be agreed by the end of the year. Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: And, Melissa, we talked about some of the economic fallout from just what has been a spiraling situation there in terms of the budget
deficit, they're ballooning.
What are you hearing from locals in terms of their concerns about the state of the economy?
BELL: I think there's a sort of disconnect. And you can see it in some of the debates that have happened here in this parliament behind me over the
course of the last few weeks.
I mean, the political parties that have gathered here tonight to decide whether or not to give their confidence to the government of Francois
Bayrou are deeply divided even on the question, Bianna, of whether or not this debt crisis is as serious as he suggested and whether or not these
cuts are necessary without even getting into the weeds of how they would achieve these cuts.
So, there's deep disagreement amongst these political parties. And remember that what we're looking at is credit rating agencies, markets, talking
about the rising costs of borrowing for the French economy.
But on the streets, and we're about to hear from them again on Wednesday, what we're actually expecting is the deep dissatisfaction of ordinary
French people to express itself, the fact that they feel they're not properly well represented by their successively failing governments, the
fact that the cost of living has continued to rise. And they will take the streets again this Wednesday and then again on the 18th.
So, what you're going to see as well, even as this political crisis plays out, is the resumption here in France of industrial action, of street
protests, which will add to a fairly chaotic picture as we look ahead to the end of this year, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Can you give us a sense of some of the measures?
All right. And it is official. Prime Minister Bayrou has lost his confidence vote, once again, throwing parliament into disarray and forcing
President Macron not only to have egg on his face once again, but also to make a significant decision rather soon, Melissa.
BELL: That's right. And it's a fairly resounding defeat. Remember, this was a confidence vote that Francois Bayrou himself had called in the end only a
hundred.
[13:00:00]
END
