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One World with Zain Asher
Iran's FM: Agreed on "Guiding Principles" for Further Talks; Al Sharpton Pays Tribute to Civil Rights Leader Jesse Jackson; Geneva Hosts Peace Talks Between Ukraine, Russia & U.S.; Civil Rights Icon Reverend Jesse Jackson Dead at Age 84; Jackson was a Leading Voice for Social, Economic, Racial Justice; Breezy Johnson Talks Olympic Gold, Engagement. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 17, 2026 - 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: All right, coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". We begin with whirlwind
day of diplomacy. Iran's foreign minister says that Tehran and Washington have agreed on guiding principles for further talks as a second round of
negotiations over Iran's nuclear program conclude in Geneva.
Abbas Araghchi says they've mapped out a path forward, but adds that the drafting and writing phase of the agreement will be much more difficult.
Iran's top diplomat attended the indirect talks, along with U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
This comes as both nations flex their military might.
Iran is going to be closing parts of the Strait of Hormuz today, a vital shipping lane as it conducts naval exercises. And the USS Gerald Ford
Carrier Strike Group is making its way to the region to join the growing show of force. Let's bring our -- begin our coverage rather with CNN's Fred
Pleitgen. He joins us live now from Geneva, Switzerland.
So just talking about what Iran's foreign minister said there that they have agreed just between the U.S. and Iran on guiding principles for talks.
More work needs to be done. This, of course, does not mean that a deal is imminent. A deal is not going to be reached quickly, in his words, but he
did describe the talks as much more serious than a previous round and certainly positive. What can we glean from that, Fred?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seems on two sides are at least going to keep talking still, and
that is definitely something that's quite important, especially as over the past couple of days, we have seen that military build-up in the greater
Middle East -- choice words coming from the Iranians and also from U.S., President Donald Trump, as far as the possible military confrontation is
concerned.
So, it seems as though, at least for now, diplomacy is still moving forward and is still being given a chance. One of the interesting things about all
this Zain is that we have heard, as you mentioned, from Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, saying they are mapping out a path forward to at
least try and draft something together.
We haven't heard from the U.S. side yet, and that certainly is no surprise, really, because Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, the two main negotiators
for the United States are already in the building that you see behind me, the Intercontinental Hotel here in Geneva, and they are at those tri
lateral talks to try and solve the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
So, they certainly are taking on the most difficult conflicts in the world. And right now, of course, Iran certainly does seem to be one of the more
pressing ones. And you are absolutely right. As all this is going on, the military build-up there continues.
You also mentioned those military exercises by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Strait of Hormuz. There were also some pretty strong
words from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, directed at the Americans. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH ALI KHAMENEI, IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER: It seems to them that the U.S. President keeps saying this, the U.S. Army is the strongest army in
the world. The strongest army in the world may sometimes get slapped so hard that it cannot stand up straight.
They keep saying we've sent an aircraft carrier towards Iran. Very well, an aircraft carrier is certainly a dangerous piece of equipment, but more
dangerous than the carrier is the weapon that can send that carrier towards the bottom of the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, as you can see, there some pretty strong words coming from Iran's Supreme Leader. We have, of course, heard also U.S. President Donald
Trump, in the past couple of days, threatening military action, but at the same time saying that for the United States, reaching a deal would be
preferential.
However, of course, they do say that the terms for that agreement need to be right, and that's exactly what the two sides seem to be working on right
now. One thing that we did get, by the way, from the Iranian side is they say that their negotiators are actually going back to Tehran tonight.
There was some speculation as to whether or not the talks might move on till tomorrow, but for now, the Iranians saying they are going to go back
to Tehran report to their superiors and see how they move forward as well, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Fred Pleitgen, live for us there. Thank you so much. The U.S. President told reporters before the talks began that Iran wants a
nuclear deal and that it doesn't want the consequences of not making a deal, obviously implying military action there.
Our next guest has actually just written about this Barak Ravid is a Global Affairs Correspondent for AXIOS, as well as a CNN Political and Global
Affairs Analyst. So, just in terms of what President Trump said there that Iran certainly does not want the consequences of not making a deal.
[11:05:00]
The U.S. officials also talked about this was in your piece as well, that they expect Iran to actually come to the negotiating tables with tangible
concessions. Based on what the Iranian Foreign Minister said, though, that yes, they've agreed on guiding principles, but that there's not going to be
a deal reached quickly, that there's going to be a lot more work to be done.
Just walk us through what you're hearing from your sources about how much progress was actually made in these rounds of negotiations?
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: So, I think we need to be very, very careful in the way that we are reading the Iranian Foreign
Minister statement after the talks. As far as I know, I don't think any breakthrough happened in those talks.
What I heard from U.S. officials after the talks was, they say that the talks went as expected. That's the quote, as expected. It's not really as
positive of a readout as the Iranians gave after the talks. And I think I'm not sure, I'm not sure that at the moment, there's really any agreement
between the U.S. and Iran, even when it comes to guiding principles.
I think we will have to figure out more. The talks just ended an hour ago, but at least from everything I hear until now, I don't sense that any
breakthrough really has really taken place.
ASHER: Yeah, I mean, Donald Trump talked about this idea that the Iranians are tough negotiators. I mean, we knew that it wasn't going to be
necessarily easy. There's so much mistrust on both sides. I do want to talk about the Israeli factor and all of this.
Netanyahu met with Trump just last week, and Netanyahu there's several sort of key ambitions in terms of this deal that Netanyahu wants to sort of get
across. This idea that the Iranians simply cannot be trusted, even if you make a deal with them, that they're not necessarily going to abide by it.
The fact that Netanyahu doesn't want the deal just to focus on the nuclear ambitions, but also its ballistic missile program, also Iran's support for
proxy groups in the region as well. Talk to us about how much daylight, and this something you talked about in your piece too? How much daylight there
is between Netanyahu's goals for these negotiations and what Trump actually is willing to settle for?
RAVID: So, I don't think there is a lot of daylight, mainly because the Iranians, at least until now, did not put forward any proposal that is
compelling enough for Donald Trump to go --come and say, you know what, I'm going for it.
And as long as this is the case, then there are not going to be major disagreements between Nathaniel and Trump, even if they, you know, disagree
on some of the tactics, or whether, you know, there should be talks with Iran, there should be talks with Iran, as long as Iran doesn't put
something real on the table, which, at least until now, I don't have any evidence that the Iranians have put something tangible on the table.
As long as that's the case, Donald Trump is not facing any dilemma. And I think we need to look not only at what happened in Geneva, or we need to
look at what's going on in the region. Just over the last 24 hours, 50 U.S. fighter jets with their tankers have been moving from the U.S. and from
Europe to base in the Middle East F-35s, F-22s, F-16s.
The military build -- U.S. military build-up in the region is very significant. And I don't think Donald Trump is moving all those assets to
the region just in order to bluff. And if there's not going to be any real, tangible concession from the Iranians, all of those assets will be used
pretty soon.
ASHER: OK, so you believe that this is not going to end diplomatically, that there will be some kind of military escalation. So how much time do
you think that the Iranians have?
RAVID: First, I don't know if there is going to be a military action or not. I'm just saying that at the moment, we have no evidence to show that
the Iranians have put something tangible on the table. And this is what the U.S. wanted. I heard it from at least three different U.S. officials that
they expected the Iranians to come to the meeting today with something real.
What are you willing to give? And at least at the moment, again, the talks ended an hour ago. I have no evidence that such tangible concession was put
on the table by the Iranians. And if that's really the case, then I think the military option is becoming more and more likely. And I don't think
we're talking about a long time here. I think this is something that could happen pretty soon.
ASHER: When Trump makes comments like regime change in Iran may be the best thing that could happen.
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I mean, a lot of people listening to him say that over here at least, would say that that is just sort of psychological, you know, warfare, just sort
of really trying to make the Iranians nervous. But how are those comments being viewed, based on your understanding by the Iranian regime itself?
RAVID: So, I think there's only one person that matters, and this is Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. I think that I'm not sure he is really
calculating well enough what Donald Trump might do. Trump himself talks about the Maduro operation all the time. People see it sometimes as
bluster.
I'm not sure it's bluster. I think it could be an operational plan. So, Venezuela is not Iran, obviously, but I think that if there is going to be
some kind of U.S. military operation, when and when Trump is talking about both on Maduro and the Maduro comparison and the issue of regime change,
what I understand from it is that any U.S. military operation will aim at taking out the Iranian Supreme Leader.
ASHER: Right. Barak Ravid, thank you. Thank you so much for your perspective.
RAVID: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Tributes are pouring in from around the world in honor of a civil rights icon and political trail blazer who helped quote, bend the
arc of history. Reverend Jesse Jackson has died at the age of 84. No cause was given, but he had been hospitalized in recent months and was under
observation for a rare neurological condition.
Jackson, a protege of the late Martin Luther King, was known for being a tireless advocate for the marginalized and pursuing a relentless fight for
racial justice and equality. But he was also a political power house as well, launching two ground breaking presidential bids that profoundly
reshaped the Democratic Party.
His family is urging the nation to uphold his legacy. In a statement, they said, our father was a servant leader, not only to our family, but to the
oppressed, the voiceless and the overlooked around the world. We ask you to honor his memory by continuing the fight for the values he lived by. CNN's
Abby Philip takes a closer look at Jesse Jackson's life and legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jesse Jackson's life was defined by a relentless fight for justice and equality.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, U.S. CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I was born in Greeneville, South Carolina in rampant radical racial segregation. Had to be taught to
go to the back of the bus and be arrested.
PHILLIP (voice-over): Those early experiences drove Jackson to join the civil rights movement.
JACKSON: The fact is, against the odds. We knew they were great odds we were winning.
PHILLIP (voice-over): In 1965 he began working for Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
JACKSON: I learned so much from him, such a great source of inspiration.
PHILLIP (voice-over): King named Jackson to lead Operation Bread Basket in Chicago, an economic justice campaign for black people. However, some say
King was frustrated by Jackson's brashness and ambition.
JACKSON: I'm sure he thought I needed more time. I was 24-years-old.
PHILLIP (voice-over): Both men were in Memphis in April 1968 to support striking sanitation workers. King and other civil rights leaders were
staying at the Lorraine Motel.
JACKSON: He suggested, you know, you don't even have on a shirt and tie. You don't even have on a tie. We're going to dinner. I said, Doc, it does
not require a tie, just an appetite. We left. I said, Doc, the bullet hit. Everything changed at that moment. It was a defining moment in the history
of our struggle.
PHILLIP (voice-over): With King gone, his movement was adrift. Years later, Jackson formed Operation Push, pressuring businesses to open up to black
workers and customers, and adding more focus on black responsibility championed in the 1972 Concert Wattstax.
JACKSON: in Watts, we have shifted from burn, baby burn to learn baby learn.
PHILLIP (voice-over): And he expanded his own global reach too, helping to free U.S. Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who was held by Syria after being shot
down, and later other Americans held in Cuba and Serbia.
JACKSON: I learned how to negotiate. As an African American, growing up among white people have to negotiate every day.
PHILLIP (voice-over): The Reverend set his sights on the White House in 1984.
JACKSON: Milking cows are coming back to the inner cities. So, I learned a lot during that period.
PHILLIP (voice-over): First thought of as a marginal candidate, Jackson finished third in the primary race with 18 percent of the vote.
[11:15:00]
That campaign almost went off the rails when Jackson used an ethnic slur to refer to New York Jews.
JACKSON: Just mistakes and they hurt.
PHILLIP (voice-over): He ran again in 1988 this time doubling his vote count and finishing in second in the Democratic race. At the time, it was
the farthest any black candidate had gone in a presidential contest.
JACKSON: But 20 years later, when President Barack ran, we were laying the ground work for that season.
PHILLIP (voice-over): In 2017 Jackson had a new battle to fight Parkinson's disease, but that didn't stop him.
JACKSON: If you hold on, if your cause is right and your grip is tight, you'll make it.
PHILLIP (voice-over): Late in life he was still fighting. He was arrested in Washington while demonstrating for voting rights. His silent presence at
the trial of Ahmaud Arbery's killers prompted defense lawyers to ask that he leave the courtroom. Jackson stayed. From the Jim Crow South through the
turbulent 60s and into the Black Lives Matter movement Jesse Jackson was a constant, unyielding voice for justice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Abby Philip there on Jesse Jackson's life and legacy. And the Reverend Al Sharpton has just been discussing Jackson's legacy as well. I
want to play you some of what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REV. AL SHARPTON, PRESIDENT, THE NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK: Good morning. About 02:30 a.m. this morning, around about 3, I received a text from Jesse
Jackson Jr., that Reverend Jesse Jackson had passed. And couple hours later, Reverend Jackson's son, Yousef, called me and put me on speaker
phone, where I had prayer with the family as they stood around his bed before taking him out to the funeral home.
So, it has been a very sad day for me, even though we knew he was very ill. When the moment comes, you're not prepared for it. I first met Jesse
Jackson when I was 12-years-old. I was a boy preaching the Pentecostal Church in Brooklyn, New York, Washington Church of God in Christ. And I had
become enticed with what was going on in activism because I was watching Adam Clay Powell on television.
My mother brought me to Bishop Washington, our pastor, and he said, no, I can put him with some ministers that's involved. He brought me to Reverend
William Jones, and they made me the Youth Director at 13-years-old of Operation Bread Basket under the National Director, Reverend Jesse Jackson.
Reverend Jackson was about 27 I was 13, and ever since then, for 69 years, we bonded. The last time he spoke in New York, he spoke at the House of
Justice for us. I can't think of a time that we were not spending time together. Now, he was a hard task master. He would always get on me about
why you on this issue, you need to be more studied on this.
But he was one who was more responsible than anyone for teaching me activism. On a personal level, my family and I used to spend every
Christmas at the Jackson's house, and the last two Christmases, took my daughters, one who is with us today, to Chicago. We spent Christmas night
at Reverend Jackson's house just five weeks ago.
And last Christmas we would feed people at the House of Justice and then go to the airport in the afternoon and fly to be with him. So, I will always
be able to cherish that I spent his last Christmas with him and spent last days even when he could no longer speak well.
What I think, on a broader level is Jesse Jackson changed American politics. Jesse Jackson changed the civil rights movement. He was a
consequential and transformative figure, and he changed New York politics. Let me go in that order.
One, it was when Dr. King died, he was killed in 68 he was talking to Jesse Jackson and Ben Branch over the rail at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, and
Reverend Jackson was literally one of the two last people to speak to him. I always wondered how much trauma that must have been for him to witness
Reverend Jack -- Rev. King's assassination.
[11:20:00]
He never would talk about it too much, but it drove him. He kept saying, we got to keep Dr. King's dream alive. He was 12 years younger than King, as I
was 13 years younger than him, and he would always challenge me that your generations got to do with John Lewis and all of us that were younger than
Dr. King did.
He kept the movement going by keeping the economic boycotts of Operation Bread Basket going, by dealing with diversity, by fighting for affirmative
action. You must remember when the late 70s and 80s, when Reaganism rose and there was this backlash on civil rights, Jesse Jackson took the front
with John Lewis and others to restore what Dr. King had done.
We romanticize the 60s like they were never challenged. They were challenged. We had to renew the Voting Rights Act every five years. We had
to deal with state laws, and it was Reverend Jackson that did that into our era of having to deal with racial profiling and driving while black and all
we learned all that from him.
It was in 1984 when he ran for president, that he changed the rules that primaries were governed by where in pre-Jackson, if you ran in New York,
for example, and you've got 104 delegates, and your opponent got 100 delegates, your opponent got all 204 delegates. It was Jesse that made it
be no, you get your 100 they get 100 for with him changing it to proportional delegate representation, is how Barack Obama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, you've just been listening to Reverend Al Sharpton speaking about the life and legacy of Jesse Jackson. They were close
friends. He talked about getting a call early this morning, 03:00 a.m. from Jesse Jackson's son, saying that he had passed away and just he's sharing
that some of his most profound memories of Jesse Jackson.
And later on the show, we're going to be speaking to another equal justice campaigner, Bryan Stevenson, also the Author of "Just Mercy". That book was
obviously later made into a movie. We'll be speaking to him in about 10 minutes or so from now. We will be right back with more after the short
break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:00]
ASHER: All right this hour, trilateral talks are underway between Russia and Ukraine and the United States. That news confirmed by Russian state
media. This marks the third round of negotiations seeking to reach a peace deal to end the war. In exactly one week from today, we will cross the
four-year mark of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Today's talks in Geneva happening just hours after Ukrainian authorities say that Russia launched new attacks. Since Monday, at least two deaths
have been reported, along with 16 people wounded. Let's bring in Melissa Bell. Joining us live now from Paris.
Melissa, I imagine that there aren't necessarily high hopes that there's going to be any kind of breakthrough, but explain to us what is different
this time around with these rounds of talks compared to previous negotiations?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the third round of trilateral talks that we've seen. So, this time what we're
seeing are all of the parties, Ukrainians, Russians, United States, all around that negotiating table.
What we heard at the beginning of this third round of these trilateral talks happened just now in Geneva, was the lead Ukrainian negotiator,
Rustem Umerov, speaking to his gratitude to the United States that they were so closely engaged in these attempts to bring this nearly four-year
war now to an end.
Expectation, still, despite the fact that these trilateral talks are now happening, at least all of these sides are talking to each other. Because
you'll remember, of course Zain, for a long time, we would have, on one hand, the Ukrainians, the Americans, the Europeans, making progress, as
they did here in Paris back in January.
The United States would meet with Russia. They would feel that they'd make progress. They'd come up with peace plans, and by the time the other side
had a chance to see what had been decided, things all fell apart again. This time, the fact that everyone's around the table, it is hoped, should
help them make progress.
Still, the first two rounds of these trilateral talks were remarkably short on any real progress. We saw one big prisoner swap after one of them, but
that was about all. What is still on the table and still appears to be preventing any kind of progress on this peace deal these sticking points
still very difficult to see how the talks in Geneva will overcome them?
We're talking here about the demand from Russia that Ukraine surrender the entirety of Donbas. Kyiv's insistence that it will surrender no land that
it has not lost militarily, including that in the Donbas. And then the question of what happens beyond a peace deal?
That progress I mentioned that was made in Paris back in January, involved the announcement that post a ceasefire, post a peace deal, there would be a
multinational force on the ground in Ukraine that would be made up, for instance, of French and British troops. Almost immediately afterwards, we'd
heard from Moscow that they would be considered legitimate targets by Russia.
So, these two points what a post peace, multilateral national force looks like, and whether that's acceptable to Russia on Ukrainian soil, and the
question of the territorial integrity of Donbas don't appear to be seeing much negotiation or room for maneuver on either side. Those are the
sticking points as they stand tonight.
And of course, then there's the question, Zain, of the continued attacks overnight and leading up to these latest rounds of peace negotiations. We
saw again overnight, these combined aerial assaults missiles, drones used by Russia to target a large swathe of Ukraine's territory, again, targeting
its infrastructure.
In what has been a particularly bitter winter, we saw also drones heading from Ukraine into Russia and causing damage at an oil refinery. So, the
attacks and counter attacks continue, but at least there is talking, they say, and at least it involves Russia, Ukraine and the United States. But I
would say that expectations are pretty low as we head into this third round of talk Zain.
ASHER: All right, Melissa Bell, live for us. Thank you. All right still to come, a civil rights icon with political power and a global reach, the
world is paying tribute to the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who has now died at the age of 84. A look back at his legacy when we come back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACKSON: If blacks vote in great numbers, progressive whites win. It's the only way progressive whites win. If blacks vote in great numbers, Hispanics
win. When blacks Hispanics and progressive whites vote, women win. When women win, children win, when women and children win, workers win. We must
all come up together. We must come up together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:30:00]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher from New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. Iran's
Foreign Minister describes the latest round of nuclear talks with U.S. as positive. He says that Iran and Washington agreed on what he calls guiding
principles and will work on draft texts of an agreement.
The indirect talks, mediated by Oman, wrapped up in Geneva, Switzerland just a short time ago. Date for the next round of talks has not been set.
Trilateral talks are underway in Geneva between Russia Ukraine and the U.S. as well. This marks the third such round of negotiations.
Just hours before this meeting, Ukrainian officials say that Russia launched a new wave of attacks in exactly one week from today, will cross
the four-year mark of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Two people were killed and three others quickly injured in a shooting at a crowded ice
rink in Rhode Island, Monday.
The attack happened during a high school hockey game. According to police, a shooter who appeared to target family members died of a self-inflicted
gunshot wound. The local superintendent says that all students who were involved in the game were not injured.
We are standing by for DNA test results from a glove found near the Arizona home of Nancy Guthrie as a search for the missing 84-year-old stretches
into its third week. And for the first time, the Pima County Sheriff is ruling out Guthrie's children and their spouses as suspects in her
disappearance, calling the suggestion cruel.
All right, turning back to our main story today, the death of a civil rights powerhouse and the worldwide reaction. Jesse Jackson is being
remembered as one of America's greatest moral voices, a lifelong soldier for justice, and a man who carried history in his footsteps and hope in his
voice. And hope was certainly the prevailing theme for Jackson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84. Here he is being interviewed in 2022.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you hope your legacy will be?
JACKSON: Non-stop service. I will die with my shoes on. Work it out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why are you so optimistic?
JACKSON: My back is against the wall. There's no future in hopelessness. We're going to keep our hope alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Jackson was a protege of the Late Martin Luther King Jr., and for more than five decades, he was known for his relentless fight for racial
justice and equality.
[11:35:00]
Jackson was also a two-time presidential candidate who profoundly transformed American politics with his message of diversity and inclusion.
Bryan Stevenson is a Public Interest Attorney and the Founder & Director of Equal Justice Initiative. He's also the Author of a lot of books, including
"Just Mercy: A story of justice and redemption".
He joins us live now from Montgomery, Alabama. Bryan, I understand that Jesse Jackson was a friend of yours, and I just have to start by saying I'm
so deeply sorry for your loss. One of the things that touched me about Jesse Jackson's life and legacy were his words that his constituency were
the desperate, the damned, the disinherited, the disrespected and the despised.
And if you look at Jesse Jackson's words and his actions, there was this relentless focus on ensuring economic empowerment for minorities,
obviously, especially black people. And just thinking about your work when it comes to equal justice, obviously, the work of Jesse Jackson dovetails
almost perfectly with what you have been focused on doing with your life as well.
You know, I imagine for you, you couldn't really ask for a better mentor for you than someone like Jesse Jackson? What kind of a friend was he to
you Bryan?
BRYAN STEVENSON, FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: Oh, yeah. Well, thank you. He was an extraordinary friend and a source of
deep encouragement and inspiration for the work that we do. I think he took Dr. King's concerns about the poor to heart.
When Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis in 1968, he was planning a poor people's campaign. And Reverend Jackson, I think, more than anyone else,
took to heart that commitment, that vision, in creating push and for five decades, continued to lift up the voices of the poor, the marginalized, the
disenfranchised.
He was always a champion for anyone who needed a champion. And he was a great source of inspiration to me. He came to Montgomery every year we
would spend time together. He came to everything we opened. When we opened the legacy sites, he was right there and became, you know, really committed
to that.
He's what pushed me and others to start thinking about anti-poverty work, in addition to the legal work that we do, and we're now doing that work.
And it's a great loss. He did have a singular and unique voice in American politics, but also just in American life. His speech at the 1988 Democratic
Convention, I think was one of the great orations.
He was charismatic, but he was committed to those who needed someone to champion their cause. And I think that legacy is so unique in this country.
ASHER: Yeah. And that's, you know, we just actually heard from Al Sharpton, and that's one of the things that he was talking about as well. I mean,
this idea that who Jesse Jackson was in public? And who he was in private? And what he cared about? And what he was obsessed with were a perfect
match, essentially.
But I do have to ask, I mean, Jesse Jackson obviously, like none of us. I mean, he was not perfect. He was certainly a complicated figure, and he had
his share of missteps. And I think that when you're dealing with any kind of cultural or moral icon, the fact that they are complicated is what gives
them depth.
You know, it's what allows people to relate to you. It gives you a sense of authenticity. Sometimes with politicians, when they are too perfect, it
doesn't allow for that kind of ability to relate. And also, you end up becoming far too manufactured.
Jesse Jackson wasn't going to compromise who he was for anybody. So, my question to you, though, is, what do you think was most misunderstood about
Jesse Jackson, especially as it pertains to the areas in which he did make a few missteps?
STEVENSON: Well, I think that he genuinely wanted to be the kind of person God intended him to be. I mean, he would say, I'm not perfect. God has not
finished with me yet, and he was constantly striving to meet all of the expectations that he had for himself to be a moral, committed,
compassionate human being.
I think though, that people underestimate his commitment to anyone and everyone who was in difficulty, anyone and everyone who was being oppressed
or mistreated or abused. You didn't have to be black. You didn't have to be an American. You could be othered, you could be disfavored, and if you were
then Jesse Jackson was somebody who wanted to champion your cause.
And I just think that kind of openness to helping all of God's children, to helping anyone and everyone who's in distress. I think that's what made him
so unique. And I think the other thing about him is I appreciate what Reverend Sharpton is saying as well. He was incredibly kind.
He was compassionate. You know, in his last few years, he lost his mobility, he lost his ability to be, as you know, consistently articulate
in all things that had defined his career.
[11:40:00]
But he found ways to communicate things that were so important. He was here last year during a dedication we were doing, and he was in a wheelchair. He
couldn't say very much, but as I was speaking, as we were doing things, he would occasionally just put his hands up and make the shape of a heart, and
it was just his way of saying, this is good.
And it was so moving. And that was who he is. His heart was a heart really rooted in compassion toward others, I think, more than many people I can
think of in public life for anyone really. He took the heart that biblical injunction to do justice and to love mercy. And I think that can't be
overstated in terms of what his core was about, with his heart and his commitment was connected to.
ASHER: I mean, I love that. I love that story, because, again, it's the fact that the sort of private side to him, you know, when he's not on the
pulpit, when he's not on the podium, seemed to match what we saw of Jesse Jackson in public as well.
I think that one of the other things that you know, just in terms of Jesse Jackson's legacy, and it's a more subtle aspect his legacy, is the fact
that he really popularized the term African American. I mean, obviously people use the term African American prior to Jesse Jackson, but he really
made it his mission to sort of get it to be used widely, instead of black.
And his argument was that, you know, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, they have a natural sort of connection to their homelands. African
Americans, given the history of slavery and racial injustice and being obviously having ancestral ties to Africa, should be given the same.
And you know, that is important, because language is such an important part of our identity, and it shapes not just who we are, but our opinion of
ourselves as well. And so, you know, just talk to us about the sort of more subtle ways that perhaps Jesse Jackson shaped culture and identity in a
way, in ways that are not necessarily appreciated do you think?
STEVENSON: Yeah. I think he very much wanted to change how African Americans saw themselves and how they were seen by other people. I mean, he
was born in rigid Jim Crow segregation in South Carolina. He endured all of the humiliation and the degradation of racial exclusion that shaped the
lives of so many people.
We talked a lot about a lynching that took place in Greeneville, South Carolina when he was just a little boy, and the profound impact it had on
his thinking about the status of black people. Why was it that mob violence and lawlessness was allowed to terrorize millions of African Americans in
this country, and that's what pushed him into civil rights activism.
It's what put him on the front lines of challenging segregation. Spending time with Dr. King and all of the extraordinary people who were the
architects of that movement gave him insights about what was going to be needed. He lived through a lot of the urban conflict and distress.
And he saw young people struggling to create an identity, and so things like African American taking pride, his speeches, where he would talk about
you are somebody was an effort to help people see themselves as fully deserving of justice, fully entitled to respect, fully empowered to vote
and participate.
And language is important. And I think Reverend Jackson understood the power of language. He understood the power of inclusion, pushing companies
and corporations that were not being fair to their workers to see the full value of their workers as something that has to be articulated.
All of that, I think, was his, I think, important insight into what human beings need. We have an identity. We have a status, but sometimes we need
to name it. We need to articulate it, to appreciate all the things that we are. And he wanted black people in this country to know all the things that
we are, that we are not some lesser ethnic groups, some distinct ethnic group with no origins, no history.
And terms like African American were really important of establishing that identity and creating a source of pride, which he was really powerful at
giving to other people.
ASHER: Yeah, it's powerful. You know, it's powerful. He has changed this country in ways that are deeply subtle, deeply visible and deeply profound.
Bryan Stevenson, I am so sorry for your loss.
As I mentioned to you during the commercial break, I am so sorry for all of our loss now that Reverend Jackson has crossed over, but especially yours,
because you knew him personally. Bryan Stevenson, thank you so much. We right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: All right, from chips to climate tech breakthroughs don't happen by chance. They're driven by sustained investment in research and development.
In an increasingly competitive world, where that money goes, where that money goes, rather, has become a strategic question.
At a recent summit in Dubai, scientists and policy makers gathered to explore what that race means for the global economy and for the future of
silence? Eleni Giokos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (Voice-over): Remember "Interstellar" Christopher Nolan's 2014 film. It came from this man.
KIP THORNE, NOBEL PRIZE WINNER IN PHYSICS, 2017: My name is Kip Thorne. I'm a Physicist.
GIOKOS (voice-over): A Nobel Prize Winning Physicist and the brain behind the film's most complex ideas.
THORNE: For my next 50 years, I'm collaborating with artists, musicians and filmmakers at the interface with science and enjoying myself hugely.
GIOKOS (voice-over): More than a decade after that, Oscar Winning Blockbuster Thorne is in Dubai. He's here for the World Laureate Summit, a
gathering of Nobel Laureates and leading scientists from around the world.
THORNE: The conversations are what I love.
GIOKOS (voice-over): For the first time, that conversation came to Dubai, where scientists met face-to-face with policy makers.
THORNE: This is a very, very pivotal time, but the conversations tend to be about science and not about the unstable aspects of society and government
in which the world is now tied up.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Globally, research and development spending is nearing $3 trillion holding near a historic high of about 2 percent of global GDP,
according to the World Intellectual Property Organization. But funding isn't guaranteed. Roger Kornberg, who heads the World Laureates
Association, says one question stood out during the summit, who's investing in the future?
ROGER D. KORNBERG, CHAIRMAN, WORLD LAUREATES ASSOCIATION: In the United States, the level of investment in cancer research is 5 percent the budget
for soft drinks in the country. You would think that the investment in cancer research should achieve a somewhat greater priority.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Kornberg says when governments think short term science pays the price. But the center of gravity is shifting. Asia now
accounts for nearly half of global R&D, and the UAE is positioning itself within that momentum.
KORNBERG: This is a very friendly environment and receptive to this. The Emirates understand they wanted us to come here for that very reason that
they wish to promote the development of their country on the basis of the economy basic signing.
[11:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is always insufficient, and even more so now with the debt burdens of many countries.
GIOKOS (voice-over): The World Laureates Association expanded beyond China this year, opening its first international office in Dubai. The move comes
as wealthy Gulf economies scale up R&D, with both the UAE and Saudi Arabia each estimated to spend more than $10 billion a year.
KORNBERG: The sky is the limit, because there are so many talented people in the world everywhere who, given the opportunity, would do what is the
most rewarding of all professions, and that is pursuing an understanding of the world around us.
GIOKOS (voice-over): Eleni Giokos, CNN, Dubai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Plenty of thrills on tap today at the Winter Olympics, though conditions are causing delays for some snow events. Let's check in on the
medal count. Shall we? Norway is on top with 13 gold medals, followed by Host Italy with 9. Rounding out the top three are the U.S. and the
Netherlands there with 6 apiece.
And a key milestone for Team USA, Elana Meyers Taylor won gold on Monday in the Monobob earning her first ever gold medal. CNN's Coy Wire has been
following all the action. He's in Cortina for us. Not to mention, by the way, that she's 41-years-old too. But just talk to us. Talk to us about
Taylor's achievement here.
COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: It's amazing. Just when you think that like people you and I like, we're like, yeah, life's pretty good. We're doing
it. We're crushing it. Then comes Elana Meyers Taylor of the world, 41- years-old in her fifth Olympics, rallying to edge Germany's Laura Nolte by four one hundredths of a second.
It's her sixth career Olympic medal, but her first gold. Meyers Taylor the oldest woman ever to medal for Team USA in the Winter Olympics, all while
balancing being a mom of two kids with special needs. Elana says she has school drop off in five days to put things into perspective.
She ties Bonnie Blair for most medals by an American woman in the Winter Olympics. She's an absolute legend, an American hero, her boys. Her two
young boys and her hubby were there to see it all.
[11:55:00]
Now, just a bit ago, I got to catch up with one of the fastest, fiercest athletes on the planet. Team USA's Breezy Johnson, Olympic Downhill Gold
Medalist. But that's not the only blink she's taking away from these games Zain. Her boyfriend proposed at the bottom of the slopes. I asked her about
it, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BREEZY JOHNSON, WOMEN'S DOWNHILL GOLD MEDALIST: I did have an inkling that he was going to do that. I had suggested that it was always kind of my
dream to get engaged at the Olympics. And so, yeah, he planned the whole thing out, and it was a very awesome moment with all of my teammates and
friends and family around. So yeah, it was pretty special.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Sweet moment taking -- engagement ring. Can't beat that Zain. Now, get ready tonight for one of the crown jewel events of the Winter Games,
women's figure skating tonight, the short program, let's go. Or, as I've learned to say in Italian, Andiamo. And you have to use your hand, Andiamo,
Zain, let's go.
ASHER: Coy, what else do you know in Italian? Is that the only -- is that literally it?
WIRE: No, because there's lots of snow, and I was eating it. And an Italian woman, yes, she said, stay away "Tano da la navi java" she says, stay away
from the yellow snow, because there's lots of dogs Zain.
ASHER: Good memory. See you around. Thank you for that. All right, stay with CNN, there's much more "One World" with my colleague, Bianna
Golodryga, after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
