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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Delays Energy Strike Threat, Citing Talks With Iran; Oil Prices Fall As Trump Pauses Threat To Hit Iranian Energy; Trump Administration Sends ICE Agents To Airports Amid TSA Shortages; Search and Recovery Efforts Still Underway On Oahu Island; Colombian Military plane Crashes; IEA Chief Warns Energy Crisis Worse Than 1970s Oil Shocks; Some Shipping Traffic Diverts To Saudi Arabia's West Coast; Rising Gas Prices Could Offset Americans' Tax Refunds; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired March 23, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:45]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Bianna Golodryga. You are watching the second hour of "One World."
Right now, U.S. stocks are jumping and oil prices have fallen sharply. This as President Trump says that he's postponing strikes against Iranian power
and energy sites. America and Israel's war with Iran now into its fourth week with its effects rippling across the globe.
ASHER: President Trump faces mounting pressure at home and abroad to bring this war to an end. He now claims the U.S. and Iran are holding productive
conversations through the Iranian foreign ministry. Denies any such dialogue though.
Take a listen to what Trump told press a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're going to have to get themselves better public relations people. We have had very, very strong
talks. We'll see where they lead. We have points -- major points of agreement, I would say almost all points of agreement.
We're doing a five-day period. We'll see how that goes. And if it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we'll just keep
bombing our little hearts out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Well, just moments after President Trump claimed that the U.S. and Iran are having productive talks, the Israeli military says that it is
striking what it calls the heart of Tehran.
ASHER: Iranian state media reports several locations across the capital have been targeted, including a residential building.
So there is a pattern now of mixed messages on America's goals for the war. Let's discuss it with Stephen Collinson live from Washington.
Stephen, just your take, obviously, the president got the results that he wanted, I would imagine, by announcing this five-day pause and that talks
have been productive.
We've seen a spike in -- in the stock market opening this morning in a decline in oil prices, though this doesn't solve the bigger problem at hand
as to whether or not the Iranian regime will actually fold.
And at least in the short term, more pressing about whether the Strait of Hormuz will be opened up.
Also in the last hour, we spoke with an Israeli reporter who said that Israel had learned about these talks between the United States and the
Iranian official, at least partially through its own intelligence. What does that tell you about where things stand right now?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: I think it tells us that Donald Trump, as he has from the start, is winging it here. He seems to be
making consequential decisions and statements off the cuff, as he often does.
You know, clearly, he was standing on the edge of a precipice by threatening to take out Iranian electric power plants. He could have not
just triggered a humanitarian crisis, but created a massive escalation in the war, which would have caused reverberations throughout the Gulf.
And it would have really hammered those stock markets and shot up the price of oil. So clearly, he didn't want to take that consequence.
You -- you could -- to your earlier point about the stocks, that five-day period would get us to the end of the trading week. So clearly, this looks
like an attempt to stabilize the markets.
But at the end of the day, the key question here is, are these talks that Trump says are taking place really serious? Is this Iranian regime, which
was radical at the start and has probably been more radicalized by what has happened in the war, really willing to talk and give up its leverage of the
Strait of Hormuz, by which it surely can --it can hold the world hostage?
So, I think there's a lot we don't know about this. And I'm sure there would be people saying, well, Trump is chickened out again, tackled again.
But I think these things are very, very unclear right now.
ASHER: Yes. Speaking of chickened out, just one of the things that he promised at the start of this war was, of course, regime change, and sort
of promised that he was going to swoop in and rescue the Iranian people who have suffered for decades under a very, very brutal regime.
How likely is regime change to actually happen? I mean, has Trump sort of given himself room to back out, room for some kind of exit ramp so that he
can sort of put an end to this war without necessarily having achieved the main principle goal, Stephen?
[12:05:00]
COLLINSON: I think so. I mean, every day is almost like a new day in the war when the president just disregards everything else he's said
previously, although a lot of other people don't disregard that. So, clearly, he's backed away from that.
I don't think we know honestly what the long-term impact will be of these strikes on the machinery of repression in Iran on the Revolutionary Guards,
whether that will have a domestic impact, whether the regime was weakened by these strikes and things could take place in the weeks and months to
come, which changed the politics in Iran. So, I don't think we can say.
But one consideration, I think, is, and it sort of moves on from that point is, is it likely that the United States will leave this war if the Strait
of Hormuz is still under the control of the Iranians, if the stocks of enriched uranium the Iranians have -- have not been taken care of, and if
its Gulf allies are still under the threat of attack from Iran, that seems somewhat unlikely.
So, while this may be perhaps an interregnum in the war, the real key decisions that Trump is facing and the dilemmas which is created for
himself, I don't think will go away over the next five days.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Because those same Gulf allies are now reportedly telling the White House and President Trump directly, you can't leave yet.
You can't come and start a war without finishing it at this point with an aggressor who potentially weakened could be actually more dangerous if you
leave prematurely.
Stephen Collinson, thank you.
ASHER: Thank you, Stephen.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
ASHER: All right. For the latest on the Strait of Hormuz, let's go to Matthew Chance live from Doha in Qatar for us.
So, Matthew, the Iranians have really proven that they can wield a lot of power over the Americans through the Strait of Hormuz.
Just in terms of the -- the possibility that this war may indeed, at some point, soon come to an end as President Trump has continued to intimate.
As he was leaving for Memphis today, he talked about some kind of a scenario that he could see where the Strait of Hormuz could be jointly
controlled by the Americans and the Iranians. Just walk us through the very latest on that front, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, I mean, I -- I listened to those remarks by -- by President Trump. But, of course,
he said quite a lot of things in them, including that there were talks underway, including that he -- he said the Iranians called him. He said
that they wanted a deal. He said that he wanted a deal as well. I mean, all that stuff, but it's all very short, isn't it, on specifics.
But you're absolutely right that, you know, the Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz, which is, you know, an incredibly narrow and
strategically important energy transport corridor through which some 20 percent of the world's oil and gas supply has passed through, is
effectively in the control of the Islamic Republic.
And the -- the tighter they grip around that Strait, the more pressure it puts on the global economy, the more pressure it puts on -- on President
Trump.
The other issue, I think, is important here, is that, you know, know what that we've spoken to behind the scenes here in this Gulf region. I mean,
the Qataris, I'm speaking to you from Doha right now, even the Qataris have said, they had nothing to do with any conversations between the United
States and Iran.
But no one we've spoken to has said that they were aware that these conversations were taking place. And you get the impression, speaking to
people, that they were very surprised that these discussions or conversations had taken place at all, and even going so far as to say that,
look, this may just be a strategy by President Trump to ease the pressure on the financial markets.
But -- but, whether it's true or not, that talks are underway and with who, and, you know, it's -- it's difficult to get specifics on that, as I say,
there is definitely a great deal of relief in this region that the sort of deadline, the brink like, you know, towards which President Trump had
pushed this region with his ultimatum on Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating attacks on its -- on its power plants.
Well, that has been, you know, kind of lifted that threat. It's been pushed back five days. And there's enormous relief in the region about that
because of the huge economic damage that would have caused the sort of, you know, massive impact on the economy and -- and on the status that this
region has built for itself over the past several decades as a financial center of stability, a tourist attraction in its own right, that was all
being, has already been severely dented and could have been shattered if this war escalated in that way in the days ahead.
[12:10:05]
ASHER: All right. Matthew Chance live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Donald Trump is thanking ICE agents for deploying to U.S. airports today. The agents arrived Monday morning and are said to be
helping with security. Passengers have experienced long, long waits at security checkpoints amid the partial government shutdown.
ASHER: Yes. TSA officers are not getting paid during the shutdown and officials say that hundreds of them have quit. All of them obviously are
not showing up for work, understandably.
President Trump says that he'll take more action if the situation doesn't improve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I want to thank ICE because they stepped in so, so strongly. They'll -- they'll do great. And if -- if that's not enough, I'll bring in the
National Guard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Meanwhile, some TSA workers say ICE agents may not be much help. That's because they don't have the same training as TSA officers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON BARKER, TSA WORKER: We have extensive training that you just stated. And it takes months to be able to -- and even after months of training,
there's still things that you encounter that you don't see every day or situations that arise that don't come up every day.
So, to just throw them on the checkpoint like that, I think that that is a recipe for disasters, going to create chaos.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Ed Lavandera is live in Houston, Texas with more.
Ed, you're -- sorry. I don't mean to interrupt that if you're speaking with one of the friendly passengers.
ASHER: Continue, Ed. Continue, Ed.
GOLODRYGA: One of -- one of the friendly travelers --
ASHER: We're going to listen in.
GOLODRYGA: -- in my home city of Houston. You know, everyone down in Texas is nice.
And tell us what you're hearing and what you're seeing, how passengers, as they're waiting for hours in some cases, are responding to news about ICE
agents, potentially at their airports.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You caught me as I was talking to a U.S. Army veteran who said, hey, I was in the Army. I'm
used to standing around and waiting.
So this is not the sign that you want to see when you come to an airport, 240 minutes long wait. And it has been rather chaotic.
But I think a lot of the people here taking it in stride, I'm literally been standing here in a captive audience as everybody has to walk past me.
So at this point in this line, we are in Terminal E of George Bush Intercontinental Airport. And people here that you see behind me have been
waiting a little over an hour. And they still have to go through all of this.
Now, this line starts way back out here and it winds its way through most of this terminal here.
And way in the distance over there, there's an escalator that goes underground. That's where they've been sending people to find the beginning
of this security line. So that is the drama that people here at George Bush Airport are having to deal with today.
I was over at another terminal just a short while ago where the line was spilling out outside the terminal into the roadway where people are
normally getting dropped off to get into the terminal. They shut all of that down completely interceding the excess passengers to come over to this
terminal as well.
So, it is going to be a long, chaotic day. I talked to one man who -- people are getting here four, five, six hours ahead of their flight. And
even with that, they're not convinced that they're going to make these flights, leaving the airport.
So, but, you know, by and large, I've heard of some angry rumbling from people. But obviously, a lot of people, you know, taking all of this in
stride, surprisingly, I thought we'd find at least so far in our early hours here this morning. So far, most people taking all of this drama and
chaos and stride.
GOLODRYGA: Two hundred and forty minutes.
ASHER: I know. We can't get over that because we both have flights this week, so.
GOLODRYGA: I mean, Ed, you know, this is when you team up with your fellow passengers.
LAVANDERA: (INAUDIBLE)
GOLODRYGA: Yes. This is when you team up with your fellow passengers. There's lots of good food there at that rest -- at that airport. I know it
well. So one could go pick up food for the others as they're waiting for those minutes.
LAVANDERA: The problem --
ASHER: Listen to a whole audio book that time.
LAVANDERA: Well, the problem with the -- the food problem, Bianna, is that the food is on the other side of this security.
GOLODRYGA: That is right.
LAVANDERA: So, you have to get through all of this to get there. And people are also navigating, like, at what point do you duck out and like, you
know, squeeze off to go to the -- to the bathroom to make -- to make that happen? These are like important decisions that all these people are having
to navigate today.
ASHER: How do you spend four hours? How do you pass the time before hours in an airport?
GOLODRYGA: You talk to Ed.
LAVANDERA: You will finish all of the podcasts.
ASHER: All the podcasts, all the audio books. I'm such a nerd. I've listened to like --
LAVANDERA: Yes, exactly.
ASHER: -- to audiobooks at this point.
GOLODRYGA: You're running out of juice at that point.
ASHER: I know. Exactly.
GOLODRYGA: Ed Lavandera live in Houston, Texas for us. Thank you.
And at least it's reassuring to see that people are, at this point --
ASHER: Yes.
GOLODRYGA: -- still in good spirit.
ASHER: Taking in their stride.
John Sandweg was the acting ICE director under Barack Obama. He joins us live now from Washington.
So, John, just your reaction to this idea, this idea that President Trump says -- was his idea, this idea to use ICE agents at the airports to fill
in the gaps for TSA workers.
JOHN SANDWEG, ACTING ICE DIRECTOR UNDER BARACK OBAMA: Yes. It's hard to see any operational benefit.
I mean, I think the idea is that if you could deploy ICE or some other law enforcement agency, they could do some, you know, additional tasks to help
put, you know, speed up the lines, right?
[12:15:02]
The problem is TSA tasks are very specialized looking at, you know, doing the X-ray detection, looking for something that's not supposed to be in the
bag or doing those pat-downs of passengers and even checking the I.D.s.
All of that specialized work that even though ICE agents have extensive law enforcement training, it's not something you can just step in and do.
So from an operational perspective, it doesn't really make sense. Of course, politically, ICE is obviously the reputation has, you know, has not
been the best under the Trump administration, especially after Minneapolis.
And it's hard to look at this and see that it's not some effort to put political pressure on members, Democrat members of Congress, to strike a
deal and then the shutdown.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we know clearly the president is aware of the popularity or lack thereof in terms of the American public. And ICE agents
announcing today that they will not be wearing masks inside of these airports.
But you have called this deployment a political wedge, as you just noted, to pressure Democrats. If ICE agents are only guarding exits and checking
I.D.s, as Tom Homan suggested, does that actually free up any of the TSA constraints that we're seeing?
SANDWEG: I mean, sure. Look, if you're guarding the exits, the TSA officers typically -- you know, agents typically mask -- or staff those exits. The
problem is it's like one or two officers, right?
The real -- the real work of this is done primarily at the X-ray and making sure you can have as many of those X-rays operating it and the
magnetometers, you know, the -- the kind of the we walk through and, you know, the metal detectors as possible.
ICE agents just can't step in and do those tasks. Those require specialized training. So, if you put a couple of ICE agents and do some additional
perimeter security or you put them in the hallways to block the exits, the problem is you're only freeing up one or two ICE agents -- or I'm sorry,
excuse me, TSA agents, right?
It's not going to have a significant impact on the line. But, of course, look, the -- the million-dollar question here is, what are they going to do
on immigration enforcement?
And certainly that there are a lot of people, I think, who are believing more of the mass deportation effort who've seen deploying ICE to airports
as a way to make a large number of arrests.
It's one of the few places, as you know, in the United States, where you have to go present an I.D. and go through a government checkpoint.
You -- you have those TSA officers doing an initial screening looking for anyone who presents a foreign passport or some I.D. that doesn't clearly
show that they're a U.S. citizen or a U.S. person. And you refer them over to the ICE agents.
That'll be the real question as this the deployment goes forward, to what extent are they doing immigration enforcement?
But I will tell you that if you start doing immigration enforcement at those checkpoints, that's where you're going to start seeing real chaos and
probably contribute to the delays rather than help speed things up.
ASHER: Yes. That's -- that was going to be my point. As -- as soon as you start saying that, if -- if the ICE agents end up sort of, you know, giving
an additional layer of sort of interviews and extra security to people who are foreign, then that obviously does actually add to the time.
So, is there any bit -- I mean, obviously, this is partly about politics, it is partly about optics. Is there any benefit at all in terms of, we just
saw the airport there in -- in Texas, the George Bush International Airport, four-hour wait times.
I mean, can ICE agents presence there, reduce that at all?
SANDWEG: I mean, I think very minimally, right? I'm not going to say there's no benefit. Certainly as we talked about it.
If you can read -- if you can take a TSA agent who might otherwise have to secure a hallway or do some perimeter security work and instead replace
them with an ICE agent, things the ICE agents are qualified to do, certainly that provides some value in terms of -- it puts -- it puts
additional TSA agents who can get back to the screening of passengers.
The problem here is the benefits really de minimis, right? It's really minimal. And, of course, you know, the -- the optics here of deploying ICE
agents to airports, given everything in the way in which ICE has been viewed, you know, as an -- as an arm or an enforcement tool of the Trump
administration.
I think the real question is, is it worth it, right? Does this create -- have the potential to create more chaos? Does this have the potential to
create more concerns among the traveling public? And are those benefits outweighed, right?
I think the other question is, are there other agencies that potentially could do this and maybe are a little less controversial than ICE, right?
And again, you know, the final thing I would just say is what concerns me, of course, is that remember, these are special agents. A lot of these are
going to be HSI, ICE special agents, criminal investigators, who really have are working on critical national security and public safety
investigations.
To what extent now have we pulled them off those investigations that have a real impact in the United States on protecting our national security and
public safety, and instead have them walking around the airport checkpoints, you know, or to work somewhere or pulling away from other
critical functions, right?
But all in all, I could say some small benefit, but very, very minimal just because of the lack of training.
ASHER: Yes. Trump did also intimate the possibility of -- of using the National Guard as well.
John Sandweg, live for us in Washington. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, LaGuardia Airport -- LaGuardia Airport remains closed after a plane collided with a fire truck while landing, killing the pilot
and co-pilot.
ASHER: Yes. Live pictures here of the nose of the plane, as you can see severely damaged. We knew that 41 people were taken to the hospital,
although most of them have now been released.
[12:20:01]
The fire truck involved had been dealing with a separate incident at the airport. This is audio from air traffic control in the moments before the
collision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frontier 4195, just stop there, please.
Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Truck One, stop, stop, stop. Stop Truck One. Stop. Stop Truck One, stop.
JAZZ 646, I see you collided with the vehicle. Just hold position. I know you can't move. Vehicles are responding to you now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: A flight attendant survived the deadly Air Canada plane crash after she was found outside the aircraft still strapped in her seat, a law
enforcement source telling CNN. Wow.
ASHER: All right. Still to come here on "One World," the third largest island in Hawaii, still recovering from the worst flooding it's seen in 20
years and it's next to the region, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Search and recovery efforts continue on Hawaii's island of Oahu. This after heavy rains triggered flash floods and mandatory evacuations for
thousands in the region.
The govern -- governor, rather, calls it the worst flooding in 20 years, adding it did more than a billion dollars' worth of damage.
GOLODRYGA: Video shows fast-moving floodwaters turning roads into rivers, stranding residents and submerging vehicles. Officials say there's
widespread damage across low-lying areas. More than 230 people have been rescued.
Let's get --
ASHER: Let's get more now from meteorologist Derek Van Dam.
So, Derek, as the governor said, this is the worst storm in -- in 20 years. Just walk us through how bad the damage actually is. We know that the soil
here was already saturated from a winter storm that we saw a week ago.
Just -- just give us your assessment of -- of how bad things got.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, this is the second Kona low that moved through the area.
And I think this aerial perspective really gives an idea of the type of flooding that they are contending with on the ground. I mean, look at these
low-lying areas.
Also note, the cloud-shrouded mountains in the background. A lot of the rain fell there, but it filtered down to the communities and the
populations below.
Look at how it turned some of the ocean brown because of the runoff from this constant barrage of rain that moved in. This is a satellite loop since
last Thursday. OK. So put that kind of into context.
But the low pressure, the Kona low, is known as a subtropical low. So what it does is it's responsible for feeding in this direct line of moisture.
Notice the cloud cover, just kind of obscuring the entire state of Hawaii right there. And then the embedded showers, and even severe thunderstorms
that lined this Kona low as it drew in this moisture from the Central Pacific.
[12:25:12]
So kind of looking back at the radar, you can see this kind of contextualized into actual rain events. It's just kind of constantly moving
over the island, especially into Oahu and into Maui as well.
Rainfall totals here have been impressive. Totaling over three feet in some locations. Mind you, a lot of these highest rainfall totals you see here
are in the mountainous regions, but again, the lower elevation saw well over a foot because of these two Kona lows.
And, of course, the water that falls in the mountains makes its way down towards the ocean and the communities below. So here's the current radar.
Right now, certainly not as active is what we've experienced lately, but there are still showers and thunderstorms in the vicinity as this secondary
Kona low tries to edge its way out from the state. And it's going to take some time to do so.
I think we still have another 24 to 36 hours of additional rainfall that, of course, could add potential flooding concerns, not nearly what we've
experienced though.
And one other thing to note here is that the change in the wind direction is what made this flooding event so significant because 90 percent of the
winds come from the trade winds. That's an east to northeasterly wind, but with the Kona low, it changes the direction to a south to southwesterly
wind.
So these parts of the mountains, this is Hawaii, this is Maui, this is Oahu, these areas, the -- were known as the windward side with the Kona
low, saw the heavy rainfall, and they don't normally get it. And with a change in wind directions, it doesn't take much to take down trees as well.
Back to you.
ASHER: Terrifying. All right. Derek Van Dam, live for us there. Thank you so much.
GOLODRYGA: Well, sadness, but not great shock. That is a reaction from members of the Jewish community in North London after an arson attack on
four Jewish volunteer ambulances near a synagogue.
You're looking at security footage, capturing the moment three suspects are seen setting fire to one of the vehicles. Counterterrorism police in the
U.K. say they are still looking for the suspects.
ASHER: Yes. Forensic search has begun at the scene as the investigation is underway. The British Prime Minister condemned the attack, saying that he
will not rest until anti-Semitism is rooted out.
In the past hour, we spoke to author Dove Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOV FORMAN, CONTENT CREATOR AND AUTHOR, "LILY'S PROMISE": I think many Jewish people will feel completely betrayed by the government. They've said
to their manifesto that they would prescribe the IRGC. They would ban the IRGC. They would ban the Muslim brotherhood. They haven't done so.
And we've seen that the Muslim brotherhood, the IRGC, are radicalizing, are spreading extremism across the United Kingdom, especially on university
campuses.
And that is what leads to events like these. And we have chance calling for the globalizing of the Intifada.
This is what globalizing the Intifada looks like. The terrorist attack in Manchester. That's what globalizing the Intifada looks like. The murder of
innocent Jews. The targeting of Jewish centers like Hatzalah or our shops, our community centers. And that's what we're seeing day in, day out.
And so many of my friends, many of my young friends, I'm only 22 years old, that's deciding that they don't want to raise their families in this
country, and they are finding shop elsewhere.
ASHER: As I was mentioning, Dov, we have seen, of course, a rise in anti- Semitism across the world. Yes, of course, in the U.K., but really across the world. Bianna and I are based in the United States.
You know, unfortunately, a lot of Jewish people are used to now, and this is so sad to say, are used to now as sort of questioning whether or not
their synagogues have enough security and what type of security their synagogues have. That is just part of the life for Jewish people across the
world.
And then on top of that, questioning whether or not they should have a mezuzah on their door. Should they take it down, you know, especially at a
time like this?
My question to you is, the fact that this took place against ambulance workers, that even ambulance workers are not, say, people who are there to
offer help, to offer assistance at a time like this, that that is now the next layer, just in terms of these sorts of anti-Semitic attacks.
I mean, your -- your thoughts on that.
FORMAN: Well, I think you're completely right. And it shows actually the complete kind of difference between us and them, those who attack us, those
who stand, not just against the Jewish people, but against everything that the West stands for.
We value life. We value the sanctity of life of saving other lives. That's why Hatzalah, the organization exists. They value death and destruction.
And the Jewish community will continue to their -- will continue to rebuild.
And ultimately, that has to be the message today that, yes, we are community in fair work, community perceived by security, and, of course, we
appreciate the support from the government who attack (INAUDIBLE) giving more and more money every single year for security.
But ultimately, we need to tackle the root cause. We need to tackle the ideology of hatred.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: We'll be right back with more after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:30:56]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Welcome back to "One World." I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher.
Breaking news into CNN. Colombian military plane has crashed on takeoff in the southern part of the country. Local media say that dozens of people
were on board.
GOLODRYGA: Stefano Pozzebon joins us now from Bogota. Stefano, what details are we learning?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, what we're learning is that a military plane, a Hercules C-130 which is the main aircraft that it is used
by the Colombian army and the Colombian Air Force to move troops around the country crushed in this morning in Puerto Leguizamo.
Puerto Leguizamo is a rural outpost on the border between Colombia and Ecuador. And we understand that over 100 soldiers were on board.
Of course, the military forces and the press office of the Air Force, the Colombian Air Force, have asked us, of course, to maintain as much
discretion as possible handling these news because, of course, they are sending teams to try and understand what happened and, of course, to start
the recovery and the search and rescue operations.
I spoke with the Colombia defense minister just very briefly before coming to the air, Zain, and he told me that, of course, this is a great pain for
the entire nation.
It's a reminder, of course, that Colombia remains a country that, in one way, is jumping into the 21st century, but at the same time, is a country
that handles a lot of conflict, internal conflict, of course.
Puerto Leguizamo is an area that is known for being a hotspot for drug trafficking. Military conflict in that part of Colombia is ripe. There are
a lot of paramilitary groups and the remnants of left-wing guerillas.
We can understand that perhaps that these troops, over 100 troops from the Colombian army, were being moved as part of an operation that are ongoing
12 months a year here in Colombia.
It's a reminder that this is a nation, of course, where traveling especially in the rural parts of this nation can be hazardous. So, it's
literally just breaking news in front of our eyes. We're trying to source as much information as possible and we'll bring it to you as critically as
possible and as much as we're here, especially if the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, will take -- speak to the nation after -- after
this -- this terrible incident.
[12:35:22]
GOLODRYGA: Yes. Stefano Pozzebon, I know you'll -- you'll still stay on the story for us. If there's any further breaking news or developments, or if
we hear from the president, please do let us know.
POZZEBON: Exactly.
ASHER: All right. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had far-reaching global implications. Finding a way to reopen the critical passageway is a
priority for NATO members and its allies.
While oil prices plunged after Donald Trump's decision to postpone his threatened attacks on Iranian power plants --
GOLODRYGA: Brent Crude remains around $100 a barrel. The chief of the International Energy Agency describes the energy crisis as worse than the
shocks of the 1970s. And says that he is consulting with governments on releasing more oil reserves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FATIH BIROL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY: If it is necessary, of course, we will do it. But we will look at the conditions. We
will analyze the assessed markets and discuss with our member countries.
The single most important solution to this problem is opening up the Hormuz Strait as things stand now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: Joining us now is the chief foreign affairs correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal," Yaroslav Trofimov. Yaroslav, it's good to see
you. We've done some incredible reporting since the war has begun there --
YAROSLAV TROFIMOV, CHIEF FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: -- in the region.
And I do want to ask you, it is notable that the president issued this announcement today of a five-day pause before the markets opened this
morning and the five-day pause ends Friday after the markets close.
But in terms of the longer implications here and broader implications, how are Iranians viewing this? Everyone's denying publicly and officially that
these talks from the Iranian side have happened.
But does this chokehold that they really have over the Strait of Hormuz, is it viewed for them as a key leverage point in this war thus far?
TROFIMOV: Oh, yes, absolutely. This has changed the reality in the Middle East. Just look at the facts. About one-third of the entire worldwide,
ship-borne crude oil used to pass through this strait, about 20 percent of the liquefied natural gas, vast amounts of fertilizers, aluminum.
And now Iran controls that waterway. The Iranian government says that as a condition for ending the war, they want to create a new legal framework
under which Iran will basically be paid by every country shipping their products through this Strait of Hormuz.
And by choking that critical node of the international economy, they have created pain to economies worldwide. So this is an immense point of
leverage. And, yes, President Trump has postponed his ultimatum by at least five days. And he says there are talks now with the Iranians.
In the meantime, Iran remains in control over the strait. In the meantime, Iran has this influence over the entire Middle East that they are very
reluctant to relinquish.
ASHER: So, how does this war actually come to an end just in sort of practical terms? You know, obviously both sides, it's, you know, as Bianna
was saying, we don't necessarily know who's talking to who necessarily.
The Iranians are denying there's been any kind of negotiations. But just in terms of looking, I mean, President Trump left about an hour and a half ago
on his trip to Memphis. And he spoke and stopped to -- stopped to speak to reporters.
One of the things he talked about was that, you know, yes, he does want some form of regime change. He does want to sort of have control over who
is in charge in Iran. He also talked about this idea of the Iranians never getting a hand -- their hands on a nuclear weapon ever again. And that
somehow he could envision a future where the United States and Iran somehow jointly controlled the Strait of Hormuz.
If these are the demands he plans on presenting to the Iranians, I mean, obviously they're going to book at a lot of that. I mean, a lot of people
have said that the Iranians, especially after this, in their view, at least unprovoked war, that they're going to be even more determined to get their
hands on a nuclear weapon after this. So, how does this war actually end?
TROFIMOV: Well, it's very hard to see how this ends. And I would say, first of all, the -- the Strait of Hormuz is in international waterway. Neither
Iran nor the United States have any right of international law to control it. You know, anybody should be able to sail through it.
Now, as for the demand of the two sides, I think they're very, very far apart. And, yes, there have been efforts by countries in the region to
mediate. You know, we've seen that the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, has denied reports that he's talking to the U.S.,
dismissing them as fake news to manipulate markets.
But if you look at the demands that Iran has voiced for ending the war, they're very, very far-reaching. It's permanent control over the Strait of
Hormuz. It's the U.S. paying billions and billions of dollars in reparations to the Iranian state for damage caused by this war.
[12:40:10]
It's the expulsion of -- expulsion of American military bases from the entire Middle East. So it's pretty much formalizing Iran's status as the
regional hegemony, but basically control Middle East energy markets and dominate America's partners in the Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia or the -- or
the other Gulf states like United Arab Emirates. That's obviously not something to which the U.S. is likely to agree anytime soon. And that's not
something to which the regional countries like Israel or the Gulf states will agree.
Now, what the U.S. has wanted in the previous talks is to secure the sort of making it impossible for Iran to pursue a nuclear weapon. But the other
issues are also now the agenda, such as Iran's ballistic missiles. Iran has 500 of these missiles at cities in the Gulf and also at Israel. And
obviously regional countries would want to make sure that this never happens again.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. It is fascinating to see how resilient the Gulf countries have been, specifically the UAE, not only in defending against the incoming
missiles and drones, but also public statements.
Mohamed bin Zayed saying over the weekend on X, that the UAE will not be blackmailed. You compare that to some of the -- the walking back now that
we're -- we're seeing from the president of the United States.
Fascinating to see how things are playing out. Yaroslav Trofimov, thank you so much for your time and your reporting.
TROFIMOV: Thank you.
ASHER: Thank you, Yaroslav.
Finally, Saturday Night Live U.K. kicked off this weekend with sketches that poked fun at some very famous British people. But it was a comedian
from the U.S. version, Tina Fey, who hosted the show.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. One of the sketches that went viral roasted Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, what if Donald shouts at me? What -- what do I say, Lammy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just be yourself, Prime Minister. Yourself is who everyone likes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ah.
(LAUGHS)
I just want to keep him happy, Lammy. You -- you don't understand him like I do. I can change him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Donald Trump actually re-posted a clip from the show, so.
GOLODRYGA: It's sign of endorsement, right?
ASHER: Happy with some of it, at least.
GOLODRYGA: Famous last words, I can change him.
All right. That does it for "One World" today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "African Voices" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:26]
ASHER: All right. Busy times lie ahead for Saudi Arabia's largest port, while Iran keeps a chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.
Jeddah Port is kicking into high gear. CNN's Nic Robertson reports on the lifeline to the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Saudi Arabia's biggest port, Jeddah, is gearing up for its busiest times yet.
On Saudi's west coast, the Red Sea, it is about to pick up much of the trade Iran has choked off, locating the Strait of Hormuz more than 700
miles from the beleaguered gulf, it will be helping keep them alive.
ROBERTSON: Saudi officials are saying that already since the war began, cargo traffic through their Red Sea ports is up by one-third, and they're
predicting that here in Jeddah, the traffic is going to go up by 50 percent next month.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Well, most of that one-third uptick is Saudi oil exports, millions of extra barrels pumped hundreds of miles across the
Arabian Desert. It is ports like Jeddah that will carry the bulk of imports.
ROBERTSON: So all this comes off here, gets stacked up over here. And then it's going to get on trucks and head eastwards across Saudi Arabia to the
Gulf.
Officials here say they are ready with enough docks, workers, cranes and trucks lined up. But even so, analysts say they won't be able to make up
all the imports short for food and medicine, the priority.
[12:50:05]
CHARLES VAN DER STEENE, REGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, MAERSK: Food and medicine are the priority, whether it is for the UAE, whether it's for
Saudi, whether it's for Bahrain and Kuwait, and any other country within the Gulf.
These are the prime priority to make sure that the population can receive what they need as part of their daily life.
ROBERTSON: Major haulage contractors like Maersk say they and regional governments have been planning a land bridge trucking goods from the Red
Sea to the Gulf for years and with good reason.
The World Economic Forum says about 85 percent of the Gulf's food is imported.
VAN DER STEENE: It's safe to say that the Saudi government has been extremely involved in making sure that whatever roadblocks that might
exist, roadblocks in terms of the actual capacity in the terminal, in Jeddah, roadblocks in terms of potential capacity of available trucks, but
also roadblocks in terms of potential customs challenges if you might have so that the flow is optimized.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): But for all the planning, there are no guarantees.
Last week, following an attack on its own energy infrastructure, Iran targeted Yanbu oil terminal and a drone hit a nearby refinery.
And then, there's Iran's partial proxy, the Houthis, further down the Red Sea and Yemen. Until a few months ago, they were attacking international
shipping and could restart.
ROBERTSON: So far, the Red Sea has mostly been outside of the bounds of this war. But if the war escalates, all this vital lifeline to the rest of
the Gulf, all that could become vulnerable.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. With the war in Iran now in its fourth week, rising gas prices are causing a headache for Americans.
Our chief data analyst Harry Enten takes a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Look, a lot of the political tension over the last month has been about the Iran war, but voters are telling us
over and over again that it's the economy. The economy that will matter like it does for most elections.
And new numbers out from CBS News, if I were in the White House, only one word to describe them, yikes. Yikes.
My goodness. I mean, just take a look here. Trump will or is making you financially worse off or better off. You go back just before Trump was re-
elected to a second term, their plurality said better off at 44 percent.
That number has fallen through the floor. Now, we're talking to just 18 percent. Just 18 percent say Trump's policies are making them better off.
[12:55:08]
And that plurality in favor of better off has switched to a majority saying worse off. Look at this. Up like a rocket, from 38 percent in October 2024.
Up there now to 53 percent of Americans saying Trump's policies are making them worse off, fiscally, so that is now a 35-point margin in favor of
worse off compared to a six-point margin, in terms of favor of better off just before the election. That's what is that said, an over 40-point
switcheroo.
Among independents who, of course, ultimately usually decide the elections here in the United States of America, the numbers are even more troublesome
for the White House.
Take a look here. OK. Independent in indies. Trump will or is making you fiscally worse off, better off.
Just before the election, the slight plurality though within the margin of error said better off, 40 percent to 38 percent worse off.
Come over to this side of the screen. Look at this, three in five Americans who are independents, say that Trump is making them worse off financially
60 percent. Now, just 13 percent of independents say Trump is making them better off financially. That's a 47-point margin in favor of worse off
compared to a two-point margin in favor of better off just before Trump was reelected. That's a nearly 50-point switcheroo.
Now, ultimately, this puts Trump in company, historic company, you don't want to be. He's the leader of the pack or less than the pack when it comes
to 21st century presidents and how Americans are viewing among the economy at least among independents.
Look at this, 21st century presidents economic net approval ratings at this point, in term two, among independents. Trump is 48 points underwater. Just
one in five independents. Excuse me, just one in four independents say that they approve of the job that he is doing when it comes to the economy.
His net approval rating on the economy among independents twice as bad as Barack Obama's was at this point who was 25 points underwater and double
digits worse than George W. Bush was among independents according to CBS News at this point when it comes to the economy.
Look, these are numbers that if I were a Republican running for Congress, I would be shaking in place because there's really nowhere to hide if you're
a Republican running for Congress and President Trump is in this bad of shape among independents and Americans overall when it comes to the
economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. That does it for us. "Amanpour" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
END
