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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Meets With Cabinet As Hamas Disarmament Deal Emerges; Trump Casts Doubt On Pledge To License Patriots To Ukraine; Spain Says It Has Reversed Rush Of Migrants From Morocco; U.S. State Department Mislabels Countries On A Map Of Africa; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired July 31, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. and Iran are at an impasse. This hour, Donald Trump is meeting with his cabinet. The second hour of "One
World" starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: We are in this pause as the president tries to pursue some measure of diplomacy, but it doesn't appear
as if the Iranians are rushing back to the negotiating table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Trump meets with his cabinet amid the war in Iran, as the White House touts a separate agreement to disarm Hamas.
Also ahead, brand-new battlefield. How Russia's latest targets are sending a message to everyday Ukrainians.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): The president's getting bad advice. He should listen to Blanche and others who think if it's dead, it should be rendered
completely dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: In party fighting, historically low poll numbers and a war without an end date. We unpack -- unpack Donald Trump's difficult week.
And later, no time like the president. William Shatner's got a new lease of life and he's hitting the ground running. Why Coachella is one of his next
stops?
Live from London, I'm Christina Macfarlane. Zain and Bianna are off today. And you are watching "One World."
At this hour, we're waiting to hear what, if anything, comes out of President Donald Trump's cabinet meeting at Camp David. He's at the
presidential retreat just one day after announcing a deal for what he calls the complete disarmament of Hamas in Gaza.
But a senior Hamas official and the Israeli government are now weighing in. And there appear to be major stumbling blocks ahead.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has been across all of this from Jerusalem. And, Jeremy, I know you've been engaging reaction from both parties, Hamas and
Israel. What has been said in the past few hours?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. And -- and as I lay out those different reactions, what's important to understand
about this agreement is, first of all, that it is an agreement between Hamas and the Board of Peace, with the assistance of the United States and
the other, the Arab mediators that have been involved in these negotiations, going back to the Gaza ceasefire deal that was reached in
October of 2025 and even before then. And what it is not is an agreement, as of yet, between Israel and Hamas.
The second thing to understand here is also the fact that Hamas is staking any of its compliance with this deal, meaning moving forward with handing
over its weapons to this Palestinian transitional government in coordination with the International Stabilization Force.
They're saying that that's only going to happen if Israel upholds its end of the agreement as well. And in fact, when you look at this agreement and
we've spoken with U.S. and Board of Peace officials, they're also making quite clear that there is a sequencing here and that Israel first does need
to come into compliance with the agreement, meaning ceasing fire in Gaza, something that it has not done over the course of the last more than nine
months, where we've seen nearly daily Israeli strikes.
So with all of that in mind now, Hamas, as I said, is making clear that it has made this decision to -- to agree to relinquish its weapons. Its heavy
weapons will be stored under the auspices of this transitional Palestinian government, but will be out of Hamas' hands.
The Israeli government, for its part, we haven't heard any official reaction from the Prime Minister or from the Prime Minister's office. But
just yesterday, an Israeli official was casting doubt on this emerging agreement, making clear that nothing short of Hamas' weapons being taken
outside of Gaza and the full demilitarization of the Gaza Strip would be sufficient for the Israeli government.
And today, we've now gotten another statement from an Israeli official saying that Israeli troops will not withdraw anywhere beyond the current
yellow line. And now, why are they specifying the current yellow line? They're specifying that because over the course of the last nearly 10
months, Israel has gradually encroached upon additional territory, whereas initially, they were supposed to be controlling about 53 percent of the
Gaza Strip.
We know that those numbers have now come closer to 60 percent of the Gaza Strip, and Israel is indicating it's not giving up that additional
territory it's taken in contravention of the agreement that was reached back in October.
[12:05:08]
MACFARLANE: All right. Well, we'll of course continue to watch this very closely as that session at Camp David continues this out. For now, Jeremy,
appreciate it. Thank you.
Now, no, U.S. strikes on Iran overnight. This comes in the same week the U.S. launched what it called a heavy wave of strikes targeting Iran. But
Tehran was busy overnight, targeting an air base Kuwait used by the U.S. military. Kuwait's army says it intercepted Iranian drones and there are no
casualties.
Now, U.S. President Donald Trump is casting doubt over his pledge to help Ukraine defend itself. Trump has previously promised to let Ukraine build
its own Patriot interceptor missile systems.
But on Thursday, he told the "Financial Times" that he is not sure if he will allow it to happen anymore. It comes, as President Zelenskyy says,
that Russia deployed a North Korea missile on Thursday killing six people. He said that according to preliminary data, it is the first time in a long
time that a missile from North Korea has been used by Russia.
Well, meantime, there is a new arena of combat opening up in the war. Russia is now targeting gas stations across Ukraine with 200 hit in the
past couple of months alone, according to Ukrainian officials.
For more on all of this, I want to bring in CNN's chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.
So, Nick, to -- first to the point of the Patriot missiles, if Donald Trump does row back on his promise to allow Ukraine to build these missiles, how
much of a major setback is that?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, extraordinary, really. And that we had that clear moment of President Trump
shifting from being potentially the person who would occasionally beat President Zelenskyy. It's giving him ultimately one of his biggest asks,
enabling him to build one of the most sophisticated parts of American technology inside Ukraine, the Patriot interceptor missile that the world
has a shortage of, but probably Ukraine, given its urgent need for them and a massively growing military industrial base could probably end up making
relatively quickly.
That's now in doubt. And I have to say, there was a lot doubt initially when President Trump made that promise. Had he consulted the Raytheon and
Lockheed Martin constructors of some of that missile technology as to how they felt about their intellectual property being handed to Ukraine? How
was that indeed going to work? And how quickly could Ukraine turn that promise from actual material things on the ground?
Now, he seems to be rethinking, saying, indeed, to the "Financial Times" he wasn't sure if licensing technology was something the United States does.
Another sign of the President's vacillation on this particular conflict. You know, there's also suggestions that some of the aid that was previously
promised to Ukraine will be spread out over the next two years of the Trump presidency, rather than given to them urgent as they need now.
Zelenskyy clear, they need interceptors right now. They are seeing increased attacks on civilians. July, the deadliest month since April 2022,
427 civilians killed in just a month ending alone.
And I should point out, Christina, that six members of the same family killed just -- just two days ago near Dnipro, in Dnipro region, four of
them were indeed children.
But as you mentioned, one of the new targets of Russian brutality has been the gas station in Ukraine. A part of life, frankly, that has become
increasingly vital in a country where air traffic -- sorry, commercial air travel is impossible because of the war and where you can go around by
rail, but everyone really uses the roads. This is where you stop, pause, get refreshment, even meet people you haven't seen for a long time. They're
now heavily under attack. Here's what we saw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(EXPLOSION)
WALSH (voice-over): Even stopping for gas in Ukraine can now be lethal. More than 200 fuel stations have been attacked by Russia since June. That's
about three a day in a country where the war has shut down commercial flights. They are a lifeline with a huge role in a vast country.
The pumps now a placed for, listen out, for the buzz of drones and know where the bomb shelter is.
In Zaporizhzhia, Policeman Mykhailo ran in to help after a drone struck one station, but then he heard a second.
MYKHAILO TSYPILAKOV, PATROL POLICE OFFICER (through text translation): When I heard the drone was already descending. I saw a flash, got up and saw
injuries to my arm, legs. Maybe to intimidate, to sow fear and create panic.
WALSH: We verified 30 of the estimated over 200 attacks in June and July. They fall across Ukraine, but most are close to occupied areas. The cities
of Kramatorsk and Kharkiv worst hit, all in reach of Russian drones and intensifying fuel trucks and containers targeted on a simple level,
impeding the war effort by making it hard to get gas, but also sowing fear far away from the frontlines.
[12:10:09]
The growing range of Russian attack drones making one safe areas part of the kill zone.
YAROSLAV STAROVOTENKO, PRESIDENT, OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATION OF UKRAINE (through text translation): Gas stations because these key points of refuge
as people fled the war. Then Russia tried to cause an intentional blackout, cutting off electricity and heating to freeze us out in the winter. And gas
stations became the first facilities to be 100 percent equipped with generators. These were places where people could drink hot tea, fill up
their cars, warm up, and even prepare milk for their babies.
WALSH (voice-over): Now Kyiv, that hasn't always worked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): There's always a risk. No one knows where the attack will strike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): I was discharged from the army after being seriously wounded. If a strikes comes here, what's the
difference? It didn't kill me on the frontline, so it won't kill me here.
WALSH: But many see this as a Russian response to the fuel crisis and queues imposed in Russia by Ukrainian drone strikes on refineries. Putin's
escalation inflicting the same back.
Russia's elite drone units make up public points of their strikes on Ukraine, releasing a video here of nine being hit.
The damage is real, unexpected and growing. Another sign, absolutely nothing is off limits in Moscow's invasion of choice.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: It is a key moment for Ukraine whether or not they can get hold of Patriot interceptors to defend their skies in the coming nights and
potentially be able to make them and make that longer term problem go away, not just for Ukraine, but for European allies who urgently need those
interceptors too.
And again, it rests on President Trump's opinion of Ukraine in this war and his curiously consistently not fond, but close relationship with the
Kremlin. Christina?
MACFARLANE: Yes. And, of course, we'll continue to watch to see if he follows through on that pledge or that threat to reverse his decision.
Nick Paton Walsh, appreciate it. Thanks.
Now, Spain says it has reversed a massive surge of migrants into its tiny territory in North Africa and that thousands are now heading back
voluntarily. This was the scene on Thursday. Take a look at these images.
About 50,000 people crossed over from Morocco to Ceuta Thursday, celebrating, as you can see here, and cheering.
The enclave has long been a hotspot for migration. Spain has deployed the military there and local officials say at least 34 people died, mostly by
drowning.
Spain and Morocco have now tightened security. The incident is raising the diplomatic temperature between Spain and Europe, especially in Italy.
Let's bring in Judith Sunderland. She is the senior associate director in the refugee and migrant rights division at Human Rights Watch. Judith,
thank you so much for joining us.
Firstly, just because the numbers here are so staggering, I just want to get your understanding of why so many migrants chose to make this crossing
in just a matter of hours.
JUDITH SUNDERLAND, SENIOR ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Right. Well, at this point, we can really only speculate as to how this came
about. It is a very significant number of people and that obviously poses enormous challenges for a very small autonomous city and -- and for Spain
in general. And we are going to be monitoring very carefully the -- the response going forward.
But it is -- again, it's difficult to -- to -- well, it's impossible to know exactly why. Obviously, there are always people who are eager to cross
irregularly either because they need to seek asylum or because they see it as their only option to improve their -- their lives.
And so a number of these people saw an opportunity, were told there was an opportunity perhaps. And perhaps, there was -- there was some facilitation.
It's -- again, it's -- it's very hard to -- to say, but the numbers are unprecedented. And I'm sure many are trying to figure out exactly what
allowed this to happen.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And our reporter earlier was saying that, you know, there may have been a lot of human trafficking involved in this, which could also
account for those numbers.
But Spain has sys it's been working very closely with Morocco to ensure the safe return of people as soon as possible. And as we were saying just now,
I mean, thousands apparently are returning of their own free will. What do you make of how the Spanish authorities are handling this?
[12:15:05]
SUNDERLAND: Well, the first thing to say is that the -- the borders of Ceuta and Melilla, with Morocco, have long been sites of -- of violence and
of summary collective expulsions. All of which is -- is unlawful and violates the rights of people trying to reach Spain.
We have not seen that so far, as far as we've been able to ascertain and that is a good thing. We know that Spain is saying that they will be
setting up a temporary reception facility to try to process those who remain.
And we hope that those that process does allow for proper individual assessments as -- as Spain is obligated to perform before they return
anyone to -- to Morocco.
And we hope that in all of this, the messaging and the handling of the situation in Ceuta is such as to minimize the risk of, you know, xenophobic
reactions by the local population or any kind of, you know, extreme tensions given -- given the situation.
MACFARLANE: Yes. Judith, thank you for your reaction to this. Unfortunately, we're going to have to cut away and leave it there. Thank
you though for -- for joining us.
So we actually want to take our viewers to the presidential retreat at Camp David where President Trump is hosting a cabinet meeting and is speaking
now. Let's have a listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what comes first, does Israel pull back and then Hamas disarms? Or does Hamas need to disarm and then Israel leave Gaza?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So -- so we do have an understanding with Israel. Israel is very happy about it. Israel helped us.
And they've been very good. They've been very good about it.
Most people said that would be a deal that would be undoable. No. Well, it go through its ups and downs. It's a very complex situation over there. The
people are very complex and difficult.
Many cases, one of many cases, not so wonderful, but that will be a -- it's a great break but nobody's ever thought that would be possible to disarm
Hamas. That shows you how much success we're having with Iran. Because if you go four months ago or five months ago, a deal like that would have been
impossible.
So, it's a big step for the Middle East and people are really impressed by it. And they're surprised by it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what comes first, Mr. President? What comes first?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did FIFA or Mr. Infantino speak to you about the proposal to sell a stake in the World Cup? And is that something you
support having just that?
TRUMP: About who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did FIFA or Mr. Infantino speak to you about their proposal to sell a stake?
TRUMP: No, I never spoke to him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on the -- you said this morning on Truth Social that victims of government abuse should be paid back.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if it's not the anti-weaponization fund, would you still want the acting attorney general to find a new way to do that?
TRUMP: Well, I'm talking about the weaponization against large numbers of people in our country by the Biden administration and by Obama, but by the
Biden administration in particular in this case.
But large numbers of people, their lives have been ruined. They've been destroyed. Their families have been, you know (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES).
They've gone to prison for no reason whatsoever.
There's never been a group of people most likely. I mean, I can think of a couple that were treated pretty badly, groups. But there's essentially
never been a group of people treated so badly as these people.
And this fund -- this fund was not for me. This fund was for those people that have been weaponized, that have been abused. Now, I was obviously
attacked by my house in Mar-a-Lago where I lived.
And, you know, big damages should have been given to me. I don't want anything. I'm not talking about myself.
I think that there's a group of people in this country, history will show, that were treated like nobody else has ever been treated so badly, so
horribly. Your families have been ruined. Many, many suicides. They've committed suicide.
People that were very successful that wanted to go to a rally or an event and ended up spending the rest of their lives in horror, you know.
So, I mean, you can say what you want about the fund. And they've -- they've agreed to not have a fund, but there are a lot of people that are
very upset about it. A lot of Republican people, a lot of Democrat people are very upset about it.
A lot of people were covered. I wasn't covered by that fund. I don't want to be covered by that fund. I probably was abused more than anybody in the
history of our country, but I -- I wasn't looking for that, but there were a lot of people.
And I'll tell you something, Todd -- Todd Blanche is a very, very good man. And he shouldn't be in the middle of this. He should get approved because
you will never get anybody like him. You'll never get anybody.
And to make him a pawn on this whole thing. This is being done by a senator. And I don't really blame him, to be honest with you. I endorse his
opponent. And as soon as I endorse his opponent, his opponent went through the roof and he won the primary election in Texas (INAUDIBLE).
[12:20:09]
And the man that lost, the man that I didn't endorse, has become very angry. And that's OK. I mean, I understand that. I probably would do the
same thing. You want to know the truth? I think I do the same thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, with all (INAUDIBLE), do you agree -- just to be clear, do you agree with the Acting Attorney General that the
anti-weaponization fund is dead? And why not just put that in --
TRUMP: Well, it is dead. But, you know, I wish it weren't, to be honest with you. I think people were horribly treated, horribly abused. This has
nothing to do with Todd. This was me.
Horribly abused. And I'd like to see them compensated for the -- the pain. They lost their families. They committed suicide. Many people committed
suicide. They went down for an innocent journey.
And I'm not only talking there, I'm talking about not even having to do with that. The way they were treated. The Biden administration and the
Obama administration weaponized government and destroyed lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President (INAUDIBLE) accept some limits on the scope of the (INAUDIBLE) immunity deal in order to get Attorney General
Blanche confirmed?
TRUMP: Well, now, he should be approved forthwith. I mean, you're not going to get a person like that. Everybody agrees to it. Don't forget, Senator
Cornyn thought he was phenomenal until he lost, you know.
When he lost, is that a correct statement you come from Texas?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.
TRUMP: And then he thought this was the most incredible person. Then when he lost, then lost because of me. I endorsed somebody else. And as soon as
I endorsed the other person, the other person became a rocket ship upward. And he lost.
And, you know, I think I'd be the same. I mean, I shouldn't say that, but I'd be upset also. And so I fully understand it. He shouldn't be that way.
I shouldn't be that way, but he is that way. He's become a very angry person.
And I understand. You have a couple of others that I'd caused their defeat too. And, you know, you'll probably hear from them too. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President (INAUDIBLE) there's a report that you got a proposal from the military to go big and hit them hard over 10 or 14
days.
TRUMP: Well, we're going big.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you going to consider that?
TRUMP: We've already gone big. Look, I mean, what's big? They had 159 ships. That was their entire Navy, 159. Their entire Navy is laying at the
bottom of the sea. I'd say that's going big.
They had 200 airplanes. They're all gone. Everyone. They're not one airplane. They had anti-aircraft weaponry. Very good, but it didn't work.
And it's all gone. Their radar is all gone. Their leaders are all gone. Everything's all gone, but they'll fight onward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on Ukraine, you said the other day that you're not sure about whether to grant Ukraine the Patriot missile that had
been discussed. Do you want to see more from Zelenskyy before you take that action?
TRUMP: Well, it's a big step. Look, we have the greatest weapons in the world. We have the greatest drones in the world. People don't know that. We
have the greatest weaponry in the world.
We have, in the case of President Zelenskyy, he'd like to have some Patriots. They'd like to have some Tomahawks, which is, you know, lethal.
(TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES). Were shot. They were going 8,600 mile an hour. Think 8,600.
Now, a car, if you 60, it gets to be a little faster. If you go a hundred. 8,600 miles an hour and they were big missiles. And they were shot at
Jordan. And the guys were there, bing, bing, bing, bing, bing, five. Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. But I don't want to be Biden. (INAUDIBLE) I have to
be very careful.
That would have been -- that would have been a great soundbite. There were five missiles, and we shot all five down before they got close.
Nobody else has that capacity. These weapons are incredible. We have to be very careful about letting somebody build that. You know, it's very
important now. We are building many plants now to make those and other, the Tomahawk missile is (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES).
Nobody's ever seen anything like it.
You have to be very judicious, but you have to be very careful. Now, we have not agreed to that. We're talking about it, but it's a hard thing to
give away that kind of technology. And I don't think this would ever happen.
Because if you give that technology, they can someday turn on you. You know, that is possible. You look at war. It's happened a couple of times
over the years, right? So, we have to be very careful.
I mean, we -- we guard that. We have the greatest military in the world, but we have the greatest weapons in the world. Now, we have to make them a
little bit faster, because we've given a lot of way.
You know, President Biden unfortunately gave a lot away to Ukraine. And he gave -- so did I. I mean, I gave them the javelins, the tank prices.
Without the javelins, that war would have been a one-day war. It would have been over. They wiped out the tanks going up in Kyiv when they got stuck in
the mud. (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES)
[12:25:20]
It would have been over, but I think that's the javelins. The javelins are unbelievable. The greatest weapons in the world. We have to be very careful
about giving out the secrets to those weapons.
And they're not -- you -- you can't copy them. It's a little like NVIDIA. They have a chip. They say, you cannot copy them. The complexity is so
great, you cannot.
You know, most things you copy. China is known for it. Other countries don't. We do something. And I guess we copy also. Most things you can copy
pretty easily. There's a chip that they made. Their ultimate chip. And they always have the ultimate chip.
And I say, well, why isn't somebody copying? Because they can't. The complexity. They can't copy our weapons. We have the greatest weapons in
the world. Many of them. Those are just two or three that I mentioned, but you cannot copy them. So, we have to be very careful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As -- as Hamas disarms is part of this plan, who do you see as taking possession of those weapons that they have? Does that go to
the new government?
TRUMP: That's going to be the Board of Peace, mostly. It's going to be run by the Board. This Board of Peace has been an amazing -- it's led by some
amazing people. Board of Peace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you said they do have some capabilities left. Should Americans be prepared for these back and forth attacks to
continue until Iran simply isn't able of striking back?
TURMP: They'll get weaker. They'll get weaker. They'll get a little stronger maybe now, but they'll get weaker. And then they -- yes, sure. I
think so. I mean, it'd be foolish to say no. You know, you always have to keep your guard up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is the status of talks? Who -- who would from the administration is talking to the --
TRUMP: Well, they always want to talk, but they break their words so often. Steve is talking. Jared. We have very good people. J.D. is involved, very
strongly involved. We have great people talking. Marco is involved. They're all involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they say talks aren't happening.
TRUMP: Very good people and the best people. But they'll make a deal. As an example, we'll talk about nuclear. And we'll be in there talking about nuclear for seven hours.
I say, why is it -- why do you need seven? You can take 10 minutes. You have five minutes. You should solve it. But seven hours.
And then they'll go out. And I'll say they discuss nuclear. And they'll go out and they'll say, we never discussed nuclear. And I'll say, why did they
say that? Well, they do. They make me angry, you know. They just make me angry.
Any other questions?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) that you can reach a deal with Iran, given that you talked about how (INAUDIBLE) they are?
TRUMP: I'm -- I'm losing faith in them because they do lie and do -- they do misrepresent. Well, the other day, the five missiles were shot. We
knocked him down, but we were in the midst of a negotiation. I mean, I'm waiting for Steve to call me. How's the negotiation going?
And instead, I got a call from Pete that they just shot five missiles at one of our bases in Jordan. And we have bases in Jordan. Fortunately, our
people operated the equipment.
It's also very complex to operate, if you talk about the equipment. It's very -- you have to be -- oftentimes you see, when did you go to school,
MIT, Caltech? I mean, you know, they go to schools that are not as normal for the military, to be honest with you. We have unbelievably brilliant
people operating that equipment.
And when you don't, you know, the equipment -- the shots miss, the safety misses or the accuracy misses. We have unbelievable people. Think of it. We
had 111 at one point, a couple of months ago, 111 over a short period of time. Missiles were shot at the Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier. Great,
beautiful ship.
One of the most beautiful ships to me, design-wise. Hundred eleven missiles going out. And of the 111 missiles, 111 missiles were shot down. Quite a
bit earlier than they got -- I mean, long before they got there, they were shot down.
It was almost -- in a couple of cases, they were shot down almost as they were taking off. It's incredible technology.
So, you have the ship that costs billions of dollars, and you have missiles heading to it, 111 missiles were shot down. Routinely shot down.
And I speak -- I spoke to the people. I like to reward people. I call them up on the president. And they were cool as a cucumber.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on the last big strikes on -- by CENTCOM --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: You have been listening to Donald Trump there speaking at Camp David, where he talked about a range of subjects speaking primarily on
Gaza. The deal he announced overnight to disarm Hamas through the Board of Peace.
He also mentioned Ukraine and showed once again that he is non-committal about whether or not he will allow Ukraine to build their own Patriot
missiles. And we had a word to there about Attorney General Todd Blanche's appointment, which has been, of course, a very big talking point for the
president this week, and all of which to say we've reached the end of a really tumultuous week for President Trump's political career.
[12:30:16]
A new CNN poll finds a record high of 73 percent of adults say the president is not spending enough time on the country's top priorities.
Within his own party, his approval rating has hit a new low at 78 percent among Republicans. And just 19 percent say, they are enthusiastic about the
rest of his second term.
Another new CNN poll suggests Democrats have an eight-point lead on the so- called generic ballot, a margin which gives them a chance at retaking control of the House and Senate.
In the meantime, Trump is attacking some Republicans on Capitol Hill. This, as they withhold support for his attorney general nominee, Todd Blanche.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TILLIS: President's getting bad advice. He should listen to Blanche and others who think if it's dead, it should be rendered completely dead.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I think if this were just between me and -- and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out. But apparently, he's getting
some pushback from higher ups at the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think it's risky to wait until January for the 128th Congress?
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Well, duh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Well, time now for The Exchange. Joining me now is Republican strategist and former RNC Communications Director Doug Heye. Doug, great to
see you.
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: Look, much time has been taken up with the, I guess, drama around Todd Blanche's nomination for attorney general this week. And we
just heard the president speaking about it again just minutes ago.
You've said that the Blanche story is the biggest nothing in town. Why is that?
HEYE: For -- for two reasons. One, he doesn't need to be confirmed. He can stay as the acting attorney general for all -- for as long as Trump wants
him there. And the issues surrounding this aren't about his confirmation, it's about that weaponization fund. It's about immunity for -- for Trump
and his -- and his family.
And the other reason is it highlights some of the poll numbers that you were talking about. The American voters are not really day-to-day concerned
about who the attorney general is or who the secretary of agriculture or even defense is.
They are concerned with what they're paying at the gas pump, at the grocery store, and on everything else every day.
And the more time that Donald Trump spends on issues that aren't that, the more time he's -- especially if it's not about Iran or-- or global events
or something that is truly pressing, he's sending the message to voters.
I don't care what's important to you. This is what is -- what's important to me. And that's why his numbers continue to fall.
MACFARLANE: Yes. Well, look, let's talk about those polling numbers because they are bad. The president's poll rating now is just at 66 percent. That's
the worst of, I think, that's ever been recorded on record by CNN, at least.
I mean, the midterms aren't far away. How much do you think the party are paying attention if not Donald Trump himself?
HEYE: Look, the party's paying very close attention to it. It's part of how candidates are making their decisions on the campaign trail and how the
party as a whole, whether you're talking about party committees or even outside organizations, determine which races are going to be their best
shot to -- to either hold or to -- to pick up seats. And it makes life a whole lot more difficult for them.
I can tell you, I -- I worked a Senate race in 2006 when George W. Bush was not popular and it was a real drag on our campaign. And Bush's numbers were
not nearly as bad as Trump's are now. It's an albatross for this campaign, for -- for all the campaigns, every Republican on the ballot.
And the more time he spends that -- that isn't telling voters, here's what we've done, and here's what we're going to continue to do to make your life
better and to improve and -- and bring down prices, a real missed opportunities for the president and everyone else who's on the ballot.
MACFARLANE: Yes. And that's why everyone is talking about the economy, right? I mean, this is another record tie for Donald Trump. Seventy-three
percent of American adults say that Trump hasn't paid enough attention to the nation's most important problems, as you're saying there over and over
again. I mean, that number one is really the economy.
What else do Americans they want to see action on?
HEYE: Well, they also want to see either an end or real explanation for what's happening in Iran, which has exacerbated the prices as well.
One of the real problems for the president is that if we go back to a state of the union address, the number one thing the whole country wanted to
hear, whether you're a member of Congress or a senator in that room, in the House chamber or you're watching on T.V., you wanted to hear what is Donald
Trump going to say about Iran? It was very clear conflict was coming.
And what is our plan? What is our goal? How do we define success? And how do we get out? He still has not told voters that.
And any -- any given day or any given hour, we get a different answer. The war is over, except we're going to keep going for a couple of war weeks.
Iran has been decimated, but they've just launched bombs at us.
[12:35:02]
It -- it takes time away from the number one issue, but also demonstrates that the number two issue, they -- they're still doesn't seem to be a
coherent strategy from the administration.
MACFARLANE: Yes. A really interesting number I pulled out from CNN's polling this week was that a third of Democrats now identify as democratic
socialists.
I mean, do you think that's a good sign for the Democratic Party and how much of that is really to do as Zohran Mamdani?
HEYE: It's not a good sign and a lot of it has to do with Mamdani.
Look, Mamdani campaigned in a very smart way. He's a very friendly face and he tries to talk about positive issues.
But what we've seen is very similar to what Republicans dealt with starting really in 2010, when I worked at the Republican National Committee, with
the rise of the Tea Party and then the rise of the Freedom Caucus. Democrats are having their own Freedom Caucus coming now.
And what I see is a lot of the same rhetoric being used that we have to fight, that we have to fight the establishment, the establishment within
our own party that your fights, look at the Minnesota race, is more about fighting within the Democratic Party than it is about who best could --
could either stand up or fight or whatever language you want to use to Donald Trump.
It's an intramural fight. And I think that's why it's damaging for Democrats. And we see that as unpopular as Donald Trump is, Democrats
aren't popular either. Some of the things we're seeing, especially coming out of Michigan tell us why.
MACFARLANE: Yes. We'll wait to see if you're right.
Doug Heye, always great to have your analysis. Thank you so much.
HEYE: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: The U.S. State Department is doing damage control after an embarrassing mistake. A map it showed at an international AIDS conference
mislabeled six of African countries.
When it was pointed out, the State Department said it made a quote unfortunate error. CNN's Jon Sarlin reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON SARLIN, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): A map used by the State Department at an international AIDS conference, incorrectly labeled all of the
countries that identified on a map of Africa.
The U.S. State Department said the incident was, quote, an unfortunate error.
The map, which was shared in a Substack post by AIDS expert, Emily Bass, highlights six African countries; Nigeria, Mozambique, Uganda, Cote
d'Ivoire, Malawi, and Cameroon. None of them are correctly identified.
Nigeria, which is actually on the western coast of Africa, is shown to be landlocked in the middle of the continent. Mozambique, on the southeastern
coast of Africa, is shown near Ethiopia.
According to Reuters, the map contained an A.I. watermark that would indicate it was made with OpenAI's tools.
A State Department spokesperson said that the error was caused by a team member who hastily altered the slide deck immediately before the
presentation at the AIDS 2026 conference and that we take full responsibility for the confusion and misrepresentation it caused for our
attendees, including our African partners.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, finally on "One World." He's explored the final frontier. Now, William Shatner is heading to the desert after battling cancer. The
95-year-old "Star Trek" actor is giving heavy metal a try and plans to perform at next year's Coachella.
CNN's Elex Michaelson has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: This idea of both of you getting stage four cancer at the same time.
WILLIAM SHATNER, CANADIAN ACTOR: Yes. I thought it was a brilliant idea.
MELANIE SHATNER GRETSCH, WILLIAM SHATNER's DAUGHTER: I know. We were really clever.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): William Shatner fought aliens as Captain Kirk on "Star Trek."
SHATNER: Where are the Tribbles?
MICHAELSON: Brought criminals as T.J. Hooker.
SHATNER: Let's take a ride downtown.
Oh, please.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): And fought courtroom battles with Denny Crane on "Boston Legal."
SHATNER: It was an accident.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): But in real life, he fought stage four skin cancer while his daughter, Melanie, was battling stage four breast cancer.
Who was first? You were first.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Melanie, self-discovered a lump on her breast. At first, doctor said it was fine, but she insisted, they recheck it.
GRETSCH: Under her breath she said, no, I would have missed that.
MICHAELSON: While Melanie was sick, her dad asked a doctor to check out a lump on his neck.
SHATNER: Really put his hands on me. You better get this out.
GRETSCH: I just thought, I -- I don't think I can survive losing him. Like I think I'll just -- it'll be too much for me and I'll die too.
MICHAELSON: Doctors removed Shatner's mass and gave him immunotherapy.
SHATNER: One day, a year or two ago, my oncologist said, you're free.
MICHAELSON: Melanie's treatment, a double mastectomy, six rounds of chemo, 30 rounds of radiation, and a year of immunotherapy. She's now in
remission.
SHATNER: Just a few years ago, both diagnosis would have been, pack your bags and get ready to die.
SHATNER: Here's her story.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Father and daughter are now talking about their journeys in their new podcast, "No Time But Now."
[12:40:02]
SHATNER: There's no time but now to lead your life.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The podcast has meant quality family time for the father of three daughters.
Melanie was born two years before the debut of "Star Trek" on NBC in 1966.
MICHAELSON: "Star Trek" is 60 years old.
SHATNER: I know.
MICHAELSON: How do you think about that?
GRETSCH: That's so old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.
SHATNER: It's a phenomena.
MICHAELSON: Right.
SHATNER: It's a phenomena that I have discounted from time to time.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Shatner's upcoming book, "William Shatner and You," is about how his roles changed the lives of his fans. Something that
makes him emotional to think about.
SHATNER: So many people have come up to me and said, I'm -- I am this because of you.
Once again, we've saved civilization as we know it.
MICHAELSON: To me, "Star Trek," more than anything, is about an exploration of what it means to be human.
Do you think that as well?
SHATNER: See, that's beautifully put. And I agree with that.
I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space.
MICHAELSON: Would you play Kirk again?
SHATNER: Depends on the story.
MICHAELSON: What are you most excited about in the future?
SHATNER: My heavy metal.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): That's right. Shatner is performing heavy metal music for the first time.
SHATNER: Ah, beginning to get it. It isn't so much, when do I come in? It's, I got to feel the music and then come in with the lyrics.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
SHATNER: And it's all about passion.
GRETSCH: Rage. Rage.
SHATNER: Rage.
MICHAELSON: Do you -- do you see your dad as a heavy metal star?
GRETSCH: No. I missed that one.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): His band, set to play at Riot Fest in Chicago this fall and then --
SHATNER: And I'm doing the one in the desert in spring.
GRETSCH: The -- oh, God.
SHATNER: The one --
MICHAELSON: You're doing Coachella?
GRETSCH: Coachella.
MICHAELSON: You're going to do Coachella?
SHATNER: Half (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
MICHAELSON: Playing -- playing -- playing heavy metal?
GRETSCH: My -- my -- my daughter was like, that's not Coachella.
SHATNER: It's frightening.
MICHAELSON: Is that the secret though to be excited about the future?
SHATNER: You got to be.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Elex Michaelson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Coachella at 95. I mean, just incredible. An inspiration for us all this Friday as we head into the weekend.
That does it for today's edition of "One World." I'm Christina Macfarlane. Thank you so much for watching. Marketplace Africa is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKETPLACE AFRICA)
END
