Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Trump Cuts Short Joint Military Exercises; Judge Clears Way For End Of Ethiopians' Temporary Protected Status; Moderna Shares Surge On Successful Melanoma Vaccine Trial; Suge Knight Associate Takes Stand In Tupac Murder Trial; Ousted Ukrainian Defense Minister Calls For Wartime Elections; LinkedIn: Only 26 Percent Of A.I. Jobs In The U.S. Go To Women; Retire In Luxury At A Resort-Style Senior Living Community; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired August 19, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:40]
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. The second hour of "One World" starts right now.
Scaled back. Donald Trump made his point clear, and now U.S.-South Korea military drills have been cut in half.
ASHER: Also ahead, thousands are no longer protected from deportation as the Trump administration makes its next move. Where can Ethiopian migrants
turn now?
GOLODRYGA: And later, five-star accommodations, check. Private chef, check. Hair salon onsite, of course. How this group of seniors is retiring in the
lap of luxury.
All right. It's Donald Trump working against his own interests. The U.S. president has said that he wants South Korea to assume more responsibility
for its own defense, but his latest move could make that harder to achieve.
ASHER: Yes. In recent decades, South Korea has emerged as a world-class military power and President Lee Jae Myung is looking to fulfill a campaign
promise. He wants to bring wartime operational control of South Korean forces back into Seoul's hands.
It's currently delegated to the United States. That won't be helped by joint U.S.-South Korean exercises being cut in half at President Trump's
insistence. He made it clear he doesn't want the drills to anger the man he calls a friend, Kim Jong Un.
In his first term, Trump failed to strong-arm the North Korean leader into giving up his nuclear ambition. Since then, the North Korean military
capabilities have grown significantly. It is believed now to have dozens of warheads.
Let's speak with Zachary Cohen who joins us live now from Washington.
I think, you know, what I want to focus on with you, Zachary, is really what the fallout of this is going to be. Because, obviously, it sends a
very clear message to the Blue House. It certainly sends the message that South Korea is probably going to have to be a bit more responsible for its
own security going forward.
But what message does it send to Pyongyang, Zachary?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes. First of all, I think this decision by President Trump, speaking to my sources, not only
caught South Korean officials off guard but blindsided many within his own administration.
And I've spoken to even Trump allies here in the United States who have voiced frustration with what is viewed as unintentional and unnecessary
deference to North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and lashing out unnecessarily at a key ally in South Korea and really demanding they take
on, as you mentioned, more of the burden of their own defense.
But at the same time, undercutting one of his own key priorities, which is this transfer of wartime command of joint U.S.-South Korean forces. That is
something that we're told by analysts that was part of the point of these exercises was to assess the systems and South Korea's ability to assume
control of those systems in a wartime scenario.
And that is a critical part of South Korea taking on more of the burden as Donald Trump has demanded. But at the same time, Trump allies, I've spoken
to even said that this is a sign of the president's increasingly erratic decision-making and has really set off a scramble to try to reassure the
South Koreans in the wake of this.
We -- we saw a post from the South Korean president just today, which was very measured acknowledging the president -- President Trump's longstanding
grievances about burden sharing and about the need for South Korea to contribute its fair share to its own defense, also reminding the U.S.
president that South Korea has been doing just that and also its ability to amass significant military power of the last several years.
It is widely viewed -- South Korea's military capabilities are widely viewed as more than enough to defend itself against North Korea, but again,
North Korea increasing its own nuclear capabilities in the -- in that time since his first summit, Kim Jong Un's first summit with President Trump
during his first term.
And it's no secret that President Trump has been seeking another meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since he entered office for his second
term. And it's something that has really alluded the U.S. president so far to date.
He was asked again today about the prospect of meeting with Kim Jong Un. And President Trump said that he will be doing so sometime in the future.
But at the same time, this move to curtail these U.S.-South Korean military exercises do not seem to have moved the needle on the North Korean into the
equation.
[12:05:01]
We heard from Kim -- Kim Jong Un's sister, one of the highest-ranking North Korean officials, who said she was not aware of any communications between
Kim Jong Un and President Trump, and also downplayed the significance of this move regarding the military exercises. And they -- they should not be
viewed as a -- as a gesture of goodwill.
So, ultimately, it remains to be seen what will ultimately come of this, will Donald Trump meet with Kim Jong Un? And to what end? Will that summit
ultimately and potentially accomplish, as you mentioned in the lead-in, that President Trump's previous summit with Kim Jong Un did not curtail his
nuclear ambitions as intended. In fact, it's only grown in the time since then.
There are some positive reasons and some real potential objectives that could be accomplished during a meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un,
especially North Korea's contribution to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Thousands of North Korean soldiers have been fighting in that
conflict, and that is something that key Trump allies have mentioned to me as a potential topic of discussion.
But again, this move to curtail the U.S. South Korean military exercise is an unnecessary and preemptive concession to the North Korean leader at a
time that has really made U.S. and South Korean officials scratch their head and wonder why the president is doing so now.
ASHER: All right. Zachary Cohen, live for us. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, Tuesday's primary elections in the U.S. put President Trump's political influence to the test with mixed results.
And one of the most closely watched races, Trump backed Byron Donalds, won Florida's Republican primary for governor on Tuesday. He'll now face
Democrat David Jolly in November general election.
ASHER: And the Democratic Socialist score another victory. Angie Nixon won Florida's Democratic Senate primary on Tuesday. She ran a populist campaign
criticizing billionaires and corporations and overcame a significant fundraising disadvantage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGIE NIXON, DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE FOR U.S. SENATE IN FLORIDA: Florida, we did it. We show the world what organized people can accomplish. And we saw the
world what people of Florida are all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten joins us from New York. Always the highlight of our show, Harry, to have you on.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Oh, oh, oh, thank -- yes, a highlight of my day to be on. Yes, let's give ourselves a round of applause.
Absolutely tremendous stuff.
ASHER: You always can get in with a compliment. Just a little compliment --
ENTEN: I know.
ASHER: -- always that's the trick with Harry.
GOLODRYGA: Well, should the Democratic Party be giving itself a round of applause given that upset by the DSA candidate in Florida, given that most
pollsters, most experts we've spoken to say her victory now puts that seat solidly in red territory for the general election? What say you, Harry?
ENTEN: What -- what -- what say I, first off, I want to have what Angie Nixon's having. I know I normally have a -- you know, I'm awfully loud and
caffeinated, but she even makes me feel like I'm a common individual sometimes. I mean, my goodness gracious. But, you know what, she's running?
She's won. She deserves to be happy.
Look, when we're talking about that race, let's sort of put it into some perspective for you and sort of looking towards the full general election,
the Democratic Party at large, right?
So, you know, look, when we're talking about the DSA and DSA endorsed congressional candidates, right? That includes the House. That includes the
Senate, which obviously Angie Nixon has won the nomination for him in Florida.
Currently in Congress, there's only one, two. How many have won a 2026 primary? Well, I'll put it up on two hands now. It is eight, it's four and
four. That is four times as many as currently in Congress.
Now looking forward towards the full election, seven of these eight, as I have as a little nugget to myself down here, are favored to win in the full
election. Angie Nixon is not one of them.
You know, Ashley Moody, who is in fact the current senator there who won the Republican primary, she is heavily favored.
Look, even if Alex Vindman had won that race last night, had won that Democrat nomination, Moody would still be favored. But my guess is based
upon all the stats, this probably pushes this race much more solely into the Republican camp.
Nevertheless, Nixon's win last night to me is part of a larger pattern in terms of the fact when we think about democratic socialism and think about
the Democratic Party.
You know, I -- I think a lot of people, oh, it's just a New York phenomenon. Oh, you know, it's just in urban areas. Well, it turns out that
these democratic socialists have been winning across the map because you can see it right here.
Just look at all these different states and where DSA candidates won primaries for Congress, obviously, on the democratic side. Yes, there are
three in New York, but there's two in Michigan, which is in the Midwest, one in Colorado, which is in the Mountain West. We're talking about the one
in Florida last night, obviously.
There were also some DSA members or DSA-endorsed candidates who lost further down the ballot. Jared Moskowitz was able to defeat one of them in
Oliver Larkin in the southeast portion of that state, but still one in Florida. And then one in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which, of
course, is a key state in and around Philadelphia.
[12:10:08]
So, what you see is that you see these Democratic Socialists doing well in the Northeast. You see them doing well in the Midwest. You see them doing
well in the Mountain West. And last night, they obviously achieved victory, at least the nomination in Florida.
That being said, that being said yes, the DSA is growing bigger, but are they truly the heart of the Democratic Party at this point? Not even close.
Not even close, because you could just see it right here.
DSA candidate -- DSA-endorsed candidates who won a primary, yes, it is that -- that four and four, eight.
Now, I have a lot of digits on my hands, but I can't quite get up to 17 plus in terms of the number that lost a primary, I guess it's five, five,
five, and two.
So, many more have lost than have won. We're talking about a batting average of around, you know, 300, a little bit north of there, which in
baseball is pretty good. But in politics, it's not baseball. You want to be getting hits more than 30 percent of the time, ladies.
GOLODRYGA: Well, you hit it out of the park 100 percent of the time. And you got another mom --
ENTEN: Oh, my God.
GOLODRYGA: -- endorsement. When you were on air, I showed Zain. I sent out a text.
ENTEN: Oh, my.
GOLODRYGA: Harry, exclamation mark.
ASHER: Bianna's mom loves you, Harry.
ENTEN: Oh. Oh, my goodness. And I will note one thing, which was I actually did this hit without my shoes on. So, that's an even extra bonus figure for
you. I don't know why. I just felt --
ASHER: Why?
ENTEN: -- being more relaxed. I felt being more relaxed. You know, I like being relaxed. I like having fun with you guys. And so I decided to take
the shoes off because, you know what, you can talk about serious topics.
ASHER: Because why not? Why not?
ENTEN: Why not?
ASHER: As you do. As you do.
GOLODRYGA: You did look a little shorter, I have to say. I -- I wasn't going to bring it up, but now we know why.
ENTEN: Now you know why. It wasn't just because I didn't eat my vegetables when I was a little. It turns out that I also just took my shoes off. But
you know what, after this hit, I'm going to go out and get myself some vegetables. And maybe I'll climb up back a few inches. I think putting on
the shoes may -- may in fact help.
GOLODRYGA: You do that, Harry.
ENTEN: I will.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's chief data analyst. Favorite of moms.
ENTEN: And hi, mom.
GOLODRYGA: Good to see you, Harry.
ENTEN: See you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. The Trump administration has made some key steps towards increasing the number of immigrants that it departs from the U.S.
Liberia has agreed to accept up to 1,200 deportees from the U.S. in the next 12 months. Not Liberians, but migrants from other countries.
ASHER: Yes. The first 20 deportees are expected to arrive in Liberia on Thursday. The U.S. has struck deals with a number of African countries that
led to deport people who cannot legally be sent back to their home countries.
Liberia says the agreement does not involve a quid pro quo with Washington. Deportees will have the right to seek asylum in Liberia.
Meantime, a federal judge has cleared the way for the Trump administration to end deportation protections for thousands of Ethiopians. It affects
roughly 5,000 Ethiopians who'd been living in the United States under a form of humanitarian relief.
GOLODRYGA: Jennifer Hansler is with the U.S. State Department with more on this. And it appears that the government was just waiting from this
official decision from the judge to move forward here.
Talk about the significance and why is the State Department focused specifically on this country and these migrants.
JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Zain and Bianna --
GOLODRYGA: And refugees.
HANSLER: -- it's called part and parcel of this administration's aggressive anti-immigration pro-deportation push, both these third country national
agreements as well as their efforts to strip TPS protections from upwards of millions of refugees or migrants who are in the United States.
Now, this Liberia deal, we don't have a lot of details. Of course, we've heard from the foreign ministry claiming there is no quid pro quo here.
However, we have seen in past deals, the administration has paid millions of dollars to countries to accept sometimes handfuls of returnees to those
countries, these third country nationals, according to a Senate report that was released earlier this year.
According to that report, there's been some 20 agreements and that the administration was pushing dozens more this year.
At the same time, we have seen the administration pushing to strip TPS from more than a dozen countries. These are protections to allow people to come
to the United States fleeing war, fleeing natural disaster and legally temporarily be here in the U.S.
When it comes to Ethiopia, this was something started under President Joe Biden back in 2022, amid the raging war that is happening in that country.
It was extended in 2024. And what we saw yesterday was a federal judge giving the green light for the administration to end TPS protections for
some 5,000 Ethiopians who were here legally in the United States.
Shortly after that decision, DHS put out a post on X saying, quote, those with terminated TPS are now in our nation illegally. They must leave now or
be swiftly deported.
[12:15:05]
Now, the situation in Ethiopia is still dire. They are still dealing with this widespread conflict. It is often described as one of the worst
humanitarian crises on earth. There are nearly 16 million people facing acute hunger in that country. This is something that U.N. officials have
warned could get worse as they are facing both funding shortages and the ripple effects of the war in Iran.
And the State Department's own human rights report from last year warned that there were credible reports of extrajudicial killing, torture, and
arbitrary detention in Ethiopia.
Zain, Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Jennifer Hansler at the State Department for us. Thank you.
ASHER: All right. We want to bring in Diana Konate. She's the Deputy Executive Director of Policy and Advocacy for African Communities Together.
Diana, thank you so much for being with us.
You know, I want to start by saying that I'm sure this story and what is happening to the Ethiopian community here in the U.S. is dear to your
heart, because you are an African immigrant yourself, you're originally from Cote d'Ivoire. That is a country that has also experienced civil war
as well.
So, I'm sure you can -- you have a lot of empathy for what Ethiopians in the United States might be facing as it pertains to going back or being
sent back to Ethiopia.
Jennifer Hansler, our reporter from the State Department, was just talking about the fact that, yes, even though there was this peace agreement, the
Pretoria Agreement in 2022, that doesn't necessarily mean that Ethiopia is now perfectly safe.
There was this, you know, two-year civil war that killed half a million people. We covered it extensively on this show. And there are still pockets
of violence. Even the State Department says that there are many parts of Ethiopia that are not safe right now.
So, just explain to us what people who might end up being deported, I understand it's about 5,000 Ethiopians who are on TPS, and now that's
looking likely to end, what are they being sent back to?
DIANA KONATE, DEPUTY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND ADVOCACY, AFRICAN COMMUNITIES TOGETHER: I mean, as was described, the country is just not
safe. They're being sent back to a country where there is still ongoing armed conflict in many regions, a country that the State Department has
level for travel advisories for those regions due to the armed conflict.
You know, there are environmental conditions going on in -- in other parts of the region. I mean, it's just a really dire situation that -- that these
folks would be -- would be going back to.
And Ethiopia, unfortunately, is it the only country. We have several lawsuits challenging the administration's termination of TPS for countries
that similar to Ethiopia also have current devastating conditions on the ground. That includes Somalia, South Sudan. Those countries are also on
level four travel advisories from State Department.
The State Department is saying that people should not return to those countries for any -- you know, under any circumstances for any reason. And
yet, the administration has terminated TPS saying that those countries are safe for people to return.
GOLODRYGA: Diana, in the Ethiopia case, specifically Judge Murphy, who we should notice a Biden appointee, rejected your due process and authority
arguments and lifted this day. Your remaining claim for this termination now is driven by racial animus. That is a high bar to prove.
What evidence do you have of that? And are you prepared to make that case if need be alone?
KONATE: Yes. I mean, if you look at the actions that the administration has taken, you know, statements that people within the administrations have
made, we think that we can show that a lot of the -- the policies that the administration is taking, including termination of TPS for Ethiopia and
other countries, is based on racial animus and not on what the law requires, which is a review of country conditions and a decision based on
those country conditions.
ASHER: When it comes to what a lot of these Ethiopian immigrants here in the U.S. are experiencing right now as they risk deportation, because it's
important to note that a lot of them didn't just sort of come into the country as a result of the Ethiopian war. They were already here.
So essentially, President Biden decided to grant TPS status to Ethiopians who are already here, many of them on different types of visas here for a
number of reasons and said, while this war is going on, you are allowed to stay in the United States. You are protected from deportation. That means
that a lot of them have actually been here for many years. Some have family members here. I'm -- I'm certainly worried about the separation of
families, if -- if some of these people are sent back to Ethiopia at this point in time.
[12:20:23]
Just -- just walk us through what -- what are the ramifications for a lot of these migrants who are here, especially given that many of them have
been here for so long. And I imagine that a number of them are going to try to see if they can apply for other sort of immigrant status in this country
in order not to be deported.
KONATE: Yes. I mean, you know, we're already getting calls from people. People are -- are really scared about, you know, what's next. We've been
trying to prepare people and, you know, encouraging people, urging them to get in touch with licensed immigration attorneys to figure out what options
they do have available to them.
Once TPS ends, people do not automatically become undocumented. They revert back to whatever status they have prior to TPS. So, you know, people need
to really be having conversations with immigration attorneys to -- to figure out what's next in their particular cases.
But people are very afraid. You know, people have lost their ability to work. So that means that people can no longer, you know, take care of their
families. Some households, the TPS holder was the only person who was working and -- and taking care of the children.
Folks are concerned, especially those who have U.S.-born children are concerned about what happens to their children if they are to be detained
and potentially deported. People have reached out about, you know, homes that they own here in the U.S., businesses that they own, what happens to
all of that should they -- should they be detained and what happens to all of that now that, you know, as -- as you've mentioned, a lot of them having
lived here for years have -- have built their lives up here. And, you know, now -- now what happens.
ASHER: All right. Diana Konate, thank you. Thank you so much for bringing with us and breaking down the story for us. We appreciate it.
KONATE: Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, investors can't seem to get enough of Moderna stock.
ASHER: Yes. Shares are soaring right now. Would you look at that, up 128 percent. Thanks to a successful trial of melanoma vaccine developed with
Merck. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The trial is ongoing, but interim results show the treatment met its goals of reducing cancer recurrence and keeping cancers
from spreading to other parts of the body.
ASHER: Yes. Let's bring in CNN's medical correspondent Meg Tirrell.
I mean, this is -- this is huge news, Meg, huge. I mean, obviously, it gives a lot of people with melanoma hope.
MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. I mean, this is a very deadly form of cancer. As you noted, it's the deadliest form of skin
cancer. It only makes up about one percent of skin cancer cases, melanoma does, but it accounts for the vast majority of deaths from skin cancer.
Now, this treatment is given on top of a treatment that already revolutionized skin cancer and melanoma treatment, Keytruda. And what this
does is it's called a vaccine and it's because it causes the immune system to rev up to better recognize patient's cancers and it's an individualized
personalized treatment.
And in that trial, a phase three trial of more than a thousand patients, it met the study's goals. Now, we don't have the full results of this study
just yet. All we know is that it was a successful trial, but we know that it met those goals based on preventing recurrence or preventing the cancer
from coming back after it had been surgically removed. And also reducing the risk that it would spread to distant parts of the body.
And so we are waiting to see the full results of this trial, but we know from previous studies, from earlier stages of testing, that out to five
years, this had these significant results on those measures as well.
And so Merck and Moderna, Moderna tells me they plan to file for regulatory approval within a few months. And so this has really been described just a
few decades ago as being thought of as a science fiction, now potentially heading to the FDA really that soon, guys.
ASHER: Meg Tirrell, live for us. Thank you.
All right. Still to come here on "One World," President Zelenskyy is facing a major political test, the former ally now calling for wartime elections.
Those details, next.
GOLODRYGA: And new details about the sudden death of actors Hayden Panettiere including, who was with her at the scene?
Also ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES MCDONALD, WITNESS: I'm not answering nothing. I don't know what you're talking about. You asked me something I don't want to talk about,
you're going to have a problem. Treat me as a hospital witness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[12:25:08]
GOLODRYGA: Court will soon be in session for the third day of Tupac Shakur's murder trial. We'll tell you what we know so far.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. A few hours, the trial of Duane Keith Davis resumes in Las Vegas. He is charged with murder in the death of rapper, Tupac
Shakur, in 1996.
David has accused of ordering the death of the artist. On Tuesday, prosecutors showed the jury graphic autopsy photos, prompting some members
of Shakur's family to leave the courtroom.
ASHER: Yes. Multiple witnesses gave their testimony, including James McDonald, an associate of Suge Knight, one of the co-founders of hip-hop
label Death Row Records, who worked with Tupac. McDonald declined to answer most questions.
Reid Binion has more on his testimony.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCDONALD: You asked me something I'm going to be honest about. You asked me something I don't want to talk about, you're going to have a problem.
REID BINION, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fiery testimony from a star witness on day two of the murder trial of Duane "Keffe D" Davis, charged in the 1996
killing of rapper, Tupac Shakur.
MCDONALD: Treat me as a hostile witness. You're not going to talk to me and tell me as a grown man what I have to do up here.
BINION (voice-over): On the night of Shakur's fatal shooting, James McDonald ran security at a Las Vegas night spot, operated by Death Row
Records co-founder, Marion "Suge" Knight.
Prosecutors say Shakur's killing was part of an exchange of violence between the Crips and Bloods street gangs, revolving around Davis' nephew.
McDonald gave candid testimony about violence between the two gangs. He also provided the biggest fireworks, so far, in the trial, at one point
eliciting laughter in the courtroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know how many people were on the payroll that night from your security team?
MCDONALD: Y'all do -- y'all do paperwork different than we did.
(LAUGHTER)
Our paperwork with what they call under-the-table.
BINION (voice-over): Jurors also heard testimony from Reggie Wright, Jr., the official head of Death Row Records security at the time of Shakur's
killing. Davis previously cited Wright as possibly orchestrating the killing, a claim Wright denies.
Jurors also saw autopsy photos Tuesday. One showed the green bag that held Shakur's body. Another showed a bullet fragment removed from his body.
Two of Shakur's family members left the courtroom before the most graphic visuals were displayed.
I'm Reid Binion reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[12:30:02]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, we have new details on who was with actress, Hayden Panettiere, when she suffered cardiac arrest and died.
ASHER: That was on Sunday. Police say it was her reported boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, and his brother who called 911.
Months before her death, she published a memoir detailing an abusive relationship with a man that she called Brian.
GOLODRYGA: In a May interview with TMZ, Brian Hickerson said that he was arrested in 2020 after he, quote, got physical with Panettiere. An autopsy
found no signs of trauma that would have led to her death. CNN has reached out to Brian Hickerson.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to "One World." I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
Now, to a stunning request from the ousted Defense Minister of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov is calling for wartime elections.
It is the biggest internal challenge to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since Russia's invasion in 2022. Fedorov was fired in July, just six months after
being appointed to the post and came amid tensions with Ukraine's military commander-in-chief, who was also later fired. The 35-year-old seen as a
tech wizard used to be an ally of Zelenskyy.
ASHER: Yes. Fedorov is the first major figure in Ukraine to demand an election since the start of the war. Ukrainian law prohibits holding
elections during wartime. In his address on YouTube, Fedorov said that Kyiv must find a safe and legal and realistic way to allow the democratic
process, even during war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MYKHAILO FEDOROV, FORMER UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER (through translator): What if the war continues for another year, two, three? Can Russia
effectively be given the right to dictate when Ukrainians can choose their government again? I am convinced that the answer is no. Democracy cannot be
held hostage by Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(CHANTING)
[12:35:08]
ASHER: Fedorov has support inside Ukraine. Protesters turned out in Kyiv today back in his call for elections. Some carried signs saying, bring
Fedorov back while they chanted "People of the power."
GOLODRYGA: All right. Time now for The Exchange. We want to take a closer look at the political scene in Ukraine. Oleksiy Sorokin is the deputy chief
editor for "The Kyiv Independent," and he joins us now from the Ukrainian capital. Oleksiy, welcome to the program.
So, let's just talk about the relationship between Fedorov and Zelenskyy because it's quite acrimonious right now. It didn't always explore these
types of territories the way it is at the moment. These two were quite close.
In 2019, Fedorov helped engineer Zelenskyy's rise. Now, he's calling for wartime elections. It's understandable that a country under martial law for
so long would be asking and demanding for elections, though one does have to wonder how much of this is personal, his own perhaps political
ambitions, or wanting to get back into his old job as defense minister, especially given that there are a number, I think if not the majority, a
significant number of Ukrainians who still support President Zelenskyy's order for martial law.
OLEKSIY SOROKIN, DEPUTY CHIEF EDITOR, THE KYIV INDEPENDENT: Well, unfortunately, Mr. Fedorov is trying to extinguish the fire with gasoline.
He was obviously friends with Zelenskyy just a month ago, and he didn't demand elections like in July, right?
He, as you pointed out, he supported the president since COVID-19. He orchestrated his electoral campaign. He was the minister throughout the
entire Zelenskyy's presidency. He was seen as an effective minister.
But obviously, the -- the fight that the two had in July, the government reshuffle after which Fedorov lost his -- his position, forced Fedorov into
the confrontation with Zelenskyy.
And my personal opinion is that this call for elections is not going to be well received by the public. Even those who protested in support of
Fedorov, they -- they don't support elections in wartime, right? We -- we have the polls that 75 percent of Ukrainians say that elections should be
held only after a ceasefire is reached.
ASHER: Yes. I mean, there are so many problems with holding elections right now. Not least, obviously, security. A lot of Ukrainians are out of the
country right now. How Russia might exploit these elections and, you know, misinformation and that sort of thing.
But just in terms of what this all means for democracies, Zelenskyy's term expired in 2024, as we've been talking about. There have been no elections
because of martial law. Does that create a legitimate issue when it comes to democracy even though a lot of people do technically support the fact
that there are no elections because the country is under martial law?
SOROKIN: Well, I mean, yes and no, because there's a social contract right now. Zelenskyy is legally president. We can hold elections during martial
law. So, everything is according to the law.
But obviously, Zelenskyy's support is contingent on Zelensky representing the people, right? And the -- the problem here is that Zelenskyy has made
several steps that turned a group of people against him.
And if he continues to do that, even despite him being a legal president, there will be questions among Ukrainians of how the president can answer to
the people.
GOLODRYGA: Has shadowed this war from the start and has been a -- a long threat to Western support. This is something that President Zelenskyy says
that he continues to tackle.
But increasingly, we continue to see a number of those around him, his top aides investigated for corruption. He just fired a close aide last night
after her home was raided by investigators. Andriy Yermak also was let go following allegations of corruption. The ambassador to Washington, the list
goes on and on.
At what point does this become less of a government at large problem and more of a President Zelenskyy problem in terms of who he surrounds himself
with?
SOROKIN: Well, obviously, Zelenskyy bears the responsibility for the people he handpicked to be in top position.
[12:40:04]
And we see with every new corruption case, more and more people are directed to the president, right? Because if you have one corrupt ally,
that may happen. But if two, three, five, 10 people around you are corrupt, our question around is, did we know corruption? Did you take part in
corruption?
Currently, law enforcement, they don't allege that the president had particularly take part in -- in -- in corruption. But obviously, it's an
elephant in the room, right? If people who are really close to the president, who represent his interests, are now investigated, then it casts
a shadow (INAUDIBLE).
ASHER: Moving on from corruption, just in terms of Zelenskyy's support, just sort of going back to elections, even though they're likely not going
to be held.
But, you know, at the start of the war, Zelenskyy's support, his approval rating was in the 90s, like 90 percent approval rating, which makes sense
that everybody was rallying around him at the start of the war. That has since waned.
I think that the approval rating is roughly around 60 percent. Just talk to us about, you know, the people who have sort of changed their minds about
Zelenskyy, slightly soured on him as this war drags on. What are some of their key concerns?
SOROKIN: Well, obviously, for a year's entering on full-scale invasion, there's more and more questions than the people have. One is obviously
corruption. That's following the president and his people.
The other one is obviously the mobilization issue. There's been a lot of conflict between people on the street and those who are conducting the
mobilization. There has also been a corruption issue among draft officers.
There's also problems in terms of how Ukraine is waging this war and some soldiers are dissatisfied with the leadership.
President Zelenskyy has kept Mr. Syrskyi, who was the commander in chief, for way too long. And Syrskyi was really, really unpopular. And that also
casts a shadow on Zelenskyy's rating.
So there's -- it builds up, right? Every new problem that takes place in Ukraine chips away three, four, five percent from Zelenskyy's rating. And
obviously, it shifts this support to those who are seeing as more modern, more progressive, or those who actually led the army during the war time.
So, we have Mr. Zaluzhny, who's really popular. We have now Fedorov who's the third most popular person in Ukraine. We also have Mr. Budanov, who is
the former intelligence chief.
So, those people are potentially vying elections, but Mr. Fedorov is the first Ukrainian politician who basically went into outright opposition and
called for elections in Ukraine.
GOLODRYGA: And this is a phenomena that's not just unique to Ukraine. I mean, the fact that we're now in its fifth year of this war, it is quite
impressive that President Zelenskyy still retains the amount of support that he does.
We'll continue to follow this story. It's important as we cover the war to also cover the impact of Ukrainian life now domestically, too, aside from
just the battlefield. So, we really appreciate your insights and your reporting. Oleksiy Sorokin, thank you for the time.
SOROKIN: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Still to come on "One World," A.I. is reshaping the job market, but women are not getting the same opportunities as men. The
growing gender gap in one of the hottest fields, just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:30]
GOLODRYGA: All right. Let's take a look at where the markets are right now. Oh, great day. And the Dow up just basically break and even there, up two-
tenths of a percent. The NASDAQ, up almost four-tenths of a percent. The S&P 500, the same. This is your business breakout.
ASHER: All right. Iraq is asking Iran to give its oil export special status as they move through the Strait of Hormuz. The request comes as shipping
through the critical waterway remains severely restricted putting growing pressure on countries that rely on the Strait to get their oil to global
markets.
GOLODRYGA: U.S. President Trump is pausing a threat in 30 -- 50 percent tariff on some Canadian goods just hours before it was set to take effect.
Trump says the three-day delay comes as the U.S. and Canada work to finalize a deal, potentially sparing about $20 billion worth of imports
from higher costs.
ASHER: And remember Columbia House, the company that once advertised a dozen C.D.s for a penny, is going out of business after nearly seven
decades. The description of music pioneer peaked in the 1990s, bringing in about $1.4 billion in revenue but never recovered from the rise of digital
music and streaming.
GOLODRYGA: The end of an era to a new one. A.I. jobs are booming. And they're some of the best paid opportunities around, but it does seem that
women are being left behind.
Research from LinkedIn shows women only got 26 percent of the A.I. jobs offered in the U.S. last year.
CNN's Matt Egan joins us for more.
So, Matt, explain why. And is this a trend that we're forecast to see in the years and months ahead for A.I.?
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Bianna and Zain, A.I. jobs, they are booming. The number of A.I. jobs in the United States that are listed on
LinkedIn, they've doubled since 2023. That was the first full year after ChatGPT launched.
But as you mentioned, this new research, it does suggest that women are being left behind in this jobs boom. Just about one in four of the A.I.
jobs that were hired for last year were hired for women, right? Just one in four. That is a far cry from the roughly 50-50 divide on the gender front
for non-A.I. jobs.
And the gender gap is even wider for some of the more lucrative positions in this field. The LinkedIn research found that when you look at technical
staff, just 18 percent of the hires last year in that role were for women. And this is a job that pays very well, above $220,000. That's the median
pay.
About one in five for the head of A.I., another 200,000 plus job right there. A.I. engineer, director of A.I., also about one in four.
Now, what's notable is that the only job where you really do have some balance between men and women in the hiring is the least -- the lowest
paying position, right? That's data annotator. LinkedIn found that 50 percent of those jobs went to women. But the median pay is just a fraction
of these more male-dominated roles at 51,000.
Now, this is important for two reasons, right? It's one, it's because these jobs are growing rapidly. But it's also because these are lucrative
positions. LinkedIn found that the typical compensation for an A.I. job is almost $180,000 a year. That is more than twice the total compensation for
the typical non-A.I. job.
[12:50:02]
Now, this builds on some other research from MIT that found, we're also seeing that A.I. jobs, they're really going mostly to the more senior level
people. Now, this is from the A.I.-driven enterprise institute. And they found that 71 percent of the job openings for A.I.-related positions are
for senior level positions.
The blue part of this pie chart is the junior positions, and it's just 13 percent, 16 percent for middle tier.
And I talked to Paul Cheek, he's the -- he's the senior lecturer over at MIT, and he told me that these findings, both from LinkedIn and from his
own institute, suggest that A.I. really has two problems here, right? It's one, it's not representing the more junior level people. And two, it's not
representing women.
And his advice is, he said that top leadership needs to stop playing a zero-sum bidding war for established talent. And they have to start
building their own talent pipelines.
Zain and Bianna.
GOLODRYGA: Fascinating. Matt Egan, thank you.
EGAN: Thanks.
GOLODRYGA: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, as people live longer, they're demanding more from their golden years as they should. And the result is anything but your
grandfather's retirement home.
ASHER: So, now, there are resort-style senior living communities and they're popping up around the U.S. Reporter Itay Hod of affiliate, KPIX,
takes us to one such luxurious community.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ITAY HOD, KPIX REPORTER (voice-over): For most people, a five-star meal is reserved for birthdays and anniversaries.
For 87-year-old Donna Barker, it's just called dinner. Before she heads out, she makes herself a martini, shaken, not stirred, touches up her
lipstick and makes her way to her favorite spot in town.
But Donna doesn't call an Uber.
DONNA BARKER, VILLA MARIN RESIDENT: Oh, here we go.
HOD (voice-over): She calls an elevator.
BARKER: Initially, I didn't come here for the food, but you can't drag me away from here now.
HOD (voice-over): That's because this fine dining restaurant is smack dab in the middle of her retirement community, Villa Marin.
And a menu is created by Executive Chef Ensan Wong, whose resume includes The French Laundry, one of the most exclusive kitchens in America.
ENSAN WONG, EXECUTIVE CHEF, VILLA MARIN: Here, I found the satisfaction, the reward, that you put a smile to them, meal after meal.
[12:55:06]
HOD (voice-over): Welcome to resort-style senior living, a growing category of retirement communities built less like nursing homes and more like
luxury cruise ships. A recent report shows the senior living market is expected to soar from $76 billion in 2026 to $102 billion by 2031.
NICOLE MASHBURN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VILLA MARIN: People are planning for this years in advance.
HOD (voice-over): Villa Marin CEO, Nicole Mashburn, says baby boomers are redefining retirement.
MASHBURN: It was a place to come and die. And now, it's a place to come and live.
HOD (voice-over): Here, residents own their own apartments and pay an average of $6,000 a month on HOA fees. That covers housekeeping, paddle
courts, a library, a salon, and a fully equipped health center with onsite medical staff.
Ken Dychtwald, a psychologist who's written extensively about the golden years, says with more than 80 million people over the age of 65, expect to
see a lot more of these luxury senior communities, but not everyone can afford them.
KEN DYCHTWALD, PSYCHOLOGIST: For the average person, they're just out of touch, out of range right now, but that's going to change in the coming
years.
HOD (voice-over): As for Donna --
How many stars would you give it?
BARKER: Oh, for sure five. Michelin.
HOD (voice-over): Because sometimes the best seat in the house is the one that comes with the house.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And everybody bottoms up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: How good does that food look?
ASHER: Little envious.
GOLODRYGA: All right.
ASHER: Little envious.
GOLODRYGA: That does it for "One World." Lunchtime. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "Amanpour" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
