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One World with Zain Asher
Trump: U.S. to begin "Crushing Economic Operation" Against Iran; At Least 16 Killed in Massive Russian Attack on Kyiv Region; Prince Harry & Meghan to Move back to Britain; U.S. National Debt Reaches Grim $40 Trillion Milestone; The Modern Day "Chambre De Bonne" AKA "Maid's Rooms". Aired 11-11:30a ET
Aired August 20, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hello, everyone, live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". Years of sanctions and months of war have left Iran's economy in
shambles. Now, the U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to tighten the screws by announcing what he calls an economic D-Day on Tehran.
GOLODRYGA: The U.S. President took to social media Wednesday, vowing to impose, quote, the most crushing economic operation ever taken against any
country. He also pledged to crack down on any country that throws Iran a lifeline. Tehran is dismissing the president's move as diversion.
ASHER: CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us live now from the White House to kick off our coverage on this. So, when you think about Iran's most important
financial or economic benefactors, China would come to mind, and also Russia.
So, how would this work in terms of the president really trying to crack down on those countries that are economic allies with Iran given that those
countries oftentimes do have complex relationships with the United States as well?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. And I think it's hard to see at this particular moment the president upending his relationship
with China, in particular, you know he talks almost every day now about this upcoming visit from President Xi Jinping, who will be here in
September for a state visit.
But if the president is to follow through on his threat here to levy these enormous sanctions on Iran's benefactors, then he will have to go after
China. They are their number one trading partner as of now. The White House, Treasury Department, they haven't laid out any specific sanctions or
specific measures in terms of follow through on what the president's threat is here.
And so, some of this remains to be seen. We are waiting for some of the details. When you look around the other parts of the world where Iran is
doing business, you also come to the Gulf. You know, we just saw yesterday the United Arab Emirates say that it was cutting off trade and commercial
ties with Iran.
But what we don't know is how exactly the United States plans to enforce whatever the president is trying to put in place here. A lot of the
business that's done in the Gulf that the Iranians have put into place is done through shell companies and other organizations. So actually,
enforcing what the president is suggesting here will be very, very difficult.
But nonetheless, I think it does reflect a shift in strategy on the part of the president. You know, he's no longer threatening a return to all-out
conflict. I think aware that the Iranians and the U.S. military are alike aware that they have some limitations in how much the president can do
militarily going forward when it comes to the depletion of the munitions, when it comes to the toll that this has taken on American assets in the
region.
Now the president seems to be shifting into this mode of strategic patience to try and pile on some of these economic measures in the hope that the
Iranians will eventually cave to his demands when it comes to the Strait, when it comes to the nuclear program. Now, whether that's successful or not
remains to be seen. But clearly, this is turning into something of a standoff to see which nation will blink first.
ASHER: Yeah, Kevin Liptak live for us there. Thank you.
GOLODRYGA: Well, we have new reaction to all of this from U.S. and global markets as oil prices jump more than 2 percent.
ASHER: Yeah, let's take a look and see where Brent Crude futures stand right now. You see it there, $93 a barrel. WTI, the U.S. benchmark, is at
$87 a barrel. All right; Ukrainian authorities are calling it a massive Russian attack on the Kyiv region. At least 16 lives lost overnight.
GOLODRYGA: The strikes hit at the heart of the city's community, a children's hospital, a school, and residential buildings. In recent weeks,
Moscow has been exploiting Kyiv's lack of Patriot interceptor missiles. These are the only weapons in Ukraine's arsenal that are capable of downing
a ballistic missile, and stocks are near zero. Sebastian Shukla has more details.
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: What we know is that the strikes have caused extensive damage across the Ukrainian capital, which was largely the
focus here. Our producers in Kyiv have told us that this attack or air raid sirens sounded initially around 06:00 p.m. and continued for many hours.
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And that what they heard and what they saw is really catastrophic damage across the entire city. Buildings on fire, smoke rising from all corners of
the city, seemingly shrouding it in that acrid pall of gunpowder smoke. But what we're seeing here now is just the continuation of what is now a weeks'
long, if not months long, air war between the two nations.
Because the Ukrainians, albeit on the receiving end of an attack that we've seen just tonight, have also been launching their own attacks on Moscow and
different parts of Russia too. This reprisal situation that we're in has being seemingly continues unabated for the time being.
16 people are known to have died so far as a result of these attacks, which have targeted hospitals, schools, apartments, warehouses, and the emergency
services are still trying their best to recover bodies and recover survivors from the rubble as best they can.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, commenting specifically on last night's attack, have said that they launched a massive strike using high precision
weapons. And what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said today is that this particular attack have been planned for quite some time.
The usage of ballistic missiles has become one of the major ways that both of these, or that the Russian side, is targeting Kyiv and the capital city
and other cities around Ukraine. But the dwindling supplies of Patriot missile interceptors is just the major problem that Ukraine faces right now
in enormous shortages.
You mentioned 10 percent they have of the stockpiles that they need. If they do not get those supplies replenished in the short and medium term,
that is going to have a knock-on effect for what happens through the winter, because if the Russians are able to continue to produce ballistic
missiles at the rate that they currently are, then that means that they will have an overwhelming advantage versus Ukraine's air defense systems.
Which, as the winter gets colder and as winter draws near and gets colder, we will see the renewed efforts by Moscow to hit Ukraine's critical
infrastructure, plunging it not into colder, but also into darkness and just increasing the misery on Ukrainian people.
GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Sebastian Shukla for that report.
ASHER: All right, turning now to a royal plot twist, Prince Harry and Meghan are reportedly planning to move back to Britain later on this month.
GOLODRYGA: This caught a lot of people by surprise. The couple is said to be eyeing a private home just outside of London. The return to England
comes six years after the pair stepped away from royal duties and moved to California. Sources say King Charles was only made aware of the surprise
move on Sunday, but welcomes seeing more of the Sussex family.
CNN's Royal Correspondent Max Foster joins us from Buckingham Palace with more. Max, we only have a couple of minutes with you, otherwise we could
get started on an hour-long --
ASHER: -- way.
GOLODRYGA: -- conversation about what all of this means, unpacking it all first. I guess your response, given that this is an area you cover closely,
and the reaction at home there in London.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think Zain said it best. The plot twist, it really is. There's a bit of Game of Thrones to this. Because
what you've got is Harry having gone away, setting up his own life, but really almost as a pseudo royal. He wasn't a working royal, but his
engagements feel like royal engagements.
He wants to come back to the United Kingdom. We were expecting to spend more time here because he's talked about how he enjoys being here, wants to
do more with his charities. What we weren't expecting was his entire family to come back, and for his kids to be enrolled in school. We've had that
confirmed, so they are relocating to the United Kingdom.
And then you ask, what does that mean for the Palace here? Obviously, there's been some rapprochement with the King because they've had meetings
just last month. They were here for a meeting, but Harry effectively rang him up on Sunday and informed him this was happening. There was no
discussion there.
William was also informed, and there is no relationship really at the moment between William and Harry. So, then you ask, you know, what have we
got here? Is these two rival houses of Windsor now operating in the United Kingdom? Can they operate separately, or do they have to start working
together to avoid clashes and engagements?
They all want to raise the profile of their causes. There's going to need to be some sort of coordination there, but it's all a bit of a mystery. We
don't know where they'll be living, apart from it'll be outside the UK. We don't know how they'll be paying for their life here, because Harris talked
about the cost of security in the UK.
That's why he didn't want to bring his family before. How's that being paid for? How's the properties being paid for? And how will the whole monarchy
work together?
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And how can they survive in this new arrangement? You know, the plot thickens, as Zain would say.
GOLODRYGA: The plot thickens, but I'm sure they're going to get no press coverage. They are going to be left to their own very independent.
ASHER: Will the British Press be kinder the second time around? We shall see. I doubt it. But let's see. Let's see.
GOLODRYGA: Maybe they'll leave them alone. I don't know. Not betting on that one though. Max Foster, you're going to be extra busy these next few
weeks. Thanks so much. Well, the real estate tycoon at the heart of China's property crisis will spend the rest of his life in prison.
ASHER: Yeah, state media reports Hui Ka Yan was sentenced to life in prison earlier on Thursday after pleading guilty to a slew of charges, including
fraud and misuse of funds. His Evergrande group was once a property giant, but was then saddled with $300 billion in debt, helping spark a wider
crisis.
Anna Stewart joins us live now from London. Yeah, it did really spark a massive crisis, economic crisis in China, especially in the real estate
sector. Just walk us through what we know right now, Anna.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So interestingly, we already knew that Hui had pled guilty earlier this year, but this was the sentencing, and clearly
here, blame has been apportioned, and the real estate crisis you know, Evergrande has very much become the poster child for that, and the blame is
very much being given to Evergrande and with its founder.
There were multiple charges. We're talking financial fraud, inflating assets, concealing liabilities, illegally absorbing public deposits.
Evergrande and its subsidiary are also fined more than $2 billion. And in addition to a life sentence, Hui himself is being stripped of all personal
assets. Previously, he had been fined.
This is the big reckoning. Of course, many people will also suggest that there were failures beyond Evergrande. It wasn't the only real estate
company that was borrowing huge amounts of money. It was sort of pre-sale funded property development, and of course, when there were too many
properties for too few buyers, we saw a massive crash.
And it threatened the financial system of China because so many of the banks had lent such a huge amount of money, and eventually Beijing cut this
company off and others like it. So, this is a real reckoning. It sort of draws the line under the story, but of course the property crisis is still
sort of ongoing in China. In terms of new home sales, we haven't ever seen much of a recovery.
ASHER: All right. A tourist helicopter has crashed in China, killing all seven people on board. Among them, five Americans and the Director General
of Ecuador's Intelligence Agency.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the American Spanish language television company Telemundo says one of its executives was also among the dead. The crash happened
Wednesday north of the capital of Nairobi. Earlier, the Kenyan Red Cross said difficult terrain and an active fire at the site were complicating
search and recovery efforts. An investigation into the cause is still underway. And still ahead for us here on "One World".
ASHER: Those of you watching in the U.S. stunning news, the country is now $40 trillion in debt. Details on that grim milestone coming up.
GOLODRYGA: And finding affordable apartments in cities like Paris can be tough, but as Parisians know, moving up can mean much slower rents. We'll
explain after the break.
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GOLODRYGA: Well, nobody likes to get a bill in the mail. Well, the U.S. just got one that says it owes a little bit of money, some $40 trillion.
ASHER: Yeah, the U.S. Treasury Department just released the data on the national debt. It has been growing faster in recent years, in part because
of rising interest payments, and with those payments expected to top a record $1 trillion this fiscal year alone.
Add to this a war. You may have heard what's happening between the U.S. and Iran, huge tax cuts as well, and entitlements as Americans live longer.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and getting to $40 trillion did not happen overnight. It took years of borrowing and spending.
ASHER: And CNN's Matt Egan puts that 14-digit number in perspective for us.
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Zain and Bianna, this is a grim milestone. $40 trillion number so big, it's almost hard to wrap your head around it.
So, let's put it in some real-world terms, $40 trillion. If you were to spread this across the entire population of the United States, this would
equal almost $120,000 per person.
$40 trillion this is equal to the entire economy of China, Japan, Germany, India, and the UK combined. Now, when we look at the national debt over
time, going back to the year 2000, back then the national debt was only around $6 trillion. But what we've seen is it's basically just doubled in
the past decade alone.
It's been driven up by government spending, by massive tax cuts, by war after war after war, by the once in a lifetime 2008 financial crisis,
followed by the once in a lifetime 2020 pandemic, you put it all together, and yes, you get just over 40 trillion dollars. Now, it's also true that
the economy has grown a lot over this time.
That's why we like to look at debt to GDP. But even by that ratio, this is all going in the wrong direction. Back in 1966, debt to GDP was 40 percent
by the mid-1990s, 64 percent, and look where we are now, 123 percent. That means the size of the total national debt exceeds the size of the entire
U.S. economy.
Now, why is this happening? Well, one of the drivers is the fact that there's aging demographics. Every single day, about 10,000 baby boomers
retire. That has forced the government to spend more and more money on Social Security and on Medicare. $1.4 trillion in government spending on
Social Security alone so far, this fiscal year.
But what really stands out is number three on this list, and that is net interest. We're talking about $931 billion spent so far, this fiscal year
just on servicing America's mountain of debt. And what really stands out is that this exceeds the national defense, $800 billion on the military, more
than $900 billion on interest. The net interest is expected to surpass a trillion dollars this fiscal year.
Now, because of all that government spending and because the government is spending more than it takes in in revenue, we see the national debt growing
all the time, every single day almost $7 billion gets added to the national debt, almost $300 million per hour, and just since we started talking,
almost $5 million per minute in the national debt.
Now the market is starting to get a little bit more concerned about the $40 trillion national debt, about high deficits, about stubborn inflation, and
that has driven up Treasury rates, and that is significant because we know treasuries set the cost of borrowing across the economy.
The higher treasury rates go, the more expensive it is to get a mortgage, more expensive it is to have a small business or a car loan, and of course,
the more expensive it is for the government itself to borrow. And every billion dollars the government spends on interest is a billion dollars less
that can be spent on building roads and bridges, on repairing schools, on investing in the future.
I think at the end of the day, this is clearly a mess of a problem. There's a lot of blame that can go around. This is something that has gone up under
Republicans, under Democrats during good times and during bad and there is obviously, a lot of fingers pointing. But the bottom line is this problem.
It's just too massive for any one party to solve on the realm.
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This is going to require true bipartisan compromise. And you got to wonder whether or not it's going to take some significant market pressure to get
lawmakers in Washington to address this problem. Zain and Bianna, back to you.
ASHER: That's CNN's Matt Egan, appreciate that report.
GOLODRYGA: Well, tens of thousands of students are waiting to find out if they will get into one of Mexico's most prestigious universities. But
school officials had to re-administer the entrance exam over allegations of cheating.
ASHER: CNN's Valeria Leon reports.
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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After an alleged AI fraud using in the admission exam, thousands of students are now lined up to get to this
admissions test for the second time to get into the National Autonomous University in Mexico, one of the oldest and most prestigious universities
of Latin America.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LEON (voice-over): This is the first time that the UNAM applied this test online. And after this fraud allegedly signaling students using AI for this
first test, the university decided to reapply this test.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LEON (voice-over): And this is what the students feel of retaking the exam.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
LEON (voice-over): Around 50,000 students have presented this test, the second one for the admission to the University De UNAM, and here in Mexico
City, this is the place Palacio de los Deportes, where thousands of students and also their families, as you can see here, they are waiting for
hours until their students can present the test and finally go out.
This is the last date for the students to get inside and get this test done. And finally, get a place in one of the most important universities in
Mexico. Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.
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ASHER: All right, if you are ever in Paris, take a look at the grand buildings across the city, and then look up there you'll see the tiniest of
apartments originally built to actually house domestic servants in France.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, but many current tenants are drawn by the affordable rents, as CNN's Saskya Vandoorne reports.
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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So yeah, the entrance here, that's small, yeah, like entrance area.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): These are some of the smallest apartments you'll find in Paris. Some measure less than 100 square feet.
ANATOLY NOVIKOV, STUDENT: A private shower.
VANDOORNE: Wow. Can you open both doors at the same time?
NOVIKOV: I've never tried, but I guess you could-ish.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): They're called chambre de bonne, maids' room, hidden at the top of some of Paris's grandest buildings. Built for domestic
servants, they were notoriously cold, with toilets often shared between tenants. As of 2022, there were still more than 90,000 of these tiny
apartments across Paris.
NOVIKOV: The view from the rooftop is just amazing. Like you see pretty much every big Parisian monument. My friends commented that, like, oh my
gosh, you got to have a depression in like one month's time because it's so tiny, like it's a prison cell. And technically, I guess prison cells are
bigger.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Anatoly is an engineering student who's called this place home for the past year. He pays about $800 a month in rent, expensive
by the square foot, but still cheaper than most Parisian apartments.
NOVIKOV: It's not a sacrifice; it's a trade-off. In engineering, you don't have good solutions. You only have trade-offs, so yeah.
VANDOORNE: What's the trade-off here?
NOVIKOV: The space for the location, pretty much.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): And there's another price to pay for living in Central Paris, lots and lots of stairs.
GLADYS MAGNAN, STUDENT: You do this every day.
VANDOORNE: It's terrible. Oh, I know, it's a sport.
MAGNAN: Love it to be in.
VANDOORNE: We need a minute.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): This is Gladys, and she lives right at the top on the seventh floor. Unlike in the 19th century, when the problem was the
cold, today its relentless heat waves turning these tiny apartments into furnaces, with temperatures climbing above 40 degrees celsius, that's more
than 104 fahrenheit.
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MAGNAN: I was also taking like ice during the night, all the ice next to me.
VANDOORNE: Like a pillow?
MAGNAN: Yeah, exactly. That was terrible, and also, I slept to my sister's house, so that was better to my friend's house.
VANDOORNE: So, you actually have to leave.
MAGNAN: Yeah, yeah.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): It's not just Parisians willing to squeeze into these tiny homes. Tourists do it too, paying as much as $140 a night to
stay in the heart of Paris. And whether they're here for a night or a year, perhaps this is part of what they're paying for.
VANDOORNE: Wow.
MAGNAN: You can see the view.
VANDOORNE: Yes. The Eiffel Tower?
MAGNAN: Yeah, the Eiffel Tower.
VANDOORNE (voice-over): Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: I mean, the view is free.
ASHER: Yes, and for a chance to live in Paris, I'd still take it.
GOLODRYGA: All right, stay with CNN. There's more "One World" in about 30 minutes' time, but "CNN Creators" is up next.
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(CNN CREATORS)
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