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One World with Zain Asher
U.S. and Iran Trade Fire Again as Attacks Escalate; CNN Joins Nepali Police Team on Search for Victims; Tiger Woods Plead Guilty to Lesser Charge in DUI Arrest; Israeli Settlers Stage New Attack on Palestinian Home; Israeli President Isaac Herzog Speaks with CNN; MapQuest No.1 on App Store after Keeping Lake Ontario. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 02, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Hi, everyone. Live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: And I'm Zain Asher. Coming up on "One World".
GOLODRYGA: Iran strikes back after the U.S. targets its military again, despite a new threat from President Trump.
ASHER: A desperate search effort is underway in Nepal as the death toll from last week's catastrophic flooding continues to climb while thousands
more remain missing.
GOLODRYGA: Plus, the Israeli President puts his weight behind the democratic process ahead of next month's election. We'll have my exclusive
interview with Isaac Herzog later in the show.
ASHER: All right, it is back to another escalation in fighting between the U.S. and Iran, despite earlier signals from the White House that it would
move to a strategy of ramping up economic pressure.
GOLODRYGA: U.S. Central Command says its strikes Tuesday targeted air defense sites, radar systems, and communication sites associated with
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. After threatening to hit Iran harder if they retaliated, President Trump posted on social media that he
couldn't care less about any peace deal with Tehran.
Before repeating his unverified claim that the U.S. has almost total control of the Strait of Hormuz. He also urged Iranians to quote rise up
and fight.
ASHER: Iran says shrapnel from a U.S. strike hit a wedding party in a coastal town near the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran says at least four people
were killed, including a toddler. This video in Iranian state media purports to show the aftermath of that attack. CNN cannot independently
confirm it rather; the local governor describes the scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REZA SHAHIDIYAN, SIRIK COUNTY GOVERNOR: Sirik County was subjected to multiple attacks by the American enemy. Once again, in violation of human
rights, one of our residential units was hit. This residential unit was hosting a wedding celebration.
Unfortunately, in this crime, 63 of our fellow citizens and compatriots suffered injuries, and we have unfortunately lost four martyrs. Out of our
63 injured, unfortunately, more than 50 of them are children and women.
(END VVIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Iran responded to U.S. strikes by firing ballistic missiles towards Jordan and drones towards Bahrain and Kuwait as well. Tehran says it was
targeting U.S. military assets in those countries. CNN's Kevin Liptak joins us live now from the White House.
I mean, you and I were talking about this yesterday. It's interesting where we are, right? As this war enters into its seventh month, you have a
situation whereby American resources are clearly stretched thin, Iran's economy is faltering, as its own president has admitted.
And then you now have President Trump coming up -- coming out and saying that it's up to the Iranian people now that they should rise up and fight.
And obviously, we had sort of moved away from that many, many months ago.
I mean, that was obviously talked about early on in this war, but we seem to have transitioned away from that for obvious reasons. Just walk us
through what this says about how desperate the U.S. is to find a way out and how difficult the options appear to be.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think you know it shows that the president, at least in public, is not in any hurry in fact,
to end the conflict. He's saying that he doesn't want to get the Iranians to the negotiating table, and that in fact he is comfortable with this
situation as it currently stands.
He insists that the U.S. has control over the Strait. And he seems almost confused about why the Iranian public are not rising up to overthrow their
regime. Which remember was his message to the Iranians on the night that this war began back in February?
Yes, it had swung in the other direction. The Americans seemed to recognize that that wasn't happening in the near term. But now, without any major
success in getting the Iranians to capitulate militarily, the president seems to be back to this idea of regime change, but how the U.S. plans to
affect that isn't precisely clear.
There's no evidence that the U.S. is supporting the Iranian public in any way to try and make those ends happen. And so, where this all heads from
here? I don't know, is explicitly clear. Yes, the strategy had seemed to be economic pressure. We heard that last week from the Treasury Secretary
Scott Bessent.
He actually said that because of the economic pressure, that it would not likely be a large-scale kinetic restart. Only to see a couple days later
the U.S. targeting those positions that it said were preparing to launch mines into the Strait of Hormuz, kicking back this -- back-and-forth
retaliatory cycle that we've seen play out over the last three days.
[11:05:00]
Now, the president, of course, insists that he is under no political pressure to get this war ended, despite you know very real concerns among
Republicans that this war will still be going on by the time the midterms roll around in November.
Just yesterday, we saw the price of oil tick back up. We're on a track now, and projections show that gas prices will be at record highs for a holiday
weekend as we head into Labor Day. That's something that many Republicans really, I think, want to see turned around by the time November rolls
around.
And just yesterday, as these strikes were being announced by the U.S. the president was sitting in the Roosevelt Room here at the White House with
refiners and oil executives trying to find ways to bring those prices down without any clear and concrete resolution once the meeting ended about how
that was going to happen?
Of course, analysts say that the only real way to bring the gas prices down is to have a durable solution to this war that will reopen the Strait of
Hormuz. And so, the president clearly, I think, in a position where he neither wants to go back to full-scale conflict, but also doesn't seem to
have an appetite for a ceasefire with Iran that doesn't resolve any of these issues durably.
And it really is, I think, a difficult predicament for him going forward whether or not this plan to try and get the Iranians to rise up against
their leaders actually results in that without any sort of U.S. support on the ground seems unlikely, but that seems to be where the strategy is
heading at this point.
ASHER: Kevin Liptak, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, thousands of U.S. sailors and marines are finally getting a chance to rest
and recuperate.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, after spending more than eight months at sea, the USS Abraham Lincoln has made its first port call in Thailand. According to one
top Democrat the Lincoln has set a modern-day record for consecutive days at sea. The Trump Administration is facing backlash for this extended
deployment, leading to mental health concerns.
CNN has been reporting on the cruise worsening living conditions. The situation took such a major toll that at one point, a U.S. official says at
least one sailor was rescued after going overboard.
ASHER: President Vladimir Putin says that Russia is open to peace talks, but at the same time, he's ruling out talking to Kyiv at an international
conference in Kyrgyzstan. Putin said that he wants to end the war in Ukraine and bring about lasting peace. But he also accused Ukraine of state
terrorism and said it's not possible to negotiate with terrorists.
GOLODRYGA: Those comments prompted by Ukraine warning airlines that Russian airspace is becoming too risky to enter because of Ukrainian drones.
President Zelenskyy says the skies over Russia will effectively close to commercial flights. For more on this, let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian.
And Clare, this speaks to some of the heads up that the United States had provided to Ukraine last week following that rather surprising visit from
the CIA Director to Moscow because specifically Moscow and other major cities in Russia have become fair game for Ukraine in its drone warfare and
attacks against Russia.
Just talk about this latest comment from Vladimir Putin. We've heard similar lines before, and thus there is a lot of reason to remain skeptical
about just how committed he is to any sort of peace talks.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this I think from Vladimir Putin. This is classic Russian double speak. He is saying on the one hand that
he's open to seeking peace, to continuing talks on this conflict, while on the other hand saying that Ukraine's warning over drones in Russian
airspace is state terrorism and he doesn't negotiate with terrorists.
So, I think it's a sort of no dressed up as a yes, as we've seen many times from Putin and other Russian officials. He also said in the same press
conference that Russia was winning, which speaks to, of course, a lack of incentive for them to come to the negotiating table.
So, I think look at Russia in the sense of what it does and not what it says, because I think critical context for this is that this is now the
seventh day of perhaps the most intense and long-lasting bombardment of the Ukrainian Capital Kyiv that we've seen since the start of the full-scale
invasion.
They have been since last Thursday under near constant air raid alerts, and these alerts are not just warnings; they're often accompanied by
explosions. President Zelenskyy saying on Wednesday that a university was hit in Kyiv. Thankfully, the 160 students were already in a shelter.
And so, profound has the impact been on everyday life in the capital. The government is now upgrading its air alert system, introducing a two-tier
system, yellow for drones, red for missiles, to give people more sort of transparency and more of an ability to plan around these near constant
alerts.
[11:10:00]
So that is the context in which we see this very purposeful warning from President Zelenskyy that Ukraine's own air war, its own air attacks on
Russia could still escalate. He's saying that Russian airspace is becoming completely unsafe. That drones in Russia's skies, he said, are on a scale
that has to be taken into account.
Ukraine, he says, is not targeting civil aviation, but clearly this is something that commercial airlines, those still operating within Russia,
cannot ignore. Limited impact so far. One Turkish carrier, Pegasus, said that flights overnight into Wednesday to Russia were canceled. They said
due to technical and operational reasons, but are now continuing as normal.
Several others have told us they are monitoring the situation. But of course, this is a moment when we do see this air war escalating. And
certainly, Ukraine hasn't been operating commercial aviation since the start of the war, and it may be that the risk in Russia is now rising as
well.
GOLODRYGA: Clare Sebastian for us in London. Thank you. Well, rescuers are racing against time to find thousands of people still missing a week after
catastrophic flash floods devastated a wide area on both sides of the Nepal-China border.
ASHER: Yeah, more than 1,100 people are known to have died, with about 4,500 people still unaccounted for, essentially still missing. According to
the UN contact has not yet been established with some of the hardest hit parts of Nepal. We also know that around 640 workers are feared trapped
inside hydro power tunnels after the flooding left a number of energy generating sites buried under thick mud.
GOLODRYGA: As families in Nepal wait for news of their missing loved ones, CNN's Hanako Montgomery joins a Nepali police team on their search for
flood victims.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Down in Nepal's plains, the river gives up its dead. Flood waters carried them far from where they
were last seen, scattering them along the riverbanks.
MONTGOMERY: Right now, we're on a search and recovery mission with the Nepali police. They've found hundreds of bodies that have washed downstream
from the Himalayas in this river. So, we're just going to go and see if we can find any more human remains that might need recovering.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Using sticks to probe the tall grass, they search for what the floods left behind. They find nothing, so the search continues
downstream.
MONTGOMERY: They say they found something. Just going to put on my mask here in case it's a body. We found an animal carcass, and you can tell that
it's been here for a few days. It's pretty badly decomposed.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The police tell us the same is happening to human remains.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These scenes are very heart wrenching, but we're keeping strong and working.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The places to search seem endless, and what they do recover, they bring here, a center where photographs of the found dead
flicker across screens. Families stare at image after image, looking for a brother, a son, or for this man, his sisters.
KUMAR POKHAREL, BROTHER OF MISSING SISTER: I'm still hoping that they come back. We're looking for them and contacting all possible places, but we
haven't found any leads.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): The police told me over 800 people were reported missing at this center alone. Just 12 were returned families. Some, he
says, are so badly decomposed they're unrecognizable.
HARI SHARAN DHAKAL, POLICE OFFICER: The situation is very challenging. We're getting dead bodies, body parts, and we don't have enough people who
are able to do this work.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Reunited holds a different meaning here. Finding remains confirms an unbearable truth, but an end to the search for some
families, allowing them to lay their loved ones to rest. But they're considered the lucky ones. The hundreds who can't be identified are brought
deep into the forest to a freshly dug mass grave.
Numbers are assigned for the unnamed, with the bleak hope that using collected DNA samples one day, someone will come looking for them. Back at
the river, the police find what they're looking for.
MONTGOMERY: When we were with the Nepali police, we didn't find any remains, but the same team they called us and they told us they found two
bodies in the river. And now begins the really painful process of identifying these people, and then reuniting them with their families.
MONTGOMERY (voice-over): Behind every missing person is a family still waiting, and behind every recovered body, the enormous task of learning who
they were. Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Nepal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:15:00]
ASHER: All right. Still to come on "One World".
GOLODRYGA: Not enough money, people, or paper. U.S. election officials say there just isn't time to comply with President Trump's mail-in voting
orders. So how could this impact the November midterms?
ASHER: And Tiger Woods reaches a plea deal with Florida prosecutors following his arrest for driving under the influence, resulting in a
rollover car crash. More on that after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: The U.S. midterms are just weeks away, and state election officials are now sounding the alarm. Some of them warning that it's not
possible to comply with President Trump's new rules for mail-in ballots.
ASHER: Yeah, the president signs an executive order in March aimed at imposing federal control over who is permitted to vote by mail? Legal
challenges mean that order is sexually on hold for now. A judge froze the mandate last week, and the administration is appealing.
But officials say if the block on the new rules is lifted, there is simply no way they can comply in time. Washington State Selection Director put it
bluntly, it is just not possible for us to meet the United States' Postal Service requirements.
GOLODRYGA: It comes after a Democratic Senator released a warning from an unnamed whistleblower who described the U.S. Postal Service's new ballot
verification system as rushed and untested. Senator Richard Blumenthal spoke earlier to CNN's Kate Baldwin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): 0 percent failure is part of its design. In other words, for the first time in our history, the Postal Service is going
to be acting as a gatekeeper. It is going to be screening every ballot based on information provided by election officials and the ballots
provided by them.
And then refusing to send the whole batch of ballots, maybe 10,000, if there is one discrepancy, one barcode missing from one ballot, and that's
the design of the system, which is why I say it is designed to disenfranchise millions of Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GOLODRYGA: The U.S. Postal Service responded to the new concern, saying that it has spent months developing a federal ballot portal to provide
officials with a simple, secure, and efficient way to share lists of those receiving ballots.
ASHER: All right, still to come on "One World".
GOLODRYGA: We are seeing a surge in settler violence in the West Bank. In just a moment, my full interview with Israeli President Isaac Herzog over
escalating tensions in the Middle East and the upcoming Israeli election.
[11:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Tiger Woods has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge during a court appearance earlier today. The golf champion was arrested in March for DUI
charges following a rollover car crash near his Florida home.
ASHER: Yeah, the 50-year-old initially pleaded not guilty to charges claiming he was looking at his phone at the time of the crash. But officers
at the scene found two prescription opioids in his pocket and observed him to be lethargic, with diluted pupils. However, it was announced on Tuesday
Woods would be changing his plea, and the golf star has now reached a deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time.
GOLODRYGA: CNN's Randi Kaye joins us now to break it all down. Randi, I believe you were in the court room during all of this, these proceedings.
Just tell us how it played out, and was any of it a surprise?
RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I was in the court room, yes, just a few feet away from Tiger Woods as he spoke with the judge. He
answered yes, a few times, otherwise didn't say much. Really, didn't show much emotion. He was dressed in a suit, but as you mentioned, he had
pleaded not guilty back in March when this happened.
And today he officially pleaded no contest to the charges that he was facing. His girlfriend Vanessa Trump was also in court with him and seated
right behind him. But the two charges that he was facing, one was DUI, driving under the influence, and in this case, with the no contest plea.
The state amended that charge and knocked it down to a willful, wanton, reckless driving. He got $1,000 fine, and he will lose his license for five
years. Also, on the other charge, he refused to submit to a test, a urinalysis test, after he was pulled over after that accident, and that
charge was then adjudicated by the court of guilt, and he faced a $500 fine there, and also another five years on his license suspension.
[11:25:00]
Those suspensions will run concurrently. But it was an interesting moment in court because the judge said to him, for your safety and the safety of
the public, if you are seen out driving, you will be taken immediately back to jail. And Tiger Woods said that he did understand that.
But earlier, the prosecutor said that the reason they were coming to this agreement was because there had been an erosion of what she called
evidence, and then later the state attorney held a press conference saying that although the deputies found that Tiger Woods was impaired while he was
doing those field tests for them.
He said that proving that would have been very difficult because he told the media that Tiger Woods had built up a tolerance to the prescription
pills that he had been taking. He was found with two hydrocodone in his pocket that day, and that it would been -- he would have had a tolerance to
it, and would have been very hard to have proven impairment.
So that's why they made this agreement with him. He said that it wasn't about special privileges or anything because of who he is. So that was just
one interesting note following the moment in court. But as we know, of course, you may recall he's had trouble before. He had that 2017 incident
where he was pulled over here in the State of Florida.
He had fallen asleep at the wheel of his car. They found in the toxicology report that there was pain medication, anxiety medication, sleep
medication, some THC, marijuana in his system. And then of course in 2021 he had that very serious rollover in California, where he had to go through
quite a bit of rehabilitation to just be able to walk again, so it's been a pretty difficult time for Tiger Woods.
GOLODRYGA: Indeed, it has. Randi Kaye, thank you.
ASHER: All right, we are less than two months out from Israel's next election. Voters are watching an intense contest unfold as right-wing
politicians lay claim to increasingly hardline positions.
GOLODRYGA: Now, the far right is a key part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's own coalition, but the sheer number of parties on the right
threatens to dilute support for the government. In just a moment, you will hear my exclusive conversation with Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Election Day is one of several issues we discussed, as well as the surge in violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Dozens of masked Israeli
settlers attacked a home in the West Bank last weekend. Witnesses say they surrounded a Palestinian house, throwing stones while seven people were
trapped inside.
I asked President Herzog about settler violence. Retired IDF Major General Eyal Ben-Reuven told "The New York Times", what the settlers are doing here
is the real threat to Israel. This is more concerning to me than Iran, Gaza, or Lebanon. Here's how President Herzog responded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: So, I've been following this Bianna for well over a decade. It's not a new phenomenon. There are juvenile
delinquents, absolutely, that come into the West Bank, to Judea and Samaria, they are there for a long time, and it could be that they have
aligned with other groups.
But honestly, to say, there is a major effort by our authorities to undermine these activities, and of course, to bring people to justice, to
be arrested and brought to trial. There have been efforts in recent days; only about 10 of them, or 12, were arrested. I strengthened Ambassador
Huckabee.
But let's put things in perspective. It's like saying, what about inner- city violence in the United States. I mean, there's a major effort to tackle inner-city violence. There's a major effort to tackle these groups
in Judea and Samaria. And I am actually quite confident that the efforts that have been taken together with the Secret Service, the Shin Bet, and
others will bear fruits.
In my statement, I made it clear. Of course, it's the responsibility of the Israeli government. The Israeli government with all its agencies, meaning
the Israel Defense Forces, the Shin Bet, the law enforcement authorities, the prosecution, they all have to put a heavy focus on it, and I am quite
confident it will bear results.
GOLODRYGA: The Prime Minister said to Dana Bash that the judicial system, in his view, is too lenient on these attackers, these terrorists, as the
Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, labels them. The prime minister also pledged to intervene personally. Nothing has happened yet. Would you urge
him to intervene? Have you?
HERZOG: So, I'll say first of all, I think it's kind of an image issue. Of course, there's intervention. There's activity going on all the time. And I
can confirm also from my own sources in these agencies, there are major efforts going on to undermine these activities. They're shame on Israel.
[11:30:00]
They're a shame on the face of Israel. But as a decent democracy with the rule of law, every person who's arrested has the right to defend him or
herself. They have lawyers, just like you have in the United States, and therefore to put all the blame on the judges is, of course, something which
I would not do.
I would look overall on the grand picture, and the grand picture requires strong police enforcement, strong military enforcement, strong prosecution,
and of course judges who attend to these needs and take decisions on the merits.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, this is the prime minister who was accusing these judges of being too lenient.
HERZOG: So, the prime minister, I can only say that, of course, I read and saw in Israeli media recently that the prime minister himself termed it as
a cancerous phenomenon; meaning it's a dangerous phenomenon that can spread, and I hope it'll be attended to as forcefully as possible.
GOLODRYGA: Let's turn to the elections. They produce candidates our audience may be hearing about for the very first time in this interview.
Ofer Winter he is a hawkish general. He launched his party with an Arab- Israeli activist on stage beside him. Mansour Abbas, the Conservative Islamist Party Leader, put a Jewish former police commander at number two.
The prime minister has called Abbas a terrorist, despite a few years ago trying to court him to build a government with his party. Nonetheless, is
that language that you support?
HERZOG: So, I'm looking at this picture from high above, meaning I'm the President, the Head of State. I'm not executive politician, meaning I don't
hold an office that is part of these elections, but right high above and under the Israeli Constitution.
The parties following the results of the elections will come to the president's home, and I will consult with them and ask them what is their
recommendation? Who should form a government? And then I will take a decision as to which member of the Knesset do I delegate the authority to
form a government.
But what is important to say is that there is an enormous beauty in the huge democratic election process in Israel. And you mentioned various
names, and you mentioned incredible examples of issues and matters that come above in my mind as a major evolutionary process in Israeli society.
I'm very proud of our democratic process. I know it's challenging. There may be difficult moments. There are difficult things said, but hey, guys,
we know that politics and elections always bring about the most extreme feelings in human beings, and definitely in candidates.
And therefore, I look at it in a more objective way, saying to myself, this is the catharsis of the Israeli nation. This is the post October 7th
catharsis of the Israeli nation, after what we've gone through on October 7th and thereafter. And of course, the return of the hostages and the whole
torment that they've gone through.
And of course, the achievements on the battleground. And where we are at as a nation. What you see right now is in-depth soul searching and
deliberation as to where Israel is going. And I asked, and I tell many colleagues around the world, leaders around the world, and opinion makers,
I say respect the Israeli democratic process, respect it, and let the Israeli nation take its decisions.
GOLODRYGA: You mentioned that things do get heated and ugly in presidential elections. That's not exclusive to Israel. Many describe this as the most
consequential election in Israel's at least recent history. So back to some of the language being used. Would you describe or would you condone
language calling Mansour Abbas a terrorist, as the prime minister has?
HERZOG: Absolutely not. Mansour Abbas is a very serious leader of an Arab Party. And like many others, he's a contender in the race. If there will be
a challenge on him, it will be decided by the Supreme Court. But I don't think so. I think he sets an example of a dialog between Israelis and
factions.
It's not that I'm arguing with anybody because I didn't hear the prime minister necessarily say so.
[11:35:00]
But what I can say is that the fact that you see a right-wing party with an Arab candidate at the top and a left-wing party of an Arab candidate at the
top with a Jewish candidate as his number two shows you that Israel is as ever vibrant, as ever exciting, as ever interesting, and it should not be
judged by simply by superficial analysis of what people say,
In elections many things are said. It is my duty and my obligation to hold this campaign and this election era in Israel in the most reasonable
boundaries as possible, bearing in mind that in elections a lot of things are said. And that's OK because that's how you bring people the message
box. And that's how the people, at the end, with their conscience and, in my mind, quite a very high turnout, will make the decision.
GOLODRYGA: Mr. President, as you've said, it's you and you alone who decides to get a chance to form a government after October 27th. It takes
61 of 120 seats to govern. Gadi Eisenkot, the Former Army Chief --
HERZOG: Exactly.
GOLODRYGA: -- who lost his son in Gaza, is leading in the polls right now. But with barely a quarter of the seats, if the prime minister, if Prime
Minister Netanyahu loses, his supporters have been told for three years now that the system is rigged. If he wins, half of the country believes he has
yet to answer, if not more than half the country, to be held accountable for October 7 and take responsibility.
Have you sought or received any assurances from Prime Minister Netanyahu that if he loses, that he will accept the results?
HERZOG: I would be very cautious in what you're hinting to or alluding to. I think, as far as I know, and as far as I can judge, I respect all
candidates and whoever will be approved. I'm sure will honor the election process. On the contrary, it's part of the whole discussion trying to find
faults in the Israeli political system.
So, with all due respect, you know all the candidates, definitely the leading candidates, are candidates who enjoy support by people who decide
to vote for them. And I'm quite confident that this election process will go through in a quiet and honorable manner, despite the enormous tension
that elections bring, especially elections post October 7th.
Moreover, than that, I want to add that I -- you know, the election process is supervised by a Supreme Court Justice, the Deputy President of our
Supreme Court, and the election committee team. They are independent. They are professional.
And I've already announced that I'll cooperate with them very closely to make sure that the elections will not be disturbed, undermined, or rigged.
And you know, I think that people should judge our election in the proper context. This is a democratic process, and the people of Israel can have as
far as views as possible.
Moreover, than that, our Supreme Court has already, for years, for decades, have allowed a very wide free speech. We have a very wide free speech. We
have parties who go all the way to the extreme right and all the way to the extreme left, with whatever it entails inside, about 40 parties or so will
compete in these elections. And you'll have a huge turnout in my mind. And I hope that it will be a very important celebration of our democracy.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah. I mean, I ask this because, as you know, even the prime minister's wife made headlines this week in an interview where she accused,
or seemed to suggest, that Yair Golant, he is the Leader of the left-wing opposition, a hero of October 7th, who drove to the border just hours after
the attacks to save civilians.
That he somehow knew in advance of these attacks, he's now suing. There has been widespread condemnation from a number of potential candidates to those
comments. But I do want to ask you before we end, Mr. President, about Gaza, because just two weeks ago you hosted Jared Kushner and Nickolay
Mladenov. He is the Head of the Board of Peace.
President Trump says Hamas is giving up its guns and Israel should stop striking in Gaza. And just overnight, however, I know there was a
significant capture of a member of Hamas. Just tell us where you stand on this issue.
HERZOG: I met with Jared Kushner and the Board of Peace team, and I thank them for their efforts to bring a venue of exiting from the war in Gaza by
bringing real change in Gaza.
[11:40:00]
Meaning Gaza has to go through a major change, and there is a Security Council Resolution which was brought forward by President Trump, which
calls for the next phase in Gaza, meaning disarming Hamas. Yesterday's arrest of Mr. Arabid (ph) was a very important step towards that goal
because Mr. Arabid and his colleagues, who are despicable terrorists of Hamas, worked tirelessly.
Especially Muein al-Arabid. Muein al-Arabid was specifically in charge of undermining the efforts of the Board of Peace. Meaning as we speak, he
would have planted terrorist attacks in order to undermine the ability of the Board of Peace to bring in a government of technocrats to get out Hamas
of the control of Gaza, and of course prevent the disarming of Hamas.
Mr. Arabid himself was in charge specifically on the way the hostages were kept in the tunnels, including the most recent one you've interviewed so
interestingly and beautifully, Evyatar David himself.
So therefore, we are trying to do two things, we are trying to move towards the next phase in Gaza, and we are trying to undermine those who want to
undermine the efforts to, of course, to disarm Hamas in Gaza. I hope that after the election, we'll be able to see a real horizon in Gaza, and it
will require efforts of all sides concerned.
And I hope it will be a very important agenda so that we can offer the children of Gaza and the children of Israel a better future. And let me
conclude by saying, Rihanna, that yesterday up on our northern border with Lebanon, I've inaugurated the school year, but I insisted on saying that I
hope the children of Lebanon and the children of Israel will enjoy peace, but that requires to move Hezbollah as well from that border.
GOLODRYGA: We can all end on a hopeful note of peace in that region, desperately needed, of course. Mr. President, thank you for the time, much
appreciated.
HERZOG: Thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: And as you heard, we covered quite a bit of topics in that interview. Just to clarify, Prime Minister Netanyahu didn't directly call
Mansour Abbas a terrorist. Members of his own government have, in fact, though, and you'll recall he was deemed sort of the kingmaker in 2021.
So, he has been an increasing presence in the Israeli government, and they have until next week to officially form coalition governments that will be
on the ballot. And this is, as we've noted, one of the most pivotal elections in Israeli history, so we'll be covering it all.
ASHER: The first elections that Israel's had since October 7th, obviously security is a key part of this. Likud has been struggling in the polls, and
so we'll see how Netanyahu fares despite his history of somehow managing to pull it out of the bag at the last minute. We shall see Israel's elections
taking place at the end of next month. All right, we'll be back after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: All right, "Call to Earth" is CNN's commitment to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet together with the solutions. In
our continuing series as part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, CNN's Bijan Hosseini returns to a conversation between two leading voices
in ocean conservation as they share why they believe there's still time to change the future of our oceans.
GOLODRYGA: And while the window for action is closing, there is still reason for hope. For more on this, head to cnn.com/call to earth.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIJAN HOSSEINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the biggest global conservation targets is what's known as 30 by 30. It's an ambitious goal to 30 percent
of the world's land and oceans by the year 2030. So, with just a few years left to go, the clock is ticking.
Here on the Island of Morea in French Polynesia, Conservationist Titouan Bernicot and his team of coral gardeners are doing their part to help
rebuild and protect coral reefs. And across the globe, Oceanographer Sylvia Earle's Mission Blue is working to protect some of the ocean's most
critical places through a network of hope spots. The two of them sat down recently to discuss what it will take to make 30 by 30 a reality.
TITOUAN BERNICOT, FOUNDER & CEO, CORAL GARDENERS: So, Sylvia, we are in 2026.
SYLVIA EARLE, FOUNDER & CEO, MISSION BLUE: Four years.
BERNICOT: Yeah, we have four years left. Do you think we're going to reach it?
EARLE: Depends on how you count. From my standard, we have about 3 percent of the ocean that is really protected.
BERNICOT: Right now.
EARLE: Now there are places called marine sanctuaries where you can drag a net across the bottom, but it's still called a protected area. I don't know
why anybody would think that's a sanctuary or a protected area. We don't have parks on the land where you can go cut the trees and shoot the birds.
So why would we call a place in the ocean a sanctuary if you can go fishing there? So, if you include areas that are called sanctuaries, you can say
there's about 10 percent of the ocean. If we do take serious action in the high seas. There's now a treaty that really provides a framework for
protecting at least 30 percent of the high seas by 2030 is an ambitious goal, but suppose, like you, you had an ambitious goal.
BERNICOT: Yeah.
EARLE: You didn't let people tell you that it's impossible.
BERNICOT: Yeah. You know when I started Coral Gardeners, the goal was to revolutionize ocean conservation and try to create that global movement all
around the planet to revive the reef.
EARLE: And you're fortunate, I think, to be in French Polynesia, where there's a government in place.
BERNICOT: Oh yeah.
EARLE: It seems to be determined to expand protection, even beyond the goals of many to have at least 30 percent of the land and sea by 2030. And
if you get this level of realizing we can do this, and OK. Can we get to 30 percent by 2030? Almost it doesn't matter. If you can get people on a
journey, 30 percent is a milestone, but it's not the end point.
BERNICOT: But you know that's the biggest challenge. It's that for the moment, saving the planet, like conservation, is too niche. Doesn't reach
enough people, and this has to change. A lot of people don't care, but I'm sure there are ways.
I'm going to try to find them in order to make that movement more insightful, more exciting, more fun, like saving the planet. If not, they
are not going to do it. We need to create an emotional connection between people and the thing we want to protect.
EARLE: If you can get enough people to really understand that it's our life support system, and it's the best chance we will ever have, it's about
protecting the ocean. But that means it's about protecting us. We have to live our lives in greater harmony with nature.
[11:50:00]
EARLE (voice-over): Our existence is a shared responsibility.
BERNICOT (voice-over): We shouldn't feel defeated. We can do it.
EARLE (voice-over): Perpetual planet means protecting nature as if our lives depend on it.
BERNICOT (voice-over): We have to keep hope alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: This song is everywhere. Lots of people are choosing Texas these days. The track by Ella Langley has topped Billboard's Hot 100 for 20
weeks. That is the longest run in the charts' history, if you exclude holiday hits.
ASHER: And by the way, if it can hang on for just another three weeks, it will actually pass Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You". It's
been a great 2026 for Langley. She already has won seven awards from the Academy of Country Music, along with a pair of American Music awards as
well. Ariana Grande thanked her fans as she said farewell in the last show of her eternal sunshine tour.
GOLODRYGA: Yeah, the singer announced last month that she would step back from the Music Biz spotlight once the tour was over in a statement that
cited the intense public scrutiny she has faced. Grande says her withdrawal from public engagements was planned a long time ago, and she told fans at
London's O2 Arena on Tuesday, she would always cherish the experience of playing for them.
ASHER: Last week, President Trump ordered the name of Lake Ontario to be changed to Lake America in the United States, but one old mapping service
is actually refusing in an extraordinary comeback. MapQuest, remember that?
GOLODRYGA: Yes, I would print out the actual directions on MapQuest.
ASHER: Which started back in 1996. Yesterday, shot to the number one free app in the U.S. on Apple's App Store. But what is MapQuest? Here's the
story.
GOLODRYGA: I'm old.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Remember MapQuest? Your parents may have used it to print 12 pages of directions to drive six miles. Well, it just
found a new route directly under the Trump Administration skin. After President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies
to change Lake Ontario to Lake America, MapQuest posted a simple response, we're not changing it.
Then the company borrowed a page from Trump's book saying our maps are big and beautiful. People come up to us and say we'll get them places, and we
do. And this is the type of thing Trump really cares about. Google adopted Lake America for users in the United States.
Apple Maps also made the change on Tuesday after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggested on Fox Business that a change was coming.
[11:55:00]
DOUG BURGUM, U.S. SECRETARY OF INTERIOR: I know that the president reached out to Apple directly, so I'm sure that we may be seeing that change coming
up soon to Lake America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Eric Trump did take a dig at MapQuest, posting on X. Shocking to see you're still alive. When asked about MapQuest
not changing the name. The White House defended its actions against Canada, saying, thanks to the president's bold leadership, we are putting America
back on the map.
But if neither name works for you, MapQuest has another option, call it whatever you want. The company created a tool that lets users create their
own name. As MapQuest holds out on a name change, hundreds of thousands of people have downloaded the app, according to the company.
Usage surged to about 50 times its normal level, and MapQuest reached number one among navigation apps in Apple's U.S. App Store, saying on X,
the people have spoken. We are working.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Tells you so much about how people really feel.
GOLODRYGA: Changes. All right, do stay with us. We'll have more "One World" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
