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One World with Zain Asher

Trump, Xi Visit National Archives On Final Day Of Summit; Trump: Meetings With Xi, Have Been "Very, Very Productive; Iran: New Proposal To Restart Talks With U.S. Reopen Hormuz; Paid Creators Flood The Web With Dubious Political Content; Reports: Manchester City Guilty Of Breaching Financial Rules; Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 25, 2026 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[12:00:44]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. You are watching the second hour of "One World."

I want to start with the final day of the landmark summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The leaders have been

visiting the U.S. National Archives in Washington over the past few minutes after having tea at the White House.

It follows a day of pomp, pageantry and politics. On Thursday, the U.S. president hosted a state dinner at the White House where President Xi

envisioned a new chapter in U.S.-China relations. They also held discussions throughout the day on A.I., Taiwan, and the Iran war as well.

Our senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes is joining us live now. So, I mean, this is it. We just saw moments ago both leaders and their

wives heading into the National Archives to sort of have a tour of some of the foundational documents as it pertains to U.S. history.

Now that Xi is, after this, at least, going to be headed back to Beijing, just reflect on our on this sort two and a half day state visit and whether

or not from President Trump's perspective it has been a success, Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, we still aren't sure what the actual deliverables will be out of this three-

day meeting. And we have this idea that they talked about Iran, that they talked about artificial intelligence, that they talked about trade and

potentially Taiwan, but we don't actually understand what came out of it.

The only real thing that we have heard are reports from China state media in which they say that President Xi, at one point, said that he hopes that

President Trump and the U.S. will not support Taiwan independence, but no real other information there.

And then we heard from President Trump earlier today that the farmers were going to be very happy after this kind of productive three days. But again,

we still don't have any substance as to what that means.

Now, one thing we do know that happened is that roughly a year ago, they put into place this year-long trade truce that was at the time when they

were going back and forth on tariffs and the entire global economy was completely rocked. They have extended that now.

But when we first heard of this being put in place, the idea was that this was a temporary placeholder and then there would be a larger trade deal. It

seems as though just the truce itself has been expanded now.

The other part of this that will probably not be as successful for President Trump, as he wanted it to be, was the media coverage of this. And

that, course, is the consequence of his own decisions. The idea behind him banning CNN, "POLITICO" and MS NOW, which then took CNN out of the pool

rotation and then led to all of the T.V. networks banning together to not cover this event with a pool camera, which means it was not covered the way

it is here.

You see him walking around answering questions. This is what he really does enjoy. He wants to have this kind of robust coverage. And I will tell you,

we do have a note that says that the first thing that they looked at was the Declaration of Independence. They're going through kind of the vault of

records.

The National Archives is where some of the most sacred texts of U.S. democracy are stored, which, of course, is interesting in itself, given

that he is giving the tour to the leader of the largest communist country.

But, you know, President Trump maybe did not get what he wanted in terms of the full show. He is getting, of course, the video today as things have

restored and gone back to somewhat normalcy.

It seems like we're going to have to wait to see what announcements we hear from the White House as to the actual tangible, substantive things that

came out of this other than just both of them kind of praising each other, talking about their friendship, talking about working together, and -- and

kind of standing next to each other on a global stage.

ASHER: All right. Kirsten Holmes, live for us. Thank you so much.

Let's go back to CNN's Mike Valerio joining us live now from Beijing. So, Mike, from China's perspective, because it's important, when you have these

sorts of state visits, obviously both leaders are playing to their home audiences.

What's been the perspective of the Chinese and Beijing back home as to whether or not this visit has been a success, especially because one of the

main things that Xi Jinping, you and I talked about this this last hour, one of the main things that Xi Jinping pressed the U.S. press president on

was the issue of Taiwan trying to make sure that Trump somehow is forced into a situation whereby he categorically says that he does not agree with

any form of Taiwan independence.

[12:05:06]

We don't know what Trump responded to that, but it's important to note that he was playing to the home audience with that question as well.

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. So, it's to be continued on that front and a couple other issues that we're going to get into in a

couple seconds.

But, you know, Zain, and everybody watching at home, the gym, the office, wherever you're coming to us live from, I can't stress enough the feeling

in terms of what this trip has accomplished here.

The sense of national pride that China is finally, from the point of view of people on the streets of Beijing, shopkeepers in Guizhou province, Hong

Kong, wherever, is finally on a peer level with the United States.

And we think about, you know, the imagery of this trip that we're seeing compared to 20 years ago, Zain, when the leader of China Hu Jintao was

invited by President Bush to See Washington D.C.

You know, when the national anthem played when Hu Jintao was visiting the White House, he was introduced as being the leader of the Republic of

China, which, of course, is what Taiwan is known as, not the leader of the People's Republic of China. So, it was seen as a big step who quite

disrespectful on the part of the American delegation.

And Hu Jintao was only given like a working social lunch. And you think of, you know, what we were talking about last hour, the posts on Truth Social

or even what the president was saying on the campaign trail in 2015 about China taking advantage of the United States.

And then you look at this red carpet in front of this gigantic monument to American democracy, the National Archives in the center of Washington, D.C.

It's -- it's breathtaking for me as a journalist. And I know it's breathtaking to people I talk to, you know, on the reg, be it on the subway

or, you know, who you pass by on your bike coming to work.

But as Kristen Holmes was getting at, there are still myriad issues that are unresolved. And these two leaders have Schengen in southern China just

across the border from Hong Kong at the APEC Summit in the middle of November to keep talking about these issues and also potentially the G20

Summit on Trump's home turf in Miami. Of course, he's now a Florida resident.

So, in terms of what is unresolved, Taiwan, we still have no more details about the delayed $14 billion arm purchase that the president has kind of

held in abeyance ever since this May summit in Beijing. He called it a very good bargaining chip.

But we don't think that the American position on Taiwan is going to change because bottom line, you know, you could talk about so many tributaries of

what's happening with Taiwan, but the island is where America gets its most advanced A.I. chips.

And when you have the American president saying that he wants to win A.I., above almost anything, you know, from the American perspective, you can

have Taiwan falling into the hands or control of Beijing, if you do in fact want to win the A.I. race, according to experts and analysts who think

about this subject every single day who we interview for articles and T.V. appearances.

The trade truce only expend -- expended and extended for two months. You know, this truce has been a thing. It's been agreed upon for almost a year

now.

So, the fact that it's only extended from November until January 10th, that is still going to be a work in progress for when these two men meet in the

final two months of the year.

Ending the Iran war, it'll be very interesting to see when the details of these private conversations come out, if China is going to do anything to

bring Iran and the United States back to the table when it seemed somewhat close over the summer that hostilities were going to cease.

And then the A.I. dialogue. We have Chinese leader Xi Jinping saying that A.I. needs to serve, you know, greater humanity and be a part of, you know,

the -- the good intentions of humanity.

And then we have President Trump saying that he wants A.I. competition to continue unabated and let competition, you know, continue without

government intervention.

So, what is this A.I. red line, hot line that Scott Bessent was talking about in the J.P. Morgan headquarters on Park Avenue? What -- what is this

going to look like?

So, a lot of TBD subjects, but still the resetting of the atmosphere, the difference that a year and a couple months makes the difference between now

and 20 years ago, it is astonishing, and I think that is the main deliverable of this trip, if you want to call it that.

ASHER: Yes, and we don't even know, just to your point about Iran. We don't necessarily even know whether or not or how, if at all, President Trump

brought up to Xi Jinping this idea on these reports that the Chinese have been essentially providing satellite imagery to the Iranians which may have

helped them launch an attack on -- on U.S. troops.

Just in terms of the other two opportunities, you talked about the APEC and the G20, the other two opportunities that Xi Jinping also brought up during

that tea ceremony for the two leaders to meet.

I mean, if there were no breakthroughs during this summit, can we really expect? I mean, what would have to substantially change is my question for

there to be breakthroughs at the next opportunities for when the two men meet?

[12:10:10]

VALERIO: That's -- that's an interesting question. And I think that our bureau chief, Steven Jiang, here in Beijing, put it really well a couple

hours ago when he was speaking to CNN earlier.

Is this -- is there a -- a calculation that the differences in these very big issues are so wide that they are only going to just go on a course of -

- of good feelings and trying to work together on smaller things and, you know, congratulating one another?

Is -- is pomp and circumstance the only thing that they can do when issues like Iran and Taiwan and what is going to happen with the future of A.I.

are still so wide?

You know, that is an open question. I think that we heard from the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, that the -- the American side, at least, is

trying to work towards a larger economic agreement when it comes to greater access to rare earth minerals for American critical tech industries.

So, you know, we're always skeptical about everything. But I think that the American side, based on what we're hearing, is trying to work for some sort

of this -- this is a bigger trade agreement that we can -- that we can sign off on, either in Shenzhen, which is going to be the APEC meeting, or at

the G20 summit in Miami.

I mean, here's to hoping. I don't think any of us really know, but that is certainly, you know, one of the themes of this trip. Are we going to

continue just to have pomp and circumstance kind of paper over these big differences? We're going to see, Zain.

ASHER: Yea, because you -- you bring up an important point, this idea that the issues are so enormous and so weighty that it -- it might be difficult

to see a world in which there can be --

VALERIO: Huge.

ASHER: -- breakthroughs in the short term, at least.

Mike Valerio, we are leaving it there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Enjoy your weekend.

All right. Iran's president says the ball is in Washington's court when it comes to ending the war. Masoud Pezeshkian says that Tehran is still open

to a deal after Iranian and U.S. negotiators held talks in New York this week.

It was the first sign of diplomacy between the two nations in months. Iran says it has presented a proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart

talks towards a final deal.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen breaks down what this proposal means and how it could impact the climate of mistrust that exists between both sides.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolute huge amount of mistrust, and that mistrust has only increased after the

memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran has pretty much been thrown by the wayside.

And I think right now for the United States, one of the most important thing for them is they don't want to go back to what the memorandum of

understanding was. They want to move forward as fast as possible if they do come back to talking to the Iranians, to speaking about the nuclear program

as well.

And I think the Iranians have now come to realize that the MOU and its form that we saw when it came into force is not something that the United States

is willing to accept anymore, at the same time, the Iranians want to go back to essentially the terms and the language of that memorandum of

understanding.

For the Iranians, obviously, the most important things are for the U.S. to end its naval blockade for the Iranians to be able to export oil and gas,

and also, of course, for sanctions to be lifted and for some of their frozen assets to be released.

At the same time, it seems as though the Iranians are indicating, if what we're hearing from the proposal is correct, that they are willing to move

along to talks about their nuclear program as fast as possible.

And we've always had that big issue between the United States and the Iranians where the United States has essentially said they would like to

see zero enrichment from the Iranians, but the Iranians saying that, look, they have a right to a civilian nuclear program and a right to enrichment.

And how that is going to be brought to pass, how both sides are going to come to agree to one another, is really up in the air.

But the big question is, how fast would talks move on from their back to essentially the language of the memorandum of understanding to then moving

forward to nuclear talks? And I think making that process as fast as possible, very important to the United States.

But, of course, there are so many other factors that we've seen at play and so many things that jeopardize any sort of diplomatic solution to this.

Nevertheless, if we believe the Iranian foreign minister, then it certainly seems as though right now there is that proposal that is in play.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Fred Pleitgen reporting there.

All right. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, excuse me, says the U.S. has made a final decision on Patriot missiles. Zelenskyy says that

Trump will allow Ukraine to manufacture those key weapons. This after the two leaders met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

In July, President Trump suggested at the NATO summit, he would allow this move, though he later backtracked those comments.

Zelenskyy also says that Washington has proposed organizing a trilateral meeting with Ukraine, Russia, and the United States before those talks can

happen. America's diplomatic team would need to get a commitment from Russia.

[12:15:04]

Meantime, Russian airstrikes rained down on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Ukrainian officials say seven people were killed today, including a 14-

year-old boy killed in a drone strike on this residential building.

Kyiv's mayor says that nearly 50 people have been injured from today's attacks. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians.

We'll right back with more after this short break.

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ASHER: All right. We are less than 40 days out from Election Day in America. This November, President Trump and his allies are planning to make

a controversial new move.

The Justice Department says it will dispatch more than 1,000 monitors on Election Day. While such observers have long been part of past elections,

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon says this year, we'll see the biggest DOJ election observer effort in history.

We've already seen a glimpse of this from primary elections earlier this year. Most jurisdictions that hosted DOJ monitors reported no issues with

their presence, though federal observers sent to Wyoming were accused of disruptive behavior by Republican officials.

As the U.S. midterm election draws closer, political parties are using social media to galvanize voters around their key message. But as CNN's Tom

Foreman explains, paid content creators are also influencing the political landscape by flooding the internet with misleading ads, masquerading as

legitimate information.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You have to work 47 percent more to afford rent in Texas compared to California. The cost of living in

the Lone Star State is unbearable. That was the essence of the claim in this TikTok from a user going by the name Drew. A post so popular the

California governor's social media feed shared it twice.

But "The New York Times" found Drew was not his real name. The math was made up. And in a later post, since deleted, he admitted the whole thing

was backed by an app offering money.

DREW: So, they were paying me to post very left-leaning stuff about how Texas was super expensive and how it has been hard for me living in Texas.

I don't even (BLEEP) live in Texas. I'm from Utah. I'm in Florida right now.

FOREMAN (voice-over): It's part of what the "Times" called "An army of paid creators carpeting the web with political content" from the left, right and

center pushing social media engagement that seems like a grassroots movement.

KEN BENSINGER, MEDIA AND POLITICS REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: You can normalize something online by repeating it a billion times, and that's

essentially what these -- these things were trying to do.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Here's how it works. Social media users connect with an app or website of unclear origin, promising payment for basically

scripted posts about chosen candidates or issues.

By fulfilling the orders, the users push those subjects deeper into the online debate where social media algorithms then see the topics as popular

and push them even more.

[12:20:05]

BENSINGER: It's really cheap, it's fast, it's agile.

FOREMAN: It's not broadly illegal, but in a word, it is advertising. And even though Drew did not respond to "The New York Times"' request for

further comment, he did have thoughts after he says his deal was cut off.

DREW: Really (BLEEP) up though, because you have so much stuff on your reels that isn't labeled as ads, it's just people making videos about stuff

that really is an ad.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It doesn't matter if you live here or here.

FOREMAN (voice-over): That's key because traditional political ads must reveal who is writing the checks.

REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): And I approve this message.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But the federal rules dictating that don't apply to this paid online content. So who is behind all this influence on American

politics just grows murkier.

BENSINGER: We found many, many accounts in Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines. Hard to imagine they have much connection to it, but they know how to cash

a check, I suppose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ASHER: Tom Foreman reporting there.

All right. Some of America's most powerful tech executives joined President Trump and President Xi at Thursday's White House dinner. A.I., one of the

big issues being discussed by the two leaders, is now facing urgent calls for regulation in recent weeks.

Among those present, CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, the top designer of A.I. chips. CNN interviewed Huang before the dinner. He seemed to dismiss the

safety concerns raised by some of his colleagues and said it's up to businesses to regulate safety of their own products.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENSEN HUANG, NVIDIA, PRESIDENT AND CEO: It's not grounded on science. It's not grounded on facts. It doesn't make any sense. And --

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You -- you said there's zero chance of that.

HUANG: I said there's zero chance that is end of humanity by 2030. 2030 is around the corner. I believe there's --

COOPER: Do you think -- do you think there's risk to humanity in the next 10 years?

HUANG: If we don't -- if we don't build society safely, if we don't build technology safely, of course, there's going to be -- there's going to be

risk. But there's a lot of people working on really, really genuinely good --

COOPER: But there is -- I mean, on a 10-year time frame, a longer time frame, it's not quibble about the years, but there is an existential risk

in this technology if --

HUANG: If we don't build it safely.

COOPER: If it's not built safely.

HUANG: Yes, so let's build it safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: A.I. fears range from job losses and privacy concerns to worries about losing control of technology. All of this amounts to a mix of unease

and caution that's shaping global debate.

All right. The English Premier side, Manchester City, has been found guilty of 114 charges of breaching Premier League financial rules, that's

according to multiple reports. No sanctions have yet been announced, but they could include a point deduction, an unlimited fine or even expulsion

from the league, reports say.

The Premier League said the club failed to provide accurate financial information during two seasons. Other charges related to its alleged

failure to comply with the UEFA's financial fair play regulations and rules on profit and sustainability.

CNN World Sport's Patrick Snell joins us live now from Atlanta.

So, Patrick, just walk us through what these charges are and -- and what they could mean for the team.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi, there, Zain. Yes, this has been going on for some time, but now we know finally the football world and beyond the

fans. The fans have all been trying to see what the outcome of this is and now we know the outcome. And it is really, really something that we've been

staying across for quite some time really. It's -- it's what people wanted to know and now we have the answers.

This dates to a nine-year period between 2017 and 2018. So nine seasons from that period. And we can just put up now, actually, what Manchester

City won during that period. And they won three Premier League titles during that period. They also won the F.A. Cup in 2011.

I want to say as well that, according to multiple reports, City have consistently denied any wrongdoing. That is absolutely clear.

But as you said off the top, they have now been found guilty of 114 of those 115 charges it faced from an independent panel.

And it is what many people have been asking, you know, what about the sanctions? As you mentioned, the sanctions there. Well, no sanctions, as

you say, Zain, have yet been decided. And -- and City are expected, of course, to appeal the decision. That is going to add potentially a couple

more years at least to this.

This is something that has been brewing, kind of bubbling away, I think it's fair to say under the surface for the last three years. Remember,

these charges against the Manchester club where we announced I think going back to 2023, City were actually charged in February of that year.

So, it's something that's been brewing. It's been going on for quite some time. What are those potential ramifications? Well, we'll have to wait and

see. We do have a statement as well from Manchester City. We can put up that statement from Manchester City. We can get to that as well.

[12:25:03]

I have a statement right here, in fact. It's "The Premier League process remains ongoing with significant elements to be completed and subject to

strict confidentiality. As such Manchester City F.C.'s position remains consistent with the club's of February 2023."

The Premier League itself wouldn't comment on the reports to CNN. It's something that we are staying across. You can be sure of that because

there's going to be a whole lot more to come from this, Zain, across the week.

We're actually on an international break at the moment, so there's no club football for the next two and a half weeks or so. So, City won't be taking

to the field of play in the Premier League for at least a couple of two -- two and a plus weeks or so.

So, but this is a huge talk. We do have at least resolution to it in that sense. As I say, to recap, for our viewers worldwide, City will appeal.

We're still waiting to hear from the Premier League. This has a long lot further to run. You can be sure of that. Back to you.

ASHER: All right. Patrick Snell, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. We appreciate it.

All right. That does it for "One World." I'm Zain Asher. "CNN Creators" is up next. You are watching CNN.

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