Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Navy Loses $60 Million Jet at Sea After It Fell Overboard from Aircraft Carrier; Trump Increasingly Frustrated, Wants Permanent Ceasefire; Gang Accused of Robbing Kim Kardashian at Gunpoint Goes on Trial in Paris. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 28, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do have some breaking news. The Navy has lost a jet off of an aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes, this jet was an F-A-18 Super Hornet. Fortunately, the Navy says that all personnel are accounted for, though one sailor was injured. CNN's Natasha Bertrand joins us now live from the Pentagon.

So Natasha, what happened?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, I mean, look, this could have been a lot worse. There could have been injuries among sailors that were far more serious, but luckily only one sailor experienced minor injuries in this incident.

But essentially what we're told happened, according to a U.S. official, is that the Truman carrier, which is operating in the Red Sea right now as part of this anti-Houthi operation that the military is conducting, had to make a hard turn at one point earlier today, which contributed to some jerky movement on board that carrier, which then appears to have led to this fighter jet falling overboard. Now, the official emphasized that all of this is still very much under investigation. These are just preliminary internal reports that are being provided back to the Defense Department.

But obviously, we know that the Houthis have continued to launch missiles and drones at ships in the Red Sea towards Israel and, of course, at very expensive American drones that have been flying over Yemen as part of this operation. Just in the roughly six weeks alone that the U.S. has been conducting this major military operation against the Houthis, the group has managed to shoot down over half a dozen of these very expensive American MQ-9 drones.

[15:35:00]

And so the Houthis have not really let up here. And this is just further evidence, if this investigation pans out, if it turns out, of course, that the Houthis did, in fact, try to hit the Truman aircraft carrier, which they have said repeatedly in recent days and weeks that they have been trying to do, and that is why this incident did occur. Then that obviously marks a new level here of just what the Houthis are capable of.

And, of course, it appears to have cost, at least for now, you know, assuming that the U.S. doesn't try to recover this aircraft, which has now sunk in the Red Sea, appears to have cost the U.S. a multimillion dollar, very sophisticated fighter jet as part of this operation. We should note the second time the U.S. has lost one of these F-18 fighter jets as part of the anti-Houthi operations in the Red Sea -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Natasha Bertrand, live from the Pentagon for us. Thank you so much.

Coming up, the U.S. and Kyiv blasting President Vladimir Putin's three-day ceasefire announcement, why the U.S. says this is not a meaningful step toward ending the war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:00]

KEILAR: The Trump administration is now responding after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a unilateral three-day ceasefire in his war on Ukraine. Senior White House officials tell CNN they do not see it as a meaningful step to ending the war. Putin announced this pause in fighting next week around Russia's World War II Victory Day commemorations, but that falls far short of the 30-day U.S.-backed ceasefire plan that Ukraine has already agreed to. Adding to the agitation from Washington is President Trump has been ramping up pressure on both sides to strike a peace deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He is increasingly frustrated with leaders of both countries. He wants to see a permanent ceasefire. I understand Vladimir Putin this morning offered a temporary ceasefire.

While he remains optimistic he can strike a deal, he's also being realistic as well. And both leaders need to come to the table to negotiate their way out of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: With us now is former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Europe and NATO Policy, Ian Brzezinski. Ian, thank you so much for being with us. I know we heard Karoline Leavitt there say the President is frustrated with both countries, and that often when we hear Trump talk about Russia he's a little more tepid than some observers would like.

But he has been, for him, pretty unhappy with Russia here in recent days. What do you make of what you're hearing from President Trump?

IAN BRZEZINSKI, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR EUROPE AND NATO POLICY: Well, he should be really angry at Putin's proposal. It's a galling proposal that would request the West to pressure Ukraine to have a ceasefire on the 8th, 9th, and 10th of next week, when Putin is trying to host a celebration of the Soviet Union's contribution to the end of World War II, the defeat of Nazi Germany, which, by the way, was a very mixed record.

He's in effect asking the West to pressure Ukraine to put a ceasefire in place during the celebration but basically give a green light to Putin to continue killing Ukrainians and seizing Ukrainian territory in the week leading up to that. Trump should be very ticked off at this request. It's galling.

KEILAR: As he's hinting, he said the word sanctions. He's hinting at these ramifications. How do you see what he is threatening? And how important is it, in your view, that he be ready to actually fulfill his threats?

BRZEZINSKI: Those threats and their fulfillment are long overdue. I mean, it's been 100 days since Trump began this kind of, this peace process, these indirect talks he's been conducting with the Ukrainians and the Russians. And all we've seen is Putin becoming more and more emboldened.

He's disregarded Trump's pleas for ceasefires. He's actually escalated his offensive. And Trump has backed himself into a position where he looks increasingly weak, weaker than Biden when it comes to leveraging U.S. power against Russian aggression. Trump is in a position where he's making empty threats against Russian intransigence, and he needs to reverse course and actualize those sanctions.

KEILAR: What do you see as the hang-ups right now, as you hear Trump saying there needs to be a deal here in two weeks or less -- although he admits it could take more? What do you see the big issues in these talks as?

BRZEZINSKI: Well, right now, Trump has put on the table a proposal which is, in essence, an offer of appeasement, which the Ukrainians and most Europeans are rejecting. It's an offer of appeasement that would impose upon Ukraine a recognition of Russian sovereignty over Crimea. It's an agreement that would deny Ukraine in perpetuity NATO membership.

And that's an imposition on Ukraine and Europe, a loss of territory and sovereignty that we haven't seen since the 1938 Munich Accord, when, you know, Chamberlain forced Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland to Hitler and unleashed the dynamics that led to World War II. It's a ceding of sovereignty we haven't seen since the 1945 Yalta Agreement that enabled Stalin to lay down an iron curtain, establish a sphere of influence over Eastern and Central Europe. So that is the real hang-up over here.

Another element is that he hasn't demonstrated that as Trump, he's really willing to leverage U.S. power to force Russia to give up Putin's hegemonic aspirations. And until he does that, this war, unfortunately, is going to drive on.

[15:45:00] KEILAR: What do you think are the effects of -- I mean, you lay out what happened when Chamberlain did what he did and so on. What do you worry will happen if Trump sets that precedent?

BRZEZINSKI: If he sets that precedent, he'll be rewarding aggression. He'll be disillusioning our allies in Europe because he'll be backing away from America's security commitment to the continent. And history has shown to us, when you reward appeasement, you actually encourage further aggression. That's what happened in the lead up to World War II. And we certainly don't want to repeat that. You give Putin a victory, he'll come back for more. KEILAR: He has shown that he does like to do that. Ian Brzezinski, so great to have your perspective. Thank you so much.

BRZEZINSKI: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: Still ahead, nearly nine years after Kim Kardashian was tied up and robbed at gunpoint in Paris, the suspects are heading to court. The reality TV star is expected to testify. We'll have the latest just ahead.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: The suspects accused of robbing Kim Kardashian at gunpoint in Paris in 2016 are now on trial. This long-delayed case began today before a packed courtroom. Remember, the reality star was bound and gagged before being robbed of nearly $10 million in cash and jewelry.

CNN's Melissa Bell is live for us in Paris. So Melissa walk us through what happened in court.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a fairly motley crew that appeared in the box today. These are, for the most part, of the accused, men, one woman who had history of previous attentions and convictions.

What the prosecution alleges is that this gang got wind of the whereabouts, the movements, and also what Kim Kardashian might have had about her person for this visit to Paris Fashion Week in 2016 and organized this holdup.

Essentially, what they're accused of is having turned up at this hotel she was staying at on bicycles and on foot, dressed as policemen, having overpowered the concierge of this very exclusive and discreet Paris hotel before making their way to her room, where they found her at 3 a.m. unguarded, since her bodyguard had accompanied her sister to a nightclub, and robbed her of those jewelry.

Now, most of them have never been recovered, but police did piece together what had happened, and now the prosecution alleges that this had been a carefully planned operation from a cafe in Paris, where they decided they would try and steal those $10 million worth of jewels, including a $4 million engagement ring that had been given to her by then-husband, Kanye West -- Boris. SANCHEZ: And Melissa, she is expected to testify. Tell us about that.

BELL: That's right. I mean, I think there was a lot of talk in the early days, and all of the attention, as you can expect, that this robbery had attracted, about how so many of these jewels had been posted online, and this is a part of what we've seen in the court documents that the defense lawyers are arguing, that there was so much of this that was on public display. But we've heard her herself speak fairly movingly and with a great deal of emotion about exactly what she went through, saying that she feared she was going to be raped, that she might be killed.

We understand she will be in Paris on May 13th to testify herself, and we expect, according to her lawyer, that she says this will unfold, according to French justice. She has full faith in the French judicial system. We understand that a verdict should come before the end of the month of May, and many of these accused, Boris, faced prison sentences of up to 30 years in jail.

SANCHEZ: Melissa Bell, live for us in Paris, thank you so much for that story.

We have some dramatic moments to show you during a boating competition in Arizona, when a speedboat went airborne while going more than 200 miles an hour. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(VIDEO OF SPEED BOAD)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (BLEEP).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Yes, that's about right. The two-man crew was trying to break a speed record when their boat flipped several times and splashed into the water. Video showed what was happening inside the 8,000-horsepower boat during those frightening moments.

Look at this. The driver somehow suffered only minor injuries, including a couple of broken ribs. Doesn't seem that minor. Also, a broken collarbone and a semi-fractured knee, but they are OK.

When we come back, a competition like no other. You're going to meet the contestants of the European Gulf Screeching Championship when we come back. Don't go anywhere.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It is a competition unlike any other with participants flocking from more than a dozen countries in full costume, some even with props. Allow us to introduce you to the fifth annual European Gull Screeching Championship. KEILAR: That first woman was so good. Yes, I'm going to have -- amazing. So this is an event that's hosted in Belgium and its organizer says it's meant to create a more positive image of seagulls instead of that noisy food stealing bird image that they so unfortunately have.

You know, that's the one that really comes to mind, right? This is a direct quote from the competition's creator. I wanted to make seagulls sexy again.

SANCHEZ: Uh, did it work? I think that's the question on all our minds as we watch this video.

KEILAR: I mean, that is like haute couture what she's wearing. So it's very fashion forward. I don't know, it looks like a crazy fun time.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's always fun to be competitive about silly things.

[16:00:00]

I have to let our viewers know that Brianna has been practicing her seagull screech for the last few commercial breaks. Are you ready to do it right here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL for the world to see?

KEILAR: I don't think so. You really want me to do it? It's not good.

SANCHEZ: We have like 20 more seconds.

KEILAR: No, I'm not going to share it with you because I was doing it and the entire floor crew had no idea what I was doing, which tells you I didn't sound like a seagull.

SANCHEZ: No, you did, you did though. You did. Hey, this is a good chance for us to promo.

Go online because she's going to post it on her Instagram and I'll repost it.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

SANCHEZ: Plug in the digital.

END