Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Pentagon Abruptly Cancels Two U.S. Troop Deployments To Europe; Trump Fuels Uncertainty On Taiwan, Iran War After Talks With Xi; Bumble Phasing Out "Swipe" Feature For A.I.-Driven Matchmaker. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired May 15, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- he didn't start shooting until Fox started to beat up on him. But it's important to note that in the actual narrative of the affidavit, officers note that in the surveillance video that they witnessed, this never turned physical until Eatherly pulled out his gun.

Of course, we've reached out to his attorney for comment, but again, this is a livestreamer who's made a name out of himself, out of essentially rage baiting, of saying vile content, of going up to people, especially minorities and black people, calling them the n- word, calling them chimps. So there's been a major backlash from the community about this individual for a long time before this happened.

Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Isabel Rosales, thank you so much for the update on that case that we will keep following.

Still ahead, President Trump cutting the number of U.S. troops in Europe. Why the Department of Defense is abruptly canceling military deployments and ordering the removal of other personnel, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:16]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: This week, the Pentagon took controversial steps to make good on President Trump's vow to shrink America's military presence in Europe. Two U.S. defense officials tell CNN that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly canceled two deployments to the continent and ordered the removal of other U.S. servicemembers from Europe.

One was the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, roughly 4,700 soldiers, some of whom had actually already deployed. Some equipment was already in transit here. And that brigade was scheduled to rotate through Poland and other countries, including the Baltic states and Romania. The Pentagon also canceled the deployment of a battalion of more than 500 soldiers specializing in long range rockets and missiles that was supposed to deploy to Germany.

SANCHEZ: The cancelations come as President Trump has repeatedly lashed out at NATO countries for not participating in the Iran war. Earlier, Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee criticized the moves.

Here's Nebraska Congressman Don Bacon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R), NEBRASKA: I may not represent 100 percent of people on this committee, but I think I represent the views of the vast majority. We disagree.

Russia has invaded Ukraine. Have they given us any concessions to withdraw two armored brigades out of Europe as they're invading Ukraine? What concessions have they given us as we withdraw forces?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I can't answer that question.

BACON: Why not? There's none. This is why it's so foolish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: According to the Council on Foreign Relations, there are roughly 80,000 U.S. troops currently stationed in Europe. Let's discuss with Kirsten Fontenrose. She served as senior director for the Gulf at National Security Council, also with us Retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Thank you both for being with us.

Colonel Leighton, you were just telling us a moment ago, you spent a lot of time in Europe, especially just growing up. I wonder the significance of this move and the role that these troops play and what it means that they're now not going to be there.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Boris, it's of huge significance. I was there when the Berlin Wall fell, but before that I was a dependent in, you know, the military in Europe. And the big thing about the American presence in Europe, and at that time it was West Germany and we still had an iron curtain, but the big thing about it was that it was a stabilizing force.

It was a stabilizing force in that it helped Germany and the western part of Germany remain free. And when it came to the other countries, they saw it, especially after the wall came down, they saw it as a way to control Germany because Germany became a reunited country after the fall of the wall.

And it was also a place where a lot of European countries, to include Great Britain under Margaret Thatcher, they looked at it as a big threat, a potential threat. In other words, a regeneration of the Second World War was a possibility in their minds. Of course, that didn't happen, but it didn't happen in part because the U.S. military was a stabilizing force for Europe.

And now fast forward to this particular moment in time, and you have a situation where the Russians have invaded Ukraine, as Congressman Bacon was mentioning, and you have a case where there really needs to be a U.S. presence there, not only as a stabilizing force, but also as a potential tripwire in case the Russians decided to pivot from Ukraine into NATO countries like the Baltic states, like Poland.

KEILAR: CNN actually, Kirsten, reviewed DOD talking points on this move, and they tie this decision directly to frustration with Europe and Germany in particular that the administration has. The President, of course, has been very public about that.

We've even heard that in private from the Vice President in some of those signal messages, right? But he's been very frustrated lately because of feeling like Europe isn't backing him up when it comes to the Iran war, help with the Strait of Hormuz. Does this get Trump any of what he actually wants?

KIRSTEN FONTENROSE, FORMER SR. DIRECTOR FOR THE GULF, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: It's an attempted signaling to Europe, mostly, frankly, the German chancellor. You've heard from Poland, Romania. We're still welcoming all U.S. troops. It's not intended to punish them, even though one of these -- the first cavalry division was scheduled to go through there.

These guys go out and they help mostly with things like preparing the battlefield for small drones and the integration of loitering munitions, things that NATO needs a lot right now. But they're also getting help from this on Ukraine.

So the U.S. not sending these troops is mostly a signal to Europe saying, don't expect us to have your back if you're not also going to have ours. There's a congressionally mandated minimum number of troops in Europe at about 76,000. And so even with this drawdown, we're still above that as a presence in Europe.

So it really is more of a message to Europe. We're not going to continue sending people to assist you with your particular conflict if you can't send a minesweeper or fill in the blank to assist with ours.

KEILAR: Yes.

LEIGHTON: So one of the key things, Brianna, in this particular case is that, you know, Europe serves as a base for our operations in the Middle East and also for operations in Africa.

[13:40:01]

You know, in the Middle East, we know what's going on. We have the Strait of Hormuz situation. We have the Iran war. In Africa, you know, we're looking at the possibility of the fall of the capital of Mali to terrorist forces.

And if you don't have a robust presence in Europe, you have no basis in Africa from which you can actually move forces forward should we decide to engage the groups that are threatening Bamako, the capital there in Mali.

SANCHEZ: So, as you noted, a message to European powers over the war with Iran, but also tacitly, as the Colonel was mentioning a moment ago, a message to Vladimir Putin potentially as well and Xi Jinping, too, no?

FONTENROSE: If they're taking it that way. Again, since we still have almost 80,000 troops in the region, and since we have not said we're drawing down anything other than this one rotation of people who are helping with the same things that Ukrainians are also helping NATO with, I think Russia is smart enough to say, we've seen Ukraine send and embed their own special units at this kind of drone warfare to other NATO countries.

The Americans probably don't even know it as well as those Ukrainian troops do. That's not to say anything negative about 1st Cavalry. It's purely about Ukraine's battlefield experience.

And he's hoping they're reading it as, no, this is just getting Europe more on board. In fact, you should expect more European attention to other places that matter to you, Russia and China, i.e. Strait of Hormuz.

KEILAR: If this is born out of a bit of a tantrum by the President for not getting back up from Europe for a war that he launched not with them, he didn't coalition build on the front end. We just have to be clear, and that's highly unusual. He just came off this trip to China, where he's insisting, you know, he wasn't asking for help, but China is willing to give it.

That's kind of the messaging coming out of that. Did you see, Cedric, anything out of those meetings that actually indicates that China stands ready to fully assist America in some way?

LEIGHTON: Well, Brianna, fully assist, I don't think they will, because they see this as, the Chinese see this as a way in which they can watch the U.S. kind of founder about in the Middle East. You know, for them, this is an opportunity. They have relationships not only with Iran, but also with Saudi Arabia, with the other Gulf states.

And the Chinese are going to leverage those relationships, and they are going to find a way in which they can sell their weapon systems, which they are exporting, by the way, you know, in competition with U.S. weapon systems. And they're also looking at it as a way to leverage their power into this area.

Now, what it may mean is that the ships that, you know, they've let 30 Chinese ships go through the Strait of Hormuz, it may mean that not only will those ships get through, but other ships that are allied or perceived to be allied with China and Iran get to go through, whereas other ships who are not allied with those countries may not get to go through, and that would include U.S. and possibly European ships as well.

SANCHEZ: Is there something that President Trump could have put on the table with Xi to either incentivize or coerce China into doing more with Tehran when it comes to opening the Strait of Hormuz, or even concessions on enriched uranium, for example?

FONTENROSE: This blockade that's part of economic theory really is that incentive. It's a negative incentive. It's we keep it on unless. If you look at right now the U.S. with its own oil reserves, the leverage over the Iranian flow of their own reserves, and then the leverage over Venezuelan reserves, the U.S. is effectively controlling the reserves of one-third of the world's global oil supply.

So in terms of long term with China, this is impactful on their ability to have military readiness in place for anything they decide to do, whether it's an invasion of Taiwan in 2027, or if they were even thinking sooner than that. If they can't fire up the factories that make their drones and their weapons to send to Iran or to use themselves, well, then they're in a tough place.

So if the U.S. is going to pull off the sanctions that would allow them to purchase from Iran, you better bet that part of that is going to involve U.S. monitoring of which factories can receive that kind of oil. Toasters are one thing, drones are another. And of whether or not China is then using this kind of leverage to work behind our backs to ship more of these weapons to Iran or not, we don't -- we certainly wouldn't want to see that.

And you better bet a part of that deal is buying more oil from the U.S. So we'd see a decrease in that 90 percent of Iran's oil going to China. Very likely the President is saying you can buy a lot. We'll give them that. But some of it's going to come from us if you want that sanction regime lifted at all.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the President was saying that they're going to be looking at Texas and other exporters of energy in the United States. No comment specifically on that from Beijing. We'll see if that happens.

Kirsten and Colonel, thank you both so much. Appreciate it.

Ahead, no more swiping. Dating at Bumble, getting rid of the well- known feature and giving the app an A.I. makeover. We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:49:24]

KEILAR: Is A.I. the future of dating? Bumble seems to think so. The popular app is getting rid of its famous swipe feature and replacing it with a new A.I. assistant called B that will act as a virtual matchmaker.

SANCHEZ: Brave new worlds. Yes. Bumble's founder and CEO says the change is all about combating dating burnout.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITNEY WOLFE HERD, CEO, BUMBLE: People are feeling exhausted. They're feeling fatigued. They feel like the swipe has degraded their love life. Our goal is to leverage A.I. to make love and connection more human.

So how do we actually keep the components of humanity that are great but help people get there easier? Because you made a great point. It's like some of the best people have no idea how to show up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

HERD: That's where A.I. can help be a catalyst to them learning how to do it or making a few small tweaks that they didn't even realize were pertinent or relevant to how they could get some better outcomes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:50:18]

SANCHEZ: Another big change coming to Bumble. The app will no longer require women to message potential matches first. That strict rule was a major feature that set it apart from many of its competitors.

Let's talk about all these changes and more with Alduan Tartt. He's a clinical psychologist and relationship expert.

Alduan, thanks so much for being with us. First, do you think this A.I. move can really help dating burnout and swipe fatigue? What do you hear from your patients?

Oh no.

KEILAR: I can't hear him. We don't hear him on air.

All right, OK.

SANCHEZ: We're going to swipe left to a commercial break.

KEILAR: No. We're going to tell people the question that we have in the hopes that we can re-establish that connection with him very quickly. Because one of the features of Bumble that so many women liked --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: -- was that they could be the ones to --

SANCHEZ: Initiate.

KEILAR: -- yes, initiate. I was going to say instigate.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: Either way, it kind of works, right? But they liked that.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: And --

SANCHEZ: Well, yes, because there's the chance, as I've heard from many of my friends, that you can get harassed, get pelted with messages, and that sort of thing. So that's a way to sort of filter.

KEILAR: Yes.

SANCHEZ: I don't know what else to say, just to hope that they fix the audio.

KEILAR: No unwanted attention. I don't know. I like that -- OK, we're going to take a break.

SANCHEZ: Yes, there is.

KEILAR: But this is going to be a good segment, so stick around.

SANCHEZ: Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:08]

SANCHEZ: Back with us now to talk about A.I. on Bumble and some other changes to the dating app is clinical psychologist and relationship expert Alduan Tartt. Alduan, we're glad that the audio is now working. What do you make of this A.I. move by Bumble? Can it help with dating burnout?

ALDUAN TARTT, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST AND RELATIONSHIP EXPERT: If they get it right. Men are tired of being rejected and women are tired of not getting the right matches. There's the burnout going on with the dating app because people really -- you know, loneliness has been declared an epidemic by the Surgeon General. And people want to connect and they're not having a good experience on the dating app.

So they want more connection and they also want more vibe. So we'll see how they'll be able to do both at the same time.

KEILAR: All right. OK, so one of the things though that women did like about Bumble was that they could be the first to reach out. Some felt that that app worked better for them, that they got a lot of unwanted attention on some of the other apps. I wonder how you think that's going to be received, this change to the women reaching out first.

TARTT: Yes, I mean, so -- well, I think they're changing that and they're going more towards compatibility because here's the dilemma. One, we tend to relation shop. We have a list, but that list is actually very different from what actual couples connect with.

The other piece is chemistry will lie to you. You can have chemistry and connection with someone and you don't have alignment. So if they're able to get you aligned on your values before and then allow you to be able to connect to have that vibe and that connection and that click, I think Bumble might be onto something.

SANCHEZ: There's also a naturally a friction and an awkwardness that comes with meeting a stranger. And I wonder if some of online dating has actually contributed to the loneliness that you're talking about because it's kind of, I don't want to say unnatural, but it's sort of a cumbersome way to analyze someone through their profile photos and through their messages, as opposed to just meeting them out on the street, right?

TARTT: Correct. I mean, but first of all, you have to have the P word, proximity. You have to be in proximity to the type of men and women who you're aligned with and are actually attracted to. So therefore the dating apps, where can I go and just open up my phone and have access to the type of women I may eventually marry?

On the other end, we do have to improve our soft skills to be able to know how to flirt, to be able to have interpersonal skills, to be able to charm, to be able to read the room, to know when to laugh and be able to match energy and be able to connect, to have that first moment butterfly. So we have to do both, match with values, but also have the soft skills to be able to charm and connect.

KEILAR: OK, well, so how do you do that?

TARTT: Well -- and this is what they've done. So one, they're going to align you with values because you're swiping left and right, right? You're just looking at physical features and people are tired of asking the same, you know, same questions over and over again. So they're going to align you actually on values.

Then what they should do is find some way for you to have a quick connection to then be able to have the vibe, right? Because what's happening is that people are swiping left and right and then meeting, and they're not going past the first minute, first two minutes. And they're finding a lot of people are playing. They're not serious. They're not intentional about dating, right?

So they're able to screen that and of course, get out the catfish and the fake profiles and keep women safe and make sure that people are aligned. And then they have you meet with video, however they're going to do it. I would love for someone to bring to me great options.

And I'm sure the ladies would enjoy that too, all right, versus just swiping left and right. I'd like for someone to do the work up front, but allow me to do the chemistry and allow me to be able to connect.

SANCHEZ: Alduan, I couldn't tell if you were wearing a ring or not, but did you just sort of shoot your shot on CNN and put it out there that you wanted to connect? That's how I took what you just said.

TARTT: Let me be clear --

KEILAR: I do.

TARTT: -- I am married. I am talking to my brothers and sisters out there.

KEILAR: That's right.

TARTT: I am clear. I just -- I would just --

KEILAR: Speaking for the -- (CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Yes.

TARTT: It would be great if you could bring my values to me. And then --

KEILAR: Yes.

TARTT: -- if she's cute --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

TARTT: -- and we have vibe and she likes me, that's great. That's a great day.

KEILAR: I was tracking --

TARTT: Theoretically, theoretically.

KEILAR: I understood fully what you want to say.

SANCHEZ: Just trying to be clear. Just trying to be clear.

KEILAR: Don't let you -- get you in trouble.

(CROSSTALK)

TARTT: Boys over there trying to get me in trouble.

SANCHEZ: That's false. That is -- that's fake news.

Alduan Tartt, thank you so much for the time, man. Appreciate it.

TARTT: God bless.

SANCHEZ: Same.

A new hour of CNN News Central starts right now.