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E.U. Leaders Backing New Military Spending for Ukraine; Trump Pause Tariffs on Canada and Mexico; South Korean President to be Released from Jail; White House Having Discussions With Hamas; SpaceX Starship Explodes; Vatican Shares Pope Francis Health Struggles; Torrential Rain Closes Roads In Spain; How RFK JR. Could Push Raw Milk Into The Mainstream; Actress Christina Ricci Gets Star On The "Walk Of Fame". Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired March 07, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Hello, and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Just ahead, European leaders agree on a defense spending surge after the U.S. pulled back its assistance.

U.S. President Donald Trump is pumping the brakes on his trade war as the markets tumble.

And how cow's milk, yes, cow's milk, has spilled over into a culture war.

The European Union is moving ahead with its vision for peace in Ukraine amid concerns the U.S. and Russia could impose their version of it. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined an E.U. summit in Brussels Thursday. Leaders of the bloc called for a peace deal with strong security guarantees for Ukraine and for a seat at the negotiating table for Kyiv and Europe.

The summit also gave the green light to a massive surge in E.U. military spending, that's happening amid the U.S. diplomatic pivot towards Moscow. And open questions now about the future of transatlantic alliances. A top E.U. leader described the decision as groundbreaking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: I think today history is being written. We are coming out of this European Council very determined to ensure Europe's security and to act with the scale, the speed, and the resolve that this situation demands. We are determined to invest more, to invest better and to invest faster together.

(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: CNN's Nic Robertson has more now from the summit in Brussels.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Barely inside the doors at the E.U. in Brussels, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy huddles with top officials. Diplomacy across Europe accelerating as the U.S. tightens ties with Moscow.

(On camera): This is what Europe working at speed looks like. Unlike the high-speed decision-making inside the White House, leaders here have to meet again and again and again, meaning there are no quick fixes to fill all the security gaps they fear the U.S. is leaving them.

(Voice-over): This meeting about raising money to pay for a massive defense spending hike with as much as EUR 800 billion at stake.

VON DER LEYEN: Europe faces a clear and present danger and therefore Europe has to be able to protect itself, to defend itself.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): It's not just Ukraine feeling let down by U.S. President Donald Trump, it's Europe too. After years of fearing how a second Trump presidency would impact allies, reality has hit and it's ugly.

ROBERTO METSOLA, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: It is about damn time. This is something that we have been asking for a long time, that the European Union, that Europe is capable of standing up on its own two feet.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Zelenskyy reeling from the apparently capricious cutting of U.S. intelligence and wider U.S. military abandonment at the table. His nation's future hanging on how fast European funds are authorized and how quickly the money is turned into weapons.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: We are very thankful that we are not alone and these are not just words, we feel it.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Not alone, but Europe not even close yet to having the money or deciding how to spend it. Europe's leaders still hoping for Trump's security partnership in Ukraine.

OLAF SCHOLZ, OUTGOING GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translation): We must make sure, with a calm and wise approach, that U.S. support is guaranteed for the coming months and years because Ukraine is also dependent on their support for its defense.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Inside the E.U. leaders meet, two pro-Russian leaders, Hungary's Viktor Orban and Slovakia's Robert Fico, didn't derail Europe's rearmament. Plans to raise the defense funds got the go-ahead. Nic Robertson, CNN, Brussels.

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NEWTON: Now, U.S. officials are working to mend ties with Ukraine following last week's very contentious meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. You'll remember that meeting in the Oval Office at the White House. Now, President Trump's special envoy to the Middle East says Washington plans to resume talks with Ukraine and Saudi Arabia next week.

[02:05:03]

And he says the letter from Ukraine's president earlier this week was a positive first step for potentially resuming aid and sharing intelligence.

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STEVE WITKOFF, WHITE HOUSE SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: I think that the president has said that there's a path back and President Zelenskyy has demonstrated that he's intent on that good faith path back. He's apologized, he said he's grateful. He said that he wants to work towards peace. That's -- by the way, that's ultimately the goal here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining me now from Canberra, Australia is Malcolm Davis. He's a senior analyst of defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Really good to see you again. It's kind of difficult to know where any of this is going, especially when it comes to pausing U.S. military aid, but also significantly the intelligence sharing.

There has been a suggestion that the U.S. paused some of that intelligence sharing, maybe not all, right? We honestly don't know. Is there a sense that they will still share intelligence about missile attacks on civilian targets that what they were trying to get at is stopping that intelligence sharing that allowed Ukraine to strike inside of Russia?

MALCOLM DAVIS, MILIARY ANALYST: Look, I think the information that is out in the open domain suggests that the U.S. will not provide intelligence support to the Ukrainians across the board, and that includes intelligence on incoming missile attacks, which is really tragic because that would suggest that the U.S. essentially is leaving Ukraine wide open to attack.

If the Ukrainians don't have intelligence on incoming missiles, they're not going to be able to effectively use their air defense systems to shoot down those missiles or those drones or what have you. So I do think that if, in fact, the information that is going around that it's across the board is correct, that's a very bad move by the Americans.

NEWTON: And Malcolm, can you put that in perspective for us? I want to remind our viewers that at times, even in the last three years, the United States has shared intelligence with Russia about potential terrorist attacks on its own soil, meaning seeking to protect civilians everywhere, even if they are civilians in Russia.

DAVIS: Exactly. There is a norm of behaviour here where states go out of their way to protect civilians against attack by hostile forces, be they terrorists or other states. And if, in fact, the U.S. government under Trump has decided to withdraw intelligence support to the Ukrainians in a way that prevents them from effectively defending their airspace against Russian missile attack, then the U.S. is breaking that long held international norm of behaviour. And that's unacceptable.

NEWTON: Now, we can get to whether or not anyone can fill that gap, but before I get to that question, if the United States itself has paused all intelligence sharing, what could it mean for Russian gains on the battlefield?

DAVIS: Well, there's different types of intelligence sharing. There's obviously the intelligence sharing that allows Ukraine to defend its airspace against missile threats. There's also the intelligence sharing that allows the Ukrainians to better understand the tactical situation on the battlefield, to be able to understand where the Russian forces are. To a certain extent, Ukrainians are gathering that intelligence themselves. They're using drones to be able to identify Russian positions and then attack those positions with long range fires.

But they would also be getting a certain amount of intelligence from the Americans. And if the U.S. has actually withdrawn that, it makes it more difficult for the Ukrainians to attack the Russians and easier for the Russians to attack Ukrainian forces. So if, in fact, the U.S. has placed a blanket wide ban on intelligence sharing against the Ukrainians purely to coerce them into signing this peace deal, then it's going to make it easier for the Russians to make gains on the battlefield.

NEWTON: And do you believe there's -- any of these gaps, can they be filled by Europeans?

DAVIS: I would say probably yes. The French have an independent intelligence gathering capability for military intelligence. They have their own satellites. So, you know, it would be a case of the French and others in Europe stepping in to fill that gap. And that mirrors a move by Macron just yesterday, basically announcing that France is prepared to extend its nuclear deterrent capabilities across Europe on the -- in the anticipation that maybe the United States is going to withdraw extended nuclear deterrent security guarantees from Europe.

So I do think that Europe can stand up. It can fill the gap left by the Americans to a certain degree. It's never going to be to the same scale as the Americans, but Europe does need to stand up and it can stand up.

NEWTON: On the intelligence portion itself, along with obviously pausing all military aid that is still in place, do you believe it will embolden Russia in the end?

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DAVIS: Absolutely. Everything that Trump is doing is emboldening Russia. Everything that Trump is doing is handing Russia a victory. NEWTON: Because that's not what Trump allies say, right? They say

that this is some kind of genius strategy.

DAVIS: They would say that, of course, but no, in actual fact, the broad consensus of the strategic policy community across much of the world is that Trump is embracing a strategy of capitulation to Putin, either because he thinks somehow that it's going to entice Putin and Russia away from China, which I think is extremely unlikely to happen, or more likely because he just wants to align himself with Putin.

And I think that the real shame of this is that in doing that, so he's actually endangering European security because this will embolden Putin not only to make gains in Ukraine, but also prepare the ground for a possible attack on NATO at some point of the future.

NEWTON: Yeah. Sobering analysis there indeed. Malcolm Davis, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

DAVIS: Thank you.

NEWTON: U.S. President Donald Trump is making new concessions in his trade war with Mexico and Canada. Mr. Trump says he will delay tariffs on more Canadian and Mexican products until April. The concession applies to goods covered by the existing free trade deal between the three nations. Now, it's been a rocky week for Wall Street as investors grapple with the uncertainty around those tariffs. The Dow Jones lost nearly one percentage point on Thursday. That was also the back of what is already a very bad week.

It's really hurting, though, on the Nasdaq. The Nasdaq composite slid more than two and a half points and the broader S&P fell as well. Ivan Rodriguez has more.

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IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whiplash in Washington after implementing sweeping new tariffs Tuesday, President Donald Trump is hitting pause, announcing the 25 percent tariff on most products from Mexico will now be delayed. Ontario Premier Doug Ford lambasting the administration over the economic tit for tat.

DOUG FORD, ONTARIO, CANADA PREMIER: What a mess President Trump has created here. The only thing certain on these 30 days is uncertainty.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): It's a significant development on the president's signature economic plan, which economists warned would raise prices for American consumers.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS & PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: We import a lot of our fruit and vegetables from Canada and Mexico. That next trip to the supermarket is going to be a whole lot more uncomfortable.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): The cost of producing cars too throughout North America could jump anywhere from $3500 to $12,000 according to an analysis from the Anderson Economic Group. For some in the auto industry, the pause brings a momentary sigh of relief.

DAVID KELLEHER, CAR DEALERSHIP OWNER: The administration's goals are admirable. We can't turn on a dime and build a $4 billion facility, you know, assembly plant in the United States in a couple of weeks.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): Still, the new 20 percent tariff on Chinese imports remains in place, and the uncertainty over a trade war brewing on both borders brings fear that the American economic engine could stall.

WOLFERS: What you're also seeing then is very sharp declines in consumer and business confidence. That in itself would cause economic harm.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): After speaking with Ford, General Motors and Stellantis, Trump said he had agreed to a reprieve to ensure America's big three automakers aren't harmed financially. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says automakers should use the next month to work toward the president's goals of bringing auto production back to the U.S. It's an unlikely scenario because that would mark a significant undertaking requiring massive hiring, investment and strategic planning. In Atlanta, I'm Ivan Rodriguez.

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NEWTON: Now, Donald Trump says he'll begin holding biweekly cabinet meetings to confer with Elon Musk and his cabinet about cuts being made to government. The president says he wants cabinet heads to, quote, "use the scalpel rather than the hatchet," and that it's important to keep what he calls the best and most productive people. Listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I want the cabinet members go first, keep all the people you want, everybody that you need. And it would be better if they were there for two years instead of two weeks, because in two years they'll know the people better. But I want them to do the best job they can. When we have good people, Elon and the group are going to be watching them. And if they can cut, it's better. And if they don't cut, then Elon will do the cutting.

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NEWTON: Now in the coming hours, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will deliver its first jobs report since Trump took office. But a new report out Thursday shows U.S. employers cut 172,000 jobs last month. That's up 103 percent from a year ago and the highest February total since 2009.

Okay, cleared for release. A South Korean court cancels the arrest warrant for suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol. We are live in Seoul with those details.

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NEWTON: A South Korean court has now ruled the suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol can be released from jail. He was arrested in January on charges of leading an insurrection and had been in detention since then. Now, lawmakers voted to impeach Yoon after his short-lived effort to impose martial law in December. CNN's Mike Valerio is covering this for us, and he joins us now live from Seoul. So, Mike, can you clear this up for us just to give us the latest details? Do we expect him to be released today and what led up to this?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's a critical question. And, you know, our producer here in Seoul, Yoonjung Seo, just got off the phone with prosecutors.

[02:20:03]

And to be short, we're not sure, Paula, if prosecutors are going to try to appeal this. And this is such a big deal for everybody watching around the world outside South Korea, because South Korea has never had a president who has been behind bars while in office. So if this does go forward, South Korea's embattled president, Yoon Suk Yeol, could go home, Paula, as he waits to learn whether he stays or goes as president of this nation.

So as you rightfully pointed out a couple of seconds ago, this is all coming back to martial law, his martial law declaration on December 3rd. He declared that stunning Asia and so much of the world because there was a political stalemate. And he said that he needed the military to take control of law and order to ban political activity from the heart of South Korean democracy in order to get rid of a political stalemate, which critics seized upon and they voted to impeach him.

So he's waiting to find out whether his impeachment stands. A court down the street from where we are is going to decide that in the next couple days. But this has to deal with whether or not he will face prison time for declaring martial law. A court said a couple hours ago that he should not be behind bars because the investigators who arrested him trying to hold him accountable for criminally declared -- for declaring martial law in the criminal sphere are trying to hold him accountable.

They said that those investigators did not have this insurrection charge in their wheelhouse. They were not -- they don't have it in their authority to arrest this president for those charges. So the court --

NEWTON: Oh, I believe that we've lost Mike, unfortunately, but he made it clear there that they do not know whether or not he will actually be released today. We will, of course, bring you updates from Seoul as we get them throughout the day.

Now, Donald Trump confirmed on Thursday that his administration is holding direct talks with Hamas about releasing the remaining hostages in Gaza. President Trump said the U.S. won't be giving cash to Hamas, but stressed the need for negotiations. And this marks a sharp break in the decades long U.S. policy of refusing to speak with groups it considers terrorist organizations. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: My understanding is that the long standing U.S. policy is that we do not negotiate with terrorists. So how did you come to the decision to send somebody from your team to negotiate with Hamas? Y

TRUMP: You have to negotiate. There's a difference between negotiating and paying. We want to get these people out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, when asked what actions the U.S. would take if the remaining hostages are not released, Trump said, you're going to find out, adding that things will get a lot rougher for Hamas.

Okay, still to come for us. The pope releases his first audio message after being hospitalized. We'll look at why the Vatican is breaking from tradition by being more open about the Pontiff's condition.

And heavy rain hit Spain's Mediterranean coast as the region suffers, pardon me, recovers from deadly flooding just a few months ago.

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NEWTON: SpaceX is facing another setback after its Starship spacecraft exploded shortly after liftoff on Thursday night. Video shows debris lighting up the sky over the Caribbean. SpaceX lost contact with the uncrewed mission a few minutes into the flight. That's almost exactly what happened during the last test flight in January when falling debris littered nearby islands and struck a car. The company says it made upgrades to the spacecraft to avoid the same problem. The FAA is requiring SpaceX to launch an investigation.

The Vatican says Pope Francis has awakened after a peaceful night. The latest update comes a day after the pope thanked supporters in his first audio message since being hospitalized. As CNN's Christopher Lamb explains, the Vatican has been unusually open about the pope's medical issues.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: In one update about Pope Francis' health, we were told that he inhaled on his own vomit during a breathing crisis. The Vatican is providing an extraordinary level of detail about the pope's stay in hospital. Every night we're given a detailed medical report, sometimes with gory details. All of it is a big change for the Vatican that has a reputation in the past for being opaque about papal health matters.

The saying was that the pope is in good health until he dies. In 1914, the Vatican newspaper criticized commentators for saying that Pious X attempts had a cold. Twenty four hours later, he was dead. And even 20 years ago, the Vatican stretched credulity, saying that Pope John Paul II had had a normal breakfast after he'd underwent a tracheotomy.

Now, this change is on the orders of Pope Francis. He wants doctors to tell the world about his condition. He doesn't want things covered up. And part of this is his strategy to battle disinformation, misinformation and fake news.

[02:30:02]

All of this is a remarkable shift in how the Vatican is dealing with papal illnesses. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: An emotional round of applause in Italy on Thursday after a grueling 24-hour rescue operation. Firefighters pulled a woman out alive from the rubble of a collapsed five-story building. The 74-year-old woman had been missing since Wednesday. She was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment. Authorities are investigating the cause of the collapse, and they confirmed that renovation work started on the building about a week ago.

Torrential rain in Spain swept away cars in a region already hit by deadly flooding just four months ago. Schools were evacuated and roads closed on Thursday after heavy rain on Spain's Mediterranean coast. Officials say there were no casualties, but the rains are expected to continue into the weekend.

Flash flooding in Valencia for four -- four months ago caught Spain off guard. More than 200 people died in those floods.

Raw milk is becoming increasingly popular in the United States, and while some tout its health benefits, scientists say it raises health concerns. Now, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing it into the mainstream. We'll have the details next.

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NEWTON: Dr. Marty Makary, President Trump's pick to lead the Food and Drug Administration, was on Capitol Hill Thursday for his confirmation hearing. If approved, Makary would serve under Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy is looking to loosen regulations on raw milk and conservatives, they're all for it. But the FDA says raw milk can pose serious health risks.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yeah, she's got milk.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): No pasteurization, no processing, just milk straight from the cow.

Despite safety concerns, raw milk is having a moment. Mark McAfee is at the forefront of a movement to elevate it from the cultural fringes to the national mainstream.

Raw milk has spiked in popularity in recent years and spilled into culture wars and even into politics.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: I only drink raw milk.

VARGAS JONES: Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. turning it into a policy flashpoint.

KENNEDY: The FDA is the enemy of raw milk.

VARGAS JONES: So you buy into the whole movement of making America healthy again.

MARK MCAFEE, CEO, RAW FARM: So to make America healthy, to make the world healthy, we have to address the fact that food is medicine.

VARGAS JONES: McAfee's Raw Farm takes a grass to glass approach.

MCAFEE: Are you ready? Just a sip.

VARGAS JONES: Oh, gosh.

He says his product is not only safe to drink, but also offers a wide ranging list of health benefits.

MCAFEE: These are anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antihypertensive, re-mineralization, good for the immune system, mast cell stabilization, all these kinds of things that are destroyed in pasteurization.

VARGAS JONES: But all of that disputed by food scientists.

So I'll read you a claim and you tell me if that's true or false. Raw milk has additional bacteria that is beneficial for the gut.

JOHN LUCEY, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DAIRY RESEARCH: False.

VARGAS JONES: Raw milk helps build the immune system.

LUCEY: False.

VARGAS JONES: Raw milk can help cure allergies and asthma.

LUCEY: False.

The idea that pasteurization is, you know, reducing the nutrient profile or making this milk somehow inferior is just nonsense.

VARGAS JONES: Fewer than 1 percent of Americans say they regularly drink raw milk. And the FDA has issued numerous warnings about the risks. Raw Farm has faced multiple lawsuits and recalls after E. coli, bird

flu and salmonella outbreaks. The latter the largest connected to unpasteurized milk in decades.

California is one of 15 states where you can find raw milk at a grocery store. In some parts of the country, you can only buy it directly from farmers. Sixteen states prohibit sales for human consumption.

Nationwide, the FDA strongly encourages pasteurization for all milk and prohibits sales of raw milk across state lines.

But change may be on the horizon. McAfee says he was invited to apply for an advisory role in RFK Jr.'s FDA, and has already drafted a proposal for an ordinance that would establish an office with budget from Congress, create raw milk standards for farmers, and remove current regulations.

MCAFEE: If you expect people to have access to super high quality raw milk, you're going to have to change a bunch of rules.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS JONES (on camera): The HHS has not responded to CNN's request for comment, but McAfee said that Kennedy, who he says is a customer of his as well, has already reached out to his company, telling them to plan on having raw milk meetings as soon as his new FDA chief is confirmed.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN.

NEWTON: "Addams Family" star Christina Ricci has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Ricci sought to fame as a child star at the age of ten in the 1990s "Mermaids". Her other film credits include "Casper:", "Monster" and "Sleepy Hollow", and she also starred in TV shows like "Grey's Anatomy", "The Good Wife", and more recently, "Yellowjackets".

She is known for being a quirky actor, and she spoke on stage before unveiling the star.

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CHRISTINA RICCI, ACTRESS: And I know I am here and my career has thrived as it has only because of the belief that others had in me and the work and support they were willing to offer me.

[02:40:11]

I'm only here and will forever now be here at Hollywood and Argyle. I'm going to haunt my star when I die. So I'll just always be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: I want to thank you for joining us. I'm Paula Newton.

"WORLD SPORT" is next. Then I'll be back in 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM.

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