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Philippines's Rodrigo Duterte Taken into Custody; Asia Markets Slide After Wall Street Sell-Off; U.S. and Ukrainian Delegations to Hold High-Stakes Talks in Saudi Arabia; Voters Motivated by Independence Head to the Polls in Greenland; Greenland to Hold Vote on Tuesday; Hong Kong Students Simulate Sweatshop Working Conditions. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired March 11, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome, everyone. I'm Rosemary Church, live in Atlanta. Just ahead on CNN Newsroom former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has been taken into custody shortly after the government received an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.

[00:00:03]

The trading day in Asia is off to a rough start hours after stocks plunged in the United States over tariff and recession fears, and representatives from the U.S. and Ukraine are in Saudi Arabia hoping to repair a relationship strained following their presidents' White House showdown.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: And we begin with breaking news. The Philippines' fiery former president Rodrigo Duterte has been taken into custody in Manila. The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him for crimes against humanity, according to a statement from the president's office. The warrant is thought to be in connection with his deadly crackdown on drugs during his time in power. Duterte was detained after returning from a campaign rally in Hong Kong.

And CNN's Mike Valerio is monitoring this live for us from Seoul. He joins us now.

So, Mike, what more are you learning about this breaking news?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it's simply a stunning coda for one of the most controversial leaders in the history of the Philippines. These developments breaking minutes ago before we came on the air. And what we know exactly this does seem to be in connection with the extrajudicial killings of around 6,000 people during Duterte's term as president of the Philippines.

Even before then, I should say, when he was mayor from 2011, November of 2011, up until March 16th of 2019. 2019 is key here because that's when the former president, Rodrigo Duterte, took the Philippines out of the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction, said, you know what, we're going to leave this body, leave this organization. The court, though, based in the Hague, is saying that this certainly is a crime that cannot stand unprosecuted.

Whenever the ICC comes into play, Rosemary, that happens whenever the home jurisdiction does not want or cannot prosecute these crimes on its own. So the leaders in the Hague of the ICC, we had been getting signals over the past few days that this could potentially be in the works. Former President Duterte was in Hong Kong giving a speech to the diaspora community. Elections in the Philippines are scheduled for two months from tomorrow, giving a fiery speech saying that he was in so many words, paraphrasing him lightly, Rosemary, ready for this potentially to come to pass, that he did this for the sake of families in the Philippines for their own safety.

But again, this was the killing of thousands of people without trial that the former president presided over and became a hallmark of his time in power in order to, from his point of view, to rid the country of this problem. So we do not know where exactly he is at the moment and what exactly is the time frame of where he's going to go, if he's going to be transported back to the Hague.

Our team in Hong Kong, led by Kathleen Magramo, Isaac Yee and Jinky Jorgio on the ground in Manila, all working to piece these facts together. But certainly an unbelievable coda for this leader, now seemingly facing justice for thousands of killings under his leadership -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Mike Valerio, updating us on that breaking news. Appreciate that.

And we're also tracking market uncertainty and instability around the globe as Asia markets are now trading lower following a worsening sell-off on Wall Street. U.S. stocks plunged Monday, with the Dow closing down nearly 900 points and the tech heavy Nasdaq marking its biggest single-day decline since September 2022.

Investors are rattled over the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs, and now his refusal to rule out a recession is only heightening fears.

CNN's Marc Stewart is following developments, joins us now live from Beijing.

Good to see you, Marc. So any improvements since the markets opened in your part of the world?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, it's been a rough day for traders in the United States and now here in Asia. Since this morning, markets have been in the red. We have seen declines across the board. A bit of a of an improvement from what we saw earlier. But still, as you can see here, markets are in the red.

Some improvement, the Nikkei not down as nearly as it was first thing this morning. Obviously the words of President Trump have some weight in all of this. But so too is the response from corporate America.

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For example, Delta Airlines, which is based where you are in Atlanta, it has now slashed its earnings forecast for the year ahead to 50 percent of what it was hoping. Its cut it in half because of concerns of economic uncertainty. This is a company that flies all over the world, to Asia, to Europe, and of course in the United States. When it starts to express concern, others take notice. In fact later today in the United States a number of big companies in both retail and pharmaceutical are going to release their earnings. This is significant, not only because we'll get a picture of how they're doing, but often in these earnings calls, executives from the company will present an outlook for the future.

If the outlook from other companies is as shaky as it has been from Delta, that could cause another day of anxiety on Wall Street, as well as markets around the world. And perhaps we could see some losses. We should get a better idea, though, later in the day once these earnings calls take place.

Finally, it's not just the U.S. that is dealing with economic uncertainty. Let's look at where I am here in China. In February, the prices of everyday products dipped. Instead of inflation, where prices go higher, we're seeing an economic phenomenon known as deflation, where things get cheaper. On the surface, that seems like a good thing. But it prevents people from spending because consumers perhaps get into this mindset that prices will get even lower. So they'll hold off on making purchases.

This becomes a problem because when people start stopping, when they don't spend money as much as they did in the past, perhaps holding off, that too can contribute to an economic slowdown.

So, Rosemary, so often we talk about the need for economic stability around the world. But right now there are just very few signs. And so we could have another shaky day ahead here in Asia as well as in the rest of the world for that matter.

CHURCH: We'll be watching very closely. Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing. Many thanks.

In just a matter of hours U.S. and Ukrainian delegations will begin a new effort to find an off-ramp for the war in Ukraine. The high-stakes talks in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, come less than two weeks after the last U.S.-Ukraine meeting devolved into a shouting match at the White House. This time, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not expected to take part in the actual meeting with the U.S., but the Ukrainian president is in Saudi Arabia and says his discussions with the Saudi crown prince have been focused on security guarantees.

The top American diplomat says he wants to know what concessions Ukraine would be willing to make, adding that these talks will be key in determining whether the U.S. will lift its pause on military aid and intelligence sharing.

CNN's Alex Marquardt has our report from Jeddah.

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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Both President Zelenskyy and Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived here in Jeddah on Monday evening. They each met separately with the Saudi crown prince, MBS. But the main focus here in Jeddah is going to be that Tuesday meeting between the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations, which President Zelenskyy is not expected to attend.

Now, of course, this comes a week and a half after that extraordinary acrimonious shouting match between President Zelenskyy, President Trump and the Vice President, JD Vance, in the oval office in Washington. And since then, American and Ukrainian officials have been trying to patch things up and get the relationship back on track.

On Rubio's way into Jeddah, he told reporters on his plane that he is hopeful that Tuesday's meeting will go well. He said that he's going to be in listening mode, listening for difficult decisions that the Ukrainians are willing to make to get closer to a peace deal. Listening for concessions that they are willing to make. As he put it, he wants to hear concessions that are in the realm of the possible.

They won't drill down into specifics, he said. They won't be, for example, pulling out the maps and drawing lines on different maps to show where territory could be given up or taken back. But this does also come at a time when the U.S. has put a freeze on, put a halt on that military and intelligence sharing assistance that is absolutely critical to Ukraine. Rubio saying that Tuesday's meeting will be key for jumpstarting that again, for getting that tap turned back on for the Ukrainians.

So Tuesday's meeting is essentially step two in a longer process to try to get Ukraine and Russia to the same table. The first step was three weeks ago in Riyadh, also here in Saudi Arabia, when Rubio and other Americans sat down with the Russians, the U.S. now trying to identify the concessions, the ideas, the positions of each side with the eventual goal of trying to get the Russians and the Ukrainians to the same negotiating table.

Alex Marquardt, CNN, in Jeddah.

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CHURCH: To Los Angeles now, and Robert English is the director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California.

Good to have you with us.

ROBERT ENGLISH, DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL EUROPEAN STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Thank you.

CHURCH: So we're just hours away from the U.S. and Ukraine sitting down in Saudi Arabia to try and negotiate an end to this war two weeks after Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy clashed in the Oval Office. Neither men will be present this time. So what are you expecting to come out of these high-stakes negotiations?

ENGLISH: Well, the first thing I'd say is that while Secretary of State Rubio claimed that the U.S. will be in listening mode, I think it's pretty clear that they are in insisting mode, meaning they are demanding that Ukraine agree to certain basic concessions just to get the framework set for working out a lot of other details.

I think that the U.S. is going to say we don't want to hear any more about joining NATO any time soon. That's already been decided, and you're going to have to agree to major territorial concessions. So these are not listening. These are insisting, and then they'll go from there. It's going to be very difficult for Ukraine's team.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, as you mentioned, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying he wants to know what concessions Ukraine is willing to make and that will determine if the pause in U.S. military aid and intel for Ukraine is lifted. But that pause allowed Russia to make gains on the battlefield, resulting in Ukraine losing one of its only territorial bargaining chips, Kursk. So what all is Ukraine expected to give up? What does it have left to give up?

ENGLISH: You're right about the pressure, the cut off of intelligence sharing and the, of course, drying up of the pipeline of weapons. There aren't a lot more in the warehouses that they can use, and the rest has been frozen. So he's strong arming the Ukrainians. They are in a desperate situation. And, as I said, agreeing publicly to stop appealing for NATO membership or any other major security guarantees from the Americans will be a key concession and agreement that they will not seek to recover in this first round of ceasefire a major portion of the territory they lost.

That will have to be something through elections and horse trading down the road. That's what the Americans want to see. And anything short of that could result in another blow-up and walkout as we saw in Washington. I don't think it's going to happen that way. The Ukrainians, after the Washington blow-up, Zelenskyy, of course, went to London and met with European leaders who expressed a lot of rhetorical support. They promised more economic aid, but they don't have the military aid to replace the United States. And they told him privately, you need to make up with Trump, and you need to find some common ground with the Americans. And that's what's happening now.

CHURCH: It has to be said, though, doesn't it, that the wish list for the United States sounds awfully like the Russian wish list, doesn't it?

ENGLISH: Yes, that's been pointed out many times. The concession on no expansion of NATO was essentially agreed a long time ago. And to be fair, the Biden administration, too, and leading allies like the Germans and French didn't want the complications of Ukraine NATO membership any time soon either. So it's probably -- that's probably a concession to Moscow, but also a concession to Paris and Berlin.

As for the territorial situation, the Ukrainians simply haven't been able, with all the military support they've been given to advance. In fact, they've been retreating. So the Trump argument is, you know, this is just realistic. We'll try to get you some of it back. And that's where it'll be interesting. And we don't know yet what horse trading will go on. But clearly Ukraine is not going to get a lot back in the best of circumstances. So, yes, this will be an agreement largely in Moscow's favor.

CHURCH: We'll see what comes out of it. Robert English, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

ENGLISH: My pleasure.

CHURCH: Coming up, the Trump administration hits a roadblock as it attempts to deport a legal U.S. resident over his anti-Gaza war activism. Plus, after nearly a month in hospital, a big breakthrough for Pope Francis and his battle with double pneumonia.

Back with that and more in just a moment.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Release Mahmoud Khalil now.

PROTESTERS: Release Mahmoud Khalil now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Release Mahmoud Khalil now.

PROTESTERS: Release Mahmoud Khalil now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Protesters in New York are demanding the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and Palestinian activist who was arrested by U.S. immigration officials Saturday night. The legal U.S. resident is being targeted for deportation by the White House for his prominent role in anti-Gaza war protests at the university, but Khalil has not been charged with or accused of any crime.

On Monday, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from removing him from the U.S. and set a hearing for Wednesday. The U.S. president posted on social media, quote, "This is the first arrest of many to come."

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A cargo ship smashed into a U.S. Military chartered oil tanker off the northeast coast of England on Monday, causing a massive fire. The container ship contained sodium cyanide and alcohol, and the tanker was loaded with jet fuel. The British coast guard says the search for a missing crew member has ended, and the person has not been found. Authorities say 36 people were treated by ambulance services after reaching the shore. It's unclear whether the sodium cyanide has entered the water.

For the first time since his hospitalization,, doctors say Pope Francis's health is improving. A Vatican source says the pontiff is not considered to be in imminent danger from double pneumonia in his lungs. The 88-year-old pontiff has been hospitalized since February 14th. However, the source says the Pope's condition remains complex and he is not entirely out of danger. There's no timeline yet for his release from the hospital.

Still to come, Greenland is holding a general election today, and despite Donald Trump's constant threats to annex the territory, one issue is top of mind for many voters.

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MUTE EGEDE, GREENLANDIC PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We don't want to be Danes. We don't want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlandic.

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CHURCH: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us again.

Well, America's northern neighbor has been responding forcefully to Donald Trump's tariff plans, with the Ontario premier now issuing a warning if the trade war escalates. Doug Ford says he's moving forward with a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to three U.S. states, but says he'll turn off access completely if the U.S. adds new tariffs on Canadian goods.

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DOUG FORD, ONTARIO PREMIER: You don't attack your number one customer and expect the results that he thought we're going to happen. Protectionism does not work especially between Canada and the U.S. Maybe you should take a page out of Ronald Reagan's book.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Canada's next prime minister is promising a quick and seamless transition, but he's not yet giving an exact date for when he takes over from Justin Trudeau. Mark Carney will take office at a time of growing tensions between his country and its southern neighbor.

Here's what he said when asked about speaking with the U.S. president.

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MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER DESIGNATE: With respect to President Trump I'm not yet prime minister. His interlocutor is Prime Minister Trudeau. And I look forward to the opportunity -- (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Carney was elected to lead Canada's Liberal Party on Sunday. He quickly slammed the Trump administration's tariff plans and accused the president of trying to weaken his country's economy.

Voters in Greenland are heading to the polls today for a general election, and despite the U.S. president's stated goal of controlling the arctic territory one way or the other, its residents are more interested in their own self-determination.

Fred Pleitgen has the story.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): It's an unlikely place for a geopolitical tug of war. Greenland, with a population of about 57,000, known for its fishing, natural resources and glaciers, goes to the polls on Tuesday, something that in the past probably wouldn't have attracted a lot of global attention. But that was before Greenland caught the eye of U.S. President Donald Trump.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will keep you safe. We will make you rich, and together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.

PLEITGEN: It's a bold offer, especially since Greenland is a territory of Denmark. Though it's semi-autonomous with its own parliament but it does rely on Denmark for about half its annual budget.

The U.S. already has a military base in Greenland, which plays a key role in missile defense and satellite communication. And Greenland is also the gateway to the Arctic, lying on the shortest route from North America to Europe, so its location is strategic.

But if forced to choose between the U.S. and Denmark, many Greenlanders say they prefer another option.

EGEDE (through translator): We don't want to be Danes. We don't want to be Americans. We want to be Greenlandic.

PLEITGEN: It's a question of identity that many Greenlanders feel is at the heart of this election.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to be independent. We need that identity for our people in the Arctic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope Greenland to get more out of -- in the world picture. Right now, it's just dependent on Denmark and the money that we're getting from there.

PLEITGEN: Most of Greenland's main political parties support independence for Greenland, which can be declared if a referendum passes and the Danish Parliament approves. But they differ on how soon that should happen, with one party saying Greenland should cut ties immediately.

PELE BROBERG, NALERAQ PARTY: Let's hope for a quick process, but as soon as we start that process, we have several other things that will start. One of them will be defense negotiations with the United States about the defense of Greenland when we are independent.

[00:30:04]

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Trump's comments are also reverberating in Denmark itself, which recently said it will spend more than $2 billion to boost arctic security and admitted it had neglected Greenland's defense for years.

It's a relationship that could soon change if Greenland steps up its pursuit of independence or uses its leverage to negotiate a better deal with Denmark.

NOA REDINGTON, POLITICAL ANALYST: There will be a new government, and it will put a tremendous pressure on the Danish government to have a position, a real position in terms of if Greenland wants independence, what will the cost be?

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Independence isn't on Tuesday's ballot, but the results could reconfigure Greenland's future, something the U.S. and many others will be closely watching.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: the ninth annual My Freedom Day is underway.

We will go live to Hong Kong, where students are learning how education can break the cycle of exploitation. Here's how one student in Abidjan explained the freedom to learn.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Education provides knowledge and skills that empower job opportunities, critical thinking skills, and financial independence.

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CHURCH: CNN is celebrating the ninth annual My Freedom Day. This year's theme is "Freedom to Learn."

Students around the globe, from Mauritania to Thailand to Ecuador, are posting their hopes for a world free from human trafficking across social media. An estimated 12 million children are denied access to education

because of modern-day slavery, and their peers are using this global day of awareness to say, no more.

Here's what we've heard from students in Kosovo.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Young doesn't mean being powerless. Together, we can make something different.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Freedom means having the chance to dream big. Let's help every child have that chance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every child deserves love, safety, and the chance to learn. Let's make the world better for everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My Freedom Day!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My Freedom Day!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My Freedom Day!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: So, let's go live to Hong Kong, where CNN's Hanako Montgomery is at the King George V School with a group of students celebrating the event.

So, Hanako, what has been happening there today? And how are the students celebrating their freedom to learn?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. It's good to see you.

So, right now, I'm in Hong Kong's King George V School, one of the many schools participating in My Freedom Day this year. And right now we have 50 or so students participating in a very intense simulation, one that actually mimics a factory-like setting, an environment that a child laborer might actually experience.

So, right now, we have these students screwing on a nut and a bolt. They're told that they have to do this for 20 or so minutes, and they can't speak to their neighbors. They can't take a break. They can't go to the bathroom. And if they smile or smirk, they get penalized.

Now, as this is happening, you can see the lights are kind of turned down low here, creating a very atmospheric setting, one that's a bit intense, one that also mimics a factory.

You also hear some audio in the background there. A bit of machine whirring, something that, again, a child laborer might experience.

Now, as this is also going on, their educators are going around the room, shouting at these students, telling them to work harder, to work faster, telling them to keep up the job. Things, again, that a child laborer might hear in one of these factory settings.

And Rosemary, as you said, even though, of course, childhood is a time when kids should have the freedom to play, to learn, to grow, for millions of kids around the world, that is not the reality.

This year's My Freedom Day is the "Freedom to Learn" theme, and for millions of students around the world, that is just not their reality. Over 12 million children are estimated to be victims of modern-day slavery.

And over 160 million -- 160 million children, Rosemary -- that's about one in every ten children -- are expected to be victims of child labor.

So, again, even though students should really be enjoying their childhood, many of them are, in fact, working in these sorts of factory settings.

So, the goal for this simulation here at King George V School is to get their peers, to get these students to understand what it's actually like to be a child laborer, in the hopes that in the future, they will become advocates of ending monitoring [SIC] -- ending modern-day slavery, and ending human trafficking for all, Rosemary.

And later on, we're going to be hearing from a couple of these students; hearing about their experience; and hearing just the psychological and physical impact that this simulation has had on these kids, which, of course, is a reality for so many, many children around the world -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, very difficult lesson there. And empathy indeed. Hanako Montgomery joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

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Our international coverage of My Freedom Day continues throughout today. Send us your thoughts on Freedom to Learn, using the hashtag #MyFreedomDay on social media. And visit CNN.com/MyFreedomDay for more information.

I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM, but first, WORLD SPORT starts after a short break. Stay with us.

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