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Stocks Tumble As Trade War Escalates; U.S.-Canada To Hold More Trade Talks; Putin Has "Reservations" On Ceasefire Proposal; Pro- Palestinian Protesters Storm NY's Trump Tower; U.N. Report Accuses Israel Of Genocidal Acts In Gaza; Kurdish Region Rejects Syria's New Constitutional Declaration; Kurdish-Led Administration Rejects Temporary Constitution; The Return of Erik Prince; European Union Looks For Solution to Water Crisis. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 14, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Now there will be a little disruption, but it won't be very long.

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BRUNHUBER: Donald Trump tries to downplay sinking U.S. markets just as another key index enters correction territory.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I have reservations.

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BRUNHUBER: Vladimir Putin throws cold water on the Ukraine ceasefire proposal, hoping to win more concessions before stopping the fighting. And pro-Palestinian demonstrators storm Trump Tower, leading to nearly 100 arrests.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: U.S. stocks plunged Thursday as President Donald Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on European allies. Have a look at this. The Dow fell 537 points. The Nasdaq dropped around 2 percent. And the S and P tumbled into correction territory, down 10 percent from its record high last month.

The selloff extends a route in U.S. markets driven by uncertainty around Trump's tariffs. But Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says he's not worried about what he called a little bit of volatility. Here he is.

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SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What we're focused on is we're focused on the real economy. Can we create an environment where there are long term gains in the market and long term gains for the American people? I'm not concerned about the a little bit of volatility over three weeks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: President Trump is now vowing to slap a 200 percent tariff on wine, champagne and other alcohol products from Europe unless the European Union removes a 50 percent tariff it put on U.S. spirits.

In a social media post, Trump called the E.U. one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world. European Commissioner Michael McGrath told CNN the escalating trade war will cost jobs and hurt businesses. Here he is.

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MICHAEL MCGRATH, EUROPEAN UNION COMMISSION: We will respond in a firm but a proportionate way. But this is not where we want to be. Tariffs are ultimately attacks on consumers here in the United States and in Europe, and they will hurt businesses and they will cost jobs.

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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Jeff Zeleny is following the latest developments at The White House.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS COORRESPONDENT: As President Trump ends another week. Here at the White House, the financial markets have been roiled once again reacting to the trade war and the tariff policies that have really driven down stocks and have raised questions about this administration's policies. But the president on Thursday saying he's taking the long view.

TRUMP: We're not going to bend. We've been ripped off as a country for many, many years. We don't need their cars, we don't need their energy, we don't need their lumber. Now there will be a little disruption, but it won't be very long. But they need us. We really don't need them.

ZELENY: The president is saying it won't be very long, but that, of course, will be one of the metrics to which he is judged going will the markets still continue to have an adverse reaction to what these policies are doing? Now the White House says, look, the market goes up, the market goes down. But it is clear the uncertainty that the trade war has signaled is really sparking uncertainty in the markets. The president, though embracing this policy, is looking ahead to even

more tariffs when the reciprocal ones go into effect in April. The bottom line to all of this, the White House saying, look, judge the president by what he did in his first term, but the reality is he's now being judged by his policies of the second. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And I want to bring in Ryan Patel, global business executive and senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. And he's joining us now from Washington. Great to see you again.

So listen, just to start, we keep hearing terms like the markets slid into correction. I know the dictionary definition a drop of 10% or more in stocks from their most recent high. But what do you think means here in this context? I mean, it does happen every so often. But but when we're talking about now, what signal are investors sending, do you think?

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CLAREMONT GRAUDATE UNIVERSITY: Well, I mean, they're paying attention even more than ever as a signal, you know, if you think about the market, you know, from February, you know, greater than 10 percent, it's now erased. It's post-November election gains back to the levels we see in September.

[01:05:00]

So, Kim, we're back to where were in September. So that just kind of puts it in perspective. And when you think of corrections, as you mentioned, historically, it's around 10 to 15 months, you know, more than the 10, typically 20 percent or more. It's unusually. We haven't really had a true one for nearly three years.

And so this is a point where we are getting, I don't say close, but it is really on everyone's, they're paying attention to, will this keep going? When will the skid stop? And I mean, we've been doing it for two or three weeks now. And so that is really getting investors to pay attention right now.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right. And Donald Trump saying he's not going to bend on tariffs. So as we look at the effect on the markets, I mean, we saw the head of the world's largest asset manager, Larry Fink, said the economy is weakening as we speak. So, you know, big picture here. What are the numbers telling you?

PATEL: Yes, I mean, if you think of the actual macro, what the goal is to create, you know, what President Trump is trying to do is bring back manufacturing, do more goods, build jobs in the U.S. that you would make more money. That's the idea of what he's trying to do, of trying to negotiate bilateral trade agreements.

But there's a little bit of an issue there, Kim, is that it takes time. The infrastructure is not there yet. And as you said from quote from Larry Fink, the economy currently is hurting because of the growth. We will be slowing down when prices start to increase. So businesses stop, you know, stop spending money, the consumer stops spending money. And it does affect, in the short term, a big problem for the economy in the short term.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. So I want to get back to the longer term in a second. But in terms of the short term, you know, we know President Trump's long been in favor of tariffs, but the effects now in the short term again, are starting to hit his supporters as well. So listen to what this Republican congressman from Illinois told CNN.

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DARIN LAHOOD, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: I have a heavy agriculture district, heavy manufacturing district. And so, yes, to me, tariffs are taxes. They're taxes on my farmers, my constituents, folks that are in my district.

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BRUNHUBER: So is he right, in essence, that for many Americans, these tariffs are basically just taxes by another name?

PATEL: I mean, if you call it what it is, who's paying for it, Kim, it's the consumer, it's the individual, it's the businesses that are paying for it because they can't pass it. You Know, they're the ones absorbing it. So you call it tax. You can call it the increased cost of doing business. That's an increase of an expense. That means what, you have less profit in your hands.

And at the end of the day, you know, that is the question that's coming up. It feels like a tax or it feels like, you know, you have less money and, you know, it's a great -- it's just a reminder that no one, no matter what industry is being affected, that you're going to see some kind of effect. No matter where you are and what sector you're in.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, no matter where you are. That's the question. Because we've been talking about the U.S. here, but we heard the head of the European Commission, you know, what effect this is having, you know, potentially on Europe. So what effect do you think this is all having outside of North America?

PATEL: Well, I think right now, when you think of people are kind of like, looking right, because there's going the back and forth. So there's kind of going, well, OK, how bad is it going to be? And so for you, think of the global ripple effect. It could turn into waves. I'm not saying it's turned into a wave right now, but it can turn into waves for China, Europe, just because they have to adjust their supply chains.

And when you think of new trade deals, what does that mean long term? So would that put certain economies in third world markets, they can't catch up faster than the U.S. can recover. So the trade, war stop in like three months. Right. It just puts a lot of that region in a longer recovery mode, which then overall hurts the overall GDP of all those countries.

BRUNHUBER: Well, listen, we don't know, as you said, what effects this will have on the longer term, but certainly in the shorter term, the instability not going anywhere for some time. Ryan Patel in Washington. Great to see you again.

PATEL: Great to see you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Canadian officials say talks will continue next week with the U.S. after the two sides met in Washington on Thursday. Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc led a delegation that met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Now it comes after weeks of tension triggered by President Trump's talks of making Canada the 51st U.S. state and an escalating tariff war between the neighbors.

Doug Ford, premier of Canada's most populous province, said the talks helped to cool things down. Here he is.

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DOUG FORD, ONTARIO, CANADA PREMIER: We feel that the temperature is being lowered. We're like a family, and sometimes there's tension between families. But that was an extremely productive meeting.

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BRUNHUBER: Relations with the U.S. are a priority for Canada's next Prime minister. Mark Carney is set to be sworn in the coming day, replacing Justin Trudeau.

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Kyiv is moving to capitalize on Russia's unenthusiastic reaction to the U.S. 30-day cease fire proposal for Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed reservations about the proposal after Moscow received it on Thursday. He raised so many questions about how it would work. He made it clear he doesn't -- it doesn't go far enough. Ukraine has already signed off on the plan and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused the Kremlin of dragging its feet without saying no to it. Here he is.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Now we have all heard from Russia. Very predictable, very manipulative words from Putin in response to the idea of the ceasefire on the front line. He is actually preparing a refusal as of now. Putin, of course, is afraid to tell President Trump directly that he wants to continue this war.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Donald Trump reacted to the Kremlin's answer while meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Trump said he still has leverage to turn up the pressure on Russia if needed, but he wouldn't say how. He suggested Putin's response was a good start. Here he is.

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TRUMP: He put out a very promising statement, but it wasn't complete. And yes, I'd love to meet with him or talk to him, but we have to get it over with fast. Thousands of people a week are dying, so we really don't have very much time. We have to make this fast. It shouldn't be very complicated.

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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with more on Russia's response.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Just hours after visiting his generals near the front lines in the Kursk region, Russian leader Vladimir Putin back in Moscow pouring cold water on President Trump's initiative for an immediate cease fire with Ukraine.

PUTIN (through translator): I would like to begin with words of gratitude to the U.S. president, Mr. Trump, for paying so much attention to the settlement in Ukraine. We agree with the proposals to end hostilities, but we proceed from the fact that this end should be such that it would lead to a long term peace and eliminate the root causes of this crisis.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): In other words, the Russians want to hammer out a full peace deal before ending the fighting, even as the Trump administration says the shooting should stop immediately. The U.S. President had hoped Putin would fully endorse his proposal.

TRUMP: Now we're going to see whether or Russia is there and if they're not, it'll be a very disappointing moment for the world.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): This as Russian forces say they've been making major gains in the Kursk region, Ukraine's last small foothold on Russian territory. Putin's soldiers are now patrolling the streets in small towns leveled by the battles.

There was fierce fighting herem the soldier says, Ukrainian troops brought in heavy equipment and shot at the building point blank. But the buildings are strong, the walls are strong, so the defense held up.

Putin went on to say he has concerns that the Ukrainians will use a ceasefire to regroup and rearm if Moscow's troops take their foot off the gas now.

PUTIN (through translator): So these 30 days will be used how? So that forced mobilization continues in Ukraine, so that weapons are delivered there, so that units undergo training, or if nothing of such sort will happen, then the question arises, how will the issue of control and verification be resolved, and how will we be guaranteed that nothing like this will happen?

PLEITGEN (voice-over): While the Ukrainians have fully signed off on the ceasefire proposal and say they're willing to implement it immediately, the Russians say they see little benefit in freezing the fighting, although Putin says he, too, wants to see the war come to an end.

PUTIN (through translator): I think that we need to talk about this with our American colleagues, partners, maybe call President Trump and discuss it with him. But the idea itself to end this conflict by peaceful means is supported by us.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

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BRUNHUBER: And for more analysis, we're joined by retired Colonel Cedric Leighton, who is a CNN military analyst. Good to see you again.

So I want to start with Moscow's reaction to this ceasefire proposal. Putin saying the general idea is fine, but he has all sorts of conditions. So what do you make of where things stand right now? Is Putin just essentially playing for time here?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITAR ANALYST: Yes, I think so. Kim, good to be with you again. This is one of those classic Russian moves where they will accept things in principle and it will look good, you know, with them saying nice things. But now we're getting into a point where what you're actually seeing is the efforts to draw things out.

So what Putin is doing is he's basically listing a few conditions that will be very difficult, if not impossible, for the Ukrainians to meet, and that will then really, I think, make it very hard for the Americans to come in and try to get a deal from Putin.

We'll see, of course, what happens with Mr. Witkoff to Moscow, see if that bears any fruit.

[01:15:02]

But I think the idea that this will become a cease fire, that will last 30 days or so, that's going to take a while to get there, if it ever happens.

BRUNHUBER: So, as you say, we're waiting to hear of any outcome from Witkoff's trip. Putin has got so much from Trump so far. Is it possible that he has no incentive to negotiate with anyone except for Trump, if at all?

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think that's actually quite key. One of the things that's very interesting is when you look at what President Zelenskyy of Ukraine was saying in response to what Putin said in his press conference, basically what you had is Zelenskyy was trying to interpret what Putin had been saying. And the fact of the matter is that when you look at the way in which

Putin is dealing with this, he believes that the only interlocutors, people that can talk to are basically Trump and the American team.

That's going to be, I think, very difficult for the Ukrainian side because they will be, I think, concerned and rightly concerned that the U.S. will give away too much when it comes to working with the Russians.

And that's something where we will see potential territorial issues come about, where Ukraine will possibly be forced to give up territory. There will also be demands, perhaps on NATO itself. Certainly the idea that Ukraine would not become a member of NATO, that might be something that shows up.

And we also will perhaps see a demand that the Russians don't want NATO to be posted as have its troops posted as far east as they currently are. So we'll see what the Russians do. Hopefully, the right moves will be made by both the United States and by Ukraine. But it is definitely a difficult situation that we're entering into at this.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, all that still to be determined. You talked about territory. So on the battlefield, it looks more and more like Russia will recapture all of what it lost in Kursk. Kursk was expected to be used by Ukraine as a bargaining chip in these negotiations with the Kremlin. So if Russia does reclaim it all, what would that mean tactically and politically for both sides?

LEIGHTON: Yes, tactically, of course, it's going to be hard for the Ukrainians to maintain their presence in Kursk especially if reports are accurate that about 86 percent of the territory that the Ukrainians had captured is now back in Russian hands. So that really limits their leverage. In essence, they have no leverage using that particular territory that they had taken back this past summer.

But the other part of it, you know, being the more political part of it, you're looking at, I think a very difficult effort by the Ukrainians to not only run the negotiations that way, but from a military standpoint, to hold territory in the adjacent parts of Ukraine.

So this means that the Sumy region, which is just south of the Kursk region, that is going to be something where the Ukrainians will have to make sure that they have enough of a force there that can keep the Russians on their side of the border. So that's going to be key for the Ukrainians.

And we also have to, of course, watch what the Russians are doing with Belarus because the meeting that Putin had today with President Lukashenko of Belarus, that really shows that there is a deepening alliance between the two countries. And we can't forget that Belarus was one of the jumping off points for the invasion that occurred back in February of 2022.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So much in the balance right now, both militarily and diplomatically. Always great to get your analysis. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

LEIGHOTN: You bet, Kim. Anytime.

BRUNHUBER: Still ahead, freedom of expression and women's rights in Syria. A new constitution is meant to guarantee those protection. Why some say it's still not enough. Plus, the Trump Tower lobby overwhelmed by protesters, many of them arrested, as they demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate detained for his activism. Those stories and more coming up. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Protesters filled the atrium at Trump Tower in New York on Thursday to denounce the arrest of Palestinian activist and U.S. resident Mahmoud Khalil. Demonstrators chanted Free Mahmoud Khalil and unfurled banners that read never again for anyone. 98 people were arrested.

Khalil remains detained by immigration authorities over his involvement in last year's protests at Columbia University against the war in Gaza. CNN's Omar Jimenez has details on the Trump Tower protests.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Little less than 100 protesters were arrested in total for demonstrating inside Trump Tower in support of Mahmoud Khalil, the now former Columbia University student who last year was one of the leaders or who helped lead some of the protest we saw happen on that campus. He's currently being held in an ICE detention facility in Louisiana.

But as for the protesters here, they entered the Trump -- they entered Trump Tower with jackets and coats on, as we understand from a law enforcement source, and then opened those jackets and coats up to reveal those red shirts. That's when the chanting began.

[01:25:04]

Law enforcement showed up not too long after, asked them to leave, which some did, but then others did not, and many were then zip tied with their hands behind their backs before they were put onto buses to then face what we understand to be some minor charges.

Now, as they were being let out, groups started to form in the area outside of Trump Tower and we heard chance things like fight Nazis, not students, of course, in reference to Khalil, the group that organized these protests known as Jewish Voice for Peace. They describe themselves as a grassroots organization, but they do typically support many Palestinian causes.

Take a listen to what one of the leaders of that group told me about some of why they wanted to be here. SONYA MEYERSON-KNOX, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE:

We ourselves are Jewish and we know what happens when a government, be it the Israeli government or our own government, when an authoritarian government starts scapegoating and targeting and making threats and or genocidal actions against people. We know where that leads. As Jews, we know our history and we are here to say never again.

JIMENEZ: Now she also said they believe President Trump and the Trump administration are infringing upon Khalil's civil rights. The administration has equated Khalil's protest activity to terrorism. At least the president has on social media supporting terrorism and the deportation efforts come under a broad range of power that the Secretary of State has to deport someone who may have adverse effects on the United States foreign policy interests.

Regardless, Khalil's attorneys have argued that all of this is just retaliation for protest activity and infringing upon Khalil's First Amendment rights, which green card holders generally do have. Omar Jimenez, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: A new report by a U.N. commission accuses Israel of carrying out genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza. The report published Thursday says Israeli authorities partially destroyed the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systemic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities.

The Commission also cited the growing proportion of female deaths and the targeting of women and girls in Gaza, which the U.N. says is meant to terrorize Palestinians.

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CHRIS SIDOTI, MEMBER OF U.N. INDEPENDENT INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION: The frequency, prevalence and severity of sexual and gender based crimes perpetrated across the occupied Palestinian territory leads the commission to conclude that sexual and gender based violence is increasingly used as a method of war by Israel to destabilize, dominate, oppress and destroy the Palestinian people.

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BRUNHUBER: The Israeli mission to the U.N. said Israel categorically rejects what it says are unfounded allegations.

The Kurdish led administration in northeast Syria has rejected a temporary constitution signed by the country's interim leader. The charter enshrines certain civil rights, but religious and ethnic minorities say it's not inclusive or democratic enough. It would keep Syria under Islamist rule for a five-year transitional period with Ahmed al-Sharaa continuing to lead the nation, his interim government has struggled to exert authority since the takeover.

In recent days, it has fought brutal battles against forces loyal to the ousted president. A U.K. based monitoring group says at least 878 people have been killed, including many civilians.

I want to bring in Gareth Brown, who's The Economist's Syria correspondent and he's with us from Dubai. Thank you so much for being here with us.

So Syria has this new constitutional declaration. And this week there was also that agreement between the Syrian authorities and the Kurdish led army in the northeast that they be integrated into a unified Syria. So with those two things, how important are these developments in terms of Syria's pathway to stability?

GARETH BROWN, SYRIA CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: I think it's been a whirlwind week for Syria, for Ahmed al-Sharaa, for the Syrian people. You know, we had that brutal sectarian violence last week and then off the back of that, this surprise announcement with the Kurdish authorities in the northeast of the country to integrate into the state, into the armed forces. And then finally just yesterday, this constitutional declaration.

Now the constitutional declaration is essentially going to be the constitution that sees the country through the next five years, the transitional period. And I think the anticipation was that it would be three to four years. And actually now it's going to be five years.

There's some criticism. You know, it does quite heavily centralized power in al-Sharaa's hands. And the instinctive reaction from the Kurdish authorities is not good. But these are all very, very critical developments.

You know, Syria is just over three months out from the fall of the Assad regime and really life has not improved for many people. And I think a huge part of that is the economy.

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And I think Ahmad al-Sharaa knows that until he can get the economy going, you know, he's really going to struggle to make any sort of -- any significant change on the ground in Syria.

So the deal with the Kurds, the constitutional declaration, I think that is all aimed at, you know, getting a new transitional government in place and hopefully you know, persuading international powers to ease the sanctions and put some financial investment economic aid into Syria.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Before I get to some of those longer- term issues, you mentioned sort of the brutal violence that's been going on. There has been this sectarian tensions that have been escalating, violence erupting in many cities, security forces killed hundreds.

Now, reports vary on how many, but we understand most of them are members of the minority to which the Assad family belongs. So from that point of view, how precarious are things right now? And what does it mean for the possibility of peace in Syria. BROWNE: I think things are very precarious. You know, Ahmad al-Sharaa is sort of --- his, his, his method for, for, for convincing Syria's minorities to get on board with this project and support -- support the new Syria, support, you know, what is essentially a HTS-run Syria was all about building confidence with them.

And I think he was succeeding in doing that to a degree with Christians, with the Druze, with the Kurds. But the violence that we saw in the coastal areas has absolutely shattered that confidence.

Now, it's important to look at those events. There was so much disinformation around them. And I think if you look at, for example, the Syrian network for human rights, which is one of the few organizations on the ground, it's almost as many people were killed by the Alawite insurrectionists as were by security forces.

So, so this was, you know, a really -- a really devastating kind of period of sectarian violence. But it was going in multiple directions. And what it's done is shattered the confidence of minorities, not just the Alawites, but other minority groups, too.

So whether al-Sharaa can rebuild that confidence really remains to be seen. But, you know, I think a lot of Syrians now, the real crisis, beyond the sectarian issues, beyond the security problems, it's economic --

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

BROWNE: -- you know, its Ramadan and people can't afford to buy bread, to put food on the table and that's his most urgent challenge.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And I know you've been touring the country recently and you've seen, you know, the way people are living now and talking to people. There's been so much optimism after the fall of the regime.

Now, obviously, as you've said, nobody wants the old regime back. But there seems to be this growing resistance to the country's new leaders. Is that what you've seen? And you've also mentioned that that shows surprising flexibility in some areas.

So combine that with, you know, whether you think that that's a sort of a strategic approach, just temporary pragmatism, or do you think it shows potential moderation in his style of governing going forward?

BROWNE: Yes, I think without a doubt, the honeymoon period is over. I would say the first two months, you know, you had this euphoric feeling among all Syrians, and really they were you know, they were defining their freedom in a -- in a negative sense.

They were looking back, you know, and -- and looking at what had just fallen and taking -- taking a lot of optimism and hope from that. But you know, after two months that -- that, that, that doesn't pay your bills, that doesn't get the electricity on, that doesn't get you clean drinking water.

I think al-Sharaa has shown pragmatism. I think this is probably one of the signs of hope. You know, you speak to Syrians of all sects who have met with him, who have interacted with him. And over and over again, they talk about, you know, he does listen. And I think him and the people around him actually react quite well to criticism.

So we've seen a few cases of decisions being announced, appointments being announced, and, you know, public outrage actually forcing them to rethink, reappoint people, question decisions. That's something quite rare, you know, 54 years of Ba'athist dictatorship under Hafez al-Assad, and then his son, Bashar al-Assad.

And it was unthinkable for a -- for a leader to, you know, change course as a result of public outrage. So I think if you're looking for signs of hope, you've got a, you've got a leadership that does listen to its people, it does listen to the streets. And you know, there's a lot that has been said about al-Sharaa's pragmatism. This is the word that's used often.

From what I've seen, you know, and having spent time with the man himself, you know, he's clearly a devoutly religious man. I don't think their -- I don't think their plan is to implement some austere form of sharia in all of Syria and force Christians to wear the veil -- and things like that, I think. I think they're much smarter like that -- than that.

[01:34:53]

BROWNE: And I think they know that Syria is this patchwork of minorities. And if you try to run it without including those minorities, it just simply won't work. And it will probably fail quite violently.

And I think Sharaa and the people around him know that. So I see that pragmatism as pure. I don't think it's a ruse. I don't think it's a -- it's a means to, you know, get in power, consolidate power, and then implement something else Down the road when the world is not looking.

But still there are questions, you know, he has centralized power. He's failed to deal with the Alawites in particular. He hasn't really delivered on transitional justice. That's a frustration you hear. You know, if you look through the big names of Bashar al-Assad's regime, really the new authorities in Damascus haven't caught any of them. They haven't been able to put any of them on trial.

And that is something that I think the Syrian people are hungry for. They want to see some transitional justice for the crimes of the last 54 years. And that's driving a lot of frustration at the moment.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, we'll leave it there on that note. As you say, on one hand, some hope; on the other, so many challenges still remaining at this critical period in the country.

Gareth Browne in Dubai, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

A figure who was once hugely controversial is back in favor in U.S. politics. Still ahead, how Blackwater founder Erik Prince regained his influence thanks to the Trump administration. [01:36:19]

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's check todays top stories.

U.S. markets dropped Thursday as President Trump's escalating trade war prompted more sell offs. The Dow ended the day down 537 points, while the S&P 500 dropped 10 percent from its record high in February, putting it into correction for the first time in more than a year. The Nasdaq finished the day down 14 percent from its record high in December.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin says he has reservations about the U.S. ceasefire plan for Ukraine. He says he agrees with the plan in theory, but many details in it are yet to be worked out. U.S. President Donald Trump called the response promising but incomplete.

Protesters filled the atrium at Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday to denounce the arrest of Palestinian activist and U.S. resident Mahmoud Khalil, and to demand his release. Khalil is being held at a detention facility in Louisiana. He was detained over his involvement in last year's pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University. 98 people were arrested at Thursday's demonstration.

Ecuador's president recently announced a new alliance to fight organized crime featuring Erik Prince, founder of the controversial private defense company formerly known as Blackwater. Prince was pictured on social media not long ago with Ecuador's leader. The country has been waging a brutal fight against criminal groups.

Phil Mattingly explains how the once-disgraced former Navy Seal has returned to favor in the second Trump administration.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: On February 3rd, after taking in the striking views of El Salvador's volcanic Lake Coatepeque --

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: No country's ever made an offer of friendship such as this.

MATTINGLY: -- Secretary of State Marco Rubio was presented with an even more striking offer from El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.

RUBIO: He has agreed to accept the deportation. Any illegal alien in the United States who is a criminal. He has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country including those of U.S. citizenship and legal residents.

MATTINGLY: Deporting American citizens into foreign prisons, legally tenuous as it may be, originated in part from this man.

ERIK PRINCE, PRIVATE DEFENSE CONTRACTOR: Good on Secretary Rubio for -- and good on President Bukele for working together on that. That makes a ton of sense.

MATTINGLYH: Erik Prince, the private contractor and former CEO of the infamous security firm Blackwater that provoked international outrage after a deadly 2007 shooting that killed Iraqi civilians.

In late January, just days before Secretary Rubio's visit, Prince pitched President Bukele on the prison proposal directly by phone, Sources tell CNN.

Unreported before now, Prince's role highlights what CNN interviews with more than a dozen current and former administration officials and people close to Prince say, is an expanding level of influence in the new administration.

STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP ADVISER: Erik Prince, when President Trump wins again, how important -- how important it is for us to go after the deep state?

MATTINGLY: An executive branch where Prince's close network of conservative allies are powerful players around and at the highest levels of the second Trump administration.

[01:44:50]

PRINCE: I told Pete Hegseth, we need to focus on lethality and merit at the Pentagon. That's it. Lethality and merit.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Warfighting and lethality and the readiness of the troops and their families will be our only focus.

MATTINGLY: It marks a dramatic turn from the end of the first Trump term, where many top officials viewed Prince as a pariah.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much.

MATTINGLY: After the 2024 election, Prince spent months courting Trump allies, including taking multiple trips to Mar-a-Lago, where in mid- November, he spoke at the CPAC Investors Summit.

PRINCE: President Trump's right to skip a generation and to go to a younger SecDef nominee. I think Pete Hegseth will be great.

MATTINGLY: Prince is now seen regularly at the Pentagon, sources say, and is angling to join two key defense advisory boards.

PRINCE: Putting Tulsi forward as a veteran who understands intelligence, the need to clean up the analysis, and the nonsense that's become what it is. She must be confirmed.

MATTINGLY: He also served as a character witness for Tulsi Gabbard's once troubled Senate confirmation prospects.

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: I, Tulsi Gabbard --

MATTINGLY: Gabbard, now the Senate-confirmed Director of National Intelligence.

At the same time, Prince's own podcast and his ubiquity across the conservative ecosystem have elevated his policies and his profile.

JOE ROGAN, RADIO HOST: You need people like that. You need people that know how to solve problems.

MATTINGLY: Now, he privately pitches new proposals to Trump allies for his private contractors to handle everything from deportations of immigrants and operations against the Houthis in Yemen to helping secure valuable mineral deposits buried beneath foreign soil.

That includes a 26-page proposal reviewed by CNN, designed to dramatically expand Trump's deportation efforts.

PRINCE: This is not some idea of a private army. It was a memo generated to describe how to achieve the logistics necessary to move the millions of people that they intend to deport.

MATTINGLY: It's Prince's decades-long focus on security that led him to El Salvador in mid-August, where he sought to meet the nation's hardline law and order President Nayib Bukele.

He first toured the prison that serves as the linchpin of Bukele's aggressive gang crackdown.

PRINCE: I come away from that visit thinking Maybe that's how the rest of our prisons should be run to make them a truly miserable place to be.

How are you, sir?

MATTINGLY: Then went to meet the man himself. This video posted on X from Bukele's official account.

PRINCE: I was very impressed and I will probably go back and tell the good news story that it is possible to turn around chaos.

MATTINGLY: The good news officially embraced just months later by the Trump administration.

Phil Mattingly, CNN -- Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: Europe is the world's fastest warming continent. Ahead, how the E.U. plans to navigate a growing water crisis amid heat-fueled droughts. Stay with us.

[01:47:44]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: Climate change and crumbling infrastructure are causing water shortages in Europe. And the E.U. has launched a campaign to combat the crisis.

CNN's Eleni Giokos shows us the situation in Greece.

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ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On the fastest warming continent, there's a water problem.

LYDIA SARAKINIOTI, JEWELER: Our relationship with the water is difficult.

GIOKOS: And in Greece, a country that in the last year has borne the brunt of climate change from wildfires and heat waves to drought and warming seas, on average, about 40 percent of its already limited water supply goes to waste, according to the Greek environment ministry.

A case in point for the European Union's new campaign to curb a water crisis inflamed by climate change.

In Greece's Argolida region, water leaks out of aging pipes and cracked irrigation canals, hot, dry summers shrink reservoir levels, forcing officials to fill the gap with brackish spring water, which then becomes tap water in people's homes.

BABIS ANTONIADIS, FORMER NAFPLIO MUNICIPAL COUNCILOR: This water, the same water of Hercules is the water that feeds the city of Argos and Nafplio. Unfortunately, its management is in terrible shape. Both municipal water providers have more than 50 percent of water loss.

GIOKOS: In drought ridden fields, farmers dig up to 300 meter before finding a drop. Even then, it can be contaminated with salt from the seeping ocean water.

Lydia Sarakinioti doesn't dare use the tap to brush her teeth, or even cook. The jeweler says the water she once used to clean her metal instead tarnishes it.

SARAKINIOTI: This scared me because if this is the effect on a noble metal which essentially oxidizes the copper molecules in a small percentage, imagine what it can do on the human body.

GIOKOS: In response, Greek residents resort to plastic water bottles, a band-aid solution that only cuts deeper in terms of environmental trouble.

But through the campaign it launched, the E.U. is giving member nations until next year to assess their leakage levels. Greece, already spending more than 1.5 billion euros on its drinking water infrastructure since 2019.

[01:54:55] GIOKOS: And so the E.U. and Greece cracked down on key flaws in water infrastructure. A region heating up might just be able to keep its head above water.

Eleni Giokos, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Scary moments at the Denver Airport. Have a look at this. An engine on a plane caught fire and passengers were forced to evacuate walking onto the wing of the aircraft. We'll have that next.

Please, stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, have a look here. A shocking scene at Denver, Colorado's airport on Thursday. Dozens of American Airlines passengers were forced to evacuate a burning jet by climbing onto its wing.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the plane was diverted while flying from Colorado Springs after crew reported engine vibrations.

After landing, the plane's engine caught fire. The Denver Airport reports all 178 people on board got off the jet. The airline says six people are in the hospital being evaluated. Aviation authorities are investigating.

All right. Thanks so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

And the news continues on CNN with Ben Hunte right after this.

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