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U.S. Strikes Houthis In Yemen; Starmer Hosts Virtual Meeting On Ukraine; Crew-10 Arrives Onboard Space Station. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired March 16, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Polish Sandoval in New York City, where it is 3:00 A.M.

And ahead here on CNN Newsroom, the U.S. carries out deadly strikes against the Houthis in Yemen. Now the Iran-backed group is vowing revenge.

And British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosting a virtual meeting of world leaders. The aim, to push Russia to the negotiating table to finally end the war in Ukraine.

And Crew-10 safely arrives on board the International Space Station, making the trip home of the astronauts held up there that much closer.

Houthi leadership is now vowing revenge after a fresh round of U.S. attacks against the militant rebels in Yemen. Houthi-affiliated officials saying that at least 23 people have been killed and also that more than 20 people have been injured after U.S. airstrikes hit Yemen on Saturday.

U.S. President Donald Trump says that he took action against the Iran- backed group for targeting international shipping in the Red Sea. More U.S. action is expected in the coming weeks, but the Houthis claim to pose no threat.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Kevin Liptak.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump's decision to launch what he calls a decisive and powerful military action against the Houthi group in Yemen really amounts to the most significant military action that he's ordered since taking office.

Of course, the Houthis are the Iran-backed rebel group in Yemen that had been launching attacks in the Red Sea on commercial vessels, warships, interrupting this international shipping lane. And what President Trump is saying is that he will use overwhelming lethal force to achieve his objective, targeting the terrorist's bases, leaders and missile defenses. So, significant action here on the part of the president. You know, the Biden administration also targeted the Houthis in Yemen without a great deal of success in deterring their overall Red Sea strategy. What Trump administration officials are saying is different here is that this will be a more peaceful attack, that it won't be a one off, one day mission, that it will last days, potentially even weeks.

I think it also acts as a threat against Iran, a warning. Remember, President Trump just wrote the supreme leader of Iran in the last couple of weeks saying that he was ready for negotiations on that country's nuclear program. By taking this step, he appears to be saying that military action is on the table if they don't come to those negotiations.

That could be a point of discussion for President Trump as he convenes his national security team here in Florida.

Kevin Liptak, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

SANDOVAL: Let's now go to Canberra, Australia, and Malcolm Davis. He is a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. It is wonderful to have you on, Malcolm.

MALCOLM DAVIS, SENIOR ANALYST, THE AUSTRALIA STRATEGIC POLICY INSTITUTE: Thank you for having me.

SANDOVAL: Well, let's dive right in. I'm curious, what will the impact actually be on the region? And what does this move tell us about President Trump's position on Iran, do you think?

DAVIS: Well, firstly, the impact will be determined by how long these strikes continue to occur and how decisive they are. In your lead in report, you sort of differentiated what's happened. Now under President Trump with what happened under the Biden administration where they were very hesitant limited strikes, very reactive to Houthi threats and Houthi attacks. So, they didn't really create deterrence against the Houthis or against Iran to stop the attacks on international shipping.

I think if the Trump administration wants to do anything different, it has to be a much more decisive, prolonged attack on the Houthis and also on the Iranian support for the Houthis to essentially destroy the Houthis' ability to recover from attacks and keep on fighting. So, much will be determined in the next few days.

In terms of just how effective these strikes will be in terms of the impact on Iran directly, I think that what you will see is the Trump administration really ramping up the pressure on Tehran, basically saying, look what we can do to the Houthis.

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We can do that to you as well directly if you do not play ball in terms of your nuclear program.

And that is the key larger issue coming out of this that is more important than the Houthis themselves. It is how the Trump administration deals with the looming threat of Iran breaking out and getting nuclear weapons in a very quick amount of time.

SANDOVAL: Yes. And speaking of looming threats, do you think that the U.S. should be worried about any level of retaliation on behalf of the Houthis?

DAVIS: Oh, the Houthis will retaliate, absolutely. That's guaranteed. But we are talking about a U.S.-led multinational naval task force in the waters. The Houthi retaliation won't be that effective going up against that sort of task force with its sophisticated armaments and its command and control capabilities. So, I'm not worrying about the Houthis necessarily sinking ships, but the Houthis could also launch attacks on, for example, Saudi oil facilities. And that's something that maybe could be a little bit more worrying for the Americans.

SANDOVAL: Yes. Malcolm, it says if you're reading my mind, I was about to ask you also about international partners. I'm curious how much support will the U.S. need from them in order to maintain or even escalate its response against Houthi forces?

DAVIS: Well, as soon as the United States decides to launch an escalated air missile campaign against the Houthis, then they will need greater support from international partners, including those partners that are deploying ships into the region. Now, there're two naval operations going on here. There's the naval task force that is deployed that is multinational that is escorting merchant ships at sea. That's a more defensive operation. And then there's this U.S. operation, which has the ability to strike at the Houthis offensively.

And I think what you could see is the Trump administration calling on allies that have ships at sea in the first operation, the defensive operation to contribute to the second operational strikes. And so that could prove challenging from an international diplomacy perspective, given how the Trump administration has been treating his allies in recent weeks.

SANDOVAL: Finally, for me, I just want to go back to one of your earlier points about the potential limited impact on these strikes. We remember that President Joe Biden was subject to criticism for his ordered strikes against these forces in January. In fact, he conceded that the militants weren't deterred from carrying out attacks. So, how can Donald Trump be potentially more successful in denying this group its ability to stay so resilient?

DAVIS: He can't follow Biden's example and just do reactive limited strikes. He's got to have much more decisive use of force. He's got to go after the Houthi leadership, their command and control directly. He can't just be attacking Houthi missile facilities.

He's also got to go after Houthi resilience capability, which basically would mean destroying the Iranian lines of communication, the Iranian logistical support, their ability to provide weapons to the Houthis. Some words, deny the Houthi and Iran the ability to recover from strikes and then continue to attack shipping. So, I do think that if this is going to make a difference as opposed to emulating the Biden administration, what Trump needs to do is have a theory of victory. That is achieved through decisive military force and then ultimately blends into the Trump administration's approach to Iran.

SANDOVAL: Malcolm Davis with some expert analysis from Canberra, Australia, thank you so much, Malcolm. Have a great day.

DAVIS: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Now to a new development in Israel's deadly attack in Northern Gaza. The IDF now says that one of the people killed in Saturday's airstrike was involved in the Hamas-led October 7th attack. The military said earlier that it was targeting who they called terrorists and that it killed six people who were operating a drone that posed a threat to IDF forces. Palestinian officials say nine people were killed and that the victims included charity workers and journalists who were documenting humanitarian aid delivery in the area.

President Trump remains positive about Russia's response to his 30-day ceasefire proposal for Ukraine. He'll be debriefed this weekend by his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, who met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Moscow this week. Mr. Trump already said on Saturday that all signs coming from Russia seem to be hopefully very good and that the meeting in Moscow was very productive. I should say that meeting happened last week, depending on where you're watching.

The Russian leader has agreed with the U.S. proposal in principle, but added a list of conditions and demands that raised questions about his intentions.

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But many U.S. allies say that that response is simply not good enough. On Saturday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer led a virtual meeting on Ukraine involving some 25 countries. And as Nic Robertson reports, they wanted to push Moscow to the negotiating table.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So, this virtual meeting lasted about two hours, a British prime minister saying a bigger gathering of leaders that included leaders from Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Japan as well, included a coalition of the willing. And he said a lot had happened in those past two weeks, specifically Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, had signed up to President Trump's peace deal, the ceasefire, the 30-day ceasefire. And he said very clearly, Vladimir Putin is not doing enough. The world, he said, is watching. They're waiting for action. And then he laid out steps that this coalition of the willing will take.

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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We won't sit back and wait for Putin to act. Instead, we will keep pushing forward. We agreed we will keep increasing the pressure on Russia, keep the military aid flowing to Ukraine and keep tightening restrictions on Russia's economy to weaken Putin's war machine and bring him to the table.

And we agreed to accelerate our practical work to support a potential deal. So, we will now move into an operational phase. Our militaries will meet on Thursday this week, here in the United Kingdom, to put strong and robust plans in place, to swing in behind a peace deal and guarantee Ukraine's future security.

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ROBERTSON: Starmer didn't get into specifics about which country was going to give which contribution. He said more countries there that they were more contributions put forward during the meeting. He was asked in the press conference about support from the United States. He said, absolutely, President Trump, he said, absolutely committed to getting peace in Ukraine and all the support that comes with that.

Now, President Zelenskyy, who was also on that virtual call, thanked the various leaders who were on it, also pointing out that there were more than previous, saying it was important that these meetings were happening frequently. But he said very clearly, this was going to put more pressure on President Putin.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Everybody understands that Ukraine needs help as never before. Everybody greeted Ukraine with the real victory in Jeddah, the diplomatic victory. Everybody considers that this is a serious progress. And now Russia will -- it will be hard for Russia to get out of this situation. It has to show, if it agrees to ceasefire, that it supports the end of the war, or it wants to go on with the war. And this is what everybody is expecting, and everybody will give signals, both to the United States of America.

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ROBERTSON: Zelenskyy also thanked President Trump, but cautioned against President Putin's lies. He said that in the area of Kursk, where President Putin has said that Ukrainian troops are surrounded, he said, that's not true.

Now, President Trump had asked President Putin to spare the lives of those Ukrainian troops because Putin had said that they were surrounded. And then Putin had come out later and said that he'd given them the offer to surrender. Clearly, Zelenskyy implying here that Putin is trying to scam Trump.

Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

SANDOVAL: Dozens are dead as a severe storm system tears through the Southern United States and the Storm Prediction Center warning that the threat, it is still far from over. Some of these incredible pictures and more details straight ahead.

Plus, also cuts in funding for food aid put more than a million Rohingya refugees at risk. Those stories and much more here on the CNN Newsroom. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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SANDOVAL: Some of this heart-stopping footage shows you what it's like in some parts of the United States right now, as a family captures this as a tornado passed past through their home in Mississippi, where at least six deaths have been reported across the state. Violent tornadoes have carved a path of destruction and death across parts of the U.S. since Friday. The overall death toll from the multiday storm event now stands at 33 with concerns it will continue to rise. And the U.S. National Weather Service warning that this storm system continues to produce what appears to be large tornadoes, along with strong winds, really just some damaging winds that you -- you see the damage there.

And then you look at the radar, too. You see how it stretches across several states. More than 4 million people remain under tornado watches at this hour. Severe storms expected to continue pushing east on Sunday and impact much of the East Coast. So, do be careful.

Efforts to restore electricity service are underway in Cuba after the power grid collapsed there on Friday night, more than 10 million people still in the dark across the island nation. This is already the fourth nationwide power outage on the island in just six months. Officials there announcing Saturday that pockets of electricity have been restored in some cities, but it still remains unclear when the island's whole power system will be fully operational again. Cuba's president said that the government is working intensively to restore power stability across the island.

The World Food Programme is calling on the international community to step up assistance to Bangladesh's Rohingya population. Funding for the refugee group is under threat after reductions by major donors, and that includes from the United States, if new funding is not found, when the amount for food, or at least we do know that if the new funding isn't found, then the amount for food rations per person could be reduced to just $6 per month. And that's seriously reducing people's daily intake, as you can imagine.

There are more than a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, and at least 95 percent rely completely on this kind of humanitarian aid for their survival. And also, in recent months, more than 100,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh.

Kun Li, the spokesperson for the World Food Programme, outlined the consequences of this ongoing crisis.

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KUN LI, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME SPOKESPERSON: They have no legal status. They have no freedom to move outside the camps. They cannot work. So, their basic needs from food, nutrition, water, health, education are entirely dependent on humanitarian aid.

The immediate impact will be reduction of food assistance. We call it the rations. As you said, right now it's $12.50 per person per month. Imagine that. And without immediate funding, we have to cut it by half to just $6 per person per month. That's $0.20 per person per day for the Rohingya to eat. And here in Bangladesh, two bananas cost that much.

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SANDOVAL: Pope Francis has sent a clear signal that he plans to remain the head of the Catholic Church, even though he's still hospitalized in Rome. The Vatican says that earlier in the week, the pontiff approved a three-year reform process.

CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb with the details on that.

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: This has been a very anxious time at the Vatican while the pope's been in hospital. People have been gathering to pray each day behind me in St. Peter's Square.

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However, on Saturday, the pope sending a very strong signal that he's still determined to continue to lead the Catholic Church. He signed off on a three-year reform process for the church, which will culminate in October 2028 in a major gathering in the Vatican.

This is an extension of the Synod of Bishops process that the pope has made really the central vehicle for the reforms he wants to bring in the Catholic Church. The topics that are up for discussion are the role of women in the Catholic Church and the inclusion of laypeople in governance and decision-making, major topics for reform and renewal that have been resisted in some quarters. And the pope's decision to extend this process is designed to respond to that resistance. So, a very strong message from the pope on Saturday that he wants to continue to lead the church. He signed off on this, of course, from the Gemelli Hospital.

Now, we are going to expect updates from the Vatican on the pope's condition on Sunday, but he won't be leading the Sunday Angelus prayer for the fifth Sunday in a row. However, we will receive the text of his remarks.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

SANDOVAL: Still ahead, a successful mission to space. Crew-10 members, they floated into the International Space Station. There's some pictures from just a little while ago, believe it or not. Why this crew swap mission isn't like the others.

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SANDOVAL: Well, it's a show of Ukrainian solidarity down under. A small town cafe is taking on U.S. President Trump's handling of Ukraine and his recent tariffs on Australian steel and aluminum, just a beverage, at least one American beverage at a time.

Here's CNN's Ben Hunt with that story. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Your country's in big trouble.

BEN HUNTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a heated exchange in the White House, but it wasn't just U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that were riled up from that fiery meeting.

JAN GILES, CAFE OWNER: It's schoolyard bullying and we don't accept that anywhere. He, you know, you don't treat anyone like that, let alone a head of state, absolutely disgusting.

HUNTE: It also struck a nerve nearly 16,000 kilometers away from Washington in Binalong, Australia, a small village in New South Wales with a population of about 500, where a cafe is now adding surcharges on U.S. products. The owners say they're taking a stand for Ukraine and civility.

ADRIAN SYKES, CAFE OWNER: We just felt we needed to do something, might be small, to try and help the people of Ukraine, especially after what they've been through, and the way Trump and Vance treated Zelenskyy.

HUNTE: Marking up U.S. products like Cokes and taking American made spirits off the shelves. The cafe says it will donate the proceeds of its so-called tariffs to the Australian Red Cross Crisis Appeal for Ukraine.

SYKES: The reaction's been fantastic. Over the weekend we had a jar there for donations. People were putting in $20, $50. It's got our total donation up over $2,000 for the appeal. And, you know, sensational effort for a small town.

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HUNTE: And with the U.S. adding tariffs to Australian steel and aluminum, the cafe says that's all the more reason to continue their campaign, a small protest in global terms, but one that means a lot to some residents in this corner of the world.

SYKES: You may notice the American flag. We've turned that upside down. It actually symbolizes a state of distress. It's an international symbol for flags. And we feel that's how America's going right at this moment.

HUNTE: Ben Hunte, CNN.

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SANDOVAL: Look at some of these pictures that were just beamed back towards Earth. It was all hugs and smiles as NASA's SpaceX Crew-10 floated into the International Space Station. The four crew members were greeted by the team that they are relieving. That includes astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who have been on the ISS for an unexpected nine months. The Boeing capsule they flew in was deemed unsafe for a return trip, extending their stay in space.

Wilmore and Williams will return home with the other Crew-9 astronauts on a different space capsule after a few days of handover protocols with Crew-10. Look at that photo, really cool.

Britain's Prince William and Princess Catherine visited injured players before attending Saturday's Six Nations rugby match in Wales. The two are huge rugby fans, William for Wales, while Kate is the patron for England rugby. England won by a large margin, by the way. Also the game was the first sporting event attended by Kate since her treatment for cancer. So, it's great to see her out.

Well, the first race of the formula one season in Australia just saw 14 of the 20 drivers finish the race thanks to heavy rain. Lando Norris won despite the slippery conditions at Albert Park in Melbourne, defending champ Max Verstappen and Red Bull came in as number two. Lewis Hamilton debuts at least his debut race with Ferrari ending in a disappointing tenth place.

The luck of the Irish taking over the Chicago River turning its water bright green. You've probably seen this in years past. Crews were spraying dye into the waterway as part of its 60-year-old St. Patrick's Day tradition. Thousands of people lining Chicago's riverside and bridges on Saturday to see this annual spectacle.

It's a plumber's union that's in charge of actually greening the river. That union says that the dye is nontoxic, and it's also safe for wildlife in the river. And it all comes ahead of the big St. Patrick's Day parade on Monday, March 17th. It's an amazing skeptical -- spectacle, I should say.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. Quest's World of Wonder is next. Stick around.

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