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Connect the World
Protesters Clash with Authorities at Ebola Treatment Center; Trump Says He's Sending 5,000 U.S. Troops to Poland; Rubio in Sweden for NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting; Appeal for Information in Investigation into Former Prince; Dossier Shows How Mountbatten-Windsor Got Trade Envoy Role. Aired 9-9:45a ET
Aired May 22, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, anger and confusion over the Ebola outbreak sparking violence at treatment centers in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. It is 02:00 p.m. in Kinshasa. It's 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. From our Middle East programming headquarters, I'm Becky
Anderson.
You're watching "Connect the World". Also coming up this hour, as America's top diplomat meets with NATO ministers. He says President Trump is quote,
disappointed with the organization over its response to the Iran war. And the end of an era, Manager Pep Guardiola bids farewell to Manchester City
after a decade in charge.
Well, the stock market in New York opens about 30 minutes from now. This is the story as far as the futures are concerned. It does indicate a higher
open as investors count down to the Memorial Day holiday. More on that at the bottom of the hour. Well, there is growing concern and unrest over the
Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The World Health Organization Director General says that the outbreak there is spreading rapidly. The W.H.O. now reports at least 177 deaths are
thought to be linked to the disease, with hundreds more cases suspected. Well, protesters in the DRC set fire to tents at an Ebola treatment center
after officials refused to give up the body of a local footballer to his family for burial.
The father of another likely Ebola victim recounted what happened to his son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEOPOLD KATABUKA, FATHER OF SUSPECTED EBOLA VICTIM: We came to bury my son, and then we saw these people coming in numbers asking for the body of
someone called Eli (ph). They started throwing stones and set fire to the tents, and my son's body was left burned there. I don't know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Larry Madowo, following developments for us. You're in Nairobi today. You and I listened in to the W.H.O. press briefing, which was held
well, certainly an update that was held last hour. Just explain to our viewers what more came out of that briefing, Larry.
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, the World Health Organization saying that the risk assessment is getting revised. It is now very high for
the Democratic Republic of Congo, high at the regional level but low at the global level, which will be welcome news for people in the rest of the
world wondering if they are likely to get Ebola at their doorstep.
But it is concerning news for anybody in the DRC and anybody here in the region. That is why you see Rwanda now banning any travelers who have been
in the DRC over the last 30 days. Yesterday, Uganda banned all public transport between them and their neighbor, the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
And a short while ago, authorities in Ituri, that's the northeast of DRC, where this epicenter is, have banned most public gatherings, reducing it to
a maximum of 50 people, banning wakes, and saying all funerals must be carried out within strict protocols. Part of that is because Ebola often
spreads at funerals in some parts of the country.
People believe the final farewell is by touching the corpse of somebody who's departed. The World Health Organization saying this is problematic,
they believe it's been spreading for a couple of months. And even though 177 suspected deaths, and hundreds of suspected cases.
The only confirmed cases at 82 according to the World Health Organization. Part of the reason for that is just the slow pace of testing. It took a
while to get the right testing kits to the people in this remote part of the country, so that's kind of been a lagging indicator, but the science,
based on where they've seen confirmed or suspected cases, leads them to believe this is a much bigger problem.
And that is why the World Health Organization has released more than 4 million -- nearly $4 million. The U.N. Relief Chief adding even more to
help the DRC cope with this and bring it under control.
ANDERSON: Can we just lay out for our viewers what we learned about what happens next, as far as the W.H.O. is concerned?
MADOWO: I think there is a huge international effort right now to help the Democratic Republic of Congo contain the outbreak. You have seen the
surging of personnel and equipment more than 20 tons from the World Health Organization alone, from the European Union, 100 tons of medical equipment
from the Africa CDC, from the Congolese government, from the UK, from even Russia.
Everybody is pitching in to make sure that this does not get out of control. The welcome news is that the Bundibugyo virus is not as fatal as
the Zaire strain, which is much more common.
[09:05:00]
It claims the lives of between 25 to 40 percent of those who catch it. And the Congolese government has been at pains to tell the world that they have
experience dealing with this. They've had 17 outbreaks, and they've built up some knowledge over that time.
They have some of the world's best virologists in charge of this, but for the rest of the international community, there's travel bans, for instance,
anybody who's been in the DRC, Rwanda, sorry, the DRC, South Sudan, and Uganda, not allowed in the United States over the last 21 days.
And I think as this threat level changes, you'll see even countries here in the region begin to be a lot more vigilant, testing, masking anything
possible to make sure that they don't import cases from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and keep that population safe.
ANDERSON: Yeah, it's good to have you, Larry. Thank you very much indeed. More as we get it, of course. Well, President Donald Trump says the United
States will send an additional 5000 troops to Poland. That surprise move comes just days after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth abruptly canceled a
planned deployment of U.S. troops to the country, citing frustration with European nations who have quote, not stepped up when America needed them.
Well, Trump said his decision to move troops to Poland was based on his good relationship with the Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom he backed
during presidential elections last year. Meantime, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is attending a NATO meeting in Sweden, where he is reinforcing
President Trump's push for allies to increase their defense spending and share more of the security burden.
And he's also reiterating Trump's frustration with NATO members for their lack of support in America's war with Iran. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The president's views, frankly, disappointment at some of our NATO allies and their response to our
operations in the Middle East. They're well documented. That will have to be addressed, that won't be solved or addressed today. That's something for
the leaders' level to discuss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Melissa Bell covering this for us. Melissa, we are expecting a live news conference from Marco Rubio at some time, possibly
this hour. What are your sources believe he may say?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what will be interesting is, I think, to see just how far European allies will go to
placate Washington. We've been hearing over the course of the last few weeks, and again we heard it from Marco Rubio there in Sweden.
This frustration that they feel at the fact that NATO hasn't involved itself after all, in a war on which it wasn't consulted to the European and
the other allies within NATO, it was never part of the plan. The United States has been extremely upset about that, threatened to pull out.
Of course, this was the first big meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers since President Trump threatened to pull out of NATO, and since we had those
announcements about troop withdrawals. So, it was not expected that it would be particularly warm, but it is important because the big meeting, of
course, is in July in Ankara and Turkey, and that's when the leaders from the NATO countries will go and meet.
So, the idea was to try and smooth over some of these relations that have been so tested these last few weeks, one of the questions, then how far the
Europeans will go to placate. There had been talk, for instance, of some kind of NATO official involvement around the Strait of Hormuz or around the
United States.
There are many countries here in Europe that are opposed to that, including France, points out that this is a North Atlantic organization. It has
nothing to do with the Middle East. So, we'll see whether any movement comes out on that front, but we have at least already had more clarity,
Becky, on the question of the troop movements.
There had been these contradictory reports. The United States had announced 5000 troops were leaving Germany, that another 4000 were not going to
rotate back into Poland. Then we had this announcement from President Trump that in fact there would be more troops sent to Poland, or the result of
his friendship with the right-wing president there.
It appears that Polish lobbying has been successful. We've just been hearing from the Polish Foreign Minister that Poland's understanding is now
that American troop levels will at least there remain stable. But a lot of questions in the end about what NATO looks like going forward, given all
these divisions over the course of the last few months, and I haven't even mentioned Greenland, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, absolutely, that's a story that we were covering, sort of ad nauseum, only about three months ago, of course. I do just want to pick
up on anything that we might have learned about NATO's intentions when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz. And any efforts that they may be involved in
with regard to trying to get the, you know, those waters navigable again.
[09:10:00]
I mean, Donald Trump has been extremely frustrated with NATO from the outset of this war, of course, for not getting involved. It's not a NATO
issue. This was U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, of course. So, it wouldn't be part of the kind of NATO sort of set up per se. What do we know at this
point?
BELL: So, there is, of course, this coalition of countries that have come together, Becky, to try and ensure that the strait remains open once
hostilities have ceased, and it will involve, it could involve vessels accompanying ships through the strait in some kind of international
mechanism that would perhaps be permanent in order to ensure that it was never closed again.
But they've been very clear these countries this will only happen when hostilities end, much to the anger of Washington, who point out that
therefore the European allies and the others are not pulling their weight. Now one of the questions had been should NATO take now a more formal role
separate to that sort of coalition of the willing, in order to try and be involved in that securization of the Strait of Hormuz.
But it is extremely divisive on the European continent, certainly. And you point out, Becky, quite rightly, that NATO was never consulted, was never
told about what was going to happen, and it was certainly never any question that it was therefore going to be involved in a war that was not
its own.
But there are so many consequences for NATO as a result of this war, not just Washington's anger, but of course the depletion of weapons,
stockpiles, and specifically, Becky, the very high-end munitions, and this, of course, has consequences for NATO, and its ability to continue to
protect itself.
So many questions that emerge from the war in Iran. And I think when we hear Marco Rubio speak, we're likely to hear him once again speak to the
anger of the American President, his disappointment. But I think there's a great deal of anger on the side of the other allies as well, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and it's interesting that this is Marco Rubio dispatched to this meeting. Europe, many of these NATO countries and allies lectured by
JD Vance, the vice president, somewhat year and a half ago, in one of his first big speeches after the election of Donald Trump and his
administration, lecturing NATO allies.
And Europeans, of course, about how he felt about their inadequacies, let's put it that way. And of course, Pete Hegseth has been extremely outspoken,
the U.S. Defense Secretary extremely outspoken, not least in the last 24 hours about NATO's positioning. I'm interested.
This is Marco Rubio, as you rightly point out, we are likely to hear some of that anger repeated, but from one of the administrations who is perhaps
seen as more reasonable in his rhetoric than others, Melissa, would that be right? Would I be right in suggesting?
BELL: I think that's -- I think that's quite right. He's certainly considered, I think, within the American Administration one of those who is
most -- has the best understanding of the strength of NATO, so more on the side of NATO allies than other members of the administration that have been
particularly scathing about the non-response of NATO to the Iran war.
So certainly, the fact that it should be him is encouraging to Europeans, but certainly we're likely to hear repeated, even by him. I think more of
that disappointment, and I think another big question today is that issue of defense spending. So, we know that Europe, NATO allies are moving
towards 5 percent of GDP on military spending, in line with what President Trump's been asking throughout his first and second term.
And one of the ways in which NATO allies will likely seek to placate the United States and to bring it back into the fold will be, I think, to make
all of these pledges not just on the defense spending itself but also on the need again to replenish stockpiles, to get military spending turned
into weapons, and to sort of kick start the industrial base for re- equipment, really, of the European continent.
And their message is going to be that Europe intends to take much better care of its own security than it ever did in the past. Will it be enough to
appease President Trump? Certainly, they will be looking to hear him confirm that he's no longer intending to leave NATO, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yeah, and that NATO defense spending broken down has a share of GDP per European per country, there, as you were speaking. It's good to
have you. Thank you very much indeed.
[09:15:00]
And we are waiting on that press conference from Marco Rubio. We're standing by for that, and as soon as we see him start talking, we will, of
course, get you to it. Well, it has been one of the worst kept secrets in football, but now officially confirmed, the Pep Guardiola era at Manchester
City will come to an end.
After 10 years, 17 major trophies, including six English Premier League titles and this year's FA Cup. The 55-year old's final match in charge will
be against Aston Villa this weekend. The news comes just three days after the club were beaten to this year's Premier League title by Arsenal.
Well, owner of Man City, Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, paid tribute to the manager, saying, quote, I said a long time ago that Manchester City should
have the very best people at its disposal, both on and off the field. For 10 years, Pep has been the personification of that ambition.
He has made an indelible imprint on the DNA of the club. He has the unending gratitude of myself and the entire City family, a family of which
he will always be a part. Lot of sadness here, I have to tell you in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, you see an awful lot of light blue shirts on the kids
around here.
It's a big club for Abu Dhabi. They, of course, have owned it for a decade now. Well, you are watching "Connect the World". There is a lot more news
ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Police investigating the Former Prince Andrew are renewing their call for anyone with information to come forward. They also say they are
reaching out to a woman who claims that she was taken to an address in Windsor for quote sexual purposes.
Now the brother of King Charles was arrested in February on suspicion of misconduct in public office. That followed the release of the Epstein
files, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. The former prince denies any allegations of wrongdoing. Let's get you to London and to CNN's Royal
Correspondent Max Foster.
Good to have you, Max. British police do appear to be broadening their misconduct investigation. They are calling it, as I understand, complex.
What's the latest, as we understand it?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's complex. This is a complex charge, so this misuse of the position effectively is actually quite broad.
So, they're saying it's not a broadening of the investigation. It's always looked at abuse of position, so that would have stretched from sharing
documents, but also to potentially allegations or suggestions of sexual abuse as well.
[09:20:00]
But they've put out this statement because they want to make everyone aware of the -- this investigation, and effectively to call for more witnesses,
as well. They do talk about a case they are looking at in 2010, but they have -- and they've reached out to the woman involved, but they haven't
spoken to her.
They're really putting out the message that if you have any complaints, do bring them into this investigation. In terms of the complexity, Becky, is
because they've clearly found a lot of files and documentation that they're going through, so it's become large. We know that they've been going
through.
They took Andrew's computers, for example, so presumably more information is coming to light, but they are saying the investigation hasn't changed.
It was always broad, and they're just reminding the public of how broad it is, and for any witnesses to come forward. Andrew denying any wrongdoing,
of course.
ANDERSON: Documents relating to Mountbatten-Windsor's appointment as British trade envoy back in 2001 -- both of us will remember that, have
been released now. It was never formally vetted. That's one of the sorts of key takeouts from this. How significant is that? And what else do these
documents reveal?
FOSTER Well, they weren't vetted, that no one else was considered, but also that there were officials asking the question, does he have the right
experience for this, when he's just come out of the navy. Of course, at the time, there was no knowledge of any relationship that he had with Epstein.
I think one of the headlines that's really grabbed attention here in the UK is that through these documents, we learned that the queen pushed for
Andrew to get this position, and perhaps the government capitulated to that. The queen was allowed to do that. She wouldn't have expected any of
these documents to become public. They have become public now. It was a government decision.
So now pressure back on the government as to why they effectively gave Andrew this shoo-in position and didn't consider anyone else. He did have a
relative who was previously in the position, and those defending the decision are also pointing out that royals are already cleared to work on
trade work already, because of their broader role, but it does shed more light on how he got this position, which is really at the center of many of
the Epstein allegations hovering around him.
ANDERSON: Good to have you. Thank you. Max Foster in the House for you. Well, in the U.S., Jeffrey Epstein's longtime assistant has given the House
Oversight Committee three new names of alleged abusers linked to the convicted sex offender. It is being called a promising lead in the
committee's ongoing investigation to reveal the full extent of Epstein's network.
Well new effort to rein in President Trump's war powers in Iran was abruptly canceled. House Republicans axed the vote because they were on the
verge of losing. Republicans hold only a razor-thin majority in the House, and several party members were absent. Democratic House Leaders called
cancelation cowardly.
The vote now expected to happen in early June, when lawmakers return from recess. Well stay on Capitol Hill into what Donald Trump's critics are
calling a galactic blunder and stupid on stilts. Senate Republicans revolting against several controversial moves made by the White House,
including the nearly $2 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund.
That is expected to benefit Donald Trump's allies, and how they have left town before voting on a funding bill that President Trump desperately wants
passed. CNN's Manu Raju has the details for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The House and the Senate are now gone for recess after Republican leaders sent members home because
of disagreements within the ranks and inability to get there --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: All right, let's get you to Marco Rubio. We promised that he would be speaking in Sweden. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUBIO: -- that's known to our allies. I think you know what's happening now is that any decision that's announced or made is viewed through the broader
context of some of the, you know, the frictions that we've had in recent months, but at the end of the day, I think it's well understood in the
alliance that the United States troop presence in Europe is going to be adjusted, that work was already ongoing, and it's been done in coordination
with our allies.
I'm not saying they're going to be thrilled about it, but they certainly are aware of it, and you know, we have obligations in the Indo-Pacific, we
have obligations in the Middle East. We have obligations in the Western Hemisphere. So, this has been an ongoing process. It's not, shouldn't be a
surprise to anybody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- did you discuss the NATO force model today?
[09:25:00]
RUBIO: It didn't come up in directly in our -- but again, it ties back to the same conversation, and that is in a moment of conflict, what can
everybody commit, and that decision, I think there's going to be some announcements on it later today, in regards if it hasn't come out already
in the next few days, and it'll be a collective product.
I mean, that they've been working it through the internal systems of NATO, in terms of the force postures of what we would be able to supply, along
with others. Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly
structure that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary, the Iranian --
RUBIO: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- do you think is the case for the U.S. to reduce its contributions --
RUBIO: Well, I'll let the folks in the Department of War and over at NATO make those announcements, but this is not a decision that was made on the
back of a napkin. I mean, this has been an ongoing process involving other countries as well in the contributions they can make.
It's not just our force posture, it's what other countries can contribute as well to come up with something that works for NATO and that's realistic
and that allows us to force posture, for example, in a two-front conflict. So, but again, this is all technical work that's being done by military
people. These are not political decisions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary have you made --
RUBIO: -- sorry, are you from Sweden?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
RUBIO: OK. You have a great country. This is a great country. This is a beautiful place. Wow. Thank you. I wish you were here longer. And they keep
apologizing to me for the weather. There's nothing wrong with this weather. Miami is 95 degrees with mosquitoes and humidity this time of year.
That's -- all right. Yeah, but your sunrises are way too early. It's like 345 and the sun is that what's wrong with these people? It's not your
fault. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- report back to President Trump from your impressions of the housing board meeting. And also have you got anything reassuring to
say about the support for Ukraine that Sweden fear might be fading?
RUBIO: Well, I mean, Ukraine is getting more support than they ever have through the PEARL program that the United States continues to be involved
in. There's been no changes made to that program. Look, my job here today was to come and set the stage for what will hopefully be a successful
leader meeting in Ankara in about six weeks.
I think we all know what the situation here is. Number one is like always, and this is not new. I mean, if you go back 30 years, there's never been a
time in which there hasn't been a debate in American politics about what our presence and our contribution to NATO should be, and that is always
driven by what is the value of NATO to the United States.
I understand NATO's valuable to Europe, and it should be. It also has to be valuable to the United States. So, we always have to make that argument in
every administration, in every era, and that's what we're in the process of doing now, is explaining, you know, this is the value of NATO to the United
States, related to that is what our force posture is within that alliance, what our contributions are.
So, obviously, one of the things that I've always used, and I've long been an advocate for NATO in my time in the Senate, and one of the arguments I
always made was that these bases in the region provided us logistical options that we wouldn't otherwise have. And when some of those bases are
denied to you during a conflict that we're involved in, then you question whether that value is still there.
So that's going to have to be discussed. There's no doubt about it. I think there's also going to have to be some focus on how a year after the meeting
at The Hague, how much progress has been made in terms of the increased contributions? There are some countries that have doubled their defense
spending over the last few years.
There are others that are still lagging. In the end, the goal is to have a NATO that is strong, and the stronger our NATO allies are, the stronger
NATO is going to be. So --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you made progress today, sir, with the allies on getting the Strait of Hormuz fully back up and running into --
RUBIO: No, I would be pretty ambitious to be able to open the straits at this meeting here today, but I can tell you that what I hope there is, this
is what I hope for, and this is the point I made, is we all would love to see an agreement with Iran in which the straits are open and they abandon
their nuclear ambitions and so forth, their nuclear weapons ambitions.
That's what we would all hope for, and that's what we're going to continue to work on, and that's what work is ongoing, even as I speak to you now in
that regard. But we also have to have a plan B. And plan B is, what if Iran refuses to open the straits? What if Iran decides we refuse to open the
straits, we're going to own the straits, and we're going to charge tolls for it.
OK, at that point something has to be done about it, and I would argue that there are countries represented here today that are more deeply impacted by
this than even the United States is. So, all I'm saying and have said and I think this has been reiterated by others or other countries that agree with
me on this, is that we have to start thinking about what do we do if a few weeks from now Iran decides we don't care.
We're going to keep the straits closed, we're going to sink any ship that doesn't listen to us or doesn't pay us, then someone's going to have to do
something about it. OK, they're not just going to voluntarily reopen the straits in that scenario. So, we have to start thinking about it. I raised
that point today.
I got a lot of nods, I got a lot of people that came up to me afterwards and acknowledged it, but we don't have an announcement for you today in
terms of something that's happening. I know there's a plan in place for what to do if the shooting stops. It's what the French, UK initiative talks
about when the conditions are set.
Well, what they mean by where the conditions are set is when no one is shooting, and but we have to have a plan B for if someone is shooting. How
do you reopen the straits? And so, I made that point today. I don't know if that would be a NATO mission necessarily, but it would certainly be NATO
countries that can contribute to it.
[09:30:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- of Canada or European partners with regard to reopening the straits today, anything that they could --
RUBIO: No. No concrete asks today. I mean, that's not what the purpose of this meeting was, but I raised the point I just made a second ago, and that
is that at some point, you know, ideally they open the straits, you still, if let's say Iran decides to open the straits, and say, OK, we're not going
to shoot at people anymore.
Someone's still going to have to go in and reduce these mines, and some of these countries have a lot of mine sweepers, so they could play a key role.
And I think that's the utility of the UK-French mechanism that they've set up. But I'm saying plan B needs to be, what if Iran says, no, we refuse to
open the straits, then someone's going to have to go in and do something about it.
That doesn't mean we couldn't do it. We could, the United States could do it, but there are countries that have expressed an interest in potentially
being a part of something like that if, in fact, we get to that point. We don't need their help, but they're willing to do it, and I think we should
take them up on it if they are.
But I don't think there's been any firm commitments or firm asks today it would be premature, but I just raised the issue that this is something we
may need to confront at some point again. If we can't get an agreement done, we'd prefer to get an agreement done. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- question please.
RUBIO: Yes, your country, I have to.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- with the Swedish Administration today. What was the most important outcome of that meeting
RUBIO: With your administration here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
RUBIO: Oh, first of all, like, again, I told them what I told you, they did a great job of hosting this, and they've been a model ally, really a
tremendous addition to NATO. Beyond that, we are cooperating. We have, for a long time, cooperated on issues of technology and so forth.
As an example, Ericsson is a very important company. It's one of the only companies in the world that can compete in 5G and 6G with Huawei, for
example. So, we have a vested interest in that we've partnered with Swedish companies for a very long time.
Today we signed a memorandum of understanding that further adds to our cooperation on biomedicine, biotechnology, AI, all of these innovative, and
we're building on a foundation of years and years, actually decades of cooperation between our two countries. In fact, that the first country in
Europe that signed on to Pax Silica was Sweden.
So, we have already sort of a pre-existing relationship when it comes to collaborating on innovation and in technology that just makes it logical to
build on, and that's what we worked on today, and that I think is very meaningful. What we signed today, because I just think it's going to give
further impetus to what we've already done in the past together.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- President Trump and President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan, if that happens, and --
RUBIO: What I do, what now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you join a call between President Trump and President Lai Ching-te of Taiwan if that call happens? Can you tell us if
preparations aren't away for that as the president --
RUBIO: Yeah, I don't have any news on that for you today. I just. I don't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir -- 3.0 is there a concrete timeline? Because many Europeans are maybe scared that we have less Americans. It's still the most
powerful army in the world, so they want to know how much time do we have for this transition.
RUBIO: Well, I'm not. I don't look. I don't set those timelines, and I'm not going to give you a timeline today, other than to say that it's
something that needs to happen, you know, and I think there's a growing acknowledgement in Europe, and look, every. I think that's the challenge.
OK, and there's not a criticism, it's the challenge, even though this is a coalition in terms of NATO, and even the EU is still a collection of
individual states who all have different politics and all have different budgets and all have different political considerations, and understanding
some of these countries have done a lot already.
And are doing, you know, well ahead of schedule, and others not as much, you know, and for a variety of reasons, and so that's always the challenge
with this is that it's at the end, even though it's an alliance, you're dealing with, you know, individual countries who have their own political
dynamics at play, and, but look, it can't take forever, because ultimately there are decisions we need to make in terms of our own global force
posture.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- of Qatar in terms of negotiating an end to the Iran war. There's some reporting today that a Qatari delegation negotiating team
is in Tehran, coordinating with the U.S. on trying to bring the war to an end.
RUBIO: Well, the primary interlocutor on this has been Pakistan and continues to be, and they've done, you know, I think an admirable job, and
that's what we continue to work through. Obviously, other countries have interests, because, especially Gulf countries that are in the middle of all
this, may have their own situation.
Going on we talked to all of them, but I would just say that the primary country we've been working with on all of this is Pakistan, and that
remains the case, and it's my understanding he was supposed to go yesterday, but could be as early as today, that Field Marshal Munir could
be traveling there very, very soon.
And we're in constant communication with him at the highest levels of our government, are constantly talking to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Sorry, sir, do you think that the administration has to respect 76,000 threshold troops deploying U.S. troops of parliament in
Europe or set by Congress, or do you think you can go below that?
RUBIO: Below the --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 76,000 troops --
[09:35:00]
RUBIO: You're asking me a legal question, like of laws, or no, we need to, the United States has global military commitments. We've made commitments
to South Korea, to Japan, to other places as well. We're constantly reevaluating the threat matrix in the world. Where could a conflict emerge?
Are we properly postured, and so forth? And so, this is always the work every department of, or every Pentagon, over every administration has
constantly had to reevaluate these things. And so, you know, we'll continue to reevaluate. That's been an ongoing process that started from the first
day of this administration, and throughout it in coordination with NATO countries.
So, none of this is surprising, although obviously I understand why it creates some nervousness, but I think there's a broad recognition that
there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons. In fact, there was a surge
after the, you know, the -- for example, the movement of troops from Germany that was announced a week ago.
The Germans didn't freak out about it, because they knew it just took us back to the 2022 numbers, and it was, I think, a reduction of less than 11
or 12 percent of our total presence there. And understand, sometimes when these numbers come out, these aren't just people with guns, these are
support staff.
I mean, there's all kinds of other things, these aren't just fighters, war fighters necessarily, they're all the support that comes with it. So,
although they may be in uniform, and so, nonetheless, I mean, but that's always going to be an ongoing process. All right, I got it. I do have to
run, so a couple more --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- for NATO to play when it comes to the situation in Cuba.
RUBIO: Yeah, I think, NATO is far from Cuba -- we haven't talked about that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Sweden's role within NATO.
RUBIO: Important. I mean, Sweden has been an incredible addition to NATO. Understand, there's a country that basically had to defend, you know,
defend itself for a very long time, but it has a robust and mature manufacturing sector, industrial sector, technology sector. So, look, this
is not a criticism.
So, I don't want you guys to read into this as like I'm criticizing some country, but generally, you know, the additions to NATO have been countries
that joined because they were in a weak position, and so they joined because they needed the collective strength of an alliance, but when we
added the two countries, Sweden being one of them.
These are two countries that brought to the table capabilities that NATO didn't used to have, and with whom we've already had long-term defense
agreements for a very long time, and cooperation, so they were in Sweden was an incredible addition. It made the alliance much stronger, no doubt
about it.
And especially now, we're talking about one of the things you talk about is the defense industrial base. I mean, Sweden had a mature defense industrial
base that it now brought into NATO. So, the opportunity we already work on aircraft together, and so forth.
The ability to build on that is extraordinary, and that's one of the things we want to be able to do, and beyond defense, you know, on other areas that
touch on defense, but maybe on that defense direct.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- Mr. Secretary --
RUBIO: Did you get a question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the one --
RUBIO: -- I know, but this is my last one. I apologize. I got to fly to India. Go ahead. Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Greenland and the Arctic have you been discussing?
RUBIO: We had an Arctic. Well, we didn't discuss Greenland today, but we had an Arctic meeting today of the seven countries, and very positive.
We'll have a joint statement. I don't know if it's out yet. Should be out in a moment. And I think there's a growing although this is an effort
that's pre-existed.
I think there's a growing commitment to make it a regular part of our engagements as NATO is to focus on Arctic security. For obvious reasons,
we're an Arctic nation. We're always going to be focused on the Arctic. It's great to see that other countries are part of this effort now, and
that it's going to play a more prominent role.
The Arctic is going to play a more prominent role in NATO, and in discussions around NATO. So, we had our political officers met a few days
ago and worked out a lot of details on the joint statement that we had the foreign ministers meeting today, and potentially a leaders' level meeting
at some point on it as well.
So, it's a good forum within NATO, and I thought today was very positive, and the joint statement should reflect that. OK, I said that was, I'll do
one more, because I'm a nice guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- I apologize --
RUBIO: Right, I'm going to do one more, and then I'll do you, because you're so persistent. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you. Have the peace negotiations under American leadership in Ukraine stolen? Do you think Europeans --
RUBIO: Yeah, the peace negotiations on Ukraine under American leadership. Let me just say we got involved, OK, because we were told we were the only
ones that could do it. We were the only ones that the Russians and the Ukrainians would talk to, so we got involved. They were not fruitful,
unfortunately.
That's the play. We stand ready to continue to play that role, despite leaks that are not true, despite stories out there about us forcing the
Ukrainians to take this position or that position, which were not true. If we see an opportunity to pull together talks that are productive, not
counterproductive, and that have the chance to be fruitful.
We're prepared to play that role. There are ongoing, there are no such talks occurring at this time, but we hope that will change, because that
war can only end with a negotiated settlement. It will not end with a military victory by one side or the other, at least from a traditional
standpoint of how military victories are defined.
[09:40:00]
So, it will have to lead, and if we can play a role in making that happen, the president is very much interested in doing it. We just, you know, over
the last few months, just sort of sensed that there wasn't a lot of progress being made, but maybe dynamics will change, and if they do, we
stand ready to play whatever constructive role we can play.
If someone else would like to handle it, they should, but it doesn't appear to be anybody else in the world right now that can handle it, so we're more
than happy to do that if the opportunity presents itself to have constructive and productive talks. We're also not interested in getting
involved in an endless cycle of meetings that lead to nothing. OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- appreciate -- the president said that 5000 troops will be going to Poland. Keep it clarified, where will they be coming from?
A separate --
RUBIO: They're be coming from America. They're Americans. Oh, you mean specifically where? I'll leave the details on that to the Department of War
to announce all these --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five additional five --
RUBIO: Yeah, but like I mean fairness, I'll leave it to the Pentagon to tell you the specifics of how logistically that's going to work. You know
that's not my place to answer --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- there must be something you can respond. Can I get your reaction to recent Russian, increasing Russian campaign targeting
Baltic countries?
RUBIO: What's concerning? I mean, you always worry about escalation, right? You always worry about that. We understand, you know, these countries feel
threatened by it, obviously, for obvious reasons. So, it's a concerning thing, because you always worry that something like that can spark into
something bigger, and that's always a possibility.
And so, we're concerned about it, we're watching it carefully, we're obviously engaged with our allies in NATO on that regard, in terms of
what's happening, and we keep up to date. But the underlying response to your question is, we're concerned about it, because we don't want it to
lead to some broader conflict that can really lead to something far worse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Iranians today said, Mr. Secretary, that there's some forward movement --
RUBIO: Yeah, I said the same thing. Can't believe I said the same thing that the Iranians did -- There's been some progress. I wouldn't exaggerate
it. I wouldn't diminish it. There's more work to be done, but look, yeah, there's been some, you know, and that's a good sign. I'm glad they said
that.
We're not there yet. I hope we get there. The president would prefer to do a good deal, but is you asked me if I'm optimistic. I don't characterize it
as optimistic or pessimistic. It's we're going to respond based on the facts as we see them and as they emerge. So, what the president has
outlined is his priorities are clear.
Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. The issue of highly enriched uranium has to be discussed, its disposition has to be dealt with, and of course,
the issue of future enrichment has to be dealt with as well. Those are the core pillars of any sort of agreement, in addition to opening the straits,
of course.
So, so I think there's been some progress, but I wouldn't, we're not there yet, and hopefully that will change. It may not, honestly, it may not.
We're dealing with a very difficult group of people, and if it doesn't change, then the president has been clear he has other options.
He prefers the negotiated option and having a good deal, but he himself has expressed concern that maybe that's not possible. But we're going to keep
trying. I know our guys are still working on that very hard. So, all right, guys. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: OK. All right. Marco Rubio is in Sweden for the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting on Trump's insistence that countries increase their
defense spending. He said his administration has to make the argument that NATO is good value for America. He said that the NATO force model did not
come up in meetings today.
He did, though, say that U.S. troop presence in Europe will be quote adjusted on Iran. He said there has been some progress, but we are not
there yet. He said he is neither optimistic nor pessimistic. He said he hopes for an agreement with Tehran, where the Strait of Hormuz is open, and
that they abandon their nuclear weapons ambitions, as he described them.
We do need a plan B, he said. Should they refuse to open the strait and charge tolls. We need to start thinking about what that looks like, because
someone needs to do something about it. He said in that scenario. And on mediation efforts, he said Pakistan is where they are focused, and he said
the Pakistani Field Marshal General Munir, should be traveling to Iran today.
I'm going to take a very short break back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:45:00]
(WORLD SPORT)
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