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Erin Burnett Outfront
Senate Democrats Say They Won't Back House GOP Funding Bill; Musk Inks Two Major Deals In India After Key White House Meeting; Top CEO: "The Economy Is Weakening As We Speak"; Putin Makes Rare Appearance In Military Garb, Silent On Peace Plan; SpaceX Launch Scrubbed, Two Astronauts Still Awaiting Rescue. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired March 12, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:37]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
Breaking news, the government on the verge of shutting down and it's exactly what Elon Musk reportedly wants. This is Musk signs a major business deal with India after his White House face to face meeting with the prime minister.
Plus, Putin in rare form, the Russian president wearing a military uniform today, something so rare that we have only seen him do it publicly one time since the war began. Is that what he thinks of a ceasefire?
And more breaking news. Live pictures of the SpaceX rocket it's about to launch in these next minutes. Here we are awaiting it. We're going to show it to you live.
It is a crewed capsule. Astronauts on board going up to bring two American astronauts stuck in space. Right now, though, there are serious questions about whether that rocket can actually take off tonight.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news dead on arrival. The Senate at this minute, a major step closer to a government shutdown. A Republican bill to fund the government right now is a no go. And this is exactly what the most powerful person in the government right now wants.
"Wired" reporting that Elon Musk wants a government shutdown in order to make his job of slashing thousands of federal jobs much easier. It comes as Elon Musk's power is nearly on par with the presidents, at least in the eyes of the speaker of the House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I got the President Trump dial and now I have -- now I have the Elon dial, okay, because Elon has the largest platform in the world, literally. And if he goes on and says something that's misunderstood or misinterpreted about something were doing, he can blow the whole thing up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, you know what? That it is what it is. He stated the facts. It's still incredible to hear, though. I mean, the world's richest man here is perhaps also the most powerful. And he is using his access to Trump and the White House and getting even richer.
Well, I mean, his stock price has gone down, but he's getting more deals. The billionaire announcing overnight a major Starlink deal with the country of India. Now, that would provide internet service to more than a billion people. That is a transformative deal.
It is a deal that quickly came together less than a month after this scene, remember steps from the White House, Musk brought three of his children with him. His family he brought to a meeting with the prime minister of India. The president met with him and then Elon.
When Trump was asked about what Elon talked about, he said, well, I presume business deals.
Musk has long pined for this Starlink deal with India. That's the reality. It hasn't happened for years, though, despite his repeated attempts to win over Modi with flattery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: Well, I'm actually incredibly excited about the future of India. I think India has more promise than any large country in the world. I am a fan of Modi. So -- so I have to say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Big fan of Modi saying, I have to say that in front of the Indian flags, all of that. But guess what? That didn't do anything. There was no deal after that. That was back in 2023. No deal, no deal, no deal, no deal.
So then what changed? Obviously, what changed is being the right hand to Trump. And it is not just India. Musk, writing on Twitter over the weekend. It would be an honor to speak with President Mattarella of Italy.
Why? Well, there's a specific reason there perhaps. He is trying to salvage a $1.6 billion deal that involves Starlink, and these things are just the tip of the iceberg of how Musk's right hand man status is directly helping his businesses.
Just look at how many world leaders that Musk has met with since Trump's election. You know, they all want to meet with him anyway, but now he is Elon Musk, right hand man. China's vice president, Hungary's prime minister. You see them all there. And Musk needs the help in some senses. Tesla shares have lost half
their value from the high just after Trump's election. I mean, that is a stunning drop. He's still the richest man in the world, though, that might be actually more stunning than the fact that you could lose half the value of Tesla and still be that status.
But that loss is a blow that has Trump and his allies racing to Musk's defense. Trump, just as you saw hawking Teslas on the White House driveway while Trump's allies in Congress are now calling on the justice department to launch a, quote/unquote, domestic terrorism investigation into protests against Tesla.
And it's not just Tesla facing those headwinds. There's also SpaceX. And we are just moments away from the launch to rescue NASA's stuck astronauts. Obviously, SpaceX and the Falcon rocket have been instrumental in the space program.
[19:05:02]
It comes just days, though, after a SpaceX spacecraft blew up mid- flight. And we're watching that again. We're going to keep that up throughout the hour, because we're going to be bringing that launch to you live. We do anticipate it's going to be happening in just about a half an hour, and all eyes are going to be on it.
It is a fully crewed flight of astronauts going up to the International Space Station in that Dragon capsule.
Manu Raju is OUTFRONT on Capitol Hill, in the meantime, as we await that where we are now in all of this, one step closer to a shutdown, something Speaker Johnson says Musk is the guy that could make or break.
I mean, what is the latest, Manu?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there are actually a lot of Democrats who are concerned about going down to the path of a government shutdown because they're worried it could give Donald Trump more power. It could actually give Elon Musk more power to try to essentially purge the federal government by -- if the government is shut down, then Donald Trump's support among Republicans will be needed to reopen the government, perhaps Donald Trump, and could go further in his efforts to gut the federal workforce.
That is what I'm hearing from a lot of Senate Democrats at this moment. But they are left with a choice. The choice is to back a Republican spending bill that passed the House that they don't like, because it does not rein in Elon Musk, does not rein in Donald Trump, and includes domestic spending cuts.
Or they can block that plan. And that could lead to a government shutdown that could play out for a number of weeks. And that is the debate that is happening right now.
Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, today warning that Democrats were prepared to block that Republican bill. And I caught up with the one Democrat, most outspoken Democrat who is
pushing to keep the government open and plans to support that House Republican plan. And he is warning his colleagues on the Democratic side not to block that proposal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): If you shut it down, you will impact and hurt millions and millions and millions of Americans, and you run the risk of slipping us into a recession or even all kinds of other things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And there is just not much time here, Erin, because the House has actually left town. They are gone. They passed their bill on the narrowest of majorities just yesterday, and the Republicans are now planning to bring that chamber back.
So if the Democrats do in fact block this bill, then that could lead to the shutdown and the consequences could be significant. They could be prolonged. And that is weighing very heavily on Democrats at this key moment, doing that potentially could give Musk and Trump more power, which is why some believe that this shutdown could be averted.
But not much time is left, Erin -- 11:59 p.m. Friday night is the deadline for them to avert a government shutdown, and those negotiations will continue over the next two days to see if that could be avoided -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Manu, thank you very much, on Capitol Hill there.
And, of course, what Senate Democrats are doing will likely make Musk happy if it ends in a shutdown. "Wired" is reporting that Musk wants this shutdown.
OUTFRONT now, Brian Barrett, executive editor of "Wired", his whole team has been breaking so much news on Musk, DOGE; Marc Caputo, senior politics reporter at "Axios"; and Ryan Mac of "The New York Times", and coauthor of "Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter".
So I appreciate all of you very much.
Brian, can I start with you? I do want to get back to Musk's role in this looming shutdown. But first, this massive Starlink deal that we're talking about, a deal that came after Musk's meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi, didn't come after his visits to India. His platitudes about what a big fan he is of Modi. It came after the White House meeting.
And how much is Musk benefiting? How much is he using his position in government to help his businesses right now?
BRIAN BARRETT, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, WIRED: Yeah, he certainly doesn't seem shy about it, right? He is going out of his way to set up meetings with leaders of foreign states, like you said before, and I think he seems well aware that, you know, when they are meeting with him, they're not just meeting with Elon Musk, the right hand man of the president. They're meeting with Elon Musk, the CEO.
And I think there's a ton of leverage there that you can have when you're in those negotiations. Are you negotiating just over Starlink or are you negotiating over broader things that may impact India or whatever country happens to be the case? So he's benefiting that way? And then, of course, there's the direct benefit of having the president of the United States saying that he's going to buy a cherry red Tesla Model S Plaid edition on the south lawn of the White House.
BURNETT: I mean, that was jarring.
Ryan, the seeming conflict of interest. Maybe I shouldn't even have the adjective seeming there. It's beyond glaring in some ways.
RYAN MAC, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I keep using this phrase over and over again, but it's unprecedented. I mean, even the event yesterday we saw with the Teslas on the White House lawn, I've never seen that before. I don't think the country has.
And now, we're getting this played out over and over again. Again, the Starlink deal we're talking about in India. You know, we can talk about that in the context of a conflict of interest here because, you know, is that, you know, it's -- it's -- it's just something we've never seen before in terms of the level of power and scale there.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, you know, you're talking about its not just any -- any businessperson would suddenly have been put in an unprecedented position of power, but this happens to be the worlds wealthiest.
[19:10:04]
And he's sort of a celebrity in his own right.
I mean, Marc, with that Tesla event in the White House, it's very clear, right? Trump is making it very clear where he stands, right? I mean, that was about go buy a Tesla. Its lost half its value. A lot of people who used to want to buy Teslas don't like Teslas now, because they're not MAGA. And so Im going to try to get people who like me to buy Teslas.
I mean, how else are we supposed to see this, Marc?
MARC CAPUTO, SENIOR POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Well, I think that captures it pretty well. I don't think this is as much about rescuing Tesla as Donald Trump needing something to do to show positive movement and a show of strength. And the easiest thing, although the oddest, most unprecedented, and pick your adjective at the moment. Word for him to do was to hawk a car. And after that, watch the stock rise.
Because what Donald Trump wants to do is still communicate a certain show of power. And what we saw yesterday with Trump and what we saw Monday was what we haven't seen since the election, which was Donald Trump unable to out-narrate events.
Up until then, he had been master of the narrative. He had won every day. He's got aides who actually tracked the day by win, lose or draw. All of them have been W's.
Monday was an L. That was the day where the stock market fell. The president really couldn't say anything about it, and he had to regroup and figure out what to do to try to wring something positive out of a negative.
BURNETT: Yeah, it's really fascinating the way you put it. I mean, the context of knowing him and all of the reporting in his inner circle that you do.
I mean, Brian, just moments ago, the SpaceX launch was scrubbed. So I told everyone we're watching it. We were watching it. The weather, we understand, is perfect, but it was scrubbed.
Appears to have been technical issues. We're trying to understand exactly what happened here, but that's the launch pad there, Kennedy Space Center, Falcon 9 was a go up with a crew of four astronauts to the ISS.
And, Brian, underneath me, you're hearing the narration out of NASA, but we understand it's scrubbed. That is another thing when you -- when you look at this that that launch now delayed. But the contracts that Musk has with the U.S. government right. Forget India and other governments. The U.S. government are massive, both in amount, you know, scale and number.
BARRETT: And they really are. And I think, you know, this is where the DOGE of it all really comes into play, where not only is Elon Musk in a position where if he's talking with Congress and once Congress wants to save their district from DOGE impacts, you know, again, he's got leverage to sort of remind them that he is a potential recipient of huge contracts.
But he also, through DOGE, has visibility now into what everyone else's contracts look like, what those processes are. It's again, we're throwing around the word unprecedented a lot. It applies here too.
BURNETT: Right. Well, it's really important that you point that out. He can see everybody else's contract, all the terms, all the things that you would never be allowed to know, right? That would be -- that would be criminal. It would be collusion. It would be who knows what all of those things. And yet obviously in his role, it just is definitional.
So Ryan, let me play again what House Speaker Mike Johnson said about Musk. This was it is what it is. But still, hearing it just said makes you pause. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: I got the President Trump dial and now I have -- now I have the Elon dial, okay? Because Elon has the largest platform in the world, literally. And if he goes on and says something that's misunderstood or misinterpreted about something were doing, he can blow the whole thing up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Ryan, from all your reporting, you know, you hear Speaker Johnson say, I got the president Trump dial and now I have the Elon dial because Elon has the largest platform in the world literally.
How does Elon Musk, how is he relishing or living in this moment?
MAC: Well, for one, I think that's an incredible admission from the speaker and from Elon's perspective, I think he's relishing that as well. That's an incredible amount of power. You know, he is, again the most followed person on X. He has more than 220 million followers, and he owns the platform.
And when he wakes up on a given day, he can decide what is talked about on that platform. So if on one day, it's -- it's his unhappiness with a spending bill, which he -- he showed a couple of months ago, the first time around, we, we had this, he can, you know, spread misinformation or spread that unhappiness or kind of convey his distaste with this bill, which then kind of whips Republicans into line.
You know, he can drive votes and he can drive opinion on that side. And he knows he has that power. And he is he is happy to wield it.
BURNETT: Well, anybody who's on that platform now, his tweets always appear at the top or posts whatever, whatever we are supposed to call them now.
Marc, when -- when Trump hears Speaker Johnson say, I got the President Trump dial and now I have the Elon dial because Elon has the largest platform in the world, literally, how does that go over?
[19;15:10]
CAPUTO: I imagine it goes over pretty well because Elon Musk and Donald Trump, President Trump, are working hand in glove in this endeavor. Each of them has something that the other one wants but can't get. Donald Trump admires this guy as a multi-billionaire. A launcher of rockets, a creator of electric cars, an owner of a satellite company, and the biggest social media company in -- kind of in the world, at least when it comes to print reporting or news.
And Donald Trump is president of the United States. And that's something that the foreign born Elon Musk never could be. He's also the leader of a political movement, the likes of which we haven't seen in the modern era of the United States. So far, so good, between the two of them.
And when Mike Johnson has this sort of shoeshine boy moment, he is at least acknowledging a reality that these are the two most powerful men, and they can dictate the terms of what happens. I do know that within the president's circle, there is not as much frustration with Elon Musk, albeit sometimes his tactics annoy them and news breaks that they weren't given a heads up about. It's a sense that mike Johnson is no longer really the House speaker in a traditional role. He's sort of a steward, and Donald Trump is the day facto House speaker.
He's the guy who's got to get on the phone and tell people, look, you've got to walk the walk. You've got to walk the plank if need be. Otherwise, we're going to destroy you.
And hey, by the way, I got Elon Musk on my side. It's a really heady, powerful thing for a president to have something we haven't seen before. And for a normally infractious -- for a normally fractious caucus or conference or Republicans in the House, so far, Donald Trump has him on the line. And part of that reason is Elon Musk, and he's thankful for that.
BURNETT: It's really an incredible moment. Thank you all very much.
And next, the breaking news, an eye for an eye. Trump now intensifying his trade war after Europe retaliates against the president's tariffs. A top CEO says the economy is weakening, quote, as we speak.
Plus, is Putin showing Trump what he really thinks? Look what he wore today. Second time since the war began. He still hasn't said anything about the ceasefire, though.
And the breaking news, that mission to bring home the two astronauts stuck in space just scrubbed moments ago despite the pristine weather, as you can see there. We're going to tell you what were learning here about the concerns with that Falcon 9 rocket. Of course, one of Musk's from SpaceX.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:22:03]
BURNETT: Breaking news the economy is weakening. Well, that is the view. Those are the words of the CEO of BlackRock, which is the largest asset management firm in the world. And tonight, the CEO is warning that Trump's trade war is taking a toll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY FINK, CEO OF BLACKROCK: Talking to CEOs throughout the economy, I hear the economy is weakening as we speak.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Larry Fink would be -- that's the CEO -- would be talking to CEOs about the economy because he has more money to manage than anyone in the world. And that's what he sees. That's what he's hearing.
And it comes as President Trump is vowing to retaliate again because a trade war is, you know, artillery back and forth. So now the European Union responded to his 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum. They are announcing their own tariffs on nearly $30 billion in U.S. goods today.
Trump seated right next to the leader of Ireland in the Oval Office today lashed out at the E.U. for treating the U.S., quote, very badly, defending his on and off again tariffs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's called flexibility. It's not called inconsistency. It's called flexibility. But there will be very little flexibility once we start. April 2nd is going to be a very big day for the United States of America. The United States of America is going to take back a lot of what was stolen from it by other countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Art Hogan is OUTFRONT now, longtime financial analyst, market strategist.
You've been through many booms and many crashes, Art. So here we are. You hear Larry Fink saying that he's hearing CEOs, telling him that the economy is weakening as we speak.
Obviously, that's a separate issue from where the markets are up or down in any given day. What do you hear when you hear someone like Larry Fink saying that?
ART HOGAN, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, B. RILEY WEALTH: Well, I think it's a reflection of the amount of uncertainty we have because of trade policy and how it's been on again, off again. And really dissimilar to what we saw in 2018. And that trade war playbook.
So I think with that uncertainty and as it grows and gets momentum, you have CEOs that are pulling their guidance for 2025 because they really don't know what their input costs are going to look like. You have investors that are stepping back and de-risking their portfolios, and you likely have consumers that are putting off, you know, making major large purchases.
So it's -- we call it the uncertainty tax. And that just basically slows down the economy. And this can become very self-fulfilling the longer we have this uncertainty, because the administration continues to move the goalposts on what we're actually trying to accomplish with the tariffs and trade war.
BURNETT: Right. Which, you know, of course, he calls it flexibility, not uncertainty. You know, Jamie Dimon a few moments ago agreeing with you, saying uncertainty is bad.
Look, of course, it's bad. When people are uncertain, they don't know what to do. I mean, I guess, you know, someone made the point last night. Well, maybe some people will run out and buy that car because they're scared its price is going to go up significantly because of tariffs.
But it's all -- everything's out of whack and prices themselves -- I mean, inflation I know cooled a little bit, right?
[19:25:02]
Egg prices though are still up.
Trump posted an article on social media, Art, I don't know if you saw it. It says, quote, shut up about egg prices. Trump is saving consumers millions.
HOGAN: Yeah. That's quite a turn of phrase from somebody that ran on high grocery prices, was elected on inflation, and he was going to make that better. So it seems like that that's not the number one issue for him anymore.
But to the other point that you just made, which I think is really important people running out to buy things because they think the prices are going up. If you look at the import export numbers that just came out at the end of last week, it's the largest we've ever seen. So, companies are actually stockpiling goods to -- intermediate goods to manufacture. That can be a good thing if in fact, the trade war finally ends and then we don't have a surplus of supply.
But if the economy slows, those surplus inventories are going to create their own economic problem, but 155 billion.
BURNETT: And to your point, even if all that does pan out, then what Trump has said is one of the main points of his tariff is to raise money wouldn't happen because they'd stockpiled ahead of time, which would be just another add it to the list of tariff -- issues with tariffs.
A new CNN poll just came out, and it says 56 percent of the public disapproves of Trump's handling of the economy, which obviously is worse than any time during his first term. And I know you recently said, quote, this market is just blatantly sick and tired of the back and forth on trade policy.
Again, he calls it flexibility, right? But it's on again. It's off again. It starts to feel like, can you trust what he's saying?
And that's the question, Art. How much credibility is he losing at this point with investors and those CEOs?
HOGAN: Yeah, I think its the difference between what he said and what he ran on and what he's delivering in the first 50 days of his administration, right? So -- and that really has constituents upset.
So you're cutting federal jobs. A lot of those were Trump voters necessarily cutting federal programs that are affecting a lot of people that may well have voted for them. You've got immigration adversely affecting farmers and home builders.
And, you know, take all of that before you even think about tariffs and the on again, off again nature of how they're being delivered to us. So, that -- that creates a world of uncertainty. And it's not surprising to me that that -- that rating is as low as it is. And all of this comes from what we had assumed had been some sort of,
you know, business friendly, pro-growth administration delivering all the bad news up front with nothing to offset it on the other side.
BURNETT: All right, Art, thank you very much. It's good to see you.
HOGAN: Good to see you, too.
BURNETT: And next, Trump pushing Putin to agree to a ceasefire. But what do people in Moscow think? And what does Putin think? You'll see, next.
Plus, the breaking news, the SpaceX mission to bring home the two American astronauts stuck in space with four astronauts on board was just scrubbed. The weather was perfect. So we have some new details on what exactly has just happened and what this says about Musk's SpaceX right now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:32:35]
BURNETT: Tonight, Putin in rare form, literally rare. The Russian leader today meeting with his generals. He wore a military uniform, something that he has not worn, not publicly, not since shortly after the war began. Only one other time we could find.
Putin traveling to the Kursk region of Russia, where Ukraine launched its incursion into Russia. The Russian advances there, as they are getting -- winning back, come as the Kremlin remains silent on the U.S. proposed ceasefire.
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT tonight, and he is in Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A brazen attack, Russian troops sneaking through a gas pipeline to target Ukrainian positions.
The assault is starting, the soldier says. The Russians saying thanks to this assault, they've all but taken the town, Sudzha, one of Ukraine's last footholds on Russian territory.
Kremlin-controlled TV in breaking news mode, hailing the gains.
This is what the most important victory of the Russian spirit and weapons looks like, the host says.
The Russians have been taking territory in multiple areas along the front line in recent days, leaving some in Moscow wondering why they should even bother with a Trump administration ceasefire deal.
Now, Trump, like an ultimatum, says you stop the war because Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire, this man says. But what's the point? What ultimatum? We're dominating on the battlefield. After the Ukrainians agreed to a 30-day ceasefire in meetings with the Trump administrations negotiators, the U.S. says now it's time for Moscow to do the same.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: They're probably processing the news the same as the rest of the world is. So we hope to have a positive answer from them. The ball is truly in their court.
PLEITGEN: But so far, the Kremlin hasn't even picked the ball up yet. Russian President Vladimir Putin silent on the issue and his spokesman saying they're waiting to hear from the U.S., while the foreign minister, in an interview with U.S. bloggers, merely stated what Russia isn't willing to allow, like tolerating NATO peacekeepers in Ukraine.
SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Under any conditions, well, nobody is talking to us. They keep saying nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine, but they do everything about Russia without Russia.
PLEITGEN: This, as the Trump administration is saying, it's eagerly waiting to hear from the Russians, whose forces continue to grind down Ukraine's defenses.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[19:35:04]
PLEITGEN (on camera): And tonight, Erin, the Russians saying they want to continue doing exactly that, grind down the Ukrainian military. Vladimir Putin saying at that meeting in the Kursk region that he wants to oust all Ukrainian forces from Russian territory and even create a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory.
Putin, of course, saying in the past that Russia, as he put it, would not give in to anyone -- Erin.
BURNETT: Fred, thank you very much, from Moscow.
And OUTFRONT now, Fareed Zakaria, host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS".
And, Fareed, Putin still has not commented on the ceasefire, but as I noted, he was dressed in that military uniform today for a meeting with his generals. Last time we saw him in that uniform was -- was near the beginning of the war, when it was a few months in, in September of 2022. You know, on a day when he says nothing about the ceasefire. But that's the big question. He wears the military garb again.
Obviously, it feels like some sort of a purposeful signal or statement.
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, he wore it, I think, in September 22nd when the, you know, the war was in full fury, the initial phases of it. Putin has often modeled himself on Stalin. And you would see Stalin wear the -- you know, the Soviet marshal uniform. And in many ways, Putin is a kind of strange reincarnation of Stalin.
But what it tells me is that Putin very much views this as a war, that he is still committed to fighting. He has said very recently that he would make no concessions. He said this to a -- to a Russian citizen who asked him on the streets. He talked about how the ceasefire would simply mean that Ukraine could resupply, and he's been given the greatest gift by the Trump administration recently, which was the pause in military aid and the pause, most crucially, in intelligence sharing -- sharing.
So -- so Russian troops are on the move. They haven't -- they've -- they haven't really made massive gains, but they certainly have a momentum that they didn't have two or three weeks ago. And that's because Ukrainian soldiers have been operating in the blind without any intelligence.
BURNETT: And that's the impact of -- of Trump's decisions. I mean, it's interesting that Putin didn't say anything today. The Kremlin hasn't commented on the ceasefire directly, but to the point you make about Putin saying he is committed to the war and the signal he sends with what he's wearing -- you know, you heard the man in Moscow ask our Fred Pleitgen why Russia should stop fighting when they're winning.
And there's a popular Russian military blogger who said, and I quote, Fareed, any cease fire at this stage is pure treachery and sabotage. The Ukrainian armed forces are holding on with their last strength. So -- so that -- that sort of fits with what you're saying Putin's view is, does he have the bandwidth even in obviously the dictatorial world, you know, autocracy in which he lives to any real pressure to make a decision on the ceasefire?
ZAKARIA: Well, it's a very good question, you ask, because the man on the street who Fred interviewed, of course, is living in a Russian disinformation bubble in which he thinks that Russian forces are poised for victory. That's not actually true. As I said, they've gotten a temporary advantage in the last few days.
But think about it this way. Russian forces have now for two years, two and a half years, been trying to defeat Ukraine, which is a country that is one fourth the economy, one tenth the population. And they have not been able to advance their lines very much at all. In fact, they initially took some territory. The Ukrainians took back a bunch. And those lines have held.
So the Russians are not on the move. They are not surging forward. But the question we don't know is how much is Putin trapped in that information bubble as well? To what extent is he also only hearing good news?
It's not uncommon in dictatorships that bad news doesn't travel up. So it may be that Putin does think that he's doing better than he actually is, and it may be as a result, he thinks this is not the time for a ceasefire.
BURNETT: And what we'll see, I mean, the silence is deafening, the sartorial choices very loud.
Let me also ask you, Fareed, about the election just held in Greenland, because obviously Trump has said he wants to, quote, unquote, get the country for the United States. He's even threatened military action to do so. But then when the results came in last night, the party that won is not the party that wanted quick independence. It is a party that has criticized Trump's approach.
I know, obviously, you're talking about a small population, but this was the outcome. How significant is this rebuke to Trump?
[19:35:05]
ZAKARIA: Well, it's of a piece with what is happening everywhere in the world, which is what Trump doesn't seem to realize is when you assert this kind of aggressive, unilateral American nationalism, it provokes a certain kind of nationalism in other countries as well.
So what we're seeing in Canada is that the liberals, who were down 25 to 30 points in the polls, are now almost neck and neck with the conservative opposition, with a Trump like candidate who had been praising Trump until -- until very recently.
If you look at what is happening in Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum is more popular than she has ever been. You're seeing this in Europe, where centrist candidates are finding themselves moving up in the polls against, you know, far right candidates.
And in Greenland, what you're seeing in its own way is a sort of assertion of Greenlandic nationalism, because they are, you know, a separate people. They are kind of Inuit population. They view themselves as different from the Danes, but they definitely also view themselves as different from Americans.
And so they must resent the kind of paternalism and imperialism implied in Trump's overtures to them.
BURNETT: Yeah, paternalism. Such a crucial word.
Fareed, thank you.
ZAKARIA: Pleasure as always.
BURNETT: All right. And next, Trump promised mass deportations once in office. But so far, the numbers don't lie. That's not what's happening.
An OUTFRONT investigation ahead.
Plus, breaking news, the SpaceX launch to bring home the two Americans in space just scrubbed. What went wrong?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:24] BURNETT: Breaking news, scrubbed. The space mission to help bring back the two American astronauts stuck in space for nearly a year was just canceled. You're looking at live pictures of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket that you see there on that launch pad was supposed to launch three minutes from now. Actually, two minutes from now, 7:48 p.m. Eastern Time.
That was the launch time. The weather is perfect. NASA moments ago, though, said no. They scrubbed it, announcing a problem with the hydraulic system on the launch pad. There are four astronauts on board that SpaceX Dragon capsule on that rocket, two from NASA, for Americans, one from Japan and one Russian, all of them going up to the ISS.
And in return, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams were going to be coming down. They were supposed to be on an eight-day mission to the ISS. Eight days. Imagine that. You go up for eight days and you end up there for almost a year, 280 days. It is astounding to imagine, of course, physically, but mentally.
And they are now obviously receiving this news as well.
So with me now, former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger, and CNN aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien.
Jerry, can I start with you? Because you know exactly what this means. By the way, the Falcon 9 is an incredible rocket. Obviously, it is SpaceX. It's made by Musk's company, 390 successful flights, one failure, which was not a human flight. So that success rate is 99.74 percent.
Now, you hear that this was scrubbed. Perfect weather, hydraulic system on the launch pad. What does that mean?
CAPT. JERRY LINENGER (RET.), FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: It means there's a thousand things that have to go right.
Ad it's so good to see Miles over there. He is the correspondent that the astronauts all respected. So it is a privilege to be on your show, Erin, with Miles, I have to start with that.
But what it means is its disappointing, obviously. On the other hand, you've got to be able to retract that arm from that stack, and that arm is keeping things stable. You don't want to launch the launch pad into space. And so, you know, there's so many things that happen.
Back in our day, Miles, it was whether, some boat is out there where our solid rocket boosters are going to land. Zaragoza, Spain, had to have good weather because if we didn't abort, we didn't end up landing in Spain.
You know, you're talking rockets and so you're talking planet Earth and you need Zaragoza, Spain, to have good weather.
So all these things have to come together. And to be honest with you, Erin, I am always in awe every time a rocket launches because it is so hard to make all these things happen.
BURNETT: So, Jerry, just to understand here though, I'm not making this about blame, but I'm trying to understand who's responsible. The rocket -- there's no issue with the rocket as we understand it. If you talk about a hydraulic system with the arm that's holding it, who -- is that NASA's fault, or is -- that who -- who's, like, in charge of that?
LINENGER: No. Yeah. SpaceX kind of took over that pad, revamped that pad. It was a famous launch pad we used to launch, you know, Apollo and everything else from there. But the -- so it's kind of a joint thing. And it's still a joint thing with NASA and SpaceX all the time.
But that pad was designed specifically for that Falcon 9 rocket and haven't had a problem in the past. Again, it's preliminary. We're not sure exactly what's going on, obviously, but it sounds like the countdown was good. The fueling they do when the astronauts are on board, which is a little different.
They're sitting back in their seats for the last two hours and they are raring to go. You've got to launch escape system on top of them. So if there's an emergency, it'll pull the capsule right off that rocket.
So there's a few things going through their mind. And so I think when they scrubbed it, it was probably a, you know, the tension kind of goes down a little bit.
[19:50:03]
BURNETT: Yeah.
LINENGER: And then a little bit of disappointment. But then you say, okay, we're ready to go. We'll -- we'll do it tomorrow or whenever the launch, you know, and the launch window is.
BURNETT: Yeah. So they are saying -- they're going to try again I understand maybe it's going to be around the same time on Friday, Miles. So when you hear this and something like this and finding it out at this very last minute, right? They found it out in the last half an hour, or at least that's when they scrubbed it. Is this something that you would anticipate is -- is a quick fix?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Well, you know, it's hard to say. This is launch support equipment. It's the clamp that holds the rocket down. You want that clamp to release at the right time and stay tight at the right time. Very important stuff.
And as the great Jerry Linenger -- checks in the mail. Mr. Linenger.
(LAUGHTER)
O'BRIEN: As the great Jerry Linenger said, there's, you know, in the shuttle days, we used to say a million moving parts, all for the low bidder. It's amazing it ever got off the launch pad. And so, yes, they'll fix it and they'll get that back -- the launch going, it looks like the weathers going to be okay, and -- and the crew knows the drill.
BURNETT: So, Miles, it is interesting.
LINENGER: Hey, Erin --
BURNETT: Yeah. Go ahead, Jerry. Yeah.
LINENGER: I was just going to say I got a shout out to Miles. He called me, you know, thanks for that compliment.
But the one record I had was from reporting to NASA to flying in space was two years, one month. And that's Apollo, Gemini, everything else normally takes, what, Miles? Five, six years, if you're lucky to, to actually report to NASA, train and launch.
And it's funny because Nicole Ayers is on that rocket about to launch. And I was with her a couple of months ago now in Johnson Space Center. She actually escorted me around and talented as can be, you know, F35 Raptor pilot.
But she -- I said, man, you haven't been here that long. And she thought she might break my record. But now, with these delays, I think I'm okay. I think I still have that two-year record.
BURNETT: Miles, quickly, do you think there's any more pressure just because of the -- I mean, obviously this is a crewed mission, right? This is a crewed mission. The rockets incredibly successful, right? I talked about 99.74 percent success rate, but because of the public eye and the scrutiny on SpaceX?
O'BRIEN: No, no, I can tell you categorically the people who do this job block that out, that's not the way they roll. And -- and, you know, we should be glad of that for sure.
BURNETT: We should be. Thank goodness for something not to be driven by all of that.
All right. Thanks to both of you. I hope I will be here with you again. And we will -- we will see a successful launch. Thank you both.
LINENGER: Thank you. Privilege.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
BURNETT: All right. And next, this was Trump's promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's going to be called a Trump mass deportation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: But guess what? It hasn't happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:03]
BURNETT: Breaking news, ICE detention centers maxed out. It comes as Trump is failing so far to keep his promise of the largest mass deportations in history, that happened under President Obama, with roughly 3 million deportations in his first term.
Priscilla Alvarez has this OUTFRONT investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: It's going to be called a Trump mass deportation.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Donald Trump promised mass detention and deportation.
TRUMP: Since taking office, my administration has launched the most sweeping border and immigration crackdown in American history.
ALVAREZ: But his ambition is meeting the realities on the ground.
Detention space is now, quote, maxed out, according to senior officials. Even as federal authorities are under mounting pressure from the White House to arrest more immigrants.
TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: We need a minimum of like $86 billion. We're out of money. I mean, we're running out of beds in two weeks. I mean, we're at about 46,000 in custody now. We ought to be about 65,000 at this point in time.
ALVAREZ: Trump has privately complained that the number of deportations was not high enough. And amid frustrations, the acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director was abruptly moved from his post.
The Trump administration today pointing to new federal data revealing ICE is on track to outpace arrests in Biden's last year.
Since inauguration day, ICE made 32,809 arrests. Almost half of those were convicted criminals.
TODD LYONS, ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: I want to be clear that the ICE arrests in the first 50 days of President Trump's administration are outpacing those that were under the Biden administration.
ALVAREZ: But Trump still has a long way to go to meet his mass deportation pledge of deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. The number of deportation flights are similar to those under the Biden administration during the same period last year, according to data reviewed by CNN.
The Trump administration has used military aircraft to deport migrants at a much higher cost. Officials did not provide deportation data to reporters, despite repeated requests.
TRUMP: We're getting them out of here and we'll get them out. We'll get them all out. ALVAREZ: Trump continues to receive solid marks from the public for
his strict immigration enforcement effort, according to a CNN poll, 51 percent say they approve of his work on the issue. That's seven points higher than at any point during his first term.
KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: If you are here illegally --
ALVAREZ: Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is now turning to ads and rebranding an app that includes a self deporting feature to do some of the work for them. The administration has already spent nearly $4 million on the ad campaign, and is expected to pour millions more, warning people to leave the U.S. if they're undocumented.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALVAREZ (on camera): Erin, one of the key challenges for the Trump administration is detention, space officials telling reporters today that they have 47,600 people in detention. That is well over capacity.
Now, they say that they are evaluating what options they have. They're trying to grow, but they're also putting the onus on Congress saying that they need additional funds to try to get that space.
Now, also tell you, Erin, that the administration restarted family detention. That means that they can arrest and detain immigrant families. That was a practice that was suspended under the Biden administration, but it is now being revived under the Trump administration.
All of this, of course, as they hope to ramp up arrests. And then with that, the deportation of undocumented immigrants.
BURNETT: Priscilla, thank you very much. Such important reporting. Thank you.
And thanks so much to all of you for being with us for that.
Anderson starts now.
