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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
U.S. National Security Adviser Acknowledges Adding Reporter; Europe Considers Security Options After Trump Admin. Insults; Russia Agrees To Halt Black Sea Fighting With Conditions; New Chinese Maritime Technology Is Spooking Taiwan; Tech Startup Buys Napster To Transform Music Platform. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired March 26, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:21]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Wednesday, March 26th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.
And straight ahead on EARLY START.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not a perfect technology. There is no perfect technology.
TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: There is no classified material that was shared in that.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): So then if there were no classified material, share it with the committee.
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): This was a huge mistake, correct? No.
USHA VANCE, U.S. SECOND LADY: I'll be visiting Kalaallit Nunaat Greenland.
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There was so much excitement around Usha's visit to Greenland this Friday. I didn't want her to have all that fun by herself. And so, I'm going to join her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She occasionally comments on your Instagram post, doesn't she? So, you know, it's probably a sign that you were like friends, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Internet is a huge influence on our children. It's parenting our children just as much as we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: We begin with the ever changing, continuously evolving, often contradictory explanations coming from the Trump administration as officials try to explain why sensitive military plans were discussed on the commercial app Signal. U.S. national security advisor Mike Waltz now taking full
responsibility for mistakenly adding a journalist to the chat. He also attacked "The Atlantic" editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg and said that he has asked Elon Musk for help in getting to the bottom of the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Look, a staffer wasn't responsible. And look, I take full responsibility.
Have you ever had a -- have you ever had somebody contact that shows their name? And then you have and then you have somebody else's number?
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Oh, I never make those mistakes.
WALTZ: Right. You've got somebody else's number on someone else's contact. So, of course, I didn't see this loser in the group.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Capitol Hill, meantime, the Senate Intelligence Committee heard from the director of national intelligence and the CIA, both of whom were on that group chat. They said repeatedly that they couldn't recall specific details, yet they were certain that no one shared classified information.
Eventually, though, they agreed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was responsible for determining if the information was classified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Defer to the secretary of defense and the National Security Council on that question. Same answer, and defer to the Department of Defense on that question.
SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): Are you aware that the secretary of defense declassified this information prior to the --
JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR: I'm not.
REED: At what point he did declassify it? Do you agree?
GABBARD: Yes. I defer questions to the secretary of defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Hegseth meeting with U.S. troops in Hawaii offered a terse and familiar response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Nobody's texting more plans. I know exactly what I'm doing, exactly what we're directing, and I'm really proud of what we accomplished, successful missions that night and going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And during an interview with Newsmax, President Trump tried to deflect from the controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Now, it wasn't classified. As I understand it, there was no classified information. There was no problem. And the attack was a tremendous success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Now, some Republican lawmakers are sticking by the president and his team, while others say that an investigation may be necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think the administration has acknowledged it was a mistake, and they'll tighten up and make sure it doesn't happen again. I don't know what else you can say about that.
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): Well, it was a mistake. You know, we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. And I don't know how it happened.
SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): It's a concern. And we're going to look into it. It appears that mistakes were made, no question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: More now from CNNs Jeff Zeleny reporting from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump and White House advisers worked feverishly throughout the day on Tuesday to contain the political fallout from, really a rising scandal over a breach in national security. But the president, addressing reporters on Tuesday, said no classified information was contained in those messages.
TRUMP: There was no classified information. As I understand it. They used a app, if you want to call it an app, that a lot of people use, a lot of people in government use, a lot of people in the media use.
ZELENY: As questions were swirling about the fate of national security adviser Mike Waltz, the president invited Waltz to sit with him in the cabinet room of the White House on Tuesday afternoon. He said Waltz has nothing to apologize for. However, he did say that lessons should be learned from this, and one of the lessons, he believes, is to not have such conversations on encrypted messaging systems, like a signal.
But it remains an open question what else there could be out there?
[05:05:03]
Jeffrey Goldberg at "The Atlantic" was the subject of a deep and withering criticism from the White House that the president simply was trying to blame the messenger. It's a familiar page out of the Trump playbook. There is no doubt about it. But Goldberg says he does have other messages, and he indeed saw classified information.
So, the bottom line to all of this is if Congress decides to pursue this, if an investigation does continue, that could unravel more of this. But for now, at least, the White House believes they contained at least the political fallout. The question is, if it's the national security fallout.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And the Signal group chat also highlighted the Trump administration's clear disdain for Europe and its reliance on the U.S. for security.
In one message, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth accuses European allies of freeloading, calling it, quote, pathetic. Now, European leaders are trying to figure out the best way to respond, and some agree that Europe needs to start relying more on itself and not the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER STUBB, FINNISH PRESIDENT: How do you make sure that America stays engaged in European and Transatlantic security, and that you need to work on by making NATO as appealing as possible and making the alternative cost of staying out of NATO too high. And I think that's what the American administration is trying to do. And I think they're actually doing the right thing. Europeans do need to take more responsibility for their own defense and their own security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: CNN's Clare Sebastian has more reaction from Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, Europe already knew that the Trump administration no longer wanted to pick up the tab for its security. President Trump has made that quite clear. But the Signal chat delivers the message again. The highest echelon of the U.S. government, unfiltered.
We'll take Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth comment on how he shared Vice President Vance's loathing of European freeloading, calling it, quote, pathetic in block capitals. Well, it's hard to find a European official who doesn't broadly agree that Europe needs to do more to fund its defense. We hear this a lot when it comes to Ukraine. But for those European countries that have not sat on the fence when it comes to tackling the Houthis, this was still jarring. The U.K., along with the Netherlands, participated in strikes directed by the Biden administration last year, and the U.K. actually provided air to air refueling for the very strikes discussed in this chat. Add to that the comment, which "The Atlantic's" Jeffrey Goldberg deduced came from Stephen Miller, Trump's homeland security adviser, about extracting an economic gain from the Europeans for these strikes because they believe, of course, that Europe also benefits. Well, that more evidence the administration sees its alliances as transactional and not built on shared values.
Well, this also raises, of course, practical concerns around the safety of sharing intelligence with the U.S. here in the U.K., part of the five eyes alliance, of course, the prime ministers spokesperson said they're still confident they can share intelligence with the U.S., but they felt the need to make it clear that there are, quote, strict rules and arrangements for secure communications.
The head of the opposition liberal Democrat Party called for an urgent review of intelligence sharing with the U.S.
The European leaders, for now, seem to be holding their nerve on this. But it is another test for the transatlantic alliance they're trying to preserve. A former Belgian prime minister and MEP today calling it a wake up call.
Clare Sebastian CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Now, two new signs of progress in efforts to end the fighting in Ukraine. The White House says that the two sides have agreed to stop attacking ships in the Black Sea and to suspend strikes on energy facilities for 30 days, but there are strings attached from Moscow. The kremlin has said that it will only comply after sanctions are lifted on banks involved in agriculture, as well as food and fertilizer exports.
Ukraine's president says that his country has no faith in the Russians to abide by the terms of the deals, but President Trump says that he believes Russia wants the war to be over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think that Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be they're dragging their feet. I've done it over the years. You know, I don't want to sign a contract. I want to sort of stay in the game, but maybe I don't want to do it quite. I'm not sure, but no, I think Russia would like to see it end. And I think Zelenskyy would like to see it end at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Let's get to CNN's Fred Pleitgen, following all of this live from Moscow. And Fred Zelenskyy saying that these may be the first steps toward a more sustainable and fair agreement. Where do things stand this morning?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it seems as though its still pretty far away from that. But as far as this Black Sea initiative is concerned, certainly, both the Russians and the Ukrainians and also the United States agree that there shouldn't be any more fighting going on in the Black Sea, that military measures there should halt.
There should be freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, which, of course, is so very important, especially for the Ukrainians to export a lot of their grains and other agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. And then they also say that civilian ships should not be used for military purposes, and all that should be monitored. So, in all the main things, the sides agree.
Where the Russians don't agree or where they want more is they say that they want their agricultural bank to be taken off sanctions lists and other areas as well that pertain to shipping, like for instance, also their shipping industry as well.
[05:10:07]
Very difficult to see that happening in a very short period of time. But it was quite interesting last night where the Ukrainians came out and said, from their perspective, this deal is in force at the moment that it was announced by the United States, whereas the Russians are saying it will only come into force once these criteria are met. Of course, difficult for the U.S. if it wanted to, to actually make all that happen because there are U.S. sanctions on these Russian banks.
But there are, of course, also European sanctions. So that could still be quite a ways off nevertheless. At the same time, both the Ukrainians and the Russians do agree that a deal like this is necessary, Rahel.
SOLOMON: And, Fred, how far would you say we are if you can even say at this point, from a full ceasefire?
PLEITGEN: I think it is obviously impossible to say, but it certainly still seems as though it is pretty far off. It was quite interesting. I was actually in touch yesterday with the kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, and one of the things he hailed was, for instance, a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, where he said one of the things that actually had been agreed is a list of -- of areas that won't be targeted, including gas pipelines, oil facilities, nuclear facilities, of course, as well.
However, a full ceasefire is still pretty far off. And there you still have that fundamental disagreement that appears between the U.S. and Ukraine on the one side and the Russians on the other side, where the U.S. and Ukraine are saying get the ceasefire in force and work from there. And the Russians are saying they want all of the underlying issues that led to what they call their special military operation in Ukraine. They want those to be sorted out before the fighting can stop.
And those issues, of course, are extremely complicated. The Ukrainians, for instance, are saying that the topic of the territories that Russia currently holds, but which, of course, are internationally considered Ukrainian territories, that has not even been talked about yet. And so that still could be quite a ways off to actually achieve a lasting ceasefire that all sides say that they want -- Rahel.
SOLOMON: Yeah. All right. Fred Pleitgen reporting for us in Moscow -- Fred, thank you.
Turkish police have arrested more than 1,400 protesters following days of demonstrations that the government has deemed illegal. Seven journalists were also detained, including a photojournalist for French news agency AFP. AFP, meantime, demanding his immediate release, calling his detention a, quote, serious attack on the freedom of the media.
Anti-government protests have rocked the country amid public anger over the jailing of Istanbul's mayor, the main political rival to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested a week ago and denies the corruption charges against him.
Well, still to come, new details about the most difficult days of the popes stay in the hospital. The conversations that doctors had about his treatment.
Plus, why Chinese barges and other maritime technology have Taiwanese experts nervous about Beijing's intentions.
And later, the infamous music sharing service that rocked the early 2000s could be making a comeback. How Napster -- yes, Napster is hoping for a bold new comeback and relaunch. We'll tell you about it when we come.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:17:35]
SOLOMON: Welcome back.
South Korea's government says that the wildfires burning in the southeastern part of the country have caused unprecedented damage, 23,000 people have been evacuated from their homes and 19 people have died so far. Dry air and strong winds, which you could even hear in that video, have fueled the fires as they burn nearly 43,000 acres of land, destroying homes and historic landmarks along the way.
China is investing in a range of new maritime technology, from massive barges that can form a giant causeway stretching nearly half a mile from shore, to a cable cutter that can sever communication and power lines deep underwater.
Taiwan, meantime, watching nervously worried that Beijing may use these innovations against it.
CNN's Will Ripley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: CNN has obtained these satellite images that confirm the social media videos that briefly emerged a few days ago, showing these ominous images, frankly, of three giant Chinese barges near Zhanjiang, which is the headquarters of the Chinese navy's south sea fleet.
The barges appear to be forming around an 800-meter, more than 2,600- foot-long floating pier, which analysts say is really ideal for potentially unloading tanks and vehicles in the event of a theoretical invasion of Taiwan. Analysts say this is a major upgrade for amphibious invasion capability because it can link with these civilian, what are known as RORO ships, meaning roll on and roll off. These are ships that can transport cars and trucks and tanks much more easily than a traditional cargo ship, because they can drive onto the ship across the Taiwan strait and then drive off onto the target beach, which is what we actually saw in the video that emerged on social media as well.
Taiwan actually confirming that these barges are being built for amphibious operations in their view. Satellite images appear to show testing and repositioning likely rehearsals for some kind of military operation, according to experts that we spoke with here in Taipei.
Why is China building such a large navy? What do they need it for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not only just for unification of Taiwan. The real answer is China trying to become a sea power. Yeah, I do believe that China will conduct war.
RIPLEY: China also unveiling a deep-sea cable cutter capable of cutting undersea communications lines up to 4,000 meters deep. Thats almost two and a half miles.
[05:20:01]
This could sever Taiwan's undersea Internet and power lines in a wartime situation, experts say. And recent cable damage near Taiwan, particularly cables connecting connectivity for Taiwan's outlying islands, certainly raising a lot of concern here in the Taiwanese capital.
Now, we know that China's President Xi Jinping, told his People's Liberation Army to be ready for a possible invasion by the year 2027, although of course, no indication of whether any decision has been made. Just told them to be ready, part of China's really broader push to modernize its military power. They already have the world's largest navy.
And as we've seen in these new images, they are rapidly innovating, lots of military tech that has observers around the world on edge.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Hamdan Ballal, an Oscar winning Palestinian director, is now free from Israeli custody. Ballal has returned home to the village of Susya in the West Bank. Thats where, according to eyewitnesses, he was attacked by Israeli settlers and detained by the Israeli military on Monday night, as a group of activists captured this video that night. They say more than a dozen Israeli settlers attacked the village with batons, knives and at least one assault rifle.
Israel's military accuses Israelis and Palestinians of throwing rocks at each other. Now Ballal, of course, is a high-profile victim, but the assault is one of many that Israeli settlers have committed against Palestinians in the West Bank recently.
All right. Still to come for us, the FBI cracking down on Tesla vandalism, how they plan to confront the violent attacks on the company's vehicles, dealerships and charging stations.
And Florida cracked down on businesses hiring undocumented workers, leaving some companies without enough employees. Well, now the governor and some lawmakers are hoping that children can pick up the open shifts. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:26:20]
SOLOMON: Welcome back.
Despite optimism from the Trump administration, U.S. consumers are apparently not feeling good about the economy. The latest survey from the Conference Board shows that consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest level since January of 2021. Decline started in December after the presidential election. Americans say that they're predicting higher inflation, stagnant income, a worsening job market and even a recession this year.
Here's University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: So what we see is what economists call the soft data looking pretty bad. The soft data is what people say. People say they're very unhappy about the state of the economy. They say they feel pessimistic. We see indicators of uncertainty absolutely through the roof. And if you look to Washington, D.C., it's not hard to see why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right. Let's take a look at U.S. stocks. These are U.S. stock futures. And you can see marginally higher, fractionally higher. Actually, this was yesterday's close as -- yeah, we'll take another green day, nonetheless.
Now, let's look at futures which are telling a different story. U.S. stocks looking to capitalize on some modest gains on Tuesday, as we said, fractionally barely higher to extend their winning week. Dow, S&P 500 finished the day basically flat.
But again, green is green. A win is a win. The Nasdaq closed nearly half a percent higher. But we'll keep an eye on futures and see how the session shakes out.
All right. Here's a blast from the past. Napster is hoping to make a comeback. A tech startup is acquiring the once popular yet controversial music sharing platform, hoping to give it new life.
CNN's Anna Stewart has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For those of you who can't remember life before, Spotify and Apple Music, Napster used to be a platform where users shared music files, often illegally. You may remember Justin Timberlake's portrayal of Napster founder Sean Parker in the movie "Social Network".
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AS SEAN PARKER: I'm an entrepreneur.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're unemployed.
TIMBERLAKE: I wouldn't say that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would you say?
TIMBERLAKE: That I'm an entrepreneur.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, then, what was your latest preneur?
TIMBERLAKE: Well, I founded an Internet company that let folks download and share music for free.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kind of like Napster.
TIMBERLAKE: Exactly like Napster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you mean?
TIMBERLAKE: I founded Napster.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sean Parker founded Napster.
STEWART: Napster story didn't end at bankruptcy. It has since become a fully licensed music platform, and it's had multiple owners, including Best Buy, and now it has a new buyer.
Immersive technology company Infinite Reality is buying Napster for more than $200 million, with plans to bring it into a new dimension from immersive 3-D concerts in virtual reality to social listening parties, as well as integrating it with E-sports events and gaming.
The acquisition could bring music fans much closer to artists virtually, and perhaps Napster will once again disrupt the music industry as we know it.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: All right, still ahead for us, we will speak with one dad who successfully kept his teenager off of social media and also sparked change across Australia. We'll be right back.
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