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One World with Zain Asher
Mark Carney Sworn In As Canada's 24th Prime Minister; U.S. Markets Volatile As Trump Rolls Out more Tariffs; U.S. Secretary Of State Rubio Speaks At G7 Meeting; Rubio: It's not About Whether I Trust Putin; U.S. Senate Faces Deadline To Avoid Government Shutdown; Cases Of rape, Sexual Violence Against Children Soar In Eastern DRC; NTSB Sending Investigators To Denver Plane Fire; Aired 12:00-1:00p ET
Aired March 14, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:20]
All right. Coming to you live from New York, I am Zain Asher. My colleague, Bianna, is off today. This is the second hour of ONE WORLD.
It is a brand-new era in Canadian politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: I solemnly and sincerely promise and swear that I will truly and faithfully, and to the best of my skill and
knowledge execute the powers and trust reposed in me as Prime Minister.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And there we have it. Canada has a brand-new leader, Mark Carney, was sworn in last hour in Ottawa. Canada starts his term at a really
crucial time for Canada. The country is mired in a bitter trade war with its neighbor to the south, the United States.
The prime minister says he's open to talking with the United States President Donald Trump to end the war -- the tariffs war.
Let's bring in Paula Newton covering this for us.
So, Paula, lot of people have questioned this idea of essentially Canada changing pilot mid-flight. I mean, obviously there is a crucial trade war
happening with the United States right now.
Just walk us through what his key priorities are and how he goes about negotiating with Trump in a way that is somewhat different from how Trudeau
handled it.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you make such a good point, Zain, because the issue here is that although he comes from the same party,
the Liberal Party of Canada, and likely shares a lot of the policy stance that Justin Trudeau has taken over the past decade, he must differentiate
himself, not just in terms of the way he handles the Trump administration, but the fact that there's likely an election being called in Canada in the
next few weeks, and many Canadians as well have said in polling that they want a departure from the government that came before.
This is going to be a man who is not a career politician. He's a rookie politician. He has not run for anything except for the liberal leadership
in his life. Very well known to international audiences. He was the governor of the Bank of England, the governor of the Bank of Canada.
But pointedly, this is likely his largest challenge that he's ever had in his life. And think about that, Zain. This is someone who's handled the
financial crisis and Brexit. And we are saying, how much is at stake here for Canada.
I think the point is, he will continue to say that he is ready at any time that the Trump administration wants to discuss, you know, the trade
negotiations, opening up trade deals, compromising on those. There is a red line though, Zain. And this plays well for him in a campaign, but it is
also an important message to the Trump administration. And that is the fact that all talk about the 51st states, about annexing Canada, about erasing
Canada's borders. That must stop.
And when you look at the cabinet that has just been sworn in now, we are seeing him, actually, he's just finished his swearing in his entire
cabinet. This is what people are calling a wartime cabinet, Zain, and for good reason. This has been an existential crisis for Canada and obviously a
very dramatic economic one as well.
Many analysts saying that if these tariff -- and threats of tariffs continue, Canada is likely to have a deep recession in the coming months on
top of having this really momentous political change.
A lot at stake, I will note Zain. He is headed to the U.K. and France to try and shore up those alliances with allies. Normally, he'd be at the
White House too. We have no indication that that is happening anytime soon.
ASHER: Well, he certainly does have the economic chops and the economic background for the task at hand. But as you mentioned, he's a political
novice and so much of dealing with Donald Trump is about your strategy when it comes to negotiation. We'll see how he handles that.
Paula Newton, live for us there. Thank you so much.
As you were just mentioning, Mark Carney, of course, takes the reins in Canada at a really critical time, especially in terms of this trade war
with Donald Trump and the U.S.
Let's bring in Vanessa Yurkevich joining us live now from New York, talking to us, excuse me, about how all of this has impacted markets. We have seen
wild swings. I mean, the last time I checked, the markets, the Dow especially, was up about 500 points, but we have seen wild swings all week.
Take us through it.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And these wild swings really have been a reflection of the wild swings in this trade
war. And the market today is up a bit, recovering just slightly. But that's mostly on news that there may not be a government shutdown here in the U.S.
But one of the pieces of information that the markets have been digesting, but clearly has not been reflecting in the markets is consumer sentiment.
This is a survey that we get twice a month here in the U.S.
This is a preliminary reading of March indicators around how consumers are feeling. And what it revealed was that consumer sentiment absolutely
plummeted in the beginning of March. Consumers are feeling very nervous about the economic future, what tariffs mean, and what their bank accounts
are ultimately going to look at. And this reading just picked up the first few days of the month.
[12:05:10]
And if we look back at February's reading, that initial reading was a decline of five percent, but then it doubled to 10 percent. So we could
see more consumer sentiment playing out here. People indicating that they're not feeling great about the economy. Also just the forward-looking
picture of the economy in this report indicates that consumers are feeling pretty bad about even what the economy might look like when it comes to
inflation five years down the line. That's even when Trump is out of office. That was the worst number that this report has seen since 19 --
ASHER: Vanessa?
YURKEVICH: Yes. Go ahead.
ASHER: Vanessa, I have to interrupt you again.
YURKEVICH: Go ahead. Is it Canada? Is it Canada again?
ASHER: It is in Canada. That is Secretary of State Marco Rubio is speaking from the G7 in Quebec, Canada. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Very strong statement on a number of issues of mutual concern. We touched those topics. It was a really good
engagement and obviously there'll be some follow-up. And it sort of sets up for the leaders meeting later on this year. And we hope that'll be equally
productive. But we felt really good about the statement, worked hard on it. I think it reflects our points on a number of topics.
And I would just say the one takeaway, you know, you you're going to ask me questions about things that are going on in different bilateral
relationships and so forth.
But I think what's important and something I said at the outset which everybody agreed with is that we -- we're not going to allow the things we
disagree on. And we'll disagree on things, to keep us from working closely on the things we agree on. And there are a lot of those. And hopefully the
statement reflects that in our actions will reflect that.
And so we feel really good about it. The other announcement, and I think this is already reflected in the president's statements, there was a --
what we felt was a very positive and productive engagement yesterday with President Putin and Special Envoy Witkoff. Obviously, he is on his way
back. He should be back and hopefully we'll convene this weekend.
We'll examine the Russian position more closely and determine -- the president will then determine what the next steps are. Suffice it to say, I
think there is reason to be cautiously optimistic. But by the same token, we continue to recognize this is a difficult and complex situation. It
will not be easy. It will not be simple.
But we certainly feel like we're at least some steps closer to ending this war and bringing peace, but it's still a long journey. It's a journey of
many steps. So -- but this is positive momentum. Obviously, we'll see what Russia and others are willing to do. It's not just Russia. Obviously, it
has to be things acceptable to Ukraine.
But it's been a good week in that front, but there's a lot of work that remains to be done. But, know, there's reason to be cautiously and I am
optimistic. But we'll know more once Special Envoy Witkoff, Ambassador Witkoff returns and we have a chance to all convene and talk about it. And
obviously the president is the ultimate decider on next steps for the United States.
OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, do you trust Putin?
RUBIO: I think it's an irrelevant question. I think in foreign policy, you really -- it's not about trusting, it's about actions. It's about things
that you do. So in the end, on something like this, you can't just say you want peace, you have to do peace. And that's true for both sides in any
conflict. So in any war or in any engagement.
So I think ultimately all these things -- I would just encourage you guys if we're going to be serious about foreign policy to sort of navigate away
from some of the -- this is not a reality show. This is not about personalities. This is very simple. You either do things or you don't.
There are things you are doing and things you're not doing. And that's what foreign policy is driven by and that's how our decisions should be driven
by.
So, unfortunately, in foreign policy, oftentimes, you will have to work with -- I'm not talking about President Putin, in particular, I'm talking
about generally. You will have to work with people you don't like in foreign policy.
And oftentimes, you will have disagreements with people you like. Sometimes you will have to figure out how to work together with nations that are not
aligned with you on most issues. And in other cases, you may find yourself unaligned on an issue with a nation that you work with very closely on a
bunch of other things.
That's not just now true today. That has been true throughout the history of mankind and certainly the relations between nation states. So I think
it's important. I get there's this temptation to cover foreign policy the way we cover domestic policy and the way we cover other things in our
society.
But foreign policy about nation states pursuing what they have interpreted to be in their national interest. And balancing that is what the art of
diplomacy and the work of foreign policy is all about. So we need to sort of be mature and open-eyed and realistic without losing our idealism,
without losing, you know, what we hope the world will look like and want to shape it and be a part of.
But by the same token, you know, we have to make pragmatic decisions every single day. And that's not true today. That's always been true. Always.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, do you have any top lines from Mr. Witkoff? This was a late meeting. It went hours long. Is there anything
that he shared?
And then when you do examine the Russian position, but the comments by President Putin were quite convoluted and tough to decipher. I wonder if
you think that that he's playing for time.
[12:10:06]
RUBIO: Well, I think you're not going to -- this is not something that's going to play out in press conferences, as I -- as I stand at a press
conference.
But this is -- you know, this again, I go back to the point I just made. You know, when you want -- if you think about the most recent example of
ceasefire negotiations, which was what happened in Gaza and with Israel and so forth, yes, there were newspaper and there were articles and there was
news stories about it.
But ultimately, you found out what the results were after the fact. And in the meantime, you saw public statements from different sides in regards to
what they were going to do. I think this will be no different.
So certainly, I -- we're not going to make our foreign policy decisions on the basis of what a leader says -- simply says at a press conference if
somebody puts up on social media posts, because there's some blogger close to the Kremlin or something like that. And likewise, I don't think that
they're going to do that either.
So I would just say that this is going to play out the way things of this nature and caliber have traditionally and normally play out. And that is
with the leaders of the countries involved speaking, not in front of the cameras, not in front of the media, but in these negotiations that happen
and these talks that happen.
So I don't want to -- I'm not going to comment on what President Putin said other than he said he agreed with it in concept, so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With lots of (INAUDIBLE).
RUBIO: Well, again, he said that at a press conference, as I said, and I go back to the phrase I used earlier. I think there is reason for cautious
optimism that something good could come of this.
Obviously, we're going to wait for Ambassador Witkoff to return. He's not back yet. We're going to reconvene. Obviously, I spoke to him late last
night. He spoke to the president well before that. He may have spoken to other members of our team. I've been here.
But ultimately, you know, we're going to get -- we're going to reconvene and the president will have options available to him and decisions will be
made after that. But I don't want to speculate or character anything beyond what I've just said until we have had a chance to sit down with Ambassador
Witkoff, who's still overseas and in travel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, because on the way here, you said he was seeking an unconditional acceptance. But clearly, Mr. Putin is adding a
whole series of conditions. I do say -- the president says he should be --
RUBIO: Well, how do you know he's adding conditions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From what he said publicly.
RUBIO: Well, I'll go back to the point I made. Let's let this thing play through. OK? And then let's figure out what -- let me at least talk to --
let's let the team get together on the state side of this and talk to Ambassador Witkoff and go through some of this.
Again, we're not going to be involved in this process where I'm being asked to, you know, stake a position of U.S. policy on the basis of what someone
said at a press conference yesterday. So let's -- we're going to work through this thing in a normal, sane fashion.
We'll figure out where we are based on what I know at this moment with my conversation with Ambassador Witkoff. He's not here yet. Is we're going to
-- I feel like there's reason for cautious optimism. I think the president shared that today in his Truth Social post.
But there's a lot of work. No, I have never told anybody that this is going to be easy, fast, simple, slam dunk. It'll be hard, but it's important
work. We have -- we are a better place today. I hope, I believe, we have reason to believe, than we were a week ago, but we still have a long ways
to go.
It could come together pretty quickly if everyone aligns, but I don't know how aligned we are yet. That's what we're going about to find out. So
cautious optimism is about the best phraseology I could use at this moment. Based on what we know, we're going to keep working on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, the statement that you (INAUDIBLE) it's just the present that the fundamental element of the president's proposal
was it should be an immediate ceasefire.
RUBIO: Sure. And that's proposal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long does it have?
RUBIO: Well, in terms of longing for what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long does it -- because there are those who say he's playing for time, but this is adding conditions, adding --
RUBIO: Well, this war's been going on for three years. So I think the question -- and with no end in sight at this point, without this
intervention by President Trump. So I think the question is, you know, is - - the fundamental question really is not how long. I think the question is, are we actually moving towards a ceasefire or is this a delay tactic? I'm
not going to answer that because I can't characterize that for you right now.
I think we'll know sooner rather than later. And a lot of that will be based on the conversation Ambassador Witkoff had yesterday and other
factors that are in play. But we're not there yet, but we will get there.
We want it to be -- the president wanted it to be yesterday and the day before, but we're certainly, at least, talking about peace for the first
time in three years. Now, we'll have to figure out how close we truly are. And that's going to take some time.
And, you know, Witkoff is not here yet, so the remaining state side.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, the joint -- the joint statement says that there is a need for robust, incredible security arrangements for
Ukraine. How would you define that based on your conversations here at the G7? What about rule plus in (INAUDIBLE) security agreements?
RUBIO: Well, that's to be determined by the negotiations. Here's what I want to encourage everybody to do. Bifurcate two things, OK? The ceasefire
and the conditions for everybody to stop shooting at each other. What will it take to get everybody to stop shooting at each other and then moving to
a negotiating table on settling the war with finality?
Two separate processes. Process number one is, what do we need from both sides in order to stop the shooting and the fighting, so that you can get
to a negotiating table. That's the second phase.
[12:15:09]
As part of that second phase, there will obviously be every country in the world has a right to security, has a right to defend itself, has a right to
protect its territory. That will have to be part of that conversation. And it will have to be something that involves not simply the views of the
United States, but other countries that are involved in it.
And I've repeated this over and over again. The European Union has imposed significant sanctions on the Russian Federation and on individuals inside
of Russia. So they will have to be consulted and they'll have to be engaged in this process and so forth.
So let's not predetermine or start putting everything ahead of itself here. The process of what long-term security means for Ukraine, that will be
something that Ukraine will obviously have to agree with and that will have to be worked through as part of that second phase.
But we can't get to the second phase until we get through the first phase. We think it's very difficult. Very difficult to negotiate lasting peace and
security in the midst of an all-out war. And so we have to try to lower that so that it makes it possible to move to phase two of this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, the statement that you issued a little while ago also notes that the G7 discussed ways to impose costs on Russia,
should that become necessary to include caps on oil prices, additional support for Ukraine using seized sovereign Russian assets, was there -- but
you said you discussed them. You didn't agree on them.
Is there any agreement within the G7 on these particular measures just what they should be in what order and what might trigger them and why did you
discuss them if you're so cautiously optimistic?
RUBIO: Well, first of all, they were raised because the Europeans have their own set of sanctions and new ones they would like to impose. And
certainly the United States is not a member of the E.U. We don't have a vote at the EU.
And so whatever they determine and decide to do, you know, we can't control it. They ask us for our input. We'll give it to them. But that's not
what's happening right now. So, yes, it was discussed.
As far as U.S. sanctions are concerned, the president's made clear. The president, on two occasions within in the past week, has reminded everybody
that the U.S. has these options available to it, but he doesn't want to do that right now because he's in the hopes of attracting people both sides to
a process where we can negotiate peace. And I'll leave it at that. There really is nothing to add to that at this point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary --
RUBIO: Go ahead. Hold on one second. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Secretary, one statement came from unwavering support to Ukraine (INAUDIBLE) state since January 20th. What led you to subscribe
this time?
RUBIO: But I don't -- that's not a change in public policy. The United States have never said that Russia -- I've never heard President Trump say
that Russia has a right to take all of Ukraine and do whatever they want there, so that's not inconsistent with that statement.
That is separate from the issue we face today and that is that as it stands today, there is a war going on that has no military solution to it, neither
Russia nor Ukraine can achieve its maximalist military aims.
The only way to end this war is through a process of negotiations. Negotiations be it in business and commerce or geopolitics involves both
sides giving something, both sides making concessions. That's just obvious. I'm not saying -- I don't think that should be sort of a news making
statement. That's the reality of any conversations that exist in order to end wars is that there has to be some level of concessions.
What those concessions are remains to be seen. That'll have to be part of the negotiation. But it's not going to be -- it's not going to be helpful
to enter into those negotiations making blanket statements that may give an excuse for one side or the other not to participate in it.
So we'll have to get to that stage where these things are discussed and ultimately both sides -- whatever happens, both sides will have to agree to
it. And that's true of any negotiation when you're trying to end a war.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, understanding your point (INAUDIBLE) reality show or personalities, Ukraine or anything else for that matter.
Your boss has shall we say a rather strong personality.
And I'm wondering in light of that and his repeated comments about Canada becoming should be the 51st state, the whole tariff situation, which
intensified as we were on our way here after your big announcement in Jeddah.
Did that complicate your discussions at all? Was it --
RUBIO: Never came up once in our -- I mean, obviously with the foreign minister of Canada it has, but it was not a topic. It was not on our
agenda. I told you that would not be discussed. Tariffs were.
So let me explain on the tariffs. This is important for everybody to understand. This keeps being characterized as a hostile move against our
allies. These are global tariffs on steel, on aluminum, on autos, on semiconductors. Eventually the president stated this. And then a global, in
April, the intention to put tariffs, assuming that the study comes back and so forth.
But what they've discussed is a global reciprocal tariff. Understand what that means. That means basically whatever some country charges us, that's
what we're going to charge them.
The goal of the president has made very clear is he wants to reset the baseline of international trade, which he believes, and I agree, is unfair
to the United States. This is not meant as a hostile move against Japan or Germany or anybody else. This is not about -- this is about balancing and
fairness and trade.
[12:20:13]
So he wants to reset the baseline. And once that baseline is reset, then you can enter into bilateral negotiations with individual countries about
changes that can be made to our trade, our bilateral trade, so that it's fair for both sides. That's his goal.
In his first administration, the president did tariffs as well. What he was disturbed by in hindsight is the fact that they included a bunch of
exemptions that basically made them meaningless. And so what he wants to get back to is basically fairness and trade. It's as simple as that.
We want to charge other countries what they charge us. And then ultimately, once the baseline is reset, and then in addition to that, there are
industries that are critical to the United States and to our domestic security and our future. And he's identified them. Steel, aluminum,
semiconductors, automobiles. These are things that we believe are in our interest to have a domestic capacity, and we have to protect these
industries from what we feel is subsidization and unfair competition from abroad.
This is not meant to be hostile towards anybody. It is meant to be friendly and supportive of our -- of our national interest as a country.
Once the baseline of trade is reset in a way that's fair and equitable, then we can engage in the process of bilateral negotiations with individual
countries, including our allies, to set up a more sustainable and fair long-term trade arrangement between our respective countries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, the --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). Do you understand why the Canadians are taking such umbrage at these comments coming from the president?
RUBIO: She's -- the Canadian government has made their position, how they feel about it, clear. The president has made his argument as to why he
thinks Canada would be better off joining the United States for economic purposes.
There's a disagreement between the president's position and the position of the Canadian government. I don't think that's a mystery coming in. And it
wasn't a topic of conversation because that's not what the summit was about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, you said that the tariff policy was not hostile. However, President Trump yesterday in his social media post said
that the E.U. previously had been hostile and abusive towards the United States. How do you square that? And secondly, is he serious when he's
talking about the 51st state being Canada?
RUBIO: Well, I've already answered the question about Canada. And --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious? Do you take him --
RUBIO: We're not discussing that here today because that's not what the purpose of this meeting was about. As far as the question that you're
asking me about hostility, yes, look at the E.U.
OK. The E.U. has a GDP basically comparable to that of the United States. The composition of their economy is similar to ours. These are not
developing countries. These are developed countries. And yet, they have a significant trade surplus with the United States, even though our economies
are pretty much the same. These are not low-wage countries. That's a problem.
All the president is saying is we need to equalize treatment. Whatever they do to us, we need to do to them, in addition to pointing to certain sectors
that we have to protect. Who can argue against the idea that if some country charges us X to export our products, we should charge them the
same?
I get it. If you're a country or the E.U. that's benefiting from the status quo, you feel it is hostile to change the status quo because it's to your
benefit. The problem is the President of the United States is looking out for the United States, both in national security and in economic relations.
We will reset the basis of our trade relationship and then we can enter into negotiations for something that's enduring and fair to both sides.
That's what the president's seeks to do and that's what begins by resetting at a reciprocal way the amount of tariffs we charge one another in our
trade relations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I can follow up Mr. Secretary, I know that we're not speaking about Canada becoming the 51st state at this meeting, but I'm
asking you now, do you consider what the president has said about Canada becoming the 51st state? Is he serious?
RUBIO: You know, I'll tell you how that came about, OK? He's in a meeting with Trudeau, and Trudeau basically says that if the U.S. imposes tariffs
on Canada, Canada couldn't survive as a nation state, at which point the president said, well then, you should become a state. And that's where this
began.
That said, the president has made an argument for why he says he loves Canada. He says he made an argument for why Canada would be better off
joining the United States from an economic perspective and the like. He's made that argument repeatedly. And I think it stands for itself. All
right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it counterproductive?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because the Trump administration is expected to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. We have to dust that off. A lot of people
not familiar with it. Can you help us understand how the Trump administration plans to use these powers?
RUBIO: That's a question for DHS. It's not a question for us. What I can tell you is, from our perspective, unrelated to that, is that we will
continue to look for people that we would never have allowed into this country on student visas, had we known they were going to do what they've
done. But now that they've done it, we're going to get rid of them. And we are continuing to look for that.
[12:25:08]
And so in the days to come, you should expect more visas will be revoked as we identify people that we should never have allowed in because they lied
to us. When they said they were coming here to be students, they didn't say they were coming here to occupy university buildings and vandalize them and
tear them apart and hold campuses hostage.
If they had told us that, we would never have given them a student visa. Now that they've done it, we will revoke those visas. And as the days go
on, every time we have a chance to revoke them, we will because it's not in the national interest of the United States for them to be here.
Let's wrap up guys so we can get on. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: G7's doing statement and sounds (INAUDIBLE) strong language on China. Would you please describe the sentiment of the
discussion behind closed door? And also, do you have anything on a potential meeting between President Trump and CCP Secretary General Xi
Jinping? Would that be in China or in the United States? Thank you.
RUBIO: Well, I have no -- I know -- I think the president, at some point, will meet. They will meet. I don't know when that will be. I don't know if
there -- I don't believe there are any plans currently for that to happen, but I'm sure it will happen at some point.
The president engaged with him in his first term and I expect he will do so again and he should. These are the leaders of two big important powerful
countries. And the leaders of powerful countries, whether they agree on things or not, should communicate for the -- for the safety and well-being
of the world.
As far as the statement is concerned, I think it reflects a growing acknowledgement that the Chinese Communist Party has pursued both economic
and foreign policies that allow them to benefit from all the good things about the global order but ignore all of its responsibilities in ways that
leave us in danger of being not just us but the broader world of being overly dependent on China for critical supply chains, for rare earth
minerals, for key technologies.
In the case of Europe, you'll continue to hear a lot of frustration on their part that Chinese overproduction, for example, of electric vehicles
are dumped on into their economies. And so guess what they have done. They have imposed tariffs.
You know what Canada did? They've imposed tariffs on China as well because that's what countries do when they feel like they're being treated unfairly
in trade and commerce.
And we support them in doing that. We think that was the right choice in their regard. And we've imposed tariffs on China as well.
All right. Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will the U.S. be open to (INAUDIBLE)?
RUBIO: Well, I think our priority always as, you know, this government is always that we care about all the hostages. We want all the hostages
released. We believe they should all be released. OK.
And that, by the way, we talk about hostages. We're also talking about bodies. OK? And these trades are being made and they're ridiculous trades.
Come on. Four hundred people for three. These are nuts. And on top of that, you see the condition these people are being released in.
So this is a -- think about what we're talking about here. I mean, we're sitting around as the world sort of accepting that it's normal and OK for
you to go into a place, kidnap babies, kidnap teenagers, kidnapped people that have nothing to do with any wars, that are not soldiers, that are not
anything, and taking them and putting them in tunnels for almost a year and a half. And we're acting like if this is a normal exchange, this is a
normal thing that happens. This is an outrage. So they should all be released.
So I'm not going to comment on what we're going to accept or not accept. Other than all of us, the whole world should continue to say that what
Hamas has done is outrageous. It's ridiculous. It's sick. It's disgusting. It should never have happened.
And we shouldn't accept it as normal, as a normal negotiation. We're just dealing with some savages. That's it. These are bad people, terrible
people. And we need to treat them as such. But that said, we want all the hostages out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there (INAUDIBLE) for this trade war?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary, there was a report that was require the State Department as one of the first executive orders, asking for countries
to be identified that had insufficient vetting.
Has that report gone over to the White House yet?
RUBIO: I'm not -- I'm sure if it -- you mean we had a deadline to meet that. I'm sure we've met the deadline, but I have to take that back with
you and get you an answer for that specifically. All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there an offering for the trade war, Mr. Secretary?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About territorial integrity?
RUBIO: About what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Territorial integrity.
RUBIO: Yes. You already answered it, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. So you said that Ukraine would have to make concessions both sides.
RUBIO: So will Russia, right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is your description of territorial integrity when it comes to Ukraine?
RUBIO: Guys, again, that's what -- we're going to have -- let's -- please, I get it. But let me -- let me just put it to you this way. There's two
processes here. Process number one is, how can we get shooting to stop? Because we think it's very difficult to negotiate peace while there's still
shooting going on and attacks.
What can we do to get that to stop to the extent possible? How can we get as much hostility as possible to stop so we can get to phase two of this
process, which is negotiating these things that you're asking me about?
I'm just stating the obvious. When people sit down and negotiate and end the wars, there's usually a give and take. What that give and take is
depends on the parties that are at the table. We're not going to predetermine anything, but that's what it's going to take to end the war.
[12:30:01]
If there's an off-ramp on the trade, it's not about an off-ramp on the trade. There's not a trade war. This is the United States is resetting its
trade relations globally. OK? And resetting relations globally to a -- to a level of equilibrium, to a level of reciprocity.
And then once that's reset, we can then engage in the process of bilateral talks with Japan, with the U.K., with France, with Germany, with the E.U.,
whoever. To figure out, OK, how do we reset our trade relations so that it's fair? Because right now it's not fair. It's as simple as that. The
president has stated that repeatedly.
And so these are the steps that it takes to get us to that point. You can't -- if you do it the other way, which is let's renegotiate, or why would
they renegotiate their trade relationship with the United States if the status quo was beneficial to them?
Why would they -- why would someone give up something that's good for them? You have to make it fair and then you can negotiate out, you know, how do
we get to a place that's mutually beneficial? Because the current piece of it is just not sustainable. All right.
Thank you guys. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: That was U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking on the heels of the G7 meeting of foreign ministers. That's a meeting, by the way, that
has been completely overshadowed by Trump's imposition of global tariffs, as well as his comments about making Canada the 51st state.
Marco Rubio defended both of those, but it has also been overshadowed by Putin's response to the 30-day ceasefire proposal. Marco Rubio essentially
saying that he is cautiously optimistic. He repeated that a number of times to know that Steve Witkoff is heading back to the United States and sort of
debrief the Trump administration about his private conversations with Vladimir Putin.
Putin has said that he wants peace. In principle, he does agree with this idea of a temporary pause in fighting, but that certain conditions do need
to be met. Early on in this press conference, Marco Rubio was asked, do you trust Putin? And his response was, that's a completely irrelevant question.
Ultimately, this is not about whether I trust Putin or not, it is about Putin's actions.
I want to unpack all of this with CNN's Nic Robertson, who's been listening to that press conference. He joins us live.
I think the issue of trust is an important one, because if you ask President Zelenskyy, and this was something that he tried to touch on
before that dramatic meeting in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago, his view is that Putin cannot be trusted at all. And it would be a mistake for
the United States to trust him.
Talk to us, Nic, about Vladimir Putin's record when it comes to actually adhering to ceasefire agreements.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. And I think just to pick up as well on what some of what Marco Rubio was saying there. I
mean, he did when pressed and he was pressed very hard and what -- you know, look, Trump talked about a 24-hour deal and then they've talked about
wanting an immediate response from Putin.
So there's really been a lot of immediacy in this whole thing that's been the negotiation process, the process to get towards peace that's been
created from President Trump, from the White House, from his diplomats like Marco Rubio.
And I think what we heard Marco Rubio here trying to say was, well, actually, this stuff takes time. You know, don't expect the negotiations to
be happening in front of you, because people were asking him the question, well, we've heard all these points from President Putin, and he tried to
say, well, he did say that this is -- this is not the negotiation. The negotiation happens behind the closed doors.
I think there's a lot of diplomats in Europe who would look at what President Putin did on television yesterday and say, actually, he did open
the negotiations there because everyone did take the points that he was making very seriously because they were seriously made points about the
whole context of the beginning of the war.
But put that to one side, it was interesting that at one point there, under a lot of pressure from the journalists, Marco Rubio said, the question is,
are we moving to a ceasefire or is this a delaying tactic? And of course, that's what the Ukrainians believe Putin is involved in, a delaying tactic.
And that's what he was being pressed about. So it's clear he entertains the possibility of that idea.
But I think it's also clear that the White House, in a way, is sort of playing for time as well, simply because Steve Witkoff met late last night
in Moscow with Vladimir Putin, has left, is on his way back.
And I don't think anyone would think that it's impossible for him to have a conversation and give a full read out to President Trump to Marco Rubio, to
National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, to others about the context of the conversation and the position that Putin is in effect in. So Rubio is
really -- the White House is playing for time to come up with their next position.
ASHER: Yes, that's an important point. I mean, Donald Trump talked about the fact that he will probably speak with Vladimir Putin in the coming
days. We'll see what comes out of that conversation if it is telegraphed to us.
Nic Robertson, live for us there. Thank you so much.
[12:35:01]
We'll be right back with more news after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD, I'm Zain Asher.
Democrats in the U.S. Senate are stuck between a rock and a hard place. They face a vote today on a Republican-backed spending bill that is seen as
key to advancing Donald Trump's agenda. But if they vote against it, the U.S. government will shut down.
Democratic leader Chuck Schumer says he will vote in favor of the Republican bill because he says that Donald Trump and Elon Musk would love
a shutdown as they attempt to shrink the government.
Time now for The Exchange. We want to take a closer look at the looming deadline to pass the Republican spending bill that would fund the U.S.
government through September.
Joining us live now is Juliegrace Brufke, senior political correspondent for "The Daily Beast." Juliegrace, thank you so much for being with us.
Some political analysts, of course, some political analysts will look at the situation and will assume that, OK, here we have the Democrats
essentially caving in to what the Republicans want.
But it would seem like the responsible thing for Chuck Schumer to do, given the fact that federal workers in this country have suffered so much
already. Even though it is responsible, you still have a situation where half the country feel as though they don't have anyone fighting for them at
this point in time.
How does Chuck Schumer square that circle?
JULIEGRACE BRUFKE, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, THE DAILY BEAST: Well, right now, Chuck Schumer has no shortage of drama with pushback on his
decision to back the CR. So we've heard from progressives that are kind of really railing against him. Nancy Pelosi kind of took an indirect swing at
him for not holding the line there.
[12:40:04]
They're going to be voting a couple hours now, but there's early chats of potentially in the next Congress trying to push him out of leadership. So
it's going to be interesting to see what type of fallout there is there.
But at the same time, we've heard from Senator John Fetterman about how he feels a shutdown is more detrimental to their cause and that they they'll
ultimately get blamed for one if it happens.
ASHER: So you have -- I mean, here you have, and obviously Donald Trump's only been in office for a couple of months, but Democrats have been widely
mocked for what some in their party would describe as their ineffectual leadership. You have, as I mentioned, Chuck Schumer, some people saying
that he essentially feels no other -- he has no other choice but to give in to Republicans' demands with a bill that he doesn't even want, that he
essentially does not like at all.
But you also have the fact that a lot of the Democrats were mocked during their response to that Trump addressed the joint session of Congress where
Democrats, some Democrats walked out, some Democrats sort of raised their puddles protesting.
And a lot of people are feeling that Democrats are not united or they haven't come up with a specific way in terms of how to counteract the
sweeping changes they're seeing at the Trump administration. Walk us through that.
BRUFKE: Absolutely. I mean, I think Democrats are still kind of trying to find their path and the best path forward for their messaging in the Trump
era after losing the election.
And I've spoken with some Democrats, particularly on this shutdown situation where they feel like they're kind of going to shutter the blame
regardless.
But there are concerns about what would happen if there was a shutdown, if it's going to be used to kind of further the DOGE agenda. And so they're
been put -- Speaker Johnson's kind of put them in a really difficult place with all of the House lawmakers leaving town where it could be a real
problem if there is a shutdown on getting something passed quickly and finding a compromise.
ASHER: As you know, optics are really important in American politics. And even though the Democrats aren't the party that holds the cards at this
point in time, they still need to project strength. You've got the midterms, of course, years away, two years away, but it's still important
for them to project strength against Donald Trump.
What options do they have in terms of how they do that? What levers do they actually have at their disposal?
BRUFKE: Well, right now, I mean, I think the people that are pushing back against the CR kind of feel like they need to show a stand against Donald
Trump and they can hold the line. And after the joint address the other day, there was a lot of pushback on kind of how that could have been
navigated better from the walkouts and Al Green getting censured for pushing back on the president.
But I think they totally haven't found their strengths yet in being able to navigate that. And there are a lot of talks going on behind the scenes on
how they're going to be able to kind of navigate that moving forward.
ASHER: When you think about the specific policies that Democrats need to push back on or feel the need to push back on, obviously, yes, there's
foreign policy, there's trade policy. But one of the key issues for Democrats is immigration.
We've seen so much attention this week on the case of Mahmoud Khalil, somebody who is a Columbia student and a pro-Palestinian protester who is
now possibly going to have his green card revoked.
You also have this idea of American citizens who have committed a crime being rounded up and deported to El Salvador. There have been so many
sweeping changes on immigration specifically.
Even in here I am, where I am in New York, there's talk of perhaps ICE agents getting the names of migrants who have crossed the border into this
country illegally, who are being housed at a Manhattan hotel and getting their names. Walk us through how the Democrats specifically target
immigration policy in this country.
BRUFKE: Well, I think that's definitely it was kind of an interesting thing to watch them during the election kind of navigate while Trump was really
leaning into his messaging on that front. And we saw kind of Republicans making strong pickups with the Hispanic community and Democrats kind of
shift to the middle on that.
So it's going to be interesting to kind of see moving forward if they'll kind of continue down that path or kind of shift back toward the earlier
messaging on that front. But it's a lot remains to be seen.
ASHER: All right. Juliegrace Brufke live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
All right. Still to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INGRID HIBBITS, PASSENGER: As soon as the plane landed, it was a very abrupt landing. Everyone started screaming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A frightening incident at the Denver airport after a plane's engine caught fire shortly after landing. Passengers ended up evacuating on the
wing.
Plus, violence is reaching new disturbing levels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We'll hear from some of the country's most vulnerable about how
they've been impacted.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:23]
ASHER: Hamas says, it's prepared to release the U.S.-Israeli hostage, Edan Alexander, who's believed to be the last living American held in Gaza.
Hamas says, it's also prepared to release the bodies of four dual nationals who had been held hostage, too.
However, there's been an angry response from the Israeli prime minister's office. It's accusing Hamas of engaging in manipulation and psychological
warfare and of rejecting a new U.S. proposal to extend the current ceasefire, which Israel has accepted.
A new report by the United Nations finds cases of rape and sexual violence against children are skyrocketing in parts of the Democratic Republic of
Congo. The levels of violence in the eastern region of the country are dire, perhaps the worst we have seen in more than a decade of conflict.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz brings us some of the accounts as told by the survivors themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A crisis of rape and sexual violence against children is unfolding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There, aid workers tell us hundreds of children have been raped, most by armed men, according to UNICEF.
Now we have testimonies from two survivors, but before I read them, I want to give you a trigger warning. We're also going to keep the identities of
these victims anonymous for their protection.
These are the words of a 14-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have no mother, no father. My grandmother is the only family I have left. She has cared for me all my life, despite her old
age and fragile health. On the night of January 26th, around 9:00 P.M., during the armed clashes, two men with guns entered our home. My
grandmother could do nothing but watch as they raped me. She cried, but she was powerless. We kept it a secret. I didn't tell anyone. My grandmother
was too ashamed and afraid.
ABDELAZIZ: Now one of the most dangerous things for a child to do in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today is to draw water from a well. That's
how this nightmare began for a mother of two.
My two daughters, ages 15 and 13, became victims of rape this morning. They were going to draw water when six armed men isolated them and raped
them in turn. I wanted to intervene, but I had just escaped death after being shot at twice. My daughters are in very critical condition. Please
pray for them. We need your support and help.
The fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to escalate, and aid workers say they are receiving cases of children raped by armed men
on a near daily basis.
[12:50:01]
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: This was a scene at Denver International Airport on Thursday after a plane's engine caught fire shortly after landing. Dozens of passengers were
evacuated onto the wing of the American Airlines jet, which was diverted to Denver after crew reported engine vibrations.
This is how one passenger described her terrifying ordeal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HIBBITS: As soon as the plane landed, it was very abrupt landing, everyone started screaming and we heard fire. I looked out the window. The window
started. There's flames out of the window where I was looking out. It started bubbling, like melting. It was really weird.
And everybody's kind of pushing to get out of the plane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Twelve people were taken to hospital with minor injuries and the NTSB says it's sending investigators to the airport.
In Denver, CNN's Pete Muntean has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The big headline here is the National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating this incident.
And investigators will have some pretty big questions about how this fire precipitated and why passengers were seen standing helplessly on the left
wing as the fire raged only feet away from them below the right wing.
We know, at least, initially, according to the FAA, that this fire broke out on the right engine of this Boeing 737 as it was taxiing into the gate.
The bigger narrative here is that this flight was having problems earlier as it took off from Colorado Springs. And about 20 minutes into the flight,
according to FlightAware, the flight was diverted from its initial destination of Dallas Fort Worth to the Denver International Airport.
American Airlines says 172 passengers and six crew were on board. And the crew, the pilots, reported initially a vibration coming from one of the
engines.
And I want you to listen now to the audio from liveatc.net in which the pilots described very calmly that this was not an emergency situation as
they diverted into Denver.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American 10,006, 1006 just to verify not an emergency still, correct?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. We just have a high engine vibration, so we are cruising slower than normal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: The latest from the Denver International Airport is that 12 people were hospitalized for minor injuries in this incident. The crash fire
rescue crews responded relatively quickly and got the fire out on that right engine. And we know at least one of the emergency slides was deployed
in the back of the airplane.
[12:55:12]
But some pretty interesting questions here because it seems like this fire primarily occurred at the gate with so many people in the terminal taking
video watching helplessly as those passengers waited helplessly on the left wing for help to arrive.
Investigators just now digging into this and the Federal Aviation Administration also looking into this as well. American Airlines says it is
thanking the first responders who put this fire out very fast.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. That does it for us this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. "AMANPOUR" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
