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One World with Zain Asher
CNN International: Heathrow Airport Shutdown Triggers Global Travel Chaos; Elon Musk Visits Def. Secretary Hegseth At Pentagon; Voters Across U.S. Fed up With Trump Cuts, Dems' Strategy. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired March 21, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, HOST, "ONE WORLD": All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. Bianna Golodryga, my colleague, is off today. You are
watching One World.
At any moment now, U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are scheduled to deliver remarks from the White House. We're
still waiting for it. We'll, of course, bring it to you as and when it happens. Hopefully, we should get that this hour.
But, I want to begin with the shutdown of one of the world's busiest airports. A major power outage overnight forced the closure of London's
Heathrow Airport, crippling travel plans for tens of thousands of travelers, and causing global chaos that could potentially last either days
or even weeks. Airports around the world are rolling out emergency measures, as planes at Heathrow stay grounded. Officials say an electrical
substation near the airport caught on fire, triggering widespread power outages. London's counter-terrorism police are leading an investigation,
and say at this time there is no indication of foul play. They're working with firefighters to find the cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN SMITH, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, LONDON FIRE BRIGADE: At 20:23 on the evening of the 20th of March, London Fire Brigade received 212 calls to a
fire in a high-voltage substation near Heathrow Airport. The fire involved a transformer comprising of 25,000 liters of cooling oil fully alight. This
created a major hazard due to the still live high-voltage equipment and the nature of the oil-fueled fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Britain's Energy Secretary says the backup supply power for Heathrow was also affected by the substation fire. Minutes ago, the British utility
company National Grid says it has restored power to parts of Heathrow on an interim basis, but the airport says it's unclear when its supply will be
reliably restored, and still urging passengers not to come.
CNN's Anna Stewart is at Heathrow Airport and filed this report for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flames leaping into the air over this West London electrical substation overnight, the fire taking out
all the power for the local area and for the UK's busiest airport. By mid- morning, the blaze was under control, but London Heathrow announced a complete shutdown, airplanes grounded on the tarmac, and many passengers in
the UK and around the world left stranded, waiting for answers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of unbelievable, just kind of like, what the hell? Because this whole trip has been a little bit of a -- let's just say
bad luck.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've called Delta, and all the lines were busy. So, they're not answering. I just called American Express Travel to see if they
can help. I'm waiting.
STEWART (voice-over): Heathrow announced the airport would remain closed until at least midnight local time of Friday, as the fire had also impacted
its backup power supply. With an average of 1,300 flights a day and serving as a major hub for transatlantic travel, there has already been global
disruption. Many flights, which were already en route to Heathrow, were turned around midair, others kept waiting for hours only to be told they
couldn't fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple hours ago, right, we were about to leave Newfoundland, we were rerouted back to Minneapolis.
STEWART (voice-over): As the UK National Grid works to reestablish power to Heathrow so flights can resume, counter-terrorism police have been called
in to lead the investigation into the fire.
ED MILIBAND, BRITISH ENERGY SECRETARY: There is no suggestion that there is foul play.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just a catastrophic accident, is what we're looking at.
MILIBAND: That is the -- I mean, the conversation I've had is with the National Grid, the chief executive of the National Grid, and certainly,
that's what he said to me.
STEWART (voice-over): The knock-on effects of this incident could take days to resolve.
IAN PETCHENIK, FLIGHTRADAR24 DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS: Airlines like BA are going to take probably a few days, maybe even a week, to recover,
depending on how long the problems at Heathrow last, and how quickly they can get aircraft and crews and passengers back into position.
STEWART (voice-over): Meaning, thousands more passengers are headed for delays.
Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: And one of the passengers stranded by the shutdown is Lucy Adler. She is actually set to return to London from Delhi today. She joins us live
now from a hotel in Delhi. Fingers crossed. I saw you crossing your fingers, Lucy. So, just, first of all, before we get to what your sort of
secondary plans are, just walk us through what exactly happened. As I understand it, you were in Delhi or are in Delhi, rather, for business.
[11:05:00]
You were set to --
LUCY ADLER, STRANDED PASSENGER: Yeah.
ASHER: -- travel back home today, and then obviously you've got the news about what's happening at Heathrow. Just walk us through what's happened in
your day so far.
ADLER: Yeah. So, I've been in India all week for work. And yeah, got on the flight as planned. So, we had taken off. The flight left at 05:00 a.m. like
yesterday. My head is in all sorts of time zones. And literally, obviously, it was a night flight. So, everyone had gone to sleep. About halfway
through, the captain woke everyone up and started telling us he had an announcement. There'd been a fire at Heathrow, and we were all expecting
him to say, so, you're going to -- we're going to land at a different London airport or a different UK airport. And then he said, so, we're
turning round and we're going back to Delhi. And everyone was just so shocked. We sort of all quickly put the flight map on. We were like, where
even are we? How long would we be on this plane?
And yeah, we'd literally got basically exactly halfway, and they just turned us right back around. So, we were flying for nine hours to just get
back to where we came from.
ASHER: That must have been so annoying, just to be en route --
ADLER: So annoying.
ASHER: -- to be en route. You said you were halfway. Everyone was asleep, you mentioned. The flying time --
ADLER: Yes.
ASHER: -- from Delhi to London is about nine hours or so. So, if you were halfway, I assume it was about four -- four and a half, maybe five hours
into the flight, only to go back to where you came from --
ADLER: Yeah.
ASHER: -- and start all over again. And then, just walk us through, once you landed again in Delhi, obviously, the first thing that everyone is
going to want to do is figure out what's the plan B, how they're going to rebook on perhaps a different airline and get back to the UK.
ADLER: Yeah.
ASHER: What did you sort of figure out as you sort of waded through that?
ADLER: So, even when we were on the flight, the flight had in-flight Wi-Fi. So, immediately, everyone was trying to get onto the Wi-Fi and start making
their plans. And we were like talking to the cabin crew, and they were sort of explaining what sometimes happens in these circumstances, but nobody
really had any answers. So, it was a real mix. Some people were just booking, trying to straight away book alternative flights, and others were
like, let's wait and see if the airline will kind of look after us and just see what happens. So -- and even when we landed, we were then just sat on
the tarmac for 90 minutes before we could even get off the plane. So, everyone was just frantically trying to make their calls and make their
plans.
ASHER: Yeah. I'm sure everyone was really tired and frustrated and cranky after that. So, just --
ADLER: Yeah.
ASHER: -- in terms of you getting back to the UK now, as I understand it, based on what my producers have told me, there is another flight that
you've booked yourself on. It leaves at 01:00 a.m. your time, so, in about --
ADLER: Yeah.
ASHER: -- four or five hours --
ADLER: Yeah.
ASHER: -- from now, but it's going to a different airport in the UK. It's landing in Birmingham. Is that right?
ADLER: That's right. So, I am a mum, and I've got two young kids. So, I was just desperate to kind of get home to them.
ASHER: Of course.
ADLER: My plan was supposed to be, I'd be home in time to pick them up from school today, and obviously that didn't work out. And I just -- from what I
read and what Virgin were telling us, I thought it's going to be a while before my flight gets rescheduled. Let me just see if I can find something
else. So, I found a flight that's going to Birmingham, but I have to stop in Switzerland and make a change. So, hopefully I'll be home at some point
tomorrow. I'm about to make that trip back to the airport.
ASHER: This is like literally the never ending flight. Literally, the never ending flight. You have to tell us if you exactly land --
ADLER: I know. I know. --
ASHER: -- back in the UK on time. So, one final question, just in terms of Virgin paying for your accommodation for the extra night, did they do that
for you?
ADLER: They've sorted the hotel, yeah, and they gave us this strange letter, which basically said, if you can find yourselves and make
alternative arrangements, this letter is proof that you'll be re- compensated. So, I'm really hoping that's true.
ASHER: OK. I'm sure they will take care of you. Lucy, we wish you the best of luck. I hope --
ADLER: Thank you.
ASHER: -- you make it back to your kids. I know what that's like when you are a mom and you're supposed to land and then it gets delayed. Oh, so
frustrating. But, I really pray that you're reunited with them soon enough. Lucy --
ADLER: Thank you.
ASHER: -- thank you so much for telling us your story.
All right. We're going to have much more on this breaking news, of course, throughout the show.
All right. Still to come here on One World, is the White House about to unveil major cutbacks in defense spending. At any moment now, we expect
Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, to talk to reporters. We will bring you that press conference as and when it happens. Plus, Elon
Musk visits the Pentagon, but no one knows exactly why. We'll have a live report on that just ahead.
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[11:10:00]
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ASHER: All right. The world's richest man wrapped up a visit to the world's largest defense department just a short time ago. We're told that Elon Musk
was at the Pentagon for meetings with senior leaders, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He stayed for a little over an hour. The New York
Times is saying that the tech billionaire went to the Pentagon to be briefed on top secret plans on how the U.S. military would conduct a war
with China. It's worth noting that Elon Musk has a lot of vested interests in China, and his two companies have contracts with the Defense Department,
estimated to be worth billions of dollars. Musk's visits comes as the U.S. Defense Secretary is meeting with Donald Trump at the White House.
Alayna Treene joins us live now from there. So, this meeting with Musk and Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon just wrapped up. We don't necessarily know
what was actually discussed in this meeting. Obviously, there has been so much speculation that he was given really top secret information regarding
a potential war with China. But, just walk us through what the potential conflicts of interests are, just in terms of this dual or sort of three-
pronged role that Elon Musk is playing here.
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right, and you're right as well, Zain, that we don't exactly know what they meant about it. I
will say that from people all the way up from President Trump and then also Elon Musk and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as well, all of them denied
that Times reporting that he was there for this briefing on secret plans for how the United States is preparing for potential war with China.
But, regardless of that, there are questions over whether Musk being at the Pentagon at all for potentially classified meetings or otherwise, do raise
conflicts of interest. As you mentioned, he has very vested interest in the Defense Department. His companies have different contracts with them. It
could potentially give him a leg up on some of his competitors. I'd note that, of course, SpaceX, there is a lot of reasoning that the Defense
Department and the Pentagon would be important to that company, but Tesla as well, and this is really where it comes into the China aspect of this.
Tesla relies heavily on China for production of its vehicle. So, that's why it's really raising a lot of questions over what exactly he was there for.
Now, Musk does hold a top security clearance. That is, again, part of some of this, what people are pushing back on, but it still leaves open the
question of what he was there for. This is what Pete Hegseth said yesterday in explaining Musk's visit. He said that he would participate in an
informal meeting about innovation, efficiencies, and smarter production.
[11:15:00]
We also heard the President push back, saying that it had nothing to do with China. But, this is a key question, Zain, that has come up time and
time and again with Musk having such a senior role at the White House. Even though he is not a full-time employee, he is what we call a special
government employee, it allows him to continue to keep investing in his businesses and working on his businesses on the outside of this
administration. But, this has been in question that's kind of come up a lot, particularly as we've seen him be a part of these cabinet meetings,
being really a leader in all of the cuts across these different agencies. So, questions over this is really just the latest example of people
wondering if some of the activities that Musk is engaging in are appropriate.
ASHER: Yeah. And talk to us a bit more about the different roles -- I mean, this is unprecedented, just the sort of different roles that Elon Musk is
playing here. I mean, obviously you talk about the fact that he has a security clearance. Obviously he is somewhat of a partial advisor to Donald
Trump. He is the wealthiest man in the world with several government contracts, potentially worth billions of dollars. And then on top of that,
he is also in charge of DOGE and cutting spending at the federal government.
TREENE: Yeah. He wears a lot of hats. So, one, if you just want to look at some of his companies, X is one of them, where we've seen many top Trump
administration officials and others, of course, throughout government using almost as a place to first air their statements when we were talking about
them making these denials of him receiving a China briefing. Where did we learn that first? It was on his website X. He also, I mentioned, is in
charge of SpaceX and Tesla. But, in the government as a special government employee, he is kind of overseeing DOGE. He is not officially the
Department of Government Efficiency administrator. But, for all intents and purposes, from our understanding and my conversations with Trump and White
House officials, he is the one who is really calling the shots on a lot of this.
And we've seen DOGE now. Their whole goal is to try and reduce the federal -- the size of the federal workforce, but also reshape it in the
President's image. And from that, we've seen mass firings, them offering deferred resignation programs, looking at cutting funding for a lot of
different agencies. So, a massive, massive role that doesn't just go -- doesn't just extend into Washington, but well beyond all across the
country. But, I think even potentially, even more importantly, is the influence he has directly with the President. This is something we saw
really grow during the transition after the President had won the election, and I think it's only gotten stronger since.
The President looks to Elon Musk for a lot of different decisions. He likes to take his advice. We've seen Elon Musk engage with the President in the
Oval Office. He is here at the White House campus all the time. And so, he has a very, very big role. We've also seen him take a large role in
different cabinet meetings. They recently announced that the President wants to hold bi-weekly cabinet meetings that would include Elon Musk, so
that they can coordinate on what he is doing with the Department of Government Efficiency. So, again, it's hard to really overstate Musk's
influence right now, particularly as it relates to President Donald Trump.
ASHER: OK. Alayna Treene live for there at the White House. Thank you so much.
All right. Two Democratic heavyweights are crisscrossing the country with one message, fight harder. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stopped in Denver -- stop in Denver, rather, tonight as part of their fighting oligarchy tour. Thursday night in North
Las Vegas, the two said Democrats share some of the blame, but their principles are sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): And they like to call us radical, and
what they like to call me is radical, I believe is common sense. I believe that when a person gets sick, they shouldn't go bankrupt in the wealthiest
country in the history of the world. Common sense. I believe that a minimum wage should cover the minimum cost to live. Common sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Not all the town halls were like that one. Many actually have descended into chaos, both Democrats and Republicans facing a wrath of
their constituents.
CNN's Danny Freeman has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fury at Washington on display from coast to coast this week. Here in deep red Wyoming,
constituents blasted Republican Congresswoman Harriet Hageman over federal cuts made by the Trump administration and Elon Musk's DOGE.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which is it's so bizarre to me how obsessed you are with federal government. But -- but here's the thing.
(CROWD CHANTING)
FREEMAN (voice-over): Here in Illinois, some protesters aggressively confronted Democratic Congressman Sean Casten about U.S. support of Israel
in the war in Gaza.
[11:20:00]
REP. SEAN CASTEN (D-IL): Sir, I'm telling you, sir --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What you're saying is I am --
CASTEN: -- sir --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- going to give my way when my people are being slaughtered --
CASTEN: -- if you -- sir, get off --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're soulless.
CASTEN: -- sir, get off the stage right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're soulless.
CASTEN: Get off the stage right now, sir.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Republicans and Democrats alike fending off anger on a wide range of issues like Medicare and Medicaid here in battleground
Arizona --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want you to be straight with us. How do we go to the next level to fight this?
FREEMAN (voice-over): -- and reining in DOGE here in deep blue Maryland.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not interested in hearing that you are in the minority. We know that.
FREEMAN (voice-over): But, while there has been no shortage of loud frustration, even quieter constituents want answers.
FREEMAN (on-camera): What's the main thing that you want to ask the congressman if you get a chance to?
MARY O'HARE, NEBRASKA DEMOCRAT: Well, I want to ask him, what are you doing?
FREEMAN (voice-over): Democrat Mary O'Hare drove an hour and a half to be one of the first in line for Tuesday's town hall with her congressman,
Nebraska Republican Mike Flood. She is worried DOGE cuts will hurt Nebraskans.
O'HARE: A lot of this is going to, like, really impact farmers and people in nursing homes and, children who don't get healthcare and elderly and
people with disabilities. It's going to go all over.
FREEMAN (voice-over): But, Republican Steve Champlin told us he can't get enough of DOGE and wants flood and President Trump to hold strong.
STEVE CHAMPLIN, NEBRASKA REPUBLICAN: If we need to cut, we need to cut. We got to cut the spending down. We're just too far in debt. I don't want to
become another third world nation.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Republican Carol Moseman voted for Congressman Flood, but she came hoping her representative will check the administration.
CAROL MOSEMAN, REPUBLICAN: I want to hear that he is going to stand up -- that he and other Republicans are going to stand up for democracy, that
they're going to not let Mr. Trump take over using executive powers.
FREEMAN (voice-over): Earlier this month, Speaker Mike Johnson encouraged fellow Republicans to stop doing town halls altogether, claiming they
attract paid or professional protesters. But, folks we spoke with pushed back.
FREEMAN (on camera): Are you paid to be here? Do you belong with any groups who are financing you coming up here today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, just my personal conviction about what's right.
FREEMAN (voice-over): And like other town halls, personal convictions quickly became public.
REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): I get it. There is a lot of people in this room that don't support what DOGE is doing. But, for the first time, we are
making some progress identifying places that we can reduce the budget.
FREEMAN (voice-over): After it all, Congressman Flood, though, told us he looks forward to his next town hall.
FLOOD: I think this just comes with a job, and I think a lot more members are going to be having town halls. And you know what? There is some --
there is probably some people here that didn't agree with my position on a lot of things, but they went home with the satisfaction of knowing they let
their representative know how they felt.
FREEMAN (on camera): Meanwhile, on Thursday night in a town hall in Virginia's 10th congressional district, we perhaps saw the exception to the
rule of how town halls went this particular week, Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam, he held a town hall, and while there were a many number
of Democratic voters in particular who were very upset and frustrated over the Trump administration and with DOGE cuts, they liked largely what the
Congressman was saying. The Congressman saying things, like, the American people wants us to fight. They want us to be bold. We can take risks.
That's exactly what a lot of the folks at this town hall who have been frustrated wanted to hear.
Danny Freeman, CNN, Warrenton, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Still to come here on One World, more on the breaking news out of London Heathrow, that airport remaining closed, completely
upending air travel across the world.
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[11:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Welcome back to One World. I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the international headlines we are watching today.
Israel's defense minister is instructing his forces to seize more territory in Gaza and evacuate its residents until all Hamas hostages are released,
and he says, until then, the IDF will intensify its airstrikes and ground operations in the Enclave. Katz is also warning the seizures could be
permanent.
Turkey is bracing for more unrest with the main opposition party calling for nationwide protests on Friday. Despite a ban on public gatherings,
thousands of Turks ramped up protests on Thursday over the government's detention of Istanbul's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, a key opposition rival to
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Critics say the mayor's detention is undemocratic and political.
Days before U.S. and Russian officials are set to hold another round of peace talks, Moscow launched a major drone attack on the Ukrainian town of
Odessa. Three people were injured, and that's according to local officials, who add, a residential high-rise building and a shopping center were
targeted.
British utility company National Grid says it has restored power to, quote, "parts of Heathrow Airport on an interim basis", but Heathrow is still
urging passengers at this point in time not to come. A fire nearby has shut it down. And London's counter-terrorism police say they are leading the
investigation.
Our Larry Madowo is on the ground at London's Heathrow Airport, taking a closer look at the logistical nightmare taking place. He filed this report
a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anybody trying to get to Heathrow Airport can only get this far. There are barriers here blocking access to all the
terminals at the airport. Passengers have been told not to attempt to come to the terminals for the whole day because the airport will be closed at
least until midnight. More than 1,300 flights are affected. Some are getting redirected to other London airports, those who are coming into
London, such as Gatwick and Stansted. But, for a lot of people who are hoping to travel today, there is no way into the terminal. And there are a
few passengers who kind of made this journey as well, parked across the road on the other side. Many have come here, discovered that they can't
come in and have gone back home.
This is Europe's busiest airport, the fourth busiest airport in the world. So, a cancelation, a closure of the whole day, affects hundreds of
thousands of people who will be probably here tomorrow if it reopens, trying to get their airlines to rebook them, and airlines scrambling to
accommodate all these extra thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who have to get to their destinations or to land here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: One of those passengers is Ben Switzer, who is from the United States. He is trying to get from Heathrow to Shannon, Ireland, and he has
been talking to Larry Madowo, who you just saw there.
[11:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADOWO: How come you're standing out here?
BEN SWITZER, STRANDED PASSENGER: Oh, my Uber driver, he was driving around out here because he couldn't get in, and then finally, he dropped me off
there and told me to take a hike over to the airport and well, it's closed. I can't, but --
MADOWO: So, you're just now chilling, waiting -- and hoping for a way to get back into the city.
SWITZER: Pretty much, yeah, back to the hotel.
MADOWO: Back to the hotel. Has this happened to you before?
SWITZER: No. I mean, it's kind of unbelievable. It's just kind of like, what the hell, because this whole trip has been a little bit of a -- let's
just say bad luck, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Let's dig deeper on the implications with CNN Transportation Analyst Mary Schiavo. She is a former Inspector General with
the U.S. Department of Transportation as well. Mary, always -- I mean, it's so good to get your perspective, because you're extremely knowledgeable, of
course, when it comes to air travel. So, when you have Europe's busiest airport closing, what are the ripple effects just in terms of the tens of
thousands of passengers across the world? Remember, it's not just passengers in the UK who are affected. It's the tens of thousands of
passengers across the world who are also trying to get to the UK as well.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: That's right, to get to the UK or to get home from the UK, and literally, you said it best. It's all the way
around the world. There are flights in the United States now that were held, that were sitting on the tarmac for hours. In the U.S., we have a
tarmac rule, after three hours, people need to be allowed off of those aircraft, so they go back to the terminal. But, literally, it affects
people around the world, and it's especially difficult because in -- decades ago, we had lots of what's called excess capacity. We had planes
with lots of extra seats. I can remember as a kid, you could have a whole row. You could stretch out. Well, airlines have done away with that, and
airlines nowadays fly from 80 percent to 100 percent capacity all the time.
ASHER: Sorry to -- I'm so sorry to interrupt you, Mary. Mary, I'm so sorry to interrupt you because President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete
Hegseth are speaking right now in the Oval Office. So, we've got to have to take that.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- amazing.
SCHIAVO: OK.
TRUMP: It should have been done years ago. They've been talking about doing it for many years, but nobody ever got it off, but we did, and there was
great excitement and great acceptance of it by almost everybody, including a lot of Democrats, actually.
I do want to say that I've decided that the SBA, the Small Business Administration, headed by Kelly Loeffler, she is terrific person, will
handle all of the student loan portfolio. We have a portfolio that's very large, lots of loans, tens of thousands of loans, pretty complicated deal,
and that's coming out of the Department of Education immediately, and it's going to be headed up by Kelly Loeffler at SBA, and they're all set for it.
They're waiting for that. It will be serviced much better than it has in the past. It's been a mess.
And also, Bobby Kennedy, the Health and Human Services, will be handling special needs and all of the nutrition programs and everything else, rather
complex, but that's going to be headed by and handled by Health and Human Services. So, I think that'll work out very well.
Those two elements will be taken out of the Department of Education, and then all we have to do is get the students to get guidance from the people
that love them and cherish them, including their parents, by the way, who will be totally involved in their education, along with the boards and the
governors and the states, and it's going to be a great -- it's going to be a great situation. I guarantee that in a few years from now, I hope I'm
going to be around to see it, but I think we're going to see a lot of it. I think that you're going to have tremendous results. You're going to have
results like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, a lot of the countries that do so well. I think you can have a lot of those results.
If you look at Iowa and Indiana and Idaho, so many places that run so well, Florida, Texas, big ones, you're going to have great education, much better
than it is now, at half the cost, and we're not even doing it as a cost item, although you will save probably half, maybe more than that, and
you're not going to be at the bottom of the list. You're going to be much higher, and maybe you'll be, I will guarantee, some of the states will be
at the top of the list. They'll be comparable, or better than these number one, two, three, four, five country -- the countries that are in the top
five positions. So, that's -- to me, it's very exciting, and it's been received very well. So, I just want to tell you about the student loans and
special needs.
But, we're here for a reason today that is very exciting, and I'm thrilled to announce that, at my direction, the United States Air Force is moving
forward with the world's first sixth-generation Russian fighter jet, number 6, sixth generation.
[11:35:00]
Nothing in the world comes even close to it, and it will be known as the F- 47, the generals picked a title, and it's a beautiful number, F-47. It's something the likes of which nobody has seen before in terms of all of the
attributes of a fighter jet. There has never been anything even close to it, from speed to maneuverability to what it can have to payload, and this
has been in the works for a long period of time. After a rigorous and thorough competition between some of America's top aerospace companies, the
Air Force is going to be awarding the contract for the next generation air dominance platform to Boeing, as you know, was highly competed for. There
was a lot of competition, generals, and it's been going on for a long time, very, very tough competition, but this plane is produced numbers that
nobody has ever seen before.
The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built. And experimental version of the plane is secretly been flying for
almost five years, and we're confident that it massively overpowers the capabilities of any other nation. There is no other nation -- we know every
other plane. I've seen every one of them, and it's not even close. This is next level. Level five is good. This is level six, they say. The F-47 is
equipped with state-of-the-art stealth technology. It's virtually unseeable and unprecedented power. It's got the most power of any jet of its kind
ever made. Maneuverability, likewise, is the -- there has never been anything like it. Despite the power and speed, its speed is top, over two,
which is something that you don't hear very often.
America's enemies will never see it coming. Hopefully, we won't have to use it for that purpose, but you have to have it. And if it ever happens, they
won't know what the hell hit them. A new fleet of these magnificent planes will be built in the -- and in the air, during my administration, over the
next couple of years, it's ready to go. They've already built much of what has to be built in terms of production, including the sheds. We will ensure
that the USA continues to dominate the skies. We've given an order for a lot. We can't tell you the price, because it would give way to some of the
technology and some of the size of the plane, a good sized plane.
This contract also represents a historic investment in our defense industrial base, helping to keep America at the cutting edge of aerospace
and technology. Our allies are calling constantly. They want to buy them also, and we'll -- for certain allies, we'll be selling them, perhaps toned
down versions. We like to tone them down about 10 percent which probably makes sense, because someday, maybe they're not our allies, right?
But, I would like to ask Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a fantastic job. He has really been very inspiring in so many ways. And I must say that,
before he speaks, we have had record people wanting to join our military in the last two and a half months literally since this -- I think probably
since the election, November 5th, but especially since we came to office. And since I announced Pete, he is young. He is smart. He is strong. He
loves it, and they love him. But, we've had record numbers of people wanting to join our military. Now, if you go back six months, it was the
exact opposite. You had record numbers of people not wanting to join the military. Now you have record numbers of people wanting to be in our
military, and that's a really -- that's a great idea. That shows you we're really on the right track.
So, Pete, maybe you say a few words.
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Sure. Well, Mr. President, this is a big day. This is a big day for our war fighters. This is a big day for
our country, a big day in the world. The name of this program is the Next Generation of Air Dominance. And Mr. President, because of your leadership,
your clarity, we are going to -- America is going to have general generations in the future of air dominance because of this sixth-generation
fighter.
We've had the F-15. We had the F-16, the F-18, the F-22, the F-35, now we have the F-47, which sends a very direct, clear message to our allies that
we're not going anywhere, and to our enemies that we can -- we will be able to project power around the globe unimpeded for generations to come.
[11:40:00]
Mr. President, this is a gift to my kids and your kids, to my grandkids and your grandkids. This is a historic investment in the American military, in
the American industrial base, in American industry, that will help revive the warrior ethos inside our military, which we're doing, rebuild our
military, which the previous administration did not do. By the way, Mr. President, they paused this program and were prepared to potentially scrap
it. We know this is cheaper, longer range and more stealthy. President Trump said, we're reviving it, and we're doing it, and then we are also
going to reestablish deterrence.
Under the previous administration, we looked like fools. Not anymore. President Trump has reestablished American leadership. The F-47 is part of
it. And Mr. President, thank you --
TRUMP: Thank you.
HEGSEH: -- for having the courage to do it and leading the way for all our war fighters.
TRUMP: Thank you very much, Pete.
One of the things I will say, but the generals are going to speak in just a couple of seconds, but this plane flies with drones. It flies with many,
many drones, as many as you want, and it's a technology that's new, but it doesn't fly by itself. It flies with many drones, as many as we want, and
that's something that no other plane can do.
So, I'd like to introduce, if I might, Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Allvin, and also General Dale White, two incredible people that I've
known over the years, but I got to know really well over the last few months. And would you say a few words, please, General?
GEN. DAVID ALLVIN, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. AIR FORCE: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Mr. President and Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for your
unwavering commitment to our military. I will say, this is a big day. This is a big day for our United States Air Force as well. Air dominance is not
a birthright, but it's become synonymous with American air power. But, air dominance needs to be earned every single day. And since the earliest days
of aerial warfare, the brave American airmen have jumped into their machines, taken to the air, and they've cleared the skies, and whether
that'd be clearing the skies so we can rain down destruction on our enemies from above or we can clear the path --
ASHER: All right. You've just been listening to a press conference with President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval
Office, essentially with the President announcing a sixth generation of fighter jet. He called it the F-47. Of course, remember that Donald Trump
is the 47th President of the United States. He described it as having a remarkable speed, maneuverability and payload, and essentially saying that
America's enemies would not know what hit them. Hopefully, though, the President's words, that the U.S. would not have to use it, use this brand
new fighter jet.
Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, also spoke immediately after the President, and essentially said that this is about projecting military
power for the United States. This is about air dominance. The previous administration, the Biden administration, he was saying, paused this
program, and they are sort of reprioritizing this program under this administration.
I want to bring in CNN's Political and National Security Analyst, David Sanger, who has been listening to President Trump speak. So, a couple of
things here. First of all, obviously, this comes at a time of dramatic cuts across the U.S. federal government, including at the Department of Defense.
Pete Hegseth mentioned the previous administration paused this program. My first question to you is, what does this tell us about the defense
priorities of this administration?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think the first thing that it tells you is that this is an administration that is a lot
more in spending money on hard power than soft power. This is a billions and billions of dollar project. President Trump said he would not say how
much, because he did not want to reveal, largely to the Chinese, what the underlying technologies would be. But, those numbers will leak out fairly
soon, I suspect, or at least in broad run.
But, meanwhile, we have seen them cutting a lot of programs that are used today in the soft power realm, Radio Free Asia, for example, or other U.S.
programs, diplomatic programs, abroad that would be used to counter Chinese influence. So, what you're hearing today is a reaffirmation they want to
spend their money on hard power and not on soft power.
ASHER: Yeah, it's interesting, because there was quite a stark contrast at the beginning of this news conference in the Oval Office, where the
President talked about dismantling the Department of Education and how certain aspects of the Department of Education would be reabsorbed into
either the Small Business Administration or the Department of Health and Human Services, and then you have this massive Defense Department
announcement just in terms of this new contract given to Boeing to create the fighter jet, the F-47, which is what they're calling it.
Just in terms of some other breaking news that we got, obviously, Elon Musk had his meeting with Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon.
[11:45:00]
We don't necessarily know what was discussed, in precise terms. There was some speculation that he was perhaps given top secret information about how
the U.S. would go about conducting a potential war with China. Again, we don't necessarily know what was discussed. But, just in terms of the
conflict of interest and the optics, give us your take on that, especially given the fact that Elon Musk has billions of dollars' worth of contracts
with the U.S. Defense Department as well.
SANGER: Sure. Well, before we get to the conflict of interest issues, which are fascinating and fulsome, this announcement today might, might explain
why they felt that they needed to see Elon Musk and see him when they did, because Elon Musk has been highly critical of the F-35, the current
fighter, and has basically taken the position that unmanned aircraft would be out of date by the 2030s, and of course, this F-47 would be a manned
aircraft to which drones would fly alongside, as you just heard President Trump say. So, it's possible they want to try to bring him onsite with this
project, an enormously expensive one.
You raised all the right questions. I mean, obviously, SpaceX, Starlink, all have major Defense Department-related contracts. And so, to have
somebody in there, deciding on or even recommending where the Pentagon should cut or not cut, while having business in front of the Pentagon,
seems by itself to be a pretty clear conflict.
ASHER: All right. David Sanger live for us there. Thank you so much.
SANGER: Great to be with you.
ASHER: I want to get back -- good to be with you too. I want to get back to our breaking news. The British utility company National Grid says it has
restored power to, quote, "parts of Heathrow Airport on an interim basis". However, Heathrow is still urging passengers not to come after a fire
nearby had shut it down. London's counter-terrorism police say they are leading the investigation.
Let's bring back our guest, CNN Transportation Analyst Mary Schiavo. Listen, I'm so sorry I had to interrupt you there. You were in the middle
of --
SCHIAVO: It's fine.
ASHER: -- talking about just the massive fallout from --
SCHIAVO: Right.
ASHER: -- the cancelation of flights, because obviously Heathrow right now is closed. You've got the fallout in terms of passengers being stranded in
the UK, but also passengers around the world who are trying to get to the UK as well.
SCHIAVO: That's right. And one of the biggest problems is capacity when something like this happens, because it's not just the seats on the
aircraft that are extremely limited now that airlines around the world are flying at very high full-seat capacities, but also the hotels in the area.
Hotels around major airports literally can't handle everyone that might be traveling through the airport. There is a lot of price gouging. For
example, in the United States, when there is a natural disaster, price gouging is illegal. You can't hike your hotel room from 200 pounds to 1,000
pounds. But, when it's not a natural disaster, a lot of price gouging will go on. Customers will find it very difficult.
And another problem is, not all airlines have what's called interline agreements with each other. So, rebooking becomes very difficult. If you're
on an airline that doesn't have agreements with other airlines, you have to wait on your airline, or literally, it's -- this won't be deemed their
fault. So, all they have to do is give you a refund and say, well, goodbye, good luck with rebooking.
So, in situations like this, the stresses and the financial impact on the passengers is extremely great as well. Everybody talks about the cost to
the airline, but there is a cost on these passengers that, unfortunately, most of the world's law says, well, passenger, it wasn't the airline's
fault. So sad. You will have to eat the cost, and that's a great difficulty when airlines are operating at the capacities they are, and when they stuff
the world's air traffic into a few airports, as they've done around the world, including in the U.S.
ASHER: So, what are the options for passengers? I mean, obviously I'm from the UK. If I was in the situation, the first thing that I would try to do
would be to get to another airport in the UK. There is Gatwick.
SCHIAVO: That's right.
ASHER: There is Stansted. There is Luton. There is City. One of the guests that I was speaking to earlier -- a few minutes ago, a stranded passenger
who was in Delhi was trying to get to Birmingham. Obviously, there are -- outside of London, you've got -- I mean, there is Edinburgh. There is so
many other options. Obviously, Edinburgh would be extremely far just in terms of getting --
SCHIAVO: Right.
ASHER: -- back to London, but it's still an option if you are desperate to get back to the UK. What sort of bandwidth the airlines have just in terms
of going to other airports in the area, especially the various London airports?
SCHIAVO: Well, obviously, the aircraft are very mobile. They can fly into anyone they want. But, the great difficulty is going to be getting their
passengers there, with surface traffic also snarled, and seats on trains having been snapped up as fast as they've been made available, and it was
great that the train from London to Paris added many -- some additional trains.
[11:50:00]
But, the problem for the airlines is they don't have that surface transportation capacity. They don't have a fleet of busses or reserve seats
on trains. So, the problem is really going to fall upon the passenger, and often what airlines say is, well, if you can get to -- if you can get to
Gatwick, we can put you on another flight there. But often, that's just simply not possible. And again, it depends upon the agreements that one
airline has with another airline, and the availability of seats, which in this worldwide travel market, they have been highly sought after and
difficult to get because, people obviously are traveling at record numbers after the downturn from COVID. It's been pretty much up every year. So, the
difficulty is going to be finding the spots, and then where that financial burden will fall.
ASHER: Yeah, especially because a lot of the other sort of smaller airports, they only really take in flights, incoming flights from various
parts of Europe. So, if you're stranded in South Africa, if you're stranded in Nigeria, if you're coming from Delhi, typically the only option in terms
of a direct flight will be going to Heathrow. If you don't do that, you'd have to go to somewhere else in Europe in order to get to the various other
smaller airports.
Mary Schiavo, always good to see you. Thank you so much for your perspective. We appreciate that.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Let's go back now to the Oval Office, because President Trump is actually taking questions. Let's listen in.
TRUMP: President Putin will tell you that without the United States, he wouldn't be worried, but he is worried when the United States is involved.
And I have to tell you, I've dealt very well with both gentlemen and we have -- I think we have the confines of a deal. I hope we have the confines
of a deal. I'm doing it for two reasons, number one, and by far, most importantly, thousands of young people, and they're not American people,
they're Russian and the Ukrainian, are being killed every week, thousands a week. And also, the United States has paid, because of Biden, $350 billion
on a war that should have never happened. If we had a competent President in this -- right -- sitting right here, that war would have never happened.
It would have absolutely never happened with me, and it didn't happen for four years. It didn't happen.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you think you have the authority, the power to round up people, deport them, and then you're under no
obligation to a court to show the evidence against them?
TRUMP: Well, that's what the law says, and that's what our country needs, because we were -- unfortunately, they allowed millions of people to come
into our country, totally unvetted, totally unchecked. So, you ought to ask, did he have the authority to allow millions of people? Did Biden have
the authority to do something that's unthinkable, have open borders where millions of people poured into our country totally unvetted and totally
unchecked, just as you would say? And many of those people were criminals. Many of them were from jails and prisons and mental institutions and gang
members and drug dealers and very dangerous people. Many were murderers. We have 11,088 that we know of murderers. They murdered. Of that number, at
least half killed more than one person. They're in our country in a location near you.
Biden allowed that to happen to our country, and his people that really ran the country and the person that operated the autopen, I think we ought to
find out who that was, because I guess that was the real President. So, when you ask me, if we have the authority, did Biden have the authority to
allow millions of people to come into our country, many of these people, hardened criminals, at the top of the line, who have caused tremendous
damage in our country? You see them in New York City fighting with our police. I mean, literally, having fist fights in the street with our
police.
These are tough, hard criminals. Many of them came out of jails, and not just South America, from all over the world. They came out of -- from
Africa, from the Congo. They came out from Asia, not just South America, but many from South America. These are hard, tough criminals, and we have
to get them out. And a judge sitting behind a bench someplace got a nice appointment. You can't take that away from the people that are responsible.
Now, in this case, Marco Rubio has a lot of big decisions to make, and he is a fantastic person, a great man. I think he'll be our best. I think he
has a chance to be our best Secretary of State. He has been doing incredible. He worked so hard.
He stopped -- he has gone to so many different countries already, and he has got the authority to get bad people out of our country. And you can't
stop that with a judge sitting behind a bench that has no idea what goes on, who happens to be a radical left lunatic.
[11:55:00]
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- delaying or denying this. You're guys are just denying this New York Times report that Elon Musk was going to be shown a
20 to 30-page presentation about a theoretical war plan against --
TRUMP: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- China. Why not just show it to Elon?
TRUMP: Because I don't want to show it to anybody. You're talking about a potential war with China. Now, I deal with these people all the time, and
I'm dealing with Pete. I'm dealing with these gentlemen on numerous different airplane purchases, and I think they're all going to be great.
But, I don't want other people seeing, anybody, seeing potential war with China. We don't want to have a potential war with China. But, I can tell
you, if we did, we're very well equipped to handle it. But, I don't want to show that to anybody, but certainly you wouldn't show it to a businessman
who is helping us so much.
He is a great patriot. He has taken -- he is paying a big price for helping us cut costs, and he is doing a great job. He is finding tremendous waste,
fraud, and abuse. But, I certainly wouldn't want -- Elon has businesses in China, and he would be susceptible, perhaps, to that, but it was such a
fake story. The New York Times is just as fake as CNN and MSNBC. And anybody who'd read that story, people laughed at that story. Who would do
such a thing? And the first thing I did is I called Susie, and I called Pete. I said, is there any truth to that? And they said, it's ridiculous.
No. He is over there to talk about cost. You might want to address that, Pete. But, Elon was over there today to address cost, DOGE, a thing called
DOGE, which you've heard about. Pete.
HEGSETH: That's exactly right, Mr. President. You pointed out it was a fake story. We pointed out it was. It was meant to sort of undermine whatever
relationship the Pentagon has with Elon Musk. Elon Musk is a patriot. Elon Musk is an innovator. Elon Musk provides a lot of capabilities our
government and our military rely on, and I'm grateful for that. We welcomed him today to the Pentagon to talk about DOGE, to talk about efficiencies,
to talk about innovations. It was a great informal conversation.
The rest of that reporting was fake. There was no war plans. There was no Chinese war plans. There was no secret plans. That's not what we were doing
at the Pentagon.
TRUMP: I might add that I think Elon, if you -- if they ever wanted to do that, I think Elon wouldn't do it. I think he wouldn't do it. He wouldn't
want to put himself in that position. But, if you read what's out of the New York Times, it's such a dishonest newspaper. It's such garbage. It's --
it used to be called all the news that's fit to print. Well, it's all the news that's not fit to print. They have fake sources, or they don't have
sources. I think they make most of it up.
But, this was a made up story by The New York Times. I call it the failing. It's a failing newspaper. It's failing, and they shouldn't do that. They
really are the enemy of the people.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: We really -- we do need honest journalism, and this -- we've made such big strides over the last two months, but we just need honest
journalism, and we don't have it. When you have a CNN, I watch, you have to watch these people every once in a while just to see where they're coming
from, and it's so dishonest. MSNBC is, I think, probably worse, and they're both doing horribly in the ratings. I think they're going to be turned off.
I don't think -- they're not doing any ratings. You're doing well on the ratings.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- that your trade rep is meeting their Chinese counterpart next week.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything that they can do to stop April 2nd or to roll back the tariffs that you put on China already?
TRUMP: Well, we can talk. But, basically, I call April 2nd. I would have made it April 1st, but I didn't want it to be April Fools' Day because then
nobody would believe what I said. And they do believe me. April 2nd is going to be Liberation Day for America. We've been ripped off by every
country in the world, friend and foe. We've been ripped off on trade. We've been ripped off on military. We protect people, and they don't do anything
for us. We -- it's just so unfair for years and years, and now some of that money is going to be coming back to us in the form of tariffs there. I
mean, tens of billions. It's going to be numbers like nobody has ever seen.
So, Nvidia announced today, you saw that, hundreds of billions of dollars of investment. The biggest chip maker in the world announced hundreds of
billions of dollars of investment, hundreds of billions, not millions, but billions. They're all coming here. Apple just announced $500 billion worth.
They're going to build plants here. They built their plants in China. They're going to build them here, and they're starting immediately. We have
investment the likes of which this country has never seen, already announced, and they all want to have news conferences. I don't have enough
time to have that many news conferences.
But, I would say, so far, at least $4 trillion, $4 trillion is coming in, car companies, very importantly, a lot of the car companies that were going
to build in Mexico or Canada are now building here, because I don't want cars from Canada. I don't want cars from Mexico. If they want to do it, it
is fine, but I want the car companies --
END
