Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Boston Celtics Sold; Report Released on Toronto Plane Crash; Trump Trade War Raising Copper Prices; Russia, Ukraine Exchange Attacks on Infrastructure. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired March 20, 2025 - 11:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[11:30:03]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM.

Ukraine and Russia both exchanging fresh attacks on each other's infrastructure overnight, despite both countries agreeing to a pause on these kinds of attacks. But we're seeing a lot of movement on the ground as well.

I'm here with CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. He's going to break down the latest for us on these latest infrastructure attacks.

Tell us about it.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Pam, there are a lot of things that are happening here in Ukraine, but just to give you a basic idea, some of the key nuclear plants that Ukraine has are approximately in these areas right here.

So, this is an area where the Russians have occupied part of it. They have also gone in and sent missiles, rockets and drones into areas like this. And then the entire infrastructure, including places where they have had some of the areas like right here, where they have attacked one of the major electrical areas, all of this is really part and parcel of what the Russians are trying to do.

And so what they're trying to do is really establish a situation where they take out as much of the power structure as possible. The Ukrainian railroads are run by electricity, so it's important for them to take out the electrical power grid that supports the Ukrainian railroads.

And they do attacks like this because each one of these attacks really makes a big difference in terms of their ability to not only control what's happening in the civilian population, but also what's happening along the front lines here.

BROWN: So, bottom line, though, isn't this a violation of what was agreed to with the White House and the cease-fire?

LEIGHTON: Well, that's what we would certainly say, because one of the key things that you have here is, you look at what the Ukrainians are doing in this area. They had this area right in this region around Sudzha. The Russians

have occupied, reoccupied this part of the map right here. And when you look at what is happening in the town of Sumy, that is right across the border from the Kursk region. And they have attacked the critical infrastructure in Sumy as well.

Hospitals, electrical power stations, schools, all of this has basically become part of one of the major target sets that the Russians are going after. And they are doing this because they sense a big advantage in the battle space, because, right now, right along the border, they are -- they have got incursions near Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second largest city. Vovchansk is an area that has major Ukrainian efforts that are designed to counter this, but the Russians are making some ground.

And when you go to the Eastern front, one of the key areas right here is Pokrovsk. That has been really an area where it's been contested. And the Ukrainians have had some success in thwarting the Russian advances, but every time the Russian attacks occur, it further weakens the Ukrainian effort to fight against them.

And that really makes a big, big difference as far as this is concerned.

BROWN: So let's go back to the overall map, if you would, and look at the Black Sea right here, because this is really a sticking point right now in these negotiations. Tell us about that.

LEIGHTON: Yes, that's right, Pamela.

So the Black Sea, this body of water right in through here, this is where the Black Sea fleet was located. They were based out of Crimea, this peninsula right here. Russia wants to keep Crimea as part of any peace deal. And one of the key things that they want is to re-annex Crimea.

Khrushchev, who was the leader of the Soviet Union back in the late '50s and '60s, early '60s, he gave Crimea to Ukraine, and Ukraine got Crimea as part of its independent settlement. But what the Russians want is, they want this as a base for their Black Sea fleet.

What the Ukrainians have done, though, is they have eliminated a large portion of the Russian Black Sea fleet. So the Russians want to reconstitute that fleet so they can control the maritime access to Ukraine. And what we're talking about is the Port of Odesa, which is right about there.

That is the main area where Ukraine ships all its grain out from its agricultural regions to the rest of the world. And the Third World depends on Ukrainian grain.

BROWN: That is absolutely true.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much for that -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And just ahead: Electronics, medical supplies, military, aircraft, all of them need lots of copper. And President Trump's trade war is sending prices through the roof at a time when we're importing more copper than ever.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:06]

BLITZER: All right, we have got more breaking news right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Canadian transportation officials have just released a preliminary report on that Delta plane crash in Toronto last month, the images, of course, very hard to forget. The flight from Minneapolis flipped upside down when it landed at the Pearson International Airport in Toronto. Thankfully, there were no fatalities, but 21 people were injured.

I want to go live right now to see the safety analyst, the former FAA safety inspector David Soucie.

David, thanks for coming in. Thanks for helping us.

Break down this report from the Canadians.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: All right, there's a couple of key points in it, Wolf.

One is that there was a rapid descent just seconds before the touchdown. So that means that the aircraft encountered some kind of turbulence, or it could have been from wingtip vortices from the prior aircraft that took off. So, at the very last second before they were coming in, last seconds, it dropped very quickly right down onto that landing gear.

[11:40:08]

The second piece that's really important is the fact that it hit on that landing gear and that it fractured the landing gear and fractured the wing support as well, which resulted in that wing coming off. So there's a lot left to learn as to why this happened, why that dropped there, but it gives us a lot of clues as to what might have caused this accident.

BLITZER: Was there anything that surprised you big time in this report?

SOUCIE: You know, there really isn't. We looked at it ahead of time. We had those videos that we could see before, and you could kind of see visually that the aircraft did get a sudden drop.

The question is, Wolf, what surprises me is that they haven't produced any evidence as to whether that was caused by a movement by the pilot or whether it was caused by the turbulence outside. So that's what the investigators will be looking at now. But as far as anything surprising in the report, no, it seems right in line with what we had thought happened to this aircraft.

BLITZER: And the images we're showing our viewers now are newly released images that the Canadians just put out.

When we were covering that crash and that plane flipped over, it was upside down on the tarmac, I said to myself, that's pretty extraordinary. I follow a lot of plane crashes, but it's pretty unusual for a plane to come in for a landing and then all of a sudden land and then crash and flip over upside down. Isn't that right?

SOUCIE: Yes, it's absolutely a strange situation. A lot of things had to come together.

But one of the things I'd like to point out is, because of the advancements in technology, there were no serious injuries, no fatalities in this accident. The fact that the seats were secured more securely than they had been in the past due to regulatory changes, the fact that the aircraft wing, the way that it came off, prevented the fuselage from tearing apart, all of these things that saved lives were things that were anticipated by engineers and designed into the aircraft.

So I think it's a real boon, a real feather in the cap of those that do the engineering and those that responded as well.

BLITZER: And it's underscored how important it is to have your seat belt on and have it tight, even if you think everything is going to be smooth. You have to have those seat belts tightly faceted.

David Soucie, thanks very much for joining us -- Pamela.

BROWN: That's a very good reminder, Wolf.

And now to a SITUATION ROOM special report. Every day this week, we are looking at different industries and the kind of impact President Trump's tariffs would have on those industries.

Today, CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich joins us to look at the copper industry.

So, last month, Trump posted on social media: "Tariffs will help build back our American copper industry and strengthen our national defense. American industries depend on copper and it should be made in America."

So, Vanessa, how realistic is that?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, it'll be a challenge, because, Pamela, just look at all the items, products that are -- that copper is used to make, cell phones, computers, you have pennies here, all used to make copper, all used to make these items.

And one industry in particular copper is critical for, the defense industries. It's the second most utilized material by the Defense Department, used to make things like military vehicles, aircraft, tanks and naval vessels. And that is why President Trump issued an executive order to investigate the copper industry and whether or not our foreign dependence on copper is actually a national security risk.

Look at the imports, how they have shifted over the past few decades. In 1991, we imported zero percent of copper. We did it all here in America. By 2024, last year, 45 percent, nearly half of all copper consumed by the U.S., imported.

And what we're seeing is that President Trump is threatening to put a tariff on all of that copper used to make things like computers, cell phones, et cetera, happening potentially on the 2nd of April. And that tariff will hit countries like China, Chile, the Congo, and Japan.

But can we do it all here? Can we do it all here right in America? Well, we certainly have the natural resources and the capacity. We have 275 million metric tons of copper in reserves and resources that could be mined right here in the U.S. However, there's a lot of red tape that is stopping that from happening.

One of the things that we need to look at is our refining capacity and something called smelting. That's producing the copper. It's not as good as other countries. China really accounts for all -- excuse me -- 50 percent of all refining and smelting capacity.

Also, to discover a mine and then produce the copper out of that mine, 29 years to get that going here in the U.S., only behind Zambia, which takes about 34 years. And then there's environmental concerns.

[11:45:03]

In Alaska, the EPA in 2023 blocked a copper mine from going into effect, from going into production, because of the downstream effect it would have on the wild salmon population. But what President Trump is trying to do is to skirt some of this red tape by making it a defense issue, a national security issue.

But, in the meantime, if he goes ahead with a tariff on copper from other countries, Pamela, that is going to make everyday items, cell phones, computers, the pennies I just showed you, more expensive. So this investigation is ongoing, but, in the meantime, any tariff on copper coming into this country, that's going to have a big impact, Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, and, as you laid out, it's not like we can just quickly start producing more copper here in the U.S. There's many hurdles to go through for that.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: She's an excellent, excellent reporter, does a great job.

BROWN: Yes, I have been enjoying the series all weekend.

BLITZER: Me too. BROWN: I have learned so much.

BLITZER: I have learned a lot too.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: All right, coming up, there's breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM, more breaking news. The Boston Celtics have been sold, and the price tag has set a brand-new record.

We will discuss that and more right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:51:10]

BROWN: Breaking news, a group of investors is buying the Boston Celtics for more than $6 billion. It is the largest sale of a sports franchise in North America.

BLITZER: I want to bring in a CNN sports analyst, the "USA Today" sports columnist Christine Brennan.

Christine, thanks for coming in.

This is a massive price tag, clearly. So what do you think went into this deal?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: What we're seeing, obviously, Wolf and Pamela, is just the increased value of sports as not only sports, athletic competition that we love, but also entertainment.

This just speaks to -- this number is extraordinary, $6.1 billion, as you said. The Washington Commanders just two years ago were sold for $6.05 billion, which was a lot. Obviously, this beats that. But even going back, I did a little math real quick here, 2012, the L.A. Dodgers were sold, obviously, the Dodgers, one of the great names like the Celtics, right? There's certainly that marquee value in these incredible legacy franchises.

The Dodgers were sold for $2 billion in 2012, and the New York Mets just five years ago $2.4 billion. So, you can see how it's rising so rapidly, and it's all about the value, especially for these equity companies, the value of sport, the value of entertainment, and we just can't get enough of it, and, of course, also the TV money, which is extraordinary.

BROWN: Right. And, of course, the Celtics, they have a whole lot of history, right, 18 championships, most recently last season.

How much of a factor does all that kind of culture play into a team's price tag?

BRENNAN: You know, I think it does in a couple ways, Pamela, first of all, just the value, the marquee name, the fact that it is one of those great franchises, a name that everyone knows. Whether you love sports or not, you have heard of the Celtics. You know the Celtics. You know going back, Bill Russell, or Havlicek, or Larry Bird, whoever it might be. I also think there is an allure for owners, especially as they were young people cheering for teams. Hey, someday, you can own the Celtics.

I mean, that -- I mean, to use a term, that's cool. That's a fun thing. If they have so much money that they can do something like this, the cachet of saying you're the owner of the Celtics or the Dodgers or the Mets, whatever, or the Commanders, that means something because sports at its core is about a kid cheering for sports, cheering for a team, loving a team.

Could you be a part of it someday as an adult? That's what these owners, there -- clearly, it's financial, but there's also that emotional tie.

BLITZER: Yes, and it's clearly a great potential investment for these billionaires to go ahead and buy a major sports franchise like the Boston Celtics.

While I have you, Christine, I want to ask you quickly about some other breaking news. The International Olympic Committee just elected its new president and they picked the first female and first African to lead the organization. How significant is this?

BRENNAN: It's huge. I'm surprised.

I have covered the Olympics, as you know, for 40 -- gosh, 40 years. L.A. Olympics in '84 was my first. I never thought I'd see the day. This is the oldest of old boys networks, the International Olympic Committee. They're royalty, or they think their royalty. It is a very, very elite world. And women, obviously, at the Olympics are rising, but, for years, women were not anywhere close to men in terms of participation.

That is changing. And what the International Olympic Committee is saying by picking Kirsty Coventry from -- the first African, also a multiple Olympic medalist in swimming -- I covered her in 2004 in Athens, 2008 in Beijing. They're saying this is a whole new day. They have got to reach more girls, more people in Africa, more of -- they have got to grow. It just cannot be that old boys European network that has been dominating the International Olympic Committee leadership for all these years.

[11:55:06]

It is a really, really big deal. She will lead the Olympic effort not only next year in Italy, but also in Los Angeles in 2028, where she might bump heads with Donald Trump, when he will want to maybe have some things go his way on transgender athletes or other issues, immigration issues, and she will be the one leading the way now, a woman for the International Olympic Committee.

I almost cannot believe I just said that sentence.

BROWN: About time.

BLITZER: Yes, and congratulations to her. Excellent, excellent news.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: Christine, thank you very much.

BROWN: Thank you. Thanks. Appreciate it.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. You can keep up with us on social media @WolfBlitzer, @PamelaBrownCNN.

We will see you back here tomorrow, every weekday morning for our expanded two-hour SITUATION ROOM 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend Manu Raju is back right after a short break.

[12:00:00]