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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: Trump's Anti-Weaponization Fund Sparks Senate Backlash; Senate Republicans Push Back on Trump's Controversial Fund; Sources: Iran Rebuilding Military Faster Than Expected; WH Announce New Investments in Quantum Computing; U.S. Set to Invest $2B in Quantum Computing Companies; Concerns Over Stray Drone Flights in NATO Airspace; Mental Health Treatment for Veterans; SpaceX to Test Launch Starship V3. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired May 21, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and
you're watching "The Brief."
Just ahead this hour, Senate Republicans are pushing back against the Trump administration's $1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund. Sources
tell CNN that Iran has already restarted some drone production and is rebuilding its military faster than expected. And SpaceX is set to launch a
new version of Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built.
We begin here in Washington where one Trump administration policy is derailing another. Republican senators leaving for the holiday weekend,
apparently blindsided by the Department of Justice's new $1.8 billion anti- weaponization fund, as they're calling it. The issue is so toxic, it jeopardized a vote to provide billions of dollars for immigration
enforcement, which, of course, is an administration priority.
Also causing upset within the GOP is a Secret Service funding package which has money for what? Well, Trump's East Wing ballroom. Many lawmakers fear
that that so-called anti-weaponization fund will go towards Trump allies or supporters who were investigated, in many cases, convicted of crimes. That
includes January 6th insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol. It seems that the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, failed to convince some
Republican senators in an effort behind closed doors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): These people don't deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison. Some of them deserve the pardon because they
were over-prosecuted. But this -- I mean, this is just stupid on stilts.
TODD BLANCHE, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Just to be clear, people that hurt police get money all the time, OK? There's a process where if you
believe you have your rights violated, you can apply for funds. You can sue. You can file a claim. You can go to court. In some of those cases, the
state, the government, the federal government settles those cases. It's abhorrent to ever, ever touch a law enforcement officer, which is why
anytime anybody does that and it's a federal officer, we'll prosecute them. But that's a completely different question with whether an individual is
allowed to apply for a claim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Of course, he neglects to mention that President Trump pardoned many people who attacked police officers. Kevin Liptak at the White House.
I wonder what the White House response is to this now. I mean, they got a problem getting through their spending package now, which includes other
administration priorities. Are they going to have to back down on this?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It's not clear. And they haven't said that they're willing to do that just yet. But clearly, they
will have to shift something in all of this, perhaps provide some more information to some of these Republican senators who have a lot of
questions about how exactly this money will be doled out and who precisely will decide who can be a recipient of this anti-weaponization fund.
You know, that was a question that a lot of Republican senators had today when Todd Blanche was on Capitol Hill for this very contentious meeting by
most accounts about who exactly this five-person panel would consist of, who decides the allocations for this money.
But even if those names are revealed, it's not at all clear that that will be enough to placate some of the concerns that these Republicans have about
this anti-weaponization fund. And it does, I think, underscore what has become really quite a toxic dynamic between the White House and Republicans
on Capitol Hill.
It has been boiling sort of beneath the surface for quite some time, but it really has been thrust into public view just over the last few days,
prompted not only by the anti-weaponization fund, which caught so many Republicans off guard, but also by the funding for the ballroom, that
additional billion dollars for the Secret Service, for some of the security provisions in the ballroom that they say that they just can't vote for
because it is so unpopular among their voters.
You also have hanging over all of this the president's decision to endorse in Texas Ken Paxton over John Cornyn, who's the very senior Republican
senator that caught many Republicans up on Capitol Hill off guard as well, very upset by that.
[18:05:00]
And I think you're just seeing in the moves that unfolded over the course of today, a general unwillingness by these Republicans to take very
politically toxic votes, even if it means that it puts them on the wrong side of President Trump loyalty-wise. And so, where this goes from here, I
think, somewhat unclear.
The House and the Senate will not be back in Washington until June. That's already put this immigration bill that they're trying to pass past the
president's self-set deadline. And so, they will have to reconcile all of this somehow. It's not precisely clear how exactly they plan to do that.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And I imagine some of those lawmakers looking at the polling as the midterm elections, including the president's polling, as the midterm
elections approach. Kevin Liptak at the White House, thanks so much.
Other news we're following closely. Iran is now rebuilding its military capabilities much faster than the U.S. expected. That according to sources
citing the latest U.S. intelligence assessments. They tell CNN that Iran has now restarted drone production. When? During the ceasefire that began
in April. Iran has also published this new map defining the area under its oversight or control.
Crucially, it includes the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates and Oman. This comes as a U.S. official says that President Trump had a,
quote, "tense conversation" with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps in the war. After President Trump halted new
strikes on Iran this week, the Israeli prime minister told him that was a mistake.
Joining me now is Natasha Bertrand. And Natasha, this is key because previous assessments had shown that Iran retained more of its military
capabilities following the war, at least the meat of the war. Now, it's saying that they're able to replace some of what they lost.
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, according to our sources familiar with recent U.S. intel assessments on this issue,
you're exactly right. The Iranians have proven extremely resilient, not only in how much of their military capacity they've been able to retain,
but also in how they're rebuilding.
And one data point is their drone program. According to our sources, that program could actually be fully reconstituted within about six months, if
not less. And, you know, they already had thousands of one-way attack drones to begin with amid this war. Even with the U.S. taking out a lot of
their drone manufacturing capabilities, a lot of their drones themselves, they still were able to retain roughly 50 percent of their drone capacity.
And that's significant because, of course, that is what they're using to target U.S. allies in the region, as well as U.S. military facilities and
U.S. forces. They're extremely ubiquitous. They're extremely deadly. And that is something that if President Trump then goes and restarts the war by
bombing the Iranians, which he has alluded to over the last several days, that is something that regional allies are very concerned about, is this
drone threat.
And so, you know, it's a combination of things that have allowed them to rebuild their military capacity in this way. A big part of that, though,
interestingly, is the help they've been getting from China and Russia. We are told that China has continued to provide them with missile components,
for example, something that the Israeli prime minister actually said just last week is happening, something China, we should note, denies.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BERTRAND: But the Russians, of course, have also been providing them with dual-use technology. And, you know, the Iranians have been able to dig a
lot of their missile launchers out and rebuild them, rebuild bombed-out missile sites. So, this obviously poses a big threat to the region and to
U.S. forces if this war starts up again.
SCIUTTO: And the drones -- it's notable, too, because the drones had proven themselves capable of getting through defenses of Gulf allies and
others. So, I imagine that feeds concerns among Gulf allies, as you said, about restarting the war or another round of U.S. strikes and then the
expected retaliation.
BERTRAND: And it's also a big concern for the U.S., which is really running low on a lot of their munitions and a lot of their interceptors, in
particular. And so, that is also something that needs to be put into the calculation here. Iran retains this vast arsenal of drones, despite all of
the munitions that have been expended by the United States throughout the course of the war that could be used and should be used to intercept them.
SCIUTTO: And the economics, of course, are -- you know, they're skewed in Iran's favor. You know, thousand -- a few thousand dollars a drone, many
millions -- or at least a million dollars for some of those interceptors. Natasha Bertrand, thanks so much.
President Trump is dismissing suggestions that the U.S. is trying to intimidate Cuba, despite the arrival of an aircraft carrier in the
Caribbean, calling Cuba a failed country. The president said he wants to, quote, "help them along." As well as the USS Nimitz carrier, the deployment
includes its air wing and at least one guided missile destroyer. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. prefers diplomacy, but he's not ruling
out military action.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Cuba not only has weapons that they've acquired from Russia and China over the years, but they also host
Russian and Chinese intelligence presence in their country, not far from where we're standing right now. So, Cuba has always posed a national
security threat to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Congressman Marlin Stutzman. He's on the House Committee for Financial Services, as well as the Budget Committee. He's a
Republican. Thanks so much, Congressman, for taking the time.
REP. MARLIN STUTZMAN (R-IN): Thank you. Great to be with you today.
SCIUTTO: So, much to go through. I'm going to start on Cuba, if I can. Of course, you have this indictment now, and you have an enormous amount of
U.S. military assets in the region now, much like we saw before operations in Venezuela. In your view, should the U.S. use military action to affect
regime change in Cuba?
STUTZMAN: Well, I think first of all, you know, the indictment was the right step forward. And this, of course, gives the signal to Raul Castro
of, you know, what could come. You know, he's already fully aware of what happened to Maduro in Venezuela. And I would think that he would want to
try to figure out something rather than going through that experience that Maduro did.
So, it's going to be interesting to see what happens. I think, you know, President Trump has so many different tools and options here available. And
of course, you know, the Cuban people are so hopeful that something new and some change can happen in Cuba that will benefit the island and, of course,
free the people there. And really, Cuba has so much potential with the right type of leadership.
SCIUTTO: But do you believe that if Raul Castro and others around him don't give in to this pressure, right, don't seek a resolution via
negotiation, that the U.S., that the president should order military action to remove them then?
STUTZMAN: Well, you know what, I mean, I think what we saw in Venezuela worked tremendously well. And so, if Raul wants to take that chance, you
know, I think that Maduro probably had the ability to protect himself even more than what Raul Castro has. So, he knows that the pressure is there. He
knows that his days are limited, that the best thing for him is to try to negotiate a deal for him that he doesn't have to have the same end that
Maduro has had.
SCIUTTO: Should the president seek congressional approval if he decides to take military action in Cuba?
STUTZMAN: I mean, you know, I think that he has a lot of support here. Of course, Cuba is, you know, right off the coast of this South Florida -- in
Southern Florida. So, there's a lot of support for something to happen there. They've been stuck under this terrible regime for years. The
economic, the economics there are terrible. People are suffering. But I know there's a lot of support for some sort of change. I think there's
broad support. President Trump has dictators on the run.
And my hope is that Raul Castro makes the wise decision and negotiates some sort of deal, steps out of the way and lets a new government come into
Cuba.
SCIUTTO: I want to talk about Iran now. You heard CNN's reporting in advance that Iran, according to U.S. assessments, is rebuilding its
military capacity faster than expected. And there have been previous assessments that showed that it retained more of its missile capacity,
drone capacity, than at least the descriptions you often hear coming from the White House. And I wonder, for your constituents, do you believe that
the president exaggerated the success of this war? And there's still more work to be done.
STUTZMAN: We know there's more work to be done. I don't believe this regime should stay in power. I think the IRGC should be removed. If they
did have the ability to fight back, I think they already would be. You know, are they trying to rebuild? Sure, whatever they can. But Operation
Epic Fury was so successful in such a short amount of time that the IRGC and the Iranian regime hasn't been fighting back.
And also, I think what's happening is the coalition against Iran is building. The China trip that President Trump took was such an important
piece to all of this. China, of course, said that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. They have committed with the Strait of Hormuz. The coalition -- the
international coalition that's coming together to eventually, hopefully, control the Strait is good for the world because we can't just let Iran
have that much control over 20 percent of the oil and gas flow that comes out of the Persian Gulf.
So, I believe President Trump has been very successful. We knew this would take some time. It wasn't going to be like Venezuela, where we were in and
out overnight. And, you know, the American people woke up to finding out Maduro had been captured. This is going to take longer. We knew that. But
ultimately, I think President Trump, he's going to win this one way or the other.
SCIUTTO: But if the war is already won, how is it that Iran maintains control over the Strait? That's certainly the way the oil markets are
reading this. And that's how many of America's Gulf allies are reading this.
[18:15:00]
STUTZMAN: Well, ultimately, the Americans, we control the Strait by not allowing anybody in or out. We have shut down the traffic coming out of the
Strait in the Persian Gulf. And every ship is worth about $250 million. So, when Iran can't sell their oil and gas, we're squeezing off their cash
supply for any of their operations.
So, while it may hurt here at home for a while, it's going to be beneficial to us in the long run with Venezuela oil and gas coming online eventually,
of course, with Alaska leases that have been let. There's going to be an abundance of gas and oil within the hands of the good guys rather than
dictators that are going to use it against us.
And I think that, again, China, that trip is going to be a huge piece to all this. Because I think China really wants to be a good friend to the
United States. And I think it's important for us as well, even though there's a lot of violations that they practice with their own people, we
can find a way forward that'll be good for both China and the United States.
SCIUTTO: You come from a family of farmers, multi-generational. As you know, part of the promise that came out of this Beijing summit is that
China's going to buy a lot of U.S. agricultural products, soybeans, et cetera. But if you go back to the first Trump administration, China made a
lot of promises and didn't buy all those soybeans. I wonder, as a farmer and to your fellow farmers, do you buy these commitments?
STUTZMAN: Well, you know, ultimately, just like with the Iranians or with anybody, any sort of dictatorship, you have to watch the actions. You can't
just always accept the words that they say. Actions speak louder than words. And so, what President Trump has done is use the financial or the
economic might of the United States, the military might when needed to pressure these countries into behaving for the best interests of the United
States.
And so, I think that he does have a stronger hand in this case. You know, talking with some folks that I know close to China and understanding what's
going on in China. China's, you know, not as strong as what they portray themselves to be. And so, as that's exploited, I think they're going to
come our way more and more because they don't want the conflict. They want to, of course, have good trade agreements for themselves.
But at the end of the day, these trade agreements have to be good for the United States. They have to be good for American farmers. You know, the
beef agreement that the president talked about is going to be good for the United States and keeping those markets open. That way we can feed that
corn and the soybeans to meat and beef and poultry products that will ultimately end up in China, hopefully. And that'll increase our supply and
our demand here in the United States. And that'll bring prices down for the American producer and consumer as well.
SCIUTTO: OK. I want to circle back now to a domestic issue here. This is the so-called anti-weaponization fund. In your view, is that an appropriate
use of taxpayer money?
STUTZMAN: Well, if there is evidence of weaponization against American citizens, you know, I do think that it is appropriate. President Obama had
one as well. This is not new. This has been done by other presidents before. You know, I just saw a documentary the other night talking about
the anti-Christian bias that was occurring under the Biden administration.
You know, whether they were Catholics, whether they were pro-life, whether they were in the military and had to violate their religious beliefs around
the COVID vaccines. You know, there's a lot of damage that was done to during that period of time. But there has to be strong evidence that there
were damages.
Now, I have got -- I have constituents in my district that are still under investigation from the Biden administration, the Biden era, that it's
costing them millions of dollars. It's going to cause them to go bankrupt because of these investigations. They're not even being charged with
anything, but these investigations will put people out of business.
And so, I think this fund is appropriate under the right circumstances. And I know the DOJ will look at each of those cases very carefully. And
Congress has to look at those as well to be sure that taxpayer dollars are used correctly.
SCIUTTO: But that last piece is what is the criticism of many of your fellow Republicans, both in the House and the Senate, is that there is no
oversight. Their concern is that the money will be directed towards the president's allies. And you yourself, you've spoken out against, for
instance, congressional stock trading because you say trust has been lost in the institution. Isn't this a question about trust here? And doesn't
there need to be vigorous oversight to make sure that this is a fair process and not cronyism?
STUTZMAN: For sure. Absolutely. And I think that -- you know, that will be the request by those of us in Congress to the Trump administration. We want
to be able to see how those funds are used, where they were going. You know, Congress has -- that's our responsibility.
[18:20:00]
And so, you know, this is a new announcement, the DOJ has announced just recently that, you know, they have these cases where targeting has
occurred, and it has cost Americans' millions of dollars in some cases because they had to defend themselves against a very powerful federal
government.
So, I think each case will be handled appropriately Congress has a responsibility to have oversight over those cases, and we'll continue to
ask for that.
SCIUTTO: Congressman Marlin Stutzman, we appreciate you joining the program.
STUTZMAN: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: Still ahead, the White House has announced new government investments in the Tech Center, this time in quantum computing. A wise
investment or another example of free market meddling? We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, a record-breaking day on Wall Street. The Dow closed yet again at new all-time highs. Apple
finished in record territory yet again. A pullback in oil prices helped boost the market morale.
The Trump administration is now set to invest $2 billion in the U.S. firms developing quantum computers. Half of the money will go to IBM. Its shares
rallied as a result, more than 12 percent. Shares of other publicly traded firms on the list rallied as well. This is just the latest instance of the
Trump White House taking government stakes in private firms. You may remember it bought a 10 percent stake in the chip maker Intel. It's also
invested in a number of domestic rare earth firms, as well as in U.S. steel.
Lance Ulanoff joins me now. He's the editor-at-large at TechRadar. Good to have you.
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR-AT-LARGE; TECHRADAR: Good to be here.
SCIUTTO: So, from a tech perspective, they took a stake in Intel. Now, it's in quantum computing. Has the government proven to be good at picking
winners and losers in tech?
ULANOFF: Not necessarily. Intel was kind of in a tough position. I think they helped them out. The quantum computing thing is very interesting
because it is the future, but it might not be the near future. I think so much of it is still theoretical. So, much of it is, you know, we're not
really, it's not realizing its potential. And if you talk to some experts, they're saying you won't realize its potential for another two decades.
But I understand the investment because if it is capable of doing what they say it can do, the U.S. has to be first, or it has to be in the mix.
[18:25:00]
And so, I think that this is, you know, at the very least, this is a, could be a massive cybersecurity concern because if quantum computing works the
way it's supposed to, it could break all cryptology all over the world.
SCIUTTO: Yes. And as I understand it, blockchain too, right, has implications for Bitcoin, et cetera.
ULANOFF: Yes. Right.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
ULANOFF: Wall encryption.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
ULANOFF: Exactly. 100 percent. So, they have to be a part of it. I think that's why they're doing it.
SCIUTTO: Prior to the A.I. boom, it was quantum computing that many tech folks talked about as the next big thing, right, because of exactly what
you're talking about here that, you know, encryption would be over because the little tiny little computers could like break that stuff really
quickly. I mean, has it been overlooked to some degree as all the world's attention and money for that matter has been focused on artificial
intelligence?
ULANOFF: Not necessarily. And they're all kind of connected. The reality is that A.I. will be maybe more efficient and work better if it's running
on quantum silicon. And so, it's, it's not a matter. So, basically, they just have to invest in this in order to support what's going to happen with
A.I.
So, you know, A.I. is so near to us and so important to us because we see what it's doing in real time. You know, I talked about how quantum
computing has yet to realize its potential. What that means is that, you know, you can't really point to something it's done. It hasn't solved
climate change. It hasn't solved major science problems. It hasn't -- you know, it hasn't solved cancer and all of those things with the level of
compute power that it could have in the future, it might do someday, but that's not real time.
Real time is you're probably using A.I. every day. So, it is top of mind for people. And of course, with the whole thing with Anthropic and Mythos,
and you know, this thing that can find hidden vulnerabilities, there was a cyber security concern there as well. But I will say one other thing, A.I.
is not the thing that right at this moment that can break all encryption. That's not that's the future of quantum computing.
SCIUTTO: So, let me ask you this. I mean, oftentimes, folk and folks in the tech world, especially when they're raising money, but not exclusively
when they're raising money, talk about the battle, or the race over A.I. is has superpower implications, right? You'll Sam Altman will always say the
U.S. has to win this because if China does, you know, it's all over.
I mean, is quantum computing reasonably in that same category? If one country were to get it first? I mean, I guess, well, it breaks all your
codes.
ULANOFF: Oh, yes. Yes. I mean, you have to imagine that China is working just as hard on this. But it's super -- quantum computing is so hard. It's
all -- it's so close to actually being theoretical. Yes, I know there are quantum computers, but their level of like being able to do the things that
we hope they'll do, you know, the number of qubits is all this like technical stuff. But the number of qubits is relatively small compared to
what you actually need to do the big work.
So, it's not that somebody is going to solve it right away, but say China did, say China really got -- and suddenly had a quantum computer that you
could put on your desktop, well, that would be a big problem for us. So, we must be in there. And at the same time, we must be in the A.I. race because
that is real time, that's happening right now.
SCIUTTO: So, much all at once. Lance Ulanoff, thanks so much.
ULANOFF: Everything is all at once. Right.
SCIUTTO: Checking out some of today's other business headlines, the White House called off a ceremony today where President Trump was set to sign an
executive order regulating what they are. The measure would require A.I. companies to share their products with the government before releasing them
to the public. Trump says he's worried that the order will hinder U.S. firms facing competition -- big competition from China.
More bad news for U.S. homebuyers. The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage jumped to its highest level since August. Rates now stand at 6.51 percent,
compare that to the time before the war -- Iran War when mortgage rates had fallen below 6 percent.
U.S. gas prices keep rising ahead of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular is now $4.56 up, $0.3
from the past week. Highest price for gas in four years. Prices are now above $4 a gallon in all 50 states. People notice that.
Coming up on "The Brief," Estonian intelligence chief explains why he believes Russia's war in Ukraine is weakening both its military position
and internal stability. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.
The Trump administration's so-called anti-weaponization fund is facing stiff resistance on Capitol Hill even among Republicans. The fund is
intended to compensate people who say they were wrongly investigated by the previous administration. Some Republicans say they were blindsided by it
and have now left Washington for the weekend. That has put in jeopardy a larger immigration package the president had hoped to have by June 1st.
Democrats have released a partial assessment of why their party did so poorly in the 2024 presidential election. The so-called autopsy is
incomplete. Party leaders say they have no plans to finish it. It blames the Biden campaign for ineffectively passing the chores torch on to Kamala
Harris. It says Democrats also did a poor job of reminding voters about Donald Trump's negative qualities.
The British government says it has found no evidence that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was vetted before he became a trade envoy. He was
appointed back in 2001 then stepped down a decade later over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Newly released documents shed light on Andrew's
appointment 25 years ago.
Ukraine says its attack on a Russian drone pilot training camp in the occupied Donetsk region killed at least 66 people. That death toll includes
cadets and an instructor. The strike appears to be part of a strategy by Kyiv to slow down Russian supply lines. It follows Ukraine's deadly drone
attack near the Russian capital Moscow last weekend.
The war in Ukraine and U.S. threats of abandoning or weakening its ties to NATO are major concerns particularly in Eastern Europe as NATO member
states foreign ministers meet Friday in Sweden. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio left today to attend that summit.
[18:35:00]
He is expected to keep pushing allies to spend more on their own defense, just days after U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance berated Europe saying it
needs to take more ownership.
Another issue for NATO of course is drones flying into NATO airspace. The alliance reports a series of incidents particularly in the Baltic states
involving suspected Ukrainian drones. A NATO fighter jet shot down one of them over Estonia. There have also been Russian drone incursions in the
area.
CNN spoke to the Estonian intelligence chief about Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Let's have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAUPO ROSIN, DIRECTOR GENERAL ESTONIAN FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE: What we have noticed in Russia is a slight change in the overall mood. I do not
hear any more talking about total victory. People recognize that the situation in the Ukrainian battlefield is not going too well for the
Russians.
We are probably at the moment where Russians in four or five months, maybe from now, are maybe not able to negotiate from a position of strength
anymore.
SEBASTIAN SHUKLA, CNN PRODUCER: What is your assessment of the state of the Russian armed forces right now?
ROSIN: They are losing more men in the battlefield than they can recruit under current circumstances. So, if they would like to escalate in Ukraine,
for example, they would need substantially more manpower. And I see here the only option would be partial or some type of forced mobilization.
SHUKLA: Like we saw in September 2022?
ROSIN: For example, I would say technically they could do it, but that would create additional internal stability risks for Kremlin. And we know
that they are very concerned about internal stability.
SHUKLA: Is it possible to quantify what effect that sustained amount of losses is having on the Russian demographic?
ROSIN: They have, let's say, a very strong gap in the needs between, let's say, the workforce needs and availability of the workforce. There is a
serious problem.
Another issue regarding manpower is the situation where people who are demobilized. What these people are carrying back home is violence,
instability, psychological problems and crime. And it also is having an impact on the Russian population already.
I really do not see a street revolution at this point. But sometimes such systems are very hollow inside. And if something happens, it will happen
very rapidly and we all will be surprised.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Coming up on "The Brief," many U.S. veterans are struggling to obtain consistent mental health care. A former Green Beret who's written
extensively about this joins me next to discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
SCIUTTO: Here in the U.S., it is Memorial Day on Monday. And Mental Health Awareness Month as well. And today we want to focus on mental health in
particular for military veterans. Getting treatment can be life changing. But a report from ProPublica finds access to care is a major issue. With
many veterans saying they keep losing therapists. And struggle to maintain regular treatment.
According to data from the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department at some point in their lives, seven out of every 100 veterans experience PTSD, Post-
Traumatic Stress Disorder more common among female veterans.
Joining me now, retired Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann. He's a Green Beret himself. Co-founder of Task Force Pineapple. A working group to help
Afghans flee the Taliban. But he's also author of a new book. It's called "The Generosity of Scars: How Your Stories of Struggle Can Change Lives,
Especially Your Own." And I think we can consider that, Scott, part of your own mission here to take care of veterans as they face mental health
challenge.
As you know better than anyone, it's been a year's long battle. And you've been very public about your own struggles. For the veteran's community, are
we as the country, as the military, as the VA getting better at addressing this issue?
LT. COL. SCOTT MANN, U.S. ARMY GREEN BERET (RET.) AND CO-FOUNDER, TASK FORCE PINEAPPLE: Hey, Jim, thanks for having me on. And you know, you and
I have talked about this a lot of times, particularly since Kabul fell in 2021. And you know, I think they are institutionally, incrementally getting
better. But the problem, as you and I have discussed, is that we're on the, you know, front end of a tsunami of mental health for our war fighters and
their families, particularly coming out of the longest war in American history.
And, you know, I stood in a closet myself holding a pistol in 2015. And what we found is that I think the real way forward, Jim, is going to be
peer to peer, it's going to be community. And a lot of it has to do with storytelling, which is why I wrote this book.
SCIUTTO: What's great about the book is that it's, in effect, a kind of kit, right? I mean, it's meant to be instructional to help veterans write
their own stories, not just to get their stories out there, which is important in its own right, but for their own mental health care. Can you
explain that connection?
MANN: Yes. I mean, the storytelling people hear that sometimes and they kind of roll their eyes. But it's not some kumbaya thing. What we know is
that as long as we've had warfare civil society has welcomed veterans back home through storytelling. This is what societies do. But for some reason
in the West we don't do that. Veterans come home. They push it down. Same with their families. Same with first responders. And then it resurfaces in
really unpleasant ways.
Storytelling is a sense making tool. It allows us to make sense of things that don't make sense, like trauma and survivor's guilt. Gold star mom
Holly lost her son Danny in Afghanistan and was in a fog until she started working on telling his story. And then eventually got to the point where
she told it -- as the first gold star mom to tell it from a Ted stage and helped a lot of other gold star families that are hurting.
So, I think it's a recipe going forward of how we bring our warriors home by bridging that civil military gap through stories.
SCIUTTO: Yes, I get it. Do these lessons learned, are they showing up in the number of suicides for instance? I mean, is there progress in terms of
bringing soldiers, veterans back from the brink?
MANN: I think so. I have a friend of mine who just did -- he did his Ph.D. research on veteran transition. And you know what he found, Jim, is that
even though three out of five veterans feel like a stranger in their own country, according to the group more in common, what he found was that most
veterans don't necessarily need medication or some even therapy. What they need is a deep connection with their neighbor, they need to have their
stories heard without judgment, and then they need to walk that path home with their neighbor at their side. This is a community thing.
And storytelling is one of the most important modalities we can use to heal the brain. And to also take struggle, which is tough for all of us, but
then repurpose it into resolution. How we changed. What we learned. And that's where people locate themselves in the story.
[18:45:00]
And I think it's really exciting news for all of us, particularly as we're getting past, you know, the whole thank you for your service thing, is
let's create opportunities for veterans to tell their stories. And the generosity of scars, whether you're a veteran or not, we all go through
struggle. And it is, it's a field guide for people to build a story of struggle and share it with others so that they can make sense of their own
life and the safety of that struggle story.
SCIUTTO: You know, it's interesting, some of those are timeless lessons, it just takes us time to learn them, right? I was reading recently, the
things they carried, you know, Tim O'Brien's book about the Vietnam War. And he had a lot of those same stories and stories of struggle of his
fellow veterans. And, you know, that's decades ago, right? But we're still learning, aren't we?
MANN: We're still learning. And our play right now, "11 Days," which is based on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, that you know all too well, we
say that it's the modern-day things they carried because what we're able to do is when we tell the story from the stage about that withdrawal, you
know, my experience with Nizam and what I went through in the dark moments of trying to get him out, you now have a veteran sitting out there and I
don't even know who she is, but she had her own struggle trying to get her interpreter out.
And she's wondering if she's alone and isolated, but when she sees that on the stage, she locates herself in the story. She starts to
autobiographically process her own life in the safety of that story. And all of a sudden, she realizes she's not alone. This is how we reach people.
This is how we bring our veterans home through those hard stories, man, because that's what we need.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, I know you speak about it from your own personal experience. The book is "The Generosity of Scars." It's an important read,
and it's also a service to service members and veterans like Scott. Scott, thanks so much for joining.
MANN: Thanks for always giving us a voice, Jim. We appreciate you.
SCIUTTO: Just ahead, SpaceX has now delayed the 12th flight test of its Starship yet again. Up next though, my conversation with SpaceX's former
head of space operations about the challenges and hopes for the future.
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SCIUTTO: All right. Just over 40 minutes or so from now, SpaceX is hoping to launch the latest version of its Starship mega rocket. It did delay it
from earlier this hour. Once the launch goes forward, the V3 will be the largest spacecraft to ever take flight.
The test comes as SpaceX barrels toward a potentially record-shattering IPO down here on Earth. However, the company, led of course by the multi-multi-
multi-billionaire Elon Musk, has a less-than-stellar safety record to date. Last year, several flights saw some kind of explosion like the one you're
seeing there. Some of those then led to trails of debris over populated areas. Look at that, like out of Hollywood. This for a company with a NASA
contract to carry astronauts to the moon.
[18:50:00]
Joining me now is Garrett Reisman. He's a former NASA astronaut, former director of space operations at SpaceX. Good to have you, sir. Thanks so
much for joining.
GARRETT REISMAN, FORMER DIRECTOR OF SPACE OPERATIONS, SPACEX AND FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Great to be back with you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: So, you know better than me that space is hard and, you know, every successful space or rocket program has had failed tests, right? But
when you look at the track record of version two of the Starship, January 2025, disintegration, March 2025, explosion, May 2025, spinning out of
control. I mean, you have multiple issues here. Is there something particular with this model, lingering concerns, design, et cetera?
REISMAN: Well, Jim, you did leave out the final two flights in 2025 that were successes. So, it's not all bad.
SCIUTTO: Yes. It's moving in the right direction, yes.
REISMAN: Yes, you're moving in the right direction. But the thing is this version three is really a completely new rocket. And yes, they learned a
lot from version two and version one, but for all intents and purposes, this is a fresh start. And historically, rockets only succeed about 50
percent of the time on their first launches.
This thing's got new engines, new structures, new avionics, new thermal protection. There's so much about this rocket that's brand new, even a new
launch pad. So, you know, I'm looking at this with, again, through that 50- 50 lens.
SCIUTTO: Understood. NASA is betting Artemis -- the Artemis missions on Starship. How crucial is this capacity to this program, right? I mean, the
Atlas V was, you know, sort of legendary. It was huge. It was enormous. And, you know, couldn't have gotten to the moon without that one back in
the Apollo program. So, how essential is Starship to NASA's plans?
REISMAN: You know, I don't think it's possible to understate how important Starship is, not only to NASA's plans, you know, because it is necessary
for NASA to go on to the next step with the next Artemis mission, and ultimately to put people on the moon. But it's also essential for all the
dreams of the SpaceX company to do -- in fact, every company that's trying to do data centers in space really is relying on Starship to get those big,
massive data centers up there.
It's also, you know, a whole economy is waiting for this vehicle to be able to do all kinds of new things in space. People are designing large
satellites right now that need Starship to get there. So, there's a lot riding on this, and not to mention the fact that there's a big IPO around
the corner as well. So, the stakes are really super high.
SCIUTTO: I hear you. One thing NASA watch dogs have risen is a question about crew survivability. If something were to go wrong, say on the lunar
surface, is that a serious concern?
REISMAN: Well, yes. So, it's important to note that the crew will not launch on Starship as far as Artemis is concerned. There's definitely plans
to launch crew people on Starship outside of NASA's Artemis plans, but NASA will launch their crew on the SLS rocket with the Orion spacecraft. They
will meet Starship in orbit around the moon and then ride Starship just the final, you know, the final mile, if you will, down to the lunar surface.
So, really what NASA is concerned about is just how safe Starship is getting from lunar orbit down to the surface. So, a lot of the other
aspects with regard to safety during launch, safety around flying around the Earth or flying to the moon is not something NASA is particularly
concerned about. They just want it to be there when they need it.
SCIUTTO: Got it. You know, I don't want to do this purely in, you know, superpower terms, you know, space race, but it was a space race to the moon
in the '60s. The U.S. won that. China, extremely active in the space. It wants to get astronauts on the moon by 2030. From where you're sitting,
who's winning this race, space race at this point?
REISMAN: Wow. Well, things weren't looking that good, but then, you know, we had the very successful Artemis II mission, which gave us a shot in the
arm. But really, all along this big rocket that we're about to, you know, bare knuckle watch with -- while biting our fingernails, that has always
been in the critical path because we've always needed Starship to get down to the surface.
I should tell you that NASA does have a backup plan with Blue Origin. They're also working on their own lander. So, there is a plan B, but one of
these two has got to be ready before the Chinese get there. And the Chinese have been moving, it's kind of a tortoise and the hare. They've been moving
very methodically, very systematically. And I am confident that they will get there around 2030. It's just a question of if we're going to be able to
pull this off and get there.
And what we see, you know, in about 35 minutes from now is going to go a long way to tell us where we stand in that race.
[18:55:00]
SCIUTTO: Well, I hope I eventually get my ride in space. Garrett Reisman, thanks so much for joining.
REISMAN: We'll save you a seat, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Please do. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has announced 1,000 World Cup tickets for New York City residents at just $50 each. Those
tickets will be split among five groups and two knockout games, it will not include the World Cup final. How do you get them? Well, eligible residents
in New York have to enter a lottery starting next Monday. It'll go for six days. Winners of that lottery can then buy one additional ticket. And note
this, they will get a free bus to and from MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. That's a big deal, because the train ain't going to be cheap.
Finally, tonight, a record number of climbers scaled Mount Everest in a single day. 274 people reaching the peak. The previous high was 223 back in
2019. The route on the Nepali side of the mountain attracts heavy crowds in May when weather conditions are favorable. In recent years, many climbers
have complained of overcrowding, though. Look at those pictures. With reports of lines up to the top in an area known as the death zone, because,
well, you could die there. Lots of folks getting up for that view.
Thanks so much for joining. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.
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