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What We Know with Max Foster

First Lady Melania Trump Denies Having Relationship With Epstein; Netanyahu Seeking Direct Negotiations With Lebanon; Trump Asks Netanyahu To Scale Back Lebanon Operations; Iran War Drives Up Cost Of Living For Americans; BTS Kicks Off World Tour In South Korea. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired April 09, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:37]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST: Melania Trump blasts reports linking her to Jeffrey Epstein.

I'm Paula Newton in for Max Foster. This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Now in the last few minutes, a truly extraordinary and unexpected statement from the U.S. first lady angrily and forcefully denying any connection to

the disgraced late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein or his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell.

Now, in a statement at the White House, Melania Trump, you see her there blasted claims that she had any sort of relationship with Jeffrey Epstein,

denouncing them as lies and threatening to take legal action.

There was no prior guidance that the first lady was going to address these claims. But speaking earlier, the president's wife attempted to draw a line

under the issue, at least as far as she's concerned. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, U.S. FIRST LADY: The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. I never been friends with Epstein.

Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time, since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm

Beach

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Stephen Collinson is with me from Washington.

Grateful to you, Stephen, as we parse this, really, as we said, extraordinary news. Now, the White House said she'd be giving a statement.

They never told anyone what this was about. And you can see why.

I mean, Stephen, everyone's wondering why and why now.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, just the timing of this is extraordinary. But the fact that it happened, it just flashed up on

TV screens in the middle of Thursday afternoon when the rest of the world was more concentrated on the war in Iran. That raises all kinds of

questions about why she chose to give this statement now, and why she chose to give it at all. In fact, the Epstein saga had receded from the headlines

substantially in the United States in the previous few weeks during the war.

But let's remember, it is one of two things that have really inflamed Donald Trump's base, the other being his decision to start a new war in the

Middle East. While she seems to be trying, as you say, to draw a line on it from her own point of view, this is absolutely guaranteed to blow this up

into a massive story. A whole new raft of speculation about Donald Trump's past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. Of course, there's no suggestion that

the president himself did anything criminally wrong, but this has dogged the presidency for almost the entirety of the second term. Indeed, the

reason Pam Bondi, the attorney general, was fired last week was because the president was angry about how shed handled the Jeffrey Epstein files.

And I think the fact that the first lady called for a public on the record under oath hearing for victims of Jeffrey Epstein in the Congress is

something that's hugely significant. The Epstein victims believe that the Trump administration, the Republicans on Capitol hill, have been trying to

prevent exactly this kind of accounting from happening. Now, the first lady has called for it to happen. How do they now argue against that?

NEWTON: Yeah, it is quite a pivot.

Betsy Klein is standing by for us in the White House.

Betsy, you've covered this first lady and you were in the room as this went down. I mean, what are your takeaways?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, first of all, I think it's just so notable that they kept this so closely under wraps. The

biggest question I have is why this statement now? Because these are questions that we've been asking the office of the first lady for a very

long time, even back in February, with the latest tranche of Epstein investigation related documents.

But it's not clear at this point who knew that this was coming. I -- the only reporting that we had ahead of time was a senior advisor to the first

lady, Mark Beckman, gave a statement to the New York post. He said that this would be news with global implications.

So, we really weren't aware of what this was going to be about. The first lady obviously speaks publicly very, very rarely. So, we were all wondering

what this was going to be. And obviously an extraordinary public statement from the first lady seeking to both distance herself from Jeffrey Epstein

and Ghislaine Maxwell, as well as calling for public hearings.

[15:05:11]

And as Stephen just noted, that is remarkable because this is something that her husband, president Donald Trump, as well as some of his top

lieutenants, former Attorney General Pam Bondi, chief among them, have sought to tamp down. They say that the American public wants to move on

from the Epstein files. And clearly the first lady adding significant interest and fuel to that fire here in the statement as she is calling for

action, she wants there to be public hearings with the survivors on Capitol Hill. That's just an extraordinary note.

And the first lady has been very litigious on this issue. She also notably sought to downplay her relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell. As I mentioned

in those February emails, it's a 2002 series of email exchanges that was released back in February. She appears to have a very friendly relationship

with Maxwell. She signs an email, "Love, Melania". Maxwell replies and calls her "sweet pea".

Melania Trump specifically addressed those. She called them casual and a polite reply. She sought to explain this away as a social interaction, as

people who were together friends in New York in that era, the `90s.

Now, one source familiar with the matter tells me that the West Wing was given a heads up that a statement from the first lady was coming. We all

got a press advisory saying that she was going to be making a statement at 2:30. What's unclear at this hour is whether they were aware of the

substance of this, so we will be looking to see if we can get any more information on that.

NEWTON: Yeah. And you do have to wonder exactly what her husband knew and when he knew it, in terms of why she wanted to deliver this kind of address

and what exactly she would say.

I mean, Stephen, to you now, given the bipartisan nature of the call from so many people wanting to continue to explore this, the fact that there are

millions of documents from those esteemed Epstein files that are still not released, the fact that the former attorney general, Pam Bondi, very

controversial, might have been a reason that she lost her job. When we put all of this together, where does even Congress go with this now?

COLLINSON: Well, I think it's going to absolutely recharge this whole issue. I think at the beginning, the House committee that has been looking

into this issue was very much an attempt to try and tamp it down, but the victims of Epstein have been very successful in creating this national and

international campaign by going public about the crimes they say were committed against them. That created a media momentum and pressure on the

House committee. And the committee, I think, has done a lot more than many people believed that was necessarily going to happen, not least because of

the efforts of Thomas Massie, a Republican congressman, and Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman who have really pushed this issue.

This new material, the call for public hearings validates everything those two congressmen have done. Remember, this was one -- this issue was one of

the very few revolts against the president by the Republican House across this second term. They voted to release the Epstein files against the

wishes of the president. Those files have been released, although, as you say, millions are yet to be released by the Justice Department.

This is going to fuel the theories of many people in the president's base that the government and the White House and the West Wing is hiding

something here. It gives the whole thing new momentum. And I think it really will be interesting to see how the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, as

I'm sure they're going to start finding out onto television stations this evening, what they say about this and how they seize upon this speech to

push their case for public disclosure forward.

NEWTON: Yeah, because, steven, even if the first lady was upset about this, she could have made her points and stopped there. But no, she is

saying this entire investigation needs to go further.

Stephen Collinson for us, Betsy Klein, grateful to both of you as we continue to bring you any kind of reaction, we get to that breaking news.

And now we go to our other top story this evening, with a temporary truce between the U.S. and Iran in jeopardy, Israel is now seeking direct talks

with Lebanon. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just made clear there will be no ceasefire on Israel's part, despite international pressure to

end deadly attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I want to tell you, there is no ceasefire in Lebanon. We are continuing to strike Hezbollah with force,

and we will not stop until we restore your security.

[15:10:01]

Following repeated requests from the Lebanese government to open peace negotiations with us, last night, I instructed the cabinet to begin direct

negotiations with Lebanon in order to achieve two goals. One, the disarmament of Hezbollah, and the second, a historic, sustainable peace

agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, it's unclear if and when any direct talks would take place. As a Lebanese official says, the country will not negotiate under fire.

Health officials, meantime, say Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed more than 300 people Wednesday, and that does include women and children. Rescuers

are still working to try and recover the bodies. U.S. President Donald Trump says he's asked Israel to be, quote, low key with its attacks.

Iran's president, meantime, says Israeli strikes on Lebanon make negotiations meaningless, insisting that Lebanon was part of the original

ceasefire agreement. Masoud Pezeshkian writes on social media that Israel's repeated aggression is a flagrant violation and a dangerous indicator of

deceit.

Nada Bashir is following all of these developments for us from Beirut.

You know, Nada as we tend to do, right? We just parsed it in diplomatic terms. What does one side saying? What is the other side saying? What is

the state of play with negotiations in Lebanon? But as you have seen first hand, this remains significant danger for the citizens of Lebanon. They

still remain in a state of war and suffering.

How are people reacting to this toing and froing really not knowing what even the next few hours has in store for them?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Paula, ahead of that massive wave of strikes that we saw yesterday here in Beirut, many had hoped that

that ceasefire between the U.S., Israel and Iran would extend to Lebanon. And now, of course, there are hopes that there will be a push towards

diplomacy. But clearly, this latest statement from the Israeli prime minister saying that there will be no ceasefire in Lebanon, despite

proposing and inviting the Lebanese government for direct negotiations, has sent many into deep concern over what now lies ahead for the country.

Of course, as you mentioned, we have heard from Lebanese officials who have said to us that the government is very clear on that key point, that there

can be no negotiations under fire. And, of course, the Lebanese government itself has been pushing for diplomacy and for a diplomatic resolution for

weeks now. They have been calling for direct negotiations.

They've even taken steps to put pressure on Hezbollah, which of course, is important to remember is not just the military wing, but there is also the

political element. We have MPs from Hezbollah represented within the Lebanese government as well, but the Lebanese government has been putting

pressure on the group. It's written to the United Nations declaring that it has outlawed the group's military wing.

We've also heard, most recently from the Lebanese prime minister calling on the country's security forces to rid the capital, Beirut, of all non-state

arms. It appears a move to further put pressure on Hezbollah actors at present in the capital.

And of course, there has been that effort for pushing towards diplomacy from the government. But there has yet to be an official response from the

Lebanese government with regards to this invitation for negotiations from the Israeli prime minister, and now this warning that there will not be a

ceasefire will certainly make these discussions. If they do go ahead, fragile, to say the least.

Of course, we have seen the immense civilian impact here in Lebanon when it comes to Israels aerial assault. The Israeli military maintains that it is

targeting Hezbollah command and military targets across the country. But what we've seen firsthand here on the ground in Beirut, what we've seen in

the south, for example, in the city of Tyre, is the civilian impact. These strikes are taking place in populated areas. Most recently, yesterday, we

saw the impact on apartment buildings and residential areas, places where there were shops and bakeries that would have been extremely busy at the

time that the strikes took place.

And we've been hearing from civilians on the ground who were impacted by those deadly strikes at this stage. Important to remind our viewers that

the death toll is still believed to be rising. But at this stage, officials say it is at more than 300. Hundreds more are said to have been wounded.

The total death toll over the course of this war, which has lasted over a month now, is now believed to be at over 1,800.

And earlier today we were down at a hospital speaking to family members whose loved ones were in critical condition following yesterday's strikes.

Many of them have said that they are peaceful people. They do not want to see conflict in Lebanon. They want an immediate end to the war, and they

have questioned how these strikes are in fact targeted Hezbollah when so many of those impacted are civilians.

And we've seen, of course, the troubling development from yesterday of bodies still waiting to be identified in morgues, giving the severity of

the strikes that we saw.

[15:15:02]

So that just paints a picture of the impact that we have seen most recently. Now, questions as to whether any sort of diplomacy can go forward

if there isn't, in fact, a ceasefire in Lebanon.

NEWTON: Yeah. And especially as it seems to be to track, you can't hang on what's going to happen this weekend necessarily is it seems that Lebanon

will be separate and apart.

Nada Bashir for us on the ground there in Beirut, appreciate it.

Now, Israel's move to enter negotiations with Lebanon came after an intervention from U.S. President Donald Trump, who says he asked Prime

Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to, in fact, scale back, in his words, the attacks.

Jeremy Diamond has more now from Tel Aviv

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Now this request from the Israeli prime minister for these negotiations came, I'm told, after a

request from President Trump for the Israeli prime minister to engage in talks with Lebanon. President Trump also requested from the Israeli prime

minister that he scaled back Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Now, it's clear that the prime minister has decided to ask for these negotiations with Lebanon. It's a lot less clear whether Israel will scale

back any of its strikes in Lebanon. One Israeli official telling us that there will be no ceasefire, that these negotiations will be conducted under

fire.

At the same time, we heard from the vice president, J.D. Vance, who said that the Israelis had offered to check themselves somewhat in Lebanon. So,

a mixed picture there in terms of exactly what we'll see.

I think it's pretty clear that Israel will not stop its strikes altogether in Lebanon, but perhaps they will allow for, you know, a lesser pace of

strikes in order for these negotiations to proceed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond there.

And CNN is now reporting that, in fact, Israel has launched fresh strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Now, Israels security cabinet, meantime, has secretly approved the legalization of more than 30 new settler outposts in the occupied West

Bank. That's according to three Israeli sources. The Palestinian Authority condemns it as a flagrant violation of international law, and a further

step to annex Palestinian land. The decision comes amid a surge in settler violence against Palestinians, often committed with impunity.

Okay, still to come for us, the CNN investigation into online sexual assault networks leads to an arrest in Poland. You'll want to stick around

for this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:25]

NEWTON: So, breaking news into CNN. Israel says it's launched fresh strikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon this evening. The strikes come as

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his government to open direct talks with Lebanon, but said there would be no ceasefire with

Hezbollah.

Now security is tight ahead of planned talks this weekend between the U.S. and Iran. They'll meet in Islamabad and Pakistan has become a key player in

those discussions. Iran, Pakistan and other international mediators are warning Israel's strikes on Lebanon could undermine the entire ceasefire.

But U.S. president, U.S. -- pardon me -- Vice President J.D. Vance says disagreements over Lebanon are a simple, quote, "misunderstanding".

CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward has been following all of this for us from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Clarissa, what more are we learning about these weekend negotiations? And please give us a read on how the region is seeing all of this. And I am

wondering if it has been quieter in the last 24 hours there in Saudi Arabia, but also throughout the region

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly been much quieter in the last 24 hours, although we did hear just in the last

hour or so about Kuwait, the military there, reporting that they had intercepted a number of hostile drones. That was really the first report we

have seen today here in the gulf of any drones or missiles.

And in that sense, it was somewhat a historic day, at least within the context of this war, because the UAE, for example, it was the first day

since the war that there were no reports of missiles or drones, so that seemingly a positive note, another potentially positive note, in a sense,

is this recent statement from the new supreme leader of Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei, who went on to X and basically said that he's declaring this to

be a huge victory for Iran and declaring that Iran will now usher in a new phase of management of the Strait of Hormuz.

That, of course, an anathema to President Trump and also to many here in the Gulf region. But it's more about what he didn't say. He didn't say that

Iran would carry out its threat to effectively opt out of this ceasefire and opt out of those bilateral negotiations in Islamabad, as we had heard

earlier from the foreign minister, from the prime minister, from the speaker of Iran's parliament, that it might do if Israel continued its

attacks on Lebanon.

So, in this series of posts on X, the supreme leader appears to indicate that Iran will indeed be attending those talks. And so much of the focus,

particularly for this region, is on making sure that the Gulf's security concerns are kind of baked in with guarantees into any agreement that will

be hashed out over the course of the next two weeks. And as if to underscore that, the Saudi Arabian authorities have now actually put out a

full inventory of just what these attacks have done over the course of the last 40 days to the oil infrastructure. They talked about two attacks where

production was cut for a time by 600,000 barrels a day. At least one Saudi citizen killed, seven injured, supply shortages as a result, global reserve

shortages as a result -- that leads to volatility in the markets.

A strike yesterday on a pumping station at the East-West Yanbu pipeline led to the loss of about 700,000 barrels of oil a day, and this is the first

time that we're sort of getting a better picture, a fuller picture of the full extent of the damage that these incessant Iranian strikes on

infrastructure throughout this Gulf region has had on oil and markets writ large.

NEWTON: Yeah. And we're not sure that it's over yet. All eyes on those negotiations.

Clarissa Ward in Riyadh for us, thanks so much.

Now still to come, is Donald Trump ready to make lasting peace with Iran? We'll go live to the White House for the latest in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:19]

NEWTON: Turning now to our top story, Israel is seeking direct talks with Lebanon. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just made clear there will

be no ceasefire on Israel's part, despite international pressure to end deadly attacks targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Security is on high alert meantime, in Pakistan, where they are preparing for U.S. and Iranian negotiators to arrive. The two sides are hoping to

forge a lasting ceasefire this weekend, though neither sounds willing to offer many concessions.

Iran's new supreme leader, meantime, issued a statement vowing to take revenge for the death of his father and demanding compensation for all of

Iran's war dead. A reminder we have still not seen -- heard from him or seen him since he was appointed the new supreme leader.

Now the head of NATO is praising Donald Trump's role in the alliance, even as the U.S. president lashes out at NATO for not doing enough to help end

the war in Iran. NATO chief Mark Rutte says NATO is providing a, quote, massive amount of support to the U.S., though he admits some countries have

been a bit slow in their response. And he says Mr. Trump's pressure on NATO has, in fact, in his opinion, made the alliance stronger.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: The president drove allies to a historic decision at NATO summit in The Hague last summer to invest 5

percent of GDP into defense, and this will help to ensure that the NATO of the future is not an alliance in which allies are unhealthily dependent on

the United States and in which the United States knows that it has capable partners who are ready, willing, and able to defend our freedom and

security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:30:09]

NEWTON: So, what we want to know is, can this cease fire, such as it is, hold?

Joining me now is Ian Bremmer. He's the founder and president of the Eurasia Group.

Ian, good to see you as we continue to try and make our way through these events, the Strait of Hormuz at this hour remains largely closed. Iran

continues to use it as leverage to great effect, I might add.

How do you see negotiations unfolding in the coming days?

IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT, EURASIA GROUP AND GZERO MEDIA: Well, it's good that they're happening. The very fact that J.D. Vance and the speaker of

the Iranian parliament, Ghalibaf, are actually going to be together and engaging is a much better situation than if they were not. And since this

war was started by the United States, and that the U.S. has been escalating, and now it is the Americans that are trying to de-escalate,

that takes a lot of the risk and uncertainty out of the Gulf, which is very important.

I mean, over the last weeks, there was a likelihood a tail risk, that we were going to have an explosion that would take out, you know, sort of Gulf

desalination plants or the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia. Those risks have all come down. The markets reflect that.

That is very different from reopening the strait. And I don't see anything that's going to come out of this weekend's discussion that will suddenly

remove the Iranians from having that veto power over who goes through, whether they're friendlies or not, and how much they're going to pay for

the privilege. That piece of leverage the Iranians aren't going to give up. But the Americans could decide that for the time being, at least, they're

going to be okay with it.

NEWTON: Well, and Trump has kind of said as much. I mean, while he said, well, it should be America taking the tolls, he then did talk about somehow

coordination with the Iranians, I should say here at CNN, we spoke to someone in maritime security saying the only communication we have with

Iran right now is that the strait is closed and don't dare move. I do want to get to these negotiations in Pakistan. And the fact that it is Pakistan

that apparently brokered this and will be hosting it.

How effective do you expect them to be? Why do you believe they were able to make this happen? And just to complicate matters further, do you think

China had a big role in helping to make this happen?

BREMMER: I was about to say, China's been involved as well, and Trump has appreciated that. They, of course, would like to see the strait open as

every other country would at this point.

So, yes, I think Pakistan is very relevant. They are they have an increasingly public alliance with Saudi Arabia, a critical player on the

ground. That matters. They have direct access to the president of the United States, certainly a much more functional relationship than they had

in previous years. And also, they're one of the few that have managed to pay the Iranians to get their own ships through the strait.

So, it's a functional relationship in that regard. We're also seeing a nascent security relationship, a regional quad between Pakistan, Saudi

Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. That's important too, because that's a geopolitical future of the post-Gulf War region that were going to be

increasingly dealing with in Pakistan is, of course, also a nuclear power.

So, for all of those reasons, they matter. But are we going to get to yes, because Pakistan is involved? No, no, the reason we're getting to yes has

nothing to do with Pakistan. The reason we're getting to yes is because the United States, for weeks, choosing not to accept Iranian terms, has

suddenly decided that the Iranian terms are fine as a starting point to stop bombing.

The change has been 100 percent from the American president. He's the decider on all of this. And there are others that have the potential to

undermine that. We've seen the Israelis with their attacks on Lebanon and Hezbollah. We've seen the UAE, very uncomfortable with what a ceasefire

would portend for Iran's place going forward in the Gulf.

But ultimately, Trump is the principal actor here. That was true when the war started, and that is true in this very tentative two-day-old ceasefire.

NEWTON: You know, everything that you're saying really leads back to how this is going to come together. And crucially, if it does come together,

how it's going to hold together. Beyond the ticktock of the back and forth, we now have NATO in the mix because Trump has basically said NATO has let

us down.

I mean, look, there are many questions about the survival of NATO before this conflict. But do you see it any other way that now post-Iran war, if

we get there to a post-Iran conflict, that NATO is forever transformed now?

[15:35:02]

BREMMER: I think that there's permanent damage. I don't accept Mark Rutte saying that NATO is stronger today. I agree that a lot of European allies

are spending a lot more money on defense. They're much more capable. Further, you've got two new NATO members because of the Russian invasion.

Putin deserves some credit for that one.

But they don't trust the United States. And, ultimately, that means that the money they're spending isn't going to be on American weapons systems.

It will be on European weapons systems.

So long term, NATO is much more vulnerable and is much more uncertain because of Trump. But this is not meant as a criticism of Mark Rutte. Mark

Rutte is doing yeoman's work, saying things that no European leaders could say, not only because they don't believe them, but because they have

domestic politics. Mark can come to the White House and embarrass himself by saying how thankful he is that President Trump is the leader of the free

world, and none of us would be able to exist if it wasn't for his success in large s. He can say that because he does not have a domestic

constituency, he is no longer the elected prime minister of the Netherlands as he served capably before.

Macron would not want to say that and could not say that. He'd get destroyed at home if he made a comment like that, or if Keir Starmer did,

or if Mark Carney did.

And so, the fact that Russia is willing consistently to play that role and did so yesterday, while the while president Trump himself is calling NATO

allies cowards and he's giving them ultimatums, that actually is a role that is helping to save NATO, is helping to keep NATO in existence, even if

it's getting weaker and more uncertain. We all thank Mark for that. And European leaders privately really do appreciate what he's doing.

NEWTON: That is interesting. Just given the fact that some European leaders, pardon me, have definitely found their voice. They're giving as

good as they get.

I note the other day that the prime minister of Spain said the government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they

show up with a bucket.

BREMMER: They're bringing a bucket.

NEWTON: Yeah. I mean, that is incredibly direct. I know that Spain has been likely the most outspoken of any European nation at this point when it

comes to this. But how do then we take and let's hope that there is some kind of settlement in the coming days, at least temporarily, to open the

strait, right? Do you see those European countries, those NATO countries, having any role in trying to keep it open?

BREMMER: Yes, I do, but keep in mind, Trump has said -- he said many things. But one of the things Trump has said is that ultimately, it's these

European countries, Asian countries, that need the strait more than the Americans do. They're the ones that are going to have to get the strait

open.

America first -- well, what is a France first policy? What's an India first policy? They care about keeping the strait open, and they're doing that.

They're going to engage directly with the Iranians. They're going to negotiate with them, and probably they're going to pay tolls. And that is

going to take some of the pressure out of the market, because they're willing to spend some money to get some ships through.

Now, that may not be the outcome that Trump wants. But I mean, Trump isn't even supporting the outcome he wants. Trump is the one that has

unilaterally suspended sanctions on the Iranians so that they can get oil through. It's not because he wants Iran to make much more money, but he's

willing to accept that as a cost of helping to ensure that gas prices in the U.S. are 4 bucks, as opposed to eight.

So, I mean, even Trump, who is America first, ultimately is prepared to pay the Iranians off. Why wouldn't he expect American allies to do that?

NEWTON: Yeah. Although you wonder how much Americans would accept that when they see the foreign policy implications of that.

Ian, before I let you go, can you weigh in on Russia on all of this? I mean, look, they got sanctions relief. There has been a lot of debate as to

whether or not Russia will actually come out the winner at the end of this.

BREMMER: Of course, they're a winner. And the sanctions relief matters a little. What matters a lot more are the prices of oil and gas and

fertilizer. And that's what the Russians have. It's not like they're creating great manufactured goods or technology. Those things are necessary

and people need to buy them. And their budget, as a consequence looks a lot better.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainians are having a much harder time getting interceptors in because the Americans need them for this new war in the

Gulf. So it's going to be harder for the Ukrainians to actually defend themselves versus Russian ballistic missiles raining down on cities

including Kyiv.

So, the Ukrainians have fought admirably. They've actually taken a little bit of land back from the Russians in the last couple of months, as opposed

to losing it.

[15:40:04]

So, they've been doing reasonably well, but it is going to be harder for them in the next year. And certainly, Putin feels more confident on the

back of what's happened with the Iran war and on the back of NATO looking much more uncertain. He would like nothing more than to divide NATO

himself. So, in that regard, when Trump says NATO members are cowards, Putin would love to see Trump continue with that message.

NEWTON: I'm sure they are eating it up at the Kremlin.

Ian Bremmer for us, really grateful to you. Thanks.

Now staying with Russia and Russian President Vladimir Putin, he, in fact, has announced a one-day ceasefire with Ukraine to mark Orthodox Easter

holiday. Now, according to the Kremlin, the ceasefire would run from 4:00 p.m. Moscow time on Saturday until the end of the day on Sunday, which is

Easter Sunday in the Russian Orthodox Church, a reminder that Zelenskyy had proposed the same for last weekend when Ukraine celebrated Easter but did

not get any kind of a positive response from the Kremlin.

Now, it's the final moments of trade on Wall Street. Stocks are higher. The Dow has recovered from early losses and is now back above 48,000.

That is your Business Breakout for now.

Economic growth in the United States was even slower than we thought at the end of the last year. GDP numbers for the fourth quarter came in at half of

one percent, down from the 1.4 percent initially reported. Weak investment from businesses was one of the factors behind that lower number.

Donald Trump's top economist is putting a brave face on the economic picture. Kevin Hassett, the head of the National Economic Council, is

predicting growth of up to five percent. That's despite the economic impact of the war in Iran, which Hassett calls a temporary distraction.

Meantime, inflation in the United States is stubbornly higher than usual core prices, which exclude more volatile things like food and energy

prices, rose by 3 percent last month. The war in Iran is expected to push those costs even higher. Everything from mortgages to credit card loans

have gotten more expensive in recent weeks because of the war in Iran.

The chief economist for emerging markets at Bloomberg Economics says the economic impact is there to see wherever you look.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZIAD DAOUD, CHIEF EMERGING MARKETS ECONOMIST, BLOOMBERG ECONOMICS: Beyond the numbers, if you think about the implications of this, what it's telling

us is a few things. One is the fact that the war is hitting consumers already very quickly, immediately in March. We're talking about March

numbers. So immediately after the war has started.

Second, that they're hitting living standards of consumers in the U.S. and therefore almost likely everywhere else in the world.

And the third thing is that the impact of the war has not stopped and will carry over in the coming months if it doesn't stop and we don't get a

ceasefire, whether it's temporary or permanent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Okay. And we will be right back with more news in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:45:57]

NEWTON: A man in Poland has been arrested and charged with rape after a CNN investigation into online sexual assault networks.

Now, two weeks ago, CNN went undercover to expose websites where men taught each other to drug and rape their partners. Our reporters identified one

man in Poland who had exchanged messages with CNN's Saskya Vandoorne

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: In a major development, a Polish man has been charged with rape following a months-long CNN investigation

into online rape networks. While the prosecutor wouldn't confirm his identity, polish media have identified him as Piotr, the pseudonym we gave

to the man at the center of our probe, into a telegram group where men from all over the world are exchanging tips on drugging and raping their

partners.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Last year, we began investigating a porn site that gets over 60 million visits a month, focusing on the thousands of videos

featuring women who appear unconscious during sex acts. Most of its users are based in the U.S.

It's home to so-called sleep content, with hundreds of thousands of views. One popular hashtag is iCheck, a way of proving a woman is asleep. We

created a fake name and soon got into a private Telegram group dedicated to sharing sleep content with almost a thousand members.

One day, a man in the group we're calling Piotr not his real name, DMed me.

Piotr admitted to me that he had been crushing pills into his wife's drink to rape her in her sleep. Without encouraging him, I tried to find out how

he was managing to do this. Who was he? Where was he?

VANDOORNE: It made me even more determined to try and meet him, to get him in person. So, I'm going to send him a message now. And I'm going to see if

he would meet with us.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): By now, we'd worked out he was in Poland, and we knew roughly where he lived, but he refused to meet. And then a tip. He let

slip that he was planning to attend a party.

VANDOORNE: That's him. I recognize him. We're inside the restaurant, and I've just seen him dancing with her. And at the start of this

investigation, all of these men were faceless and so seeing him tonight has just really brought home the fact that this is happening in real life.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): The man who had been messaging me day and night was only a few feet away, oblivious. Id come to see if he was real. And

there he was with his wife, the same people I saw in the videos.

We couldn't approach Piotr's wife without potentially putting her in danger, so we reached out to police about our findings.

VANDOORNE: The Polish police really acted very quickly, the prosecutor's office said the man had, quote, "admitted to the charges brought against

him". Now he's been placed in custody for three months and charged with rape under Poland's criminal code. If convicted, he could face up to 20

years in prison.

Women's rights organizations have welcomed the arrest. This is a quote from a spokeswoman for Feminoteka, a polish NGO. She said, "These perpetrators

are not distant monsters. They are our neighbors, our colleagues. Bringing such stories into the light can give courage to other women who may suspect

that something like this could be happening in their own relationships." And she also said this arrest should serve as a warning.

Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:52:27]

NEWTON: It's been roughly four years in the making. Far too long for anyone who's a fan, but the boys from BTS are back. The K-pop supergroup

kicked off their global tour in South Korea on Thursday. Thousands of fans, as you can imagine, some near and some from far away, gathered outside the

Goyang Stadium, braving the rain hours before the concert. So eager were they to see their favorite boyband on stage yet again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON (voice-over): It's the world tour that's taking the world by storm. BTS is back, and not even the pouring rain could dampen the excitement of

thousands of fans eager to see the kickoff of their global concert tour.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm absolutely elated that they're finally coming back. It's been a long wait, but I was a little bit worried that they

weren't going to come back.

NEWTON (voice-over): The opening concert sold out in pre-sales for all three nights in Goyang, South Korea. That's according to the group's

management agency.

Outside of the show on Thursday, a sea of umbrellas and raincoats, many fans dressed in purple, the signature color of the band's fan base, the BTS

Army.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I will go to BTS concerts until they're grandpas and I will be army my whole life.

NEWTON (voice-over): The tour is just beginning, but it's expected to be a global sensation, stopping in 34 cities right around the world and spanning

five continents. Total tour earnings are expected to reach nearly $2 billion. Fans, filling the hole in their hearts with tickets, merchandise

and new music.

After the band went on a nearly four-year hiatus during which all seven members completed their mandatory South Korean military service.

But BTS is back in familiar territory, topping the charts. The band's new album, "Arirang", was released in March, and it debuted at number one on

the billboard 200 chart. Its lead single, "Swim", also hit the top spot of the Billboard Hot 100.

The tour is scheduled to head to Tokyo next and wrap up in the Philippines in March of next year, with stops crisscrossing the globe in between. BTS

is even returning to Australia after nearly a decade since its last concert there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're happy that after. I guess all the efforts that we're doing, the BTS are finally coming back to Australia. They're going to

be there next year. So, we're so happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: They are happy people. We got to say that.

Okay. Finally tonight for us, we are in the last full day of the Artemis II moon mission the crew is spending today packing gear and trying on the

special suits that they will need to wear for that all important splashdown. Now, the suits are designed to help them deal with a return to

gravity after 10 days in space.

As they make their way home, they are reflecting on how this mission has changed them. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY HANSEN, CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY ASTRONAUT: We have seen just some extraordinary things, things that I thought we might see. They looked

similar to what I thought they might look like and other things that I just had never even imagined. And those were different perspectives that we saw

these things from. But I have to say, it hasn't changed my perspective or the perspective that I launched with. The perspective I launched with was

that we live on a fragile planet in the vacuum and the void of space. We know this from science. We're very fortunate to live on Planet Earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Okay, they splashed down in the Pacific off the coast of San Diego about 28 hours from now. CNN, of course, will have live coverage.

I am Paula Newton. Stay with CNN. I'll be back with more after a break.

END

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