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West Point Preps Cadets for Trump Orders; Mouaz Moustafa is Interviewed about Sanctions Lifted on Syria; Sara Blakely is Interviewed about Creating a Billion Dollar Idea. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired May 16, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Executive actions and orders on diversity and Defense Department directives for the military.

CNN anchor Brianna Keilar joins us now.

I know you. You've been to West Point recently. What did you find there?

BRIANNA KIELAR, CNN ANCHOR: Well, John, we found that West Point officials are making significant changes, but they're insisting they aren't having any negative effects on the education and training of cadets.

However, there are a number of current and former West Point professors who are very concerned about this. And much of this stems from the president's executive actions. And one he ordered the Defense and Homeland Security secretaries to review what the service academies are teaching. He said they could not include, quote, "un-American, divisive, discriminatory, radical, extremist and irrational theories," including what he called divisive concepts, race or sex scapegoating, that America's founding documents are racist or sexist, or gender ideology.

And West Point officials pulled readings from courses. This included from revered black Americans, like Frederick Douglass and Toni Morrison, according to one current West Point professor. They canceled 12 clubs tailored to women and cadets of color. And perhaps most significantly, race, ethnicity and gender will no longer be considered in admissions. It had a carveout in that affirmative action Supreme Court decision.

Of course, a hallmark of our American democracy is civilian control of the military. And school officials say they are appropriately following their chain of command.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. SHANE REEVES, DEAN, UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY: Everybody in the profession is completely fine with following the orders that -- that come from duly elected representatives. It's not -- it's part of our ethos, which is that we follow orders. And it's not difficult. It's not difficult for us to do so. And really the American people don't want us to do anything different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: A few days after our visit last week, a civilian philosophy professor at West Point who teaches and oversees the military ethics course curriculum announced in a "New York Times" op-ed that he plans to resign.

Graham Parsons actually said that he was "ashamed to be associated with the academy in its current form." He said West Point had abandoned its core principles of giving cadets the broad based, critical minded, nonpartisan education they need for careers as army officers. And former faculty, some of them, like retired Colonel Ike Wilson, are also sounding the alarm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. ISAIAH WILSON III (RET.), FORMER WEST POINT PROFESSOR, FORMER west POINT ACADEMIC PROGRAM DIRECTOR: Let's talk about the original sin of slavery in America, but in a way that -- that rubs, you know, rubs off some of the -- the sharp edges of real history, right? I mean dare I call -- dare I call it a whitewashing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I also spoke with a number of former faculty who do not share those concerns. And that's important to note. There was a West Point spokesperson who said of the Parson's op-ed specifically, that it's a false dilemma, essentially that West Point can, quote, "maintain our commitment to academic integrity and intellectual discourse while remaining fully aligned with national policy and our military responsibilities, John.

BERMAN: You know, and as I said, President Trump's giving the commencement address there in a week. What are the expectations and complications there?

KEILAR: Yes, a week from tomorrow, the class of 2025. And he did speak to the West Point class of 2020. And looking at that speech, by Trump's standard, it was pretty nonpolitical. And a lot of observers are watching to see if that is the case this year.

We won't know till it happens. But keep in mind, when we're talking about these service academies, West Point, the Naval Academy, the Coast Guard Academy, the Air Force Academy, about 50 percent of general and flag officers come from these service academies. So, these really are the military leaders of the future. And there's a lot at stake here.

BERMAN: Brianna Keilar, as always, you're reporting on the military and military family, so important and incisive. Thank you and great to see you in the mornings.

KEILAR: Great to see you. BERMAN: All right, this morning, we have new behind the scenes details

about President Trump's critical meeting with his new Syrian counterpart from an inside source.

And a U.S. basketball player arrested and accused of drug smuggling in a foreign country. Now he could face the death penalty.

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[09:39:02]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, right now, President Trump is on his way back to Washington after his trip to the Middle East, where during his time there he became the first American president to meet with the president of Syria in 25 years. Among the major developments that occurred while he was overseas is he made that unexpected announcement that he is lifting all U.S. sanctions on Syria, telling reporters this about the sanctions just this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you look at the sanctions, these were really brutal. And they would have, I would say, zero chance of success. So, in this way, they have a chance. And their leader's a strong person, but young and a lot of energy and wants to do a good job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Quite a statement when you know the history of Syria and the brutal dictator that -- that formerly ruled that country.

Joining me right now to talk about this is the executive director of the Syrian Emergency Task Force, Mouaz Moustafa.

Work -- I mean, I've known you so long, Mouaz.

[09:40:01]

And during that time you have worked for years to -- on the issue of sanctions. First in helping to craft sanctions against the ousted president, Bashar al-Assad, working with Congress to put sanctions on Syria, and now pushing for sanctions to be lifted once Assad was ousted.

How significant is this moment?

MOUAZ MOUSTAFA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SYRIAN EMERGENCY TASK FORCE: It's transformational. It's historic. You know, I wish I could give you a hug, Kate, because through those horrible years of war, you were one of the few brave journalists that shone light on the worst crimes of the 21st century that happened in Syria when you interviewed the defector, Caesar, who showed the brutality of the torture of Assad's regime.

And those sanctions that were placed there were placed because of Assad, because of a dictator, because the United States wanted to help people, a free people, overthrow their tyrant. But when Assad fell, the sanctions remained. And for President Trump to take this very important, I believe historic decision, gives Syria a chance at democracy. And that's a very powerful thing.

BOLDUAN: Now, Brett McGurk, who's worked in national security as a -- in the Middle East for years, he told me yesterday, this is a very big deal and a very good move is what Brett McGurk said.

You -- I saw that you told "Axios" that you'd actually briefed White House officials after you had met with the new Syrian president in Damascus. I assumed that was before Trump went overseas. What's your understanding, Mouaz, of the goal of the new president, that you think is the goal of the new Syrian president when it comes to the United States?

MOUSTAFA: So, I went there about two weeks ago, right before President Trump's upcoming trip to the region. You know, alongside me was representative of the Syrian Jewish community, an American businessman that wants to see American companies instead of Chinese companies help develop Syria's economy, and an American young lady who was looking for information on her dad, an American humanitarian who was tortured, his name is Mesh Kamumaz (ph), and killed by the Assad regime.

And so, we were meeting with the Syrian president to discuss all these things that are of U.S. interests, frankly. The meeting was supposed to be 15 minutes, but we ended up meeting with the Syrian president for three and a half hours, or a little bit more than that. And during that you could see clearly that he sought to end war in Syria. He, just like all the rest of the Syrian people, after 14 years of war, just want to see peace, including with every one of their neighbors and -- and with no more struggle for the Syrian people. He wants to see Syria rebuilt, but he doesn't want to have to count on China and Russia, because Russia killed a bunch of the civilians and -- and helped Assad in the war. So did China back up -- back up Assad. He wants to see the, you know, the United States and democracies help rebuild Syria.

And so you have, number one, a changed man from his checkered past. You have someone who is in -- you know, embracing everyone. He's helping the Syrian Jews rebuild the oldest synagogue in the world destroyed by the Assad regime. And he's helping other minority groups, from Christians, to Kurds, to Alawites, to be integrated into the new government. And -- and he wants to see Syria, you know, get to a place where we can have the first free and fair election in probably any Arab country. And sanctions were stopping that.

BOLDUAN: I was going to say, and in -- and in decades and decades and decades in Syria.

On -- on the president, Lindsey Graham has focused on Syria and worked on Syria for years. And on the news of sanctions being lifted, he -- he said this. He's "very inclined to support sanctions relief for Syria under the right conditions. However, we must remember that the current leadership of Syria achieved its position through force of arms, not through the will of the people." And you talked about that in saying -- in pointing -- in talking about

saying checkered past. The president is someone who was considered a terrorist at one point, led a group that pledged -- pled allegiance to al Qaeda and did -- he then moved away from it.

MOUSTAFA: Right.

BOLDUAN: How do you ease lingering concerns about his motivations and past?

MOUSTAFA: I think people should look at the actions. Forget his statements. Forget anyone else's statements. Look at the actions on the ground.

Today, I can tell you, both Operation Inherent Resolve, led by Lieutenant General Kevin Leahy (ph), and our special forces, led by lieutenant General -- Lieutenant General Brooks (ph), in Syria, coordinated directly with the new Syrian government under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa, to fight and -- and finalize the complete destruction of ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria.

If the person that we are saying, look, this guy is ISIS, is -- is our partner in the fight against ISIS, as a matter of fact, he's become the worst nightmare for ISIS in Syria and vice versa, and now we can get rid of ISIS forever, I think that speaks volumes. The fact that he's fighting the terrorists alongside, not just ISIS, but he's also fighting against Iran, Russia, China. I mean, defeated all of America's enemies in Syria. And so, you know, the idea that he is being, you know, we're scared that he is someone who is ISIS or al Qaeda, while, again, he's the one that's defeating them in Syria. And working with the U.S. military on that, I think that should be enough proof for anyone to see that this is a real change -- not just a real change. This is a partner in -- in what is the mutual interests of Syrian people and the United States.

[09:45:06]

BOLDUAN: I mean the fact that there is now a potentially bright future for Syria when there was really no seeing it for so many years is a remarkable, remarkable turn of events. Mouaz, it's great to see you again. Thank you so much.

MOUSTAFA: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: We have some breaking news coming in just now. We are learning that President Trump held a call this morning with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine, as well as other European leaders. We've got more details coming in on that. That's coming up next.

And also this. We have -- when it comes to New Jersey transit, now at a standstill, the first statewide transit strike there in 40 years. So how New York's mayor plans to help those who may be stranded today and beyond.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [09:50:18]

BERMAN: All right, some breaking news. We just learned that President Trump held a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. So, separate phone calls, as well as calls with the French President Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and the German chancellor. What was being discussed were the talks in Istanbul between low level Russian and Ukrainian officials. This is all according to a spokesperson for President Zelenskyy. We are learning more about these conversations and we will bring you this information as we get it.

This morning, singer Chris Brown is being held in custody in London over a 2023 nightclub fight. He was in a British court this morning to face a charge over allegations that he seriously beat a music producer while he was on tour a couple years ago. No word yet from Brown's representative.

This morning, "Antiques Road Show" incredibly valuable landmark historic documents addition. Eighty years ago, Harvard Law School bought what people there thought was a simple, modern copy of the Magna Carta. They paid $27 for what they thought was a copy. The Magna Carta, of course, is a 13th century British document that is considered the first to establish individual rights and the concept of limits on government. Turns out this was no copy. A researcher who came across it in the archives determined it was an original. It's probably worth tens of millions of dollars, which is why, Kate, you should never throw anything away.

BOLDUAN: I mean, it's like the fanciest "Antiques Road Show" of all time.

BERMAN: I know, the Magna Carta, right?

BOLDUAN: I mean --

BERMAN: Probably someone scribbled on it. Like, how -- I can't get my pen to write. Let me try, you know.

BOLDUAN: I mean Harvard's like, yes. And then -- think of the -- I always think of the person who sold it to them.

BERMAN: Yes. Oops.

BOLDUAN: Like, that's rough.

All right, let's go to this.

We've all heard of, and likely dreamed of, having that million-dollar idea. When it comes to Spanx founder Sara Blakely, it's actually become $1 billion idea. From Spanx to now a new -- another company called Sneex, she's a phenomenon in women's fashion, and she wants more women to do just what she has. Blakely is a game changer, and she sat down with our own Sara Sidner.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In a nutshell, how did you create $1 billion business?

SARA BLAKELY, ENTREPRENEUR: Well, OK. With Spanx, I'm a frustrated consumer, right? So, I had never taken a business class. I'd never worked in fashion or retail. But as a consumer, I could not find the right undergarment. And that set me out to want to create a solution for myself.

SIDNER (voice over): Sara Blakely did create the solution. She called it Spanx, a shapewear company she founded at 27 and sold two decades later for more than $1 billion. But before her billion-dollar idea, she was like so many of us.

BLAKELY: I sold fax machines door to door for seven years. So, I was sitting in a cubicle thinking about a different life for myself. And I woke up one day and was like, I'm in the wrong movie. Call the director. Call the producer. This is not my life. I don't want to be the star of this movie anymore.

SIDNER (voice over): She did two things, singled out what she was really good at, and deeply explored why she wanted to create her own business.

BLAKELY: And for me, when I asked that, it was, I like to create things that people need or make them smile or changes their life, makes their life easier.

SIDNER (voice over): But before her idea could be born, all she heard was, no, you can't do that.

SIDNER: You said, if I had listened to what the experts told me --

BLAKELY: Oh, yes.

SIDNER: There would be no Spanx, or Sneex for that matter.

BLAKELY: Yes. Our inclination is to want to speak to the experts. And mind you, experts serve a purpose. I've had them throughout my journey. But knowing when to honor the voice inside and trust the voice inside, it takes a lot of self-confidence, which I've been working on since I was 16 years old.

SIDNER: When I was 16, I was running around, jumping out of trees, trying to go to clubs when I wasn't supposed to be. I mean, I was not doing that.

BLAKELY: I actually had some really hard times when I was 16. And one of them was my parents separated. And when my dad was moving out, he came into my bedroom and handed me this cassette tape series called "How to Be a No Limit Person" by Dr. Wayne Dyer. And he said, sweetie, I wish I was your age when I discovered this instead of the age of 40. And then he moved out. And I put the cassette tapes in my boombox, and I started listening to this man talk about manifesting what you want, law of attraction, visualizing where you want to end up, not fearing failure. Things that weren't taught in school, right, but that were making a profound impact on me.

SIDNER (voice over): She learned to listen to her intuition and had the courage to trust it.

[09:55:02]

Now she's doing it again with another invention, Sneex, which began as a quest to make stilettos comfortable and ended with sneaker heels.

BLAKELY: And it was so hard because the factories were either luxury stiletto high heel factories, or you'd find a sneaker factory somewhere. And they're like, we do not do both.

SIDNER: You can get fired from factories?

BLAKELY: Yes. It did not matter that I was Sara from Spanx. They did not care.

SIDNER (voice over): But she did. And kept going.

BLAKELY: There are not enough women inventors. Like, when I launched Spanx and got a patent on Spanx, I think that there were only 6 percent of patent holders, primary patent holders, that were women.

SIDNER: Why do you think that is?

BLAKELY: That means 94 percent of the world we're living in was created through the male perspective, through the male lens. Like, we're literally living in a male created world. And all -- a lot of those products are amazing, but I am hungry for balance. I'm hungry for what would be the female perspective of this product.

SIDNER: When you get these ideas, where do they come from and who do you bounce them off of?

BLAKELY: I get ideas in multiple ways. But my main thing that I do is I try to spend time alone, and I try to spend time daydreaming. And I'll get downloads when I daydream.

SIDNER: What's next? Have you started?

BLAKELY: Yes. And what I do is I keep a log of my ideas. Right now it's 99 pages, single spaced.

SIDNER: What?

BLAKELY: Yes.

SIDNER (voice over): Her husband also has one big, bold idea for Blakely.

SIDNER: I saw something that your husband posted on TikTok.

BLAKELY: Oh, boy.

SIDNER: For your birthday, I think. He floated the idea of you becoming the president of these United States. Would you ever? Would you ever think about it?

BLAKELY: I don't think it's in the cards for me, but --

SIDNER: You didn't say absolutely no, though.

BLAKELY: I -- but I really love that he feels that high of me. I always say to everyone I know, marry your biggest cheerleader.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: I love that. She's fantastic. And I'm talking about Sara. Both of Saras.

BERMAN: But mostly Sara Sidner.

BOLDUAN: Obvs. Obvs.

BERMAN: Yes, totally.

Thank you all for being with us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

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