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CNN This Morning

Jeff Neilsen and Harvey Scolnick are Interviewed about Airline Travel; Hagar Chemali is Interviewed about Syria Sanctions; Democrats Face Tough Questions about Biden; Keith O'Brien is Interviewed about Pete Rose's Reinstatement; Buttigieg's Iowa Town Hall Fuels Speculation; Trump to Arrive in Qatar. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired May 14, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:32]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Wednesday morning. I'm Erica Hill, in for Audie Cornish. Nice to have you with us on this Wednesday morning. 6:30 on the nose right here on the East Coast.

Here's a look at what's happening right now.

We are waiting for President Trump to land in Doha, Qatar, for his next round of meetings and likely the signing of another bilateral agreement. The trip, though, largely overshadowed by the offer of that, quote, "free" $400 million luxury jet from the Qatari royal family to use as Air Force One.

Cassie Ventura, Sean "Diddy" Combs former girlfriend and accuser, will be back on the stand today. On Tuesday she was questioned for more than four hours about her relationship with Combs and the alleged freak offs she says she was a part of over several years.

Newark's airport -- Newark Airport's ongoing flight issues top on the agenda this morning when airline executives meet with the FAA. They're looking at possible flight cuts for Newark after a string of air traffic control issues.

One of the issues causing problems at Newark involved the communications between air traffic controllers and pilots. At least one controller telling CNN, quote, "we're playing Russian roulette." That on top of a nationwide air traffic controller shortage. The FAA currently has about 14,000 of them. But an air traffic controllers union says they actually need about 3,000 more.

Despite this, the United Airlines CEO sending an email to customers this week saying very clearly he believes it's safe to fly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you square that email that you sent with what we're hearing from folks on the ground? SCOTT KIRBY, UNITED AIRLINES CEO: Yes. Well, it is absolutely safe.

Look, if you're an air traffic controller, I appreciate the work. They're incredible professionals in everything that they do to keep this skies safe. But it's stressful. It's tense. They're understaffed. They're working lots of overtime hours.

But what we do when there are situations like this, communication, radar outages, anything, we have backup procedures and backups to the backups. And essentially what happens in a situation like that is airplanes go into holding patterns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: I'm joined now by Jeff Nielsen, retired Delta captain, and Harvey Scolnick, a retired FAA air traffic controller.

Gentlemen, it's nice to have both of you with us this morning.

You know, as -- as -- as we look at this, there seem to be two real, major issues at play, right? So, there's the issue of flights. Too many flights. Then we have this issue of air traffic control, both understaffed and also communications issues.

Jeff, when you look at this, as a -- as a former commercial airline pilot, what does that do to your level of confidence when it comes to Newark?

JEFF NIELSEN, RETIRED DELTA AIR LINES CAPTAIN: Well, it certainly doesn't bolster my confidence at all. But I know that, in general, the -- the system is the safest in the world, actually. But there are still many, many areas for improvement, for sure.

HILL: You know, Harvey, it seems like we've been talking about these problems for a long time now, both the shortage of air traffic controllers, right, that's been an issue for some time that we've known about, but also, I mean, when we were learning -- you know, my colleague Pete Muntean reporting just last week it was a copper wire in one instance that really just sort of threw everything off -- what is a consistent issue it looks like for air traffic controllers in terms of communications in Newark. Why did it have to get to this point, do you think, for there to be what feels like a movement toward a little bit more action?

HARVEY SCOLNICK, RETIRED FAA AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Well, the system has been aging for a long time. The fact that there's a shortage of air traffic controllers is nothing new. I think every year they're -- the FAA, I really believe, fails to hire as many controllers as they need. And those controllers -- most facilities that I have worked in have always worked with the bare minimum with regard to the -- the minimum staffing.

So -- and the equipment is -- is aging, but they're out there trying to work on it right now so far as I know. I mean according to the -- the announcements that they put out yesterday.

HILL: Jeff, when it comes to the number of flights, you know, we've heard a lot about this from the CEO of United saying, you know, they -- and they've scaled back a little bit on the flight schedule. But I remember this coming up again in terms of cutting flights. Many travelers might look at this and they may think, OK, so why don't you just choose safety and fewer flights over your bottom line as an airline? It doesn't always work that way at the airport, does it, Jeff?

NIELSEN: No. No, it doesn't always work that way. I mean, it's a great idea to -- to reduce the number of flights because, you know, the -- the bottleneck, the restriction is the number -- I mean the concrete that you have, the runways at all these facilities. And we're just constantly adding more and more flights, more and more destinations, and it just becomes unmanageable at a certain point.

[06:35:06]

So, I'm glad that they're looking at that as a possible solution.

HILL: Harvey, as you -- as you alluded to, any upgrades that are in the works in terms of air traffic control? That's not going to be in place overnight. Nor will a staffing shortage be ended immediately. What is the answer in the interim?

SCOLNICK: Well, there is no immediate answer. And the answer is more controllers, I think. I think that in the short run they might be able to fill some people in who can check out more quickly than others. You know, you just can't put somebody in a facility and ask them to be able to plug in, talk on a frequency to an airplane in an airspace that they're not familiar with. It takes weeks, it takes sometimes months, even for controllers who are very, very experienced.

HILL: Jeff, real quickly, would you fly in and out of Newark right now?

NIELSEN: I certainly would, yes. I have done so many times in my career, and I -- I feel perfectly comfortable flying into Newark. Yes.

HILL: Gentlemen, I appreciate you both joining us this morning.

And you can catch Jeff's podcast, "Airline Pilot Guy," as well, wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

Jeff and Harvey, thanks so much.

Well, we are waiting now for Air Force One to land in Qatar as President Trump continues the first major overseas trip of his second term. Stop number two today in Doha will include a state dinner. Earlier this morning, he, of course, was wrapping up his time in Saudi Arabia, where he extended an olive branch to Syria, meeting with Syria's new president, and also saying he would lift sanctions against the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important -- really, an important function, nevertheless, at the time. But now it's their time to shine. It's their time to shine. We're taking them all off. So, I say, good luck, Syria, show us something very special.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now, Hagar Chemali, former U.S. national security council director for Syria and Lebanon.

Nice to see you again.

When we look at what played out there in Saudi Arabia, how significant is both the meeting between these two presidents and also the removing of sanctions?

HAGAR CHEMALI, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, U.S. MISSION TO THE U.N.: It's extremely significant. I had heard some rumblings in Washington last week that there was movement on Syria in particular, but this is not something I would have expected because it's a very large leap to withdraw all the sanctions. And I should add that I worked on crafting the sanctions regime against Syria during the Syrian civil war, at the very beginning, when we were calling on Assad to step down. And -- and I'm not opposed to -- to withdrawing sanctions in general or in the future, because they do -- they were for an express purpose.

However, you've got a president and government that we don't know where it's going now. It has -- we know al-Sharaa's background and history. I was also in government when we sanctioned Ahmad al-Sharaa, at the time his name was Mohammad al-Julani, for his ties to al Qaeda and his leadership of -- of, at the time, al-Nusra Front.

And so, you know, we know that and we've also seen some problems on the ground that -- that weren't that well covered. For example, violence against the Druze, violence -- and violence against other minorities that are being carried out by -- some are Islamist extremists, some are those tied to al-Sharaa's government. And so, we need to see improvement on that.

So, at first it felt very quick. But then today I saw a list of demands that -- that President Trump has asked of Syria. I -- he didn't -- he didn't say in exchange for the release of sanctions, of the withdrawal of sanctions, but I can only assume it's that. And it included an exhaustive list, like joining the Abraham Accords, expelling all foreign and Palestinian terrorists from Syria. Very large demands that -- that would really -- they'd be very significant, for sure.

HILL: And then so walk us through the calculation, in your view, from a U.S. perspective, in what this means for the Trump administration's plans in the Middle East. Where does Syria fit in?

CHEMALI: So, overall, since the fall, you had a complete change in geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East because of Israel, because of its escalation against Hezbollah, the approach against Hamas, and certainly against -- against Iran. Iran is on the defense because its nuclear -- its missile defense capabilities around its nuclear program and Tehran have been obliterated. Hezbollah has been decapitated. And that's what led to Assad, Bashar al-Assad falling in Syria and fleeing like a coward to Moscow. That -- what -- that completely crumbled, the so-called axis of resistance. And what that does -- not only does that undermine the Iran, pro-Iran terrorism, regional expansionism that Iran seeks in the region, but it elevates the other side. And certainly Saudi Arabia, as the global hegemon of the region, and Turkey as well to an extent.

And, by the way, what I understand is that -- that the leaders of Turkey and both Saudi Arabia pressed Trump to withdraw those sanctions in particular.

[06:40:03]

So, what that means in general is that the Trump administration has this opportunity to shift everything, and quickly, before Iran can pick itself back up again, in favor of the Abraham Accords, which really is an ultimate goal of Trump to expand as many countries as possible under the Abraham Accords, and in general to shift that whole region away from Iran and, again, that axis of resistance and the terrorist and militia -- terrorist groups and militias that support that.

So, it is a unique opportunity. I am in favor of doing it as quickly as possible, because you never know. These groups are very -- are very wily and they find ways. We used to say when I worked in counterterrorism that it's like a game of whack-a-mole, they find ways to rebuild themselves and -- and refinance themselves. And so that's the need for the -- for the speed in this game.

HILL: Hagar, appreciate the insight this morning. Thank you.

CHEMALI: Thank you.

HILL: Turning now to the scrutiny around former President Joe Biden and claims that the White House tried to hide what was happening in plain sight heading into the 2024 election. Some of those new details revealed in the forthcoming book "Original Sin," written by CNN's Jake Tapper, of course, and Alex Thompson of "Axios." Among the claims, that President Biden didn't recognize George Clooney at a June fundraiser last year, and that was just before the CNN debate and, of course, ultimately the decision for Joe Biden to drop out of the race. They write, quote, "Biden and those in his innermost circle refused to admit the reality that his energy, cognitive skills and communication capacity had faltered significantly. Even worse, through various means, they tried to hide it."

Now, Democrats on Capitol Hill are facing new questions about the former president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Biden apparently did not even recognize George Clooney at a fundraiser. Were you being straight with the American public about Biden's condition (ph)?

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Look, we're just looking forward. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would the party have been better off if he had

just not run for re-election?

PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Maybe. And, you know, right now, with the benefit of hindsight, I think most people would agree that that's the case. We're also not in a position to wallow in hindsight.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): He's, at the time, was 80 years old. But my experience with him was that he was, you know, handling the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The group -- the group chat is back.

We are not in a position to wallow in hindsight we just heard from Pete Buttigieg there.

Given your role, just a hypothetical, if you're in a role of leadership and you're around the president and you notice, especially given the realities of that role, that this is a person who is starting to fade, if you have concerns, is it your job, as one of those people closest to him, as one of his aides, to raise those concerns?

HYMA MOORE, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO DNC CHAIR JAIME HARRISON: Yes, I mean, I think so. Look, this is -- this is very personal. And -- and -- and I -- and I think when you talk about someone's cognitive ability, particularly a president, and someone like Joe Biden, who's been around for 60 years, it's very personal. And I think this is something that he and his family have had to deal with more than he and his -- his employees or his staff.

And so, look, I don't put this on the staff fully, I put this on his family. I put this on Joe Biden himself. But the reality is, when Joe Biden was president of the United States of America, for the first two or three years, things were getting better for America. He saved us from the Covid demise that we were in just a few years before he was president.

And so I think, when you look at what he was able to accomplish, bipartisan infrastructure deal, you know, bringing prices down on insulin, I think he thought that he was able to put together those pieces and do it again for a second term, but it just wasn't true. And so, I don't -- I think Joe Biden was a good president. I think our only sin was not -- was not recognizing he should not run for re- election.

HILL: Is the conversation, too, about blame, Eli, missing something in this moment?

ELI STOKOLS, WHITE HOUSE AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT, "POLITICO": Well, in a way, it's talking about, what did everybody else miss and saying that, you know, did the media miss something or did the voter. People didn't miss this. People -- I mean, ultimately, Biden had to quit his campaign because it was just obvious. And for as much as this -- I know this is -- there's a lot of revelations in this book. But the idea that this was a cover up. This was crisis comms in a White House that was trying to hide something. And ultimately the delusion was for themselves. They talked themselves into him being able to continue to do the job, and they could not convince the country.

There was coverage of this. There was coverage about him not taking the big stairs down from Air Force One. There's coverage we -- everybody wrote about his schedule and how you rarely saw him after four in the afternoon. There were reports about meetings that went sideways because he couldn't maintain focus. This was all in plain sight. There are more revelations in this book.

But I think the biggest revelations are going to be about the staff. And why did they, after the midterms, rationalize, oh, he needs another term just because Democrats didn't get killed in 2022? And that -- I think that's the original sin of the book's title. And that's what the conversation now is about, as the party is trying to shift gears and figure out what it's going to look like going forward.

There's still a lot of frustration and anger about where the party sits at the moment. And that is going to be directed back at the former president and a lot of his senior staff, who continued to say again and again, oh, no, he's fine, he's -- even as they were making all of these accommodations to his age.

[06:45:06]

HILL: We are out of time for this segment, but you are up first in the next one.

CHARLIE DENT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASPEN INSTITUTE CONGRESSIONAL PROGRAM: All good.

HILL: Deal. Deal.

Stick around. Much more to cover, including that lifetime ban for a baseball legend, which is now over. Why did Major League Baseball wait until this moment to change its mind about Pete Rose.

Plus, the price of eggs, a hot-button issues, as those numbers, of course, have gone up. More signs, though, they are continuing to come back own.

Stick around. More from the group chat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't just take away, you know, his career, like everything he did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what he did kind of overrides just how well he played.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Baseball fans have spent decades arguing over the lifetime ban given to Pete Rose for gambling on games.

[06:50:01]

This morning, though, that ban, gone. Pete Rose, who passed away in September, holds the records for number of games played and number of hits. And there's also, of course, that less celebrated record, the one that prompted the ban, betting on his own games. In a 2007 interview, Rose admitted he bid on every Cincinnati Reds game as manager. And while he pushed for reinstatement multiple times, it didn't happen before his death, although the Reds did retire his number in 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE ROSE, FORMER MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PLAYER: I haven't given up on Cooperstown. I'm not the type that's going to give up on anything. But, this is fine. This is -- I'm happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, will Cooperstown now come calling for Rose?

Joining me to discuss, Keith O'Brien, who wrote "Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose and the Last Glory Days of Baseball."

Good to have you here this morning, Keith.

So, you know, he was ineligible because of this settlement, obviously, with the MLB, But the commissioner yesterday said the ban ended with Rose's death. Do you believe he could ultimately now end up in the Hall of Fame?

KEITH O'BRIEN, AUTHOR, "CHARLIE HUSTLE: THE RISE AND FALL OF PETE ROSE": Well, he absolutely could now. You know, because of the decision that was made yesterday by Commissioner Rob Manfred, Roses name will be taken up now by a small committee of voters that handled the cases of players who played long ago. That discussion will happen almost certainly in 2027. So, you know, at least semantically, he could be elected and appear, you know, in the hall as early as 2028.

Now, will the committee ultimately vote in favor? This is the -- the next question in the great Pete Rose saga.

HILL: Yes. You know, the -- the move was lauded by the Reds in a statement yesterday. They said they'd continue to celebrate him, as they always had. "USA Today's" Bob Nightengale wrote, "apparently it's OK to gamble on baseball now, even those involving your own team, while making a mockery out of the sport's most sacred rule." Clearly, the debate is not going to end with the lifting of the ban.

O'BRIEN: It's absolutely not going to end. You know, in the last 36 years the whole Pete Rose story has been one of the great late night sports debates. You know, what do we do about Pete Rose? You know, what Rob Manfred did yesterday was basically take this decision out of the hands of Major League Baseball. Rob Manfred and the front office of Major League Baseball will no longer be receiving calls about what to do about Pete Rose. Now, those calls will be going to Cooperstown. They'll be going to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. They'll be going to this small committee that will take up his case.

And the debate will absolutely rage on. And I think both things can be true. You know, Pete Rose was a great player, and he was a tremendously flawed person who made terrible mistakes that hurt lots of people. Both of -- both of those things are true.

HILL: Keith O'Brien, good to have you here this morning. Thank you.

O'BRIEN: Thank you.

HILL: Democrats still looking for a new way forward as they navigate President Trump's second term. Could Pete Buttigieg be the answer? Last night he was in Iowa -- yes, Iowa -- for a town hall. Of course, that state always prompts the, is he running question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I'm not running for anything. And part of what's exciting and compelling about an opportunity like this is to be campaigning for values and for ideas, rather than a specific electoral campaign. So, that's what I'm about. But, of course, it means a lot to hear that people who supported me then continue to -- to believe in what I have to say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: While the former transportation secretary is downplaying the speculation, his presence, of course, in Iowa and the reception he received have not gone unnoticed.

The group chat is back. As promised, the floor is yours.

DENT: Well --

HILL: Pete Buttigieg, thoughts?

DENT: Well, Pete Buttigieg, Pete Rose, and -- and, by the way, we have a baseball commissioner because of gambling in baseball. And Bart Giamatti must be rolling in his grave right now.

But that said, Pete Buttigieg, well, he's not running for president, until he is. So -- and Iowa, by the way, does not have the same impact now in the Democratic primary that it --

HILL: Sure.

DENT: That it did because it's been downgraded as a state. But --

HILL: How effective would he be, though? He's an effective messenger. There's no denying that.

DENT: Yes.

HILL: He's probably the Democratic Party's most effective messenger because he's willing to talk to anybody. But the question always comes up about whether he could make that work.

DENT: Well, look, he certainly represents the next gen -- next generation of Democratic leadership. So, I think that makes him attractive. You're right, he's a great communicator. So, I do think there is a lane for him. But I -- you would know better than I, but he's struggled over the years, I think, with the African-American vote. And he has -- he has some issues that he's going to have to address within a Democratic primary to become a serious contender.

So, yes, he's a good messenger. You know, he's next generation. He's got a lot of great attributes. But he also has some liabilities he's got to deal with.

HILL: Yes. And the party is still -- I mean, it's May, but still really searching for a lane, a movement, a consistent message in this moment, months in.

MOORE: But I -- but I think, Erica, I think it's -- I think it's starting to come together.

HILL: OK.

[06:55:01]

MOORE: I mean you have Pete, who was in Iowa. You have AOC and Bernie Sanders, who have been around the country. You have Cory Booker and Gavin Newsom and -- and my -- my -- one of my favorites, JB Pritzker, who's all around the country, you know, talking about Democratic values. And so, I think, right now, no one's running, but all these people are bringing the message back to the people directly and allowing people to see Democrats in a different light, which I think is really good.

HILL: I -- really. Does the Joe Biden, do the books, right, Jake and Alex's book --

MOORE: Yes.

HILL: The former president's appearances, are they overshadowing that momentum?

MOORE: They're -- they're -- they're trying to overshadow a little bit. But I think these -- these governors understand that they've got to put Joe Biden behind them and move forward for the party and for the country.

HILL: What are you thinking in this moment?

STOKOLS: Well, I --I think that we'll know that Pete's running when he goes to South Carolina, because that's where he's going to address those liabilities. But I think, you know, this is a process that is just beginning. And

clearly a lot of people have interest. You can understand that. But I think, you know, when you look at the last three cycles, Democrats have won when they've had a robust primary and the voters have figured it out. In 2016 and last year there was no primary to speak of. And I think you see the results. So, this is going to be a long process, but I think Democrats have no choice but to trust the process, so to speak. (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: All right, we will have lots of time to talk about it.

STOKOLS: Yes.

HILL: In the months and years ahead.

Let's take a look at what you're all keeping an eye on this morning. I'm going to let you kick it off.

STOKOLS: Oh, I stole Charlie's item here, but we were both talking about what's going to happen in Turkey tomorrow.

HILL: Yes.

STOKOLS: Whether Vladimir Putin is going to show up. Zelenskyy has called his bluff. And it seems like, at this point, Putin's not going to show.

DENT: Yes, same thing. Turkey, Istanbul. And the big question is, you know, what is Trump going to do when Putin does not show up? I suspect he's going to give Putin another pass.

HILL: No -- not an ultimatum on X or Truth Social?

DENT: No, I don't think -- you know, we'll see if the --

HILL: (INAUDIBLE).

DENT: Well, the Senate's got a sanctions bill all teed up with 70 co- sponsors. Let's see if the Senate moves.

HILL: Good point.

MOORE: Being a little bit more domestic. I'm keeping an eye on -- on New Orleans. The New Orleans quarterback -- New Orleans Saints quarterback retired last week. And the Saints are now looking for a new quarterback. There are three in the running. It's going to be a competition. They may bring in a veteran.

So, the New Orleans Saints fans, we're very excited about the prospect of a -- no offense to the Eagles fans.

DENT: I feel for you as an Eagles fan.

MOORE: But we're very excited about the prospect. We're coming back and we're coming to the Super Bowl.

HILL: So, I reached out --

(CROSS TALK)

HILL: I will say, when I knew you were going to talk about this, because I'm not so -- I'm not so good on the football, if you will. I reached out to a very important source, my 15-year-old son, Sawyer. Appreciate it. He said, Tyler Shou.

MOORE: Yes.

HILL: He was talking about him. He thinks he has a higher chance to start now.

MOORE: We like Tyler, yes.

HILL: Because -- because the Saints QB retired.

MOORE: He's going to do well.

HILL: So, he is focusing on that.

MOORE: Good.

HILL: There you go.

MOORE: We're on the same page.

HILL: In case you want to know. High school freshman coming through.

DENT: Another Eagles Super Bowl. Get ready for it, everybody.

MOORE: Oh man. To soon.

HILL: Fly Eagles, fly.

DENT: Absolutely.

HILL: I mean, look, in this building, Tapper's just down the hall. You got -- you got to get on board, right?

DENT: Oh, I know. We talk.

HILL: Yes. Oh, I know you two do.

We are, of course, also waiting -- so, Trump -- Donald Trump on his way to Qatar. Set to land any minute there. We have talked so much about this plane. There is even more now riding on this meeting. I wonder, did -- did Qatar misjudge this, does anybody think, in the offering of the jet?

STOKOLS: Well, if they want to have a relationship with this president, no, they certainly did not. They judged him exactly right. This is the guy who puts the -- the little replica of the newly designed Air Force One on the coffee table in his office in Mar-a-Lago and now in the Oval Office. They know what matters to him. They know he wants a new, refurbished plane before he leaves office in a few years. And they try to -- they try -- they're trying to make this happen.

DENT: They can't get crosswise with this president as they did during the first term, when they got on the wrong side of the embargo issue, and Trump sided with the Saudis and the UAE. So, I think they're doing everything they can to protect themselves.

MOORE: I think the interesting thing here, Erica, is, Donald Trump had a very lackluster, mixed bag of 105 days. For the last 24 hours, we've only spoken about him making deals in the Middle East. So, this is good for the president. I think he's ready to turn the page on some domestic policy flaws that they've had over the last couple weeks, and he wants to be seen as someone who's making deals, who's going to the Middle East, places where Joe Biden did not go. And clearly advancing the American relationships with these people. So, I think it's a win for the president in some ways.

HILL: What else are you anticipating could come out of this trip, right? Because we're also -- so Turkey, right, which you're both rightly -- rightly focusing on because that's obviously separate. But given that all of these things are happening in the same week, the momentum that that provides for potentially other moves, what do you see from a foreign policy angle for this administration?

MOORE: Well, this is a president that focuses on deals and investment, right? He's -- he's told -- he gave a speech yesterday where he said, you know, we're not going to lecture you on values. We've -- you know, we just want the deals.

So, the Qataris know that. They're going to be -- there's going to be more deals announced. There are going to be lavish state dinners. There are not going to be protests. I mean, he likes this region because it plays exactly to the foreign policy that he wants to -- to deliver.

You know, but the -- all the stuff about the plane, that is sort of generating the news here that is overshadowing some of the more substantive accomplishments that they also want people to focus on now.

[07:00:01]

HILL: And real quickly, from a domestic front, it's also overshadowing what's happening on Capitol Hill this week, right?

DENT: Yes.

HILL: And what we're seeing in terms of, look, there needs to be a budget. We need this big, beautiful bill.

MOORE: Beautiful bill.

DENT: Well, the reconciliation bill, it's -- just remember, the House is going to do what the House is going to do. And then the Senate is going to take it and say, you know what, we're going to do something else, OK.

HILL: Yes.

DENT: So, everybody's all spun up about the House bill, but just wait till the -- wait until the Senate gets their hands on this one.

HILL: It's like a --

MOORE: (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: It's like you know a thing or two about the way things work.

MOORE: Yes.

DENT: Yes. On reconciliation, yes. (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: Just a little bit.

Gentlemen, it was a pleasure. Thank you all.

Thanks to all of you for joining me this morning. I'm Erica Hill, keeping Audie Cornish's seat warm on this Wednesday. Stay tuned. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.