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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump Visits Doha During Three-Day Visit To Region; Ukraine, Russia To Hold First Direct Talks Since 2022; Georgetown Academic Freed From Immigration Detention; Ben And Jerry's Co-Founder Arrested After Senate Gaza Protest; RFK Jr. Defends HHS Cuts, Measles Stance In Congress Hearings; U.S.-China Tariff Deal May Cause Import Stockpiling. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired May 15, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

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RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Thursday, May 15, 4:00 a.m. here in New York. And straight ahead on Early Start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President, we're told, will be delivering a campaign style rally before going on to the UAE.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's only two courses. There's a friendly and a non-friendly. Non-friendly is a violent course.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Republicans and Democrats accusing the president of draft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why would we buy an influence in the United States?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. squirmed mid sharp questions from lawmakers.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. We begin this hour in Doha. That's where President Donald Trump has been meeting with business leaders. On the third day of his Middle East trip. He spoke to the group about a wide range of issues from Syria and his election win to Iran and the nuclear talks underway. President Trump saying that it appears a deal could be, quote, closed.

The U.S. President traveled to Qatar Wednesday after holding an informal meeting in Saudi Arabia with Syria's new president. Trump has announced that he plans to remove decades old sanctions on Syria. He's also praising the country's leader as the U.S. explores the possibility of normalizing diplomatic relations.

Trump receiving a lavish welcome in Doha and later announcing a deal for Qatar to purchase 160 jets from U.S. airplane manufacturer Boeing.

All right, a lot to get to this hour. Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks who is following all the developments live from Abu Dhabi. Good to have you, Paula. This morning, beyond this visit to this air base, the largest U.S. Military installation in the Middle East. Talk to us about what's next for the president on this last leg of his trip.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, once he has visited that U.S. base, he will be heading here to the United Arab Emirates. First, something on that base, though, it is the biggest U.S. military installation in the Middle East and it will be interesting to see his interactions there. It's a massive base that can house up to about 10,000American troops.

We know that just last year there was a tacit approval between the U.S. and Qatar to keep hosting the troops there for another 10 years. So it really is a key area for the U.S. military, for Central Command. It is the main base that it uses when it comes to, for example, operations in the past in Afghanistan. When you look at Iran, you look at the Middle East, previous operations against the Houthis, and in Yemen. So it certainly is a key military base for the US.

Earlier this morning we also saw more of the business side of the U.S. President and that is what we are expecting here in the UAE as well. There have been some significant business deals that have been done. For example, a multibillion deal with Boeing, with Qatar Airlines. We also know that in Qatar it was something like $243 billion plus of overall investment deals. You add that to the $600 billion that was at least the headline figure in Saudi Arabia with those significant investment forums. And this is really the main purpose of the U.S. President's being in these three countries.

You do mention though, Rahel, rightly so, that the significant geopolitical events that are happening as well, for example, lifting those sanctions against Syria, meeting with the new Syrian president, a very significant shift in U.S. foreign policy. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yes. And to that end, Paula, I mean, just on geopolitical deals or sort of implications of this trip, the president also appealing to Qatar for help with Iran over its nuclear program. Talk to us a little bit about that.

HANCOCKS: Yes, Qatar and Iran are allied. So certainly Qatar is better placed than many to be able to speak to Iran. This is one of the reasons again that the U.S. President is here, seeing these three countries as key mediators. They can play this interlocutor, mediator role in a way that other countries cannot.

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So certainly the U.S. President is hoping that Qatar will able be able to bring Iran closer to Washington's way of thinking. Let's listen to what he said.

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TRUMP: I think we're getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this. There's two steps. There's a very nice step and there's a violent step. The violence like people haven't seen before. And I don't -- I hope we're not going to have to do this. I don't want to do the second step. Some people do. Many people do. I don't want to do that step. So we'll see what happens. But we're in very serious negotiations with Iran for long term peace.

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HANCOCKS: There's talks ongoing at this point. We have a number of the talks being held in Italy, also in Amman, mediated by Amman. But Qatar really in a key position to be able to bring the two sides closer together. And of course, Qatar has also played a key role when it comes to trying to secure a cease fire between Hamas and Israel. It has, of course, come under criticism, though, as it does house much of the leadership of Hamas in Doha itself. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Paula Hancocks reporting for us there in Abu Dhabi. Paula, thank you. Let's continue the conversation now. Joining me now from Bahrain is Hasan Alhasan, a senior fellow for Middle East Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Great to have you this morning, sir.

Just your top line reaction to what we've seen this week, the deal making both economically, both geopolitically and just the significance of this trip so far.

HASAN ALHASAN, SENIOR FELLOW FOR MIDDLE EAST POLICY, IISS: Yes, it's been a remarkable few days. I think on the investment side of things, we've seen very large staggering numbers, investment commitments and business deals. In Saudi Arabia, we saw the White House fact sheet list about deals totaling $282 billion. Now that still leaves us with about $320 billion to go to get to the $600 billion mark that the Saudis had initially committed to. But these are very much large and significant numbers.

I think with Qatar as well, you've seen some very large numbers, including a stated ambition of getting to $1.2 trillion worth of economic exchange. And we've seen about $240 billion in economic deals being announced again by the White House in various White House flagships.

Now, I think these are obviously very large numbers. We have to keep in mind that Gulf investments in the U.S. have been smaller in terms of their annual increments in the past. And so even the White House acknowledges that The Saudis invested $9 billion in 2023 and the Qataris just over $3 billion again in 2023.

So how we get from these numbers to the kind of staggering investment pledges that we're seeing is I think, going to be tricky, especially with oil hovering at around $60. There have been significant geopolitical announcements as well, not least the lifting of U.S. sanctions on Syria, partly at the behest and request of Saudi conference Mohamed bin Salman.

And I think President Trump and the Gulf states, I think, have a joint desire to work together on a number of other important geopolitical issues.

SOLOMON: Yes, you know, it's interesting. I mean, each of these nations that Trump is visiting, I imagine, have their own goals, their own sort of desires of what they're for and hoping for from this visit. Talk to me about what the UAE is hoping to get from this trip from the President.

ALHASAN: I think almost all of the Gulf states have shared interest in what they're trying to achieve with the United States. I think the UAE above all is going to be very interested in gaining preferential and privileged access to U.S. technology. When the UAE delegation visited the U.S. back in March, it was led by UAE National Security adviser and half-brother of the UAE's ruler, Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, who serves essentially as the UAE's de facto technologies are.

And so I think it was clear that the UAE's official outreach to the Trump administration was done through the lens of the UAE national security adviser, who has been the key champion behind the UAE's push on advanced technology such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors. So I suspect that this is going to be a major component of what we're going to see.

The UAE, like the other Gulf states, also wants access to advanced U.S. military technology and arms sales. And we've already seen the Trump administration announce large arms sales packages to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and approve multiple arms sales over the past few months as well to the Saudis, including laser guided munitions and air to air missiles.

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So I think the UAE's interests are going to revolve primarily around technology, arms, and potentially cooperation in other areas like energy as well.

SOLOMON: Yes. And I'm curious, as we watch this trip, the takeaway for other nations, I mean, are there others that are positioned similarly as the Gulf? The Gulf states that are watching this and thinking about how also to position their own country to benefit from closer ties with the U.S. like we're seeing with the UAE, like we're seeing with Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

ALHASAN: That's right. I think the Gulf states have a clear playbook and they seem to have figured out sort of the magic formula, so to speak, for dealing with President Trump. And so that includes, you know, large scale investment commitments. That's very important. And that aligns with President Trump's domestic job creation agenda. It aligns with the broad thrust and objectives of his economic policy.

And geopolitically speaking, I think they've aligned themselves well with President Trump's again, campaign promise of diffusing and resolving many of regional and global conflicts, including the Russia- Ukraine war and the Gaza crisis. And so all of the Gulf states have played various mediating roles, brokering a U.S.-Houthi ceasefire in the case of Oman, and hosting multiple rounds of U.S.-Iranian talks or hosting talks to end the Russia Ukraine war, like Saudi Arabia are obviously playing an important mediating role on Gaza like Qatar.

And so I think the Gulf states have positioned themselves to be useful partners on economic and geopolitical issues. And I think that's a clear playbook that perhaps other countries might draw lessons from on how to essentially manage the relationship with President Trump.

SOLOMON: And if I'm not mistaken, also playing a bit of a mediator role, although up until this point, unsuccessfully with the conflict in Sudan. And so it's been really interesting to see sort of the Gulf region sort of play this mediator to, you know, diplomacy role in all of these various conflicts around the world.

Hasan Alhasan, we'll leave it here. Thank you so much. Great to have you this morning.

ALHASAN: Thank you.

SOLOMON: All right. Russia and Ukraine have accused one another of launching overnight drone strikes ahead of their first direct talks since just after the start of the war. But it's unclear when that meeting will begin or if it will even happen. Ukraine says that no time has been said and questions remain over who will actually show up.

The Kremlin has confirmed that the Russian president will not be there, even though these talks were Vladimir Putin's idea. But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that he won't bother negotiating with anyone but his Russian counterpart.

Still though, any face to face meeting between the two sides would mark a milestone in the more than three-year conflict. U.S. President Donald Trump also announced no show despite saying earlier that he might join the talks, quote, if it's helpful. CNN Salma Abdelaziz following all of this live from London. Salma, great to have you this morning.

Again, just sort of walk us through sort of where we are because as of this morning there was still confusion about what time these talks were happening and who will not be there.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that confusion, Rahel, is simply because a lot of things are not set, are not determined. President Zelenskyy has just landed in Turkey, in fact, and he's going to be meeting with a Turkish delegation and with President Erdogan. Now he has said that he will not meet with anyone other than President Putin himself. Of course, President Putin is not showing up. Instead he sent a lower level technical delegation that could potentially meet with a Ukrainian delegation that is in Turkey today.

But that is not even promised. Even the time is under question, Rahel, with Russian state media saying that the meeting would start at 10am in Turkey. Ukraine calling that fake news. You also have U.S. diplomats on the ground in Turkey as well, senior

level ones, including Marco Rubio, Steve Witkoff, key Keith Kellogg and President Trump himself who had at times said that he could join this meeting, raising that possibility multiple times, which built this anticipation, this hope that we may see, however slim it was, that we may see all three leaders, President Trump, President Zelenskyy and President Putin in Turkey. Of course that has now fizzled. But President Trump still waiving that possibility. Take a listen to what he said just a short time ago in Doha.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We think we're going to do well with Russia-Ukraine, 5,000 soldiers are being killed every single week on average. 5,000. We're going to see if we can end that. I was thinking about going, but it's very tough because of what we're doing today and tomorrow.

But you know, if something happened, I'd go on Friday if it was appropriate. But we have people right now negotiating and I think that I just hope that Russia and Ukraine are able to do something because it has to stop.

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ABDELAZIZ: Now, President Trump also in saying that backtracked from those hints that he would show up in Turkey saying that he never anticipated that President Putin would be there, that he would never show up because President Trump didn't show up.

Look, all of this began because of an ultimatum issued by European partners for a 30-day ceasefire. President Putin responded to that ultimatum with this confusion that we see playing out right now. That's why President Zelenskyy said says that what's happening in Turkey is simply a distraction, part of President Putin's waiting game to keep people going while the war continues.

SOLOMON: OK, Salma Abdelaziz, we'll keep a close eye on it. Thank you reporting live for us here in London.

Still ahead for us, an international scholar wins a court battle amid the White House crackdown on pro-Palestinian activists. But going to court may stop being an option for people in his shoes. We will explain.

Plus, the head of the U.S. health agency, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says that no one should be taking medical advice from him. More on his contentious clashes with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. A scholar at Georgetown University who supported Palestinian causes has been released from federal detention in Texas on a judge's order. Badar Khan Suri, who's from India, spent two months behind bars after being accused of having ties with Hamas, but the judge said on Wednesday that prosecutors failed to provide any evidence to keep him detained.

Other international students and faculty members faced immigration arrests in the U.S. after speaking up in support of Palestinians. But now the Trump administration is considering getting ahead of them by preventing them from going to court. The move would involve suspending habeas corpus, the procedure which allows people to challenge their detentions in court. The Constitution allows it to be suspended under a very narrow set of circumstances.

And on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Congress that she believes those conditions have been met.

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ELI CRANE, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: Are you familiar with Article 1, Section 9, Clause 2 of the Constitution that covers the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus?

SEC. KRISTI NOEM, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Yes.

CRANE: It says that the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended unless when cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it. You testified under oath, I believe, that the Biden administration allowed an invasion into our country. Is that correct?

NOEM: That is correct.

CRANE: So do you think it falls under the constitutional guidelines that I just read to you?

NOEM: I think I'm not a constitutional lawyer, but I believe it does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: One of the co-founders of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream was among the protesters arrested on Capitol Hill Wednesday at a congressional hearing featuring Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Capitol Police say that Ben Cohen was charged with crowding and obstructing. Cohen shared a video of his protests and detainment on social media, writing, I told Congress they're killing poor kids in Gaza by buying bombs and paying for it by kicking poor kids off Medicaid in the US.

The arrests come as Democrats and some Republicans press Kennedy to explain his massive cuts to health care, healthcare programs, research, staffing. CNN's Tom Foreman has more now.

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KENNEDY: The budget I'm presenting today supports these goals and reflects.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Secretary of Health and Human Services jumped as a protest erupted behind him, but Robert F. Kennedy Jr. squirmed a lot more amid sharp questions from lawmakers up front.

ROSA DELAURO, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Are you planning to break the law by impounding congressionally appropriated funds?

BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: Is health care a human right?

FOREMAN (voice-over): Way up in the clashes, drastic cuts to health care spending, the secretary pushed back on claims they will have serious real world consequences.

KENNEDY: It's just not true. We weren't cutting thousands of scientists. We weren't cutting clinical trial.

FOREMAN: When challenged about proposed reductions in Medicaid, which serves many low income and disabled Americans, he recited the administration mantra. It's all about waste, fraud and abuse.

KENNEDY: There are a million people who are claiming Medicaid from multiple states. That's illegal, it's theft. These are the only cuts that are being made to Medicaid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not true.

KENNEDY: Yes, it is.

FOREMAN (voice-over): He even leveled charges at his own National Institutes of Health.

KENNEDY: We should have the cure for Alzheimer's today. We don't have it purely because of corruption at NIH.

FOREMAN (voice-over): However, the secretary struggled when confronted over rising measles cases in the U.S. topping a thousand this year, and his continued reluctance to fully embrace life-saving vaccines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you recommending the measles vaccine or not?

KENNEDY: What I've said and what I said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't sound like you are. If that's --

KENNEDY: Are you going to let me answer. I am not going to just tell people everything is safe and effective if I know that there's issues.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And the head of the department responsible for improving the health of Americans added this stunning statement.

KENNEDY: I don't think people should be taking advice, medical advice from me.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Kennedy, who went swimming with his grandkids in a contaminated D.C. creek this past weekend, also took heat over his calls to remove fluoride from public drinking water, although it is known to prevent tooth decay.

MIKE SIMPSON, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: We better put a lot more money into dental education because we're going to need a whole lot more dentists.

FOREMAN (voice-over): At times, it was all too much for Kennedy and the lawmakers, too.

KENNEDY: My time has expired.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, then, so has your legitimacy.

FOREMAN: A Chief claim of RFK Jr. throughout all of this was that despite cutting thousands of jobs from his department, there will be no compromise in defending American health or protecting American lives. It's a claim that many lawmakers are clearly very skeptical about. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

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SOLOMON: All right, thanks Tom there. Well, some U.S. House Republicans who are hardliners and some who are centrists who at times want different things are threatening to oppose President Trump's tax and budget agenda. And House Speaker Mike Johnson stuck in the middle as he tries to appease both sides of his party.

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MIKE JOHNSON, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: We're working around the clock to build that consensus to get the 218 votes and deliver on President Trump's America first agenda so the American people can really begin to feel relief.

And as we're working to get this done, House Democrats are working overtime to deceive the American people about this. We've discussed it already this morning. But they're not talking about what the bill actually does. They're using talking points that are pretty stale. They're not afraid to lie about what's in it. And we're not afraid to tell the truth about what the Democrats are doing.

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SOLOMON: Johnson is pushing to bring the embattled budget bill to a House floor vote next week. But conservative hardliner Congressman Chip Roy, centrist Congressman Mike Lawler and Congressman Ralph Norman are all threatening to sink the bill if it does not have major changes.

Trump's budget proposal is called for steep cuts in several areas, including foreign affairs, housing assistance, education and health care.

And today on the Situation Room, Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer will join us on CNN. That's at 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Economic experts say that the recent tariff deal between the U.S. and China is likely to trigger a surge in imports. Retailers will order goods in greater numbers, just like they did before the tariffs went into place. They will especially want to buy holiday Items during the 90-day pause in case prices shift again.

But we won't see those products immediately because west ports, west coast ports say that the number of ships and cargo arriving this month is still low. Shipping items from China usually take three to four weeks to arrive to the US.

All right. U.S. President Donald Trump will soon head to the last stop on his Middle East tour, but not before a rally like eventually at a military base in the region. We'll take you there and have those details straight ahead.

Plus, CNN interviews the prime minister of Qatar, our Becky Anderson, questions him about his country's controversial offer to give President Trump a new Boeing jet as a gift, that's coming up next.

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