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Trump Visits Abrahamic Family House In Abu Dhabi, Russia & Ukraine About To Start Direct Talks In Istanbul. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired May 16, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:16]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, let's get you to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. This is the very last stop for Donald Trump in what has been this final leg of his tour in the Middle East.

And this is Donald Trump in his Holiness Francis Church at the Abrahamic Family House, which has a church, a mosque and a synagogue. This is a unity faith complex.

He's inside the church at the moment. This church, dedicated to the 13th century monk Saint Francis of Assisi. And of course, this complex came together after the pope, Pope Francis's trip to the UAE back in 2019.

And it is Mohamed Al Mubarak who is the chairman of the Department of Culture and Tourism here, showing the president around. He was accompanied there by Sheikh Nahyan Al Nahyan, who is the minister of tolerance.

And this complex very much speaking to the UAE's sort of policy of tolerance and inclusion. It is, and I've been in this church a number of times. It is a fantastic, splendid, building. The ceiling made of timber, and it's meant to invoke the biblical and koranic story of Noah's ark. It's orientated towards the rising sun in the east.

Donald Trump on the final stop on what is this final leg of his tour to the Gulf Region.

Let's just listen in for a moment.

(INAUDIBLE)

ANDERSON: Can't quite pick up the sound there, but let me just explain again. This is a complex which includes a mosque, a synagogue, and a church, each designed to reflect the specific religious practices and traditions of each faith. The buildings are equal in size and volume, but they are shaped individually, with the architecture inspired by elements inherent to each faith.

You're seeing the president there in the -- His Holiness Francis Church. But if I can describe it for you, that is almost like a sort of square box. And on this site, there is a church and a synagogue, all which look very similar from the outside. But of course, inside very much reflect, the uniqueness of these faiths.

It is a -- it is an amazing place very close to where I live here in, in the UAE. And as I say to -- built in the past couple of years, very much to reflect this sense of tolerance, inclusivity here in the UAE.

So, the president visiting that site now or much of this trip, including todays trip to the Abrahamic Family House and the meetings earlier on have been an opportunity for the U.S. president to really experience the UAE in 2025. And that's been a sort of a focus of this trip, really through Saudi and, into Qatar. And then to here.

The president has expressed his admiration for where this part of the world is and where it is headed. Later this hour, he's expected to be wheels up from Abu Dhabi on his way back to Washington.

Well, the president arrived here in Abu Dhabi on Thursday. And to discuss like the earlier -- sorry, like the earlier, stops, UAE gave him a warm welcome, less pomp and ceremony, more understated than the other two stops with Emirati kids there waving flags in the lineup, a nod to the importance this future facing country puts on its younger generation.

UAE made a rare move to close the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on Thursday to give the president a private tour of the site, and the president said that the gesture was a great tribute to the United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is so beautiful, very proud of my friends. This is an incredible culture that I can say, very, very proud of, my friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, throughout the trip, Mr. Trump has been focused on securing what the White House calls transformative deals with regional allies.

[05:05:06]

Perhaps the biggest announcement that's come out of this leg of the trip is a new agreement between the U.S. and the UAE to build a massive A.I. data center complex in Abu Dhabi to advance the country's ambitious capabilities in advanced tech.

Foreign policy, though, has played a very large part in this trip as well. Notably, the president discussed his hopes for a nuclear deal. This is what he said about Iran in Qatar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's very simple. It's not like I have to give you 30 pages worth of details. It's only one sentence. They can't have a nuclear weapon. And I think -- I think we're getting close to maybe doing a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Talked about the prospect of the U.S. taking over Gaza after the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good. Make it a freedom zone. Let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone. Have a real freedom zone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, let's bring in H.A. Hellyer. He's a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. He joins me now from Cairo.

I want to start with the comments that President Trump made there that we closed out this part of the show with about Gaza and him wanting to create a freedom zone. Now, if we have seen on this trip, and I think were right to suggest that we have seen what seems to be the emergence of a Trump doctrine on Middle East policy, how does that fit in?

H.A. HELLYER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Well, Becky, always a pleasure to be on your program. So, in terms of the doctrine, I think this is just an expansion or maybe application of, quote/unquote, America first when it comes to the region which is quite transactional, is built on relationships. And of course, this work to the benefit of Syria in particular, because it resulted in the decision to lift sanctions, a decision that actually left a lot of people back in D.C. kind of reeling, people that opposed it, obviously not very happy, but even people who weren't necessarily opposed, not knowing quite what they were supposed to do that quickly because the president took them all by surprise.

So, I think that we can expect to see in the future other decisions like that where the president decides that, you know, he wants to go in a different direction and people have to just catch up.

But when it comes to Gaza, I'm less -- I'm less certain that that's how it's going to work out. When it comes to Syria, the decision to lift sanctions was Donald Trump's decision, and it's American sanctions that he's lifting. When it comes to Gaza, it's quite different. Israels war in Gaza, the terrible situation in Gaza, that's the result of Israel's war on Gaza.

And the United States can talk to Israeli officials about they should do this. They prefer them to do that and so on. But without actually using real leverage. The Israelis will continue to do what they want to do which has led to Gaza being in this really terrible state where you have the head of the U.N.'s aid group, Tom Fletcher, head of OCHA, talking about preventing genocide if this -- if we don't stop it right now, that genocide will take place. Other countries, of course, saying that genocide is already underway. So, it's a really, really difficult time to be looking at that

particular part of the world. And without real American influence being brought to bear on Israelis. I'm afraid that trajectory continues.

ANDERSON: And I think as we have this discussion, we are showing pictures of Donald Trump at the Abrahamic Family House. And I perhaps we should just pause for a moment to consider the sort of juxtaposition of the president there at what is an interfaith complex that houses a mosque, a synagogue, and a church, whilst at the same time proposing the idea of the U.S. taking over Gaza, offering the idea of a freedom zone.

I don't think the irony of this will be lost on anybody.

HELLYER: No. And also, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't take too seriously the idea that the United States is actually going to take over Gaza in that regard, I think the president is throwing out ideas, hoping that there will be some sort of reaction or response that will lead to a better outcome. But I don't think that anybody is really taking that seriously.

[05:10:02]

The Israelis have no intention of leaving Gaza. The Israelis have made it very clear that they intend to hold Gaza not simply continue the occupation which has been ongoing, uninterrupted since 1967, but rather deepen it. Try to get as many Palestinians out of Gaza as possible, make this trip uninhabitable, clear areas completely of, you know, just building.

There's been a huge controversy, as you've reported simply about the delivery of aid, because the Israelis have blockaded the strip and not allowed aid that is waiting on the borders to get in, and is trying to go down another route where particular representatives from families in Gaza will then go and take, you know, these tiny little packets that are supposed to last for a couple of weeks for whole families.

So I don't think there's any real suggestion that the Israelis are going to leave and hand it over to the United States. I don't think that the Arab world, including Trump's partners, are looking towards that as a solution. Rather, they want the Palestinian Authority to retake control of the Gaza Strip in terms of governance. But of course, the Israelis aren't willing to allow that either.

So, again, it comes back to this fundamental question will the United States use the leverage that it has in order to force a change of behavior in Tel Aviv or not?

ANDERSON: It's good to have you, H.A. You're a regular guest on this show. And your analysis and insight is so important as we -- as we cover what is going on around this region, its importance, its significance, the consequences of what we are seeing here. On what is a day where we see Donald Trump on the final leg of his trip around this region. Good to have you.

Erica, back to you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Becky, thank you.

Russia and Ukraine are set to begin their first direct talks since just after the start of the war in Ukraine. We are live in Istanbul and Kyiv.

Plus, the fate of challenges to President Trump's controversial push to do away with birthright citizenship in the United States. Well, this is now up to the Supreme Court. The justices, after hearing oral arguments yesterday, now mulling this over as they decide whether and how to enforce the policy and these lower courts issuing nationwide injunctions. That's ahead.

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[05:17:14]

HILL: Welcome back.

Optimism in somewhat short supply as Russia and Ukraine prepare for their first face to face talks in three years. Those are expected to get underway just moments from now in Istanbul. The negotiators, of course, are there. Not in attendance, Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

And without those two leaders, there is some skepticism about the headway that will actually come from these talks. President Trump also pouring cold water on the meeting, saying that nothing will happen in his view, until he meets with President Putin. He spoke about that in Abu Dhabi a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Were you surprised when Zelenskyy didn't show up either, sir? Were you surprised when Zelenskyy didn't show up either?

TRUMP: No, he didn't show up because he heard Putin wasn't going. So --

REPORTER: When do you think you'll meet the president?

TRUMP: As soon as we can set it up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Earlier, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Turkish and Ukrainian officials ahead of the talks with Russia. Meantime, Russian and Ukrainian militaries have been ramping up their fight overnight. Both sides accusing one another of launching dozens of drone strikes.

Nick Paton Walsh is live in Kyiv at this hour. Clare Sebastian is in Istanbul.

Clare, let's begin with you. As we inch closer ever to these talks, there is not a whole lot of optimism. What could come out of this meeting?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, as you say, Erica, there are pretty low expectations going into this. We've seen this morning that all of the hype that we saw yesterday, the crowds of journalists seems to have died down a little bit. People are just waiting and watching.

Now, the first meeting of the day, as you noted, has wrapped up. That was a meeting between the U.S., Ukraine and the hosts and mediators here, Turkey. This happened on a pretty high level. Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, was there, along with Keith Kellogg, Trump's envoy on Russia and Ukraine. And the Ukrainian side also sent its foreign minister as well as the Turkish foreign minister there.

But that will be in contrast to the main event set to start this hour. The talks the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine in three years. The Russian delegation is made up of a deputy foreign minister, a deputy defense minister. They've also its also led by a senior advisor to Russia's president, Vladimir Medinsky, who used to be a culture minister. So, on a pretty low level.

And President Zelenskyy has made his views on that pretty plain, he is sending his defense minister to lead his delegation, he says, in part out of respect to Trump and to the Turkish president, and also because he apparently speaks Turkish. But this certainly is not something that either side has set the tone for success.

We've seen skepticism ranging to all out insults. President Zelenskyy called the Russian delegation phony on Thursday. The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman called President Zelenskyy himself a loser and a clown.

[05:20:02]

So, you can see that the sort of the tone is pretty bleak going into this. Even this morning, caught up with the Russian consul general here in Istanbul. And he said, look, we're orientating ourselves towards this meeting.

But as we saw yesterday, nothing is definite or couldn't resist a dig at the Ukrainians. The differences are intractable. These -- the skepticism is ingrained. And I think that's why there's one audience that does really matter to both sides here, and that is the United States.

And we have confirmed by the State Department that there will be a contact between the Russian -- the Russian and the U.S. side, but the U.S. will be represented, they say, by Michael Anton, who's the director of policy planning at the State Department. So that I think, is notable. Marco Rubio is here but will not be participating, at least as far as we know now.

And I think the big question arising from whatever happens today will be what the U.S. does next. Marco Rubio has suggested that whatever comes out of these talks will be part of the consideration, moving towards a potential Trump Putin meeting -- Erica. HILL: Clare, appreciate it.

Nick, as you watch all of this, from your vantage point there in Kyiv and with these claims of drone attacks overnight, what is the sense there on the ground about what could come of these talks?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Very little optimism at all. And in fact, I think it's fair to say that many are. Ukrainian cynics and observers of Russia didn't feel that their effort for a peace process or their engagement with the Trump administration was genuine by any means.

And Ukraine, of course, in a very complex moment where it has to pretend that it's willing to give these talks the feeling of gravity, sending their defense minister initially to them while simultaneously probably knowing that ultimately Russia is playing for time here. And we know why. Multiple suggestions along the front line that Russia is amassing forces, potentially waiting for the rains to stop and the ground to harden and enable them to potentially move forwards.

The success of that, of course, will depend entirely on Ukraine's defenses, its assistance and the severity in which the Russians push forward. But the way in which these talks have now been framed is kind of startling. Russia has sort of done slightly less than the bare minimum than they really were required to do to begin what they proposed as the first direct Ukraine-Russia talks since the start of the war. You know, they're sending incredibly low level officials, frankly, causing the Americans having to reach into the farther parts of the State Department to find people on a similar level who could potentially attend similar meetings.

And I think that is a sign that Vladimir Putin genuinely wants to try and drag this process out. You always begin a diplomatic process at a lower level. Just talks about talks at a higher level. That's already been going on for months. Remember, this has been happening in Saudi Arabia. This has been occurring to some degree in Istanbul to do with the U.S., Russian relationship.

And so clearly there is a bid for time here. And that is not remotely contradicted by the statements we've been hearing from U.S. President Donald Trump. His two repeat statements asking for a bilateral meeting with Vladimir Putin are ostensibly saying nothing will get done until that happens take the wind out of the sails of the European pressure for a ceasefire.

Remember, that was given on Saturday that demand for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire for Monday that has sort of vanished into distant history. Now with this kind of kerfuffle about who and will and will not meet around in Istanbul. That was Putin's counter idea. Zelenskyy turning that into a meeting of presidents was his upping on the proposal. And then Donald Trump interjected himself and then kind of rapidly withdrew when it seemed that Putin potentially wasn't interested.

Whether behind the scenes discussions about bilateral meetings, were there something else going on that fell apart that led to this being such a low level meeting? Or was this always the Russian plan? We may never know the answer to that, but it's important to remind people what we're seeing in Istanbul. Yes, it's the first direct talks, sure, but the method on which they've come about, the junior nature of the people attending, should give any casual observer a sense of how seriously Russia is indeed taking this.

Remember, they have now repeatedly rejected the 30-day unconditional ceasefire that was originally a Trump administration idea, and they've seen a consequence for it at this stage -- Erica.

HILL: And I guess the question then becomes, not only is there a timeline in terms of these talks, right, but with President Trump again floating this idea that he needs to sit down with Putin face to face, this could be further dragged out in the wait for that potential meeting.

WALSH: Yeah. Look, I mean, when you say nothing's going to happen until I meet Vladimir Putin, you are essentially issuing an invitation to the Kremlin for a bilateral meeting.

Now, that has been something which the White House in the previous administration wouldn't even have contemplated.

[05:25:02]

And normally you'd see a bilateral like this come through a series of complex steps and negotiations. And what no one side kind of pleading for the other to grant them that opportunity. That's where we are right now. And we're not only has the ball been placed in the Kremlin's court in terms of being, the scheduler, the meetings that are happening are the ones that they've suggested at mostly the times in which they've suggested.

Now, the future steps are now in their hands as well. And any bid by Ukraine or its allies to try and ramp up pressure to suggest sanctions might be coming -- well, that sort of evaporates. The foundations crumble under it if the commander in chief of the White House is basically saying nothing's going to happen until I meet Putin.

So that I think has significantly set the clock back on progress and diplomacy here. The idea of a Trump Putin bilateral was always part of the firmament here, of what may or may not potentially happen. And so, yes, I think it's interesting to see how fast it will happen.

It's quite clear the Kremlin are in no hurry at all. All of their steps have been about trying to lay out the fact that they will engage in peace talks, but at an exceptionally leisurely and often technical pace.

And so, Donald Trump, obviously, his word is key in all this, but so far, he's offering no sense of consequence or threat to Moscow for not expediting this process. And plenty of suggestions that he'd be quite happy to offer a bilateral to Putin if this were to move forward.

HILL: Yeah. Nick Paton Walsh, Clare Sebastian, appreciate it. Thank you both. Still to come here, the ex-girlfriend of Sean "Diddy" Combs facing

more tough questions from his defense team when she returns to the stand later today.

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