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Trump Spoke With Russian President Putin This Morning, and Then to Zelenskyy; Inflation Rising at Highest Rate Since Last June; White House Announces Release of Detained American, Three Others From Belarus; Senate Votes to Advance RFK Jr.'s Nomination as HHS Secretary. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 12, 2025 - 12:30   ET

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

[12:30:00]

DAVE WEIGEL, POLITICAL REPORTER, SEMAFOR: -- It is conceding Russian's -- Russia's demands. And it was hard for Democrats, I think, to attack during the campaign because Joe Biden was president. He wasn't bringing the war to a conclusion. The alternative of just getting us out of this conflict completely, saving all the money, very powerful if you're on the ground talking to voters. They, was it -- is it popular to cede to Russia's demands, to give Ukrainian territory over? Not really.

I think that the details of what would be negotiated might not be popular, but that idea that Trump was going to end this foreign conflict. It wasn't happening when he was there. Yeah, very politically powerful and Republicans have complete buy-in to this. I think it's a combination of fear of being primaried by somebody who's going to have Trump's endorsement, but also this acceptance.

Yep, yep. In 2016, they said it was Russia. I don't believe it. I'm going along with what Trump says.

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's where -- it's where the MAGA base is.

WEIGEL: Yes.

HUNT: This is -- it's simply where they are. And it didn't start out that way when Ukraine was first invaded by Russia. There was kind of broad-based support, but that support eroded. And this was one of the most common things, if you went to events on the campaign trail, you would hear people say, Trump is going to keep us out of World War III, and it's partly because of this.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR OF 'INSIDE POLITICS': Yeah. All right, everybody stand by. We are going to turn back to the domestic front, after a break, and we're going to talk about the president promising almost every time he was in front of a microphone during the campaign, he was going to bring prices down. It's a big part of why he won. We got new data this morning showing what any of you who have tried to buy eggs recently know firsthand, prices on key consumer goods, they're going up for now, not down.

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[12:35:58]

BASH: More breaking news into CNN right now. The White House is announcing the release of another detained American. I want to go now to Kara McDonald, the Ambassador to Lithuania, who is with Chris Smith, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Eastern European Affairs, and we're also joined by Adam Boehler, the United States Envoy for Hostages. They're all joining me now.

Adam Boehler, I actually want to start with you. Can you give information to us about who we're talking about, how long they've been held in Belarus, and whether -- and how they're on their way back?

ADAM BOEHLER, UNITED STATES ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE AFFAIRS: Well, first, I want to give credit to you at CNN and Kaitlan Collins for getting out of me, yesterday, that there would be another one. She's a good reporter. And so that ended up being breaking news yesterday, but we do what we promise. We actually -- and folks will tell you, we've gotten three detainees out in Belarus, and I wanted the ambassador and our special hostage envoy with her, I wanted them to tell you a little bit about the operation because it's a daring operation that involves going to borders with hoods.

BASH: Can you just tell us who they are, first, and then I'll go to them?

BOEHLER: Sure. You've got one U.S. citizen that at this point, needs to remain private. You've got another woman named Alina. You've got another individual named, Andrey, that's a very well-known journalist. And then two weeks ago, you have another individual named Anastasia that was released.

BASH: OK.

BOEHLER: All as part of this operation.

BASH: And so, I'm going to now go to the ambassador and to the assistant secretary of state now, Alina Zmushko who was detained August 10, 2020. So she's been there almost, what, four and a half years. Andrey was detained November 2021 and Anastasia was just last December. So tell us about this mission.

KARA MCDONALD, UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO LITHUANIA: We are very excited to welcome the release of these three hostages from Belarus. One, a U.S. citizen. We work day in, day out overseas for these kinds of wins and it is a big day for Team America, for the President, for the Secretary of State. We just welcomed them here a few minutes ago. Chris Smith, my colleague, was down at the border and went into Belarus to get them. Chris, you want to tell them about the operation?

CHRISTOPHER SMITH, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EASTERN EUROPE AFFAIRS: Yeah. As was mentioned, this was a special operation where we just crossed into the Belarusian frontier, went into Minsk to meet with Belarusian counterparts who brought these three detainees to us. They handed them over to our custody. They were handed over to us, and we brought them back out through Lithuania. Special thanks to Lithuania for their support.

As was mentioned, we have one American citizen who was released which is a huge win and a response to President Trump's peace through strength agenda. The Belarusians are responding to this, and we're going to keep working until we get all Americans out.

BASH: Are you on a plane right now?

MCDONALD: We are actually just inside the U.S. Embassy compound --

BASH: OK.

MCDONALD: -- in Vilnius, Lithuania, where we welcomed them.

BASH: OK. And can you tell us a little bit more about -- you talked -- you talked about the operation which really sounds intricate and remarkable. How you got to that point, and how much of this is part of the broader discussion that we've been having on this program and we've been reporting out for the past couple of hours, which is the apparent (inaudible) between the U.S. and Vladimir Putin that included the phone call between both presidents?

SMITH: This was a deal that we negotiated with the Belarusian authorities in Minsk. They are responding, as I mentioned before, to President Trump's focus on returning Americans and Secretary Rubio's focus on returning Americans.

[12:40:00]

They're making good decisions by releasing these people into our custody and we're bringing them back. We see this as a response, both to the peace through strength agenda, but also a desire on the part of the Lukashenka authorities to have a stronger relationship with the United States.

BASH: Ambassador?

BOEHLER: I just want to note all that's gone on here, and this is really representative of the President's focus here. We saw yesterday, we'll send planes out. You have Steve that sent his plane out to pick people up. We'll go to the border to pick people up. We'll go anywhere possible. We're going to bring them all home.

BASH: Because you mentioned that, first of all, this is -- this is fascinating that you're bringing this to us, and it is so important to bring Americans who are detained wrongly, back home. The idea that, Steve Witkoff did take his own plane over to Russia and did what he did yesterday, combined with this action today, what message is that sending and why is this happening, do you believe, right now, and so rapidly?

BOEHLER: It's happening now because the president of the United States has made it a top priority, and he leads through strength, and we all follow him. And so when we all unite, when you see Steve Witkoff, when you see Secretary Rubio, when you see our National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, they hear from the president. They act. And so now, we've made it clear all Americans are coming home. And I want to also be clear, we've turned that attention to Hamas.

And I want anybody, Hamas included, to understand that when you hold our citizens, we're coming for them at any cost. And the president has said that. There isn't (ph) an 'or else' there, and we will act on that.

BASH: How are you going to do that? How are you going to get the American citizens out of Gaza, without American -- maybe American troops or God forbid, those who are there losing their lives?

BOEHLER: I think that's for a number of people to decide whether they want to heed the president's warning or not. But there's many actions that one can take and there's many actions that one can take with allies. And so, I think at this point, people have to understand that holding Americans is not OK. And you see us, during operation, across the border, you see Steve Witkoff flying his personal plane. We've got a lot of resources in the United States, and we'll use everything to get them back.

BASH: Ambassador McDonald, I want to go back to you in Lithuania, and Chris Smith, you can answer this as well. These are usually not one- sided deals. What did Belarus get in exchange for this, these three people, these three American individuals gaining their freedom?

SMITH: This was a unilateral gesture by the Lukashenka authorities. They made this gesture because they are responding through, what Adam pointed out, which is the president's peace through strength agenda. They're responding to strength. They're looking to improve ties. This was a gesture on their side.

MCDONALD: It's important to note here that this is four releases we've had in less than a month of the administration. It's quite extraordinary. It's really a very rare thing. We work sometimes for years to get people out. I've personally worked on one of these cases for a number of years. And so to see this person come out of Belarusian prison is quite extraordinary.

BASH: I'm just going to, maybe color me as skeptic, that Lukashenka is somebody who just does something out of the goodness of his heart. There was nothing that he got at all?

SMITH: As I said, he didn't get anything for this exchange. They are looking to improve their ties with us, and they're making smart choices by releasing these Americans and other political prisoners in order to open a political dialog with our side.

BASH: Chris --

BOEHLER: You're very much (ph) so that the president of the United States notices these things because he has made it a priority to get Americans home, it is a way for him to notice. So these deals are not done with conditions. This deal was done unilaterally, but it doesn't also mean that we don't see and appreciate when our citizens come home.

BASH: Thank you to you all. This was definitely not something we thought we would end up doing on this program today. Thank you for hopping on with us, telling us this news, which is good news for three Americans to be headed home. And we'll obviously be digging more into everything that went on behind the scenes. Thank you all for being with me. I really appreciate it.

BOEHLER: Thank you for having us.

MCDONALD: Thank you so much.

SMITH: Thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

[12:45:00]

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Dana, I just -- Dana, I just want to mention really quickly, it looks like Ambassador McDonald was actually confirmed under President Biden. So at a time when our foreign policy has become really politicized, it's good to see that this hold over, essentially was still able to work with the new administration to get Americans (inaudible).

BASH: Yeah, no, that's a good point.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: She's a career member of the Foreign Service, so it is interesting to hear her there. There's so much that is remarkable about what just happened and that notion that Belarus did this unilaterally, Adam Boehler there acknowledging that the U.S. government appreciates what they've done. And I think that speaks volumes. What are they doing it for? They're doing it for brownie points.

And we cannot for a second, imagine that Belarus is doing this by themselves. They are a vassal state of Russia. They are -- they are Russia's biggest ally in Europe. They are doing this because President Putin wants them to do this. And Putin wants all these people to be released into American custody because he is trying to curry favor --

BASH: Yes.

MARQUARDT: -- with Donald Trump over Ukraine. When these negotiations start for whatever happens in Ukraine, Putin wants Trump to be leaning towards him. And they already had a major win today in Pete Hegseth acknowledging or saying that Ukraine is not going to be joining NATO. That is music to Putin's ear. So this is just a remarkable series of events that have unfolded today.

Again, if you are sitting in Kyiv right now, you are not very happy to see President Trump cozying up to President Putin.

BASH: Yeah, I mean, that's exactly why I asked those ambassadors the question about Putin, because it's not just because I'm interested in Putin, it's because of the direct relationship, very close relationship between Russia and Putin, and the leadership in Belarus.

HUNT: I think it's worth noting too, Dana, and this is another thing that has just crossed because we're doing breaking news this hour, as it turns out, that the president has spoken. This is according to our Kevin Liptak to Ukrainian President Zelenskyy as well today. So, a little bit less information here, that then what the president himself provided about his call with Putin, where he sort of talked and gave us a readout on Truth Social.

We do know that he had previously said he was going to inform Zelenskyy that this conversation, happened. But it's interesting to see if we learn more about what perhaps Zelenskyy said, because as you point out, the wind really does seem to be blowing away from him right now.

WEIGEL: Yeah. And there is a strategy here that was run in the campaign, it ties into shutting down U.S.A., getting rid of the entanglements abroad. The idea is, I would, maybe America alone is putting it too broadly, but America first that get out of foreign entanglements give -- if there is a country that wants something from us, to end a war that's not in our backyard, end it, spend less money on foreign aids, spend more money winning, spend more money winning trade wars, spend more money onshoring manufacturing, that was kind of the content of J.D. Vance's speech in Europe yesterday too, about AI.

So all of it is very coherent there. I don't have to see Republicans having a problem defending this, even if it's a little bit of a shock and a jerk for some of them to say, to start talking differently about Belarus and Putin.

BASH: I heard Kurt Volker, who is the former U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, say this morning on our air that maybe America First isn't the right term. That it's America Strength is what Trump is trying to put forward for his second term. All right, everybody standby. Who knows what the breaking news is going to be when we're in the break? So stay with us.

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[12:53:14]

BASH: Republicans just voted to advance the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., setting up a final vote on Kennedy's bid to be the next Health and Human Services Secretary tomorrow morning. Manu, a party line vote on this procedural measure?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. 53/47, straight party lines ensuring that RFK Jr. will get a final confirmation vote and that's expected tomorrow, and that's expected to be a positive result for RFK Jr. We do not expect four Republicans to break ranks to stop this nomination. So after months of battling behind the scenes and publicly, RFK Jr. on his way to be confirmed as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services.

There will be some votes to watch in that vote tomorrow. One of them will be Senator Mitch McConnell himself, just becoming the one Republican who voted against Tulsi Gabbard to be the next director of National Intelligence. She, of course, was confirmed on a 52/48 vote. But Dana, she -- McConnell put out a statement, a scathing statement about Tulsi Gabbard. He said, explaining his vote against her. He said the nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the president receives are tainted by a director of national intelligence --

BASH: Wow.

RAJU: -- with a history of alarming lapses in judgment. He goes on to cite her past comments about Edward Snowden and about Russia and the like. And he said that he called it an "unnecessary risk" for this position.

BASH: Wow.

RAJU: But despite his support -- despite his opposition that -- it was not, of course, the prevailing view among the 52 other Republicans who voted to confirm her to the post. The question tomorrow, what will McConnell do, what will any other swing votes do on RFK Jr., but not any sign that he's at risk of getting defeated tomorrow. We expect him to be confirmed, RFK Jr., tomorrow as Donald Trump getting his cabinet in place.

BASH: I mean, did you ever think, I mean, you and I have both covered Mitch McConnell for a long time, that he would be the guy breaking with his party?

[12:55:00]

I mean, it's really unbelievable and looking ahead to RFK Jr. tomorrow, it wouldn't surprise me if he does the same for lots of reasons, not the least of which is that McConnell's a polio survivor.

RAJU: Yeah.

BASH: And he's very much pro-vaccine and is very worried about vaccine hesitancy in the United States.

RAJU: Yeah, no question about it. And of course, when he was leader, he was OK taking the arrows for his party, taking unpopular positions, even if he -- perhaps he didn't ultimately believe that that was the way he personally felt. But now, he has said his shackles are off, that he's no longer the Republican leader, as you can see, sending a signal to President Trump.

BASH: Yeah, he sure is. I'm sure Trump got it loud and clear. Manu, thank you so much for that reporting. Thank you for rocking and rolling with us, this "Inside Politics" today. "CNN News Central" starts after the break.

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