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Isa Soares Tonight
Putin's Reservations About 30-Day Ceasefire; Putin's Response "Promising" but Incomplete; Trump's Tariffs War; Trump Threatens 200 Percent Tariffs on E.U. Wine and Spirits; Return of Astronauts Delayed Again. Trump Meets with NATO Chief Mark Rutte in Oval Office; Putin Agrees in Principle with Proposal for Ukraine Ceasefire, But Sets Out Conditions. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired March 13, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm sitting with a man that could be very instrumental. You know, Mark, we need that for international
security, not just security, international. We have a lot of our favorite players, you know, cruising around the coasts, and we have to be careful,
and we'll be talking to you at -- it's very appropriate, really a very appropriate question. Thank you very much --
MARK RUTTE, SECRETARY-GENERAL, NATO: And there's an issue about north, so the fact is, so what you did -- so, when it comes to Greenland, guess
they're not joining the U.S., I would leave that outside -- for me, let's discuss something else, I don't want to bring NATO in that. But when it
comes to the high north and the Arctic, you were totally right.
The Chinese are now using these routes, we know that the Russians are re- arming, we know we have a lack of icebreakers. So, the fact that the seven -- outside Russia, there are seven Arctic countries working together on
this under U.S. leadership is very important to ensure that, that region, that part of the world stays safe. And we know things are changing there
and we have to be there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just had an election there the other day. Do you see a referendum, a plebiscite where the people of Greenland would be in a
position to decide if they want to become part of the United States?
TRUMP: Yes, it was a good election for us. As you know, it was not a referendum. It wouldn't be called that. It was an individual election. But
the person that did the best is a very good person as far as we're concerned. And so, we'll be talking about it. And it's very important. Mark
mentioned the word icebreaker. So, we've ordered -- we're in the process of ordering 48 icebreakers.
And Canada wants to know if they could use them. I said, well, you know, you've got to pay for them. Think of it. Canada, we pay for their military.
You know, Canada pays very little for their military because they think we're going to protect them, but even with the icebreakers. So, we're going
to order 48, and Canada wants to be part of the deal.
I say you've got to get your own icebreakers. I mean, if you're a state, you can be part of the deal. But if you're a separate country, you've got
to get your own icebreakers. Russia, as you know, has about 40 of them. And we have one big icebreaker. But that whole area is becoming very important.
And for a lot of reasons, the routes are, you know, very direct to Asia, to Russia, and you have ships all over the place. And we have to have
protection. So, we're going to have to make a deal on that. And Denmark is not able to do that. You know, Denmark is very far away and really has
nothing to do. What happens -- a boat landed there 200 years ago or something, and they say they have rights to it. I don't know if that's
true, I'm not, I don't think it is, actually.
But we've been dealing with Denmark, we've been dealing with Greenland, and we have to do it. We really need it for national security. I think that's
why NATO might be -- have to get involved in a way, because we really need Greenland for national security. It's very important. You know, we have a
couple of bases on Greenland already, and we have quite a few soldiers.
And maybe you'll see more and more soldiers go there. I don't know, what do you think about that, Pete? So -- don't answer that, Pete.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Don't answer that question. But we have -- we have bases and we have quite a few soldiers in Greenland.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Commitment to NATO. Will everything -- anything change?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your commitment to NATO. Will anything change? Same amount of money?
TRUMP: Well, I think they made a great step by putting Mark in charge. I think to me that's a great step because he and I have seen eye-to-eye on
everything for a long time. We've been doing this a long time now.
RUTTE: Nine years now.
TRUMP: And so, that's a great step. You have to keep NATO strong. You have to keep it relevant. But the biggest thing we have to worry about right now
is what's going on right now. I think the rest is going to take care of itself. I don't see this -- this was a fluke. This was something that if we
had a competent president, it would not have happened.
The man was grossly incompetent. All you have to do is look and -- take a look at -- he signs by autopen. Who was signing all these stuff by autopen?
Who would think you signed important documents by autopen? You know, these are major documents you're signing, you're proud to sign them. You have
your signature on something. In 300 years, they say, oh, look, can you imagine?
Everything was signed by autopen, almost everything. Nobody's ever heard of such a thing. So, should have never happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tomorrow and the Justice Department about law and order, could you tell us a little bit about that?
TRUMP: Yes, we're going to be with the Justice Department. We have a great Justice Department. Pam Bondi is so fantastic and Todd Blanche and
Amel(ph), you got to know him a little bit. He was acting for a little while, and some other people are incredible in the Justice Department. And
I consider the FBI to be a part of it in a sense.
[14:05:00]
And Kash is going to be fantastic, and all the people -- he's -- Dan Bongino, I love that. I mean, I love that. I think Dan is great. I think we
have unbelievable people, and all I'm going to do is set out my vision -- it's going to be their vision, really, but it's my ideas and basically, we
don't want to have crime in the streets. We don't want to have people pushed into subways and killed.
And then the person that did the pushing ends up in a 15-year trial and gets off scot-free. We want to have justice, and we want to have -- we want
to have safety in our cities as well as our communities. And we'll be talking about immigration, we'll be talking about a lot of things, except
the complete gamut. So, I look forward to it. That will be tomorrow at the Justice Department.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you are a man of peace. You said it several times and you made it very clear. A man of peace dealing with
belligerent people.
TRUMP: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm thinking -- we saw how you handled Zelenskyy in this very own room. What is your leverage on Putin? Are you thinking
sanctions? What if he refuses to --
TRUMP: Well, I do have leverage, but I don't want to talk about leverage now, because right now we're talking to him. And based on the statements he
made today, they were pretty positive, I think. So, I don't want to talk about that. I hope Russia is going to make the deal, too. And I think once
that deal happens, you're never going to be in a process -- I don't think they're going back to shooting again.
I really believe if we had a -- if we get a peace treaty, a ceasefire treaty, I think that leads to peace. That's going to really lead to peace.
I don't think anyone wants to go back. They've been doing this for a long time, and it's vicious and violent. And I think if President Putin agrees
and does a ceasefire, I think we're going to -- we're going to be in very good shape to get it done.
We want to get it over with. That's why it was very important when I instructed everybody, including Steve, what we're looking for to discuss
concepts of land, concepts of power plants, because it's complicated. You know, you have a whole -- you're sort of creating the edge of a -- of a
country. The sad part is that country, if they didn't -- if this didn't happen, and it wouldn't have happened, I don't know if they would have to
give anything back.
I guess Crimea, you know, I said it last time, Crimea was given by Obama. Biden gave the whole thing and Bush gave them Georgia, and Trump didn't
give them anything. I gave them -- you know what I gave them? I gave them - - I gave them javelins. And the javelins were very effective, as you know, I gave them nothing --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-nineteen --
TRUMP: And then also, if you take a look, I was the one that stopped the pipeline going into Europe. It was totally stopped. Nord Stream 2, nobody
ever heard of Nord Stream 2 before I came along. But I got along very well with President Putin, I got along with -- most of them, I get along great
with President Xi, I got along great with Kim Jong un. I got along great with all of them, and we had no wars. We had no problems. We wiped out ISIS
in record time.
General Razin Caine, and he wiped them out, and he's going to be our new chief, right? He's going to be --
JAMES DAVID VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes sir --
TRUMP: The head of Joint Chiefs of Staff. And he's a highly respected man, he's going to be great. Pete's going to be fantastic. I have no doubt about
it. We have a great team, really great team. Yes, please, go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, some of our allies have said that they're worried that they could be the next to be attacked by Russia.
You've spoken directly with the Russian President. Do you think those fears are justified?
TRUMP: No, I don't. I think when this gets done, it's done. They're going to -- all want to go home and rest. I don't see it happening. No. I don't
see that happening, and we'll make sure it doesn't happen. Not going to happen, but we'll make sure it doesn't happen.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Yes, go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Leaders from Russia and Iran are heading to Beijing tomorrow to discuss nuclear programs. What do you hope to get out of that?
TRUMP: Well, maybe they're going to talk about non-nuclear programs. Maybe they're going to be talking about the de-escalation of nuclear weapons,
because, you know, I was talking about that with President Putin very strongly, and we could have done something had that election not been
rigged, we would have had something.
I think I would have made a deal with Putin on de-escalation, denuclearization as they say, but we would have de-escalated nuclear
weapons because the power of nuclear weapons is so great and so devastating. And right now, Russia and ourselves by far the most. But China
will catch us within five years. China doesn't have, but they're in the process of building and they build. And within 4 or 5 years, they'll
probably have the same.
RUTTE: And by the way, you -- this is your Republican tradition. Ronald Reagan, when he negotiated with --
TRUMP: Right --
[14:10:00]
RUTTE: Gorbachev in the 1980s --
TRUMP: Right --
RUTTE: About bringing down the number of nuclear weapons, is what you have been doing in your first term, and it is important.
TRUMP: It would be a great achievement if we could bring down the number. We have so many weapons and the power is so great. And number one, you
don't need them to that extent. And then we'd have to get others because as you know, in a smaller way -- Kim Jong un has a lot of nuclear weapons by
the way. A lot.
And others do also, you have India, you have Pakistan, you have others that have them, and we'd get them involved. But we started off with Russia and
us. We have by far, actually by far the most, and we were going to denuclearize and that was going to happen. And then we were going to China.
And I spoke to China, I spoke to President Xi about it, and he really liked the idea.
You know, he liked not to spend trillions of dollars building weapons, and hopefully, he's never going to have to use. And -- because they are very
expensive also. So, that would have been great. OK, one or two more.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, if they want attention in the -- in fact, we were looking at impending government shutdown Friday at midnight.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Democrats for 30 years straight have said, if there's a shutdown, bad things happen. Do you anticipate direct negotiations yourself
with conference leader of the Democrats, Chuck Schumer?
TRUMP: If they need me, I'm there 100 percent. It's -- right now, it's 2 or 3 people if they -- if they -- if it shuts down, it's not the
Republican's fault. You know, we passed a bill where we had an incredible Republican vote. We only had one negative vote, a grandstander, you know,
one grandstander. There's always a grandstander in the lot. But it was amazing.
People were amazed that the Republicans were able to vote in unison like that so strongly. If there's a shutdown, even the Democrats admit it will
be their fault. And I'm hearing a lot of Democrats are going to vote for it, and I hope they do. This is an extension, but ultimately, we want to
vote for one big, beautiful bill where we put the taxes in. We put everything in.
We're going to have big tax cuts. We're going to have tremendous incentives for companies coming into our country and employing lots of people. It will
be -- I called it in a rare moment, one big, beautiful bill. That's what I like. And it seems to be that's where they're heading. And we'll have to
take care of something to do with Los Angeles, a place called Los Angeles almost burned to the ground.
By the way, I broke into Los Angeles. Can you believe it? I had a break in. I invaded Los Angeles, and we opened up the water, and the water is now
flowing down. They have so much water, they don't know what to do. They were sending it out to the Pacific for environmental reasons, OK? Can you
believe it? And in the meantime, they lost 25,000 houses. They lost -- and nobody's ever seen anything like it.
But we have the water. I'd love to show you a picture. You've seen the picture. The water is flowing through the half pipes -- you know, we have
the big half-pipes that go down, used to have -- 25 years ago, they used to have plenty of water, but they turned it off for again for environmental
reasons -- well, I turned it on for environmental reasons and also fire reasons, but -- and I've been asking them to do that during my first term.
I said do it. I didn't think anything could happen like this, but they didn't have enough water. Now, the farmers are going to have water for
their land and the water is in there. But I actually had to break in, we broke in to do it because we had people that were afraid to give water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes --
TRUMP: They were in particular -- they were trying to protect a certain little fish. And I said, how do you protect the fish if you don't have
water? They didn't have any water. So, they're protecting a fish. And that didn't work out too well by the way. So, they have a lot of water going
down throughout California, all coming out from the Pacific northwest.
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Well, you have been listening there to the U.S. President Donald Trump making some remarks from the Oval
Office. Sitting next to him is the Secretary-General of NATO, Mark Rutte. As you well know, the United States is pushing for a ceasefire deal in
Ukraine. But as we've heard just in the last few hours, in fact, from the Russian leader, President Putin, he said earlier, he had, quote,
"reservations about the plan."
We have heard in the last few moments from President Trump, who said that Putin's response to the ceasefire proposal is promising. He said, but
incomplete. He said if Russia doesn't agree to the ceasefire, it will be very disappointing moment for the world. He was asked repeatedly -- well, a
couple of times, I should say if he has leverage, what kind of leverage does the U.S. has on Putin, such as sanctions?
[14:15:00]
He said he does have leverage, but he doesn't want to talk about it. We also heard from President Trump touting his efforts to get allies to up
their defense spending on NATO. That has indeed been the case from what we have seen over the years. Secretary-General Mark Rutte said we need to
produce more weaponry.
We are not doing enough, talking about Europe, but also talking about the United States. And lots of comments also that we've heard from the
President focused on tariffs, European tariffs, tariffs on Canada. So, a lot for us to discuss. Let's start though with our Nic Robertson, our
diplomatic editor, who is here with me or listening to that.
Nic, let's start with what we heard on Ukraine. This is -- we expect this to be a conversation between both leaders about the -- or Ukraine and this
30-day ceasefire proposal. We are starting to get some sense from Russia of what they make of this. And from what I heard was, yes, I kind of agree
with it, but -- and there was a long list of "buts". Talk us through that.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And some of these "buts" undoubtedly would have been part of a conversation --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Between President Trump and Mark Rutte because, quite simply, they affect NATO. Well, some of the -- one of the "buts" was, Putin made
the case that they're winning in Kursk and the ceasefire could come after the Russian troops have won the control of Kursk, which is Russian
territory, of course, back and saying that the Ukrainians should just lay down their weapons, which automatically, if the Ukraine -- and we don't
have the Ukrainian's assessment of how well they're doing in Kursk. We've only got Putin's --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Which automatically, if the Ukrainians keep fighting there to keep control because Russia's fighting them, automatically, Putin is
setting the Ukrainians up to be the bad guy, because they're fighting and not going for the ceasefire, which he says can come after Kursk is settled.
But I think there were other very deep and relevant things there, and he was questioning about the Ukrainians getting more weapons --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: About their continued training of the military. These are sovereign decisions --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Which the U.S. says are part of the deal that's on the table. You know, the sovereignty of Ukraine will be protected. Well, Putin appears
to be trying to set up parameters here that would say, actually, you can't grow your army. In fact, you can't have any more weapons. In fact, your
army should be, you know, this size.
So, there's that, and very clearly, essentially saying that everything that are taken on the battlefield, they get to keep, which was interesting to
hear Trump's --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Comments on this as well.
SOARES: And we heard from him, and he said -- President Putin said this ceasefire -- and I'm quoting him here. "This ceasefire should lead to an
enduring peace, but should remove the root causes of the conflict." And I'm sure he's not referring to Russia invading a --
ROBERTSON: He's not --
SOARES: Sovereign country -- he's not. But is he referring to NATO? Is he referring to Zelenskyy? Because I mean, that basically is his red line from
what I understood.
ROBERTSON: And it's hard --
SOARES: One --
ROBERTSON: To know --
SOARES: One of his red lights --
ROBERTSON: Yes, it's hard to know precisely. But I think the context -- again, this is why it's relevant to NATO. A context I think of this is
Putin is really talking about how NATO has expanded ever closer, and they needed the buffer and they need to take control. Which implies not only do
you not get security guarantees and a beef up of forces to support the Ukrainians and give them a stable peace that's going to be secure into the
future, which is what U.S. negotiators have said.
But it also potentially means that Putin is leveraging a situation here to say, actually, NATO is going to have to move further away, is going to have
to move back west. You know, and you can see a context here where that may be attracted -- attractive --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: For President Trump because troops were additionally added along the eastern flank of NATO when the -- when Russia illegally invaded
Ukraine. So, you can see how complex it becomes. But you absolutely see where Putin is going with this.
SOARES: Yes, and it's -- he's already in very vague terms outlining what he wants or where he doesn't want to see. But if you are Secretary NATO
chief Mark Rutte, what then? How are you going into this meeting? What are you trying to get out of this conversation with President -- with President
Trump? Because President Putin doesn't want Ukraine in NATO.
He doesn't really have a say because it's a sovereign country. He doesn't want NATO troops on the ground. He wants, it seems, from what we heard, to
keep Kursk, so and all the other territory, 20 percent of Ukraine. What -- how are you trying to influence President Trump as part of this -- of this
conversation today?
ROBERTSON: I think one of the things that Mark Rutte went in there with is wanting to know that there's no policy shift, and making sure there's no
policy shift on the U.S. side, because over the past few weeks, we've heard President Trump talk about pulling 35,000 U.S. troops out of Germany and
putting them in Hungary.
He's talked about a sort of a two-tier NATO, where there's only protection for those that are paying enough money, enough money as President Trump
judges it. And those issues did sort of come up vaguely in discussion there.
[14:20:00]
And I think Russia will also have been sitting there hearing President Trump talk about wanting to annex Greenland, which is part of Denmark, a
NATO member. Wanting to turn Canada into the 51st state. Canada is a member of NATO. So, he very carefully did not engage on that. So, what his prime
motivation here is to keep NATO strong, keep the United States part of it.
And he tried to do that by talking about how well Trump had done before --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: And Trump 45, but specifically now talking about the 800 billion euros compared to the add-on 700 billion that came in Trump's first
presidency, and the half a trillion that's being committed by Germany, and the -- and the uplift that's coming from the U.K.'s side in terms of
defense spending.
And then and I thought this was like very pointed, and I'm sure it wasn't lost on President Trump saying NATO -- that Europe spends four times as
much --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: On weapons in the United States, and that's good, and that's a good balance. But we need to do better. We all need to do better. We need
to be producing more weapons. So, it is entirely --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: You know, I was in NATO headquarters last week speaking to an official there. And it was keep, calm and carry on. When Trump does things,
talk about Greenland --
SOARES: Yes --
ROBERTSON: Talk about Canada, talk about a two-tier NATO. Keep calm and carry on, but make sure that there are no changes in the U.S. hard
position. And I think that's where --
SOARES: That's what we saw --
ROBERTSON: What we've seen. That's what we've seen today --
SOARES: That was very slick indeed. Focusing on the positives and how he has been part of those positives. Nic, appreciate it, thank you very much.
Listening to that was our Betsy Klein, joins us live from the White House. And Betsy, Nic and I have been discussing mostly the Ukraine side of what
we were expecting to see out of these talks with Mark Rutte.
But there was a lot of talk over tariffs. He mentioned -- talked about Canada, we don't need anything they have, we don't need their lumber, we
don't need their energy. Also acknowledging the disruption, but it won't be long, I think, he said. And then attacking again yet again the European
Union, which of course, yesterday, announced its own tariffs. Talk us through what we heard from the President, focused, but primarily there on
tariffs.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: That's exactly right. I mean, President Trump has really dramatically re-imagined the role of the
U.S. in the world. He has re-imagined U.S. alliances, so, a high stakes critical meeting for that, but also for global markets, as he has gone
back-and-forth on tariffs and really rocked the stock market.
So, we heard him say in very notable comments with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte about those 25 percent steel and aluminum tariffs he put in
place just yesterday. He told reporters, quote, "he is not going to bend on those tariffs." He also appeared to put a timeline on the economic
disruption.
It's not new that the President has conceded that there will be some sort of disruption to the economy as we've seen markets really react to a lot of
this uncertainty. He said, quote, "there will be a little disruption, but it won't be very long." All of this after he threatened another new
escalation this morning, warning that he would slap 200 percent tariffs on alcoholic beverages from the European Union after Europe placed a 50
percent tax on U.S. spirits.
Taken together, this is all really creating a lot of uncertainty in for the American spirit producers as well as spirit producers abroad. The business
community has so many questions about whether those major reciprocal tariffs he's planning to put in place on April 2nd will be it, if there
will be more, and to what extent that -- how long that will last. And now prompting of course, rising concerns of a potential recession. Isa.
SOARES: Indeed, thank you very much, Betsy. You were talking about that uncertainty, that volatility. Let me show you the markets we've been
keeping a close eye on them. Look back down and back in the red, the Nasdaq faring the worst at this point, more than 1.5 percent, but red arrows right
across the board.
We'll keep an eye on those numbers following of course what we just heard from President Trump. And in about 15 minutes here on the show, I'll be
speaking with the Defense Minister of Latvia, that is, of course, a NATO member, to hear his reaction to what we heard just in the last few moments,
of course, from President Trump and what we've heard from President Putin.
And breaking news from New York just this moment. Dozens of protesters are now under arrest after flooding Trump Tower in New York to demand the
release of detained Palestinian activist. The demonstration was organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace. Many of them were seen holding signs
with slogans such as fight Nazis, not students, and you can't deport a movement.
And they were there to support the right to free speech after Mahmoud Khalil -- we told you and spoke about him this time yesterday, who is a
prominent activist, helped lead Columbia University student protest movement demanding, if you remember, ceasefire in Gaza.
[14:25:00]
He was detained. His green card was revoked by the Trump administration, and a federal judge has blocked an immediate order to deport him. On the
ground for us is Omar Jimenez in New York. Omar, give us a sense of what is happening right now. We did see quite a large crowd.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Isa, right now, police say it's essentially movement like normal, but the remnants of what was here still
remain as barriers that were blocking off and trying to control some of the crowd that had gathered to see some of these protesters were put in place
by the New York Police Department.
Trump Tower is just over my shoulder here, and that's where over a 100 protesters at one point, as we understand, were inside across two different
levels of Trump Tower. As we understand, they initially walked in wearing jackets and coats. Once inside, they opened them up and revealed the red
shirts representing Jewish Voice for Peace.
That again, their shirts had slogans that supported the Palestinian movement, including Mahmoud Khalil, who again, as you mentioned, was that -
- former now, Columbia student who was arrested but helped lead some of the protests that we saw across Columbia University last year. Now, about 100
protesters were arrested and we witnessed a lot of them being loaded into buses right here, where they were being taken to central booking here in
New York, where they will face some minor charges at this point.
But one of the organizers we spoke to told us the reason why they wanted to organize this was because they believe that President Trump and his
administration is infringing on civil rights violations, particularly around freedom of speech. And so, that's why they wanted to be here. They
said, Jewish Voice for Peace in regards to their organization.
They wanted their specific group to be here to show that Jewish people are on the side of Khalil in this respect, at least according to the person who
is here. And so, that was the reason all of them came. They chanted many different things in support of Khalil, but also things like fight Nazis,
not students in regards to, of course, Khalil, who was a student at the time of the protests on Columbia last year.
SOARES: And, Omar, do we have a sense? And as we look -- I was looking at video before I just came on set of so many of them really filling the
lobby. Do we have a sense of how they got in?
JIMENEZ: Yes, as we understand, they basically just walked in and they were wearing as I -- as I said, not disguises, but essentially overcoats
and jackets to sort of disguise the appearance of what would be a protest. And then once inside, once they had gathered, that is when they revealed
those red shirts, and that's when the chanting began.
The New York Police Department said this, "this demonstration lasted about two hours in total from start to finish." But clearly, once inside, across
two different levels of Trump Tower here, they really filled this lobby and this atrium. And so, anyone around there clearly would hear what they were
chanting.
And not long after, because they were live-streaming at the time, there was a large crowd that began gathering on different portions of the corners
around Trump Tower here, chanting themselves in support of some of these protesters, especially when they were led out of Trump Tower in zip ties as
well.
As precautions, the New York Police Department blocked off some of the streets both to pedestrians and drivers as well. And again, we witnessed
these protesters being led onto buses over the course of this. But it is just one of many protests we have seen across the country, even in New York
City at this point, in support of Khalil, who remains in custody and who faces deportation legal proceedings that we know from his attorneys, they
are going to fight tooth and nail.
SOARES: Indeed, Omar Jimenez for us there in New York. Good to see you, Omar. Thank you very much. And still to come tonight, Russia's President
says he supports a ceasefire proposal for Ukraine, but ultimately has, quote, "reservations". What it means for the situation on the ground when
we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:00]
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has reservations about a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine. President Putin
lauded the U.S. proposed truce as great and correct, adding that Moscow supports it, in theory, but he says many things still need to be discussed
before a deal is agreed to.
And that includes what happens to Russia's Kursk region, where the army is trying to push Ukrainian troops out. Let's get more on this and what we've
heard in the last 10, 15 minutes from President Trump who was sitting there at the Oval Office next to Mark Rutte the NATO chief. Our International
Correspondent Fred Pleitgen in Moscow joins us now.
Fred, let me just pick up with what you heard from President Trump there alongside the NATO chief. He was saying that lots of positive comments from
Putin, that his response to proposal is promising but incomplete.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Promising and incomplete was what he was saying. I think one of the things that we
heard there that was quite interesting is he said he was going to see whether or not the Russians were on board and we're ready, and if they're
not, that it would be a big issue and something very sad for all of humanity. So, certainly, clearly, this is very important for President
Trump.
He repeatedly said that he wants to end the fighting. He talked about all the soldiers who are dying right now. And so, the Trump administration
certainly wants to get this ceasefire in effect as fast as possible. And of course, they have had both the Ukrainians and the U.S. itself are already
signing on to that.
However, when we look at what President Putin of Russia said today in that press conference with Alexander Lukashenko, he said that, yes, he endorses
the Trump administration's idea of trying to get a ceasefire in place, but he has all these reservations that you were just talking about. And
essentially, it almost seems as though he wants to do things the opposite way around than the Trump administration actually does.
Because what President Trump is trying to say, he said, look, let's get the weapons silenced as fast as possible and then work from there, work on all
of these issues that both sides have been talking about, the territory, the security guarantees, what role, or if any, NATO troops might play. And the
Russians are saying they want to deal with those things first before the fighting start
Of course, one of the reasons why the Russians are saying that is because they have so much momentum on the battlefield right now, not just in the
areas inside Ukraine, but of course, as you just mentioned, in the Kursk area of Russia as well, where they feel that they are on the cusp of
expelling Ukraine from that territory.
And the Russians have said in the past that they don't want Kursk to be part of any negotiations. They want to solve that militarily and then want
to have the negotiations only on the territories that they control inside Ukraine and the future of those, Isa.
[14:35:00]
SOARES: He also said, President Putin, today that this ceasefire, and I'm quoting him here, I mean, there were lots of reservations, lots of buts,
but he did say this ceasefire should lead to an enduring peace, but should remove the root causes of the conflict. This is something that Nic and I,
Nic Roberts and I were discussing. I imagine he's talking about NATO. Just talk us through, is it NATO, is it Zelenskyy, is this a red line here?
PLEITGEN: Well, I think that there are several things that the Russians have considered root causes and sort of been varying as the conflict has
gone on. If we remember the early days, right before the big invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022, the Russians were speaking about a genocide
that was unfolding in the east of Ukraine where they said that Russian speakers there and people who felt closer to the Russian Federation were
essentially being infringed in Ukrainian society, that they were not allowed to pray in the churches that they wanted to, that their language
was being banned and the like. And so, those are obviously things that the Russians consider to be the root causes.
Another thing that the Russians have also been talking about is NATO, of course, itself. Now, one of the things that we need to keep in mind with
that is that NATO membership for Ukraine was not really in the cards before the big invasion took place. Countries like Germany, countries like the
United States as well, said that they wouldn't rule it out. But they also did say that it was something that was by no means imminent, or even
something that was being discussed at that point in time.
Nevertheless, for the Russians, what they're saying is they believe that NATO has been coming closer to Russian territory in the years since the
fall of the Iron Curtain, and their big fear is that at some point, Ukraine could become a member of NATO in the future. So, that's definitely
something that they want to prevent, definitely something they also would consider the root causes, but there are also, of course, all of these
societal issues in that area of Ukraine that the Russians also, of course, consider to be very much root causes and important causes for themselves
and certainly something that they also use here to rile up public opinion in favor of the war as well, where they have these patriotic events that
take place. They call it Novorossiya, and they certainly do have a lot of messaging, if you will, to try and get the Russian population on board with
the fact that essentially what they're doing down there is saving Russians from the Ukrainians, Isa.
SOARES: And we heard when he was speaking next to President Lukashenko of Belarus, and we heard Lukashenko basically warning Putin of Donald's
tricks, talking about Donald Trump. But let's focus on Putin here, because we got some kind of more insight from him in terms of what those red lines
could be. Just break it down for us.
I mean, I imagine sanction would be part of this, guarantee of no NATO, no NATO peacekeeping force or just no peacekeeping forces. An international
recognition that Crimea, another territory may -- are Russian. I mean, give us a sense of what we could be looking at here.
PLEITGEN: Well, I think there's two levels to that. On the one hand, of course, you have strategic discussions that are ongoing about relations
between Russia and the United States, where the U.S. have sort of been dangling this massive carrot in front of the Russians and saying, if you
get all of this sorted out with the war in Ukraine, if you get on board with a ceasefire, if there's a peace agreement, then relations can be
normalized. And that of course includes things like sanctions relief, business relations between the Russians and the United States, rare earth
fields between Russia and the United States, possibly in the future as well.
And then, of course, there are the things revolving around the Ukraine conflict and all the things that the concerns that the Russians have there.
And of course, a lot of that is about territory, is about the territory that the Russians have taken.
In a lot of cases, as you know, Isa, The Russians have taken parts of Ukrainian territories where in the administrative areas of that they don't
actually hold all of the territory. And the big question is how much of that are the Russians going to get.
And then of course, as Putin said, who's going to monitor the ceasefire. What if there are infringements on the ceasefire? So, there's a lot of
things that Putin brought up that he believes could be problematic. And it certainly didn't seem as though the Russians, at this point in time at
least, are ready for an imminent ceasefire. Isa.
SOARES: No, definitely, but it does seem like the U.S. is dangling lots of carrots. We shall see. Fred, good to see you. Appreciate it.
Well, my next guest serves as Latvia's minister of defense, Andris Spruds, joins us now from Riga in Latvia. Minister, great to have you back on the
show. Let me get your reaction, really, to what we heard from President Trump just in the last, what, 20 minutes or so, that he was basically
saying, I'm not sure whether you heard, he was sitting there in the Oval Office next to the NATO chief, Mark Rutte, and he said that Putin's
response to the ceasefire is promising but incomplete. He said his statements are positive. Are you as optimistic?
[14:40:00]
ANDRIS SPRUDS, LATVIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: No, I'm pessimistic and skeptical about Russia's intentions and Russia's will to proceed with just and
sustainable peace. I am skeptic about Russia's willingness to comply with any conditions as history proves it. With Russia, you have always
negotiated from positions of strength. With Russia is rather than winning the peace and negotiating. So, that's why, of course, I am skeptical about
Russia and Putin's regime, but still, we have to have some sort of negotiations, again, from positions of strength with Russia in these
circumstances.
SOARES: Yes, and I'm guessing you're skeptical because we've seen Russia breach many of these ceasefires before there is a history to that. What did
you make of what we heard from President Putin today as he was sitting there alongside the Belarus president, Lukashenko? He was -- gave us some
idea of what he wanted to see, but said, as I was discussing there with our Fred Pleitgen that they should remove the root causes of conflict. How did
you interpret that?
SPRUDS: Well, the root causes of the conflict is Putin's regime, it's aggressive dictatorship. The root cause is the willingness to impose its
ambition, expansionist ambitions on its neighbors. It's willingness to see the world in the 19th century light, where there are some kind of zones of
interest, but that's where -- of course, that's the root cause, which will be very difficult and challenging also to deal with, because it's deeply
ingrained in Russian society and even more so in Putin's regime.
So, once more, position of strengths, the peace through strengths, the winning the peace is absolutely crucial in this regard when we deal with
Russia.
SOARES: Yes, and as you probably know, Minister, that you probably interpret that as potentially NATO -- Ukraine being in NATO. I have spoken
just in the last several days to several ministers, several respected Russian voices and commentators here on the show. And the majority believe
that basically that President Putin will agree to a ceasefire deal to really try to show President Trump that he can be a partner, that he can be
a peacemaker. But then, he would ask for significant concessions, and Fred and I were there just now talking about the carrots that are being dangled,
lifting of sanctions, the stopping armament of Ukraine, no Ukraine in NATO.
What do you make of these concessions and what are Europe's red lines? What do you think are Ukraine's red lines here?
SPRUDS: Well, Russia's tactics always been salami tactics, to cut piece by piece in terms of territory, geographically or also strategically. So,
that's why, once more, the position of strengths, the negotiations through strengths are extremely important in this regard.
Ukraine has a sovereign right to join or at least to express its willingness to join any alliance or any community. Of course, it is also
for the lions to agree when conditions allow and when partners agrees, this has been also agreed previously.
So, that's why, once more, Ukraine should be not only independent and free with also keeping all the full rights on its territorial integrity, but
also to be sovereign in its decisions with regard to its international associations. So, here, the red lines must be very clear.
Sooner or later, Ukraine must restore its territorial integrity. Both the countries are example in this. We've been occupied for more than 50 years,
but we've been able to regain our independence, also due to the fact that International Community, including the most of European countries, never
recognized Latvia and Estonia being part of a Russian empire.
SOARES: And now, we're seeing -- and I know that ministers are meeting -- G7 meeting as well. But what I've been hearing from E.U. defense ministers
is that many see the United States as somewhat unpredictable at this stage. Minister. I wonder then, given this -- first of all, is this how you feel?
And secondly so, how are you then -- how is Latvia preparing for a potential breach, if there's going to be one, by Russia here?
SPRUDS: Well, Latvia believes that United States is a strategic partner, is indispensable ally. It has been indispensable ally and it will remain
so. At the same time, yes, there are some concerns in society about some contradictory signals, but once more, we believe that strategic partnership
is an interest of all of the NATO allies, including United States. So, all for one, one for all.
[14:45:00]
And we are fully keen (ph) this believes that any threat, any risks, any challenges, what will be, namely to the faced by us or delivered by
aggressive country will be also addressed and -- in a full strings from all the sides, including with United States.
We do have a homework. We make up a commitments, in financial investment in our armed forces. Now, we are spending a 3.5 percent. We are coming in very
short time for 5 percent from our GDP for military defense expenditure. We realize these are serious challenging times. Serious measures must be
taken. Of course, we must do in solidarity with our allies. We must have a fair burden sharing with our allies, including, of course, with the United
States.
So, we see that there are a lot for us to do together to make NATO more lethal, more powerful, more -- any of those challenges and threats we're
facing.
SOARES: Yes. And that's exactly the message we heard from Mark Rutte there at the Oval Office, that we need to be more -- not just Europe, but also
the United States. Minister Andris Spruds, really appreciate you coming back on the show. Good to see you, Minister. Thank you.
SPRUDS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
SOARES: Now, there's another casualty in Donald Trump's tariff war. Raising a glass to celebrate the good times could get a whole lot more
expensive. Anna Stewart breaks it all down for us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Well, breaking out the bubbly to celebrate could soon break the bank for Americans. President Trump is ratcheting up the U.S. trade war
with the E.U., threatening to impose a massive 200 percent tariff on European alcohol. And threat comes on the heels of a 50 percent retaliatory
tariff the E.U. slapped on U.S. spirits earlier this week.
And the trade war could prove costly to many, including American whiskey makers. Europe imported nearly $700 million worth of whiskey from the U.S.
over the last three years.
Our Anna Stewart joins us now. And, Anna, you've had a very busy couple of weeks with this tip for tap, but we have heard from the president just in
the last kind of 40 minutes or so, again, addressing tariffs and on the European Union saying he's not going to bend on tariffs, but also saying,
which is something we've heard from him in the last few weeks, that the European Union is very nasty.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it was actually very, very nasty.
SOARES: Oh, was it -- there you go, but it's something we have heard before.
STEWART: Yes.
SOARES: So, just bring us up today on the tip for tat. Because I was looking at the markets, pretty much across the board red arrows.
[14:50:00]
STEWART: We are having another sell off. It wouldn't surprise you, that not for the first time this month the Dow is trading 400 plus points lower
and actually, I think the S&P is now in correction territory at this stage. And this isn't on economic data today. Inflation data has been good
yesterday and today. That's actually looking fairly positive. It's not on earnings. It's on all of this uncertainty that we're seeing to do with
tariffs and where does it end with the escalation?
We had the original tariffs yesterday on metals. This was from the U.S. directed towards the E.U. and others. The E.U. responded in turn with a
huge package of tariffs to be implemented sometime in April, the beginning of April and a second round in mid-April. And then, today, we have the
U.S., the Trump administration imposing tariffs on champagne and all other alcohols from the E.U.
So, if you're an investor, you're wondering at what timeframe are all of these tariffs, are they going to be implemented? Will it happen? And what
happens next? Where does this go?
SOARES: Should we break the news to President Trump that champagne can only come from the champagne region in France?
STEWART: Yes. So, this was a part in the Truth Social post that the president put out saying this will be great for the wine and champagne
businesses in the U.S. And I can tell you that --
SOARES: (INAUDIBLE) bubbly.
STEWART: -- Europeans were all up in arms. You cannot make champagne unless you are in champagne in France. You can make other sparkling wine,
of course.
SOARES: What has been the reaction then from the French, from Europeans on this potential 200 percent tariff?
STEWART: Which is huge, 200 percent. OK. So, the E.U. trade commissioner has already spoken to his counterparts in the U.S. This actually happened
yesterday as soon as the news broke. They're trying to arrange talks, whether that will go very well remains unclear, given they've already had
talks in recent weeks, and they really came nowhere.
We also had a tweet from the French trade minister, who said we will not give in to threats, and we'll always protect our sectors. For France, this
is huge. Champagne, of course, is a major export. The U.S. is the biggest export market, followed by the U.K., you won't be surprised to hear. So,
this is a big issue for them. They have to speak as one voice with the E.U., which is perhaps why we haven't had any retaliation yet. And perhaps
they're waiting to see what's going to happen on the 2nd of April.
SOARES: Yes, I was going to ask, what is your sense from the -- you know, the calls that you've had with European investors, whether -- I mean,
Europe has been pretty tough on their language, right? What is your sense as to whether they think this is a negotiating tactic? What is your
interpretation of this, Anna?
STEWART: So, before the tariffs were -- when it was the campaign, we had, for instance, the ECB president saying perhaps Europe should adopt a
checkbook strategy. They should really go into this and negotiate this time so they don't get into a trade war. Clearly, this hasn't worked. We are in
tit for tat. Europe has been strict about this, so has the U.S. It's going to keep going, I think.
SOARES: We'll chat tomorrow. Anna, appreciate it. Thank you very much. And still to come right here, what's another two days when you've been waiting
for nine months? The return home for two NASA astronauts stuck on the International Space Station has been delayed yet again. Do you know who
needs champagne? They do. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:55:00]
SOARES: The two astronauts stuck on the International Space Station will have to wait a little bit longer to return home. The replacements launch
was scrubbed on Wednesday and is now scheduled to take off on Friday -- on Friday, pardon me.
NASA's Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have been on the ISS for nine months now. They were only meant to be there, if you remember, for several days.
NASA says a ground pad issue is to blame for this new delay. When the SpaceX rocket does launch, it will be transporting astronauts from the U.S.
and Japan, as well as a Russian cosmonaut to the ISS.
That does it for this hour. But don't go anywhere, I'll be back in about three, four minutes or so with much more news. See you in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
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