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One World with Zain Asher
U.S. President To Announce Reciprocal Tariffs; U.S. Defense Secretary: Europe Must Do More For Ukraine; CNN Talks To Mothers Of Some Released Hostages; RFK Jr. Confirmed BY Senate As Secretary Of Health And Human Services; Trump And Modi To Meet To Discuss New Trade Deals; USAID Shutdown Could Spur More Migration To The U.S.; Aired 1:00-2:00p ET
Aired February 13, 2025 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:45]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hello, everyone. Live from New York, I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching a special edition of ONE WORLD. We are on one hour later than usual because we're
waiting to hear from the U.S. President, Donald Trump, about his new reciprocal tariffs.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And today is the big one, the president says. Any minute now we expect to hear from President Trump at the White House. Now, he's
been on social media promoting a new announcement on tariffs. We will bring that to you when it happens.
ASHER: The move comes just hours before President Trump meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reciprocal terrorists, one of Trump's main
campaign promises. He says they're needed to even the score with nations that tax American goods.
GOLODRYGA: Kevin Liptak is at the White House with more.
And, Kevin, this shouldn't be a surprise to people for the past few weeks. This is something that the White House has been saying they will do,
reciprocal tariffs, in response to anyone who counters U.S. tariffs with their own.
Do we know more details about what these reciprocal tariffs will entail?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, one of the big questions, I think, heading into today's event is whether Trump is actually
signing these new tariffs today or whether he is sort of commissioning a study to look at the rates of tariff that would be applied to other
nations.
And in fact, we heard earlier this week from the president's top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, he was on CNN, suggesting that what President Trump
would be doing today stops short of actually applying these new tariffs, instead the suggestion being that he is directing his administration
officials to start studying the rates of tariffs that would be applied to other nations.
But certainly, it is true that President Trump has been previewing this announcement for some days, and certainly it makes up an element of his
broader tariff agenda.
But I do think it's notable that for all of the talk that we've heard from President Trump about these tariffs, he has now only applied one set of new
tariffs since taking office, that 10 percent tariff on China. He backed away from the 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
And when it comes to trade in Aluminum, what he did was lift some of the exemptions that were in place on other nations.
So in some ways, his bark has so far been worse than his bite when it comes to these trade relationships. But certainly, it is a central part of his
agenda. And we'll be hearing him talk about this more going forward.
One of the things that I think is probably weighing on his advisers' minds is this issue of inflation. We just saw numbers this week that showed
inflation continuing to heat up. And certainly, new tariffs on American or on imports in the United States could affect prices for American consumers,
causing rises -- prices to rise.
And I think, when you're President Trump, who made higher prices a critical element of his campaign pledge, you don't necessarily want to inflict
higher prices on American consumers. So this will all be sort of weighed as they look to put these tariffs in place.
But what you mentioned in the lead-in, the timing of this is interesting. As the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to visit the White
House, that has been one of the key sticking points in the relationship between the U.S. and India under Trump's administration, is this issue of
tariffs.
Trump has called Modi the tariff king. What India has done ahead of this meeting has been well received here at the White House, trying to lower
some of those tariff rates, particularly on motorcycles, Harley-Davidsons. That has been sort of a fixation of President Trump's all the way back to
his first administration.
Certainly, Modi, when he visits Trump in the Oval Office, will want to avoid some of the harshest tariffs on Indian imports. So that will be a
center of their discussion later today.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Kevin Liptak at the White House for us. Thank you. It's going to be a very busy day.
ASHER: Yes, it will. All right. A dramatic shift in U.S. foreign policy and its approach to the three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine is
reverberating across Europe right now.
GOLODRYGA: NATO Defense Minister's meeting for a second day in Brussels are vowing to step up efforts to support Ukraine a day after U.S. President
Donald Trump said that he would meet Russia's president to resolve the Ukraine conflict without Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in that
meeting.
ASHER: President Trump says the meeting with Vladimir Putin will probably happen in Saudi Arabia. His comments raising alarm bells among some NATO
allies who say that Ukraine's voice must be heard at any of the potential talks.
[13:05:13]
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The U.S. Secretary of Defense today deflecting the criticism and denying suggestions that Washington's new stance is a
betrayal of Ukraine.
Pete Hegseth spoke a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defense alliance in history. But to endure for the
future, our partners must do far more for Europe's defense. We must make NATO great again.
I think realism is an important part of the conversation that hasn't existed enough inside conversations amongst friends. But simply pointing
out realism, like the borders won't be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014, is not a concession to Vladimir Putin.
It's a recognition of the hard power realities on the ground, after a lot of investment and sacrifice first by the Ukrainians and then by allies. And
then a realization that a negotiated peace is going to be some sort of demarcation that neither side wants.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: President Trump also spoke to Ukraine's president on Wednesday. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine is not going to be accepting a U.S.-
Russia peace deal without Kyiv's involvement as well.
CNN's national security correspondent, Natasha Bertrand, reports from Brussels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: In a press conference today from NATO headquarters, after he had his meetings with
other NATO defense ministers, Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense, he reiterated a lot of the points that he has made over the last two days,
saying that Europe needs to step up more, that the only way to achieve peace is through strength. And essentially that the U.S. is going to be
taking a step back from being the main guarantor of European and Ukrainian security.
Now, he did not rule out future U.S. military aid to Kyiv, but he did suggest that any such future military assistance is going to be tied to
future negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. And, of course, negotiations perhaps about the critical minerals that President Trump has
said that he wants from the Ukrainians.
But another really interesting part of his press conference is when he appeared to walk back comments that he made, saying that Ukraine
essentially would not be a member of NATO. Saying that that is not a realistic outcome of any negotiated settlement with the Russians.
As today about that, he said that he did want to address that a little bit further. And he said that he is not going to be taking anything off the
table when it comes to the negotiations that President Trump is going to be leading, he said, along with Russian President Putin, as well as President
Zelenskyy.
Essentially acknowledging there that he did not want to box in the president on any future decisions that may be made, even though he
continues to believe, and he said that U.S. officials continue to believe, that NATO membership for Ukraine is not a realistic objective.
Now, apart from that, Hegseth really did reiterate his comments about the U.S. really taking a backseat role here. And he said that ultimately
President Trump, as well as his advisors that are close to him, as well as the national security advisor, the secretary of state, they are going to be
the ones that are driving these negotiations around peace in Ukraine.
But he said that, ultimately, there is not going to be a peace settlement or any kind of deal made without the involvement of Ukrainian President,
Volodymyr Zelenskyy. And he pointed out that President Trump also spoke to Zelenskyy just after speaking to Putin.
But we should note that those comments really alarmed a lot of defense ministers here at NATO.
Today, they said that -- one defense minister called it troubling. Another called it a potentially dirty deal, should President Trump and President
Putin make any kind of deal over the heads of the Ukrainians.
So, Secretary Hegseth was really trying to kind of, I think, allay those fears, saying that it's going to be a conversation that President Zelenskyy
is very much involved in as well.
Natasha Bertrand, CNN in Brussels.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: Turning to the Middle East now, Hamas says Saturday's planned release of more Israeli hostages is back on.
ASHER: In a statement from the militant group says it held what it calls positive talks with mediators from both Egypt and Qatar. Hamas had
threatened to postpone this weekend's release, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire deal.
GOLODRYGA: And Israeli officials are responding, saying that they're optimistic that the shaky deal won't collapse.
Well, now, while every hostage release has been met with joy and relief, I want to focus on a homecoming that has especially touched Israelis, the
return of five young women who were kidnapped from their military base on October 7th.
I spoke with the mothers of three of the young women about their grueling experience in captivity, how they're doing now, and their message for
President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[13:10:05]
GOLODRYGA: Ayelet, Shira, Orly, thank you so much for joining us on what is an interview that we have been waiting for so long, for over 15 months.
What have these few days been like at home? Let me ask you, Ayelet. How is Naama doing? Is she back in her pink bedroom with her squish mellows and
her sports awards?
AYELET SHACHAR LEVY, MOTHER OF FORMER ISRAELI HOSTAGE NAAMA LEVY: Yes, she's back in her room. And although she does prefer to sleep with her mom,
at night, but she's back in her room and she's happy. She's doing well. She's very strong mentally and physically.
I think she, you know, her strength is what really helped her survive and keep alive. Slowly she's, you know, regaining her freedom and her
confidence and she's doing really well.
GOLODRYGA: And, Shira, I know Liri marked her 20th birthday just a few days after she was freed. Daniella got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Roy.
What have these past few days been like for Daniella and Liri?
ORLY GILBOA, MOTHER OF FORMER ISRAELI HOSTAGE DANIELLA GILBOA: Daniella, she's happy. She's happy to be free. I can see only the things on the
ground. I mean, there are a lot of things under.
And I'm sure that we can see them when the days go by. But for now, she's at home, she's free. And this is what's important.
GOLODRYGA: I know it is very important in terms of the healing process that your daughters all receive the privacy that they deserve as part of the
recovery. But I do want to ask a little bit about what they experienced that day on October 7th when they were bloodied, when they were bound and
tied and harassed by the terrorists.
They had seen 15 of their friends and fellow soldiers spotters killed before their eyes. And Naama had the visible wounds of a cut above her eye
and I believe her heels as well.
Did she receive any treatment while she was in captivity?
LEVY: Naama was wounded by shrapnel. She needed to dress her wounds by herself and they were pretty bad. The first few weeks, she couldn't even
walk. She got better slowly and by herself over time. Some of the shrapnels she took out by herself and others are still there.
GOLODRYGA: And, Orly, did your daughter tell you about the specific horrors that they endured that day on October 7th?
GILBOA: Actually, October 7th is the most hard thing for her to speak about. She lost a lot of her friends, a lot of good friends of her. And the
loss of them is very hard for her, even more than the period of time of captivity.
GOLODRYGA: Ayelet, we did hear from some of the other hostages who were released that they were exposed to some media at times while they were in
captivity. I'm wondering if Naama was able to see any news coverage at all. Was she able to hear your voice in interviews? Did she see the video that
became infamous around the world that really highlighted the horrors that these girls endured?
LEVY: She knew about that video, yes. She saw the video. She knew about it. And she did see myself and her father in different interviews.
And in parts of interviews, she heard sometimes on the radio, her brother speaking, her grandfather speaking. So it wasn't an everyday thing. But
sometimes, she was exposed to the media. And it did give her a lot of strength and support and helped her throughout those days. And she waited
to, you know, catch a glimpse of one of us.
GOLODRYGA: There were reports that Liri and the other girls were held by a senior member of Hamas who was holding them in an apartment in Gaza City
and played like a good cop role, trying to be perhaps, at times, more nice to them in trying to get information out of them.
SHIRA ALBAG, MOTHER OF FORMER ISRAELI HOSTAGE LIRI ALBAG: Yes. Most of the time was in apartments with civilians, with families, with the women of the
captivities, with the children. And it was -- it was difficult because they need to stay to clean the house and to cook for them and to teach the
children to sit with the children. And to try to teach them English.
[13:15:12]
GOLODRYGA: Even the children, the women, no one there expressed any sympathy to them?
ALBAG: No, no.
GOLODRYGA: I know you saw as the world did see, the horrible conditions, the three men or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami, were in when they
were released on Sunday, emaciated week, frail doctors saying they suffered severe medical conditions.
GILBOA: As he said, their condition was very -- wasn't good. And one of them, Eli is my cousin. And it was very hard for me to see him like this,
because I know him before the captivity how he looked like. And now how he's looking, how he looks like when he was released.
And it was very hard, just -- but it was -- it emphasized the urgent that we need to do this deal and to keep doing it. I mean, not to give anyone
the opportunity to stop it. And it must be immediately given.
GOLODRYGA: I want you, Orly, to address those who say, oh, look, Daniella, the other girls, they looked so healthy when they came out. They must have
been treated well.
When you saw your cousin, how do you respond to those who say that perhaps their treatment wasn't as bad as many had feared?
GILBOA: We saw it together, the first photo of Eli when he came out and we just, both of us were crying. And she told me, Daniella told me, mama just
know that if we were released two months ago, I was looked like Eli, because she also lose a lot of weight there.
But in the two or three months, they got more food. So if she was released two months ago, she was like him.
GOLODRYGA: Ayelet, and then we spoke months ago when there was potentially a deal, a very similar deal on the table in last summer in July. I mean,
you hear these words from Orly and you can't help but think your daughters could have been home sooner.
LEVY: They could have been home sooner. They should have been home sooner. Like my daughter and I wrote on the helicopter, from the Gaza border to the
hospital, on the day she was released, she wrote, thank you, President Trump.
So I want to say, you know, she knew -- she knew that President Trump had a key role in forwarding and mobilizing this deal. And for her to come back.
What I know is that the pressure is important, and it should go in the direction of continuing the deal and not breaking it and bringing everybody
home. This is the pressure we need. This is the deal that should be carried out completely and as soon as possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GOLODRYGA: You know, finally, these women are able to talk with smiles on their faces knowing that their daughters are home, but they also know that
they have work ahead of them because the whole country is fighting for the release of the 70-plus remaining hostages in Gaza, including their
daughters who are just at home now sort of returning to whatever normal looks like.
And it was so fascinating because there had been reports that Amit Soussana, who had been one of the hostages released in November of 2023,
who was brave enough to come out and talk about the sexual abuse that she endured in Gaza, she said that Liri Albag, 19 at the time, saved her life.
They were in the same house at some point, the Hamas. a terrorist there holding them thought that Amit was in the IDF and was trying to extract
information out of her, threatening to kill her if she didn't come clean. And Liri was the one that approached them and said she's not in the IDF.
And Amit said, she saved her life. Just to think about that story.
ASHER: That was -- that was a beautiful interview. There were so many moments that stood out to me. Firstly, this idea that some of the captives
were witnessing their parents on television fighting for their release.
I mean the level of powerlessness you must feel as a hostage in Gaza dealing with those harrowing conditions, knowing that your parents don't
even know if you're alive or dead at that point in time. You want to reach out and touch them, but you can't.
And then also this idea of thinking about just what they endured on October 7th, really the stuff of nightmares. And then realizing at the same time
that they're one of the lucky ones. And they're the ones that actually managed to get out.
And just seeing the video of one of the daughters being thrust into a car, you see her bloody bandaged up and just sort of being really treated so
badly.
But then you come to realize that these are -- these mothers are one of the lucky ones in all of this.
[13:20:04]
GOLODRYGA: Yes. And these girls remember that military service is mandatory in Israel, and some of them were just three days onto the job. They were
taken from their beds in their pajamas and witnessed 15 of their friends executed before their eyes. And to hear one of the moms there say,
Daniella's mom, say, this is the one thing I still don't talk to her about, because it was the most painful of all that she experienced in 15 months.
ASHER: The one sort of glimmer of hope that I think is a really good thing. And this is the last note. Just this idea that, yes, they got their
daughters back and they're still fighting.
GOLODRYGA: Yes.
ASHER: They're still fighting for the release of the others who remain in captivity.
GOLODRYGA: They will continue to and hopefully we'll start to see more come home as well. There's been a lot of concern about a pause in the ceasefire
hostage deal this week. It looks like it will be --
ASHER: Right.
GOLODRYGA: -- resuming.
All right. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: All right. Well, you were looking at the White House there on your screen, where any moment now, President Trump will announce reciprocal
tariffs on countries he believes are ripping off the U.S. He calls them a way to even the score.
ASHER: Among the countries that could be affected, India, whose prime minister is visiting the White House today, will bring you President
Trump's comments as soon as they begin.
Let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier, for some analysis and some insight on a slew of developments. I mean, there's so
much going on, Kimberly. Let's start with the international developments regarding Russia's war in Ukraine.
So, clearly, there is a lot of fear at this point in time, Kimberly, that Ukraine is essentially going to get pushed out of the negotiations here,
that it's going to be some kind of deal struck between the U.S. and Russia, and then Ukraine, at the end of all of it, could have a deal sort of shoved
down its throat.
Just talk us through what assurances have been given that that will not be the case to Volodymyr Zelenskyy?
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: There have been a couple of verbal assurances from President Trump, but those don't outweigh for the
Ukrainians and Europeans I've spoken to. the numerous comments by President Trump, the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth that seem to make some sort of
a peace deal in Russia's favor, a foregone conclusion.
President Trump, in comments last night, said -- he made comments that made it sound like this was a war of choice by Ukraine when Ukraine was invaded.
Secretary of Defense Hegseth has said that he doesn't think membership to NATO is a realistic outcome of any settlement negotiations.
[13:25:07]
He's also chided European allies for not spending enough of their own resources on helping Ukraine. And he also said that Ukraine can't expect to
get back all of its territory that Russia has seized in 2022 and 2014, Crimea and much of the East.
GOLODRYGA: You know, we were all a bit stunned by the comments from Pete Hegseth this morning. Obviously, he was speaking for the president. And
what I keep going back to is an answer to a question that President Trump was asked in the Oval Office yesterday, and that is whether he sees Ukraine
as an equal player in these negotiations.
And he said, that's an interesting question. That, to me, sort of lays it all out there in terms of how he views Ukraine and what deal, if any,
Ukraine gets out of, any sort of pause in the fighting right now, because just on the surface, and now we're a few days into now the announcements
from the president regarding five percent of GDP being spent on defense, obviously, news of this phone call, it does seem like this is playing right
into Vladimir Putin's favor at this point.
DOZIER: Yes. President Zelenskyy has said that no security deal can be complete or will hold unless the U.S. takes part. But he doesn't have much
leverage, much to trade with to get Trump to fight for Kyiv's part of this bargain.
Meanwhile, President Trump has had one, possibly two phone calls in the past few days with President Putin and has acted, what he's repeated some
of Russia's talking points about, for instance, Ukraine somehow causing this invasion of itself.
And he's also been basking in the glow of the release of American prisoners from Russia, from Belarus, and that is the kind of win that has given him,
you know, in his first month that makes him look good back home.
Again, all of this seems to be stacking up in Putin's favor. Trump is responding and European officials have said, publicly and privately, this
doesn't feel like what the U.S. used to say under Ukraine -- Biden administration, nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.
And European leaders signed the record saying, they've got to be part of this. Ukraine has to be part of this negotiation.
ASHER: You know, you talk about this idea that, I mean, it's obvious that Zelenskyy just really doesn't have much leverage in all of this, and Russia
does have a lot of power at this point in time.
Given that Russia clearly has the upper hand, I mean, Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin before speaking to Zelensky yesterday. That tells you so
much.
Given that the state of affairs is in Putin's favor, what incentive does he have to just sort of end the war and negotiate a peace deal, as opposed to
holding out for a little bit longer and perhaps negotiating even more territory, for example?
DOZIER: Well, European leaders hope to appeal essentially to Trump's ego, to convince him through one-on-one meetings, phone calls, that he's getting
steamrolled by Putin and that allowing Putin to keep so much territory is rewarding him for aggression that will encourage China to attack Taiwan and
eventually encourage Russia to try to take other territory in Europe, perhaps in the Baltics, which he's hinted at in speeches.
The problem is, I've had one Trump confidant tell me, and also spoke to some officials who used to work with him in the first administration. They
say he really doesn't think beyond his four-year term.
So as long as he can end this conflict and keep Russia from invading while he's in the White House, that's good enough for him. This strategic
negotiating for the future, the idea of the Pax Americana that emerged out of World War II, where the U.S. is the guarantor of global stability, he
doesn't buy into that. So it's going to be hard to convince him to work for keeping Ukraine's independence.
One small thing to mention that Ukraine does have in its favor. It's got about five percent of the world's rare earth mineral supplies, and it
hasn't really commercialized that. So Kyiv is hoping to offer the U.S. some exclusive deals that hopefully will show dollar signs to Trump and he will
decide that it's worth keeping, at least the main body of Ukraine intact for now.
[13:30:08]
GOLODRYGA: Yes, though some of that is controlled illegally by Russia at this point, that specific land where those minerals lie. So -- but that is
-- that is an interesting nugget here because that was presented as part of the victory plan that Volodymyr Zelenskyy brought to Washington last year.
Didn't really do much for President Biden. It clearly appeals to Trump.
ASHER: All right. Kimberley Dozier, live for us. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
GOLODRYGA: Well, it has been a big day on Capitol Hill for two of Donald Trump's most controversial picks to run government agencies.
ASHER: Yes. In a Senate vote just a short time ago, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services. And then Mitch
McConnell was the only Republican to vote against Trump's pick for the nation's top health post. Democrats say Kennedy's vaccine skepticism makes
him a really dangerous choice for the job.
GOLODRYGA: Separately, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Kash Patel to be director of the FBI. Critics say Patel is
likely to exact revenge on FBI employees who have investigated Donald Trump.
Let's go to CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, who's standing by the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. How things have changed,
Manu, over the course of the last month and a half, where there had been bets that perhaps of some of these nominations, one, two, three wouldn't go
through. It looks like all of Trump's nominees will indeed be confirmed, even the most controversial ones.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No question about it. Republicans very much falling in line behind the president here who has
demanded that they fall in line. And many of them who have been uncertain about some of these nominees, whether it's been Tulsi Gabbard and
controversies into her past. Or it was about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his vaccine skepticism. Or even about how Donald Trump handled the firing of
the -- how he pushed out the FBI director Christopher Wray and pushed in Kash Patel.
All those concerns have essentially fall in by the wayside as Republicans have pushed these nominees through.
Today's vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., 52 out of 53 Republicans voted to confirm him for the position. Even though several of those Republicans were
flatly concerned about his criticism in the past of vaccines, his linkage of vaccine usage to childhood autism, and his inability to flatly say at
his confirmation hearing that vaccines are not -- do not cause autism and would not say he supported the science.
But he did manage to reassure some of those skeptics of some commitments he made, said he would not try to undercut vaccines going forward. And
ultimately, he won over some key Republican holdouts.
Now the one he did not win over was Mitch McConnell, the outgoing -- the former Republican leader who's got two more years left on his current term
and has now become the only Republican senator to vote against multiple nominees.
He voted against not just Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. but also Tulsi Gabbard and Pete Hegseth, as well for Defense Secretary.
On this issue on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., he cited the fact that he is a childhood polio survivor. And the fact that he believed he had some serious
concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s past statements about vaccines itself and he said, and I quote, of the record of trafficking and dangerous
conspiracy theories and eroding trust in public health institutions, does not entitle Mr. Kennedy to lead these important efforts.
But despite those comments he made his views known, not only after the vote was closed. He was not trying to lobby Republicans to vote against it. And
ultimately, if he did, it's uncertain it would change any minds, as Donald Trump wanted his man for the post, and he got his man, Robert F. Kennedy
Jr., along with all the other controversial nominees as well, guys.
GOLODRYGA: All right. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill for us. Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Still to come, President Donald Trump will soon welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House. A look at what that could
mean for trade between the two countries, ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:35:36]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to ONE WORLD. I'm Zain Asher.
GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga.
U.S. President Trump is getting ready to welcome Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, to the White House. Now, the pair will meet in the Oval
Office in less than three hours' time.
ASHER: President Trump wants to bring down the U.S. trade deficit, and officials say he's looking to have a bilateral trade deal with India for
2025.
Trump is expected to sign new reciprocal tariffs this hour.
GOLODRYGA: Time now for The Exchange. Joining us is Kenneth Juster, who is the former U.S. ambassador to India under the last Trump administration.
And these two leaders, Ambassador, had quite a good relationship. And I would imagine that that is the goal going forward here in Trump's second
term. The U.S. was India's largest trading partner, accounting for $120 billion last year. However, it ranks 10th in the list of U.S. trading
partners.
What is the ask that we're expecting from President Trump out of this meeting today, as it relates specifically to this topic of tariffs?
KENNETH JUSTER, FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO INDIA: Well, first of all, I want to emphasize the point you made at the outset, that the two
leaders have had an excellent personal relationship and rapport. And I think they both look forward to getting together.
As Trump, as he's indicated, is interested in lowering the trade deficit with India and lowering tariffs and increasing market access. Also, there's
been in the news the turnabout undocumented immigrants that are in the United States from India and sending those individuals back to India.
But more broadly, there's a desire to continue to enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries in terms of the defense relationship,
the energy relationship, the technology relationship, and really across the board that has been so successful across the Republican and Democratic
administrations for the last 25 years.
ASHER: Just in terms of how much leverage Narendra Modi has, just in terms of the dynamics and, obviously, you know, the U.S. has the upper hand in
this. But as you and Bianna were pointing out, President Trump is upset about the fact that American goods entering India have, you know, a certain
number of tariffs charged with those goods compared to vice versa.
What does Narendra Modi need to say to President Trump in this meeting? But also just in terms of leverage, the U.S. views India as a strategic partner
when it comes to containing China. So how important is it for President Trump to also appease Narendra Modi as well?
[13:40:03]
JUSTER: Well, I don't think Prime Minister Modi or even President Trump look at this as appeasing one party or the other or leverages how to
enhance their strategic partnership. As I said, President Trump across the board is concerned with reciprocity and the need for countries to provide
market access for U.S. goods. But Prime Minister Modi wants to continue to build up the relationship and to be an active member of the Quad, which is
a grouping among the United States, India, Japan and Australia. India is going to be the third largest economy in the world. It's a big market. It's
a place for U.S. companies to trade.
And also, India has enormous energy needs. They purchase energy from the United States of all types, liquefied natural gas, oil. And now there's
talk of nuclear cooperation. India is indicating that it's going to revise its civil liability laws for nuclear reactors.
In addition, there can be defense purchases by India of investment. And other ways to cooperate in the technology sector. That's leading a sector
for both India and the United States and to help set the standards and really drive innovation for both countries.
So there's a lot of areas where it's mutually beneficial to work together, but India is going to have to, in my opinion, respond to President's
concerns on trade in one manner or the other.
And I think they should use it as an opportunity to broaden the discussion to economic cooperation across a range of areas as I've just discussed.
GOLODRYGA: As it relates to the war in Ukraine, you know, India has played a unique role, that of sort of neutrality throughout the course of the last
almost three years. India has now become Russia's largest purchaser of oil and, obviously, for many, many years has been buying Russian defense
weaponry as well.
This has sort of been a thorn in the side at President Biden as, of course, they were trying to leverage a relationship between the U.S. and India, and
as Zain noted, sort of to derail China.
But now with Trump seemingly a bit more open to relations with Russia, with Vladimir Putin, the conversation that they just had yesterday, does this
benefit India?
JUSTER: Well, first, you have to step back and understand that India's had a long historical relationship with, first, the Soviet Union and now Russia
throughout the Cold War when the United States was an ally of Pakistan and only had a cool relationship with India.
And so there is a reason why India has majority of its defense equipment from Russia. And it believes India in strategic autonomy and independence
of its foreign policy and how to maintain its close relationship with Russia, in part, to try to blunt Russia's relationship with China.
Obviously, if the president is able to resolve the Russian-Ukraine war, that will take away an irritant in the relationship. If he's not able to
solve it and wants to put more pressure on Russia, there may be some pressure on India to limit its energy imports from Russia.
So we'll have to see. But overall, the fact that the president is willing to talk and meet with Putin has to be seen by India as a positive
development because they too want to play a mediating role in the Russia- Ukraine dispute.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. We should note that Prime Minister Modi has traveled to both Moscow and Kyiv since --
JUSTER: Correct.
GOLODRYGA: -- 2022 when this war began.
Former Ambassador Kenneth Juster, thank you so much for your time.
ASHER: Thank you, Ambassador.
JUSTER: My pleasure.
Golodryga: And still to come on ONE WORLD, an unexpected impact of that shutdown. Could the cutbacks create a new wave of migrants coming to the
U.S.?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Many of the migrants who are coming here to learn a job and find work will need to go somewhere else to find it.
Maybe to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:45:51]
ASHER: Doctors are treating at least 28 people for injuries after a car plowed through a crowd in Munich, Germany. Munich's mayor says children are
among those who are injured and happened during a demonstration over a labor strike.
GOLODRYGA: And police say they have detained the driver, a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan.
Now this comes a day before the Munich Security Conference begins, just about a mile or one and a half kilometers away.
ASHER: Yes, those -- among those attending are Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance seen here arriving
in Munich.
GOLODRYGA: Now the fate of USAID, the agency that provides billions of dollars in aid all over the globe, rests in the hands of a federal judge
right now.
ASHER: The union that represents USAID employees is asking the judge to issue a temporary injunction to prevent the Trump administration from
laying off thousands of workers. It came as Republicans in Washington held a hearing today to talk about the ways they -- the U.S. -- the ways that
the USAID is allegedly wasted money. Democrats expressed frustration that an agency that used to be popular is now suddenly so polarizing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Ninety-three missions. Everyone has been closed. Everyone, that's not trying to fix something. That's destroying something.
REP. BILL KEATING (D-MA): Up until three weeks ago, this issue, the USAID, used to be the most bipartisan issue. And I've been on this committee now
for 14 years. Plus, we used to agree with these things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: One ironic result of the Trump administration's shutdown of USAID is that it could lead to more migrants actually trying to get into the U.S.
Some of the programs USAID used to fund were designed to provide opportunities to people who would otherwise consider migration as a way out
of poverty.
Stefano Pozzebon has more on that from Cali, Colombia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POZZEBON (voice-over): It's lunch time in Alexandra's home. Today is chicken, but food is not always guaranteed for this family, where she is
the only provider for her two children, a younger sister and her mother.
In 2019, Alexandra left her native, Venezuela, alone, walking to Colombia with other migrants while her family stayed behind and joined a few months
later.
Now in Cali, she's looking to hit the road again.
ALEXANDRA GUERRA, VENEZUELAN MIGRANT (through translator): Other countries offer better opportunities. After six years, I still don't have a formal
job here and now with these decisions, it will be even worse.
POZZEBON: These decisions are edicts from U.S. President Donald Trump that flipped Alexandra's life upside down 2,400 miles south of Washington.
She was applying to a safe mobility program to legally move to the U.S. After two interviews UNHCR told her by e-mail that the program was shut
down. Ten days later, a tailoring course she was taking was also halted after a stop work order for USAID, the U.S. agency that was funding the
course.
[13:50:03]
This is her classroom now. Sewing machines untouched. Nobody at these computers.
POZZEBON: All of these machinery was purchased more than 20 years ago with funds from USAID. And since January 27th, it stays like this, still unused.
Now, the worry is that many of the migrants who were coming here to learn a job and find work will need to go somewhere else to find it, maybe to the
United States.
POZZEBON (voice-over): The project director doesn't know if the courses will ever come back. The paradox, he says, is that these are the kind of
projects the White House should fund if it really wants to reduce migration.
Alexandra's classmates were mostly Venezuelans who settled in Colombia, and here would gain qualifications to enter the job market. And now they're all
weighing their options.
POZZEBON: What's most interesting about listening to these stories is that this place had become a community center. They would not only receive an
education, but also access to psychologists, a network of contacts, opportunities, social workers that in the process of migration is key. And
that's why they feel that all of that effort has now gone in vain.
AYARITH OLIMPIO, VENEZUELAN MIGRANT (through translator): My whole family hangs on this decision. This is personal. Migrants are not just a face you
see on social media. We are people.
POZZEBON (voice-over): Feeling betrayed by the White House, Ayarith sees no future here and no good options ahead.
Stefano Pozzebon, CNN, Cali, Colombia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right. Evacuation warnings are in place for parts of fire ravaged Los Angeles County.
GOLODRYGA: Yes. The scorched earth following January's wildfires is creating a high risk for flooding and mudslides now. Southern California is
bracing for significant rainfall in the next 24 hours.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GOLODRYGA: Passengers riding a New York City subway got the shock of their lives when a woman went into labor and gave birth to a baby girl in one of
the cars. The conductor held the train at a station in Midtown Manhattan after some on the train raised the alarm and dialed 911.
ASHER: This is actually such a New York story. Other passengers stepped up, of course, as New Yorkers do, to give assistance. Transit authorities say.
[13:55:07]
But it is literally another instance of New Yorkers coming together to help each other. Officials say that mother and baby were taken to a hospital and
both are doing just fine.
GOLODRYGA: Wonder who they're going to name that baby after. A-train.
All right. That does it for this hour of ONE WORLD. I'm Bianna Golodryga.
ASHER: I'm Zain Asher. Appreciate you watching. Don't go anywhere. "ISA SOARES TONIGHT" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
