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One World with Zain Asher
Ukraine Agrees to U.S. Proposal for 30-day Ceasefire; Bremmer: Trump's Trade Policy is Ambitious Effort to Reshape Global Economic Order; Former Philippines President Accused of Crimes Against Humanity; Arctic Sea Ice at its Lowest Level Ever Recorded for February. Aired 12-1p ET
Aired March 12, 2025 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: All right, it is payback time. Canada is just the latest country to hit the American consumer where her second hour
of one world starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tariffs and escalating trade tensions are a form of economic self-harm.
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION: They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices up. Nobody needs
that.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The tariffs are having a tremendously positive impact. They will have, and they are having.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Very different perspectives there. More tariffs, more problems that is, unless you are Donald Trump. Also, ahead from the punisher to the
punish the man who once ruled the Philippines just landed in the Netherlands ahead of his criminal trial, and later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a walker, and he said, I would scare out in the really dark -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Move over Superman. This young guy is ready to take the reins. How a three-year-old saved the life of his great grandmother. All right, coming
to you live from New York. I'm Zane Asher, my colleague, Bianna Golodryga, is off today. You are watching "One World".
The White House is at the center of what could be turning into a global economic storm, with U.S. allies striking back, and Americans likely paying
the price. One day after the latest round of threats and reversals by the U.S. President, Canada is retaliating against its southern neighbor with 25
percent tariffs on a variety of goods set to take effect on Thursday.
Earlier, the world's largest trading bloc announced its response after President Trump dramatically escalated his trade war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEYEN: Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business and worse for consumers. The countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate
as the United States are applying tariffs worth $28 billion. We are responding with counter measures worth 26 billion euros.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The Secretary of State is defending Trump's new steel and aluminum tariffs ahead of his rival at the G7 Foreign Ministers meeting in Canada.
Marco Rubio set to arrive in Quebec City in just a few hours on his way there, America's top diplomat addressed a ceasefire proposal agreed to by
the U.S. and Ukraine on Tuesday.
And one day after proclaiming the ball is now in Moscow's court, he says the U.S. will have some contact with Russia today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: As far as the Russian reaction to it, that's really the question here, and that is -- this is a few hours old.
We're going to bring it to them directly. We're going to say that Ukraine is prepared to stop all battlefield activity and begin the immediate
process of negotiating enduring end of the war. And we'll see what the response is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Right now, President Trump is hosting Ireland's Prime Minister the Taoiseach at the White House. CNN's Nic Robertson joins us, live now from
London. So, Nic, just in terms of the ceasefire proposal, obviously, all eyes on Vladimir Putin to see what he says. Obviously, there is a lot for
him to consider here. He does find himself in quite the dilemma. What does he need to consider and pause to think about before agreeing to these
terms?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, and I think the Russians will have given this a lot of consideration, because they would
see a version of this coming whereby there's a potential to be in a period of negotiations. And I think when we look at the battlefield, about their
accelerated push in Kursk, which takes time, days, weeks to organize before you put it into effect.
And it's been in effect for a couple of days, that really tells you that Russia, in a way, is preparing for those talks. So yes, they've been
thinking about it. And typically, the way that Russia approaches ceasefire type talks like this. The way they've approached it in the past is, you
know, they may initially sound positive, but when they start to talk about it, teams will be established.
There will be delegations that go and meet, and then there will be a lot of details you can expect to come from the Russians about what they want and
what they expect. And I think we got a taste from Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister, earlier today, about how Russia will message what it's
doing.
And typically, what it's done in the past is sort of to invert the facts and play them back against the other side. And Lavrov's version of that
today was to use this expression that you know, discussions about the future of Ukraine without Ukraine in the room.
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And he said, everyone's talking about that, but no one's talking about -- you know Russia needing to be at the table when the discussions are about
Russia. Well, actually, Russia did sit down with U.S. officials a couple of weeks ago, and that's not the issue Russia was the invader, Ukraine's
future, and Russia's pressure on it, and all those sorts of things.
So, you can see the way that Russia will approach it, which will be very difficult to negotiate with, and they will likely have a lot of details.
And we've already heard some of those details that we've heard from officials in Russia. They don't want to see NATO troops on the ground as
some kind of security guarantee inside of Ukraine.
But the initial words coming from the Kremlin may sound optimistic, but I think the reality will belie that when talks get into detail.
ASHER: Yeah, we will be paying close attention to the messaging, as you point out. Nic Robertson, live for us, thank you so much. All right, let's
bring in CNN's Matt Egan, joining us live now for the escalating trade war I mentioned a couple of minutes ago.
So Matt, just in terms of how this is going to affect the U.S. economy and obviously Canada announcing reciprocal tariffs. Moments ago, $20 billion
worth of levies on American goods. The EU also announcing a similar amount, $28 billion worth of tariffs on American goods as well. Explain to us how
resilient the U.S. economy is in terms of being able to withstand the shock of a trade war, a global trade war. Give us your take.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Zain we're about to find out just how resilient the U.S. economy is when it comes to what we're seeing on
tariffs? Because this trade war, it just continues to heat up. As you mentioned, the 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum that kicked in
today.
European Union wasting no time retaliating against U.S. goods now that retaliation does not take effect until April, but we're already hearing
from the U.S. spirits industry. They're warning that the retaliatory tariffs on whiskey will be devastating, because Europe is a major and
growing customer for American whiskey.
And then Canada retaliated, and their retaliation on U.S. goods that kicks in tomorrow. And so, the impact for the U.S. economy really is two-fold,
right? First, it's the impact of higher prices. Because if you're an automaker and you buy a lot of steel and aluminum from Canada and other
countries, the cost of those imports has just gone up.
And maybe you can get some more from the United States, but U.S. producers could raise their prices as well. Steel and aluminum, also use the medical
devices, cans, appliances. So again, it's a key input, and making all of those items is going to get more expensive.
The other big impact here, though, is that retaliation, because as more countries pile retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, and you can see just a
few of the things that the EU has imposed tariffs on today that's going to make those U.S. goods less competitive when U.S. companies try to sell them
overseas, because now they're going to face this, this tariff.
And of course, the other impact is on the uncertainty front, right? We continue to see investors and surveys of small business owners and others
showing that this uncertainty is having an impact, because we know that investors and CEOs, they want clarity. They want stability so they can plan
out their businesses.
But right now, they're not really getting any of that Zain, there's just a lot of uncertainty and turbulence over U.S. policy.
ASHER: Yeah, literally a new sort of headline every day when it comes to tariffs. Matt Egan, live for us there. Thank you so much. Americans are
weighing in on Donald Trump's handling of the U.S. economy. They're not impressed. That's according to a new CNN poll.
In a survey, 56 percent disapprove of how the U.S. President is managing the number one issue for many Americans. I want to bring in Ian Bremmer
President and Founder of The Global Research and Advisory Firm, Erasure Group. He also runs a Digital Media Company, G-Zero Media, and says the
U.S. President is trying to reshape the global economic order.
Our Matt Egan was talking about the level of uncertainty here, so much uncertainty. I was saying that literally, every single day, every single
week, at least, there's a new headline when it comes to tariffs, sometimes they're on again, sometimes they're off again. Makes it really hard for
American businesses to plan. Take us through the likely impact on the U.S. economy of that.
IAN BREMMER, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, EURASIA GROUP: Well, obviously it is a tax on American consumers, and it is going to lead to greater inflation,
and it is having a chilling effect on the markets, and that is now being started to be priced in over the course of the past week.
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But I'm not sure Trump cares as much about that. I mean, first of all, he believes that because the United States is the strongest economy in the
world, it's the largest -- it's the most powerful country in the world, that ultimately dealing with that pain will lead to countries coming to
better terms, better deals with the United States.
And that they're going to come to the table and they're going to negotiate, and they're going to bring their tariffs down, and they're going to invest
more in the U.S. economy.
And he's willing to tolerate much more pain than he was in his first term, where he was running again for president, and where also he had much less
control over his own cabinet or his Republican Party. So that's the theory of the case, as it's being put forward by the Trump Administration.
ASHER: Yeah, so it's essentially a negotiating tool. Howard Lutnick Commerce Secretary essentially said that trade wars are worth it, even if
it leads to recession in the short term. Just explain to us.
And I was asking the same question to our Matt Egan, our Correspondent, that. Just explain to us how resilient the U.S. economy is in terms of
being able to withstand any kind of recession. We've got the Fed having their policy meeting next week on March 18th. Obviously, there's so much
for them to consider here.
BREMMER: Well, the U.S. economy came out of the pandemic much stronger than any of the other advanced industrial economies. Inflation was high, but
lower than those other economies that experienced and growth and productivity had rebounded a lot more quickly.
So, in that regard, there is more seed that you can -- you can use, and so I think there is a level of resilience. And more importantly, the damage to
the American economy will be considerably less than the damage to the other individual economies that are getting hit by the Americans.
Now, the question is, how much pain are those various countries willing to take compared to the U.S.? China has been -- you know, hit twice now 10
percent and then another 10 percent Xi Jinping has not shown himself to be particularly urgent in needing to have a conversation with Donald Trump to
get those tariffs off.
And I would say the Chinese have responded in a somewhat restrained fashion, because they're thinking longer term, and they feel like they have
a lot more patience and capacity to handle what the Americans dish out, as opposed to say the Canadians, where Prime Minister Trudeau immediately
rushed down to Mar-a-Lago to meet with Trump, it hurt him a lot at home.
It presaged, frankly, a faster resignation and a quicker election, and now he's not going to be Prime Minister anymore. So different responses all
over the world. The Europeans might be the most important here, because, of course, there you're talking about a common trade policy for the entire
European Union. That is their confidence, not defense.
It's trade, it's regulatory capacity. They are aligned as 27 countries in one common market. And when the Americans hit the Europeans, the Europeans
hit the Americans back. It has a lot more impact on the U.S. market. So there, I think if there aren't negotiations that are effective, the
Americans are going to a greater degree.
ASHER: But the Europeans have, of course, been here before in 2018 they've seen this tip attack trade war before. Just explain to us how the economic
ramifications for the EU and the U.S. will differ this time around compared to what we saw the last time.
BREMMER: It's very different for the Europeans this time around, not only are they coming out of a pandemic that was harder on them than the U.S.,
but also, they are facing a war in Ukraine that they have been spending a lot of money for. And the Americans are demanding that they do the bulk of
the lifting.
They also haven't been spending much on their own defense. The Americans are demanding they have to do that. Now you've seen over the last week, the
Germans, the French, the Brits, outside the EU, but still part of broader Europe they've all been making announcements about how they're going to
spend much, much more on defensive capabilities, much, much more on Ukraine.
But what does that mean in terms of trying to become more productive? What does it mean in terms of trying to make sure that the people in these
countries are happy when they're also entering a trade war with the Americans? The answer is, they're getting hit on all sides simultaneously.
So, the Europeans are in a much tougher position even the overall even though their trade capabilities are what the Europeans are strongest at.
ASHER: Talk to us about the -- I mean, obviously Europe does the EU does move as a sort of 27-member block, but talk to us about the specific
impacts on individual countries. I mean, you think about the fact that Germany has been in a recession since 2023 it's the longest period of
recession. Is the recession is set to continue through 2025 as the longest continued period of recession since World War II -- at the end of World War
II.
And on top of that when you think about individual sectors, the steel sector in Europe is going to brace for a lot of losses here. Just talk to
us about how it affects individual sectors and individual nations specifically.
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BREMMER: So, two points, one in terms of Germany, you're right, their economy is contracting slightly and has for two quarters now, and fact, has
been flat post pandemic, and this is a real problem for them. But their debt to GDP ratio has actually been going down because they are incredibly
frugal in terms of the amount of money that they are willing to spend.
Their debt to GDP right now is 43 percent it's a tiny fraction of what it is in the United States or in much of the rest of Europe. And what they've
just announced in the last week with an incoming new chancellor is that they are willing to spend another 500 billion euros on infrastructure in
addition to their outside of their present debt break.
And they're willing to say that any money they spend above 1 percent of GDP on defense going forward is not counted towards the debt break that limits
their spend. In other words, their low debt to GDP, they are now taking unprecedented steps to try to militarize and try to invest, and that, of
course, would lead to a lot sharper growth.
In Germany it's one of the reasons why their markets are outperforming right now in the last week, compared to what the American markets have been
doing. So, the animal spirits from that decision are saying Germany's doing a good job.
Now, more broadly, in terms of sectors, the big problem is that the Europeans just don't have any of these big new technology companies which
are driving the American economy, driving the growth that we had seen in the stock market.
You look at either advanced companies in AI or you look at companies big in the Post Carbon Energy Transition, these are the two most important new
technologies for the global economy. The Americans dominate the former, AI the Chinese dominate the latter, post carbon energy, and the Europeans
dominate regulation, which is useful for the social contract, but useless for competitiveness, productivity and growth.
And that's what they need to turn around, but they just don't have a lot of time or space to do that, given everything you were just asking me about.
ASHER: All right. Ian Bremmer, President and Founder of the Eurasia Group, thank you so much for your perspective. Appreciate it.
BREMMER: Sure.
ASHER: All right, for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has just landed in the hay. He was arrested in Manila on Tuesday, and immediately put on a
plane bound for the Netherlands. The International Criminal Court accuses him of crimes against humanity related to his brutal crackdown on drugs
while he was in office. Mike Valerio has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALARIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte was never far from a cheering crowd. The
self-styled strong man remains hugely popular with large parts of the public, despite his willingness to have people killed.
RODRIGO DUTERTE, THEN-PHILIPINE PRESIDENT: But in Davo I used to do it personally, just to show to the guys that if I can do it, why can't you?
VALERIO (voice-over): Tuesday night, it was Duterte's detractors who were cheering sending him off at the airport on his way to the Hague to be
prosecuted for crimes against humanity.
MARIA RESSA, JOURNALIST: The best part about all of this is that during a time that's been called the era of impunity, little Philippines, the
Philippines actually shows that impunity ends at a certain point.
VALERIO (voice-over): While Mayor of Davao City, Duterte boasted of killing suspects himself. When he became President, Duterte took his war on drugs
to the entire country, giving police and hired gunmen licensed to Kill those who didn't cooperate.
DUTERTE: Resistance is violent, thereby placing your life in jeopardy. Shoot and shoot him dead.
VALERIO (voice-over): Police data shows at least 6000 people were killed like this during his time in office. Rights groups say the toll was much
higher. The victims mostly young men from the country's most impoverished areas, their families told their slain sons deserved to die. Llore Pasco
lost her two boys to the frenzy of violence.
LLORE PASCO, VICTIM'S MOTHER: This is only the start of our fight. Our justice has not yet been achieved because there's still a lot of things
that will happen, but we will not stop fighting.
VALERIO (voice-over): Tuesday's arrest came as a shock to the former president's supporters and seemingly to Duterte himself.
DETERTE: What is the law and what is the crime that I committed?
VALERIO (voice-over): Duterte had appeared to enjoy the protection of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., and that of the Vice President Sara Duterte, his own
daughter.
[12:20:00]
But Marcos allowed Interpol officials to move on Duterte as he returned from a visit to Hong Kong, an act that has empowered the International
Criminal Court to prosecute a former president and may give some solace to the families of the thousands killed without so much as a charge against
them. Mike Valerio, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: All right, coming up, double NASA missions are heading to space on board a SpaceX rocket. One is aimed at studying the sun. The other hopes to
answer some of life's most intriguing mysteries. Plus, climate change is taking its toll on the Arctic. What new data shows just ahead.
And later, I feel that look that she's giving me, yeah, pure joy. That's what that is. A daughter gets justice the Iowa cold case that's been solved
after nearly four decades without a breakthrough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: NASA launched its newest telescope on board SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket on Tuesday, the telescope Sphere X will spend two years in orbit collecting
data on galaxies in hopes of helping us better understand how the universe evolved. Also, on board the rocket, a mission called Punch that will focus
on the sun's impact on the solar system.
Concerns with the Arctic are growing after the area saw temperatures well above normal in Paris in some parts rather, last month. New data shows that
sea ice was at its lowest level ever recorded for February, marking the third straight month of record lows. The data paints a grim picture for a
region and that's been in rapid decline for the last two decades as humans continue to burn fossil fuels.
Here to explain all this is CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir, So, Bill, the Arctic is warming at a rate that is two to four times faster
than the global average. Just walk us through what the consequences are if humans continue to burn fossil fuels at the same rate that we're doing now,
where are we going to be? Where's the Arctic going to be in a decade or two from now?
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: That could be completely ice free in the summers by 2050 Zain and that's a whole different earth than
we're used to. It's a whole different weather system, a whole different cryosphere as we think about it. But the downward spiral, talking about a
new regime, scientists are using this language around what's happening up at the North Pole as a result of those temperatures you talked about.
[12:25:00]
The air temperatures, 10, 20 degrees celsius. That is 20 degrees above normal celsius up in the North Pole, 36 degrees fahrenheit, above normal in
the month of February, just scorching temperatures relative to what life is used to up there. And as a result, the sea ice is just going away at a gob
smacking rate.
This curve here represents a lot of ice in the winter, usually hits almost 16 million square kilometers of ocean surface covered in ice. And then as
it melts in the summer, it bottoms out -- you know typically, historically, around 6 million or so square kilometers.
This is the lowest year ever, 2012, the dotted line there. Here's where we are right now, well below the record. So, you could see, by the time we hit
the end of summer, the melt could be off this chart right here. And this also leads to the loss of the older ice is going away the lighter colors at
the top, new ice, fresh ice, one years old.
At the bottom is the five-year-old ice, which, back in the 80s, made up a big chunk of that extent at this time of year, but now it is nearly
nonexistent. And then we talk about what is shedding off of the land. The Greenland ice sheet itself is shedding enough ice to cover the Island of
Manhattan in a layer two miles thick.
That's every year. That's how much ice goes in. So that affects sea level temperatures, of course. But this is also had to do with the jet stream
Zain the effects on our weather patterns in Europe and the United States. Longer cold snaps, longer heat domes that stay put over places as well. So
many ramifications.
And of course, at the same time, the politics the United States is denying that all of this is happening, actively trying to hide it from the public,
as dozens of scientists are laid off around the country.
ASHER: Bill Weir, thank you for laying that out for us. Obviously grim future if we don't change what we're doing in terms of burning fossil
fuels. Thank you so much, Bill.
WEIR: Thanks Zain.
ASHER: All right, still to come here on "One World" -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In the time I've known him, he has never asked me for a favor. He shouldn't be penalized because he's a patron. I love Tesla.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: The president as pitchman how Donald Trump is upending norms at the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ASHER: Welcome back to One World. I'm Zain Asher. The Trump administration is making the first move in its plan to eliminate the Department of
Education, cutting nearly half of its 4100-person workforce, Tuesday. Security guards locked the doors to the department as employees were
informed that the offices were closing for an unspecified, unspecified, quote, security reasons, hundreds will be laid off, in addition to those
who took voluntary buyouts. Here's Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Is this the first step on the road to a total shutdown?
LINDA MCMAHON, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION: Yes, actually it is because that was the President's mandate. This directive to me clearly is
to shut down the Department of Education.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Next week will mark two months since Donald Trump's return to the presidency, but in his first seven weeks, he has already reshaped the job
in almost unfathomable ways. He has upended relationships that were decades in the making, with military allies in NATO and trade partners Canada and
Mexico. He cozy up to Russia one moment and cuts deals with Ukraine, the next. He is shrinking the federal government at a dizzying pace and breath
that is leaving many Americans breathless.
And then there was this on Tuesday, he assembled the White House press corps on the South Lawn and essentially did a free commercial for Tesla.
Even had notes of Tesla prices and selling points to talk about as the American President turned into a pitchman for a car company.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: People should be going wild, and they love the product, but because he's finding all sorts of terrible things that have taken place against our
country, they want to penalize them in an economic sense. And I just think that's very unfair. So, I just wanted to make a statement. I'm going to buy
one. I love Tesla.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which one did you buy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, which car are you going to buy?
TRUMP: The one I like is that one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does this work?
TRUMP: I want that same color.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Time now for the exchange. Joining me live now is a longstanding observer of U.S. politics, especially the Republican Party.
Mark McKinnon was an adviser to both George W. Bush and John McCain, and he's the creator of the Circus, a documentary series about U.S. politics.
Mark, thank you so much for being with us. I want to start by talking about the President's foreign policy. Some are wondering whether his -- some of
his sort of risky moves when it comes to U.S. foreign policy might end up actually paying off. Obviously, you've read about the news with the
ceasefire deal. The 30-day ceasefire deal announced between the U.S. and Ukraine. Now it's being taken to the Kremlin to get them to agree to it.
Now, I think what's interesting about this is that the fear leading up to this was that the U.S. was going to negotiate first with Russia, come to an
agreement with Russia, and then get Ukraine to accept a weak peace deal. Instead, in this sort of dramatic about face, they ended up negotiating
directly with Ukraine, getting them to agree to a peace deal, and then now forcing Russia to accept it.
That move catching a lot of people by surprise. What do you make of that strategy politically?
MARK MCKINNON, FORMER ADVISOR TO GEORGE BUSH AND JOHN MCCAIN: Well, that's classic Donald Trump. It's, you know, it's unclear if that's really by
design or by accident, but that's how Donald Trump rolls. It's all chaos. And on foreign policy, the one thing I've heard from a lot of people around
the world is that in some instances, Donald Trump's approach to foreign policy, which is to keep everybody off balance, often works in his favor.
But I'll tell you, as you know, somebody who worked for John McCain and worked out of the Republican Party, when you know, our primary foreign
policy point of view was that Vladimir Putin was, you know, a real threat to civilization and so to see Donald -- I'm not sure that I've ever heard
Donald Trump say a critical word about Vladimir Putin in his entire political life.
[12:35:00]
And so, what's astonishing to me, and I'm sure must be to your viewers, is the extent to which Donald Trump has shaken up 80 years of foreign policy
in two months and attacking our allies and friends like Canada, and of course, Europe and other countries across the world, and we're cozying up
to authoritarian governments like Russia.
So, it's astonishing, but nobody should be surprised. I mean, this is exactly what he campaigned on. And so, you know, when he says the quiet
stuff out loud. And so, it should be no surprise. But I do think -- I think we're seeing the consequences at an alarmingly accelerated rate.
ASHER: I mean, we'll see what happens in terms of what he ends up saying about Vladimir Putin, if Vladimir Putin does not agree to this deal,
because then obviously you have Donald Trump pitted directly against Putin, we'll see how that shakes out.
So, when it comes to the war, I mean, obviously, as you know, war can only really end in two ways, if I'm not mistaken, either one side surrenders or
there is a negotiated ceasefire. And if there is a ceasefire, then both sides obviously have to make concessions.
If this war does come to an end, not just in terms of the 30-day ceasefire, but beyond that, if it ends up leading to a lasting peace, well, Donald
Trump supporters will say that Donald Trump has actually achieved in two months what the Democrats would have taken years to achieve. What do you
make of that?
MCKINNON: Well, they may be right, and the fact is that that was a priority for Donald Trump, and that if we do end up with a ceasefire, he's playing
Donald Trump, will get a lot of credit, and perhaps he deserves some credit for that, for pushing this forward.
You know, the question is, what is that going to look like? And it's hard for me to imagine. I mean, if there's a ceasefire right now, negotiated
over the land in place right now. That means that Russia has taken over 20 percent of Ukraine's territory. And I just don't see an outcome where the
Ukrainians and Zelenskyy would agree to that, because that's precisely what Russia has wanted. So, the ceasefire is really all in Russia's advantage
right now.
ASHER: And just in terms of, I mean, you're looking into your crystal ball for us. I mean, obviously Vladimir Putin is in a -- I mean it's quite a
dilemma for him in terms of A, whether to completely agree to the ceasefire deal, not to agree to it, or to agree to it with a sort of yes, but with
certain concessions. What do you think Vladimir Putin strategy is going to be here now that the U.S. essentially hasn't cornered.
MCKINNON: Well, my view would be that Putin will agree in some shape or form to a ceasefire again, because if it locks in place, what is in place
right now, that means that Vladimir Putin wins. I mean, he will have taken 20 percent of Ukraine's territory.
So, I think that my guess is that he will agree to some form of a ceasefire and try and stretch out these negotiations in a way that he just keeps what
he has right now, and if he keeps what he has right now, that's a big win for Vladimir Putin.
ASHER: Right. Mark McKinnon live for us. Thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your perspective. We appreciate it. All right, a Trump
appointee is under scrutiny for defending massive cuts to federal employees while using her government office to film and post fashion videos on social
media. CNN's Kyung Lah has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks just like any other influencer video, a young woman posing in front of a camera over and over and over
again, showing off her trendy but timeless professional fashion. But she's no ordinary influencer, and that's no ordinary office. Her name is
McLaurine Pinover and she's the Trump administration's new Director of Communications for the Office of Personnel Management, or OPM, which
manages federal employees.
All of these videos were shot in her government office, right here at OPM headquarters in Washington, D.C., ground zero for Trump's plan to cut
thousands of workers from the federal government in the name of efficiency. Inside her office, Pinover captures video at her desk, putting on makeup,
modeling new outfits to her 800 followers. Pinover markets close on her account using what's called affiliate links, she could get a portion of any
item sold through her Instagram page, like this $475 skirt or $300 dress. But it's unclear whether she's made any money.
On February 13th, the day 20 people on her communications team lost their jobs, she posted a moment for mixed patterns, and the week when her agency
demanded all federal employees list five things they did that week.
[12:40:00]
She posted the businesswoman special. As OPM spokeswoman, she defended the memo at the time as a commitment to an efficient and accountable federal
workforce.
DONALD SHERMAN, CHIEF COUNSEL, CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON: I would be very curious if she included her efforts to promote
her brand as part of the five things that she accomplished that week.
LAH: Donald Sherman, the Chief Counsel for an Ethics Watchdog Group, says, more than anything, this behavior is insulting to the thousands of federal
employees being fired.
SHERMAN: This Trump administration appointee is violating the public trust at the same time as she seems to be instrumental in the administration's
attack on civil servants.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on camera): It does look like some of this happened on the clock. We were actually looking at her account this morning as she posted a couple of
Instagram stories during normal work hours. You can also see the time on her watch in at least one of the videos she filmed clearly during work
hours.
Now, about 15 minutes after CNN reached out to her requesting comment, her Instagram account was deleted. She declined officially to comment to CNN.
We did get comment, though, from former OPM workers who told us, quote, are you kidding me? That's my office. Another called it absurd and ridiculous
to post fashion videos as people are being laid off. Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
ASHER: All right, still to come, police in Iowa have charged a man with murder in the case of a missing woman almost four decades later. The
victim's daughter explained what it means to her to finally get answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Authorities in the Dominican Republic are intensifying their efforts to find a missing American student, Sudiksha Konanki vanished from her
hotel in the holiday resort of Punta Cana almost a week ago. Dominican authorities say they're searching for the student on land, air and sea and
are treating her disappearance right now as an accident.
A family in Iowa are hoping they will finally get justice after 36 years of waiting. Police have charged 61-year-old, a 61-year-old man with murder,
the murder of Barbara Lenz, after investigators reopened the decades old case.
[12:45:00]
Lenz disappeared from her home in May 1989 and her daughter says she's been waiting for this moment for her entire life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDSAY BAUMGART, DAUGHTER OF BARBARA LENZ: This would be my first birthday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lindsay Baumgart looks through the only photos she has with her mother.
BAUMGART: I'm guessing I was under a year, maybe like six to eight months here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only a handful of pictures capture the two together.
BAUMGART: I feel that look that she's giving me, yes, pure joy. That's what that is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The love is clear, but the memories have started to fade.
BAUMGART: I don't remember the sound of her voice, or honestly, even as a child, how she appeared to me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Baumgart was only three years old when her mother, Barbara Lenz disappeared from her apartment in Woodbine. The small western
Iowa town has lived with the mystery for decades. Lenz's missing person file kept in this dusty cabinet with few answers until now.
Robert Allen Davis is charged with first degree murder, nearly 36 years after Lenz disappeared. His arrest happened Monday during a traffic stop in
Council Bluffs. It's the first arrest by the state's cold case unit.
BAUMGART: It's something that I have honestly waited for my whole life.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though Lenz's body has never been discovered. A new detailed criminal complaint lays out why cold case Investigators
believe Davis murdered her. The complaint says Davis was Lenz's boyfriend and was known to be violent and even strangled her during their two-year
relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Breaking news, President Trump has just dropped a meeting with the Irish Taoiseach at the White House. This tape is from moments ago. Let's
roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Very well, and we knew each other from a long time ago, but it's a great honor to have you in the Oval Office and have you at the White House.
We have tremendous business relationships with Ireland, and that will only get stronger. The relationship we have, personally in every other way is
very, very strong and very, very good. So, I just want to welcome you to Washington, D.C., and to our country. And thank you very much.
MICHEAL MARTIN, PRIME MINISTER, IRELAND: May I thank you, President. It's a great honor for me to be here to celebrate St. Patrick's with you. I thank
you for your hospitality and the warmth of your reception, and I commend you in terms of the work that you're doing, particularly in terms of the
pursuit of peace, which we discussed earlier. I think that's going well. And you really have first 100 days of this government, you've done some
extraordinary things very quickly.
TRUMP: Thank you.
MARTIN: Everybody is watching in that respect.
TRUMP: Thank you.
MARTIN: Delighted to be here. It's an honor to be here.
TRUMP: Well, it's a great honor to have you and special people. Very special people. I know a lot of Irish and growing up in New York, I know a
couple of your people that used to live in that beautiful Ireland, and now they're here. But they love your country very much. You know this, they
have a great -- they have a great feeling toward your country.
MARTIN: They have, and a lot come back for others.
TRUMP: Yes, they come back.
MARTIN: Stuff like that.
TRUMP: They comeback.
MARTIN: Checking out their family, ancestry and things like that.
TRUMP: Great, fantastic people.
MARTIN: Some go to Doon Bakers as well.
TRUMP: We love Doon Bakers. I love them. I don't know if I'll ever see it again. Maybe I won't, but we'll get there. We're going to get there. It's a
beautiful place, wonderful place. Any questions. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you worried -- are you about to cut their tariffs from the EU, which were announced yesterday. And also, how worried should I
be, given the fact that has an asset trade surplus for the U.S. over $50 billion. Micheal Martin, are you quite nervous about (inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, I don't think he looks nervous to me, and if he was nervous, he wouldn't show it. Now, I -- we do have a massive deficit with Ireland,
because Ireland was very smart. They took our pharmaceutical companies away from presidents that didn't know what they were doing.
And you know, it's too bad that happened. It's a tremendous job. I give -- look, the Irish is smart, smart people. And you took our pharmaceutical
companies and other companies, but you know, through taxation and proper taxation, they made it very, very good for companies to move over there.
And we had presidents and people that were involved in this that had no idea what they were doing, and they lost big segments of our economy. The
European Union treats us very badly. They have for years. I saw that I had it out with them in my first term. It did well, but we had to solve other
problems, and we did, but European Union has been very tough, and it's our turn too, you know, we get a turn at that also, but they have not been
fair.
[12:50:00]
They sue our companies and win massive amounts of money. They sued Apple, won $17 billion and they used that for other reasons, I guess, or to run
the European Union.
So, I'm not knocking it. They're doing what they should be doing, perhaps for the European Union, but it does create ill-will. And as you know, we're
going to be doing reciprocal tariffs. So, whatever they charge us, we're charging them. Nobody can complain about that. Whatever it is, it doesn't
even matter what it is if they charge us, if they charge us 25 percent or 20 percent or 10 percent or 2 percent or 200 percent, then that's what
we're charging them.
And so, I don't know why people get upset about that, because there's nothing fairer than that. And we had a problem with Ontario, and they
dropped that. When I let them know what we were going to be doing, they dropped it immediately. So, I'm glad, because electricity -- shouldn't be
playing with electricity. It affects people's lives there. They're -- actually their life. I mean, it can affect, depending on whether it can
affect their life, so we can't do that.
And it doesn't make sense that our country allows electricity to be made in another country and sold into us. Who did that deal for the United States?
OK, I looked at that long ago, and I said, that's not something that's very smart. So, we've had a lot of bad trade policies, and yet we're doing very
well right now.
But we're doing well because I won the election. If I didn't win the election, you would add a very bad period. I think a lot of the stock
market going down was because of a really bad four years that we had. When you look at inflation and all of the other problems that were, I mean, wars
and inflation and so many other problems.
But we're going to have very good years. We're going to have -- we had, I don't know if you saw a little thing like the cost of eggs, little to you,
but big to people out there, down almost 30 percent in the last few days. We got it down.
We did a lot of things. We have a great Secretary of Agriculture, and we did a lot of things that got the cost of eggs down very substantially, and
so many other things. A very big thing that I'm very happy with is oil is down to $65 a barrel, and that's faster than I would have -- we put on the
gas. We stepped into gas in order to get oil.
And what's happening? So, we're getting that down. And when energy comes down, prices are going to be coming down with it. So, in a very short
period of time, we've done a very good job. And I think that the tariffs that we're talking about, and again, reciprocal. I think that the tariffs,
there are some cases where they're a little beyond reciprocal, because, you know, we've been abused for a long time as a country. We have been abused
really for a long time, and we will be abused no longer. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you going to retaliate --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, would you describe for us as this meeting your vision by cutting about half the workforce? And what responsibility do you
feel to the civil servants who have now lost their jobs? Many of them worked at the Department of Education during the first term.
TRUMP: Sure, I do. I feel very badly but many of them don't work at all. Many of them never showed up to work. Many of them, many of them never
showed up to work, Kelly. And unfortunately, and that's not good. And when we cut, you know, we go, and that's what I had number of meetings with a
lot of people over the last couple of months. When we cut, we want to cut, but we want to cut the people that aren't working or not doing a good job.
We're keeping the best people.
And Linda McMahon is a real professional, very -- actually, a very sophisticated businessperson, and she cut a large number, but she kept the
best people. And we'll see how it all works out. But our country was run very badly. I mean, whether it was that or contracts that were signed that
was so bad, so obviously bad.
And I go through them in speeches. I could go through them all day long. I could read for billions and hundreds of billions of dollars, and all of
that fat and waste and fraud and abuse is being taken out. But it's incredible what's happened now.
Department of Education's, maybe more so than any, any other place has a lot of people that can be cut. The number one, not showing up to work.
Number two, they're not doing a good job. And if you take a look at -- take a look at our education process, and if you look at the charts, because
they have numerous charts where they do the top 40. We're at number 37, 38, 39 and 40. And recently they hit during Biden's last few days, they hit
last. So, they were number 40, and yet we're number one in cost per pupil. So, it's pretty bad.
[12:55:00]
But we have a dream. And you know, the dream is we're going to move the Department of Education, we're going to move education into the states, so
that the states instead of bureaucrats working in Washington, so that the states can run education.
And you have Norway, you have Denmark, you have Sweden, you have various, Finland. You have various countries that do very well. You also have China
that does very well in education, which is a pretty big tribute to China. I must say, 1.4 billion, and they're in the top 10. And it's pretty amazing.
So, we can't blame size anymore.
You know, normally you'd blame size. It's too big. How can you do it? But China does it. So, we think, when you move it back to Iowa and Indiana and
all the states that run so well, there's so many, I could name 30, maybe almost 40. Those will be as good as Denmark.
Those will be as good as Norway, and they'll be as good as any of these -- I believe they'll be as good as any. Now then you're going to have 10 that
won't be so great. You're going to have five that will not be good at all. But we'll work with them, and we'll get them to be good.
But what we want to do is always school choice, but we're going to do school choice, and we're doing it, but we want education to be moved back
where the states run education, where the parents of the children will be running education, where governors that are doing a very good job will be
running education, not run -- I drive through the city and I see, like so many buildings, Department of Education, department of big buildings, the
department -- and by the way, they're empty. Nobody shows up to work. So, I think Linda did a very good job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you have a meeting with Vladimir Putin scheduled for conversation. What would be --
TRUMP: I won't comment on that, but we had a great success yesterday. We have a full ceasefire when it -- if it kicks in, but we have to see it's up
to Russia now. But we've had a good relationship with both parties, actually, and we'll see. We'll be knowing -- people are going to Russia
right now as we speak.
And hopefully we can get a ceasefire from Russia. And if we do, I think that would be 80 percent of the way to getting this horrible blood bath
finished. It's a blood bath is taking place over there, on average, 2000 to 3000 young people a week are being killed in that stupid war that would
have never happened if I were president.
So, we have people going over there. Mr. VP, do you have anything to say about it, because you're very much involved. What just happened?
J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we've got some conversations that are happening on the phone and in-person with some of our representatives
over the next couple of days, as the President said, we think that we're in a very good place where the Ukrainians have agreed to a ceasefire, and
we're now going to see whether we can get the Russians to agree to a ceasefire too. And we'll certainly have news on that when we find out that
news.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) Vladimir Putin will keep the ceasefire, considering that he's broken them in the past.
TRUMP: I haven't -- we haven't spoken to him yet with substance, because we just found out, and we just were able to get Ukraine to agree. So, we're
going to know very soon. I've gotten some positive messages, but a positive message means nothing. This is a very serious situation. This is a
situation that could lead to World War III, and Biden should have never let it happen. Incompetence allowed this to happen. This shouldn't have
happened. October 7th in the Middle East should have never happened with Israel.
The horrible leaving -- the way they left, Afghanistan should have never happened. Inflation should have never happened. You know, we have great
inflation numbers, by the way, just got released, inflation is way down, and it's based on what we've done, and we've done it in a very short period
of time. You know, we had virtually no inflation. For four years, we had almost no inflation. And when these characters took over, we went from no
inflation to the worst inflation, probably in the history of our country. So, it's very interesting.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And by the way, I have to speak of inflation. I love these socks. What's with these socks?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in the honor of Taoiseach.
TRUMP: I'm trying to stay focused but I'm very impressed with the VP's.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would say to you that United States recognizes having such an important role in the case process, and yet half the parties
from the Northern Ireland government have decided not to come from (inaudible).
TRUMP: They haven't what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They haven't (inaudible).
TRUMP: What are they boycotting?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are talking about your position on Gaza as one (inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, I haven't heard that. I really haven't heard that. Look --
MARTIN: Can I just say as a tribute to the President on the peace initiatives. The one thing we've learned in Ireland about the peace process
that you've just spoken about, and I recall back in the early 90s when the first tentative steps to get peace in Ireland, people criticized people
like John Hume or people like (inaudible) Taoiseach, but they kept going, and when we got that ceasefire in 1983, OK, took a number of years to get
the comprehensive peace settlement. But again --
END
