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Trump Attacks Political Foes In Justice Department Speech; Democrats Struggle To Decide On Strategy To Combat Trump; Putin Urges Ukrainian Troops In Kursk To Surrender; Russia Claims Progress On Battlefield Amid Ceasefire Talks; Former Philippine Leader Charged With Crimes Against Humanity; CNN Speaks To Founders Of Afghan Dreamers Robotics Team. Aired 4- 5p ET
Aired March 14, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00]
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A big magazine just named her the most powerful woman in the world and that's okay with me. She is
the most powerful woman -- you think about it, John, right? The most powerful woman in the world. But she's great.
And we had a great 90 days, it was a perfect 90 days, and it was a great result, but we want to put that result to good use by doing a phenomenal
job. And I want to tell you that Todd and Emil know this very well. We had an amazing judge in Florida, and her name is Aileen Cannon, and I didn't
know her, I still don't know her. I don't believe I ever spoke to her, even during the trial, but I did appoint her federal judge.
And these fake lawyers, these horrible human beings, were hitting her so hard, public relations wise. They were playing the ref. I don't think it's
legal. I don't think it is legal. They might as well go out and just shout it in a courthouse.
They were saying she was slow. She wasn't smart. She was totally biased. She loved Trump. I didn't know her other than I saw her a couple of days
that I was in court, and I thought her decorum was amazing. Anything bad they could say, though, they were saying about her, it was whatever they
could say bad about a human being, all made up, because actually she was brilliant. She moved quickly.
She was the absolute model of what a judge should be, and she was strong and tough. And how do you get them to stop if you're a judge? How do you
get them to stop with the playing the ref? Bobby Knight would play the ref. That's why I brought up the Bobby Knight story.
He would play the ref, he'd scream at the ref. He'd scream so hard. Oh boy, it was terrible actually. And the people would come up, his assistant
coaches would come up, the players, coach, coach, don't do that. You -- don't do it. He said he is not going to change his tune, coach. He called
it. He is not changing. I don't care and he screamed. That's when he threw the chair. He starts going crazy.
And he said, no, he is not going to change this time, but he is going to change for the next play, and sure as hell they did. You know, Bobby, by
the way, had the last undefeated team in basketball and relatively speaking, you know, he had a team. He always had a team. He never had that
-- he had a couple of great players, obviously some top NBA players, but very few relatively.
He had a team, but he had -- he won the national championship three times, but he had the last undefeated team in basketball. And he would play the
ref and he would scream at them. He knew exactly what he was doing. They're doing the same thing.
They said, no, he is not going to change now, but he is going to change for the next one, that's what he wanted to do. He wanted to scare the hell --
they wanted to scare the hell out of the judges, and they do it. And how do you stop it if you're a judge? Because you want to go home, you have a
family, you have children and "The New York Times" will write whatever these people say and "The Washington Post" and "The Wall Street Journal"
and MSDNC and the fake news CNN and ABC and CBS and NBC. And they'll write whatever they say.
And what do you do to get rid of it? You convict Trump. All you have to do is be really tough on him and ultimately convict him and they leave you
alone. It is totally illegal what they do.
I just hope you can all watch for it, but it is totally illegal and it was so unfair what they were doing to her, but they do it all the time with
judges. But in her case, she was very courageous and it only made her angry, wouldn't you say? It just made her angry.
She didn't like it. A lot of them say, oh, please don't say that about me, my family. What's my husband going to say? What's my wife going to say? Or
my kids? Please don't say that.
And it had absolutely no impact on her and the case against me, which was a case I will not use a bad word, I promised, I promised my wife I would
never use a bad word, so just a little bad. The case against me was bullshit, and she correctly dismissed it.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: She correctly -- she correctly -- look at Emil, he is looking, he said, that's interesting.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: But these two guys were warriors. You've got a warrior here, you've got two warriors, I can tell you that. You've got a whole bunch of them,
but -- and they wouldn't quit. They wouldn't take no for an answer. They just wouldn't quit. These two people right up here and some others that are
involved with it indirectly.
And what the lawyers do is they're doing it to the Supreme Court Justices hoping that they'll be overcome by the horrible things they say about them.
They say things about Supreme Court Justices and judges that are just horrible. They're playing the referee.
Remember it the way they treated Justice Thomas and Justice Alito and Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Gorsuch, Chief Justice Roberts get treated
unbelievably badly.
[16:05:10]
And they're hoping that they can sway them to go along, because, again, what do they do? They're humans. You know, like any -- it would be
wonderful if everybody was just a perfect computer machine. But they're not, they're humans and they don't want to be accused of many, many things,
including gross incompetence. They don't like it and they don't want it. There is not much they can do about it.
You know, they're in a position they can't really fight back really very well. And so what they do is sometimes they get weak. I would say a
majority maybe of the times. That's why I am so impressed with Judge Cannon in Florida, how strong she was, how she held up.
It actually made her more resolute than anything I've seen. I mean, it was amazing because they were hitting her so hard. It was so sad to watch this,
but it is sad what they do to other judges. It is very sad what they do to the Supreme Court, and all of -- a lot of the judges that I had, if you
look at them, they take tremendous abuse in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post." All of the different networks, they take such abuse.
And honestly, they're -- very simply, they're afraid of bad publicity. They don't want bad publicity. And it is truly interference, in my opinion and
it should be illegal, and it probably is illegal in some form.
There is no difference than speaking to a judge or shouting to a judge, or doing whatever you have to do in a courthouse. They're doing it behind the
back. They're usually doing it anonymously. They're saying anonymously, off the record, the judge is no good, but everybody knows where it is coming
from, and it is totally coordinated. It is a campaign, and it is by the same scum that you have been dealing with for years, like guys like Andrew
Weissmann, deranged Jack Smith. There's a guy named Norm Eisen. I don't even know what he looks like. His name is Norm Eisen, CREW. He's been after
me for nine years.
Now CREW is a charitable organization and the reason I am saying this, Todd, is I am only going to get one chance to say this, but these are bad
people. I don't know who he is. I don't know what he looks like, but everything I read is Norm Eisen of CREW and CREW is a charitable
organization, and that's a political thing.
His whole life is to get Donald Trump, and he has been vicious and violent, and he is trying, and he probably had pretty good success over the years.
But with me, how did he do? I think I am President. Am I here because I am president? But we had to take all of that abuse, even during the trials. We
had to take tremendous abuse.
Like, you know, these wonderful guys, they're not legitimate people. They are horrible people. They're scum. And, you have to know that, and you're
going to have these cases where you can't allow yourselves to be deflected. You just can't let it happen. You have so many -- you have such a higher
calling.
And I believe that CNN and MSDNC, who literally write 97.6 percent bad about me or political arms of the Democratic Party and in my opinion,
they're really corrupt and they're illegal. What they do is illegal.
It makes no difference how big a victory I had. I can have the biggest victory in history. It makes no difference what kind of a failure the other
side has. These people are going to go after me. And I said it during the other night during the big speech on Tuesday night, I said about Democrats,
and I don't like that. I have great respect, by the way, for what Schumer did today. He went out and he said that we are going to have to vote with
the Republicans because it is the right thing to do.
I couldn't believe what I heard, but, you know, I think he is going to get some credit for it, I think. Let's see what happens tonight with the big
vote as it comes.
But these networks and these newspapers are really no different than a highly paid political operative and it has to stop, it has to be illegal.
It is influencing judges and it is really changing law, and it just cannot be legal. I don't believe it is legal.
And they do it in total coordination with each other and everything we do: We are restoring law, we are restoring order, and restoring public safety
in America. That's what we want to do and we are bringing honor and integrity and accountability back to the highest levels of the FBI, DOJ,
and throughout our government.
We are bringing our country back faster than anyone ever thought possible. We are working so hard at doing it, and we want fairness in the courts. The
courts are a big factor.
The elections, which were totally rigged, are a big factor. We have to have honest elections. We have to have borders and we have to have courts and
law that's fair, or we are not going to have a country
[16:10:08]
Crooked Joe Biden got us into a real mess with Russia and everything else he did, frankly, but he didn't know about it. And he, generally speaking,
signed it with autopen. So how would he know. That autopen is a big deal. I don't know, you know, they're having who was doing this?
So when my people come up, will and all of the people, Steve, they come up, and sir, this is an executive order. They explain it to me. And, you know,
90 percent of the time I sign it, 99 percent of the time I say, do it. But they come up and I sign it. But you don't use autopen. It is --
Number one, its disrespectful to the office. Number two, maybe it is not even valid because you know, who is getting him to sign? He had no idea
what the hell he was doing. If he did, all of these bad things wouldn't be happening right now.
But we are going to get you back into a great position, and we've already started. They say that we had the most successful first month of president.
It is not a long time, but it is still a lot. It is like if you're a golfer sinking a three foot putt on the first hole gives you confidence to sink
something on the second hole.
But if you miss that first putt, you don't like to have to putt on the second hole and the third hole. It could be a very bad experience. It is
nice to get that first month and now we have more than a month. Now we have a month-and-a-half, and its going really, really well.
I can tell you, it is a little secret, although the cameras are blazing back there, so it is not that much, but I think we are doing well as you
have been hearing about Ukraine. I think we are doing now well with Russia. We are speaking with President Putin. We want to get the war over.
Not only have we spent maybe $350 billion to Europe, think of that. $350 billion to $100 billion, and yet we are across the ocean, far away, so it
shouldn't have been that way. But Biden let that happen, too, and we are getting a deal where we are going to get that back.
But much more importantly are the lives that we are talking about. On average, 2,000 young people are being killed every single day. Now, they
are not from here, they are from nowhere close to here, but they are young people. They are human beings, and they have parents. They have sisters and
brothers, mothers and fathers, friends and the families and the towns where they grew up and they are losing, on average, 2,000, even 2,500 a week and
I want to get it stopped.
And we've had some very good calls today with Russia and with Ukraine. They've agreed for a ceasefire, if we can get it with Russia and it is not
easy. It is a tough one, but I think we are doing it.
And as the Secretary General said yesterday of NATO, a terrific guy, he said without Trump, we wouldn't be talking about it. It would just go on
for years and millions more people -- millions of people have been killed, but millions more people would be killed, and he said it was a great honor.
Without me, it would just keep going on.
We are looking for the ceasefire now with Russia, and we've had some very good talks about it. We've had some very good responses and I can tell you
that there was a case where there would have been no war if I were President, and its just 100 percent, it would not have happened, it would
never have happened.
I speak to President Putin a lot about it. I said, don't do it. Don't do it. I won't tell you what the consequence was. I won't tell you what he
said -- but if he believed even five percent of what I said, then he would say, I am not going to do it and I think he did.
But we had a good relationship and we had a professional relationship, and his respect for this country, and I think we had -- I think we've had some
very good results.
So, you know, I haven't been able to say that to anybody else. I haven't wanted to say it until just before I came here. I got some pretty good
news. So -- but we have to see what happens. It is still a long way to go. The fighting is unbelievable.
Russia has a large group of Ukrainian soldiers as we speak, surrounded and in grave danger. They've been able to surround them. They are in grave
danger. Biden should have never let this war happen.
First of all, you don't want to pick on somebody that's a lot larger than you. Even with the money, there is a lot of money that we gave them and a
lot of equipment. We make the best military equipment in the world. But even with all of that, it is unbelievable.
Right now, you have a lot of Ukrainian soldiers that are encircled and in grave danger, and I've asked them not to kill those soldiers, please, not
to kill those soldiers. We don't want them killed. It is such a shame to see what's happened. A thing like that would have never happened.
Inflation would have never happened. October 7th would have never happened. Israel -- Iran had no money, they were totally broke. Think of it. They had
no money to give to anybody.
[16:15:08]
They were totally broke, and within a short period of time, as soon as Biden came in, he took out all of the sanctions in China and everybody else
that wasn't buying oil from Iran was buying it at levels that they've never spent before. And it was -- it was a sad thing.
And if you look at Afghanistan, that was probably what got Putin started, because when he looked at how horribly, horribly we looked, I think the
most embarrassing day, not that we got out, because we were getting out, I would have been out faster than them. I was the one that got it down to the
right level, but we would have kept Bagram, the big air force base. We would have kept it.
Right now, China occupies Bagram, and the reason we would have kept it is because they were one hour away from where China has and builds its nuclear
missiles and weapons, and they gave that up at, the dark of night, they left the lights on and they left the dogs behind, by the way. A lot of
people say, what about all the dogs? They had a lot of dogs and they left the dogs behind.
And what a shame. What a shame. The way we got out, I think it was the most humiliating time in the history of our country. The way it happened, not
that we were getting out because we wanted to get out, but we would have gotten out with dignity and strength, and what a difference a rigged and
crooked election had on our country.
When you think about it and the people who did this to us should go to jail, they should go to jail. So I just want to say, God Bless America
because we have to say, God Bless. We are lucky we are still here, frankly, and this whole thing could lead, I think -- I think we have it. I think we
have it. But this could lead to World War Three very easily. It could very easily lead to World War Three.
But I think we are in pretty good shape, a lot better than we were before we got involved, that I can tell you. It was going -- it was heading into
World War Three territory, and that would have been a war like no other because of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons that people, you
don't even want to know about.
But as many of you do know, well, we are focused on persecuting and these people were really focused on persecuting Republicans. The last
administration presided over the worst increase in violent crime in our country in many, many decades. We had levels of violence and crime, and a
lot of it had to do with the illegal immigrants that came in.
Remember when I used to complain about it? Because I knew how tough they were, how mean they were, and they said, no, no. People that come into our
country are all wonderful people. No, they're not wonderful. These are stone cold killers. These are killers like -- they make our killers look
nice by comparison. They make our killers look nice.
These are rough, tough people with the tattoos all over their face. Historically speaking, I don't want to discriminate against anybody, but
historically speaking, they're not going to be the head of any major bank that we know of.
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN HOST: Hello. You are watching CNN. I'm Lynda Kinkade. You've just been listening to President Trump lashing out at the U.S.
Justice department for its past actions against him.
It was really a stunning scene to see Donald Trump there speaking at the Justice Department, the very department that was prosecuting him just a few
months ago.
Now, this was billed as a law and order speech, but the department, as we've just been hearing there, Donald Trump, spoke mostly about his cases
that the department investigated. The two federal cases, of course, were dismissed just after his election win in November last year due to the
DOJ's policy of not prosecuting sitting presidents.
It is very rare to see U.S. President speak at the Justice Department, a Department that is obviously meant to act independent of the Executive
Branch and completely unheard of to see a President using expletives there.
Well, the Department has been reshaped by the new administration, and over the past few weeks, the DOJ has been shaken by a series of firings,
resignations and reassignments.
Our Jeff Zeleny is following this and joins us now live from dc.
Good to have you with us.
So Donald Trump was a critic of the Justice Department for many years, even before being indicted twice. Moments ago, he was talking about the lies
created within the walls of that Department. What is his agenda?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, his agenda, Lynda, is to relitigate the past and to do it right in the heart of the
Department of Justice in a moment that we have never seen a U.S. President stand in the Hall of Justice, that's the building that he is in and talk
about his own cases like this.
This was ostensibly as the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, introduced him as a moment to talk about what he is doing on immigration, what he is doing on
fentanyl. It is not that, it is anything but that.
He is relitigating his past grievances about the charges against him.
[16:20:07]
But interestingly, it highlights one of his -- one of the big differences between the first Trump administration and this current Trump
administration. One of his big regrets was naming Jeff Sessions as the Attorney General.
Of course, he was the long time Alabama Republican senator. He ultimately recused himself from the Russia investigation, and that led to much of the
legal problems for the President. This time, it is entirely different.
The people in the audience and indeed his entire leadership at the FBI, at the Department of Justice, are all the staunchest of loyalists. So that is
likely at least to my belief at this point, covering both administrations, it is one of the biggest differences, surrounding himself by all of these
loyalists, essentially inoculating himself.
But it is a bit hard to see what the purpose for this speech is, other than simply a bit of a moment for the President to bask in the fact that this
Justice Department is now, at least in his eyes, his.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Certainly, he sees this, it seems, as a victory lap, given that those cases against him were dismissed after winning.
The agency, of course, has seen major shakeups, as you were mentioning, especially the last few weeks where we saw these senior career officials
essentially removed from their jobs. This agency is meant to act independently of the Executive Branch.
Just tell us more about just how unusual it is to see a President, having this speech in the Justice Department.
ZELENY: It is remarkably unusual. There is no modern parallel in history. The last time a president went to deliver a speech over there, it was
President Obama, a little bit more than a decade ago, and that was simply a goodbye address to Eric Holder, the Attorney General at the time. So this
is entirely without precedent.
But you're right about the recent spate of firings. I mean, the Trump administration is well under way of reshaping and remaking and resizing the
federal workforce, the federal bureaucracy, and the Justice Department is front and center in those efforts.
Many career attorneys who have served both Republican and Democratic administrations without partisanship, they have either been removed or
resigned.
So this is an entirely different Justice Department. There is no doubt about it, and it is has potentially far-reaching effects here. I mean, even
in ways that we are not even able to see at this point, of course, we will see how the rest of this term unfolds.
I will say, though, Lynda, there was one, bit of news that my ears sort of perked up when the President was talking about Russia and Ukraine. He said,
shortly before I came here, I got a piece of good news. So underlying this whole discussion.
He was about an hour late to give this speech. We do know that front and center at the White House are those ongoing potential for peace talks.
Vladimir Putin, obviously, the ball is in his court, if you will.
We do know that the White House is setting up a phone call in the coming days between Trump and Putin, so my ears certainly perked up when he
stopped talking about justice and said he got a bit of a of news in terms of the Russia-Ukraine front, but otherwise it simply has been a litany of
grievances repeating what we've heard and lived through in the first Trump administration.
KINKADE: Jeff Zeleny outside the White House for us. Good to have you there. Thanks so much.
ZELENY: My pleasure.
KINKADE: Well, any moment now, we are expecting the U.S. Senate to vote on a spending bill to avoid a government shutdown. These are live pictures
from the Senate floor.
At least three Democrats are offering to help pass the last minute bill, including the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer. He says the stopgap
bill, known as a Continuing Resolution, is the lesser of two evils.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): The C.R. is a bad bill, but as bad as the C.R. is, I believe allowing Donald Trump to take even much more power via a
government shutdown is a far worse option.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Schumer's decision has angered some of his party's rank and file, including House Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called it a
betrayal.
Our Larry Sabato is the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He joins us now live. Good to see you, Larry.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Lynda.
KIRK: So just before we get to that vote, I just want to ask you about the Donald Trump speech we just heard there. The long rambling, essentially all
about himself, but certainly we saw on the campaign trail Trump vowing to go after those who prosecuted him, vowing retribution, and revenge, and
certainly seems he is doing that.
SABATO: I have watched and you have watched, we've all watched many outrageous speeches by Donald Trump, this is right at the top, and I hope
people will pay attention.
[16:25:10]
Because what he was really pledging was an end to nonpartisan justice in the United States. This was more than revenge and retribution. He blew up
every custom, tradition, and guardrail we have around the Justice Department and the FBI and so on.
He is talking about making them partisan agents for his MAGA base and for himself. This is deeply dangerous. And this is not one where the news media
should play the on the one hand, and then on the other hand game. This is dangerous.
KINKADE: Yes, you make it very clear point there, Larry.
I want to move on from that for just a moment and look at this spending bill. Of course, the midnight deadline to pass a Republican bill or face a
government shutdown is just hours away. What seems to be clear is the division within the Democratic Party.
SABATO: Yes. Isn't it ironic that when Trump and Elon Musk are really deconstructing the federal government and causing untold damage all the way
across the system, the Democrats managed to make themselves the issue on a day when a lot of this is happening.
Now, Chuck Schumer made what he considers and others consider a rational decision to cut the losses. That is, this was a lose-lose for Democrats
whichever way they went. And you can argue, as Schumer did, that he took the least damaging option. You know, the fork in the road, kind of each
fork led to a drowning, but he has a chance of surviving in the one that he selected.
What he did not fully account for, though, is the tremendous anger that has built up in the Democratic base and we are seeing it everywhere. They're
desperate for Democrats to stand up and start fighting this person, this Donald Trump, who might well destroy the American system of democracy, the
American Republic and they're not getting it.
Democrats are all over the lot. They're arguing with themselves instead of agreeing on a common position to go after Trump and Musk.
KINKADE: And I want to just look at the reasons Schumer says -- Chuck Schumer says he will vote for this Republican bill. He claims that a
shutdown will give more power to Trump and Musk. How so?
SABATO: Well, it is possible that it would work out that way in the sense that with government shut, they would have the options potentially of
reigniting pieces of the government that they prefer sending their own people in to operate those branches and getting access to all of the lists
and background information and private data about Americans that they've been seeking but haven't been able to get. It is possible that would
happen.
I guess I would argue that it is also possible that it will happen under the current system. They certainly have done a lot of it already. So could
it get much worse? I suppose it could, but it is hard to imagine the difference between the levels of hell.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Larry Sabato, always great to get your analysis. Thanks so much for joining us.
SABATO: Thank you, Lynda.
KINKADE: The U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says he is cautiously optimistic after high level talks this week about a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Rubio offered no details about Thursday's meeting between Vladimir Putin and U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, but he did say Witkoff spoke shortly
afterwards with Donald Trump.
Well, President Putin is calling on Ukrainian troops in Kursk to surrender. If they do, he said, they will be treated in accordance with international
law.
Our Frederik Pleitgen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Russian troops on the move on the verge of ousting Ukrainian forces from
the Kursk Region, Moscow says Ukraine's small and shrinking foothold inside Russia.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)
PLEITGEN (voice over): "The regiments units were mentally prepared and waiting for this moment," the commander says. "Therefore, there was enough
anger, courage, bravery and desire to win. I believe the personnel fought heroically."
The Russians claiming they've encircled a large number of Ukrainian troops here, a narrative President Trump buys as well, pleading with Russian
Leader Vladimir Putin not to harm them.
At this very moment, thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military and in a very bad and vulnerable
position, President Trump writes on his Truth Social account. "I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This
would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II."
And while the Ukrainians claim reports of their forces being encircled are not true, Putin, referencing the U.S. President's plea, says he is willing
to let the Ukrainians live if they give themselves up.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are understanding of President Trump's appeal to treat these servicemen
humanely. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that if they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment
in accordance with international law.
PLEITGEN (voice over): After waiting for hours in Moscow before Putin finally met with them, the Trump administration's negotiator Steve Witkoff
left the Russian capital in the middle of the night and in the driving rain.
Russian state T.V. quickly declaring Putin the winner of this round of diplomacy.
[16:30:41]
The highly experienced Putin simply outplayed the cornered Zelenskyy and the collective West, which was clearly in a flurry, the anchor says.
And while President Trump says he wants to talk directly with Putin as soon as possible, one of Putin's closest allies, Belarusian strongman Alexander
Lukashenko, addressing the U.S. president by his first name, also seemingly hitting the brakes on the administration's cease fire plans.
ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, PRESIDENT OF BELARUS: Yes, Donald wants to stop the war. Thank you to him for this. But at the same time, we must firmly stand
our ground. Nobody must push us aside and God forbid, to cheat us, as we now say, or to try and run circles around us.
PLEITGEN (voice over): Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
KINKADE: And just to let you know, right now, of the vote in the U.S. Senate to avoid a government shutdown is underway right now. We will bring
you those results when we get them.
Well, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is accusing Russia of sabotaging the talks by demanding too much up front. Marco Rubio was asked
earlier whether he trusted Putin. Take a listen to his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it's an irrelevant question. I think in foreign policy, you really -- it's not about trusting,
it's about actions. It's about things that you do.
So, in the end, on something like this, you can't just say you want peace, you have to do peace, and that's true for both sides in any conflict, so,
in any war and any engagement.
So, I think ultimately, all these things, I would just encourage you guys, if we're going to be serious about foreign policy, to sort of navigate away
from some of the -- this is not a reality show. This is not about personalities. This is very simple. You either do things or you don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Our Jim Sciutto, joins us now from D.C. Good to see you, Jim.
So, we've been hearing from the U.S. that the ball is in Russia's court right now. You have spoken to the former Ukrainian president Petro
Poroshenko. What is he telling you about the state of negotiations?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF UNITED STATES SECURITY ANALYST: Well, we talked about what is one of the most sensitive issues for Ukrainian leaders, but
also for the Ukrainian people, and that is giving up its territory in exchange for peace, right? Because they would be conceding, as would
Europe, as would the U.S., conceding that countries can take land by force, right? Which is something that post-World War II, a whole host of
agreements and treaties have been designed to avoid.
Now, listen, the first time this happened was in 2014, when Russian forces took Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine. Of course, the intention with the
2022 full scale invasion was to take the whole country. Russia has not been able to do that, but it has expanded its territory under its control in the
eastern part of the country.
So, I asked the former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for his response to the President Trump's national security advisor, who said that
in a peace agreement, Ukraine would have to give up Donbas in the east.
Here is Poroshenko's response,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETRO POROSHENKO, FORMER PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I said, no compromise on the territorial integrity. And I can recognize that not all the Ukrainian
territory can be released from the Russian occupation by military force. But we never stop fighting, including the diplomatic methods for make all
Ukrainian territory free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT: Now, Lynda, to be fair, I have been speaking to European officials, U.S. officials, crossing administrations, right? Going back to the Biden
administration and into this one. And it's the -- I don't say dirty little secret, but it is the reality that many don't like to say publicly, that
any peace agreement would likely include Ukraine, if not recognizing living with Russian occupied territory on its soil.
The question is, how do you articulate that? Right? I mean, you could look at an armistice, right, which would say, OK, let's stop the fighting at the
current lines and not legally recognize that territory as Russian.
But listen, we should -- we should be frank here. Ukraine has fought a war for its survival for the last three years, and then, going back to 2014,
and that's a very difficult bitter pill for Ukrainian leaders and the Ukrainian people to swallow.
[16:35:05]
Understandably, I mean, you and I would feel the same about our own countries, I'm sure.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly.
Jim Sciutto, I look forward to seeing your full interview with Petro Poroshenko in about 90 minutes time on CNN. Thanks so much, Jim.
SCOTT: Thank you.
Well, still to come, Mahmoud Khalil, helped lead Columbia University student protest movement demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. He was arrested by
federal immigration agents last weekend.
I'm going to speak to the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, who is working on his case, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment.
But first, the headlines. The U.S. Justice Department says it's investigating whether pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University
broke anti-terrorism laws.
The new movie tells the story of girls in Afghanistan overcoming the odds. I'm going to speak with two producers behind the film, "Rule Breakers", but
some more headlines right now.
Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has made his first court appearance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The 79-year-
old is charged with crimes against humanity, his crackdown on drugs. He is suspected of killing thousands, including civilians caught in the crossfire
while he was in office.
National Transportation investigators are in Denver, Colorado today, trying to find out why an engine on an American Airlines plane caught fire just
after an unscheduled landing, Thursday.
Everybody got out safely, although airport authorities say 12 people had to be taken to hospital. They've since been released.
Thousands of protesters have arrived in the Serbian capital. They are mostly students who plan to hold anti-government rallies over the weekend.
They are demanding accountability, after the roof of a train station collapsed last November. 15 people died in that accident, prosecutors have
brought charges against 13.
[16:40:13]
Well, more now on the arrest of former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. He is suspected of killing thousands, including civilians
caught in a cross fire while he was in office.
Melissa Bell has more on today's proceedings at The Hague.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The first appearance by the former Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte this Friday at The Hague.
He is accused of crimes against humanity, relating to his time, both when he was the mayor of a southern Filipino city from 2011 and then, when he
became president from 2016.
The prosecution alleges that his brutal war on drugs involved extrajudicial killings, and for which, he will now be tried.
Now, this court hearing, the very first was likely to be a long trial, say legal experts, was simply about hearing him state his name, his age. He
appeared frail, appeared by video link, because of his poor health. He also had the opportunity to hear more about the charges that were have been
being investigated by the ICC, and that he will now have to answer for it.
There were supporters and critics of the former president outside the court at The Hague to make their anger in the case of his supporters clear about
the fact that he should be at the ICC at all but supporters of the move, very happy to see they say this president who was responsible for
officially -- this is, according to police figures, the killing of 6,000 people during as part of that war on drugs.
What critics of Duterte and human rights organizations say is that, in fact, the number of victims could be into the tens of thousands, and not
just drug pushers or drug users, but many say people simply caught in the crossfire.
So, for those who were outside the court, celebrating his presence, it is an important moment, not simply the first time that a former Asian leader
is tried by the International Criminal Court, but also, say, Rodrigo Duterte's detractors, an opportunity, finally, for justice to be done.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
KINKADE: Still to come, the Afghan Dreamers All-Girls Robotics Team took the world by storm almost 10 years ago. Well, now their story has been
turned into a feature Film. Two of the team's founders join me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:45:40]
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kincade. Now, in the theaters, there's an inspirational film that tells the story of girls in Afghanistan overcoming
the odds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are looking for four girls who would like to learn about robotics and compete with teams from other countries.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will show Afghan girls in a new light.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you interested in joining our team?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, the film is called "Rule Breakers". It's based on the true story of the 2017 Afghan Dreamers Robotics Team, a group of young women
defying the Taliban to pursue their dreams of becoming champions.
Roya Mahboob, founded the Afghan Dreamers Robotics Team and Elaha Mahboob, helped get that team off the ground from the U.S. They're both part of the
team behind "Rule Breakers" the film, and they join us -- join us, live from New York. Good to have you with us.
ELAHA MAHBOOB, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, RULE BREAKERS: Thanks for having me.
ROYA MAHBOOB, FOUNDER, AFGHAN DREAMERS ROBOTICS TEAM: Thank you for having us.
KINKADE: I mean, I watched the trailer, and it has it all. It's very emotional. It has the courage, the resilience, the fight for justice. Just
talk to us about how personal this was. I want to start with you first, Elaha.
E. MAHBOOB: I mean, it was such an incredible experience for me, and so emotional and so real. To be honest, to just see, you know, the work that
we have done in Afghanistan a big screen right now.
And, you know, for me, personally, it wasn't just a movie or a story. It was like our stories. I really wanted to make sure that we tell, tell it
with authenticity and the depth of the experience that girls actually went through, you know, in Afghanistan to achieve, you know, these incredible
things that they did in the STEM so just, you know, such a proud and happy moment that we see that, you know, finally, this movie come to the biggest
screen so everybody can see it now.
KINKADE: Yes, it's so exciting.
And Roya, to you. You spearheaded this initiative for school girls in Afghanistan. You were the first woman to own a tech company there. And back
in 2013, Time Magazine named you one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
Just talk to us about how the idea of telling your story in a film came about.
R. MAHBOOB: Well, I mean, it's just backing to in 2014, which Jason and his sister went to Afghanistan, and they write the stories about our work in
Afghanistan. And later on, once we format the African Girls Robotic Team, and the world -- I mean, their achievements take the -- they capture by
eyes of the world, and I think that then, they started discussion about making a movie about their stories, and we got excited.
Obviously, we're feeling as what I mentioned, this story is not only about ours -- is a global stories of the women that they are facing the
challenges in STEM education and leadership. And it's a story, as you mentioned, as well as about resilience and hope and the fight for equality.
And it's also reminding us, you know, that the talent is -- and talent and innovation is universal, but opportunity is not, and each of us has a rule
to play in changing this.
KINKADE: And of course, both you had to -- you had to deal with the Taliban back then.
The Taliban are now back in power. They continue to strip away the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. How does that make you feel?
E. MAHBOOB: I mean, for me personally --
(CROSSTALK)
R. MAHBOOB: This is quite --
(CROSSTALK)
KINKADE: Sorry. Elaha, go first, and then, I'll come back to you for your answer, Roya.
R. MAHBOOB: Yes.
E. MAHBOOB: So, it's just so heartbreaking to see like all the work that we have done our 20 years, and also our work in Afghanistan for women and
creating this all opportunity to disappear so quickly, but, and you know, just that girls right now doesn't have right to their, you know, to
education, so it's just so hard.
But I just want to say, like, I refuse to believe that all those, you know, work that we have done completely gone. I think, the resilience, the
courage and determination, and mission of the Afghan women are still there, and they are just waiting to see the world, to stand with them. And that's
why this movie is so important right now. It just shows like, what we -- you know, what these girls have -- when they have access to opportunities
and education, how much they have achieve.
[16:50:01]
And now that as they're taken away, it's a great like, you know, call to action to just advocate for the girls' education in Afghanistan, and not
just for guarding these girls there.
KINKADE: And quickly, final thought, Roya.
R. MAHBOOB: I think that while, as Elaha mentioned very well, I think that this film remind people of the progress that we made it and the importance
of continuing fighting for the girls' education everywhere, but especially in the places that is strengthened.
Well, the Taliban take away freedom, these girls are still -- there are millions of the girls in Afghanistan that they are dream and they are
fighting for their, you know, for their rights and for the education.
(CROSSTALK)
KINKADE: Yes.
R. MAHBOOB: And we -- I think that, I hope -- I hope that the film shows the hope and education and equality, equality for the girls that are worth
fighting for.
KINKADE: Exactly. Well, congratulations to both of you and all your work, all the way you continue to do. Roya, Elaha Mahboob, thanks so much.
R. MAHBOOB: Thank you so much.
E. MAHBOOB: Thank you for having us.
KINKADE: We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm covering for Richard Quest today, while he travels in the beautiful country of Chile.
Last month, he was in Mauritius, an island nation east of Madagascar. And while there, Richard visited a cutting-edge textile company. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KENDALL TANG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, RT KNITS LTD: And the final, final step is to check the quality. If it's OK, it leaves the line, go to the
finishing and to the packing.
If it is not good, it will return back to the operator who did the wrong operation. Because every angle has an RFID chip that identifies --
(CROSSTALK)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: So, this is what --
Right. So, this is what they are making here.
TANG: Yes, that is what they are making here.
QUEST: Good old-fashioned setbacks.
TANG: Yes.
QUEST: I like it.
TANG: My father started the business in 1970. At that time, there was no textile industry in Mauritius. He did the first export out of the country.
I think nowadays we're still among the few rare companies in Mauritius exporting. But compared to some other African countries, we're quite large
scale. But obviously compared to Asian, we're quite small.
QUEST: Mauritius is a relatively low-cost production base compared to, say, Western, Europe, or the United States. But you're still a higher cost than
some of the newer production bases: Vietnam, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. How do you compete?
TANG: Obviously, we have to increase the productivity, first of all.
[16:55:05]
So, through automation, through technologies that help us increase the output per hour work for each employee.
For example, this machine does a placket in 13 seconds, compared if you have to do it manually, it would take 2-1/2 minutes.
So, as you can see, everything is optimized. So, while the machine is stitching, she is preparing the sec (PH) -- the next piece.
QUEST: And that's stitching it.
TANG: That's stitching it, cutting it. You know, this fish and cut at the same time.
This is prepared to make a jogger pant.
QUEST: Look at this one. This is bringing the two sides together -- this machine. it holds it there, shoves it over here, and this thing sews it.
TANG: Yes.
QUEST: Fascinating. What do you think is going to be the fighting ground? You're talking about supply chain and the way in which, what is going to be
the core issue in the future?
TANG: Customers are always looking for better product, better consistency, most important, lower prices, obviously, but obviously also more
sustainable production. So, these are all the areas that we constantly work on. Not to forget, innovative product.
QUEST: And how difficult at the moment is it? What is your biggest challenge at the moment, besides cost? I'm thinking of supply chain issues.
TANG: People. You know, when we -- when we our company started in 1970, labor was very cheap in Mauritius, and it makes sense of that time to use
labor as the main resource to produce.
But nowadays we are five times more expensive than Madagascar, four times more expensive than Bangladesh. We need to compensate for that, and we need
to invest into more and more advanced technologies like robotics, automation, A.I., machine learning, and we need a lot of engineers for
that. So, our challenge is to recruit more engineers, more technical people to work on these areas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, you can see all of Richard's adventures in Mauritius this weekend. The latest episode of "QUEST'S WORLD OF WONDER", we right here on
CNN, this Saturday and Sunday.
And, of course, we are monitoring the vote in the Senate, which is still ongoing. We will bring you those results soon.
For now, though, that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Lynda Kinkade. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
