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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

Trump To Lift Sanctions On Syria; Trump Secures $600B Saudi Investment; Israel Targets Hamas Leader; Cassie Ventura Testifies Against Sean Diddy Combs; Impact Of Tariff Changes On U.S. Ports; U.S. Ends Temporary Protected Status Programs For Afghans; MLB Reinstates Pete Rose And "Shoeless" Joe Jackson. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 13, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all over the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and you're watching "The

Brief."

Just ahead this hour, Donald Trump says he is lifting all sanctions on Syria. He announces during his visit to Saudi Arabia. The ex-girlfriend of

Sean Diddy Combs provides just emotional testimony and graphic details in his ongoing sex trafficking trial. And Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson

are posthumously reinstated by Major League Baseball after they were thrown out of the sport for gambling.

We do begin in Saudi Arabia where President Trump is acting like a global deal maker. At the Saudi-U.S. Investment Forum, he announced the lifting of

sanctions on Syria after the fall of the Assad regime last year. Here was that announcement and the reaction in Riyadh.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: A chance at greatness. White House officials says the president will greet the Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Wednesday. We should remind

you, al-Sharaa was a former member of Al-Qaeda who fought U.S. troops in Iraq. President Trump is signaling, in his view, it is time to move on.

Here's how news of the sanctions relief went down in Syria. Celebrations, car horns, even fireworks in the Syrian port city of Latakia. Also

announced at the forum, the White House confirmed a $600 billion commitment from Saudi Arabia to invest in the U.S. and a defense partnership, which

tops some $140 billion. Jeff Zeleny reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The trumpets rang out today for President Trump on a Royal welcome to Saudi

Arabia. There was pomp, pageantry, and even Arabian horses to mark the moment of Trump's foray back to the Middle East on his first major overseas

trip since returning to power.

TRUMP: A lot of great place, but more importantly what great people.

ZELENY (voice-over): The president lavish praise on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and invested more time on deal making than diplomacy.

Yet he did unveil a major change in U.S. policy, calling for an end to sanctions in Syria. He's set to meet for the first time Wednesday with

President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the December rebellion to oust Dictator Bashar al-Assad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important -- really an important function, nevertheless, at the time, but now it's

their time to shine.

ZELENY (voice-over): Trump also implored Iran to find a way to end its nuclear program.

TRUMP: I'm here today, not merely to condemn the past chaos of Iran's leaders, but to offer them a new path and a much better path toward a far

better and more hopeful future, and he looked ahead to the prospect of extending the Abraham Accords to one day normalize relations between Saudi

Arabia and Israel as neighboring UAE and Bahrain did in 2020.

TRUMP: My fervent hope wish and even my dream that Saudi Arabia will soon be joining the Abraham Accords. You'll do it in your own time, and that's

what I want and that's what you want.

ZELENY (voice-over): He devoted little time to one of the biggest obstacles of all. the unresolved conflict in Gaza. He is notably not

visiting Israel on this trip, unlike he did on his first trip here eight years ago.

TRUMP: The people of Gaza deserve a much better future.

ZELENY (voice-over): From morning to nightfall, trump took part in a day long series of events, many of which included some of the world's business

elites, among them,Elon Musk, who was set to leave the White House later this month.

Trump touted a $600 billion investment commitment from Saudi Arabia whose crown prince stayed at the president's side, sending a clear message of his

high standing with this administration.

TRUMP: He's an incredible man, known him a long time now. There's nobody like him.

ZELENY (voice-over): It was a marked departure from former President Joe Biden's fist bump and his vow to make the kingdom a pariah after the 2018

Murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. A killing that today went without mention as Trump hailed the crown prince.

[18:05:00]

TRUMP: Oh, what'd I do for the crown prince?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: There was another part of President Trump's speech that was greeted with a rapturous reception. Here, he referenced failures as he

described them of U.S. interventionism in the region and celebrates the region's transformation on its own terms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It is crucial for the wider world to note this great transformation has not come from Western intervention, all this, or flying people in

beautiful planes, giving you lectures on how to live and how to govern your own affairs.

No, that gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the nation builders, neocons, or liberal nonprofits like those who spent

trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad, so many other cities. Instead, the birth of a modern Middle East has been

brought by the people of the region themselves, the people that are right here, the people that have lived here all their lives, developing your own

sovereign countries, pursuing your own unique visions, and charting your own destinies and your own way. It's really incredible what you've done.

In the end, the nation so-called builders wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionalists were intervening in complex

societies that they did not even understand themselves. They told you how to do it, but they had no idea how to do it themselves.

Peace, prosperity, and progress ultimately came not from a radical rejection of your heritage, but rather from embracing your national

traditions and embracing that same heritage that you love so dearly.

And it's something only you could do. You achieved a modern miracle the Arabian way. That's a good way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Daniel Benaim, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Peninsula Affairs, now an associate fellow

at the Middle East Institute. Thanks so much for joining.

DANIEL BENAIM, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR ARABIAN PENINSULA AFFAIRS AND ASSOCIATE FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: I want to get your reaction to those comments there, critical comments of U.S. interventions from President Trump. Before I do, just a

general review of Trump's visit to the Middle East so far, a success in your view?

BENAIM: Well, I think there are parts of it that I think do go down well. These are the countries that the president wants to deal with. It's very

clear. When you see there's pomp, there's bling, but there's also real personal warmth and a kind of strategic investment in this region that he's

put at the center of negotiations over Russia, Ukraine, over the Gaza war, over Iran nuclear issues. So, there's a degree of trust and degree of

warmth.

I think he's also focused on economic issues that are front and center. And he is showcasing a very interesting aspect of the Gulf that is very

compelling for those of us who have worked on it for years, which is the attempts to transform this region that are really are underway, the

empowerment of young people, the attempts to unleash the private sectors of these economies. I think that's all to the positive.

I think his critique of -- what did he call them? Interventionists --

SCIUTTO: Interventionists.

BENAIM: -- and neocons.

SCIUTTO: I mean, he didn't mention the wars. I mean, he talked about nation builders. He didn't mention the wars, but a clear reference to the

two long wars, right, in Afghanistan and Iraq. And one can reasonably say a fair critique of the results of those interventions.

BENAIM: I think so too. I think you have to recognize that discontent over military intervention and the long tails of those interventions is

something that's had a major effect on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and around the globe. But as often happens with the president,

sometimes the trenchant question maybe is more compelling than all the elements of the answer.

And I think that while nation building, at the point of a gun, has failed as a technique of U.S. foreign policy over -- since World War II, I'd say

the tools of soft power of helping nations build up themselves, that kind of capacity that's being dismantled in real time at the moment, maybe

something that shouldn't be thrown out alongside the regime change wars that maybe earned the critique a little better than those capabilities

have.

SCIUTTO: And we haven't seen the effects of those yet, or chance to measure them. Missing from this trip, notably, is a stop in Israel. And you

talk about relationships, close relationships, for instance, with MBS there. The perception was he has a close relationship with the Israeli

prime minister. But there are those who see Netanyahu isolated, in an isolated position. Not just on this visit, but even on discussions of a

potential nuclear deal with Iran. Is that a correct characterization of where the Israeli leader stands as relates to President Trump and his

efforts?

[18:10:00]

BENAIM: Well, I know from seeing this movie on the inside, that there's always a certain hazard to speculating too much about it from outside. I

mean, Netanyahu had a couple of visits to the Oval Office already. So, he's had his chance to get in front of the president and make his case and

influence him on Gaza and other issues.

But I do feel like on Iran, the president is clearly telegraphing that he wants a deal. It's not subtle. And that's a pretty different place than

Prime Minister Netanyahu who said that unless you get the Libya model, which for those who remember what happened to Muammar Gaddafi has a pretty

unappealing ending for the Iranians to consider. Unless you want the Libya model, you -- it's better to have no deal at all.

So, I think there are areas of real difference, and I think the Gulf is trying to put their best foot forward. I don't think you heard a lot today

from President Trump about Gaza. But I do think when the doors close and the private discussion happens tomorrow and in the days to come, the

leaders will make a compelling case to him that it's time to find a formula to end the war.

SCIUTTO: There are genuine concerns about the starvation in Gaza beyond the continuing military operations there. Speaking about the Iran deal, can

Trump get an Iran deal? And might it look a lot like the JCPOA?

BENAIM: It is a funny world we live in where, yes, I think Trump may indeed, successfully get an Iran deal. By all accounts, the Iranians seem

serious about moving forward. Their economy is in dire straits. They can use the help. And President Trump, too, seem serious about moving forward.

Although, I think there's a very important lack of definition when it comes to what the United States is willing to accept. Are we willing to accept

civilian enrichment by Iran, which I think is an absolutely critical element to the deal?

When President Trump talked today about the deal that he was seeking, he said Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. He didn't say they have to dismantle

their program, I thought that was notable. But we've heard a range of voices articulating a range of different policies in the last week or two.

So, we'll have to see where that ball lands.

But the answer to your question is yes, a deal is absolutely possible and they seem to be moving as expeditiously as they can on something this

complicated.

SCIUTTO: It might be 10 years after the last one was negotiated. Daniel Benaim, thanks so much. We appreciate you sharing your expertise.

BENAIM: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, the condition of Hamas leader, Mohammed Sinwar, remains unclear tonight after sources say that Israel targeted him in a strike on a

hospital in Southern Gaza. Sinwas became the militant group's de facto leader after the Israeli military killed his brother Yahya Sinwar last

October. This IDF video released in 2023 appears to show Mohammed Sinwar on the right there. Israeli defense officials say today's strike on the

European Hospital in Khan Younis was aimed at a terrorist command and control center without naming the intended target.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv for us. We know what the target was. As you speak to Israeli officials, do they have some confidence that they were

able to strike Mohammed Sinwar?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the Israeli military, in carrying out this strike, was acting on intelligence that

Mohammed Sinwar was at this location at the time when the Israeli military carried out the strike. We know, of course, from past experiences

including, for example, the targeted strike that ultimately killed Mohammed Deif, the head of Hamas' military wing, that sometimes it can even take the

Israeli military weeks to actually be able to confirm that they have indeed killed their target.

Hamas, you know, statement confirming that he was killed could also speed up that process. But again, we simply do not know at this stage whether or

not Mohammed Sinwar has indeed been killed. What I am told by my sources, though, was that they did make this decision to try and kill him today with

this strike, which comes at a very critical time, just one day after Hamas made what has largely, you know, been described as a goodwill gesture to

release the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, in the hopes that that would kickstart a negotiation process, to reach a broader ceasefire

and hostage release deal.

There certainly was a lot more optimism from U.S. officials in the wake of that decision by Hamas to release Alexander in the possibility of reaching

an agreement and also likely much more U.S. pressure to be brought to bear on Israel as well. And then one day later, you have Israel going after and

carrying out a strike to target Hamas' de facto leader in Gaza who would have to authorize any kind of hostage release deal in order for it to be

carried out on the ground.

[18:15:00]

So, this injects a lot of uncertainty into what had seemed to be a kind of new momentum in the direction of trying to reach some new ceasefire

agreement between Israel and Hamas and critically coming as time is very much ticking down with the Israeli prime minister as recently, as earlier

today, making clear that the Israeli military is just days away from expanding in a very significant way, it's Israeli military operation,

something that the prime minister vowed he plans to go ahead with.

SCIUTTO: Were there differences in the leadership between the Sinwar brothers?

DIAMOND: Well, Mohammed Sinwar is the younger brother. He certainly never, you know, reached the stature of Yahya Sinwar, who not only was Hamas'

leader in Gaza, but then following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas' political leader, was then elevated as well to being Hamas' overall

leader.

He, you know, had quite a reputation both inside and outside of Gaza and overall leadership of Hamas. Mohammed Sinwar kind of became the de facto

leader in Gaza because of his proximity to his brother, and was not elevated to the position of Hamas' overall leader. But we know, of course,

that the Israeli military has gone after, you know, a series of Hamas leaders, both inside and outside of Gaza.

And what's important to note, of course, is that that has not done anything to do away with Hamas' ideology or with the number of militants that they

have been able to recruit during the war. It has not gone after Hamas' core power inside of Gaza. And the reason why they still do have a significant

force and significant influence inside the Gaza Strip, many would say that that has to do with the lack of an alternative to Hamas, which the Israeli

government has not presented and has, you know, not focus so much on the day after the war in Gaza. Jim.

SCIUTTO: That's been a frequent criticism throughout. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much.

Well, now, to New York where Cassie Ventura took the stand in the trial of music mogul, Sean Diddy Combs. Ventura described an abusive relationship

saying her ex-boyfriend wanted her to have sex with other people, directing encounters that would last for days at a time. She added that Combs would

give her hard drugs to keep her awake and record videos of what he called freak offs.

Ventura also accused Combs of beating and kicking her among several other allegations. Combs himself has pleaded not guilty to a number of charges,

including sex trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy.

Joining me now, former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi. Gene, good to have you on today. You know, a central question of this case is coercion or

consent. And Ventura, she has testified that part of the reason she agreed to these so-called freak offs was that she, quote, "wanted to make him

happy." But she also described combs calling all of the shots in her personal life, her career. I mean, there were the drugs involved, et

cetera. Who's meeting and what is the legal standard of coercion here?

GENE ROSSI, FORMER U.S. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR AND FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA: Well, here's the thing. The legal

standard for coercion is if you cannot voluntarily get out of a situation, coercion could be a gun to the head a threat of physical abuse. It could be

extortion, threatening to divulge certain information about your personal life.

But, Jim, this case, to me, putting aside the videos, putting aside the incident in the hotel in March of 2016, if the jury feels that the

government has elevated unjustly what is essentially in a defensive team's view an individual, Mr. Combs, who has a bad temper, he has anger

management issues on steroids, he can at times be violent, is this a mere series of relationships that he has had that were odd, perverted, and at

times violent and that is domestic abuse or is this something that involves the man act distribution of drugs, what they call the RICO?

And there are eight men and four women on this jury. There's several alternates. But will they take the government's view that there was this

massive RICO conspiracy and he was threatening and abusing people, or are they going to say that the government with six prosecutors, six prosecutors

is making a lot out of something that should stay in domestic court and be a state crime. That's the key. That's the key here.

[18:20:00]

SCIUTTO: Now, it seems, if I have this right, that part of the prosecution's attempt to do what you're describing there is to show how

aides played a role in this, in orchestrating these freak offs.

ROSSI: Right.

SCIUTTO: Can you explain how they're trying to do that, I suppose, and it's early, admittedly in the trial, but what they would need to do to meet

that standard?

ROSSI: Yes, Jim, that's an excellent question. Great question. They have to show there was an enterprise. You can't have RICO without an enterprise.

And as part of that enterprise, you need various crimes that are committed under that umbrella called the enterprise.

Here, the business empire of Sean Diddy Combs is allegedly the enterprise. And his enterprise, even if it were engaged in legal acts, had employees,

had independent contractors, had friends, and he was using those employees, those independent contractors and friends as part of his enterprise, his

business to engage in sex trafficking, transportation of the man act, drug dealing, that's the key. Did he use those individuals as part of his

business empire?

And I think the government has a relatively strong case on that, if not a very strong case, because they have the employees that were going to

testify. They have a search warrant. And, Jim, here's what's key. What did they get from that search warrant in March of 2024 from his homes in

various locations? I suspect that those items seized in the search warrant are going to put meat on the bones of that enterprise and all the things he

did.

With Ms. Ventura today, she is sort of the classic prologue witness. She wasn't the first, but she's the prologue witness. She is just laying the

narrative, the theme. If this were a Charles Dickens novel, it's the whole gestalt of the case. And it's very sad to hear her testimony or to read

about it, because she was a very compelling witness from what I gather.

You know, the jury saw a woman who was in the third trimester of a pregnancy, and I think this is her third or fourth child. I got to tell

you, if I were a prosecutor, that's the type of witness I want, because in front of that jury, under oath, what is their motive to lie when you're

about to have a baby, you have two or three kids and you've gotten your life together, what is your motive to lie about these horrible things that

happened in your life while Mr. Combs is evidently staring him down?

SCIUTTO: Yes. Yes.

ROSSI: That's a prosecutor's star witness right there.

SCIUTTO: No question. Yes. And some of the moments were truly emotional. Gene Rossi, former federal prosecutor, appreciate you joining.

ROSSI: Thank you, sir. ' SCIUTTO: Well, as the tariff war between the U.S. and China hits something of a pause, we go to the Port of Los Angeles to discuss what it means

there. The head of what's known as America's Port joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

SCIUTTO: U.S. inflation slowed last month to its lowest annual rate in more than four years. The Consumer Price Index came in at 2.3 percent for

the 12 months ending in April. slightly lower than economists had expected. That number based in large part on lower prices at the grocery store. The

cost of eggs alone felt more than 12 percent from March. However, economists warn the inflation outlook is still clouded by the effects of

tariffs.

Wall Street finished the day mixed. The Dow lost 269 points. Tech stocks helped the NASDAQ surge 1.6 percent. S&P rose seven-tenth of a percent,

enough to lift it back in a positive territory for the year.

The Port of Los Angeles, the largest shipping port in the U.S. is welcoming a 90-day pause and reduction of tariffs between the U.S. and China. The

U.S. agreed to temporarily reduce its duties to 30 percent from 145 percent, China cutting from 125 to 10 percent, this after those trade talks

over the weekend.

However, Gene Seroka, the executive director of the Port of L.A. points this out saying, quote, "Even with this announcement, tariff remains

elevated compared to April 1st. To avoid further uncertainty and disruption of trade, both sides should work together swiftly towards a long-term

agreement."

Gene joins me now. Thanks so much for taking the time.

GENE SEROKA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT OF LOS ANGELES: Good to see you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, let's begin with what kind of traffic you're going to see there in the Port of L.A. Because there's all this talk about how it's

fallen off a cliff and that, apparently, still going to happen. But will this pause lead to a rebound right after that?

SEROKA: It may, Jim, but we'll look at four consecutive weeks of cargo volume coming into the Port of Los Angeles that are at the lowest point

since we witnessed during COVID-19's pandemic. For the month of May, in and of itself, we'll be down by about 20 percent on ship calls, and

approximately 25 percent on cargo, both import and export.

SCIUTTO: Now, I imagine that those supply chains, right, there are a lot of pieces to them, right? The ships and then the trucks, et cetera. And

then, what eventually ends up on store shelves, that even if you did have things pick up next month or a couple months down the road, that that kind

of ripple in the supply chain would reverberate throughout. Do you expect to see that?

SEROKA: Not necessarily. If we look at the supply chain continuum and the node at the port where we've had choke points in the past, we're running it

less than a third of the cargo on the docks at the port that we did at the peak of the peak during COVID.

We also have a computer system, the Port Optimizer, that gives us a 40-day upstream look at what cargo is loaded and a real good view 14 days out. So,

we won't get caught off guard. This will could be important because shipping lines are looking at reinstituting services, putting forward

schedules out to the marketplace. So, we're only in day two of this most recent announcement on the pause. The days and weeks to come will tell us

what cargo will be restarted and how much will come our way.

SCIUTTO: You hear consistently from companies, whether they're small businesses or big multinationals, that they want certainty. They need to

know, you know, what tariffs are going to be, not just 90 days out, but beyond that. And are they going to change? You know, is there going to --

is the president going to have a bad day, right, and ratchet them up again?

When you speak to folks who use your port, do they have any more certainty now or are they just getting a bit of a reprieve?

[18:30:00]

SEROKA: I think there's a little bit of a reprieve. And you're exactly right, Jim. 90 days is not a long runway in our industry. That typically

represents how long it takes to process an order that's been put in by an American importer and get it ready for shipment from Asia.

So, looking at the next 90 days, we may see folks with some pent-up demand that bring cargo in, maybe there's some really important products. Think of

medical supplies that have to go to our hospitals and doctor's offices. But people are doing the math right now to see if at a 30 percent tariff, which

is really just an average of averages, depending on their commodity, it could be much higher and much more complicated. So, we'll see exactly what

the import community looks at.

On the export side, the 10 percent for the American farmer and manufacturer is on top of other layers of tariffs, they too are doing some financial

calculation to see how they can get back into the international market.

SCIUTTO: It's a good point because, yes, the tariffs are down, but they're certainly not down to zero, and historically, they're still way up from

where we were just a few months ago. Gene Seroka, Port of L.A., we appreciate you joining.

Coming up the U.S. is now ending special humanitarian status for refugees from Afghanistan. We're going to explain what that means to people, many of

whom fled here from the Taliban to save their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are more international headlines we're watching today. President Donald Trump says

he will lift U.S. sanctions on Syria. He made the announcement during his visit to Saudi Arabia. President is expected to greet Syrian leader Ahmed

al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday. This is likely to be seen as a blow to Israel, which has taken territory in Syria after the Assad regime

collapsed.

[18:35:00]

An ex-girlfriend of Sean Diddy Combs testified on the second day of his sex trafficking trial. Cassie Ventura described Combs as controlling and said

some of their arguments would get violent. She broke down in tears when asked about parties in which he allegedly forced her to have sex. Combs

says that sex was consensual. He has pleaded not guilty to charges, including racketeering, conspiracy, sex trafficking, and transportation to

engage in prostitution.

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is almost certain to be elected mayor of his home city of Davao, by a landslide. That despite his detention

at the International Criminal Court on charges of murder as a crime against humanity. With 80 percent of votes counted in an unofficial tally, Duterte,

whose war on drugs killed thousands of people, was eight times ahead of his nearest rival in total votes.

President Trump says U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Istanbul for potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine there.

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wants an unconditional 30-day ceasefire with Moscow, which of course President Trump has long called for.

The Kremlin is refusing to say whether President Putin or anyone else from Moscow will travel to Turkey for those meetings.

In Russian-occupied Mariupol, social media influencers are painting a rosy picture of life under Russia's rule. A new CNN investigation reveals that

people there, including school children, are being trained to become content creators with support from the Kremlin. Clare Sebastian has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This Blogger School in Russian-occupied Mariupol. Complete with beanbags and a selfie mirror. Run

by a project called the Donbas Media Center. It offers free tuition and new skills.

Pavel Karbovsky, one of the teachers only launched his own social channels two and a half years ago.

He tells me the school founded by a pro-Kremlin news outlet is not political. And yet, the same can't be said for his own posts to his now

36,000 TikTok followers.

Just look at what Russia is getting up to in Mariupol, he says here. Oh, wait, they're building, not demolishing. This Mariupol, our Russian town.

PAVEL KARBOVSKY, TEACHER, DONBASS MEDIA CENTRE (through translator): My key goal is to show what's happening here. To show the truth so people stop

forming their opinion on Donbas by reading Ukrainian comments, which say that this Ukraine. It isn't. Why we have Russian flags here, Russian

passports and Russian laws?

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Three years after Russia laid siege to Mariupol, destroying, according to the U.N., an estimated 90 percent of residential

buildings and killing Ukrainian officials believe around 20,000 civilians accusing Russia of disposing of bodies to cover up war crimes, which the

Kremlin denies.

Mariupol is a key strategic priority for Putin. He even visited two years ago to highlight the rebuilding efforts. And Moscow is now increasingly

looking to social media. There's a subtle though powerful propaganda tool in these regions.

In January, Karbovsky was part of a group of Donetsk influencers invited to meet with Denis Pushilin, the Russian installed head of the Donetsk

People's Republic.

Not everyone understands the scale of the work that's happening, he told them. The implication they can change that.

And it's clear. Revival videos, good clicks, some are couched in lifestyle content, well stocked grocery stores or stylish new cafes, others directly

focused on the reconstruction, the drama theater flattened by a Russian attack three years ago as hundreds of civilians took shelter.

And look, how beautiful, says this vlogger who goes by Masha from Mariupol, showing off brand-new apartment buildings at sunset.

Mariupol's Ukrainian mayor in exile says it's an illusion, one, which he believes won't work.

VADYM BOICHENKO, MARIUPOL'S UKRAINIAN EXILED MAYOR (through translator): This propaganda, these made-up clips that they are doing now in Mariupol

will not help. Russia has committed a crime in Mariupol, and the people of Mariupol know it.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Satellite images do show massive reconstruction and not only in the city center. What they don't show is who gets to live

there.

Multiple videos like this are now also circulating, a direct appeal to Putin by former residents of a heavily damaged Eastern Mariupol

neighborhood who say they are still homeless.

[18:40:00]

Russians meanwhile are being lured to the city with state-sponsored mortgage rates at least 10 times lower than the market average. And perhaps

by content creators like this.

21-year-old Elizaveta Chervyakova born in Mariupol, unboxing her gifts from the Donbas Media Centre's Blogger School. She was one of a select few who

completed the course awarded with a trip to Moscow to meet top Russian influencers.

ELIZAVETA CHERVYAKOVA, CONTENT CREATOR (through translator): I met guys I had never known before, and it's clear, especially with the Donetsk

fellows, that they are showcasing their city, the photos and videos and watching those I thought, I want to do that too.

Her own city she accepts is now Russian. Making her part of a generation of Ukrainians Moscow is hoping will help convince others to accept that too.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: A city taken by the Russian invasion. You are watching "The Brief." And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: The Trump administration is now ending a form of humanitarian relief for Afghans. The U.S. gives temporary protective status to people

who cannot return to their home countries because of war or natural disasters, for example. These protections for thousands of Afghans in the

U.S. expire a week from now. The Trump administration says it will not be renewing them. The Department of Homeland Security argues that the

situation in Afghanistan has gotten better.

Jason Howk is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, now the director of Global Friends of Afghanistan. And he joins me. Jason, good to have you on.

JASON HOWK, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL FRIENDS OF AFGHANISTAN: Hey, good to see you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, in justifying this move, the administration says, in effect, there is no moral war in Afghanistan. I wonder, given you know the details

of exactly why many of these Afghans fled the country threat from the Taliban, et cetera, what fate awaits them if they were to return home?

HOWK: In many cases, it's going to be a fate worse than death. The Taliban, the Haqqani terrorist network, who's just as closely tied with Al-

Qaeda now, as they were before September 11th, are tracking everybody who has gone out of the country. They have locked down every border. They are

screening everybody that comes in and out. And they are haunting and taunting those people online.

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So, they will -- if they're men and they worked for the U.S. military in any way, or they were in the military themselves, they're going to be

killed and dumped in the street. They'll probably be beaten and tortured first. If it's a woman, especially if she's involved with human rights

battle that's going on right now and trying to end gender apartheid, she's going to be in prison, she's going to be tortured, she's going to be raped.

If she gets pregnant, they'll abort the baby. They'll impregnate her again, and eventually they'll kill her and throw her on the street and fry her

home.

It is worse than war. It is hell over there because there's a terrorist organization running a country the size of Texas, and they don't care about

human life.

SCIUTTO: You stay in touch with many of these people, and I know you've been reaching out to them in light of this news. How are they reacting?

HOWK: This is absolutely frightening for the refugees that are here. I reached out to a dozen women refugees whose families are still basically

running for their lives in Afghanistan and trying not to get caught by the Taliban. They are just dismayed. They can't believe that we would do this

to them. And I would have to agree with them. This is the wrong thing to do.

These are -- were our partners. These were the people who believe in human rights and democracy, who believe in the American way and want their nation

to be like that. You know, 90 percent of Afghanistan wants that. You've got a small terrorist regime, you know, that is not liked by the people in

Afghanistan. That's just killing anybody who disagrees with them.

SCIUTTO: How do U.S. veterans of Afghanistan, yourself included, see this? You and I have spoken about how the withdrawal had a deep psychological

impact on many Afghan veterans and contributed, in your view, to what was already an epidemic of suicides. This news, how do U.S. veterans see this?

HOWK: There's a lot of anger. We thought the Biden administration was really dragging their feet on getting people enrolled into citizenship

programs that were vetted 10 times. You know, these were people we stood beside and folks who took bullets, literally took bullets for us and we're

still alive.

And so, this is just another punch to the gut. We had a suicide epidemic. It's still ongoing. I just had -- ran a conference in February out in

Nashville on this. The numbers are still going the wrong direction. And this kind of things where we betray our partners, you know, we abandon our

allies. This just hurts veterans especially, but including those in diplomacy and the intel community and humanitarian world. We're betraying

people who are our friends and who want the same things we do for our children.

SCIUTTO: And who you and your fellow veterans gave so much for sometimes their own lives. Are there national security impacts from this as well?

HOWK: I believe so. If -- you know, we always fight wars in the coalition. That is how America fights. We're not -- we don't fight alone. And

generally, if we're in a war, we're going to need the help of locals in that country. And that is what it was all throughout World War II and every

war since then. We move across the land and we need locals to help us and trust us and believe that if we say we're their partner, we want to help,

that we'll keep our word.

So, when you do things like this, when you turn your back on people who literally have taken bullets for you, that has ramifications. Other

countries will think twice. Other people will think twice about trusting America. So, that hurts us.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HOWK: It's not like we can end war. There's always going to be another one somewhere. And we've got to make sure that we have the trust of the people

that are going to stand beside us.

SCIUTTO: Well, Jason Howk, we certainly appreciate the work you've done with these refugees and also, of course, your service. So, thanks so much

for joining today.

HOWK: Hey, thanks for having me on, Jim. I hope we can turn this around.

SCIUTTO: Yes. We'll keep watching. Well, still to come, Major League Baseball has lifted the ban on some legendary players. Will it be enough to

put them in the Hall of Fame?

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SCIUTTO: Taking a look now at the field to play. Some baseball players banned some famous ones for gambling have now been reinstated by the

league. Among them just legendary players like Pete Rose, most hits ever in baseball, and Shoeless Joe Jackson, who was kicked out of baseball for

being among the group that threw the 1919 World Series.

The head of Major League baseball ruled that their punishments were lifetime punishments and therefore, should end when they died. Shoeless Joe

kicked out the infamous Black Sox scandal when he and other players were accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. Pete Rose, he was player manager

of the Cincinnati Reds when an MLB investigation found that he was gambling on baseball while managing the team. Rose passed away just last year.

Today's ruling means both could be eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Joining me now, Levi Weaver, staff writer for The Athletic and author of the "Windup Newsletter." Levi, good to have you.

LEVI WEAVER, STAFF WRITER, THE ATHLETIC: Hey, how's it going?

SCIUTTO: So, tell me what brought about this decision now? I know that President Trump had been in touch with Rob Manfred, the commissioner of

baseball. Do you have a sense of what the backstory was?

WEAVER: I don't yet. I really don't know how much that had to do with it. I know that this has kind of been on the table, honestly for a long time.

And it seemed like throughout the last, I mean, even 15 years, right, Rose would kind of get close to maybe being reinstated. Public opinion would

kind of lean a little bit more in his direction and then he would say or do something stupid or, you know, kind of shoot himself in the foot again. So,

it might just be that he's out of his own way now.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, he would sometime -- you know, folks wanted him to kind of throw himself on the mercy of the jury to some degree, and it

seemed like he was never willing to do that. Do you -- I mean, being reinstated is one thing, whether the writers, Veterans Committee, you know,

put him in the Hall of Fame as a separate question. I mean, is that -- do you think a real possibility, not just for Rose, but for the Chicago Black

Socks?

WEAVER: Yes. I mean, I think it is. The -- it would be the Veterans Committee. It would not be the writers at this point because it's been more

than 15 years since he last played. But -- so, the next time that the Veterans Committee for that era meets will be near the end of 2027, for

induction in 2028.

We got a lot of time to argue the finer points of, you know, whether Rose, as a person, should go in, if, you know -- I mean, they could decide that,

hey, if you were ever on the permanently ineligible list, we don't think you should be in the Hall of Fame. They will have a lot of time to decide

how they're going to vote on that though.

SCIUTTO: Now, you're a baseball guy and I mean, you know, the debates about this. I mean, if you go back to say, you know, Shoeless Joe, the

question was, you know, anybody who has watched "Field of Dreams" know he had a pretty good batting average in that World Series. Did he actually

throw, you know, the World Series? And then Pete Rose, I mean, listen, he's got -- he had a lot of hits. You know, there are a lot of bad people in the

Hall of Fame, right?

What's your gut? Do you think -- if you had a vote, say, would you vote Rose and Jackson in?

WEAVER: If I were on the Veterans Committee, I think I would take about probably the next two years to figure that out. You know, it's been a very

short period of time since I found out. And I mean, yes, I could give you a gut reaction of like, yes, Pete Rose did a lot of things that were -- you

know, that were shady, that were not good. It wasn't just the gambling on baseball. He also had more hits than anybody in the game. So, there are

definitely arguments to be made on either side.

[18:55:00]

SCIUTTO: Well, Levi Weaver, I still remember when he broke that hit record, you know, back in the '80s. You know, listen, a lot of memorable

moments. Staff writer for The Athletic, well, I'm sure we'll be talking about again when their names come up to the Veterans Committee. Thanks for

joining.

WEAVER: For sure. Thanks. Take care.

SCIUTTO: And in today's Good Brief, it's sometimes cheesy, sometimes brash. It has songs so catchy they'll never leave your head. It can only

mean one thing. The 2025 Eurovision song contest rollercoaster has begun once again with the first semi-final tonight. Thousands of fans converging

on the host city of Basel in Switzerland. You can be sure there are plenty of standouts from Sweden's entry focused on saunas to a song about Laika,

the Soviet space dog.

The competition has everything or something for everyone. Millions are expected to tune in, to watch this week across Europe and beyond, it means

a lot there. Trust me.

Thanks so much for your company. I'm Jim Sciutto on Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

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