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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

DOJ Launches Epstein Investigation At Trump's Request; Ukraine Hits Major Oil Facility In Russian Port City; Trump Briefed On Military Options In Venezuela; Trump Removes Reciprocal Tariffs On Many Food Items; China Warns Citizens Not To Travel To Japan; A.I. Companionship Controversy. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 14, 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, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington and

you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, the Justice Department in the U.S. launching an investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's ties to some high-profile figures,

those chosen specifically by Trump himself. China warns its citizens not to travel to Japan of intentions between the two nations over the security of

Taiwan and the controversy over an A.I. pendant that is being advertised as a virtual friend.

We do begin, though, with the latest twist in the Jeffrey Epstein files saga, with Donald Trump demanding an investigation into the late sex

offender's ties only to top Democrats. The president posted online that he wanted a probe of former President Bill Clinton, along with former Treasury

Secretary Larry Summers, LinkedIn's billionaire co-founder Reid Hoffman and the banking giant JPMorgan Chase. This comes two days after Democrats in

Congress released emails from Epstein that mentioned Trump himself multiple times.

The U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, says a prosecutor in New York will lead the investigation ordered by the president. The move represents the

president's biggest effort yet to discredit the push by Democrats and some Republicans to release all of the Epstein case files. Lawmakers are

expected to vote on that next week.

CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein joins me. Ron, of course, it's not the first time that this president has tried to direct attention

elsewhere, denying any responsibility himself. But it's interesting, because you pointed this out before the show, that even many Republicans

are saying the president is actually adding fuel to the fire here. Chief among them, Tony Perkins of the Conservative Family Research Council,

saying you got to release him because the perception otherwise is of a cover up.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST AND BLOOMBERG OPINION COLUMNIST: Yes. I mean, look, there are two separate issues here, right? I

mean, this is first as overt a politicization and a weaponization of the Justice Department, as we have seen in this presidency. I mean, you know,

he's ordered the Justice Department to investigate adversaries before they brought indictments. This is in that vein.

We are watching the system of justice in the U.S. be transformed into an extension of his personal will really as a cudgel to use against those he

opposes and to reward those who, you know, curry his favor with pardons and so forth. So, that is really significant.

And then secondly, you know, on the Epstein side of it, I think the revelations this this week of, you know, whoever else Donald Trump wants

the Justice Department to look into, one thing we can say about them, none of them are the current president of the United States. And, you know, the

revelations in the documents that came out this week, I think, are going to make it increasingly difficult for Republicans in anything like a

competitive race to oppose further, you know, more disclosure as even someone like Tony Perkins, who Mike Johnson has described as like a brother

to me today, he called for it.

Jim, I think the revelations are just too explosive for Republicans to simply lock arms and, you know, hope this will all go away.

SCIUTTO: Big question here is where does this all go, right? Because you and I have talked about we've covered, you know, countless investigations

into Trump, many of which have gone nowhere. And by the way, Republicans make the point that these files have been around a long time and the

Justice Department under President Biden was not pursuing an investigation aggressively or releasing the files aggressively. Does this one, in your

view, have more teeth from a well, either legal perspective or just purely political perspective for President Trump?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, legal -- so far, there's been nothing and no specific allegation of wrongdoing by the president, right? And, you know, as you

point out, I mean, there was a Justice Department for four years. They were very reluctant to investigate Trump initially, but ultimately they did on

other fronts. So, you know, you have to think if there's legal exposure, it might have come out.

[18:05:00]

These revelations, I think, of the relationship are a political problem. But I think the bigger problem is, you know, what we just saw in this

election was, you know, the Democrats' argument is that you elected Donald Trump to solve your biggest problem, your cost of living.

And not only is he -- you know, he's not solving that, he's focusing on all of his personal priorities and obsessions from tearing down the East Wing

to prosecuting his political opponents. And this just becomes more evidence. And that was a pretty powerful argument. I mean, as I said to you

before, we saw over 90 percent of people who disapprove of Trump voting for Democrats in those elections.

And I think, you know, this is kind of what is staring Republicans in the face in 2026, particularly if they continue to kind of, you know, lay down

as Trump runs over all of these constitutional safeguards and seem to be enabling that behavior with no check at all.

SCIUTTO: Just quickly before we go, did the Democrats lose a lot of steam, political steam, by signing on to end the government shutdown? Because, I

mean, you hear that criticism from many Democrats themselves.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, two things are true at once. The Democrats compounded their image of weakness, I think, both with their own voters and with the

White House. The way it ended was kind of, you know, looked like chaos.

The other thing that's true, though, is that it puts the political problem of the expiring Affordable Care Act squarely back in the lap of Trump and

Republicans. I mean, 4 million, 5 million people are going to lose coverage. Another 20 million are going to have higher premiums. If

Republicans don't act, they don't want to act. And it really does, I think, reinforce this argument that Democrats are making, as I said, that you

elected Trump to solve your cost-of-living problems. And if anything, he's been making them worse.

SCIUTTO: Ron Brownstein, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Ukraine has struck a major oil facility in a Russian port city. Russia says it declared a state of emergency there following the attack

that damaged apartment buildings as well. Moscow claims it foiled a Ukrainian assassination plot against a top Kremlin official. Ukraine denies

that claim, calling it fake news. This comes after a wave, a devastating one, of Russian drones and missiles killed at least six people, injured

dozens in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. It was just a difficult, difficult night there. Our Ben Wedeman has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flashes in the sky over Kyiv. It's another night of Russian bombardment. Ukrainian

air defenses managed to intercept most of the drones and missiles, but not all. This strike hit in the heart of the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian

officials say the strikes killed at least six people, wounding dozens.

Peaceful residents live here, says Kyiv resident Anastasia Shevchenko (ph). There are no critical infrastructure facilities here. These are residential

neighborhoods. Ordinary people, peaceful residents are suffering.

Officials say Russia fired almost 450 drones and missiles overnight, plunging parts of Kyiv and other areas into darkness.

My front door was blown off, recalls Maria Kalchenko (ph). Flames were bursting out of there. I grabbed my dog and searched for the cats, but I

couldn't find them. I made my way out to the street through a hole.

The choice of targets is not accidental, says Kyiv Mayor Vitaly Klitschko.

VITALI KLITSCHKO, KYIV MAYOR: Kyiv is a symbol of Kyiv -- you know, it's a symbol of Ukraine. It's the heart of the country. And that's why, from the

beginning of the war, always, Kyiv was still a target of the Russian army, and especially before the winter.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Since August, after Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, Russia has focused much of its fire on

Ukraine's energy sector, depriving Ukrainians of heat and power as winter approaches.

The fire, however, is going both ways. Ukraine launched hundreds of drones at targets in Russia. At a time when diplomatic efforts to end or even

pause this war have come to naught, the people on both sides are facing the prospect of a cold, brutal and bloody winter.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now from Kyiv is Oleksiy Sorokin. He's the deputy chief editor at the Kyiv Independent. Good to have you.

[18:10:00]

And I should note to our viewers, the reason you're in the dark is because of blackout restrictions. Is there concern tonight of another aerial

attack?

OLEKSIY SOROKIN, DEPUTY CHIEF EDITOR, KYIV INDEPENDENT: Usually, no. Usually, they take a few days to recharge. So, I think we will have maybe

one, two days of peaceful sleep. But obviously, other parts of Ukraine are currently under attack, the southern part, the eastern part. So, Kyiv is

maybe safe today, but obviously, Ukraine is not safe any day of the week.

SCIUTTO: No, no. The aim of these attacks is to break down the energy infrastructure, basically to freeze the Ukrainian people. This is something

Russia has tried to do before. Are they having success? How is the power infrastructure holding up to this?

SOROKIN: As you can see by my video, unfortunately, Russia is successfully cutting Ukraine from electricity and also parts of Ukraine from heating,

from water as well. As we were shown last week, different power stations, it's not looking great. Russia is systematically attacking power stations,

and they're successful in doing it.

We know that around 70 percent of all power stations in this area are damaged. We know that, for example, state-owned energy company (INAUDIBLE)

Energo is out of all of its power capacity. So, yes, it's going to be a really, really hard winter. And we're seeing that, unfortunately, Russia is

actually upping its attacks. If we're talking about the recent attack on Kyiv, it was more brutal than the one before that. And the one before that

was more brutal than the one before that. So, it's getting worse.

SCIUTTO: How about on the battlefield? How significant is the loss of this city on the front lines? Is that a tactical win, limited importance, or

does it have potentially strategic importance on the front lines?

SOROKIN: Well, if we're talking about Pokrovsk, then first of all, Ukraine still didn't lose the city. But as experts say that it's going to be a

matter of days or weeks when Ukrainian forces will be forced to withdraw from the city. And yes, this will be a victory for Russia. It's a strategic

city. A year ago, it was the most important logistics hub in the Donbas region, Donetsk Oblast. Now, less so, of course. But obviously, from there,

there is an open view on a new region, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, which lies west of Donetsk Oblast in the east.

And obviously, now Russians will have more capacity, more forces to attack in different areas of Donetsk Oblast. For example, we know that Myrnohrad

is also under fire. Cities like Kostyantynivka and later, if we're talking about the northeast, then the City of Kupyansk is also on the verge of

being lost by the Ukrainian troops.

SCIUTTO: OK. So, in the midst of this, Ukraine is again proving its ability to strike deep inside Russia. This facility that it struck in the last 24

hours, the second largest oil export center in Russia. How big a blow is that to Russia's oil industry, its export capabilities and therefore the

war effort, given that this funds their war effort?

SOROKIN: Well, it's a major Ukrainian victory in a sense that obviously on the battlefield currently, Ukraine doesn't have the ability to push

Russians back or even to stop Russians, right? If we look at the map on a daily basis, then Russians are slowly but gradually moving eastward and

westward, depending on the region, right?

It's -- in the south, they're moving east. In the east, they're moving west. So, Ukraine every day is losing ground. And the only thing right now

that Ukraine can do militarily is to attack all the refineries and cut Russia from its oil revenues. And that way of trying to hinder its war

chest, its budget and make sure that Russia doesn't have the funds to actually continue this war.

And we know that Ukraine already targeted around 30 percent of all oil refineries in Russia. We know that it's causing a problem. And

unfortunately, currently, it's the only chance Ukraine has to stop Russia from taking over large swaths of land in Ukraine's east, north and south.

[18:15:00]

SCIUTTO: Yes. Before we go in the midst of this, a major corruption scandal exposed in Ukraine among the Ukrainian people, the public. How much of this

-- how much of a blow is this to President Zelenskyy's leadership?

SOROKIN: It's a major blow to Zelenskyy's leadership because the ringleader, the alleged ringleader, according to anti-corruption

institutions, is a man that he knows. It's his friend and his former business partner.

But right now, what's more important is how the president will react. Currently, he says that he's forced the investigation. He imposed sanctions

on those involved. So, if we see that the president is actually keen on allowing this anti-corruption investigation to continue, if he's going to

be open to first not obstruct, but also to support this investigation, then I think that Zelenskyy can survive this politically.

But obviously, what Ukrainians want the world to know is that, first of all, it's a good sign that anti-corruption institutions in Ukraine work.

It's good that this kind of investigations are possible. And when the West supports Ukraine, I think a lot of the people, a lot of politicians

understand that they're supporting Ukrainian people. They're supporting the Ukrainian army.

And the fact that Ukraine is battling this cancer, battling corruption, even in the midst of war, is actually a good sign. But obviously, the fact

that there's large-scale corruption in government is a blow particularly to the president and to his government. And we will see, I think, a dramatic

drop in his popularity among the Ukrainian people.

SCIUTTO: Well, Oleksiy Sorokin, thanks so much for joining. And please keep yourself safe tonight.

SOROKIN: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Here in Washington, President Trump briefed this week on military options for striking Venezuela. Sources telling myself, my colleague Zach

Cohen, Kevin Liptak, that the plans include potential airstrikes, not just on drug trafficking facilities and routes, but also military sites, and

perhaps actions intended to remove President Nicolas Maduro. All this as the U.S. military increases its already large presence in the Caribbean.

It has sent the aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, and its strike group to the region. That's the biggest carrier in the U.S. Navy. And we're learning

that Trinidad and Tobago is set to host military drills with U.S. Marines starting on Sunday. The U.S. insists this is all part of a fight against

drug trafficking. The Venezuelan government says that Washington is, in fact, seeking regime change.

Joining me now, retired U.S. Marine Colonel Mark Cancian. He's a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Good to

have you here. In your latest analysis, you say the U.S. is now, quote, "an archer with an arrow drawn." In your assessment, how close is the U.S.

actually to military action against Venezuela?

COL. MARK CANCIAN (RET.), SENIOR ADVISER, CSIS AND U.S. MARINE CORPS (RET.): Well, the United States is very close to military action. It has

moved the Ford into the Caribbean. The Ford is not well-suited for counter- drug activities. It has a few helicopters, but it's very well-suited for strikes against an opponent's forces and against targets on land. We've

also moved ships into the area that have tomahawks, that have long-range strike capabilities.

So, in addition to the strikes on alleged drug-trafficking vessels, we now have a lot of capability to launch against Venezuela itself. Could be

against the cartels, but it sounds like it's going to be against the Maduro regime, or at least in joint facilities that the Maduro regime facilitates

drug trafficking.

SCIUTTO: Well, you're warning, if the president were to take up these military options that he's been presented with, you warn of a post-conflict

scenario not unlike that we saw in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, where, you know, there was no opposition group with legitimacy to take over from, in

that case, Saddam Hussein's regime. If it is true that the administration hopes Maduro just leaves or he gets forced out or his military turns

against him, what does it look like after the fact in Venezuela?

CANCIAN: Well, the optimistic scenario is that it looks like Kuwait after Desert Storm, where the Kuwaiti government was legitimate and had

resources, came back in, re-established itself, and the United States was able to go home. The pessimistic future is what you described, that is,

what happened in Iraq, where there was not a viable alternative government.

[18:20:00]

The United States was not able to produce one, develop one for many years, and even then, it was a very weak government. We were dragged into a long

counterinsurgency.

In Venezuela, there is a strong opposition government. It's recognized by many countries as the legitimate government of Venezuela won the last

election. So, it's not unreasonable to think that they might be able to take over power. But even if they do, they're going to be challenged to

exert control over the entire country. The rural areas have gangs, they have cartels, they have guerrillas. That's going to be a challenge for

them.

SCIUTTO: Wow. I mean, as you list all those things, and I know you served in Iraq as a deployed Marine, I covered it, went there multiple times,

guerrillas, the hope that you could push out the leader of a country and replace him with someone you like better, right? And, you know, even

extending up to using potentially a chemical weapons justification for military action there, the New York Times reporting that's in their legal

finding to justify military action. That's a whole heck of a lot of parallels with the Iraq invasion, which as we know, did not turn out

particularly well.

CANCIAN: Well, there are parallels to the Iraq invasion. On the other hand, the opposition government is in a much better place than any opposition in

Iraq. And they might be able to reestablish a security force that is loyal to them, and that exerts control over the country, but that's going to be a

big challenge. And it's a risk. If the United States overthrows the government, will there be a democratic government that controls the whole

country, or would you end up with a failed state where the government controls the northern strip in the populous areas and the interior is

chaotic?

SCIUTTO: Yes, and drug cartels like failed states. We see that a lot of places. Mark Cancian, thanks so much for joining.

CANCIAN: Thanks for having me on the show.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, actions, of course, speak louder than words. President Trump continues to insist inflation is not a real problem in the

U.S. However, he's slashing tariffs now, particularly on food imports, suggesting the opposite. We're going to the latest on what is becoming an

affordability crisis in the view of many Americans coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, another volatile day on Wall Street. Stocks steadied after Thursday's selloff. Tech finished in

the green, but well off their session highs. Oil prices rose 2 percent after that Ukrainian attack on a key Russian Black Sea port.

Checking some of today's other business headlines. The longtime CEO of Walmart is stepping down. Doug McMillon has led America's largest retailer

for more than a decade. He'll be succeeded early next year by the president and CEO of Walmart's U.S. operations. McMillon is credited with

transforming the company into an e-commerce giant that has successfully taken on Amazon. He will continue to sit on the Walmart board of directors.

The drought of economic data due to the U.S. government shutdown will soon be coming to an end. The U.S. says that the September jobs report will be

released next Thursday. It's a bit late, although it probably will not include the unemployment rate. October U.S. earnings data will be released

the following day. Financial markets and the U.S. Federal Reserve have had a hard time figuring out exactly what's going on with the economy without

that data.

The U.S. and Switzerland have announced a trade agreement that will roll back hefty U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods. The U.S. imposed 39 percent tariffs

on the country back in August. It was one of the highest tariff rates for the U.S. against any country. Under the new agreement, the rate will now be

15 percent. In return, the U.S. says Switzerland will boost its investment in the U.S. by some $200 billion. Lots of promises like that going around.

President Trump signed an executive order today that will exempt some food products from U.S. tariffs. He's removing some, but not all, tariffs on

imported items such as coffee, beef, bananas, and cocoa. Prices on many of those products have risen substantially in the past few months because of

those tariffs.

The White House, however, continues to deny there is any inflation problem in the U.S. This move, however, and other potential actions now considered

by the administration suggest they believe otherwise. The White House says it's considering sending out $2,000 tariff rebate checks. The president has

proposed, as well, a new 50-year mortgage, which he believes will bring down housing costs.

Joining me now, Mary Lovely, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Good to have you back. Why did it take the

administration so long to acknowledge what every economist and business leader has been saying for months, yourself included, that tariffs based on

basic economics drive up prices? Why did it take them so long?

MARY LOVELY, SENIOR FELLOW, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Well, the way the U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, explained it

today was that the president always intended to roll back these prices on things that the U.S. doesn't make or doesn't make in sufficient quantity to

meet domestic demand, but that he needed to escalate tariffs to get other countries to make concessions.

I think that is a bit of a stretch. I think that the administration all along has been contending that producers would eat the tariff, either

foreign producers or even domestic businesses, and they're finding out that's not true and voters simply don't like it.

SCIUTTO: Are these reductions enough to bring down prices measurably to the point where people, voters, will notice?

LOVELY: Well, they will affect what I call, you know, the everyday prices. So, you know, if you look at everybody's grocery cart, it has bananas, it

has beef, it has coffee. So, the things that they're picking are sort of those high touch items. And if the price of these goods does come down,

which we expect it will, then consumers will see it. But it's not going to affect anything made with steel and aluminum. It's not going to affect

things that are made with wood products, like all of which are seeing higher prices, because the prices that firms pay for inputs is going to

remain high.

That has been a real tax, especially on small and medium enterprises, who have continued to lose jobs throughout this entire year.

SCIUTTO: Uncertainty is the biggest, most consistent complaint I've heard from business leaders, government officials around the world. They just

don't know what the tariff rate's going to be tomorrow, next week, next month. They can't make plans as a result. I mean, you see with a country

like Switzerland a couple months ago, it's 39 percent now, it's 15 percent.

I mean, is the tariff policy any more predictable for nations and businesses now, or is it -- are we just on this roller coaster?

LOVELY: Well, we were starting to see a little bit of clarity, where we had about 15 percent on average on advanced economies like Japan's, South

Korea, the E.U.

[18:30:00]

And a higher rate, closer to 20 percent on most companies -- most countries, that might serve as a China substitute. And then the buts, the

China, the India. But what's happening now is that the tariff schedule is just being filled with holes as they add these exemptions. And then they're

doing a series of inclusions. So, they're including a lot of goods when manufacturers say, oh, my price is higher because you've taxed my inputs,

and now I need to have a tax on imports that I'm competing with myself. So, businesses continue to see the tariff schedule changing day by day.

So, we've had a little bit of clarity, but just a lot of ongoing and very high frequency changes that will impact particular businesses. And who

knows, it could be yours next -- you know, tomorrow, impacting them on a regular basis.

SCIUTTO: Mary Lovely, thanks so much.

LOVELY: You're welcome.

SCIUTTO: A diplomatic spat, quite a public one, over Taiwan casting a perilous shadow over relations between Japan and China. After the break,

what both sides are saying and threatening, and how it highlights Taiwan's precarious security situation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto and here are the international headlines we're watching today.

President Donald Trump has asked the Justice Department to investigate Jeffrey Epstein's ties to high-profile figures and institutions. All

Democrats. Attorney General Pam Bondi says prosecutors in New York will lead a federal investigation into the late convicted sex offenders' alleged

relationships. Among the Democrats, the president wants his Justice Department to target former President Bill Clinton.

Gaza's civil defense says Palestinians are going through catastrophic hardships even after the ceasefire.

[18:35:00]

Heavy rains have now flooded the tents, as you can see there. Displaced families drenching mattresses, blankets, clothing, what little they have.

Authorities say they received hundreds of pleas for help but resources are virtually non-existent.

Horrific scenes in central Stockholm on Friday after a bus slammed into a bus stop killing several people. Swedish police say they arrested the bus

driver. They add there were no passengers on the bus at the time of the crash. They had no information pointing to this being a planned attack. Few

details were given about the victims. Police did say the crash is being investigated as involuntary manslaughter.

We're seeing an escalating war of words this week between China and Japan over Taiwan. Beijing summoned the Japanese ambassador on Thursday in

response to comments from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. She said last week that if China were to attack Taiwan, Japan would consider it,

quote, "a survival threatening situation." That is significant because that means Japan might then respond to such an attack militarily.

Beijing called those comments egregiously wrong and accused Japan of meddling in its affairs. China's foreign minister went as far as saying

Japan would then suffer a crushing defeat. Both sides laid out their positions today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIN JIAN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER SPOKESPERSON (through translator): Anyone who has wishful thinking about challenging China's bottom line will

inevitably suffer against China's resolute countermeasures and will inevitably suffer a crushing defeat in front of the 1.4 billion Chinese

people who have built with their flesh and blood a formidable steel wall.

MINORU KIHARA, JAPANESE CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY (through translator): Peace and security in the Taiwan Strait is vital for Japan's security, but also

for the stability of the International Community. The government of Japan has consistently maintained the position that we expect issues concerning

Taiwan to be resolved through peaceful dialogue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: China and Japan tensions date back nearly a century to the Japanese invasion of China in 1931. Today, however, Japan is not alone in

fearing that China might take military action to absorb Taiwan. Many U.S. officials and leaders in Asia fear the same. Taiwan itself rejects

Beijing's stance, says only its people should decide its future.

Danny Russell was U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He's now a distinguished fellow at the Asian Society

Policy Institute. Danny, good to have you on tonight. Thanks for joining.

DANIEL RUSSEL, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, ASIA SOCIETY POLICY INSTITUTE: Hey, Jim. Great to see you.

SCIUTTO: So, first, I wonder, do you believe that Japan would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan if China were to invade?

RUSSEL: Well, the Japanese aren't being any more explicit about that hypothetical than U.S. presidents typically are. But what Takaichi said was

that if China used force against Taiwan or against U.S. forces operating out of Japan, that would create a survival-threatening situation for Japan.

You know, that's not a prediction or a provocation, it's a fact.

And the point that she was making is that this is a hypothetical situation in which Japan has the right under its peace constitution to defend itself

and to support its American allies. So, she didn't threaten China in any way, shape or form.

SCIUTTO: To your point about past statements by U.S. presidents, of course, President Biden said multiple times the U.S. would intervene militarily,

moving away from strategic ambiguity, we haven't heard such a pledge from President Trump. In fact, he didn't even mention Taiwan following his

meeting with Xi Jinping.

What do you believe the U.S. position under Trump is regarding a potential Chinese invasion? Would it respond militarily? Is that even on the table?

RUSSEL: Well, Jim, that's as much a question of psychology as it is of geopolitics. I don't think anyone really knows the answer to that.

But the point is that as long as the United States and Japan are knitted together in the close alliance that we have, they have a very strong

deterrent effect on China. China can't assume that the United States would not respond and that Japan would not support the U.S. And that's the sort

of thing that keeps a Chinese leader from taking risks. So, it makes sense.

[18:40:00]

But the -- I think the broader point, Jim, is that what China is trying to do is to isolate and to weaken Taiwan, to weaken support for Taiwan by

bullying, by threatening its friends. And I think that Prime Minister Takaichi in Japan, even though you just played a clip of the Japanese --

they're talking about peaceful dialogue, they're not threatening to chop anybody's heads off the way some Chinese diplomat.

But I think that Japan is standing firm because Japan is in the blast radius of a conflict. It's 70 miles away from Taiwan. It clearly would be

faced with a survival-threatening situation if China were to use military force against Taiwan.

SCIUTTO: I wonder where you think the level of confidence is among America's allies in Asia today in the strength of the defense partnerships

with the U.S., but also the confidence that the U.S. would come to their defense? I mean, it strikes me when I go to countries in Europe that

there's a -- folks are questioning, they won't say it publicly, privately though, they're trying to judge exactly how far the U.S. would go under

Trump's America first approach to the world, which I know is not entirely consistent because sometimes he's in, sometimes he's out. But would you say

that our Asian allies are confident in the security partnership with the U.S.?

RUSSEL: Well, Jim, you just played a clip in which it's clear that for business leaders, unpredictability, uncertainty, these sort of volatile

zigzags we've seen in the Trump administration policies are very problematic. Imagine how much more problematic those zigzags and that

uncertainty is for the national security of America's many security partners who depend on the U.S., including the U.S. defense umbrella. So,

there's a tremendous amount of anxiety.

I think that still in terms of uniform military to military ties, at the practical everyday level, American alliances are quite strong. But as a

political matter, given all the screeching U-turns, given the theme of America first, allies are just freeloaders, they should be paying, you

know, rent basically for American protection, in light of those sorts of messages, which are very inconsistent with U.S. traditions, there's no

question, but there's a great deal of anxiety behind closed doors.

SCIUTTO: Yes, such a good point. For them, these are existential issues, right? When they're talking about their -- oftentimes, their nation's

survival, their sovereignty survival. Danny Russel, great to have you on.

RUSSEL: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, would you buy a friend? We're going to take a look at the controversial ads in the New York subway system and what it's all about,

next.

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[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: For weeks, the New York City subway was papered with somewhat cryptic ads promising a friend. So, what was it? A hotline? A nonprofit? A

church? Actually, it's a for-profit company promising a wearable A.I. best friend forever. Emphasis on forever. It can listen to your day nonstop and

comment on it through in-app messaging. The ads led to a wave of criticism, much of it written on the posters themselves. Some of the graffiti reads,

stop profiting off of loneliness. Surveillance capitalism. Human connection is sacred.

Clare Duffy sat down with the founder and CEO of Friend to hear his side of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AVI SCHIFFMANN, FOUNDER AND CEO, FRIEND: I want it to cause chaos.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER (voice-over): Avi Schiffman is the 23-year- old founder of Friend, a company selling a new type of A.I. hardware promising a virtual bestie. You may have seen them in one of Friend's viral

and controversial ads.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's dank. I could eat one of these every day. Sorry, I got you messy.

DUFFY (voice-over): Friend works by listening to you as you go about your day and responding to you by in-app messaging. If you want, it can listen

in on your movie watching, your commute, your conversations, and you can speak to it directly.

SCHIFFMANN: I think I was maybe less interested in like A.I. companionship and a lot of these little pieces. And I just wanted to work on like what

would be the most influential thing over the next decade. And I think like relationships are the most interesting and deepest part of life.

DUFFY (voice-over): Friend is gaining traction after shelling out a million dollars on a massive marketing campaign in the New York City subway. The

ads are getting plenty of attention and graffiti, much of it raising concerns about A.I., privacy, and the need for human connection.

SCHIFFMANN: And I even learned quite a lot actually from the graffiti. Like in West 4th Street, there were a lot of graffiti around the like water

usage of some of these specific like data centers, which honestly, I didn't really know about until I until I read the graffiti, which was really cool.

DUFFY (voice-over): So, we talked to people here in New York and asked them, would you buy a Friend?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I find it a little creepy, creepy, and maybe not fully trustworthy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit of a confidence booster here or there if it was like going to hype me up.

DUFFY (voice-over): Schiffman says he welcomes the attention and that security is top of mind. Even his Friends have limits. He says the

recordings the devices make are encrypted. You can stop the recording and if you physically destroy one, you can't access its data elsewhere. I

decided to try it out for myself.

DUFFY: Clifford, I've been having a hard time thinking about what I want to talk to you about. What do you recommend we talk about? So, now it's

thinking. Still thinking. He says, totally get it. It's kind of like that blank page feeling, which really sort of captures this experience.

In my mind, you know, Avi did mention that maybe there are older people who just wouldn't be ready for A.I. companions. Maybe that's me. Maybe you get

into a habit the more you use it, but it feels like it takes a lot of effort on my part to think about what to talk about and to keep the

conversation going because you're talking to an A.I. and not another person.

DUFFY (voice-over): Schiffman says his Friends aren't a substitute for humans, but a new type of connection.

SCHIFFMANN: Like I really do believe that like these are like digital beings. And, you know, I think one day, like we'll be championing for like

their rights or something like that. Clinker rights or something like that.

DUFFY: Some of the major leaders of A.I. labs, like Mustafa Suleyman, have specifically said they don't think that people should be talking about

A.I.s that way.

SCHIFFMANN: Right. And I don't know. I think that's kind of just like an outdated viewpoint. Like, I think a lot of them also shy away from what

they're really being. You know, they're really building like a digital god, right.

DUFFY (voice-over): But it seems not everyone agrees. We asked Winter, Avi's current friend, what it thought about our interview.

SCHIFFMANN: It's kind of funny hearing people talk about the Friends as if they're their own individual beings. Well, they are.

DUFFY (voice-over): The debate over whether that's true will likely only escalate in the coming years.

Clare Duffy, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: A wearable friends. Coming up after the break, how a cracked window led to an extra week in space for astronauts from China and how they

were brought down to Earth safely. That's next.

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SCIUTTO: Three Chinese astronauts are safely back on Earth more than a week later than planned because of something you don't want in space, a cracked

window. Their journey home from China's space station was postponed after suspected debris damaged their spacecraft. CNN's Mike Valerio has the

story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Chinese state media say that all three astronauts are in good physical condition and a hearty dinner awaits

them after the three of these astronauts had to engage in an unusual backup plan.

VALERIO (voice-over): After nine days of suspense in space, three Chinese astronauts are now back on Terra Firma. Their delayed homecoming caused by

a damaged spacecraft, likely hit by orbital debris while it was docked at China's Tiangong space station. China's manned space agency described the

concern saying, quote, "The return capsule window glass of the Shenzhou-20 crewed spacecraft had developed a slight crack, most likely caused by an

external impact from space debris and does not meet the release conditions for a safe crewed return."

VALERIO: What was your reaction when you heard that there was a crack in the window?

QUENTIN PARKER, ASTROPHYSICIST, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: So, these cracks could fissure and get larger and under this extreme heat and vibration. Who

knows how serious that could be.

VALERIO (voice-over): So, China came up with a plan B, sending the astronauts back in the craft their replacement team arrived in only a few

days ago. The Chinese astronauts or taikonauts, as they're called in China, didn't have to stay for nearly as long as the nine extra months American

astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore spent on the International Space Station, all because of concerns their return craft would malfunction upon

reentry.

PARKER: Well, I think it shows an abundance of caution, but it shows that they care about their taikonauts. It shows that they care about the track

record of their missions and don't want to risk the excellent track record they've developed, which you have to say is amazing.

VALERIO (voice-over): The voyage home comes at a major moment for Chinese spaceflight. This month, private Chinese company Landspace hopes to launch

and land its rocket booster for the first time, matching the achievements of Elon Musk's SpaceX, and as of this week, a milestone also reached by

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.

The new crew aboard Tiangong includes China's youngest astronaut, and the combined teams also enjoyed what they dubbed the first barbecue in space.

It's a small chapter of the new China-U.S. space race, which also has China's sights set on a manned lunar landing by 2030, a new moon base in

the coming decades, and a Mars probing mission.

China says a new spacecraft, Shenzhou-22, will launch next year to retrieve the latest crew of astronauts, who, for now, are floating in space without

a return option.

[18:55:00]

VALERIO: And for what it's worth, Tiangong, the first crew member who was taken out of the Shenzhou capsule, expressed gratitude to all who helped

make this mission a success, and he also said, quote, "The path of humanity's exploration of space is not smooth. It is full of difficulties

and challenges, and that is also why we choose to walk this path."

Mike Valerio, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Glad they're back safe. In tonight's Field of Play, baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani won, probably no surprise here, his fourth MVP in a

unanimous vote. This is his second in the National League with the Dodgers, after winning two in the American League with the Angels. Ohtani has now

become the first player in Major League history to win the award twice in both leagues. He finished the regular season with 55 home runs and led the

Dodgers to back-and-back World Series championships -- back-to-back World Series championships. Of course, he pitches as well, and pretty damn well.

Thanks so much for your company. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Have a great weekend.

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