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What We Know with Max Foster
Putin: Main Thing To Eliminate "Root Causes" Of Crisis; Trump: Russia & Ukraine Will Start Negotiating Ceasefire "Immediately"; Trump Signs Bill Cracking Down On "Deepfakes"; Israel Escalates War, Clears Limited Amount Of Aid; UK & EU Strike Deal On Trade, Security & Travel; NTSB Provides Update On Deadly Crash Of Mexican Navy Ship. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired May 19, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:23]
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Russian President Vladimir Putin says efforts to end the war in Ukraine are generally on the right track after speaking with
U.S. President Donald Trump for a couple of hours. But what's the plan?
Well, this is WHAT WE KNOW. At this hour, we're expecting to hear from the U.S. president.
Moments ago, he posted this on social media, quote, Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations towards a ceasefire and more importantly, an
end to the war. But he didn't offer any specifics.
Earlier, Mr. Trump held two separate high profile phone calls. First, he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That was followed by a
nearly two-hour chat with the Russian president.
According to Russian state media, Mr. Putin is calling his talk frank and substantive, and here's what else he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The U.S. president expressed his position on the secession of hostilities, ceasefire. And from
my end, I emphasize that Russia also stands for a peaceful resolution of Ukrainian crisis. We must simply determine the most effective paths toward
peace.
The question, of course, is that the Russian and Ukrainian side should show maximum desire for peace and find compromises that would suit all parties
at the same time. I'd like to note that in general, Russia's position is clear -- the main thing for us is to eliminate the root causes of this
crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Let's bring Jeff Zeleny live at the White House.
Jeff, so on the face of it, this was very positive. You know, all wars ending at the negotiating table, as they say, and they are now going to
meet properly.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: On the face of it, positive, Max. But you have to wonder, doesn't this sound like where we
were just a couple of months ago for perhaps a month ago? The reality is, there was no definitive discussion of a ceasefire, 30 days, a ceasefire,
starting now. It was a discussion of negotiating towards a ceasefire. And we know the violence once again, the large scale drone attack Russia laid
out on Ukraine just yesterday. So that is where things lie.
So, certainly, a rosier view, I would say, a brighter view from the White House than from the Kremlin in terms of next steps forward. But this is a
prolonged, protracted fight, as it has been. So never mind the sort of vague promise that the American president said he would end this on day
one. We are looking at no end in sight, actually. And the even as the E.U. is moving toward talking about more sanctions toward Russia, President
Trump and the White House are talking about economic opportunities toward Russia.
And President Trump, in his statement that he put out, he said that Russia is looking forward to opening up economic activities with the United States
that would call for the lifting of sanctions and longer term deals and things. But the shorter term is very much unclear. What does sort of push
this to the next level of a ceasefire? So, there could be negotiations, face to face negotiations.
But one thing that I thought was sort of discordant from what we heard just a couple days ago when President Trump said only he and Vladimir Putin can
bring this to an end. Today, the American president said that this can only be negotiated by Russia and Ukraine, by a Putin and Zelenskyy. So, we will
see where this next summit meeting if it happens. And of course, if Vladimir Putin shows up as he did not last week in Turkey -- Max.
FOSTER: Okay. Jeff, thank you.
CNN's chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance, joins us now.
What stood out to you from Putin's statement?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'd actually agree with Jeff there, which is this idea that in the past, President Trump
and President Putin have emphasized that the centrality of those two leaders being, you know, kind of important in forging a peace deal. But
president Trump made it clear that any future negotiations between Russia and Ukraine would take place just between those two countries. There was no
role that he spelt out for us mediation. And so, it's almost that he was kind of putting some distance between --
FOSTER: Handing it over.
CHANCE: -- handing it over to the two parties.
I mean, the other thing that really stood out, I suppose. Well, two things. First of all, the way the two conversations were characterized by the two
leaders. Trump was much more positive. He called it, you know, you know, the tone and spirit was excellent of the call. Putin said it was candid and
substantial. You know, Trump talked about ceasefire negotiations being started immediately. Putin talked about how there'd be a memorandum
discussed, but that's a possible --
[15:05:00]
FOSTER: But that was his style, doesn't it?
CHANCE: But it's sort of like, you know, it sort of turned down the sort of volume a little bit.
FOSTER: Yeah.
CHANCE: Definitely. But I think the most important aspect is that there was no obvious breakthrough in the sort of massive divide between Russia
and Ukraine, and what the bare minimum is that they would -- they would accept for a peace.
FOSTER: Also, Putin did have this line. I can't remember the exact wording, but saying we have to address the root causes of all of this to
make any progress.
So, he wasn't suggesting there actually was progress until they're addressed. I mean, what's he referring to there?
CHANCE: Well, I mean, he made the point that, you basically, you know, I'm paraphrasing him slightly, but Russia is in favor of peace, but the
priority was to address the root causes of the conflict.
FOSTER: NATO or sovereignty or --
CHANCE: Well, all those things. I mean, the root causes, I mean, they've not hidden them. They've -- they spelled them out at every possibility.
They're talking about, you know, de-Nazification, which is a strange umbrella term, but it involves, for instance, things like the
reintroduction of Russian as an official language in Ukraine, the demilitarization of Ukraine. They don't want it to have a substantial army
in the same way that it's got, it's got now.
There's the territorial issue, Russia wants the territory that it has annexed inside Ukraine to be accepted as Russian territory, even the areas
it doesn't control on the ground. So, it's things like that that it wants to control which organization Ukraine does or does not join, for instance,
NATO.
In other words, it wants to subjugate Ukraine, whereas Ukraine wants to exist as a sort of independent, viable country on Russia's western flank.
And at the moment, you know, those two views of the future of the region aren't compatible.
FOSTER: And as you say, nothing. No word on mediation suggesting there won't be any. There was this talk of the Vatican getting involved.
CHANCE: Yeah. The pope's raised this before, you know, and Trump underlined it as a possible venue for peace talks. I mean, it's very
possible. But of course, there's a reason why the Gulf states have been chosen for the past few occasions for -- to host these --
FOSTER: Because they're experts.
CHANCE: Well, well, it's, you know, you've got to fly to -- you've got to fly to Italy.
FOSTER: Yeah.
CHANCE: And, you know, airspace over European countries is banned for Russians.
FOSTER: Yeah.
CHANCE: You know, I mean, they could open it up, of course, but it just adds a further logistical issue, a security issue from the Russian point of
view as well. So, we'll see. The Vatican City would be a good as good a venue as any, I suppose.
FOSTER: Yeah. Okay, Matthew, thank you so much.
So, what we don't know is will Donald Trump convince Vladimir Putin to end this war?
My next guest is the former Russian foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, joins us now from Washington.
Thank you so much for joining us. What did you make of Putin's language today? Because you understand it pretty fully.
ANDREI KOZYREV, FORMER RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Thank you for having me.
Putin's language is the same as it was all the time, you know, from the beginning of his invasion. And even before that, he made an ultimatum to
NATO, to the West, actually to go away. Go away rather far from Russian borders. And he then hinted that if NATO and the West would not retract,
then he will attack Ukraine. And that's what he did.
So, he's rather consistent and he does not hide his intentions. And his intention is still to humiliate the west to push NATO back to, I don't
know, a long time ago. And that includes, by the way the -- his definitions or his hints on how lo how a way how far away he wants to push the West,
includes definitely today's NATO states, like Baltic states and Poland and all that.
And he is doing this aggression. He is going with this aggression, with this invasion of Ukraine brutally, And to just demonstrate, of course, to
capture, to conquer Ukraine, or at least put it under his control the whole of Ukraine, but also to demonstrate what would be his next move.
FOSTER: Do you think he's playing it better than Donald Trump here? Because he has an interest, doesn't he, in buying time. And it does feel
like he's always managing to get that time, particularly when Donald Trump said he would solve this on the first day that he was in office.
KOZYREV: Yeah, the negotiations this telephone calls and all that is used actually by both sides, I think, to, gain some time, to pass time actually
in with good faith, that is, you know, if not agreed, the ceasefire or anything in all this time from the -- from January 20th, still, you can
enter. That's what President Trump is doing, he says, but he has perfect or beautiful or what was the word -- I don't remember at this time, but a very
good conversations with Putin, which in his eyes or in his interpretation is big step further from President Biden, who did not speak to Putin.
And Putin enjoys speaking and bombing. Bombing needed to achieve military ends. And talking achieves to pacify, so to say, Western alliance.
FOSTER: Okay. Andrei Kozyrev, thank you so much for that. A huge day, you know, in terms of optics at least. But let's see what actually comes out of
it. Thank you.
As mentioned, President Trump is to speak shortly. We are waiting to see what he says about peace efforts in Ukraine. This is the scene we are
keeping an eye on for you.
But the event is meant to be focused on the fight against deepfakes and revenge porn online and the Take It Down Act that the president is expected
to sign into law. But if he does take questions, you know, from the journalists gathered there, then I'm sure it will go on to Ukraine.
More from CNN's business writer Clare Duffy.
Take us through what we were expecting from this event then.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah, we're expecting to see Donald Trump sign the Take It Down Act, which is going to do really two important
things to address the growing trend that we've seen of people creating these explicit, nonconsensual deepfakes. They place a person's real face,
superimpose it onto a nude body using artificial intelligence. The Take It Down Act is going to criminalize the sharing of those kinds of images,
whether they're real or A.I. generated.
It's also going to require that tech platforms remove those images within 48 hours of being notified about them, and it's really going to mean that
victims could both go after the people creating these images, but also ensure that they don't continue to circulate on the Internet. This, of
course, very important, as we've seen everyone from Taylor Swift, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to high school girls who have been the targets of
this kind of harassment.
And I think this is also interesting because it really is one of the first new pieces of legislation that we've seen that relates to how artificial
intelligence can actually be used, Max.
FOSTER: What's going to be the challenge? I mean, from the tech side on this.
DUFFY: So, the tech platforms are going to have a year to figure out how to implement this law. They are going to have to figure out how to allow
victims to notify them that these images are spreading on their platforms, and then to remove those images within 48 hours. So, they'll have a year to
figure out that system before the FTC starts enforcement. But the portion of the law that criminalizes the spreading of these images, that is going
to go into effect immediately.
FOSTER: Does it also go into the fun deepfakes that people quite enjoy and are very obviously deepfake?
DUFFY: So, this law is pretty carefully targeted to protect freedom of speech, freedom of expression. It really is targeted at preventing the
spread of these non-consensual explicit deepfakes. So really focused on those, you know, sexualized images that people don't consent to the
creation or sharing of, but it's not going to relate to the rest of the sort of fun, obvious deepfakes that people are making with A.I.
FOSTER: And this is, you know, Melania Trump has actually been a victim of this, right? So that's why she's actually meant to be the main event today.
DUFFY: Yeah. Melania Trump has really thrown her support behind this bill. We've seen really widespread bipartisan support of this legislation. Also
support of this legislation from the tech platforms themselves.
I spoke with Ilana Beller. She's an organizing manager at Public Citizen, which is a nonprofit that supported this legislation. And she really got it
why this legislation is so important when we think about all of the various risks that artificial intelligence presents, she said A.I. is new to a lot
of us, so I think we're still figuring out what is helpful to society, what is harmful to society.
But non-consensual, intimate deepfakes are such a clear harm with no benefit, and I think that really does underscore why we've seen this
legislation move so quickly and receive such bipartisan support, because obviously, there are lots of questions about how we should handle the
various aspects of A.I. but this specific application where people are using it to harass and to target people with these non-consensual sexual
images, this seemed like an obvious one.
[15:15:03]
And clearly, you know, everybody got on board.
FOSTER: Yeah. Clare Duffy, thank you so much. We'll be watching that meeting and hearing what Melania and Donald Trump have to say there.
The U.S. Supreme Court is giving the Trump administration the green light that would allow it to potentially deport thousands, hundreds of thousands
of Venezuelans. The court ruling would bring an end to temporary deportation protections for more than 300,000 Venezuelans in the U.S.,
another 250,000 are scheduled to lose their protected status in September.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has led that push to end those protections for Venezuelan migrants. Legal challenges to the ruling are
expected, though, so it hasn't ended quite yet.
Coming up, Israel agrees to allow limited aid into Gaza after an 11-week total blockade. The U.N. calls it a drop in the ocean of what's needed to
ward off famine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Let's take you to the White House where the first lady speaking on the Take It Down Act.
MELANIA TRUMP, U.S. FIRST LADY: -- online environment for our youth.
Today, I'm proud to say that the values of Be Best will be reflected in the law of the land.
I want to thank my husband, President Trump, for standing with us on this effort.
(APPLAUSE)
M. TRUMP: His signature on this new law is now -- is not where our work ends of the -- on this issue. Now, we look to the Federal Trade Commission
and the private sector to do their part. Today, through the Take It Down Act, we affirm that the well-being of our children is central to our future
of our families in America.
Now, it is my pleasure to introduce the president.
[15:20:01]
Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good job. Can you sit down?
M. TRUMP: Yeah.
TRUMP: The gentleman. Nobody knew that. Great job. That was a great job.
Well, I want to thank everybody. We just spent 2-1/2 hours talking to Vladimir Putin. And I think some progress has been made. It's a terrible
situation going on over there. Five thousand young people every single week are being killed. So, hopefully, we did something. We also spoke to the
heads of most of the European nations, and we're trying to get that whole thing wrapped up. What a shame that it ever started in the first place.
So -- but I want to thank Melania and for your leadership in this very important issue. It's an amazing issue. America is blessed to have such a
dedicated and compassionate first lady. I will tell you, she is very dedicated.
In fact, if you look at just what I heard, Putin just said, they respect your wife a lot. I said, what about me? No, they won't, they like -- they
like Melania better.
That wasn't good. I don't know if that was good. I'm okay with it. I'm okay.
I also want to congratulate the first lady and securing $25 million in the first fiscal year 2026 budget to provide housing and support for youth
transitioning out of the foster care. And I can say that she loves children, and you really worked very hard on this, and you had a lot of
help from some friends of mine right here, and a lot of the senators are here and congressmen, and I appreciate you all being here.
We're also grateful to be joined by people that are just in love with what we're doing. It's such an important situation. And commissioners of the
Federal Trade Commission and the CEO of X, Linda Yaccarino, where are you, Linda? Where are you, Linda?
Thank you, thank you. Linda, stand up. Thank you, Linda. Great job. Doing a great job. It's a big deal, right? That's great.
Today, it's my honor to officially sign the Take It Down Act into law. It's a big thing. Very important. So horrible what takes place.
This will be the first ever federal law to combat the distribution of explicit, imaginary, posted without subject's consent. They take horrible
pictures, and I guess sometimes even make up the pictures and they post it without consent or anything else. And very importantly, this includes for
forgeries generated by artificial intelligence known as deepfakes.
We've all heard about deepfakes. I have them all the time, but I don't. Nobody does anything.
I ask Pam, can you help me, Pam? She says, no, I'm too busy. Too busy doing other things. Don't worry, you'll survive.
But a lot of people don't survive. That's true. And it's so horrible.
With the rise of A.I. image generation, countless women have been harassed with deepfakes and other explicit images distributed against their will.
This is the wrong, and it's just so horribly wrong. And it's a very abusive situation, like in some cases, people have never seen before. And today,
we're making it totally illegal.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you.
Upon hearing the stories of so many women affected, our first lady made stopping these abuses a top priority, and she was given tremendous support
because people should go up to people and talk about it. They say, yeah, we know about it. We have the problem. Can we do something? And she did
something about it with the help -- a lot of -- a lot of the people, especially the political people sitting here today.
Among Melania's guests in the gallery during my address to the joint session of Congress, was a 15-year-old young person, Elliston Berry, whose
image was turned into an illicit deepfake by a peer.
Elliston, where are you? Are you around? Stand up, darling, that's fine. Beautiful. It's great. Thank you. Look fantastic.
Elliston quickly became a powerful advocate, committed to preventing other girls from suffering the same abuse. Elliston, we salute you and we thank
you very much. And it's an honor to have you with us today. Great. Great job you've done.
Also with us are several other brave Americans whose lives were rocked by online harassment, including Francesca Manny, as well as a South Carolina
State Representative Brandon Guffey, and his family, who have lost their son to suicide after he was targeted in an internet extortion scam in which
you have a lot of them, a lot.
I want to thank you both for your incredible work and to reach this important day. Could you stand up, please? Thank you. Thank you very much.
[15:25:00]
Great job. I've read about it. Thank you very much.
It's a real honor to have you here because there's no place like the White House. I found out, you know, you have a lot of places. And I just left
some of the richest places, and we loved them. And we -- they gave us a nice contribution of about $5 trillion. But this is a special place. Even
they talk about it. So, it's great to have everybody here.
Under the law, I will sign in just a moment. Anyone who intentionally distributes explicit images without the subject's consent will face up to
three years in prison. In addition, this law establishes new civil liabilities for online platforms that refuse to take these images down
promptly upon request. We will not tolerate online sexual exploitation and especially as it's gone on at levels that nobody's ever seen before. It's
getting worse and worse, and I think this is going to hopefully stop it and not easy to do. People talked about all sorts of First Amendment, Second
Amendment. They talked about any -- any amendment they could make up. And we got it through because of some very brave people, including some very
brave politicians in the audience.
I want to thank the bill's sponsor, Senator Ted Cruz.
Ted, stand up, please.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Great. Thank you, Ted. That's great. Very effective person.
And Congresswoman Maria Salazar, friend of mine. Thank you, Maria. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: For their amazing work. And thanks also to the 99 senators and 408 members of Congress who voted in favor of the bill. Wow. I wish we could
get that vote, some other things.
We have another bill coming up. Do you think we'll get that vote? Maybe not. We should, but we probably won't.
But working with our first lady, we've shown that bipartisanship is still possible. Thats true. 99 senators. That's incredible. Senators! Stand up.
Look at that. John, you're here. Look at all of the senators. This is big stuff.
I'm in trouble because I don't have your names. They didn't give me these names. We have so many. We have half of the senate here. Now they're all
going to hate me because I can't introduce you. We don't have the time for that. I have to get back to Putin and people.
But thank you very much for being here, all of you and congressman, a lot of them and women.
Working with our first lady, though we've shown that that bipartisanship is possible. I mean, it's the first time I've seen such a level of
bipartisanship, and it's a beautiful thing to do. I'm not even sure you realize, honey, you know, a lot of the Democrats and Republicans don't get
along so well. You've made them get along.
And she didn't even know about that. She didn't know we had a problem. She didn't know we had a problem. She got. But I want to thank you, honey.
Youve done amazing that this was done when you started. And I said, I don't know, it sounds like a tough one and yet a very important one. And you got
it done.
So, I congratulate you and I congratulate Ted, Maria, everybody, thank you very much. Thank you. And we'll sign the bill. Thank you.
(INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: That's fantastic.
Okay. Are you ready?
Okay. Honey, are you saying something? Do you want to sign it?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: Come on, sign it. Anyway --
M. TRUMP: Yes.
TRUMP: She deserves to sign it.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Okay. There we have it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we are.
TRUMP: That's a big one.
FOSTER: So, a slight break in protocol there. The first lady signing that executive order. It's not strictly needed on there. Of course, it's the
president's signature that really matters there. But what he's doing is giving a nod to Melania Trump and the immense amount of work that she put
into this key campaign.
You know, we haven't seen much of her in public, but she has got certain issues she obviously cares about. And revenge porn is something that she
really wanted to use her position to help solve. So, she asked for her husband's help with that, and he very gratefully got involved.
So that was a big moment for Melania Trump, but also everyone, there present today who are trying to deal with this horrendous new wave of
revenge porn that has bubbled up on social media and deep fakes.
[15:30:13]
Now, elsewhere, Palestinians in southern Gaza are fleeing for their lives yet again after Israels military issued urgent evacuation orders for Khan
Younis warning of a unprecedented attack.
Israel is conducting extensive new ground operations as well as fierce airstrikes that have killed hundreds of people over the past few days
alone. Israel says it will now allow a basic amount of limited aid after 11 weeks of a total blockade, says five aid trucks entered Gaza on Monday.
These are the sort of scenes that provoked.
The U.N. calls that a drop in the ocean of what's needed for Gaza's 2 million people, a UNICEF spokesman talked earlier with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES ELDER, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: We've seen a doubling in the malnutrition of children right now, so we don't need a little bit of aid.
We need some of the thousands and thousands of trucks that are at that border to flow into Gaza. It can't just be tokenistic. It can't just be in
the south. It needs to be as during the ceasefire when hostages went home, because that's what ceasefires do. They stop bombardments, they let aid
flow, and they stop this abhorrence of hostages being held in Gaza. We need those 400 distribution points in Gaza to be utilized, not drip, drip, drip
to prevent, you know, political pressure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Our Jeremy Diamond now has more on what's unfolding in Gaza, warning you this report contains some very disturbing images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The next chapter of Israel's war in Gaza is now underway, and it could be the deadliest yet.
Over the weekend, the Israeli military launching operation Gideon's Chariots striking Gaza with devastating force. Tens of thousands of troops
now mobilized for the offensive with a new mission from the top.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We have intense, massive fighting going on, intense and immense. There is progress.
We are going to take control of the entire Gaza Strip. That's what we are going to do.
DIAMOND: Israeli strikes have killed more than 300 people since Friday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
The toll on civilians is once again rapidly mounting. Among those killed is Aylul (ph), taken from this world just four months after she was born into
it. Her small body now lies on her father's chest while her family searches for words to make of it all.
They were all asleep, a mother, father and their four month old daughter, all targeted in their bedroom. Aylul's uncle Omar says. I don't know what
to say anymore. We've spoken a lot. No one is looking after us. Not Arabs, not Muslims. No one.
In Khan Younis, mattresses and belongings are piled high once again as Israels new offensive triggers Gaza's latest mass displacement. The Israeli
military ordering hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate, declaring the area a dangerous combat zone.
In that same city, anger and frustration boiling over, including at Hamas. Hundreds of Palestinians taking to the streets in a rare protest calling
for the war to end and for Hamas to get out.
After pushing Gaza to the brink of famine, Israel, now agreeing to partially lift its 11-week blockade.
NETANYAHU: We need to provide a temporary bridge, minimal basic aid to prevent starvation. Thats the current situation we're in.
DIAMOND: The Israeli government says several dozen aid trucks will be allowed into Gaza this week until a new Israeli approved mechanism for aid
deliveries becomes operational later this month. Thousands more are ready to go. Aid trucks will continue to be blocked.
Amid the destruction of another airstrike in central Gaza, residents are paying close attention to ceasefire negotiations in the Qatari capital. But
here, flickers of progress lead only to another body that must be wrenched from the rubble.
We went to sleep with hope that tomorrow will be better. And suddenly everything turned upside down, Raed Abu Elik (ph) says. My message is look
at this. Stop this war.
More men eventually joined Raed to pull out their neighbors body and carry him out of the rubble. Signs of hope now seem far away once again.
[15:35:00]
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Russia and Ukraine are preparing to immediately start negotiations, first to reach a ceasefire deal and then to end the war. That
is the message from the U.S. president, Donald Trump, after his two-hour call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Putin characterized the call to Russian media as frank and substantive. He added Russia is looking for a peaceful resolution, but warned that for
that to happen, the root cause of the crisis needs to be eliminated.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins me now live in Kyiv.
And that's the issue, isn't it? The root cause. I mean, this is an expansive series of arguments we've heard over the last couple of years.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's the narrative the kremlin have pushed since the beginning of their war
of choice and invasion of Ukraine, unprovoked as it was, that essentially that was their reaction to NATO getting too close to its borders.
Ultimately, this was a longer term strategic decision by the Russians who felt they could win the war in a matter of days and then get themselves a
land bridge, at the very least between Crimea, which they'd annexed, and their own territory.
It didn't go according to plan. They're still fighting three years later. But look what we've learned really today, Max, is that Vladimir Putin is
really not that bothered about whether Donald Trump is pleased with his conduct or not.
He was very calm. Putin, when he emerged this, you know, phone call has been heralded for days now. And indeed, in the previous ten days, Putin has
brushed aside a European demand for an original American proposal for an unconditional ceasefire. He's been unbothered by rejecting the Zelenskyy
proposal in brokered potentially by Trump himself, of a face to face meeting, maybe in Turkey. He brushed that aside.
And now he's had a simple phone call with Trump, where he's essentially repeated many of the old talking points and repeated some things which his
junior level team talked about in Istanbul on Friday, talking about modalities for a ceasefire, suggesting there could be further direct
discussions. Nothing significant in terms of concessions.
President Trump -- well, it does sound from the Truth Social posting that he put out that he sort of feels perhaps he wants to step back a little. He
didn't explicitly say that, but he talked about how these discussions must now occur between Ukraine and Russia directly, alone, as only they can
because they understand the details better. I paraphrase here, and he even suggested perhaps they could do it in the Vatican. Now that's not him
taking the nettle in his fist there and trying to find some kind of progress.
So, you do get the slight sense of frustration, perhaps we heard from his vice president, J.D. Vance, that, look, if they don't get some kind of
progress soon, they may simply decide they don't want to do this anymore. Obviously, many Ukrainians would be terrified. That doesn't just mean be
active in diplomacy, trying to persuade Russia that it might also mean the U.S. pulls out of aid for Ukraine, too.
And we've also just been hearing from Ukraine. Zelenskyy, look, who I think has to thread the needle between constantly encouraging President Trump to
stay in Ukraine's court, to stay persistently involved in whatever peace initiatives Trump proposes, but also realistically tell his own people and
his European allies about what Russia really wants, which he said today doesn't really seem to be peace.
Now they're willing to negotiate continually to go forward with this cease proposal to exchange documents about it, he said. They're waiting to hear
direct written proposal from Russia for a ceasefire. But he was also clear that doesn't happen. They still want to see sanctions, energy and banking
sanctions against Russia for violating all these proposals or ignoring all these proposals.
So, look, whatever way you look at this today, there had been hopes that this phone call announced on Saturday, as it was by President Trump, would
suddenly yield progress or a ceasefire. Putin really had none of that offered him almost nothing, apart from essentially giving the presidential
authority to things his junior team suggested they would be willing to do on Friday.
And I think now there are many in Ukraine and probably across Europe, wondering what on Earth comes next for American involvement in this, and
what possible pressure can they put on the kremlin if all of this, for the last ten days, has only got them here?
FOSTER: Okay, Nick, thank you so much for that.
Now, the U.K. and E.U. say they have signed a deal to, quote, reset relations nearly a decade after Britain voted to leave the bloc.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We're turning a page. We're opening a new chapter in our unique relationship. This is the
story of historical and natural partners standing side by side on the global stage.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This deal is a win-win. It delivers what the British public voted for last year. It gives us unprecedented
access to the E.U. market. The best of any country outside of the E.U. or EFTA. All while sticking to the red lines in our manifesto about not
rejoining the single market, the customs union and no return to freedom of movement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[15:40:02]
FOSTER: The deal includes fresh agreements on trade, security and tourism. Downing Street saying it'll cut red tape for British exports and make it
easier for Brits to travel in Europe. One person will be grateful for that. Richard Quest although you've got a U.S. passport presumably as well.
I mean, there are things in there that will help people. But I mean, is this the UK saying it regrets Brexit?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Not in the slightest, no. But what I found when I listened to the coverage this morning and I read the
newspapers, just downright depressing. Because it's as if 2016 hadn't happened. It's as if we've done, you know, the right on the conservative
party and reform, they cannot see anything except, you know, they're all talking about surrender. The left say -- I mean, it is just depressing.
There are good things in this deal. There are necessary things in this deal. The defense and security pact, for example, so that Britain can get
some of the $150 billion worth of money the EU is spending. The fisheries deal.
Yes. It's not the biggest and best for British fishermen, and it's a 12- year deal, which they hate. But it does give the food industry greater access.
FOSTER: And less red tape. Yeah.
QUEST: And less red tape.
The truth is that the original Brexit deal was so tied up with toxic behavior by the EU and the then prime minister, and all of those people who
were involved in it. This is the sort of deal that should always have been done. Nobody got everything they wanted out of it.
FOSTER: The top European court has got a bit more power, though, as I understand it, because as part of these deals negotiated today, if there is
a disagreement, ultimately, it's going to be that court that decides it, which was always the fundamental issue. The Brexiteers had, didn't they?
QUEST: Yes, it is. And that's the price for the other bit of it. It's a quid pro quo. If you want this you've got to have that. But what five years
of Brexit has shown is that Britain is incapable of making the most of the opportunity it was given. Oh, I bet the prime minister is showing, you
know, the British prime minister talking about India, USA.
But the reality is all the other deals do not come close to restoring that which was lost through Brexit and the way in which the UK has managed post-
Brexit has. I mean, Nigel Farage, who says exactly this? I heard him saying it over the weekend. Britain has squandered the opportunities that Brexit
gave it.
And therefore, you have to come up with a compromise. And this to me, having looked at it, seems as good as any and better than most.
FOSTER: Was this for slightly by the U.S. tariffs? Because the U.K. had to look to Europe for more trade?
QUEST: I would say that this was forced by Donald Trump, not just tariffs per se, but the whole business over NATO. The question of Greenland,
Canada. If you look, for example, at Mark Carney in Canada, he has still said even though the U.S. may be nicer to us, were still plowing on to be
more independent of the U.S. Now, Europe's doing the same and Britain has recognized that whatever it gets, it does need to have a better and closer
relationship.
FOSTER: There is --
QUEST: The poisoned well is so deep and so toxic that they will never see eye to eye on this.
FOSTER: But when they get over that ten years, 20 years, whatever the logical thing would still be for a free trade deal, wouldn't it? If you're
going to be a pure look at this in pure economics for both sides, it works better. But that's, you know, as you say, with the bad words.
QUEST: Three words for you, quid pro quo. So, what do you have to give up to get that free trade deal?
FOSTER: Some sovereignty.
QUEST: Exactly. My guess is what will happen over time is that the E.U. will come into some sort of two speed Europe, E.U. plus, as Alex Stubb
calls it. And at that point, the toxicity on both sides will say, come on, they get that, we give this and we move forward. But it may not happen in
our lifetime.
FOSTER: Quickly, for the Brits watching, can they get through passport control quickly?
QUEST: That's the hope. That's the game. That's --
FOSTER: Because they can use biometric.
QUEST: You can use the Schengen machines. You can use the E.U. machines. The U.K. will be the only country besides EFTA, EEA, EU. that will be able
to use those machines.
FOSTER: Makes life easier. Richard, thank you very much indeed.
In a surprising turnaround, Romania's pro-E.U. candidate, Nicusor Dan, has won the country's presidential election. Dan won more than 53 percent of
the vote, clearly defeating his far right ultra nationalist rival George Simion. George Simion is a Donald Trump fan who swept the first round of
voting earlier this month. Dan, meanwhile, is a strong supporter of Romania's NATO membership who's pledged to continue providing aid to
Ukraine.
Portugal's center right alliance won a snap election on Sunday, but it fell short of the majority needed to end a long period of instability. The far-
right Chega party outperformed most polls to take 58 seats. The prime minister has said he will not make any deals with Chega. That means hell
have to piece together a coalition to lead.
[15:45:02]
Poland, set for a second round of voting for a new president on June the 1st, after exit polls showed that Warsaw's centrist mayor isn't just -- is
just barely ahead, really, of the nationalist party candidate in Poland, the president's position is largely ceremonial, but still has the power of
veto. So does fundamentally matter.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board has just given an update on that deadly weekend boat crash in New York on Saturday, a Mexican
navy training ship on a goodwill tour struck the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge. Two crew members were killed in the crash. Nearly two dozen others
were injured. There was no significant damage to the Brooklyn bridge. The NTSB was asked about the next steps now in the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN YOUNG, NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD: Our recorders group, once getting aboard the vessel, will make a full assessment of any
recording devices and we will capture that information and retrieve it. And the other question was it was approximately five minutes from the time the
vessel started coming astern, to the time they struck the bridge. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Gloria Pazmino with me, because you've had this update.
Anything surprise you out of what came out, Gloria?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Max. And you know, these investigations by the NTSB are extremely methodical and take a long time.
But just in that briefing, we were able to glean some details about the direction that this investigation is going to be moving in.
And perhaps most interesting, from the few bits of information that those officials shared with us just a short while ago, is the fact that they do
not know yet if, in fact, there is a voice recording device aboard the ship. They said that the team that works with that equipment has not been
able to make it on the Cuauhtemoc, which is behind me just yet. They are still working to secure that information.
[15:50:00]
In fact, the NTSB official said that their investigators are still working to get access to the ship. I've been watching them. They have been here on
the pier in the past two days, but it appears that they have not been able to get inside the ship.
We also learned, Max, that the NTSB has not yet interviewed the crew members of the ship. They have not interviewed the captain, and they have
not interviewed the operator of the tugboat, which we can see in that video captured by witnesses. He explained today that the tugboat was helping to
direct the ship out of the -- of the river here, and that they are investigating not only the role of the tugboat, but whether or not the
tugboat operated as it was supposed to. That's another person that they are waiting to speak to.
Also pretty shocking information, Max, the fact that all of this unfolded in about 5 to 6 minutes, we see in that video, although it appears as if
that ship is moving in slow motion. It happened so quickly. And I just want to show you the boat behind me, Max, because the top of that stern, you can
see that it's bent on its side.
And we were just told by officials that before they can move the Cuauhtemoc out of where it is right now in order to repair it, the crew has to work to
secure that mast up there. And the sails that are tangled around it to make sure that when they move it again, they don't create another hazard.
The boat is going to be moved from here to another shipyard here in New York, where it will be repaired so that it can eventually return to Mexico
-- Max.
FOSTER: Okay, Gloria, thank you so much.
We'll be back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Two hundred and five passengers and crew members were on board a Lufthansa flight with no pilot for ten minutes. Thats according to a
Spanish investigation. It happened in February of last year when the pilot left for the loo, leaving the copilot alone in the cockpit. The copilot
fainted and unintentionally operated controls.
Though autopilot was active and kept the plane stable, there was no response when air traffic control tried to reach the copilot. The captain
finally got into the cockpit using an emergency code to open the door.
[15:55:02]
After getting first aid, the copilot regained consciousness and the plane landed safely.
Lufthansa told CNN it did its own investigation, but is unable to comment further on that report. Although I'm sure a lot of passengers are very keen
to know whether they're at risk.
Finally, tonight, a warm welcome to the newest member of the team. What we know senior producer tom foster and his wife Sarah have welcomed their
first child, a baby boy named Sufiyan -- Sufiyan Foster. Check him out.
Sources say mother and baby are both doing well at home. Sufiyan is even sleeping pretty well so far, so they're hoping that will last.
Congratulations from the team and we look forward to meeting him soon. An anchor in the meeting -- in the making, I'm sure.
I'm Max Foster. That was WHAT WE KNEW.
"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" up next.
END
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