1
00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,880
Speaker 1: I'm just gonna listen to this. It's one or two

2
00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:05,480
Speaker 1: point seven kiss FM. Ryan Seacrest with you. That's his

3
00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:08,159
Speaker 1: Rihanna Only girl in the world Again. I say it

4
00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,040
Speaker 1: every time. You can go from Rihanna to Fareed Zakaria

5
00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:14,120
Speaker 1: here on this show, and that is what brings us together. Right,

6
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:16,040
Speaker 1: we can pay your bills and we can talk about

7
00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:20,200
Speaker 1: this very important CNN town hall coming up, Freed.

8
00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:21,599
Speaker 2: Great to have you back on. How you doing?

9
00:00:22,840 --> 00:00:26,520
Speaker 3: Always a pleasure, Ryan. I'm okay. I I just went

10
00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,080
Speaker 3: skiing with my kids and took a fall, so my

11
00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:32,159
Speaker 3: arm is in a sling. You can't see that. But

12
00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:33,640
Speaker 3: other than then that, I.

13
00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:36,000
Speaker 2: Wait, can you still host with.

14
00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,000
Speaker 3: One arm with a lot of advil?

15
00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:43,080
Speaker 2: I'm sorry about that. I hope you're all right. That's

16
00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:43,560
Speaker 2: a bummer.

17
00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:44,520
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm totally fine.

18
00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:45,080
Speaker 1: You know.

19
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,959
Speaker 3: The lesson of the story is, don't try to keep

20
00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:50,639
Speaker 3: up with your kids, who are way way better at

21
00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:51,720
Speaker 3: skiing than you.

22
00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:53,559
Speaker 2: I understand.

23
00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,120
Speaker 1: Hey, before we get to the CNN town hall, which

24
00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,240
Speaker 1: is coming up six pm on c AND tonight, I

25
00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:06,399
Speaker 1: just I'm so fascinated by this, the presidential movement, the

26
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:12,200
Speaker 1: surprise visit that President Biden made, to get to Ukraine. Right,

27
00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,960
Speaker 1: So he takes a plane from a dark hangar, it's

28
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,399
Speaker 1: not even the big Air Force one plane and they land,

29
00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:20,039
Speaker 1: they take a train. Do you have any detail about

30
00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:20,959
Speaker 1: how they did all this?

31
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,480
Speaker 3: I have a little bit of detail on it, and

32
00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,560
Speaker 3: it is exactly what you described. So they didn't use

33
00:01:28,600 --> 00:01:30,760
Speaker 3: their Force one because that would have been a giveaway.

34
00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 3: They landed in a small airport in Poland. You know,

35
00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:37,440
Speaker 3: they went to the to the border. I stak in

36
00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,600
Speaker 3: the same train myself to go to Kiev when I

37
00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:42,240
Speaker 3: was there in September, so I know exactly you know,

38
00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:45,000
Speaker 3: the station you get on. I went through the same

39
00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,280
Speaker 3: calculus about you know, hey, does it make sense to

40
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,200
Speaker 3: be on something that's on fixed wheels? And you know,

41
00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:53,920
Speaker 3: so I talked to for a few friends of mine

42
00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,920
Speaker 3: who are military experts, and they pointed out it's actually

43
00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:01,640
Speaker 3: very hard to shoot missiles at trains. That might sound

44
00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:03,880
Speaker 3: like it's very easy, but you know, from as far

45
00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,440
Speaker 3: away as Russia, and so they must have taken all

46
00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,120
Speaker 3: that into account. But it really is pretty impressive that

47
00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:15,200
Speaker 3: they pulled it off. You know, only two reporters and

48
00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:18,000
Speaker 3: let's be let's be honest. It also just shows you.

49
00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:23,560
Speaker 3: There's a certain amount of personal bravery and risk taking

50
00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,880
Speaker 3: that Biden showed, and I think he wanted to demonstrate that,

51
00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:31,120
Speaker 3: to show a sense of real personal commitment to the

52
00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:32,480
Speaker 3: to the struggle in Ukraine.

53
00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,440
Speaker 2: The train ride to me is so fascinating that part

54
00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:35,960
Speaker 2: of it, you.

55
00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,040
Speaker 3: Know, Yeah, it's an overnight train. It takes about ten

56
00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:44,440
Speaker 3: hours and you cross the Polish border. And the reason

57
00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:46,720
Speaker 3: you know you don't do it by air is you

58
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:50,640
Speaker 3: really don't want to get into the Ukrainian airspace because

59
00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:54,600
Speaker 3: the Ukrainians do not have good air defenses, and so

60
00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,720
Speaker 3: you you that that's a real danger. It turns out

61
00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:01,760
Speaker 3: it's much more dangerous to fly in to keep than

62
00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,079
Speaker 3: to take a train, which I would have I would

63
00:03:04,120 --> 00:03:05,960
Speaker 3: not have guessed until I had to do the same

64
00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,839
Speaker 3: thing and discovered yet that yeah, actually, you know, being

65
00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,840
Speaker 3: on the ground and moving fast is much more safe.

66
00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:14,640
Speaker 2: Fascinating.

67
00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:17,000
Speaker 1: Now, free Zakaria with us. All right, So you've got

68
00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:20,680
Speaker 1: this town hall coming up. Russia's invasion of Ukraine one

69
00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,680
Speaker 1: year later is the title of this what's the mission tonight?

70
00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:29,880
Speaker 3: The mission really is to help Americans understand this is

71
00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,919
Speaker 3: the biggest war in Europe since World War two. It's

72
00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:35,960
Speaker 3: a war that was really changing the whole way the

73
00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,600
Speaker 3: international system works. Think about just the economics of it all.

74
00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,800
Speaker 3: Russia has been isolated, price of oil has gone up.

75
00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:45,320
Speaker 3: China and Russia and an alliance. What does all this

76
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:50,480
Speaker 3: do and help them understand, you know, what's going on?

77
00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,840
Speaker 3: What are the stakes here? Why is America so involved?

78
00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:56,400
Speaker 3: Why are so many other countries involved? How does it

79
00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,120
Speaker 3: all end? I have a big believer that you know, well,

80
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,160
Speaker 3: a lot of what we do in journalism is public

81
00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 3: education because you know, because we are democracy, our citizens vote,

82
00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:09,400
Speaker 3: and that they need to understand this that it's you know,

83
00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,280
Speaker 3: it's a huge decision that the country has made.

84
00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,720
Speaker 1: So how does it endfreed? I mean, I see what

85
00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,279
Speaker 1: I see on the news, but you know, from the

86
00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,720
Speaker 1: people that you talk to and your own wisdom, what

87
00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,200
Speaker 1: is the what exit ramp is used here?

88
00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:29,160
Speaker 3: So right now, we're in a situation that looks a

89
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:33,680
Speaker 3: lot like a stalemate. Right Neither side is strong enough

90
00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,440
Speaker 3: to win, but neither side is weak enough to want

91
00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:41,039
Speaker 3: to compromise. So it's a weird situation, right, Like, so

92
00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,599
Speaker 3: they're both stuck there and something is going to have

93
00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,080
Speaker 3: to get Something that's going to have to be a

94
00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:50,720
Speaker 3: change in the dynamic. What I think the Biden administration's

95
00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,320
Speaker 3: hope is that by providing all this assistance to the Ukrainians,

96
00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:58,600
Speaker 3: and they have incredible courage and morale is very high there,

97
00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,360
Speaker 3: they will be able to move things, you know, take it,

98
00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:07,120
Speaker 3: make a few offensives, take backs on Russian territory, change

99
00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,760
Speaker 3: the dynamic so that the Russians feel like it's worth compromising,

100
00:05:11,839 --> 00:05:15,480
Speaker 3: it's worth coming to the negotiating table. So the goal

101
00:05:16,320 --> 00:05:19,240
Speaker 3: almost every warrants and the negotiation. You know, there are

102
00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:22,080
Speaker 3: very few war was like World War Two, where you know,

103
00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:24,600
Speaker 3: you have kind of total surrender on one side and

104
00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,240
Speaker 3: total victory on the other. Most of the time it's

105
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:31,039
Speaker 3: a negotiation. But to get to the negotiation, the Ukrainians

106
00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:32,440
Speaker 3: need the upper hand.

107
00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,400
Speaker 1: Listen, it is fascinating Cen in town Hall, Russias and

108
00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:37,400
Speaker 1: Vision Ukraine. One year later, it's going to go down

109
00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,919
Speaker 1: live tonight six PMC and it Now this is off topic,

110
00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:42,919
Speaker 1: but very briefly, what's your favorite thing to what's your

111
00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:43,520
Speaker 1: favorite food?

112
00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:44,320
Speaker 2: Free?

113
00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:50,359
Speaker 3: I love all kinds of food. I'm totally omnivorous. Probably

114
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,919
Speaker 3: you know, I grew up in India, so there's Indian

115
00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:55,920
Speaker 3: street food, like they're like the local snacks to get

116
00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,719
Speaker 3: on the on the street. You know, always there's something

117
00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,200
Speaker 3: weird about that, like the stuff you grew up with,

118
00:06:01,279 --> 00:06:03,559
Speaker 3: not the fancy stuff, but just the street food.

119
00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,520
Speaker 1: It's a question I'd like to ask everybody and when,

120
00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:08,919
Speaker 1: because everyone also asked me, who'd you most like to

121
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:10,560
Speaker 1: have dinner with you?

122
00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:12,440
Speaker 2: You know that? So when we do have dinner, I

123
00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:13,800
Speaker 2: now know what to source.

124
00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,280
Speaker 3: If you can, souss that you're even more resourceful than

125
00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:18,680
Speaker 3: I thought.

126
00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,440
Speaker 1: It's always a pleasure. Thank you so much. Good luck

127
00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:23,680
Speaker 1: with the show, and good luck with the healing of

128
00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:24,680
Speaker 1: your arm.

129
00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,400
Speaker 3: My pleasure, take care of all right, bye bye.

130
00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:29,800
Speaker 2: Gosh, he's fascinating.

131
00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:32,920
Speaker 1: He picked up the phone to call military experts to

132
00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,360
Speaker 1: talk about the train ride, Like who do we call?

133
00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:37,760
Speaker 1: I call Mark, our producer, and the middle of the

134
00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,760
Speaker 1: I and go, hey, that's fascinating. We should get somebody

135
00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:40,880
Speaker 1: on now we got to eat.

136
00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:47,600
Speaker 2: Well, that's what that's what, That's what happened in Vegas.

137
00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:48,160
Speaker 2: Next kiss