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Ex-Prince Andrew Released "Under Investigation" After Arrest; VA Backs Off Rule That Would Have Cut Benefits Amid Outrage; CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee Meeting Canceled For Next Week. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired February 20, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:05]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, authorities searching a residence connected to the former Prince Andrew. He was released from police custody though remains under investigation after his historic arrest seemingly in connection to information in the Epstein files.

With us now is British lawyer and broadcaster Chris Daw KC, and broadcaster and royal watcher Bidisha Mamata.

And let me just stipulate so our audience understands this full disclosure. The laws in the U.K. around a case like this are very restrictive about what we can say, so it might be frustrating to our American audience and confusing -- and frankly, it is to me too. But just so people understand that it does limit how we can discuss this.

Chris, first to you. The prince -- the former prince was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office. What exactly do those charges mean?

CHRIS DAW KC, BRITISH LAWYER AND BROADCASTER: Well, let's be clear he's not been charged but you're right, he has been arrested. And under our system, which is somewhat different than the U.S. system, an arrest is the initial stage of a criminal investigation rather than the stage at which someone is charged.

But to answer your question what is misconduct in public office? Well, it's one of those weird and wonderful English criminal offenses which isn't written down anywhere in statute. It doesn't have any statute of limitations, and it has arisen through the common law developing itself in court rather than any decision of Parliament or politicians. So it's a very strange phenomenon to American criminal law watchers.

But what is the offense comprised of? Well, first of all, it can only be committed by someone who is in a public office. And here the suggestion is that Prince Andrew was a trade envoy for the U.K., so an official government representative at a time when he was allegedly leaking information -- sensitive government information -- economic information to Jeffrey Epstein which, of course, has arisen from the U.S. disclosures in the last weeks. So first of all, public officer. Secondly, he must willfully neglect or willfully misconduct himself.

So there's no negligence about it. It can't be done by accident. It has to be quite deliberate, and it has to be intentional.

Secondly -- or thirdly, rather, it has to be an abuse of the public's trust in the officeholder. And all of these things ultimately are for a jury to decide if the case goes to trial.

And finally, it must be so serious that it demands a criminal punishment. So we're not talking about low-level breaches, low-level behaviors. It must be sufficiently serious for a criminal punishment and technically, the maximum sentence is life in prison.

BERMAN: There was previous reporting that in -- that in the Epstein files there are notes that Prince Andrew -- the former Prince Andrew -- when he was working as a trade envoy may have disclosed some kind of trade information to Jeffrey Epstein.

Bidisha, so what situation do Andrew and the royal family find themselves in now after this historic arrest? He's been released but he's still under investigation. Even if there are ultimately no charges, what kind of situation does this put them in, Bidisha?

BIDISHA MAMATA, BROADCASTER AND ROYAL WATCHER (via Webex by Cisco): An incredibly negative one. We're yoking them together, but I think the rest of the royal family, led by King Charles, want to be decoupled to use a very 21st century term, from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor as the king described him in that very cutting, very obvious public statement which they announced not only 24 hours ago. They want to make it clear that there's the royal family who are doing their duty and who have full faith in the police, the law, and legal process.

And then there's this other man as Thames Valley Police said in their statement -- a man in his 60s who is now stripped of his name, his titles, his honors, his public respect. And, in fact, that phrase that we just heard from this expert commentary which was so useful is "public trust." That's the key here.

[07:35:00]

This is not just a legal moment. This is a cultural moment where people are increasingly disgusted by this messy, sordid affair which pulls in the royals, Andrew, his role as a diplomatic representative, but also all of the other scandals and crimes and misdemeanors. So in the public imagination all of this is being bundled together, and the royal family want nothing to do with it.

BERMAN: Because Bidisha, it doesn't appear connected to the various sex offenses that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were charged with, at least not what Andrew was being investigated for. But even so, the public may not be making that distinction.

MAMATA: Yes, I think that's exactly right. And we do have to say he is not being questioned about sexualized crimes at the moment.

I think that what's making commentators and the public all over the world so incredibly angry and chagrined is the idea that all of these releases --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

MAMATA: -- this stuff that's come out is painting a portrait of a world in which there are two classes. A class of people who all know each other and they have lots of power and money. They're each other's cronies. They're talking in this way that's sort of misters before sisters. We're all bros together. We're going to -- we're going to enrich each other and we're going to have fun together.

And then in their minds there's another class of people who are -- who are just mugs. They're there to be used. They're civilians. They can be used and discarded. No one cares about them. They're the second class citizens. That's why people are so angry and why this is very emotional for lots of people watching this.

BERMAN: And Chris, very quickly, what is the status that Andrew finds himself in today having been released but still under investigation?

DAW: Well, he has been arrested. They have used the arrest process in order to seize items no doubt from his properties. There are potential evidence of historical behaviors. But they then released him under investigation, so he's been released. He's not on bail. He's not subject to any court restrictions or police restrictions on his movements at this stage.

He is released under investigation, which is a U.K. procedure whereby someone who is suspected of a crime but there is insufficient evidence to charge them with a crime is allowed to remain at liberty until the police complete their investigation and until prosecutors decide if there are charges to be brought. And I should tell you this. Don't expect that to come anytime soon. These things often take years of investigation before charges are finally brought in the U.K.

BERMAN: All right, very interesting and notable given that whatever happened probably happened years ago, but the investigation may have only just begun in earnest recently.

Chris Daw, Bidisha Mamata, thank you both very much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: With the president taking his threat to order military strikes on Iran and kicking it up a notch it seems today, oil prices seem to be feeling the threat already. They've jumped to the highest level in nearly six months.

CNN's Matt Egan is tracking this one for us and he's here now. What are you seeing with this?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well Kate, look, the oil market is certainly on edge right now. Investors are not freaking out but this historic military buildup in the Middle East has certainly gotten the market's attention.

Oil prices this morning -- they're roughly flat. But this comes after, as you mentioned, U.S. oil prices hitting six-month highs above $66 a barrel during trading yesterday. And we saw a similar spike last year -- last June during the very brief Iran-Israel war where -- you can see it on the left side of your screen here -- back in June there was a big increase, but it ended up being relatively temporary because supplies were not disrupted out of the Middle East.

Now as always Kate, anytime we're talking about the Middle East and a potential military conflict, all the attention is on the Strait of Hormuz. That's this narrow waterway off the coast of Iran. It's the most critical chokepoint for oil on the planet. And if Iran somehow was able to block the flow of oil out of the Strait of Hormuz, which is something they've threatened to do before, you could really see oil prices go to the moon because a lot of the Gulf oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, they really rely on the Strait of Hormuz to get oil out of the region.

So how high could oil prices go?

Well, the Center for Strategic and International Studies says that if Iranian oil shipments were disrupted perhaps during a U.S. blockade, you could easily see oil prices go to $80 a barrel. But they could go even higher to $90 a barrel if Gulf oil shipping was disrupted -- again perhaps through the Strait of Hormuz. A hundred dollars -- $100 per barrel is possible if the U.S. and Israel were to attack Iranian oil facilities.

And the worst-case scenario, at least that they've looked at, is if Iran ended up attacking Gulf oil facilities. That could bring back $130 or even higher -- a historic oil price spike possibly surpassing what was seen four years after Russia invaded Ukraine. Of course, that would be a nightmare for consumers and businesses. It would also be a threat to the cost of living.

[07:40:00]

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

EGAN: Gas prices are still --

BOLDUAN: No. But yeah, gas prices have been like this success story.

EGAN: They have been.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

EGAN: Lower than a year ago -- much lower than a year ago, below $3.00 a gallon. But Kate, they have started to creep higher just over the past month by about 11 cents.

And look, that can't be lost on the president. He's already underwater when it comes to the economy and the cost of living, and it's hard to see how a full-blown energy crisis would help that nor would it help the economy.

BOLDUAN: I would say my guess is doesn't.

EGAN: Right.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Matt. I really appreciate it.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you. Something very clearly, we need to keep an eye on -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

This morning a CNN exclusive. The Department of Homeland Security is admitting that its website listing what it calls the "worst of the worst" immigrants that officers have arrested was filled with errors. In response to CNN's review of the site, a Homeland Security spokesperson said the discrepancies were due to a "glitch" and have since been resolved.

The Trump administration heavily promoted the site on social media in order to justify its aggressive immigration tactics. Those tactics are facing intense scrutiny, including, of course, in Minnesota where the aggressive operations turned deadly and are still causing great fear in the community.

CNN's Omar Jimenez has more from Minneapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: You look out here -- I mean, look, there are plenty of tables here, but I don't see --

DANIEL HERNANDEZ, OWNER, COLONIAL MARKET: Plenty of tables, 99 percent closed --

JIMENEZ: -- anybody here.

HERNANDEZ: -- you know.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): It's typically full at this immigrant-led market in south Minneapolis, residents say. Danny Hernandez comes here often. He owns a set of grocery stores in the area and worries about what comes after ICE agents begin to leave Minnesota.

HERNANDEZ: After the storm there is the cleanup. There is the aftermath. How many people actually are going to be able to reopen their businesses? The next biggest need in Minnesota is going to be eviction.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): We walked this market just before the Trump administration announced it was ending its surge of federal agents, but the fear from it was already deep-rooted.

GLADYS RAMOS BENITES, SHOP OWNER, PERMANENT RESIDENT: (Crying) (Speaking foreign language):

TEXT: We only want to work.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Gladys Ramas Benites flagged us down as we walked through. She owns two newly struggling shops in the market and tells us she has legal status but that for the first time in her decades working in the U.S. she's now behind on her house payments.

BENITES: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: Go after the scammers. Go after the thieves, but not us. We pay taxes. We support the United States. I'm desperate. I'm sick. My nerves can't take it anymore. My anxiety is killing me. I can't sleep. But I can't stop coming.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): It hasn't just been business either.

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: It's just been a dramatic increase in calls for service around ICE activity that's happening in the city.

JIMENEZ: In terms of task forces tracing weapons that are used in crimes -- I mean, you work with federal partners --

O'HARA: Yes.

JIMENEZ: -- every day.

O'HARA: Every single day.

JIMENEZ: Has this changed those relationships in any way?

O'HARA: It hasn't changed the individual relationships but many of the prosecutors have left. Some of the agents are now gone. So a lot of people's time is being diverted from the serious cases that had the most impact to immigration issues.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Some of the federal immigration enforcement efforts have arrested or detained people with violent criminal records. But many haven't, like this refugee family here legally as they move forward with their process. They now largely stay indoors. Their son was detained for days. He suspects it was because he recently got a speeding ticket. They didn't want their faces or names used in this interview.

JIMENEZ: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: You still can't sleep?

MOTHER: No.

TEXT: Why?

MOTHER: I have nightmares.

TEXT: What are you thinking of?

MOTHER: (Crying) (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: Because all of this is really affecting my family, truly. Sorry.

JIMENEZ: No, no. It's OK. It's OK. JIMENEZ (voiceover): In the middle of the interview a neighbor was at the door asking about one of our team members' black SUV parked outside.

PHOTOGRAPHER: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: No, no, we're only doing a report.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Our photographer reassures them we're just doing an interview.

PHOTOGRAPHER: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: Don't worry, everything is OK.

MOTHER: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: We're all scared.

PHOTOGRAPHER: (Speaking foreign language).

MOTHER: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: Relax neighbor. Nothing is going to happen.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): Neighbors vigilant. Business owners navigating a new reality.

BENITES: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: All vacant. This wasn't like this.

JIMENEZ (voiceover): This day she says she took a babysitting job later just for extra cash and that this shop may not survive.

BENITES: (Speaking foreign language).

TEXT: I'm almost 70 years old. My plan was different. But now, with one kick, they knocked it all down and this may possibly come to an end.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And this happening to so many businesses there as well.

[07:45:00]

Stay with us because President Trump's border czar Tom Homan will join us here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL at the top of the hour to discuss the president's immigration tactics -- John.

BERMAN: All right. This morning we get a first look at a CNN and Variety town hall event. Our new CNN colleagues, Timothee Chalamet and Matthew McConaughey -- I guess I can call them that, I guess -- together on stage sharing in ways you have not heard before. Chalamet talks about one of his favorite films, "Interstellar," sucking up a little bit to Matthew McConaughey. But Chalamet also had a small role in it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHEE CHALAMET, ACTOR: I've legitimately maybe seen it 22 times or something. I saw it 12 times in theaters when it came out.

MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ACTOR: Yeah. His his girlfriend set him up a screening and showed it for his birthday.

CHALAMET: This is true, man. This is true -- for my last birthday. And I was grumpy on the way there because I didn't know where she was taking me. I'm, like, it's my birthday. Why are we driving 30 minutes outside of L.A? I got to the theater, and it was "Interstellar" in IMAX. I said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was so grumpy on the drive." But -- I didn't think you were going to bring that up, man.

But listen, man, I love that movie, man, and I just hope, you know -- I don't know. I'm seeing -- you know, seeing so many young faces here. I hope it resonates for you guys too because I just love that movie, man. And I'm the only person that gets sad every time Casey Affleck comes on screen, you know, because that's when I'm out the movie.

MCCONAUGHEY: Yeah.

CHALAMET: But I've got a good friend named Ryan and he's a Texas boy. And he says, you know, "Interstellar" falls off at minute 37.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I'm so excited, man.

The town hall premieres tomorrow night, man, right here at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. And you can stream it on cnn.com. I can't wait to see Tim and Matt back by the coffee machine -- though Kate, you and Sara are my favorite CNN colleagues no matter what.

BOLDUAN: I just also just want to -- they just need to be our vibes for 2026.

BERMAN: There are ways.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: There are ways. There are ways. There are ways.

BOLDUAN: We will discuss later.

BERMAN: All right.

BOLDUAN: We'll discuss later.

A crucial decision for veterans across the country. The VA just pulled back a controversial rule that it had put in place impacting disability payments. We've got more details on this one for you.

And a battle is brewing over something that makes everyone happy, not just Timothee Chalamet and McConaughey, chocolate and peanut butter. Why the grandson of the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is calling out Hershey's.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:23]

BERMAN: This morning the Department of Veterans Affairs is backing off a new rule for determining disability benefits after veterans across the country loudly opposed it. One veteran said it could force a difficult choice between health and financial security.

CNN's Brian Todd, who does so much great work covering veterans, is with us this morning on the latest on this. Brian, what are you hearing?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John, this has been a giant mess for the VA all this week since they imposed this rule. The VA now announcing it is going to walk back enforcement of this rule on disability ratings and I'm going to set it up for you this way.

The VA, this week, published a new rule saying basically from now on a veteran's disability level -- their disability ratings would be based on how a veteran responds to medication for a given impairment, not based on the baseline impairment itself.

So, for instance, if a veteran is taking medication for PTSD and is functioning fairly well on that medication, their disability rating would be lower, and they would get less money in benefits from the VA even though they still had PTSD. Previously, the VA was not allowed to base a disability rating on the affects of medication.

But here is what the new rule stated this week when the VA came out with it. "If medication or other treatment lessens the functional impairment a disability causes and thereby improves a veteran's earning capacity, that is the proper disability level for which the veteran should be compensated."

Well, when they came out with that on Tuesday, publishing it in the Federal Register there, the backlash from veterans and veterans service groups was torrential.

This is Rebecca Bennett. We're about to play some sound from Rebecca Bennett, a former Navy helicopter pilot and now a current Democratic candidate for Congress from New Jersey. This was her reaction to the new rule posted on X.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA BENNETT, (D) NEW JERSEY HOUSE CANDIDATE, FORMER NAVY HELICOPTER PILOT: If you are diagnosed with cancer and you are getting chemotherapy, you still have cancer. The fact that they are going to change their disability ratings is wild. And I've already had veterans that have reached out to me and told me that they're going to stop taking their medication or they're not going to go to the VA because they're worried about their disability ratings getting impacted. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So after responses like that all across the country -- from veterans all across the country, the VA, yesterday, decided we're going to not enforce this.

This is a statement from VA Secretary Doug Collins, posted on X. "While the VA does not agree with the way this rule has been characterized, the department always takes veterans' concerns seriously. To alleviate these concerns, VA will continue to collect public comments regarding the rule, but it will not be enforced at any time in the future."

John, we're going to have to keep kind of watching this to see if the VA maybe tries to revive this and enforce the rule in the future. They say they're not enforcing it. They didn't say they're wiping it out completely. So we've got to keep tabs on it.

BERMAN: Absolutely, Brian. As I said, this is such an important beat and you do such great work covering it. Thanks for being with us this morning -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right.

This morning on our radar for you a woman is facing charges after police say she abandoned her dog at the airport in Las Vegas. Police say she tied the Goldendoodle near a JetBlue counter and walked to her departure gate after being told she couldn't get a boarding pass because she hadn't filled out the proper paperwork to travel with a service dog. Police tracked her down and charged her with abandonment and resisting arrest.

The 2-year-old Goldendoodle now looking for a forever home. The really, really good boy or girl has been named JetBlue.

All right, President Trump is directly the Pentagon and other federal agencies to release files about UFOs and extraterrestrial life. Just days ago former President Obama drew attention when he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN TYLER COHEN, YOUTUBER, PODCAST HOST: Are aliens real?

[07:55:00]

BARACK OBAMA, (D) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Uh, they're real but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in, what is it --

COHEN: Area 51.

OBAMA: -- area 51. There's no underground facility unless there's this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the President of the United States.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, he gave classified information and he's not supposed to be doing that, you know.

REPORTER: So aliens are real?

TRUMP: Well, I don't know if they're real or not. I can tell you he gave classified information and he's not supposed to be doing that. He ran -- he made a big mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Hmm. Obama later clarified, saying he has seen no evidence that aliens have made contact with Earth.

All right. The grandson of the inventor of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup says the popular candy doesn't taste as good as it used to because, he claims, Hershey's is using cheap ingredients to save money. Brad Reese says some mini Reese's hearts he recently bought were inedible because of the changes. But Hershey's is disputing that, saying while they've adjusted some recipes to meet demands, they are still the perfect combination of chocolate and peanut butter. The Reese family sold their company to Hershey's in 1963 -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: For see -- we are seeing now some of President Trump's midterm strategy rolling out. The White House deciding now a centerpiece of their pitch to voters is going to be health care. Trump promising a full overhaul of health care in America, looking for Congress to pull it off, though there's little appetite there to take it on. And remember, Republicans have struggled for more than a decade now to do this very thing.

But still, here is President Trump's pitch just yesterday in Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said we shouldn't pay the insurance companies anymore. We should pay the trillions of dollars directly to the people and let the people buy their own health care -- put it in a health care account. And people loved it. And we're looking at it. We're looking at it. The problem is the Democrats are totally bought off and taken care of by the insurance companies, so they don't want to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So big question of what changes he's actually going to pull of there.

But one place that President Trump has already made big changes when it comes to health care is his Health and Human Services department and Robert Kennedy Jr.'s personal overhaul of that.

The latest there is a key CDC vaccine advisory committee was set to meet next week to reconsider vaccine guidelines. That was just postponed. No new date set. And an HHS spokesperson only saying, "Further information will be shared as available."

Joining me right now to discuss is former acting CDC director Dr. Richard Besser. It's good to see you, Dr. Besser. Thanks for being in here -- for coming back on.

A reminder -- just obviously you know but to our viewers on what we're talking about with this committee ACIP that since the 60's U.S. vaccine recommendations have first gone through this committee of independent advisors. It's historically a critical step when it comes to any vaccine changes, approvals in America.

Several medical associations now are suing the administration to get -- to reverse recent changes that HHS has made and that -- to the childhood vaccine guidelines, and your organization is supporting that. When it was announced you called it the worst -- your worst nightmare.

Have you seen an impact of that rollback on vaccine guidelines or is it too soon to tell?

DR. RICHARD BESSER, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, CDC (via Webex by Cisco): You know, Kate, it's not too soon to tell, you know. Across the country right now we are seeing numbers of cases of measles like we have not seen for the past 30 years. South Carolina right now is the hotbed. Earlier it was -- it was Texas. I expect that we're going to see measles continue to spread.

And while you don't see measles on that list of vaccines that are no longer recommended for all children, what you are hearing from this committee and from our Secretary of Health is misinformation that is causing fear and doubt among so many parents about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.

You know, I practiced pediatrics for more than 30 years and every time I would be giving a child a vaccine it involved a conversation with a parent around why are we giving this vaccine? Is it safe? What kind of side effects? What's the reason for doing this? Does my child really need it?

And as soon as you put in there this sense that well, vaccines are really all about personal choice and you can talk to your doctor and decide what you want to do, that's really confusing for people who aren't deep into this. And what we're seeing is that the rates of vaccination for measles are falling and with that it's the most contagious virus that we deal with. It's the first one we are going to see a problem, and we are seeing that problem across the country.

BOLDUAN: And with this committee and with this meeting specifically, when -- let's -- let us just assume they do get it back on the schedule whenever it does. What do you think is going to come next from them? Where do you think this is going as this committee was -- all of these members on this committee have been handpicked by the Health and Human Services Secretary?