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Zelenskyy Insists Ukraine Must Be Part of Peace Negotiations; One-on-One with Russian Opposition Politician Vladimir Kara-Murza; Trump Tells Elon Musk to Get More Aggressive; Pope Francis Shows Signs of Mild Kidney Failure; Familiar Issues Dominate Germany's High-Stakes Elections; Melania Trump Ends Month-Long Absence from Washington. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 23, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:11]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And new tonight in a stunning concession, Vladimir Zelenskyy declaring he would be ready to resign as Ukraine's president in exchange for NATO membership and peace for his country. Those comments coming on the eve of the grim three-year mark since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine.

Tonight, the fighting continues. Ukrainian officials saying Russia is responsible for an unprecedented drone attack which targeted five regions across the country, killing at least one person. All of this coming amid a fracturing of the relationship between Zelenskyy and U.S. president Donald Trump and as the U.S. presses Ukraine to accept a deal on the country's rare earth minerals.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is joining us now from the White House.

Kevin, as we look ahead to this next week, more to come on all of these developments, what are we expecting?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is going to be a critical week. Of course, tomorrow is the three-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but it really has just been the last several weeks that have thrown Western resolve into complete turmoil as President Trump accuses Zelenskyy of being a dictator and even parrots Russian talking points that accused Ukraine of starting this war.

And so this will be a critical moment tomorrow morning. President Trump planning to convene virtually with the G7. This is a meeting against a very strained backdrop. Of course, President Trump has said that Russia should be allowed to rejoin the G7 after it was ejected from what was then the G8. But also ahead of this meeting, American officials had resisted the inclusion of the words Russian aggression in a final communique. So how that is all resolved remains somewhat unclear.

Later tomorrow, the president will meet with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who is coming to Washington after having convened a series of emergency summits with his European counterparts trying to get a handle on this watershed moment in U.S.-Europe ties. I'm told he was planning to rely on his longstanding relationship with President Trump. He said last week that he plans to tell Trump that you can't be weak in the face of Putin. But it's very unclear how he plans to get Trump to back off some of these positions.

Later in the week, President Trump will receive a visit from the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, who is working on a blueprint to provide as many as 30,000 European peacekeepers in Ukraine but will require some U.S. support for that plan to work. Of course right now there is no peace to keep, and that is part of why you see this parallel effort by American officials to convince Ukraine to sign on to this deal to essentially allow America to receive 50 percent of Ukraine's mineral revenues.

This is a plan that Zelenskyy had balked at when he was presented it. He said it didn't provide any security guarantees for Ukraine going forward. But we heard from Steve Witkoff, who is Trump's friend and foreign envoy, this morning was that he did expect Ukraine to sign on to this deal this week. He said that essentially President Trump's insults of Zelenskyy had caused the Ukrainian president to undergo a change of heart.

But when you heard from Zelenskyy today, it did not sound like he was entirely convinced. He said he was not going to sign something that 10 generations of Ukrainians will have to repay -- Jessica.

DEAN: And Kevin, at this point, do we know of any plans for Trump to speak with Zelenskyy or I guess Putin, too, for that matter, in the coming days?

LIPTAK: Yes, no calls on the book. Of course, President Trump has said that he wants to arrange this summit meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia as quickly as possible. At one point, he said he thought it could happen before the end of the month. But that's rapidly approaching and no date has been set.

What I think is clear is that American and Russian officials are working very quickly to try and get this meeting arranged. You heard from the Kremlin that talks will continue about setting this meeting up.

[18:05:04]

I think all of this makes very clear that Donald Trump is in a rush to get this war resolved. Of course, he promised as a candidate that he would be able to solve it within 24 hours of taking office. Obviously, that deadline came and went, but I think it's very evident that he is moving full steam ahead with this effort to end the war. I think the question is what concessions Russia will make as part of this peace agreement.

We've heard already from the administration what it thinks Ukraine will have to do, including giving up some territory that Russia has seized. What I don't think is explicit is what the administration wants Russia to concede as part of this peace effort.

DEAN: All right. Kevin Liptak at the White House for us. Thank you for that reporting.

And joining us now is Vladimir Kara-Murza. He is a politician with the Russian opposition who was imprisoned in Russia from 2022 until August of last year for speaking out against Russia's war on Ukraine.

Thank you so much, Vladimir, for being here with us. I know you've said in other interviews you've tried to warn the world, to even shout to the world that the Putin regime is dangerous, and help them understand just how dangerous it is.

Do you think the world, and specifically President Trump, is heeding that warning?

VLADIMIR KARA-MURZA, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION POLITICIAN: Good evening, Jessica, and thank you so much for having me on your program. Vladimir Putin has been in power for 25 years, a quarter of a century. You know, we have a whole generation of people in Russia who have grown up not knowing any other political reality and never once seeing a free election, not knowing what independent television networks are, not knowing what independent judiciary or real parliament is, and so on and so forth.

And we have in the history of Russia this very clear interconnection between domestic and foreign policy, between internal repression and external aggression. When you have a government, when you have a regime such as the regime of Vladimir Putin, that does not respect the rights and freedoms of its own people, that does not respect its own laws and its own constitution, it is not going to respect the civilized norms of international behavior.

And so, year after year after year, for a quarter of a century now, we have seen Vladimir Putin attack and destroy all the democratic rights and freedoms in our home country, in Russia, but also attack and undermine the security of other states, you know, from Georgia to Ukraine, initially, with the first attack in 2014, then the participation in the war in Syria and then the full scale, all-out invasion, the largest military conflict in Europe since the end of the Second World War that Vladimir Putin launched three years ago tomorrow with this full scale attack on Ukraine.

And unfortunately for all of these years, we have frankly seen a shameful policy of appeasement of Vladimir Putin conducted by many Western leaders, but including American presidents of both parties. You know, we've seen American presidents look into Putin's eyes and seeing a sense of his soul. We've seen American presidents push a reset buttons with Putin and so on and so forth. And from what we hear in these last few days from the Trump administration, it's more of the same. It's more appeasement.

Well, we know from history that appeasing dictators is a very bad idea. The result of the policy of appeasement towards aggressors, towards dictators like Vladimir Putin, is not going to be peace. It's going to be more aggression. It's going to be more wars. It's going to be more blood. The only position, the only language that these aggressors understand is the language of strength.

DEAN: And President Trump and his administration have said that they want peace through strength. But what I'm hearing from you in terms of someone who, you know, has tangled with the Kremlin, with Putin, has lived through this, it seems as if you're saying that this president is simply appeasing Putin.

KARA-MURZA: Just like so many Western leaders have done in the past. Look, when we're talking about this upcoming settlement, it's pretty clear that there will be some sort of a negotiation leading to some sort of a settlement probably in the next few weeks. We've seen this from the very clear position of the American administration. And your reporter a few minutes ago finished, you know, his appearance on the program by sort of posing this question, leaving this question there, well, what concessions is actually Putin going to make?

I was in the Munich Security Conference last week, and there was an event there dedicated specifically to this question, to the question of an upcoming negotiations over a ceasefire in Ukraine. And there were representatives from the Trump administration, there were senior diplomats from European Union countries, and people were talking about concessions that Ukraine would have to make, meaning, presumably giving up some of the territories that have been occupied by Putin in these last three years.

People were talking about what concessions the West would have to make in the form of dismantling at least some of the sanctions imposed on Putin's Russia. And then the moderator just, you know, sort of asked the question, well, what concessions is Vladimir Putin going to have to make as part of this settlement? He is the aggressor. He's the sole reason this war was started in the first place. And there was silence in the air because nobody had that answer.

Well, I have one answer I think would be very important. At the very least, this upcoming settlement will have to provide for the release of all the captives of this war.

[18:10:00]

It is absolutely essential. It is absolutely necessary that any upcoming ceasefire settlement over Ukraine includes a provision on the release of all captives of this war, meaning, of course, prisoners of war on both sides, as is expressly required by the third Geneva convention, meaning also tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilian hostages. Ukrainian civilians who were captured in violation of international humanitarian law by Russian forces who are being held very often incommunicado in torturous conditions in Russian detention centers. All these people will need to return home.

Meaning abducted Ukrainian children, which is a war crime, a recognized war crime which has resulted in Vladimir Putin's indictment by the International Criminal Court, and meaning also Russian political prisoners, those Russian citizens who refuse to stay silent in the face of this atrocity committed by Putin's regime, even at the cost of their own freedom. We have a record number of political prisoners in Russia today. In all of our post-Soviet history. According to human rights groups, there is about 1500 political

prisoners in today's Russia. That's more than the whole of the Soviet Union held in the mid-1980s, and the fastest growing category on the Russian political prisoner list are those people who have spoken out against the war in Ukraine. They are just as much captives and victims of this war as the Ukrainians are. And any upcoming ceasefire deal will have to include their release as well.

So at the very least, this is a concession that the democratic world have to get from Vladimir Putin. All the captives of this war will need to be released if this deal at least saves tens of thousands of human lives, one that will be a big victory, not just for the democratic world, but I think for a whole human civilization.

DEAN: Well, and listen, you have lived that life as well. You were imprisoned for speaking out against this war in Russia. And I -- can you talk to people a little bit about the real-life impact on civilians, on, like you say, Ukrainians, women, children and Russians themselves who dare speak out.

KARA-MURZA: Well, tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians, including families, including children, have been killed by Vladimir Putin's forces in these last three years. The figures we have from the United Nations is a great underestimate by their own admission. These are only the figures that can be vouched for and corroborated. And of course, we know that when a war goes on, so many things happen outside of anybody's radars.

But even according to the figures we know, tens of thousands of people have been killed as a result of this illegal aggression launched by Vladimir Putin. And in Russia itself, I mentioned a few moments ago that in our country, we have internal repression and external aggression, as always, two sides of the same coin when we have regimes such as the regime we have today with Vladimir Putin and the scale of internal repression inside of Russia has increased exponentially since Putin invasion.

In fact, in the very first days of the invasion of Ukraine back in 2022, Vladimir Putin hurriedly signed laws criminalizing any anti-war speech. It is a criminal offense in Russia today to speak out against the war in Ukraine. It's actually a criminal offense to call it a war, and the fastest growing category, as I said, on the political prisoner list in Russia, are those people who are speaking out against the war, like, for example, Alexei Goranov, who is a Moscow municipal lawmaker who came to his district council meeting back in the spring of 2022 and called for a minute of silence for Ukrainian children killed by Russian bombs. He received seven years in prison for that.

Like Maria Ponomarenko, a journalist from Siberia and a mother of two, who posted on social media about the Russian airstrike on a theater in Mariupol that left hundreds of Ukrainian civilians dead. She received six years in prison for that. And if I would continue naming every name on that list, we would be here until tomorrow. And the point is that for very many of these people, people like Alexei Goranov, people like Maria Ponomarenko, it is not only a question of unjust and politically motivated imprisonment, which in and by itself would be unacceptable in the 21st century.

It is actually a question of life or death because of their health condition, because of the conditions of their imprisonment. And so for very many of these people, Ukrainians and Russians alike, this upcoming ceasefire deal will be literally the last chance to survive. And I believe it is very important that the democratic world put this condition, the release of all the captives of this war, Ukrainians and Russians alike, as an absolutely required and essential condition of any negotiations with Vladimir Putin.

DEAN: And looking toward these negotiations, if they continue down the track that they're on right now, how concerned are you about an emboldened Vladimir Putin?

KARA-MURZA: Well, look, I think it's very clear that whatever settlement is signed and again, I hope that it does include the release of all the captives. That will be the very least that can be done. But we are only talking about a temporary ceasefire agreement. This is not a peace agreement. Let's not fool ourselves. Because the only real, just and lasting peace would mean Ukraine reclaiming all of its lawful territory occupied by Putin's forces and returning to the recognized borders of 1991.

It looks very unlikely that this will happen now. Also, any real peace agreement will have to include security guarantees, and there can be no security guarantees for Ukraine or actually for Europe as a whole as long as Vladimir Putin's belligerent, aggressive and illegitimate regime.

[18:15:07]

Let's not forget this. We haven't had a free and fair election in Russia in 25 years. Putin is not a legitimate president. He is a usurper and a dictator. And as long as he remains in the Kremlin, Ukraine is not going to be safe. Europe is not going to be safe. So the only way to actually secure peace, stability, security and democracy of the long term on the European continent is to have a democratic and peaceful Russia, to have a lawful, legitimately elected Democratic government in Russia that would respect the rights and freedoms of our own people, and that would abide by the civilized norms of international behavior.

The only way to make Europe whole, free and at peace, as the phrase goes, is with a democratic Russia. Only when that day comes, and it will only then we can say that Ukraine is secure in its borders, and that Europe as a whole is free and peaceful, and in fact, that there is a guarantee of real peace in international community. Only when there is a democratic Russia will we have real peace, stability and security in our world.

DEAN: And Vladimir, I covered the elections here in the U.S. I talked to a lot of voters in this last go round who would say, we don't know why we need to care about Ukraine. It seems really far away. There are plenty of problems here at home. We need to focus on getting things right here. But when you say, as I just heard you say, it's not about the security of Russia, but it's also about the -- I'm sorry of Ukraine. It's also about the security of Europe.

And Putin has his eyes set on the West, and that extends to the United States. What would you say to people who say, look, I don't know that this really involves us, but we wish them well, but it doesn't involve us?

KARA-MURZA: It does involve all of us because, you know, we're coming up this year to the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, a landmark international agreement signed by the leaders of almost three dozen countries, including the United States and then-Soviet Union. And that agreement, the Helsinki Final Act, established an inviolable link between security, economic development and respect for human rights and democratic freedoms.

There cannot be security without democracy. There cannot be economic prosperity without democracy. This is a given. This is an established connection in international law for many, many decades. And we see it's not just a theoretical thing that's written in some sort of a document. We see that when important big, large countries, powerful countries in our planet, like Russia, turned dictatorial domestically, that has an impact on everybody. That's not just contained within Russia's own borders.

And then again, we see that as long as there is a regime in the Kremlin that tramples on the basic democratic rights and freedoms of our own citizens, and that tramples on the basic rules of civilized international behavior, nobody will be safe. Our world will not be safe. Europe won't be safe. And yes, the United States will not be safe either. The only way to make our world really safe and really secure is to have respect for human rights, respect for democratic principles, is to have those dictatorships like Putin replaced by legitimately elected democratic governments. That is in the interests of everyone.

DEAN: All right. Vladimir Kara-Murza, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate you being here.

KARA-MURZA: Thank you for having me on the program.

DEAN: Yes.

Well, it is full steam ahead for President Trump, Elon Musk and the rapid reshaping of the federal government. Tonight there is growing concern, though, from within the Republican Party about the cuts that are being made, how they're being handled.

Plus, Democrats still working to figure out how they will counter Trump and his agenda, but their constituents are frustrated by what they've seen so far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:25]

DEAN: Despite pushback in polls and from politicians, President Trump believes Elon Musk could be doing more when it comes to cutting government jobs. He posted Musk is doing a great job, but he would like to see him get more aggressive. Musk replied, will do, Mr. President.

Joining us now on that note, Alex Thompson, Axios national political reporter, and CNN political analyst, Laura Barron-Lopez, PBS NewsHour White House correspondent and CNN political analyst.

Good to see both of you.

Alex, let's start, first, what might Musk getting more aggressive look like?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you saw this weekend when he basically sent e-mails to the entire federal government and asked them for an e-mail of five things they did this week. Now, some of those parts of those government pushed back, the FBI, the director of National Intelligence, other -- you know, State Department, other parts of that. But, you know, you're asking two plus million people to send you and your team an e-mail for five plus people and then saying, if you don't respond, we're going to consider it a resignation.

Now, it's unclear how legally binding that would be if it's legally binding at all. But you're going to see, I mean, Elon Musk said before the election at a Trump rally that he intended to try to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget. Clearly Donald Trump wants that to happen and is encouraging him to go even further.

DEAN: And, Laura, lawmakers are now starting to go back to their districts, and they're hearing from people. I want to play a clip from Wisconsin with Republican Congressman Glenn Grothman on Friday. Here's that.

[18:25:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Calling those people with different abilities leeches and losers, and that they're leeching off the system?

REP. GLENN GROTHMAN (R-WI): I --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I've heard it from their own posts.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Elon saying --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Losers.

GROTHMAN: I don't believe it. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't believe it? You can read it. You are in denial.

GROTHMAN: I'll Google it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Google it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Laura, we also saw Rich McCormick in Georgia. Obviously these are popping up in different places, but do you think they're going to start to see some of their constituents pushing back on some of these?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, Jessica. I think that they're already starting to see some of their constituents not be happy with specifically what Elon Musk is doing, and it's partially because this can impact their district. This can impact their state. I think some people forget that 80 percent of the federal workforce does not live in D.C. They work across the country, whether it's in national parks, whether it's in veterans' affairs, clinics in Michigan.

And so you're starting to see also some Republican senators, like Lisa Murkowski more vocally become combative with Elon Musk, especially on the platform X, where Elon Musk is posting the majority of his messages to the public. So these are things that are going to be felt inside of their districts, inside of their states, whether it's canceling for cancer research, whether it's, you know, aid to farmers that isn't going there anymore with the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, which we're seeing restart again just today.

So these are things that are going to be felt across the country. And unless the administration reverses course, you could potentially see much bigger backlash to Elon Musk and to DOGE.

DEAN: And Alex, of course, there are plenty of people out there who are cheering them on as they do that. So let's put them kind of over here in one bucket. But then there are other Americans, I think we heard from one in the last hour in my colleague Gabe Cohen's piece, who said they voted for Trump. They just didn't think he'd be cutting their programs, that they wouldn't be the ones that could potentially get laid off. 54 percent in our CNN poll say Elon Musk's prominent White House role is a bad thing.

Who do you think is going to be kind of left holding the bag if it ends up that people start to turn on some of these choices?

THOMPSON: Well, you and Laura have really captured some of the tension of this relationship and that Donald Trump is a second term president. If his approval rating falls, if he's not running for another election.

DEAN: Right.

THOMPSON: And as a result, but all these members of Congress who are hearing from these angry constituents, they are running in two years and four years. And so, you know, Donald Trump can do and Elon Musk can do all of these things and act fast and break things. But the political effect is going to be, you know, felt most by Republican members of Congress. So you said, who's going to hold the bag? It's going to be Republican members of Congress because they have to run for reelection again. DEAN: And, Laura, to that end, what are you hearing from Republicans?

Because, look, they're saying one thing publicly, but we know that kind of behind the scenes there's reporting that they're also reaching out, and they're concerned about cuts in their districts and whatnot. What are you hearing about how they're handling this so far?

BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, I think it's exactly that, which is that privately they say one thing, publicly they say another thing. Now, whether or not that changes because of what they're hearing in their districts remains to be seen. But so far, the majority of Republicans are just quietly telling the administration, talking amongst themselves about their -- about being upset that this may impact their districts, that these whether it's the funding freezes that the administration has put in place for critical programs or it's the massive cuts to the federal workforce, which are constituents of theirs.

Those are people that live in their own districts and in their states. A lot of that is just private grumbling at this point, rather than using any leverage that they have. We haven't seen Republicans in Congress use their power of the purse or the leverage that they have to say that they may deny the administration anything. And the administration, even if they are denied money from Congress, appears as though -- President Trump appears as though he's ready to defy courts, which judges have said that he has done, and to attempt to act without Congress. So that's the situation that we're in right now, Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. And then, Alex, on the other side, you have Republicans dealing with that piece of it. Obviously Democrats would love very much to capitalize on any fumbling and faltering. And yet 73 percent in our CNN poll of Democrats or Democratic leaners believe their party is not doing enough. There's been a lot of frustration at Democratic leadership, at Democratic members. Where do you see them going from here?

[18:30:08]

THOMPSON: And part of the problem is the Democrats are divided on why Donald Trump won last November. There are some that believe that, listen, if you had had a real Democratic primary, and you had a different nominee than Joe Biden, then they could have won. And then you have some that basically believe that you need to adapt to the, quote-unquote, "MAGA era." And the reason, you know, back in 2017 when Trump won, Democrats were largely united under the resistance banner.

That is not the case this time. And so why -- you know, Democrats are making moves. They're trying to do things. The problem is they are not united because they disagree on what they should do in response to this moment.

DEAN: Yes. And it was interesting, Laura, to see James Carville, I believe it was this week, saying, you know, hey, just sit back, let it happen, kind of rope a dope. What have you heard just before we go on that and from Democrats?

BARRON-LOPEZ: I think that Democrats, you know, to Alex's point, you're seeing this kind of generational divide where some are saying that they have to be -- to attack everything everywhere all at once, that they essentially need to be moving with this new media ecosystem, which is that just waiting 24 hours to hold a press conference isn't going to work anymore, especially when they're battling someone like Elon Musk, when they're battling, you know, conservative commentators like Joe Rogan, and they're trying to figure out their equivalent to that.

DEAN: Yes. All right. Alex Thompson, Laura Barron-Lopez, our thanks to both of you. I appreciate it.

BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

DEAN: Concerning new details tonight about Pope Francis's health. The Pope is now showing signs of mild kidney failure as doctors work urgently to treat the 88-year-old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:13]

DEAN: Pope Francis remains in critical condition at this hour. Doctors announcing a short time ago the 88-year-old pontiff now showing mild signs of kidney failure. The Pope has been hospitalized for more than a week now diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs and yesterday suffered, quote, "an asthmatic respiratory crisis."

Joining us now is Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician, dean of Yale School of Public Health.

Doctor, thanks so much for being here with us. Knowing what we've been told about the Pope's condition, what are you gathering from this now news of mild kidney failure? What that might mean and what you would be looking for?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, DEAN, YALE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, the mild kidney failure is certainly not a good sign at this point over a week into his hospitalization. But I think the really important point, Jessica, is what you just said, knowing what we've been told. The information that we are getting about the Pope's condition is clearly incomplete and sporadic. So it's difficult to know for sure what's going on.

But adding in kidney injury on top of a double pneumonia, on top of anemia that required a blood transfusion reportedly, he supposedly got two units of blood, and on top of what seems to be an ongoing oxygen requirement, it's not a good sign. It implies that his body is having trouble either getting adequate blood to his kidneys, or the kidneys are being injured by the infection themselves.

DEAN: And so as a doctor, what would you be looking for next?

RANNEY: So I'd be looking for a couple of things. The first and biggest thing is seeing how his breathing is doing. Trying to get him a bit more comfortable. Get his oxygen levels better. That's the first. The second is looking for signs of infection. Is he still spiking fevers? When I check blood tests, do I find signs of inflammation? There are some specific tests that we can look for to see how his body is reacting to the infection, and to signal whether he's moved into sepsis.

And then the third thing is looking at all the other organs and systems in his body, his kidneys, his liver, his blood counts, both his red blood cells and his platelets, both of which have reportedly been abnormal. And I'd be checking all of those things regularly, right? So you measure blood pressure and heart rate and oxygen on an ongoing basis. You're doing blood tests at least a couple times a day for someone as important as the Pope.

And then you keep treating, and you watch how he responds to treatment. But it certainly touch and go right now, which is why they're still calling him critical. No one is saying that he's dying. And I hope to goodness that he's not. But it is certainly touch and go for these next few days.

DEAN: Yes. And look, just a reminder to everyone. He is 88 years old. He's had a number of health issues in recent years. He also had part of his lung removed many years ago. That complicates all of this.

RANNEY: It absolutely does. What is a mild problem for someone who's in their 20s or 30s and is otherwise in good health becomes very serious for someone like him who's had repeated lung infections over the years in addition to having part of his lung removed. But to my knowledge, this is the longest that he's ever been hospitalized and the most severe hospitalization. And again, a lot of the signals that are coming out from those Vatican reports are really concerning.

They've said that he has multiple organisms in his lungs. And again, kidney injury on top of all the other treatments that he's been receiving is just not a great sign.

DEAN: Yes. So at this point, I think it's safe to say, based on your analysis here, it is touch and go. And we now just have to wait and see if his body can kind of respond to some of these treatments and start improving.

[18:40:04]

RANNEY: That's exactly right. He's clearly receiving all of the best medicine, all of the best care. I have no doubt about that. The question is whether his body is going to be able to recover, even with getting antibiotics, steroids, blood transfusions, oxygen supplements. That's the part that's hard to predict.

DEAN: Right. We just have to wait and see. All right, Dr. Megan Ranney, thank you so much for walking us through that. We appreciate it.

RANNEY: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: The economy and immigration, some of the same issues that drove Americans to the polls in November are sending Germans to the ballot boxes. Millions headed out to vote today. We'll tell you how the country's far-right party netted its best results since World War II.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:25]

DEAN: A surprising outcome in Germany's election. While the center- right party appears to have won, exit polls showing the far-right AfD Party had a strong showing, you see there in red, becoming the second largest group in parliament. The yellow is the center-right CDU Party that takes the lead and chancellorship. The current chancellor, Olaf Scholz, who called for the election last fall, saw his center-left SPD Party, that's the purple, taking a beating at the polls.

Our Melissa Bell was at AfD headquarters as the far-right party celebrated its ascent from fringe group to a more powerful force in German politics.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, this has been a historic night for the far-right AfD here in Germany. They've not only doubled their score on the last federal elections, but they have also managed, they believe, to move one step closer to weakening the traditional firewall that has existed in German politics since World War II. That is the system, that means that traditional parties refuse to seek coalition, or even the support of the AfD on particular policies in parliament.

They are now calling the AfD that this firewall go entirely in the name of democracy. And they are crediting partly their success tonight here in Berlin on the support that they've managed to have these last few weeks, not just from Elon Musk, but from Vice President JD Vance.

Have a listen to what one of their leading members had to say to me tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEATRIX VON STORCH, GERMAN BUNDESTAG MEMBER: I'm very grateful for what JD Vance said, addressing that democracy is at stake and free speech in Germany is really under pressure. So we're very, very thankful for everything JD Vance did and said. And for Elon Musk as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BELL: Also be noted, though, that this is a party that has benefited hugely tonight here in Berlin from deep dissatisfaction amongst Germans about the state of the economy, about the question of immigration. They've also been held to a great deal by recent events. No fewer than four attacks in three months in Germany that have involved perpetrators of non-German extraction.

The next question, how much pressure they can put on the CDU, the winning party specifically, but on the others as well, to bring an end to that firewall and allow them, in their words, to bring what the people have voted for tonight and that is their voice to the next German government -- Jessica. DEAN: All right. Melissa Bell, thank you for that report.

Up next, checking in on Melania Trump. What we know about the first lady's absence from the White House during President Trump's first week in office, and how she's signaling a break from the role's traditions.

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DEAN: A rare sighting last night of the elusive first lady, Melania Trump, returning to the White House, ending her monthlong absence. And the occasion, the Annual Governors Dinner.

CNN's Betsy Klein has details on this.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes, Jessica. First Lady Melania Trump returned to the White House on Saturday after a four week absence from Washington. And since President Trump took his oath of office on January 20th, the first lady really has not spent significant time at the White House, according to sources with direct knowledge of her schedule.

Now, she was an active presence during the first days of president's second term. But after joining her husband on a January 24th trip to natural disaster ravaged North Carolina and California, she hadn't returned back to Washington until Saturday, where she hosted an annual dinner for the nation's governors.

Now, CNN had reported during the presidential transition that the first lady was expected to spend a majority of her time between New York and Florida. And sources familiar with her thinking insisted at the time that she would still be present for major events like Saturday's ball. But the past month really suggests her time in Washington may be even more limited than originally expected, offering a remarkable but unsurprising break with precedent for the first family.

Now, even though sources describe her as a constant voice in her husband's ear, giving him advice, she was absent as President Trump welcomed the prime ministers of Israel, Japan and India, as well as the king of Jordan. She's missed countless executive order signings and major events on women's sports, as well as the return of wrongfully detained American Marc Fogel from Russia and the signing of her husband's first major legislative victory, the Laken Riley Act.

The first lady also has yet to embark on any solo travel, foreign or domestic, and she has not spoken publicly since returning to office. She also hasn't offered any hints toward how she plans to continue or expand her Be Best platform.

Now, a spokesperson for the first lady declined to comment on her whereabouts. But as one ally of Melania Trump told me, she certainly still has a little bit of time to adjust back into that role, but may have a shorter grace period to get her bearings this time around -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein, thank you so much for that reporting.

A scattershot response from across the federal government as agency leaders scrambled to answer workers' questions about this mass e-mail that's demanded to know what they did at work last week. This as President Trump presses Elon Musk to be even more aggressive on making the government small.

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DEAN: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

And new tonight, all USAID employees, with very few exceptions, have been notified they will be placed on leave starting at midnight tonight. This is following a federal judge's decision on Friday that paved the way for this move. It also comes as President Trump last night urged Elon Musk to get, quote, "more aggressive" in Musk's ongoing efforts to purge the federal government.