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Ukraine, U.S. Agree on Natural Resources Deal; American Teen Arrested in Paris After Newborn's Death; Southwest Airlines Plane Avoids Collision with Private Jet; Economic Uncertainty Rising Amid Shakeup in Washington. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired February 26, 2025 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The question is at what point does the Pope decide that his physical medical situation will not allow him to continue to function as a Pope on a daily basis -- Christina?
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: All right Ben, appreciate it. Ben in Rome for now for us. Thanks very much.
OK still to come, a teenager from the U.S. is arrested in Paris following the death of her newborn. Details on the case in the investigation just ahead.
And as the Trump administration ramps up migrant deportations, the new U.S. Defense Secretary is on a visit to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. We'll have the latest details.
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MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane. If you're just joining us, here are some of the top stories we're following today.
An Israeli source tells CNN that Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of four Israeli hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The exchange could happen as soon as later today.
A massive power outage has left most of Chile in darkness, including the capital of Santiago. Around 8 million homes have been affected, most of the country's internet and mobile phone services down. The state emergency has been declared in the affected regions to prevent crime.
And after 45 days, the world's largest religious festival ends today in northern India. More than 620 million people have attended the Maha Kumbh Mela. Hindu devotees bathe in the river Ganges to purify their sins. However, this year's festivities have been marred by two separate and deadly crowd crushers, as well as reports of contaminated water. Now, just days after trading insults, the leaders of Ukraine and the U.S. now appear to have a draft agreement in place where the U.S. would gain access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals in return for U.S. help with Ukraine's reconstruction, according to a Ukrainian official. Donald Trump says Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington Friday to sign it. CNN's Jeff Zeleny picks up the story.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Trump saying he would be eager to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington and possibly the White House later this week, as both countries become even closer to signing a deal over the rare earth minerals in Ukraine, which, of course, could lend some money to the United States in exchange, possibly for a security guarantee. President Trump talking about it Tuesday night in the Oval Office.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hear that he's coming on Friday. Certainly, it's OK with me if he'd like to. And he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that's a big deal, very big deal. And I think the American people, even if you look at polling, they're very happy because, you know, Biden was throwing money around like it's cotton candy. And it's a very big deal.
It could be a trillion-dollar deal. It could be whatever. But it's rare earths and other things.
ZELENY: Details of this deal are still coming into place, not only the peace talks, potentially, between Russia and Ukraine, but also the deals of this mineral deal with Ukraine. That is something the Trump administration has been pressing. They sent the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, over to Ukraine to try and negotiate part of this deal.
It's been going back and forth all week long. There is no question. This is at the head of the Trump administration's agenda.
European allies have been concerned about the U.S. giving too much to Russia and Vladimir Putin. But if the Ukrainian president comes to the Washington, and indeed the White House, by the end of the week, it certainly is the biggest sign yet that there could be a deal underway in terms of peace negotiations. But again, the details of that rare minerals deal still coming into view.
But President Trump said he would welcome President Zelenskyy here at the White House.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
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MACFARLANE: Well, Dmytro Kuleba served as Ukraine's foreign minister from 2020 to 2024 when he resigned as part of a government reshuffle. He spoke with CNN about the rare earth minerals agreement and whether he thought it was a good deal for Ukraine.
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DMYTRO KULEBA, FORMER UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: Well, if it buys the understanding and the support of President Trump under these circumstances of the war with Russia and the alignment of Washington and Moscow, then it is a good deal. We don't know all the details, but President Zelenskyy is certainly not going to do something that would critically undermine his country.
Details remain to be seen. But in principle, from the very beginning, there was zero chance that this deal would not be signed. It was just a matter of the final edit, final draft of it.
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MACFARLANE: Well, the Trump administration is pushing forward with its crackdown on undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Homeland Security Department says certain migrants will now face criminal penalties if they do not register themselves in a new database. The registry appears to target people who are not already on the federal government's radar.
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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced on Tuesday that 118 people were arrested in a mainly Latino area near Houston, Texas. Authorities say the operation targeted criminals and illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, a second flight carrying migrants has landed in Costa Rica, where 65 people will be processed. This is part of a deal between the U.S. and Costa Rican governments to repatriate migrants to their countries of origin, which include China, Russia, Nepal and Vietnam.
And the new U.S. Defense Secretary has arrived in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for a briefing on the operation to transfer migrants to the U.S. naval base. This is Pete Hegseth's first visit to Guantanamo as Pentagon chief. Last week, more than 170 migrants being held there were flown to Venezuela.
Turning now to Paris, where an investigation has been opened after the arrest of a U.S. teen who allegedly threw her newborn baby from a hotel window. CNN senior producer Saskya Vandoorne has the details of this shocking case.
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SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: An American teenager was arrested Monday after she allegedly threw her newborn baby out of the second floor window of this hotel here. According to local officials, the baby was then taken and placed in a trash can nearby before being found by authorities. The baby was rushed to an emergency room at the children's hospital, the Necker. but died shortly after being admitted.
Now the young mother was taken to a different hospital, where she underwent surgery after giving birth. Now we know that an investigation for homicide has been opened by the Paris prosecutor's office, who told us this morning that they believe the young woman may have been in denial about her pregnancy. Now what do we know about the young woman?
Not much. We know, of course, that she is American, that she's 18- years-old, and that apparently she had been staying at this hotel for roughly a week with a group of young friends, and they were travelling in Europe.
We spoke to neighbors here in this area, where in the 20th Arrondissement, east of Paris, it is not a very touristy area, and the neighbors were telling us this morning that they awoke Monday to the sound of sirens, of police cars, and that when they discovered what had happened, they were deeply shocked.
The U.S. Embassy released a statement a few hours ago saying that they were saddened by the loss of this young life.
Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
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MACFARLANE: A close call on a Chicago airport runway between a Southwest flight and a private jet. Details on that near collision in just a moment.
And later, confidence in the U.S. economy drops as the price of everyday goods spikes. We'll break down how economic uncertainty is gripping the country.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, four, command engine start, two, one, ignition.
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MACFARLANE: The space company owned by Jeff Bezos launched its 10th crewed suborbital flight on Tuesday. Six astronauts got to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the Earth against the darkness of space. The booster landed safely, along with the capsule.
Crew members on Tuesday's flight named themselves the Perfect Ten in a nod to Blue Origin's 10th human flight.
And a scary close call at Chicago's Midway Airport on Tuesday as a private jet entered a runway without authorization and forced a Southwest Airlines plane to abort its landing -- you can see here.
Take a listen to the pilot of the Southwest flight talking to air traffic control as it all unfolded.
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ATC: Southwest Twenty ---
SWA2504: Southwest 2504, cleared to land. 2504, going around.
ATC: Southwest 2504, roger that. Climb, maintain 3,000.
SWA2504: Southwest, 2504, up to 3,000.
ATC: -west 2504, when able, turn left heading 220.
SWA2504: Left heading 220, Southwest, 2504.
SWA2504: And tower, Southwest 2504, how's that happen?
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MACFARLANE: They all sound very calm about it, don't they? This follows a string of safety incidents in recent weeks, leaving travelers on edge. Sherrell Hubbard has more details.
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PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: Really a scary event.
SHERRELL HUBBARD, JOURNALIST (voice-over): A potential tragedy averted when a Southwest Airlines plane and a private jet experienced a close call at Chicago Midway International Airport Tuesday morning. As captured in this video, Southwest flight 2504 was close to landing when pilots spotted another aircraft on the runway directly in its path.
GOELZ: The Southwest 737 was already in final landing mode.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just feel very thankful for who we had flying our plane.
HUBBARD (voice-over): It was the latest in a string of aviation incidents, such as the mid-air collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people in January. In the weeks that followed, a medevac plane crash in Philadelphia killed 7 people, a plane crash in Alaska left 10 dead, a private plane ran off the runway in Arizona, killing the pilot, and a Delta Airlines jet crash landed upside down in Toronto just last week. Several people were injured.
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FAA says it is investigating this latest incident, but preliminary information indicates that the private jet entered the runway without authorization.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I always say a prayer before I travel all the time anyway, which is good, and of course said another little prayer after they accelerated because they knew there was something not right.
HUBBARD (voice-over): I'm Sherrell Hubbard reporting.
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MACFARLANE: Now it's a heist like no other. Thieves raided an English country house and escaped with a toilet. We'll show you how they did it with some surveillance footage coming up.
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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Americans are growing worried about the economy under the Trump administration. New data shows consumer confidence took its sharpest dive since August of 2021, with people wondering if they can keep their jobs, homes or even just buy a dozen eggs.
CNN's Brian Todd has more on the economic uncertainty in the U.S. right now.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sticker shock at the car dealership, a line down the street in New York for a free egg giveaway as prices for eggs continue to spike.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time like this, we felt it was our duty and responsibility to just make eggs accessible.
TODD (voice-over): Meanwhile, Denny's has reportedly become the latest restaurant chain to impose a new surcharge to meals made with eggs. This all comes as more Americans are getting nervous about the economy. According to the nonpartisan research group the Conference Board, consumer confidence dropped for the third straight month in February and it's the largest monthly decline since August 2021.
JOSEPH GAGNON, PETERSON INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS: Uncertainty is rising. People don't know if they'll have a job or if someone that they know will have a job.
TODD (voice-over): This is a sharp reversal from a short burst of consumer optimism that showed up after President Trump was elected in November. Some analysts believe the effort by Trump and Elon Musk to slash the ranks of the federal government, while it may cut waste and save money, is a big driver of the drop in consumer confidence because those job losses don't affect just the Washington, D.C. area.
MICHELLE SINGLETARY, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: The majority of federal workers work across the country. And if you have a concentration of unemployment in these communities, if people can't pay their mortgages, that's going to hurt the lenders in that area, the businesses that cater to those people. You've got a house, you want to buy furniture, you want to improve it, you want to maybe upgrade your bathroom. Those businesses are going to be impacted. So this is not a DC Problem. This is a U.S. problem.
[04:55:00] TODD (voice-over): Another huge factor affecting consumer confidence, analysts say President Trump's plan to impose tariffs, taxes placed on imported goods and services. The president says his plan to levy tariffs on Canada and Mexico is moving forward.
TRUMP: It'll be very good for our country. Our country will be extremely liquid and rich again.
TODD (voice-over): But it will likely also raise prices for big ticket items like cars. And that could be fueling the dip in consumer confidence.
GAGNON: The U.S. auto industry is incredibly integrated with Canada, Mexico. Tariffs, even 25 percent tariffs on products that go back and forth across the border multiple times as you make the car would add enormously to the price of cars made in North America.
TODD (voice-over): In 2022, even as consumer confidence was at record lows and inflation was its highest in four decades, Americans continued to spend money. Will they do that now?
SINGLETARY: What's different right now is that even if you are not impacted by the cuts in the federal government, it induces a lot of anxiety. And when people are anxious, they tend to pull back.
TODD: As for some practical advice for consumers regarding the drop in confidence, analyst Michelle Singletary says first, do the most thorough and honest assessment you can of where your job stands. If your job is fairly secure, she says, and you're thinking about buying a car, try to do that soon before tariffs push car prices higher. But if your job is not quite as secure, you might want to hold off on those big purchases for a while.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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MACFARLANE: Now police in the U.K. have released surveillance footage of the 2019 heist of a $6 million 18-carat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace. The video shows cars arriving at the palace before men with tools run into the entrance. They later appear with parts of the gold toilet. There's the lid. Stash objects in the trunk and quite brazenly drive off. The three men are in trial for what the prosecutor calls an audacious raid. Interesting.
And for all those coffee lovers around the world, a new list ranking global coffee shops has been named the best or has named the best in the world. Cafes were judged on various factors, from their brews and sustainability practices to their customer service, and taking the top spot is Toby's Estate Coffee Roasters in Sydney, Australia.
In second place is Onks Coffee Lab in the U.S. state of Arkansas, followed by Go To Coffee Experts in Vienna, Austria. Proud Mary Coffee, another Australian gem, this time in Melbourne, came fourth. And cafes in Norway, Singapore, France, Malaysia and Colombia also claimed a place in the top ten, but nothing, absolutely nothing here in London, which is sad for us all. I'll have to work on that one with them.
Thank you for joining us here at CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. CNN "THIS MORNING" is up after this quick break. Stay with us.
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