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Trump to Meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer at White House; Keeping Up with the Cabinet; Actor Gene Hackman Dead at 95 Years Old; Phase One of Ceasefire-Hostage Deal Ends; Pope Francis Slept Well and Is Now Resting. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 27, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected at the White House in the day ahead.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The European Union was formed in order to screw the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that email perhaps was best interpreted as a performance review.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If there was any question where the power lies in this new Trump administration it became clear it is not in the cabinet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel and Hamas have made their last exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ceasefire deal is set to expire this weekend that could bring war back to Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane and it's Thursday February 27th 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington where Donald Trump is set to host two European leaders in the next two days.

First British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected at the White House today. He's hoping to shore up U.S. support for Ukraine in the face of Mr. Trump's recent overtures towards Russia. He says Kyiv must be a part of any negotiations in order to achieve a lasting peace and European leaders need to do more to guarantee Europe's security.

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KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The worst of all outcomes if there's to be a cessation of hostilities is that it is a short break rather than sustained and lasting peace and I think that that means there's got to be security guarantees. I've indicated that we will play our full part. There has to be U.S. backing because otherwise I don't think it will deter Putin.

We are working on that. I'm having extensive discussions about it. I'll continue down that route because I want a lasting peace in Ukraine and Europe for the safety and security of Ukrainians, of Europeans and of course for everybody in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to discuss a deal that would give the U.S. access to revenue from Ukraine's rare earth minerals.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has been following all of this joins me here now. It's interesting, Clare, because after Keir Starmer so clearly stated that in Parliament, President Trump held this first cabinet meeting yesterday in which he stated again that the U.S. were not prepared to provide security guarantees for Europe.

So I mean this is going to be a very difficult mission for Keir Starmer isn't it? To persuade Trump not to back away from Ukraine.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes and I think, look, we saw Macron visit the White House earlier in the week and make various arguments about you know the broader issues of security and how the U.S. risks potentially looking weak in front of Putin and I think that didn't work, right, or at least we don't know if it worked yet. I think some of that will become clear when Zelenskyy meets with Trump on Friday but he didn't come away with any clear deliverables.

So perhaps Keir Starmer might approach this in a different way. We've seen with Trump that everything is negotiable, right. We've seen for example with the Ukrainian mineral deal that the U.S. has backed off a couple of key positions one being the 500 billion that number that Trump initially talked about. We've seen with tariffs for example that he's delayed tariffs on Canada and Mexico for another month based on progress as he sees it at the border.

So things can move in this Trump world. So I think the question for Keir Starmer is what can he offer to bring Trump a little closer to this issue of security guarantees. Perhaps the sweetener of U.K. defense spending going up the timeline they've set on 2.5 percent might help.

Could he possibly some have suggested back off other issues like the U.K.-U.S. base on the Chagos Islands. The U.K. wants to hand those islands back to Mauritius which he would need Trump's approval to do.

So you know there's a couple of issues that are perhaps on the table but I think what's clear is that the issue of Ukraine is a quid pro quo for Trump. He wants to get paid in these critical minerals for future aid. So I think to approach it in that way would perhaps be the most constructive. MACFARLANE: Yes, and what counts a lot in interactions with Donald Trump is of course the sort of personal relationship side. The U.K. papers here are very full of the significance of what this means for the special relationship. What are the consequences of Keir Starmer getting this wrong in essence?

SEBASTIAN: Well I think the the U.S., the Trump administration has shown that it can come down quite hard on countries that it feels are unfriendly to it. The issue of tariffs has come up. He just threatened again tariffs on the EU last night.

But I think it will be really interesting to watch the dynamic between these two men right because they are on the one hand from opposite sides of the political spectrum. Keir Starmer is the first Labour leader in the U.K. in a decade.

[04:05:00]

He's perhaps one of the most liberal leaders in Europe in this point, whereas Trump is, you know, on the right hand of the the Republican spectrum in the U.S. So that's one thing.

He's also not the sort of bombastic leader that Trump tends to gravitate to. He's a former lawyer. He's very sort of pragmatic, quiet. You know, in the campaign some have described him as boring. So I think how he handles this will be very interesting. It will look very different I think to the dynamic that we saw with Macron earlier in the week.

MACFARLANE: Yes and worth noting of course while this meeting is going on bilateral overtures towards Russia are continuing with that meeting as well today in Istanbul. For now Clare, thank you.

Now Donald Trump's newly assembled cabinet of loyalists, disruptors and negotiators met for the first time on Wednesday with the cameras rolling.

While taking questions from reporters, President Trump repeated his falsehood that the U.S. has spent a lot more on Ukraine than Europe has. He also said he got rid of ISIS in just three weeks -- which is not true. Mr. Trump refused to comment on whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China tried to take the island by force. And he warned the EU, as Clare was saying, to expect a 25 percent tariff on exports while baselessly suggesting that the U.S. is the reason the bloc exists.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love the countries of Europe. I love all countries frankly, all different but the European Union's been, it was formed in order to screw the United States. I mean look let's be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States. That's the purpose of it and they've done a good job of it but now I'm president.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MACFARLANE: Elon Musk informed the cabinet he intends to slash $1 trillion from the federal budget while also defending the controversial e-mail sent to federal employees offering them to explain what they accomplished last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: To be clear, I think that e- mail perhaps was best interpreted as a performance review but actually it was a pulse check review. Do you have a pulse? Do you have a pulse and two neurons?

So if you have a pulse and two neurons you can reply to an e-mail. This is, you know, I think not a high bar is what I'm saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

MACFARLANE: Welcome to our viewers in the United States. We are following a developing story on the death of the Hollywood star Gene Hackman. Authorities say the actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home in New Mexico.

No word yet on their cause of death but the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office says it's not believed to be foul play. We'll bring you more information when it becomes available here at CNN. But Hackman, as we know, starred in a prominent number of films including Superman, Hoosiers, The Royal Tenenbaums, Unforgiven and The French Connection. CNN's Richard Roth has more on Hackman's life and legacy.

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RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gene Hackman was the blue collar common man on screen. It was no act.

GENE HACKMAN, ACTOR: You know, I did a lot of things. I sold shoes, I drove a truck, drove a cab, I jerk sodas.

ROTH (voice-over): He grew up loving movies starring Jimmy Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.

HACKMAN: My mother and I were at a film once, and she said, I want to see you do that someday. And that was all it was needed.

ROTH (voice-over): At the Pasadena playhouse, the aspiring actor met another young actor, Dustin Hoffman. The two were voted least likely to succeed.

HACKMAN: Take a good look, pop. I'm Buck Barrow.

ROTH (voice-over): That changed when he was cast in "Bonnie and Clyde". Hackman was nominated for an Oscar, the first of numerous anti-hero roles from the 1960s on. The acclaim covered up a potential career disaster. He was fired from "The Graduate", starring his pal Hoffman, after just two weeks as Mr. Robinson. HACKMAN: I thought it was like the beginning of the end for me.

ROTH (voice-over): Hackman pressed on, a ski coach in "Downhill Racer", an astronaut in "Marooned", and a second best supporting actor nomination for "I Never Sang For My Father".

There were tensions on set with father Melvyn Douglas, who had wanted another costar. In real life, Hackman's own father left the family when he was 13.

HACKMAN: When you decide to do a role, you choose both the good and the bad, that's happened to you, and you try to make that that come alive.

HACKMAN: I, Popeye's here. Hands on your heads! Get off the bar and get on the wall!

ROTH (voice-over): As fierce New York City police detective Popeye Doyle, a defiant Hackman burst through the screen in "The French Connection". He didn't like playing a bigot, beating up people.

HACKMAN: I wanted to be fired from the film the first couple of days because I was very uncomfortable.

ROTH (voice-over): Also testing his nerves, driving in one of the most famous car chases in movie history.

HACKMAN: We would go right down the street without any crowd control. And it was really scary.

ROTH (voice-over): The role he wanted out of won him an Oscar for best actor in 1972. The award ignited a monumental film biography from "The Poseidon Adventure" --

HACKMAN: You need to stand aside and close the door, to keep the air from coming in. Or you can try to stop me.

[04:10:02]

ROTH (voice-over): -- to "The Conversation".

HACKMAN: There's one sure fire rule that I have learned in this business is that I don't know anything about human nature. I don't know anything about curiosity.

ROTH (voice-over): It wasn't always deadly serious in "Young Frankenstein".

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your name? I didn't get that.

ROTH (voice-over): And there was "Superman".

HACKMAN: Oh, yes, of course, you've been there. I do forget you get around, don't you?

ROTH (voice-over): Now a huge star, Hackman said he always liked the idea of Hollywood, but not the hubbub.

HACKMAN: Personality-wise, I don't fit in.

ROTH (voice-over): Hackman said his favorite film was the offbeat "Scarecrow" with Al Pacino, which was not a commercial hit.

HACKMAN: I don't care what the scoreboard says, at the end of the game, in my book, we're going to be winners.

ROTH (voice-over): He was the basketball coach in "Hoosiers", one of the best sports films ever made.

ROTH (voice-over): Hackman was nominated for an Oscar again for "Mississippi Burning".

HACKMAN: You smile when the bulldozer ran over the Black kids body? Did you?

ROTH (voice-over): He won best supporting actor for "Unforgiven".

HACKMAN: When he fires that, take out your pistols and shoot him down like a mangy scoundrel he is.

HACKMAN: It kind of puts a bookend to my career for me. I'm sure I'll do other films, but I can kind of relax as long as Dustin doesn't get another one.

HACKMAN: I'm country.

DUSTIN HOFFMAN, ACTOR: Yes.

HACKMAN: I didn't figure for a patriot, Mr. Rohr.

ROTH (voice-over): Hackman finally did get to work with his lifelong friend in "Runaway Jury".

HACKMAN: I've loved every minute of my career. There's been, you know, tough times, of course, but I like the process so much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: We will, of course, be following this story and have updates for you throughout the hour.

Moving now to the hostages and missing families forum that has now confirmed the deaths of all four hostages released by Hamas overnight. The group added in their statement that, quote, they should have returned alive. They could have been saved and brought back through an agreement.

This comes as Israel and Hamas make their final handovers of hostages and Palestinian prisoners as part of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, set to expire on Saturday. Buses have been carrying hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to Gaza and to the West Bank today.

Well, CNN's Paula Hancocks has been following developments, joins me now live from Abu Dhabi. Paula, first, what more can you tell us about the bodies of these four hostages who were returned?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christina, all four have now been confirmed as the identities that Israel believed they were. They were all male. They were all members of communities.

Kibbutzim just along the border with Gaza when they were kidnapped on October 7th. Tsachi Idan was from Nahalal. He's a 50-year-old who his family says will be laid to rest next to his eldest daughter, who was killed on October 7th during Hamas's attack.

Itzhak Elgarat, 68, from Kibbutz Nir Oz. He moved to the kibbutz, we understand, to be with his brother. His brother has been very vocal during his captivity, vocally critical of the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying more should have been done to bring his brother and the others home.

Ohad Yahalomi is an Israeli-French citizen. He was shot while he was trying to protect his wife and his children on October 7th from that attack. And then the oldest hostage to be taken on October 7th, Shlomo Mantzur, who was 85 when he was taken.

Now, the Israeli military had said that they believed Mantzur was deceased. The other three, they had not clarified until that confirmation came just in the last 24 hours.

So we are also seeing Palestinian prisoners and detainees being released to Gaza, some being sent on to Egypt, those who will be exiled, and also going to the occupied West Bank.

Now, this all happened overnight. We saw some emotional scenes in the occupied West Bank when families were reunited. We know some of the detainees were being held without charge, some of the prisoners were serving high sentences or life sentences, and hundreds were sent back to Gaza. Many of them were believed to have been detained by the Israeli military since October 7th.

All in all, we understand there were some 642 Palestinians that were to be released as this part of the deal. This means that the phase 1 is effectively coming to an end, though, Christina.

[04:15:00]

We know that this is the final hostage-release exchange of prisoners that has been agreed between Hamas and Israel, and of course the end of phase 1 does come this weekend.

MACFARLANE: Yes, and with the end of phase 1, there is concern about where that leaves phase 2. Do we know anything more about where the negotiations have begun? Because this phase 2 is significantly going to be a lot more complicated than phase 1.

HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. Phase 1, this 42-day temporary ceasefire, ends on Saturday. Now, the original deal said that in early February, the two sides, indirectly with the mediation of Egypt, Qatar and the U.S., would be able to finalize the details of phase 2, which is when all of the hostages are released, more Palestinian prisoners and detainees released and the Israeli military pulls out of Gaza.

It's not clear if these discussions have even begun at this point. We have had a statement from Hamas this Thursday talking about this, saying, quote, We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip in all its details and clauses, and we affirm our readiness to enter negotiations regarding the second phase of the agreement.

Now, from the Israeli side, we've had one Israeli source telling us about a text message that was sent to the Israeli media, effectively saying that we will not exit the Philadelphi corridor.

This is the border between Gaza and Egypt. It's a border that the Israeli military and the Israeli government is concerned will be used as a smuggling route by Hamas in the future if they pull out from this area. But of course, their pull out from this area is a key part of phase 2, so it's difficult to see how Israel would be able to agree to phase 2 at this point.

We have an Israeli source familiar with the matter saying that the ideal would be to extend phase 1 and to try and have as many hostages released as possible, but it's unlikely that is something that Hamas would agree to.

Now, we understand also that Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected in the region this week to try and push this process forward, but of course, with phase 1 running out on Saturday, there are concerns about the fragility of this ceasefire hostage deal and what exactly comes next -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, we will continue to follow it, of course. Paula Hancocks there live from Abu Dhabi. Thanks, Paula.

And we are following a developing story out of Romania where a lawyer for internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan says the pair have left the country on a private flight for Florida. The brothers are under investigation for alleged human trafficking, sex with a minor and money laundering. They've been banned from leaving Romania, but today prosecutors say they accepted their request to travel to the U.S.

Both men who hold dual U.S.-British citizenship deny any wrongdoing. Romania's foreign minister last week said he had not come under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy to lift restrictions on Andrew Tate despite discussing the case.

Still to come, Pope Francis nears two weeks in hospital fighting pneumonia. More on his health condition just ahead.

Plus, a measles outbreak in the U.S. state of Texas rose to more than 120 cases as officials confirmed details on the first person to die from the illness in a decade.

And later, no security guarantees for Ukraine, but a big slice of mineral reserves for the U.S. We'll dig into the deal that could help pay for Ukraine's post-war reconstruction. [04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Crowds continue to gather in Vatican City and across the world praying for the speedy recovery of Pope Francis as we learn more about the pontiff's condition today. CNN's Ben Wedeman is in Rome for us. And Ben, I know at this stage, it's all about sort of incremental improvements. Did we have any more overnight?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the latest one line statement from the Vatican press office was that the Pope slept well during the night and is now resting. Last night with a more detailed statement about his health, they described him as experiencing a further slight improvement in his health, that his mild kidney insufficiency or failure seems to have receded. His blood work also shows signs of improvement.

But these are incremental. These are small. Keeping in mind, of course, the Pope has now been in here in Rome's Gemelli Hospital for the last two weeks, still suffering from double pneumonia.

So the doctors are still giving what is described as a guarded prognosis on his situation, keeping in mind, of course, that he has a history of respiratory problems going back many years that he's suffering from mobility issues and sciatica as well.

But certainly compared to the weekend when he had an asthmatic attack that has required him to get supplemental oxygen that over the weekend, he also had to have a blood transfusion. Certainly compared to the weekend, what we've seen basically starting Monday is small, gradual, incremental improvements in his health.

But at this point, Christina, nobody is talking about a time when he might be able to leave the hospital through the front door, that really their doctors are being very cautious, given all of the health issues that have plagued this Pope over the last few years -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Ben, for now, we'll of course continue to follow it there in Rome. Thank you.

Health officials in Texas say the first death from a growing measles outbreak in the western part of the state was an unvaccinated school- aged child.

[04:25:00]

It's the first measles death in the U.S. in a decade. 124 cases have now been confirmed in Texas, most of them in children ages five to 17. Measles is an airborne illness that can cause rash, fever, red eyes and cough. And in severe cases, it can lead to blindness, pneumonia and death.

During President Trump's first cabinet meeting on Wednesday, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. said hospitalizations linked to the measles outbreak were mainly for quarantine, but Texas health officials refuted that claim and others Kennedy made about the usual number of outbreaks.

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ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: There have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country, last year there were 16. So it's not unusual, we have measles outbreaks every year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Kennedy also mistakenly said there have been two measles deaths in Texas. Health officials say it's the largest measles outbreak in the state in 30 years.

The regularly scheduled meeting to choose the flu vaccine composition for this fall in the U.S. was cancelled with no explanation. The meeting is held every March with outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A member of the advisory committee told CNN it's not clear who cancelled the meeting or why. It's also not clear how manufacturers will get the guidance they need to make their next seasonal flu vaccines.

Coming up, back to our breaking news. Hollywood star Gene Hackman, his wife and dog, found dead in their New Mexico home.

Plus, Ukraine's president will soon head to Washington, expected to sign a deal to help pay for the country's post-war reconstruction. The key issue he says he still needs to be resolved. Just ahead.

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