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Zelenskyy Meets Trump for a Mineral Deal; Negotiations for Ceasefire Deal Underway in Cairo; Authorities Investigating Actor Gene Hackman and His Wife's Cause of Death; MH370 Search Resumes After Seven Years. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 28, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

A consequential visit. Presidents Trump and Zelenskyy are set to meet in Washington in the coming hours. At stake, whether the proposed mineral deal could help bring an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Pope Francis remains in hospital this morning, the longest hospital stay of his papacy. We'll go live to Rome for an update on the ailing pontiff.

And the search for missing flight MH370 has resumed, and what's behind this new push to find out what happened to passengers and crew nearly 11 years after they disappeared.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Talks about ending the war in Ukraine are gathering momentum with the Ukrainian president set to meet his American counterpart at the White House in a matter of hours. Officials say Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to sign a highly-touted natural resources agreement that could bring the U.S. and Ukraine closer, as the Trump administration warns towards the Kremlin. Though many of the deal's details remain murky.

Just days after calling Ukraine's president a dictator, Donald Trump used much kinder words ahead of their talks later today. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think we're going to have a very good meeting tomorrow morning. We're going to get along really well, OK? We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The British Prime Minister met with Trump in Washington on Thursday and urged him not to endorse any peace deal that would reward the aggressor, meaning Russia. Keir Starmer is hoping to win U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine, but President Trump says he trusts the Russian President not to violate any agreement.

We get more now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump softening his tone against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he prepares to welcome him here to the White House on Friday morning, in what could be the signing of a historic deal between the U.S. and Ukraine that could lead to broader peace negotiations.

Now, it was an extraordinary meeting on Thursday. Once again, a European leader coming to the White House to try and urge the American president to consider the Western allies more than Vladimir Putin. But Trump made clear he still trusts Putin.

TRUMP: I think he'll keep his word. I think he's, I've spoken to him, I've known him for a long time now. We had to go through the Russian hoax together. That was not a good thing. It's not fair.

That was a rigged deal and had nothing to do with Russia. I don't believe he's going to violate his word. I don't think he'll be back when we make a deal.

ZELENY: The American president making those comments in the Oval Office as the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer watched and seemingly wanted to offer a history lesson throughout the day, clearly trying to pull Trump back and get his assurances for some type of a security guarantee. Trump did not offer any specifically, but he listened as Starmer offered this history lesson.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have to win the peace, and that's what we must do now, because it can't be peace that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran. We agree history must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader.

ZELENY: The peacemaker, not the invader. It is clear who Zelenskyy and who Putin is, certainly in the minds of Starmer there and other European leaders who have traveled here to the White House to try and urge the president, the American president, to give a bit and offer some security guarantees.

All of that, of course, remains up in the air, as does a broader peace deal and a ceasefire. But on Friday, the American president and the Ukrainian president are scheduled to come together to sign some type of a deal about rare earths minerals.

This has been going on back and forth for several days, giving the U.S. some access to a key asset of Ukraine. Now Zelenskyy traveling to Washington, clearly facing a president who had once called him a dictator. When asked about that on Thursday, Trump called him a brave man. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A senior U.S. official says the Ukraine minerals deal makes no promises about future security guarantees for Ukraine, and that's a key issue for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who spelled out his red lines ahead of the meeting.

He said the deal won't repay any money the U.S. has given to Kyiv during the war, and he said he will ask President Trump directly if the U.S. will continue to aid Ukraine.

[03:05:01]

The Ukrainian leader says he considers the agreement a framework, but Trump says Kyiv has every reason to sign it. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The minerals agreement will provide the basis for a more sustainable future relationship between the United States and Ukraine, and thus stimulate the long-term prosperity that will help the Ukrainians rebuild their country that's been demolished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNUBRER: But multiple U.S. officials and experts describe the minerals deal as a shot in the dark for Trump, and that's because it's not clear how much mineral wealth Ukraine has and if it's worth exploring. Nick Paton Walsh has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: We very much need rare earth. They have great rare earth.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A moonshot for Ukraine's survival. Talking peace suddenly means talking about places like here, this lunar landscape.

A titanium mine struggling under the Russian bombardment of Ukraine's power grid, sometimes with only three hours power a day.

DMYTRO HOLIK, DIRECTOR OF MINING PLANT, GROUP DF (translated): Now we don't know how our work will go on even tomorrow. Because every day we see how Ukraine's energy is being destroyed. Our company is now very usable and this leads to very high net cost of our products.

PATON WALSH: Half a trillion dollars, that was the sum that President Trump initially thought Ukraine might be able to pay back to the United States, in his words. And here you get a sense of the challenge, really, because this place, yes, potential is certainly there, but they say they desperately need investment. These machines are so old. And yet so, they say, they would welcome American money. PATON WALSH (voice-over): The pressure to get money out of the ground is enormous, as are the questions as to whether the astronomical sums Trump thinks are here can match the money to be made under this sprawling sea of unknown potential.

TRUMP: Man, who knows what rare earth is worth, you know, but at least it's something. And who knows what it's worth? Who knows if they even have it?

PATON WALSH (voice-over): It was, at first, Ukraine's idea, President Zelenskyy selling their mineral wealth in November, perhaps too successfully, as part of a victory plan for more aid, showing reporters' maps here.

They claim 7 percent global production of titanium. Lithium isn't mined yet, but they say they've 3 percent global reserves. They say they're in the top five of graphite reserves and have some actual rare earth metals.

The initial framework deal doesn't specify what it covers, mentioning only relevant resource assets that will be further described in another agreement. Yet the White House has been specific about some resources.

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There's a foundry that processes aluminum in Ukraine. It's been damaged, it's not at its current capacity. If that is restored, it would account for America's entire imports of aluminum for an entire year.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Waltz is probably referring to here, an aluminum plant in Zaporizhzhya, mothballed when filmed here a decade ago, still struggling and hit by a missile during the war.

The U.S. perhaps a little too eager to take Ukraine, with no choice but to give in a hugely complex deal that may get messier still when it runs into the cold, hard ground truth of where Ukraine is at today.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Irshansk, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Last hour, I spoke with global affairs analyst Michael Bosserkue, who's a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. I asked what Ukraine is likely giving up and what it's getting back from this natural resources deal. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND FORMER SPOKESPERSON FOR THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE: Well, the details are very thin, as Jeff Zeleny and others have reported. I think what Ukrainians fear the most is that it's gotten into the head of the Americans that Ukraine is open for business, but everyone here is asking at what cost. And you know, it's well understood here that a lot of these resources

that Trump can't seem to get out of his mind are not easily accessible.

A lot of them are actually near the front line, a lot of them are in zones occupied by the Russians. And I can tell you, from my time in 2014, 2015, being with the OSCE, we were in those areas where a lot of these rare earth elements are in the ground, and the infrastructure there was even dilapidated at that time. So good luck trying to get it out of the ground.

The other thing that's really important here is, as mentioned in the reporting, the lack of security guarantees. Ukraine doesn't want to give away these resources for nothing. And that's on top of many people here thinking that, why do we owe the United States anything? After all, a lot of the wealth actually stayed in the U.S. in the form of production there.

But also, Ukrainians, until this time, have thought that they're not only defending their own country, but also Western democracy.

[03:10:04]

And one more quick thing. If this deal is to go ahead on the scale that is talked about, as one Ukrainian opposition leader said yesterday, it will take tectonic changes in Ukrainian legislation. And trust me, nothing moves quickly here through the Ukrainian parliament.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. That's a great point. So the details of the deal are still sort of dependent on further conversations between President Zelenskyy and Trump.

Now, the relationship seems to have improved after Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator. But it's still, you know, imagine, hard to base the future of your nation on the mercurial mood of President Trump.

BOCIURKIW: Yes, well, how convenient it is to have sudden amnesia and forget you called someone a dictator. That did not go over very well here.

And also, Mr. Trump, I'll remind everyone, said Ukraine could one day be part of Russia. But I think Mr. Zelenskyy would be very wise to follow up on the visits of Mr. Macron and Mr. Starmer in terms of the charm offensive.

I don't know how you match unprecedented visit, a state visit from the king, but perhaps Mr. Zelenskyy could invite Mr. Trump to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone. It's a popular tourist site after all, and he can see what's going on there.

But I think the White House will try to keep the outlines of this deal deliberately vague because Mr. Trump seems so bent on presenting a deal to his base that, look, this is what I achieved for the American taxpayer, because things have not been going well for him on the foreign affairs file in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Talks on the Israel-Hamas ceasefire are resuming in Egypt. We'll explain why Israel wants to extend the current truce while others are looking to move on to phase two.

Plus, the Vatican issues an update on the health of Pope Francis. We'll share those details just ahead. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Tropical cyclone Garance has made landfall on the northern coast of Reunion Island in the southern Indian Ocean. The storm moved ashore at the strength of a Category 2 Atlantic hurricane with wind gusts around 166 kilometers or 103 miles an hour.

Garance is the strongest storm to make landfall on the French territory since 1989. It's bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds and powerful waves. Officials say conditions on the island will remain dangerous throughout the day Friday, but will improve on Saturday.

The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is set to end on Saturday, but negotiations are getting underway in Cairo on whether to extend the truce or move on to phase two. On Thursday, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and Hamas turned over the remains of four hostages. Hamas welcomed the exchange and signaled its willingness to work on the second phase of the truce.

We get more now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond reporting from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israel and Hamas have now concluded the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners as prescribed under phase one of this ceasefire agreement that came after the bodies of four Israeli hostages were returned early Thursday morning back to Israel.

Israel, in exchange, released 643 Palestinian prisoners following a delay of several days for 620 of those prisoners who should have been released this past Saturday. But the question now is what comes next. And indeed, right now, it's very hard to say because there is so much uncertainty.

Israel and Hamas were supposed to start negotiating over phases two and three of this ceasefire agreement beginning on the 16th day of this ceasefire. But so far, there have really been almost no substantive negotiations to speak of on what comes next.

Israel has agreed now to send a delegation to Cairo to pursue some of those negotiations. But the question is, what exactly will Israel be going for? Because notably, Ron Dermer, who is supposed to be leading

negotiations on phase two of this agreement, he will not be present. Instead, lower level officials will be dispatched to these talks.

And we already know that Israeli officials are far more interested at this stage in extending phase one rather than getting into phases two and three, basically seeing if they can get more Israeli hostages out of Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners without doing the big hard decision of ending the war in Gaza and withdrawing all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

It remains to be seen whether that's something Hamas will go for, but they have already shown a flexibility and a willingness to stick with this ceasefire agreement, showing no real appetite to get back into this war. 59 hostages do, in fact, still remain in Gaza, 35 of them have been confirmed dead so far by the Israeli government.

We also know that the Israeli government was supposed to begin its withdrawal from the Philadelphi corridor, separating Israel and Gaza this coming Saturday. But instead, an Israeli source telling us, quote, "we will not exit the Philadelphi corridor, insisting that if they did, that could once again become a smuggling route for weapons into the Gaza Strip with Hamas."

So a lot of uncertainty. And Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East, he was already supposed to be in the region. He has postponed his trip, it seems, waiting to see perhaps whether there's any progress in those talks in Cairo going forward.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

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BRUNHUBER: And joining me now is Fawaz Gerges, who's a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. Thanks so much for being here with us again.

So that report sort of set the table nicely. So I want to look at what comes next. As we heard, Prime Minister Netanyahu seemingly doesn't want a phase two, per se.

So where do things stand and where do you think things go from here?

FAWAZ GERGES, PROF. OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: You are absolutely correct. In fact, I doubt very much whether the second phase of the ceasefire will be reached. Why?

Because the second phase means the permanent end to the war in Gaza, would mean that Hamas will remain in Gaza, would mean that Israel will have to pull out its forces from Gaza. It really would mean a total defeat for the Israeli Prime Minister as opposed to a total victory, and this is very unacceptable for Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist coalitions. What Israel and the United States want and they are gunning for is to

extend the first phase of the ceasefire, to get more hostages, Israeli hostages, in exchange for Palestinian captives and prisoners, because they do not really want to go to the second phase.

And that's why it all depends on whether Hamas will play by the Israeli and American rules and basically release more Israeli hostages for more Palestinian prisoners in the next few days and next few weeks.

BRUNHUBER: You spoke of Israel and the U.S. sort of moving in lockstep there, but Donald Trump has said he wants the war to end. So do you get the sense that for Israel, the real negotiations aren't indirectly with Hamas, but directly with the Trump administration?

GERGES: Well, you're right. President Donald Trump made it very clear before he came to office that he wanted the war to end. But since then, President Trump has really sent contradictory messages. He basically made it very clear he wants to depopulate Gaza. He wants to really the 2.4 million Palestinians to basically leave Gaza and he wants to turn Gaza into the Riviera.

And since then, Kim, he has given Israeli Prime Minister a green light to do whatever he wants. He has made it very clear in the past few days it's up to Israel to either go to the second phase or resume the war itself.

The reason why I'm not very hopeful for the second phase, because here what Israel wants and here what Hamas wants, Israel wants Hamas out of Gaza. It wants Hamas to basically be out militarily and politically. It wants to remain its forces to remain in Gaza.

In fact, the first phase of the ceasefire requires Israel to pull out of the Gaza-Egypt border security zone, the Philadelphi border. And Israel has already made it very clear it won't pull out its forces, which is a violation of the first phase. It does not, Israel does not accept the Palestinian Authority or any Palestinian to basically be in charge of Gaza.

Look, finally, I know I've spoken for too long beyond the headlines. What's the big picture? What the Americans and Israel want are two things.

They want to expel Hamas from Gaza. They want the Arab state to exert pressure on Hamas to basically leave Gaza. And they want an Arab security force led by Egypt to basically be charged, be in charge of security in Gaza.

Even though Hamas has already said it would like, basically, it will allow other Palestinians to be in control in Gaza, but it will not go into exile.

So you have a huge divide between the Israeli position and the Palestinian position. And that's why I doubt very much whether the ceasefire, the temporary ceasefire, could turn into a permanent end to the war in the next few weeks and next few months. BRUNHUBER: All right. So you brought up the Arab states there. And,

you know, as a sort of response to that so-called Riviera plan, as you said, we saw regional leaders in the Middle East come together to propose their own plan.

A Jordanian official told CNN that Arab foreign ministers are going to travel to Washington within weeks to present Donald Trump with a solid proposal to rebuild Gaza without displacing the Palestinian population. So what are you expecting? And what kind of reaction do you think it'll get by the Trump administration?

[03:25:02]

GERGES: Well, first, I mean, you're going to have an Arab summit next week. Most of the Arab state will try to meet in Cairo and try to construct an alternative plan to President Trump's plan to expel the Palestinians from Gaza.

The reason you asked me whether it's between Israel and the United States, I don't think that's it. I think what the United States and Israel want for the Arab states to basically take charge of Gaza militarily, politically, and also bureaucratically.

They want the Arab state led by Egypt to exert pressure on Gaza to basically accept exile. So at the end of the day, really, it's between the United States and Israel on the one hand, and the Arab state, because Benjamin Netanyahu and his extremist coalition will not even accept the Palestinian authority to take charge of Gaza.

So at the end of the day, we'll see whether the Arab state led by Egypt and Qatar and Saudi Arabia will be able to convince Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump not to basically resume the war and try to depopulate Gaza. That's the fear that Egypt and Jordan and other Arab state fear will happen if Israel resumes the war as it threatens to do so in the next few weeks.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, so many still important questions still unresolved. Fawaz Gerges in London, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

GERGES: Thanks.

BRUNHUBER: The Vatican issued an update on the health of Pope Francis a short time ago. The pontiff was admitted to a hospital in Rome on February 14th. Now, this is the longest hospital stay of his papacy.

I want to go to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who's been following the story from Rome. So Ben, we just got that update not too long ago. What are they saying?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is day 15 of the Pope's stay here in Gemelli Hospital. The one-line statement that we always get around 8:00 in the morning local time said that as in the past days, the night passed quietly and the Pope is now resting.

Normally, the more detailed bulletin on the Pope's health comes out in the evening. And of course, last evening, what we heard was that he continues to improve but is receiving oxygen through what's called a ventimask, a mask on his face.

He also underwent physiotherapy yesterday. He has yet to make any sort of public appearance at this point. But certainly what we've been hearing since Monday is either he's remaining in a stable condition or he is slightly improving.

However, the doctors here are being very cautious. Part of the statement last night, I'll read it to you, is that given the complexity of the clinical picture, further days of clinical stability are required to resolve the prognosis. In other words, they want him to stay in the hospital for the time being just to monitor him and see if this daily slight improvement continues.

So at this point, there's no indication, Kim, when he might actually leave the hospital. Keeping in mind, of course, he's 88 years old. He has a history of respiratory problems in addition to mobility issues and sciatica.

Therefore, the doctors don't want him to resume his normally fairly busy schedule until they're absolutely certain his health has improved to the point that he can resume his normal duties. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: I really appreciate that update. Ben Wedeman from Rome, thank you so much.

New details in the investigation into the death of actor Gene Hackman. Police say foul play isn't suspected, but they're also not ruling it out. That's next on CNN.

Plus they're facing human trafficking charges in Romania, but a far- right influencer and his brother are now in the U.S. We'll bring you the latest next. Please stay with us.

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

Authorities in New Mexico are trying to figure out what caused the deaths of legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife. The two were found dead in their Santa Fe home on Wednesday. Officials say while foul play isn't suspected, they still aren't ruling it out as a possibility.

CNN's Josh Campbell has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GENE HACKMAN, ACTOR: I don't have a lot of fears. I have the normal fear of passing away. You know, I guess we all think about that. JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An

investigation is underway into the death of two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman.

SHERIFF ADAN MENDOZA, SANTA FE COUNTY: They're going to work this case. They're going to look at every aspect and figure out, try to figure out the exact cause.

And again, I think the autopsy is going to be key and the toxicology. But again, in my experience, you know, that could take a while.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): The 95-year-old Hollywood icon was found dead Wednesday inside his New Mexico home, along with his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, and a dog, according to officials. Circumstances which the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office called suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.

MENDOZA: It's concerning that everyone in the house, including the dog, is deceased.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Deputies were called to Hackman's house on a welfare check request made by two maintenance workers, according to a search warrant.

CARETAKER: No dude, they're not moving. Just send somebody out here really quick.

[03:35:06]

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Inside, deputies found the couple's bodies in different rooms and say they appeared to have been there for some time. Hackman in a mudroom, his wife in a bathroom near a space heater, with an open prescription bottle on the counter and pills scattered around. Deputies say she had obvious signs of death and body decomposition.

Two healthy dogs were also found on the property, with a third found dead near Arakawa's body. Officials did not find any signs of forced entry, and the fire department and gas company didn't find any obvious signs of a gas leak or carbon monoxide. A sheriff's office spokesperson says the cause of death has not been confirmed, but it is not believed to be foul play.

CAMPBELL: And here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, sheriff's officials behind me are involved in yet another high-profile investigation. This was the same team that conducted the investigation into the fatal shooting on the set of the movie "Rust" that involved actor Alec Baldwin.

We did get some new information from the sheriff's department. They say that autopsies have now been performed on both Gene Hackman as well as his wife. Initial findings indicate that there was no external trauma to either individual.

Sheriff's officials say that carbon monoxide and toxicology tests have been ordered as this investigation continues. And it's important to note that this will likely take time until we know the cause of death. Medical examiner investigations can take weeks, sometimes months, to conclude.

Josh Campbell, CNN, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Some relatives of Eric and Lyle Menendez are commending California Governor Gary Newsom for asking the state parole board to review the brothers' requests for clemency. The pair was sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.

Two cousins say they've seen the brothers work to rehabilitate themselves over three decades despite having no hope of release. They're asking for a new trial or resentencing. The brothers' legal team argues they should have been convicted of manslaughter, not murder, because they were both sexually abused by their father.

Mexico has extradited 29 fugitive cartel members to the U.S., and among them is a notorious cartel kingpin, Rafael Caro Quintero. He spent four decades at the top of the Drug Enforcement Administration's most want of fugitives list.

The drug lord was allegedly involved in the kidnapping, torture and murder of an American narcotics agent in 1985. The DEA's acting administrator says this move is extremely personal for the department's men and women.

Right-wing influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are now in the U.S. after they are allowed to leave Romania, where the siblings were charged with rape and human trafficking, among other alleged crimes. Their arrival in the United States follows reports the U.S. pressured Bucharest to release Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist with a massive online following.

President Trump denies knowing anything about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know nothing about that. I don't know. You're saying he's on a plane right now? Yes, I just know nothing about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Nada Bashir has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andrew Tate, a self- proclaimed misogynist, and his brother Tristan landing in Fort Lauderdale, refusing to answer if President Donald Trump helped them return to the United States. The brothers, online influencers, both permitted to travel out of Romania after prosecutors lifted a years- long travel ban.

ANDREW TATE, ONLINE INFLUENCER: Listen. We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty. And I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood. I think it's extremely important that we stop allowing media spin, wrap-up smears, lies or carefully constructed narratives.

BASHIR (voice-over): Police arrested the Tate brothers in December 2022 and later charged them with offences including rape and human trafficking, allegations they deny.

TATE: We're innocent until proven guilty in any of this.

BASHIR (voice-over): Legal proceedings in Romania are still ongoing, leading many to question why Romanian prosecutors have now chosen to lift the travel ban and what connections there may be to the Trump administration.

Tate has long been a vocal supporter of the U.S. president, posting just two weeks ago, "The Tates will be free, Trump is the president."

TRUMP: The golden age of American freedom begins right now.

TATE (voice-over): I am so excited for the next four years.

BASHIR (voice-over): And sharing this video on social media just last week.

Earlier this month, the "Financial Times" reported, citing sources, that the Trump administration had put pressure on Romanian authorities to lift the travel restriction, first through a phone call, then through a meeting between Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell and Romania's foreign minister at the Munich security conference.

Romania's foreign minister has acknowledged that discussions took place, though the foreign ministry claims there was no such pressure from the Trump administration.

[03:39:59]

A lawyer representing some of the alleged victims of Andrew Tate has said that there is clear evidence to support the allegations against him, calling the decision disgusting and accusing the U.S. government of, quote, "lobbying for their release."

TATE: They're trying to tell you X, the truth is Y.

BASHIR (voice-over): In recent years, Andrew Tate shot to internet fame, racking up billions of views on TikTok, with videos centered on his views on male dominance, female submission and wealth.

TATE: I don't think the world has ever been equal. I'm saying that the modern society we live in has been built by men.

And Tate, just last week, writing, "Hate me all you want. Women are all sex workers."

Comments like those, and the charges in Romania, why Florida governor Ron DeSantis says the brothers aren't welcome in his state.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): No, Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct.

BASHIR (voice-over): Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A U.S. judge is siding with thousands of federal workers fired as part of the Trump administration's effort to shrink the size of government. The judge says mass firings overseen by the Office of Personnel Management are likely unlawful since the employees didn't work for the OPM.

Lawyers for the government say the OPM didn't direct the firings, but asked specific agencies if the workers were fit for continued employment. The plaintiffs argued they were fired based on the lie of poor performance.

Sources tell CNN around 800 employees have been terminated from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with more firings possible today. NOAA scientists specialize in the weather, oceans, climate and other areas.

One source says some workers were given exemptions, including those in life-threatening disaster forecasting like hurricanes and severe thunderstorms. The National Weather Service has been understaffed for years, and the new layoffs appear to align with President Trump's skepticism about the climate crisis.

As one of aviation's greatest mysteries, what happened to Flight MH370? How a new search in the furthest reaches of the Indian Ocean could lead to answers. Stay with us.

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[03:45:00]

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BRUNHUBER: There's new hope of solving one of aviation's greatest mysteries, the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Ships with the U.S.-based firm Ocean Infinity have begun a new effort to search a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean. Malaysia's government says it supports this latest search seven years after the last effort ended unsuccessfully.

The Boeing jet was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March of 2014.

I want to bring in Florence de Changy, Asia correspondent for "Le Monde" and RFI, and she is also the author of the book "The Disappearing Act: The Impossible Case of MH370." She joins us this hour via Skype from Brest, France. Thank you so much for being on with us again.

So they spent three years searching the southern Indian Ocean. The company Ocean Infinity carried out an unsuccessful hunt in 2018. Do you have any confidence that they'll be more successful this time around?

FLORENCE DE CHANGY, ASIA CORRESPONDENT, "LE MONDE" AND RFI: To be blunt, Kim, I think the possibilities of finding the plane there is simply zero. Why?

Because the plane is not there. So you can search for it a hundred times. If it's not there, you won't find it.

What I'm a bit concerned about, and I think I made that point when we last talked, is the importance of finding the field of debris. And people need to understand that what we're looking for is not just a few trophy pieces, like if they suddenly find even the black box or even the engine. What we really are looking for now is the field of debris.

Because if the plane crashed, as we have been told for the last 11 years in the southern Indian Ocean, along this seven arc, whether it's a bit more north or a bit more south, it will have created a field of debris down on the seafloor, which, you know, we've already seen what it looks like when AF447, the Rio to Paris Air France plane crashed. It was in June 2009. And so that's what we are looking for.

And I'm only a little bit concerned that we may, they may fish out some trophy pieces, but that will not prove that the plane crashed there. What we want is the full field of debris. And last time they found, very sadly, 90 percent basically of everything, including the passengers still in their seats on the seafloor.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that was with that other crash. Now, you and I spoke about a year ago when they first announced that this would be a possibility. And I know you've questioned the official narrative around this. So you think if they're looking in the wrong area, they find nothing.

Do you think that will enable them to rule it out and spur them to look in the right place, which is where, do you think?

DE CHANGY: Well, I mean, in a way, you know, the more they look for it and the less they find it, the more it will become evident that the plane is simply not there. And then it will be time to call on the authorities and to make them reconsider what they have been telling us for a very long time.

[03:50:00]

I'm very surprised that there has been a super important and interesting scientific paper published last year in May from the Department of Acoustics in Cardiff University. And at the end of this paper, the author in-charge, Professor Cadry, suggested a field experiment which would very simply allow to be sure that the plane crashed in the Southern Indian Ocean. Because when a plane crashes, it creates a noise signature.

And in this paper, the team has studied several crashes and they've identified that if a plane crashed in the sea, basically anywhere in the ocean, it creates enough noise to be picked up. And so he suggested that they recreated a field experiment, which would not cost very much, to just be sure that the plane crashed there.

Once we have this evidence, because we basically have no other evidence whatsoever, once we have the evidence that the plane crashed there, then keep looking for it. But at the moment, it seems to me a waste of time, unless, of course, for the families and to keep the story alive, etc.

BRUNHUBER: Obviously, we don't know why the plane went down. Finding it could obviously provide some answers. Do you have a most likely theory?

DE CHANGY: Look, I've worked on it very much. Yes, I have a most likely theory. I don't think it's cautious or reasonable for me to share it.

I think this story is so important that it should really, the truth should come from the authorities. The story has been highly political from day one.

Very strangely, you may remember, you know, it was not handled by the Civil Aviation, it was not handled by the normal people, the technological, the technical teams. It's been immediately handed by the ministers, ministerial level, even higher. The White House was very involved.

There was a phone call between Xi Jinping and Barack Obama the next day. So this story has been highly political. And I think we may find a truth when the political scene will allow for it, basically.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Well, we'll certainly keep tabs on this latest search. And certainly, as you mentioned, the hopes of the families and everybody involved that at least some answers come from that, as unlikely as you feel they might be.

Good to speak with you again, Florence de Changy. Thank you so much.

DE CHANGY: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Now, one of the preeminent minds of chess in the 20th century has passed away, remembering Boris Spassky, Russian Grandmaster of the Cold War era. That's next. Stay with us.

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[03:55:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The chess world is remembering one of the titans of the Game of Kings. Russian Grandmaster Boris Spassky has died at the age of 88. He rose to fame when Russia dominated the game and was world chess champion from 1969 until 1972.

It ended in spectacular fashion when he lost to the temperamental American prodigy Bobby Fisher. Their so-called match of the century riveted world attention, as it symbolized the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Spassky later became a French citizen. He's remembered for the sportsmanship he showed Fisher, applauding his rival's victory.

The Kansas City Chiefs didn't get their Super Bowl Three-peat, but they are getting one of the most popular players back for another season. Travis Kelsey says he'll return for his 13th year in the National Football League. The star tight-end says he has a bad taste in his mouth over how he played in the last game and how he got his teammates ready for battle.

Now he's working to get in great shape and get back, in his words, to the mountaintop. 35-year-old Kelsey has won the three Super Bowls with the Chiefs and has been selected to the Pro Bowl 10 consecutive times.

A team of researchers in Japan is aiming to revolutionize elder care. They're using a human-sized robot powered by artificial intelligence. The robot's programmed to carry out tasks for the elderly, like changing diapers and preventing bed sores. The Japanese government is funding the program and it's hoping to solve Japan's severe shortage of caregivers.

All right, check out these incredible close-ups of the moon's surface. Now these shots were captured by our Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft. It's a lunar lander that delivers hardware to different areas on the moon as part of a special NASA initiative.

The agency works with several American companies to deliver lunar equipment in a cost-effective way. Blue Ghost Mission 1 is set to reach its final destination in the moon's northeast region this Sunday.

All right, thank you so much for joining me. I'm Kim Brunhuber, in Atlanta. More "CNN Newsroom" with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane in London after this short break.

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