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Ukrainian and U.S. Presidents to Meet at White House Today; First Phase of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Ends Saturday; Unclear Prognosis for Pope Francis; Tate Brothers Arrive in the U.S. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired February 28, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friday might just be one of the most consequential days for Ukraine.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think we're going to have a very good meeting. We're going to get along really well.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): And the big success depends on our conversation with President Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an atmosphere here in the Vatican of uncertainty and worry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our humanity hope that the Pope come back again here with us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right-wing influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after landing in Florida from Romania.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Friday, February 28th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington, D.C., where the Ukrainian and American presidents are getting ready for high-stakes talks.
FOSTER: Donald Trump will host Volodymyr Zelenskyy in about seven hours' time at the White House, where they're expected to discuss ways to end the three-year-long war. And sign of resources agreement as well, a natural resources agreement. Mr. Trump has claimed the potential trillion-dollar deal would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare-earth minerals.
MACFARLANE: As well as reimburse American taxpayers for the billions spent on wartime aid. But there are widespread doubts of the size of Ukraine's mineral wealth and how easily it can be extracted. Meanwhile, the British prime minister has been urging the United States to provide a security backstop in Ukraine.
But during Keir Starmer's visit to the White House, Mr. Trump suggested the mineral deal itself could serve as an effective deterrent.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll have a lot of people working there. And so, in that sense, it's very good. It's a backstop, you could say. I don't think anybody's going to play around if we're there with a lot of workers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what would you be willing to do if Vladimir Putin did not stick to the terms of any deal on Ukraine?
TRUMP: If he now what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he did not stick to the terms of any deal on Ukraine.
TRUMP: I've known him for a long time now, and I think he will -- I don't believe he's going to violate his word.
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FOSTER: But Mr. Starmer has cautioned against trusting Russia too much and making too many concessions.
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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.
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FOSTER: Salma has been following all this very closely. You're going to be following this meeting today. It's going to be really interesting, isn't it?
And what we saw there, as we did with Macron, a very warm relationship, but there's a lot more tension between Zelenskyy and Trump.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks for President Zelenskyy, for Europe at large, really. We've gone from a President Trump who has called President Zelenskyy a dictator at times, has blamed him for the invasion of his own country. We've seen direct talks between the U.S. and Russia, which did not include Europe, and did not, of course, include Ukraine. And we've seen this back and forth from President Trump, who at times seems to say, I respect President Zelenskyy, and at other times seems to be putting him to one side. I want you to hear what he told reporters yesterday.
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TRUMP: I think the president and I actually have had a very good relationship. It maybe got a little bit testy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you still think that Mr. Zelenskyy is a dictator?
TRUMP: Did I say that? I can't believe I said that. Next question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: How Trumpian is that?
ABDELAZIZ: I mean, I know we're smiling because it is so difficult to make sense of it all, but President Zelenskyy has to make sense of it all. He has to figure out what that means. There is a lot on the line for him.
We have, of course, the minerals deal, which has been highly discussed, highly controversial. The United States wanting access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals. That is what he is there to sign.
That seemed to be the testiness of their relationship, if you will. But President Zelenskyy needs something back. If he's going to give America access to his country's wealth, he wants protection. He wants security guarantees. He wants the promise of a U.S. partnership.
MACFARLANE: Well, and that's the core point here, right? Because we also heard Donald Trump there saying, asserting that this minerals deal would serve as an effective security backdrop.
[04:05:00]
Is that true? And how would President Zelenskyy view that?
ABDELAZIZ: The other part of that statement from President Trump was essentially, and the security guarantees should come from Europe. That is what President Trump is saying. So it is going to be difficult.
He's seen in this last week, Macron. He's seen Starmer. So he's seen his European partners.
They're going to have emphasized to him not to trust Russia's word with this. But as you heard there, President Trump is willing to take President Putin as at his word. And he is also willing to say, this is Europe's problem, not my problem.
Will President Zelenskyy turn his mind around? We'll wait and find out.
FOSTER: It's going to be interesting to see the body language, right? But, you know, we've just seen there how he's backtracking on the dictator comments. When he's face to face with someone, he does generally get on with them.
ABDELAZIZ: But it's about more than getting on this time, isn't it? It's about President Zelenskyy convincing President Trump that it is in his interest, as well as in Ukraine's interest, to have some sort of deterrence, some sort of protection, some sort of something in this contract that gives that guarantee that the U.S. will step in when Ukraine needs it in case of Russian aggression.
MACFARLANE: And Prime Minister Keir Starmer seemed to be suggesting that that was still to be worked out as part of the deal, even if President Trump isn't committing to that publicly. So we ill watch.
ABDELAZIZ: So talk about high stakes, right? You have to negotiate it right there.
MACFARLANE: Salma, thank you.
Now, a new report on October 7th's terror attack says the Israeli military failed in its mission to protect civilians and drastically underestimated the capabilities of Hamas. The IDF points to gaps in intelligence and systemic failures in preparedness and response.
FOSTER: The report says Hamas was preparing for a large-scale attack from Gaza as early as 2016, but Israeli intelligence misinterpreted the plans or dismissed them as unrealistic. The inquiry also says the IDF was caught off guard by the attack, during which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.
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 to move on to phase two.
MACFARLANE: A source tells CNN Israel will not withdraw its forces from the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border -- a key requirement for phase two, Israel accuses Hamas of smuggling weapons through the border. On Thursday, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and Hamas turned over the remains of four hostages.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports from Tel Aviv.
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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. Fifty-nine hostages do, in fact, still remain in Gaza. Thirty-five 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 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.
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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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FOSTER: The latest update on how Pope Francis is doing.
MACFARLANE: He was admitted to hospital in Rome on February 14th, and this currently is the longest hospital stay of his papacy. CNN's Ben Wedeman has been following this story. Ben, what news and updates have we had this morning?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christina, Max, we have received the morning one-line bulletin from the Vatican press office regarding the Pope's situation. It says that as in the past days, the night passed quietly and the Pope is now resting. Now, we did receive a more detailed health bulletin from the Vatican press office on Thursday evening in which they said he continues to improve and what we've seen basically since Tuesday, he's either improving slightly or his situation is stable.
So they say he continues to improve, but he's also receiving heavy flows of supplemental oxygen through a mask. He's continuing to eat normally. Yesterday we heard that he's not bedridden, that he is in an armchair, attending to work.
We also know that he underwent some sort of physiotherapy yesterday, but by and large the doctors here at Rome's Gemelli Hospital are being very cautious regarding his overall situation. They put out a statement yesterday saying that given the complexity of the clinical picture, further days of clinical stability are required to resolve the prognosis.
Rather awkward wording for the fact that they want the Pope to stay in hospital under constant observation by the doctors, which isn't always difficult for a Pope that's considered to be very headstrong, somebody who constantly wants to be at work, and I think what we've seen is that after this weekend when we saw the Pope having an asthmatic crisis, having to receive blood transfusions, the doctors have perhaps really read the riot act to the Pope, telling him you've got to rest, you've got to take it easy and recover, and then you can get back to work.
But that's rather difficult orders for this Pope to have to obey -- Christina, Max.
FOSTER: In Rome, thank you.
A judge, a U.S. judge, sides with federal workers fired from their jobs by the Department of Government Efficiency. Details on their lawsuit against the Trump administration just ahead.
MACFARLANE: Plus, they're facing human trafficking charges in Romania, but a far-right influencer and his brother are now in the U.S.
FOSTER: And Erik and Lyle Menendez move closer to the possibility of freedom with the help of California's governor. Why some relatives of the convicted parent killers are hopeful about the brothers' future, next on CNN.
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FOSTER: Some relatives of Erik and Lyle Menendez are commending California Governor Gavin Newsom for asking the state parole board to renew the brothers' request for clemency. They were sentenced to life in prison for the 1989 murders of their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez.
MACFARLANE: Two cousins say they've seen the brothers work to rehabilitate themselves over three decades, despite having no hope of release. Erik and Lyle are asking for a new trial or resentencing. The brothers' legal team argues the pair should have been convicted of manslaughter, not murder, because they were both sexually abused by their father. Right-wing influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are now in the U.S. after they were allowed to leave Romania. That's where the siblings are charged with rape and human trafficking, along with other alleged crimes.
FOSTER: Their arrival in the U.S. follows reports the U.S. pressured Bucharest to release Andrew Tate, a controversial figure with a massive online following. But President Trump denies knowing anything about the case.
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TRUMP: I know nothing about that. I don't know. You're saying he's on a plane right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Yes, I just know nothing about it.
FOSTER: Well, to make more sense of this, Randi Kaye has more.
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ANDREW TATE, ONLINE INFLUENCER: We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty, and I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right-wing influencer, Andrew Tate, and his brother Tristan, moments after landing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from Romania, telling reporters they are, quote, largely misunderstood.
The brothers, along with two Romanian citizens, were arrested just after Christmas in 2022 and formally indicted months later on charges of rape, human trafficking, and setting up a criminal gang. The brothers have denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
TATE: It's about the fact that she belongs to him and the intimate parts of her body belong to him because they're in a relationship. And if she wants to sell those, he has a stake in those intimate parts of her body.
KAYE (voice-over): Besides suggesting men own women, Andrew Tate has often referred to women on social media as sex workers. Despite his comments, Andrew Tate hasn't taken a clear position on whether or not he's misogynistic.
TATE: I have nothing against women at all. I'm not sexist in any regard. I'm not misogynist either.
TATE: I will state right now that I am absolutely sexist and I'm absolutely a misogynist.
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KAYE (voice-over): Romanian prosecutors alleged that Tate's seduced victims by falsely claiming they wanted a relationship or planned to marry them. Andrew Tate's controversial comments have attracted billions of views online.
He was banned from Twitter in 2017 for saying women should, quote, bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted. In 2022, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube also banned him. Elon Musk allowed Tate to return to Twitter, now X, in 2022, where Tate has more than 10 million followers.
Critics and advocacy groups have voiced concern over his impact on young and vulnerable audiences and have accused him of peddling his rants about female submission and male dominance to them.
TATE: I believe the woman is given to the man. I believe she's given away by the father. I believe she belongs to the man. She belongs to the man.
PIERS MORGAN, TV HOST: So you think, so fundamentally -- right, so fundamentally, you do believe that a woman becomes a man's property.
TATE: I believe she belongs to the man in marriage, correct.
KAYE (voice-over): So how did the Tate brothers end up in the Sunshine State? Perhaps flattery played a role.
TATE: Trump's saving the world.
KAYE (voice-over): A Romanian official told CNN that earlier this month, Trump special envoy Rick Grenell, raised their case with Romania's foreign minister. White House officials have said there was no direct U.S. government role in this.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he doesn't know who was behind this.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): No, Florida is not a place where -- where -- where you're welcome with that -- with those -- that type of conduct in the air. And I don't know how it came to this. We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media.
KAYE (voice-over): The first criminal case against the Tate brothers failed in December 2024 after a Bucharest court noted flaws in the indictment.
In January, the court lifted the house arrest order. The pair had previously been banned from leaving Romania while the investigation continued. A lawyer representing alleged victims of Andrew Tate in the United Kingdom told CNN that any suggestion that the Tates will now face justice in Romania is fanciful.
Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida
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MACFARLANE: Mexico has extradited 29 fugitive cartel members to the U.S., and among them is notorious cartel kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero. FOSTER: He spent four decades at the top of the Drug Enforcement Administration's most wanted 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.
International condemnation mounting following Thailand's deportation of dozens of Uyghurs to China.
MACFARLANE: Thailand sent back 40 on Thursday morning, more than a decade after they escaped persecution in their home country. Human rights groups say they could now face torture and long prison terms. The U.S. said it condemns the deportation in the strongest possible terms and the U.N. human rights chief called the move deeply regrettable. In response, China slammed what it called fabricated lies and politicizing of the issue. The U.S. and other countries say China's repression of Uyghurs is genocide.
FOSTER: Still ahead, anger on the airwaves. Trump voters call in to talk radio to vent their frustrations with Elon Musk, sweeping budget cuts, massive firings.
MACFARLANE: And the police say they aren't ready to rule out the possibility of foul play in the deaths of actor Gene Hackman and his wife. We have the latest on the investigation into how the couple died.
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MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. Here are some of the top stories we're following today.
Right-wing influencer Andrew Tate and his brother are in the U.S. Romania lifted their travel ban. The siblings are charged there with rape and human trafficking. There have been reports the U.S. pressured Bucharest to release Andrew Tate. President Trump says he knows nothing about it.
The Vatican says Pope Francis had a quiet Thursday night and is now resting. The pontiff was admitted two weeks ago to a hospital in Rome, and the Vatican has said his condition continues to improve, but they say his prognosis is still unclear as he battles double pneumonia.
Well talks about ending the war in Ukraine are gaining momentum with the Ukrainian and U.S. presidents set to meet at the White House in a matter of hours. Officials say Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expecting to sign a highly touted natural resources agreement that could bring the U.S. and Ukraine closer as the Trump administration warms to the Kremlin.
FOSTER: A senior U.S. official says the minerals deal makes no promises about future security guarantees for Ukraine. That's a key issue for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He spelled out his red lines ahead of the talks. He said the deal will not repay any money the U.S. has given to Kyiv during the war so far, and he said he wants to clarify if Ukraine can still count on U.S. weapons deliveries. The Ukrainian leader considers the deal only a framework, but Mr. Trump says Kyiv has every reason to sign it.
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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.
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