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Trump-Zelenskyy Tensions Explode in Oval Office Clash, World Leaders React; Ukraine Takes Fire amid White House Political Drama; Hamas Blames Israel for Stalled Negotiations on Phase II; National Weather Agency Fires around 800 Employees; FAA Clears SpaceX for New Launch; Conan O'Brien Hosting Oscars for the First Time. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired March 01, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

The world reacts to the showdown between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. The Ukrainian lawmaker gives us the reaction in Kyiv.

Plus, the pope now said to be resting after a peaceful night following a potentially worrying development. We'll have a live update from Rome on his fight against pneumonia.

And another federal agency is hit by massive cuts. How this could impact your local weather forecast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Relations between the United States and Ukraine are in uncharted waters today after a shouting match in the Oval Office between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Donald Trump and JD Vance. It was a meeting that went from cordial to combative in just minutes. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We gave you military equipment. You and your men are brave. But they had to use our military equipment. If you didn't have our military equipment --

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: You invited me to speak --

TRUMP: If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.

ZELENSKYY: In three days, I heard it from Putin, in three days.

TRUMP: Maybe less.

ZELENSKYY: This is something -- two weeks, of course, yes.

TRUMP: It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Have a look. The body language in those pictures tells a dramatic story. You can see each president pointing, expressing anger and frustration. The trouble seemed to come about because President Zelenskyy was asking for security guarantees as part of a peace agreement.

After the meeting, president Trump said he doesn't think President Zelenskyy wants peace. Zelenskyy went on FOX News, saying he thinks his relationship with president Trump can be salvaged. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you think the public spat in the Oval Office in front of the media, served Ukrainians well today?

ZELENSKYY: I think this kind of this kind of spat is -- is -- I mean, this -- we have -- I mean, this is not good for both sides.

BAIER: Do you think your relationship with Donald Trump. President Trump after today can be salvaged?

ZELENSKYY: Yes, of course, because its relations more than two presidents in the historical relations, strong relations between our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. For reaction from Ukraine, we're joined by member of parliament Irina Sovsun and she's in Kyiv.

Thank you so much for being here with us. So I mean, that meeting unprecedented and potentially devastating for Ukraine.

What did you make of it?

IRINA SOVSUN, UKRAINIAN MP: Well, of course, we're still processing everything that has happened 12 hours ago. But I think it's fair to say that we all have been shocked with what we have seen.

Both Donald Trump and JD Vance behaved as if the problem is actually Ukraine, as if the problem is the fact that Ukraine wants security. And the problem that Russia is attacking Ukraine, is killing Ukrainians has not been mentioned once.

It's a striking difference with how Donald Trump and his team is treating the president of the country, who is the victim of this aggression, compared to how they're treating the Russian side. We have seen very cordial and nice conversations between the American side and the Russian side about a week ago in Riyadh.

So this is, of course, of course, shocking for us to see. We do, however, hope that the talks will continue and that this disagreement that we have seen yesterday will not be the final act of conversation between the Ukrainian and the American side. So I think we're now trying to figure out how to proceed from what has happened yesterday.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. I mean still processing, I imagine, as you as you said there. I mean, you knew going into this that president Trump wasn't a supporter of Ukraine.

But in terms of the wider reaction there in Ukraine, do Ukrainians feel like this was a betrayal, a stab in the back?

SOVSUN: Well, that is a feeling that is definitely there. After all, we are all living in this war. We are all being attacked every day. Just over this night, Ukraine has been attacked with over 100 drones from Russian side. And not to mention that they are ongoing attack to the east and to the south of our country.

[05:05:00]

And that given this reality that that we live on, hearing president Trump say that it's us who don't want peace, it's us who seem to be liking this war, is, of course, of course, very unexpected, to put it mildly.

So there is the feeling that Donald Trump doesn't grasp the reality of this war and what it costs us. And he continuously blames Ukrainian side, which is, of course, not true.

But at the end of the day, I do still believe that the American and Ukrainian interests do align. We both support democracy. We both support human rights. And that is the basis upon which we should be rebuilding our relationships after what has happened.

BRUNHUBER: So to rebuild that, we heard secretary of state Marco Rubio say, Zelenskyy should apologize.

Putting aside the moral merits of the case, for the sake of Ukraine, should he?

SOVSUN: Well, if there is something after that apology, if there is any reliable offer on the table, then it's up for discussion. And, of course, it's up for the president to decide.

But I -- and I'm saying that as a member of parliament from opposition, I still believe that the president is acting on the best interests of Ukraine and is trying to protect the country that is being attacked by Russians. So I am sure that he would be willing to do everything possible.

But the question is, what are we aiming to achieve? And the goal for us here is to make sure that this terrifying war actually stops. Ceasefire sounds like a good idea. I've read lots of comments from many Americans who support Donald Trump saying, why don't you like ceasefire?

Look, we want ceasefire.

But the question is, at what cost and what comes after that?

What happens if the ceasefire is broken as it has happened before?

And if there is nothing, no guarantees, nothing after that, then the question is, what is Ukraine agreeing to accept for giving up its minerals?

And then if we frame it like this, then this doesn't seem like a fair deal. So as long as there is a deal that will guarantee our security, it will guarantee that we are not being threatened every single day, then, of course, I'm sure the president will act according to the best interests of Ukraine.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. You've called on Europe to step up its support for Ukraine.

The question is, can Ukraine and Europe basically do it alone?

SOVSUN: Well, that is not an ideal scenario but it is doable. And the question is, indeed now, how much support will the European leaders, but also leaders from other countries -- Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan -- all those countries have been supporting Ukraine.

And I do think that it's now time to step up in the level of their support. And not just in words. Actions speak louder than words. If they were to send over significant packages of military aid right now, I think this will improve the negotiating position, both for Ukraine and for Europe.

So yes, we can stand against Russian pressure without American military aid. That is not what we are aiming for. And that's not an ideal scenario. But we should definitely work with the Europeans and should hear very specific proposals on their side as to how they can help Ukraine under this unexpected development.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. We're still measuring the reverberations of this consequential meeting. We'll see how it all shakes out in the days and weeks ahead. Irina Sovsun, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

SOVSUN: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Well, U.S. lawmakers were quick to react to the diplomatic clash in the White House. House Speaker Mike Johnson said president Trump showed that he's putting America first and that the days when the U.S. was disrespected are over.

While House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries called the exchange "shocking and extraordinary" and urged the Trump administration to show some mature leadership. Other responses largely fell along party lines as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): The president of the United States is a coward who is Vladimir Putin's puppet.

The vice president of the United States is a rogue and a coward, who is Donald Trump's puppet.

REP. MICHAEL LAWLER (R-NY): And I think what president Trump is trying to do is bring the conflict to a resolution.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): If the rug is pulled out and Putin becomes the big winner in a forced ceasefire, not only that disaster for Ukraine but if anybody believes that Putin will stop at Ukraine, that he doesn't have in his eyes the Baltic states, Poland and others, they are not students of history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: International leaders have rallied behind President Zelenskyy after the Oval Office clash. Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau says Ukrainians have fought with courage and resilience and that their fight for freedom and democracy is what matters to all.

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Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese echoed that statement. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: The people of Ukraine have suffered greatly in defense of their nation and their national sovereignty. And Russia has acted like a bully, a big country seeking to invade and to take over territory from another sovereign nation; in this case, Ukraine.

And like the rest of, overwhelmingly, countries around the world, we have stood with Ukraine and we will continue to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: But Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban made it clear he's firmly behind Donald Trump. He said the U.S. president stood bravely for peace, even though that was difficult for many to digest. Orban is a longtime ally of both the U.S. and Russian presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Larry Madowo joins us now from Paris with more.

So Larry, when it comes to European reaction, most leaders seem to be rallying around Zelenskyy. So take us through what you've been seeing. LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Leaders from around

the world are standing with Ukraine, saying their support is steadfast and that Russia is the aggressor here.

What do you see here is this tightrope where, all these leaders, while they support President Zelenskyy in Ukraine, they don't want to explicitly criticize president Donald Trump. As they have learned, that's going to be counterproductive.

But here in Europe, there's been whiplash from that latest drama at the Oval Office, the shouting match between President Zelenskyy and Trump. And it's capping off what's been a few dizzying weeks for Europe.

Just two weeks ago here in Europe, at the Munich Security Conference, vice president JD Vance essentially attacked European democracy. And now this. You hear this furious back-channeling from different leaders.

President Emmanuel Macron of France, for instance, did speak with President Zelenskyy after that shouting match at the Oval Office. The Elysee did not say what they spoke about but a lot of other leaders have spoken among themselves.

And this is what president Emmanuel Macron said after that drama, pointing out that this was not started by Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): We all know the situation. There is an aggressor and that is Russia. There are people attacked who are from Ukraine.

We were all right to help Ukraine and sanction Russia three years ago and to continue to do so. And when I say we, I'm talking about the United States of America, the Europeans, the Canadians, the Japanese and many others. And that's it.

Therefore, we must thank everyone who has helped and we must help those who, from the beginning, have been fighting, because they fight for their dignity, for their independence, for their children and for the security of Europe. These are important things that we must remember in these moments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: That is the sentiment across the region. The leaders of the European Union Commission, Council and Parliament sent out a joint statement, telling President Zelenskyy he is not alone. They said that your dignity honors the bravery of the Ukrainian people. Be brave, be strong. Be fearless -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Looking forward now, there's a meeting between European leaders Sunday. There are also been calls for an E.U.-U.S. summit over Ukraine.

What are we expecting?

MADOWO: We're expecting President Zelenskyy to attend that summit in the U.K. He's actually on his way right now. It's being hosted by prime minister Keir Starmer, who was also at the White House, ingratiated himself to president Donald Trump, offered a state visit, a letter from the king.

And that is what they were hoping that President Zelenskyy would do. He didn't do that because he felt he had to stand up for his people. And so these leaders, when they meet in the U.K., have to figure out a way to salvage this relationship between the U.K., between Ukraine and the Donald Trump administration.

Even though President Zelenskyy did tell FOX News that he feels it can still be salvaged. So that's one thing, the leaders of Germany and France and Sweden and Denmark and the Netherlands, Turkiye will all be at this meeting. They're hoping to deliver that thing that President Zelenskyy was asking for at the White House.

Those security guarantees from the U.S., in fact, maybe some air cover if there's going to be some deal to end the war. That's one thing.

But the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who's been an ally of president Trump, also did stand with Ukraine. She says any division in the West favors those who want an end to the civilization. And she has called for a joint summit between the U.S. and its European allies to discuss the current war in Ukraine.

But any other future threats they may face, because they feel and many European leaders agree, that America can no longer be the reliable partner that has been for decades -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be monitoring these meetings, see what comes of it. Larry Madowo live in Paris, thank you so much.

So as the political drama played out in the U.S., Ukraine took more drone fire from Russia. Air raid sirens were activated in Kyiv Friday night, while one person was killed and another one injured in Odessa. Ukraine's second largest city, Kharkiv was also targeted.

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Officials say drones hit a medical facility and started a fire. Dozens of Ukrainians have been killed in Russian attacks since Trump's recent phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

So with the U.S. casting doubt on further support for Ukraine, European leaders have promised to step up with military contributions. And earlier, I asked Mick Ryan, a retired major general of the Australian army, whether Europe can actually shoulder the burden. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAJ. GEN. MICK RYAN (RET.), AUSTRALIAN ARMY: I don't think it is the end of the war or Russia will automatically win. But you would have to step up very quickly with a lot more military

and economic assistance to be able to help Ukraine if the U.S. was to pull out its aid.

BRUNHUBER: So the war looks as though it will potentially continue for even longer than it might have, let's say, yesterday. Looking at the big picture, the war now entering its fourth year, it settled into a kind of a stalemate. And that's due in part to technology, which is something I know you've been studying.

Ukraine seems to have the edge when it when it came to the innovative use of technology, especially early on.

But how and when did that change?

RYAN: Well, the Ukrainians are still very good at bottom up innovation and battlefield innovation. Unfortunately, the Russians are fast followers and they're able to industrialize innovation at a scale. The Ukrainians aren't able to.

That has led to the current situation we've got. And the unfortunate circumstance we find ourselves now is that, whilst everyone has been looking for a breakthrough on the battlefield, president Putin has now achieved one in the political environment.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. And so when we're looking at that use of technology, I mean, take us through exactly what we're talking about in terms of drones and other technology and whether Ukraine, you think, can potentially regain that edge.

Or does this all ultimately come down to who can churn out the most heavy weaponry, the conventional weaponry and send the most soldiers to the front lines?

RYAN: Yes, unfortunately, there's no silver bullet, no single technology. But the changes we've seen on the battlefield are due to a convergence of drones, increased visibility of what combatants are doing, not just through drones but through civil sensors.

And then the digital capacity to share that with just about every participant on the battlefield, that is a very different environment, even from just a few years ago.

But at the end of the day, on top of that, you still need to be able to produce more than the adversary. And that's where the Ukrainians are having a challenge, both in industrial production and in manpower.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Straight ahead, recovering from a setback after Pope Francis experiences breathing difficulties. The Vatican shares more positive developments on his status.

And the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas remains uncertain. The first phase is set to end today. Now one side is blaming the other for the stalled talks. We'll have more coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Hamas is blaming Israel for stalled negotiations on the extension of a ceasefire and hostage release deal, as the first phase of the agreement is set to expire today. The group says there are currently no negotiations underway on the second phase and says those talks were supposed to begin weeks ago.

The Israeli government has yet to publicly address the status of the deal. A senior official tells CNN, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency consultation to discuss how to advance negotiations late Friday after a delegation returned from talks in Cairo.

A Hamas spokesperson accused Israel of trying to recover the remaining hostages while keeping open the possibility of resuming the war in Gaza. The U.S. envoy for the Middle East says the Trump administration hopes to get an extension on the first phase in order to negotiate phase two.

The Vatican says Pope Francis is resting this morning after a peaceful night at the hospital. It comes a day after the pontiff experienced a medical setback. The Vatican said he had a sudden respiratory episode and required noninvasive mechanical ventilation.

The issue was complicated by vomiting, some of which he inhaled before medics treated him. For days, people have been gathering at St. Peter's Square to pray for the pope's health. The 88 year old has been hospitalized for more than two weeks battling double pneumonia.

We get more now from CNN's Barbie Nadeau and she joins us live from Rome.

So Barbie, we got the usual update.

What is the latest, then, from the Vatican on the pope's health?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, every morning we get an update. It's really sort of a basic update that, I think, more than anything, just confirms that he made it through the night.

You know, we've got that on their Telegram channel, those evening bulletins, where we find out more of the details come from the medical side of things. And last night was very alarming.

The idea that he had yet another of these bronchial spasms, that he'd had what seemed to be a crisis of sorts, which would have included intervention. But what we're looking at when we look at those bulletins is some of the words they're using. They said that he was cooperative. They said that he was lucid, that

he was vigilant. And so we know then or we can understand from that that he didn't pass out or he wasn't, you know, didn't lose consciousness is basically what they're saying.

And, you know, we're hoping for a better report tonight when that -- when that medical bulletin comes later here in Rome. But we've seen a steady, you know, crowd of people gathering here at the hospital. And you see it in St. Peter's Square, too.

A lot of people in Rome right now, of course, to kick off Lent, which starts with Ash Wednesday. The pope not expected to be involved in that. Obviously, they've already named who will be leading that procession, to kick off the Lenten season; especially important this year because it's a holy jubilee year. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So many people wishing the pope well. Barbie Nadeau in Rome, thank you so much.

There's more fallout from the Oval Office shouting match between presidents Trump and Zelenskyy. Just ahead, more on the diplomatic disaster and a closer look at the troubled relationship between the two leaders.

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Plus, the clash between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents didn't happen in a vacuum. We'll look at how the history of bad blood between them has affected this. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

World leaders are reacting to the diplomatic disaster that happened live at the White House on Friday. It was an unforgettable meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy that turned into a shouting match. The situation went downhill quickly after President Zelenskyy requested security guarantees as part of a peace deal with Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We gave you through this stupid president, $350 billion. We gave you military equipment. You and your men are brave. But they had to use our military equipment. If you didn't have our military equipment --

ZELENSKYY: You invited me to speak --

TRUMP: If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in two weeks.

ZELENSKYY: In three days, I heard it from Putin, in three days.

TRUMP: Maybe less.

ZELENSKYY: This is something -- two weeks, of course, yes.

TRUMP: It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this, I can tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Alexander Baunov is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and at the European University Institute and he joins us now from Berlin.

Thank you so much for being here with us. So just to start off, your reaction to that incredible meeting.

ALEXANDER BAUNOV, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE RUSSIA EURASIA CENTER: Well, it's up to Ukrainians to decide whether Zelenskyy met their expectations.

But from the Russian side, it's looking like this. What has happened between Trump and Zelenskyy and Ukraine has exceeded even the boldest expectations of the Kremlin. They can hardly believe their luck.

[05:30:00]

The official reaction is very cautious because they are really not believing what's going on for the last month, including the last evening.

First, president Trump called Putin first. He was ready to discuss Ukraine without Ukraine and even without NATO and Europe. Vice president and Milken (ph) -- vice president Vance and Milken (ph) was arguing that the biggest threat to the democracy is not a rise of authoritarianism or not a autocratic Kremlin but the liberal censorship.

It's exactly the argument you hear from the Kremlin official media for years. And president Trump refused to call Russia an aggressor. And finally, we see how it ended, what, as you call it, diplomatic disaster. Ukraine, Ukrainian-American relations survived yesterday night.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And along with some of the things that you said there, it seems significant that, again, in this meeting, president Trump was parroting some of Putin's lines, like Ukraine being potentially responsible for starting WWIII. And, Trump pushing the idea that Zelenskyy doesn't want peace but Putin somehow does.

BAUNOV: Exactly, exactly. As a former diplomat 20 years ago, more than 20 years ago, I can say that the setting of the meeting looked strange from the protocol perspective, because there were five Americans speaking their native language. There was one Zelenskyy, speaking before, in one sitting, a bigger side of the others.

But it's, of course, not about the setting and about, I suppose the disaster is not even about the tones, although the tones of both sides were not diplomatic. But they understood the deal from the very beginning, very differently.

It became clear that president Trump has very little argument or almost no argument against Putin. But he has one very important in his talks to President Zelenskyy. It's U.S. aid.

And he started from the very beginning to use this very effective tool to threaten Zelenskyy, to deprive Ukraine of the U.S. aid, to strike a deal. And the suspicions in Kyiv were that the deal, would be striking at the expense of Ukraine and on Russian terms. This is the reason.

BRUNHUBER: You touched on sort of some of the diplomatic elements of this, the diplomatic games, I guess. We've heard some suggest that this was basically an ambush by president Trump, that was kind of pre- planned to take umbrage and enable him to side with Putin.

Do you think that's likely?

BAUNOV: Well, I know this theory of provocation but it's always an assumption that we cannot prove. So I would prefer to concentrate myself on what we're really seeing and what -- and what we can guess.

And what we've really seen was not really typical. But again, from my opinion, the reason is more profound or more deep than just a diplomatic ambush or the rise of the tones. It was a fundamental difference in understanding of the peace, of the peace deal.

BRUNHUBER: Well, let's talk about then what we've seen. One thing that was interesting, President Trump framed the, you know, what he called the Russia hoax as a as a shared experience with Putin. I want to play this clip of president Trump here. He is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia. You ever hear of that deal?

That was a phony. That was a phony. Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam. Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff, it was a Democrat scam.

And he had to go through that. And he did go through it. We didn't end up in a war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So, I mean, it seems odd, right?

Trump making Putin sound like a comrade in arms.

What do you make of that? BAUNOV: It's exactly what I've said in the very beginning. It's exceeds any Ukrainian (ph) expectation. Because if you compare, the mood in Moscow, in the Russian capital in 2016 and before Trump, president Trump's reelection now last year, it was very different.

In 2016, the expectation was -- the expectations were much higher. Much, like we can really cooperate and strike a deal and agree the spheres of influence. But it didn't came true during the first president Trump term.

So the expectations in the Kremlin were not as high this time. And now they were very cautious, thinking that the rhetoric may change. But fundamentally, the United States will continue to help Ukraine.

[05:35:00]

To see Russia as a strategic enemy, a strategic adversary, maybe some small changes, maybe very slowly some, some changes can happen. But as quick, as fundamental as it happened, it was totally unexpected.

And I even see that the Russian diplomacy is quite unprepared because they don't make enough efforts for such change. And the basic Putin (ph) explanation, if you, if you listen to his speech in the Russian army day on 23rd of February, was this, that this change is a result of the heroic deeds of Russian army in Ukraine.

So Russian military campaign in Ukraine changed the world order. That was exactly, by the way, declared from the very beginning, that one of the Russians' goal, when Russia started this war, not just to take pieces of the territory, change the regime but to change the world order more globally.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. We shall see what changes arise after that extraordinary day that we saw. Alexander Baunov in Berlin. Thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

BAUNOV: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Well, analysts say the tensions between the two leaders have been building for years. In fact, they date back to Trump's first term, as we heard. CNN's Brian Todd explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Disrespectful --

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A historically traumatic public falling out.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III.

TODD: A 180-degree turn from how President Trump had described Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just the day before. TRUMP: We're going to get along really well, OK?

We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him.

TODD: Then today --

TRUMP: You're not acting at all thankful.

TODD: Tension that had been smoldering well before this oval office display.

SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: There was personal animus that. You could see there, especially, from Trump.

TODD: A personal animus that dates back to Trump's first administration. Trump pressured Zelenskyy to investigate Hunter Biden during a 2019 phone call about U.S. aid for Ukraine.

TRUMP: It was a perfect phone call.

GLASSER: Their early interactions are Donald Trump attempting to blackmail President Zelenskyy, withholding hundreds of millions of dollars of U.S. military assistance while he pressed Zelenskyy to launch investigations of his political opponents.

TODD: Zelenskyy tried to stay out of the fracas.

ZELENSKYY: I'm sorry but I don't want to be involved. Nobody pushed it -- pushed me. Yes.

TRUMP: In other words, no pressure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The nays are --

TODD: Democrats alleged, a quid pro quo and Trump was impeached but acquitted.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIV, FORMER SPOKESMAN, OSCE: I think that left a bit of a bad taste in Mr. Trump's mouth because he has a long memory. He's like that.

TODD: Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Trump has falsely blamed Zelenskyy for the conflict that Vladimir Putin ignited.

TRUMP: He should never have let that war start. That war is a loser.

JULIA IOFFE, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: Compared to Vladimir Putin, Zelenskyy just doesn't measure up in Trump's mind.

Zelenskyy is not the kind of leader that Trump admires. Zelenskyy is closer to the leaders of Europe in style and substance and Trump has nothing but scorn for those leaders. He sees them as weak, as effeminate.

TODD: Zelenskyy has publicly expressed his frustration with Trump before a year ago, telling CNN this. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I can't understand how -- how Donald Trump can be on the side of Putin.

TODD: And in September, Zelenskyy told the New Yorker, quote, Trump doesn't really know how to stop the war. Trump took note of the insult.

TRUMP: He's making little nasty aspersions toward your favorite president.

TODD: Could Zelenskyy have managed the relationship better?

GLASSER: This is almost certainly not how his advisers and supporters

in Europe advised him to handle Donald Trump, knowing of this tense history between them.

BOCIURKIW: Even if Mr. Zelenskyy had more fuzzy, warm time with Mr. Trump, at the end of the day, it's Vladimir Putin who Mr. Trump admires the most.

TODD: What could Volodymyr Zelenskyy do for his part to repair the relationship?

Analyst Susan Glasser says Zelenskyy could try to go through America's best friends in the region, Britain, France, Germany and Poland to solicit their help in getting back on Donald Trump's good side -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: All right, after the break, the United States weather agency grapples with terminations amid a worsening climate crisis with peak severe weather season approaching. All of that and more coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Some 800 people working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are out of their jobs following another round of federal terminations.

The Trump administration fired probationary employees, those people who have been in their positions for a year or less, including scientists and specialists who study weather patterns and climate systems.

At least 100 of the laid-off employees worked for the National Weather Service, including some of the Hurricane Research Division, which focuses on improving forecast data and accuracy. Well, now concerns are being raised about the already understaffed agency's capabilities as extreme weather season approaches.

On Friday, Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen said, quote, "Without the warnings of severe weather events, people will die and others will suffer greatly, including huge property loss."

CNN's Allison Chinchar has more on NOAA's crucial work.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The National Weather Service and NOAA provide a variety of critical data. And that includes the observed weather data that we get from surface stations, like weather stations on top of schools and businesses and buildings.

Ocean buoys and hurricane hunters are critical for getting information about tropical systems as well as hurricanes. But by far the most vital form of the observed data comes from weather balloons.

These are launched twice a day, every day across the entire country.

[05:45:00]

And they not only provide what is taking place in the atmosphere at that moment but also that information gets then fed into the forecast model data.

And that really helps us with accurate forecasts. Now one of the concerning things about the weather balloons, specifically for Kotzebue, Alaska's, National Weather Service office, is that they are now indefinitely suspending weather balloon launches simply because they do not have the staffing.

Another thing that's concerning is the equipment maintenance and the upgrades. Every time a radar or computer breaks, they have to have somebody come out and fix them, just like they would if your home computer broke.

The problem is, it may end up taking longer to get these things fixed, because we don't have the staff to be able to get out quick enough.

The other thing, issuing weather forecasts. So all the things like winter storm warnings, tornado warnings, those aren't issued by the TV meteorologist. Those come from the National Weather Service.

Same thing with the hurricane forecast cones. Those specifically come from National Weather Service employees and the National Hurricane Center. And we have a lot of National Weather Service offices. There's more than 120 of them across the entire country.

Now one thing to note with the recent layoffs is that there's roughly a dozen managers of roughly 40 weather service offices that took the buyouts. The other concerning thing is many of them came from what we refer to as the central region.

Here's the concern. We are now headed into peak severe weather season. And most of that severe weather happens in the central region. Another concerning thing is looking at advancements in technology.

Behind me, this is the original forecast track of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. If we were able to add in some of the advancements that research has been able to help with, this is what the current track would have looked like.

You can see how it shrunk down in size, which has made it much more accurate for folks back then to know where the storm was going to go. A more recent comparable event would have been Milton from last year. The black line here was the original forecast track. The red line was the actual track that Milton took.

You can see the landfall location was very close from the original track compared to where Milton ended up going.

The other thing, we are seeing more and more of these extreme weather events take place across the country, leading to billion dollar disasters. Take, for example, in the '80s, the '90s and the 2000s, we had $3 billion, $5 billion and $6 billion events respectively take place roughly every year.

Fast forward to the 2010s. We had 13, roughly the same number that the three decades combined had.

Then, from 2020 to 2024, we had 23 on average every year, which was more than the previous decade. The concern here is that more and more of these events taking place but we have less and less staff.

What implications and impacts that could mean to saving lives and buildings?

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BRUNHUBER: Hollywood is getting ready for its biggest night. Just ahead, we talked to the CEO of the Academy Awards about what you can expect and what he hopes to avoid. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. federal regulators have cleared SpaceX to launch another test flight of its Starship spacecraft, just weeks after the last one exploded 10 minutes after liftoff. The new flight was planned for Friday but it has been pushed back to Monday.

January's explosion over the Atlantic caused flight disruptions and scattered debris across the Caribbean. One environmental group says residents in the Turks and Caicos are still finding debris in the water and beaches more than a month after the Starship exploded.

Now to an extraordinary moment for space travel, an all female crew flying into space later this year, which includes singer Katy Perry and TV personality Gayle King. The Blue Origin mission is being touted as the first all-women space flight in more than 60 years. Female scientists are going, too.

Aisha Bowe is an aerospace engineer and former NASA rocket scientist, who will be on that flight. She spoke with our Becky Anderson earlier.

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AISHA BOWE, FORMER NASA ROCKET SCIENTIST: Over the past decade, there have been a lot of advances in commercial spaceflight, and being able to be here on the cusp of something so extraordinary, with the ability to work with nonprofits and organizations to advance science is just absolutely thrilling.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, the red carpet is ready. The statuettes are polished and tomorrow the Academy Awards will be handed out in Los Angeles.

The Oscars typically feature lots of glitz and Hollywood glamor, as well as the surprise moments that come with live television. CNN's entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister got a preview from the academy's CEO.

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ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the Will Smith slap --

WARREN BEATTY, ACTOR: There's a mistake. "Moonlight," you guys won best picture.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): -- to the envelope mixup.

The Oscars.

Are.

No stranger to unexpected drama.

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DAVID NIVEN, ACTOR: The only.

Laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings.

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WAGMEISTER: We've had.

Some wild and crazy moments.

Especially in recent years.

BILL KRAMER, ACADEMY CEO: That's right.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): It's safe to say Academy CEO Bill Kramer hopes the drama comes from the Oscar races themselves.

KRAMER: There are going to be.

Incredible surprises on the show this year. As always, an amazing celebration of cinema.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm the king of the world.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): We caught up with Kramer as he helped plan this year's show. On the heels of Los Angeles' devastating wildfires.

KRAMER: We'll, be.

Celebrating our community, not just our community of filmmakers but the community of Los Angeles.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Moments before our interview, a source told CNN that Best Actress nominee Karla Sofia Gascon would attend the ceremony amidst a scandal that saw the "Emilia Peres" star apologizing for offensive tweets, overshadowing her historic moment as the first out transgender person nominated for acting at the Oscars.

WAGMEISTER: Was there ever a discussion of rescinding that nomination?

KRAMER: All of our nominees are invited to attend the Oscars. I think what's so important this year

We have over 200 nominees. We need to celebrate all of our nominees.

WAGMEISTER: Kramer also insists the Oscars shouldn't get political.

WAGMEISTER: Is that something that, throughout the night, you want to steer clear of?

KRAMER: Absolutely. We do talk to them about keeping things focused on the work. But this is really a moment for the artist to have for themselves.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): The day of our interview, Kramer made a wickedly big announcement.

KRAMER: We've incredible performances lined up -- Doja Cat, Lisa Ray, Cynthia Erivo Arianna Grande, Queen Latifah, Oscar nominee.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Those superstars will replace the tradition of best original songs performed on stage. Those nominees will be celebrated in a pre-produced segment.

WAGMEISTER: There's so many categories that are televised.

Is that something that needs to be addressed? KRAMER: Last year we had all of the awards on the show and we came in under time. We were under three hours and 30 minutes. It's possible to do this in a way that's entertaining.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Speaking of entertaining.

CONAN OBRIEN, TV HOST: Other award statues think I'm funny.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Conan O'Brien is hosting the Oscars for the first time.

KRAMER: He's a lovely person, number one. He's a humanist. He's apolitical.

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He invites everybody in to enjoy.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Elizabeth Wagmeister, CNN, Los Angeles.

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BRUNHUBER: A newly unearthed frieze in the ruins of Pompeii offers a rare glimpse into a mystery of Roman antiquity. Have a look here.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): These scenes of a wild cult ritual once lined a spacious banqueting hall, entertaining guests in the 1st century B.C. The excavated artworks depicts the procession of Dionysus, the Greek God of wine.

Lifesized images reveal practices meant to help people shed inhibitions. Pompeii's archeological park says the frieze is crucial to understanding classical Mediterranean life and they plan to open it to the public immediately.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, it is Carnival time in Brazil. The celebration annually attracts millions and kicked off in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Now one of the must-see events is the Carmelitas block party. Celebrants wear nuns' habits. Some of them dress so scantily they'd never be allowed in any convent obviously.

Participants indulge in a little debauchery, singing, dancing and enjoying the stalls before the more solemn days of Lent, when they're expected to repent for all of their sins.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber for viewers in the U.S. and Canada. "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For viewers elsewhere, "AFRICAN VOICES: CHANGEMAKERS" is next.