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Europe Seeks To Take Control Of Ukraine Peace Negotiation; Trump To Address Congress Amid Doge Cuts, Zelenskyy Clash; Dems Face Fresh Test Over How To Counter Trump's Joint Address; Wildfires Prompt South Carolina Governor To Declare A State Of Emergency; Four Million People Are Under Red Flag Warning Across The Southwest; Israel Blocks Aid Into Gaza Until Hamas Agrees To Extend Ceasefire; Vatican: Pope Francis Resting After Peaceful Night In Hospital; The Oscars Just Hours Away. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired March 02, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:40]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we're following significant developments from London, where Europe is now taking control of Ukraine's peace negotiations.

Today, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy gathered with European leaders at a summit in London to help craft a plan to end the war with Russia.

U.K. Prime Minister Starmer telling his European counterparts today that it's time for them to step up at a quote "once-in-a-generation moment".

This high stakes meeting comes just two days after Zelenskyy had a tense visit with President Trump that ended with Trump telling the Ukrainian leader to leave the White House.

The heated exchange and Trump's pivot towards Russia have alarmed European leaders. Those allies are now rallying around Ukraine, offering more military aid and now taking the lead at the negotiating table in a pivotal day of diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The discussions we have had today, particularly the coalition of the willing, is on the basis that this is a plan that we will work with, with the U.S. and that it will have U.S. backing.

So that is the purpose of the plan, and that is why I spoke to President Trump last night before we developed the work on this plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. CNN's Nic Robertson is with us now from London. You were there, Nic.

So Starmer, making it very clear that while the European leaders are meeting about a peace plan they are acting sort of as mediators, right, because they do want still the U.S. involvement.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They absolutely do. They see it as critical that they have always seen the sort of security guarantee package that European countries can put together is something that really needs to have what they previously called a backstop backing from the U.S.

While they would commit to boots on the ground, there was a hope that the United States could have planes in the sky providing sort of intelligence for these peacekeeping troops on the ground only going in, and the prime minister reaffirmed this again today, only going in after there is a deal.

And I think we got a sense of the European expectation of how much America might support that going forward, the necessity for it, but how much the British prime minister spoke about Britain being willing to put boots on the ground and planes in the sky. He hasn't really talked about planes in the sky before.

The coalition of the willing -- we know that France is in there with the U.K. because the prime minister has spoken about that. But the other countries, when he was asked who has come on board and what are they going to contribute, he said, look, I won't say how many and I won't say what they're going to do because that would be right for them to discuss it.

So although we know this process is happening, we don't really know the time frame for it, the numbers for it, what the commitments will look like. But the strength of the message is there, that this has to be done with the United States.

I think there was a component in the messaging today coming from the European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. She said on the 6th of March, that' this week, there will be a European leaders meeting where they will lay out a comprehensive plan on how to re-arm Europe.

I think this is the message coming from Europe, listening to what President Trump has spoken about, the need for Europe to galvanize and step up.

This is them saying we're doing it. We're in the process of doing it, and there will be a coordinated coordination -- communication about that coming from the French with the British and the Ukrainians.

WHITFIELD: And then just looking at the photo op where they were all standing, you know, on those steps in alliance with Zelenskyy, what kind of reception did he receive? I mean I'm seeing some hugs right now and also handshakes.

ROBERTSON: Yes, it was really fascinating. Again, yesterday Zelenskyy got this big hug from the British prime minister, walking down Downing Street to give him a hug.

[14:04:45]

ROBERTSON: And today I really noticed, you know, we were standing there as all the leaders were going in and they all got a little bit of a conversation with the prime minister.

And at the beginning, there were, you know, they were turning and smiling for the cameras. But it was really noticeable that when President Zelenskyy got to go in and meet the prime minister, they spent a lot of time talking.

We know that the prime minister has spoken twice in the past couple of days with President Trump. You got that sense that even since Starmer and Zelenskyy met yesterday, they had new things to discuss today.

So you got that sense that there is momentum in what's going on. There's a real conversation and a dialog that's happening.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson in London, thanks so much.

All right. Following that summit with European leaders, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy met with King Charles, the photo right there. U.K. prime minister Starmer was also invited -- has also, rather, invited President Trump to meet with the British monarch, hand-delivering the invitation that came from the King to President Trump earlier in the week.

Ukraine, meantime, is closely watching the developments coming out of this European summit.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is joining us now from Kyiv. So Nick, you saw the hugs, the handshakes there from a lot of the European leaders to Zelenskyy. How is that being received there in Ukraine?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I think it's been vital for Ukrainians to see on the international stage, after the extraordinary scenes in the Oval Office on Friday, to see their president and their wartime commander embraced in this way by basically pretty much all of NATO without the United States though, with some exceptions during that key summit.

It's also interesting to hear Keir Starmer refer to how he spoke to President Trump last night. We know they also spoke on Friday.

So now, basically both days in a row ahead of this meeting, he has been in contact with the same man, who in the White House ended up in that exceptionally heated row, you might say. Him and the vice president talking very loudly at Zelenskyy himself.

So yes, an exceptionally complex time for Europe here because I think we learned few details, frankly, that were new from Keir Starmer. He announced most of the things he talked about today when he was in Washington, meeting President Trump.

And I think there's an issue here for the Europeans. They can't seem necessarily to come forward with too much of a compete plan, because that might essentially lead the Trump administration thinking that they're ok to go it alone. They need the United States fully on board. And maybe that is what the series of calls to Trump by Starmer has really been about.

For Zelenskyy, this meeting comes at a time where he's obviously in need of some kind of show of international support. Their key ally, the United States, leaving them exceptionally bereft late Friday.

And the meeting, of course, with King Charles, maybe designed to show President Donald Trump, who is also going to get a state visit, his second one and meet Charles later on this year, that Zelenskyy still has high standing internationally.

But there has been this growing, I think, call now amongst Trump's cabinet, suggesting that perhaps Zelenskyy isn't the leader to take Ukraine forward. It's obviously not United States' choice who is president here, but the procedure for replacing Zelenskyy is a nightmare, frankly here in Ukraine -- an election in wartime with millions abroad, millions on the front lines, impossible to hold in a way which would have sort of an internationally legitimate result that would feed the Russian narrative that Zelenskyy falsely is illegitimate.

And so that noise continuing and indeed another suggestion, too, from the White House, that this minerals deal is not on the table at the moment.

So much healing that needs to be done right now. And I think big advances by Europe here trying to keep things moving on track forwards despite really opening their own third track in peace negotiations here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv, thank you so much.

All right. Joining me right now to talk more about these developments is Angela Stent. She is a senior adviser at the Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies at Georgetown University. And she's also the author of the book "Putin's World: Russia against the West and with the Rest".

Angela, great to see you. So what do you make of European leaders, you know, taking the lead now on this -- a peace plan with and for Ukraine, given what happened with President Trump and Zelenskyy? Do you think this might be a better chance -- have a better chance of success?

ANGELA STENT, NON-RESIDENT SENIOR FELLOW, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: Well, the Europeans are certainly very worried that the United States is going to abandon Ukraine and force it to sign a deal with Russia which will be very disadvantageous to it, a ceasefire where Russia could regroup and then invade again.

So they've finally woken up to the fact, the Europeans, that they have to do more. My question, listening to everything is, who's going to negotiate with Putin? Because at the moment, Putin is the one who's very happy to negotiate with President Trump. He's not interested in a ceasefire. He's interested in restoring relations with the U.S., getting the sanctions lifted, and sort of being back at the table of all the major powers.

[14:09:48]

STENT: So I think the challenge will be how the European peace plan, and we don't have the details for that, how that's going to involve Russia.

WHITFIELD: And that's interesting. You said that because the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was today boasting about Trump's leverage and strategy. This is what he had to say earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The only way it ends is if Vladimir Putin comes to a negotiating table. And right now, President Trump is the only person on earth who has any chance whatsoever of bringing him to a table to see what it is he would be willing to end the war on.

Now, maybe their claims are what they want. Their demands will be unreasonable. We don't know, but we have to bring them to the table.

You're not going to bring them to the table if you're calling them names. If you're being antagonistic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. However, Trump did call Zelenskyy a dictator ahead of the Ukrainian president's visit. So in your view, you know, I guess a couple of things there -- is Trump the only one who could bring Putin to the table? And while this technique may have worked for Trump, you know, the businessman. Will this work in this scenario? His strategy.

STENT: So Putin will certainly come to the negotiating table because he realizes that if he wants all these other things, the summit with President Trump, the lifting of sanctions, again being -- not being isolated from the West, not being a pariah, he'll come to the negotiating table. That doesn't mean that he really wants to seal a deal.

He believes that if Russia waits long enough, Ukraine will get weaker, particularly if it doesn't have American arms, and he can get a better deal for Russia maybe next year.

So I think it will be very interesting to see, you know, whether the Trump administration then becomes frustrated if -- when it becomes clear that Putin isn't willing to do a deal.

I would just tell you that the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov just said a couple of days ago, Russia is not interested in a ceasefire along the current lines of contact. They want to take more territory before they really would be interested in talking about a ceasefire.

WHITFIELD: And then after that Oval Office debacle, is Putin further emboldened, and does he feel perhaps even more confident that it's territory that he wants and that that will be on the table with any deal?

STENT: Oh, he certainly does. I mean, the Russians can't believe their luck after they watched what happened on Friday. And I'm waiting to see, you know, are we going to have more Russian bombardments? Are they going to be even more aggressive towards Kyiv, given what happened? So this has really just emboldened the Russians.

WHITFIELD: All right. Angela Stent, always great to see you. Thank you so much.

STENT: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, new polls revealing just how Americans are feeling about how President Trump is leading the country right now as he prepares his first formal address to Congress since returning to office.

Plus, 50 million people are at risk for dangerous severe weather as intense storms threaten large hail, damaging winds and even tornadoes across multiple days.

[14:12:51]

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WHITFIELD: All right. For the fifth time, President Trump will speak to Congress and the nation as he gives a formal address this Tuesday night. Trump's remarks, the first since returning to the White House.

Comments new CNN poll show what Americans think about how he is doing.

CNN senior White House producer Betsy Klein and CNN correspondent Arlette Saenz are with me now.

Betsy, you first. This address follows a flurry of actions in just the first month of Trump's second term. Now, walk us through these polls and what Americans are thinking and feeling.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: That's right, Fredricka.

President Trump set to deliver remarks to a joint session of congress on Tuesday. This comes just about six weeks into his second term as president, As we have seen the president expand the use of executive authority. He has reimagined the role of the U.S. in the world and key alliances. He has also taken steps toward transforming the size and the scope of the federal government.

And as you mentioned, we are starting now to get some key insights from the American public on how they feel about these moves.

So far, a narrow majority of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling his job as president. 48 percent of respondents approve of how he is handling that job compared to 52 percent disapprove.

And a majority of Americans say he does not have the right priorities. That's 40 percent say yes, he has the right priorities. 52 percent say no.

Now, we expect the president to highlight some of the more than 100 executive actions he has taken so far. Moves like ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs, his moves on women's sports, his own trade deals, as well as his efforts to have his cabinet take shape with a majority of those picks taking their oaths of office so far.

But Jason Miller, a top outside adviser to the president, also offered a preview of what we can expect on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: We have to tackle Biden inflation. Joe Biden left us in a really bad spot. But by getting energy prices down and then also making sure that we stop this wasteful spending, that's going to be a big component. Getting this one big, beautiful tax bill done that the House has already made some great steps. We need more money for the border to keep it permanently secure.

[14:19:50]

MILLER: And then here's the key thing, and you also touched on this, making sure that we continue to bring peace and stability around the world but we have to do it with respect and strength. Those are the two keys that President Trump is going to go into.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Of course, this speech is going to come just days after President Trump's explosive showdown in the Oval Office with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and as our colleague Matthew Chance reports from Moscow that U.S. officials are taking steps toward preparing for a second meeting with their Russian counterparts in the days or weeks ahead, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Betsy, thank you.

Arlette, you have some new reporting on how Democrats plan to counter Trump's upcoming message.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Fred. Well, Democrats are really facing a fresh test of how they will counter Trump at this joint address and we expect that there will be varying tactics on display.

It comes at a time when Democrats have struggled to stop Trump's early moves and to settle on the exact strategy for how to push back on them.

But Democratic leaders heading into this speech are hoping to have a united front. They want to talk about the ways that Trump's actions have negatively impacted people. I'm told that several lawmakers are planning to take guests,

individuals who have been directly impacted by Trump's actions, things like fired federal workers and those who have been impacted by freezing the funding freezes.

Also Democrats are eager to talk about how the GOP could potentially put Medicaid on the chopping block and their plans to give tax breaks to billionaires like Elon Musk.

Now, Democrats have chosen Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, a first term senator, to deliver the official response. She is one of the only freshman senators who won in a battleground state that Trump actually won himself in 2024.

And she's often talked about the need to highlight kitchen table issues in order to win back voters. That is a messaging strategy that Democrats will employ this week.

But there's also some Democrats who are just going to skip the speech altogether. Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has really been a leading voice in the pushback against Trump, has said that he is not going to attend and instead will be participating in a counterprogramming event with a progressive organization.

And here's how he described his reasoning when he spoke to our colleague Dana Bash earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I think that State of the Union speech is going to be a farce. I think it's going to be a MAGA pep rally, not a serious talk to the nation.

We're going to stop that billionaire takeover, that destruction of our democracy, only by fighting them every single day.

A lot of Democrats think maybe you should, you know, fight every third day. You should reserve your power and jump out of the bushes at the right moment. I just think that we have to be on the offensive 24/7.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now for Democrats who will be attending in the House chamber on Tuesday night, they'll also have to decide how to respond to Trump in real time on the spot.

And former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who famously ripped up Trump's speech during his last State of the Union address, she is urging Democratic lawmakers to exercise some caution.

She said in an interview with "The Washington Post", quote, "Any demonstration of disagreement, whether its visual or whatever, just let him stew in his own juice. Don't be any grist for the mill to say this was inappropriate."

So certainly there will be a lot of different strategies, a lot of different approaches that Democrats take towards this speech. But it does come at a time when their messaging continues to be tested, as they are still trying to find their way out of the political wilderness, and try to win back voters heading into the 2026 midterms and also beyond that to 2028 and the presidential election.

WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz, Betsy Klein -- thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. And this programing note, Jake Tapper is back with season two of his "CNN ORIGINAL SERIES, UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL", with deep dives into infamous tales of political corruption, corporate misdeeds and celebrity con artists. The new season premieres next Sunday at 9:00 right here on CNN.

All right. Still ahead, a state of emergency declared in South Carolina. Mass evacuations underway as firefighters battle more than 175 wildfires scorching thousands of acres across the state.

[14:24:08]

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WHITFIELD: All right. New details on nearly 175 wildfires that have broken out across both North and South Carolina combined, burning some 4,200 acres. A passenger flying over Myrtle Beach captured flames from a wildfire burning near that city.

The governor of South Carolina declaring a state of emergency to support first responders battling the flames in his state.

Steven Schlink from CNN affiliate WB -- WMBF rather, sorry about that, in Myrtle Beach is joining me now. So Steve, how are these fires getting started?

STEVEN SCHLINK, REPORTER, CNN AFFILIATE WMBF: Well Fredricka, we really are still trying to work on figuring out exactly how these fires are getting started.

I'm in a neighborhood called Carolina Forest. It's about 15 or 20 minutes further inland from the city of Myrtle Beach. But want to show you what we're seeing around us.

We've got several fire trucks sitting out here at the end of this cul- de-sac where were at right now. You may be able to see that wooded area in the background looking pretty hazy, but there was a very different atmosphere, very different look out here earlier this morning.

I want to show you some video that we have of what it looked like this morning when those flames started really flaring up. We were out here as that happened. First responders poured into one section of this neighborhood as they work to put out those flames.

SCHLINK: The smoke was extremely thick. Visibility was extremely reduced. And there were a lot of neighbors really gathering just in absolute shock of what we were seeing out here. [14:30:02]

Crews were able to get that back under containment pretty quickly, within about 20, 25 minutes, and that's when we really started to see helicopters and planes coming in. We know that those planes were refilling up with water on the intercoastal waterway as they were working to once again put out this fire.

This fire started yesterday afternoon again in the Carolina forest area. As of this morning, we know it was about 1,200 acres. It as far as how much of this area was involved in that fire. I checked in just a little bit ago with one of our officials here in the Horry County, myrtle beach area, and was told that this point, they really don't have numbers on how much of this fire is contained or even how big it is at this point.

Once again, the smoke is really looking a lot better than it was as of yesterday. Yesterday when I was out here, it was not as thick widespread, but it was thick plumes of smoke. Once we got out here today, it was thick, just about everywhere that we were walking and everywhere that we went.

But once again, neighbors, residents out here telling me this is not something that they expected. We knew that this was a possibility, that this could happen because once again, those conditions just very dry, not a whole lot of rain. We knew conditions were favorable for it, but a lot of neighbors telling me they were not expecting to see this happening this weekend.

But once again, we're still learning. Like we mentioned earlier in this hit, to see exactly what caused this fire, residents who were evacuated still working to learn how soon they could be let back into their homes -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, pretty extraordinary and very widespread. And I understand why it's caught so many there by surprise, not accustomed to this many fires at once in that area.

All right. Steven Schlink, thank you so much.

All right. A series of storms emerging from the Rocky Mountains will spawn a multi-day, severe weather outbreak that could produce strong tornadoes.

CNN meteorologist Tyler Mauldin has more on what we can expect.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TYLER MAULDIN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There is a considerable threat for severe weather today and tomorrow across the Southeast. Level two out of five threat today increasing to a level three out of five threat on Tuesday.

There is the possibility that as this evolves, that threat level could increase. Today, we're looking at the potential for damaging winds, large hail. But then tomorrow this -- that's the peak of the activity. You see this line come together and that's going to bring with it the potential for long lived strong tornadic activity here.

And then as the system pushes east on Tuesday, we're looking at the potential for overnight activity for Alabama and Georgia. That is a considerable threat and a dangerous threat to anytime you have severe weather moving through during the overnight hours. So make sure you stay weather aware.

The highest threat for tornadic activity is likely here across Louisiana and portions of Mississippi, but you cant rule it out as the system moves eastbound into Alabama and Georgia.

Speaking of tornadoes, we are -- we are entering into tornado season. It peaks in May, so well have plenty more discussions like the ones were having right now as we go through the coming months.

Now, with this weather system, it's not just the tornadoes and damaging winds. We're also watching for a flash flood threat here, too, across a big chunk of the country. In addition, the dry fuels, some strong winds, maybe some lightning associated with this, this -- this storm system is leading to the highest threat level in southeastern New Mexico for fires, a level three out of three here.

So make sure you stay weather aware across the entire country over the next 48 hours.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Tyler, thank you so much.

All right. Israel is blocking all humanitarian aid into Gaza as Hamas refuses an extension of phase one proposed by the U.S. What does this mean for the prospects of phase two?

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[14:38:42]

WHITFIELD: Israel today began blocking all humanitarian aid into Gaza until Hamas agrees to extend the ceasefire deal after phase one of this agreement expired yesterday. This was the scene earlier today at the Rafah border crossing, where trucks carrying aid lined up on the Egyptian side, blocked from entering Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that no goods or supplies would enter Gaza after Hamas leaders rejected the one month ceasefire extension proposed by the U.S.

Aaron David Miller is joining us right now. He is a former State Department Middle East negotiator.

Great to see you.

So, Hamas, you know, turned down this temporary phase one extension offered by Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff. Hamas spokesperson is calling the blocking of aid cheap blackmail and a coup, their words. How do you see this?

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Look, I think -- and thanks for having me, Fred. Look, I think the administration and Netanyahu have reached a pretty strong consensus that the only way forward -- whether it works or not, is, of course, another matter -- is to increase pressure on Hamas.

So they have essentially abrogated the -- the notion of three phases and given the Israelis an enormous amount of leverage to press Hamas in an effort to agree to the new proposal, which is basically a two phase deal which would see ten of the living hostages that remain released on the first day should Hamas accept it.

[14:40:17]

And then half of the Israeli males who are no longer alive released. And then 42 days later, six weeks later, after negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the remainder of the hostages, maybe 10 to 12 that are living and the remainder of the those who are not would be returned. There's no indication from what I've seen that there's any real reciprocity here. The discussion of releasing Palestinian prisoners, guarantees on -- on surging humanitarian assistance into Gaza, let alone Israeli withdrawal.

So I think the Trump administration basically has bought into Netanyahu's notion that the only way to end this is essentially to increase pressure on Hamas. And if they don't agree at some point soon, Fred, the Israelis are going to resume their military activities in Gaza I think in a very aggressive manner.

WHITFIELD: Okay. So phase two was supposed to lead to this permanent ceasefire, the release of all remaining living hostages, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. Like you said, there are three phases. It was all agreed to already.

So why hasn't phase two began, you know, since phase one just ended last week?

MILLER: I think the lift on phase one for both Israel and Hamas is simply, right now and for the foreseeable future, impossible. Hamas would be enjoined by the agreement in phase two to release all of the hostages. In exchange, the Israelis would withdraw their forces from Gaza and end the war. Hamas will not release all of the hostages until it receives ironclad guarantees and assurances that the war has ended, and that the Israelis will withdraw from Gaza.

No Israeli government -- first of all, no one is going to give Hamas those sorts of assurances. Number one, this Israeli government, in the wake of October 7th, the shadow looms large, is not going to agree to concede its overall security responsibility for Gaza, and Netanyahu has added another condition, which was not part of the original arrangement, is that Hamas would -- senior leadership and many of its fighters would be expelled from Gaza.

So you have an impasse here. And I think the only way to break it, at least in the mind of the Trump administration, is to back the Israelis and try to press and force Hamas into basically an extension of phase one, more hostages, presumably for more prisoners. And the Israelis would release humanitarian assistance and allow it into Gaza.

I think we're entering a very fraught period. There'll be more negotiations. Whether Hamas would agree to any part of this is frankly unclear at the moment.

WHITFIELD: Okay. And before we let you go, stateside issue. The world was watching that White House Oval Office meeting with Ukraine's Zelenskyy. You're a diplomat. Is this how diplomacy goes?

MILLER: Look, I worked for half a dozen administrations, Jimmy Carter to Bush 43, Republicans and Democrats. No American president, that -- whose administration I worked for would ever have allowed the Vance- Zelenskyy conversation to get out of control. A president would have interceded in an effort to defuse this, taken it out of the public realm in an effort to get this back on track.

Zelenskyy's English is not as good as he thinks it is. He clearly didn't borrow a page from Macron and Keir Starmer essentially to flatter Trump. It's understandable. His nation is under attack from Russia, suffering catastrophic damage.

Zelenskyy has politics, too, not just Trump and J.D. Vance. And I think he had to make the case to stand up. But again, it's extraordinary.

I was embarrassed, frankly, Fred, and ashamed to be an American watching that conversation. It's a fundamental rejection of everything the United States has stood for. No way, it seems to me, to treat -- treat an American partner or an American ally. And it is a message to American allies and partners everywhere that when Donald Trump can't get -- can't get what he wants, and when he perceives that his interlocutor is standing in the way, he's prepared to do a lot of damage.

[14:45:09]

And I think that's what you saw play out. Whether it could get back on track to me is very much an open question.

WHITFIELD: All right. Aaron David Miller, great to see you. Thank you so much.

MILLER: You, too, Fred. Thanks. Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, the Vatican today says Pope Francis had a restful night and is showing signs of slight improvement. Prayer vigils continue outside the hospital, where the 88-year-old is being treated for pneumonia, according to the Vatican. The pope enjoyed a morning cup of coffee and received visits from two senior Vatican officials.

CNN's Christopher Lamb is in Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for the second night, running some encouraging news about Pope Francis's condition, the Vatican on Sunday saying he remains in a stable condition and that we're told he received visitors at the Gemelli Hospital today.

Now, Francis is still on high flow oxygen therapy, but he is not, the Vatican said, are using oxygen through a machine ventilator. He was on that ventilator after the respiratory crisis of Friday, although that ventilation was not invasive. Now, Francis received on Sunday two senior Vatican officials, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, at the hospital.

The pope has been at the Gemelli since February the 14th. It's his 17th day in hospital. For the third Sunday running, he did not lead the angelus prayer, but sent a text of his remarks from the hospital. And he said in them that war seems even more absurd to him from here. And he prayed for peace across the world, including Ukraine.

He also said that he was seeing his time of ill health as an opportunity to come close to those who are also suffering, and he saw his frailty as a blessing, and he thanked people for their prayers, saying he felt carried by them whilst in hospital.

Now prayers have been flooding in for the pope, not just from Catholics but also from Muslim leaders. And on Sunday night, a prayer service was led by Cardinal Krajewski, the pope's charitable officer, papal alumna at St. Peter's Square, again, people gathering to pray for the pope as he continues to battle pneumonia in both lungs. We are expecting further updates on the 88-year-old pontiff's condition on Monday.

Christopher Lam, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:52:29]

WHITFIELD: All right. The stars come out for Hollywood's biggest night with the 97th Academy Awards just hours away now. Comedian and veteran talk show host Conan O'Brien will make his debut as host of the ceremony, and organizers say viewers can expect to see superstar musical performances and surprise A-list reunions on stage.

CNN entertainment reporter Lisa Francis -- France rather -- is -- has more now on tonight's ceremony.

Sorry, I got a little tongue tied there. I was expecting to see you on the red carpet, but you are looking like you're on the red carpet. But from D.C.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Very good.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, Lisa, the Academy says to expect, you know, a celebration of L.A.'s resilience after the deadly wildfires. And CNN is learning that Gene Hackman will be honored during the show.

Tell us more about the tone being set for tonight.

FRANCE: Yeah, I think the tone, Fred, is going to be unpredictable because the Academy has been less than forthcoming with a lot of the details, such as we know that there are going to be musical performances, even though they're breaking the tradition of having the performances be best original song artists. And -- but we don't know exactly what those performances are going to be like.

We know Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, who are costars in "Wicked" and both nominees. We know that they're performing, but we don't know what they're performing.

We know, as you mentioned, that Gene Hackman is going to have a tribute, but we don't know if it's going to be a part of in memoriam or if its going to be something separate from in memoriam. So we just have to wait and see. And I think on a lot of levels, it's a pretty smart strategy because it makes people really curious to want to tune in and find out exactly what is going to happen. But when it comes to L.A., as you mentioned, Los Angeles is very much an industry town.

This is Hollywood's biggest night of the year, and so it makes absolute sense that they're going to lean in, as other award shows have, to the resilience of the city to how people have stepped up. We've seen celebrities lose their homes. We've seen celebrities step out and help people who haven't lost their homes. We've seen just ordinary people show up to just try to help their neighbors.

And so I think that the Oscars is going to continue that tradition of this awards season, really showcasing how Los Angeles is stepping up, how the people, the citizens, everybody if you're a civilian or you're a celebrity, all are coming together to try to help people who have been devastated by those wildfires, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yeah.

Okay, so with no real frontrunners, let's talk films now, you know, for best picture, viewers can also bet on a lot of surprises this year.

[18:55:04]

So do you want to take a stab at some predictions for me?

FRANCE: I wish I could --

WHITFIELD: I've only seen one thing on the list there. I'm so behind.

FRANCE: And what was that one thing?

WHITFEILD: "Emilia Perez".

FRANCE: So, "Emilia Perez" went in with the most nominations with 13, but now it's starting to feel like it may be more of a race between "Anora" and "Conclave". "Conclave" shocked everyone when it won a BAFTA. That was kind of a surprise, but "Anora" has really pulled it out with all the guild shows. So like the guilds, like the directors' guild, and people like that.

So it's very difficult to determine. Like I said, it's just its like one of those things where people are going to have to tune in and see how it actually goes. So, you know, I don't know, I -- I personally would love to see --

WHITFIELD: What, what, what?

FRANCE: All of them.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh!

FRANCE: There are so many.

WHITFIELD: You're killing me.

FRANCE: So many great films. You're not going to get me in trouble because social media is not going to come from me and say, you don't know what you're talking about, but if I had to predict --

WHITFIELD: Oh, man!

FRANCE: -- I will say, I think if you're going to push me up against the wall, I'm going to go with "Anora". I feel like "Anora" is just one of those, you know, kind of indie films, right? And it kind of feels like their year, right?

WHITFIELD: Yeah. Okay. Well, lovely. Well, it will be my goal to try to see them all --

FRANCE: Please.

WHITFIELD: -- so that whoever does win, I'll be, like, at home, hmm, should have -- should have been this one. Okay, but I'll play catch up.

(LAUGHTER)

FRANCE: You got time.

WHITFIELD: All right.

FRANCE: Plenty of time.

WHITFIELD: Lisa Respers France, thank you so much.

FRANCE: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be right back.

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