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European Leaders Meet To Defend Ukraine; Republicans Face Pushback Of Federal Cuts; Trump Tariffs On Canada And Mexico To Take Effect This Week. Jessica Dean Interviews Kevin O'Leary; Private Spacecraft Lands On The Moon; Dry, Windy Conditions Fuel Carolina Wildfires; Jessica Dean Interviews Michael Musto. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 02, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: She has been the frontrunner but Mikey Madison from "Anora" also won the BAFTA. So we will see. It will be a surprise though. There's going to be a lot of surprises tonight, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Always, and that what makes it so special. You're so lucky to be there on the red carpet and to be there for a night of surprises. It's going to be fun. Elizabeth Wagmeister, you look lovely. Thank you so much. And thank you for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Jean in New York. A strong showing of unity from European leaders today in London as they seek to take over Ukraine peace talks after that fiery clash between President Trump and President Zelenskyy at the White House Friday.

British prime minister Keir Starmer is calling today, quote, "a crossroads in history" as the leaders of NATO and the European Union and the heads of more than a dozen countries gathered for a summit with President Zelenskyy signaling that they are going to do more to defend Ukraine. Zelenskyy saying that European unity is, quote, "at an exceptionally high level" and says more meetings and decisions are being planned soon.

Britain's Starmer also looking to maintain strong ties though to The United States.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The discussions we've 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 develop the work on this plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And there is President Zelenskyy receiving a warm welcome from King Charles today following an hour long meeting between the two men. CNN chief international security correspondent Nic Paton Walsh is joining us now live from Kyiv. And Nick, Zelenskyy just speaking moments ago following this this big momentous day. What did he say?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. He met with a series of reporters in London and I think key to this is when asked if he could salvage the relationship with the United States, he felt that the relationship could continue. He felt that it was important, obviously, for Ukraine to have that relationship with The United States.

He was bluntly asked by one reporter if he would apologize as some parts of Trump's inner circle have suggested he should after the Oval Office incident and he didn't directly take that opportunity and instead talked about how Ukraine had suffered enormously and how he urgently wanted the war to end, not today, but at its very start because of the loss of lives there as well.

Another interesting question he was asked too about his position, how he responded to the idea of resignation. He said, look, having elections, first of all, we're not having elections here. It would be quite a bit of a (inaudible) indeed. But he said elections would be difficult because to change him, you'd have to get him to not run-in those elections. He's maintained his approval rating here is still the highest. And then he says, well, for that to happen, you'd have to negotiate with me, and my price for not being in the elections is to let Ukraine join NATO.

Now that's me paraphrasing for the most part there, but an interesting rationale. He says, essentially, you want me out of the running? Right. My price for that is let Ukraine into NATO, a nonstarter in the Trump administration. So an issue of tension there potentially as well. He also said that he was willing to sign the rare earth minerals deal as it currently stood.

He said it was ready as a document. We've heard though from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that at present, that deal is no longer on the table. So clearly some rectifications and restoration of that relationship needed before we go to that particular stage. And he also too talked clearly about, his desire to maintain relationships with the United States and how urgently needed U.S. aid indeed was. So an important moment there for him to be in public for the first time speaking about that time in the White House.

He said that communications were indeed continuing since that appearance, but not between him and other individuals, obviously his team and the Trump team, it sounds as well. But I should also tell you, now we're hearing some more detail about some of the practical outcomes of this extraordinary last minute crisis summit in London between a significant number of European leaders. Basically, most of NATO without the United States, give or take a few countries.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, who was a peacemaker on Monday between Trump and Zelenskyy, leading to the invitation it seemed for Zelenskyy to the White House and has spoken to Trump, he says in this interview, with the Figaro French newspaper. He also offers in that same interview some details about what a possible peace initiative, possibly a confidence building measure.

[17:04:57]

He essentially proposes an idea of a limited ceasefire, one that would be in the air at sea and also stop attacks on energy infrastructure, both sides doing significant damage to each other's in energy infrastructure, that that could last potentially for a month suggesting that a larger border ceasefire would be very hard to police or monitor or maintain.

So that's the first time I think we've heard a practical initiative levied from the European powers here who are kind of beginning to operate a third track at this particular point. Remember, there's the U.S.-Russia negotiations. The Trump administration, they wanted a separate second track in U.S.-Ukraine relations about a peace deal. Well, now that U.S.-Ukraine element is kind of stalled, if not in real jeopardy, we have this U.S.-Ukrainian series of discussions moving forwards certainly today.

Now Keir Starmer, the U.K. prime minister who called this summit, he's kind of acting in the role that Joe Biden used to play about two, three years ago, bringing kind of Western allies of Ukraine together. Starmer said that many countries had offered practical help for maybe peacekeeping missions, but he would leave it to them to specify what those particular details were. So clearly, Starmer, who has spoken it seems to Trump not only on Friday after the meeting in the Oval Office, but also yesterday he said as well, clearly constantly in touch with the White House.

It seems Europe is trying to put something practically together that it could then potentially present the Trump administration, but it's clear from Zelenskyy that there is probably some work still to be done in, trying to rehabilitate his relationship, with Donald Trump. And I think that's the key question here along with this echoing noise from the Trump inner circle about Zelenskyy's position.

DEAN: All right. Nick Paton Walsh live in Kyiv for us. Thank you so much for that reporting. Joining us now, the U.S. Former Deputy Assistant Secretary Of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, Evelyn Farkas. She's also the executive director of the McCain Institute. Evelyn, thank you so much for being here with us.

I want to a start first just before we brought you on, while Nick was reporting, we had that video there of all of these leaders of Western democracies in Europe, also Justin Trudeau from Canada gathered together with Zelenskyy. And it was striking to me that that is taking place without the United States, that there is no presence of the United States there. Does that strike you as well? It was just interesting to see that visual.

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE, & RUSSIA: Yeah. Jessica, I think we've really reached a turning point here. We are going to, from now on, I think, have a separate track where the Europeans are working proactively on their own proposals to, frankly, strengthen President Zelenskyy. You remember on Friday, president Trump said to him, you have no cards. Well, these is the Europeans now trying to put some cards in President Zelenskyy's hand to give him some economic assistance, to give him some financing so that he can buy more weaponry, I guess, from The U.K. So, this is -- and also, of course, the political signaling that we're not leaving it up, they are saying, the Europeans, we're not leaving it just up to the United States Of America to solve this problem for us.

DEAN: And so what does that mean for that that track with the U.S. involvement in these discussions if you have this separate track that's happening now too?

FARKAS: Well, what's interesting is it looks like at the moment, in any event, the United Kingdom and, prime minister Starmer are kind of the conduit to The United States. So the Europeans are not doing this and saying the US can't join at some particular point, but they're not waiting for us. So they're proceeding with their diplomacy. They're proceeding with their assistance.

They're going to bolster Ukraine as much as possible. But it sounds like, you know, from everything they've been saying, the United States is welcome and in fact, they would like the United States to come and join them once they have something, you know, more significant that they can announce, I guess. But I think it's important to note that we can join them, but that they are not waiting for us.

DEAN: And so how does Zelenskyy begin to rehab this relationship with President Trump? How do you think that unfolds?

FARKAS: Well, it's hard to imagine that particular relationship, somehow becoming warm, but it has to be -- they need to have at least a transactional, you know, collaborative or cordial or constructive relationship. But they don't need to have that right now at the working level. It's probably best for, you know, everyone to cool off and recognize what the national interests are and take the personality part out of it.

At the end of the day, though, there are real policy differences still because it did not sound from that public exchange on Friday that President Trump understood or appreciated or was willing to at least publicly acknowledge the need for a hard security guarantee for Ukraine in order to sign a ceasefire agreement.

[17:10:00]

That's a significant difference that needs to be bridged. And I think that's what the Europeans are trying to figure out now. How can we solidify a ceasefire, provide some kind of security guarantee, but ultimately one that they also would like the United States to be part of?

DEAN: Yeah. And I think that brings us to a great point because part of the -- to your point, part of the summit's goals today included planning strong security guarantees for Ukraine. That's what European allies say are absolutely critical here for a peace deal that's going to last. And I guess that is the big question is how do you do that? How do you put into place security guarantees for Ukraine that are palatable to everyone?

FARKAS: I think the fear is that Europe alone can't deter Vladimir Putin. But, you know, deterrence, Jessica, is not just the military capability you have and the money you have because the Europeans have that in states. They are the, you know, number two economic block after the United States and militarily also, excuse me, they are quite strong and probably second to us as well.

It's the political will that they need to demonstrate so that Vladimir Putin knows that they mean it if they put troops in and he violates the -- you know, he somehow attacks the territory where those troops are or he attacks those troops or he attacks Ukraine again.

Whatever the rules are that they set down, Russia needs to believe that Europe will respond in a way that will hurt Russia's interests and will probably use -- you know, involve the use of force.

DEAN: And the Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he believes that Trump is the only person on the planet that can make a peace deal, that can bring, specifically Russia to the table. Do you agree with that assessment that the U.S., that Trump is the only one that can sit everybody down? And how do you think that impacts what's going on right now and what's going on in Europe?

FARKAS: I mean, no one is irreplaceable. If President Trump were to resign, someone else would come into the position and would be able to also have a crack at making peace. So I don't think it's one individual necessarily. What President Trump does have is the full backing of, you know, all the power of the United States. He has the ability to put pressure on Vladimir Putin, and maybe he has some kind of special relationship with Vladimir Putin that he could leverage if he wants to.

So that does make him different in a sense. He's always been friendly with Vladimir Putin. If he can leverage that to get Putin to give us and I don't mean just Ukraine. I mean, Ukraine, the United States, the world, what we need, which is a stop to Russia's aggressive, you know, military foreign policy where they're invading their neighbors. Don't forget, they're still occupying Georgia, Republic Of Georgia, the country, 20 percent of it. So we need to stop this invasion and the aggressive foreign policy by Vladimir Putin.

DEAN: And do you think that is achievable? Do you think that Putin can be stopped, his aggressive nature?

FARKAS: Yes. Because he can be -- it can be demonstrated that he will have to pay a high price if he goes any farther. But in order to stop him, he only understands force and strength. And so we have to be able to show, we, the allies of Ukraine, that we will stand behind Ukraine. And if he crosses the line, that there will be a military punishment for him and for his forces.

DEAN: All right. Evelyn Farkas, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it.

FARKAS: Thank you, Jessica. DEAN: Up next, Republican lawmakers across the country is facing some tough questions from their constituents over the weekend, and one senator decided to end his town hall early.

Plus, just ahead of the first joint address to congress of the second term, we have new insight into the American public's view of Donald Trump's presidency. We'll share that with you. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Vote you out! Vote you out! Vote you out!

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DEAN: They were chanting vote you out. Those were voters, constituents, chanting at a town hall for Texas Republican Keith Self. The Trump aligned congressman facing some angry questions over DOGE shutting down parts of the federal government and cutting thousands of jobs. And that is starting to become a pattern, just what we saw there. Take a look at a town hall in Kansas.

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UNKNOWN: But what you're doing right now, like the government is doing right now as far as cutting out those jobs, a huge percentage of those people, and I know you care about the veterans, are veterans.

UNKKNOWN: Yes.

UNKKNOWN: And that is a damn shame.

UNKKNOWN: Yes. Yes.

UNKKNOWN: That is a damn shame.

UNKKNOWN: Yes.

UNKKNOWN: I'm not a democrat, but I'm worried about the veterans.

(APPLAUSE)

UNKKNOWN: Yes, sir. Thank you.

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): Okay. Well, I yielded to one of my elders, and I appreciate his comments. I think it's a great -- I'm not going to -- we don't have time for everyone to stand up. I do get two more commitments today. Appreciate everybody making the drive out, and God bless America. Thank you.

[17:20:16]

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UNKKNOWN: All right.

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DEAN: That is Republican senator Roger Marshall in Kansas, and you can hear how upset people were when he said he was leaving early and did not answer that gentleman's question. On Tuesday, President Trump will make his first joint address to Congress and the nation since his reelection, and it will be crucial for Trump to reassure voters about his leadership. New CNN polling showing a majority of Americans disapprove of how he's leading the country so far. CNN senior White House producer Betsy Klein is joining us now. And, Betsy, as we look ahead to Tuesday, what is Trump expected to focus on?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, expect, Jessica, that President Trump takes a victory lap on his first six weeks in office during this major speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. Now during those first six weeks, we have seen the president dramatically reimagine the use of executive authority. We've seen him reevaluate and change how he approaches, the U.S. role in the world and key U.S. alliances, as well as expanding and changing the size and scope of the federal government, of course, with efforts to slash federal funding.

We should also expect him to touch on some of those more than 100 executive actions he has taken so far, touching on themes like trade, getting his cabinet confirmed, as well as issues like gutting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Now, Jessica, we heard from Jason Miller, he's a top outside adviser to Jason -- excuse me, to President Trump. A little preview of what to expect on Tuesday. Take a look.

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JASON MILLER, SENIOR ADVISOR TO DONALD TRUMP: We have to tackle Bidenflation. 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. 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's going to go into.

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KLEIN: Miller also indicated that the president could touch on topics like artificial intelligence as well as the prospect of sending Americans to Mars. Now, of course, this major speech comes just days after that explosive Oval Office confrontation between President Trump and President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. And as we are learning, according to our colleague, Matthew Chance in Moscow, that Trump officials are expected to start hatching plans to meet with their Russian counterparts in the coming days for a second time, Jessica. DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein in West Palm Beach, thanks so much for

that. And Kevin O'Leary of "Shark Tank" fame and chairman of O'Leary Ventures is joining us now. Kevin, thanks so much for being here.

KEVIN O'LEARY, CHAIRMAN, O'LEARY VENTURES: Thank you.

DEAN: So I want to start first on Tuesday, we both have the president's address, but before that, those tariffs, he says, on Mexico and Canada are going to kick in. There has been pulling out that Americans are nervous that this is going to drive up prices for them. Do you have an argument that says that it won't in the short term?

O'LERAY: I don't think the short term really matters. You know what I think, it's not just Canada and Mexico. Trump has put on notice the entire world looking at trade tariffs that have been put in place since the second World War. All of these schedules are being examined now in every country, and they were considered subsidies for countries in Europe and other places for a long time. He was -- in the case of Canada, it's unique. He's spoken multiple times about the opportunity while he puts on the pressure of tariffs. The opportunity being the economic union that would create a behemoth economy.

And so, as I always tell, I'm an investor on both sides of the border and my family's both American and Canadian, so I feel in a unique situation to have this narrative. I look at the opportunity. I look at Trump and I've always said this for 12 years. There is the noise and there is the signal. The signal to focus on is the economic union, which he keeps talking about, particularly for defending the northern border that's melting, which become a massive trade route where Chinese ships are going to cruise around. Every Canadian gets that.

Maybe, a union on the currency because every Canadian commodity, mineral, precious metal is denominated in U.S. dollars. Maybe a Euro type passport and then the key would be no tariffs. But to get there, there's a negotiation. He's starting that negotiation. Now you may not like his style. You may not like his -- the way he does it. He's very transparent. He's very open. You saw that happen with Zelenskyy. I mean, that would normally happen behind closed doors.

He doesn't mind if people watch the sausage being made, and he's going to do the same thing with Canada. Canada is the biggest economic opportunity globally. It's huge.

[17:25:03]

DEAN: And I hear you on that, and I know you said the short term doesn't matter, but I'm just thinking about the average American who voted for President Trump because he promised to bring down prices for them, and they really want that from him. And if these tariffs go into effect on Tuesday, and I talked to a head of an auto, manufacturers union who said that they could bring up the price for a new car by thousands of dollars.

And maybe that's just for, to your point, the short term, the six months or a year or whatever until they can negotiate a deal. But that does impact these people who already are afraid they're paying too much.

O'LEARY: Well, let's hope he changes that till April 2nd so the report can come out on the actual economic impact of these tariffs. I'm speaking again about the Canadians. You'll notice that on tariffs in Canada, in terms of keeping inflation down, what's the number one input to every sector? It's energy. So he didn't put 25 percent on Canadian oil, which is the most inexpensive oil imported into America out of Alberta.

Daniel Smith went down to Mar-a-Lago, took a lot of heat for it, met with Trump before he got -- you know, he became president. And whether or not that was the reason, he only put 10 percent on her. But that is basically the entire trade imbalance. Canada actually imports more of everything else except oil. So if you took oil out, the $300 billion of the oil that U.S. imports at a $13 barrel discount, there's no trade imbalance.

And Trump's not -- knows that and Burgum knows that and Howard Lutnick knows that. These guys are not dumb. They're going to figure it out. I think everybody has to realize it's part of a process. And if you don't understand that, you should have figured that in the last 12 years. I actually think this will end up being a good thing in the end. I understand the angst on both sides of the borders, not just with Canadians.

And by the way, you don't have to sell the country. There's no loss of sovereignty for Canadians. Economic union is a massive opportunity that creates wealth on both sides. That's the signal. Let's focus on the signal and watch what happens. My guess is maybe he punts till April 2nd to get the report out first on the impacts of Canadian and Mexican tariffs.

DEAN: And listen, I think one of the -- and he said this and I think his advisors and allies certainly say this too, that one of the great things about Trump is kind of the uncertainty that he can pivot, he can move, he can say that the tariffs might start on Tuesday and now maybe he'll punt till April, but that is in effect also a bargaining chip, right? That people don't know exactly what he's going to do. But you also hear from some business leaders who say, it's hard to do business when we don't know what's going on. What do you say to that?

O'LEARY: No, I get that every day. I mean --

DEAN: Yeah.

O'LEARY: -- I get that every day on both sides of the borders, and I always say the same thing. You know, it goes to the concept this is an administration and president who likes total transparency. The good, the bad, and the ugly. And you see it in the first six weeks, it's all the same. He basically got a majority mandate on transparency. We may not like it or the style that he has, but he has not changed.

And so, he'll just keep putting it out there and he uses his own social media to do it. People get very nervous with the volatility of what the statements are every day, but in the end he's a transactional person, an economic person, and he's trying to do the best he can given the mandate he's got. And I think a lot of American families and Canadians and Mexicans kind of get it at this point.

If you're a family in America making $68,000, you know, you actually have to balance a budget so people are freaking out about DOGE. DOGE happens every day at the kitchen table in every American family. They get it and Canadians also understand. He's got a mandate. He's got to deliver. They also understand the opportunity. So I think with all of the press and the excitement and the social media and the volatility, watch the signal. It's a flat line signal. You focus on that. I'm an optimist on this deal.

DEAN: And you did bring up DOGE and we just -- before we had you on, we're playing some clips from some of these town halls that are happening all across the country, not in one specific place or another. And they are concerned about -- the constituents are expressing concern over, again, volatility and uncertainty around veterans benefits or cuts that are happening to their own families. They don't know if they're going to -- you know, they're sitting there trying to balance their budget.

They don't know if they're going to have a paycheck the next week or the next month. What is the messaging there that you think the president could give to reassure these people when they are very concerned about this?

[17:30:02]

O'LEARY: I've lived this myself my whole life as a guy that's bought companies that are in trouble and had to fix them. I consider government agencies to be the same. The -- you know, the debate is this. And what you should be talking about, I'm sure Trump will, is the end goal.

All of this concern during the cutting phase, which is why I've said vocally in the last few weeks, what I've learned and I've done these countless times over the last 25 years is when you go to an organization, it's a massive moral dilemma to make the first cut. Never do it twice. So, cut 20 percent more. Let the organization regel and hire back people. The outcome is a more efficient productive organization that delivers its goods and services in a much better way with less waste.

That's the message I'm sure he will deliver because that's what I had to do standing on kitchen tables and cafeterias my whole life when we would whack 30 percent of the staff saying, those of you who are staying are going to be in a much better place and those of you who are leaving, we're going to give you a great package, which has obviously been offered to because you can't keep running a company that's bleeding cash. And these government agencies haven't been tested or scrutinized or audited in a true sense of efficiency in a hundred years.

DEAN: Well, Bill Clinton did it. He did audit it and take it to Congress and do it in a more methodical way, and I think that's where people --

O'LEARY: No, he never executed on it. Not a single thing got done. And I -- look, I was a Clinton fan during -- I'm not -- I'm bipartisan on entrepreneurship. I support red, blue, independent. I don't care. But no one has ever scrutinized government this way.

And by the way, since Clinton, the government has got really, really fat in debt. Trillions in debt. This is not sustainable.

So, the average American family, the 68,000, $72,000 a year family, both the husband and spouse, the significant other working, they get this. They get it. And they -- you know, I'm just sorry. I have 10,000,000 followers feeding me this stuff every day. I don't need a pollster to tell me people want this done. They want it done. They're scared about the debt.

We've got to stop cutting -- start cutting, and we also have to be more efficient. This has never been done this way. It's very uncomfortable.

DEAN: It is. It's different. That is for sure.

O'LEARY: It's very demoralizing on the first cut.

DEAN: Yeah.

O'LEARY: It's very different.

DEAN: All right, Kevin O'Leary, we got to leave it there, we're out of time, but thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

O'LEARY: Take care. Thank you.

DEAN: For only the second time in history, a private spacecraft has landed on the moon. We'll talk more about this here in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:35:00]

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DEAN: Sticking the landing. Earlier today, the Blue Ghost Lander touched down on the moon, sharing this image. You can see the sun's glare, the moon's craters there. In Texas, celebrations broke out at Firefly Aerospace. And NASA Blue Ghost is the second private spacecraft to land on the moon. It was the first to do so smoothly without falling over or crashing.

CNN contributor Kristin Fisher is joining us now. Kristin, this is exciting. Tell us about the significance of this landing.

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE ANALYST: Well, Jessica, you know, it's hard to land on the moon. It is really hard to land on the moon first time on your first attempt absolutely flawlessly, and that is what Firefly Aerospace did today. I mean, keep in mind, they don't have this big massive government -- big massive budget that the U.S. government would have, right? They are a private, relatively small, commercial space company. And what they did today, I mean, they truly exceeded expectations, Jessica.

And so why -- why should you care? Why does this matter? Well, first, these robotic lunar landers, there's a whole parade of them coming to the moon this year. What they're doing is they're really paving the way for NASA to be able to send humans, NASA astronauts, back to the moon for the first time since the end of the Apollo program.

And then the other thing that's really significant about today's landing, Jessica, is the fact that what we're seeing is really the very, very beginning, early stages of a sustainable lunar economy, right? Like, this is not just the territory of governments anymore, of private companies. And that's significant because if NASA and other countries want to build a sustainable human presence up there on the moon, you're going to have to have a sustainable lunar economy with multiple private companies to do it.

DEAN: And so, what -- how -- what happens now? Like, what -- it's going to go up there. It's -- collecting information but I think, too, just in terms of expanding this this kind of economy, this lunar economy you're talking about. Well, how does that continue to unfold?

FISHER: Well, the first thing that is going to happen is it is going to up there for the next 14 days up and running, deploying about 10 of the NASA payloads that it brought with it to the moon. And so, one of the things it's going to be doing, Jessica, is drilling into the surface of the moon, finding out a bit more about the geology.

But one of the coolest things it's going to be doing is an experiment to try to figure out how to keep lunar dust-off astronauts and spacecrafts or get it off of them. A lot of people don't know this, but during the Apollo missions, the astronauts actually had a hard time when they breathed in all of this lunar dust. It's really fine particles, very sharp. It's like breathing in tiny shards of glass, and it can really mess up the instruments in a spacecraft. So, they need something, some kind of like a magnet that pulls the dust off the astronauts and the spacecraft.

And so that's one of the things that they're going to be testing, Jessica, and they're going to be able to do it. They'll only have enough power, sunlight, for about 14 days, and then it'll go dark and blue.

[17:40:01]

This lunar lander is essentially going to die up there. That'll be its final resting place. And all fireflies, the firefly employees as they're called, they have a big plaque on the lander to commemorate what they were able to achieve today.

DEAN: Wow. It is quite an achievement. And who knew about lunar dust? Thank you for educating us on that, Kristin Fisher.

(LAUGHTER)

Good to see you. Thank you so much.

Dry, windy conditions hampering firefighters' efforts as dozens of wildfires burn across the Carolinas. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: South Carolina's governor is declaring a state of emergency as firefighters battle more than 75 wildfires that are now burning across that state. People are being forced to leave their homes as dry, windy conditions fuel the biggest Carolina forest fire just north of Myrtle Beach. A brush fire caused by a downed power line is raising concerns in Western North Carolina as this is happening.

Rafael Romo is following the developments and joins us now. Rafael, what's the latest?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jessica. Earlier this afternoon, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency in his state. In making the announcement, McMaster said the purpose is to further support wildfire response efforts across the state and ensure our first responders continue to have the resources they need. A statewide outdoor burn ban remains in effect due to the dangerous wildfire conditions.

This is what it looked like from the air last night when a passenger in a commercial airline took this video while flying over Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The areas affected by these dangerous conditions are Eastern South Carolina and Western North Carolina, the same region that was devastated in the fall by hurricane Helene.

The Carolina Forest Fire, about five miles north of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, doubled in size to 1,200 acres overnight and, according to local officials, is 0 percent contained. The fire threat has continued for the region today.

The National Weather Service says high risk areas are located in and around cities, including Wilmington, North Carolina, and Charleston and Columbia, South Carolina. Two wildfires were confirmed in Buncombe County, North Carolina on Saturday. A local resident told CNN affiliate WLOS she rushed to help a friend evacuate her mother.

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BECKY OLIVER, LOCAL RESIDENT: I mean, it's bad enough from Helene. But now, we've got this. I mean, the forest, it's just -- it's going to be really bad.

JACKIE BURKE, NC RESIDENT: It made the sky such an odd color. I was going for a walk, and it turned this odd yellow color, yellow and red, in the woods where I was walking.

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ROMO: Jessica, several factors are combining to increase the danger of wildfires in both Carolinas. There's dry vegetation due to lack of recent rainfall. There's also dry air being added to the mix. And if you combine these two factors with strong winds, you create the perfect conditions for a wildfire to occur.

The good news is that winds are in the region that are expected to significantly weaken overnight and the temperatures will plummet to the freezing point by Monday morning. More humid air is expected to return to the region by Tuesday. Jessica, now back to you.

DEAN: All right, we're wishing them the best. Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

The red carpet getting pretty packed for Hollywood's biggest night. Look at Zoe Saldana, one of the nominees and kind of the favorite, I think, to win Best Supporting Actress. We're going to talk more about the Oscars when we come back.

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DEAN: Tonight, the (INAUDIBLE) have gathered in Hollywood to celebrate the biggest night in cinema. And this one is kind of turning out to be a nail biter. The 97th Academy Awards begin in just about an hour.

And as for the favorites, the film "Emilia Perez" has 13 nominations but uproar over its offensive tweets by its lead star may have brought down the curtains on its chances to bag Best Picture, opening the field for other contenders, including "Anora," "The Brutalist," and "Conclave."

The Oscars, of course, taking place soon after the wildfires that devastated parts of Los Angeles, impacting many who work in Hollywood and some of the actors and actresses themselves.

Joining us now, Michael Musto, an entertainment journalist. Michael, good to see you. Listen, this is --

MICHAEL MUSTO, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Hi, Jessica.

DEAN: -- this is -- hi. This is going to be a fun night. It's also one -- I kind of like it when you don't know exactly what's going to happen and who's going to win everything. What are you watching for tonight?

I agree with you. Last year was way too easy. "Oppenheimer" was such an obvious Oscar-type -- Oscar-type of film that it was so clear it was going to win picture, director, actor, supporting actor, and so on.

This year, "The Brutalist" is that type of long epic Oscar film. It seemed to be a slam dunk. But guess what? Then along came "Anora," kind of a wacky screwball sex comedy, and that was winning all the awards. And now, out of the blue, "Conclave" has picked up all this momentum.

So, it's really a race. It's a real horse race. And while Best Actress, I would say, is a lot for Demi Moore for the substance and, by the way, I'd love to have whatever she's having --

DEAN: Wouldn't we all?

MUSTO: -- Best Actor -- Best Actor had been a lot for Adrien Brody for "The Brutalist" for his second Oscar. But now, Timothee Chalamet won the SAG Award for Best Actor for a complete nobody. He plays Bob Dylan. And he's now really heavily in the running opposite Adrien Brody. So that's what I'm looking forward to, some real --

DEAN: Yeah, it will be fun to see. And, you know, it's interesting because Timothee Chalamet may give that, like, great speech after he won the SAG Award. And how much do you think that sort of thing does impact last-minute voting? Does it sway people to say like, oh, this person reacted this way or I really loved what they had to say, that sort of thing?

MUSTO: It really does. In fact, I have written that Demi Moore is winning the Oscar for her Golden Globe speech. She gave that great speech where she said people used to talk down to me and say I was nothing but a popcorn actress. And people got riled up by that. They really respected her and her trajectory, and that got -- that's going to get her the Oscar tonight.

DEAN: It is amazing. And listen, this is, of course, coming, not long after those devastating wildfires that have just continued to be so impactful and so devastating out there.

[17:55:05]

How are they marking that tonight and how are you seeing them kind of move through the fact that they're doing this big award show when still so many people are without a home, without -- some of them without anything at all?

MUSTO: Well, I think they saw that the Grammys did okay. They sort of balanced the seriousness with the levity, the celebration. You can do that. And you can also raise money in the process. And the Oscars will have that option for people to donate charitable funds.

But, of course, there'll be people talking about it all night. They want to celebrate Los Angeles and Hollywood as unifying creative areas and really uplift that whole community and help get us through this. They're not going to perform any of the nominated best songs. However, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande are going to sing songs from "Wicked." I hear they might even start the show. So, they're not totally eliminating music, right?

DEAN: Yeah. I think people will love that. Well, that that will be certainly fun. Hollywood and LA, of course, an industry town, nobody -- you know, that is -- that is so many people affect so many people there. So, it'll be a nice time to come together.

Michael Musto, thank you so much for being here with us today.

MUSTO: By the way --

DEAN: Yeah.

MUSTO: One last thing, which is Morgan Freeman is going to give the tribute to Gene Hackman, his dear friend, so that'll be special.

DEAN: All right, something to certainly look for. All right, Michael, thank you. Have a great night. We'll be right back.

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