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Zelenskyy: Ukraine Ready To Sign Minerals Deal With The U.S.; Trump Address To Congress Comes After Explosive First Month In Office; Democrats Debate How To Effectively Counter Trump Speech; RFK Jr. Touts The Measles Vaccine In "Call To Action" Op-Ed; Wind-Fueled Wildfires Burn Across North, South Carolina, Private Spacecraft Lands On The Moon; Connecticut Teen Graduates High School With Honors But Says She Can't Read. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 02, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

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[19:01:19]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

We do have breaking news tonight as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country is ready to sign a minerals deal with the U.S. This is despite the fallout with President Trump in the Oval Office just two days ago. And it comes as European leaders have been working on a new peace deal to defend Ukraine, with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer calling today's summit a, quote, crossroads in history.

CNN chief national security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has more on President Zelenskyy from Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, after a day in which European leaders gave urgently needed solidarity and support on the world stage to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his extraordinary meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, he gave a wide ranging press conference, his first public remarks, really addressing what happened in the White House on Friday when he met President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance.

At first, he was asked if he thought he could salvage the relationship with the United States. Here's what he said.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As regards salvaging the relationship, that you asked about. I think that our relationship will continue because this is more than relationships in one moment. We need to be open.

Ukraine is not the largest country in the world. However, everyone can see how Ukraine is fighting for its independence and freedom, and we are grateful to the people of the United States. WALSH: He was then asked to react to some of the suggestions from

Trump's inner circle that perhaps he needs to step aside if he can't fix his relationship with the U.S. president. Here's how he tackled the question of his resignation.

ZELENSKYY: If I am to be changed and I'll hear, how can I put it? With what's happening with the -- with the support to change me, it will not be easy because it is not enough to simply hold elections, you would need to prevent me from participating in the elections. And it will be a bit more difficult. So, they'll have to negotiate with me. And I said that I'm exchanging it for NATO membership. And then it means that I fulfilled my mission.

WALSH: He also said he was willing to sign the rare earth minerals deal, even though we've heard from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent that it is at present not on the table, and also to he struck a tone which was frankly conciliatory for most of it. Asked, though directly by a reporter if he would apologize to President Trump, he didn't take that opportunity and instead gave an answer about Ukraine's dead and its suffering and how, in response to suggestions he doesn't want peace, he said he would love the war to stop not just today, but have never have started in the first place. I paraphrase his words there.

But as he gave that press conference, two details emerged of some of the technical aspects of what potentially these European powers have been discussing when it comes to a peace plan that they may eventually present to the White House at some point.

French President Emmanuel Macron telling the "Figaro" newspaper that he is contemplating presenting a month long partial ceasefire, which he described as an in the air, in the sea and against attacks on energy infrastructure, both sides hitting their energy grids really hard. Over the past months that potentially a confidence building measure that Macron suggested, uh, could maybe, be monitored more easily than a widespread truce across all the front lines.

Macron also said he'd spoken to Trump since the incident in the Oval Office and indeed, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he's spoken to Trump twice.

[19:05:00]

So, clearly, the Europeans were laying their thoughts to the white house, clearly a big gulf still between Zelenskyy and Trump that needs to be healed. And many questions about Zelenskyy's future stemming from that. But the Europeans are trying to step up to the plate urgently here in this very unknown territory.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Nick, thank you.

On Tuesday, President Trump will make his first joint address to Congress in the nation since his reelection. This will be crucial for Trump to reassure voters about his leadership after making dramatic changes to the American government and to foreign policy.

CNN's senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak, is joining us now.

Kevin, Ukraine, of course, likely to be a topic that Trump addresses. What else can we expect?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, very much so. And remember, it was only a year ago that the Biden administration tried to get Zelenskyy's wife to Washington to attend his State of the Union Address. And I think that only illustrates the complete 180 that Trump has orchestrated on policy toward Ukraine. And certainly, his -- his speechwriters finalized his address for Tuesday night. This will be an area where I think they're probably still writing.

It's completely unclear at this point how President Trump's goal of ending the war will proceed. After that fracas we saw in the Oval Office last week. But certainly, that's just one aspect that he will want to talk about in this speech. This is coming after, you know, a 42-day whirlwind as President Trump really puts his stamp on Washington.

And certainly what you hear from Republicans is the hope that Trump will be able to explain what he's been doing in kind of a cogent way, whether it's his attempts to reshape the federal workforce, whether its attempts to gut certain agencies out of the federal government. This is all something that they'll want him to talk about, particularly those republicans who are facing heat from some of their constituents who want to know exactly what the plan is here.

You know, the other audience that Trump will be talking to in this speech are the actual lawmakers in the room as they prepare to execute on his agenda. Talking about slashing federal spending, rewriting federal tax policy. That's something that hell want to address in this speech as well.

Trump's advisers say that one of the goals of this address is really try and link what he has been doing to people in their everyday lives, try and explain how his actions will make lives better for everyday Americans. Of course, how Trump's speeches are previewed and how they end up being delivered in the end. There's often a difference there.

And it has been interesting. I've been going back to watch some of his addresses from his first time around. His first speech in 2017 was fairly bipartisan, fairly by the book. It was received fairly well by people on both sides of the aisle.

It was a completely different story. In 2020, he had just been impeached. It was a combative speech. That was when Nancy Pelosi ripped up a copy of it afterwards.

The political landscape has entirely changed. Congress, now completely controlled by Republicans. There's very little, if any, anti-Trump Republicans in Congress now.

So what you can expect, I think, is something of a valedictory speech by the president on Tuesday.

DEAN: All right. Kevin Liptak at the White House, thank you for your reporting there.

Joining us now, Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida.

Congressman, thank you so much for your time this evening. We appreciate it.

I want to start first with Ukraine and the latest in these peace talks. As you heard at the beginning of our show, President Zelenskyy saying he thinks that he can salvage the relationship with U.S. leadership and sign that minerals deal.

Do you think that's still possible?

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): I think not only is it possible, I think it's crucial for -- for Ukraine to do that and salvage this. Unfortunately, I think what we saw was negotiations happening in front of the press where -- whereas a lot of that stuff happens behind the scenes. And then and then you come out and you shake hands and, and you get things, you know, done.

And so, I do believe that he needs to somewhat apologize to the president, and that we need to move forward. But for the sake of Ukraine, for the sake of freedom, yeah, I think he needs to get that done. I think we need to sign that deal.

With that deal, actually, what it does is that and now aligns American interests with Ukrainian interests. And so the Russians will understand that. Hey, the more this -- this, this land that you want to take more and more of this, this war of aggression that you're waging now no longer is just simply Ukrainian interests. American interests are now involved in this. And so that gives a level of security to the -- you know, Ukrainian people.

And so I think it's vitally important that -- that deal gets done.

DEAN: And I know you've supported Ukraine for years. You voted to provide the billions in aid, including weapons for Ukraine. What do you make of -- we were just looking at video of this, of the European leaders who gathered today. They're ramping up their spending to defend Ukraine.

But the U.S. isn't -- isn't physically in the room, which is a bit of something different, it a departure from what we normally see. When we see all those people together, we normally see the U.S. aligned with them and physically there. What do you think about that?

GIMENEZ: Actually, I -- I am glad they did that, that somehow now they understand that they have to take a greater part in the security of their continent and of Ukraine in particular in this case, and that, you know, President Trump has been asking for years for them to step up their military spending that they need to be bigger partners in the security of, of the world, especially NATO. And so I had no problem in that. I think they woke up. It's a little

wake up call that, hey, sometimes we need to do more ourselves and not so much lean on the United States for everything.

Look, we're still the 800-pound gorilla. We're still the number one -- their number one security partner. And we will always be that. But we just simply asked them to step up and contribute more to their own defense.

DEAN: And I hear you on that. Do you worry at all about the message, though, that Russia gets from how this is all played out?

GIMENEZ: Look, I -- I certainly didn't, I'm not -- I wasn't happy about what happened at the White House. And again, that should have never happened. But that can be repaired.

Look, Russia responds to weakness, and so when they see weakness, they are going to take advantage of that weakness. They have -- they've always had -- they've always done that. Putin has shown that, and he's a bully. And so, I don't really care what kind of message Russia -- Russia gets. What now Russia is going to get is, hey, the European nations are actually stepping up.

And -- and I know that he understands that America will also be part of that, you know, of that security agreement and NATO and that we will protect our allies. I just think that President Zelenskyy, maybe if things got way too heated, he needs to calm down. He needs to call the president. He needs to apologize, and get this thing back on track so that we can stop Russian aggression, and we can again stop this war, which is what President Trump has always wanted, just to stop this senseless war that probably would have never happened had he been president.

And -- and stop the waste of lives and, and then give Ukraine the sense of security that it needs and the Russia, the sense of deterrence that it needs so it doesn't do it again.

DEAN: I also want to ask you about the president's joint address to Congress that's coming up on Tuesday. It's coming as he's about roughly six weeks or so into his -- or a little more than that into his -- his second term. And we're starting to hear and get polling about some of the moves that he's making, specifically about DOGE and the cuts that are being made there, and also what he's doing on the economy that people want him to do more. They don't feel like he's doing enough on the economy to lower the cost of living.

What do you think he should say? How -- what are you hoping to hear from him to -- as he talks to both you all, but also the American people?

GIMENEZ: Well, I think look, he's going to have to -- he's going to talk about his accomplishments on the border. He's reduced illegal crossings, something like 90 to 95 percent simply on policy. All right?

He doesn't -- he doesn't have any money, more money than to fix the border. But just simply doing -- changing policy, he's actually stopped the border crisis.

Look, we're -- how are we going to lower prices? We're going to do it because we're going to lower our energy costs. How are we going to do that? We're going to -- yes, we're going to drill, baby, drill. We're going to take away a lot of the -- the regulations that have stopped American energy production in the last four years.

We're turning away from this insane green new deal and -- and as far as facing up to our greatest threat, China, he's imposed tariffs. We know that we have to increase our military spending in order to -- to confront that threat, which is the communist Chinese party, and then, you know, I expect that he's going to talk about a whole range of issues, and -- and what he's done in the first two, you know, hundred days.

He's also going to talk about all the cost cutting that's coming from DOGE. I can tell you, man, there is a lot of stuff that's surprising to me is that we're -- we're paying who? What? And that's the really surprising the American people.

All of that has to stop. This ideological spending that we're doing here, not only here in the United States, but across the world. That has to stop. And then, you know, the big changes that he's going to do at DOD, with our new secretary of defense. And how are we going to be spending our money much more wisely, efficiently and quicker, so that we can get our defenses up to where they should be? Because we do have a pacing threat in communist China.

DEAN: All right. Congressman Carlos Gimenez, thanks for your time.

[19:15:00]

We appreciate it.

GIMENEZ: My pleasure.

DEAN: The $64,000 question, how can Democrats effectively counter President Trump? Tuesday night presents a new opportunity.

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DEAN: While the president prepares to take center stage, Democrats are gearing up for another chance to do something they have struggled with so far under Trump 2.0., and that's fight back.

[19:20:01]

The party hasn't settled on a cohesive message or way to deal with Trump's early actions.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us now with more on how democratic leaders are hoping to use this week to change that. What are you learning, Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jess. Democrats are certainly facing a fresh test as they're preparing to counter President Trump's joint address to Congress. And Democratic leaders are hoping to present a united front, as they want to argue to the American people that Trump's early actions and the plans that Republicans have will not help, but instead will hurt them.

Now, one way that they are trying to make this argument is through the person that they selected to deliver the official Democratic response. That will be a Senator Elissa Slotkin from Michigan. She's an interesting choice.

She's a moderate and she comes from a state, Michigan, which is a battleground state that Trump actually had won in 2024, but one where a Democrat like Slotkin was successful. She's only one of two freshmen Democrats to win in battleground states that Trump had carried.

Now, after her election, Slotkin had talked about the need for Democrats to really emphasize kitchen table issues. And that's something that Democratic leaders have signaled they are quite eager to talk about. They want to talk about how Trump has not lowered costs and also warn of Republicans' potential plans to make cuts to Medicaid, while giving tax breaks to millionaires or billionaires like Elon Musk. We're also told that Democratic lawmakers are planning to bring guests, individuals who have been impacted by some of Trump's moves. That could include fired federal workers or other individuals who might be part of programs that had some of their funding frozen.

It's all some of the steps that Democrats are trying to pursue in the coming days as they're launching this messaging strategy to try to counter Trump's actions and words in this joint address that he's delivering on Tuesday night.

DEAN: And, Arlette, we're also learning that some Democrats are going to skip Trump's address. What are you hearing about that?

SAENZ: Yah. Well, the majority of Democrats are expected to attend in the House chamber on Tuesday night. There are some who are deciding to sit it out. One of those is Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who has really been a leading voice in the pushback against Trump.

Instead of attending, he will be participating in a counter- programming event with a progressive group known as Move On. And this is how Murphy described his decision to not attend this address.

(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: And Murphy there nodded to the very active debate within the Democratic Party about how exactly to push back on Trump, as there have been this flurry of actions and moves in his first six weeks in office. It all comes as Democrats are still trying to plot out their next steps, determine what the best strategy will be to win back voters as they're trying to set Democrats up for success, not just in the 2026 midterm elections, but also beyond that in 2028, with that presidential election coming in less than four years at this point.

DEAN: I know. How about that?

All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much for your reporting there.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter is joining us now.

Brian, good to see you on this Sunday evening.

I want to talk first about this op-ed just released on Fox News, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. releasing this, saying that the measles outbreak is a call to action for all of us. He says vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.

Now, he never explicitly says get the vaccine, but he does talk about the vaccine and says that it is really helpful in protecting you. What do you make of all of this?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Right. This is important to parse because were all trying to figure out how is RFK Jr., how are his Health Departments going to handle medical emergencies, situations where vaccines will save lives? Is he going to live in his anti- vaccine conspiracy theory world, which he was known for, for many years before taking office? Or is he going to acknowledge what his experts, scientists and doctors at his health agencies say?

Well, we're getting a little bit of a clue from -- from this op-ed tonight. A couple days ago, a few days ago, at the cabinet meeting with the President RFK, Jr., he said the measles outbreaks in the U.S. are not unusual, which seemed to be his way of minimizing what is a very unusual situation in Texas right now. CNN found that he made several inaccurate statements during his brief remarks at that cabinet meeting. Doctors, other experts said he really missed an opportunity there when he was on camera.

But later in the week, RFK, Jr. did change his tone. He wrote on X that ending the outbreak is a top priority.

[19:25:02]

And now he's written this guest column for Fox's website. Notable that he's -- he's, you know, writing it for Fox. So he's thinking about a conservative audience, and he's saying in this piece that it is a call to action. He's taking the words that you just read about the importance of vaccines, which, by the way, were buried toward the end of his column. Fox moved those words up to the top and highlighted them in bold. So

it seems as if Fox helping him out, trying to get the important word out.

But it is notable. On the one hand, RFK is saying he's deeply concerned about the measles outbreak in Texas. On the other hand, he's saying the decision to vaccinate is a personal one. He says yes, vaccines do protect individual children and also contribute to community protection.

But he's saying everyone should consider what to do on their own. So this is a little bit of a preview of what to expect from RFK, Jr. in his new position.

DEAN: Yeah, it is really interesting. And as you note, he really is kind of doing the splits here, walking up to the line saying that the vaccine is helpful but not directly calling for people to get vaccinated.

STELTER: That's exactly what he's doing. And it's -- it's in line, I would say, with what we might have expected from him, but it's a dramatic change from what we've seen from Republican and Democratic administrations in the past.

DEAN: Yeah, absolutely.

All right. I also want to ask you about "SNL". They had some fun last night covering that oval office meeting. So we'll play a little clip from that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to welcome President Zelenskyy here to this incredible trap. It's going to be a big, beautiful trap. And we're going to attack him very soon for no reason, right, J.D.?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch out because this kid, he's got claws.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, with all due respect --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Excuse me? I'm sorry. What? I'm sorry, I have to jump in here because that's how we planned this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Not new for "SNL" to do this sort of thing, obviously. This is -- this is who they are. And we've come -- everyone's come to expect it. But I just want to get your take on it.

STELTER: I don't know if its possible for the writers, first of all, to -- to go beyond what actually happened. And second, this is a hard assignment for the writers.

Look, the SNL writers, they get paid well and don't have to feel bad for them. But these situations are so unfunny, so serious, so worrisome. You know, it's hard to hard to have fun with them, hard to make light of them.

And as always, as always, as we saw with the first term with President Trump, it's very hard to dramatize or exaggerate the real world stories that happen. So, you know, maybe, maybe the writers deserve a raise after all.

DEAN: Yeah. That's true.

All right, Brian Stelter, as always, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

Families in South Carolina are forced to evacuate their homes early this morning as wildfires there continue to grow. We will get you an update when we come back.

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[19:32:11]

DEAN: Firefighters in the Carolinas are struggling with dry, windy conditions as they battle more than 175 wildfires across the region. A statewide burn ban is now in effect as a lack of recent rainfall keeps those fire dangers high across both of the Carolinas and into Northeast Georgia.

Now, fortunately, changing weather conditions are expected to provide some relief to fire crews over the next several days. Our Rafael Romo has been tracking all of this.

Rafael, that is good news looking ahead, but what's the latest today?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is definitely good news, Jessica. But earlier today, 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, he said, 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 of 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 zero-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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY OLIVER, BUNCOMBE COUNTY RESIDENT: It was bad enough from Helene, but now we've got this and that -- I mean, the forest -- it's just, it's going to be really bad.

JACKIE BURKE, BUNCOMBE COUNTY 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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, as we were talking about at the beginning is that winds in the region 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.

DEAN: Rafael, thank you for that update. We appreciate it.

[19:35:01]

The U.N. is calling for humanitarian aid to begin flowing back into Gaza immediately, and for all hostages to be released from the area. That statement, coming after Israel said it would block all aid deliveries into Gaza until Hamas agrees to an extension of the ceasefire deal.

That U.S. backed proposal would extend the current ceasefire through Ramadan and Passover, and it requires half of the hostages in Gaza be released on the day the deal takes effect.

Now, Hamas is rejecting that plan, accusing Israel of carrying out a, "blatant coup" against the agreed upon ceasefire deal. Netanyahu's office warned of additional consequences if Hamas refuses to accept the agreement.

Tonight, there is something on the surface of the moon that wasn't there last night. What is it? Well, were going to tell you.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[19:40:25]

DEAN: Tonight, a historic moon landing.

The Blue Ghost lander touching down on the moon sharing this image, you see the sun's glare, the moons crater's there. In Texas, celebrations broke out at Firefly Aerospace and NASA Blue Ghost is the second private spacecraft to land on the moon.

It is carrying a drill, vacuum, and other experiments for NASA, and says its already begun operations to transmit images to earth.

CNN's aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien joining us now with more on this. Miles, great to see you. Help us understand the significance of this landing.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: Well, I guess you could give them the Oscar for the best moon landing of the 21st century, Jessica. They did well. It's the first soft landing. The first fully successful landing of the commercial lunar, project that NASA has underway as part of its big Artemis Program.

There was a complete failure, and then a partial failure by a company called Intuitive, which is about to have another lander on its way down in just a matter of days.

But this is all part of an effort to scout out landing sites and potential habitation zones for astronauts to set up a base camp as part of this Artemis moon campaign that NASA is engaged with.

And it is dependent upon, a government rocket called the Space Launch System and a lot of commercial players like this company, Firefly out of Texas, which had a great success.

DEAN: Yes, okay, So, I want to talk about kind of the micro and then the macro. So the micro being what is Blue Ghost's mission in the coming days? What is it going to do while it's there.

O'BRIEN: A couple of things. First of all, demonstrating that it could land well, it's done that, check that box. It's already proven that it can use Global Positioning System and the similar satellite navigation systems based on Earth to navigate on the moon. That's an interesting development and portends well for future missions.

On the surface of the moon, it will spend a lot of time understanding the regolith. It actually has a drill which will drill down about nine inches to understand how heat dissipates on the moon.

They will look at lunar dust, which actually is very sharp and abrasive. The astronauts who went there in the 1970s complained about it, and it could be an issue for future moon colonies.

They'll assess the radiation environment and ultimately, Jessica, they're trying to figure out if there are in situ resources. In other words, could astronauts on the surface somehow live off the land, so to speak, if they were to live there. Are there things there they could use to sustain life?

DEAN: That will be so fascinating to see. And then kind of the macro is just the idea of sending people to the moon. This sort of lunar tourism type thing. What about that?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, the idea of setting up an encampment on the moon is an idea that's been around for a long time. A lot of people hope that, Apollo, which just could have kept on going, but it was not a sustainable program.

The idea that NASA and other space enterprises can learn about sustaining human beings in space at some distance is important, not just to understand the moon and understand what it's like to live and work in space, but in theory, it's an idea that can be --we can hone ideas and techniques that could be used for a much more audacious mission someday to Mars and that's part of the thinking.

DEAN: Right, so it's kind of -- it's setting up a, I guess, a blueprint for that.

O'BRIEN: Right, is it a blueprint? A lot of people would say, well, if you spend a lot of time on the moon, maybe it becomes a bit of a dead end because it is very expensive. And once you set up shop there, do you run out of funds to make the next leap. And that's the debate that's always been there.

DEAN: All right, more to come on this. Miles O'Brien, fascinating stuff. Thank you for walking us through all of it. We appreciate it.

O'BRIEN: You're welcome, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead, why this 19-year-old is taking her school system to court for allowing her to graduate with honors.

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[19:49:18]

DEAN: A critical 12-mile stretch of I-40 in North Carolina's Pigeon River Gorge has reopened five months after it was damaged by Hurricane Helene. It is a critical transport route for trucks to bring products from East Coast ports to the Midwest.

And while it's still definitely a construction zone, reopening two of the four lanes there will help regional industries and national supply chains. The highway shutdown in September added almost 300 miles to drivers routes.

Graduating high school, looking forward to college is a defining moment for a lot of teenagers, but for one young woman in Connecticut, that moment came with a lot of challenges.

As Aleysha Ortiz set her sights on attending the University of Connecticut, she's also suing her former school district.

She says she graduated with honors despite never learning how to read or write.

CNN's Danny Freeman explains.

[19:50:12]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Did you ever think you'd be going to college here?

ALEYSHA ORTIZ, COLLEGE STUDENT, SAYS SHE CANNOT READ OR WRITE: No, never. No, I never in a million years.

FREEMAN (voice over): In some ways, Aleysha Ortiz is living an American dream. The 19-year-old began her freshman year at the University of Connecticut in Hartford this fall. She's excited to study public policy, the culmination of hard work after moving north from Puerto Rico as a child.

FREEMAN (on camera): Do you remember when you first came to Connecticut?

ORTIZ: Yes, I remember I was very nervous, but I know it was going to be better opportunity for me to learn.

FREEMAN (voice over): But Aleysha says those opportunities never came to fruition.

FREEMAN (on camera): Even today, could you read this or would it take you a long time?

ORTIZ: It's impossible, I just see these words everywhere.

FREEMAN (voice over): Aleysha graduated from the Hartford Public School System last year, but she says today she is illiterate. She still doesn't know how to read or write. When she was an early education --

ORTIZ: They were just either tell me to sit in the corner and sleep or just draw pictures, flowers for them.

FREEMAN (voice over): And when she was in high school, she relied on speech-to-text programs and other apps to read and write essays.

Freeman (on camera): So, if you had an assignment where you had to write something, you'd open up a document like this and then do what?

ORTIZ: I would go here, to use the text-to-speech.

FREEMAN (on camera): Says dictate.

ORTIZ: Dictate, yes. I love pizza.

FREEMAN (on camera): This is how you would do your assignments.

ORTIZ: And then --

SOFTWARE: Cats of the world, VAK sporting a twin prop airplane --

FREEMAN (voice over): If you had to read something, that's how you do it. She said her mother, who does not speak English well, tried to get answers.

ORTIZ: She advocated so much, she went to the school. The principal will promise her that they will do better, and sometimes it will be people from the district or the directors promising her that they will do better.

FREEMAN (voice over): Now Aleysha is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city for negligence.

The suit alleges the school district documented and acknowledged Aleysha's learning challenges through multiple grades but because they were not adequately addressed, she continued to struggle academically and began exhibiting maladaptive behaviors in the classroom.

ORTIZ: Sometimes I will feel proud to be the bad child because at least I was something to them and I wasn't invisible.

FREEMAN (voice over): While the City of Hartford and an educator named in the suit declined to comment when contacted by CNN. In a statement, Hartford Public Schools wrote, "While Hartford Public Schools cannot comment on pending litigation, we remain deeply committed to meeting the full range of needs our students bring with them when they enter our schools and helping them reach their full potential."

DR. JESSE TURNER, LITERACY CENTER AT CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: That's "Dog Man."

FREEMAN (voice over): Dr. Jesse Turner is the leader of the Literacy Center at Central Connecticut State University. He feels the main issue here is inequality in public education.

TURNER: America should be asking a question do we really care about our children -- all of our children? And I would argue that maybe we don't.

FREEMAN (voice over): A 2019 report from EdBuild, which promotes equity in public schools, found that majority non-White school districts get $23 billion less than districts that serve mostly White students. Minority enrollment in Hartford's Public Schools is at about 90 percent.

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The Department of Education is a big con job.

FREEMAN (voice over): Plus, Turner fears a crucial guardrail will be lost if the Trump administration follows through with abolishing the Department of Education.

TURNER: How do I protect the special education children? Who do I go to if I close it down?

FREEMAN (voice over): College has presented its own obstacles, but Aleysha says UCONN has been accommodating, but she doesn't want any other student to go through what she experienced.

ORTIZ: I know we can do better, and I know we have a powerful community that wants to do better. I want to be the voice for them.

FREEMAN (voice over): Danny Freeman, CNN, Hartford, Connecticut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Danny, thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:59:02]

DEAN: Here at New York City, 7:58 P.M. here on the East Coast and streaming on Max, be sure to catch an encore of "Have I Got News For You" with host Roy Wood, Jr. and team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. Guests this week are U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and actor and writer, Dave Foley. The new episodes air only on CNN and streaming on Max.

And starting next Sunday on CNN, Jake Tapper sits down with perpetrators of Americas most bewildering and sordid controversies, along with the brave whistleblowers who challenged the corrupting forces of greed and power. This season, he dives into some of the most infamous scandals from the worlds of corporate America, sports and pop culture. The new season of "United States of Scandal" with Jake Tapper premiers next Sunday night at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

I want to say thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. We're going to see you right back here next weekend. In the meantime, have a wonderful night.

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