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Two Important Talks to Take Place in Geneva; Chinese Communities Worldwide Welcome the Year of the Fire Horse. Aired 3- 3:45a ET

Aired February 17, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church, Just ahead.

High-stakes talks between the United States and Iran are happening today in Geneva as the U.S. builds up its military presence in the region and Iran conducts naval drills.

Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was killed by poison dart frog toxin. A closer look at Russia's use of lethal substances.

And the Year of the Horse gallops to a start with the first new moon of the lunar calendar, how millions around the world will celebrate.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: I appreciate you joining us.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators are expected to begin nuclear talks in Geneva this hour, according to Iranian state media. Iran's foreign minister is expected to attend, as well as U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Iran's state-affiliated media says the only topic of discussion will be Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. military has been building up its air and naval assets in the Middle East ahead of the talks.

A second aircraft carrier strike group is already on its way to the region. Multiple sources say it's a direct attempt to intimidate Tehran and to give the Trump administration options to strike inside Iran if nuclear negotiations fail.

I do want to bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen now. He's live this hour in Geneva. Great to see you, Fred.

So, what's the scene there right now and what's expected to come out of these nuclear talks as U.S. military might builds up in the region?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rosemary. We're outside the embassy of Oman here in Geneva, which is where those talks are set to take place, it's starting by half an hour from now. You can see we pan over there towards the embassy area that the first cars are already arriving, some camera crews also outside, and we expect the negotiation delegations to arrive in the next couple of minutes as well.

And I think both sides, Rosemary, have said that these talks are obviously high stakes, and at the same time they want these talks to move forward as quickly as possible, especially as far as the United States is concerned. Of course, we know that there have been some proposals put forward by the U.S. negotiating team led by Jared Kushner and the U.S.'s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who, of course, has been working extremely hard to try and make these talks happen and to try and move these talks forward.

From our understanding, most of it does indeed deal with Iran's nuclear program, with how things could move forward there, and then of course also some of the nuclear sites that the Iranians have had that the United States largely destroyed in those strikes that happened in the summer of last year.

The Iranians themselves have said that they believe that these talks are serious, that these talks could move forward very quickly as well. They also say that they might put forward some counter-proposals of their own, but pretty much along the same lines. The Iranians keep saying they want to keep all of this within only the nuclear file, as they put it, in other words, not speak about their ballistic missile program and not speak about regional issues, for instance, proxy militias that operate in the greater Middle Eastern region.

And so both sides are saying they want to move these talks forward. However, you're absolutely right to say that, of course, all of this in front of the backdrop of those military moves that the United States has been making, putting assets here into the region, increasing those assets into the greater Middle Eastern region, obviously has some serious posturing going on.

But at the same time, you do hear the U.S. President Donald Trump saying, for him, it's preferential to get a deal with the Iranians rather than to have to use military force. The Iranians, for their part, are saying that obviously a war would be catastrophic for the greater Middle Eastern region.

They also warn that a war would not be quick, would take a very long period of time. So clearly, the stakes very high as the two parties meet here in Geneva, mediated by the Omanis. However, the general feeling is that both the Iranian delegation and the U.S. delegation certainly want to try and move these talks forward to keep them going and to keep the momentum going as well, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Fred Pleitgen there at the scene in Geneva where those talks will take place. Many thanks.

[03:05:05]

Ali Vaez is the Iran project director for the International Crisis Group, and he joins me now from Geneva as well. I appreciate you being with us.

ALI VAEZ, IRAN PROJECT DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Great pleasure.

CHURCH: So we heard there from Fred, and of course, as these high stakes nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran are set to get underway this hour, in fact, in Geneva, President Trump says that he'll be involved indirectly, but his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in- law Jared Kushner will be at the talks, and Iran's foreign minister will also, or certainly is expected to attend. What do you expect to come out of these negotiations, certainly as this buildup is occurring in the region?

VAEZ: Well, Rosemary, this is a decisive round of negotiation because the previous round in Muscat, which was the first contact after the 12-day war last summer, so for eight months the parties have not talked, did not really achieve even a framework for the negotiations. Both sides basically just described their positions on some of the issues, and there is some room for maneuvering, especially on the nuclear front, but there still appeared to be serious gaps, especially on non-nuclear issues like Iran's missile program or its regional policies.

So, if the parties do not manage to at least get a framework for what is it that they're going to negotiate about, and at least increase the common ground between them, I'm afraid the odds of diplomacy will drop significantly after this round, and the odds of war will go up.

CHURCH: And that is the big fear, of course. We know that President Trump says that he wants to get a nuclear deal with Iran through diplomatic means, that's preferable, but if that fails, he is threatening to strike Iran, using the military force that he's building up in the region, while U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham on a visit to Israel is calling for regime change, going a lot further here, regime change in Iran.

So, how likely is it that this level of intense pressure and intimidation will work to force Iran to make a deal, even at this late stage, it's sort of trying to make conditions related to these talks?

VAEZ: Well, look, the only thing that the Iranians deem more dangerous than suffering from another U.S. strike on Iranian territory is surrendering to U.S. terms. Because if they appear as desperate, weak, and they capitulate to U.S. demands, especially, again, on things that they see critical to their national security, like their missiles program, then basically they're undermining their own rule.

This is a regime that now depends on 5-10 percent of the Iranian society or its core ideological constituency, and it cannot afford to alienate them by making a deal that is entirely advantageous to the United States. And so this is why regardless of the military pressure, if the Trump administration is seeking maximalist demands, there is not going to be a deal.

CHURCH: And of course, it is worth noting that Iran is also preparing for the worst by conducting naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz, that's according to state media. What does that signal to you, and how inevitable is a strike on Iran, do you think?

VAEZ: Well, both sides are indicating that they're ready to fight. And in fact, the signs that they are more prepared to go into battle and they're more prepared to make compromises at the negotiating table. This is why it is quite concerning, this particular moment in time.

But Rosemary, I think the bigger question is what are the US' end objectives? Because as you noted, there are people around President Trump who want regime change, but regime change through you only using air power has really never happened anywhere else in the world. You always need boots on the ground that are either American or indigenous boots on the ground. And if it is to curb Iran's nuclear program, the President himself said Iran's nuclear program was obliterated last summer.

If it is to contain Iran's missile program, it requires several weeks of bombing. And what comes after that might be a regime that is more aggressive, more militarized, and has a higher intention of seeking nuclear weapons. So the objectives here and ends and means I think are as important as the tactical moves on the battlefield or at the negotiating table.

CHURCH: So what happens if these talks today end without a deal but perhaps with the prospect of first steps? Will there be room to extend the negotiations and what needs to be in that deal to satisfy both sides here do you think?

[03:10:04]

VAEZ: Well there is no real deadline other than the sustainability of U.S. military posture in the region. The massive firepower that the U.S. has massed cannot stay there for several months. It can stay maybe for another few weeks but not for several months.

And for that reason I think these talks would have to come to an end at some point in the coming weeks. Now if they make good progress today, if they have a framework, if there is a sign that both sides are willing to soften some of their red lines, then absolutely both sides would give more time to diplomacy. But if it appears after this round that the gaps are too big to be bridged, then I think the march towards a conflict would pick up pace.

CHURCH: All right, Ali Vaez, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate your analysis on this issue. We'll keep a very close eye on what's happening there, I appreciate it.

Well Ukraine says at least two people have been killed and 16 others wounded in the latest round of Russian attacks. The foreign minister in Kyiv says the strikes targeted energy and civilian infrastructure. Meanwhile, U.S. President Trump is looking for results ahead of the next round of talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, they're big talks. It's going to be very easy. I mean, look, so far, Ukraine better come to the table fast. That's

all I'm telling you.

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CHURCH: Negotiators are set to meet today and Wednesday in Geneva following talks in Abu Dhabi last month. Next week marks the four-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll is joining the U.S. delegation in Switzerland, which includes Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukraine's president over the weekend and he talked about the Trump administration's goals on Monday following a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister in Budapest.

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MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States' interest is to see the war end and we want to do what we can to make it end. We're the only nation on earth that apparently can get both sides to the table to talk. I'm not here to insult anybody, but the United Nations hasn't been able to do it.

We think it's a war that's incredibly damaging. We think it's a war that's incredibly destructive. We think it's a war that never should have happened and should end as soon as possible.

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CHURCH: Mourners across Russia are remembering opposition leader Alexey Navalny on the second anniversary of his death in prison. Navalny's mother and wife attended a graveside memorial service in Moscow on Monday. Mourners also turned out at the Russian embassy in Berlin.

The anniversary comes as five European countries said in a joint statement that Navalny was killed by a lethal toxin found in poisoned dart frogs. The Kremlin called the claims biased and unfounded. More now from CNN's chief international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tiny, brightly colored, yet deadly and found in Ecuador or Peru. But 8000 miles away in Siberia, the naturally occurring toxins of the South American Antony dart frog were used to murderous effect by Russian authorities to kill President Vladimir Putin's leading irritant opposition figure Alexey Navalny.

That's according to an investigation by the U.K., Sweden, Germany, France and the Netherlands announced ahead of the second anniversary of Navalny's death.

They said studies of samples from Navalny's body left them quote confident the rare substance epibatidine killed Navalny. Inside the IK3 prison in Kharp, northern Siberia, given by touch or injection and likely a synthetic version lab made, said an expert.

ALASTAIR HAY, ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGIST, LEEDS UNIVERSITY: Never have I come across anything to suggest it's been used to poison anybody deliberately. I think there's only one instance in the literature of a laboratory worker having what was clearly a much smaller dose of would have been made synthetically.

The structure of this chemical has been known for some time. Epibatidine is so toxic that it's never been used clinically, because doctors just can't take the risk.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): An answer for his widow, yet still pain, she told Politico.

YULIA NAVANAYA, ALEXEY NAVALNY'S WIDOW: It's difficult for me to say that it's good news, you know, because my husband was killed. And of course, I knew that he was killed. He was very young man, he was less than 50.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Moscow has form here, several detailed western investigations evidencing its use of exotic and poisons. In 2018, former Russian spy and defector Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned on his home's door handle by the Russian nerve agent Novichok.

[03:15:07]

They survived, but an abandoned bottle discarded by the suspected Russian agents killed a passerby, Dawn Sturgess.

Navalny himself narrowly survived Novichok being put in his underpants in 2020. You can hear his agony here on a visit to the Siberian city of Tomsk. He was later imprisoned after his return to Russia.

And in 2006, another Russian spy who defected Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by polonium 210 in his tea. In an operation likely approved by Putin, a British inquiry concluded the Kremlin has always strongly denied any involvement.

The Kremlin spokesman resolutely rejected the latest claims and called them negative, biased and unfounded.

Painful, imaginative and rare, the list of substances the Kremlin has been found to use on Russians it sees guilty of the highest crime, turning on Putin's Russia.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, how two British princesses are grappling with the fallout from their parents' Epstein scandals, the details after the break. And it looks like a clip from the next big Hollywood blockbuster, but

a viral fight scene between two A-lister actors never actually happened. How the A.I.-generated video is causing chaos in the movie industry.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

The billionaire chairman of Hyatt Hotel says he's retiring over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Files released by the Justice Department show Tom Pritzker was in close contact with Epstein in the years after Epstein's 2008 plea deal. Pritzker has been executive chairman since 2004, he also said he won't stand for re- election with the company's board.

Well for years, there have been allegations surrounding former Prince Andrew and his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Newly released files revealed that Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, also had a longstanding friendship with the convicted sex offender. Now their daughters are being swept up into the scandal.

Max Foster has more.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of Britain's royal family thrust into the spotlight after being named hundreds of times in the latest tranche of Epstein files. The saga involving the late sex offender had already engulfed both their parents, the former Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson.

Now new details have emerged about Epstein's friendship with the princess' mother, who seems to have brought her daughters into his orbit even after he was convicted for sex offenses.

A series of emails released by the Department of Justice indicate that Ferguson, Eugenie and Beatrice all visited Epstein in Miami in 2009, just five days after he was released from jail. He served 13 months for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Do you need a ride? Epstein asks before they lunch. No, thank you, the former Duchess replies, adding it'll be myself, Beatrice and Eugenie at a time when they were 20 and 19 years old.

In a subsequent email, Ferguson tells Epstein cannot wait to see you.

A separate thread between Epstein and his personal assistant days earlier also appears to indicate that he paid about $14,000 for the trio's flights to the U.S. And here's another email chain nearly two years later in 2011 between

Epstein, Ferguson and her then spokesperson. In it, the former Duchess says that Beatrice advised her on how to handle a British journalist to whom she had given a statement about Epstein.

Just last year, Ferguson's spokesperson said she had cut off relations with Epstein, quote, as soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations. But all these DOJ files suggest otherwise.

As for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Beatrice and Eugenie's father, he remains under pressure from his ties to Epstein. The disgraced former prince has previously denied any wrongdoing, including after he reached an out of court settlement with a woman who said she was trafficked to him as a teen. Beatrice and Eugenie have kept a low profile through all of this, and there's no suggestion of wrongdoing simply because they've been named in the Epstein files.

FOSTER: We have reached out to Ferguson's representatives for comment on these exchanges seen in the Epstein documents, and CNN has sought to contact the princesses for comment, but we haven't heard back from them.

Max Foster, CNN London.

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CHURCH: President Trump says the U.S. and Cuba are talking as the island deals with the impact of a crippling oil blockage. The nation's oil supply has fallen off dramatically since the U.S. threatened tariffs on anyone sending oil to Cuba.

Now fuel rationing has left many gas stations with nothing to sell, and rotting food and trash are piling up across Havana because there's not enough fuel for garbage trucks to keep their routes. Air travel to and from the island has also been affected. Last week Cuban officials warned international airlines that jet fuel would not be available for a few weeks.

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We are riding into the year of the horse. Predictions for what's in store for the Lunar New Year just ahead.

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

The sheriff of Pima County, Arizona says all of Nancy Guthrie's family members have been cleared as possible suspects in her disappearance.

[03:30:06]

The search for Guthrie is now in its third week. Sheriff Chris Nanos says the family has been cooperative and gracious and suggesting otherwise is quote "not only wrong, it is cruel." Iranian state media says nuclear negotiations with the U.S. should be

getting underway as we speak. The indirect talks will be mediated by Oman's foreign minister inside the country's embassy in Geneva. The talks will reportedly focus exclusively on Taiwan's nuclear program.

Also happening in Geneva today is the next round of talks to end the war in Ukraine. Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet with U.S. mediators for the third time since last month. President Trump says the talks should be easy but Ukraine better come to the table fast, his words there.

Well more than a billion people around the world are ringing in the year of the horse. Lunar New Year is considered the most important holiday for many Chinese and other Asian communities. While celebrations may differ by country and region, many people still look to the Chinese zodiac for hints about what's in store for this year.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout catches up with a feng shui grandmaster.

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Lunar New Year is a season of celebration and this year it falls on February the 17th, the start of the year of the fire horse.

LU STOUT: Sounds super intense. What could happen in the year of the fire horse?

RAYMOND LO, FENG SHUI GRAND MASTER: The horse is a powerful fire element so it's a pure fire year. So fire is a very strong energy, very energetic.

There will be protests and anti-government movements. And demonstrations and also not so peaceful.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Raymond Lo is a master of feng shui, an ancient Chinese art of creating harmony by balancing the elements. When a new Lunar New Year approaches, many here consult a master like Lo to plan ahead. Full disclosure, we're doing this just for fun.

LU STOUT: Donald Trump born in the year of the dog. Zohran Mamdani is the goat.

LO: Fire is not his favorable element so it will stimulate his enemies and then therefore he will face the oppositions and obstacles in the year of the fire horse.

So he's a strong metal gentleman. He's in good luck.

Fire is the power to metal people so therefore he will gain in power. That's actually a favorable year for him.

LU STOUT: Also last time we talked, you said it was going to be a good year in 2024 for Joe Biden and a bad year for Donald Trump. That didn't age well.

LO: Actually it's Joe Biden because of his luck. The year is not so bad but his luck is going down.

LU STOUT (voice-over): So then what about the luck of celebrities like Timothee Chalamet born in the year of the wood pig but with a birth date that means--

LO: He's strong water, so that's why he will be into a prosperous year. Also water means girlfriends. He has more chance to encounter girlfriends and more chance to make money.

LU STOUT: Well let's not tell his current girlfriend that.

LU STOUT (voice-over): And if you're a horse in a horse year like actress Margot Robbie, Lo says watch out.

LO: If you are the horse you are offending the year and in penalty with the horse means you have more worries and more trouble.

LU STOUT (voice-over): Lo advises horses to protect themselves with a goat amulet.

Look, in 2026 anything can happen. Good luck can come at full trot or not.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

There you go. All right, well they are two of the biggest actors in Hollywood but right now Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are making headlines for a joint project they never took part in. Why an A.I. video of the pair has got Hollywood sounding alarm bells, we'll take a look.

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[03:35:00]

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CHURCH: Time for your Business Breakout and here's a look at the headlines.

"Wuthering Heights" is reaching new heights at the box office. The latest remake of the classic Emily Bronte novel earned $83 million globally in ticket sales over the weekend. Valentine's on Saturday likely gave it a little box office boost, "Wuthering Heights" was released by Warner Brothers Pictures, a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of CNN.

According to Reuters, Mobile Oil Australia has been fined about $11 million for misleading advertising about gasoline sold at some stations in the state of Queensland. Regulators say the Exxon Mobile company falsely claimed its mobile synergy fuel contains special additives when it did not and that's a breach of Australian consumer protection laws.

The U.K. is working to make the internet safer for children by cracking down on illegal content by A.I. chatbot providers. The government says it's looking to impose fines and other penalties for failing to protect users from harmful online content.

[03:40:03]

Other possible protections could include curving features like infinite scrolling or restricting social media access for children under 16.

The company behind TikTok is vowing to tone down its powerful new A.I. video tool after a 15-second A.I.-created video depicting Hollywood superstars Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise duking it out atop a skyscraper caused an uproar.

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The clip was created with ByteDance's brand new video creation tool. The head of the Motion Picture Association quickly called on ByteDance to stop its quote "infringing activity" saying Seedance 2.0 engaged in the unauthorized use of copyrighted works on a massive scale.

And CNN business reporter Clare Duffy takes a look at why the video is causing such a stir and how this could be just the beginning.

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CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS TECH REPORTER: This is exactly the sort of thing that Hollywood has been so worried about as we've seen the emergence of these A.I. video tools. The creator of that clip said that he provided just a two-line prompt to ByteDance's new A.I. video generation tool Seedance 2.0 to get that hyper realistic clip that if that were shot in the real world it would have required dozens of people - actors, directors, camera people, people to set up the lights, and the set.

Now you plug two lines into an A.I. video tool and within seconds you get this very hyper realistic clip. And that is what writers, actors, directors have been so worried about that their I.P. would be used to train these A.I. models which eventually could potentially replace them creating much of this content.

So it's no surprise that we saw Hollywood reacting very quickly here, both Disney and Paramount Skydance reportedly threatening legal action. And ByteDance has now backed down the company saying it will strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.

The challenge here is that this is sort of a race to the bottom issue. You have ByteDance which is a big enough company with a big reputation it may not want to be in Disney's legal crosshairs but that's not to say a smaller player might not just do exactly the same thing here and I think that is the thing that Hollywood, the media industry is going to have to confront in the coming years.

And you're already starting to see examples of how big Hollywood giants are trying to get in on the benefits of A.I. while protecting their I.P. Disney last year took a $1 billion equity stake in OpenAI and in exchanges allowing OpenAI to use its characters in its A.I. video generation app Sora.

So we're starting to see these big entertainment companies try to walk this line here but of course still working very hard to protect that intellectual property that has made them so popular so lots to watch here as this continues to unfold. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "World Sport" is coming up next.

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