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CNN This Morning
Trump Echoes Russian Talking Points About Ukraine War; New Video Shows Delta Flight Crash Landing, Rolling Over; Hamas To Release 4 Deceased, 6 Living Hostages This Week. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 19, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:35]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, February 19th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A half baked negotiator could have settled this years ago.
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SCIUTTO: The blame game. President Trump sets the table for a meeting with Vladimir Putin while falsely pointing the finger at Ukraine for Russia's invasion. It's false.
Plus, coming home. Hamas set to free six living Israeli hostages on Saturday, as well as the remains of four others on Thursday.
And --
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ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: I think President Trump is a good man.
TRUMP: I respect him, I've always respected him.
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SCIUTTO: Side by side. The president sits down for a joint interview with first buddy Elon Musk. As questions mount about who's actually in charge of DOGE.
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SCIUTTO: Five a.m. here on the East Coast. Live look at the Capitol Dome early this morning.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Jim Sciutto, in again for Kasie Hunt. Good to have you with us.
We begin this morning with the latest developments from Saudi Arabia, where a delegation of senior U.S. officials, including the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has been meeting with their Russian counterparts. Ending the war in Ukraine is the goal.
Ukraine, we should note, not at the table. And following the talks between Russia and the U.S., President Trump criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, echoing Russian talking points, including the quite false accusation that Ukraine started the war with Russia.
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TRUMP: I think I have the power to end this war, and I think its going very well. But today I heard, oh, well, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.
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SCIUTTO: Been there for three years, which is to say they've been under a Russian invasion for three years.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Riyadh with the latest.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Russians are calling these first U.S. talks a huge accomplishment. After years of hostility, officials from both sides now chatting across a Saudi negotiating table.
The U.S. says it wanted to see how serious the Kremlin is about ending its brutal Ukraine war.
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: I came away today convinced that they are willing to begin to engage in a serious process to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can end be brought to this war, whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this conflict's willingness to agree to certain things.
CHANCE: For the past three years, Russia has been pounding the front lines across Ukraine, seizing territory in a full scale invasion estimated to have inflicted hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides. Despite tough sanctions, though and steep losses, the Kremlin has shown little sign of wavering, even now, briefing that the war is just one issue, along with restoring economic ties in the possible normalization of relations with the U.S. under President Trump.
KIRILL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIAN DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: I think, again, in the previous administration, there was so much damage done to any communication, any dialogue, any understanding of each other, I think the Biden administration. So, I think we're starting from a very low base. And we have lots of road ahead of us. But I think the conversation was a dialogue, trying to understand each other's position, respectful dialogue. And that's already a huge accomplishment. No ultimatums, really understanding each other's positions.
CHANCE: But what's also striking in Riyadh is the absence of key players, not least Ukraine, whose embattled president vows he will not give in to Russia's ultimatums and express surprise U.S. Russia talks are proceeding at a pace.
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, Europe, NATO countries and the United States could give Ukraine hope, strong security guarantees, hope that Ukraine will become a NATO member.
But today, we do not hear such support from the United States. We know that they and several other European partners do not support a membership in NATO. And I believe that this is Russia's great desire.
CHANCE: Another is Russia being back at the top table of international diplomacy and the Kremlin dream of shattering Western unity on Ukraine, becoming a harsh reality.
[05:05:08]
Matthew Chance, CNN, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
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SCIUTTO: Joining us now, Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs in the Obama administration.
Joel, good to have you this morning.
JOEL RUBIN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS IN THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Great to be with you, Jim.
SCIUTTO: So we have a U.S. president stating falsely that Ukraine is to blame for its own invasion by Russia and endorsement of Russia's position here. Is there anything that is holding Trump back now from making a deal that is not just not in Ukraine's interest, but also Europe's interest? Because Europe, of course, greatly concerned about the Russia threat?
RUBIN: Well, you know, Jim, right now, it looks like Vladimir Putin, one, Donald Trump, zero. And maybe that could hold Donald Trump back to realize or for him to realize that he's getting nothing at the table. And this is the thing that's so troubling about what we just saw over the last day or so.
Basically, Vladimir Putin's diplomatic isolation is over, and he gave up nothing to get that. So we got nothing in return, the United States. And there's a lot on the table here, not just the war in Ukraine. There are issues related to nuclear security. There are issues related to China, Europe.
So I hope that Donald Trump looks in the mirror because right now, what he's doing, what he said yesterday, that press conference is very disturbing. And it is very concerning about what his goals are, which don't seem to be very clear for the United States.
SCIUTTO: So I've been told by Republican lawmakers who are pro- Ukraine that they don't believe Trump would cave because they believe Trump would not want to be characterized as the U.S. president who lost Ukraine. I saw Dan Crenshaw say it quite similar on the air in the last couple of days. Is that true? I mean, given his public statements now, his exclusion of Ukraine from the talks and even more broadly from that, him telling Europe this is your problem, right?
RUBIN: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Is that actually a backstop?
RUBIN: You know, look, members of Congress are going to have their hopes and their dreams. Chairman wicker, as well, basically said he stands with Ukraine. They're going to have to get that message across to the White House, because right now it's free sailing for Donald Trump and for this White House.
We might see him meet with Vladimir Putin within days, and that will certainly shake things up here. But what do we getting out of this? You know, this is reminiscent to me, Jim, of the Afghanistan negotiations, where basically President Trump cut a deal with our adversary, with the Taliban without having our ally, the Afghan government, at the table.
We gave up -- we let 5,000 Taliban terrorists out, set the table for a destruction of Afghanistan, that disastrous withdrawal, which they always want to blame President Biden on. It was the foundation was laid by that botched negotiation. And that's what we're seeing now here.
So peace in our time is what keeps coming up in my mind, which is that this may be a negotiation for the near term, but he's not setting the table for stability in Europe.
SCIUTTO: Yu bring up Afghanistan. And, of course, President Biden was president when the U.S. withdrew. He, at a minimum shares responsibility. But -- but it is correct that Trump started those negotiations and -- and was willing it seemed to walk away as well. The Afghan war is something you hear from Republicans consistently as a sign of American weakness. And even sometimes they make a connection between that withdrawal and the Ukraine invasion. Say, you know, had had U.S. shown there, Russia would not.
But setting that aside, could that potentially convince Trump that, well, look at the aftermath of the Afghan withdrawal, the weakness, et cetera. Do you want a second one on a much larger scale, frankly, right?
RUBIN: Right. I mean, that is the only ounce of hope that we can hold on to, which is the recognition that Vladimir Putin, he has played the United States for many years. This may be another reset, right? The third reset, where Russia continues to get what it wants, and the recognition that he is not going to be stopped.
And this is the problem, though, I have to say to the press conference yesterday, the misdiagnosis of the cause for this war is deeply concerning. Ukraine did not start this war. Ukraine is defending its territory. Russia is the one that invaded.
And now for the United States to be saying Ukraine pay for the cost of the war. Typically the invader, the perpetrator of conflict, is the one that pays, not the victim. Imagine if someone broke into your house and broke their leg and then asked you to pay them for their hospital bills. It's obscene.
So, hopefully, these arguments behind the scenes when Secretary of State Rubio and adviser Waltz get their say to him, look, we did a lot here. And you publicly can say that we're getting in touch with Russia, but we got nothing for it. And it's going to look really bad for your legacy if you don't get more than just discussions.
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SCIUTTO: Well, and then you have this other story where Trump is apparently pressuring Ukraine to give up its natural resources to some sort of payback for -- for U.S. support.
Joel Rubin, thank you so much. Appreciate you coming on.
Straight ahead on CNN this morning, growing concerns now about the health of the pope. The Vatican confirms he has pneumonia in both of his lungs.
Plus, stunning new video of the moment a delta jet burst into flames and flipped over entirely as investigators dig for exactly what went wrong here.
And President Trump and Elon Musk trying to bring independent government agencies, that's right, they're intended to be independent under White House control.
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ALINA HABBA, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: We are doing exactly what America mandated on November 5th, cleaning up waste.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): The fight to make sure that the working class of this country gets a fair shake. That is not going to be won here in Capitol Hill. It's going to be won by millions of people all over this country.
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SCIUTTO: Investigators have now recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the Delta passenger jet that crashed, burned, and flipped upside down at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Nineteen of the 21 passengers who were hospitalized have now been released. Just incredible. Everyone survived.
CNN's Brian Todd has the latest.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, dramatic new video of the fiery Delta plane crash outside Toronto showing the moment of impact, the flames, the right wing tearing off, and the left wing flipping the plane over. First, the approach.
STEVEN WALLACE, FORMER DIRECTOR, FAA OFFICE OF ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION: It does seem to be slightly right wing low.
MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT INSPECTOR GENERAL: There was no attempt to flare at all which slows the plane down. It'll put your back wheels on the runway first.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Why was that? Was there some sort of what we call wind shear?
TODD: The weather at the time, cold, some blowing snow and wind gusts up to 38 miles per hour.
JOHN NELSON, SURVIVED DELTA PLANE CRASH IN TORONTO: It was routine, but like the winds were super gusty. The snow had kind of blown over the runways.
TODD: Then, the impact.
PETE CARLSON, SURVIVED DELTA PLANE CRASH IN TORONTO: It was just a very forceful event, where all of a sudden everything just kind of went sideways. It sounded, I mean, it was just cement and metal, you know?
NELSON: When we hit, it was just a super hard light-like hit the ground, and the plane went sideways, and I believe we skidded like on our side and then flipped over on our back where we ended out. There was like a big fireball out this left side of the plane. We were being tossed around. I was just trying to hold on to everything at that point.
PETE KOUKOV, SURVIVED DELTA PLANE CRASH IN TORONTO: We were upside down hanging like bats. Some people were kind of hanging and needed some help.
TODD: Passenger Pete Carlson got a gash on his scalp.
CARLSON: I took my seatbelt off. And as I took it off, crashed down onto the ceiling, which had become the floor because we were upside down.
TODD: Even as passengers evacuated, the danger was not over.
CARLSON: You could smell the gas. There was just liquid pouring over, you know, the small windows.
NELSON: There was another explosion, but luckily the firefighters got out of there.
TODD: The fuselage doused in foam as passengers moved to safety.
DEBORAH FLINT, PRESIDNET AND CEO, TORONTO PEARSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: I cannot commend enough the crew the flight attendants, pilots, and our emergency responders for their quick and effective response.
TODD: The injuries?
CORY TKATCH, PEEL REGIONAL PARAMEDIC SERVICES: Back sprains, head injuries anxiety, some headaches, nausea and vomiting due to the fuel exposure.
TODD: Another angle showing the impact in this video obtained by TMZ.
O'BRIEN: It's extraordinary to see the collapse of that landing gear. That must have indicated a lot of impact, or maybe some problem with the landing gear itself.
TODD: But officials not yet commenting on a possible cause.
KEN WEBSTER, SENIOR INVESTIGATOR, TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARD OF CANADA: We've already removed the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder, and we've sent them to our lab for further analysis.
At this point, it's far too early to see what the cause of this accident might be.
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TODD (on camera): While officials are not saying at this point if weather was a factor in the crash, Deborah Flint, the president and CEO of Toronto Pearson International Airport, did say that on Thursday and on Sunday, right before that crash on Monday, that this area was experiencing extreme weather, she said two storms, one on Thursday and one on Sunday, brought more than 20 inches of snow to the area around the airport. More snow than they had had all winter last year.
Brian Todd, CNN, Toronto.
SCIUTTO: I was in Montreal for that storm. It was big.
Still to come on CNN this morning. The verdict is in. A jury has decided the fate of hip hop star ASAP Rocky, who is facing two felony assault charges.
Plus, Hamas is set to release more hostages. Sadly, not all of them are still alive.
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[05:23:38] SCIUTTO: The latest now from the Middle East. Hamas says it will release the remains of four Israeli hostages on Thursday. Six living hostages on Saturday. All six of those living captives have been identified by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum. They include two who were held in Gaza for nearly 10 years now.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has been tracking these developments.
Salma, are folks watching this confidence -- confident that these releases will take place? Because, of course, there had been some concern about Hamas holding back. Do we think these steps are going to move forward?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think there's an expectation that they will move forward, Jim. And that begins tomorrow, of course, Jim, I think there's a sense of sadness that's really blanketing over Israeli society because tomorrow, as you read, four remains of hostages and among those are the very youngest who were taken captive, Ariel and his brother Kfir.
They were only nine months and four years old, respectively, when they were taken captive. There was really horrifying video. You may remember it at the time of their mother, Shira, as again she was taken into -- into Gaza by militants. You could see her crying in the video with her two boys, the last time that they were seen.
It was only a few months later that Hamas announced that the family, the mother and the two children had been killed in what Hamas called an Israeli air strike.
[05:25:01]
And in a very cruel twist, their father Yarden was made to record a tape while still in captivity, while still being held by Hamas, in which he blamed Israel for the death of his three family members.
Now, Yarden was later released alive and well earlier this month, in fact. So you can expect that he could potentially be among those who are going to receive the bodies tomorrow, but prepare for a day of mourning across Israel, because these two boys really became the face of the hostages. For so many who have taken to the streets for months, calling for their return.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. So sad to see those little faces of those babies.
Salma -- Salma Abdelaziz in London, thanks so much.
It's now 25 minutes past the hour, and here's your "Morning Roundup".
The Trump administration cutting off legal services for unaccompanied migrant children, the latest in a series of actions stripping key resources from immigrants coming into this country. The Department of Interior sent the order to a nonprofit group, which has been helping thousands of children who crossed the southern border without their parents. A heartbreaking discovery by Australian wildlife officers. More than
150 killer whales beached in Tasmania. Rough ocean conditions are making it impossible now to refloat them. Officials made the painful decision overnight to euthanize 70 of the whales.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not guilty.
(CHEERS)
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SCIUTTO: That's the hip hop artist and actor A$AP Rocky, celebrating in the arms of his partner Rihanna, after a jury found him not guilty of two felony assault charges. The case stemmed from a shooting incident between the rapper and a former friend of his in Los Angeles. He later thanked the jury for, quote, saving my life.
And coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, growing concerns about the pope's health. The Vatican has released a new diagnosis about the 88-year-old pontiff's condition. We'll have an update.
Plus, President Trump and Elon Musk together on their favorite network.
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TRUMP: I know every businessman. I know the good ones, the bad ones, the smart ones, the lucky ones. I know them.
This guy is a very -- he's a brilliant guy.
But you're much more than a technologist. You are that. But he's also a good person.
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