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One World with Zain Asher
FBI Analyzes DNA from Glove Found Near Nancy Guthrie's Home; Iranian FM in Geneva Ahead of U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks; Trump Dispatched Second Aircraft Carrier to Middle East; Second Round of U.S.-Iran Indirect Talks Set for Tuesday; Congress Deadlocked Over Department of Homeland Security Funding; DOJ Lists Hundreds of Prominent People Named in Epstein Files. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 16, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Her family is holding on to hope. More than two weeks after 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie was abducted. "One World"
starts right now. Authorities are waiting for the final forensic results from DNA found in a glove about two miles from Nancy Guthrie's home in
Arizona.
We're live on the scene with the latest on this investigation. Plus, negotiators from the U.S. and Iran are preparing for talks to resume
tomorrow, even as President Trump strikes a pessimistic tone over potential nuclear deal. And Team USA has dedicated hype man at the Milano Cortina
game.
CNN's Coy Wire, sits down with Flavor Flav. All right, coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. This is "One World". New developments in the
search for Nancy Guthrie a gov, glove rather, near her home appears to match the one worn by the masked person seen in the doorbell camera
footage.
This comes as "Today" show Host Savannah Guthrie makes a new emotional plea for her mother's safe return.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, DAUGHTER OF NANCY GUTHRIE: I wanted to say to whoever has her or knows where she is, that, it's never too late, and you're not lost
or alone, and it is never too late to do the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: A source familiar with the investigation tells CNN that investigators still have not identified a leading motive for Nancy
Guthrie's disappearance. As for the glove, the FBI says that DNA recovered from it is being analyzed to determine the identity of a possible suspect.
This evidence is being run through what's known as the Combined DNA Index System, U.S. National Database that holds more than 19 million offender
profiles. Let's go straight to Leigh Waldman, joining us live now from Tucson, Arizona. I mean, it's an important point to note that we still
don't necessarily have a motive in terms of this possible abduction of Nancy Guthrie.
But the fact that there could be DNA evidence possibly linking this glove to a potential perpetrator is huge in terms of a potential breakthrough for
this case, Leigh.
LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right, Zain. This could be a major, major development. Once we're able to identify who this DNA
actually belongs to. So, let's wrap up everything we have found so far. We're learning from law enforcement that a glove found less than two miles
from Nancy Guthrie's home has DNA on it.
They've sent it off now to a private lab in Florida for DNA testing. Once the FBI comes and does some quality control and confirms what's been found,
they'll run it through their criminal database, CODIS to try and see if it matches any previous offenders that they have in that system.
It will likely also be tested through these third-party DNA mapping sites that are open to the general public, to identify any familial DNA. These
are just efforts to try and identify who this person is. What they're also working to determine here is if the DNA on the glove that they found also
matches the DNA that was found at Nancy Guthrie's property.
Now the sheriff is not telling us where exactly it was found, but they did say it does not match Nancy. It does not match anyone close to her. So, if
those two DNA samples they match, that gives investigators a better place for them to zero in on with their exhaustive searching that's been under
way for 16 days now, since Nancy Guthrie went missing.
They can really zone in on a specific area here in this desert terrain to see if they can uncover any other clues. But that will be the biggest clue
that we've had, really since the release of that doorbell camera video that showed that armed and masked man. They believe the gloves that they sent
off for that testing visibly they match the gloves that that person was wearing.
We know at this point the backpack he was carrying was identified as like a Walmart brand backpack. They're working to identify any of the other brands
that he has on as well, the ski mask, the gloves, the jacket that he has on. Profile we have at this point is just a medium billed man between 5'9"
and 5'10".
[11:05:00]
They're still asking neighbors in this community, especially in a two-mile radius from Nancy Guthrie's home, to look through all of their surveillance
video and to submit that to their law enforcement sites to see if there's been anyone who is suspicious, any vehicles that seem out of place between
January 1st and February 2nd.
But we do need to focus in on what all of this is about Nancy Guthrie herself, that gut wrenching and heartbreaking video released by Savannah
Guthrie pleading with her mother, as a parent abductor to release her. It's not too late to do the right thing, is what she had said to them.
And we know that Nancy Guthrie, she's 84 years old, in fragile health. She's on daily medication that she likely has not had any access to in the
16 days that she's been gone. It's really showing you the desperation this search has reached the level of desperation, not only from her family, but
also her neighbors.
You can see these beautiful yellow flowers behind us. We asked the flower shop where most of these are coming from, what the yellow symbolizes. They
say it's hope, it's support. We spoke to one woman who lives about a half a mile away. She says her mother plays Mahjong with Nancy every week.
She's known the family for decades now, and her heart is broken waiting to see if Nancy is safely returned home and whoever did this is brought to
justice.
ASHER: All right. Leigh Waldman, live for us there. Thank you so much. Right, U.S. President Donald Trump says that his newly formed board of
peace will unveil a $5 billion package of humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Gaza. He posted on social media that members will also commit
thousands of personnel towards a stabilization force and local police to maintain security in the enclave.
The first so called Border of Peace gathering will take place in Washington on Thursday. Separately in the occupied West Bank, Israel is moving to
designate large parts of it as state land. The government defends the land registry as an administrative measure. Palestinians are calling it a de
facto annexation.
The European Union Israel's neighbors and Israeli Human Rights groups are condemning the move as illegal. Iran's Foreign Minister met with the U.N.
Nuclear Watchdog Chief in Geneva today ahead of the next round of nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran.
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to attend Tuesday's talks as well. And over the weekend, Secretary of State Marco
Rubio reiterated that President Trump prefers diplomacy, but he expressed some pessimism, saying it's hard to make any deal with Iran.
Even as talks proceed, the Trump Administration is ramping up military pressure, sending a second U.S. Aircraft Carrier Group to the region, seen
as Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Jerusalem. So, Jeremy, just in terms of what we can expect from the second round of negotiations between
Washington and Tehran in Geneva, when you think about the fact that there is clearly a lot of mistrust on both sides.
But can there be any sort of meaningful progress here? The U.S. obviously wants to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iran wants sanctions relief. What
can we expect?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, these talks are certainly highly anticipated, and there are going to be enormous
consequences, should they fail, and that is because we have been witnessing this massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East right now, preparing
for the alternative to that diplomacy, which could very much be armed conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
Certainly, U.S. military strikes on Iran, which President Trump has talked about in the past as a distinct possibility. It is also clear that that
U.S. military buildup certainly is part of that diplomacy as well as it gives both Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the top U.S. negotiators on
this issue, some added heft as they go into these negotiations with Iran.
The second round expected to begin tomorrow in Geneva. And as these negotiations get under way, we've been hearing from U.S. officials. We've
been hearing from other officials in the region making very clear just how difficult it will be to actually get to the kind of deal here that would be
considered a good deal by the United States, one that could potentially avert armed conflict with Iran.
The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has made clear that no one in the past, he said, has been able to get what he termed a good deal with Iran in
the past, but he said, we are going to try. And President Trump has made clear that his preference is diplomacy. His preference is to get a nuclear
deal, in particular with Iran. But what the terms of that deal actually would be, you know, right now, there is still quite a large gap between the
U.S. position the Iranian position.
And an even larger gap between the Iranian position and the Israeli position, and that is why last week, we saw the Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, traveling to Washington to urge President Trump to not only get a good deal on the nuclear front, but to also make sure that this
is a deal that also addresses Iran's ballistic missile program, which is of top concern to Israel because it is within range of many of those ballistic
missiles, as well as Iran's support for regional proxies.
[11:10:00]
The bottom line here is that those talks tomorrow are going to be critical to determining whether more diplomacy is indeed going to follow, whether
these two sides determine that a deal is possible, or whether the possibility looms of those talks collapsing, and very quickly, things in
this region going combustible, as we have been watching this major military buildup.
And also, of course, the possibility of Israel either joining potential U.S. strikes on Iran, should it come to that, or perhaps unilaterally
taking its own action, all of these options very much on the table. Not clear yet which direction things are going in, but we will likely have a
better sense of all of that tomorrow, once that second round of negotiations concludes, Zain.
ASHER: Jeremy Diamond live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, let's take a closer look at Iran and these upcoming talks. Bilal Saab is a
Senior Managing Director at TRENDS U.S., which provides analysis on security issues. He's also a Former U.S. Defense Official and an Associate
Fellow at Chatham House.
Bilal, thank you so much for being with us. So, what are the consequences if these talks fail, Bilal?
BILAL SAAB, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR AT RENDS U.S.: Well, they're pretty clear. I mean regional escalation, some kind of a military confrontation
that would easily spill over to, you know, other countries in the region, and this is exactly what partners of the United States are worried about.
I mean, that's why you've seen some pretty consistent diplomacy on the part of the Saudis, the Emirates and the Turks, the Qataris, trying to, sort of
urge the Trump Administration to avoid the military option. But, I mean, you're seeing what the president is doing. He's trying to enforce the issue
with the Iranians, with that massive troop deployment, not troop, sorry, military deployment, and the gaps are considerable between the two sides.
I agree with your colleague before the gaps not just between the Americans and the Iranians, but also between the Americans and the Israelis, because
the Israelis have a set of conditions as well in terms of what would be a favorable deal with the Iranians. I share the skepticism of President
Trump. I share the skepticism of Secretary Rubio, but we'll see what happens.
ASHER: Yeah, we'll see. But let's talk about the demands of the Israelis here, just in terms of what Netanyahu said to the U.S. President when he
met with him in Washington last week. He wants Iran not just to curb its nuclear ambitions, but also to dismantle its ballistic missile program.
And on top of that, to really cut back and completely end support for proxy groups in the region. Talk to us. I mean, obviously this is, as you point
out, there's a massive gap. And as Jeremy said, there's a massive gap between what the U.S. and Iran, what they both want.
But again, when you throw Israel into the mix and even wider gap. Talk to us about the level of influence the Netanyahu has over President Trump on
this particular issue.
SAAB: Look, I don't blame the Israelis for asking for these conditions. I mean, they very much vividly remember, just like other partners in the
region Arabs, specifically, they remember the deal of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the JCPOA during the Obama Administration,
which completely avoided that conversation, and it focused exclusively on the nuclear stuff.
And we ended up with, you know, the JCPOA, which itself was inherently flawed, but like I said, it didn't address the missile stuff. It didn't
address the regional proxy. So, they're trying to avoid that critical mistake this time around. Look, if you ask me if President Trump will be OK
with just a nuclear deal, I would say yes, that is his top priority.
But he also promised the Israelis that they retain, you know, independent military action in case they don't like what the Americans are going to
sign with the Iranians. So, look, the Israelis have always been, you know, quite clear about their right to act, you know, independently of the
Americans if they don't like what's being signed.
And that's a huge, I think, dividing point between the Americans and the Israelis. There's going to be continued diplomacy between the two sides to
try to sort of come up with some kind of a common ground between the two to avoid any kind of independent action that would, you know, undermine the
interests of the other.
But -- that is quite a complicated I mean, I could think of 27 reasons, frankly, why this negotiation would fail. But I'm not ruling it out yet.
ASHER: Well, listen, President Trump scares, your shares rather your pessimism, specifically, even if we're just focusing on not what the
Israelis want, but what the U.S. would even be happy with, just in terms of nuclear talks. And he suggested that regime change in Iran might, quote,
unquote, be the best thing that could happen.
I mean, what do you make of those comments, and what is the U.S. risk by pushing for something that extreme?
SAAB: That's just psychological operations, Zain.
[11:15:00]
I think it's just, you know, an intimidating tactic. I don't think really, he's going to push for something like that. That said I would take very
seriously the military deployment. You know when from President Trump, Zain, you remember a few days ago when he said, I'm looking for decisive
military action?
I bet you that the Pentagon read that statement and said, Mr. President, we need more fire power if you're going to go for decisive military action,
which means that we need a second aircraft carrier, we need air refueling capacity. We need more fighter jets, and that's exactly what's being
deployed to the region right now.
The stuff that keeps ebbing and flowing between regime change and all that. I mean, that's more of a sort of a desirable ideal scenario that sort of up
the ante, but I don't think it's really a realistic or operational demand of President Trump. It's just more to, you know, continue the pressure on
the Iranians to make the necessary concessions.
ASHER: So then, how likely is it at this point? I mean, you're skeptical about negotiations. These are the second round of talks that we're seeing.
A lot of people believe that, you know, there's so much mistrust on both sides, and there's such a wide gap just in terms of what the Iranians are
pushing for me, obviously, they want sanctions relief.
What the Americans want is to curb the nuclear program. Just based on that, how likely is it that we will actually end up seeing military action
between the U.S. and potentially the Israelis joining in against Iran again?
SAAB: All right, so let's stick to the nuclear stuff, right? I mean, just put aside for a moment the missiles and the regional proxies, because those
are almost like a matter of fact. They are red lines of the Iranians. They don't even want to talk about them. Even on the nuclear stuff, the couple
of proposals that you've heard from the Iranians, and you mentioned that in your reporting with the meeting with Grossi, the IAEA Director, the
Iranians are proposing.
All right, why don't we just dilute the 60 percent enriched uranium that we have, which is probably about 40 kilograms that they have buried in deep
underground. We'll dilute that, and then we'll have you the IAEA verify that, and then send that memo to the Americans, that way we can come clean
and say, look, we don't have highly enriched uranium, and therefore we're not seeking nuclear weapons.
Another idea that was floating around, and I'm not sure how much the Iranians are on board with that, is that they would ship that stuff to some
kind of a regional consortium, you know, led by the Turks and others and so on and so forth. And that way they don't -- you don't have that material on
Iranian soil.
I'm not sure the Americans are going to agree to that. I'm not sure that they're okay with even the right to enrich period. They want zero
enrichment capacity, exactly what the Israelis want. Look something's got to give that's sort of a last minute, sort of last resort attempts by the
Iranians to reach a nuclear deal and to over war.
They even thrown in like another carrot, Zain, look, there's a lot of opportunities between us to invest in, you know, energy and mining and so
on and so forth. And they understand the president. They understand that he wants deals and he wants, you know, economic opportunities for the United
States.
I don't think that's enough. I don't think that's enough to really get off the hump. I think, if you ask me now, Zain, the chances of reaching a deal
versus the chances of actually getting into a military confrontation, I would go for the latter and not --
ASHER: Well, we'll find out soon enough, won't we, Bilal? Right, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. All right, still to come, the U.S.
government is partially shut down again as members of Congress fight over funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
We'll ask if a compromise is in sight. Plus, top lawmakers on both sides of the aisle express anger after the U.S. Justice Department defends heavy
redactions in the Epstein files.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
ASHER: The U.S. government remains partially shut down with no end in sights, making this the third shutdown in less than a year. Democrats and
Republicans are at an impasse over funding proposals for the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats standing by their demands, the immigration
enforcement agents and operations get rained in this after federal offices of Minnesota shot and killed two Americans.
The top Senate Democrat argues that I.C.E. agents are simply out of control, while Republicans argue the shutdown is putting Americans at risk.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): They're almost trained it looks like to be nasty and mean and cruel and go way beyond what ordinary police departments do.
So, they need to be reined in. They need to stop the violence. And the question that Americans are asking is, why aren't Republicans going along
with these common-sense proposals?
SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): President Trump and Republicans wanted six weeks. Democrats are the ones that wanted two we said we've got to have time to
figure out a pathway forward. It is clear that Republicans are working in good faith. And I think it was really short sighted of Democrats to walk
away from actually securing our homeland.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Lauren Fox joins us live now from Washington. It's quite incredible that this is the third shutdown that we've had in the past sort
of six months. And yes, of course, this is only a partial shutdown, but I think the irony for Democrats is that I.C.E. operations and CBP operations
are largely going to be more or less unaffected.
It's the likes of TSA, for example, the U.S. Coast Guard and FEMA, especially if there is a disaster and this shutdown drags on for long
enough that might end up seeing the operations most affected, Lauren.
LAUREN FOX, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's exactly right, and I will tell you that there just hasn't been that much urgency in
these negotiations, as you heard Senator Britt arguing there. Republicans had wanted a lot longer runway to have this negotiation, in part because it
is really complicated to reform immigration enforcement in this country.
I mean, this is an issue that has bedeviled Congress for decades. They've really struggled to find paths forward when it comes to the issue of
immigration, and it was not clear, despite the fact that there were sort of this momentum and this opening to have a discussion about how to rein in
I.C.E. officers around the country.
It really wasn't clear how they were going to get there so quickly. And I'm told that over the course of the last two weeks, these negotiations have
just been moving so slowly. You have Democrats who will turn over a list of proposals that they want, then it will take a couple of days for the White
House to get back a counter offer.
I mean, just to give you a sense of where we are right now, Democrats had put forward a counter offer. The White House had responded with legislative
texts, and they still have not seen another counter offer from the Democrats, and now it has been about four or five days since that last
offer.
So that just gives you a sense, I know that's sort of in the weeds of how there is a lack of urgency as the Department of Homeland Security has now
been shut down for a couple of days. That deadline, obviously last Friday at midnight. It's not clear exactly how they are going to get out of this.
A lot of times when you get into these shutdowns, it's incredibly difficult to figure out what the off ramp is to get out of it. And is there ever
going to be a situation where Republicans and Democrats can come together on a narrow set of changes, that are going to satisfy where the Democratic
base is right now?
I mean, there's so much outrage, so much frustration, so much concern about the way that these I.C.E. operations have been operating even before
Minneapolis, that it's just not clear that anyone on the Democratic side is going to be able to vote for a proposal if it doesn't have every single
thing that they have demanded.
[11:25:00]
And of course, as you know, on Capitol Hill, negotiations are about finding the art of the possible what's in the center. And right now, it's just not
clear what that realm of possibilities is?
ASHER: Right. Lauren Fox, live for us there. Thank you so much. Right, the U.S. Department of Justice is struggling to explain why some of the Epstein
files it recently released have so many redactions in what some critics are calling a continued violation of the law.
And a letter sent to Congress on Saturday, the DOJ defended the redactions and included a list of quotes, politically exposed persons, but one
prominent Republican lawmaker says the reasons provided to keep some of those names hidden will not hold up in a court of law.
Nancy Mace is accusing the government of withholding information and claims there are missing names from the list. The Democratic co-sponsor of the
bill, meantime -- in the department for trying to muddy the waters, and his Republican colleague, who also co-sponsored the bill, is sharply
criticizing the Justice Department for not fulfilling its legal obligation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I know the DOJ wants to say they're done with this document production. The problem is they've taken down documents
before we were able to go over to the DOJ and look at the unredacted versions. They took down some of the most significant documents, two of
them involving Virginia Giuffre's case.
And other things, the picture of Epstein in a room where it's got CIA written on the boxes that's been taken down. We want to be able to look at
all these files. They can't keep those documents down after they've already produced them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And video has now been released from an FBI sting operation in the Epstein investigation that was carried out seven years ago, the Justice
Department says it shows Epstein's Former House Manager attempting to sell Epstein's address book. The book is said to contain personal information on
prominent people and victims of the convicted sex offender. CNN's Kara Scannell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALFREDO RODRIGUEZ, JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S FORMER HOUSE MANAGER: Names. Last names. Area codes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK? Who created this book?
RODRIGUEZ: Epstein himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This book was made by Epstein?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a video of an FBI sting operation with Jeffrey Epstein's Former House Manager and an
undercover FBI employee from 2009. The Palm Beach House Manager Alfredo Rodriguez believes he is selling Epstein's address book to someone
representing a lawyer of Epstein's victims.
RODRIGUEZ: You will see a lot of important people here.
SCANNELL (voice-over): He claims that the book contains contacts of powerful people as well as Epstein's victims.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those are mostly underage girls. Those numbers. They were very young.
SCANNELL: A source familiar with the case confirmed the video shows the sting operation, which court documents show happened two years after the
FBI demanded that Rodriguez turn over any Epstein documents. Instead, court documents say he kept the address book and tried to sell it for $50,000.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Alfredo. How are you?
SCANNELL (voice-over): In the occasionally redacted 45-minute video of the meeting Rodriguez implicates Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's close associate,
who is now serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking of minors.
RODRIGUEZ: Ghislaine Maxwell was his former companion, a very powerful lady from England. She would go to the former east, eastern countries in Europe
and find girls for Epstein. And I knew that because I went with my wife.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Rodriguez also claims that Maxwell kept a computer database of girls, something he said he saw briefly, once.
RODRIGUEZ: What kind of pictures? Naked. Naked girls. From all from Sweden, from Romania, from Czechoslovakia, from Brazil, from --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All minors? All young girls?
RODRIGUEZ: Very young. Very young.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like when you say very young, how young are we talking?
RODRIGUEZ: 16, 17. They're teenagers. They had braces.
SCANNELL (voice-over): Rodriguez provided no evidence to support the existence of the database.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead and count it.
SCANNELL (voice-over): The video released as part of the recent trove of Epstein documents abruptly ends after the agent hands Rodriguez a bag of
cash and says he will call the lawyer. Rodriguez was arrested for failing to turn over the book as evidence. He claimed the book was his property and
that he should be compensated for it, saying it was his insurance policy and that he feared Epstein would make him disappear or harm him.
SCANNELL: He eventually pleaded guilty to obstruction charges. At sentencing, prosecutors said that if Rodriguez had turned over the book in
2007 when authorities first requested it, it would have significantly advanced the ball toward bringing Epstein to trial, rather than allowing
him to secure a plea deal. Rodriguez was sentenced to 18 months in prison and died in 2014.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Thanks to CNN's Kara Scannell for that report. After this video was published, Justice Department said it failed to obscure the face of an
undercover person. CNN has updated its video with the face actually obscured.
[11:30:00]
Latest release of Epstein documents is causing renewed scrutiny around the British monarchy. Princess Eugenie and Beatrice are named hundreds of times
in the most recent tranche. Much of the criticism centers around their father's relationship with the late convicted sex offender.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is currently under investigation by British police. But the latest disclosures also reveal the apparent depth of
Epstein's friendship with the princess's mother, Sarah Ferguson as well. Coming up a new golden age, the U.S. Secretary of State offers high praise
and political lifeline to Hungary's authoritarian leader.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching today. Do the right things.
"Today's" show host Savannah Guthrie is making a new emotional plea for her mother's safe return.
This is the search for Nancy Guthrie stretches into a third week. Right now, the FBI is analyzing DNA from a glove found near her home. That glove
appears to match the one worn by the masked person seen in the doorbell camera footage. U.S. and Iranian officials are expected to hold a new round
of nuclear talks in Geneva, Switzerland on Tuesday, even as the Trump Administration ramps up the military presence in the region, sending a
second aircraft carrier group to the Middle East.
U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are expected to attend. The U.S. military says it has boarded another oil tanker in the
Indian Ocean after tracking it from the Caribbean Sea. The Pentagon says the vessel was targeted for being in defiance of President Trump's
quarantine meant to pressure Venezuela.
Trump has vowed to control Venezuela oil since the U.S. military ousted President Nicolas Maduro last month. And earlier today, in Budapest, U.S.
Secretary of State, Marco Rubio met with Hungary's authoritarian media leader, rather and Trump ally, Viktor Orban. Rubio declared what he called
a golden era of relations between the two countries, adding that the U.S. is deeply committed to Hungary's success.
[11:35:00]
Melissa Bell joins us live now from Paris. A lot of people are talking about this meeting between Secretary Rubio and Viktor Orban. Obviously,
Viktor Orban has been in power since 2010. He's looking for his fifth consecutive term in terms of winning the April 12th elections in Hungary.
But a lot of people are accusing Hungary of democratic backsliding and whether or not the Secretary of State should be supporting Orban, is
obviously raising a lot of red flags for people, Melissa.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a sort of whistle stop tour of two European capitals, Bratislava and Budapest, that
came, of course, hot off the heels of Marco Rubio's speech in Munich. Initially, there had been some relief amongst the European audience there
that it was less aggressive, its tone less hostile than had been that of JD Vance, the Vice President at the same conference last year.
But in fact, what we've seen over the next couple of days is Europeans really pick over the substance of that speech to discover that it was
really still pretty radical in what it had to say, suggesting that the sort of golden era of western expansion had ended with the end of World War Two.
And everything had sort of gotten worse since then, suggesting that Europe needed to wake up and follow the lead of the United States in order to get
better from where it was the position that it is in now, speaking again of the civilizational decline that has become a sort of theme of MAGA when
they come to Europe to speak to European leaders.
Perhaps no surprise then that it was to the Bratislava of Robert Fico that he headed, and then, of course, the Budapest to meet Viktor Orban. Viktor
Orban, of course, facing an important electoral test on April 12th, arguably the toughest he's faced so far, he'll be facing Peter Magyar, who
the poll suggests could well beat him.
So, what the Secretary of State had to say alongside Viktor Orban was extremely important. And what he pointed out was not just that there was
this ideological alliance between countries like Hungary and the United States, as there is, of course, between Slovakia and the United States now.
But also, that there was a very personal relationship, strong personal relationship, between the Hungarian Prime Minister and the American
President. And then that translated directly into the kind of business that Hungary had been getting over the course of the last year, no fewer than 17
investments from American companies since January of 2025 pointed out Marco Rubio.
So that kind of proximity was good for the prime minister. It was good for Hungarians, and it was likely to continue should Hungarians vote the right
way on April 12th. So quite a remarkable speech in itself.
ASHER: All right, Melissa Bell, live for us there. Thank you so much. I want to bring in Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt who's joining us
live now. So former prime minister, just to sort of jump off of what Melissa Bell was talking about, that this speech that Marco Rubio gave, and
obviously his meeting with Viktor Orban.
Obviously, Viktor Orban has been a close Trump ally in Europe. They both sort of share the same political ideology. But I think what Orban is
looking for from Marco Rubio, and obviously the Americans, is some key support from the Trump Administration as the April 12th election
approaches.
This would be Viktor Orban's fifth consecutive term if he was to win it. He's been in power since 2010. I mean, what do you make of the fact? I
mean, we talk a lot here in the U.S. about democratic backsliding for American institutions, the fact that you have Marco Rubio, the Secretary of
State, supporting another leader who is sort of questionably authoritarian, and who also in his own country, has been also accused of democratic
backsliding. What do you make of that?
CARL BILDT, FORMER SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER: Well, there's no doubt that there's been democratic backsliding in Hungary. And it's also, if we look
at the attempts at objective measurements that are made, it's by far the most corrupt, sorry, by far the most corrupt country in the European Union.
So, the fact that Secretary of State, Rubio rushes from Munich and the conversations that I didn't even have time to meet the EU High
Representative Kaja Kallas in order to try to shore up Viktor Orban is of course, telling in itself.
ASHER: Just in terms of the Munich Security Conference. More broadly, we heard German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speak on Friday, essentially saying
the same thing that Marco Rubio intimated at this idea that Europe does need to be much more responsible for its own security.
Marco Rubio's speech was considered to be slightly more welcoming in tone, I guess, than what we heard from JD Vance last year, but the message is the
same, that Europe does need to be much more responsible for its own security, instead of complete dependence on the United States.
How realistic is it, that Europe is ever going to be fully independent from the U.S. as it pertains to security?
[11:40:00]
And how realistic is it? How long will it take? Is it desirable, especially if there is another administration, Democratic administration, that comes
after the Trump Administration?
BILDT: Well, I think there are areas in which the dependence is getting better for quite some time to come, and that is primarily a strategic
nuclear deterrence. There's no way that you can build nuclear forces of the sides that the United States has, and no one intends to do that.
But apart from that, yeah, there's a dependence on some critical components, what they call strategic enablers. Can they be replaced? They
can be replaced. Will it go quickly? No, it will take some time. But with the increases that you now see in defense spending in Europe. In some
years, there's no question that Europe will be able to defend itself for all practical purposes.
We should also take it into account that the Russian army might not be that impressive after having been de facto to largely beaten by the Ukrainians.
So, we'll see a significant shift in the military-to-military relationships, or coronation of forces, you might say, within NATO across
the Atlantic.
ASHER: Just in terms of Zelenskyy speaking. You know, he's talked about time and time again, this idea of, yes, you know, Vladimir Putin appears to
want peace at the negotiation table, but what you see him doing in the battlefield shows a very different side of Putin, especially just how much
he has continually tried to destroy the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
In the dead of winter, Kyiv, over the past week or so has seen temperatures roughly around minus 10 degrees. And so just this determination to sort of
break the will of the Ukrainian people is apparent to all. The German Defense Minister said Putin says he wants peace, but his actions in Ukraine
and actions in at the negotiation table obviously speak another language.
What is Europe's role in ensuring the progression of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia that doesn't lead to peace simply on Russia's terms.
BILDT: Well, primarily, of course, to support Ukraine. The Trump Administration has seized nearly all the American support for the defensive
efforts of the Ukrainians. That means that Europe has taken over. So, all of the financial support is coming from Europe, practically all some
remaining small American components, but practically everything is coming from Europe these days.
And if we were not there to support the Ukrainians at the front lines and at the negotiating tables, then of course, Russia and Putin would, well, in
all likelihood, win. So, the European role is absolutely critical in order for Ukraine to have any possibility of securing some sort of decent outcome
of this particular war.
So far, no signs of Russia seriously, or Putin seriously being interested in a settlement, and that makes it even more important that the European
support is continuing and is strong, and that is the case.
ASHER: We heard from the Danish Prime Minister that the U.S.'s ambitions in terms of trying to take over Greenland. They still exist. They're still
present. The Danish Foreign Minister said, we're not out of the crisis just yet. We don't have a solution at all. I mean, how nervous are you?
I mean, Trump did move to drop his tariff threats against European countries who don't necessarily support his Greenland ambitions. But as the
Foreign Minister of Denmark said, the territory is simply not out of the woods yet. What can Europe do as a whole? And how much is Europe's hands
tied on this particular issue?
BILDT: Well, I think you have demonstrated when Trump threatened with tariffs over Greenland that we were prepared to strike back with even
harder tariffs, and that led to market reaction, and that led him backing down so far, so good. Now there are the diplomatic talks going on.
No one can guarantee the outcomes of those. One would hope that it will calm down the situation and there will be some sort of settlement that
respects the red lines of Greenland and the red lines of Denmark. But as the Prime Minister Frederiksen said, I mean, there's no guarantee of that.
We simply don't know. But so far, it's been possible to get Trump to back down somewhat and to get it into some sort of diplomatic track, but your
guess is as good as mine, we are dealing with Donald Trump.
ASHER: Right. And a highly unpredictable figure at the best of times.
BILDT: Yeah.
ASHER: Carl Bildt live for us there. Thank you. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.
BILDT: Thank you.
ASHER: All right. Of course, when we come back, it's not just athletes making headlines at the Winter Olympics. Up next CNN speaks to Flavor Flav
one of Team USA's biggest fans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ASHER: A new Olympic record and a historic number of gold medals, the 10th day of the Winter Olympics is certainly not disappointing. Norwegian cross
country skier Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo has become the most successful Winter Olympian winning his ninth career gold medal.
But even with all the bragging riots he's now entitled to, the athlete reacted to the milestone by saying, that's cool. And it's not just the
world's top athletes that lighting up the snow. Plenty of stars are in Italy and joining the game. CNN's Coy Wire caught up with Team USA biggest
fan Rapper Flavor Flav.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: As these athletes are out here chasing gold, we found the man who is TV gold. Flav, good to see you man.
FLAVOR FLAV, AMERICAN RAPPER, REALITY TV STAR: Yeah -- Coy.
WIRE: Pleasure to see you.
FLAV: How you doing, Coy?
WIRE: -- reminiscing about the very last time I was at the Olympics trying to bust the rhyme. I was at the house of WBD, I look up. Who do I see?
Yeah, boy. It's Flavor Flav. You said, hey, Coy, I almost have it there.
FLAV: That's my boy.
WIRE: There we go. Listen, you've done the Summer Olympics now, your first Winter Olympics. What do you make of it?
FLAV: Hey, yo man, let me tell you some. I'm looking to watch my girl Kaysha Love do her thing, you know what I'm saying.
WIRE: And Elana Meyers Taylor has an incredible story in bobsleigh, right?
FLAV: Yes.
WIRE: I know for Team USA, it's just so inspiring. As a mom of, you know, children that have disabilities, as you can only imagine, it's so
difficult. And here she is, one of the best ever at bobsleigh. I'm really looking forward to her.
FLAV: Yeah, no doubt. Well, the reason why, too, I say, Kaysha Love is because, you know, I went up to Park City, you know, and I took a bobsleigh
ride, and the 4-man bobsleigh. Coy, that ride was crazy, but I really enjoyed it. And see, I'm an adrenaline junkie.
WIRE: Yeah.
FLAV: You know, big kid, I never grew up. You know what I'm saying. I like, exciting things. And then I saw the skeleton. I said, oh my god, I got to
try that, yo Coy, he let your boy Flav get on the sled. I topped out at 66 miles per hour, bro. I enjoyed it so much, Coy. I joined the team.
WIRE: You've hyped up arenas all around the world. When you're here hyping up these athletes, you bring them life and joy when you see them, what
reminds you of your own grind when you were coming up in the hip hop game?
[11:50:00]
FLAV: Well, it reminds me of, you know, how I wanted to be accepted when people saw me perform. And you know, when I go out there and I perform, I
give it my all, and I just wanted people to really recognize that and embrace it. So that's what it reminds me of when I see these athletes get
on their sleds and stuff and they slide, all they want to do is be recognized, you know, for the hard work that they put in.
You know, no matter how hard you try, you don't give up, number one. You know what I'm saying, and as long as long as you keep trying, you
guaranteed to succeed, you know. And don't let failure be discouragement, you know what I'm saying, because part of success is failure.
It takes a lot to get out there and try. You know, there's a lot of people that's scared to get out there to do that, but those the ones that's out
there doing it are the ones that have the heart, you know what I'm saying, and those are the ones that's given us our entertainment too, because it is
an entertaining sport.
WIRE: Absolutely.
FLAV: Yes, and entertain and absolutely don't normally make -- baby.
WIRE: All right, Flavor Flav. Thank you so much for being here man. Can't wait to watch you continue to inspire these athletes out here, inspire
everyone you come into contact with. I really appreciate.
FLAV: Hey, I just thank you guys for letting me be here. This is an honor and a pleasure and a perfect measure, and I'm going to keep this memory as
a perfect treasure -- boy, Coy.
WIRE: -- boy --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: I'm actually surprised they didn't wrap the entire interview -- Coy Wire there. When we come back, are aliens real, Former President Obama
triggers a social media frenzy after his answer goes viral. What he said, after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, it was an action-packed weekend for conspiracy theorists after Former President Barack Obama went viral for his comments about the
existence of extraterrestrial life. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are Aliens real?
BARACK OBAMA, 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They're real, but I haven't seen them, and they're not being kept in what is it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Area 51.
OBAMA Area 51.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: As you might imagine, Obama's comments during that interview with Podcaster Brian Taylor Cohen sparks a frenzy of speculation online that
prompted this clarification from the former president.
[11:55:00]
The social media post, Obama wrote, the odds are good that aliens are real, but he says the chances are quite low that they've ever actually visited
Earth. And he added, I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us really. You got to catch them
all. A rare Pokemon card has just sold for more than $16 million.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $16 million. $492,000
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ready, bro? Oh my gosh.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: There you see implements the Logan Paul, bestowing the Pikachu Illustrator card with a diamond encrusted necklace. Paul set a world record
five years ago when he purchased the Pokemon card for around $5 million. This is just one of 39 cards created for a Pokemon illustration competition
in the late 90s.
And finally, a six-year-old Girl Scout from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is rewriting the record books. Pim Neill has sold over 75,000 boxes of
cookies, reaching customers in all 50 states. Her family says the secret to her sweet success is actually social media. Her videos went viral, reaching
millions of views, for viewers, rather, who praised her for her cuteness.
She's adorable. Officials with the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania say that Pim is bringing Girl Scouts into the new age of technology. All right,
stay with CNN. There is more "One World". My colleague, Bianna Golodryga, after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
