Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Cuba in Crisis; Interview With Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE); Colbert Calls Out CBS; Zuckerberg Set to Testify at Trial. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired February 18, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Let's listen to this, actually.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Let's listen, yes.

BROWN: Is he not talking? He was asked, do you have any message to parents? He didn't answer that question.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: We know several parents are there who have lost children or their children, they say, have been harmed by social media.

And we know that they are there in solidarity. Let's see what happens.

(CROSSTALK)

(SHOUTING)

BROWN: So far, he's choosing to stay silent to the questions about the parents. That was probably a lawyer giving him that advice. Don't say a word.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: Oh, absolutely. There -- that is an individual who is well- prepped by his attorneys...

BROWN: Yes.

WILLIAMS: ... not to say anything.

Now, I would assume that, at his testimony, he will have a well- scripted answer with respect to those specific questions about, what do you say to families who are alleging that they were harmed by your platform?

Now, what we were saying before those -- that moment came up, there's internal documents saying that they recognize that tweens, kids between the ages of 11 and 13, are their most valuable customers, because they are most likely to be converted into long-term users of the platform. Now, if that shouldn't give every parent a chill down their spine that they are specifically targeting young developing brains, I don't know what will. Again, it's just complex to be able to draw an absolute causal link between the harms that someone suffered in light of all the things that are kicking around people's brains, and what they experience on social media.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, it's so heartbreaking to hear the stories.

In the last hour, Pamela and I spoke with a mother who says her 17- year-old daughter Coco died after she met an older man on Instagram who sold her pills laced with fentanyl. Julianna Arnold now runs a nonprofit for parents who say they lost their children because of social media.

Listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIANNA ARNOLD, FOUNDING MEMBER, PARENTS RISE!: We want the truth. We want the truth. We want transparency and we want these companies to be held accountable.

For years, they have been telling us how their platforms are safe and they're doing everything in their power to make them safe for our children. And as we see now internal documents that's being released with this trial that they actually knew that their platforms had risks to children, risks to their mental healths, that they were addictive.

And they're in fact designing them to be addictive so they could get -- increase their profits by having more and more children at younger ages on their platform to increase their lifespan of being on their platforms and using their products.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Your reaction, Elliot, to hearing this from a grieving mother?

WILLIAMS: Well, it's -- above all else, there's a human element to all of this that is profoundly heartbreaking for not just parents, anyone with shreds of sympathy to them, right?

The hearing that I hear echoes not just of litigation in the past years to fentanyl, but also tobacco, where you had products that were being used as they were designed that had some sort of health effects on people.

Now, it's a little more abstract here where you're talking about mental health and not lung cancer or heart disease. But, at its core, these are very similar trials.

Now, how Meta and the other platforms address countermeasures they have taken, because they do say that we have tried to make these products safer so kids can use them, that will be the big question going through this and how much the jury really buys that or sides with the plaintiff, saying that, look, no matter how safe these products are made for 11- or 12-year-olds, they still do have potential health effects on them.

BROWN: All right, Elliot Williams, thank you, as always.

BLITZER: Thanks, Elliot. Appreciate it very, very much.

Just ahead: Stephen Colbert calls out his own employer, CBS, over a scrapped interview, as the Trump administration puts intensifying pressure on broadcast TV networks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:38:27]

BROWN: New this morning, late-night host Stephen Colbert is once again publicly criticizing his own network's legal team after he says they ban "The Late Show" from airing an interview with Texas Democrat James Talarico.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": For the lawyers to release this without even talking to me is really surprising. I don't even know what to do with this crap.

(LAUGHTER)

COLBERT: Hold on.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Talarico also responded to the controversy, saying the plan to keep him off the air -- quote -- "backfired."

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins us now.

Brian, you have some new reporting on how this back-and-forth may have started, right?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly.

And now Talarico is benefiting from it by raising money off this controversy. But I believe this started because FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a close ally of President Trump, signaled last month that he wants to enforce the old equal time rules that have been on the books for decades, but have mostly been ignored by his predecessors.

Past FCC chairs did not prioritize these rules. However, Carr uses these rules, views these rules as a way to target broadcast networks and, frankly, to target liberal shows that are critical of President Trump.

Now, Carr, he's going to hold a press conference later today. He might say that he is simply following what Congress intended many decades ago. But as a practical matter, networks and local stations, they have been aware for decades that these rules have not been taken very seriously, that there are not major enforcement actions happening.

[11:40:08]

So, Carr came out and said that last month. he's going to take these rules seriously, and then a couple of weeks ago the SEC sent a letter to ABC over a possible violation of equal time rules at "The View." So CBS, knowing about that letter at ABC, was more skittish as a result, and that's why the CBS lawyers called Colbert.

So you have a situation where the Trump administration's pressure against these stations is clearly being felt at ABC and at CBS.

BROWN: All right, you're right. I know you're going to continue to cover this.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And coming up, Pamela: Democrats in Congress want new limits on presidential pardons after President Trump draws bipartisan backlash right now.

But only one Republican is publicly supporting the effort. We will talk to him. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:23]

BLITZER: Happening now: Police say they have arrested an 18-year-old man from Smyrna, Georgia, who charged the U.S. Capitol here in Washington armed with a loaded shotgun yesterday.

The man was carrying additional rounds, according to police, and was wearing a tactical vest and gloves. Police say they also found a Kevlar helmet and gas mask inside the man's car. Officials said, after the man exited his car and started running toward the U.S. Capitol, police drew their firearms, telling him to drop their gun and get on the ground. The man complied and was immediately taken into custody.

Also happening now, no deal in sight, as the ongoing standoff over Homeland Security funding enters its fifth day.

The White House on Tuesday rejected Democrats' latest proposal to end the partial shutdown impacting agencies like TSA and FEMA, and one source telling CNN the two sides remain -- and I'm quoting now -- "pretty far apart."

Let's discuss this and more with the Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska.

Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Thank you.

BLITZER: As you know, Democrats are making clear that Republicans need to accept at least a few nonnegotiable demands on reining in ICE agents, including requirements to obtain warrants to make arrests in homes.

You said you support these, but many in your Republican Party have balked at even these suggestions. Are you satisfied with how the White House is handling these negotiations, these talks right now?

BACON: It's my opinion that we should be able to find some low- hanging fruit that both sides can agree to.

And we have 670,000 people being furloughed. It's not fair to TSA, FEMA, Coast Guard, all these folks who are serving our country to be furloughed, and our country needs them.

And so my view of it, we play hardball, because the Democrats have initiated this. By the way, ICE and Border Patrol are pretty well funded through the end of the year, and that's what they're mad at. So these innocent people are being caught up in it.

Or maybe we should do the higher thing, reach across the table, find a few areas that we could agree on. Like, for example, body cameras, I think, is pretty easy.

And so I would recommend, let's find some areas that both sides could agree to that's not a reach for the Republicans.

BLITZER: Good point.

In last year's government shut down, Congressmen, Democrats used that to drive up the issue of health care affordability. The longer this current partial shutdown goes on, though, do you see it hurting or helping Republicans, especially coming up to the November midterm elections?

BACON: Well, I see it mainly it's going to cost Democrats, because the last two shutdowns were really initiated by Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries.

And, like I said, they're doing this because they're angry at ICE and Border Patrol. But both of those agencies are very well funded through the end of the year. It's the other parts of Homeland Security that are not. And it's these agencies are the agencies we need.

And I think all of us, we fly quite a bit. TSA is very important. And those poor folks are working without pay right now. And it's not right.

BLITZER: A source tells CNN that the president's political team, including Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, met with GOP strategists and Cabinet members up on Capitol Hill last night to discuss the midterm election strategy. Trump's team is encouraging some of his Cabinet secretaries to visit

competitive midterm districts and highlight their work on economic issues. How effective do you think that would be?

BACON: Well, if they stay on message, it's a good thing.

I think what's cost the president, instead of focusing on affordability -- the fact right now wages are climbing faster than inflation, the first time in five years. We should be talking about that and gas prices.

But they get sidetracked on issues that I think are harmful, like Greenland. Or Ukraine is very popular, with three-quarters of Americans wanting to do more to help Ukraine. But the president here has done very little and often sides with Russia over Ukraine.

I find that these issues hurt the president and his favorable ratings and will hurt Republicans downballot. I find tariffs are not popular, at least in our district. Two out of three folks in my district don't like tariffs.

So, the president has some good things to run on. Wages are climbing. Gas prices are down. He's secured the border. But we don't hear enough about those things. We hear about things that are very unpopular right now. They got to stay focused.

BLITZER: And one of those things that you don't like necessarily are the tariffs.

[11:50:02]

This week, you became the first Republican to co-sponsor a new constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to overturn presidential pardons. Why do you think this is necessary?

BACON: Yes, what this does, if two-thirds of both the House and Senate disagree with a pardon, it can be overturned.

I think pardons have been abused. The most egregious case from the current administration was when the president, the previous president of Honduras, was found guilty in a U.S. court, U.S. jury, of trafficking 400 tons of cocaine, 800,000 pounds of cocaine, and he got pardoned.

There's no excuse for that. But I would also like to say, Wolf, that the previous president also has some very egregious pardons. And I think it's gotten out of hand. I think the pardon -- the Constitution has given the president or that authority -- has been abused.

And I think this allows me a chance to criticize these actions that have been taken. I think it's an uphill climb to get it done, but we need to put a spotlight on it. Pardon -- the pardon authority has been abused.

BLITZER: Are there any other Republicans that you have spoken to who support this notion? BACON: I don't know if they're willing to put their name on this bill

right now, but I know many of them, many Republicans, did not agree with the pardon of a guy who was found guilty of trafficking 400 tons of cocaine.

And so there has been criticisms internally. And I think it's -- I think the president needs to know. He needs to get this kind of feedback, right? We are better when people give us feedback. If someone thinks they're immune to feedback from their own party, it makes them worse.

BLITZER: You think the president did the right thing pardoning all of those individuals who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, as we all remember? And he pardoned all of them. Was that the right step?

BACON: I disagreed with it. There were many cops that were injured; 140 police officers were injured during 6 January. And those folks who injured the cops should not have been pardoned.

Now, I do think you can make a case that some of the sentences were extreme. So maybe some of them could have had commutations or reduced sentences. But to pardon everybody, I think, was a mistake. I mean, we had people vandalizing the Capitol, defecating on the halls of Congress. And we had 140 cops injured.

The folks who did those actions should be -- should have been held accountable.

BLITZER: Yes, and they were pardoned by the president.

All right, Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, thank you so much for joining us.

BACON: Thank you.

BLITZER: All right, thank you.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:57:06]

BROWN: Happening now: President Trump says the U.S. and Cuba are talking as the island nation deals with the impact of a crippling oil blockade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Cuba is right now a failed nation. They don't even have jet fuel to get for airplanes to take off. They're clogging up their runway. We're talking to Cuba right now, and Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now.

And they should absolutely make a deal, because it's a humanit -- it's really a humanitarian threat. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Cuba's oil supply has fallen off after Washington cut off shipments from its ally Venezuela and threatened to penalize other countries sending oil.

Trash is piling up across Havana because there just isn't enough fuel for garbage trucks to keep their routes. And drivers are struggling to keep their engines on.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports from Havana.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Owning a classic car in Cuba used to be a gold mine.

Until recently, Mandy Pruna (ph) earned more from one hour driving tourists in his vintage 1957 Chevrolet than most Cubans do in a month. But he's no longer able to make a living. Just before taking me out for a spin, Mandy canceled his permit to work as a chauffeur.

"Everything is uncertain at the moment," he says. "There's no fuel. We don't know if there will be any and how we will pay for it. There's no tourism."

Cuba is becoming an increasingly paralyzed country, as the Trump administration's policy of blocking oil shipments from abroad cripples an already ailing economy. Where just weeks ago cars lined up for hours at the pump, now there's no one, because there's no longer any gas.

Each day, public transportation is harder to find. Many switched to bicycles.

(on camera): When I first came to Cuba, the Soviet Union had just fallen, and there were more bikes on the road than there were cars. As this crisis goes on, it feels more and more like we're returning to those times.

(voice-over): The White House is strong-arming Cuba's communist-run government to open politically and economically in exchange for the fuel shipments to resume. Cubans are seeing food prices soar as the crisis drags on.

"We are paying two, three times as much to restock and keep people happy," a vendor tells me.

There's no food. And there's no immediate solution in sight.

(on camera): This is the kind of place that I buy vegetables for my family. And most of the products are coming from outside Havana. Transporting them from the countryside is going to get more difficult, if not impossible. Cuban officials have responded by saying people need to start growing their own food. (voice-over): Cuba may just be weeks or perhaps days away from

running out of fuel. A humanitarian disaster could be on the horizon. Already, many fishing boats sit idle.

"One can't work. The country is stuck. There's no industry. Nothing is happening," this fisherman tells me. "We will see how this ends."

[12:00:03]

Until then, the best many Cubans can hope for is to stay afloat as their country goes under.

Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our thanks to Patrick Oppmann -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And our thanks to all of our viewers for joining us this morning.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right now.