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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

Trump Set to Discuss Affordability and the U.S. Economy; Trump Approval Rating Falls to 36 Percent; Some Democrats Plan to Boycott Trump's Speech; Four Years of War in Ukraine; Iran May Offer Limit on Uranium Enrichment; CNN International: Guthrie Family Offers $1M for Tip Leading to Mother's Return; Hegseth Threatens to Cancel Anthropic's Pentagon Contract; Four Years of War in Ukraine; Mexican Forces Try to Restore Calm After Wave of Violence. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 24, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and

you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, President Trump is set to discuss affordability and the economy at his first State of the Union address since returning to

office. Savannah Guthrie says her family is now offering up to a million dollars for information leading to her mother's return. And Ukraine marks

four years since Russia's deadly full-scale invasion.

We begin in Washington, where in just about three hours, President Trump is set to deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term. The

White House says he will address public concerns about the cost of living.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: A large portion of the speech will, yes, focus on the economy. The president will lay out the case

for why he and Republicans are better suited to tackle, continue tackling the affordability crisis that was created by the Biden administration and

Democrats on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: That might be a tough sell. A new CNN poll puts President Trump's approval rating at a dismal 36 percent. This is the sixth time he has

addressed a joint session of Congress. Some Democratic lawmakers, including Pramila Jayapal and others, plan to boycott.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): The American people need to trust government. And everything that this president is doing is telling the American people

not to trust him. Whether it's the massive cover-up of the Epstein files, whether it's the blaming of the previous administration for the

affordability crisis that this president put on us with his crazy tariff wars and the ways in which he's cut health care and housing from American

people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Kristen Holmes, live at the White House. So, Kristen, of course, Trump administration, they see the polls, they may deny

them, but the polls aren't good across the board, particularly on economic issues. It seems Trump's message is going to be it's going to get better,

right? If you don't think it's better now, how is he going to make that case?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, that's what Republicans are hoping, and that's what White House officials say that

President Trump will focus on, that this was a problem that he inherited from the Biden administration. And then he will tick through some of what

he believes his greatest accomplishments have been, particularly as it pertains to the economy. Then that will then transfer into how exactly this

could look for your bank account, how it will benefit Americans over the next three years, even though you might not be seeing it right away.

As you noted, this is going to be a tough sell, just given what we have seen and the fact that there's almost nothing you can say when it comes to

affordability that can counteract how people feel. And of course, all the polling that we have seen shows that people still feel like the cost of

living is just too high.

Now, there is another question here, which is, will President Trump be able to stay on message? And I spoke to a number of Republicans who certainly

hope that he does stick to his message. I just want to give you one example, which was just last week. He went to Georgia to kind of test out

some of this economic messaging. And at one point he said, you know, a word you haven't heard in quite some time. It's affordability because we fixed

that. That is not something that went over well with Americans who do not feel as though they have a fixed affordability.

So, whether or not he can stay on message is something that these Republicans, particularly those who are going to be on a ballot in

November, who currently are carrying President Trump's baggage into those races, that's something they hope that he can do, knowing that that is the

number one issue right now for Americans.

SCIUTTO: Yes, 61 percent of those who responded to CNN's poll say he's moving the country in the wrong direction. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much.

For more now, Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois joins me. He co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, also sits on the House Intel

and Appropriations Committee. It's good to have you back. Thanks for joining.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL), U.S. HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE AND CO-CHAIR, U.S. CONGRESSIONAL UKRAINE CAUCUS: Thank you. Good to be back.

SCIUTTO: So, you said you, like several other Democratic lawmakers, will not attend the State of the Union tonight. Why is that?

QUIGLEY: You know, I was in the room on January 6th, I was in the chambers when the president sicked 10,000 insurrectionists on us. It wasn't for the

courage of the Capitol Police. I wouldn't be here.

[18:05:00]

I'm not sure our fragile little experiment in democracy would be here. And then the president pardoned those who killed those officers. Five were

killed, over 100 were injured. He imperiled our democracy. I swore I would never be in the same room again with this president. I know there's norms,

I know there's customs, but he broke those for all time on that day. He's done little to dissuade me that he cares about the rule of law and the

Constitution since then.

SCIUTTO: The White House press secretary, as you heard there, said the president's going to focus on the economy tonight. You've seen the polling.

The American people are not convinced he's helping them when it comes to economic issues. I wonder, given that, of course, we have the midterms

coming up in a number of months here. What is the Democrats plan to address affordability? Can you hear me OK? We might have lost him there. Oh, he's

back.

QUIGLEY: So, for me what's fundamental --

SCIUTTO: Go ahead. I lost you for a moment there. I was asking you what the Democrats' plan is.

QUIGLEY: Sure, look, I think affordability, everything costs too much begins with housing. There's a bunch that we can do to create housing

opportunities. When I got out of college, the first-time homebuyer was 28 years old. Now, it's 40. So, we need to create incentives. We need to end

the tariffs and provide opportunities for everyone for the American dream. But there's a number of things that we can do and will do to provide those

opportunities.

SCIUTTO: Name some.

QUIGLEY: Look, in terms of housing, it's helping with student loan debt and private debt that people have going in. It's max incentives to provide

housing. It's ending tariffs so that the supply chains don't cost so much and lumber doesn't cost so much in concrete and so forth. And then

providing incentives for local government to change their zoning rules, to change their building codes, to reinvent the notion of housing needs to

start with housing. It can't be an all-everything bagel. It can be something that provides safe, affordable housing.

In my city alone, Chicago, probably a hundred thousand units short of affordable housing. So, the crisis is everywhere in the country. We need to

be a part of the solution.

SCIUTTO: President Trump is also expected to discuss the Supreme Court's ruling regarding his tariffs. As you know, he's diving into a whole another

authority questioned by some legally to impose tariffs around the world. Do you believe, given how unpopular tariffs are, that there's any chance of

bipartisan legislation before the midterms to limit the president's tariff power further?

QUIGLEY: Yes. What we saw is the House passed a measure that limited what the president could do. It took away the Canadian tariff authority.

Obviously, the president wasn't going to sign that. But I'll just give you in my district alone, when I talk to small businesses, chambers of commerce

throughout a pretty large district, they all say the same thing. The president's ICE raids and tariffs were worse for them than COVID, and they

don't know if they can recover. That right now they want their money back. And my goal is to get that money back to my businesses and to the

residents.

You know, in Illinois, it's probably an average of seventeen hundred dollars a person that this cost. They are indeed a tax. There's reasons to

have tariffs, rational reasons. When you're dealing with someone who's an unfair trade partner, for example, or dumping products into your economy.

But the president isn't following any of those.

SCIUTTO: Is there a realistic way for companies and others to get those tariffs back? I mean, there is a way to do it, right? I mean,

electronically, they could refund them tomorrow. But the president seems to be digging his heels in, saying it needs to be litigated. Is that what you

see here, weeks, months of litigation to attempt to get partial refunds?

QUIGLEY: Look, I think overall you're going to see a president who has always been litigious and he's going to really dig his heels in on that on

that part of it as well. So, I think it's going to be a long time without Republican support, without Republicans saying, no, we need to get the

money back to these small businesses and to the American people. Our manufacturers are really hurting. So, this is an opportunity to correct

that.

The bottom line is -- I would say, a broader picture, if we were to win the House back, and I think we will this fall, I think this will be a president

who does almost everything by executive order and dares us to challenge him in court.

[18:10:00]

So, the courts are going to be busy, I don't know how fast that will go. The arguments that they just ruled on with tariffs took place in October,

so it was remanded back on the money being refunded. Unfortunately, they didn't talk about that in their decision. It's unfortunate because

everything with this president will be an attempt to drag it out in time.

SCIUTTO: I want to ask you now about an issue close to your heart, given that today is the four-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of

Ukraine. The U.S., quite remarkably, abstained from a U.N. resolution with the seemingly innocuous statements, among other things, calling for, quote,

"an immediate, full, and unconditional ceasefire, a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in line with international law." What's your reaction to

the U.S. abstaining from that fairly straightforward resolution?

QUIGLEY: Yes, the president hasn't yet decided who he wants to win this war. That sends a very loud message to our allies, but perhaps a more clear

one to our adversaries, who will see this as an appeaser. And if you're in Beijing, this is good news if your eyes are on Taiwan, but it's true across

the world.

It's sad because, as you know, you and I have been to Ukraine many times since the war started. Their heroic fight is worth our assistance. This is

a war of attrition that aids Putin. I think Trump knows that. He's done next to nothing to help him and has never criticized Putin. And if he ever

thinks that Putin will actually move forward in a fair and just peace, he's naive or he's in Putin's debt for some reason.

SCIUTTO: The assessments of the situation on the front lines seem to be shifting somewhat in Ukraine's favor, after great concern about slow and

costly Russian progress, but progress nonetheless, that lately Ukraine has been holding the line and perhaps even pushing back. Is it your read of

this that Ukraine might simply ultimately say no to the U.S., if, for instance, under pressure from Trump to make a deal they don't want to make?

QUIGLEY: Yes, I wouldn't make a deal like that just because it just gives Putin an opportunity. Let's just say there was a short-term succession in

the fighting. This would just give Putin an opportunity to rebuild, learn from his lessons, again, extending the war of attrition. It gives him an

opportunity to finish the job some other time.

I wish our NATO allies could do more. I think there's financial restrictions on that. Bottom line, the war probably taught us, tore off the

veneer of the actual strength of NATO and its capacity to build. Lessons learned from this war are plenty in the U.S. I'm hoping is learning as

well. But we had an opportunity with this new administration. If he had done one more supplemental, Putin understands one thing. Putin understands

strength. He doesn't see it in Trump. He's exploiting that situation.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, I wonder what your read is of this U.S. military buildup in and around Iran. Do you see the possibility, at least, of

limited U.S. strikes that don't lead to something bigger unintentionally?

QUIGLEY: This is a mercurial president. I know the concerns, the security concerns that the chiefs have raised about this. Those are obvious, not

just to Israel, our allies, but, you know, from the axis that is Iran, with those that can exert force. They're very real security concerns for our

country. I have no idea what this president is going to do.

But every time he's done something like this, a buildup, obviously, he's taken action. I'm not sure you can start something this dangerous and

decide when and if you're going to end this. A very risky proposition. As always, our hope is that diplomacy will win out before he goes to action.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Mike Quigley, thanks so much for joining.

QUIGLEY: Thank you. Take care, everyone.

SCIUTTO: Well, the family of Nancy Guthrie are now offering up to $1 million for any information leading to her return. That, in addition to the

FBI's reward of $100,000, it has now been more than 20 days since Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Arizona home.

In a new video message, her daughter, The Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie, says the family is still holding out hope of being reunited with

their mother. But she acknowledges, sadly, her mother may no longer be alive.

[18:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, DAUGHTER OF NANCY GUTHRIE: We still believe. We still believe in a miracle. We still believe that she can come home. Hope against

hope. As my sister says, we are blowing on the embers of hope. We also know that she may be lost. She may already be gone. She may have already gone

home to the Lord that she loves and is dancing in heaven with her mom and her dad and with her beloved brother Pierce and with our daddy. If this is

what is to be, then we will accept it. But we need to know where she is. We need her to come home. We need her to come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Blowing on the embers of hope, as she said there. Ed Lavandera joins us now from Tucson. And Ed, you have been covering this from the

beginning. I wonder, as you speak to investigators, are they moving closer as well to that sentiment we heard from Savannah there that perhaps it's

possible at this point that Nancy Guthrie will not be found alive?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, I think any experienced investigator would tell you at this point that that is the

reality. I think the Guthrie family clearly reflecting that. Is that something that they're going to say publicly? No. I mean, we've asked the

sheriff multiple times, and they will always tell you that they will hang on to that hope until they have evidence or something to suggest otherwise.

And so, far, there has been no evidence either way about the fate of Nancy Guthrie. But, you know, obviously, the more time that passes, the much

harder it becomes to kind of believe that this is going to end the way the Guthrie family has been hoping and praying for.

SCIUTTO: Listen, our hearts go out to them, and we as well want to maintain as much hope as we can, just as we root for the Guthrie family. Is

there anything we're learning about new possible leads or possible suspects? And I'm curious if the Guthrie family's offer of a million

dollars is in conjunction at all with authorities, that they believe that that might bring in useful tips.

LAVANDERA: Well, what we've heard clearly repeated from authorities, and the Guthrie and Savannah Guthrie kind of alludes to this too, is that there

is this belief out there that because this video, since it's been out there, that they do not believe there's any question that there is somebody

or some or maybe a few people who know who that person is, who have some clear indication of what happened here in the early morning hours of

February 1st.

I don't think any of these people and investigators I'm talking about think that this is just the only person who knows about this is this one person.

So, clearly, they're hoping that somebody else in that group of people that might know of something, might have noticed someone acting strange over the

last three plus weeks, that this would entice them to give them that key piece of information.

Because the other thing that I think in my conversations with investigators over time is that they believe as they continue doing all sorts of intense

and exhaustive investigative work, tracking down the backpack, who bought them, going to convenience stores looking for video, going to gun shops

looking for gun purchases, all of that is extensive and time consuming. They do know that it can just be one phone call that comes in and can

change this investigation on a dime. So, clearly, the Guthrie family is hoping that that is the case.

We do know that in the last couple of days that the number of tips and phone calls has started trickling down as more time has come between the

release of those images and the videos that the FBI put out almost two weeks ago. And perhaps -- and we've got calls and I should also preface

this, Jim, I've got calls into the FBI and local authorities here trying to figure out over the course of the last eight or so hours since this video

was released, if that has also generated a new flood of phone calls coming into them as well.

SCIUTTO: Ed Lavandera, thanks for staying on top of it. Still ahead, Anthropic shook global investors to the core this month with its new A.I.

tools. But it also seems to be angering the Pentagon. Why is that? We're going to have the very latest on the A.I. giant coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, U.S. stocks bounced back after steep losses on Monday. Software stocks hit by A.I. disruption

fears posted some gains. Trade remains in focus for investors. President Trump's new global tariffs begin kicking in at a 10 percent rate today, not

the 15 percent rate he threatened over the weekend. The White House is giving no timeline for when it might hit that 15 percent level. Trump is

expected to address his divisive and unpopular tariff policy during a State of the Union address tonight.

Investors, of course, also worried about the disruptive force of artificial intelligence, and now they're focusing their attention recently on the A.I.

giant, Anthropic. The firm's products have shaken entire industries over their potential to transform businesses.

Today, Anthropic eased some of the concerns from the software industry. In particular, it announced a new suite of office tools that will work

alongside software instead of replacing it. Anthropic also in the headlines today after a meeting between its CEO and the U.S. Defense Secretary Pete

Hegseth. Hegseth is giving the firm until Friday to lower its safety guardrails or risking losing a $200 million Pentagon contract.

Hadas Gold joins me now. So, this is pretty remarkable here because the Pentagon is saying unless Anthropic does not remove guidelines meant to

keep human beings involved in defense decisions, but also keep its tools from being used to monitor the American population, that the Pentagon is

going to kick them out. I mean, those don't seem like crazy red lines here. Why is the Pentagon insisting on those?

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Well, and not just, you know, stop this $200 million contract. The bigger threat is the Pentagon is saying

that if Anthropic does not acquiesce, they will also potentially label Anthropic as a supply chain risk, which would mean that any company that

does business with the military would have to confirm that none of their military work touches an Anthropic product.

And a huge part of Anthropic's businesses is, of course, these major contracts with all of these huge corporations. And as you just noted, that

are going to be using things like this Claude Cowork plugin for their financial analyst or for their PowerPoints and their Excel spreadsheets.

So, that's a huge risk for Anthropic as well.

And so, what the Pentagon wants is they want to be able to use Anthropic's Claude product for all lawful purposes. The Anthropic Claude product is the

only, it was the first, right now it's one of two A.I. products that are able to be used in the military classified system.

[18:25:00]

But Anthropic has red lines. And a source familiar telling us that those red lines are, as you noted, A.I. being able to autonomously control

weapons. They're worried that the A.I. systems just aren't reliable enough to be able to do that. And they're worried about A.I. being used in mass

surveillance of U.S. citizens, saying that there's just not really good laws and regulations out there that will help govern how that is used.

The Pentagon is saying, U.S. Pentagon officials telling CNN, that the legality is the Pentagon's responsibility. Essentially, the Pentagon's

point of view is that they should be able to be the ones who determine what's legal and how they should be able to use these tools, not Anthropic.

But now the Pentagon is throwing out all of these threats. The contract they say that Anthropic has until 5:01 p.m. on Friday to acquiesce.

They have also threatened that not only could they label Anthropic a supply chain risk, they are also saying that they could kind of do the inverse and

also compel Anthropic to work with them under the Defense Procurement Act. This is that law from 1950s saying that the government could make

businesses work with the government. This is used in times of war. It was used during the COVID pandemic, the height of the COVID pandemic.

So, we're not exactly clear how the Pentagon could do both, both say something is a huge supply chain risk, but also say that they have to work

with the Pentagon. We're trying to get extra clarification on that. A lot of experts in this field say they don't understand how that would work

either. But this also presents a huge opening to Anthropic's competitors, especially Elon Musk's xAI, which a Pentagon official just confirmed to us

is one of the only other companies that is now able to work in the classified system.

So, we'll have to wait and see what happens on Friday at 5:01 p.m. I've been given indications that Anthropic is not budging, but this could set up

another huge major battle and is a huge risk to Anthropic's businesses. Jim.

SCIUTTO: I mean, clearly, the Pentagon kind of likes Anthropic, right, because didn't they use Claude to help in the Venezuela operation? Does

Anthropic have the ability to challenge this in court?

GOLD: That's a huge kind of legal murky area of what Anthropic could do. And there is a kind of a guess that maybe there's going to be a lot of

theatrics and threats without actually following through on making all of the military contractors, for example, show that they don't work with

Anthropic. But just the fear of having to go through with that would cause a lot of businesses to drop Anthropic.

I spoke to actually the former DOJ liaison for the Department of Defense, and she told me flat out this just seems punitive. And she was this liaison

until September of last year. She says this just sounds punitive. She doesn't understand how the Pentagon could do this when obviously they want

to use Anthropic's products. They have been very useful for them.

And a source familiar telling me that in this meeting this morning between Pete Hegseth and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Hegseth praised Anthropic's

products and saying that they want to be able to work with them. And in a way, by even saying that they might invoke the Defense Procurement Act and

compel Anthropic to work with them, that's showing how much they want to use this product. But there could be just huge fireworks on Friday if the

Pentagon follows through with this with this threat, and they likely end up in some sort of legal battle.

SCIUTTO: I mean, it's also at a minimum intellectually inconsistent to say we love your product and we may ban it. It's a supply chain risk, but well,

we'll see. Hadas Gold, thanks so much for covering.

Checking some of today's other business headlines, Paramount Skydance is now sweetening its takeover bid for Warner Brothers Discovery, which is the

parent company of CNN. WBD says it is now weighing Paramount's new $31 a share offer for the entire company. It says that that bid could represent

a, quote, "company superior proposal" compared to the deal it already struck with Netflix for just parts of the company. If WBD does deem the

offer superior, Netflix will then have a number of days to increase its bid.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced a new A.I. chip deal with AMD. As part of the agreement, AMD could end up selling

some $60 billion worth of A.I. chips to Metta. Metta could end up owning about 10 percent of AMD. Just last week, Metta struck a deal with AMD

competitor NVIDIA to buy millions of its chips.

JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is out with a new warning about the risks he is now seeing in the financial markets. Dimon said at an investor event

that, quote, "dumb things" are being done that remind him of the time just before the 2008 financial crisis. He singled out banks making risky loans,

saying, quote, there's always a surprise in a credit cycle. He says, historically, high stock markets only add to that risk.

Coming up on "The Brief," four years, a bloody, bloody conflict in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion. I speak with the Ukrainian lawmaker who

has lived through all of it as the country's suffering continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.

Tariffs looming large as President Trump prepares to give the first State of the Union address of his second term. Trump will address the American

people just days after the Supreme Court ruled that his sweeping tariffs under an emergency authority are illegal. In response, the president has

imposed a global tariff of 10 percent with plans, he says, to increase them to 15 percent under a different authority.

The Guthrie family has now announced a $1 million reward in hopes of getting any information to bring back their missing mother, Nancy Guthrie.

This comes despite no major updates or new clues on her whereabouts. Nancy Guthrie went missing from her home near Tucson on February 1st. She is the

mother of NBC Today show host Savannah Guthrie. The head of the Louvre Museum has handed in a resignation after the astonishing jewelry heist last

year.

French President Emmanuel Macron has accepted the resignation, saying the Louvre needs stability and a new impetus. The director had already offered

to resign after the heist took place back in October, but it was rejected at the time by France's cultural minister.

Today, a sad anniversary. Ukraine marks four years since Russia's full- scale invasion, and it did so with a moment of silence.

European capitals showed solidarity by lighting up major landmarks in the blue and yellow of Ukraine's flag. Rallies supporting Ukraine took place in

many cities as well. This was the scene in Warsaw, Poland. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other leaders traveled to

Kyiv to reaffirm Ukraine's support. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other leaders traveled to Kyiv to reaffirm Ukraine's

support.

[18:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We have seen four years of extraordinary courage from your soldiers and from your citizens,

whose bravery will echo through history. This will never be forgotten. In those four years, the support from your friends and allies has been

unwavering in Europe and beyond, and you can count on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered the full-scale invasion in 2022, says the West will regret its efforts to

defeat Russia. Halyna Yanchenko is a member of Ukraine's parliament, and she joins us now. Good to have you back. Thanks so much for joining.

HALYNA YANCHENKO, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Hello, Jim.

SCIUTTO: It's been a long four years. It's been a painful four years for you, for your whole country. When you hear the European Commission

President say, you can count on it about Europe's support, I wonder if you still believe those words, or if they ring hollow.

YANCHENKO: Well, good question. I guess we don't have any other choice. We are happy that military assistance from the European Union, as well as from

the U.S., continues. It makes us stronger, both physically, because we have a weapon that we can arm our defenders on the front line, but it's also

very important to understand that we still have allies and partners politically.

Because, of course, it's very clear that each and every majority of wars end with negotiations, and we need to combine our efforts to press Russia

and to make sure that aggressor stops its aggression, not only against Ukraine, but Russia has been attacking pretty much majority of its

neighbors for the past 30 years. So, therefore, it's important to make sure that our efforts are joined, the whole civilized Western world press

aggressor to bring peace back to our planet.

SCIUTTO: The U.S., as you know, today abstained from a U.N. resolution, which simply called for an immediate full and unconditional ceasefire.

What's your reaction to the U.S. abstaining?

YANCHENKO: I really don't understand why it happened. I don't understand the logic behind it.

SCIUTTO: Well, I wonder, right after the invasion, you said that the world is, quote, taking too much time to think of what to do over Putin. Had

support not just from the U.S., but from Europe, been more aggressive early on? Do you believe it's possible the war would already be over now?

YANCHENKO: Once again, this is something that we hope for. Ukrainians are tired to live in the war, and therefore all peace talks or possible

negotiations give hope to Ukrainians. In the same time, I should tell you that the past year, 2025, was the year full of hopes. There were a lot of

discussions about negotiations, possible end of the war, et cetera., et cetera. But in the same time, the past year was the deadliest for Ukrainian

civilians.

Over the past year, 365 days, there were only four nights without attacks from the Russian side. 2,500 Ukrainians, Ukrainian civilians have died

under those shellings. 12,000 civilians, not military guys, but civilians, were wounded by Russians. And therefore, it's kind of -- it is misleading

words and misleading efforts. When we are talking about, like, generally, Western world is talking about end of the war and importance of negotiation

on one hand, and Russia is saying that they are kind of ready for peace. But in the same time, they keep killing civilians, and they keep torturing

Ukrainians.

This winter, Russians were purposefully attacking Ukrainian electricity infrastructure and power plants, basically to freeze Ukrainians to death.

It's horrible when it's minus 20 degrees Celsius, so about zero Fahrenheit outside, and about 10 Celsius inside of their homes.

[18:40:00]

Basically, Ukrainian residential homes have turned into huge refrigerators and the reaction of Western allies, Western partners was not quick and it's

very disappointing in my opinion.

SCIUTTO: You have lived through this for four years, you're a mother as well. I just wonder how you and your family maintain not just strength, but

some hope in the midst of all of this. How do you keep up?

YANCHENKO: Well, we do our best. Ukraine is doing its best to become stronger day after day. While for us, it's important to have a feeling that

West is still with Ukraine, that while West is helping with military assistance and with sanctions, for us it's also very important to

understand that we should trust on ourselves, first of all, to make sure that our army is stronger, that our defense industry is stronger.

And currently it's my friends, Western politicians from Germany, from Great Britain, from France, who already said that Ukrainian army is the biggest,

the strongest and the most experienced army in Europe. But once again, we pay a huge price for becoming stronger and I think we are ready to actually

pay less.

I really hope that negotiations will come to the end, but in order to make sure that negotiations will come to the end and the war comes to the end,

it's important to change something in the process of negotiations. Over the past year, there is another thing that I believe the world has learned.

Russia only understands the words of power, the words of force.

For the past half a year, Putin was simply ignoring President Trump. He was not reacting on any appeals of President Trump to end the war, until Trump

has actually mentioned that he considers secondary sanctions against Russian partners. Immediately after that, Putin flew to Alaska. And after

Alaska, Putin was ignoring President Trump's efforts again, until President Trump has said that he considers Tomahawk sending to Ukraine. So, this is a

very simple lesson learned. We should actually start pricing not the victim of aggression, but an aggressor in order to achieve the peace.

I believe that President Trump has big ambitions and I welcome and I support him as well as all Ukrainians support President Trump's ambition to

end this war, to get the Nobel Prize in the end and we do support it. We will celebrate his efforts and his ambitions, but in order to achieve that,

President Trump should change his strategy and start pricing not the victim of aggression, but the aggressor.

SCIUTTO: Well, Halyna Yanchenko, we appreciate you joining and given you're in Kyiv and given the threat remains there, we wish you safety and

peace, I hope.

YANCHENKO: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, coming up, the raid that killed Mexico's most wanted drug lord has now sparked violent retaliation. Was the military operation worth

the risk for the Mexican president? I'm going to ask a former ambassador, U.S. ambassador to Mexico. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: Mexico's president says flight schedules should return to normal at the Guadalajara airport on Wednesday. Air travel disrupted after a wave

of violence sparked by Sunday's killing of the drug cartel boss known as El Mencho. Burned vehicles and trailers still litter some major highways in

western Mexico.

Tony Garza was the U.S. ambassador to Mexico under former President George W. Bush. He's now a senior advisor to the White and Case International law

firm. Ambassador, thanks so much for taking the time.

ANTONIO GARZA, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO MEXICO, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE & CASE: You bet, Jim. Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So, first question, did Mexican authorities carry out this raid without sufficiently either considering or preparing for the retaliation

we're seeing right now?

GARZA: No, I think they anticipated it. The raid was executed -- or the operation was executed, I think, very efficiently. A couple of things to

note is that it was clearly done with U.S. support in terms of the intelligence that was utilized. And, Jim, that suggests something that I

think is both profound and very significant, that not only was there an exchange of information and intelligence, but there was an exchange of

intelligence real time with Mexico. So, that's a very high level of trust and I think integration into the planning in the wake of this.

Now, certainly you could have anticipated this violence. That's the case, it was 2019 when you took out the Chapo. It was a case with Mayo Zambada,

both, you know, big high-profile figures in the Sinaloa cartel. So, they anticipated and I think they've actually reacted, I think, pretty

effectively.

What the cartel was, I think, trying to send was a message to the government with this, you know, nearly 250 blockades across the country in

20 states that what their reach was. But the government has responded. And while there was, you know, essentially 24 hours of near paralysis and

people sheltering in place, things are kind of returning a bit to normal.

And, you know, planes are in the air again and people are out, they're quiet, they're concerned. But they didn't -- there was not an overreaction

either from the people. And I think the proper reaction from the government.

SCIUTTO: We're heading, of course, into a World Cup year with matches in Guadalajara. President Sheinbaum says Mexico is risk free. If I was

traveling with my family, I'm not sure I'd be convinced of that, because presumably the cartel could flex its muscles again.

GARZA: Yes, I think that's a -- you know, that's a real concern. My advice to people has been look to the State Department advisories. Don't leave

your common sense at the border. Recognize that these high-profile events, regardless of where they are in the world, there's a certain amount of risk

attached to attendance. But that both the Mexican government and I think international groups will be cooperating to the extent that is allowed on -

- you know, on Mexican soil. And I have every sense that they're going to pull this off.

My more immediate concern, Jim, is around spring break, which is imminent in March and April. And again, I say look to the advisories, perhaps you

may look away from Puerto Vallarta and to some of the other beaches in the country. But I have a pretty good sense that the Mexican government,

largely utilizing the military, is going to be out and trying to assure the safety of travelers here in the next several weeks, and certainly, going

into the World Cup.

[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: Mexico's president taking a harder line on cartels than her predecessor. Is that at all the result of U.S. pressure, in your view?

GARZA: You know, I have to imagine in part, but I will tell you, I think the sense that this is entirely in response to U.S. pressure is a little

overstated, Jim. Clearly, President Sheinbaum was unwilling to cede the sovereignty of her country to this cartel -- these narco cartels, any

longer. She took a very bold move, a clear departure from her predecessor's approach to these sorts of situations, and quite frankly, probably the most

-- the brightest line that we've seen drawn by a Mexican president with respect to the cartel leadership in nearly a decade.

So, I think it was a very clear calculation, decision on her part that she was no longer going to cede the sovereignty of this large an area to this

cartel. It's not without its risks. There certainly will be, you know, violence in the wake of taking out a cartel lead usually ensues as they,

you know, tussle and fight over whom the successor will be. But I think she made a very calculated decision to leverage her moment, when she's a very

popular president right now, the opportunity to give Mexicans what they want, and that's more leadership on security issues.

So, while there's certainly pressure you might characterize from the United States, there was also a very real willingness to cooperate with Mexico and

for President Sheinbaum, a moment when she said, it's time to move.

SCIUTTO: Ambassador Tony Garza, thanks so much for joining.

GARZA: You bet. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up, the fourth anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. I'm going to share my experience being on the ground that

fateful day, as well as some of the lessons learned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Four years ago, today, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In doing so, it unleashed the largest and bloodiest war in Europe

since World War II, with more than a million dead or wounded and counting. I was inside Ukraine to witness the invasion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: The latest U.S. military assessment is, intelligence assessment, that Russia's plan is for a full-scale invasion, and that what we're seeing

this morning, in the early morning hours here in Ukraine, are the first steps in that full-scale invasion. So, again, just in the last few minutes

here, air raid sirens sustained, air raid sirens in Lviv.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:55:00]

SCIUTTO: One thing that struck me in those early days was how the sights and sounds of this war seemed borrowed from the last century. As I turned

my own colored photos and videos of air raid sirens and families fleeing the invading army to black and white, they looked to me like they belonged

in history textbooks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO (voice-over): One of the bloodiest wars in Europe since World War II is drawing thousands of foreigners to join the fight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO (on camera): Today, you will hear some, including U.S. leaders, claiming that Ukraine and Russia are equally responsible for this war. But

the facts say otherwise. Russia chose to invade, marshalling the majority of its military might to do so. Russia's intent was to absorb all of

Ukraine, a prospect that the Ukrainian people would not tolerate. The Ukrainian people have rejected by fighting and sacrificing for their

country's survival. And Russia, while claiming to be saving Ukrainians with the invasion, has, in fact, deliberately targeted civilians from Bucha in

the early weeks of the war to continuing aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities today.

I said at the time of the invasion that it marked a new 1939 moment for Europe and the world. And four years later, the world is still being

tested.

I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END