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What We Know with Max Foster

FAA Shuts Down And Then Reopens Airspace Over El Paso, Texas; U.S. Justice Department Accused Of "Massive Cover-Up"; Eight Dead After Canada's Worst School Shooting In Decades; Man Detained For Questioning In Guthrie Case Released; Trump Says He May Send Another Armada To Middle East; "Dawson's Creek" Star James Van Der Beek Dies At Age 48. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 11, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:07]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: The U.S. closes, then later reopens airspace near the Mexican border.

This is WHAT WE KNOW about that.

It's a mystery in the skies above that U.S. Mexico border involving drones, lasers, potentially deadly threats as well to U.S. commercial airplanes.

And it caused the FAA to order a complete shutdown of all air traffic over El Paso, Texas.

Sources tell CNN that a Pentagon plan to test anti-drone lasers around El Paso force the FAA to shut down that city's airport on Tuesday. The

Pentagon is trying to counter drones operated by Mexican drug cartels.

At first, the FAA said the El Paso airport would be shut down for ten days, raising serious questions about the impact on businesses and citizens. But

several hours ago, it lifted the freeze and allowed the airport to reopen. There's a lot to unpack, including major questions about communications

between the Pentagon and the FAA.

Let's bring in CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean with the latest.

Take us through, if you would, Pete, the sequence of events because the closure initially was extraordinary.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And it really caught a lot of people by surprise, including pilots flying in there to the El Paso

International Airport when this restriction went into place late Tuesday night, local time in El Paso, Texas, now we know from the Federal Aviation

Administration and sources telling us that this was all caused by the Pentagon wanting to use a high energy laser system for counter-drone

technology that really did not jibe with what the Federal Aviation Administration thought was safe for civilian aircraft.

So, the FAA responded by putting into place this blanket 10 nautical mile, 10-day long restriction on all flights into and out of El Paso. That

includes airline flights, private flights. Also law enforcement and medevac helicopters, something that you typically don't see during a temporary

flight restriction like this.

This whole new explanation and all these new details really fly in the face of the White House explanation that this was all because of a wayward

Mexican cartel drone that flew into U.S. airspace, causing all of this alarm. Really? Some big questions now about whether or not the Pentagon has

backed off its use of this laser interception ability of drones. Also whether or not this will really continue, the use of it will continue.

The Defense Department has really not commented on whether or not it properly coordinated with the FAA, although it now seems that the FAA

essentially did this action to force the hand of the Pentagon. There was a planned meeting on February 20th about the safety risks of this new

technology between the Federal Aviation Administration and Defense Department also lines up with the timeline of this 10-day long ban that

would have taken us to February 21st the day after that planned meeting. So, it's now all starting to make sense but some pretty big questions about

this technology and whether or not the pentagon simply went rogue here. And the Federal Aviation Administration had to use its powers to keep flights

safe.

FOSTER: Yeah, that coordination or lack of it really worrying. Aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

Now to accusations of a massive cover up at the U.S. Justice Department over the Epstein files. Attorney General Pam Bondi testified at a fiery

hearing on Capitol Hill today. Questions devolved into shouting matches at times as lawmakers grilled her about the heavily redacted files that

conceal names of potential coconspirators, whilst exposing some of the victims' identities.

One lawmaker said the cover up is bigger than Watergate. Another asked Bondi to apologize to Epstein survivors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): It is about you taking responsibility for your Department of Justice and the harm that it has done to the survivors

who are standing right behind you and are waiting for you to turn to them and apologize for what your Department of Justice --

REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Members get to ask the questions the witness gets to answer, and the way they want to answer. The attorney general can

respond.

JAYAPAL: That's not accurate, Mr. Chairman.

PAM BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: Because she doesn't like the answer, Mr. Chairman. So --

JAYAPAL: Mr. Chairman, I have asked --

BONDI: Why she asked Merrick Garland this?

JAYAPAL: I'm reclaiming my time. And when I reclaim my time --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, the gentlelady's reclaiming her time.

BONDI: I'm not going to get in the gutter for her theatrics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN politics senior reporter Stephen Collinson is in Washington.

I mean, you know it was easy to be fixated on the survivors there just watching this shouting match. No progress whatsoever it felt like.

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah. I mean, to be honest, the hearing was somewhat of a farce. To see an attorney general

behave that way in a congressional hearing, it seemed that her prime motivation was getting back into the good books of Donald Trump.

[15:05:09]

That would explain why she started talking at one point about the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting 50,000 and saying he was the greatest president

ever. Not that that has anything to do with the nation's top law officer.

I think really watching this, hearing all day, the only conclusion you can come to is that the victims and survivors of Jeffrey Epstein are no closer

to justice, and they'll be getting absolutely no help from the Justice Department which you would think would be the place where they would go for

recourse. Bondi kept saying, well, if the survivors want to talk to the FBI about their experience, they want to come and talk to the DOJ our door is

always open. The survivors say they've been trying to do that for decades, and they're getting absolutely no help, especially from the second Trump

Justice Department.

FOSTER: I mean, lots of criticism of Bondi losing her temper. But, you know, the Democrats also lost their temper, didn't they? And this should be

a subject they should be strong on.

COLLINSON: Yes, and I think they on the question of Epstein I think they did make some reasonable points. Obviously, these congressional hearings

are always about theatrics. They've kind of degenerated over the last decade or so, and they're less about oversight, and its more about creating

viral moments for partisan media on both sides. The Democrats were certainly guilty of some of that as well.

I didn't think they were very impressive on the question of the shootings in Minnesota, the questioning that they offered Bondi about why there has

not been a more serious investigation into this, why she's cutting out local and state prosecutors wasn't very focused or concentrated. It seemed

that they were very keen to talk about Epstein matters perhaps because that's the big issue at the moment.

But really I think they fell down quite considerably on pinning her down on the investigation into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good last

month in Minnesota, and she almost got a free pass on that. And I was kind of a little bit surprised about that. There aren't any lawmakers from

Minnesota on the -- on the House Judiciary Committee, but even so, you would expect a more concerted Democratic plan there I think.

FOSTER: What are the survivors going to go to next then? Obviously looking forward to this moment of some sort of accountability. They didn't get it.

So, what do they look to next?

COLLINSON: Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, they are trying to create some political momentum to get the Republican Congress to hold the Trump

administrations feet to the fire here. That doesn't seem to be working in the same way as it did last year when they managed to get the entire

Republican Party to revolt against the president and release these Epstein documents. This is now becoming a real issue in the midterm elections.

I think that their best hope will be to pin their hopes on the Democrats winning, potentially the House in the midterm elections, and they can get

some more serious oversight. But if that is the case, and I think today's very, very acrimonious hearing suggests that a Democratic Congress and a

Trump White House are going to be absolutely at war for the final two years of Trump's mandate.

FOSTER: Okay, Stephen, appreciate it as ever. Thank you.

COLLINSON: Thanks.

FOSTER: Breaking news out of Canada, where police say they've identified a suspect in the mass school shooting that left eight people dead, 25

injured. Authorities say they believe an 18-year-old transgender female was the shooter. Police believe she acted alone, killing two family members at

home before attacking the school.

Last hour, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke before parliament. He says the country is in mourning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This morning, families in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, woke to a different world. Parents, grandparents,

brothers, sisters began this day as their first day on earth without someone they love dearly. What happened has left our nation in shock, and

all of us in mourning nine people killed, more than 25 others injured, some still in hospital fighting for their lives.

The investigation is ongoing and we must allow law enforcement the time and space to do their work accordingly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Paula Newton joins us now from the Canadian capital of Ottawa.

I was watching the press conference, Paula, so this suspect was known to the police? She didn't actually have a license, had run out, had her gun

license. So, there are lots of questions here.

[15:10:00]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So many I don't even know where to begin, Max. I think many in the community and quite frankly throughout the

country, because the entire country is just shattered by this, want more answers about what was being done in this community, about someone, a

teenager who they knew was troubled? I do want you to listen now to police and how they describe the suspect here.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COMMANDING OFFICER DWAYNE MCDONALD, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE, BRITISH COLUMBIA: The suspect is identified as an 18-year-old female by the name

of Jesse. We have a history of police attendance at the family residence. Some of those calls are -- were, pardon me, related to mental health

issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: So, Max, listen, a lot of questions here because police were very upfront about the fact that they had attended the residence for the

suspects mental health issues on several occasions, that a few times, in their words, she was apprehended. They also did disclose that Jesse began

transitioning six years ago and that she had not attended school for the last four years.

Now, what we also know here is about the victims now. Thankfully, the death toll has gone down, so there are eight that are confirmed dead. And then

also the suspect who was found dead in the school. Two people remain in what they call stable but critical condition. At least 25 others were

treated at the scene. They were either in the health clinic, in the community, or have already been released to go home. In terms of how this

unfolded, it really is much more dramatic than we could have even imagined, Max.

I mean, what we know is that police got there within two minutes and yet when they arrived, they were on the receiving end of gunfire. They

apparently, as far as we know, did not return any gunfire, entered the school. And that is where they found at least six victims. And then the

suspect Jesse, who had died of what they describe as a self-inflicted injury.

I do want to get back to that issue of firearms. Now, look, the suspect is described as 18 years old. They're not allowed to have a firearm license on

your own until you are an adult. You can get what they call a minor license. So I don't know if that's what they're talking about in terms of

having a license suspended.

But there were firearms seized from that home. And then someone I'm assuming the adult in the home, any adult had petitioned to get them back

so why, if there were mental health issues that you know of in the home, were there firearms back in that home? And it does seem there was some kind

of court process underway.

I mean, look, Max, you just showed Prime Minister Mark Carney there with his statement. He was as shaken and as emotional as I have ever seen him.

And that pretty much mirrors the feeling in the country. So many people even listening to this press conference wondering, why are we here again?

And I know, while many understand that Canada has much stricter gun control laws than they have in the United States for instance, regardless, many in

Canada still feel that gun crime is way too high, and this will again highlight the fact that even legal firearms that there needs to be more

checks and balances about how they're stored, where they are and who can possess them.

FOSTER: Yeah. Okay, Paula, thank you for joining us from Ottawa.

TMZ saying it's received a new note related to the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. The site says the note demands one bitcoin in exchange for the

name of the person involved in her disappearance. The FBI didn't comment. This comes after an Arizona man was detained for questioning, but then

released. The Pima County sheriff's department says it's received more than 4,000 calls to the tip line in the last 24 hours.

Josh Campbell joins us now with the latest.

I mean, there's so many parts of this that are horrifying, but someone charging for a tip is pretty up there.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And you know, this is the latest kind of bizarre development in this ongoing investigation. We've

seen in the past that there was a purported ransom note that was sent to the outlet, TMZ, as well as some other outlets. And now, TMZ is saying that

they've received this new note you know, demanding this one, bitcoin, which is about the equivalent of US$66,000. You'll recall, the FBI has its own

reward out there for $50,000.

And what TMZ says is that the letter writer doesn't claim to have Nancy Guthrie but knows who does. And so, it's really strange. It is worth

pointing out, though that law enforcement, you know, they're looking into every possible tip.

But I think the healthy dose of caution is in order here because none of the previous information that was sent to TMZ or those other outlets, the

so-called ransom notes, have actually been verified. And so, there's still a question about whether this was you know disinformation, someone just

causing mischief or, you know, whether there's some possible connection to the actual case. Authorities are trying to run that down.

The final point I note, as you mentioned, that there was a lot of law enforcement activity last night south of Tucson. Authorities stopped a man

who was driving.

[15:15:01]

They detained him, questioned him. Authorities said it was in connection with Guthrie's disappearance. But then he was released.

And interestingly, he spoke to CNN today and he said that he told investigators not only did he have nothing to do with Guthrie's

disappearance, he didn't even know anything about it. So, there is a question why are they back to where they were yesterday after releasing

that surveillance footage, trying to appeal to the public, we still received no indication they have any suspects. They continue to ask the

public for any information on what might have happened here, Max.

FOSTER: They're searching roads near Nancy Guthrie's house, presumably that's for anything that suspect in the video we see right now might have

dropped. Is that the case?

CAMPBELL: Spot on. Yeah, and I got that from a law enforcement source who said that we now see FBI agents around the Tucson area back out on the

streets and they're looking for just what you said. This person had multiple items with them. The face mask. There was a backpack, the

clothing. There was a firearm.

And so, now, they're sending FBI agents out in droves along those roads to see if maybe he did discard something. Of course, the hope is if they are

able to actually recover one of those items, are they able to pull any type of DNA, you know a hair fiber or skin cells that may be on those items to

try to get to some identification?

So, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. But clearly, today, we're seeing agents out in force. We can see with our own eyes still conducting

these searches.

FOSTER: Josh, thank you again.

CAMPBELL: Of course.

FOSTER: Now for the seventh time in nearly 13 months, President Trump hosts the Israeli prime minister at the White House. Today's agenda ongoing

tensions with Iran. The U.S. president says he will continue seeking a diplomatic arrangement despite skepticism within the Netanyahu government.

This comes as Mr. Trump tells "Axios" he might deploy a second naval strike group to the Middle East.

Here, you can see just how much military force has been built up there near Iran. The president expects s a second round of negotiations next week.

Alayna Treene joins us now from the White House.

You get a sense that obviously Netanyahu wants to go in harder than Trump, and they've got to find some middle ground.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, that's exactly right. And I do think, you know, there was such urgency, I think, with this Israeli

prime minister meeting you know, they were supposed to meet initially, Max, next week, but then they moved that up to have the Israeli prime minister

come today. And again, it's because of the urgency around all of these Iran talks. And really, Netanyahu wanting to get his say to try and persuade the

president to perhaps expand the scope of some of those talks.

But I do want to read for you, because we did hear from the president. He did have a bit of a pointed message for Israel and specifically for

Netanyahu on all of this. He said that it was a very good meeting, but then went on to say that there was nothing definitive reached other than that I

insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated, he said. If it can, I let the prime minister know that

that would be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.

I do think that word, Max, insisted, is pretty significant. And look, again, it's pretty evident why Netanyahu came here today to meet with

Trump. From all of the reporting that we have is that he wanted to -- these negotiations to go beyond just the negotiations over a nuclear deal. We

know that Netanyahu was likely to go in and try to persuade the president to make sure that they also discussed Iran's support for proxies in the

region. Groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and also, of course, the protests that we've seen this own White House behind me threaten Iran with the, you

know, lethal crackdown on anti-regime protesters.

But from everything we've heard from the president in this statement and also from some of the rhetoric, we've heard from him publicly in recent

days, as well as the conversations I'm having with people in that building, is that the president is open potentially, to keeping this focus. These

talks focus on a nuclear deal if he believes a good deal can be reached.

And so, we're going to have to see what this actually could lead to. I think, you know, from other conversations I've had with Trump

administration officials, they are very quick to point out that they are under no illusions that the Iranians are not always a trustworthy partner.

I know many of them have been skeptical of whether or not they are trying to in Trump's words tap them along or try to stretch out these negotiations

and put a potential attack at bay for the time being, but I do -- but the president is saying he really does want diplomacy if he believes it can be

reached.

And as for what we should expect next, we have heard Trump say that they are hoping to have another meeting as early as next week between Trump

administration officials and the Iranians. So far, we've really seen the president's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, but also his son in law, Jared

Kushner, leading those talks.

Those two also met with Netanyahu. They met last night before Netanyahu came here to the White House -- Max.

FOSTER: Alayna, at the White House, appreciate it. Thank you.

Now the actor and star of "Dawson's Creek", James Van Der Beek, has died at the age of 48. His wife, Kimberly, shared the news on her Instagram, saying

he passed peacefully and that he, quote, "met his final days with courage faith and grace." She went on to say, quote, "For now, we ask for peaceful

privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son brother and friend." Van der Beek revealed he was battling stage three bowel cancer late in

2024. He rose to fame in the 1990s known for playing Dawson Leery in the hit TV show "Dawson's Creek".

Coming up, a U.S. federal grand jury weighs in on whether Democratic lawmakers should be indicted for urging service members to disobey illegal

orders.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Right now to Capitol Hill and the very contentious hearing involving the U.S. attorney general earlier. Now, lawmakers accused Pam

Bondi and the Justice Department of a massive cover up over the Epstein files. She was repeatedly asked why additional people aren't facing charges

related to Epstein's international sex trafficking operation.

Republican lawmaker Thomas Massie says Bondi didn't answer anything. He called her response is kind of crazy. He is part of their exchange from

earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONDI: My position is any victim who comes forward. Of course, we would love to hear from them, 1-800-CALL-FBI. Did you ask Merrick Garland that

the last four years did you talk about Epstein?

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I'm reclaiming my time. I'm glad you're asking about Merrick Garland. This is bigger than Watergate.

(CROSSTALK)

BONDI: --when I don't answer the question.

MASSIE: This goes over four administrations. You don't have to go back to Biden. Let's go back to Obama. Let's go back to George Bush. This cover-up

spans decades and you are responsible for this portion of it.

BONDI: And that --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: We also have new developments on the U.S. Justice Department's case against six Democratic lawmakers. A federal grand jury has declined to

indict them for posting a video urging service members to disobey any illegal orders.

[15:25:02]

This rare rejection from a grand jury rebukes the Trump administration's efforts to paint the lawmakers as dangerously undermining the president's

authority.

We're joined now by government investigations lawyer, Ross Garber. He is principal of the Garber Group.

Thank you for joining us, Ross.

Just explain to us why it was so unusual for the grand jury to do this in relation to the video.

ROSS GARBER, GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS LAWYER: Yeah. Look, this was wild for a few reasons. The first is that the prosecutors tried to bring these

charges at all. It's, you know, generally been the case that the Department of Justice has been loath to bring charges against adversaries, excuse me,

of the current administration, for fear of being viewed as political and so that's -- that's one thing.

The second is grand juries generally do what prosecutors ask them to do. In the United States, the grand jury has to approve a prosecution of serious

crimes. But it's not that hard to do because the grand jury meets in secret. Only the prosecutor gets to deliver the case. The defense, the

potential accused doesn't get to raise any defenses.

So, it's just the prosecutor and the grand jurors. It doesn't need to be unanimous in the standard is very, very low. So it's virtually unheard of

for grand juries to not do what prosecutors want.

FOSTER: The Trump administration doesn't give up very easily. What's their next move or option for a move?

GARBER: Well, look, they could go back and try again with another grand jury that that's entirely possible. But we have to remember, the charges

here are pretty unusual and unique. It's not as if the Department of Justice is trying to pursue corruption charges. They're saying that a video

released by these Democratic lawmakers saying that the military should, you know, follow only legal orders. They're saying that that was, in essence,

advocating insubordination in the military.

And there are real problems with that case. There's a First Amendment problem. We have a right to freedom of speech in the United States. The

lawmakers, what they said was actually accurate, that's true. That members of the military have to follow lawful orders.

And so, I think this is a very tough case. Perhaps the administration is going to try to make it again to a different grand jury, or they're just

going to walk away and you know, by walking away, I suppose the Department of Justice senior officials can tell the president look, we tried and the

grand jury said no.

FOSTER: What did you make of the Bondi hearing as well on Capitol Hill? Because, you know, they've turned into theatrics, haven't they? These

events, they don't feel like they're making any progress at all.

GARBER: Yeah, these things turn into have turned into complete circuses. You know, one of the issues is that the lawmakers, you know, as you saw,

get a very short amount of time to do questioning. So, generally, they make a statement, the witness can kind of filibuster and say whatever he or she

wants, and then the lawmaker runs out of time. And yes, in this administration, it's been kind of more professional wrestling than

legislative oversight.

FOSTER: Our correspondent was suggesting that the only way the survivors are going to get any sort of justice on this, well, their best hope really

is to wait for the midterms and hope the Democrats gain more power. I mean, what are their legal options going forward? They've tried everything.

GARBER: Well, look, the -- it's not over yet. I mean, you know think about it. The Congress passed virtually unanimously, almost unanimously, this law

requiring the department of justice to make this disclosure that required a lot of Republican votes. And so, you know that piece isn't over. And you're

exactly right. The midterm elections are coming up the Democrats are heavily favored to win the House. And if they win the House, then they get

subpoena authority. And the framework might change a bit.

FOSTER: Yeah, okay. We'll see what happens. Ross, really appreciate you joining us on those two topics.

Still to come, the mystery over El Paso. We'll look at what caused the U.S. government to abruptly shut down a major Texas airport.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:57]

FOSTER: Returning now to our top story. The mysterious shutdown of a major U.S. airport along the border with Mexico. The Trump administration says it

shut down the El Paso, Texas, airport over concerns about drones operated by Mexican drug cartels that were coming into U.S. airspace but sources

tell CNN that the Pentagon wanted to test an anti-drone laser system. And the FAA was worried about having commercial flights in the air when that

happened, the airport has now been reopened, but a lot of questions remain.

So, what we want to know is what caused the airspace shutdown in El Paso?

Joining us now is CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo.

Mary, thank you. Seems to me the FAA was just caught out by it. And they had to make a quick decision.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, yeah, clearly, they were caught out. But we had some clues in the initial closure because the

closure order or the no-fly zone only went up to 18,000 feet and commercial jetliners typically fly, you know 30,000 feet when you're hurtling through

on a passenger plane. So that -- those air routes were not affected. So, whatever it was, was lower level.

And the FAA has long had a -- you know, very strict rules about any shootdowns of drones. I mean even if you own 60,000 acres somewhere and the

drones on your property, the FAA takes the position. No, you cannot shoot it down so in the military proposed shooting down drones near any busy

airspace that would cause the FAA concern. So that the FAA just put a huge number of days on it. That was highly unusual. Even after September 11th,

2001, the airspace shutdown was only a few days.

And so, the length of the time was, yeah, kind of catching the FAA flat footed, difficult like the Olympic scoring difficulty. Ten execution two.

But then when you learn some more of the facts, there are they did a six- month study in 2024. There were 24,000 drones crossing the southern border largely delivering, you know drugs.

[15:35:06]

And so, I can understand the frustration of doing something about them. And the lasers shoot down sounds interesting, but there's just too much

commercial air around there to have, perhaps a disabled drone stray into the path of an aircraft, debris, et cetera, or what the FAA is always

worried about in shootdowns missing the drone and getting a plane. So, yeah, two agencies it appears at odds.

FOSTER: Yeah, and they're not coordinating. And then we find out afterwards that local officials didn't know about it. The White House

didn't know about it.

I think what's worrying for a lot of people is that if these key agencies aren't coordinating properly, it creates risk.

SCHIAVO: Right. Well, that's right. Now, I will say for national security threats, intelligence threats even some law enforcement and defense

threats, not everybody in the FAA knows, for example, for the people in the tower, didn't exactly know why. There's a very clear hierarchy on security

clearances, top security clearances above top secret, et cetera and not everybody in the FAA has it, and nor do they have a need to know so it

didn't surprise me that they all didn't know about what was going on.

But usually, they do try to brief, you know, lawmakers representatives, local governments, et cetera. But it sounds like it was rather an emergent

operation and somebody had to make a decision and move pretty quickly.

FOSTER: Well, the decision could have been made by the military not to use this or test this weapon. We don't even know if they actually used it in

the end. But you know --

SCHIAVO: We don't know what they used.

FOSTER: No, but the -- you know, there's one thing testing it in military bases away from major cities. Very different doing in areas like this, but

they're clearly moving in that direction.

SCHIAVO: Well, that's right. You know, there's been so much, you know effort on drones for very long. How do you curtail them? How do you curtain

them in? There's lots of electronic ways to do that.

And, you know obviously they still get through. There are -- there are programs where you can curtain them off. There are programs where you can

disable them and have a go home signal. There are lots of ways to do this, but it's difficult when the drones are being launched in those numbers. I

mean, 27,000 in six months is a lot of drones to deal with.

But yes, I mean, a disabled drone can always pose a danger to aviation I mean, let's face it, a goose can bring down a plane. So certainly, a drone

can, too.

FOSTER: Okay. Aviation analyst Mary Schiavo, appreciate it.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

FOSTER: It's the final moments of trade on Wall Street and the Dow hanging on to that 50,000 mark. We've had some big jobs data for investors to

analyze.

This is our Business Breakout. Jobs growth in January was better than expected as the U.S. economy added 130,000 jobs last month. That's the best

monthly number since December 2024. The unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent. Economists say it could mean the jobs market is stabilizing after

a year of weak growth.

Shares in Moderna are down after U.S. regulators refused its application to review its first mRNA flu vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration, which

operates under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., says the application did not meet its standards with earnings. Moderna's president called the

move a complete stunner.

Dutch brewer Heineken says it will cut up to 6,000 jobs from its global workforce. The job cuts amount to almost seven percent of its total

employees. The number two brewer by market value is also setting lower growth expectations as the industry faces weak demand.

So, has the U.S. jobs market finally turned a corner? Fed watchers seem to think an interest rate cut is now further away after today's stronger than

expected jobs numbers?

Yesterday, economists on the CMA Fed watch tool were putting the chance of a rate cut next month at 20 percent after today's jobs numbers. It's now

down to 8 percent.

Richard Quest joins us.

This isn't what President Trump wants to hear right now.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: No, it isn't. And bearing in mind what he said he has asked of the Fed chair designate, the nominee that

he's put forward, Kevin Warsh, is going to be interesting when that -- when Mr. Warsh comes before his confirmation hearing because on these numbers,

the Fed has made it clear that full employment has been their worry and the weakness in the market, in the job market has been a concern.

Now we know inflation is already trending higher than the target rate. So, in the dual mandate, they've been giving preference in a sense to full

employment. Now, they're going to be starting to think the job market doesn't need help.

[15:40:02]

It's not frothy, but it certainly doesn't need the stimulus of lower interest rates. And it's going to be difficult for them to justify the FOMC

cutting rates further for the purposes of jobs.

FOSTER: The jobs numbers in themselves are pretty extraordinary, aren't they? I think they were -- economists were predicting 70,000 jobs, and it

was nearly double that. So, you know, things are looking a lot better than we thought?

QUEST: Well, yes and no. I mean, in the sense that you have to look underneath the numbers a lot of it's in the service sector, a lot of it is

was -- was in health care the health care industry if you look at manufacturing, that wasn't so good. If you look at the bits that the

presidents trying to stimulate, that didn't do so well.

So, the overall number is good and militates against job cuts. But with A.I. coming along and all the other things that will have dramatic effects

on the job market, it's this one set of numbers should not be read into too much.

FOSTER: Richard, appreciated it. See you at the top of the hour.

QUEST: Thank you.

FOSTER: Still to come, parents and safety advocates are calling a landmark trial a crucial moment of accountability. Can big tech be held liable for

harming children? Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Now to a landmark trial which puts the world's biggest tech companies under the microscope ahead of Meta-owned Instagram, Adam Mosseri

takes the stand today in Los Angeles, opening statements began this week. The now 20-year-old plaintiff accuses Meta and YouTube of designing

addictive apps that she says damaged her mental health when she was younger. On Monday, her lawyer likened the apps to digital casinos.

CNN business tech editor Lisa Eadicicco joins us from New York.

I mean, this is such a profound case, isn't it, for a lot of people who get addicted to these apps, but also to the apps themselves.

[15:45:05]

And I think Instagram is arguing, isn't it, that they're accepting that this plaintiff had been negatively impacted in her life, but it was due to

factors away from Instagram, for example?

LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: Yes. That is Meta's argument, and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri is the first executive to testify in this

trial. And so far, the line of questioning that we've seen so far is really around his opinions on social media addiction, Meta's approach and

philosophy to product development and things like that, and one of the topics that came up today that didn't really come up as much in the opening

statements was around Instagrams policies and decisions regarding beauty filters, filters that that alter ones face on the platform.

And the plaintiff's lawyer did cite some internal meta documents that indicated emails between executives that that indicated that experts have

said that those filters are harmful. And Mosseri did respond to that he did say that at first, Instagram wanted to ban those filters but then later

made the decision to ban the ones that seem to particularly harmful, the ones that seem to promote cosmetic surgery and to allow some others.

So, this really gives us a window into the thinking that goes into some of these decisions that Instagram makes that that are key to this trial here.

And another thing that was interesting that he said so far during his testimony is that he does not think users could be clinically addicted to

Instagram, but that problematic use is possible. And Meta is also out with a new statement today regarding the trial, which I just received a couple

of hours ago in my inbox. And I'm going to read for you now from a meta spokesperson earlier today who said the question for the jury in Los

Angeles is whether Instagram was a substantial factor in the plaintiffs mental health struggles.

The evidence will show she faced many significant, difficult challenges well before she ever used social media. So, again, underscoring that

argument, as you mentioned, that meta is trying to make that Instagram did not play a role in this. But again, this trial is ongoing, so we're

expecting to hear a lot more in the coming days.

FOSTER: Okay, Lisa, thank you. Back with you then.

Right now, drama on the ice and the Olympic figure skating. The ice dance favorites, Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates are about an hour from

taking to the ice for their skate. Their main competition, a pair of skaters from France will follow them. After that, we'll find out who won

the gold in the first individual figure skating competition of the Winter Olympics.

Now, there's been a lot of gold already awarded today. Here is CNN's Coy Wire with a breakdown for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: These mountains here in northern Italy are beautiful, and they are fast. And we already have a new king of speed.

Over in Bormio, one of the breakout stars at these winter games, young Swiss skier Franjo von Allmen taking gold in men's alpine super-G. It's an

historic third gold after the 24-year-old clinched gold in the men's downhill and combined events. He's the first male alpine skier to win three

golds at the same games since 1968.

This is his Olympic debut. Franjo has an inspiring story as well. When he was a teenager, his dad passed away and it looked like Franjo wouldn't be

able to continue the sport he loved for financial reasons, until a crowdfunding project was set up to help him. And the rest as they say, is

history.

Chloe Kim stepping into the halfpipe like maximus in the arena. Her first appearance at these games in the 25 year old dominated, making it look

easy, finishing as the top qualifier. But as a wise man once said, it's not easy to make it look easy. Chloe has had to overcome a nasty dislocated

shoulder injury to get here and deal with all the pressures that come with being the best. But she did and now she's one shred closer to a three-peat.

No Olympian has ever won three straight snowboard halfpipes. She's the Simone Biles of the halfpipe a long time coming. She says she's learned a

lot on this journey, especially since winning her first gold at just 17 years old in Pyeongchang.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHLOE KIM, U.S. HALFPIPE SNOWBOARDER: As I've gotten older, I've started to learn more about myself and kind of what my boundaries are and what I'm

capable of doing. Maybe, like, sometimes I need to learn when to back off. And I think taking a lot of time off has been really important for me and

my mental well-being. It's been a really beautiful journey to learn more about myself and kind of discover who I am as a 25 year old now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: American superstar speed skater Jordan Stolz stole the show, taking the ice for the first time here at these Winter Olympics, setting a new

Olympic record in the men's 1,000 meter. He was just 17 the last winter games he'd won two world titles in this event and now gold. His first

Olympic medal.

[15:50:00]

Jordan is built for speed, he told us ahead of these games he wished people knew how brutally tiring this event is. Crouched down, zipping around those

blades in that rink about 35 miles per hour, about the same speed as the horses at the Kentucky Derby.

Hard work paid off. His first Olympic medal for Team USA.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: That was Coy Wire reporting there.

After the break, well look at the passing of a `90s icon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: The actor and star of "Dawson's Creek", James Van Der Beek, has died at the age of 48. His wife, Kimberly, shared the news on Instagram.

Van Der Beek revealing he was battling stage three bowel cancer late in 2024.

Lisa Respers France joins me now.

So young and so many people reminded of the `90s. He was an absolute icon of that era.

Hi, Lisa. Can you hear me okay? Hello, Lisa?

Okay. We'll come back to Lisa later on.

Finally, tonight, the much anticipated Super Bowl ratings have been released.

It's the big halftime show, of course. Bad Bunny scoring the biggest win at the Super Bowl, arguably, with his halftime show. Ratings showing that

about 128 million people across the U.S. tuned in to watch the superstar's performance. That's according to Nielsen ratings. The figures make it the

most watched program in NBC's 100-year history.

And as Brian Stelter reports, the numbers weren't as stellar for Turning Point USA's alternative show.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Hey there. Yeah, the ratings report card is in, and it shows that the NFL, NBC and Bad Bunny were all

big winners on Sunday night. The ratings from Nielsen showed that about 125 million people in the U.S. watched the Super Bowl. That makes it the number

two Super Bowl in history only behind last year's Super Bowl, which was televised on Fox.

The reason why the numbers were down a little bit year over year probably has to do with the lopsided nature of this year's game. The Seahawks were

dominant the entire time, so some Patriots fans and others probably tuned out in the third and the fourth quarters. We know the second quarter was

the highest rated overall, and a lot of that audience then spilled into Bad Bunny's halftime performance.

[15:55:03]

About 128 million people in the U.S. watched the Bad Bunny show live or later in the night on their DVRs. That is an astonishingly high number,

again only a little bit lower than last year's halftime show featuring Kendrick Lamar.

There was a lot of interest and also some backlash about Bad Bunny's performance, partly because he performed almost entirely in Spanish. There

were some MAGA media outlets, some Trump aligned outlets that were deriding the show in advance and are now complaining about it afterwards, and there

was an attempt by a conservative group TPUSA, to put on an alternative performance, an alternative halftime show. That attempt at

counterprogramming drew 5 to 6 million viewers live on YouTube, a decent number on YouTube but again, much, much smaller than the 128 million that

watched Bad Bunny on television and streaming in the U.S.

There is no standard global metric for the global audience of the Super Bowl but these Nielsen ratings show that American football continues to

have a unique hold on audiences in the U.S., and a unique place in pop culture.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Brian reporting there.

I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW. Do stay with CNN.

END

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