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Rubio: U.S. and Russia Talked Framework for Ending Ukraine War; CIA Unarmed Reaper Drones Spy on Drug Cartels Over Mexico; Musk Calls for Prison Sentences for Journalists. Aired 3:30-4p ET
Aired February 18, 2025 - 15:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:30:00]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Top U.S. and Russian diplomats have finished the first phase of talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine. Today's face-to-face meeting in Saudi Arabia lasted just over four hours, and both sides say they agreed on a set of principles, including working towards a deal that all parties support. But with Ukraine excluded from these peace talks, President Zelenskyy is making it clear today that his country will not accept any deal without Kyiv's involvement.
We're joined now by Kira Rudik. She's a member of the Ukrainian parliament. Thank you so much for being with us this afternoon.
I do want to walk you through some of the things that have been outlined by Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia. He previewed some of the Kremlin's demands, arguing that President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government has to step down. He also argued that Russia shouldn't cede any gains on the battlefield.
Do you see any scenario in which Russia would agree to those demands?
KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT MEMBER: Hello Boris and thank you so much for having me. Well, these demands are actually nothing new for us. They are the same that Russia had in 2022 when they first attacked us, where they were already making certain claims about the legitimacy of Ukraine's president and government.
They were also telling that they have already taken the control both of President Zelenskyy and of the government. However, as a representative of Ukrainian parliament, I must assure you that Ukrainian parliament is legitimate according to Ukrainian constitution, and president and the government are legitimate as well. Ukraine will conduct the elections at the point when it will be safe to do so.
And Russia is the sole reason of why we are unable to continue with our democracy. So to hear that from their representative is just another set of lies. And I am so sorry that the world has to hear that.
[15:35:00]
SANCHEZ: I am curious about your confidence level when you hear Secretary of State Marco Rubio say that Ukraine and other European leaders that are involved in this conflict will be brought to the table to negotiate with Russia.
How soon do you think that'll happen? Do you foresee that being of consequence to ultimately what a deal looks like?
RUDIK: Boris, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I don't know if you can hear that. But right now Kyiv is under attack and what I'm hearing sitting at my home is how our air defense is trying to take down some of the Russian drones or missiles. And it is super scary. I think that would be an answer to any statements that Russia is making or any -- I'm sorry, it's like really loud here.
Russia is the reason why this war has begun. It's in their hands to make it stop, to pull the troops and go back. I do not understand why the United States new administration have changed the rule of not negotiating with terrorists and right now are trying to legitimize them or their claims. It's very painful and it basically diminishes all the prices that we have paid, the ultimate prices of lives of our citizens.
Because at least we would expect that the United States would demand returning of Ukrainian children or exchange of the prisoners of war to be sitting at the same table with the war criminals.
SANCHEZ: President Trump has said that he wants to see a return on U.S. assistance to Ukraine. President Zelenskyy has said that he would be open to striking some kind of deal on rare earth minerals. Do you think that is a good deal? What exactly do you think Trump wants?
RUDIK: Perhaps Trump wants to explain to the U.S. citizens who elected him that he is able to stand for the U.S. interests. And there is actually a very good way of doing that is get use of Russian frozen assets that are being right now frozen in Belgium depository Euroclear. We are talking about 300 billion Euros that are being untouched and I think there is a possibility to work a deal with European Union to use this money if the United States need them to.
That will be fair and just way of making Russia pay for what they have done and compensate to the assistance that the United States have given us. If we are right now in the world where we have to pay for what we have already received. But in any way we are open to figuring out any kind of situations where Ukrainian soldiers in the armed forces will have the means to fight with.
And if it's a deal about the rare minerals or Russian assets or anything else, President Zelenskyy said that he is open to that and we will support that because the main thing that we need right now is to survive. And that was our only goal since the beginning of full scale invasion and since the beginning of the war in 2014.
So we will be talking of course but we will not forfeit Ukraine's interests and the interests are to honor the lives of those who have fallen during the last three years to the ultimate sacrifice that Ukraine's nation have done and to make sure that we are not capitulating to Russia. We didn't want to do that in 2022 when we had nobody behind our backs and we are not going to do that right now.
SANCHEZ: Kira Rudik, thank you so much for joining us.
RUDIK: Thank you and glory to Ukraine.
SANCHEZ: Thanks much.
Still to come, covert drone missions over Mexico. New CNN reporting on how the CIA is spying on drug cartels. That story just moments away.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Two sources tell CNN that Congress now has a list of gangs and drug cartels that the Trump administration wants designated as foreign terrorist organizations. It includes MS-13 and the Sinaloa cartel, among other criminal groups. President Trump mandated the list be compiled in an executive order last month, and Congress is expected to weigh in before the State Department makes the designations official.
Applying the terror label to cartels is part of a dramatic shift by the Trump administration to focus more national security tools and assets on the southern border instead of terrorists overseas. Now CNN is learning that the CIA has been flying drones in Mexican airspace to spy on the cartels. CNN's Katie Bo Lillis is part of the team that broke this news.
Katie Bo, tell us about this CIA operation.
KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Brianna, so what we've learned is that the CIA is flying MQ-9 Reaper drones in Mexican airspace over Mexico to collect intelligence on the cartels. Now, really important to understand, these drones are not armed, even though they are capable of carrying payloads. And this isn't the first time the CIA has flown surveillance flights of this kind in Mexico with the coordination of the Mexican government.
[15:45:00]
But we do know that the agency notified Congress using a particular kind of notification in this instance that they reserve for new or updated covert action programs that they intend to conceal or deny, signaling that this is a pretty big expansion of the work that the agency had done below the border previously.
Now, CIA declining to comment on these flights, specifically, of course, as is their practice. But a spokesman for the agency did say that they are putting more resources towards the cartel issue, towards the counter-narcotics issue, and really focusing under CIA Director John Ratcliffe on this issue.
Look, this is all part of this broader effort by the Trump administration to really put counter-narcotics work, to put the cartel issue on a counterterrorism footing. We've seen, obviously, that these designations are expected out of the State Department. And we at CNN, have reviewed a planning document from the Trump transition that is specifically indicating that the administration intends to use counterterrorism resources and authorities to tackle the counter-narcotics issue. And, of course, the question from our sources then becomes, is this laying the groundwork for potential direct action by the military or the intelligence community inside Mexico against the cartels?
KEILAR: Yes, you don't gather information to not do anything with it, you would think, so we'll have to see what they're going to do with it. Katie Bo, thank you so much. We appreciate the reporting.
Elon Musk blasting "60 Minutes" journalists saying they belong behind bars, the potential impact of his latest attacks on the media coming up.
[15:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Elon Musk is now calling for the jailing of journalists at "60 Minutes." He calls them, quote, the biggest liars in the world. He says they deserve a long prison sentence.
SANCHEZ: This comes after the news magazine's recent broadcast, which led off with a report about Trump's first four weeks with a particular focus on USAID and the human impact of DOGE dismantling the agency.
Joining us now is CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, walk us through what exactly in the reporting pushed Musk to call for these journalists to be sent to prison.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Right. This broadcast on Sunday night was looking at USAID and the human impact, the human toll of the dismantling of that agency. That's some of the most important journalism being done in the past few weeks by CBS, by CNN, by The New York Times, by other outlets. The human impact of the cuts. That's what everyone needs to know about.
But within a couple of hours of that broadcast, Musk lashed out, saying that "60 Minutes" journalists belong in jail, calling for long prison sentences.
Of course, Musk has no power to imprison anyone, but this stuff is dangerous because it normalizes an un-American notion that rich guys should be able to throw their critics behind bars, that there should be prosecutions just because people are criticizing what is going on.
Musk has a history of saying this, but it all kind of gives the lie to his claim that he's a free speech absolutist. He doesn't seem to actually want free and unfettered speech when it comes to criticism of what he's doing or just coverage of what he's doing.
He only wants a speech that agrees with him. And so this is the latest example of that phenomenon.
KEILAR: And we're also hearing from Musk today in a taped Fox News interview alongside President Trump. Let's take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: I used to be adored by the left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, not anymore.
MUSK: Less so these days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He killed that.
MUSK: I mean, less --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really didn't.
MUSK: I mean, this whole sort of, like, you know -- it is they call it, like, Trump derangement syndrome. And you don't realize how real this is until, like, it's -- you can't reason with people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: OK, so what more are we expecting from that?
STELTER: Yes, now there's kind of a newer version of Trump derangement syndrome, DOGE derangement syndrome. This is now a term becoming popular on the right from Trump supporters who were saying people who are concerned about what DOGE is doing, they're just deranged, they don't really get it.
I think this interview with Sean Hannity tonight it's an example of the illusion of transparency.
What I mean by that is it appears that Musk is reachable, he's answering questions, he's available, he's taking questions from Fox, but it's really not an actual act of transparency. After all, Sean Hannity, during Trump's first term in office, was called Trump's shadow chief of staff. So we know that Hannity is rooting for Trump and Musk, he's supporting the work they're doing.
We're not going to learn a lot of new information about what DOGE and Musk are doing from this interview, but it's the illusion of transparency. And that is really this gap that needs to be filled between what Musk is claiming to provide information about, claiming that DOGE is accessible, trying to reveal what they're doing, versus the actual reality, which is very opaque. We know very little about what's happening behind the scenes.
SANCHEZ: Brian, not everyone in Trump's orbit is thrilled about this partnership between Musk and the president. Trump's former White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is out there blasting Musk. Here's actually what he told the online publication UnHerd.
Quote: Musk is a parasitic illegal immigrant. He wants to impose his freak experiments and pay-act as God without any respect for the country's history, values, or traditions. What do you make of this feud, Brian?
STELTER: We need to keep an eye on this. Bannon keeps doubling down. Last month he called Musk an evil person, now calling him a parasite.
The reference to a legal immigrant is a reference to the fact that Musk was born in South Africa. And there were news reports last year suggesting that maybe he overstayed his visa in the United States. Musk denied those reports.
But Bannon's trying to give those reports more oxygen.
[15:55:00]
It seems to me Bannon's on the outside trying to punch at the guy who's on the inside. But right now, Musk is winning. Trump has Musk doing exactly what Trump wants him doing. Doing a lot of the hard work, doing a lot of the ugly work inside these government agencies. But Bannon is pushing him hard on immigration, and Bannon's going to continue to be a thorn in that side.
SANCHEZ: Brian Stelter, thanks so much for joining us.
STELTER: Thanks.
SANCHEZ: Up next, folks are flipping over a discovery in the middle of the street. We'll explain in just moments.
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KEILAR: Police in New Haven, Connecticut responded to a call about an unexpected visitor prowling the city and they arrived to find this guy. A stray gray baby seal and here's what they tweeted.
Meet the newest addition to the department.
A passerby saw this little guy hanging out on a street far from the waters that he usually calls home. He's actually believed to be about five or six weeks old.
[16:00:02]
SANCHEZ: Rescuers from the nearby Mystic Aquarium swooped in. They think he was following his instincts to flee areas where other seals might hurt him. They plan to rehabilitate the pup with the goal of eventually releasing him back into the wild when he's ready.
I don't know if he was fleeing other seals or maybe just looking for a Popeye's chicken sandwich.
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: What do you think?
KEILAR: Some pizza maybe?
SANCHEZ: Yes, some good pizza.
KEILAR: Some really good pizza. He's so cute though.
SANCHEZ: Sweet little guy.
KEILAR: Yep.
SANCHEZ: Hey, "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now. Thanks for joining us.
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