Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Oscar-Winning Actor Gene Hackman Found Dead in His Home; Trump to Welcome British P.M. Starmer to White House; Pro-Palestinian Protesters Storm Barnard College Campus. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 27, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are following breaking news this morning, legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife both found dead in their home in New Mexico. What police are saying this morning.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: In just hours, a critical meeting at the White House, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets face to face with President Trump. Can he wrangle security guarantees for Ukraine?

And more Republican lawmakers facing backlash from frustrated voters packing town halls and demanding answers about Elon Musk's sweeping federal cuts and mass firings.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan. John Berman's out today. This is CNN News Central.

This morning, an investigation is underway after the tragic news came in overnight that legendary actor Gene Hackman is dead. According to Santa Fe Sheriff's Department, he was found dead in his New Mexico home along with his wife and dog. Sheriff's deputies say they do not suspect any foul play was involved, though.

Hackman was 95 years old. His acting career spanned some 40 years, nominated for five Oscars. He won the award for best actor twice, first with his breakout role in the 1971 film, The French Connection, and, again, 20 years later, for Unforgiven.

Here's a look at some of those many roles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please. I'm sorry, can I help you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, I think I'm here to help you. I'm Avery Tolar, your designated mentor.

My Popeye's here. Get your hands on your head. Get off the barn, get on the wall. Come on, move. Move.

Don't leave me here. I don't want to be the only girl not dancing.

I don't care what the scoreboard says. At the end of the game, in my book, we're going to be winners. Okay?

All right, let's go. Let's go. Let me hear it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us right now. Good morning, Elizabeth. What's the latest?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. This is such a sad story overnight and really a bizarre story. So, what we are hearing from police in New Mexico is that Gene Hackman and his wife were found dead in their home along with their dog who was also found deceased.

Now, police are telling us that there is no foul play suspected but there has not been a cause of death at this point.

Now, we do not know what has led police to say that there is no foul play, but that is what they have told us on the record. They were found yesterday in their home, again, the news breaking overnight.

Now, Gene Hackman, he had retired in 2004 and was really out of the Hollywood limelight for years. He and his wife had lived in New Mexico for decades. So, we really haven't seen a lot of Gene Hackman over the past, you know, more than 20 years, Kate. He just turned 95 last month. So, obviously a long celebrated life, truly one of the greats on screen and really a Hollywood legend that will never be forgotten. But even though he lived such a long life, making it to 95, for his life to end in this way, under such bizarre circumstances, obviously is leaving everybody in shock.

Now, it is very early here on the West Coast, in Hollywood. It's just about 4:00 A.M. So, many people haven't woken up to this news yet. And when they will, Kate, they're obviously going to be saddened and shocked.

But we do have a few early tributes coming in that I do want to read to you. Francis Ford Coppola leading those tributes taking to social media this morning.

[07:05:00]

He says, quote, the loss of a great artist always cause for both mourning and celebration. Gene Hackman is a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. He goes on to say, I mourn his loss and celebrate his existence and contribution. Of course, Francis Ford Coppola worked with Gene Hackman in 1974 in the film, The Conversation.

Now, we're also hearing this morning from George Takei. Here's what he has to say. Kate, we have lost one of the true giants of the screen and television. That is true. That's going to be a sentiment held among others. George Takei goes on to say, Gene Hackman could play anyone and you could feel a whole life behind it.

So, again, Kate, as the entertainment industry wakes up here on the West Coast, I know that we are going to have more and more tributes coming through.

BOLDUAN: For sure. Elizabeth, thank you so much for the update. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Right now, President Trump is preparing to welcome British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the White House for a high stakes sit down. Top of the agenda security guarantees for Ukraine. 24 hours after that meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will arrive at the White House.

Starmer and Trump are at odds with the British leader hoping to extract security guarantees for Ukraine and put more distance between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meantime, a deal between Trump and Zelenskyy concerning Ukraine's rare earth elements is as clear as mud. President Trump says the deal is set. Zelenskyy says there is only a framework.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We get back the money that we spent and we hope that we're going to be able to settle this up.

It's a great deal for Ukraine too because they get us over there and we're going to be working over there, we'll be on the land and, you know, in that way, there's sort of automatic security because nobody's going to be messing around with our people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Ukraine. Nick, first of all, where are you? That looks like an area where there's some of these rare earth materials are. And what do you know about this agreement that seems very confusing at this point in time?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You join me at a titanium mine in Zhytomyr to the west of Kyiv in Ukraine. A critical earth mineral, some call it a rare earth mineral. And behind me is the huge volume of water used to blast into the ore and you can see just them dropping off what they've scraped from one of the huge basins here.

Look, this mine has its problems, Russian attacks on the electricity infrastructure here that keeps it running means sometimes they get three hours functionality a day and the electricity is very expensive. All these elements really go into explaining how urgently Ukraine wants some kind of investment, but also to the complexity of how much money you might expect to get back from your immediate investment. They're not running on a profit here at all.

And you also get a sense, I think, as well, of exactly the scale of what Ukraine might potentially be able to offer here, the titanium used in so many daily products that we have.

Now, the deal in question, which is most likely to be signed before or during the Friday visit to the White House by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is not that specific. It is a framework. It talks about creating a reconstruction and investment fund for Ukraine. And it talks about relevant resources, doesn't specify what they are. It puts some things, says it won't be some things, but it says, we'll define what is going to be included in a later fund agreement. They'll start negotiating as soon as this first one is actually signed.

Complicated? Yes, but I think that's a deliberate design to weave between the almost reconcilable positions we're really seeing here. President Trump on one side saying, I want debt repaid and I want it repaid using these natural resources. Zelenskyy saying, I don't recognize any of that money from the Biden administration as debt. It was grants. And I want to see this turning into something about investing in Ukraine as well.

So, that complexity really, I think, fudged around by this document that seems to get everyone over that obstacle, but that doesn't stop the major focus of Friday, which is getting President Trump and President Zelenskyy in the same room together, healing that horrific ten days ago rift that began between them, and enabling maybe the U.S.-Ukraine relationship to get back on an even a keel. But that's a big ask in itself, as indeed is turning something like this, massive as it is, into a profit that gets near the billions of dollars, a half trillion dollars that President Trump initially said he wanted back from Ukraine. Sara?

SIDNER: Nick, thank you to you and your crew for going and showing us this. I know that traveling anywhere in Ukraine is very, very dangerous. But it is fascinating to see what is going on behind you and this whole argument over a deal over those rare earth materials. I really appreciate it to you and your crew.

All right, breaking overnight, pro-Palestinian protesters storm a college campus. The school says an employee was physically assaulted, but protesters say they were the ones that harassed and shoved. The latest on that this morning.

And a growing backlash to the anti-DEI efforts taking place since President Trump returned to the White House, some black consumers now boycotting corporations that are pulling back from diversity initiatives.

[07:10:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gillespie, for three. Collin, no. Holloman looks the clock, half court for the win, oh!

SIDNER: Good God. A buzzer beater, this is going to be so cool. We'll talk all about it, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Breaking overnight, pro-Palestinian demonstrators storming a building on New York City's Barnard College campus, forcing their way in for an hours-long sit-in.

[07:15:04]

Now, a Barnard spokesperson, here's some video of it, spokesperson said the protesters assaulted a staffer who had to be taken to the hospital. The demonstrators were demanding the school reverse a decision around the expulsion of two students last month.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is tracking this one for us. He's joining us now. As I was just taking a look more at that video, Omar, what are you learning? Tell us what you're hearing about this sit-in, about why it's happening, and what happens now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, for starters, they were demonstrating in support of, again, two students who were reportedly expelled for disrupting the first day of a History of Modern Israel class last month. So, that's the whole reason for them being noticed.

This happened inside a building at Barnard College, which is affiliated with Columbia University. But both students from Barnard and Columbia were a part of this. And as you mentioned, the incident, they sat in the hallway, chanting, clapping, beating drums, but a Barnard sports spokesperson said they made multiple efforts to deescalate.

And then from that point, they said students physically assaulted an employee, as the activist group said on social media that security staff harassed and shoved them. So, clearly, there was some sort of physical element to all of this. The protesters did eventually leave, but they essentially had some demands that they wanted to be made.

Now, on the expulsion, the school wouldn't comment on individual records, but did say that expulsion is always an extraordinary measure but so too is our commitment to respect inclusion and the integrity of the academic experience. And among what the students were asking for is one, yes, the reversal of the expulsion, but also amnesty for students disciplined for pro-Palestine action and more transparency overall in the disciplinary proceedings.

But, of course, as you remember, Barnard students and Columbia University, the center of pro-Palestinian protests last year, we saw incidents where there was a building occupation and arrest, a mass arrest of more than a hundred people. I don't have to walk entirely down memory lane. But now the Columbia spectator is reporting that Barnard's president and dean are tentatively set to meet with some of the protesters later today, so we will see, but obviously a situation to monitor.

Everyone did leave eventually at one point without incident at least in regards to the prior incidents, but definitely a dynamic to watch.

BOLDUAN: Yes, absolutely watch it today. Omar, thank you. It's really good to see you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, a tragic milestone. The first measles death now recorded in the growing outbreak in West Texas and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s response is, this is not unusual.

Lawmakers across the country facing anger and outrage from their constituents at town hall meetings, and the primary source of the blowback is Elon Musk and his DOGE cuts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

SIDNER: Who doesn't love a buzzer beater in college basketball? It's even better when it's from behind the half court line and wins the game. Michigan State Spartans riding high after that big win.

CNN's Andy Scholes joining us now with the highlights, so cool.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. You know, Sara, March Madness, not here yet, but it sure felt like it last night. And you said it best, you know, buzzer beaters always great, but even better when they come from beyond half court to win the game.

Eighth ranked Michigan State, they were tied with 16th ranked Maryland closing seconds to Kobe Gillespie misses from Maryland, Tre Holloman gets it, lets it go, and it goes in to win the game for the Spartans at the buzzer. Holloman's teammates mobbed them. Maryland fans, they were just stunned.

Now, Holloman had a big turnover in the final minute, but more than made up for it with that shot. Michigan State wins 58-55. And here was Coach Tom Izzo after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM IZZO, MICHIGAN STATE COACH: That was a lucky shot, but nobody can say we didn't deserve to win this game. I mean, we made some bad mistakes, give them credit. We threw the ball away a little bit and everything, but we deserved to win this game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: That was a big night for basketball in Mo town, the Pistons winning yet again, this time Detroit beating the Celtics. Malik Beasley continuing his red hot shooting scoring 26 points. Pistons would end up winning easily in this one, 117-97 snapping Boston's six- game winning streak.

Detroit, they have now won eight in a row for the first time in 17 years. And if the playoff started today, Pistons may be the sixth seed in the East. Their fans finally smiling there in Detroit.

And finally, maybe the dunk of the year last night by Portland's Shaedon Sharpe, got the steal. Look at that. Cocks it back, throws down the hammer. Sharpe had a career high 36 points as well. Portland won 129-121 over the Wizards.

But, I mean, Sara, I mean, humans can't fly, but Shaedon Sharpe sure comes close. SIDNER: Okay. My back hurts just looking at that. He arched back. That was a Jordan moment for all of you questioning whether I think who the GOAT is. It's Jordan. But that was amazing. Amazing.

SCHOLES: 50-inch vertical, I mean, it's insane.

SIDNER: So good. Andy Scholes, always a pleasure. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

All right, President Trump is preparing to meet with the U.K. prime minister today. Can the president be persuaded not to abandon Ukraine?

And legendary actor Gene Hackman and his wife and their dog all found dead. We're going to look back at his incredible career.

[07:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, call me foolish, call me irresponsible. It occurs to me that a 500-megaton bomb planted at just the proper point would --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would destroy most of California. Millions of innocent people would be killed. The West Coast, as we know it, would --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: fall into the sea. Bye-bye, California. Hello, new West Coast, my West Coast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:30:00]

BOLDUAN: That is, of course, actor Gene Hackman in just one of his legendary tough guy roles. We continue to follow.