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Trump Warns Countries that Play Games Will Pay Higher Tariffs; Thousands of Flights Canceled Amid Powerful Winter Storm; Zelenskyy: I Want to Know Who Will Help If Putin Attacks Again; Estrogen Patches in Short Supply as Demand Grows. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired February 23, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: ... way up to that maximum of 15 percent. And then just today we heard from the president that he was thinking about increasing tariffs on any countries who he said, quote, "play games." But also adding in another post on Truth Social that he did not believe he needed any congressional approval to add more tariffs.

And that's what has investors concerned, Brianna. They do believe that maybe, possibly could we be headed for another Supreme Court battle if this proves to be true that the president believes he just has carte blanche to increase tariffs at any rate.

The 15 percent tariff that is in place right now does need congressional approval, Brianna, to move beyond those 150 days. The president believes he either has that or doesn't need it, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And what are investors looking to next year, Vanessa?

YURKEVICH: Yes, usually investors are looking towards earnings or maybe a key report, a key data report from the federal government. But actually, some investors are looking ahead to the State of the Union address because they believe that the president may indicate in that address just how he plans to increase tariffs in other ways. That is certainly of concern for investors who, as we know, and we've been saying for over a year now, Brianna, they like certainty rather.

They do not like uncertainty. But the uncertainty that we're seeing right now is what we are seeing playing out in the markets right there on your screen. But a lot of investors are going to be paying attention to the State of the Union, which doesn't usually move markets.

But in this case, if the president does indicate he is looking to or has found other ways to use tariffs, to increase tariffs in other countries, we could see a significant change in markets on Wednesday morning -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, we'll be looking for that. Vanessa, thank you very much. Still to come, air travel is at a standstill. Thousands of flights are grounded at major airports across the Northeast as the region is pummeled by this brutal winter storm that we're keeping our eye on. We'll be taking you there.

[14:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Our breaking news of the bomb cyclone. We are continuing to follow this as the storm just wreaks havoc across the northeast. The heavy snow, hurricane force winds.

This has become a travel nightmare. Multiple states at this hour, in fact, still have bans in place for their roadways. No flights, as in a big fat zero, have actually taken off from the three major New York City airports in the last 14 hours.

CNN's Jason Carroll is at one of those airports. He's joining us from New York, New Jersey. I have never seen Newark that quiet.

And it's been that quiet all day for you.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All morning, all day. I mean, I mean, the bottom line is this. This is the headline.

No one coming. No one going as well. I mean, look at this.

Have you ever seen Newark look like this? I mean, you could hear a pin drop out here. No people.

No one's here. Very few workers because it's simply too hard to get here. I mean, FlightAware pretty much put it in perspective for you when they talked about no flights taking off from any of the major airports here in New York City and the surrounding areas.

And by surrounding areas, I'm including Boston and Philly for the past 12 hours plus or so. And when you look at the board here, you look at all of these canceled flights here, but then you also see a few scattered on time, on time. No way.

Those flights are not taking off. It's just that the board has really just not been really updated here. You know, just a little while ago we spoke to some of the travelers.

The story is the same one over and over again. People who came here early yesterday, some as early as yesterday morning, trying to get where they needed to go and ended up staying the night right here on the airport floor. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our flight has been rebooked for the 25th of February.

CARROLL: The 25th? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, the 25th. So we don't know what we're doing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We sat on the tarmac for over two hours while they were trying to de-ice the plane, and then after that they told us, you've got to get off the plane, we're not going to be able to fly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL (on camera): All right, and here's some of the percentages that we've been taking a look at. JFK, in terms of cancellations, 89 percent. LaGuardia, 98 percent.

Boston Logan at 92 percent. Newark, where we are, 91 percent. Philadelphia, 82 percent.

Again, those are estimated numbers that we're getting, but again, bottom line is basically none of these flights are really taking off. And so what? Going forward, here's what a lot of the travelers are going to be looking at.

Some of those aren't even going to be able to get out tomorrow, guys, and that's because some of these carriers don't want to overload the system tomorrow, so they're booking them days out. One woman who we spoke to was trying to get back to Florida. She told us her flight has now been rescheduled for the 25th.

The nightmare continues.

HILL: Yes.

CARROLL: Guys, back to you.

HILL: It does. Jason, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, four years after Russia's full-scale invasion, Ukraine's leader is speaking with CNN about the limits of compromise and what he hopes to hear from President Trump at tomorrow's State of the Union. That's next.

[14:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Tomorrow will mark four years since Russia invaded Ukraine. And on the eve of that grim anniversary, CNN is sitting down for a one-on-one interview with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He's offering his thoughts on where Ukraine and peace talks with Russia stand after so much conflict.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is with us now from Kyiv. Clarissa, what is Zelenskyy saying?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this was an interesting, wide-ranging interview at the presidential palace that really shed some light on where these talks are getting stuck. At the moment, there seems to be a disagreement between the U.S. and the Ukrainians about the sequencing. Crucially, President Zelenskyy wants to see security guarantees from the U.S. and other partners. He wants to see them signed and ratified by Congress before he agrees to make any territorial concessions. President Trump would prefer to see everything signed in one go.

[14:45:00]

And crucially, Zelenskyy told us for the first time, we hadn't heard this before, that at the moment, there's no explicit language in the security agreements as to what the U.S. would do and how they would respond if Putin reinvades Ukraine. And he would like to see that change. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: For me, it still is not clear that if Russia will begin aggression against us. What I wanted very much to have in the security guarantees. My question is how partners will react on the aggression of Russia if it will be.

The answer is that it will not be. It's not the answer to me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

WARD: So you want a very specific in writing guarantee.

ZELENSKYY: I want very -- I will have good things in these guarantees. It's true between us. It's true.

But I want very specific answer what partners will be ready to do if Putin will come again. And I think this is what Ukrainians want to hear. Just want to hear.

I'm sorry. It's not pressure. It's just to understand.

WARD: If you get those security guarantees, would you be willing to accept a frozen front line whereby Russia keeps the territory that they have already seized?

ZELENSKYY: We already said that we are ready for the compromise to freeze the points where we stay, the places. It's a frozen contact line. We are ready for this.

It's not very good position for us. But in any way, we have defending lines. We have these fortifications.

But if Russians or partners in dialogue with Russians want just to withdraw our army from our fortifications, I mean, we can't be such, sorry, foolish guys. We are not children.

WARD: What would you like to hear from President Trump tomorrow at his State of the Union address?

ZELENSKYY: I want him to stay on our side.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WARD (on camera): And you heard, Brianna, that long pause there before he answered that question. He did say that the relationship between the Ukrainian and the U.S. sides is good, that the technical teams are talking every day. But he believes fervently that the U.S. and President Trump are really the only ones who have the power to pressure Putin into coming to the table and making a deal that will work -- Brianna.

KEILAR: So he says he wants the U.S. to stay on his side. Is there a feeling among Ukrainians that America is not on their side or that they have demonstrably shifted away from being on their side, Clarissa?

WARD: You know, Brianna, it's such a good question. And I've been saying that I've really noticed this trip over the past week for the first time that you can definitely feel some bitterness when you talk to Ukrainians. Arguably, understandably, they feel to a certain extent that the U.S. has abandoned them. And you can also really feel, Brianna, the toll that this war is starting to take on people. I had one woman from Ukraine send me a message saying, I never want to hear the word resilient again. You know, we're not robots, is what another woman told me.

We're not superheroes. We're ordinary people. And after this brutal winter with these constant blackouts and power outages, you really have a sense, as this war now enters its fifth year, that people here are reaching a breaking point -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, they are ordinary people who are weathering something extraordinary and have been now for almost four years. Clarissa Ward, thank you so much. We do look forward to the entire interview -- Erica.

HILL: Let's get you caught up on some of the other headlines we are watching this hour. Opening statements now underway in the murder trial of Kouri Richins. She's the Utah mother who's accused of poisoning her husband and writing a children's book about coping with grief.

Prosecutors say the 35-year-old poisoned her suspect husband Eric's drink using a lethal dose of fentanyl, saying it was an effort to profit from his lucrative business and life insurance policies. She's also accused of trying but failing to poison him a few weeks earlier on Valentine's Day. Now Richins has pleaded not guilty to the various charges against her.

An activist group known as Everyone Hates Elon hanging a photograph of former Prince Andrew in the Louvre Museum in Paris. You see the photo here. It may look familiar.

[14:50:00]

Well, that's the image of Andrew in the back of a car after he was released from a police station in England on the day of his arrest. In an Instagram post, the group said it was priceless that Andrew was facing, quote, "a bit of justice." No word on if the photo is still there.

And check out these pictures. This is so-called Firefall at Yosemite National Park. Thousands of people gather every February to witness this rare, beautiful phenomenon, which occurs when sunlight hits horsetail fall at just the right angle. And it creates this visual effect that turns the waterfall in molten orange.

Still ahead here, crucial for so many women who are dealing with the exhausting symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. Well, now the estrogen patches that so many women rely on are becoming harder to find. Why?

And is there another option? We'll take a closer look next.

[14:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: If you feel like you're hearing a lot more about menopause and perimenopause lately, you're not wrong. Some of us are really here for that moment, too. There is relief and frustration, and the frustration today is centered around a form of hormone relief therapy that many women have come to depend on.

That growing demand, though, it turns out, is also leading to a shortage of estrogen patches.

KEILAR: That's right, and that has left many women struggling with night sweats, exhaustion, and other symptoms. One patient telling CNN she even felt like the patch shortage made her symptoms worse. Quote, "I was definitely stressed about not getting them, and so my main symptoms were irritability and waking up in the middle of the night stressed and not sleeping. I feel like my symptoms have still not completely gone away."

Let's talk about this now with gynecologist Tara Allmen, who wrote the book "Menopause Confidential." Thank you so much for being with us to talk about this all-important thing. First off, why?

Tell us about this low supply and what's happening here with women not being able to get their estrogen patches.

DR. TARA ALLMEN, BOARD CERTIFIED GYNECOLOGIST: Well, here's a newsflash. Doctors actually don't know why that is either, but I don't want your viewers to panic. It's probably a supply issue.

There are just a few manufacturers. However, there are ways to get your estradiol patch. If you can't get it from your current pharmacy, then you're going to get on the telephone and dial all the pharmacies in your neighborhood.

That's going to be your first step toward getting the estrogen therapy that you need.

HILL: So that's step one. If you already have the patch, you're worried that you're not going to get your next prescription, essentially. Brianna brought up a really good point.

I'll leave it to you because this is your question, which I haven't thought of.

KEILAR: Can you wear the patch for longer? Because part of the concern, obviously, with the patch, which people change every, you know, like twice a week, is because the stickiness of it, I think, right? Or that material can actually cause a skin reaction.

If you wear it for longer, are you getting the hormones?

ALLMEN: Well, that skin reaction is a very minimal, minor point in the whole scheme of things for most women. So let's not worry about that for the minute. So the short answer to your question is no.

If you have a twice-a-week patch, that patch only has enough estrogen for three and a half days. So after three and a half days, if you're still wearing your patch, it's not providing you the protection that you need, and your symptoms are going to return.

HILL: So let's say you're not a patch gal, right? For those of us who do have sensitive skin, the reality is it's not the only way to get estrogen therapy. There are pills.

There are gels. Are those just as effective as the patch?

ALLMEN: Absolutely. That's such a great point. So let's not panic if you can't get your estrogen patch, or if you wanted to, even in the first place consider hormone therapy.

There are many options, and this raises the really important point that you need to partner with an expert in midlife women's health so that you know what your options are and what's the best choice for you.

KEILAR: It does feel, Dr. Allmen, that more women are talking about this right now. They're talking about it with each other. They're talking to their doctors about it.

Why is systemic estrogen therapy having a moment? Explain the benefits of it that some women are seeking.

ALLMEN: Well, I think menopause is having a moment. Thank goodness. I've been in the midlife women's health space for over 30 years, so I'm thrilled that more than 65 million women right now, as they're listening to you, are going to get great information.

Whenever there is an announcement about hormone therapy, when a celebrity or somebody famous starts to talk about their hot flashes and night sweats, everybody starts to tune in. And, of course, you know recently that a scary warning on hormone therapy has been removed by the FDA. That just opens up the conversation for more health care professionals and more women to get the correct information and the treatment that they need for something that is really real and devastating. HILL: Yes, it's an important part of life that should never be shied away from, that we should be able to talk about more. Before we let you go, there is such a focus on hormone replacement therapy in this moment, but there are women who are not eligible. Perhaps they've had cancer before.

Are there other avenues that they can take to relieve some of these symptoms, which can really be debilitating?

ALLMEN: You're absolutely right. There are so many women who can't use ...

END