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Ukraine, U.S. Agree on Natural Resources Deal; British Prime Minister Announces Increases in Defense Spending; Israel Expands Military Operation in the West Bank; Taiwan Details Chinese-Crewed Ship After Undersea Cable Cut; Europe Scrambles to Guarantee Ukraine's Security; Europe Scrambles to Guarantee Ukraine's Security; Southwest Airlines Near Collision Part of Series of Incidents. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 26, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The high price of U.S. support paid for with rare earth minerals.

Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a very big deal. It could be $1 trillion deal. It could be whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Payday for Donald Trump with Ukraine giving the U.S. rights to mineral reserves in return for ongoing U.S. support.

The high price the U.K. is paying to appease the U.S. president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Yes, its true President Trump thinks we should do more, and I agree with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: With a big increase in the defense budget paid for by cutting foreign aid. And the scares in the air over the United States keep coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is yet another near collision involving a commercial flight.

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VAUSE: As a Southwest flight aborted landing in Chicago, narrowly avoiding a tarmac collision with another plane. ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: The idea of exchanging Ukrainian mineral rights in return for U.S. security was first suggested by the Ukrainian president back in September. At the time, it seemed almost like a sidebar issue. But now access to those rare earth minerals is at the very center of negotiations over future U.S. support for Ukraine.

After a lot of back and forth, one Ukrainian official says an agreement is now done, which includes a U.S. commitment to help fund Ukraine's reconstruction. No mention of security guarantees, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy had demanded, but still he is expected to be in Washington on Friday to sign the deal.

Ukraine rejected an earlier offer put forward by the White House. A source telling CNN it was a one-sided deal with no obligation on the U.S. for Ukraine's security. That same official says everything unacceptable has now been taken out with much greater clarity on the U.S. and its contribution to Ukraine's peace and security. Here's President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I hear that he's coming on Friday. Certainly it's OK with me if he'd like to, and he would like to sign it together with me. And I understand that's a big deal. Very big deal. And I think the American people, even if you look at polling, they're very happy because, you know, Biden was throwing money around like it's cotton candy and it's a very big deal. Look, it could be a trillion deal. It could be whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Nick Paton Walsh reports now from Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Increasingly positive signs that a deal will be signed between the United States and Ukraine in the coming days. A Ukrainian official saying that in their perception, the United States and Ukraine have agreed terms for a deal over Ukraine's rare earth minerals and natural resources being used to pay back what the Trump administration says is debt over aid from the United States to Ukraine to help it defend itself after Russia's invasion.

Now, the deal apparently may end up being signed later this week in Washington. The official is saying that the White House has proposed a meeting on Friday between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump. When asked about this, Trump said that he'd heard Zelenskyy was coming to see him on Friday, said he was OK with that, and also suggested that Zelenskyy would like to sign the deal during that meeting.

That's not a full throated embrace of the deal by Trump or an official announcement from the White House that indeed they have agreed terms. But it's certainly significant progress after a week of intense acrimony between Trump and Zelenskyy, in which Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator. Zelenskyy suggested that Trump was living in a disinformation circle, and the relationship really appeared to be in freefall.

In terms of the deal's content, well, we understand from the Ukrainian official that some of the thornier items have been removed. Indeed, we were told on Monday that it wouldn't have security guarantees in it that the Ukrainians had sought, as the Americans had resisted. It appears, according to the Ukrainian official we spoke to today that some language pertaining to Ukrainian security may have been put back in.

But this does seem to be a framework agreement, talks about Ukrainian reconstruction, but may leave some of the uglier details for further discussions. But what's really going to be important is whether or not Trump does indeed meet Zelenskyy on Friday and how they get along, because it's their personal acrimony that has hung over bids by European leaders to try and get Trump to embrace the idea of Ukraine support more fully, and indeed to try and assist any European role in peacekeeping forces here.

It's been a breakneck fortnight of the United States getting closer to Russia in separate negotiations of acrimony between Ukraine and U.S. presidents, and now, it seems, potentially this deal looking in better shape than it has for quite some time.

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If the two presidents meet on Friday and do heal that relationship, that will be an enormous relief for the Ukrainians here who are desperately concerned that their main financial and military backer may be significantly less invested and potentially relief, too, for Europeans who have been in something of a scramble since the role in the United States, not only in Ukraine's security but that of Europe as a whole, has been in doubt over the last fortnight.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also heading to the White House and he's bearing gifts. A big increase in defense budget. With spending as a percentage of GDP up from 2.3 percent at present to 2.5 by 2027, that's $17 billion, then up 2.6 percent the following year, what Starmer says is the biggest sustained increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War. And to pay for it, in part, the international aid budget is being slashed by 40 percent, a move charity groups have quickly condemned.

Starmer says he agrees with President Trump that Europe needs to spend more on defense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STARMER: I think in our heart of hearts, we've all known that this decision has been coming for three years since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. The last few weeks have accelerated my thinking on when we needed to make this announcement. Yes, it's true. President Trump thinks we should do more. And I agree with him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Joining us now is Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst focusing on defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

Thank you for being with us.

MALCOLM DAVIS, MILITARY ANALYST: Thank you for having me.

VAUSE: OK. Now, while speaking to parliament, Keir Starmer, the U.K. prime minister, talked about the Russian menace as being the driving force for this increased spending on defense. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STARMER: Russian spy ships menace our waters. Russian planes enter our airspace. Russian cyberattacks hit our NHS. And just seven years ago, there was a Russian chemical weapons attack in broad daylight on the streets of Salisbury.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, in dollar terms, the actual budget increase is about $17 billion. In terms of rebuilding the U.K. military and countering this Russian menace, will this increase in spending have much impact?

DAVIS: Look, my concern is that it won't be enough and it won't be fast enough. I think the U.K. like the rest of Europe needs to move into a pre-war period because what we're seeing is essentially a U.S. disengagement from Europe that potentially undermines the U.S.'s willingness to honor its obligations under Article Five of NATO. That means that Europe, including the U.K., is on its own in terms of defending against a Russian menace that will extend beyond Ukraine, against NATO in the coming years.

So I do think that the U.K. and Europe are correct to be boosting defense spending now, but they need to do it rapidly and they need to do it significantly and in a manner that gives them the effective capabilities they need as soon as possible.

VAUSE: Here's how defense spending by NATO countries breaks down geographically. The countries colored blue spent 3 percent or more of their GDP. Estonia, Latvia and Poland, which actually spends more than 4 percent. We have Greece in that category as well, exceeding 3 percent, partly because of tension with Turkey. But it seems the closer a country is to the threat, the more they spend on defense.

But in a practical sense, is that incentive shared across all of NATO, the risk from Russia, especially given this demand by Donald Trump to increase defense spending to 5 percent, which is a considerable amount of GDP budget? DAVIS: Look, I think the further you are away from the threat, the

less incentive countries have to spend more on defense. So if you look at a country like Spain or Portugal, they spend very little on defense, whereas compare that to Poland and the Baltic States and Romania, they are spending much more for obvious reasons, that they will be the first states that will be attacked in the outset of any war in the next few years.

So I do think that if NATO or the E.U., whichever organization is going to ensure the defense of Europe, if they are to be effective in deterring that attack or if necessary, defeating that attack, if it happens, then all of Europe needs to pitch in, all of Europe needs to burden share, and that includes the states in the west of Europe in terms of countries like France, Spain, Portugal and Italy and others.

They all need to boost their defense spending well upwards of 3.5 percent, probably towards 5 percent. And they need to do it rapidly because otherwise Europe will not be ready for any Russian attack when and if it happens.

VAUSE: Last year, a record $2.44 trillion was spent globally on defense.

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Will other countries now follow NATO's example in increase spending, which is already surging? Are we on the verge of a sort of a major militarization here around the world?

DAVIS: I think we are because the concern now is that if Trump is prepared to do a deal with Putin at the expense of Ukraine and at the expense of Europe's security, then he may be prepared to do a deal with Xi Jinping at the expense of Taiwan's security and at the expense of relationships with countries like Japan, South Korea and Australia.

So at the very least, I think you will see Indo-Pacific states responding to this uncertainty by boosting their defense spending.

VAUSE: And just as this deal is set to be announced on U.S. rights to Ukraine's rare earth mineral reserves, Russia now floating the prospect of their own deal with Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling reporters the Americans need rare earth metals. We have a lot of them. There are quite broad prospects for cooperation here.

It's an idea which Donald Trump seems to be open to. Here he is in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'd like to buy minerals on Russian land, too, if we can. The rare earth -- they have very good rare earth also. They both do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And Putin has talked in general terms about economic agreements and Russian resources. He talked about resources in the new territories, which is Ukrainian territory under Russian occupation. And a week ago, this issue of Ukraine's reserves of rare earth minerals seemed to be fairly minor. But now it's center stage.

Is this conflict becoming a rush to secure mineral rights?

DAVIS: I think it is, and I think it would be a tremendous strategic mistake on the part of the United States to become dependent on Russia for rare earths in the same way, for example, that Europe was dependent on Russia for natural gas and had to cut off that supply at the beginning of the Ukraine war.

I think Trump is making a really bad strategic error here by negotiating essentially a minerals and resources deal with Russia, and Russia's intention is not to work with the United States. Russia's intention is to destroy NATO and to end U.S. strategic primacy. So, you know, there's a saying, you know, a sucker is born every minute. Russia is playing Trump for a sucker here.

And I think that the U.S. strategic policy community needs to push back very hard against any suggestion of the U.S. becoming dependent on Russia for rare earths.

VAUSE: Malcolm, good to have you with us. Thank you. Really good to see you.

DAVIS: Thank you.

VAUSE: For those who can afford it, a new way to emigrate to the United States. For just $5 million those who have dreamed of working and living in the U.S. can buy the president's gold card. It's aimed at those who the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick described as wonderful, world class, global citizens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Would a Russian oligarch be eligible for a gold card?

TRUMP: Yes, possibly. Hey, I know some Russian oligarchs that are very nice people. It's possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The administration says the gold card would replace the current immigrant investor visa program, which right now requires an investment of about $1 million.

Still to come, Taiwan believes this Chinese cruise ship may have cut a key undersea communication line. Details on the incident and the investigation, as well as Beijing's reaction in a moment.

Also, Catholics filling the Vatican with prayers for Pope Francis, who is approaching his second week in hospital.

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VAUSE: Around the world and especially at the Vatican, there are prayers from the clergy as well as the faithful for Pope Francis, who continues to battle double pneumonia in hospital. Vatican spokesperson says 88-year-old Francis is in critical but stable condition with no acute respiratory episodes reported Tuesday. The Vatican did not reveal the results of a scheduled CT scan, but says the holy father is mobile, continues to work despite the severity of his illness.

The saddest of goodbyes will begin in Israel in the hours ahead, with the funeral of three Hamas hostages, Shiri Bibas and her two young sons, Ariel and Kfir. They were kidnaped from their kibbutz during the Hamas attack on October 7th. It became a symbol of the plight of hostages being held in Gaza. Hamas says Bibas and her two sons were killed in an Israeli airstrike last year. But Israeli officials say they were murdered while in captivity. Shiri's husband, Yarden Bibas, was released earlier this month as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement.

Palestinian official has told the U.N. Human Rights Council that the community is facing, quote, "the most dangerous phase in their history." This comes after the Israeli military launched tanks into the West Bank for the first time in 20 years. Israel began "Operation Iron Wall" in the northern West Bank last month. The IDF says it's intended to eliminate terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on how thousands have been displaced as a result of the operation.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: As the Israeli military expands its military operation here in the occupied West Bank, we are getting a firsthand look at some of the destruction that's been wrought in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

You can see all around me, really, this entire area has been dug up by those D-9 bulldozers, and we're also seeing evidence of powerful blasts that have ripped open, for example, the front of this residential building. The Israeli military began its expanded operation in the West Bank over a month ago, but it expanded it here to Nur Shams about two weeks ago. And you can see here, for example, this used to be a pharmacy.

And this kind of destruction is happening increasingly frequently in the West Bank, resembling the type of military operations that the IDF has been carrying out in Gaza.

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You also don't hear any people around me. We haven't seen many civilians in the area, and that's because of the displacement that has been happening here in the Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarem and the Jenin refugee camp as well, where overall about 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes. We spoke to some of those people earlier today who said that they

really don't know when they're going to be able to return home. That's because the Israeli defense minister, Israel Katz, has said this military operation could last for over a year, and that until that operation is over, the residents of camps like this one, they will not be allowed to return home.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In Taiwan, investigations are underway whether a Chinese crew cargo ship deliberately cut an undersea internet cable. Taiwan's telecom company detected the cable was disconnected shortly after this ship dropped anchor off Taiwan's southern western coast. On Tuesday Taiwan's coast guard intercepted and detained the ship, as well as its Chinese crew. But Beijing is accusing Taiwan of political manipulation.

CNN's Will Ripley has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know this ship, the Hong Tai, is registered in Togo, which is a small West African nation often called a flag of convenience because you can bypass a lot of regulations by flying a Togo flag. That nation also happens to receive a lot of Chinese funding. And on board that ship unsurprisingly perhaps eight Chinese crew members.

Now that crew is being detained right now in the southern Taiwanese port of Tainan as prosecutors investigate whether this ship, which apparently lingered near an undersea communication cable for days, ignoring coast guard warnings and then dropping anchor and cutting that cable, severing this communications cable, which is vital to the Penghu Islands, the outlying islands of Taiwan.

Authorities say they're now looking into whether this was a possible Chinese gray zone operation. Now, this has been suspected in the past, although never explicitly proven. What we do know is that Penghu, the island itself, did not, in this case, experience severe service disruptions because the service was rerouted to other cables and back up microwave transmission links.

But of course, this incident underscores the vulnerability not just of Taiwan's outlying islands, but Taiwan's main island itself, which, like much of the world, relies on these crucial undersea cables for much of its internet and cellular communications. So if the cables were cut in a coordinated manner, theoretically, this entire island of Taiwan could be plunged into darkness, which, of course, is a major national security concern given the decades of ongoing tensions with China and the reliance of Taiwan like most other countries on being connected. Connectivity is crucial here, as in most places.

This pattern of undersea cable damage near Taiwan, the government here in Taipei has been trying to shine a light on it. There have been incidents just in the last two years, including an incident at the Matsu Islands back in 2023, where a cable was cut, which resulted in essentially for the residents of the Matsu Islands in a total internet and cellular blackout for weeks. This time around, not as bad of a situation, but nonetheless Taiwan sounding the alarm about this.

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In a moment here on CNN, how Trans-Atlantic tensions are affecting the future of Ukraine's security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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VAUSE: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Just days ago, the leaders of Ukraine and the United States were trading insults. Now it seems they've reached an agreement for U.S. access to Ukraine's rare earth minerals in return for U.S. assistance and support for Ukraine's reconstruction. That's according to a Ukrainian official.

Donald Trump calls it a very big deal, and he's expecting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to be in Washington Friday to sign it. One Ukrainian source says a draft of the agreement deals with the U.S. contribution to Ukraine's security and peace, but the precise wording remains unclear. The deal was first suggested in September by the Ukrainian president as one way of winning American support.

Meantime, European allies, traditional allies of the United States in Europe, are now trying to navigate a potential loss of American support while also staunchly supporting Ukraine.

CNN's Clare Sebastian shows us what's at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ukraine has been very clear that the best security guarantee of all would be this, an invitation to NATO. But even before this comment from the new U.S. Defense secretary --

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome.

SEBASTIAN: NATO was not an imminent prospect for Ukraine. Well, right now, what does it have? It has a commitment from NATO, but with no time frame.

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Ukraine's path to membership is irreversible.

SEBASTIAN: Now, if we show you this map in a different color, you can see that most NATO allies, 29 in total, have signed 10-year security agreements with Ukraine. Those are the countries shaded there. Those agreements promise ongoing military support, but no mutual defense clause. So Europe needs now to bridge the gap between this and of course the biggest prize of all, which is NATO membership with a deterrent that will actually work.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We cannot just agree to a ceasefire without real security guarantees, without a system to keep Russia in check.

SEBASTIAN: Well, if we zoom in on the European countries that have these bilateral security agreements.

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The big focus now is the possibility of European boots on the ground.

Now, the U.K. and France have said they could front a so-called reassurance force of around 30,000 troops, along with other partners which could include Sweden and Switzerland.

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): These would be peaceful deployments of troops, not for combat.

SEBASTIAN: Some of Europe's biggest armies, like Poland, for example, are not on board with sending troops, while Italy remains skeptical.

But there are other things the countries could contribute to logistics, perhaps even air defenses. Germany has been the top contributor to Ukraine so far when it comes to those.

MATTHEW SAVILL, DIRECTOR OF MILITARY SCIENCES, RUSI: It sounds like they would need quite a lot of additional support from the U.S. to make it viable. Europe doesn't have, in large numbers, the kind of air power that you would need to essentially push back Russian ground forces and Russian air defenses. A lot of that rests in the U.S.

SEBASTIAN: And of course, there's another club Ukraine could join: the European Union. Membership in this would come with its own mutual defense clause.

ANTONIO COSTA, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: Accession to the European Union will be the most important security guarantee for the future of Ukraine.

SEBASTIAN: That would probably still take years.

So, the bottom line is that Europe cannot afford to lose U.S. support.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There must be a U.S. backstop.

SEBASTIAN: Even as the U.S. effort to reset ties with Moscow leaves that country emboldened.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): No one can demand anything. Especially from Russia.

SEBASTIAN: And the NATO alliance in uncharted territory.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Still to come on CNN, a close call on a Chicago airport runway between a Southwest flight and a private jet. Details in a moment.

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VAUSE: The night the lights went out in Chile, with most of the country in darkness after a massive power outage.

Around 8 million homes have been affected, and metro services in Santiago have been suspended. Without electricity, the Internet is down. So, too, mobile phone services.

Officials say the blackout was caused by the disconnection of a transmission line but say the power should be back on in the coming hours.

A close call Thursday at Chicago's Midway Airport, where a Southwest airlines flight forced to abort a landing to avoid a collision with a private jet, which was on the same runway without authorization.

In recent weeks, aviation in North America has seen a string of safety incidents and scares, raising questions about overall safety. More now from CNN's Pete Muntean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is yet another near collision involving a commercial flight on or near the runways of a major airport.

Those incidents really took off coast to coast at the start of 2023 but tapered off last year. The NTSB started major investigations into collisions at JFK, Austin, Boston and Burbank.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Now add Chicago Midway to the list.

This incident happened around 8:50 Central Time, 9:50 on the East Coast. Air traffic control cleared Southwest Airlines Flight 2504 from Omaha to land on Midway's Runway 31 Center.

A Challenger 350 private jet was taxiing for takeoff and was told to stop just before that runway, something called hold short. But for some reason, the private jet just kept on taxiing and right in front of the Southwest flight.

The Southwest crew admirably aborted the landing --

MUNTEAN: -- mere moments before touchdown.

I want you to listen now to the exchange with air traffic control when the Southwest crew spotted that collision brewing in front of them and performed a go around, unprompted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest Twenty --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest 2504 going around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest 2504, roger that. Climb, maintain 3,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest 2504, up to 3,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- west 2504, when able, turn left, heading 220.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Left, heading 220, Southwest 2504.

And tower, Southwest 2504, how'd that happen?

MUNTEAN: The Federal Aviation Administration has an explanation. It says in a new statement that the private jet pilots taxied the plane onto the runway without authorization. It is investigating this incident.

And now the National Transportation Safety Board has launched its own investigation, as well.

The NTSB has investigated 13 other so-called runway incursions since the start of 2023. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy just said that the pilot should be punished, though more often pilots in these cases are forced to take retraining and could fly again.

But the human consequences here are clear. The midair collision over the Potomac River happened only last month, 67 lives lost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Our thanks to Pete Muntean for that.

So, what are the chances? Two thieves break into a car in Toulouse, France. They steal the owner's credit card. They then use that credit card to buy a lottery ticket. And yes, it was a winning ticket, more than half a million dollars.

A lawyer for the owner of the card says his client does not want to press charges, but he is willing to split the jackpot, 50/50.

PIERRE DEBUISSON, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING JEAN-DAVIDE ESTELE: These two guys, the thieves, would be the best friends of my client if they accept the deal. And splitting the money 50 percent each would be a good thing for them. A miracle, because they seem to have financial problems. For my client, it would be a wonderful gift, too.

So, I think it's, from a legal and a moral point of view, splitting equally would be a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Absolutely. Police are yet to identify the thieves, and France's lottery operator says it's not received a request to pay out the winning ticket, at least not yet.

[00:40:02]

And in the U.K., police have released surveillance footage of a 2019 heist of a six-million-dollar 18-karat gold toilet from Blenheim Palace.

The video shows cars arriving at the palace before a number of men with tools run into the entrance. They later reappear with parts of the gold toilet, stash objects in the trunk, and then they're gone. They drove off.

Three men are on trial for what prosecutors have labeled an audacious raid. And then some.

I'm John Vause, back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. But please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break.

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