Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump Hosts British PM Keir Starmer At White House; Trump And Zelenskyy To Meet; First Phase Of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Ends Saturday; Gene Hackman And Wife Deaths Investigation; Pope's Condition; Uncertainty Lingers Over Ukraine's Mineral Wealth; Right- Wing Influencer, His Brother Arrive in Florida; RFK Jr. Downplays Measles Outbreak, Doctors Say He's Wrong; Teen Suing City, Schools Because She Can't Read or Write. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 28, 2025 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:26]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: An invitation from the king, playing the royal card at the White House. Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEIR STARMER, PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented.
VAUSE: Flattery, compliments and gushing praise to win back a US President moving closer to Russia.
ANDREW TATE, FORMER KICKBOXER: We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty. And I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
VAUSE: But they are back in the US After Romania lifted a travel ban on accused sex traffickers and rapists. The Tate brothers did the Trump White House lobby on behalf of these two right wing influences.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This isn't just a tragedy, but it's also a great mystery right now.
VAUSE: And the suspicious death of a Hollywood great, actor Gene Hackman and his wife found dead in their home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.
VAUSE: Friday might just be one of the most consequential days for Ukraine and the three year long war with Russia. In the coming hours, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with the US President at the White House. He's expected to sign a natural resources agreement which gives the US rights to Ukrainian rare earth minerals, compensation for years of US financial and military support.
But the agreement makes no mention of US Security guarantees. Still, it does address Ukraine's reconstruction as well as a role for the United States after the war. But the size of Ukraine's reserves of rare earth minerals is not known, and then extraction and processing is costly and could take decades.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The minerals agreement will provide the basis for a more sustainable future relationship between the United States and Ukraine, and thus stimulate the long term prosperity that will help the Ukrainians rebuild their country. It's been demolished.
VAUSE: On Thursday, the British prime minister was at the White House during an hours long charm offensive. Keir Starmer urged the US President rather not to reward Russia, the aggressor, in any peace deal with Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STARMER: You've created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal, a deal that I think would be celebrated in Ukraine and around the world. That is the prize.
But we have to get it right. It can't be peace that rewards the aggressor or that gives encouragement to regimes like Iran. We agree history must be on the side of the peacemaker, not the invader.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: For more now on (inaudible) first visit to the Trump White House, here's CNN's Clare Sebastian.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a real concerted effort by the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, to build a rapport with Trump, a sign of just how high the stakes are here. On the one hand, we saw flattery Keir Starmer thanking Trump for restarting the conversation on peace talks. He also handed him a letter from Britain's King Charles, inviting Trump to an unprecedented, he said, second state visit.
He even talked in the kind of superlatives we often hear from Trump himself, describing the UK-US special relationship as, "the greatest alliance for prosperity and security that the world has ever seen." On that relationship, there were positive noises.
Work has started, Starmer says, on a new economic deal centered on technology. And Trump seemed optimistic about a possible trade deal.
But in terms of the key task here for Starmer, persuading Trump to put some real US military muscle behind a post war security guarantee for Ukraine, well, it's not clear at this point how effective that was. President Trump suggesting that his deal to secure access to Ukraine's critical minerals could alone serve that purpose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We'll have a lot of people working there. And so in that sense, it's very good. That's a backstop, you could say. I don't think anybody is going to play around if we're there with a lot of workers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Prime Minister, you were asking the President today about a backstop for Europe if the peacekeeping force ends up in Ukraine. Did you feel like you got a satisfying answer for yourself and for Europe?
STARMER: I felt we had a very productive discussion. Obviously, as the President says, the deal has to come first. But yes, our teams are going to be talking about how we make sure that deal sticks, is lasting and enforced.
SEBASTIAN: Well, none of that moves the needle, of course, for Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has long argued that security guarantees will not work without concrete US involvement. He'll be in Washington on Friday to sign, we expect, that critical minerals deal.
[01:05:08]
Well, Keir Starmer, meanwhile, heads back to London host, he said, 18 countries on Sunday for more talks as this high speed diplomatic effort grows longer and more complicated. Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The US President describes the natural resources agreement with Ukraine as a trillion dollar deal. The Ukrainian President says it's a framework for ongoing negotiations like US security guarantees, which are not mentioned right now. And Zelenskyy seems less than certain that progress is possible on those key issues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): This deal could be a great success or it could pass quietly. And the big success depends on our conversation with President Trump.
There is no agreement yet that comes next. It will be more difficult, more serious, because the next agreement is about the fund. It will include certain partner relations, money and so on. This agreement must be ratified by the Ukrainian parliament.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Gracelin Baskaran is Director of the Critical Mineral Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Her primary expertise is in critical minerals as well as trade. She joins us this hour from Washington. Thank you for being with us.
GRACELIN BASKARAN, DIRECTOR, CRITICAL MINERAL SECURITY PROGRAM, CSIS: Thank you for having me. VAUSE: The last few days have been a bit of a crash course in geology
and rare earth minerals. In very broad terms, these minerals and metals are crucial for energy, but also national security as well as consumer goods and the overall economy. So what exactly are they and how is China such a big player in all of this?
BASKARAN: Rare earths are a group of 17 minerals and they are -- actually, it's a bit of a misnomer because they're not really rare. They're actually found all over the place. But they are difficult to extract and they're often found in small quantities.
Now, China has a very dominant hold in rare earths. And rare earths are necessary for almost all defense technologies. They are in warships, fighter jets, missiles, munitions, satellites, tanks. They're also important for energy resilience. We find them in wind turbines and various other energy technologies.
And they're also in advanced semiconductors. You need rare earths forever everything. But China processes 90 percent of them. And as a result, they have shown a willingness to weaponize them.
VAUSE: Later Friday, the Ukrainian President is expected to sign a deal granting US rights to some of his country's deposits of rare earth. But there are a few issues which have come up like these. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKOB KULIK, POLITICAL SCIENTIST: Our knowledge base on the Ukrainian resources, rare earths, titanium, manganese and others, is not sufficient. So we need more information about the commodities which are located in Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So in other words, no one really knows if Ukraine even has rare earth minerals. And if they do, there are reports a significant amount could be in areas under Russian occupation. And in terms of extraction, we're looking at not years, but decades.
BASKARAN: The reality is, what we don't know is what if these deposits are economically viable to mine. Because ultimately, it's not just about having a deposit in considerations like byproducts, quality, debt, all play into whether it's economic attractive.
The second big challenge in Ukraine is, the fact that mining is extremely energy intensive. Globally, mining uses about 16 percent of the world's electricity. And I don't have to tell you that President Putin did a lot of damage to energy infrastructure.
VAUSE: The scramble now for rare earth minerals, it kind of sheds new light on what seemed at the time some strange or odd remarks from President Trump like this. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: So I think Canada is going to be a very serious contender to be
our 51st state. Greenland is a wonderful place. We need it for international security.
China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: There is a common thread, and the common thread is the presence of rare earth minerals.
BASKARAN: Absolutely. We have seen President Trump, in the first month of his presidency, he took a very, very bold move in terms of incorporating minerals across his foreign policy. In a way, it's something that China has done for decades.
I mean, China is a country that actually has about 10 percent or less of the world's nickel, cobalt copper, but refined about 60 percent to 90 percent through sourcing it from other countries and bringing it back home. We have seen that Trump is willing, or, you know, not just willing, but is choosing to put minerals central to foreign policy and making it more transactional, so that to make sure that the US is bringing more back here.
[01:10:03]
VAUSE: Back in 2012, the United States took China to the World Trade Organization. Washington complained that through a combination of export duties as well as quotas, procedural hurdles, red tape. There it is on the screen. Beijing had effectively imposed an export ban.
That was seen as a wake up call to the United States back then. But until now, you know, there hasn't been this talk about invading countries as a way of getting access to rare earth. That seems to be a very big change in policy.
BASKARAN: It's a huge change in policy. If we're in an unprecedented era of foreign policy with regards to minerals. I mean, China has been weaponizing minerals and using export restrictions more and more. We've seen in the last two years, they've rolled out restrictions on germanium, gallium, graphite, antimony, tungsten. And that list seems to be growing.
But the secondary consideration was, it's a really bad precedent to force a country, a small country that's been invaded, to pay back military aid. So the deal is in a much better place. But absolutely, we are in unprecedented territory, and this really will set the blueprint for what could be more strategic foreign policy in the Trump administration in the next four years.
VAUSE: Gracelin, thank you so much for being with us. It is a fascinating topic right now and, I guess, we're all learning about. Thanks for being with us.
BASKARAN: Thanks for having me. VAUSE: The first phase of the Gaza ceasefire said to expire Saturday.
By now, both Israel and Hamas were meant to have reached agreement on phase two. Renewed negotiations are only now underway in Cairo focusing on extending phase one.
Phase two calls for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. But a source tells CNN the Israelis will not withdraw their forces from the Philadelphi Corridor, narrow strip of land separating Gaza and Egypt. Israel accuses Hamas of smuggling weapons through that border.
On Thursday, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prisons and Hamas returned the remains of four hostages. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Israel and Hamas have now concluded the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners as prescribed under phase one of this ceasefire agreement. That came after the bodies of four Israeli hostages were returned early Thursday morning back to Israel. Israel, in exchange, released 643 Palestinian prisoners following a delay of several days for 620 of those prisoners who should have been released this past Saturday.
But the question now is, what comes next? And indeed, right now it's very hard to say because there is so much uncertainty. Israel and Hamas were supposed to start negotiating over phases 2 and 3 of this ceasefire agreement beginning on the 16th day of this ceasefire. But so far, there have really been almost no substantive negotiations to speak of on what comes next.
Israel has agreed now to send a delegation to Cairo to pursue some of those negotiations. But the question is, what exactly will Israel be going for? Because notably Ron Dermer, who is supposed to be leading negotiations on phase two of this agreement, he will not be present. Instead, lower level officials will be dispatched to these talks.
And we already know that Israeli officials are far more interested at this stage in extending phase one, rather than getting into phases two and three, basically seeing if they can get more Israeli hostages out of Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners without doing the big hard decision of ending the war in Gaza and withdrawing all Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.
It remains to be seen whether that's something Hamas will go for, but they have already shown a flexibility and a willingness to stick with this cease fire agreement, showing no real appetite to get back into this war. Fifty-nine hostages do, in fact, still remain in Gaza, 35 of them have been confirmed dead so far by the Israeli government.
We also know that the Israeli government was supposed to begin its withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor separating Israel and Gaza this coming Saturday. But instead, an Israeli source telling us, "we will not exit the Philadelphi Corridor," insisting that if they did, that could once again become a smuggling route for weapons into the Gaza Strip with Hamas, so a lot of uncertainty.
And Steve Witkoff, the US Special envoy for the Middle east, he was already supposed to be in the region. He has postponed his trip, it seems, waiting to see perhaps whether there's any progress in those talks in Cairo going forward. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A human rights group accuses Israel of the systemic abuse of Palestinian health care workers in Gaza. Many were detained without charge and subjected to physical and sexual abuse, including dog attacks, starvation, as well as boiling water poured over their bodies according to this report.
[01:15:06]
Physicians for Human Rights Israel spoke with more than two dozen doctors, nurses, and paramedics. Israel, though, denies detainees were mistreated or held for extended periods of time, and says Hamas was using hospitals as cover and some medical staff were involved in terrorist activities.
The UN and the Palestinian Health Ministry report more than a thousand health care workers have been killed in Gaza in the past two years.
In a moment, why did Romania lift a travel ban on two men facing human trafficking and rape charges? A far right influencer and his brother now in the United States, how did they get there? We'll bring you the latest in a moment.
And new details in the investigation into the death of actor Gene Hackman. Police say foul play is not suspected but not ruled out either. That's up next on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:16]
VAUSE: Mexico has extradited 29 cartel members to the United States. Among them, notorious kingpin Rafael Carlo Quintero, he spent four decades at the top of the Drug Enforcement Agency's list of most wanted. He was involved in the kidnapping, torture and murder of an American narcotics agent back in 1985. The acting administrator says this is extremely personal for those who work for the department.
Now to the mysterious surrounding the death of legendary actor, Gene Hackman, and his wife. They were found dead in their Santa Fe home on Wednesday. That's good to say. Foul play is not suspected but has not been ruled out either. Here's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The iconic 95-year-old actor, his 65- year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, and one of their dogs were found in different rooms when deputies conducted a wellness check at their Santa Fe, New Mexico home. That's according to a search warrant affidavit obtained by CNN affiliate, KOAT.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CALLER: I think we just found two or one deceased person inside a house.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TODD: The affidavit says, Gene Hackman was found in a mudroom and then Arakawa was found in a bathroom next to a space heater. In a 911 call obtained by CNN, a man identifying himself as a caretaker said he saw the bodies while looking through a window from the outside, but said he couldn't go inside.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DISPATCHER: Are they moving at all?
CALLER: No, dude. They're not moving. Just send somebody out here really quick.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TODD: The search warrant affidavit says there was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Betsy Arakawa's body.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAN MENDOZA, SHERIFF, SANTA FE COUNTY, NEW MEXICO: I think the autopsy is going to be key and the toxicology.
JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, PROFESSOR, APPLIED FORENSICS, JACKSONVILLE STATE UNIVERSITY; All things have to be considered. It's not every day that you have two people fall over deceased, and certainly as an adjunct their animal. It's rather bizarre.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: According to the search warrant affidavit, Santa Fe firefighters found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning in the home, but the causes of their deaths have not been confirmed. And a search warrant says, the circumstances surrounding their deaths are suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN: It is tricky because you're going to have so many eyes on this. They have to be very methodical.
GENE HACKMAN, FORMER ACTOR: It's all I ever wanted to do.
TODD: Gene Hackman retired from acting more than 20 years ago, but his legendary performances transcend generations.
HACKMAN: Take a good look, pop. I'm Buck Barrel. TODD: It wasn't until he was in his mid-30s that he broke through in
Hollywood, nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Bonnie and Clyde." Before that, he'd been in the Marines and work odd jobs.
HACKMAN: You know, I did a lot of things. I sold shoes. I drove truck, drove a cab. I jerked sodas.
TODD: He won an Oscar for Best Actor playing racist, bullying cop Popeye Doyle in the 1971 film the "French Connection."
HACKMAN: All right. Popeye's here. Put your hands on your heads. Get off the barn. Get on the wall.
TODD: Other storied roles would follow, as the basketball coach in "Hoosiers."
HACKMAN: I don't care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game. In my book, we're going to be winners.
TODD: As a calculating politician in the 1996 comedy "The Birdcage."
HACKMAN: Don't leave me, don't leave me. I don't want to be the only girl not dancing.
TODD: And another Oscar nomination as a tortured but righteous FBI agent in the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning."
HACKMAN: You smile when the bulldozer in on a black kid's body, did you?
TODD: All told, five Oscar nominations, two Oscar wins for the man who didn't consider himself a star.
ANDREW FREUND, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: The thing about Gene Hackman is he really was like the everyman, and he really was put in situations in certain films that people could really identify with.
TODD: CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister, citing a source familiar with the behind the scenes planning for this weekend's Oscars ceremony, reports that Gene Hackman will be honored at the Academy Awards presentation, but the details are still being worked out. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: The chess world is remembering one of the titans of the game of kings, Russian grandmaster Boris Spaskey. Spassky held the title of World Chess Champion from 1969 until 1972. That is, until he lost in spectacular fashion to the temperamental American prodigy Bobby Fischer.
The showdown riveted world attention. The match of the century, as it was called, was a de facto symbol of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. Spassky later became a French citizen, representing France in three chess Olympiads in the 1980s.
He's remembered for the sportsmanship he showed Fischer applauding his rival's victory. He was 88 years old.
Two weeks after Pope Francis was admitted to hospital in Rome, the Vatican says his condition continues to improve. But they say the pontiff's progress is still unclear -- prognosis, rather, still unclear as he battles double pneumonia.
More details now from CNN's Vatican correspondent, Christopher Lamb.
[01:25:05]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, another update from the Vatican that is giving people cause for hope for Pope Francis' health condition. The Vatican saying Francis is continuing to improve, however, the clinical picture remains a complex one and the prognosis is still to be determined. Doctors need some more time before they can give that prognosis.
The Vatican saying the pope is still receiving high flow oxygen but is alternating between the nasal cannulas and a mask. Now, the Vatican source says that was a positive development.
Now, the Pope has been in Hospital since the 14th of February. It's the longest stay in hospital of his papacy. He's 88 years old. He is battling pneumonia in both lungs, and he has a history of respiratory infections and, of course, had part of his right lung removed when he was a young man.
There's been a lot of concern and a lot of anxiety here in the Vatican. People are gathering to pray for the pope each night. Behind me in St. Peter's Square, another prayer service was led on Thursday for Francis. And, of course, there's prayers being said across the world for the pontiff's health.
There's also a lot of speculation in the Vatican about the future. Some people asking, could the Pope resign? Francis has said in the past that resignation is not on his agenda, but that question is being asked.
Of course, so much depends on how Francis responds to the treatment. We are expecting a further update from the Vatican on Friday. Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: A trillion dollar deal according to the US President, Ukraine about to sign over part of their reserves of rare earth minerals. But how much mineral wealth is actually there? It's still an open question. More details in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:23]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. and Ukrainian presidents are set to meet at the White House Friday for a signing ceremony for an agreement giving U.S. access to Ukrainian minerals. A senior U.S. official says the mineral deal makes no mention of security guarantees which has been a key demand of President Zelenskyy.
Just a day earlier, the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, was at the White House urging the U.S. President not to reward Russia in any ceasefire deal to end the war in Ukraine.
And this deal has been described as a possible shot in the dark for the U.S., mostly because it's not known how much mineral wealth Ukraine actually has and if it's even worth exploring.
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We very much need rare earth. They have great rare earth.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: A moonshot for Ukraine's survival. Talking peace suddenly means talking about places like here, this lunar landscape.
A titanium mine struggling under the Russian bombardment of Ukraine's power grid, sometimes with only three hours power a day.
DMYTRO HOLIK, DIRECTOR OF MINING PLANT, GROUP DF: Now we don't know our work will go on even tomorrow. Because every day we see how Ukraine's energy system is being destroyed. Our company is now very unstable and this leads to a very high net cost of our products.
WALSH: Half a trillion dollars -- That was the sum that President Trump initially thought Ukraine might be able to pay back to the United States, in his words. And here you're going to sense the challenge really, because this place, yes, potential is certainly there, but they say they desperately need investment. These machines are so old. And yes, so they say they would welcome American money.
The pressure to get money out of the ground is enormous, as are the questions as to whether the astronomical sums Trump thinks are here can match the money to be made under this sprawling sea of unknown potential.
TRUMP: And who knows what rare earth is worth, you know, but at least it's something. And who knows what it's worth? Who knows if they even have it?
WALSH: It was at first Ukraine's idea, President Zelenskyy selling their mineral wealth in November, perhaps too successfully as part of a victory plan for more aid, showing reported maps here.
They claim 7 percent global production of titanium. Lithium isn't mined yet, but they say they've 3 percent global reserves. They say they're in the top five of graphite reserves and have some actual rare earth metals.
The initial framework deal doesn't specify what it covers, mentioning only relevant resource assets that will be further described in another agreement.
Yet the White House has been specific about some resources.
MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: There's a foundry that processes aluminum in Ukraine. It's -- it's been damaged. It's not at its current capacity. If that is restored, it would account for America's entire imports of aluminum for an entire year.
WALSH: Waltz is probably referring to here, an aluminum plant in Zaporizhzhia, mothballed when filmed here a decade ago, still struggling and hit by a missile during the war.
The U.S., perhaps a little too eager to take, Ukraine with no choice but to give in a hugely complex deal that may get messier still when it runs into the cold, hard ground truth of where Ukraine is at today.
[01:34:54]
WALSH: Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Irshansk, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Prosecutors in Romania lifted a travel ban on accused rapists and sex traffickers, Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan, allowing the right-wing influencers to return to the U.S.
But now there are questions about the United States involvement. Did the White House pressure Bucharest to release the Tate brothers? President Trump knows nothing about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I know nothing about that. I don't know. You're saying he's on a plane right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. They are on a plane.
TRUMP: Yes. I just know nothing about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: More now from CNN's Randi Kaye.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW TATE, ONLINE INFLUENCER: We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty, and I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right-wing influencer, Andrew Tate, and his brother Tristan, moments after landing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from Romania, telling reporters they are, quote, "largely misunderstood".
The brothers, along with two Romanian citizens, were arrested just after Christmas in 2022 and formally indicted months later on charges of rape, human trafficking, and setting up a criminal gang. The brothers have denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
TATE: It's about the fact that she belongs to him and the intimate parts of her body belong to him because they're in a relationship. And if she wants to sell those, he has a stake in those intimate parts of her body.
KAYE: Besides suggesting men own women, Andrew Tate has often referred to women on social media as sex workers. Despite his comments, Andrew Tate hasn't taken a clear position on whether or not he's misogynistic.
TATE: I have nothing against women at all. I'm not sexist in any regard. I'm not misogynist either.
I will state right now that I am absolutely sexist and I'm absolutely a misogynist.
KAYE: Romanian prosecutors alleged that Tate's seduced victims by falsely claiming they wanted a relationship or planned to marry them. Andrew Tate's controversial comments have attracted billions of views online.
He was banned from Twitter in 2017 for saying women should, quote, "bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted".
In 2022, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube also banned him. Elon Musk allowed Tate to return to Twitter, now X, in 2022, where Tate has more than 10 million followers. Critics and advocacy groups have voiced concern over his impact on young and vulnerable audiences and have accused him of peddling his rants about female submission and male dominance to them.
TATE: I believe the woman is given to the man. I believe she's given away by the father. I believe she belongs to the man. She belongs to the man.
PIERS MORGAN, TV HOST: So you think, so fundamentally -- right, so fundamentally, you do believe that a woman becomes a man's property.
TATE: I believe she belongs to the man in marriage, correct.
KAYE: So how did the Tate brothers end up in the Sunshine State? Perhaps flattery played a role.
TATE: Trump's saving the world.
KAYE: A Romanian official told CNN that earlier this month, Trump special envoy Rick Grenell, raised their case with Romania's foreign minister. White House officials have said there was no direct U.S. government role in this.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he doesn't know who was behind this.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): No, Florida is not a place where -- where -- where you're welcome with that -- with those -- that type of conduct in the air. And I don't know how it came to this. We were not involved. We were not notified. I found out through the media.
KAYE: The first criminal case against the Tate brothers failed in December 2024 after a Bucharest court noted flaws in the indictment.
In January, the court lifted the house arrest order. The pair had previously been banned from leaving Romania while the investigation continued.
A lawyer representing alleged victims of Andrew Tate in the United Kingdom told CNN that any suggestion that the Tates will now face justice in Romania is fanciful.
Randi Kaye, CNN -- West Palm Beach, Florida
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: In the coming hours, a close call for Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, with tropical cyclone Garance expected to pass just west of the island without making landfall.
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the storm is the equivalent of a category three Atlantic hurricane, with winds gusting almost 200 kilometers per hour, about 120 miles.
The outer bands of Garance will be felt on Reunion Island Friday morning, and will bring flash flooding. Damage to property is possible, so too downed power lines.
In a moment, measles were declared eradicated in the U.S. two decades ago, but now health officials are scrambling to contain an outbreak of measles; also, an outbreak of misinformation, which is coming from the U.S. Health secretary. Details in a moment.
[01:39:15]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Word of a deadly outbreak of measles in the U.S. seemed to be greeted with the equivalent of a shrug by the Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He seemed to play down the seriousness and the size of the outbreak. And now health officials are pushing back.
Here's CNN's Ivan Rodriguez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Since 2015, there had been zero measles deaths in the U.S. but that changed this week. During Wednesday's cabinet meeting, President Donald Trump deferred a question about the measles outbreak in Texas to the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We are following the measles epidemic every day. I think there's 124 people who have contracted measles.
RODRIGUEZ: Kennedy went on to say the 18 hospitalizations so far were mainly for quarantine. But local health officials tell CNN most patients were admitted for respiratory issues.
DR. LARA JOHNSON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, COVENANT HEALTH LUBBOCK SERVICE AREA: Quarantined, certainly, if you've had an exposure. There are indications to quarantine in the context of measles, but that quarantine is not something that would happen in a health care facility.
[01:44:46]
RODRIGUEZ: The best way to stay protected against measles is to get vaccinated with the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine, according to experts.
DR. JOHNSON: When we think about vaccine-preventable illnesses, they're only preventable if we have adequate vaccination rates. And as we see those rates start to decline, you know, across the nation, then we'll see more outbreaks.
RODRIGUEZ: Because measles is so contagious, health officials warn cases may continue rising in west Texas.
DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT: The numbers of cases are rising steeply. You know, we're going to be looking at several hundred kids most likely infected with measles.
RODRIGUEZ: One event sparking concern is the upcoming rodeo in Houston, which claims to be the world's largest rodeo event and draws families from west Texas.
I'm Ivan Rodriguez, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: We to Los Angeles now, Professor Anne Rimoin with the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA, Fielding School of Public Health. Welcome back, Anne, it's been a while.
DR. ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: It's been a while. Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: So on Wednesday, the secretary for Health and Human Services, Robert Kennedy, Jr. had this update which seemed to be more like a shoulder shrug on an outbreak of measles. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNEDY, JR.: There's been four measles outbreaks this year in this country. Last year there were 16, so it's not unusual. We have measles outbreaks every year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But the latest information from the Centers for Disease Control has been tracking at least 93 cases reported in eight states so far. So, they both can't be right.
So how can the man in charge of Americas health and the organization tasked with tracking deadly diseases not be on the same page?
DR. RIMOIN: Well, I think it's important to remember that, you know, measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to man. And so it's very important to be getting in front of this virus to be maintaining high vaccination rates.
And when you have vaccination rates dropping as they have been globally, and in particular here in the United States, we leave ourselves vulnerable to seeing these cases. So that's why cases are continuing to increase.
VAUSE: But it does seem odd that that there is this discrepancy between what the man at the head of the department is saying when it comes to how significant this outbreak is.
DR. RIMOIN: Well, it is a significant outbreak. So, I think it's important to pay attention to it, that we are seeing cases not only in Texas, but now we're seeing cases in New Mexico. We have had cases reported in New Jersey, in Kentucky, and here in Los Angeles we've had a case reported.
VAUSE: Well, at least one child who was not vaccinated has died from measles. That was in west Texas.
I want you to listen to Dr. Peter Hotez from the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital describing the outbreak there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. HOTEZ: This is an awful, awful infection and the fact that we've allowed it to come roaring back like this in Texas is just unconscionable. It never had to happen. It never should have happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So how did we allow this to actually happen? How did we get to this point?
DR. RIMOIN: Well again, you know, measles is a very contagious illness. And when you have populations that have very low vaccination rates, then that's just opportunity for this virus to spread and it will take advantage of that opportunity. The community in which this outbreak started was a population with low
vaccination rates. And so it's a snowball effect. You're going to start to see more and more cases occur.
So I think it's just very important for people to understand that this is an entirely preventable disease with appropriate health measures, which include vaccination. And that's the way to get in front of it.
VAUSE: And we have a lot of safe and effective vaccines that have been very effective over the years. And a lot of diseases have actually been declared, you know, dead and buried, if you like.
Should we now be thinking twice about, you know, what actually has been eradicated and what we could be vulnerable to?
DR. RIMOIN: Well, when you see declining vaccination rates, you are leaving the world open to more cases of things that we have not seen previously. You know, we have seen declining rates globally, not just nationally.
And the same thing is happening in other places. For example, Canada is also seeing an increase in cases of measles, for example, and their vaccination rates have also been declining. We've seen the same thing in the U.K.
So you know, this is not a mystery why we're seeing all of these cases occur. And we have very effective tools to be able to stop it.
VAUSE: And just very quickly, just once and for all, measles vaccines are perfectly safe.
DR. RIMOIN: Measles vaccines are very safe and effective. And they are an important tool in being able to keep not only the people who can get vaccinated, but the people who are unable to get vaccinated, including very young children safe from this very, very serious disease.
[01:49:52]
DR. RIMOIN: Measles is a very serious virus. You know, it not only can make people sick, we're seeing hospitalization as well. But it can also wipe out your immune system. You can have what's called immune amnesia, which really puts people at great disadvantage and vulnerable to other pathogens as well.
VAUSE: Anne, thank you so much. It's good to speak to you again. It's been a while.
DR. RIMOIN: It's my pleasure.
VAUSE: Still to come, a college student in the U.S. State of Connecticut says she's illiterate, never taught how to read or write. And she wants to hold the city and school officials accountable. More on that in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Now to a story of determination, which is also an indictment on public education in the U.S. A college student says after 12 years of public education, she's illiterate, never taught how to read or write, and yet somehow she graduated high school, made it to university, and is now suing those education officials responsible.
CNN's Danny Freeman has her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you ever think you'd be going to college here?
ALEYSHA ORTIZ, COLLEGE STUDENT SUING SCHOOL DISTRICT: No, never. Never in a million years.
FREEMAN: In some ways, Aleysha Ortiz is living an American dream. The 19-year-old began her freshman year at the University of Connecticut in Hartford this fall. She's excited to study public policy, the culmination of hard work after moving north from Puerto Rico as a child.
Do you remember when you first came to Connecticut?
ORTIZ: Yes, I remember. I was very nervous, but I know it was going to be a better opportunity for me to learn.
FREEMAN: But Aleysha says those opportunities never came to fruition.
FREEMAN: Even today, could you read this or would it take you a long time?
ORTIZ: It's impossible. I just see these words everywhere.
FREEMAN: Aleysha graduated from the Hartford Public School System last year, but she says today she is illiterate. She still doesn't know how to read or write.
When she was in early education --
ORTIZ: They would just either tell me to stay in a corner and sleep, or just draw pictures, flowers for them.
FREEMAN: And when she was in high school, she relied on speech-to-text programs and other apps to read and write essays.
So if you had an assignment where you had to write something, you'd open up a document like this, and then do what?
ORTIZ: I would go here to use the text-to-speech.
FREEMAN: It says dictate.
ORTIZ: Dictate, yes. I love pizza.
FREEMAN: This is how you would do your assignments. ORTIZ: And then -- V.A. case boarding a twin-prop airplane.
FREEMAN: If you had to read something, that's how you'd do it.
FREEMAN: She said her mother, who does not speak English well, tried to get answers.
ORTIZ: She advocated so much. She went to the school. The principal would promise her that they would do better. And sometimes there would be people from the district, or the directors, promising her that they would do better.
FREEMAN: Now, Aleysha is suing the Hartford Board of Education and the city for negligence. The suit alleges the school district documented and acknowledged Aleysha's learning challenges through multiple grades. But because they were not adequately addressed, she continued to struggle academically and began exhibiting maladaptive behaviors in the classroom.
[01:54:48]
ORTIZ: Sometimes I feel proud to be the bad child, because at least I was something to them, and I wasn't invisible.
FREEMAN: While the city of Hartford and an educator named in the suit declined to comment when contacted by CNN, in a statement, Hartford Public Schools wrote, "While Hartford Public Schools cannot comment on pending litigation, we remain deeply committed to meeting the full range of needs our students bring with them when they enter our schools and helping them reach their full potential."
JESSE P. TURNER, PHD, THE LITERACY CENTER, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY: UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's "Dog Man"?
FREEMAN: Dr. Jesse Turner is the leader of the Literacy Center at Central Connecticut State University. He feels the main issue here is inequality in public education.
TURNER: America should be asking a question. Do we really care about our children, all of our children? And I would argue that maybe we don't.
FREEMAN: A 2019 report from EdBuild, which promotes equity in public schools, found that majority non-white school districts get $23 billion less than districts that serve mostly white students. Minority enrollment in Hartford's public schools is at about 90 percent.
TRUMP: The Department of Education is a big con job.
FREEMAN: Plus, Turner fears a crucial guardrail will be lost if the Trump administration follows through with abolishing the Department of Education.
TURNER: How do I protect the special education children? Who do I go to if I close it down? FREEMAN: College has presented its own obstacles, but Aleysha says UConn has been accommodating. But she doesn't want any other student to go through what she experienced.
ORTIZ: I know we can do better. And I know we have a powerful community that wants to do better. I want to be the voice for them.
FREEMAN: Danny Freeman, CNN, Hartford, Connecticut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Space tourism company Blue Origin's next flight will carry TV host Gayle King and singer Katy Perry, and will be part of an all- female crew, which includes Lauren Sanchez, fiance of Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos; film producer Kerrianne Flynn; along with scientists Aisha Bo and Amanda Nguyen.
The Blue Origin rocket will take them about 100 kilometers above the earth's surface, widely considered to be kind of where space begins. The mission should launch sometime in spring.
There we go. Think girls in space.
Thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.
CNN NEWSROOM continues after a short break.
See you right back here next week. Have a good weekend.
[01:57:05]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
