Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Phase One of Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal Ends Saturday; Tate Brothers Arrived in the U.S.; Vatican: Pope Francis Had A Quiet Night, Is Now Resting; Tropical Cyclone Garance Expected To Pass Near Reunion Island; Mexico Sends Drug Lord Rafael Quintero To U.S.; Judge: Mass Firings Of Federal Workers Likely Unlawful; 1 Dead, 18 Hospitalized in West Texas Measles Outbreak. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired February 28, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

The U.S. and Ukraine are expected to sign a minerals deal in the coming hours, and it could give Ukraine leverage in talks to end the war with Russia.

Plus how a federal judge is standing up for federal workers fired by the White House.

And an aging nation turns to A.I. for elderly care.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: After days of tension, traded insults, and a U.S. pivot toward the Kremlin, we are now hours away from what could be a hugely consequential meeting between the American and Ukrainian presidents.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be arriving at the White House to discuss the war with Russia and is expected to sign a highly-touted natural resources agreement. Donald Trump has claimed the potential trillion- dollar deal would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's rare-earth minerals to reimburse American taxpayers for the billions spent on wartime aid.

But there are widespread doubts over the size of Ukraine's mineral wealth and how easily it can be extracted. President Trump met on Thursday with the British prime minister, who urged him not to endorse any peace deal that would reward Russia, the aggressor.

Now just days ago, President Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator. When asked about that during a news conference, Trump dodged the question and then used much kinder words to describe his Ukrainian counterpart. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: Will you take the opportunity to apologize to him for calling him a dictator while praising Vladimir Putin, who is a dictator?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think we're going to have a very good meeting tomorrow morning. We're going to get along really well, OK? We have a lot of respect. I have a lot of respect for him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Jeff Zeleny picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump softening his tone against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as he prepares to welcome him here to the White House on Friday morning, in what could be the signing of a historic deal between the U.S. and Ukraine that could lead to broader peace negotiations.

Now, it was an extraordinary meeting on Thursday. Once again, a European leader coming to the White House to try and urge the American president to consider the Western allies more than Vladimir Putin. But Trump made clear he still trusts Putin.

TRUMP: I think he'll keep his word. I think he's, I've spoken to him, I've known him for a long time now. We had to go through the Russian hoax together. That was not a good thing. It's not fair.

That was a rigged deal and had nothing to do with Russia. I don't believe he's going to violate his word. I don't think he'll be back when we make a deal.

ZELENY: The American president making those comments in the Oval Office as the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer watched and seemingly wanted to offer a history lesson throughout the day, clearly trying to pull Trump back and get his assurances for some type of a security guarantee. Trump did not offer any specifically, but he listened as Starmer offered this history lesson.

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have to win the peace, and that's what we must do now, because 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.

ZELENY: The peacemaker, not the invader. It is clear who Zelenskyy and who Putin is, certainly in the minds of Starmer there and other European leaders who have traveled here to the White House to try and urge the president, the American president, to give a bit and offer some security guarantees.

All of that, of course, remains up in the air, as does a broader peace deal and a ceasefire. But on Friday, the American president and the Ukrainian president are scheduled to come together to sign some type of a deal about rare earths minerals. This has been going on back and forth for several days, giving the U.S. some access to a key asset of Ukraine. Now Zelenskyy traveling to Washington, clearly facing a president who had once called him a dictator. When asked about that on Thursday, Trump called him a brave man.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw is a former spokesperson for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and he is in Odessa, Ukraine. Good to see you again. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So we don't have many details about how the deal will actually be structured, but what can you tell us about what Ukraine is likely giving up and what it's likely getting back in return here?

[02:05:06]

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND FORMER SPOKESPERSON FOR THE ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE: Sure. Good to be with you again, Kim.

Well, the details are very thin, as Jeff Zeleny and others have reported. I think what Ukrainians fear the most is that it's gotten into the head of the Americans that Ukraine is open for business, but everyone here is asking at what cost.

And you know, it's well understood here that a lot of these resources that Trump can't seem to get out of his mind are not easily accessible.

A lot of them are actually near the front line, a lot of them are in zones occupied by the Russians. And I can tell you, from my time in 2014, 2015, being with the OSCE, we were in those areas where a lot of these rare earth elements are in the ground, and the infrastructure there was even dilapidated at that time. So good luck trying to get it out of the ground.

The other thing that's really important here is, as mentioned in the reporting, the lack of security guarantees. Ukraine doesn't want to give away these resources for nothing. And that's on top of many people here thinking that, why do we owe the United States anything? After all, a lot of the wealth actually stayed in the U.S. in the form of production there.

But also, Ukrainians, until this time, have thought that they're not only defending their own country, but also Western democracy.

And one more quick thing. If this deal is to go ahead on the scale that is talked about, as one Ukrainian opposition leader said yesterday, it will take tectonic changes in Ukrainian legislation. And trust me, nothing moves quickly here through the Ukrainian parliament. BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. That's a great point. So the details of

the deal are still sort of dependent on further conversations between President Zelenskyy and Trump.

Now, the relationship seems to have improved after Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator. But it's still, you know, imagine, hard to base the future of your nation on the mercurial mood of President Trump.

BOCIURKIW: Yes, well, how convenient it is to have sudden amnesia and forget you called someone a dictator. That did not go over very well here.

And also, Mr. Trump, I'll remind everyone, said Ukraine could one day be part of Russia. But I think Mr. Zelenskyy would be very wise to follow up on the visits of Mr. Macron and Mr. Starmer in terms of the charm offensive.

I don't know how you match unprecedented visit, a state visit from the king, but perhaps Mr. Zelenskyy could invite Mr. Trump to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone. It's a popular tourist site after all, and he can see what's going on there.

But I think the White House will try to keep the outlines of this deal deliberately vague because Mr. Trump seems so bent on presenting a deal to his base that, look, this is what I achieved for the American taxpayer, because things have not been going well for him on the foreign affairs file in the Middle East, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

BRUNHUBER: So I want to talk about the European commitment to providing ongoing military support for Ukraine. Is it realistic and sustainable, especially given Trump's comments that the U.S. wouldn't support European troops if Russia attacked them?

Here's the former leader of the British Liberal Democratic Party speaking to CNN earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCE CABLE, FORMER LIBERAL DEMOCRATS LEADER: Britain and the rest of Europe are now extremely alarmed that they're completely at opposite position from our traditional allies, and we're having to prepare for the fact that the transatlantic alliance is over and that Europe is going to have to defend itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I mean, is he right here? What do you make of that in the context of European security guarantees for Ukraine?

BOCIURKIW: Yes, well, first of all, Mr. Trump was trying to present any sort of U.S. backstop or security guarantee as U.S. workers basically being a human shield that, oh, all of these workers will come here contractors or whatever, and the Russians won't fire on them. I don't think it works that way in reality.

But in terms of Europe picking up the slack, no way, because the United States provides so much that the Europeans don't have things like intelligence, the Patriot missile defense systems that protect cities like Odessa, the nearby port and other cities in Ukraine.

This is, I think, the number one concern of the Ukrainians after being so badly ripped off in their minds in the 1990s with the Budapest memorandum where they handed their nuclear stockpiles over to the Russians in return for security guarantees signed by the United States. It didn't happen, obviously.

So that's a big, big concern here. And one more thing. I mean, Zelenskyy popularity is a lot higher than Mr. Trump's. But if this deal goes sideways and it very well could, it could cost him a lot of support here in Ukraine.

[02:10:02]

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll have to leave it there. Michael Bociurkiw in Odessa, Ukraine. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

BOCIURKIW: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is set to end on Saturday, but negotiations are getting underway in Cairo on whether to extend the truce or move on to phase two.

Now, source tells CNN Israel won't withdraw its forces from the Philadelphi corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, a key requirement for phase two. Israel accuses Hamas of smuggling weapons through the border.

Now, on Thursday, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and Hamas turned over the remains of four hostages. CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports 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 two and three 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 ceasefire agreement, showing no real appetite to get back into this war. 59 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, quote, "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 U.S. 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)

BRUNHUBER: A new report on the October 7th terror attacks says the Israeli military failed in its mission to protect civilians and drastically underestimated the capabilities of Hamas.

The IDF points to gaps in intelligence and systemic failures in preparedness and response. The report says Hamas was preparing for a large-scale attack from Gaza as early as 2016. But Israeli intelligence misinterpreted the plans or dismissed them as unrealistic.

The inquiry also says the IDF was caught off guard by the attack during which Hamas killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

Pope Francis' condition is improving. We'll look at what else the Vatican is saying about the pontiff's prognosis. Details just ahead.

And new details on the investigation into the death of actor Gene Hackman. Police say foul play isn't suspected, but they're also not ruling it out. We'll have that and more coming up next here on CNN, stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [02:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Authorities are trying to figure out why two time Oscar winner Gene Hackman and his wife died. Police say initial autopsy results show there was no external trauma to the couple. The two were found dead Wednesday in separate rooms of their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

One of their dogs also died. Autopsy and toxicology reports are still pending. And while there were no obvious signs of foul play, police say they aren't ready to dismiss the possibility.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAN MENDOZA, SANTA FE COUNTY SHERIFF: We're not ruling it out. What I did state was there was no obvious sign or indication of foul play. There was no immediate sign of foul play. Haven't ruled that out yet.

This is an investigation, so we're keeping everything on the table. You know, I think the autopsy is going to tell us a lot and any evidence that we collect. But I haven't ruled any of that out yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Hackman's death comes just days ahead of Sunday's Academy Awards. A source close to the planning says the actor will be honored at the ceremony and fans say it's appropriate for the two-time Oscar winner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORDAN STOUT, TOURIST: Gene Hackman, Hollywood legend. I grew up seeing him in Superman, all the Lex Luthor bits. And yes, it seemed like he was having a nice life last couple of 20 years or so on his own and sad to see him pass.

[02:20:00]

And, you know, hopefully happy and had a nice kind of final few days. But yes, it's a funny cloud, I guess, over the Oscars, but also a nice time for the community to come together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The infamous Menendez brothers may be a bit closer to freedom. California's governor has asked the state parole board to assess whether they would pose a risk to the public if they were released. Now, relatives of Eric and Lyle Menendez say they're incredibly grateful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANAMARIA BARAIT, COUSIN OF ERIK AND LYLE MENENDEZ: This is huge. I mean, this is huge. And I cannot thank Governor Newsom enough for stepping in and initiating this process.

We as a family, we understand that this is not without professional risk for him. So for him to step in and say, OK, let's actually find out if this is doable, let's do a risk analysis and then we can move forward. It's a huge relief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The governor could decide to grant the brothers clemency for the 1989 murders of their parents. But the Los Angeles County District Attorney announced last week that he opposes their request for a new trial.

Right-wing influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are now in the U.S. after they were allowed to leave Romania. The siblings have been charged there with rape and human trafficking, along with other alleged crimes.

Their arrival in the United States follows reports the U.S. pressured Bucharest to release Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist with a massive online following. President Trump denies knowing anything about the case. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I know nothing about that. I don't know. You're saying he's on a plane right now? Yes, I just know nothing about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Nada Bashir has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Andrew Tate, a self- proclaimed misogynist, and his brother Tristan landing in Fort Lauderdale, refusing to answer if President Donald Trump helped them return to the United States. The brothers, online influencers, both permitted to travel out of Romania after prosecutors lifted a years- long travel ban.

ANDREW TATE, ONLINE INFLUENCER: Listen. We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty. And I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood. I think it's extremely important that we stop allowing media spin, wrap-up smears, lies or carefully constructed narratives.

BASHIR (voice-over): Police arrested the Tate brothers in December 2022 and later charged them with offences including rape and human trafficking, allegations they deny.

TATE: We're innocent until proven guilty in any of this.

BASHIR (voice-over): Legal proceedings in Romania are still ongoing, leading many to question why Romanian prosecutors have now chosen to lift the travel ban and what connections there may be to the Trump administration.

Tate has long been a vocal supporter of the U.S. president, posting just two weeks ago, "The Tates will be free, Trump is the president."

TRUMP: The golden age of American freedom begins right now.

TATE (voice-over): I am so excited for the next four years.

BASHIR (voice-over): And sharing this video on social media just last week.

Earlier this month, the "Financial Times" reported, citing sources, that the Trump administration had put pressure on Romanian authorities to lift the travel restriction, first through a phone call, then through a meeting between Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell and Romania's foreign minister at the Munich security conference.

Romania's foreign minister has acknowledged that discussions took place, though the foreign ministry claims there was no such pressure from the Trump administration.

A lawyer representing some of the alleged victims of Andrew Tate has said that there is clear evidence to support the allegations against him, calling the decision disgusting and accusing the U.S. government of, quote, "lobbying for their release."

TATE: They're trying to tell you X, the truth is Y.

BASHIR (voice-over): In recent years, Andrew Tate shot to internet fame, racking up billions of views on TikTok, with videos centered on his views on male dominance, female submission and wealth.

TATE: I don't think the world has ever been equal. I'm saying that the modern society we live in has been built by men.

And Tate, just last week, writing, "Hate me all you want. Women are all sex workers."

Comments like those, and the charges in Romania, why Florida governor Ron DeSantis says the brothers aren't welcome in his state.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): No, Florida is not a place where you're welcome with that type of conduct.

BASHIR (voice-over): Nada Bashir, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: A notorious drug lord is now in U.S. custody. This comes decades after his alleged involvement in the death of an American agent in Mexico. We'll have the latest details on that next.

And the spread of measles in West Texas has doctors rushing to contain the outbreak and health officials scrambling to contain misinformation spread by the U.S. health secretary. Stay with us.

[02:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: All right. We're hearing from the Vatican that Pope Francis had a quiet night and is now resting. It's the latest update on the health of the 88 year old pontiff.

[02:30:03]

Pope Francis was admitted about two weeks ago to a hospital in Rome, and the Vatican has said his condition continues to improve. But they say the pontiff's prognosis is still unclear as he battles double pneumonia. The Vatican added that the pope rested Thursday, did some physiotherapy and prayed in the chapel near his hospital room. Hundreds of the faithful have been gathering daily at St. Peter's Square to pray for the Catholic leader.

Tropical cyclone Garance is expected to pass just west of the French territory of Reunion Island in the South Indian Ocean. It's not expected to make landfall. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the storm is the equivalent of a category three Atlantic hurricane with winds of 194 kilometers, or about 120 miles per hour. Weather officials expect the outer bands of Garance to impact Reunion Island Friday morning. The storm is expected to cause flash flooding and could knock down power lines and damage property.

Mexico has extradited 29 fugitive cartel members to the U.S., and among them is notorious cartel kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero. He's spent four decades at the top of the Drug Enforcement Administration's most wanted fugitives list. The drug lord was allegedly involved in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of an American narcotics agent in 1985. The DEA's acting administrator says this move is extremely personal for the departments men and women.

A U.S. judge is siding with thousands of federal workers fired as part of the Trump administration's efforts to shrink the size of government. The judge says mass firings, overseen by the Office of Personnel Management, are likely unlawful since the employees didn't work for the OPM. Lawyers for the government say the OPM didn't direct the firings, but asked specific agencies if the workers were fit for continued employment.

Another federal judge has ordered a representative from Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to testify under oath. That case also involves government workers concerned with privacy. The DOGE representative will have to answer questions about the group's leadership and decision making structure, and its access to and use of sensitive data.

A measles outbreak in West Texas has claimed the life of an unvaccinated child. It's the first measles death to be reported in the U.S. in a decade. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has downplayed the severity of the outbreak.

CNN's Meg Tirrell takes a look at his comments as mingles -- measles cases pop up across the country. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT AT TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: The fact that we've allowed it to come roaring back like this in Texas is just unconscionable.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Health officials on the ground in Texas at odds with newly appointed HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., amid a bubbling measles outbreak in the western part of the state, now including the country's first death from the disease in a decade.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: There are about 20 people hospitalized, mainly for quarantine.

DR. LARA JOHNSON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, COVENANT HEALTH LUBBOCK SERVICE AREA: We don't hospitalize patients for -- for quarantine purposes. We admit patients who need acute supportive treatment in our hospital.

KENNEDY: There have been four measles outbreaks this year in this country. Last year, there were 16. So it's not unusual.

DR. AMY THOMPSON, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, CONVENANT HEALTH LUBBOCK SERVICE AREA: This is a vaccine preventable disease that we had eradicated.

TIRRELL: And that's what does make this unusual. Ever since the vaccine was introduced in 1963, cases of measles in the United States have plummeted, getting so low. Measles was declared eliminated in this country in the year 2000. And that's because two doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, or MMR, are highly safe and effective.

JOHNSON: We're very lucky to have an extremely effective vaccine for measles, and having two doses of measles vaccine confers 97 percent lifetime immunity.

If you're unvaccinated, if you're around someone who has the illness, you have a 90 percent chance of becoming ill from the virus.

TIRRELL: That's exactly what we've seen here, with all of the hospitalized patients in this outbreak being unvaccinated. The worry now is that with a virus this contagious, it will continue to spread through communities where vaccination rates have dropped. The measles virus can linger in the air for two hours after an infected person has left the room, making Texas health experts especially concerned about mass gatherings like the upcoming rodeo in Houston, which may bring together more than 100,000 people a day.

And that's why local hospital officials continue to push one message.

JOHNSON: I would -- I would get a vaccine because that's going to be the best protection.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TIRRELL (on camera): One person who's not explicitly recommending vaccination is Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. We sent multiple inquiries to the Department of Health and Human Services asking if the secretary recommends that people get vaccinated against measles amid this deadly outbreak in Texas.

They acknowledged our inquiry, but ultimately just sent back a statement that ignored that question and linked to a CDC statement on the measles outbreak, which did acknowledge, quote, vaccination remains the best defense against measles infection, but also noted that supportive care, including vitamin A administration under the direction of a physician may be appropriate, which doctors tell us is true but is unusual to see right up there with vaccination in a statement like this.

[02:35:26]

BRUNHUBER: Many countries are wondering how to handle a growing elderly population and a shortage of care workers. Well, Japan hopes the answer is humanoid robots. We'll have that story just ahead. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:40:03]

BRUNHUBER: A team of researchers in Japan is aiming to revolutionize elder care. They're using a human-sized robot powered by artificial intelligence. The robots programmed to carry out tasks for the elderly, like changing diapers and preventing bedsores. The Japanese government is funding the program, hoping to solve Japan's severe shortage of caregivers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIGEKI SUGANO, LEAD RESEARCHER, HUMANOID ROBOT PROJECT: As we're entering a super aging society and the birth rate is declining, we'll be needing robot support and providing medical and elderly care, and in our daily life. Unfortunately, the current robot technologies are still in a premature stage when it comes to interacting with people and supporting them. The ultimate goal of our project is to somehow achieve that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

"WORLD SPORT" is up next and I'll be back in 15 minutes with more CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)