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Uncertainty Lingers Over Ukraine's Mineral Wealth; Some Republicans Angry Over Government Cuts; Measles Cases on the Rise as Vaccination Rates Decrease; Police Investigating Deaths of Gene Hackman, Wife. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired February 28, 2025 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
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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 that's been demolished.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: But multiple U.S. officials and experts describe the minerals deal as a shot in the dark for Mr. Trump.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: That's because it's not clear how much mineral wealth Ukraine has and if it's worth exploring. Nick Paton Walsh has more.
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TRUMP: We very much need rare earth. They have great rare earth.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translated text): Now we don't know how 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 get a sense of the challenge, really, because this place, yes, the 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. WALSH (voice-over): The pressure to get money out of the ground is enormous. As other 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 (voice-over): 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 reporters maps here.
They claim 7 percent global production of titanium. Lithium isn't mined yet, but they say they have 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, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: There's a foundry that processes aluminum in Ukraine. 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 (voice-over): 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.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Irshansk, Ukraine.
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MACFARLANE: Now, the jailed leader of the Kurdish separatist movement in Turkey is calling on his followers to lay down their weapons. It could mean the end of a decades-long conflict with Turkey that's thought to have killed at least 40,000 people.
FOSTER: In a statement, Abdullah Ocalan wrote that it's time to dissolve the Kurdish Workers' Party, known as the PKK. Turkey, the U.S. and the EU classify the PKK as a terrorist group. Ocalan wrote that democratic consensus is the way forward.
MACFARLANE: Pro-Kurdish Turkish lawmakers read his statement in Istanbul. The statement credits Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and pro-Kurdish political parties for making the moment happen. FOSTER: No word yet what, if any, concessions the Erdogan government might make to the PKK or the Kurds in Turkey. The call to lay down arms could have regional impact, especially in Syria and Iraq, which have large Kurdish populations.
A U.S. judge is siding with thousands of federal workers fired as part of the Trump administration's effort 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 did not direct the firings but asked specific agencies if the workers were fit for continued employment.
MACFARLANE: Another federal judge has ordered a representative from DOGE, 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.
[04:35:00]
FOSTER: And sources tell CNN around 80 employees have been terminated from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, with more firings possible today. NOAA scientists specialize in the weather, oceans, climate and other areas.
MACFARLANE: Some Republicans in the U.S. are angry about the way the billionaire president's advisor, Elon Musk, and his DOGE team are going about their work.
FOSTER: Many voted for Donald Trump and they're taking their anger out at town halls with their congressman. And on conservative talk radio, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports.
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ELON MUSK, TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: The overall goal here with the DOGE team is to help address the enormous deficit.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across the country, backlash over DOGE appears to be intensifying and in some unlikely places.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CALLER: It's frustrating all of us because, like, how do you make life decisions, try to figure out what to do. How do you know to send your kids to college? If you can afford to buy a house when there's no information coming from the administration, which I support strongly?
SERFATY (voice-over): With many Republicans now flooding the airwaves on conservative radio, angry about how Elon Musk's buzzsaw cuts to the federal government are playing out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CALLER: I'm a strong supporter of this administration and what their efforts are, but they're not communicating to us anyway of what their overall goal and plan is.
SERFATY (voice-over): Leaving right wing commentators facing the wrath.
SEAN HANNITY, RADIO HOST: I think that's where the main focus is going to be on. And, you know, limiting the bureaucracy. How many of these jobs are redundant?
SERFATY (voice-over): And to push back on concerns within their own party.
HANNITY: They're not going to fire every federal employee. There's too much work that the federal government needs to be done, assuming that your work and her work are essential. I don't think you're going to have anything to worry about. You certainly not involved in weaponization or politicizing in any way.
SERFATY (voice-over): Typically, a conservative friendly platform is suddenly not, especially when the fired federal workers are Trump supporters.
CHRIS STIGALL, RADIO HOST: I have had quite a bit of outreach from you federal workers. I don't believe Elon or Trump is going to war with every person that works in the federal government. But folks, I'm going to talk to you like an adult here for a minute. Grow up. Grow up. If you work for the federal government, you need to grow up respectfully.
SERFATY (voice-over): This fallout, not just on the airwaves, but out in the country. While Republican lawmakers are facing the anger in tele-town halls this week.
CONSTITUENT: No one voted for Elon Musk, and if you say he's doing all these great things, when is he going to go before Congress with this report of all these so-called savings?
REP. BOB ONDER (R-MO): Yeah. So we, yeah, thank you. We appreciate your question.
CONSTITUENT: Yeah, because you can't answer my question.
ONDER: No, no, I'll answer it. Elon Musk is doing a great national service. He reports to the president.
SERFATY (voice-over): And expressing fresh concerns of their own.
REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): I want to have compassion.
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think they've gone too far and too fast here?
MCCORMICK: I think it needs to be reviewed.
REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): This idea that they're going to just fire people via Twitter, Elon Musk, that to me seems rash. It seems not appropriate. SERFATY: And some senators met with Elon Musk on Capitol Hill behind closed doors today, and according to those in the meeting, they encouraged Musk and DOGE to be much more transparent about the actions they're taking and those that they are not.
Sunlen Sarfaty, CNN, Washington.
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FOSTER: The Trump administration says it's launching a new plan for hiring air traffic controllers amid national staffing shortages.
MACFARLANE: The Department of Transportation is increasing starting salaries by 30 percent for candidates who begin at the Federal Academy in Oklahoma. The FAA will also cut its eight-step hiring structure down to five steps, shaving off four months of the process. A U.S. Airlines lobbying group welcomed the new hiring plan.
FOSTER: The union representing air traffic controllers says they need to hire more than 3,000 workers to be at full staff. More attention has been drawn to the high-pressure job following a spate of aviation incidents in recent weeks.
MACFARLANE: Now the Trump administration's push to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion from American society is going wider. A new Department of Education website is offering parents, teachers and students a place to report perceived acts of discrimination in public schools. The agency says it will use submissions from the End DEI portal to identify potential areas for investigation.
FOSTER: And the Pentagon is ordering a purge of all DEI-related content from its social media accounts and video archives. The Defense Department memo orders the removal of content related to critical race theory, gender ideology, affirmative action and anything promoting cultural awareness months as well.
Now, the spread of measles in West Texas has doctors rushing to contain the outbreak and health officials scrambling to contain misinformation spread by U.S. Health Secretary. And do you stay with us for that.
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FOSTER: Weather officials have reduced the cyclone warnings for Reunion Island in the southern Indian Ocean after tropical cyclone Garance made landfall on the northern coast and began to weaken. The storm moved ashore at the strength of a category 2 Atlantic hurricane a short time ago with wind gusts around 166 kilometers or 103 miles an hour. Garance is the strongest storm to make landfall on the French territory since 1989.
It's bringing heavy rainfall, strong winds and powerful waves as well.
[04:45:00] Officials say conditions on the island will remain dangerous throughout the day Friday but will improve on Saturday.
MACFARLANE: Now 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.
FOSTER: The 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 measles cases pop across the country.
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DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT: 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., HHS SECRETARY: There are about 20 people hospitalized, mainly for quarantine.
DR. LARA JOHNSON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, COVENANT HEALTH LUBBOCK SERVICE AREA: We don't hospitalized patients 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, COVENANT CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: This is a vaccine preventable disease that we had eradicated.
TIRRELL (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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.
TIRRELL: 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.
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MACFARLANE: Now, Iowa lawmakers voted Thursday to remove gender identity protection from the state's civil rights code. The vote happened as hundreds of protesters gathered inside the state capitol. They say the measure could expose transgender people to discrimination.
FOSTER: The bill explicitly defines male and female. It also specifies that the word gender is a synonym for sex rather than gender identity. And the bill now goes to Iowa's governor.
She's expressed support for efforts limiting gender identity protection.
MACFARLANE: New details into the investigation of the death of actor Gene Hackman. Police say foul play is not suspected. Why they're also not ruling it out -- next on CNN.
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MACFARLANE: Authorities in New Mexico are trying to figure out why two time Oscar winner Gene Hackman and his wife died. The two were found dead in their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday. Officials say, well, foul play is not suspected. They still aren't ruling out -- ruling it out as a possibility. Brian Todd has a closer look.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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.
CALLER: I think we just found two or one deceased person inside a house.
TODD (voice-over): 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.
DISPATCHER: Are they moving at all?
CALLER: No, dude. They're not moving. Just send somebody out here really quick.
TODD (voice-over): The search warrant affidavit says there was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Betsy Arakawa's body.
SHERIFF ADAN MENDOZA, 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.
TODD (voice-over): 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.
MORGAN: It is tricky because you're going to have so many eyes on this. They have to be very methodical.
GENE HACKMAN, ACTOR: It's all I ever wanted to do.
TODD (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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.
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[04:55:00]
FOSTER: The chess world is remembering one of the titans of the Game of Kings. Russian grandmaster Boris Spassky has died at the age of 88. He rose to fame when Russia dominated the Cerebral Game and was world chess champion from 1969 till 1972.
MACFARLANE: It ended in spectacular fashion when he lost to the temperamental American prodigy Bobby Fischer. Their so-called match of the century riveted world attention as it symbolized the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Spassky later became a French citizen.
He's remembered for the sportsmanship he showed Fischer and in applauding his rival's victory.
FOSTER: Space tourism company Blue Origin's next flight will carry TV host Gayle King and singer Katy Perry into space. They'll be part of an all-female crew. The rest of the crew includes Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos' fiancee Lauren Sanchez, film producer Kerianne Flynn, along with scientists Aisha Bowe and Amanda Nguyen.
MACFARLANE: The Blue Origin rocket will take them about 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface, widely considered to be where space begins. The mission is expected to launch this spring. I absolutely love this concept.
FOSTER: Would you?
MACFARLANE: No-one is asking me to go. We just could because honestly I don't think I would.
FOSTER: No, nor would I.
MACFARLANE: I'm really frightened about the prospect of being blasted into space. But I'm all for this all-female crew. What a great idea.
Now, check out these incredibly -- speaking of space --
FOSTER: (INAUDIBLE) cheese.
MACFARLANE: Speaking of space, the close-ups of the Moon's surface. The shots were captured by Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft. It's a lunar lander that delivers hardware to different areas of the Moon as part of a special NASA initiative.
FOSTER: The agency works with several American companies to deliver lunar equipment in a cost-effective way. Blue Ghost mission one set to reach its final destination in the Moon's northeast region this Sunday. And we have a conscious uncoupling to announce as well.
MACFARLANE: We do. Sadly, this will be the last show for Max and I in the same space. But it's not the end.
FOSTER: It's not? What are you up to?
MACFARLANE: Well, TBC, watch this space, I think, for both of us, right? But, yes, this is a conscious uncoupling in that I still greatly admire and respect you but we --
FOSTER: What is it? It involves acknowledging the role each person played in the breaking and working -- the break-up and the working together to move forward.
MACFARLANE: I love that.
FOSTER: So what's your role?
MACFARLANE: And we must mention our fabulous crew as well who've been working with us in the early hours to keep our spirits up, because sometimes it is a bit of a challenge to wake up this early.
FOSTER: Yes, but it's great having an audience, isn't it, where in America they're, you know, they're awake at night.
MACFARLANE: I know.
FOSTER: You've got the evenings in Asia, you've got the mornings in Europe. We get amazing comments.
MACFARLANE: We do. We love the feedback we've had from people watching around the world. FOSTER: And luckily for them, the team is staying around, so they're keeping the best bit. You are keeping the best bit. And who better to be replaced by than Christiane Amanpour? I mean, we defer.
MACFARLANE: Yes, you can watch Christiane in this spot from this day forward. But for us, for me and Max, in this space for now, that's it. And thank you so much for joining us here on CNN NEWSROOM.
