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Trump Signs 10 Percent Global Tariff after Supreme Court Ruling; Taiwan "Closely Watching" U.S. Tariff Policies; Police Search Former Home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor; Iran Lays Out Vision of Nuclear Deal amid Military Pressure; France's Longest Rain Period on Record; Some U.S. Citizens Arrested Filming ICE Agents Find Charges Fall Apart; Team USA Win Gold in Overtime against Canada. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired February 21, 2026 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Reaction rolling in from around the globe after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump's tariff plans are illegal. We're live in Taipei with the latest.
And the new tariff ruling raises questions and uncertainty. What this decision could mean for American businesses.
Plus the investigation into Britain's former prince Andrew following his arrest. We're live in London with a look at where that is now heading.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: President Donald Trump is opting for plan B and finding other ways to impose tariffs after the Supreme Court ruled his use of emergency powers unconstitutional.
He's now slapping a new 10 percent levy on all countries under a trade law known as Section 122. These tariffs can only be in place for 150 days, unless Congress extends them.
Now the president is lashing out at the justices who ruled against his tariffs, calling them a disgrace to our nation. Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch, both Trump appointees, joined with chief justice John Roberts and three liberal justices in the 6-3 ruling. The decision is a massive blow to president Trump's foreign policy and economic agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing and I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country.
They also are a frankly disgrace to our nation. Those justices, they're just being fools and lapdogs for the RINOs and the radical left Democrats. They're very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The ruling boosted stocks on Friday but rising gold prices signal that traders are also weighing potential uncertainty over future tariffs.
Now the court's decision applies mainly to what the Trump administration calls reciprocal tariffs. Those were announced with great fanfare last April and impacted nearly every country in the world.
The president has used laws on national security to slap duties on goods like steel, aluminum, cars and kitchen cabinets. Those remain in effect and so do tariffs on countries like China that were investigated and found to engage in unfair trade. CNN's Will Ripley is joining me now live from Taipei.
So Will, you've been looking at the global reaction to all this. Still plenty of uncertainty.
What are you seeing?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That is the -- that is the word of the of the day, Kim, and probably the word of the Trump administration, particularly the second term, uncertainty about what's going to happen now.
And I think that is the big question.
A lot of these countries are wondering, will president Trump continue to wield tariffs as this kind of sharp sword that he's been dangling at countries, threatening their economies in these months of his presidency?
The United States, of course, is a hugely important trading partner for so many countries around the world, both here in Asia and also in Europe, where there are certain voices in the E.U. saying that this ruling by the Supreme Court is a -- is a win for rule of law.
But, of course, they're still reviewing the actual impact in the United Kingdom. They are expecting their privileged trade ties, as they put it, with the United States to continue. Business groups are saying the impact remains unclear. They're -- in fact, they're not sure really what's going to change.
Same deal in South Korea, where they're reviewing the ruling and assessing their next steps. They actually called an inter-ministerial meeting recently this afternoon in South Korea to try to figure out what's going to happen, especially considering they've pledged to invest hundreds of billions into the U.S.
Same thing in Japan. They're investing massive amounts of money -- of money into the U.S. to try to avoid sharp tariffs. They've been negotiating trade deals in New Zealand, where they're saying that any relief from tariffs would be welcome. But still, you know, that key word, uncertainty, that remains. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, you're in Taiwan. Obviously this is all big news there.
How are they reacting?
RIPLEY: Yes. The government's watching this very closely.
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They did put out a statement saying that they believe this new 10 percent tariff would have limited impact. But it's really interesting because president Trump actually talked about Taiwan specifically in that press conference at the White House. Listen.
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TRUMP: Taiwan came in. They stole our chip business. Now all those companies in Taiwan are building factories in Arizona, Texas and various other places because they don't want to pay tariffs. They are all pouring into the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY: And in fact, U.S. imports from Taiwan have now surpassed China. Imports from China fell sharply, especially in December of last year, as imports from Taiwan surged.
So the U.S. is now Taiwan's top export market, actually replacing China and Hong Kong, which actually they're now -- Taiwan is now exporting more to the U.S. than China and Hong Kong combined, which is interesting. That's really a switch to what it had been.
But the bottom line here, Kim, is that everybody knows, Taiwan knows, nations around the world know that the rules could change again; existing trade deals now somewhat in question, even though countries believe, in many cases, that they have negotiated trade deals with the U.S.
They wonder now if there're going to be any reimbursements made for payments that were made in those tariffs that the Supreme Court has now ruled illegal. And again, as you mentioned at the top, that that key word, uncertainty, around the world remains.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, everything's still in flux. Will Ripley, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
And joining us now is Ryan Patel. He's a senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.
Great to see you again. Thanks so much for joining us here. So the court struck down some of those tariffs, which Trump's already imposing a global 10 percent tariff. He's already promised to add more, using a different authority.
I mean it's quite the whiplash for the economy, as we just heard from our reporter there; the key word here, uncertainty.
RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Well, it is. But that shouldn't have been surprising, Kim, because this decision was coming. And, you know people were looking at this.
I mean, the decision, what does it imply?
It implies it's a reset of the governance of trade policy. But let me be clear here. That doesn't mean that the U.S. trade policy becomes predictable.
And so I think what you take away from all this, where does investment happen?
Does it pause?
What is the global aspect?
Look at it. And right now it, the investment does a little bit pause. The ruling doesn't really kind of change the way businesses are looking the way they're doing. Obviously there is more uncertainty, which is where we were kind of already.
And you know, the markets need to be stable and the predictability is still not there. So we're still at -- I don't want to say status quo -- but in the short term, tariff action, people are looking at where it's going to do.
And obviously with the 10 percent you mentioned, doesn't really push the needle but some industries don't get affected. And we're kind of seeing how that's going to be used.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. So many angles to follow here. I mean we're talking about potentially $134 billion in tariff refunds that businesses could be owed.
Do you think that they'll actually get reimbursed?
And if so how complicated is that?
PATEL: That's a really great question because that kind of goes off to the side and snuck in here. And this is what I -- this is my take on it, right?
Yes. It could be subject to refund claims. Looks and sounds good externally. But the timing of the process is going to take years. And this is -- it's, I mean, if you had to break it down, if I had to break it down, right, it's -- they have to file for that. The government has to review it. The court becomes the referee.
It's like a chess game for over the years. And then on top of that, only the larger importers, I think, that can fight this and have the resources then can push back.
What happens to the smaller businesses?
They may say it's not worth it for them to get the refund, to fight for that. So I mean, we're talking about a couple of years over time.
And again, to that point, do the consumers see that refund?
No, they won't. I mean, it is back to the businesses to see what they choose to do with it. They can reinvest it back into the business somehow. So that number sounds really large.
But does it really trickle down all the way to consumers?
Most likely it won't.
BRUNHUBER: Well, OK. Let me -- let me ask you then specifically, because, I mean, that's basically what people are asking. The bottom line here is consumers. As we know, you know when tariffs go up, costs rise. Companies pass that cost onto the consumers.
But when prices go up, it's rare that businesses will just decide to lower them. So it sounds like you're saying we're not going to see prices going down here at all.
PATEL: Absolutely not. And I hate to say that. But that's kind of what you are seeing. Even if you were a CFO of a major company right now, you're not doing that. And even in the refunds, as you mentioned, refunds almost in this kind of situations never translate into an immediate consumer price relief.
So even if you -- if, you know, we were talking about this and hoping on the bright side, that won't happen.
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And even in an indirect way that companies are adjusting prices or investing, it would be a longer term aspect to see it.
So you know, it's -- unfortunately, you know that's the process for the consumer. And as on top of that, right, as we see these things, supply chain margins, even with kind of what's going on now, many of these companies are going to stay flat for the time being because they're not going to try to make any moves.
And you said the word, uncertainty.
Why would they use a dual move in this kind of time since they don't know what the policy is going to be?
BRUNHUBER: Yes.
What about other effects?
You know, you know, if you zoom out a bit more, look at the economy as a whole, things like inflation, for instance.
Does anything else shift because of what we're seeing now?
PATEL: Why are you bringing up inflation, Kim?
We were happy having a conversation. And then we --
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PATEL: -- I mean, you're right because this is a part of the uncertainty which we try to not use the word. And I think part of this is I think it's going to be flat. The reason why I say it, because it doesn't -- this 10 percent that president Trump is putting, it doesn't affect all industries.
Yes, it's focusing on, you know manufacturing, AI; it doesn't hit 70 percent of the service business the GDP focuses on. That doesn't mean we're out of the, you know, out of the crosshairs, because there is a trickle-down domino effect of all of this.
But in the short term, I think inflation is OK. But obviously over time, it does have a trickle effect. And we can kind of see that. So maybe that was a little bit of good news, Kim, that I kind of said. But you know it is -- you know, focusing on the industries that are affecting it, you know, that to me is going to be the long term watch.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And will we will be watching. Appreciate your analysis of this. Ryan Patel, thank you so much.
PATEL: Appreciate you.
Well, the estate of Jeffrey Epstein is agreeing to pay up to $35 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by survivors of the late sex offender.
The 2024 complaint alleges that Epstein's former personal lawyer and accountant helped create a complex financial web that let Epstein hide the abuse while they were, quote, "richly compensated" for their work.
Both Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn deny having any involvement in Epstein's sexual crimes and say they don't believe that anyone was harmed or damaged by their work with the convicted pedophile.
British police will likely continue to search the former home of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor through the weekend. Now this comes after the former prince Andrew was released from custody on Thursday. He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
Andrew has denied any wrongdoing and hasn't been charged. Once police finished their investigation, the U.K. government could introduce legislation to remove Andrew from the line of royal succession. That's according to U.K. media reports.
He's currently eighth in line to the throne. I want to bring in Nada Bashir, live this hour in London.
So take us through what's happening right now and looking forward.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is certainly an unprecedented situation, of course, as you can imagine.
The headlines, the newspapers here in the United Kingdom have all been dominated by that now notorious image of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former prince and the king's younger brother, leaving a police station, looking quite shell-shocked in the back of a vehicle as he returns home.
And, of course, this follows questioning following his arrest by Thames Valley Police surrounding allegations of misconduct in public office. And it's understood that this is all essentially centered around his time as the U.K. trade envoy between 2001 and 2011.
And it comes following the release of further documents by the U.S. Department of Justice around the Epstein scandal, which appears to indicate that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor may have provided sensitive information, government information regarding potential investments, to the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
Now, of course, this also comes amid growing questions and the ongoing scandal surrounding Jeffrey Epstein's role in the trafficking of women and young girls and other sex offenses.
And questions surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and his knowledge, awareness and potential involvement in those allegations of sexual offenses.
At this stage, it's understood that the police investigation here in the United Kingdom is focused primarily and solely at this stage on misconduct in public office, so on those questions around the potential leaking of information during his time in public office.
But, of course, there is the potential for an expansion of this police investigation at this stage. He has been released. He hasn't been released on bail but could be asked to return for further questioning if police do deem it necessary.
As you mentioned, Kim, we do understand that police are carrying out searches at his residence, not only at the residence of his address at the Sandringham estate, where he is now residing.
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But also at his former residence at Royal Lodge in Berkshire, just outside of London. This was his home for some 20 years before he was evicted by the king essentially following the scandal surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and, of course, him being stripped of his royal title.
We are, of course, all waiting to see what happens next. The police investigation is continuing. As you mentioned, Kim, no charges have been laid at this stage. But, of course, this is a huge focus not only now for Thames Valley
Police but for the Metropolitan Police in London, who have also said they may be questioning his former security detail as well with regards to anything they may have seen that might help in this investigation.
BRUNHUBER: I appreciate you bringing us the latest, Nada Bashir in London, thanks so much.
Iran floats an idea about how to avoid possible U.S. military strikes over its nuclear program. But as Tehran talks diplomacy, the U.S. ramps up its military pressure. We'll have that story ahead.
Plus, authorities in California are investigating a deadly avalanche near Lake Tahoe even as crews are still trying to recover the victims buried under the heavy snow. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Iran is laying out its vision of a nuclear deal with the United States, just as more American military assets are moving in for possible strikes on the country. The USS Gerald Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, is set to join the USS Abraham Lincoln and other vessels already in the region.
But Iran's foreign minister says there's a win-win solution, which would allow Iran to keep a peaceful nuclear program in return for lifting some sanctions. He also says the U.S. has not demanded a halt to nuclear enrichment, which president Trump said was his goal. On Friday, Trump had this message for the Iranian people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: Do you have any message to the Iranian people?
TRUMP: The Iranian people?
In Iran or people here?
QUESTION: People in Iran.
TRUMP: They better negotiate a fair deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Ukraine's president expects the next round of peace talks to be held before the end of the month. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met his negotiating team on Friday following trilateral talks in Geneva earlier this week. He said there was no positive movement on the issue of territory, one
of the main sticking points. But he revealed more details about discussions on a future ceasefire and a possible prisoner swap.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the military subgroup, I believe there is a constructive outcome. All three sides recognizing that if there is a ceasefire, if there is an end to the war, then the Americans will be primarily responsible for monitoring the ceasefire.
They will take the lead in this area. The humanitarian track was discussed with the political subgroup. And also it is still too early to speak of positive results.
A constructive outcome was also found. In the coming days, the details of the swap will be determined, including the number of prisoners and the timing, the swap of Ukrainian prisoners of war for Russian prisoners of war.
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BRUNHUBER: Russian negotiators also reported back to president Vladimir Putin on Friday. However, the Kremlin says it can't confirm when and where the next round of talks will be held.
Multiple investigations are underway in the deadliest avalanche in the U.S. in decades. Heavy snow has hampered crews that have been trying to recover the bodies of eight skiers and one who is presumed dead in Tuesday's avalanche near Lake Tahoe. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more on the victims who were lost in the disaster.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More than three days after the country's deadliest avalanche in 45 years, we're now learning more about some of those nine victims who lost their lives on Castle Peak. Among them is the spouse of a member of the Tahoe Nordic Search and Rescue Team, which is involved in the search and recovery efforts, the Placer County Sheriff's Office said.
Also on this trip were eight friends. Six of the victims, all mothers and wives, who were experienced backcountry skiers, shared a bond of their love for the outdoors, their families say. They are sisters Liz Clabaugh and Caroline Sekar, Carrie Atkin, Danielle Keatley, Kate Morse and Kate Vitt, whose neighbors in Mill Valley, California are reeling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friendly person, devoted to her kids. I'd see them -- she'd walk them to school in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was just out there with her kids and getting them hustled off to school and after school activities and she was really -- she just seemed like a super friendly, great mom. ELAM (voice-over): Joint statements saying they, quote, "Have many unanswered questions about the professionally guided, two-night backcountry hut trip." Noting that the group trusted their professional guides.
California's Workplace Safety Agency has launched an investigation into the company that led the tour, Blackbird Mountain Guides. The Nevada County Sheriff's Office tells CNN it is also looking into any possible criminal negligence.
Blackbird says its four guides on the trip were highly trained and certified instructors with the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education.
Six people, five clients and one guide were rescued off the mountain about 11 hours later. The bodies of the skiers killed remain on the mountain. Hazardous weather conditions in the rough, rugged and vertical terrain have hampered recovery efforts.
Eight bodies have been located in the midst of the football field- sized slide. One person is still missing but presumed dead.
ELAM: And now that the snow has stopped, first responders will have to take care not to trigger a new avalanche, while they also contend with bitterly cold temperatures as they take on this recovery mission, which officials say will stretch into the weekend -- back to you.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): We see the pictures there. France is dealing with the country's rainiest period in decades.
The persistent rain caused the Garonne River to swell on Thursday, flooding farmlands and homes between the towns of Aiguillon and Le Viol (ph). The country has been hit with 37 consecutive days of rains, its longest on record.
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And meteorologists predict another storm could bring the country even more rain.
At least two people are dead after torrential rains triggered flooding and landslides in southern Peru, authorities say one person was struck by lightning, while another was overwhelmed when a river overflowed its banks. The storms have submerged entire neighborhoods and left vehicles trapped on flooded roads.
Crews are working to rescue the stranded and assess the damage. In one region, days of rain caused a bridge to collapse while a truck was crossing, cutting off access to a rural district.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A tanker truck full of liquid gas crashed and exploded in Chile on Thursday. Now this shocking video of the scene was caught on surveillance cameras. It happened in Santiago province. At least four people died in the accident.
Police say the driver lost control, hit a safety barrier and overturned the tanker. Seven cars on the highway were destroyed. The fire also damaged at least two other buildings near the wreck.
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BRUNHUBER: An agreement between federal prosecutors and the utility company PacifiCorp will cover some damages from six wildfires in Oregon and California. The $575 million payout is the company's latest settlement related to deadly fires in 2020 and 2022.
The government says neglect of electrical lines caused the six fires. Several people in both states died and thousands of homes were destroyed. The money will help restore public land that burned.
It will also repay the government for the cost of fighting the fires. Several juries have ordered PacifiCorp to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to victims. The company has continued to deny any liability.
All right, we'll take a quick break. For our viewers here in North America, we'll have more news in a moment. For our international viewers, "CNN CREATORS" is next.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States and Canada. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
President Donald Trump says he's signed a new 10 percent global tariff after the Supreme Court struck down his sweeping emergency tariffs. The court agreed 6-3 that his so-called reciprocal tariffs violated federal law.
But the justices didn't say what should happen to the more than $130 billion in revenue that has already been collected. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more now from the White House.
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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump on Friday night announcing on Truth Social, he had signed a 10 percent global tariff.
Now this, of course, came after the Supreme Court had ruled that his tariffs were illegal and after we saw President Trump giving a press conference in which he essentially berated the Supreme Court. It was very clear that he took this incredibly personally.
He also singled out those justices that he had appointed to the Supreme Court, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch. This is what he had to say about the decision and those justices.
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TRUMP: The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing. And I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed for not having the courage to do what's right for our country.
HOLMES: Now it didn't stop there. At one point, he was asked if he regretted appointing those two justices to the Supreme Court. He wouldn't answer that but said that this was an embarrassment to their families. Getting incredibly personal here.
Now, of course, we should note that these tariffs are not just a critical part of President Trump's economic agenda.
But he's also been using them as leverage in almost all of his foreign policy and these meetings with foreign leaders, something that he clearly took incredibly personal that they ruled against him. Now we, of course, know that they are going to work around this.
One of the biggest questions now, of course, is what happens to that money that had already been collected. The Supreme Court didn't mention that. President Trump believes it's going to be tied up in litigation for roughly two years.
I've talked to a number of Trump advisers who say, well, the court has made this ruling. They're not going to have to step in and fix this because there is a belief that a lot of these corporations are going to try to litigate this to get refunds back on some of these tariffs.
Another question is what happens to the money that has already been used?
We know, again, they've been using this revenue for quite a few endeavors if President Trump's list is accurate. Still a lot of questions as to what exactly this ruling means -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: President Trump is set to visit China at the end of next month for a high-stakes meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping. The visit will be complicated by the Supreme Court ruling striking down Trump's tariffs.
When negotiating over a potential trade deal, the president has used tariffs as his main source of leverage. The tariffs on China went beyond efforts to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. They also slapped duties to pressure Beijing to reduce shipments of chemicals used to produce fentanyl. The visit is scheduled for March 31st until April 2nd.
Another American strike on a suspected drug smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean has left three people dead. The U.S. military released an online statement, saying the vessel was operated by, quote, "designated terrorist organizations" and that no U.S. military personnel were injured in the attack.
At least 138 people have been killed in strikes on boats, which are aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.
There's an obscure federal law in the U.S. that few people have heard of but ICE agents are using it extensively to detain U.S. citizens who observe or record the agency's activities. Kyung Lah has more in this CNN investigation.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop following us. You are impeding operations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impeding operations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next time, you will be arrested for impeding.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: If you look at some of the videos posted by people recording immigration officers, you hear the same language.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here the thing, 18 USC 111.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 18 USC 111.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 18 USC 111. Do you understand?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're arresting him for 111. You understand?
LAH: You can hear impeding or 18 USC 111 over and over in dozens of videos. Officers have said it in Chicago, North Carolina, Oregon. But what is it?
It's a federal law that punishes anyone who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates or interferes with U.S. officer. Force or even the threat of force is an essential part of the crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's impeding a federal --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not impeding. It's not impeding.
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It's observing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
LAH: We looked at Minnesota and three other places in the country with some of the most intense anti-immigration enforcement protests. And we found in the federal courts covering Minnesota, Chicago, Los
Angeles and Oregon more than 12 times as many people have been charged under the impeding statute in the first year of the Trump administration as compared to the last year of the Biden administration.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stop the car.
LAH: But the number of Americans being detained under 18 USC 111 is much higher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Hell no. Nope. We warned you, sir.
LAH: Like Ryan Ecklund.
RYAN ECKLUND, U.S. CITIZEN DETAINED BY ICE: I felt somewhat protected by my first and fourth amendment rights. You can see in very short order that that's not the case. I pull into my local grocery store and I saw what was very clearly an ICE vehicle. I just decided to grab my phone and record them from inside my vehicle.
LAH: Had you done anything like this before?
ECKLUND: I had never followed an ICE vehicle before and I didn't start my day looking to do that.
LAH: Ryan was in the parking lot. He says he'd been recording for 90 seconds when the agent first approached him.
ECKLUND: Morning. How you doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. You?
ECKLUND: Doing just fine. Thanks. What can I do for you?
LAH: Ryan would spend the next few minutes following the immigration officers from a distance. He stopped again. This time, he gets a warning.
ECKLUND: Morning, gentlemen. How are doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not bad. Yourself?
ECKLUND: Good. Just fine. What can I do for you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You get one warning.
ECKLUND: One warning for what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will not be following us anymore or you will be arrested?
ECKLUND: I can follow you wherever I want.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will be arrested. ECKLUND: Great. Sounds good. Have a good one. Thanks.
LAH: Ryan keeps driving. After another couple of minutes, the agents decide they'd had enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've been warned that you're continuing to follow us and you're breaking a lot of laws.
ECKLUND: Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Hell no. Nope.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We wanted you sir.
ECKLUND: I'm a U.S. citizen. Get your hands off of me. That's when they actually pulled me out of the car and put me to the ground.
LAH: What happened to you when you hit the ground physically?
ECKLUND: The three or four ICE agents kind of restrained me. Some knees and lower legs kind of on my body to hold me down but I got some road rash on my face at that point. From there, I was put into handcuffs and then immediately walked across the street to a white unmarked passenger van. No, no, no, no, no.
LAH: In the video, you can see this patch on the agent's arm, SRT. That means he's part of ICE's elite special response team. Here's how DHS describes them, trained to serve high risk warrants under hazardous conditions and dealing with hardened criminals such as drug cartel and violent gang members.
ECKLUND: I think it's ridiculous. I am not a hardened criminal. I am not a drug cartel member. I'm a local real estate agent who was following them in my car.
LAH: Ecklund knew where he was going because when he first heard this, the sound of protest. From there, he was led inside the Whipple Federal Building where he was led to a very specific table.
ECKLUND: On the wall, a large piece of cardboard that had been written on by hand in Black marker said USC 111.
LAH: He was put in a cell. Others eventually joined him. And are you told that you are being arrested or charged?
ECKLUND: No. What I was told by one of those agents was that I could be held for up to 48 hours without being charged.
LAH: Ryan was held for nine hours and then released. There were no charges and no fines.
JOHN CHITWOOD, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They are deploying this, tossing it out like candy on Halloween, at anyone who just even looks at ICE the wrong way. I wasn't even familiar with this statute, until about four weeks ago.
LAH: Minnesota criminal defense attorney John Chitwood has seen the rise of 18 111 cases. CHITWOOD: We've seen when the rubber hits the road in the courtroom, they're backing off.
LAH: In Minneapolis, prosecutors have dropped many of the charges to a misdemeanor or a fine. In Los Angeles to Chicago, most of the cases ended in acquittal or dismissal and that's if they even make it to court.
0We found these citations that show U.S. attorneys have declined to prosecute, leaving people with something that's essentially a speeding ticket.
CHITWOOD: The cruelty is the point. They want to get these people off the streets immediately to intimidate them, to make them feel as if there's a consequence for speaking their mind.
LAH: The line between free speech and crime is a debate happening on Capitol Hill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Job boning, complaining, protesting, yelling.
LAH: Immigration agency leadership acknowledged in this hearing that people can't just be arrested for exercising their first amendment rights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is filming of ICE or border patrol either an assault or a crime in any way, Mr. Scott?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Lyons?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, sir.
LAH: We did reach out to the Trump administration and a DOJ spokesperson tells us this Department of Justice will continue to seek the most serious available charge against anyone who puts federal agents in harm's way and will never make charging decisions based on the opinions of woke law professors.
[04:40:06]
And we also heard this from DHS. There are myriad factors that affect the outcome of any given prosecution. The fact remains that anyone who assaults one of our officers is committing a felony and anyone who obstructs them is committing a federal crime -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
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BRUNHUBER: Iran is bracing for possible military action from the U.S. over its nuclear program.
Is Tehran more likely to cave under the military pressure or to dig in?
We'll have a live interview when we come back, please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is stepping up its military buildup near Iran, despite negotiations for a nuclear deal still being underway. On Friday, the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, sailed into the Mediterranean. It will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships already in the region.
But Iran's foreign minister says there is still a way for the two countries to meet in the middle. He says that would involve lifting some sanctions while agreeing to have Iran keep a peaceful nuclear program.
President Trump is threatening to strike Iran over its nuclear program and he said on Thursday he'd know in up to 15 days if an agreement is still possible.
For more, we're joined now by Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He's also the author of the book, "The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East." And he joins us now from London.
Thanks so much for being here with us again.
So just to start with the latest news, I mean, do you get any sense that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on tariffs will affect president Trump's decision making process on striking Iran, maybe act as a constraint or a guardrail in any way?
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I think, what I fear is that president Trump's domestic challenges the Supreme Court transformative decision.
[04:45:04]
And basically various challenges in the United States and the midterm elections could really basically speed up president Trump's decision to attack Iran.
Historically speaking, American presidents tend to divert attention from their domestic trouble by basically carrying out attacks overseas. This has been the pattern, even though we have to wait and see whether the decision by the Supreme Court will basically have a direct influence on president Trump's decision to attack Iran.
But let's keep in mind that this is the most significant American military deployment in the Middle East since the United States invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003.
This is not a simple game. This is a real military force. It costs billions of dollars. And unless president Trump intends to really basically attack Iran, I doubt it very much he would have deployed such a massive and costly military force.
BRUNHUBER: Well, I mean, given that, I mean, president Trump has given Iran this deadline, some 10 to 15 days, let's say, to come to the table. There have been two rounds of indirect talks already ended without a breakthrough.
But Iran's foreign minister said that he is optimistic a deal could be reached quickly.
Do you share his optimism?
Doesn't sound like you do.
GERGES: No, no I don't. I mean, I think the Iranians are too optimistic. The Iranians have been really talking about progress in the past two rounds in Oman and Geneva. The Iranians would like to have a deal with the United States.
The Iranians are -- know very well that they are really fighting for their survival. They realize that president Trump and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, are trying to really change the regime in Iran itself.
So -- and we know what Iran wants. Iran seems to be genuine about reaching a nuclear deal with the United States, they have made it very clear, in return for lifting the sanctions.
Here, what I don't know, what does really president Trump want?
Do we -- does anyone know the end game?
President Trump, has he told the American people why he is basically deploying such a military force in the Middle East?
Has he basically sought authorization from either the Congress, let alone from the United Nations?
Have we had a debate in the United States about why the United States seems to be basically plunging into war in the Middle East, another unpredictable and costly war?
So there are many more questions than answers. And president Trump, I mean, this war, if you ask me to summarize it, I mean, I think this is a war by choice, not by necessity.
It's very much illegal and preemptive and it depends on, you know, one man's whims as opposed to really rational and strategic calculation authorized by the American Congress.
BRUNHUBER: You've referenced the size of this U.S. military buildup, the largest in the region for more than 20 years.
So from Iran's point of view, then, is the kind of military pressure, does it -- does it change Iran's calculus? Or does Tehran tend to dig in when it feels cornered like this?
GERGES: Well, I mean, my take is that the Iranian leaders realize this is it, that they are basically fighting for their survival. They have made it very clear they will defend their sovereignty. They will basically try to inflict as much pain on the United States and Israel and wherever the attacks come from.
So the reality is, I think what I see is that, once again, the United States really underestimates the willpower and the stamina of Iran in its capacity to fight, really, for a long war. And this is what we call really monstrous strategic miscalculation.
We've seen it in Iraq. We've seen it in Afghanistan. We've seen it in Libya.
And again, what I don't understand is that why there is no debate in the United States about what really -- why is president Trump basically deploying such a military force?
And where's the Congress in all of this?
We don't see that. And that's why it seems to me that basically it's a matter of really hours or days before Donald Trump orders an attack on Iran, that could really have some strategic major strategic consequences and very costly in blood and treasure.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, we'll have to see whether that does indeed come to pass. Really appreciate your analysis.
[04:50:00]
Fawaz Gerges, thank you so much.
GERGES: Thanks.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be right back with more here on CNN NEWSROOM. Please stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Today is the second last day of the 2026 Winter Olympics underway in Milan and Cortina, Italy, and gold medals will be awarded in 10 events.
Athletes will be vying for the top of the podium in men's and women's speed skating mass start, men's curling, women's ski halfpipe, women's bobsleigh and men's team aerials, just to name a few.
Now the U.S. Women's hockey team is still soaking up that golden glow after what will surely go down as a classic final in Winter Olympics history. They were facing longtime rival and defending champs Canada, with both teams looking unstoppable heading into the game.
Team USA trailed for much of that game before they came from behind in overtime to win 2-1. Some of the U.S. Women's star players spoke with CNN's Coy Wire about winning Olympic gold.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were determined coming in here, for one thing and that was a gold medal. That belief factor never, never left our minds going into that entire game, that overtime. So this group is super special and we're just super happy.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason why we, we play is to inspire others. And, you know, I hope little girls can watch this Olympics and hopefully dream to be Olympians one day, because that was me. And so just super cool to be able to inspire others.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just so lucky to share the ICE with all the legends on this team. It's been a dream come true to participate in my first Olympics. And I've learned so much from everyone around me. So I'm just -- I'm grateful. And it's been just incredible opportunity to be here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got cut from the 2022 Olympic team, best thing to ever happen to me. It definitely took me a few weeks to see that. Maybe a year or so. But you know, me not making that team made it even more cool this time around.
And I wanted to make sure that it wasn't an if or an and if I was going to make the team; it was going to be a period at the end of the sentence. And I'm excited that I was able to cap it off with the gold medal. So things like that. I think that people don't become successful because of the yeses in their lives. It's because the nos.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. So here's where the Olympic medal count currently sits. Norway still leads the pack with 37 total medals, including 17 gold, the most of any country so far.
Team USA is in second, with 29 total medals, including 10 gold and 12 silver.
And host country Italy is close behind in third place with 27 total medals, including the most bronze so far.
Colombian pop star Shakira will perform a free concert in Mexico City next month. It's set to happen in Zocalo square on March 1st. The singer sold out more than 12 shows during her last tour.
Shakira is also expected to headline at Rio de Janeiro's public concert at Copacabana Beach.
Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
