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CNN This Morning
U.S.-Russia Delegations Meet For Ukraine War Discussions; Delta Plane Flips Upside Down And Catches Fire, 18 Injured; Arctic Blast Brings Frigid Air, Winter Storm To Much Of U.S.; Vatican: Pope Francis In Stable Condition With "Complex Clinical" Infection. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 18, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:35]
KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It's Tuesday, February 18th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukraine perceives any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine as those with no results.
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TAUSCHE: Left out. Right now, Ukraine and Europe sidelined as President Trump's foreign policy team is at the negotiating table with Russia in Saudi Arabia to hash out an end to the war.
And --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was mass chaos. I was upside down. The lady next to me was upside down. It's amazing that were still here.
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TAUSCHE: Evading tragedy. All passengers escaped from a burning aircraft after a delta airliner crash lands and flips upside down on a snowy runway. How did this happen?
Plus --
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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent Social Security payments.
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TAUSCHE: Defying DOGE. The head of Social Security steps down after refusing to hand over sensitive information to Elon Musk's team.
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TAUSCHE: Five a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kayla Tausche, in for Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
Breaking overnight and overseas, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, along with other high ranking U.S. officials meeting with Russia's delegation in Saudi Arabia. It's the first round of in-person conversations about ending the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine would start immediately after speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone.
Notably, Ukraine isn't part of these conversations, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine would not accept a peace deal if they weren't at the negotiating table.
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ZELENSKYY: Ukraine perceives any negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine as those with no results. We cannot recognize anything or any agreements about us without us.
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TAUSCHE: CNN's Clare Sebastian is in London with all the latest.
Clare, this all comes as European leaders are sitting down to figure out what their role in these talks and the future of the conflict is.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, absolutely, Kayla. I think the key for Europe right now is one to stay relevant. There is a significant sense of concern that they are going to be left to front the security guarantees to foot the bill for Ukraine, while at the same time not getting a real say in how this war eventually ends if and when it does. So that's why we've seen these sort of emergency meetings with European leaders. There was one that happened on Monday in Paris.
Now we see top European leaders, Ursula von der Leyen, the head of European commission and the head of the EU Council, meeting with General Kellogg, Trump's Russia -- Ukraine envoy.
I think look, they're trying to stay relevant. They're also trying to preserve a U.S. role in the future of European security. There's an element of realism here, right? The U.S. says Europe needs to take more responsibility. Europe is aware that in the short term, it simply cannot pick up all of the slack from the U.S.
So they're trying to preserve this. We heard the NATO secretary general on Monday saying that any European security guarantees for Ukraine need to come with a U.S. backstop. The head of the European commission this morning also saying that she wants to continue to work with the U.S. on security. So, how that pans out, I think, will be critical.
And meanwhile, of course, are those talks happening in Saudi Arabia as we speak? And we've heard from the Kremlin this morning, which I think presents more evidence that its at this point unlikely that the Kremlin is willing to go for any compromises. Yet on Ukraine. Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, saying that a comprehensive long term settlement is impossible without a comprehensive consideration of security issues on the continent. That I read very clearly as NATO expansion, which is something that that Russia has been against for as long as I've been covering them.
And then they also said that Putin is willing to negotiate with Zelenskyy, but once again questioned his legitimacy as president, something that Russia has been doing now for a while.
So, no evidence that Russia is willing to make any compromises. But they are certainly banking the PR coup of having this all kick off in this bilateral framework -- Kayla.
[05:05:03]
TAUSCHE: And meanwhile, President Zelenskyy trying to up the ante, raise some of the urgency for the European continent, suggesting in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" over the weekend that he possesses intelligence suggesting that Putin has designs on invading other NATO allies if and when such a security deal is reached.
How is that being received overseas?
SEBASTIAN: So look, this is something that Zelenskyy has been warning about almost since the start of the full scale invasion. And now were just a week out from the three year anniversary, is that Ukraine is the front line of what could be much bigger ambitions for Russia, which is why, of course, he feels that Europe should support them.
Europe is sort of in, on paper, very much behind continuing to support Ukraine. We've heard a lot of sort of positive noises, a lot of willingness from European countries. I think whether or not that translates into action and how that translates into action is still a big question. We're seeing a division in Europe over which countries are willing to potentially deploy peacekeeping troops on the ground in the event of a ceasefire, and those who aren't.
The chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, even saying that he was irritated that the debate was even happening on that before. We know the outcome of peace talks. And, of course, as I said, Europe is still trying to preserve the role of the U.S., suggesting that it isn't ready yet to go it alone on security.
So, Zelenskyy, I think, is going to keep this urgency up. He is holding his own diplomatic meetings in various countries this week, expecting to meet towards the end of the week with General Kellogg, and is still saying he wants that to lead to a potential meeting with President Trump -- Kayla.
TAUSCHE: And we will see what results from those talks in Riyadh for now. Clare Sebastian, thank you.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, Pope Francis asking for prayers as he remains in the hospital. We'll bring you the latest on the 88-year- old pontiff's condition.
Plus, the DOGE fight. Another top official stepping down over Elon Musk's push to access sensitive taxpayer information. And 18 injured in Toronto after a delta plane crashes and finds itself flying the wrong side up on the runway. What went wrong?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We kind of let ourselves go and fell to hit the ceiling, which is surreal feeling. And then everybody was just like, get out, get out, get out. We could smell like jet fuel. Even now, I smell like jet fuel.
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[05:11:52]
TAUSCHE: We are back with investigators in Toronto now trying to determine why a Delta Airlines flight with 80 people on board crashed, burned and flipped upside down after landing.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drop everything, drop it! Come on!
Don't take your phones! Put that phone away!
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TAUSCHE: Incredibly, everybody on board made it out alive. At least 18 people were injured, but those are minor injuries, thankfully.
Listen to the exchange between air traffic control and a medevac pilot just seconds after the crash.
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MEDEVAC HELICOPTER: Where is the crash?
TOWER: It's on runway 2-3, right at threshold, right at the intersection there, 2-3 and 15 left.
TOWER: LifeFlight 1, Medevac. Just so you are aware, there are people outside walking around the aircraft there.
PILOT: Yeah, we've got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAUSCHE: When the plane came to rest, buckled, passengers found themselves hanging upside down. Some described it as hanging like bats. A wing of the aircraft gone and the plane was on fire. Here's how they described the ordeal.
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JOHN NELSON, CRASH SURVIVOR: It was mass chaos. I was upside down. The lady next to me was upside down. We kind of let ourselves go and fell to hit the ceiling, which is surreal feeling, and then everybody was just like, get out, get out, get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We didn't really know anything was the matter. Or at least I didn't until, like, the second we hit the ground. There was no, like, real indication of anything. And then, yeah, we hit the ground and we were sideways, and then we were upside down, hanging like bats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAUSCHE: More now from CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This crash so easily could have been much worse.
Remember, it wasn't even three weeks ago that we were talking about the crash over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., where all 67 people were killed.
Now, all 80 people have escaped with their lives from Delta Airlines flight 4819 on its way from Minneapolis to Toronto Pearson international airport landed around 2:13 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday when apparently the plane on landing crashed cart-wheeled onto its back. Passengers in a dark and on fire passenger cabin had to evacuate through one of the doors on the right side.
Also, one of the emergency over-wing exits now turned into an under- wing exit if the right wing was still there.
Investigators very much have their work cut out for them. They always look at the airplane, the environment and the pilots, the airplane. Not all that abnormal. A CRJ-900 completely full, configured with 76 seats and four crew on board.
But the weather and the environment may be the most abnormal part of this incident. The wind at the time of the crash was howling, gusting from 27 to 35 knots, about 40 miles per hour at a right crosswind. As this plane came in to land on Toronto Pearson's Runway 23.
The other big question for investigators was the runway surface contaminated, meaning was it slick with ice or was it dry? Investigators really have their work cut out for them now.
[05:15:02]
And transport -- Canada's Transportation Safety Board will look at this, along with the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States and the National Transportation Safety Board, since this flight did originate from Minneapolis in the U.S.
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TAUSCHE: Our thanks to Pete Muntean.
Still coming up after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, a multi-million dollar ad campaign featuring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is the latest project by the Trump administration to try and deter undocumented immigration into the United States. More on that coming up in our "Morning Roundup".
Plus, the Southeast U.S. is already dealing with the aftermath of flooding. Now they're bracing for frigid temperatures.
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[05:20:12]
TAUSCHE: Twenty minutes past the hour.
Here's your "Morning Roundup".
Israel Defense Forces will keep troops at five Lebanese posts despite a withdrawal deadline that passed yesterday. This violates a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah. The deadline was originally set for January and was extended at Israel's request.
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KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: President Trump has a clear message for those that are in our country illegally -- leave now. If you don't, we will find you and we will deport you.
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TAUSCHE: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sending a message to undocumented immigrants that they are not welcome in the country illegally. The department releasing an ad warning to leave now or face deportation with the inability to return to the United States.
Two Israeli tourists were shot and injured in Miami Beach on Saturday. This surveillance footage shows the men afterwards frantically searching for help. The man charged with the shooting allegedly told police he thought the Israeli men were Palestinian.
An arctic blast hits the U.S. with temperatures of 40 to 50 degrees below average this morning. And a winter storm set to bring snow and ice to flood ravaged areas across the southeast, already dealing with catastrophic flooding and cleanup.
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GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D), KENTUCKY: My hope is we get the lower side, which could be just a couple of inches, but if we get six inches, it's going to really complicate the cleanup.
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TAUSCHE: Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is with us now with the very latest -- Derek.
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DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: This is a particularly challenging stretch of time for the Tennessee and Ohio River Valleys, not only because of the ongoing flooding that is occurring across many states from this past weekend storm, but now we are tracking the progress of an arctic air mass that will descend over the same locations and help produce snowfall over some of the hardest hit areas.
This is just one example of the several areas that are in be experiencing flooding. Now. This is coming out of Tennessee, but, of course, we've seen what's been happening and unfolding in the state of Kentucky and Virginia as well.
Over the next week, we will likely break over 270 record low temperatures, many across the plains. But that cold air will shift eastward as we progress through the course of the week. And I'm highlighting Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, southern Indiana into Tennessee as problematic areas because this extreme cold alerts from the Rio Grande all the way to the border of U.S. and Canada. That will shift eastward through time.
And then we will see that cold air descend on these areas that are experiencing the flooding. So this is very much an active search and rescue operation with five river gauges reporting major flooding right now just across the state of Kentucky alone. And then to complicate matters, we've got snow that is just knocking on our doorstep here with this second storm system that will draw in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, leave a swath of snowfall to the state of Kentucky. Some of those hardest hit areas throughout bowling green, for instance, parts of Tennessee as well, before exiting off the east coast, creating a sloppy mess into the Carolinas, by the way.
Here's a look at that snowfall. It will be heaviest across southern Missouri, but even a few inches of snow make the search and recovery efforts that much more challenging in and around Kentucky. The arctic blast that will descend behind it -- no one really is spared from this. All the way to the Gulf Coast, the Florida panhandle, the Rio Grande, we will feel temperatures below well below average.
In fact, 250 million Americans will feel temperatures below freezing in the coming seven days or so. So this is a serious situation, and its complicated by just the number of winter storms that are lining up, one after another after another. Back to you.
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TAUSCHE: Winter is not done with us yet.
Derek, thank you for that.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING: the Vatican is releasing more information on the pope's health. Ahead, an update on his current condition.
Plus, why the Social Security Administration's acting commissioner is choosing to step down.
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STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: These are foreign nationals who come into the United States. They use fake Social Security numbers, they use fake identities to steal billions in taxpayer benefits. There's no way to know until doge gets full access, exactly how much money we're talking about.
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[05:29:13]
TAUSCHE: You're looking at Portland, Maine at 5:29 a.m. here on the East Coast.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kayla Tausche, in for Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
The Vatican describing Pope Francis's condition as stable this morning after doctors extended his most recent stay in the hospital for what they're calling a complex clinical respiratory infection. The 88-year- old pontiff, who has been plagued by a string of lung related struggles in recent years, said he was touched by the thousands of messages he's received.
CNN's Barbie Nadeau joins us live from Rome.
Barbie, what is the latest that we have on the pope's condition this morning?
BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Well, we're waiting actually to get the latest update here any minute now. But we did get one communique from the Vatican that said that he will be canceling an audience for the jubilee year this coming Sunday.
