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Ten Dead in Frigid Floods, Torrential Rains With Bitter Cold Ahead; Trump Says Meeting With Putin Could Happen Very Soon; Trump's Department of Education Threatens Federal Funding for Schools That Consider Race in Most Aspects of Student Life. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 17, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, nearly a dozen people have died. A powerful winter storm to blame. It slammed the Southeast Kentucky being the hardest state hit, bringing flooding and damaging winds. Now, a million are preparing for an Arctic blast that could bring snow and brutal cold.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Top U.S. and Russian officials getting ready to meet in Saudi Arabia to talk about trying to bring an end to the war in Ukraine. Left out anyone, from Ukraine and also Europe, that's why European leaders now holding an emergency meeting about it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So what you missed when you went to sleep the biggest moments from Saturday Night Live's 50th anniversary special and what went on behind the scenes.

I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

SIDNER: This morning, a coast-to-coast winter storm continues to wreak havoc in the south, Midwest, and northeast. The weather system that battered parts of California just days ago has now caused widespread flooding across Kentucky, Indiana, Virginia, with storm killing at least ten people. Most of the deaths are in Kentucky.

First responders there carried out more than 1,000 rescues. Kentucky's governor says it's one of the worst disasters they have seen in at least a decade. Parts of Kentucky and Tennessee saw more than eight inches of rain. The National Weather Service says, in some areas, high waters mixed with snow and ice making it even more treacherous.

And the same system is responsible for at least four tornadoes in Alabama. Making matters even worse, dangerously cold temperatures are moving into the region this week.

CNN's Danny Freeman is in Salem, Virginia for us. Give us some sense of what the conditions are where you are and what you've been seeing as far as this damage.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Sara. I think the big thing that I would describe the state of the region right now is it's cold, it's very windy and everyone is still processing the effects of all of the rain that fell over the weekend and all of the flooding that hit so many impacted areas.

Like you said, I'm in Salem, Virginia, right now. This is the Roanoke River. It's still rushing mightily right here. But where I'm standing, this entire area was covered with water just a number of hours ago. Thankfully, the water here and in other places in the region has receded. But, again, the damage extensive in many parts of the Commonwealth of Virginia and, of course, Kentucky over the weekend.

Here in Virginia, Governor Glenn Youngkin, he actually submitted a request for an expedited major disaster declaration. That was because over 200,000 people were without power and at least two areas of Virginia had, in his words, catastrophic flooding and historic flooding as well.

But we have to talk about Kentucky, our neighbors just to the west, because they really experienced quite a bit of the brunt of these storms, Sara. Nine people killed in that flooding, over 1,000 water rescues over the course of the weekend. And I want you to take a listen to how first responders described actually a mother and her child who were killed in the flooding in Hart County over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY ROBERTS, CORONER, HART COUNTY, KENTUCKY: And it had rolled over upside down. Rescuers did rescue the seven-year-old out then rescued, but retrieve her out of the vehicle. We could not get to the mom because the water was coming up so fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Again, Sara, just heartbreaking, so sad right there, that particular story. But that's the exact sort of thing that state, local and government officials have been warning folks in this area. If you see floodwaters, there's still a lot of floodwaters in a lot of areas out there, don't try to drive through it. Even just in this area, we've seen cars splashing through some floodwaters to my right here just because it is so dangerous and it is so easy to get swept up in these floodwaters.

And like I said at the top, Sara, the weather is cold out here as well. And we're expecting more cold temperatures as the week progresses. So, the idea here is to really be careful of that. Because even if you happen to be outside of a car and slip into floodwaters, the National Weather Service out in Blacksburg, Virginia, they note that hypothermia could set in very quickly. Just another reason that these storms and this weather has been so intense out here. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. And we're looking at some of these pictures of cars trying to drive through high waters.

[07:05:00]

Don't do that. And that's what authorities are warning people. You could get swept away. Thank you so much. Danny Freeman there live for us in Virginia. Kate?

BOLDUAN: And on the heels of that storm, there is another threat moving in very quickly, as Danny was even talking about, brutally cold temperatures reaching from the northern plains to the Gulf Coast and some areas could be looking at setting some cold records.

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking all of this for us. He's joining us now. Derek, what are you watching most closely at this hour?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Here's the deal, Kate. It will be a one-two punch for some of the hardest hit areas. First, the extreme cold starts to set in, and then behind it, another winter storm that will impact some of the same locations that saw the flooding.

We have cold -- extreme cold alerts that stretch from the Rio Grande all the way to the border of the U.S.-Canada border. That's stretching over 1,250 miles. In fact, over the next week, about 170 million people will see the mercury in the thermometer plunge below the freezing mark.

Behind this departing storm, there's a lot of energy. You saw in Danny's live shot, trees were swaying, the wind is very intense, wind advisories across the northeast. But here's the next storm that is set to impact the same regions. Look at Kentucky, Virginia, winter weather alerts with winter storm warnings further to the west.

The evolution of this storm takes a very similar path, although I do believe it will be a little further to the south. That's why we're experiencing more snow across this region that saw the heavy rainfall from the first storm that moved through the course of the weekend.

Here's the snowfall totals. You can see greatest will be across parts of Missouri and into the mid-Atlantic, but into Kentucky, several inches of snow still possible.

This storm has stretched from the West Coast to the East Coast. We saw the feet of snow measured in California and then of course the flooding scenes unfolding. And the tornado scenes in the warm sector of this system, there were four confirmed tornado reports with several reports of wind damage and power outages, including this very meteorologist here in the southeast. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much, Derek. Thank you, thank you. John?

BERMAN: All right. Happening now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio rise for talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine. The conspicuous absence in these talks, Ukraine.

A new case of bird flu leaves one person hospitalized. New details on how it is spreading and updates on a new vaccine.

And an unprecedented NBA All Star night with a format never seen before and maybe never seen again. Who won the actual game/games and who came out looking best? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. Just a short time ago, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia for talks with Russia about the future of Ukraine. Ukraine will not be there, though President Trump suggested somehow that Ukraine will be involved eventually.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you expect Zelenskyy? to be involved in these conversations? What will his role be?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes, I do. He will be involved.

REPORTER: Do you have an update on your timing of your meeting with Putin in Saudi Arabia?

TRUMP: No, no time set, but it could be very soon.

REPORTER: Like this month?

TRUMP: Well, it'll be soon. We'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, all of this is of major concern in Ukraine and the rest of Europe, where, shortly, leaders will hold an emergency summit.

Let's get right to the White House. CNN's Alayna Treene is there. Big negotiations with senior U.S. leaders arriving in Saudi Arabia, and really the whole world watching, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's exactly right. We're told that many of these, you know, senior officials began arriving last night in Riyadh, where those talks are slated to begin tomorrow, all part, of course, of trying to find this off-ramp to the war between Russia and Ukraine. I note it's almost Three years to the day that Russia had illegally invaded Ukraine.

Now, just to talk about who is going to be there from the U.S. side, we know that, as you saw Marco Rubio who just landed today, he is going to be there as secretary of state representing the United States. We also know Middle East envoy, who's also helping, as we can see in these Ukraine talks. Steve Witkoff will be there and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz.

Now, from the Kremlin side, from Moscow, we have that Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov are going to be there representing on the talks from Vladimir Putin's side of all of this.

Now, where does Saudi Arabia come into all this? Obviously, this meeting is being held in Riyadh. We are told by a senior Saudi official that they plan to have some sort of mediation role. I would note, of course, that they have been crucial, the Saudis, in the negotiations and talks in the Middle East, as well in that conversation around ending the war between Israel and Hamas.

But we also know that they were crucial, and Witkoff told me this himself, that they were crucial in helping Secured the release of American prisoner Marc Fogel, who was held in Russia. He said that a lot of the Saudis, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was very crucial and instrumental in those discussions.

But, John, who will not be there, that is the Ukrainians. And, of course, that is causing a lot of consternation, both in Kyiv, but also throughout Europe, which are really worried about not having a seat at the table during these talks. We heard Secretary of State Marco Rubio try to address this and kind of tamp down those concerns yesterday. Take a listen to how he put it

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: If it's real negotiations, and we're not there yet, but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved because they're the one that were invaded. And the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well.

[07:15:02]

And they've contributed to this effort. We're just not there yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, look, he's framing this as kind of a first step in these negotiations that Ukraine will have a seat at the table, but, again, this is something that's really causing a lot of alarm among the United States' allies across Europe, and of course, with Ukraine itself.

BERMAN: Look, interesting to hear Secretary Rubio mention that Ukraine was invaded, which is something you don't hear a lot from President Trump himself. As for the European concern here, there's so much -- they're holding their own emergency meetings today, Alayna. What does that tell us?

TREENE: That's right, they are. They are holding an emergency summit in Paris trying to, you know, figure out their side of all this, because, look, I think it's very clear that some of the rhetoric we've been hearing and the actions as well from both President Donald Trump, but a lot of his top officials has really threatened what we've seen be kind of holding the peace and the status quo over the last several years now in dealing with Russia.

They're really, you know, a lot of these European allies worried about being isolated throughout this process and also worry that perhaps Russia will get some big concessions here if they are the only ones -- if the United States are the only ones involved in these talks.

Now, we did hear the Elise Palace. They said that French President Emmanuel Macron as well as Germany, the U.K., Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark and the president of the European Council, the president of the European Commission and the secretary general of NATO, all of them going to be participating in the be participating in the talks. We'll see if we can learn more from that after their meeting soon in Paris, John.

BERMAN: All right. Keep us posted from the White House. Alayna Treene, very much for your reporting. Sara?

SIDNER: Do you want potentially unvetted, certainly unelected and untrained DOGE officials to have access to your finances? Elon Musk's government agency is demanding access to IRS information.

And beloved Saturday Night Live characters all return for one glorious night, Adam Sandler's memorable song, the return of Sally O'Malley, Debbie Downer, The Bronx Beat, and Tracy Morgan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Black Jeopardy, the only Jeopardy where every single viewer fully understood Kendrick's halftime performance.

This legendary late night show created some of comedy's biggest stars. It's a sketch comedy show. It's been on for a long time. Ah, there he is.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is a living color?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, there are alarm bells going off among the staff of the IRS, Elon Musk's DOGE team now reportedly requesting access to taxpayer data. And The Washington Post, the way they are reporting on it is that DOGE is, quote, seeking access to heavily guarded IRS service -- IRS system, a heavily guarded IRS system that includes detailed financial information about every taxpayer, business and nonprofit in the country. That's one big story we're watching.

Also this morning, we're focused in on the Department of Education and learning more about a letter the Department of Education sent threatening the federal funding of any academic institution that considers race in most aspects of student life.

CNN's Rene Marsh has much more reporting on this one. Good morning, Rene. What are you learning here?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kate. We're talking about from preschool to colleges and universities, the Trump administration's Department of Education is threatening schools across the country to stop considering race in almost every aspect of student life or risk losing federal funding, and they're giving these schools 14 days to do this. Now, it's all outlined in a letter that the agency sent out on Friday night, and it states that if a school treats a person of one race differently than it treats another person, that's a violation of federal law. And this pertains to admissions, hiring, promotion, compensation, financial aid, scholarships, prizes, administrative support, discipline, housing, graduation ceremonies, and all other aspects of student academic and campus life, so quite broad there.

And this is a mandate that the Trump administration says is their interpretation of the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in students for fair administration -- admissions, I should say, versus Harvard, which specifically struck down affirmative action in college admissions.

Now, the administration is trying to use that ruling to justify extending it to all and any race-conscious spending activities and programming on school campuses.

This will certainly face legal challenges. We're already hearing for Democratic lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Senator Patty Murray saying, quote, there is simply no authority or basis for Trump to impose such a mandate. In fact, federal laws prohibit any president from telling schools and colleges what to teach, including Every Student Succeeds Act that I negotiated with Republicans.

So, already, Kate, we expect that this will certainly land in the court just as the Trump administration's other policies have. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Rene, thank you so much for your reporting. John?

BERMAN: All right. The Trump administration is firing hundreds of FAA workers just weeks after the midair collision that killed 67 people.

And he who saves the country does not violate any law, President Trump seemingly channeling Napoleon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: Breaking this morning, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that Ukraine will not participate in this week's talks between the U.S. and Russia, saying, quote, we cannot recognize anything or any agreements about us without us.

With us now, William Taylor, former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine. Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us.

President Zelenskyy also said over the weekend he rejects deals made behind our backs. Why do you think he might be concerned about these U.S.-Russia meetings taking place in Saudi Arabia?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, John, it's been very clear all along that the way to end this war is for Putin to stop and for there to be conversations eventually between Putin and Zelenskyy.

[07:30:04]

So, Zelenskyy's been very clear that they're not going to give up.