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Philadelphia Eagles Dominate Kansas City Chiefs 40-22; Trump Says He Will Announce Reciprocal Tariffs This Week; Trump: Spoke With Putin, Hope War Will End "Fast"; China's Tit For Tat Tariffs On U.S. Products Begin Monday; Macron: Trump's Tariffs "Not The Top Priority"; Poll: 57 Percent Of Adults Approve Of How Trump Handling Presidency; Families Demand Release Of Remaining Hostages In Gaza; Released Thai Hostages Return Home From Gaza. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 10, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world, and streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead --

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CROWD: E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles.

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CHURCH: Philadelphia partying into the night after the Eagles' dominant performance in New Orleans, taking down the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Eagles' second Super Bowl.

Trump vows new tariffs, announcing plans to unveil new costs for all steel and aluminum imports.

And Elon Musk's DOGE team gains more access to federal data, including personal information from Americans who have received disaster relief from the government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. The Philadelphia Eagles have denied the Kansas City Chiefs a three-peat. They won Super Bowl LIX in dominating fashion in New Orleans, coming away with a 40-22 victory.

Eagles quarterback, Jalen Hurts, was named the game's MVP after throwing two touchdown passes and running for another while rushing for 72 yards, a Super Bowl record for a quarterback.

Well, Philly fans celebrated the convincing win, sweet revenge for the Eagles who lost to the Chiefs on a late-field goal in Super Bowl LVII two years ago. And world sports, Andy Scholes, joins us now from the Superdome in New Orleans. Great to see you, Andy. So it was a Super Bowl beat down. Take us through the highlights.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. I, you know, Rosemary, we came into the Super Bowl here in New Orleans thinking we may see some history. Would the Chiefs be the first team ever to win back-to-back- to-back Super Bowls? But instead, we got a different kind of history, and it was a historic performance from this Eagles defense.

We'll show you how it all went down. You know, Patrick Mahomes, one of the most clutch players ever in the history of the NFL, but he had arguably the worst game of his career. And this one, it was the first time ever Mahomes has thrown multiple interceptions and got sacked at least three times in a half in his career, and he did it here in Super Bowl LIX.

And it was that Eagles defensive line just constantly putting pressure on him. Mahomes making two very uncharacteristic mistakes, throwing a pick-six to Cooper DeJean, the 22-year-old rookie, on his birthday, returning it for a touchdown. That was really a backbreaker, made it 17-0 in the second quarter.

Mahomes then threw another pick before halftime that led to another Eagles touchdown, it was 24-0 at halftime. And the way the Eagles defense was playing, that lead looked insurmountable, especially with the way quarterback Jalen Hurts was playing. He only threw five incompletions the whole game.

He was basically perfect other than one interception. He threw two touchdowns, one to A.J. Brown, a perfect pass to DeVonta Smith in the second half. He also ran for a score on a push-push.

He had 72 yards rushing, the most ever for a quarterback rushing in the Super Bowl. He was your MVP as the Eagles. The score was 40-22, but it wasn't even that close. The Chiefs scored a couple garbage touchdowns that made them feel a little bit better about this performance. But make no mistake, this was a dominant performance from this Philadelphia Eagles team. And here's what Hurts had to say afterwards.

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JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: Defense wins championships. Defense wins championships. And we -- we saw how they played today. We saw the difference they made in the game. And they gave us opportunities, gave us short fields. And we're able to -- we're able to do what we do. I'm still processing it, but I can't wait to enjoy this with my family and soak it in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And as we mentioned, the defense for the Eagles just dominant. They didn't allow the Chiefs to get past the 50-yard line until two minutes left in the third quarter, unbelievable. And Patrick Mahomes, he now falls to 3-2 in Super Bowls. Obviously was not very happy with his team's performance afterwards. Here's what he had to say.

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PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: Credit to the Eagles, man. They played better than us from start to finish. We didn't start how we wanted to, obviously the turnovers hurt. And, I mean, I just got to -- I take all the blame for that. I mean, just those early turnovers swing the momentum of the game. And then they capitalized on them. And they scored -- I mean, they scored on the one. And then they got a touchdown immediately after. So, that's 14 points that I -- I kind of gave them. And it's hard to come back from that in a -- in a Super Bowl. And so, just didn't play to my standard. And I have to be better next time.

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SCHOLES: Yes, I'm sure we haven't seen the last from Patrick Mahomes in a Super Bowl. We'll -- we'll wait and see how the Chiefs rebound from this loss. But, Rosemary, a great week here in New Orleans, you know, they put on such a great show. You know, President Trump, the first ever sitting president to come to a Super Bowl was here. Taylor Swift, a lot of fun moments. Kendrick Lamar put on a good performance. So, all around, you know, the score and -- and the game might not have been -- been the best but all around, Super Bowl in New Orleans, LIX, was pretty good.

CHURCH: Yes, quite a night. Andy Scholes in New Orleans joining us there with that live report. Appreciate it.

Well, just ahead of Sunday's big game, U.S. President Donald Trump laid out several new policy plans. He says he'll announce new tariffs this week, starting on Monday, including a 25 percent duty on all imported steel and aluminum. And he plans to announce massive new reciprocal tariffs. CNN's Betsy Klein is following the latest developments.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: President Donald Trump continuing to flood the zone with content, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One for about 30 minutes as he made his way to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday.

President Trump announced that he would be unveiling reciprocal tariffs on countries that tariff the U.S. on Tuesday or Wednesday at a press conference. He also unveiled plans on Monday to announce steel and aluminum tariffs at a rate of 25 percent. That is 25 percent on all steel and aluminum imports coming into the U.S. Both of these moves taken together mark a -- Trump making good on a key campaign promise of his 2024 campaign.

President Trump also doubled down on his plans to redevelop Gaza, telling reporters aboard Air Force One to, quote, think of it as a big real estate site. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that it's a big mistake to allow people, the Palestinians or the people living in Gaza, to go back yet another time. And we don't want Hamas going back. And think of it as a big real estate site. And the United States is going to own it and will slowly, very slowly, we're going to rush, develop it. We're going to bring stability to the Middle East, too.

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KLEIN: Trump again suggested that other Middle Eastern countries would house displaced Palestinians in what he described as, quote, beautiful sites. But we should note that most regional leaders, with the exception of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have rejected these plans.

We should also note that 90 percent of Gaza residents have been displaced and many have been forced to move repeatedly, according to the United Nations. So all of this will be a major topic for discussion later this week when President Trump hosts the King of Jordan at the White House in Washington.

Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the President in West Palm Beach, Florida.

CHURCH: Meantime, President Trump is ramping up his aggressive overhaul of the federal government. Employees at America's top financial watchdog were told not to come into the office this week. The headquarters for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C., will be temporarily closed, according to an e-mail obtained by CNN.

It comes after the newly installed acting director, Russell Vought, ordered employees to stop virtually all of their work on Saturday night. As Elon Musk's DOGE team tries to slash federal spending, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is confirming that they have access to her agency's data. That includes personal data from Americans who've received disaster relief funds. Here's what she told CNN's Dana Bash on Sunday.

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: I remember a time when Republicans were very careful about and -- and worried about the government, particularly unelected people having --

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Well, we can't trust the government --

BASH: -- having access at personal data.

NOEM: Yes. Oh, absolutely.

BASH: But you -- you are the government.

NOEM: Yes. That's what I'm saying is that the -- the American people now are saying that we have had our personal information shared and -- and out there in public.

BASH: But now Elon Musk has access to it.

NOEM: You know, Elon Musk is part of the administration that is helping us identify where we can find savings and what we can do. And he has gone through the processes to make sure that he has the authority. The President has granted him.

I am today by the work that he's doing by identifying waste, fraud and abuse.

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CHURCH: In a Super Bowl interview with "Fox News," President Trump defended Elon Musk's work remaking the federal government. Mr. Trump contends he has a mandate from the American people to eliminate wasteful spending and offered praise for the billionaire.

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TRUMP: I ran on this and the people want me to find it. And I had a great help with Elon Musk who's been terrific.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bottom line, you say you trust him.

TRUMP: Trust Elon? Oh, he's not gaming anything. In fact, I want the how he can devote the time to it. He's so intellect. But I told him, do that. Then I'm going to tell him very soon like maybe in 24 hours to go check the Department of Education. He's going to find the same thing. Then I'm going to go -- go to the military. Let's check the military. We're going to find billion, hundreds of billions of dollars.

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CHURCH: Joining us now is CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein. He's in Los Angeles. Appreciate you being with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So the Trump administration appears to be testing the limits of presidential power with these big cuts to the federal government. Now the courts are blocking some of the unprecedented access to government, the billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE team are getting, while Vice President J.D. Vance says judges are not allowed to control the President's power like this. So where do you see all of this going?

BROWNSTEIN: All of it is heading directly toward the U.S. Supreme Court, you know, over a period of months and maybe even years. And ultimately, I think the key arbiters on what America's constitutional democracy looks like at the end of this Trump term are going to be those six Republican appointed justices on the Supreme Court. You know, J.D. Vance's comments today were, you know, there are two ways to interpret that. I mean, the relatively more benign interpretation, and only relatively, is that he was sending a clear signal to those Republican appointed justices of how the administration hopes for them to rule with an expansive vision of presidential power that would allow Trump to make substantial alterations in the operations of the executive branch without changing the underlying statutes, which would obviously be a change for American history.

The even more ominous implication of what Vance was saying is that he was repeating something he has argued before, which is that the President should simply ignore court decisions that he disagrees with. And that would set us on a course for a constitutional crisis of the like that we really haven't seen in this country since the Civil War.

CHURCH: And Ron, meantime, Donald Trump says he will announce reciprocal tariffs Tuesday or Wednesday and 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum in the hours ahead, saying he plans to smack tariffs on any steel coming into the U.S. What is the likely impact of all of this?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, the steel and aluminum tariffs he did in his first term and the economy absorbed them. The reciprocal tariffs that he's talking about are much broader. You know, almost all of the U.S. top trading partners, I believe, have higher tariffs overall on our goods than we have on theirs. So the clear implication of what Trump is talking about is to raise tariffs on goods coming into America from a wide array of countries. And of course, he has talked today, he has said today that Mexico and Canada are not making sufficient progress on the issues that he's concerned about.

And the tariffs, the 25 percent tariffs that he threatened and then withdrew on them could be coming at the end of this month. Donald Trump believes in tariffs. He believes that tariffs both will strengthen our domestic manufacturing capacity. And he also wants to shift the funding from the federal government away from income taxes toward tariffs, which is another way of shifting the burden from the wealthy toward the middle class.

So, you know, he keeps going up to the brink and backing off. But at some point he is going to go over the brink. I mean, he does believe in tariffs. And I think it is only a matter of time until we are looking at higher tariffs, which is going to put obviously enormous strain on his core, the core reason he got elected, which is that Americans thought he would make their cost of living more affordable than they felt it was under Joe Biden.

CHURCH: And President Trump also repeated his goal to own and develop Gaza. He said it would be a big mistake to let Palestinians return to the enclave, insisting again that regional nations should take in Gaza's Palestinians, despite those countries already rejecting his proposal. So why is Trump still pushing this given the global outrage when he first mentioned it?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I mean, I think as we talked about right at the outset in January, almost all of the constraints on Trump that limited him in his first term are gone. You know, in his first term, he had to appoint a number of officials, particularly in the national security -- security area, who were not really part of his MAGA movement or loyal to him. They were concessions to other power centers in the Republican Party. All of that is gone.

[01:15:12]

He does not really have anybody in the administration who is likely to say no to him. The Republicans in Congress, last time he had Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as the leader in the Senate and the House, who were dubious of him at -- in -- in the least. This time, you know, not so much. And so, you know, what you get -- what you're getting is Trump more unfiltered.

And there are obvious advantages to that to him in that, you know, he can -- he can pursue his agenda with -- with fewer -- with less pushback. But it also means that, you know, his tendency to go to extremes, there -- there's not somebody in the room to say, sir, do you really want to do this? Or is this a place where we need to be?

So, you know, there's a tendency, when Trump says something truly outlandish, like the U.S. should own Gaza and redevelop it as some part of -- as some sort of Mediterranean Riviera, to say that, you know, it's just Trump spouting off. I think in the second term, you're going to see him consistently push these ideas more than most people would assume when they first hear them.

CHURCH: And Ron, Donald Trump was the first sitting U.S. president to attend the Super Bowl, but it didn't quite work out the way he'd hoped, backing the losing team. So what were the optics of the President flying in for the big game at taxpayer expense?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I think Trump is -- has been very skilled throughout. I mean, he is a billionaire who has been married three times from Manhattan. And he has convinced a lot of working class, evangelical, culturally conservative America, that he is one of them, you know, that he kind of lives their life, that he'd, you know, rather eat, you know, fast food than high cuisine, and that he kind of shares that -- their -- their cultural preoccupations.

So going to the Super Bowl, I think, was very much on brand for him, maybe not as much as going to some of the Ultimate Fighting Championships and some of the Manosphere blogs and podcasts that they've appeared on. But it is, you know, he has had this really remarkable ability to kind of create a cultural affinity with voters whose lives he really has had nothing in common with throughout his own life.

CHURCH: Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure to get your analysis on all things political. Thank you so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Still to come, President Donald Trump says he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he's hoping the war in Ukraine ends fast. We'll have the details on that conflict after a short break. Stay with us.

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CHURCH: As Russia's war in Ukraine approaches its third anniversary, U.S. President Donald Trump told the "New York Post" that he has spoken to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and he hopes the war ends, quote, fast.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you don't want to tell us about your conversation with President Putin. But can you clarify whether you had that since you're been in office? Or whether it happened before you became President?

TRUMP: I've had it. Let's just say I've had it. And I -- and I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended. It's going to end. We have to get it ended. And we have to get it ended soon. It should have never happened -- would have never happened if I was president.

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CHURCH: Meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is saying that he is ready to negotiate with Putin if certain conditions are met.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): If I had an understanding that America and Europe would not abandon us and that they would support us and provide security guarantees, I would be ready for any format of negotiations.

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CHURCH: Jill Dougherty is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and former CNN Moscow bureau chief. She joins me now from Washington. Always good to have you with us.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump says he has spoken with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and says there are many more talks to come, but didn't give specifics. The Kremlin will neither confirm nor deny Trump's claim. Why is the Kremlin refusing to confirm Trump's call with Putin?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think, you know, if you look at the exact statements by President Trump, sometimes they are not specific and he's not giving details. And just surmising here, I would think that the Kremlin doesn't want to, let's say, jump in with both feet and commit to something and say, yes, this happened if President Trump is going to change it or maybe it wasn't exactly as they said. So at this point, you know, they're generally saying we're interested in talking. The Americans have to make the first step and it has to be on a mutual respected basis, et cetera. But they're -- they're not being as specific, certainly, in -- in terms of, yes, we talked, as Trump is saying.

CHURCH: And President Trump says he is likely to meet with Ukraine's president this week. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is willing to negotiate with Putin as long as the U.S. and Europe supply security guarantees. What does all this signal to you?

DOUGHERTY: You know, I think what Zelenskyy is talking about, and it's probably the most serious of all, is that let's take the situation. If there is a ceasefire eventually and things calm down, what about the future? You know, what -- will this be an enduring ceasefire or could it be, you know, could it kind of stop and then flare up again and then there are more problems in Europe as a whole?

So I think what he's saying is, yes, we're prepared, but we really do need some type of guarantee of our security. Now, he knows that with the United States and Germany and others -- some others saying, no NATO at this point, then he has to figure out how do you get some type of security.

[01:25:02]

And it looks as if these bilateral agreements, a series of bilateral agreements with various countries, might be the type of deal that he could go for. But that's what he's worried about. You know, something that goes into the future and that really protects Ukraine from another attack by Russia.

CHURCH: And President Trump reiterated Sunday that the war in Ukraine needs to end. But how do you think he plans to do that?

DOUGHERTY: Well, that's a million dollar question. It's very complicated. And I don't think that President Trump has a plan that, you know, he has worked out on paper. He has other people to do that. He has General Kellogg, who will be -- who is the representative who will be discussing it with both sides.

But, you know, when you look at this, Rosemary, it really is very, very complex, because you had -- just -- just one thing. Let's say there's a ceasefire. You have an enormous border around Ukraine, going up on the east and then over on the north, up by Belarus. To protect that, how do you protect the -- the existing line of lines that exist right now? How do you protect that?

Then what do you do with sanctions? Do -- do you, you know, at least get rid of sanctions? If so, how quickly? And then we have this issue, which might be the best positive thing of all, with -- with these rare earth elements that could be a deal and could be very attractive to the United States, obviously, and perhaps to Ukraine. So that would be one positive. But I'd have to say the -- the real questions, the -- the more negative side of this, the difficult side is really tough. CHURCH: And as you touched on, President Trump has said that he wants access to Ukraine's critical and rare earth metals as a condition of further support for the war-torn nation. So how would that work?

DOUGHERTY: Well, Ukraine has a very large supply of these critical metals that are used in everything from batteries, you know, lithium batteries, all sorts of things that we use in a very high-tech society. Now, they're not developed. And actually, a great percentage of them are located in areas that are controlled by Russia. But it's very attractive to the United States because the supplier of most of these is China. And if they could avoid having to go to China to get some of these materials, they would be very happy.

So I think that's the plan that Trump has, which would be do a deal, have -- this would be we get access in some fashion to those minerals. And then, excuse me, then Ukraine, that is how Ukraine pays back the United States for the aid that -- that the United States is providing. So that's kind of how that would work.

And it's very intriguing because there is a big fight, you know, to try to get as many access to as many of these metals and materials as possible.

CHURCH: Jill Dougherty, appreciate your analysis. Many thanks.

The Baltic States made an historic break from neighboring Russia on Sunday.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Activate the connection.

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CHURCH: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania completed a switch from Russia's electricity grid to the E.U.'s. It's being hailed as one of the final breaks with the Soviet era. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hailed the move.

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URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Today history is made. We connect the Baltic States to our continental European electricity grid. Electricity lines with Russia and Belarus are being dismantled. These chains of power lines linking you to hostile neighbors will be a thing of the past.

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CHURCH: The move also means that Russia's enclave of Kaliningrad has been cut off from the country's power grid. Russia says it has ensured Kaliningrad has enough electricity to stand alone.

[01:29:31]

I want to turn now to Germany, where U.S. President Donald Trump overshadowed a pre-election debate between the candidates for chancellor. Incumbent Olaf Scholz says Europe is prepared to respond quickly if the U.S. imposes tariffs on the European Union.

As we mentioned earlier, Mr. Trump is preparing to announce tariffs on many countries this week. Scholz also clashed with his conservative rival Friedrich Merz, over the far-right AFD Party, which was endorsed by President Trump's ally Elon Musk.

Merz, who is leading in the polls, blames Scholz's policies for fueling the rise of the AFD.

Still to come, China is giving the United States a taste of its own medicine with new retaliatory action against Donald Trump's tariffs, raising concerns of an all-out trade war. We'll explain.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Well, in the coming hours, President Donald Trump is expected to announce a new 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the United States. It's not yet clear if these levies will be on top of the tariffs already in place on exports from places like China, which has announced its own retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. products starting Monday.

They include a 15 percent levy on U.S. coal and natural gas, and 10 percent for crude oil, farm equipment and some trucks and sedans shipped to China from the U.S.

Beijing's move comes in response to President Trump imposing 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese products last week.

And CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us now live from Hong Kong. Great to see you.

So Kristie, what impact will China's tariffs have on the U.S.?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Rosemary, China's response here to Trump's tariffs could be the opening salvo for a new tit for tat trade war.

[01:34:50]

STOUT: And these new retaliatory tariffs from China, they go into effect today.

Here's the breakdown. Let's bring up the graphic for you. These new retaliatory tariffs, they include the following: a 15 percent tax on certain U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas; 10 percent tax on crude oil, farm equipment, trucks, big engine cars all shipped to China from the United States.

Now these tariffs take effect today and they join other countermeasures from China, including controls on metal exports, as well as an anti-monopoly investigation into Google. Look, China is striking back after Donald Trump imposed that 10

percent tariff across the board on Chinese goods, all in a bid to hold China accountable for the fentanyl trade. The United States says that China is the source for fentanyl precursor chemicals.

China has called fentanyl, quote, America's problem, and has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.

But what impact will China's retaliatory tariffs have? Our analysts say that these tariffs are modest and measured, especially compared to the U.S. tariffs, and that they're designed to be more symbolic value, designed to send a message.

But new analysis that just came out from the Brookings Institution says that these tariffs will hurt American communities that voted for Donald Trump.

I want to bring up a portion from this report to you. It says this, quote, "Similar to the 2018 tariffs, the industrial heartland is again bearing a disproportionate impact from Chinese retaliation. Some of the most intensely affected counties are energy and manufacturing communities in North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama and West Virginia," unquote.

And the study adds that between 400,000 to 700,000 American jobs could be affected here.

Back to you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: And Kristie, trade tension is, of course, ramping up as we're seeing. So how likely is it that we will see a deal or dialog between President Trump and Xi Jinping?

STOUT: You know, Trump had been expected to speak with Xi Jinping, but then the U.S. President said he was in, quote, "no hurry to hold talks".

And now he's pledging new global tariffs on steel and aluminum. Now, still some economic measures that President Trump has pledged in the last month have been subject to change. For example, when he suspended tariffs on small packages from China. Observers, because of that reason, they're not ruling out a deal or at least more discussions between Trump and Xi Jinping, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to Kristie Lu Stout joining us live from Hong Kong. Many thanks.

Well, with Donald Trump's tariff war now apparently focused on China, other countries are watching closely to see how far this tit for tat will go.

CNN's Richard Quest sat down for an exclusive interview with French President Emmanuel Macron and asked him how concerned he and other European allies are about all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: Look, I think it's not the top priority in the current environment given all the challenges we have.

We have to fix Ukraine. We have the situation in the Middle East. We have this competition between U.S. and China. And we have all this innovation on A.I. to clean tech as well, to deliver.

Honestly, I don't think it should be the top priority.

Nevertheless, what is the concern of President Trump? And you know that we have a very good relation and we speak very regularly. He says, I'm not happy with the situation with Europe because I have a trade deficit.

When you look at the situation, my first question to the U.S. is the European Union your first problem? No, I don't think so. Your first problem is China. So you should focus on the first problem.

Second. Europe is an ally for you. If you want Europe to be engaged on more investment on security and defense, if you want to hope to develop, which is, I think, the interest of the U.S., you should not hurt the European economies by threatening with these tariffs.

Third, the integration of the value chain between U.S. and Europe is super high. What does it mean? It means if you put tariffs on a lot of sectors, it will increase the costs and create inflation in the U.S. Is it what your people want? I'm not so sure.

Fourth, it's very simple. When you look at the trade deficits, you can have the figures mentioned by President Trump. But I insisted in my discussion with him on some very small issues.

Look at the financial outflows. A lot of the European savings are going to finance the U.S. economy. If you start putting tariffs everywhere, you cut the links. It will not be good for the financing of the U.S. economy.

Second, digital services. We are big, huge buyers of digital services. It is unfair not to take the digital services in the trade deficit and to say, I have a trade deficit, but I don't speak about the digital services. You will keep buying them.

Why? Why?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Are you prepared to go head-to-head on this or toe-to-toe on this?

[01:39:50]

MACRON: I already did so and I will did it again. And I think we should be ready to obviously be in the room and react. But I think more than that, the European Union has to be ready to deliver what we want and what we need for ourselves.

QUEST: Can I suggest to you that the European Union is not fit for purpose when it comes to dealing with something like President Trump, who is threatening tariffs and basically saying my way or the highway?

MACRON: I think it could be the opposite when you have direct contact and you are clear. I think the European Union should not be the one to wait for the initiative of the others and just react.

What we have to do is to act for ourselves and to tell our people this is our project, this is what we want.

This is why, for me, the top priority of Europe is competitiveness agenda, it's defense and security agenda, it's A.I. ambition. And let's go fast for ourselves.

If in the meanwhile we have tariff issue, we will discuss them and we will fix it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Three weeks into his second term, a narrow majority of Americans are happy with the job Donald Trump is doing. A new poll from CBS News finds that 53 percent of adults surveyed approve of how he's handling the presidency; 47 percent disapprove.

That divide is, of course, much wider when broken down by party, with 94 percent of Republicans approving of the job he's doing, compared to 15 percent of Democrats.

CNN data reporter Harry Enten looks at how things compare to this point in Mr. Trump's last presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN DATA REPORTER: Then I decided to average all the polls and you know what, the average of the polls also has him on the positive side of the ledger.

All right. Let's take a look. Trump's net approval rating on February 9th. Look at this. In 2025 he's at plus four points. Look where he was in 2017 in his first term at this point. He was at minus five points. So he's doing nearly ten points better on the average.

And more than that, as I mentioned, it's not just the CBS News poll, it's the Ipsos poll, it's the Gallup poll, it's the Pew poll. All of these polls have him in better shape than those respective polls had him at this point back in 2017.

So the bottom line is, no matter where you look, Donald Trump is more popular than he was eight years ago at this point in his first term. And he's on the positive side of the ledger versus the negative side of the zero-point line as he was back in 2017.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, long-awaited reunions marked by tears and prayers. Just ahead, the homecoming story of the five Thai workers taken hostage by Hamas.

[01:42:33]

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CHURCH: U.S. President Donald Trump is reiterating his call for the U.S. to redevelop Gaza, calling it a, quote, "big real estate site" for the United States.

He doubled down on his proposal Sunday to remove some two million Palestinians from their homes and move them to other countries in the Middle East.

Critics and human rights groups are condemning the plan as a violation of international law and ethnic cleansing.

U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz says Mr. Trump's offer is simply an invitation for other people to offer their own proposal.

But Israel's prime minister is praising the U.S. president's plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): President Trump came with a completely different vision, much better for the state of Israel, a revolutionary and creative vision which we are discussing. He is very determined to carry it out. This also opens many possibilities before us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Hamas says that Israel has now fully withdrawn from the Netzarim corridor Sunday, a militarized zone that split Gaza in half.

Israeli forces began leaving the area about two weeks ago as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

Since then, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have passed through the area to their homes in northern Gaza.

Well, meantime, 16 of the 33 hostages expected to be released in phase one of the ceasefire deal have been freed. Three of them were reunited with their families on Saturday.

Israel is calling their gaunt, frail appearances shocking. The family members of Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy are speaking out about what they've been through and they're demanding the release of all the remaining hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL LEVY, BROTHER OF RELEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE OR LEVY: Yesterday, after a year and four months, I saw my brother again. I hugged him, but he wasn't the same Or who left home on October 7th.

He came back in poor physical condition. Anyone who saw the pictures and videos couldn't ignore it. For 16 months he was hungry, barefoot and in constant fear that every day can be his last. YULIE BEN AMI, DAUGHTER OF RELEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE OHAD BEN AMI

(through translator): The return of the hostages yesterday leaves no room for doubt. They all must return. We will not stop fighting until the last hostage come home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, five Thai workers are finally back home and reunited with their families after being held hostage by Hamas for more than a year.

Our John Vause brings us the story of their reunion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: The embrace says everything words cannot about returning home. One of the five Thai hostages recently released after more than 15 months in Hamas captivity, clasped by his grandfather in Thailand in a homecoming family members say is long overdue.

WIWWAEO SRIAOUN, MOTHER OF RELEASED THAI HOSTAGE (through translator): This is something we've been waiting for, for a long, long time. It's a miracle. Something many thought would never happen.

It feels like my son has died and been born again.

VAUSE: Watchara Srixon left Thailand to earn money? He worked as a laborer in Israel, but was taken hostage by Hamas during the October 7th attacks in 2023.

He's one of the last Thai hostages to be set free, and his mother says he's sharing some details now of his time in captivity.

SRIAOUN: He said the place where he was held was sometimes a house, but he was frequently moved from one place to another, including underground caves.

VAUSE: Watchara and four other Thai workers held hostage arrived home in Thailand Sunday. The scenes of joy and tears at the airport.

[01:49:45]

VAUSE: It's been more than a year since any Thai nationals have been set free by Hamas, but Thailand's foreign ministry says one Thai national is still being held captive in Gaza.

But after months of uncertainty, families say the reality of the five being back in Thailand is an answer to some long-standing prayers.

In the hometown of another hostage, his family celebrated his return with a Thai tradition of tying strings around his wrist.

JANDA PRACHANAN, STEPFATHER OF RELEASED THAI HOSTAGE (through translator): I could not find the words to describe how happy I am that my son is safe and finally home.

VAUSE: A band of blessings and a sign of bonds that still hold even after the worst of circumstances.

John Vause, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A centuries old portrait by a Renaissance master has been found in the last place you might think to look. We'll show you how researchers discovered a painting behind another painting.

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CHURCH: A painting has been found after hiding for centuries under another painting. The Researchers in Cyprus discovered the hidden portrait under an oil painting by 16th century Renaissance master Titian.

CNN's Nick Valencia explains how they found it.

[01:54:51]

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This work of art has been hidden for more than 400 years. The portrait, created by Renaissance master Titian remained undetected beneath another painting since the 1570s.

NIKOLAS BAKIRTZIS, CYPRUS INSTITUTE PROFESSOR: It was like uncovering a puzzle. We said, ok, maybe this is a part of something and then the artist changed his mind. But then once we start to realize that there is a complete work underneath, we became extremely excited and happy and intrigued also.

VALENCIA: The newly-discovered portrait depicts an unidentified man bearing a thin mustache, aquiline hand, and standing beside a stack of papers or books.

An ordinary image compared to the one of Jesus Christ found wearing a crown of thorns that Titian ultimately painted over.

BAKIRTZIS: Titian is somebody who was already reusing his canvases. There have been other paintings discovered or partially-painted works under some of his other canvases.

VALENCIA: The painting of Jesus, called "Ecce Homo", was undergoing a conservation process when researchers using a microscope spotted varying pigments through the fine cracks of the old painting.

Using a combination of imaging, x-ray visuals, and other noninvasive methods, researchers in Cyprus were able to detect the full buried portrait and created a new oil painting version of it.

BAKIRTZIS: Discovery and mapping of this underpainting has helped us to understand a lot more than what we knew until this day, about the reuse of canvases and the reuse of paintings in Renaissance studios.

VALENCIA: Titian's original painting, along with the recreation of the once hidden portrait, are now on display in Cyprus until March 10th.

Nick Valencia, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I want to thank you so much for your company this hour.

I'm Rosemary Church. And we'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break.

Stick around.

[01:56:46]

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