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Hamas Says It's Postponing Next Hostage Release, Blames Israel; Vance: Judges Can't Challenge A President's "Legitimate Power"; Trump To Announce New 25 Percent Tariffs On Steel, Aluminum Imports; U.S. Secretary Of Defense Makes First Official Overseas Trip; The Conflict In Ukraine Approaches Third Anniversary; U.S. Military Steps Up Surveillance Of Mexican Drug Cartels. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 10, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:44]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: I'm Erica Hill. Thanks for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM.

Let's get you straight to the news at this hour.

And we begin with major breaking news out of the Middle East, news involving the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal in Tel Aviv. You're looking at live pictures here. Israeli protesters and hostages, families have been gathering after Hamas announced that it would postpone the next hostage release, which, of course, was scheduled for Saturday. Hamas is accusing Israel of violating the terms of their agreement by continuing shelling and gunfire in Gaza, and failing to let enough aid into the Gaza Strip.

Israel has called Hamas's allegations a complete violation of the deal, and said its now placed its military on the highest alert level, saying its prepared for, quote, any possible scenario in Gaza. There have, of course, been four hostage exchanges since phase one of this ceasefire deal began roughly three weeks ago.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from Tel Aviv, live with the very latest.

Hamas also sort of updating its position just a short time ago, Jeremy.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. Initially, they issued a statement that came from Hamas's military wing, the al-Qassam brigades, saying that they would delay the release of the hostages scheduled for Saturday. Now they are making clear in an updated statement from the Hamas movement that this is a threat, a serious threat, no question about it, but a threat that could be averted if indeed the violations that they are accusing Israel of are remedied before Saturday.

And what they are accusing Israel of violating in terms of the ceasefire agreement, relate to some past actions, such as Israel delaying the return of Palestinians to northern Gaza, something that Israel did because it claimed Hamas violated the terms of the deal by not releasing a female hostage at a time when they said they should have.

But it also relates to things that are ongoing, such as the entry of shelter equipment such as tents. But critically, mobile homes, prefabricated homes that Hamas says have yet to actually enter the strip at all, and heavy machinery to move rubble inside of Gaza, as well as the entry of medicines and other things required by hospitals. Israel hasn't responded to those specific allegations yet, but what we do know is that the Israeli government has also accused Hamas of multiple ceasefire violations in the past as well.

So my point being that there have been accusations back and forth about ceasefire violations so far. They have been resolved. And Hamas making clear in this updated statement that by issuing this threat five days before the scheduled release of three additional hostages, this quote leaves the door open. They say for the exchange to proceed as planned. Nonetheless, this is a serious threat to what is already a very fragile ceasefire agreement, especially at a very delicate and sensitive time in Israel. Following the release of those three hostages on Saturday, the images of their emaciated bodies have really struck a nerve in Israel and driven a sense of urgency about extending the ceasefire and getting all of the remaining hostages out.

The Israeli government is already reacting to this threat from Hamas, with the Israeli defense minister putting the military on its, quote, highest alert for -- to be prepared for any possible scenario in the Gaza strip, and saying that this statement by Hamas already amounts to a serious violation of the ceasefire. The Israeli prime minister has been holding a security consultation this evening to discuss this threat, but also more broadly, the issue of Israel's return to negotiations about phases two and three of the ceasefire.

And tomorrow, he's moved up a security cabinet meeting that was scheduled for the evening that will now happen in the morning. As Israel mulls its response to this new threat by Hamas -- Erica.

HILL: Jeremy, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Also with us this hour, Aaron David Miller, who is a former Middle East negotiator at the State Department and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

It's good to see you today.

You know, picking up where Jeremy left off, as he noted, there have been these accusations back and forth so far. Those have been resolved. What we're looking at in this instance, as you look at that for you, is it different this time around? How concerning is it to you?

[15:05:02]

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT: Well, what's changed over the last 4 or 5 weeks that might impel compel Hamas to somehow stiffen their demands or, or demand more, or push back with respect to this fifth -- fifth prisoner for hostage exchange? Not a whole lot. These are old violations on the Israeli part that Jeremy referred to.

What's new here, I think, are a couple of things. The release of Palestinian prisoners, many of whom who have serving life sentences for committing acts of violence and terror against the Israelis, have may have actually created a debate within Hamas. There is much dissatisfaction with the internal leadership that that would be Mohammed Sinwar, the brother of the late Yahya Sinwar and a couple brigade commanders. So Hamas may be responding to that.

The other thing that's new here is statements by the -- by President Trump, in which he is all but called for either the forced transfer of Palestinians from Gaza, the depopulation of the Gaza strip, 1.7 -- 1.8 million Palestinians to use the president's own numbers. And yesterday, or maybe it was today, basically said that, even if Gaza was rebuilt, the Palestinians would not return.

So you have -- you have a lot of anger, I think, on the streets in Hamas, I think is plain to the crowds. I think Trump served up a huge propaganda advantage to Hamas with the latest proposal.

And finally, Erica, there's the issue of Hamas's concern over phase two. Will we will we ever get to phase two? And if -- and if Hamas doubts that we will, why trade hostages now?

The only card Hamas has to play are the remaining hostages. According to the first phase, 33 eight to be returned, who are no longer alive. And the estimated 59 Israeli males, largely Israeli defense forces soldiers, 35 of whom the Israelis judge to no longer be alive.

So Hamas may be withholding here because of concerns over the impasse in getting to phase two.

HILL: You know, to your point of that, I do just want to for people who may not be familiar with that moment, you referenced Donald Trump, and some of his more recent comments. It was in that in newly released portions of his interview with Fox over the weekend where when he was asked if Palestinians would be allowed to return to Gaza, he said flatly, no. Which is probably, I think to most people, both shocking and not at all shocking at the very same time, given where things stand.

You had tweeted. Sadly, the two-state solution has been on life support for the past 20 years, but Trump may now well preside over its demise.

Is it your sense that there is much attention being paid to your point that this could, in fact, in many ways be increasing support for Hamas? To hear these comments coming from President Trump?

MILLER: I mean, I think -- I think that's the case. I think on one hand, Hamas is feeling a little more confident. After all, we all watch these extraordinary pictures of the releases of the Israelis, the propaganda, the forced apologies, that the hostages were forced to make praising Hamas for maintaining their security these many months.

I mean, that's accompanied by the reality that Hamas has got its civilian employees now back doing administrative work in places like Rafah, resurging some of the hospitals, trying to get them up and running again. So there's a sense of confidence on one hand that Hamas has survived as an organization and is now dealing with the needs of the Palestinian people.

And yeah, I think Hamas is riding this propaganda bonanza, frankly, that the administration has handed Hamas by basically saying to the population of Gaza, even if you got through this, there's not going to be a Palestinian state, you're not going to be aligned with the West Bank. The reality is, were taking over. And Trump said it again, and we're going to move all of you out.

So all of this, I think, plays to Hamas and maybe bucking them up and buoying their sense of confidence. I would only point out, Erica, that Hamas may well overplayed its hand because Benjamin Netanyahu, to say the least, doesn't take a political genius here to know he's looking for any justification or excuse not to get to phase two.

HILL: There's also -- I mean, there's also the question of Egypt, the question of Jordan, right, who have come out very strongly. King Abdullah of Jordan set to meet with President Trump.

I mean, how forceful do you expect he will be behind closed doors in that meeting?

MILLER: I think that King Abdullah is plenty worried that the $1.5 -- $1.6 billion of bilateral assistance the U.S. supplies to Jordan may become hostage or part of the leverage that Trump intends to use in order to compel King Abdullah to take Palestinians.

[15:10:17]

He's not going to do it. So the king really has, I think, a tough circle to square here. And it'll be fascinating to see what each of them say after the meeting is over.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Aaron David Miller, always appreciate your expertise and your insight. Thank you.

MILLER: Thanks so much, Erica.

HILL: Well, the Trump administration is now facing more than 40 lawsuits as it attempts to dismantle the federal government. Right now, a judge is hearing arguments over whether Trump's federal employee buyout offer is even legal. This, as another judge ruled for the second time that the administration cannot cut off grant and loan payments.

But it's not clear these rulings really matter to the Trump administration. On Sunday, the vice president posted the following on X, quote: If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general and how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that's also illegal. Judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate power. Of course, a reminder the judiciary is one of the three branches of

government which are designed to prevent any one branch, including the executive branch, from becoming too powerful.

Joining me to discuss, Steve Vladeck. He's a professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

As we look at all of this, I mean, is it just our checks and balances dead at this point in 2025?

STEVE VLADECK, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: I don't think so, Erica. I mean, I think it's worth stressing that, you know, all of the lawsuits you mentioned so far, at least the Trump administration is not publicly saying that it's defying these orders. Even in the one case, the Rhode Island case where the federal judge earlier today concluded that there's been at least a couple examples of noncompliance.

You know, the government's position has been were working on it, not we don't have to. So, you know, I think it's important to stress that we are not there yet, despite the best efforts of the vice president. And I think, at least for the moment, you know, the courts are, as you say, doing their job even in the vice president's tweet, the question of whether the executive branch's actions are, in fact, legitimate is not one, historically that we leave up to the executive branch.

And so I think at least where we are today, what's happening on the ground is not the same thing as what the vice president was trying to project on social media.

HILL: There is this question of what this could be setting up in terms of a fight, right? You know, we've seen Donald Trump in one way already ignore the Supreme Court, right, with his decision on TikTok and where things are going right now, as were in another hold, as he's trying to figure out a way to make it work.

Is this you think setting up some sort of a fight between these two branches so that the executive can, in their view, do whatever they want, sort of pick and choose what they think works for them and ignore the others?

VLADECK: I mean, maybe, and I don't doubt that there are people within the executive branch who look at the world that way and think that their power is the only power that matters.

You know, I think the reality, Eric, is that even this Supreme Court with a 6-3 conservative majority, a majority that just ruled for President Trump last July, obviously, in the major immunity case, is not going to take too kindly to those arguments and is actually going to be, I think, especially worried about, Erica, the thing that unites so many of the lawsuits that were seeing against these policies, which is that the administration is running roughshod over statutes, over laws Congress enacted that specifically say, no, you cant do the thing that you're doing.

We haven't seen this administration go to Congress and ask for authority to do these things, even though Republicans control both chambers.

So, you know, Erica, maybe there are folks in the administration who do want this fight. Maybe the vice president is one of them. But, you know, I think with a Republican majority on the court, it's hard to imagine every Republican in Congress siding with the president, if that's what it comes down to. I think we're going to see more and more conversation, including from folks who are sympathetic to the presidents agenda, about how this is not the way the separation of powers is supposed to work.

HILL: In terms of enforcement tools, if some of these rulings are ignored, what -- what exists in this moment, and what do you see actually being followed through on?

VLADECK: Yeah, I mean, you know, the federal courts have at least some enforcement powers. Although, Erica, as you know, a lot of those powers depend upon at least some acquiescence from the executive branch. But, you know, you could see, for example, federal courts fining federal officers who refuse to comply in ways that perhaps could be enforced in state court.

You could see federal courts saying, hey, federal government, if you're not going to comply with our decisions over here, we're not going to let you be a plaintiff over here, right, cost that I think the federal government would be unwilling to bear. So there's a lot of both soft and hard options that federal courts would have if we really get to a point where you see outright defiance of court orders.

[15:15:00]

But, Erica, it's worth stressing if we get to that point, even if the courts are able to push back to some degree, what's really going to matter is, is Congress going to step in and, you know, realize that it, too is a coordinate branch of government? And if so, is it going to be in favor of, you know, the courts or of the executive?

I think that's -- you know, I would be asking if I could every Republican member of Congress right now, what's your red line? And, you know, if president Trump is going to defy a court order, will you push back? Because I think -- we're not there yet. But that is clearly the message that the vice president and Elon Musk are trying to start percolating and sort of, you know, getting out there into -- into the right wing social media sphere.

HILL: It's a great -- it's a really great point. I'm curious, as you watch all of this, it's a lot to keep up with, to put it mildly. For those of us who are following it in the news for the courts, are there -- what or where are you seeing the biggest red flags? What is most concerning to you at this point?

VLADECK: Yeah, I mean, I'll say, Erica, what I'm more concerned by what's happening outside of court than what's happening inside it.

I mean, in the courts, when you have lawyers for the federal government standing up in courtrooms and representing the United States, you know, Erica, they're saying the right things. I mean, they're making zealous arguments in defense of the governments positions, but they're not challenging the courts authority. They're not saying we're not going to follow these rulings.

I think what's worrying is just how much the rhetoric coming out of the White House, coming out of, you know, those who are supporting the White House is outstripping what the governments actually litigating, where were seeing this seemingly concerted effort on the part of some in the administration and some outside of it, to sort of sow the seeds of this kind of sort of delegitimization of the courts when, you know, you have Justice Department lawyers who are in court trying to fight the right way for the governments positions.

So, you know, what I'm looking for is if we get to a point where you start having more aggressive court orders, is the federal government actually going to comply with those orders? Is it going to appeal, which, of course is its right, or are we going to see lawyers all of a sudden starting to make the same claims that people like the vice president and Elon Musk are making? That would be, to me, the moment where this turns into a real crisis.

HILL: We will be watching to see how it unfolds. Steve Vladeck, great to have you, as always. Thank you.

VLADECK: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Well, new Trump tariffs are coming. The president announcing a 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum, a move that could have widespread ripple effects on American manufacturing, but also on the global economy. It's important to note, it's not yet clear when those tariffs would go into effect. Also, whether any countries would receive any carve-outs.

Donald Trump's trade war is, though, sparking reciprocal tariffs. China enacting retaliatory taxes on nearly $14 billion in U.S. exports today. So what could all of this mean?

CNN business editor at large Richard Quest joins me to break it down.

So, Richard, when we look at this, this move, if Donald Trump follows through on these tariffs for steel and aluminum, how big a move is this? How large is that ripple effect?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: It's a -- it's a sort of sizable stone in the water that will have an effect because two of the biggest exporters to the United States are steel and aluminum are Canada and Mexico. And they're all covered by the USMCA, the free trade agreement. So it's difficult to understand how you get away with that one.

You then add in, for example, steel from Japan or from Brazil, and it starts to widen out even further. The worrying part is because we've had steel tariffs before, you can pretty much contain those in a sense and put them to one side and hold that like over there.

But if you get wholesale reciprocal tariffs, that is where any country that tariffs the U.S. goods. The U.S. does a tit for tat just unilaterally and just off the bat, then you're going to start to see a much greater stone going in the pond, because now you're looking at all different sectors of economies, different industries, different ways of manufacture. And before long, you know, look, the way to think about it, Erica, I keep -- I keep trying to think of ways in which one can explain the significance.

You know, if you have a sweater and you have a sweater and you snag it on a nail or a piece of a piece of wood and it starts to unravel, that's -- what's going to happen with world trade. If the sweater of world trade starts to get snagged and bits start fraying in every direction, before long the thing falls apart.

HILL: And as we look at all of that, I know that there are also these threatened tariffs on the E.U. You spoke, as I understand it, with French President Emmanuel Macron. What -- where is he on all of this? What was that conversation?

QUEST: It's really interesting, absolutely fascinating, because what he said was, all right, we've been here before. I've gone toe to toe with Donald Trump on tariffs before, which is true the last time the president was in office.

[15:20:07]

But this time the French president says, if Trump introduces, we will retaliate. I mean, we will respond, no question about it. The pictures that you're seeing there, of course, of when Donald Trump went to Paris for the opening of Notre Dame Cathedral.

But what -- but what Macron's belief is Europe can't wait. Europe cannot stand on the sidelines and just be buffeted by the winds of Trump's tariffs. It needs to get its own act in order, not only with tit for tat, but also with competitiveness.

And this is crucial and you're going to see this expanded across the world -- Europe will start looking for other trading partners. We're seeing it already.

So, the American South will look for China over to Africa down to Australasia. You're going to see south-south trade growing. You're going to see north-south in each direction growing.

In other words, if the U.S. is not perceived to be a fair, reliable trading partner, then people will look elsewhere, even if it is comes at some short term cost.

HILL: Yeah, it will be fascinating to watch as all of this plays out.

Richard, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

And, of course, you can get more of Richard's analysis at the top of the hour on "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS", so be sure to stay with us for that.

Still to come here this hour, what to expect from U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth's first overseas trip. He is scheduled to land in Europe in just a few minutes.

Plus, open to negotiations. The conditions from Ukraine's president to begin talks with the Kremlin in hopes of ending the biggest land war in Europe since the 1940s.

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HILL: U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is making his first official overseas trip, expected to land any moment now in Stuttgart, Germany. He's going to visit the headquarters of the U.S. European Command and the U.S. Africa Command.

[15:25:00]

Stops in Belgium and Poland are also on his agenda as he meets with NATO allies.

The trip comes at a time of great uncertainty over what President Trump wants to do about those alliances, especially when it comes to the war in Ukraine.

CNN's Natasha Bertrand joining us now from the Pentagon with more.

So what are we expecting of these meetings during the trip, Natasha?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is really the first test that Pete Hegseth is going to engage in on the world stage as part of these meetings that he's going to be in, particularly at NATO headquarters this week when he participates in a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Wednesday, and then the NATO defense ministerial on Thursday.

And just in a sign, really, of how the U.S. is already starting to pull back so much from its support for Ukraine and from this leading role that it has taken over the last almost three years in providing military support to the Ukrainians, the U.K. is actually going to be chairing that group of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, that meeting of that group on Wednesday, instead of the U.S.

The U.S. has led that group for every meeting, really, since its inception in 2022. This time, the U.K. is going to be taking the reins. Now, we also expect, of course, Hegseth to meet with allies at the NATO defense ministerial. So he will be meeting with his defense counterparts from NATO allied countries.

And one of the top items on the agenda, we are told, from the Defense Department, is going to be encouraging Europe to take on a greater role in supporting the Ukrainians so that the U.S. really can take a step back. So that means pushing the Europeans to increase their own defense spending. It means pushing them to take on a greater role in providing security assistance to the Ukrainians.

The U.S. does not want to take on the outsized role, according to the Trump administration, that it has been over the last, you know, almost three years in supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion. And so that's going to be one of the key priorities for Hegseth. But another one, of course, is going to be discussing just what an end to this war actually looks like.

In a statement by the Pentagon, we were told that, quote, he is going to reiterate president Trump's commitment for a diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine as quickly as possible. We don't know exactly what that looks like just yet, but it is clear at this point that the Trump administration is trying to find ways to get Ukraine and Russia to sit down and negotiate, but both have different incentives to do so, right?

The Ukrainians want concrete security guarantees from the U.S. national security adviser. Mike Waltz is already ruling that out, saying that those security guarantees have to come from Europe. And the Russians, of course, have stated very explicitly that they want a guarantee that Ukraine is never going to become a member of NATO, something that Ukraine has pretty much ruled out as a starting point as well.

And so, this is going to be very difficult. But for all intents and purposes, we expect Hegseth really to be taking kind of a backseat this week in a way that the U.S., during the Biden administration, when they were trying to show the world and rally the world to support Ukraine, really did not take they took more of a leading role at that point, Erica.

HILL: Yeah. It's a -- it's an important distinction. Natasha, appreciate it.

Well, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says he is ready now to negotiate with Russia, but only under the right conditions. Speaking with British broadcaster ITV News, Zelenskyy also said Europe and the U.S. must continue to support Ukraine and provide security guarantees.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spoke with citizens and soldiers in Ukraine about what a possible ceasefire would mean to them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The sound they long for here of peace, of normal.

INESA, SLOVYANSK RESIDENT (translated): I just want it to stop. Stop the bombing. There's no future now. We don't see it. Who does? Do you see it?

PATON: Ten years ago, the war began here in an eastern town like this, Slovyansk. We were there to see ceasefires fall apart, or used by Russian separatists to just take more ground, a memory and distrust that endures.

Rarely do they move further into the town or just stay in this position. That Russian fueled unrest. Now, a decade later, transformed into an ugly conflict that's now entering into its fourth year?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (translated): Wait, let's lock at the tree again.

WALSH: Hundreds of dead or injured daily. But this drone war can feel here like high stakes gaming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems they're in trench. Got it "Lucky Strike". Let's strike it one more time. Fly check it and strike the dugouts. One wounded is crawling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was that successful?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We struck the enemy. There are bushes, he will try one more time.

WALSH: For those below a petrifying scramble in the frozen mud, the tiny buzz of death above this very remote world of chat groups and trunk cameras so removed from the absolute horror what's going down the ground, both sides torn apart and trench warfare not been seen for a century in some places.

[15:30:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The enemy is beyond the river.

WALSH: Volodymyr is a week or so shy of his decade anniversary fighting Russia, joining in 2015 when Moscow sees the nearby town of -- literally during a ceasefire, you better really mean it if you talk peace here.

VOLODYMYR SABLYN, BATTALION COMMANDER, 66TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE: The conflict was frozen, and it only led to a full-scale war. The nearby town of the bolt of a literally during a ceasefire now. It will only get worse for us. Because the enemy will restore itself from new military units again regroup and attack again.

WALSH: So many Ukrainians suggesting now that if NATO wants the war to stop, it should put its troops between them and the Russians as peacekeepers.

SABLYN: It would be a real guarantee of security in Ukraine. Because Russia, no matter how much they say that they are not afraid of anyone. They are afraid of America and NATO as a whole.

WALSH: One certainty, as we head out to see the front is this same drone setup and carnage is being mimicked by the Russians not far away. Dusk can bring a brief break in Russian drones in the skies, but this red dot means there's one above us.

So much changes fast in this war, but the shelling seems like it could go on forever.

Massive guns hiding from tiny, $500 machines here, extraordinary change.

Little geo-politics here, just practical skepticism and hard numbers. Do you think there could be a ceasefire here that could last?

VIKTOR, 66TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE: What percentage for the implementation of a ceasefire? About 30 percent. Because of the situation on the front it doesn't look like there will be a truce. It's very hard.

ANDRIY, 66TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE: It's about 40 percent. The other side is winning, taking territory. And we by and large have nothing to say.

WALSH: Just down the road, the Russians are coming yet again. But the prize here is only victory itself. The rest is ruins.

WALSH: Here it is the sort of Soviet prize in Lyman of the railway hub here a place that the Russians took that they were kicked out of by the

Ukrainians, and are now closing in on again, just a symbol of the relentlessness of this war.

Larysa has never left, never will.

LARYSA, LYMAN RESIDENT: Here I ran barefoot. There I swam in the river. I'm 72-years-old. I don't want to leave. My three brothers are buried here all my aunts, uncles, dad, mum. I can't leave. I can't.

We've been hit 19 times today, 19 times since the morning. My husband is counting and I'm taking sleeping pills. Nobody's is going to solve this. Only Putin will if he says that's enough, I've already killed so many people.

WALSH: It's only for Putin.

Far back Ukraine is making the bare minimum preparations for a worst- case scenario. They've always needed the world's help to stave off disaster. Just now, hope it doesn't come disguised as peace.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Lyman, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Well, still to come here, how even just the threat of tariffs is already impacting Americas neighbors to the north.

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[15:38:25]

HILL: President Donald Trump's wielding of tariffs as a bludgeon is sending jitters through companies in Canada.

CNN's Paula Newton saw it firsthand and also learned how its directly impacting the way many Canadians now view their American neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's on this factory floor in Canada that Donald Trump's demands for fair trade are being tested.

What are these over here? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the Silverado.

NEWTON: These are parts for the Silverado, a GM truck made in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. And they're made by Martinrea.

ROB WILDEBOER, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, MARTINREA: These are thousand ton stamping presses.

NEWTON: A global auto parts supplier with thousands of workers in all three countries. Trump tariffs would strike at the very heart of this business and its workers in North America, says executive chairman Rob Wildeboer.

President Trump would say, why Mexico? Why Canada? Why can't you just make it all in the U.S.?

WILDEBOER: I don't know anyone in our company that wants tariffs between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico because we work very well as a unit. We take care of our people everywhere. We make great parts in every jurisdiction and quite frankly, we benefit from that. We've got some great plants in Mexico, in the United States and in Canada.

NEWTON: Do you believe a U.S.-made car then would be more expensive?

WILDEBOER: Yes, for sure. For sure.

NEWTON: That's the math, he says. A calculation made every day here as the threat of tariffs hang over one of the most prized manufacturing industries on the continent. Canada's auto industry directly employs at least 130,000 people in dozens of towns and cities, including Martinrea's facility in Vaughan, Ontario, just outside of Toronto.

[15:40:08]

They depend on these stable jobs, as do workers at this Martinrea facility in the U.S. state of Kentucky.

WILDEBOER: I'll put my U.S. hat on, right, because we are an American supplier. We're a Canadian supplier. We're a Mexican supplier. But we have twice as many people in the United States as we do in Canada. And in a number of communities, we're the largest employer.

So Hopkinsville, Kentucky, Jonesville, Michigan, and others, we're a big -- we're a big deal. We're a big deal locally. We take care of a lot of people.

And I would say a lot of those people probably voted for President Trump. They liked his message of lower inflation, more jobs, stronger economy, but with the tariffs and so forth, they're getting higher inflation, less jobs, weaker economy.

NEWTON: Despite that pitch, even employees here know what they're up against in the oval office. And some told us they approve of Canada standing up to the threat.

NATIK JARIWALLA, MARTINREA EMPLOYEE: It's going to hurt anyhow. It's like either you deal it right now or in the future.

NEWTON: And it's not just Canada. Trump is challenging the very template of free trade right around the world.

The European Union can see what's coming their way. It has one of the largest trade deficits with the U.S. it, too, says it will respond firmly to any tariffs.

But it is Trump's tough talk about an economic takeover of Canada that cannot be reconciled.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What I'd like to see Canada become our 51st state.

NEWTON: It's triggered an uncommon anti-American backlash in Canada that may have legs -- booing the U.S. anthem, boycotting American products. All of it so far seems to have staying power.

DON PEPPER BURLINGTON, ONTARIO RESIDENT: I think it's ridiculous. We've been friends for years, traded for years, and then all of a sudden this happens.

NEWTON: For Martinrea's executives and its North American workers, tariffs could still be a reality within weeks, putting at risk a profitable business and good paying jobs in the U.S. and beyond. They are asking President Trump, why mess with that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks again to Paula Newton for that report.

Just ahead, the U.S. has significantly stepped up its surveillance of Mexican drug cartels along the U.S. southern border, including using a spy plane designed during the Cold War.

Stay with us.

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[15:45:42]

HILL: The United States is ramping up surveillance efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border, targeting Mexican drug cartels. U.S. officials in open source data indicate American spy planes have now flown at least 18 border missions over the past ten days or so. That's far more than the one per month average that we had seen recently.

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: So let's talk about the scale of this ramp up. Sources tell us that until recently, the U.S. military might fly maybe one of these surveillance flights a month along the southwest border.

There's been at least 18 that we know of in the last ten days alone.

Now, it's important to remember that flight hours in the three kinds of planes being used here are a finite resource. And up until now, Pentagon leaders have chosen to prioritize using them on things like collecting intelligence on the war in Ukraine and hunting Russian and Chinese submarines. So this ramp up really emphasizes the degree to which the Trump administration is shifting resources away from overseas threats to focus on what he has declared a national emergency on the southern border, and specifically the cartel issue.

DOD is using three different kinds of planes here that are together capable of collecting imagery and hoovering up digital communications on the ground. One of them is -- one of these planes is actually a U- 2, a platform that was developed during the Cold War and, according to our sources, hasn't been used in the southern border context before.

All of these planes are flying in U.S. or in international airspace, not Mexican airspace, but they're all capable of seeing sideways. They can effectively still collect intelligence deep inside Mexico. So in theory, they'll be able to collect on cartel communications, perhaps to take perhaps take photos and identify cartel logistics hubs.

The question now is what does DOD want to do with the intelligence it collects here? Is this about building a body of information for building out a basis to designate cartel actors as terrorists? Is it about passing along information about cartel operations to the Mexican government, or is it potentially about identifying cartel targets for the U.S. military to strike directly, something that Trump has suggested publicly that he would consider?

Right now, we just don't know.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: So a lot of questions. Katie Bo Lillis, thank you for that report.

Stay with us. We'll be right back after this short break.

You're watching CNN.

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[15:50:33]

HILL: Christie's is set to hold its first auction devoted exclusively to art created by A.I. The auction titled "Augmented Intelligence", will feature digital artists from around the globe, and it could generate some serious money, although not everyone is happy about the upcoming event.

Here's CNN's Lynda Kinkade with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Striking and thought provoking, it's not unusual for art to be critiqued, pondered, and sold to the highest bidder.

But an upcoming auction at Christie's New York is pushing the boundaries of the art world, featuring only works created with artificial intelligence. The art sale, called "Augmented Intelligence", consists of about 30 pieces that have been created or enhanced using A.I. tools, which Christies says is a sign of the times.

NICOLE SALES GILES, VP & DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ART SALES, CHRISTIE'S: So A.I. art is such an interesting topic and an interesting category now. It's really been surging in demand. We have clients that are interested from the Blockchain and crypto community, but we also have a lot of -- we've also seen a lot of demand from more high net worth individuals in the tech community.

KINKADE: According to Christie's, many of the works are expected to sell for tens of thousands of dollars a piece. Last year, a painting by an A.I. robot of World War II code-breaker Alan Turing sold for over $1 million at Sotheby's, surpassing initial estimates of $120,000 to $180,000.

That's a lot of money and potential interest in a medium where there are still many questions over what role I should have in art.

Christie's says its auction will feature many top A.I. artists, some who describe their work as a collaboration with A.I. but not driven by it.

GILES: It's definitely not a substitute for agency, and it is not a way to create more mediocre art quicker. It is a way to enhance what the artist can do and even push the bounds -- the boundaries of art and creativity into a completely new dimension.

KINKADE: Its cutting edge creativity in the spotlight, where at least in this exhibit, code is a tool just like a paintbrush. The online auction runs from February 20th to March 5th.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: And our thanks again to Lynda Kinkade for that report.

Staying in the art world, a discovery centuries in the making. A painting hidden under another painting. Researchers in Cyprus discovered the previously masked portrait under an oil painting by the 16th century renaissance master Titian. Excuse me as I'm choking here, I'm getting verklempt at the news.

Here's CNN's Nick Valencia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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, okay, 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, a quill in hand and standing beside a stack of papers or books. An ordinary image compared to the one of Jesus Christ bound, wearing a crown of thorns that Titian ultimately painted over it.

BAKIRTZIS: Titian is somebody who was 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: The 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)

HILL: Well, one more thing before we go busted for busking. Ed Sheeran's surprise performance at a busy street in the southern Indian city of Bangalore, perhaps not as big a hit with the police as it may have been with his fans.

[15:55:07]

Sheeran was in the middle of singing one of his more famous songs, "Shape of You", when the officers showed up in khaki uniforms yanking -- watch this video -- yanking the guitar and microphone cables. Local police say Sheeran was previously denied permission to busk in the area.

The singer later said on Instagram, however, that he did have permission to play. There you go.

Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill. Stay tuned.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" with the one and only Richard Quest, it is up next.