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Zelenskyy Rejects Any Peace Deal Without Kyiv's Involvement; Trump Announces Reciprocal Tariffs as Modi Visits U.S.; Thousands of U.S. Probationary Employees Fired; Hamas Says Release of Hostages to Proceed as Planned. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired February 14, 2025 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mixed messages coming out of the White House. Vice President J.D. Vance says the U.S. could send troops to Ukraine.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I really don't care. I want that bloodshed to stop.

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Our vision for a developed India is to make India great again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister Modi was going on a list of items that just ticked the boxes of making President Trump pretty happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every great city has a building that symbolizes its grandeur and history. In Paris, it's the Elysee Palace.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We discover each time new aspects.

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ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Friday, February 14th, 9 a.m. here in London, 11 a.m. in Kyiv, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a Russian drone attack has significantly damaged the radiation shelter at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. He adds that radiation levels have not increased and a fire at the defunct power plant has been extinguished.

Of course, Chernobyl was the site of the world's first nuclear accident in 1986, when an explosion sent radioactive clouds across Europe and the Soviet Union. The site has since been encased in steel and concrete.

All this coming as world leaders are gathered in Germany for the Munich Security Conference. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance tells The Wall Street Journal, sending U.S. troops to Ukraine is on the table if Russia doesn't negotiate a peace deal in good faith. Well, that's in stark contrast with President Trump's recent comments.

On Thursday, he refused to acknowledge that Russia started the war, instead blaming President Biden and Ukraine's push to join NATO.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Russia has taken over a pretty big chunk of territory. And they also have said from day one, long before President Putin, they've said they cannot have Ukraine be in NATO. They said that very strongly.

I actually think that that was the thing that caused the start of the war. If a better deal can be negotiated, if they're able to make a deal where they can do that, that's fine with me. I really don't care. I want -- I want that bloodshed to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, Ukraine's president is rejecting any suggestion that his country give up any territory to Russia as part of a peace deal.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It's important that everything does not go according to Putin's plan. We as a sovereign country simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is also expected to attend the Munich security conference. His flight was forced to turn around due to mechanical issues after leaving the U.S.

Our CNN's Salma Abdulaziz is here to discuss all of this with us. And Salma, let's first get to that drone attack on the Chernobyl power plant. What more do we know about the damage caused here?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this occurred just a few hours ago, essentially in the middle of the night. We understand that a Russian drone with a high explosive warhead struck the cover of the fourth unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Now, the Chernobyl power plant, as you mentioned, of course, behind that 1980 disaster is no longer functioning, is no longer working.

But that fourth unit, which is the unit that exploded in 1986 after that disaster, it was encased in concrete and steel. And it is that casing that President Zelenskyy says was damaged in this drone strike. Ukrainian officials say they are monitoring radiation levels. There's no indication that those radiation levels have gone up, but they say they will continue to monitor them.

There was a fire at the site also that President Zelenskyy says has left significant damage, again, to the cover of that fourth unit. And President Zelenskyy is very quickly pointing to this incident and saying, look, this shows that President Putin does not want to negotiate in good faith.

He just struck a nuclear power plant in Ukraine. He is trying to deceive the world, in the words of President Zelenskyy.

MACFARLANE: And one can only assume right now that Putin and Russia will be delighted with what many of the European allies are calling a capitulation to Russia by the U.S. so soon without there even being any sort of proper peace negotiations on the table.

[04:05:00]

The bigger question, though, is what is the strategy here from the U.S. following a flip flop, essentially, from U.S. officials, from J.D. Vance, opposed to what was just being said by Donald Trump, by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, just 24 hours earlier?

ABDELAZIZ: Is it a flip flop? Is it posturing? Is it miscommunication? Is it noise? Is it I don't know? I don't think any of us know.

And we don't know if this is intentional, as in muddy the waters, make it confusing so that we can posture however we want. I have no idea. And I don't think anyone who says that they know does know, because we're in an unprecedented era.

I mean, Trump just scrapped, I don't know, 80 years of history in the White House yesterday. So you have a President Trump who is saying over and over again, I want this war over. I want this war over now, who seems to want to acknowledge the realities on the ground.

There has essentially been a stalemate in Ukraine for a while now. You know, Ukrainian forces have been unable to push back Russian troops. Some 20 percent of Ukraine is now occupied by Russia.

President Trump is saying, I don't want to deal with that anymore. But then you have J.D. Vance saying, I'll send in American troops. I'll ramp up sanctions. I'll do what it takes. We stand with Ukraine. I think we may know more after the Munich security conference.

But again, this is a whole new strategy, if it is a strategy at all. And what President Trump is saying is he wants the war to end.

MACFARLANE: And allies have always insisted no settlement on Ukraine without Ukraine. But the reality is they're struggling to be even heard by the United States right now. So what can be done?

You know, they're all convening in the Munich security conference. What can be done to avoid a dirty deal, as it's being called, being done for peace emerging?

ABDELAZIZ: I think that Trump's answer yesterday was very revealing when a reporter asked, do you see Ukraine as an equal partner in the peace process? And Trump responded by sort of, um, that's an interesting question. The fact that Trump picked up the phone and first called President Putin, the first call from the White House in three years before he spoke to President Zelenskyy.

I think for President Trump right now, he sees that the party that is in control is President Putin, and that's who he wants to speak to. But his European partners are going to keep pulling him and reminding him of that commitment to Ukraine, the importance of NATO. But even on NATO, President Trump has said the Europeans need to pay for their own security. We're not going to pay for it anymore.

So a lot is in flux here. But I think the first thing that President Zelenskyy is going to do today is point to that attack at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and say, this is what is at stake.

MACFARLANE: Yes, President Zelenskyy is set to meet with J.D. Vance in the hours ahead. We'll watch that very closely. Salma, thank you.

Now, the Munich conference is coming two days after the U.S. president had a phone call with his Russian counterpart. Mr. Trump said they agreed to start Ukraine peace talks immediately. But as Matthew Chance reports, that conversation was not well received in Ukraine.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the Trump administration talks peace in Ukraine, Moscow is pressing hard on the front lines. This, the latest fighting in war-ravaged Donbass, where Russian forces have been advancing relentlessly. No wonder many Ukrainians feel skeptical of Trump's brash diplomatic push.

YULIA KAZDOBINA, KYIV RESIDENT: There's a lot of noise and Trump sends the signal that he wants to end the war. But I don't think Russia is interested in ending it. And so, unfortunately, no matter how much we want peace, I don't think it's possible.

ZELENSKYY: Thank you very much.

CHANCE (voice-over): There's also alarm that Ukraine is being sidelined. President Zelenskyy was left meeting the U.S. Treasury Secretary in Kyiv this week, as President Trump spoke directly with Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin's strongman. Trump and Zelenskyy spoke afterwards.

But for Ukrainians, Washington's priorities are worryingly clear.

NATALIA STECHEN, KYIV RESIDENT: I think Trump and Putin can have good relationships, and it's bad for Ukraine, because we can't talk about war and about Ukrainian people and about our situation without our president or our people.

CHANCE (voice-over): At this makeshift memorial to fallen soldiers in Kyiv, poignant reminders of the sacrifice Ukrainian troops and American volunteers have already made. But Trump's recent remarks that Ukraine may someday be Russian and concessions on NATO membership and territory have left many Ukrainians feeling bereft and betrayed.

Why did these guys die, and why did they even defend these territories, asks Oleksandr. That's why I don't think it's acceptable, he says, we should not give up our land.

[04:10:00]

But in this new era of Trump-Putin diplomacy, Ukrainian hopes and expectations no longer take center stage.

Matthew Chance, CNN, London.

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MACFARLANE: Now, India's prime minister and the U.S. president praised their close bond during talks at the White House Thursday, despite lingering tensions over trade. During that visit, Narendra Modi, in a hat-tip to Donald Trump, said both India and America will be great again.

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NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The people of America are aware of President Trump's motto, Make America Great Again, or MAGA. If I were to say this, borrowing an expression from America, our vision for a developed India is to Make India Great Again, or MIGA.

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MACFARLANE: Tech billionaire and special government employee Elon Musk also met with Mr. Modi on Thursday. The prime minister wrote that they discussed issues Musk, quote, is passionate about, such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. President Trump was questioned about the nature of their meeting, but didn't have any clear answers.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Elon Musk met with Prime Minister Modi earlier today. Did he do so as an American CEO or did he do so as a representative of the U.S. government?

TRUMP: Are you talking about me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, Elon Musk.

TRUMP: Elon, I don't know. They met, and I assume he wants to do business in India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does Modi know whether he's meeting with a CEO or meeting with a representative of your government?

TRUMP: Well, he's meeting with me in a little while, so I'm going to ask him that question.

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MACFARLANE: Shortly before Mr. Modi's visit, President Trump announced plans to impose sweeping reciprocal tariffs on all countries that export products to the U.S. Those tariffs could kick in as early as April. The move threatens to ignite a global trade war and further ramp up inflation as new costs will likely get passed on to consumers.

The U.S. president admitted short-term price hikes were possible and warned Americans to prepare for short-term pain. The new tariffs could have the biggest impact on developing countries like India. Mr. Trump said the trade deficit in India's favor is a big problem.

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TRUMP: I had discussions with India in the first term about the fact that their tariffs were very high and I was unable to get a concession. So we're just going to do it the easy way. We're just going to say whatever you charge, we charge.

And I think that's fair for the people of the United States. And I think it's actually fair for India.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: CNN's Will Ripley has a closer look now at the tariffs that have impacted Mr. Modi's visit.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just hours after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Washington, President Trump, perhaps unexpectedly, announced reciprocal tariffs, which a lot of people back home in India were saying could really make Prime Minister Modi look bad if he went into the White House and was unable to get some progress made on these divisive trade issues that have plagued the U.S.-India trade relationship for years ever since the first President Trump administration.

This is now the eighth time that these two leaders have met. By all accounts, they have a very good personal rapport. But all of those meetings up until now had not led to substantial progress in closing the huge trade gap between the U.S. and India and also getting Indian tariffs lowered in a significant manner.

And so President Trump saying he thinks it's only fair that the U.S. tariffs everything at the exact same rate that India tariffs. Of course, the U.S. is India's largest trade partner, so that could potentially really hurt their economy.

Seems, though, like after the two of them discussed things at the White House, they were able to agree on fast-tracking trade talks in hopes of maybe closing a deal this time around. On the Indian side, they certainly knew they're dealing with a different second Trump administration, one that is far more organized and perhaps less patient, unwilling to just accept the status quo if the trade talks fall apart.

India also saying that it's going to buy a significant quantity of American oil and natural gas, something that the previous Biden administration was reluctant to do, partially for environmental reasons. Also, U.S. nuclear technology, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotech, deepening defense cooperation, including the joint development and production of F-35s. So a lot of deliverables that Prime Minister Modi can take back to point to progress and success, even though these tariffs, which will kick in in the spring, theoretically could cause a big problem depending on how the details are actually sorted out on the U.S. and Indian side of things.

Also, a big symbolic win for Prime Minister Modi with the U.S. agreeing to extradite a long-wanted suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed more than 160 people.

So all in all, at least based on the press conference, the body language, the compliments between the two of them, it was a win-win in this meeting between India and the U.S. Very high stakes.

[04:15:00]

Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.

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MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, Wall Street seemed to see Mr. Trump's tariff moves as having more bark than bite. The three major U.S. indices rose on Thursday with the Dow gaining almost eight-tenths of a per cent. The Nasdaq was up half a per cent, while the S&P 500 was just over one per cent.

Some experts think Mr. Trump is using the threat of tariffs as a bargaining chip, and they may not be as severe or as immediate as many fear.

The Trump administration has carried out more mass firings at U.S. federal agencies. CNN has learned that Departments of Veterans Affairs and Energy fired scores of workers, and at the Office of Personal Management, dozens of employees were laid off during a video call.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: 75,000 people accepted the buyout program. That's going to save millions of dollars for the American taxpayers, and that's exactly what we wanted.

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MACFARLANE: All told, thousands of people were dismissed on Thursday. Most were probationary workers, typically employed for less than a year. But at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, officials also fired dozens of career employees serving limited terms. On top of all that, thousands more were convinced to leave voluntarily.

Earlier, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein commented on the federal layoffs and the impact they could have politically as well as economically.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: You have had all of these steps under the guise of efficiency, under the rubric of efficiency through Elon Musk to hollow out aspects of federal consumer protection and other forms of oversight of business that Trump allies, including Musk, prominently object to.

I mean, the New York Times noted that there were almost three dozen active complaints that were under investigation by federal agencies that Musk is now trying to reshape. So, yes, I mean, I think you have a very clear pattern here.

And look, we are in early days. We are less than a month into this administration, and we are in deep water very quickly.

One of the core tensions in the Trump campaign was he was elected above all because voters felt that their cost of living was out of control under Joe Biden, that he mismanaged inflation, and they remembered life being more affordable under Donald Trump.

The phrase the Democratic pollsters kind of came to dread in their focus groups was that you could not go through a focus group without someone saying, I don't like Donald Trump as a person, but I felt like I had more money in my pocket at the end of the week. That was a really powerful argument and tailwind for him.

But the tension was that all the way through, basically every economist and Wall Street firm that looked at his agenda worried that Trump, too, might do more to accelerate than tame inflation, largely because of mass deportation and the tariffs.

Now he's the president, and now he is responsible for results. I think voters will give him some time. I mean, the idea that he inherited high prices, I think, you know, is something that will have resonance with a lot of voters.

But ultimately, he is going to be judged by results, and he faces the risk that, as that broad array of economists argued last year, this agenda could actually intensify inflation. And certainly he is, you know, on a pretty lonely island when he's arguing that it is foreign countries and not American consumers that will ultimately pay the price for higher tariffs.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Still ahead, Hamas says it will release more hostages in Gaza. It comes after new signs showing just how fragile the current cease fire is.

And later, another one of President Trump's controversial Cabinet picks makes it through tough confirmation battle with one Republican senator standing up against the administration.

[04:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MACFARLANE: The fragile cease fire between Israel and Hamas appears to be back on track after Hamas said it will release Israeli hostages this weekend as initially planned. Earlier this week, Hamas accused Israel of violating the truce and postponing the releases of more hostages. In response, Israel said it would resume fighting in Gaza.

And after Hamas talked with Turkey mediators, Egypt and Qatar, it said this week's hostage release will proceed. One Israeli official said it seemed the dispute will be resolved and that the Israeli leaders don't want to abandon the ceasefire agreement at this time.

We get the latest on this now from CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi.

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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This week has really been a reminder of just how fragile this ceasefire hostage deal in Gaza is. Now, as of now, it appears as though the deal is back on track. Hamas has said that it will release three hostages on Saturday in return for a number of Palestinian prisoners.

Now, we've heard from an Israeli official that it, quote, seems it will be resolved, pointing out that the leadership of the Israeli government at this point, there's no appetite to end this ceasefire.

Now, what we had heard is Hamas accusing Israel of violating the terms of that ceasefire. They have since said that the key mediators, both Egypt and Qatar, have said that they will work with Israel to make sure that there is enough humanitarian aid brought in and also to allow the entry of housing supplies, medical equipment and relief aid.

[04:25:00]

Israel, for its side, says that it is keeping its side of the bargain and that more than 15,000 humanitarian aid trucks have been allowed into Gaza since this agreement started.

One Egyptian source, though, who is familiar with the matter, has told CNN that they believe they have seen Israeli violations. They showed CNN a list of some 19 alleged violations, which included restrictions on bringing aid into Gaza, including reconstruction material and equipment, also the firing on and killing of civilians away from the buffer zones, where Israeli military said that it would be, and also more than 100 incidents of spotting surveillance aircraft or drones in areas and times where there was supposed to be a no-fly zone.

Now, on top of this, you also have the U.S. President Donald Trump, who has suggested that this multi-phase ceasefire deal should be put to one side and that Israel should insist that Hamas release all the hostages at once. Now, it was a suggestion that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, welcomed, but he did not explicitly agree to it.

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEOTAPE) MACFARLANE: Just ahead, at least six prosecutors resigned from the U.S. Department of Justice after refusing to drop a corruption case against New York's mayor.

Plus, after being scorched by fires, they're now getting drenched by rain. How powerful storms are creating new hazards for parts of California.