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CNN International: Ukraine Tops the Agenda at Munich Security Conference; Vatican: Pope Francis Hospitalized for Bronchitis; Prosecutors Resign Rather Than Drop Case Against NY Mayor; Mothers of Freed Hostages Discuss Their Daughter's Ordeal; U.S. VP Speaks on Censorship in Europe; U.S. VP: Nothing More Urgent than Mass Migration. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired February 14, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN "Newsroom". Just ahead, NATO remains an important alliance for the United States. The U.S. Vice President opens the Munich Security Conference with that message ahead of a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian President.
Plus, a flurry of resignations within, the U.S. Justice Department over an order to drop the charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. And Israel names the three hostages set to be released by Palestinian militants this weekend. We'll have details. At this hour, World leaders are in Germany for the Munich Security Conference.
The main topic, of course, is the war in Ukraine. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is there and scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Today, there has been a flood of reaction to potential peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and the U.S. position on all of this. Earlier, Mr. Zelenskyy spoke to reporters. Here's what he had to say about negotiations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I don't want to meet just with Russia, just to meet for what? No, we see the order of meetings. As I said, the order is United States, Europe, then Russia to ready to the -- be ready to this meeting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: He also told reporters, quote, we are ready to talk about everything, from contingents to security guarantees, about NATO whether we are in NATO, or NATO is in Ukraine. We are ready for any kind of construction to stop Putin. Messages from the United States have, frankly, been hard to pin down.
But one thing has been clear, the U.S. believes Europe should play a bigger role in its own security and the security of Ukraine. Here's Vice President, J.D. Vance speaking beside NATO, Secretary General. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Europe is, of course, a very important ally the United States. NATO is a very important military alliance, of course, that we're the most significant part of. But we want to make sure that NATO is actually built for the future, and we think a big part of that is ensuring that NATO does a little bit more burden sharing in Europe, so the United States can focus on some of our challenges in these stages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to take part in the Munich conference as well. His plane had to return to Washington because of a mechanical problem, and he had to switch planes. One of his tasks is likely to send a more consistent U.S. message on Ukraine. Here's CNN, Alex Marquardt in Munich.
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: We are getting some conflicting messaging out of the administration over the past few days. Vice President Vance giving an interview to the "Wall Street Journal", in which he appears to be taking a tougher line on Russia and what it would take to get them to the table to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine, saying that there are economic tools of leverage that can be used against Russia.
And there are also military tools of leverage that can be used against Russia. Now, whether that means U.S. troops going into Ukraine, that is a major question that we're going to be listening out for. Because you remember just a couple of days ago, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth said quite bluntly, there will be no U.S. troops going into Ukraine, that there would not be U.S. involvement when it comes to security guarantees for Ukraine.
That's a big thing that the Europeans and Ukrainians want to see us be a part of. And he also said that in an eventual deal that Ukraine would not be a member of NATO. But now we have the vice president saying, still, everything is on the table for these negotiations. I want to play a little bit of what the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, have had to say earlier today as he tried to clarify these varying positions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: My job today and in Brussels was to introduce realism to the conversation. The reality that returning to 2014 as borders as part of a negotiated settlement is unlikely. The reality of U.S. troops in Ukraine is unlikely. The reality of Ukraine membership in NATO as a part of a negotiated settlement unlikely, and I stand by the comments that I made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT: -- I think many would say that the reality is far from clear at this point. But of course, that's what negotiations are for. But there are many wondering why the U.S. appears to be giving Russia concessions before these negotiations even begin, most notably saying that Ukraine will not be a member of NATO.
And Trump just saying yesterday that Russia should be allowed to once again join the GA which they were kicked out of back in 2014 after invading Ukraine the first time.
[08:05:00]
WHITFIELD: All right, the International Atomic Energy Agency says it is on high alert after the Ukrainian President accused Russia of attacking the destroyed nuclear power plant at Chernobyl. Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia used a drone with a high explosive warhead to strike the plant's protective containment shell, Thursday night.
He says radiation levels are being monitored and have so far not increased, even though the damage is described as significant. The Kremlin denies it carried out the strike. Chernobyl, of course, was the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster nearly 40 years ago. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me now live from London. So how dangerous a situation might this be?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, I do want to say that radiation levels are being monitored, and they do, they are, as of now, normal, so the situation does appear to be contained. What we know is that in the early hours of the morning, this is according to Ukrainian officials, a drone strike, a Russian drone with a high explosive warhead struck what is the concrete cover of the fourth unit of the disused Chernobyl nuclear site.
Now you will remember, of course, that Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which happened in 1986 that's -- radioactive clouds really all across Soviet Union and Europe. Now, after that disaster, what happened to that fourth unit, again, was that it was encased in concrete and steel. And what you're looking at right there is the images of the damage to that -- to the cover over the fourth unit.
Now President Zelenskyy describes this damage as significant, and already is scrambling emergency meetings with the United Nations and with other nuclear experts to ring the alarm. President Zelenskyy says that this shows in his mind that President Putin is not negotiating in good faith, that he does not want peace, and in President Zelenskyy words that he's deceiving the world.
Now, for Russia's side, the Kremlin has outright denied this, has even described it as a frame up, and says that it's simply something that they would not do. And for the mediators and negotiators that are on the ground trying to secure these sites, this already adds yet another level of danger.
Remember the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, that's another one that's along the front lines that has also experienced explosives falling dangerously close. So, another reminder here of the dangers of this conflict expanding along these front lines, where they are, these very sensitive sites. The Chernobyl site is along the Belarus- Ukrainian border.
WHITFIELD: Yes, still so very tenuous. All right, Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much. All right, let's dig a little deeper into all of this. Daniel Fried is a Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council. He's also a Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland, and was the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. He's joining me right now live from Washington. Good to see you, Ambassador Fried.
DANIEL FRIED, WEISER FAMILY DISTINGUISHED FELLOW AT THE ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Thanks for having me.
WHITFIELD: All right, so let's talk about the scenario for Ukraine and Russia. What kind of advantage now is being given to Russia with these conflicting U.S. messages on Ukraine's NATO chances, or the idea of ceding territory to Russia?
FRIED: The Trump people have been clumsy in their wording, but the actual outline of a potential deal is not as bad as some people make it out to be. There are three parts. One is a ceasefire in place, but Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary Hegseth didn't say that Ukraine would have to give up the territory.
There's a big difference. The second is security for Ukraine. The troops on the ground will have to be European, but the Europeans aren't going to go in without American backup. And Defense Secretary Hegseth didn't say the Americans wouldn't provide backup. We could with air power.
All he said was no U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine. And the third element is that the Europeans are going to have to do more. Well, the Europeans might do more. They might put up ground forces in Ukraine, but they're not going to do it without U.S. backup, and they're not going to do it if the U.S. is just ordering them, we're going to have to bring them into the discussions.
So, I think the administration's approach has been clumsy, and you've seen Secretary Hegseth try to explain his remarks. Never a good thing, when you have to do that. But the actual outline isn't all that bad. I wish that President Trump had not been so effusive in describing his phone call with Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Putin is not our friend.
[08:10:00]
He's not going to be our friend, but we still have a reasonable prospect of a good outcome for Ukraine if the United States backs up the Europeans, and if we keep in good touch with the Ukrainians, and remember that Putin is out to deceive us --
WHITFIELD: Right. Well, Putin may not be a friend of the U.S., but when you have the President United States and Donald Trump say, you know, I know him very well, he is trying to, you know, send a signal to Putin or someone you know that they are buds. So, let's talk about what Zelenskyy, you know, said earlier today, also with some clarity, I guess, from Zelenskyy.
He says he will meet with the United States, he will meet with Europe, and then he would potentially meet with Russia. Is he sending a message that Ukraine is not going to be a pushover in any sort of negotiations? FRIED: I think that President Zelenskyy has handled President Trump's policy and their public and I think they've handled it very well. I think they've been as positive as they could be, while being clear that Ukraine is, as you said, not going to be a pushover. They're not going to accept anything from the United States, but they want to be as positive as possible.
And in fact, some of the signals from President Trump have been not so bad. He said, Trump said that U.S. has a real interest in Ukrainian mineral resources. Well, that -- if that's Trump's way of saying that the U.S. should back Ukrainian independence in the face of Russian aggression, I'll take it.
That wouldn't be my argument. That if it's the argument that convinces Trump to back Ukraine's security, then I'm for it.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then in what ways you know, do you see Europe either fortifying or maybe even bolstering its support of Ukraine?
FRIED: The Europeans understand that they have to do more, both for their own defense and for Ukraine, they're going to have to step up. Whether they think that the United States under Trump is unreliable or simply demanding that they do more, doesn't matter. Their conclusion needs to be, and I think, is that they have to step up.
Some like Poland are stepping up. The polls take security very seriously. The Germans are going to need to step up and do much more on their -- for their own defense that may be possible after the elections. So, I think the Europeans understand that they have to put more on the table.
But the United States has to understand that the Europeans can't do it alone, and we can't wag our finger and simply demand things from the Europeans. We're going to have to back them up. I think the Trump Administration could find the right way to do this, but we're not quite there yet.
WHITFIELD: All right. Ambassador Daniel Fried, thank you so much. Appreciate your expertise on this. All right, now turning to news about Pope Francis the Vatican says he was admitted to a hospital in Rome to undergo treatment of bronchitis and receive medical exams.
The 88-year-old pontiff has been struggling with the respiratory illness in recent weeks, forcing him to ask aides to read speeches and addresses for him. CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb is joining us now from Rome. Good to see you, Christopher. So, what's the latest on his condition?
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the pope has been admitted to the Gemelli Hospital behind me, where he has a special suite of rooms on the 10th floor and will undergo treatment and tests for bronchitis, which he has been suffering from for several days now.
Despite having this bronchitis, the pope has been keeping up a relentless pace of meetings and events. And this morning in the Vatican, he was meeting with people. I was actually among those who saw Francis because the pope had a private audience with Mark Thompson, the Chief Executive of CNN.
And I saw the pope, it was clear that he mentally is alert, but is struggling to speak for significant periods because of the breathing difficulties that he is experiencing.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
LAMB: And he had a -- it was brief audiences this morning, and then he was admitted to the hospital. So clearly it is a concern. And the next three days, the Vatican says the pope has canceled all his meetings to ensure he can get the right treatment and undergo the test that he needs, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So, I wonder, Christopher, you know, the pontiff has been ill kind of a lot, you know, in recent times. Is it mostly because of, you know, bronchial issues, or are there other matters?
LAMB: Well, the pope is vulnerable to these respiratory infections.
[08:15:00]
He's been admitted to hospital for bronchitis before as pope, and he, as a young man, had part of his right lung removed. So, he does have that vulnerability to these respiratory infections. He is 88 years old. He has mobility difficulties. He uses a wheelchair most of the time, and so he hasn't got an underlying health difficulty, but as he said in his recent memoir, he is suffering from the effects of old age, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, and that's -- it happens, and it's sometimes inevitable, right? All right. Christopher Lamb, thank you so much. All right, still to come, how a corruption case involving the Mayor of New York has turned into a major scandal at the U.S. Department of Justice.
And Valentine's Day, it's meant to be a happy day, right? But flower businesses are worried about Donald Trump's immigration crack down. We'll find out why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Donald Trump continues to push for punishing tariffs that could remake global trade relations. On Thursday, he signed an executive order instructing federal agencies to investigate how much other countries charge in tariffs on U.S. goods. His plan is to then enact identical tariffs on those countries products when they enter the U.S.
The tariff investigation is expected to be completed by April. All right, one of the countries the president cited as a possible tariff abuser is India. And just a short time later, Mr. Trump welcomed India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a White House visit. The president said the trade imbalance in India's favor is a big problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I had discussions with India and 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, and 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)
WHITFIELD: Meanwhile, Prime Minister Modi vowed to work on a mutually beneficial trade agreement with Washington. He said that when India and the U.S. work together, they will form a mega partnership for prosperity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER: India and the U.S. will jointly work in areas of artificial intelligence, semi-conductors, quantum, bio technology and several other technologies. Today, we also agreed on trust, which stands for transforming relationships, utilizing strategic technology.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Will Ripley has more on Mr. Modi's White House visit.
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 to the White House.
[08:20:00]
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 discuss 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, semi-conductors, bio tech, deepening a defense cooperation, including the joint development and production of F-35.
So, a lot of deliverables that Prime Minister Modi can take back to point to progress and success, even though these terrorists, which will kick 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. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
WHITFIELD: All right now to a developing story in the U.S. that could turn into the first major scandal of the new Trump Administration. It involves a decision by the U.S. Department of Justice to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. On Thursday, as many as six prosecutors at the DOJ resigned rather than carry out the order that the case be dismissed.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York penned an eight-page resignation letter in which she accused the Department of Justice of offering Adams a quid pro quo where they would make the corruption case go away if he agreed to help President Trump's crack down on immigrants in New York. Mr. Trump brushed aside the resignations and claimed the U.S. attorney had been fired.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. attorney has resigned over the DOJ request to drop the case into Eric Adams, did you personally request the Justice Department to drop that case?
TRUMP: No, I didn't know nothing about it. That U.S. attorney was actually fired. I don't know he or she resigned, but that U.S. attorney was fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: As for Mayor Adams, he says there was no quid pro quo, and claims he was being treated unfairly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORK MAYOR: I believe the president was clear, and the incoming attorney general was clear, we are going to stop weaponizing our systems against Americans. No American should have had to have gone through what I went through.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Kara Scannell is tracking this story for us. Good morning to you, Carter, so explain exactly what the Former Acting U.S. Attorney says happened here?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Fred. I mean, this was a stunning resignation letter from the Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon. And she goes into detail about the reasons why she's resigning that really go against this directive that was issued by the Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
Bove had ordered the office to dismiss the corruption case against Adams on Monday, not based on the merits of the case. His directive was very explicit, saying it was because he believed it was part of the weaponization of the Biden Justice Department, meaning it was politically motivated. And also, because he said these charges impeded Adams' ability to carry out Trump's agenda on immigration enforcement.
So, in the resignation letter, Sassoon says that she cannot dismiss this case in good faith because it's not based on the merits. And she actually says that the issues that Bove raises is the reason to dismiss it, is actually going to amplify these claims that the Department of Justice is politicized, because it will effectively, as you noted, calling it a quid pro quo, that Adams would have to stay in line and do what Trump wants, or else these charges could come back.
[08:25:00]
You know, and Bove himself struck back in his own eight-page letter to Sassoon, criticizing her, saying she wasn't carrying out her duties. In addition to her resignation, he also then put two of the officers in New York. The prosecutors in New York have been working on this case on administrative leave because they also would not sign a motion to dismiss to submit to the court to get rid of this indictment.
He then turned to move the case to Washington D.C., to the public integrity section, and five prosecutors there resigned because they would not put their names on this motion to dismiss. So, the next steps here is, who is going to sign this paperwork and submit it? Will it be Bove himself?
And then what happens? Will the judge accept the reasonings here? Will he call everyone into court to try to understand this more? Because even as the departing U.S. attorney said, there are some issues here that the judge might have questions about, because this is not based on the merits of the case, but for some other reasons, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, very complicated. Kara Scannell, thank you so much, in New York. All right, today is, of course, Valentine today, hence all the red. One of the biggest days of the year for flower vendors. But many shop owners and workers across the country are now on edge over the president's immigration crackdown, especially in the flower district of Los Angeles.
That's where we find CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. Julia, they're very concerned because a lot of these flowers are coming from places that the president has targeted.
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are. Yes, they are. You can tell, Fred, a lot of them come from Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Ecuador. We've seen boxes here from all over these places, and they're saying that those tariffs could have a big impact in this industry, $1.1 billion moving this six-block radius here in downtown Los Angeles.
Look, we've also spoken to some vendors here, and the Director of the President of the Los Angeles flower market, telling us that this is an immigrant powered operation. So, the fears of a potential immigration action here in Los Angeles, in the style of New York or Chicago, like we believe, is coming before the end of the month, that could very well impact this hard.
People might be afraid to come to work. They might be afraid of selling their flowers. Now, Fred, this is not just a place where people come to buy these readymade bouquets. If you've ever seen a flower vendor in Los Angeles selling flowers on the street like that's probably where they came with to get those flowers.
Now those people are might not be coming here to get that product to sell on the street, because they might be afraid of being exposed. That's what we're hearing from vendors here, is that it's already the past few weeks have been pretty slow. Take a listen to something that one of the vendors here said to us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GERSAIN BUSTOS, OWNER OF GROWERS DIRECT FLOWERS: I mean, that's during any uncertainty times, is normal -- so, isn't it? It is affecting a little bit, but you have to say positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Now, the good news here, Fred, is that California remains the least expensive state in the country to get one dozen roses at $68 compared to 90 the average for the rest of the country. So, I already got mine.
WHITFIELD: OK.
JONES: I hope is the first of many bouquets today.
WHITFIELD: Oh, that's pretty.
JONES: Happy Valentine's Day to you.
WHITFIELD: I like it. I love it. Pink, one of my favorite colors. Hey, so now you talk with a business owner there, you know, who says, OK, he's kind of going with the flow here. But now, what about sales? You mentioned there, you know, because much more expensive is he getting.
I don't know, as equal of an interest in the purchasing of flowers out there, or people choosing to do chocolates instead, although, you know chocolates, a lot of chocolates come from Columbia, too. But anyway, what are their concerns about whether sales are going to be good?
JONES: Well, it's about 05:28 here in the morning. They are saying that today they are seeing a bit of a bump.
WHITFIELD: Yeah.
JONES: But it could be something that makes up for the past weeks, it's been really slow, Fred. That's what we're hearing from folks here, is that it's been a little difficult to get the business, but it's only the beginning of the morning. It's a long day.
WHITFIELD: Julia Vargas is live there.
JONES: They're hoping that they can make up for all of those loss in sales from the past weeks. Look, L.A. also just recovering from fires. Now we're seeing rains. There are many factors here that could lead to a consumer not coming out in the early morning to purchase flowers.
But they're optimistic, they say this could be a good year for L.A. and that it is a resilient community. They're hoping that more people will come to get their flowers here for --
[08:30:00]
WHITFIELD: Yeah, you do remind us. I mean, there are a lot of priorities, and flowers may not be at the top of the list of what people are needing right now, where you are. All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right. Still to come. CNN speaks to the mothers of three former Israeli hostages, the story of the ordeal their daughters went through when we come back.
Also ahead, Israel names, the three hostages expected to be freed from Gaza Saturday as Israelis take to the streets to rally for their release. Details, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Israel has just announced the names of the three hostages set to be released from Gaza on Saturday, it says Palestinian militants will release. Yair Horn, who has Israeli and Argentinian nationality, American Israeli, Segui Dekel-Chen and Russian Israeli Alexandre Sasha Troufanov.
It would be the sixth exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal that came into effect last month. Meanwhile, the families of newly freed hostages say they are overjoyed to have their loved ones, home, but they know there's a long road ahead of healing.
CNN's Bianna Golodryga spoke with the mothers of three young Israelis who had been held in Gaza and they shared what their daughters went through in captivity. First, a warning her report contains disturbing video.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (voice-over): It was a homecoming that captivated a still traumatized nation. Young female hostages finally reunited with their families after 477 grueling days.
ORLY GILBOA, MOTHER OF FORMER ISRAELI HOSTAGE DANIELLA GILBOA: Daniella, she's happy, she's at home, she she's free, and this is what's important.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): On the morning of October 7th, Hamas terrorists attacked the IDF military base where 22 female soldiers were stationed as spotters along the Gaza border. Naama Levy, Liri Albag and Daniella Gilboa can be seen wounded, bound and threatened by their captors surrounded by the murdered bodies of 15 of their friends.
GOLODRYGA: Did your daughter tell you about the specific horrors that they endured in the video that we saw?
GILBOA: October 7th is the hardest thing for her to speak about. She lost a lot of good friends of her, and the loss of them is very hard for her, even more than the period of time of captivity.
[08:35:00]
Images of Naama's capture in particular, took the world by storm as she was dragged by her hair wearing bloody sweat pants. Somehow, her mother says she saw the video in captivity and also heard her family's pleas for release.
AYELET LEVY SHACHAR, MOTHER OF FORMER ISRAELI HOSTAGE NAAMA LEVY: She saw the video. She knew about it, and she did see myself and her father in different interviews. She heard sometimes on the radio, her brother speaking, her grandfather speaking. So, it wasn't an everyday thing, but sometimes she was exposed to the media, and it did give her a lot of strength and support and helped her throughout those days.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Shira says Liri was sometimes held with Naama and another recently released hostage, a --
SHIRA ALBAG, MOTHER OF FORMER ISRAELI HOSTAGE LIRI ALBAG: Liri, most of the time was in apartments with civilians, with families, with the women of the captivities, with the children, it was difficult, because they need to stay, to clean the house and to cook for them and to teach the children to sit with the children and the to try to teach them.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Just days after her own return, Daniella watched as her cousin Eli Sharabi, along with two other hostages, came home appearing emaciated and frail. Their condition shocking almost everyone.
GILBOA: Daniella told me, mama, just know that if we were released two months ago, I was looked like Eli because she also loses a lot of weight there. GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Daniella told her mother that, until recently, she shared one plate of food with three other women. Prior to her release, she says she only had to share the plate with one other.
GILBOA: It's important to understand that it's not that we see Daniella, how she looks like right now. It doesn't mean anything about what happened there and how she fell there.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): The priority now for these mothers, along with the majority of Israelis, is the urgent release of all the remaining hostages, and their appeal is largely directed at one man.
SHACHAR: President Trump, had a key role in mobilizing this deal and for her to come back and we know now and his influence is crucial for this continuation of the deal and for the other hostages to come home. And we know how urgent it is, we see how urgent it is.
GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Bianna Golodryga, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, let's get some analysis on the latest developments now. James Jeffrey is the Chair of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He was also U.S. Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey, and served as an envoy to Syria.
Ambassador Jeffrey great to CEO. So, I wonder, you know, are you concerned that this ceasefire deal is getting more fragile, as opposed to strengthening over time?
JAMES FRANKLIN JEFFREY, CHAIR OF THE MIDDLE EAST PROGRAM AT THE WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: Thanks for having me on. First of all, we're all delighted the hostages are back. The current first phase of six weeks is still working. It will run until early March, and there are still some 16 more hostages, roughly, to come back.
It's on schedule. Hamas tried to block it, President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu took a very strong position, and so it's back on track. But again, this is only the first phase. More important is the second phase, which will be the final ceasefire, withdrawal of all troops and all hostages back, but that requires negotiations on the future of Gaza that are going on now.
WHITFIELD: OK, Mr. Ambassador, I apologize. I have to cut this short because we want to go straight to Munich now for the security conference, and the Vice President J.D. Vance is approaching the microphone now. Let's listen in to what he has to say.
VANCE: Thank you, and thanks to all the gathered delegates and luminaries and media professionals, and thanks especially to the host of the Munich Security Conference for being able to put on such an incredible event. We're, of course, thrilled to be here. We're happy to be here.
And you know, one of the things that I wanted to talk about today is, of course, our share values. And you know, it's great to be back in Germany, as you heard earlier. I was here last year as United States Senator. I saw foreign minister, excuse me, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and joked that both of us last year had different jobs than we have now.
But now it's time for all of our countries, for all of us who have been fortunate enough to be given political power by our respective peoples, to use it wisely, to improve their lives.
[08:40:00]
And I want to say that, you know, I was fortunate in my time here to spend some time outside the walls of this conference over the last 24 hours. And I've been so impressed by the hospitality of the people, even as, of course, as they're reeling from yesterday's horrendous attack.
And the first time I was ever in Munich was with my wife, actually, who's here with me today on a personal trip. And I've always loved the City of Munich, and I've always loved its people. And I just want to say that we're very moved, and our thoughts and prayers are with Munich and everybody affected by the evil and inflicted on this beautiful community.
We're thinking about you. We're praying for you, and we will certainly be rooting for you in the days and weeks to come. Now, I hope that's not the last bit of applause that I get. But we gather at this conference, of course, to discuss security, and normally we mean threats to our external security.
I see many, many great military leaders gathered here today. But while the Trump Administration is very concerned with European security and believes that we can come to a reasonable settlement between Russia and Ukraine. And we also believe that it's important in the coming years for Europe to step up in a big way to provide for its own defense.
The threat that I worry the most about vis a vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America.
Now I was struck that a Former European Commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election. He warned that if things don't go to plan, the very same thing could happen in Germany too.
Now these Cavalier statements are shocking to American ears. For years, we have been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values. Everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defense of democracy.
But when we see European courts canceling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we're holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard. And I say ourselves because I fundamentally believe that we are on the same team.
We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them. Now within living memory of many of you in this room, the cold war positioned defenders of democracy against much more tyrannical forces on this continent. And consider the side in that fight that censored dissidents, that closed churches, that canceled elections.
Were they the good guys? Certainly not. And thank God they lost the cold war. They lost because they neither valued nor respected all of the extraordinary blessings of liberty. The freedom to surprise, to make mistakes, to invent, to build. As it turns out, you can't mandate innovation or creativity, just as you can't force people what to think, what to feel or what to believe.
And we believe those things are certainly connected. And unfortunately, when I look at Europe today, it's sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the cold war's winners. I look to Brussels, where EU Commission commissars warn citizens that they intend to shut down social media during times of civil unrest.
The moment they spot what they've judged to be, quote, hateful content, or to this very country where police have carried out raids against citizens suspected of posting anti-feminist comments online as part of quote, combating misogyny on the internet, a day of action.
I look to Sweden, where, two weeks ago, the government convicted a Christian activist for participating in Quran burnings that resulted in his friend's murder. And as the judge in his case, chillingly noted, Sweden's laws to supposedly protect free expression do not, in fact, grant, and I'm quoting, a free pass to do or say anything without risking offending the group that holds that belief.
And perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends the United Kingdom, where the back slide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons in particular, in the cross hairs.
[08:45:00]
A little over two years ago, the British government charged Adam Smith Connor, a 51-year-old physiotherapist and an Army veteran, with the heinous crime of standing 50 meters from an abortion clinic and silently praying for three minutes, not obstructing anyone, not interacting with anyone, just silently praying on his own.
After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before. Now the officers were not moved. Adam was found guilty of breaking the government's new buffer zones law, which criminalizes silent prayer and other actions that could influence a person's decision within 200 meters of an abortion facility.
He was sentenced to pay thousands of pounds in legal costs to the prosecution. Now I wish I could say that this was a fluke, a one-off, crazy example of a badly written law being enacted against a single person, but no this last October, just a few months ago, the Scottish government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so called safe access zones.
Warning them that even private prayer within their own homes may amount to breaking the law. Naturally, the government urged readers to report any fellow citizen suspected guilty of thought crime in Britain and across Europe. Free speech, I fear, is in retreat. And in the interest of comedy, my friends, but also in the interest of truth.
I will admit that sometimes the loudest voices for censorship have come not from within Europe, but from within my own country, where the prior administration threatened and bullied social media companies to censor so called misinformation. Misinformation like, for example, the idea that coronavirus had likely leaped from leaked from a laboratory in China, our own government encouraged private companies to silence people who dared to utter what turned out to be an obvious truth.
So, I come here today, not just with an observation, but with an offer. And just as the Biden Administration seemed desperate to silence people for speaking their minds. So, the Trump Administration will do precisely the opposite, and I hope that we can work together on that. In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town, and under Donald Trump's leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square.
Agree or disagree? Now we're at the point, of course, that the situation has gotten so bad that this December, Romania straight up canceled the results of a presidential election based on the flimsy suspicions of an intelligence agency and enormous pressure from its continental neighbors.
Now, as I understand it, the argument was that Russian disinformation had infected the Romanian elections, but I'd ask my European friends to have some perspective. You can believe it's wrong for Russia to buy social media advertisements to influence your elections?
We certainly do. You can condemn it on the world stage even. But if your democracy can be destroyed with a few $100,000 of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn't very strong to begin with. Now the good news is that I happen to think your democracies are substantially less brittle than many people apparently fear.
And I really do believe that allowing our citizens to speak their mind will make them stronger still, which of course, brings us back to Munich, where the organizers of this very conference have banned lawmakers representing populist parties on both the left and the right from participating in these conversations. Now, again, we don't have to agree with everything or anything that people say, but when people represent when political leaders represent an important constituency, it is incumbent upon us to at least participate in dialog with them.
Now, to many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don't like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion, or, God forbid, vote a different way, or, even worse, win an election.
Now this is a security conference, and I'm sure you all came here prepared to talk about how exactly you intend to increase defense spending over the next few years in line with some new target.
[08:50:00]
And that's great because, as President Trump has made abundantly clear, he believes that our European friends must play a bigger role in the future of this continent. We don't think you hear this term burden sharing, but we think it's an important part of being in a shared alliance together that the Europeans step up while America focuses on areas of the world that are in great danger.
But let me also ask you, how will you even begin to think through the kinds of budgeting questions if we don't know what it is that we are defending in the first place? I've heard a lot already in my conversations, and I've had many, many great conversations with many people gathered here in this room, I've heard a lot about what you need to defend yourselves from.
And of course, that's important. But what has seemed a little bit less clear to me, and certainly I think, to many of the citizens of Europe, is what exactly it is that you're defending yourselves for? What is the positive vision that animates this shared security compact that we all believe is so important?
And I believe deeply, that there is no security if you are afraid of the voices, the opinions and the conscience that guide your very own people. Europe faces many challenges, but the crisis this continent faces right now, the crisis I believe we all face together, is one of our own makings.
If you're running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you, nor, for that matter, is there anything that you can do for the American people who elected me and elected President Trump. You need democratic mandates to accomplish anything of value in the coming years.
Have we learned nothing that thin mandates produce unstable results, but there is so much of value that can be accomplished with the kind of democratic mandate that I think will come from being more responsive to the voices of your citizens. If you're going to enjoy competitive economies, if you're going to enjoy affordable energy and secure supply chains, then you need mandates to govern, because you have to make difficult choices to enjoy all of these things.
And of course, we know that very well in America. You cannot win a democratic mandate by censoring your opponents or putting them in jail, whether that's the leader of the opposition, a humble Christian praying in her own home or a journalist trying to report the news. Nor can you win one by disregarding your basic electorate on questions like who gets to be a part of our shared society.
And of all the pressing challenges that the nations represented here face, I believe there is nothing more urgent than mass migration. Today, almost one in five people living in this country moved here from abroad. That is, of course, an all-time high. It's a similar number, by the way, in the United States, also an all-time high.
The number of immigrants who entered the EU from non-EU countries doubled between 2021 and 2022 alone. And of course, it's gotten much higher since. And we know the situation. It didn't materialize in a vacuum. It's the result of a series of conscious decisions made by politicians all over the continent and others across the world, over the span of a decade.
We saw the horrors wrought by these decisions yesterday in this very city. And of course, I can't bring it up again without thinking about the terrible victims who had a beautiful winter day in Munich ruined. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and will remain with them.
But why did this happen in the first place? It's a terrible story, but it's one we've heard way too many times in Europe and unfortunately, too many times in the United States as well. An asylum seeker, often a young man in his mid-20s, already known to police, rammed a car into a crowd and shatters a community.
How many times must we suffer these appalling setbacks before we change course and take our shared civilization in a new direction. No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the flood gates to millions of unvetted immigrants. But you know what they did vote for?
In England, they voted for Brexit, and agree or disagree, they voted for it. And more and more, all over Europe, they're voting for political leaders who promise to put an end to out of control migration. Now I happen to agree with a lot of these concerns, but you don't have to agree with me.
[08:55:00]
I just think that people care about their homes, they care about their dreams, they care about their safety and their capacity to provide for themselves and their children, and they're smart. I think this is one of the most important things I've learned in my brief time in politics.
Contrary to what you might hear, a couple mountains over in Davos, the citizens of all of our nations don't generally think of themselves as educated animals or as interchangeable cogs of a global economy. And it's hardly surprising that they don't want to be shuffled about or relentlessly ignored by their leaders.
And it is the business of democracy to adjudicate these big questions at the ballot box. I believe that dismissing people, dismissing their concerns, or worse yet, shutting down media, shutting down elections or shutting people out of the political process, protects nothing. In fact, it is the most surefire way to destroy democracy.
And speaking up and expressing opinions isn't election interference, even when people express views outside your own country, and even when those people are very influential. And trust me, I say this with all humor, if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg's scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.
But what German democracy, what no democracy, American, German or European, will survive, is telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief, are invalid or unworthy of even being considered. Democracy rests on the sacred principle that the voice of the people matters. There's no room for fire walls.
You either uphold the principle or you don't. Europeans, the people have a voice. European leaders have a choice, and my strong belief is that we do not need to be afraid of the future. You can embrace what your people tell you, even when it's surprising, even when you don't agree, and if you do so, you can face the future with certainty and with confidence, knowing that the nation stands behind each of you.
And that, to me, is the great magic of democracy. It's not in these stone buildings or beautiful hotels. It's not even in the great institutions that we have built together as a shared society. To believe in democracy is to understand that each of our citizens has wisdom and has a voice.
And if we refuse to listen to that voice, even our most successful fights will secure very little. As Pope John Paul the Second, in my view, one of the most extraordinary champions of democracy on this continent or any other, once said, do not be afraid. We shouldn't be afraid of our people even when they express views that disagree with their leadership. Thank you all. Good luck to all of you. God bless you.
