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Russia-Ukraine Peace Talks To Start Soon In Saudi Arabia; Russian Foreign Minister Held Phone Call With Secretary Rubio Today; Trump Administration's Purge Of Federal Workforce Escalates; Federal Prosecutors Move To Drop Charges Against NYC Mayor Adams; Hamas Releases 3 Moore Hostages, Including An Israeli-American; Trump This Week Warned "All Hell Would Break Out" If Hamas Backed Off Of Today's Hostage Release; Torrential Rainfall Brings Mudslides, Debris Flows To L.A.; CNN Interviews Man Swallowed By Whale; NBA's Biggest Stars Gear Up For Big Games This Weekend. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 15, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

WHITFIELD: CNN got a peek at the six-month-old duo born in August to Yin Yang, who became the oldest giant panda on record to give birth. And now look at those twins. They're on the move. They're walking. They're playing and even testing climbing skills. You're about to see. Oh, but so cuddly and cute all the time.

All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The NEWSROOM with Paula Reid starts right now.

PAULA REID, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Reid in Washington. Jessica Dean is off.

We're getting new details on President Trump's plan to end the conflict in Ukraine. Multiple sources telling CNN top administration officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials in Saudi Arabia. That meeting will take place in the coming days. And this as President Trump's special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, makes clear Europe will not be part of those talks.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with more on how the Kremlin is preparing for the negotiations. But first, let's go to CNN's Betsy Klein, live in West Palm Beach, Florida, for more on her new reporting.

Betsy, what more are you learning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, President Trump is dispatching three of his top lieutenants for these talks with senior Russian officials aimed at ending Russia's war in Ukraine, which is just now on the cusp of entering its third or entering its fourth year, I should say. President Trump will dispatch Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff and National Security adviser Mike Waltz to Saudi Arabia for those talks, according to two sources.

One of those sources tells us it will take place in the coming days, but declined to put a specific timeline on that for us. But Matthew Chance, our colleague, has reported that the Kremlin has begun assembling their own set of senior Russian officials who will be part of these talks. He says that it will include top political, intelligence and economic figures, and that includes Kirill Dmitriev. He's that Russian official who was instrumental in the release of an American from Russian custody just earlier this week.

Now, one party who won't be at the negotiating table, according to Keith Kellogg, the special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, is the Europeans. Kellogg said that of course Ukraine will be part of those talks, though he declined to say at what stage. That remains unclear. Now, President Trump himself told reporters that he could be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming days, weeks, months. It depends how these talks progress. And he also indicated that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could be part of those discussions. He's been a key interlocutor for these talks.

But all of this comes amid searing new comments from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, who has really questioned the future of the U.S. role in Ukraine and in Europe. And we are seeing President Trump dramatically reshape the U.S. foreign policy, particularly as it relates to Russia and Ukraine, and attempt to rebuild those relations with Putin -- Paula.

REID: Betsy Klein, thank you.

Now let's turn to Moscow. Fred, of course, Russia's foreign minister says he spoke with the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier today. What more have you heard about that conversation?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Paula. Yes, and the State Department has now confirmed that as well, that the two spoke earlier today. And it really is quite interesting to compare the way that the State Department frames all this and the way the Russians frame all of it. According to the readout from the State Department, they say that Marco Rubio reiterated President Trump's desire to end the conflict in Ukraine and that the two also spoke about bilateral issues. And that's basically it.

The Russian readout is much more detailed, and it certainly seems as though the Russians believe that actually a reset in relations might even be in the cards between Russia and the United States. I want to read you a little bit of this coming from the Russian readout. They say, "The heads of the foreign ministries agreed to maintain a communication channel to address the accumulated issues in Russian- American relations, with the aim of removing one-sided barriers inherited from the previous administration that hinder mutual beneficial trade, economic and investment cooperation."

So that seems to indicate that the Russians believe that not only could negotiations to end the war in Ukraine be in the cards, but that sanctions relief could be in the cards for the Russians in the not- too-distant future as well. The Russians also saying that, of course, the two spoke about ending the conflict in Ukraine. There was one other nuance that I think is quite important as well, because the Russians said that a channel was also agreed upon to try and get the diplomatic institutions of the two countries back up to speed.

[16:05:04]

Of course, we know that the U.S. embassy here in Russia is really working with an emergency staff, very empty building. Very difficult to run that for the Russians. Of course, the same on the U.S. as well. They've had to close several consulates. So the Russians are saying that there is going to be a process on track and in effect to try and get that back up to speed.

So, in general, the Russians believe that right now diplomatically, there's a lot of momentum between themselves and the Trump administration. And they certainly believe that there could be results in the not-too-distant future -- Paula.

REID: Fred Pleitgen, thank you.

Meanwhile, President Zelenskyy declaring America's long standing support for its European allies is over.

CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour spoke to Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference earlier today, where she asked him about the mixed messages coming from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Do you understand what America's position is?

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): Yes.

AMANPOUR: Which is?

ZELENSKYY: I think to my mind they are preparing atmosphere for their dialogue.

AMANPOUR: For their dialogue, which will be?

ZELENSKYY: For the dialogue between Trump and Putin. And I think this is, I mean, it's up to them. But they can discuss everything they want, but not about Ukraine without us. And that's why in this case --

(APPLAUSE)

ZELENSKYY: That's why especially in this case I think it's a little bit dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Joining us now is former U.S. ambassador to NATO, Kurt Volker. He also served as U.S. special representative for Ukraine negotiations during the first Trump administration.

Now, I want to begin with your reaction to this new reporting of talks set to take place in Saudi Arabia in the coming days. This seems to be moving quickly yet there appears to be no clear strategy from the Trump administration this week.

KURT VOLKER, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO NATO: Well, I think it is moving quickly because President Trump is definitely pushing this. He wants to see an end to the fighting in Ukraine as soon as possible. And it's clear that what they're doing is they're not pushing out any particular plan. They are trying to listen to what our European allies are saying, what President Zelenskyy is saying. They want to hear from the Russians. And I think that what President Trump has already done is he's put in place a few mechanisms in which he can apply pressure to Putin, but also offer a way out.

And it's sort of, as President Zelenskyy just said in that clip, he's trying to set the conditions for negotiations, trying to lure the Russians in, if you will, so that we can talk about things. And then to the point about Ukraine being excluded, no one is talking about excluding the Ukrainians. I don't think that there is any one particular table. I think what you have is a series of conversations that President Trump is directing.

He called Putin, he called Zelenskyy. He sent Hegseth to the NATO meeting, sent the vice president to Munich to meet with people here. He's just getting everything in motion.

REID: Well, Trump's special envoy to Russia and Ukraine says Europe will not be part of these talks. Should they have a seat at the negotiating table?

VOLKER: Yes, well, I think I was there when General Kellogg was saying that. He did not say that Europe would not have a seat at the talks. What he said -- he was asked a question first about Ukraine. So, look, no one is going to make decisions without Ukraine. And then asked about Europe. He didn't really have an answer to that. But that's because there isn't a table. There isn't one place where everyone is sitting down and negotiating.

There are Trump phone calls from the Oval Office to Putin. There is Trump calls with Zelenskyy. There are meetings happening in Brussels, meetings happening in Munich. Now we're sending a team to meet with the Russians. So I think it's going to be a lot more of this kind of multiple conversations, trying to coordinate, to come up with a position that may actually be able to create a ceasefire.

REID: What are the key goals the U.S. needs to keep in mind to avoid giving Ukraine the short end of the stick here?

VOLKER: So I think, if I heard your question correctly, it's what is the goal of denying the Ukrainians a seat? I don't think the U.S. is denying the Ukrainians a seat. I think that this is --

REID: No, that's not the question. I know it's -- I can tell it's very loud there. But what does the U.S. need to keep in mind to avoid giving Ukraine short shrift?

VOLKER: I think that's very clear. The Russians will come in with maximalist demands. They will want to limit the size of Ukraine's military. They will want to guarantee of no NATO membership. They're going to want to get territory that they don't currently control. They're going to want everything they can think of and try to get the U.S. chasing after those objectives.

[16:10:03]

We shouldn't go down that road. We should just be very clear, very simple. As President Trump has done so far, which is to say, just stop the fighting, just end the war. I think the real framework here that's going to emerge is a ceasefire where people stop killing then deterrents so we prevent Russia from attacking again. And burden- sharing, where President Trump wants our European allies to pick up more of the load.

I think those will be the three guideposts throughout this process. And it's important to stay focused on that and not go chasing after things that are on Russia's wish list that are designed to make the process fail.

REID: Now, Zelenskyy doesn't want to take NATO membership off the table. In an interview with "Politico," Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Ukraine should get automatic membership to the alliance if Russia ever invades again.

Do you think that would be an effective deterrent?

VOLKER: I think it could be because we know that Putin does not want Ukraine to join NATO. And so if he violates an agreement to stop attacking and to leave Ukraine as a sovereign, independent state, the knowledge that we would bring them in, that would be, I think, an important step.

But I also want to clarify one point. NATO membership is not something that we should be negotiating with Russia. NATO membership is something for Ukraine and NATO countries themselves to decide. So the idea that it's not a part of these negotiations is the right idea. We should not be bringing this up now. But I think a signal to Putin that if he violates his agreement to stop the war, then we would move ahead with that. That's a very strong signal.

REID: Ambassador Volker, thank you.

VOLKER: Thank you.

REID: And coming up, as the administration's chaotic government overhaul is hitting legal roadblocks, a cryptic message from the president. He who saves his country does not violate any law. We'll dig into that. Plus, the hostage exchange that almost didn't happen. The latest on who was released today in that fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

And swallowed by a whale and lived to tell the tale. Hear from the man who almost became lunch for a humpback.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [16:17:02]

REID: We are following stunning developments from the White House as President Trump continues to test the limits of executive power. Just today, a source tells CNN the administration is forcing out senior leadership at the National Archives. Trump has been critical of the agency over its role in the classified documents case against him. And this as the administration zeroes in on probationary workers attempting to terminate thousands across several agencies.

And as many of these plans face legal roadblocks, the president declaring today in a cryptic social media post that he who saves his country does not violate any law.

We're joined by CNN correspondent Rafael Romo.

Rafael, you've been following the latest, including some growing concern at the CDC. What are you hearing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just to give you an idea, Paula, somebody who works at the CDC described the last 24 hours to us as a Valentine's Day massacre. At the CDC alone, about 1300 employees could lose their jobs. We have obtained multiple CDC internal e-mails. Some e-mails sent to CDC workers deal with the terminations, but others target diversity, equity and inclusion programs that the Trump administration is terminating.

One message it's a not so veiled threat against some workers. It reads in part, "We are aware of efforts by some in government to disguise these programs by using coded or imprecise language. There will be no adverse consequences for timely reporting this information. However, failure to report this information within 10 days may result in adverse consequences."

And there's a lot of fear and anxiety, Paula, especially given that one CDC employee who would like to remain unidentified for obvious reasons told me yesterday that this may only be the beginning and that the cuts may be deep and widespread. According to a CNN source, one department being cut is a unit that has investigated public health threats here in the U.S. and abroad, including COVID-19.

We have also learned that at least one member of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency visited the Internal Revenue Service offices in Washington on Thursday as part of his mission to downsize government agencies.

Trump administration officials fired more than 300 staffers Thursday night at the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency tasked with managing the nation's nuclear stockpile, although the terminations were rescinded after the full scope of their mission became clear.

For obvious reasons, many federal employees we got in touch with are afraid to speak on camera about what they're going through, but earlier we had a chance to speak with someone who has already received the fork in the road e-mail and wanted to make clear that she was talking to us in a personal capacity, and not on behalf of any agency or union.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: When you hear statements from both President Trump and Elon Musk saying that the federal government is full of waste, is full of fraud, that it needs to be trimmed down, what comes to mind?

[16:20:11]

MT SNYDER, FEDERAL EMPLOYEE: Well, so I was one of many workers who received an e-mail from the Office of Personnel Management that said resign now or get fired later. That's not a choice. That's a threat. That's a coup. That's a hostile takeover of the government by billionaires.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Paula, on Thursday, Elon Musk defended his actions by saying that, quote, "The people voted for major government reform. And that's what people are going to get."

Now back to you.

REID: Rafael Romo, thank you.

And now to turmoil at the Justice Department. We're learning federal prosecutors are moving to drop corruption charges against New York City's mayor at the directive of the Justice Department. And this comes after multiple prosecutors out of New York and Washington resigned in protest.

Now for more, we're joined by Tim Parlatore, who was previously one of Trump's criminal attorneys and also with us, CNN political commentator Xochitl Hinojosa, a veteran of the Department of Justice, where she served as a spokesperson for Attorney General Merrick Garland.

It's great to have you both here. I've worked with both of you over the past few years. And you both have different experiences with the Justice Department during the Biden administration.

Tim, let's start with you. All right. I want to get your reaction to Trump's most recent post declaring that he who saves his country does not violate any law. If you were still his lawyer, he brings that to you, what is your reaction?

TIM PARLATORE, FORMER ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: Well, you know, one of the things that President Trump does so well is he puts out these types of statements that can be interpreted multiple ways. And, you know, of course people are going to try and interpret that as, you know, some kind of a justification. But it also could be, you know, consistent with things he's been saying over the past several days about these judges that are issuing injunctions that, you know, that it is not against the law to exercise the executive power as he has. And so you know, in exercising executive power to save the country,

that's not against the law. So it will be interesting to see, you know, what he actually means instead of just letting everybody go crazy, trying to figure out what he means.

REID: Xochitl, what do you think he means?

PARLATORE: I think it probably means exactly that.

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think he's trying to send a signal.

REID: Xochitl, what do you think he means?

HINOJOSA: Well, I think he is trying to send this signal to the federal government more broadly, that they should be implementing the policies that he wants in place. And as you know, Paula, very well, career employees at the Justice Department don't serve on behalf of the president. They actually swore an oath to the Constitution. And that is a very difficult pill to swallow whenever you are Donald Trump and you are hoping that the Justice Department will do exactly what you want when you want.

And that is why, over the last week, we saw mass resignations because it was clear that the White House was attempting to tell political leadership at the Justice Department exactly what to do. And so I think this is an ongoing thing that you've not only seen at the Justice Department, but throughout the entire federal government, where the White House is trying to implement certain policies that don't necessarily fit well within or go by the rules of that agency.

And therefore, you are seeing not only people leave these federal agencies, resign like as in the Department of Justice, but you're also seeing people take, you know, potentially the opportunity to resign and to get paid out for the next few months.

REID: And I want to note that several of these resignations, these were not just career people. At least one of these, the most prominent, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, was someone that the Trump team had had handpicked, and she refused to do this and stepped down.

But, Xochitl, before we turn to the Mayor Adams case, in the memo that Emil Bove sent declaring that this case needed to be dropped, he suggested, as Adams has as well, that he was only charged, that Adams only faced criminal charges because he criticized the Biden administration's immigration policy. You were at the Justice Department at that time. What is your response to that?

HINOJOSA: That is absolutely false. I think that, as you have seen in Danielle Sassoon's letter, she mentioned that the political leadership of the Justice Department and specifically the U.S. attorney at the time, was not necessarily involved in the decision-making. It was career professionals who recommended the charges against Mayor Adams. And when that happens, which normally happens with these types of cases, whether it is coming from 10 career Justice Department lawyers or whether it's coming from a U.S. attorney's office, it is typical practice for charges involving a elected official to be recommended by career professionals and then briefed up to whoever is in charge in terms of political leadership, whether the U.S. attorney or the deputy attorney general's office.

It is not typical for the attorney general or the political leadership of the department to make those decisions. It is normally the career professionals.

[16:25:08]

REID: Now, Tim, as you know, it's a lot of former Trump criminal lawyers advising him right now at the Justice Department. But if he asked your opinion on this Adams deal, it's laid out in this memo right here. They're saying we're going to drop the case against Adams so he can help us with immigration. But this case is going to hang over him until after the election. It can be refiled. There's also a footnote insisting that even if this looks like a quid pro quo, it is not.

I mean, what is your assessment of this deal?

PARLATORE: I mean, I think it's interesting messaging that they're putting out here. But the reality is, you know, that this case, you know, stinks, you know, right from the beginning. As she just said, yes, it's brought by a career prosecutors. You have to remember what the definition of a career prosecutor is. That's somebody who gets ahead by putting people in jail. The more people and the bigger names they put in jail, the better promotions they get.

And so, yes, career prosecutors are the ones that brought this case. It's a case where, if you read the indictment from its face, it's clearly not a good indictment. They're saying that he was bribed to approve a building deal in Manhattan when he was the Brooklyn Borough president. So right there, it's -- it is something that stank right from the beginning. It was, you know, something that the attorney general and the higher political leadership allowed to go forward at a time when it really did look like it has the appearance of impropriety.

And so I think it does make sense to be dismissing this case. You know, might it be, you know, something where they have to massage the messaging because of this whole appearance of a quid pro quo, perhaps. But the reality is this is a case that should have been dismissed right from the beginning.

REID: Xochitl, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to that. But also, you know, you've been inside the Justice Department. You've had to craft messages, even on controversial decisions. What is your assessment of this messaging?

HINOJOSA: Well, my assessment is I'm not the attorney on this panel, but I -- my understanding is you normally don't dismiss charges against someone for political purposes. That is just the reality. And if I were in the Office of Public Affairs right now, I would be extremely angry because this is something that, you know, is clearly political. It was handled poorly. You have mass resignations.

You have a workforce within the Department of Justice and U.S. attorneys' offices who are unhappy, who are frightened for their jobs. And so I think morale over all at the Justice Department is extremely low.

In terms of what the other panelist just said right now is completely false. One of the things that I will tell you about the brave men and women in the Public Integrity Section is they're looking to prosecute people left and right. There are many times where they drop charges, or sorry, not where they drop charges, where they do not move forward with charges. And many of those times we don't see those because we don't make those investigations public.

Paula, you have reported before and has -- and other reporters as well, that, for example, they do not pursue charges against Congressman Matt Gaetz. So there are plenty of examples where the Public Integrity Section does not bring charges for a number of reasons. And again, it is unprecedented, though, to drop charges once charges have been filed.

REID: All right. We have to leave it there. Xochitl Hinojosa and Tim Parlatore, thank you so much.

Coming up, Hamas releasing three more hostages as part of the ceasefire deal, including one Israeli-American. We have the moment he was reunited with his wife.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:04]

REID: Today, Hamas released three more hostages as part of the ceasefire deal with Israel, including one Israeli-American.

Here's the moment Sagui Dekel-Chen reunited with his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CRYING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: In return, Israel released 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. The majority have been returned to Gaza, but 24 have been exiled to Egypt, according to state media.

Disputes this week threatened to derail the ceasefire. Another 14 hostages are expected to be released under phase one of the deal. The Israeli government says eight of that group are deceased.

Now former State Department Middle East negotiator, Aaron David Miller, joins us now.

Aaron, what is your reaction to the hostage release we saw today?

DAVID AARON MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: You know, after surviving what was a significant possibility to break down of this three phase agreement, the mediators clearly worked out a deal that returned the agreement and allowed each side, the Israelis and Hamas, to fulfill their requirements.

I'm afraid, Paula, that as we approach next week, three additional Israelis for an asymmetrical number of Palestinians and -- but the week after, which is the final phase of the agreement, three more Israelis and the return of eight Israelis who are not alive.

We're going to, I think, enter a real crisis period, because phase two of this agreement, under conditions I cannot foresee at -- at the moment, is not going to be implemented.

REID: Now, President Trump warned this week that if the hostage release didn't go smoothly on the Hamas side, that, quote, "all hell is going to break out." Do you think that his comments have any impact, really, on Hamas?

[16:35:06]

MILLER: I don't. I think that they -- they may initially, before the president was inaugurated, talked about the importance of getting this deal done.

It probably was in the interest of Hamas to see the first phase completed, move on to the second. And clearly, Benjamin Netanyahu responded and was responsive to -- to what the president elect, and now the president, wants.

But his comments subsequently releasing all of the hostages by noon today, talking about depopulating Gaza and either voluntarily or forcing the removal of, what, using the president's own figures, 1.7, 1.8 million Palestinians.

Those comments are not only not helpful, I think they -- they put in, to some respect, the viability of this agreement at risk. And they've undermined clearly also relations with Egypt and Jordan who really don't know how to respond to the president's proposal.

REID: Now, following Trump's meeting with the Jordanian king, he doubled down on his plan of permanently relocating Palestinians. Do you think that plan is realistic?

MILLER: I think it's tethered to a galaxy far, far away, not to the realities back here on planet earth.

That -- the enunciation of that plan has tethered the United States and its credibility to an idea that represents a -- according to some forced transfer or worse.

It's validated the fantasies of the Israeli right wing. It's undermined relations with Jordan and Egypt, two of Israels treaty obligation partners.

And frankly, I think it sent a terrible signal to President Xi and President Putin that if you want to, quote, unquote, "take territory," you give a press conference, you vow to take it without any justification or legitimate reasons for doing so.

No. All in all, I think this was extremely unhelpful. It may -- it may present the Arab states to come up with a plan of their own for Gaza.

But the centerpiece of that plan is not going to be the forced removal of almost two million people, however dismal their current circumstances are -- and they are horrible -- out of Gaza.

REID: Well, let me follow up on that, because, of course, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in the Middle East. He's making stops in Israel, UAE, Saudi Arabia.

Do you think he's going to be focused on trying to convince Arab countries to go along with Trump's plan for Gaza? Do you think that's how he might try to use some of this time?

MILLER: I do, Paula, because, in this administration, currency -- excuse me, loyalty is the currency of the realm. Secretaries of state, and I think Marco Rubio will have to figure out a way to become a consequential secretary of state.

That's going to mean a couple things. It's going to mean convincing the president that he and he alone is the authoritative voice below the president when it comes to foreign policy.

And it's also going to mean -- I worked for half a dozen secretaries of state. The most consequential ones, Paula, were able not just -- loyalty is important. It's necessary, but not sufficient.

You've got to be able to tell the boss, tell the president of the United States when something is not working. And I think that's going to be an extremely tough lift for Marco Rubio.

REID: Aaron David Miller, thank you.

MILLER: Thank you, Paula.

REID: And still ahead, southern California digging out from under mud. Roads and cars are buried after deadly fires and intense rain. We're on the ground next.

[16:38:58]

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:39]

REID: As California continues to recover from last month's devastating wildfires, officials are cleaning up after heavy rain this week caused mudslides in the same areas that we're burned.

CNN's Julia Vargas joins us now.

Julia, what more are you learning?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the rains are gone but the work is very much still ongoing, Paula. We are on the Pacific Coast Highway. This is an area that was heavily affected by the Palisades Fire.

So just behind me here, these are the hills that burned in that fire. And the water just rushed down here. This is a small creek that Cal Fire told us was overflowing with mud.

All of this debris coming over, taking over the Pacific Coast Highway and across the street, through one of the most iconic restaurants here, Dukes in Malibu, going through the restaurant and into the ocean. This is just unprecedented in this area.

The firefighters here that are still working to clean up one of the businesses are saying around 10 different trucks will be needed to clean this one woman's business.

This is a flower shop that you see being cleaned up here, a local businesswoman, who we spoke to a little earlier because we got here just as she was seeing her business for the first time, Paula.

[16:45:01]

And it's remarkable because a lot of places here ended up going up in flames in the Palisades Fire. This business was able to make it. And now another wave of natural disasters with the mudslides.

Take a listen to what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNN BEALER, MALIBU BUSINESS OWNER: It feels pretty amazing, I must tell you. Very amazing.

JONES: You feel taken care of?

BEALER: I do. I do. I feel very honored. Very honored.

And once again, I love the community of Malibu, the very special people here. It's a wonderful community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And that is the spirit that we've been hearing from people that live in this community and that love it so much.

They're saying that regardless of all of these challenges that are being -- that are being thrown at them, Paula, they are committed to rebuilding. But it is a lot for this community to take. Now, all of this water, all of this debris needs to go somewhere.

Across the street here, this is the Pacific Ocean. That is where all of this debris is being pushed into. Firefighters have been pushing that into the Pacific Ocean.

And that raises yet another question, another challenge for Californians to start thinking about, which is all of this has been mixed with the ash and debris from the fires that officials have been warning could be toxic.

So another question going forward is, what is -- what will be the effects of - the long-term effects of all of this going into the ocean and the soil.

And for the folks that are here working, putting their hands in and cleaning all this up for this community to eventually come together and heal.

REID: Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

And you can call it the ultimate big gulp. A 24-year-old man was kayaking off the coast of Chile last week when a humpback whale swallowed him and then spit him out.

It was all caught on camera by the kayaker's father. Now it only lasted a few moments before the whale spat him out.

CNN's Erin Burnett interviewed the kayaker, Adrian. Here's what he had to say.

ADRIAN SIMANCAS, KAYAKER SWALLOWED BY WHALE: It was just a second but it felt like more time because I was thinking a lot of stuff. I remember about Pinocchio, everyone saying that Pinocchio, Pinocchio and Geppetto.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

SIMANCAS: And, yes, it was surprising. I -- I wasn't expecting that at all. So, at first, I thought that I would die because there's nothing I can do if I'm inside the mouth of a giant fish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: Surprising, indeed. Well, the kayaker and his father were able to paddle away safely. And despite this nightmare-inducing incident, both of them say they would go kayaking again.

Definitely not. Definitely would not go back out there.

Coming up, it's NBA all-star weekend in the Bay Area. A live report from San Francisco is next.

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[16:52:49] REID: The 2025 NBA all-star weekend is underway in the Bay Area. Fans will get a little something new this year with a more competitive tournament format, as well as a series of other challenges to test the players skills.

CNN's Andy Scholes is joining us from San Francisco.

Andy, what can fans expect from this star-studded weekend?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, Paula, we're inside the Chase Center where we're going to get the three point dunk contest a little later tonight on TNT.

But as you mentioned, we're hoping for a more competitive all-star game on Sunday because they've got that new format. The all-stars were drafted on to three different teams by Shaq, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley.

And then, a fourth team that won the rising stars last night is going to compete in a mini tournament on Sunday. So again, hopefully, we get a little more competitiveness in that little mini tournament that we're going to have.

But this is the 11th all-star selection for Steph Curry this year, so he is basically the unofficial host of all-star weekend. And you know, yesterday, he had a court dedication in Oakland. It's the 20th court that his Curry brand has refurbished.

And that was actually at the high school where Bill Russell went to high school. And they named the court after him, which was pretty cool.

But I got the chance to catch up with Steph at the high school. And I asked him, just how is it having the all-star game here in the Bay Area for the first time since the year 2000?

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STEPH CURRY, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS GUARD: I'm super excited. It's kind of weird though, because, usually, when you finish the last game before the break, you're on a plane somewhere to a different city and, you know, it's a busy week. But yes, it's not home.

And here it's everything's familiar. Being able to do activations here in Oakland. I know there's a lot of stuff going on in the city as well in San Francisco.

So bringing the Bay together to shine a light on the entire Bay and celebrate all of what basketball has done. And, you know, not only here in the states, internationally. Like everything about it for me is kind of a full circle, reflective moment. And I'm trying to take it all in.

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SCHOLES: Yes. Now Steph is going to be playing on Shaq's team on Sunday, and he's also alongside LeBron and Kevin Durant. They call him Shaq's O.G.'s because they've got basically the Olympic team and the veterans playing together on that squad.

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They're going to be taking on the team that won the rising stars in their first game on Sunday.

And what a -- what a weekend this has turned out to be for Stephon Castle of the Spurs, the rookie. He had quite the performance in the rising stars games.

He ended up winning and now he's going to get to play on Sunday. He's also competing in the dunk contest here tonight at the Chase Center.

Now in the three-point contest, we could see some history. Damian Lillard is going for the three-peat in the three-point contest.

And I caught up with Dame, and I asked him, you know, what is that like going for the three-peat where he grew up in the Bay Area.

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DAMIAN LILLARD, MILWAUKEE BUCKS GUARD: I'm excited to have the opportunity to do it. Period. You know, just to join that company.

But to be able to do it here, I feel like that's a storybook opportunity, you know, to be able to be on that list of people, the three-peat in such a great competition. And to do it at home is perfect.

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SCHOLES: Yes, so, Paula, Damian Lillard is going for the three-peat and the three-point contest.

We also could see history as Mac McClung tries to become the first player ever to win three straight dunk contests. Should be a fun night here in San Francisco.

REID: Andy Scholes, thank you.

And still ahead, a judge rules Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency can keep access to sensitive records at some agencies while continuing to block payment systems at the treasury. We'll break all that down ahead.

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