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U.S.-Russia Talks To Take Place In Saudi Arabia Tuesday; Netanyahu Vows To "Finish the Job Against Iran" With U.S. Support; Storm Causes Flooding Across Parts Of West Virginia; UnitedHealthcare CEO Shooting Suspect Thanks People For Fan Mail; White House Bans AP Indefinitely Over The Use Of Gulf Of Mexico; Kentucky Refugees, Support Agencies Reeling Impacts Of Trump Crackdown; New Mini Tournament For All-Star Game. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired February 16, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:24]

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

And we are learning new details about planned talks between the U.S. and Russia. Multiple sources telling CNN the peace talks to end the conflict in Ukraine will take place on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. Three top White House officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials. But Ukraine, the country whose future will be determined by these talks, will not be there. Instead, U.S. special envoy to Russia and Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg, says dual negotiations will be taking place in Kyiv this coming week.

CNN international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has more details from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The Russians remain very optimistic as far as those talks are concerned that are set to take place in Saudi Arabia this coming week between Russia and the United States to try and hammer out an agreement to end the war in Ukraine. But the Russians seem to believe that in general relations between Russia and the United States could go into a new era and get a completely new dynamic.

The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, on Sunday said that he believes in the future there is going to be dialogue between the United States and Russia rather than confrontation under the Trump administration, and that also the two administrations will be speaking about peace, as he put it, in the future. Dmitry Peskov also said that he believes that President Trump's views on Russia should be endorsed by every sound minded person, as he put it.

So clearly, the Russians certainly putting a lot of stake into President Trump and what he's done so far in trying to get U.S. Russian relations back on track.

Now, the Russians, though, have made no secret of the fact that they believe that negotiations to end the war in Ukraine certainly won't be easy. They have said that they don't want to negotiate, for instance, about that pocket that the Ukrainians control on Russian territory in the Kursk region. They say they want to take that territory back. And then, of course, there is the question of all the territory that the Russians currently occupy on the Ukrainian side of the border.

At the same time, the Russians also after a phone call between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday, in a readout, seemed to indicate that all of this could be a larger reset between these two nations. They said that the secretary of state and the Russian foreign minister spoke not only about a possible agreement to end the war in Ukraine, but possible that there could also be talks about, for instance, sanctions relief and economic cooperation between the United States and Russia in the future.

So clearly, there's a lot of dynamic right now here in politico Moscow, and certainly a lot of optimism that Russia could be in a very good place with the United States fairly soon.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: Fred Pleitgen, thank you for that report.

Joining me now to discuss this, CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty.

Thank you for being here. I want to ask, what do you see as the most important issue for the U.S. to raise during these talks with Russia in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, ultimately, I think the most important thing overall is long term security. I mean, they eventually will probably come up with some sort of immediate, ceasefire or whatever you want to call it. But nobody really believes that the ceasefire is going to last until you know where you're going after the ceasefire, or at least during the ceasefire because the question is really, would Russia be able to come back after some type of period and perhaps attack Ukraine again, or as some of the countries in the region believe or fear that they might actually, you know, try to invade or move into another country in the region.

Now, the Russians say we have no intention, but still this really is a question, you know, short term. And obviously, Paula, right now there's a lot of short term going on. I mean, the pace of this is very quick. There aren't a lot of details, but the details have to be clear if you're going to have long term security.

REID: What do you make of the fact that Ukraine will not be present at these talks in Saudi Arabia, but instead will be part of dual negotiations in Kyiv?

DOUGHERTY: I think if you talk to President Zelenskyy probably off the record, he would be very concerned. I think the Ukrainians, there's no question, feel that they are being at least put in second place at this point because a lot of the immediate dialogue is between the United States and Russia, and specifically between Putin and Trump.

[19:05:13]

And Zelenskyy is feeling that he is somehow, you know, the second thought in the administration, not the first. So that is a problem. But he does not have at this point a really strong negotiating position. You know, the war has been going very poorly at this point, or at least it's kind of in a situation of stasis and so, you know, what does he do? He has to make the best of a bad situation. And he was counting originally on the United States to really, you know, stand by them.

Now, the administration, there are a lot of, you know, as you can see, I'm saying now, but, because there are a lot of sides to this, but the administration would say, no, no, they will be part of this, don't worry. But I think the Ukrainians are worried. When do they come into the negotiations? When everything is already on the table and they don't get a way to define where everything is going?

REID: Well, Trump's special envoy to Russia and Ukraine says there will need to be concessions from Russia. What do you think that could look like?

DOUGHERTY: I am not quite sure what that would be. At this point it appears in public statements, at least initially by the administration and especially administration officials, Secretary Hegseth, the defense secretary, especially, that Russia is going to get a promise of no NATO membership for Ukraine. It will probably also get territorial concessions, meaning the territory that it has taken from Ukraine will remain under Russian control.

They are looking at economic sanctions. You just mentioned that, that it would be huge for Russia to get a lot of those economic sanctions rolled back, but so far, I truly don't see a lot that Russia is being asked to give at this point. That said, there aren't a lot of specific concrete, details of what we're talking about. Theres a lot of talk. Weve got to end it and end it quickly. But exactly how is still a big question.

REID: Well, European leaders will be holding an emergency summit tomorrow in response to the U.S. leaving them out from these peace talks. How do you think the Kremlin views this push from Europe to unify without the support of the U.S.?

DOUGHERTY: Oh, well, I mean, if you look at the Russian media, they're very happy about this because they feel that the Europeans are panicking, that the Europeans aren't quite sure. They feel that they, too, are being, let's see, left out of the initial negotiations or discussions, which they are. And they also feel that they are the people who will be called upon, the Europeans, to carry out some type of ceasefire.

So they are worried as well. And if Europe is worried and they are concerned about the United States and they're trying to get their act together and be unified, that is exactly where Vladimir Putin wants them. He wants them divided, confused and worried. And so right now, I think Putin probably feels very good about this. You can just hear in Fred's report, the quote from the Kremlin, they're pretty happy about all this.

REID: Before I let you go, today marks one year since the death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny. His family gathered at his grave earlier today. I want to play a clip of one of the last interviews he gave for the CNN film documentary "NAVALNY."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXEY NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: My message for the situation when I'm killed is very simple. Not give up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do me a favor. Answer this one in Russian.

NAVALNY: (Speaking in foreign language)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

REID: What is the state of opposition in Russia right now, Jill?

DOUGHERTY: Well, they are completely excluded from any type of public participation in Russia at this point. Nobody can go on the streets to protest, although there were lines for the grave of Alexey Navalny in Moscow today, and that, I think, is significant.

[19:10:03]

But the problem with the opposition right now is they don't really have a leader who is as strong and charismatic as Navalny was. And, you know, he is gone. His wife, valiantly, you know, speaks around the world. But she's not Navalny. And so I think at this point, the, you know, the opposition would really like to have somebody with that, you know, the sheer political force and public influence that he had. But there really is no one at this point. So it's a -- I would say a sad day on many levels for the opposition.

REID: Jill, thank you so much for joining us.

And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to, quote, "finish the job" against Iran with the support of President Trump. His comments came during a news conference with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem. Rubio linking Iran to the major threats in the Middle East, blaming Tehran for troubles with Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iraq. The secretary of State warned there must never be a nuclear Iran.

CNN's Nic Robertson has more from Jerusalem.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Paula, that joint press conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Secretary of State Marco Rubio very clear the two countries in lockstep. And on Iran absolutely joined up in their thinking. The prime minister of Israel saying very clearly, the ayatollahs cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon. Marco Rubio doubling down on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The common theme in all of these challenges is Iran. It is the single greatest source of instability in the region. Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilizing activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people who call this region home is Iran. And by Iran, I mean the ayatollahs. By Iran, I mean its regime, a regime who, by the way, its people don't support. The people of Iran are victims of that regime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: They also spoke about Syria, about Lebanon, that neither of those two countries would be allowed to have a footing or a place for forces that would target Israel's security. And on Hamas and Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu saying the United States, Israel in lockstep and that Hamas could be no more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I want to assure everyone who's now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us. We have a common strategy, and we can't always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one of them.

Israel is determined to achieve all the war objectives we set after the horrific attack on October 7th, the worst attack on Jews since the holocaust. We will eliminate Hamas's military capability and its political rule in Gaza. We will bring all our hostages home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And on that key issue in what happens next in Gaza, Prime Minister Netanyahu sending his envoys to Egypt to continue negotiations about phase one. The first six weeks of the hostage ceasefire deal.

On Monday, he's meeting with his security cabinet, where he says they will decide their next moves on the all-important and much tougher phase two that could lead to an end in the war. After that security cabinet meeting, he said he would give his negotiating team instructions about phase two -- Paula.

REID: Nic Robertson, thank you.

And more than a thousand people have been rescued from fast moving and dangerous flood waters in Kentucky, one of several states getting slammed by a deadly winter storm.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:18:49]

REID: New developments this evening after a powerful, deadly storm caused heavy rain and flooding in the eastern U.S. At least nine people are dead, with eight of the deaths in Kentucky. The death toll is expected to rise. Water rescues are continuing tonight, with more than 1,000 people rescued so far. Millions remain under flood alerts across the eastern part of the U.S. and new video just in shows a semitruck under water after severe flooding in western Virginia. You can see homes almost completely submerged.

CNN's Danny Freeman is in Virginia with more on the situation there.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an incredibly busy day in Virginia. We're here right now in Salem, Virginia. It's just outside of Roanoke, and this is the Roanoke River behind me. It has receded a little bit, which is the good news. But earlier, especially overnight hours between Saturday and Sunday, it was risen here about my hip level. A local person that I spoke with said that it was the highest that he had ever seen this river in this park area.

Just goes to show you just how impactful and intense this flooding across these parts of Virginia were. Now, while Salem was relatively lucky and unhurt, other parts of Virginia, though, really feeling the impact.

[19:20:02]

Today, on Sunday afternoon, Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia issued, or rather I should say, submitted a request for an expedited major disaster declaration. It was for a number of reasons, partly because the governor's office says at the peak of these storms, over 200,000 customers were without power. Just today there were 150 swift water rescues and two communities to the west of where we are right now faced catastrophic and historic flooding.

So the impact of these storms really intensely felt here in Virginia. As we're getting into the evening hours, the temperature is dropping. Like I said, thankfully some of the water levels are dropping as well. But local officials and state officials really encouraging the public, if you do not have to be out on the roads, especially in some of these areas impacted by those flooding, just don't go out because it's not worth risking your life as first responders and cleanup crews are waiting for this flooding to subside -- Paula.

REID: Danny Freeman, thank you.

And ahead, how the Trump administration is leveraging the power of X as his rapid fire efforts to reshape the government forge ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:34]

REID: Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan is breaking his silence. His defense team has set up a Web site where he thanked people for their letters of support he's received. Also, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terror charges. He's yet to enter a plea on his federal murder charges.

Now, attorney and legal commentator Areva Martin joins us now.

Areva, look, this is always fascinating to me, right? Suspects of really gruesome crime that kind of attract a fan base in the general public. Do you think, though, this Luigi Mangione is a little bit different even than, you know, other notorious criminals that we know who have attracted this kind of attention?

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, it's very different, Paul, in the sense that his attorneys are leaning into what we'll call his celebrity status. I actually went to the Web site that was set up for Mangione, and not only is his statement there, you said he broke his silence, his statement thanking his fans for reaching to him, telling the public that he's received letters and mail from around the world.

But there's also a section on his Web site, frequently asked questions, where the lawyers actually go through and answer questions that people may have about the status of his case. They actually have updates in terms of what's happening legally with the case. The case is pending in New York, Pennsylvania, and the federal court case. And then, of course, there's an opportunity to donate on this Web site.

So not only is it an opportunity and provides a space for Mangione to talk to the public but it also is an opportunity for people to donate. And apparently he's already raised several hundred thousands of dollars.

REID: That is wild. And of course, he's represented by probably the best defense attorney in the state of New York, Karen Friedman Agnifilo. How do you think, though, these statements, this Web site could impact his case?

MARTIN: Well, let's be clear. The evidence against him is incredible. He engaged in a brazen act of violence. He shot Brian Thompson, this UnitedHealth CEO, in broad daylight in, you know, on the busy streets of New York. He has a manifesto of sorts that was found. There's DNA that was found also on items that he touched as he was engaged in this violent act. So even though there's been this outpouring, this sickening, we should call it, Paula, outpouring of support for this criminal, the facts still remain that his acts have been -- the evidence regarding his acts are pretty powerful.

REID: And here we're seeing that really just unprecedented perp walk that they did in New York, something that, of course, his defense attorney has spoken out against, but also part of what has contributed to his fame.

All right. Areva Martin, thank you.

And the Associated Press is now banned from the Oval Office and Air Force One indefinitely for continuing to call the body of water south of Louisiana, the Gulf of Mexico even though President Trump signed an order changing the name to the Gulf of America. The Associated Press is, of course, one of the world's biggest news organizations. The White House says it can ignore the name change, but it will no longer have unfettered access.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter joins us now.

Brian, I want to note here that while the Associated Press reporters are banned, its photographers are not. What do you make of that?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: The notable part of this story, but it gets to something that many people had feared at the start of the Trump presidency, his second term, and now were actually seeing happen. Real restrictions on the press. And the AP is notable because the AP provides information to hundreds and actually thousands of other news outlets around the world.

It serves in the so-called press pool on a daily basis. It is supposed to track the comings and goings of the president every single day. And now it's being blocked from doing so because it can't travel with the president. So I expect the AP will file legal action in the days to come to try to get this reversed. But in the meantime, this is part of a broader administration effort against the media, removing some outlets from the Pentagon, for example, having FCC investigations into several news outlets.

We are seeing a variety of actions to try to downgrade the so-called traditional media and promote MAGA media outlets.

REID: And Trump has previously criticized the Biden administration for censoring free speech. But isn't that what the Trump administration is doing here by banning the Associated Press from key spaces they need to be in to cover the president, Air Force One, the Oval Office.

[19:30:15]

STELTER: Yes, instead of thinking about -- yes, yes, it's not about free speech, it is about favored speech versus disfavored speech and that's what we've seen sometimes in the past from Democratic administrations, and so what we are seeing now from an Republican administration. It is not really about free speech, it is about speech that is favored versus disfavored.

And in the case of the president now, it is kind of like old speak versus news speak, to borrow a phrase from George Orwell's "1984." He wants to do away with old speak. He wants to rid the word transgender, for example. He wants to get rid of the word woke.

Trump literally said earlier this week, "There is no more woke in this country." Woke is an idea. It is a concept. It is a word. It is an idea with free speech predicates. So the point is, he is trying to erase certain language, and he is trying to promote and favor other language.

I think this Gulf of Mexico versus Gulf of America fight is related to that wider weaponization of language. REID: That's a great point. And of course, we are seeing something similar at The Pentagon, which has booted traditional media organizations from its workspace in favor of the smaller, pro-Trump conservative outlets. This is exactly what you are talking about, favored speech.

Are you concerned, though, that its spreading beyond the White House?

STELTER: I think it is in some cases, causing great reporting to happen outside the agencies, outside the press briefing rooms. You know, I've been watching this weekend, small outlets in Arizona covering immigration, impacts of deportations. Big outlets in Washington and beyond, covering the human toll of these government layoffs.

A lot of great journalism can and is happening without access to Trump or access to the Pentagon, or access to other key places. In the case of the Pentagon, by the way, it is about, you know, work space in the Pentagon. In the case of the White House and the AP, the AP is keeping its credentials. So the Trump administration is figuring out ways to punish outlets that it doesn't like without being accused -- without actually taking away credentials that may make the Associated Press legal challenge more difficult. We will find out in the days or weeks to come.

REID: And, Brian, as you've reported, President Trump's second term, it has been made for TV and social media. It has been a spectacle. I don't think people realize just how much attention Trump pays to the TV aspect.

I've been in rooms where he will tell a cameraman, no, you move to the other end of the table. I mean, he is conscious of his angles and really is the consummate producer in chief. We've seen a flurry of Oval Office press events a few days ago, he gave that grand patriotic welcome to Marc Fogel, the American teacher who was wrongfully detained in Russia.

What's the overall strategy here? What is he hoping to achieve?

STELTER: Right. Almost everything he is doing makes sense if you view this as a made for TV and a made for X presidency. Yes, trump has his own social media platform, Truth Social. But all the action when it comes to Trump world is on X right now.

His Cabinet secretaries, his officials using X to push a message. His critics would say pushing propaganda, showing what they're doing. It is not just enough to implement these executive orders or to implement new policies, it has to be shown. It is being shown day by day by day, on TV and on X.

Frankly, I think some Democrats, some Biden aides, they probably could learn a thing or two from the media strategy that's underway. It is a media manipulation that's underway, and it has proven to be quite effective in the first few weeks. It is as much for social media as it is for TV, but it is happening on parallel tracks. And the most recent example, earlier today, the president going to the Daytona 500, you know, going on a lap around the track. Those kind of images, those kinds of spectacles, those are seen far and wide. And they also reach people who might not be paying attention to the news every hour of every day.

So I think we are going to continue to see President Trump try to appeal to folks by going to the Super Bowl, by going to the Daytona 500 to reach people in nontraditional ways.

REID: Yes, he is just like us, right? Going to all these events. But it is an important point, I think you make. And I want to echo it, we do hear from the leader of the free world roughly once a day, sometimes multiple times a day. He goes, he answers questions.

And our challenge is, of course, to keep him honest and accurate and accountable in those answers. But the access to the leader of the free world when he is in the White House, I mean, it is unlike any other president we've ever seen.

Lastly, though, we are going to pivot a little, tonight is the 50th anniversary episode of "Saturday Night Live." It is expected to be a star-studded event. What are you most looking forward to?

STELTER: Yes, personally, I cannot wait to see some of the stars from the 80s, the 90s, the 2000, you know, the Tina Feys, you know, all of these alums who are coming back for skits and performances and appearances and surprises during this SNL reunion.

It also occurs to me what -- you know, SNL has been around 50 years. People have enjoyed criticizing it for as long as it has been on the air. People always joke about SNL being better decades earlier, but just try to think in this fragmented media environment, it is all about TikTok. What 50 years from now that's born this year will still exist, you know? Will there be anything? Will there be anything as lasting with the kind of impact as SNL?

[19:35:06]

It is an interesting question, but it is remarkable to me that an institution like SNL has been able to continue to innovate for so many years.

REID: It's a great point. I personally am hoping that we hear a little more cowbell. We will see if they resurrect that one.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much for joining us.

STELTER: Good to see you.

REID: We will have more when we come back.

STELTER: Thanks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:07]

REID: Many immigrants facing fear and uncertainty as the Trump administration targets their communities, even some of those who have been living in the US legally. Migrants with Temporary Protective Status, incoming refuges and the organizations who support them are all trying to find a way forward.

Here is CNN's Isabel Rosales reporting from Kentucky.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you arrived in Louisville, how did you arrive?

SEMSUDIN HASELJIC, PROGRAM LEADER, KENTUCKY REFUGEE MINISTRIES: Imagine me without prosthetics, on a stretcher, and in wheelchair.

ROSALES (voice over): A war injured refugee for two decades now, Semsudin Haseljic's life work has been to help others like him at Kentucky Refugee Ministries.

A flurry of executive orders targeting immigration signed in one of Donald Trump's first acts as president. One of them indefinitely suspending refugee admissions, a legal and vigorously vetted pathway and cancelling flights that were already booked.

HASELJIC: We did not imagine a hard stop on refugee arrivals.

ROSALES (voice over): A whiplash moment for resettlement agencies nationwide. And especially heartfelt in Kentucky, which ranks top five in the nation per capita in refugee arrivals. The order claims the US can't absorb large numbers of refugees without compromising the resources, safety, and security of Americans.

HASELJIC: The administration's claim that refugees, you know, are putting burden on the communities and everything, that's --

ROSALES: What do you say to that?

HASELJIC: That's totally not true because our refugees are becoming self-sufficient.

ROSALES: Trump says it's also a matter of National Security.

HASELJIC: Refugees are the most vetted population that comes to the United States.

ROSALES (voice over): And the order doesn't stop there. Federal funding to aid refugees already here is frozen. Money that would cover costs for food, rent, English classes, and employment services until refugees could stand on their own.

Janvier Ndagijimana family barely made the cut, arriving just six days before Trump took office. Through a translator, he tells me he spent 30 years living in refugee camps, forced to escape his homeland of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he insists, he would have died from war and violence.

ROSALES: When you heard about these executive orders, did you cry as a family?

(JANVIER NDAGIJIMANA speaking in foreign language.)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said he felt so much pain in him when he came to learn that.

ROSALES (voice over): It's the pain of a father separated from his children. Two of them adults, had their tickets booked for this month, abruptly cancelled.

(JACK speaking in foreign language.)

ROSALES (voice over): His son, Jack says without that critical money coming into support refugee settlement, he's fearful his family won't make it.

ROSALES: You're worried you could end up homeless.

(JACK speaking in foreign language.)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ROSALES (voice over): If the suspension continues KRM projects it will lose almost $1.5 million this fiscal year.

ROSALES (on camera): But the money's not there right now.

HASELJIC: They say temporarily stopped.

ROSALES: Are you worried that that could be extended?

HASELJIC: Nobody has crystal ball right now because the administration seems to be doing whatever they want to be doing.

ROSALES: What's next for the family?

(JANVIER NDAGIJIMANA speaking in foreign language.)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing they can do is just to pray to God to change in the heart of the president so he can do the right thing.

ROSALES (voice over): Isabel Rosales, Louisville, Kentucky, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID: The White House broadening its efforts to get rid of DEI with a new threat to any school that considers race in anything from student admissions to staff hiring and just about everything in between.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:41] REID: The NBA all-star game has been around for decades, but it will look a lot different tonight with a first of its kind mini tournament.

CNN's Andy Scholes is in San Francisco.

All right, Andy, what is happening there right now? It looks like folks are filing in.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, they are, Paula. We are getting closer and closer to tipoff. We did, unfortunately, get some bad news just a few moments ago. LeBron James says he is not going to be participating in tonight's all-star mini tournament because of a lingering foot and ankle injury. It is going to be the first time in 20 years that LeBron James is not competing in Sunday's all-star game, so that's a little bit unfortunate for the fans.

But LeBron did say he is excited to see this new mini tournament format. All the all-stars, they were drafted onto three different teams drafted by Shaq, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley. They're going to be competing against each other and the winner from the rising stars game on Friday.

Now LeBron was on Shaq's OG. So they're going to be a little shorthanded now without him. But they still do have the likes of Steph Curry and Damian Lillard. And I caught up with them earlier this week and I asked them is this new mini tournament going to bring a new competitive spirit to the all-star game?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPH CURRY, NBA PLAYER: Can't be afraid to try something new. We knew the game was a little stale for a couple of years and you know, a new format will hopefully kind of shocked the system a little bit. I think the smaller condensed games can keep the competition high.

[19:50:07]

DAMIAN LILLARD, POINT GUARD, MILWAUKEE BUCKS: I think the newness of it could bring some excitement, but I would say I am much more a fan of like the traditional East versus West.

CURRY: I think it'll work. I hope it'll work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And we will wait and see. There is going to be no time on the clock. They're going to play to that target score of 40. So you are going to get a game winning shot in each one of these games. It is two semifinals. And then a final action tips off at 8:00 Eastern on TNT. It should be a great night here in San Francisco.

Now we already had a fabulous weekend because of all-star Saturday night, where Mac McClung put on a show for the ages in the dunk contest. His first dunk. He jumped over a car and Mac, he was just perfect every single time he went out there. He got a perfect score of 50 in all four of his dunks, and he made each one of his dunks on the very first try, which was just super impressive. And Mac became the first player ever to win back-to-back- to-back slam dunk contests. And I caught up with him on the court right after and asked him how that felt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAC MCCLUNG, GUARD, OSCEOLA MAGIC: I feel like an impostor, man. I don't know, just blessed. I mean, like I was saying, this doesn't happen without all the help of my friends. People were letting me use their cars to try to jump over them, man. Like, I just had a lot of help from Chuck and everybody. Like, it really doesn't happen without standing on a lot of peoples shoulders. And I am -- this is such an honor for me.

SCHOLES: Are you now the greatest dunker of all time?

MCCLUNG: That's not for me to say at all. I am just happy to be here, man. And however this story goes, I don't know, it is mine, and I embrace it.

SCHOLES: All right, you got my vote. Congrats. Congrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Mac McClung, Paula, just a legend now for his performances in the dunk contest. The most impressive thing with him was, Paula, he always delivered. He never left the crowd disappointed. Everyone was on their feet the entire time.

It was one of the greatest performances in the NBA all-star weekends ever seen.

REID: Sounds like a blast. I hope you continue to have a great time there. Andy Scholes, thank you.

And in men's tennis, world number one, Jannik Sinner has accepted a three-month ban after twice testing positive for a banned substance last March.

Sinner says the positive test stemmed from physical treatment by his physician, who had been applying an over-the-counter spray to their own skin. At first, Sinner avoided a suspension, but the world Anti- Doping Agency appealed the decision. The agency says they accept Sinner did not intend to cheat, but an athlete bears responsibility for his entourage's negligence.

In a statement sent by his agents to CNN, Sinner said: "I have always accepted that I am responsible for my team and realize WADA's strict rules are an important protection for the sport I love. On that basis, I have accepted WADA's offer to resolve these proceedings on the basis of a three-month sanction."

Sinner will be eligible to return to the sport just in time for the French Open in May. And one lucky critter can credit a major sweet tooth for saving her life. A hungry possum surprised a homeowner this week by sneaking onto her porch and eating an entire chocolate mousse cake from Costco. After being caught, brown pawed, the possum wasn't acting quite right afterward, so officials took the animal to the Nebraska Wildlife Rehab, where the staff treated the cake bandit for a very relatable chocolate induced food coma.

The possum story quickly went viral, and the organization even released t-shirts in honor of the sweet scandal. The so-called "cake bandit" is expected to make a full recovery and will return to the wild in the spring.

Those Costco cakes are really good.

CNN NEWSROOM is back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:33]

REID: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Jessica Dean has the day off. I'm Paula Reid in Washington.

New tonight, President Trump says he is pushing forward with talks on ending Russia's war in Ukraine. Multiple sources telling CNN the talks will take place on Tuesday in Saudi Arabia.

Three top White House officials are set to meet with senior Russian officials. This has President Trump is telling reporters today Ukraine will be, "involved" in the talks, but it is unclear what that involvement will mean, but Ukraine will not be there physically. Instead, US Special Envoy to Russia and Ukraine, General Keith Kellogg says dual negotiations will be taking place in Kyiv this coming week.

CNN's Betsy Klein is covering the president tonight in West Palm Beach.

Betsy, what more can you tell us about what the president is saying tonight?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Paula, top Trump administration officials are heading to Saudi Arabia soon to begin those high stakes, high level talks with senior Russian officials. So Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, along with Trump National Security adviser, Mike Waltz are traveling to the region, to Saudi Arabia Sunday into Monday, according to Witkoff.

Joining up with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is already traveling in the region for previously scheduled meetings. They will be meeting on Tuesday with top officials selected by the Kremlin, including political, economic and intelligence officials from Russia.

We have also learned that Saudi Arabia will be a key mediator during these talks. And of course, that comes after Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman was instrumental in securing the release of wrongfully detained American, Marc Fogel earlier this week.

[20:00:25]