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Moscow Optimistic About Talks With U.S. Over Ukraine; 'Conclave' And 'The Brutalist' Among Big Winners At BAFTA; The Steep Cost Of Trump's Attacks On USAID; Trump Takes Aim At Paper Straws. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 17, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

BEN HUNTE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. Wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.

[00:00:36]

Coming up on the show: set for negotiations. The U.S. and Russia will meet to talk Ukraine, as the British prime minister says he would send troops to enforce a peace deal.

Dismantling USAID is easier said than done. Just how much is the U.S. invested in the rest of the world and why? We've got the breakdown.

And a star-studded night in London, showcasing a very strong year for cinema. We'll tell you who came out on top at the BAFTAs.

We are now just one day away from the highly anticipated negotiations between the U.S. and Russia. Sources tell CNN top American officials will begin their talks with Moscow on Tuesday about its conflict in Ukraine.

The talks will take place in Saudi Arabia, where Saudi officials say they'll play a key mediation role. Ukraine says they will not be at the table.

But U.S. President Donald Trump confirms Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will be involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're moving along. We're trying to get a peace with Russia, Ukraine, and were working very hard on it. It's a war that should have never started.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you expect -- do you expect Zelenskyy to be involved in these conversations?

TRUMP: Yes

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What will his role be?

TRUMP: I do. I do. He will be involved. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: U.S. national security adviser Mike Waltz says the conflict in Ukraine can't be ended on the battlefield. He's now urging President Zelenskyy to accept an economic deal that would give the U.S. access to Ukraine's reserves of rare earth metals.

And as the U.S. shuts out Europe, U.K.'s prime minister, Keir Starmer, is ready to offer up more support to Ukraine. He's also among the European leaders who are holding an emergency summit in Paris on later today.

In "The Daily Telegraph" newspaper, Starmer writes, quote, "The U.K. is ready to play a leading role in accelerating work on security guarantees for Ukraine. This includes further support for Ukraine's military, but it also means being ready and willing to contribute to security guarantees to Ukraine by putting our own troops on the ground, if necessary."

A Kremlin spokesman says the talks could signal a big change is about to take place in relations between the U.S. and Russia. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow with more.

(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.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): The spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, on Sunday said that he believes in the future, there is going to be dialog 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.

PLEITGEN: 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. PLEITGEN (voice-over): 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.

PLEITGEN: 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 political Moscow, and certainly, a lot of optimism that Russia could be in a very good place with the United States fairly soon.

[00:05:05]

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Let's break all of this down with CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier.

Kim, thank you for being here. How are you doing?

KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Doing fine. But having a hard time keeping up with all the different headlines. Seems like every hour with the new Trump administration.

HUNTE: This is -- I mean, we're going through unprecedented times every single hour, it seems. Goodness.

But American and Russian officials are set for talks on Tuesday. What do you think the Russians will bring to the table? And what is Vladimir Putin actually going to ask for? And what can the U.S. even deliver? Lots of questions there.

DOZIER: Well, they've already made public statements that they expect to talk about things like reopening some of their diplomatic missions in the United States, and possibly even discuss the lifting of some sanctions.

Of course, this is what Russian officials are messaging to their own people about why they are meeting with the great enemy that, as they've described them in the media for the entire Biden administration.

But from the Trump side, this is a chance for Mike Waltz, the national security adviser; Witkoff, who had some meetings in Moscow with Putin -- he is the Mideast adviser, but he's now also been put in charge of this Ukraine mission -- and Rubio, the secretary of state, to test, to road test some of the things that Trump thinks he heard from Putin.

Waltz and Rubio will not go easy on the Russian negotiators. So, it is a chance for them to see, OK, how serious is the Russian side, before they bring Ukrainians into the talks.

I can see them making that argument. But of course, from what we've heard out of Kyiv, and from President Zelenskyy -- comments in Munich, he is feeling a little bit worried about the warm comments that President Trump made about Putin and worried about being cut out of this first round of talks in Saudi Arabia.

HUNTE: Could you just explain to me what leverage do the Saudis have in all of this?

DOZIER: Well, one of the key reasons to have it in Saudi Arabia is some of the people from the Russian side coming to these meetings have arrest warrants out from the International Criminal Court. That's why it has likely been proposed as a possible meeting place for Trump and Putin somewhere down the line.

But Saudi Arabia also has a number of key ties. Obviously, it's the leading member of OPEC. Russia is also a member of OPEC. And the price of oil is part of this deal. Trump has threatened to flood the market with oil to lower the prices to cripple Russia if Russia doesn't negotiate in good faith.

And Saudi Arabia also has ties to China, and China helped Saudi Arabia and Iran make peace.

So, Saudi Arabia is -- has positioned itself to be sort of diplomatic nexus in a number of different ways.

And as we remember from the last Trump administration, the Trump family and the prince, MBS, they get along just fine. So, there's already trust there. And I think they're hoping to build on that. That's why it's become this sort of safe space for talks.

HUNTE: And of course, while all of this is happening over the past, what, couple of hours we've been seeing news out of the U.K., and the U.K. prime minister saying he's ready to put troops on the ground in Ukraine, which of course --

DOZIER: Yes.

HUNTE: -- is a massive turn after the U.S. pretty much shut out Europe in these negotiations with Russia. What do you make of all of that?

DOZIER: You know, I know that Trump officials are going to be patting themselves on the back over that, because Britain, France, the Baltics, they've all been talking for months. All last year, they were talking about the possibility of committing their own troops on the ground in Ukraine. But no one would be the first to say it.

And now that the Trump administration has given them a hard time at the Munich Security Forum, told them you're going to have to start being more in charge of your own security. And by the way, we're not going to include you in this first round of Ukrainian talks. Lo and behold, the British prime minister stepped up and said, but we're willing to put our troops on the ground to guarantee this peace. Therefore, he's obviously arguing, we need a seat at the table. And

from the Trump administration's side, you know, they didn't have to push anyone. The Brits jumped.

HUNTE: Well, we will see what happens next. Oh, my goodness, it's all happening. Kim Dozier, thank you so much for joining me. Speak to you soon.

[00:10:03]

DOZIER: Thanks.

HUNTE: And they're not just looking to help with Ukraine. CNN has learned that Saudi Arabia is open to mediating a new nuclear agreement between the U.S. and Iran.

The kingdom is concerned Iran may be more inclined to pursue a nuclear weapon now that its regional proxies have been weakened.

This all comes as U.S. intelligence agencies say they believe Israel will likely attempt to strike Iranian nuclear facilities this year.

But Israel's willingness to use military force runs counter to U.S. President Donald Trump's current desire for a peace deal with Tehran.

In a meeting with the U.S. secretary of state, Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, vowed to, quote, "finish the job" against Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We agree that the ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons. And we also agree that Iran's aggression in the region has to be rolled back.

Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran's terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President Trump, and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Benjamin Netanyahu's office says an Israeli delegation will head to Cairo in the coming hours to discuss phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

While the Israeli prime minister holds a cabinet meeting to discuss the deal's second phase, it's very unclear whether the negotiating team bound for Cairo will discuss that second stage.

Netanyahu also says he knew about U.S. President Donald Trump's vision for a U.S. takeover of Gaza before it was even announced and praised the idea as revolutionary.

A powerful storm swept through Eastern United States this weekend, and the threat is far from over. At least ten people, including one child, are dead, and officials say emergency responders have rescued dozens of people.

Water levels reached historic highs in Kentucky, and the state's governor believes the death toll is only going to grow, as the severe weather event is expected to continue for several more days.

On Sunday, President Donald Trump approved a federal disaster declaration for the state.

Tens of thousands of customers are still without power, and flood warnings are still in effect across several states. In Virginia, more than 80,000 customers are still without power. Virginia's governor announced on Sunday he submitted an expedited major disaster declaration to President Donald Trump.

And we're just learning, just hours ago, the Trump administration has started firing hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration probationary employees. They're part of the workforce that maintains radio and computer systems and develops new flight procedures.

The firings don't include air traffic controllers.

The head of the union says several hundred workers began getting firing notices on Friday. It's been less than three weeks since the mid-air collision over Washington, D.C., that killed 67 people.

CNN has reached out to the FAA for comment.

The Trump administration is doing its best to dismantle USAID, but its many supporters argue that the organization makes the world safer for Americans. We'll tell you why, just ahead.

Plus, at the BAFTA Film Awards in London, some favorites came out on top. But there were also some juicy surprises. Those stories and more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:17:55]

HUNTE: Welcome back. The stars were out in London for the BAFTA Film Awards. Among the big winners were two favorites going in: immigrant tale "The Brutalist" for leading actor Adrien Brody and director Brady Corbet; and Best Film for pulp drama "Conclave."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say a heart attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know how rumor spreads and 1.25 billion souls watching.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, Cardinal Lawrence, it seems the responsibility for the conclave falls upon you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: But as we head now towards the Oscars, predictions are still looking quite difficult.

In addition to the favorites, there were some surprises. "A Real Pain's" writer/director Jesse Eisenberg took the Best Original Screenplay award.

He spoke to CNN's Max Foster and summed up what he thought might account for the broad appeal of an unusual movie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE EISENBERG, WRITER/DIRECTOR/ACTOR, "A REAL PAIN": I guess the unusual thing about it -- But I can't even parse it, because it's my own thing -- is that perhaps it takes the kind of well-worn theme which is like Holocaust-themed movies, and maybe it comes at it from an angle that feels a little, I don't know, newer or more modern, more welcoming, less sanctimonious than a lot of the movies made on a similar theme. So maybe that's why.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: And in the Best Actress category, Mikey Madison edged out the favorite, Demi Moore, who's been riding high on her comeback performance in "The Substance."

Madison spoke to Max about the film that she stars in, "Anora."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Why do you think the film hit a nerve? Have you got any feeling for that?

MIKEY MADISON, ACTRESS: I mean, I think Sean makes films about humanity and touches on really interesting subject matter. And I don't know. I mean, I think that there was just something really special in the air when we made this film.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Joining me now from New York is Michael Musto. He's an entertainment journalist with "The Village Voice."

Michael, thanks for being back with me. How are you doing?

MICHAEL MUSTO, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST, "THE VILLAGE VOICE": Wonderful. Another great night with the awards.

HUNTE: Yes.

MUSTO: I love this stuff.

HUNTE: Let's talk, let's talk.

MUSTO: You know what? Yes. These BAFTA Awards are maddening, because they sort of can be prognosticators of the Oscars, but not definitely so.

[00:20:06]

In certain categories, maybe they'll get 60 percent right for Oscar. Other categories, 90 percent. And it -- it can only make things more complicated.

So, I'm not going to change any of my predictions. I'm just sticking to them.

HUNTE: Well, let's get into it. So, I don't know about you, but the biggest shock for me was "The Substance" not winning more. And Mikey Madison winning Leading Actress.

I mean, I loved "Anora," so I'm very glad it got its flowers, but the movie world seemed to be going crazy for "The Substance" and Demi Moore. Right?

MUSTO: Yes. And I do think Demi is on her way to the Oscar. Her trajectory, personally, is just irresistible in that, just like the character in the movie, society told her she was over. The business said you're obsolete. And she proved them wrong.

But I'm really happy that Mikey Madison won something. She really deserves awards, as well. She's brilliant and fearless as a stripper in "Anora" who gets involved with the son of a Russian oligarch. And it becomes this kind of fractured Cinderella fairy tale that becomes careening -- careening out of control. She really is an amazing discovery.

I actually think she's a little too new to win the Oscar. And Demi is just right to me. Demi is a seasoned entertainer, having this wonderful journey at the moment. So --

HUNTE: Juicy. Exciting.

MUSTO: Either one of them is.

HUNTE: Well, I don't know. I'm very interested to see what actually happens, but obviously, another massive moment was Zoe Saldana winning Supporting Actress, even with all of the "Emilia Perez" controversy.

For those who don't know, the film's leading actress, who is trans, was found to have posted some really controversial and racist and Islamophobic statements on social media.

I mean, were you surprised that "Emilia Perez" still got recognized at all last night, given all of that?

MUSTO: Well, that's how good the movie is. It's surviving the controversy, and there's nothing that can assail "Zoe Saldana's" performance.

She's incredible as the lawyer who handles the trans character, Emilia Perez's, case and transition, and there's nothing that's going to stop her from winning the Oscar. And by the way, cancel me now. But some of the -- some of the old

messages that Karla Gascon put out, I thought I totally agreed with some of them.

And some of the other ones were totally toxic and totally, you know, Islamophobic, for example.

And they're trying to keep Karla under wraps. She is suddenly not part of the Oscar campaign. She was not there at the BAFTAs tonight.

But the director of "Emilia Perez," Jacques Audiard, did mention her in a list of names. He said, you know, I love you for what we accomplished.

And there's no demeaning her accomplishment, whatever you think of her viewpoints.

HUNTE: OK, well, let's dig deeper into this. This was the third year in a row that no British stars won any of the four acting prizes at the most prestigious night in the British film calendar. I mean, isn't that crazy? It seems pretty crazy to me.

MUSTO: It's weird. I assumed that Ralph Fiennes would win for "Conclave." They gave it to Adrien Brody.

And Adrien Brody is amazing in "The Brutalist." I mean, he plays a Holocaust survivor who is summoned by a sadistic but brilliant American tycoon to create this complex. He's an architect, and it's all about creativity versus capitalism.

Ralph Fiennes in "Conclave" plays a carnival who has to find the new pope, because the old pope has died. I thought maybe finally, Ralph would at least get a BAFTA.

But what they did was they gave "Conclave" Best Picture. It's a British film. It won Best British Film. It also won Best Film, period. So that was their nod to British cinema.

HUNTE: OK, I like that; I like that.

What does this all now mean for the actual Oscars races? Who do you predict is going to be snatching trophies?

MUSTO: Zoe Saldana is a lock. So is Kieran Culkin. You just saw Jesse Eisenberg talking about the movie, "A Real Pain." Kieran plays a kind of disturbed person who's prone to outbursts but is sort of likable deep down. He's -- he won the BAFTA. He's a lock to win the Oscar for Supporting.

And then Adrien Brody, as I mentioned, is a lock to win the Oscar.

Up in the air is Actress. If Mikey Madison wins the SAG Award next week, she could very well take that Oscar right out of Demi Moore's hands.

But there's something about the whole Demi Moore -- like I say, her trajectory. Just like years ago when Cher won. You know, people thought Cher was a joke, an (UNINTELLIGIBLE) actress. She proved she could act. She proved she really had it. This -- Demi is the new Cher, in her own way.

Mikey has many years in the future to win many more. Just like Timothee Chalamet -- however you say his name -- has many years to win in the future. But Adrien -- I call him Timothee Chardonnay. But Adrien -- Adrien Brody is going to grab that award right out of Timothee's hands.

HUNTE: Yes, yes, yes. Well, we shall see. We will ultimately --

MUSTO: I guarantee you.

HUNTE: Yes. Would you? Would you guarantee me? Go quickly.

MUSTO: I guarantee you in the future, there will be a year where Best Actor is Timothee, and Best Actress is Mikey Madison.

HUNTE: OK.

MUSTO: I hope we live long enough to see that. We will see it.

[00:25:00]

HUNTE: We shall see. Thank you so much, Michael Musto. Appreciate it. I'll speak to you soon.

MUSTO: Thank you.

HUNTE: Now, have you ever wondered how much money the U.S. spends in foreign aid? Well, we did. We've done the research, and we've got the answer for you. The big breakdown, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: As hundreds of federal workers look to sue the Trump administration, including many at America's biggest aid agency, a judge has extended a pause on President Donald Trump's order to shut down the agency, USAID, until later this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is the only way we've been able to get cooperation from USAID. We are going to do foreign aid. The United States will be providing foreign aid, but it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:30:06]

HUNTE: That controversial decision has many people asking some very important questions. How much money actually goes to helping people outside of the U.S.? And why is America such a big investor? Let's answer it and start with how much. The U.S. spends about $70

billion in foreign aid annually. That's military, humanitarian, medical assistance and all of that. Nearly 60 percent of that goes to USAID. That's tens of billions of dollars going to other nations since the Cold War.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people who are opposed to aid should realize that this is a very powerful source of strength for us. It permits us to exert influence for the maintenance of freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Now, our research has found America has been assisting the world mostly because it's best for its own self-interest. It is a soft power flex in the name of protecting global peace, stability, and democracy without direct intervention.

Foreign assistance is much like a second arm to U.S. influence. It helps fight poverty and boosts economies. It aids others to defend against terrorism, against crime, spread of weapons of mass destruction, and it funds research in medicine, advancing how we fight diseases or take on HIV and AIDS prevention.

So, if we compare to the figures of other countries, the U.S. has been investing the most. Well, sort of. Data shows that figure right here is not even 1 percent of America's total GDP.

Critics argue it's still a lot to be given away without checks and balances on where it's all going.

Both Republicans and Democrats want to meet somewhere in the middle. They agree dismantling an agency that sends billions to aid developing nations for food, medical purposes, and research will set America back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX): I believe it still has a legitimate purpose to counter the rising threat of China, and Belt and Road, and our other foreign adversaries. It also has the ability to counter terrorism.

REP. GREGORY MEEKS (D-NY): Bottom line: who wins when we pull back from one of America's greatest strengths? China wins. Russia wins. Our adversaries win. So, yes, this is a betrayal. This is a betrayal of our national security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Germans will vote next Sunday in a closely contested election. Immigration and the economy are two of the top issues.

The country's four main chancellor candidates debated for the first time on Sunday. The conservative Christian Democratic Union Party does lead the polls. Its leader, Friedrich Merz, says he'll move Germany further to the right.

He's also promising to crack down on immigration and lower taxes, but he rejects the hardline positions of the far-right Alternative for Germany Party. The AFD is second in polls.

President Trump is taking aim at another Biden-era initiative: paper straws. But some warn that a return to single-use plastics could have a devastating impact.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[00:37:36]

HUNTE: Now, this is a change we're all getting used to, though maybe not for much longer.

Paper straws have been adopted over the last few years as an eco- friendly alternative to plastic. But last week, U.S. President Donald Trump took aim at paper straws, a move that could have a much wider impact than your local coffee shop.

Allison Chinchar explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Could a sipping war be brewing?

TRUMP: We're going back to plastic straws. These things don't work. I've had them many times, and on occasion, they break. They explode. If something's hot, they don't last very long.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): U.S. President Donald Trump declaring it's the last straw for paper straws, at least those bought by the U.S. government.

Trump rolled back a Biden-era plan to buy more eco-friendly utensils and phase out federal purchases of single-use plastics. And even though the reversal applies to government spending, some people at this New York diner seem to agree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless Donald Trump.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): With some patrons describing paper straws as soggy and unnecessary.

NIKOLETA NIKOLAKAKOS, CUSTOMER: I am a very big fan of recycling, but I don't think that we are going to save the world over the plastic straw.

CHINCHAR (voice-over): But environmentalists say straws are just the tip of the problem. One watchdog group says global production and use of plastics is set to surpass 700 million tons by 2040, an increase of 70 percent in 20 years. Plastic straws are hard to recycle because of their size and commonly

end up in landfills or washed up on beaches. Health experts say they can be ingested by birds and marine life, and become a toxic part of the food chain.

But Trump played that down when signing his executive order.

TRUMP: And I don't think that plastic is going to affect a shark very much as they're eating, as they're munching their way through the ocean. OK?

CHINCHAR (voice-over): In 2015, a viral video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw lodged in its nose captured the world's attention.

And a marine biologist behind the video says this is a giant step back for their efforts to protect sea life and much more.

CHRISTINE FIGGENER, MARINE BIOLOGIST: Even if you don't care about sea turtles or our ocean, we should care about human health. And I really think that caring for our environment should not be a political issue, really.

[00:40:02]

CHINCHAR (voice-over): Several U.S. states and cities have banned plastic straws, but some studies suggest paper straws are hazardous, as well, with some saying they contain harmful forever chemicals.

It's an ongoing debate, but not at the White House, where plastic straws are back on the table.

Allison Chinchar, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:40:23]

HUNTE: OK, well, that's it for now. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. It has been real. But don't go anywhere. I'll be back with you in just 15 minutes. WORLD SPORT is up next. See you in a bit.

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(WORLD SPORT)

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