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All 80 People Aboard Delta Flight Survived Landing At Toronto Airport; U.S.-Russia Talks On Ukraine In Saudi Arabia Without Ukraine; Europe Scrambles To Respond To U.S.-Russia Meeting; Pope Francis Stable But To Stay in Hospital; At Least 18 Injured As Plane Flips After Landing In Toronto; Mexico Could Sue Google Over Gulf Of Mexico Name Change. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired February 18, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: How did all on board Delta Flight 4819 survive?

Hello, I'm John Vause. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We hit the ground and we were sideways, and then we were upside down, hanging like bats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: First came a hard landing, then the plane flips upside down. And just as it bursts into flames, all 80 passengers and crew are safely evacuated.

A preemptive refusal from the Ukrainian president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We cannot recognize anything or any agreements about us without us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejecting any outcome before talks between White House and Kremlin officials begin on ending the war in Ukraine. Also, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: It's unclear how long the Pope will stay in hospital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But he will stay longer in hospital. Pope Francis now moving to protect his legacy as he battles a complex, potentially deadly respiratory infection. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with John Vause.

VAUSE: We begin with the fourth major aviation incident in North America in less than a month. A terrifying plane crash at Toronto's busy international airport, which, according to passengers and crew, as well as airport authorities and aviation experts, could have been so much worse.

All 80 passengers and crew on a small commuter jet survived after a hard landing in windy and snowy conditions, which flipped the plane upside down, shearing off at least one wing. All on board were safely evacuated as part of the plane then burst into flames. At least 18 people were taken to hospital, but authorities say no one was critically hurt. No injuries appear to be life threatening.

Still, some on board described mass chaos and confusion at the moment of impact. They were strapped into their seats but hanging upside down.

Here's the moment inside the plane when cabin crew ordered evacuations. These images, recorded by a passenger on his cell phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drop everything. Drop it. Come on. Don't take no video. Throw it away. Go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go! Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This Delta flight, which was operated by Endeavor Air, was flying from Minneapolis-Saint Paul to Toronto.

We have more details now on the crash and how all on board managed to survive from CNN's Paula Newton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The investigation is already underway in what was an absolutely stunning crash with an equally startling outcome. Everyone survived. That is, 76 passengers, four crew, all evacuated. There are injuries, but none are life threatening at this point in time. The officials at Toronto airport saying that they really commend their first responders and of course the crew and passengers.

I do want you to listen now to one of those passengers describing exactly what it was like. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN NELSON, PASSENGER: When we hit, it was just a super hard, like hit the ground and the plane went sideways. And I believe we skidded like on our side and then flipped over on our back. Where we ended up, there was like a big fireball out this left side of the plane. And when we got finished, it was -- I was upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now survivors did explain that they thought there was a lot of snow and ice on the runway. That will certainly be something that's looked into in this investigation. And obviously the wind speeds as well.

I was at the Toronto Airport just an hour before this incident, and it was more snow than I had seen in the airport in many years of going through that location. Crews were working very hard to try and clear the runways of snow. All of this to be sorted out by the Canadian Transportation Safety Board. They are leading this investigation, but working closely certainly with U.S. officials who are already in Toronto, beginning to try and unravel exactly what happened here.

Paula Newton, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Earlier, I spoke with CNN aviation analyst and former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board, Peter Goelz. I asked him how soon there may be some kind of explanation as to what went wrong.

[00:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: I think this investigation is going to go quickly. The Transport Safety Board of Canada is skilled. They'll turn out a preliminary report in 30 days that I think will go a long ways towards pointing to what happened.

VAUSE: If you had to make an early assessment at this point as to the reason for the plane and the accident and how it ended up upside down, what would that be at this point?

GOELZ: Well, it would be that, you know, on a best case basis that that a gust of wind, 40 or 50 knots hit the plane just as it was touching down, caused it to tip and catch its wing on the ground. The wing tore off, which is why you had the fire because the plane's fuel cells are located in the wings primarily. And the wings came off and the plane is designed if it's flipping to end up on its back, the tail breaks off. And you had, you know, a quick evacuation.

But probably the most important thing to remember is that the airplane was designed to take a hit like this. You know, the seats are designed to withstand up to 16 G's of gravity in terms of, you know, a crash and not be movable. Prior to these rules, passengers would survive the hard landing, the crash, and their seats would break loose from their moorings, and people would be killed. Now we have an accident like this and all 80 people walk away from it. VAUSE: Here's part of a conversation between an emergency medical

helicopter on scene and air traffic control. This is moments after the crash landing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the crash?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on runway 2-3, right at the threshold. Right at the intersection there. 2-3 and 15 left.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: LightFlight 1, Medevac, just so you are aware, there are people outside walking around the aircraft there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we've got it. The aircraft, sir, is upside down and burning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And then there is a view from a distance from another plane as it was landing. What you can see is suddenly there are thick black plumes of smoke which can be seen rising from the crash site. That's when the Delta flight essentially bursts into flames. And the fire seems to have happened within moments of the passengers and crew being evacuating. In fact, so quickly they were left walking on the tarmac it sounds like around the crash plane.

So what does that say about how quickly the plane was actually evacuated? And is that simply a result of the cabin crew doing what they were trained to do?

GOELZ: Well, I think there's two things. One is they say the wings tore loose and were slightly behind the aircraft. So -- and that's where the fire really spread from. The flight crew, the two stewardesses, flight attendants, and the flight crew and the cockpit, they were responsible for getting the passengers out, and they apparently did a fantastic job.

I mean, you had all 80, well, to be, 76 passengers exiting the plane within a short period of time, none of them getting seriously injured so far that we know. And it was really quite extraordinary. And this is what flight attendants trained for. This is what people think that they're just simply there to provide service. But the bulk of their training is in emergency service response. And this is the test and they passed it with flying colors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: In the coming hours, officials from the Trump White House and the Putin Kremlin will meet face to face in the Saudi capital. The first high level U.S.-Russian talks since the Russian invasion of Ukraine almost four years ago. A possible end to Russia's status as an international pariah over that war. And how to end that war is at least one of the subjects under discussion.

Notably, Ukrainian officials have not been invited to attend. NATO officials have also been snubbed. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the talks in the Saudi capital will aim to end what he calls an abnormal period between two great powers. Well, his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, says the talks are one way to determine if Russia is in fact serious about ending the war it began by choice with Ukraine.

The Ukrainian president has already rejected the outcome of these negotiations before they even begin, refusing to recognize, quote, "any agreements about us without us." Instead, Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be meeting with the Turkish president in the hours ahead, discussing a strategic partnership. NATO seems to be blindsided by being left out of the Russia-U.S. talks.

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And on Monday, some NATO members gathered for what was officially described as an informal meeting in Paris. What was in fact a hastily organized emergency summit focused on increasing defense spending and on the possible European boots -- the possibility, rather, of European boots on the ground in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): It is now very clear to us that we must continue to support Ukraine. We welcome the fact that there are talks on peace development, but it must be and is clear to us this does not mean that there can be a dictated peace, and that Ukraine must accept what is presented to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The U.S.-Russian talks appear to be an end of almost four years of international efforts to isolate Moscow for that unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A Kremlin spokesperson saying the diplomatic situation is very positive and the U.S. and Russia are getting together to speak, but added any prognosis for the outcome of this meeting would be premature.

More now from CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, reporting in from Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Russian state TV already hyping up the new close relations between President Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

This is a powerful sign that we will now try to solve problems through dialogue, and that we will now talk about peace and not war, the Kremlin spokesman telling a well-known Russian reporter.

As the U.S. and Russian delegations gather in Saudi Arabia for the first direct talks in about three years, President Trump bullish, saying he wants to end the Ukraine war fast.

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

PLEITGEN: But the Russians indicating they want more. A near total reset of U.S.-Russian relations, starting with a direct face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin, but also aiming for major sanctions relief and the restoration of full economic and diplomatic ties, one of the heads of Russia's delegation says.

The aim is to talk about restoring normal ties, he says, to discuss the start of possible negotiations on Ukraine and also to discuss the prospects for contacts at the highest level.

All this as Ukraine's army struggles to stop Russian advances especially in eastern Ukraine, with a drastic uptick in combat engagements this past weekend.

And the U.S.'s European allies left out of the talks, holding their own emergency summit discussing sending troops from their countries for possible peacekeeping efforts in case of a ceasefire after the Trump administration refused to send U.S. troops.

Ukraine's president also confirming Kyiv will not be part of this round of talks in Saudi Arabia and won't accept their outcome.

Ukraine regards any negotiations on Ukraine without Ukraine as ones that have no results, and we cannot recognize any things, any agreements about us without us and will not recognize such agreements.

And despite President Trump's optimism, the Russians themselves indicating they're in no mood to make concessions to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov telling me.

Which territorial concessions and in general, which compromises is Russia willing to make to achieve such a peace agreement?

(Voice-over): To cede how, with people, with Russians or without people, with only rare earth metals? For what? So that Russians can be destroyed like they are now being destroyed in the Kursk region and in other regions of the Russian Federation?

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Matthew Schmidt specializes in strategic analysis of defense and intelligence. He's an expert in Russia and Ukraine and teaches national security at the University of New Haven, where he is an associate professor. He joins us this hour from New Haven, Connecticut.

Matthew, good of you to be with us this hour.

MATTHEW SCHMIDT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATIONAL SECURITY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAVEN: It's great to be back, John.

VAUSE: OK. It's been a while. OK. So we had this meeting between Russian and U.S. officials, and they will discuss, among other things, a possible agreement on ending the war in Ukraine. Nothing really says irrelevant like being left out of the room. And that seems to apply as much to NATO countries as it does to Ukraine. And an attempt to stay relevant, there was this informal gathering of NATO nations in Paris Monday, where the Danish prime minister played the role of captain obvious.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: A ceasefire is not -- it's not automatically peace. And it's not automatically long lasting peace. So we really have to ensure that Ukraine has the best possible outcome of negotiations whenever they start, but also starting point, and that means more donations and more weapons right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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VAUSE: It's a fair point about increasing military assistance. But here's the rub. If the U.S. withdraws financial and military assistance for Ukraine, if you look at these numbers, it probably won't -- the country won't last six months in any conflict with Russia. So just with regards to Ukraine here, what are their options now? Will they be forced to eat this deal?

SCHMIDT: Being kept out of the talks in Saudi Arabia is enormous. It's at those talks that the rules for the real talks are being set. And what that means is Ukraine has to go into those secondary talks playing by somebody else's rules. Playing mostly by Russia's rules, which means the outcome is pretty foreordained before they even get to the table.

So what's left is they have to turn towards Europe. They have to embrace the idea of British troops. They need to build the largest and most capable military in Europe, and they need to get foreign investment in order to build their economy, in order to have enough Western money in Ukraine that people will want to secure that investment with troops and deterrence against Russia.

VAUSE: Well, with regards to NATO, in the bigger picture, the general secretary told CNN he believes the Trump administration is committed as ever to the alliance, especially with increases by member nations on defense spending as a percentage of GDP. There are the numbers right there. If you have time, look at them. And the general secretary says this is a win-win for everyone. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: The good positive, if Europe, not because President Trump wants this, but because we need to speed up in our defense spending. We have to ramp it up because otherwise we cannot keep ourselves safe in three to five years, is that as an effect of that, you will see that what the U.S. is spending on defense and what the European NATO allies are spending on defense is more imbalanced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Yet this complaint that NATO countries are getting a free ride on the back of U.S. defense, and they need to up their budgets, that seems so Trump 45. Trump 47 seems to be a lot more focused on carving up the world into spheres of influence, and that doesn't leave a lot of room for a military alliance.

SCHMIDT: Well, that's my fear. Since the atom bomb, John, we've built global security around alliances. Most importantly like NATO. And Trump is trying to push us back into the paleolithic, where the strong rule and there are no institutions that bind nations together. The problem is, is you just can't do that with nukes and A.I. The threats that the world face now are so great that you have to have these alliances.

Otherwise everybody is going to be pursuing their own nuclear proliferation and their own weapon systems based around A.I. and it's just a matter of time before something really bad happens.

VAUSE: And in terms of boots on the ground, any kind of peacekeeping force, we heard from Britain Monday, the prime minister saying, Britain would be willing to do that. But he added this reality check. Here's Keir Starmer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: But there must be a U.S. backstop because a U.S. security guarantee is the only way to effectively deter Russia from attacking Ukraine again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And that seems to be the overall dilemma European nations are now facing when it comes to Ukraine and Russia.

SCHMIDT: That's absolutely right. The problem here is, who are the peacekeepers? You either have a small number of, you know, NATO peacekeepers in if Putin allows it, which I have my doubts on, which are tripwires, which means if they get attacked, everybody jumps back in because you don't shoot Europeans.

The other option is this idea of non-European peacekeepers, which was floated earlier, which I frankly don't understand who that would be. That would be acceptable both to NATO and to Russia. You bring in 20,000 Chinese peacekeepers? I don't see NATO or the U.S. accepting that on that border. So there are a lot of details to be worked out here. Right now this is a lot of spit-balling and we'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

VAUSE: Matthew, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

SCHMIDT: My pleasure.

VAUSE: And still to come here on CNN, as he battles a complex respiratory infection, the Pope will stay in hospital longer than expected, according to doctors. In a moment, an update on his condition.

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[00:24:06]

VAUSE: According to the Vatican, Pope Francis is in a stable condition after doctors extended his time in hospital as they adjust the Holy Father's treatment for what they describe as a complex respiratory infection.

Here's CNN's Christopher Lamb with the very latest reporting in from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAMB: The Vatican providing an update on Pope Francis' health condition at the end of his fourth day here at the Rome's Gemelli Hospital behind me. The Vatican saying in a statement that the Pope is in a stable condition, that he continues to be without a fever and is continuing the prescribed therapy. They also said that he has dedicated his time to some work, activities and reading texts.

Now, the doctors had told the Pope to have a complete rest. But as we know, Francis is pretty relentless when it comes to doing his job. But the Pope is battling with a serious respiratory tract infection that is taking a number of different treatments to deal with. The treatment the Pope has had has changed twice.

[00:25:09]

Now it's unclear how long the Pope will stay in hospital. The Vatican have not given a timetable. It all depends on how he responds to the prescribed therapy.

The 88-year-old Pope has been suffering from respiratory problems for a number of days. He's been struggling to speak and he was hospitalized on Friday. I actually saw him on the day he was hospitalized, and it was clear he was really finding it very difficult to talk because of the breathing difficulties.

We're going to have further updates from the Vatican today, and of course, we'll be updating as soon as we hear more information.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: The plane flipped upside down. Passengers left hanging like bats strapped into their seats. In a moment, the very latest on that crash in Toronto in windy and snowy conditions, which everyone, everyone somehow survived.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. [00:30:31]

An American man who was recently arrested in Moscow on drug smuggling charges is now free, released just hours before the first high-level talks between the U.S. and Russia in almost three years.

Twenty-eight-year-old Kalob Byers was detained ten days ago. According to the Associated Press, airport officials allegedly found cannabis- laced marmalade in his luggage.

His release is seen as a goodwill gesture ahead of Russian and American diplomats meeting in the Saudi capital to discuss, among other issues, ending the war in Ukraine. That meeting, which Ukraine is not invited to, expected to begin in about 90 minutes from now.

Officials at Toronto International Airport say at least 18 people have been hurt when a plane flipped upside-down after a hard landing in windy and snowy conditions.

One of the plane's wings was shorn off, and part of the aircraft caught fire. Incredibly, all on board, 76 passengers and four crew, survived.

Here's how one passenger described the moments before and after landing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE KOUKOV, PASSENGER (via phone): We didn't really know anything was the matter, or at least I didn't until, like, the second we hit the ground. There was no, like, real indication of anything. And then, yes, we hit the ground, and we were sideways, and then we were upside- down, hanging like bats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Another passenger telling CNN the plane hit super-hard and went sideways, then describing a huge fireball outside the plane as part of the fuselage erupted into flames.

More now on the crash from CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Among the reasons that investigators have to look at the wind and have to look at the cold is simply the intensity of it all.

Forty-mile-an-hour gusts, 18 degrees out there. Reports of snow and ice all around the area. Look at the wind blowing across as they tried to land this way.

Let's put this more into a perspective that we can see. If the plane were coming in this direction and trying to land on the runway like this, but wind gusts are pushing it like this, what does the pilot have to do? The pilot has to accommodate that in some fashion. It is a challenging but normal move for them to try to do so. So,

they're either going to nose the plane a little bit toward the wind, and use the other controls to keep it moving this direction, even though it's pointed this way a little bit, which would dissipate some of the effect of that wind, or they drop this wing down and use the controls to again fight against that wind, so it doesn't want to push it way off-course.

And then when they do touch down, they have to very quickly adapt a different attitude toward it so that the wheels are going the right way and the plane is holding onto the runway and not now being pushed off, where it might touch a wingtip, or it might dip off the edge of the hard top there. Either one of which could result in a plane being flipped over exactly like that.

Was it the wind? Was it the cold? Investigators don't know, but that's the reason they have to consider it so carefully in this case.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: It's just gone 7:33 on a Tuesday morning on the Israeli-Lebanon border, and a deadline has passed there for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw their forces from Southern Lebanon, per a ceasefire agreement.

But Israel plans to keep a limited number of troops at five strategic points. And that's caused a stern reaction, or sparked a stern reaction from the militant group.

Hezbollah's leader has rejected that plan, noting it would be in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement.

One extension has already been granted, and Lebanese -- the Lebanese parliament speaker refused to consider another, noting that it's up to the U.S. to enforce Israel's withdrawal, as per the agreement.

Meantime, a source tells CNN Israel is preparing to receive the remains of an unknown number of hostages from Gaza later this week.

It will be the first handover of deceased hostages since the ceasefire began, although Israel's military has previously recovered multiple bodies.

The identities of the hostages which will be released have not been made public.

The release of three more living hostages set for this Saturday, per the schedule which was made under the ceasefire agreement, phase one.

When we come back, Mexico threatening to sue Google. U.S.-based users are now seeing "Gulf of America" where the Gulf of Mexico used to be. And coming up, the argument on why this could be grounds for legal action by Mexico.

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[00:39:22]

VAUSE: It seems Google's efforts to keep the presidents of the United States and Mexico happy over what to call the body of water which has been known as the Gulf of Mexico hasn't actually pleased everyone. In fact, the president of Mexico is now threatening to sue Google.

That's after the maps were changed, because in the United States, U.S. users actually see this. This happened last week.

The body of water described -- for Mexican users, I should say, rather, as it has been for hundreds of years, is called the Gulf of Mexico. But in the United States, you can see there, it's the "Gulf of America."

That's only if you log into a U.S. server and you're actually viewing this map, this Google map, in the United States.

Now, the rest of the world sees both names displayed on the map.

[00:40:05]

President Claudia Sheinbaum stated on Monday that Google's new label is just incorrect and is arguing that Trump's decree to rename the gulf is not applicable to the entire body of water. Rather, it should only cover the continental shelf under U.S. control, which extends just 22 nautical miles off the U.S. coast.

Mexico is now waiting for a response from Google before moving forward with any lawsuit.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. WORLD SPORT is up next. See you back here in about 20 minutes.

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