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Russian and U.S. Delegations Discuss Conflict in Ukraine; European Leaders Hold Emergency Meeting Talks Over Ukraine; Some Israeli Troops in Lebanon Despite Withdrawal Deadline; At Least 18 Injured as Plane Flips After Landing; Student Protesters Fear Trump Targeting Campus Dissent; Xi Jinping Hosts Meeting with China's Top Business Leaders. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 18, 2025 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: The first round of talks is underway between top U.S. and Russian officials in Riyadh as they try to find a path forwards ending the war in Ukraine. U.S. President Trump is not attending the meeting. He is on vacation in Florida as his advisers push his agenda of peace at all costs.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more from West Palm Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: From his Mar-a-Lago resort here in Florida, President Trump is keeping a close eye Tuesday on Saudi Arabia, where three of his top administration officials are meeting with their Russian counterparts, all over trying to begin negotiations to end the Russia Ukraine war.

Ukrainian officials are not at the table, and that of course is one challenge and is certainly rattling all of Europe. But the reason that these conversations are happening in Saudi Arabia is no accident.

The Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has been trying to expand his relationship with the new American president. Of course, they had a very good one during the first Trump administration. It was in fact the first place that Donald Trump visited as president back in 2017. It could be the first international trip of this administration as well. In fact, the American president said he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the coming weeks in Saudi Arabia if those talks go well.

Now there are many questions, of course, about these discussions of the peace process. The American president has been urging the G7 to admit to Russia back in. Of course, they were thrown out of this group of seven nations some 11 years ago because of Russia's invasion into Crimea. Of course, this is a whole different ballgame with the invasion of Ukraine now entering its third year.

But the Saudi Arabia peace talks that are underway now certainly has the eye of President Trump as he vacations here in Florida.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, ahead of the Saudi Arabia peace talks came a new barrage of attacks against Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force says it was able to shoot down more than 100 of the 176 drones launched by Russia overnight. Ukraine says dozens more were lost from radar with no negative consequences. Russia's near daily aerial attacks are aimed at weakening Ukraine's defenses and degrading its energy infrastructure.

And right now, top U.S. and Russian officials are meeting in Riyadh to discuss next steps in the Ukraine conflict. But noticeably absent from those discussions are Ukraine and other European leaders. And just hours before the meeting, Russia launched an extensive drone attack on Ukraine, as we were saying.

And while talks are underway in Riyadh, the U.S. special envoy to Ukraine and Russia is in Brussels meeting EU leaders. These discussions come as European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday, where they vowed to stand by Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEDRO SANCHEZ, SPANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): In order for peace to be fair and enduring, peace talks must have the active implication of Ukraine, which is the assaulted country, and from the political project which feels threatened, which is the European Union. If we want a fair and enduring peace and we don't want a false closure, we demand an active participation from the European Union and from Ukraine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: As soon as Clare Sebastian has been closely following these developments in Paris. And as expected yesterday, Clare, I think there was already some disunity on display between European leaders at this emergency summit that was called over the best way forward. And there does appear to be specifically a split emerging around putting troops on the ground in Ukraine.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think the biggest immediate question is this issue of security guarantees, right? The U.S. has said they want Europe to front them. They're not going to put, according to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, they're not going to put U.S. boots on the ground, nor are they going to cover any of these peacekeeping forces with Article 5 protections under NATO.

So that leaves Europe sort of really holding the baby here, essentially. So we know from the Finnish Prime Minister that they sent a questionnaire around European capitals over the weekend, or even slightly earlier than that, asking them what they could contribute to security guarantees. And we're sort of seeing some of those elements coming out, right?

And as you say, there's a split. The UK, on one hand, says they'd be ready to send troops. That was probably the most definitive.

Sweden says, you know, it would consider it if, you know, if and when we get to the point of a ceasefire. But then on the other hand, you have Spain saying they're not quite ready yet. Poland sort of almost ruling it out.

And then these comments that we got from Olaf Scholz of Germany that were particularly definitive. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): I'm even a little irritated by these debates. I will say that, quite frankly, people are talking about possible variants of outcomes over Ukraine's heads, about the outcome of peace talks that have not taken place, about which Ukraine has not said yes and has not sat at the table. This is highly inappropriate, to put it bluntly and honestly. We don't even know what the outcome will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So irritated, he says, by these debates. He thinks it's too soon to talk about it. And I think this reveals just how much of a sensitive issue troops on the ground in Ukraine is.

This would have been unthinkable several years ago, possibly even a year ago, as Europe has sort of grappled with every new sort of red line as it comes to weapons donations for Ukraine. But I think it also shows how early on we are in this process of getting to initially a ceasefire and then some kind of settlement. And Europe, of course, risks in this process, giving off this sense of disunity that Russia is watching extremely closely for.

[04:35:00]

MACFARLANE: Yes, worth mentioning as well, I think, Germany, with the sort of elections coming up in the next few weeks, the idea of a European army or committing to anything of that level would be controversial. Clare, for now, thank you.

A source tells CNN Israel is preparing to receive the remains of unknown number of hostages from Gaza 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 have not been released. The release of three more living hostages is set for this Saturday per the ceasefire agreement.

Well, in Lebanon, the deadline has passed for Israel and Hezbollah to withdraw all their troops from southern Lebanon as required by the ceasefire agreement.

Our Paula Hancocks is joining me now live from Abu Dhabi with more. And obviously, Paula, this is sparking concern that this could rupture the very fragile truce still in place there. PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Christina, this is the February 18th deadline that Israel was supposed to have left southern Lebanon. It's already been postponed and extended from January once already. But what we're hearing from the Israeli military is that they are going to keep some troops at five different outposts in southern Lebanon.

These are areas, the military says, that are strategic locations that give them view of northern Israel, Israeli communities, which they say they still need to protect.

Now, from Israel's point of view, they have said that this is because the Lebanese government has not adequately moved the army into these areas. As you say, both Hezbollah and Israel had to evacuate from southern Lebanon. And it was the Lebanese army that was going to take up the slack and prevent any kind of vacuum in that area.

Israel says not enough has been done. The Lebanese government rejects that and says it's simply not the case. And the army is moving into a number of these towns.

Now, we've heard also from the speaker of the Lebanese parliament, Nabih Berri, saying that it's now up to the Americans to impose the withdrawal on Israel, saying, quote, Israelis will practice freedom of movement and aggression in Lebanon, and this is unacceptable.

Now, when this ceasefire, which was brokered by the United States, was agreed upon, there was to be a monitoring system, if you like. There was to be U.S., U.N., and Egyptian officials based in Cairo who would mediate. And if there were any kind of issues or disagreements or beliefs that one side or the other had violated the ceasefire, then they would have to take control.

So what we're hearing from the Lebanese side is that the Americans now have to impose this withdrawal.

So what we're seeing at this point is certainly a case of disagreement at the very least between the two sides. We're also seeing as well a near daily attempt by the Israeli military to destroy certain buildings, which they say houses Hezbollah infrastructure. And we are seeing some towns in southern Lebanon really reduced to ruins.

And so at this point, it appears as though it would be up to that monitoring unit to try and clarify exactly what the situation is. But what we're hearing from the Israelis is that they will not leave at this point, because there is not the Lebanese army to take up the vacuum. And we're hearing from the Lebanese side that that's simply not acceptable -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, Paula, meanwhile, we're also hearing Israel preparing for the first handover of deceased hostages from Gaza. Are we learning any more about the details of the logistics of how this handover might happen?

HANCOCKS: We have very few details on this at this point. It is an unknown number of remains of deceased hostages. We don't know the identities.

We understand from the hostage forum group as well that families have not been notified or at least hadn't a little earlier as to the identities of the remains as well. It will be the first time that remains will be handed back to the Israeli military, though. We have seen in the past the Israeli military has retrieved the bodies and the remains of some of those hostages.

But this will be the first time that they will be willingly given back by the militants, whether Hamas or Islamic Jihad -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Paula Hancocks there live from Abu Dhabi. Thanks, Paula.

Now, airport officials in Toronto say at least 18 people were injured when a plane flipped upside down after landing in windy and snowy conditions. Video recorded by a passenger shows the frantic evacuation. All 80 people on board made it out safely after one of the plane's wings was shorn off and parts of the aircraft burst into flames.

[04:40:00]

One passenger says he and others were strapped in their seats, hanging upside down like bats. Another tells CNN the plane hit super hard and went sideways before it rolled over in a fireball erupted outside.

More details now on the crash and how everyone 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.

JOHN NELSON, PASSENGER: When we hit, it was just a super hard like I 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.

NEWTON: Now survivors did explain that they thought there was a lot of snow and ice on the runway and that'll certainly be something let's look 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)

MACFARLANE: Now foreign students in the U.S. are growing worried about their future there. Still to come, President Trump's threat to deport those involved in pro-Palestinian campus protests.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Fear is growing among student protesters in America. President Trump is threatening to deport foreign students who took part in last year's pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

CNN's Elle Reeve sat down with some of the students being targeted. Have a listen to their reactions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, so I'm just going to jump right into it with this. To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro- jihadist protests, we put you on notice. Come 2025, we will find you and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.

Do you think he's talking about you?

BIANCA WAKED, PHD CANDIDATE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: I think he is absolutely and misguidedly talking about me and others. Yes.

REEVE (voice-over): President Trump said that in a statement about his executive order to combat anti-Semitism.

REEVE: And do you dispute the characterization that these protests were pro-jihadist?

WAKED: Absolutely. I mean, I think that the problem with the protest is that everybody wants to talk about the protest, but nobody wants to actually ask the protesters what the protests were about.

REEVE (voice-over): Waked is a grad student at Cornell and a Canadian. She's among several international students who participated in pro- Palestinian protests on campus. They say opposition to the war in Gaza has been wrongfully portrayed as anti-Semitism, so they fear that the fact that they protested at all is a reason for Trump to target them.

AMANDIA THOMAS-JOHNSON, PHD CANDIDATE, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: I got a text message. I got pictures of black clad ICE agents in Ithaca, right? And I got really scared.

So I'm there in the class. I had to call someone basically and say to them, can you pick me up, pull up right outside the exit of the building, and I'm going to run inside the car.

REEVE (voice-over): There was an ICE raid in Ithaca, and one person was arrested, a 27-year-old Mexican man who pled guilty to third- degree assault charges in New York.

MOMODOU TAAL, PHD STUDENT, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: Of course there's like a fear for many international students right now, but that's the intended effect. With the levels of repression that the universities meted out on their students, it was done in such a way to lull and bring down the protesters. And I think what Trump's trying to do now is a continuation of that kind of policy.

REEVE (voice-over): Taal first faced the threat of deportation under the Biden administration. Last October, Cornell students protested a campus career fair where two defense contractors were recruiting. Taal and the two other students we spoke to were part of that protest.

Students pushed through police to enter the fair and banged pots and pans. Cornell has punished several participants.

TAAL: I received an e-mail promptly saying that I had been suspended, and then I was told effectively that I would have to leave the country by the end of the week.

REEVE (voice-over): After a public backlash, Cornell said Taal would be allowed to finish his degree and therefore stay in the U.S., but he was still banned from campus and from teaching his courses. Waked and Thomas Johnson signed agreements with Cornell and got written reprimands and deferred suspension.

When asked if the school was shutting down debate, a spokesperson referred to a previous statement by Cornell's president saying students were punished because they forced their way past police, so they were not peaceful.

REEVE: Where you officially accused of antisemitism or hate speech?

THOMAS-JOHNSON: Absolutely not, no. I know of course that Donald Trump's executive order talks about antisemitism. And I think this is being a tactic by governments, by universities as well, to try and shut down legitimate debate about what is going on in Palestine.

[04:50:04]

REEVE: What would you say to moderate liberals who are like, yes, I think Israel went too far, the war went on too long, but you campus protesters, you did it the wrong way, you were too violent, you were too hateful, you went too far.

TAAL: In this country, we've seen people who wear keffiyehs being shot. We've seen a child being killed in Chicago by his neighbor. So if one talk about political violence, where should we point the hands? Are we pointing the hands at people who say chants and slogans and maybe are a bit too loud in places?

REEVE: Is it on you as an activist to try to win over more moderate people so you have a critical mass to demand the government to do what you want?

TAAL: Absolutely. But I think if the images of patients attached to IVs burning alive doesn't move people, then I worry.

WAKED: I wouldn't say the protests were successful, people are still dead, homes have been ravaged, but I will say now I'm watching students that would have otherwise never encountered this conversation be forced to think and talk about it.

REEVE: So what role do the universities have in potentially cooperating with Trump on this order?

MARY ANNE FRANKS, PROFESSOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: If we're talking about a principled university that's actually worth its name, they should be refusing to even so much as indulge the suggestions of the executive order. What Trump is trying to say is universities, all universities essentially need to help us. They need to report on these activities. And there's absolutely no reason for the universities to do that.

REEVE (voice-over): When asked about the executive order, Cornell said it continues to evaluate how the order will affect its community. As more concrete information becomes available, it'll provide guidance.

REEVE: Will the executive order affect your activism going forward?

WAKED: Well, I might not be as quick to pick up a megaphone. I'll put it that way. But I'm still going to be writing. I'm still going to be teaching. I'm still going to be thinking through and encouraging folks to like have these conversations. And so, yes, but I guess it will affect it at least a little bit.

REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Ithaca, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: All right, coming up, how Chinese leader Xi Jinping is reaching out to the country's tech and business tycoons, hoping to build up the country's economy amid U.S. threats.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: China's government appears to be opening its arms to the private sector after years of regulatory crackdowns and stagnant economic growth.

[04:55:00]

On Monday, Chinese leader Xi Jinping hosted a symposium with the country's top tech and business leaders. The rare meeting comes as China faces a new trade war with the U.S. and all the economic uncertainty that comes with that. Steven Jiang has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: While there have been recent signs of the government trying to put on a more business-friendly face, by placing those top executives in the same room with the country's most powerful leader in decades, having this face-to-face conversation really sends the clearest yet message not only to those tycoons but also to the whole Communist Party power structure and by extension the whole nation that the government now relies and values the private sector to drive innovation and growth after a years-long crackdown.

Now, of all the industry titans in attendance on Monday, one name perhaps most notable is Jack Ma, founder of tech giant Alibaba. Because many still consider a scathing speech he delivered more than four years ago triggered this whole harsh crackdown on the private sector, wiping out billions and billions of dollars of multiple companies' market values, including his own personal fortune, because he criticized the country's financial regulators ahead of his company's highly anticipated IPO.

Now, if there's one thing the government here would never tolerate, that is open dissent and challenge to its monopoly on power.

More than four years later, those concerns seem to have largely resolved. That's why the government seems ready to renew its public support for the private sector, especially at a time when the economy still faces strong headwinds both domestically but also externally with this new trade war looming with the U.S. under a second Trump presidency.

The continued U.S. export controls targeting China's tech sector also really instills this urgency here. All of that may explain the timing of this meeting on Monday, but at the end of the day, many analysts have also pointed out all these people present in that room on Monday have already gotten the message from the crackdown that no matter how rich and powerful you get in this country, only one man's words truly matter.

Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Now the president of Mexico is threatening to sue Google. The warning comes after Google changed maps shown to U.S.-based users last week. The label in Mexico reads Gulf of Mexico, but in the U.S., it now reads Gulf of America. Meanwhile, the rest of the world sees both names displayed. President Claudia Scheinbaum stated on Monday that Google's new label is simply incorrect. She argues 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 will await a response from Google before moving forward with any lawsuit, and we will be watching to see how that transpires. For now, thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina

Macfarlane. Stay tuned for CNN "THIS MORNING" after this break.

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