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Trump Falsely Claims Ukraine Started Conflict with Russia; Russian and U.S. Delegations Discuss Ending Ukraine Conflict; Analyzing Video of Delta Passenger Flight Crash Landing; NASCAR Eyes Clean Energy with Push for Electric Vehicles. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 19, 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: Hi, welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane. If you're just joining us, here are some of today's top stories.

There's confusion and questions around Elon Musk's role at DOGE. President Trump says to call Musk, quote, whatever you want as more federal employees are cut. The chaotic layoffs are continuing with 130 cybersecurity workers fired Tuesday, but with several power grid and nuclear security workers reinstated.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at lowering costs and expanding access to in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Policy recommendations to that effect are expected within 90 days.

And earlier today, the Trump administration's envoy for Russia and Ukraine arrived in Kyiv. President Zelenskyy says he would like Keith Kellogg to visit the front lines and meet members of the Ukrainian military.

This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump falsely claims that Ukraine started the conflict with Russia. The U.S. and Russia also held their first face-to-face talks since the conflict began nearly three years ago. CNN's Alex Marquardt has our report from Riyadh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEX MARQUARDT, CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY CNN: These latest comments from President Trump will go to the deepest fears that the Ukrainians and Europeans have about how President Trump views this conflict, concerns that he may be playing into President Putin's hand at this critical moment.

They came just hours after these historic talks between the U.S. and Russian delegations here at a palace in Riyadh.

[04:05:00]

The U.S. side said that they were solid and positive. The Russian side said that they were useful, both viewing this as a jumping-off point to essentially reset the U.S.-Russian relationship after it being frozen for the past three years.

Now, the U.S. delegation said that there were no specific positions or decisions that were made when it comes to Ukraine, that this is really the beginning of the process that could take some time. Here's Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We have to understand that it's been 3 1/2 years since there's been any sort of regularized contact between the United States and Russia, and in some cases between any of the participants in this conflict and Russia. So the goal of today's meeting was to follow up on the phone call the president had a week ago and begin to establish those lines of communication. The work remains.

Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey.

MARQUARDT: Rubio also outlined four general agreements that were struck with the Russians. The first is that both sides will try to get their embassies in Washington and Moscow back up to normal levels, essentially normalizing diplomatic relations after many diplomats and spies have been kicked out of each embassy over the past few years.

The second point was specific to Ukraine, that both the Russians and the Americans would designate high-level officials to be part of the negotiating team over an end to the Ukraine war.

And then the third and perhaps most interesting point looked past the end of the Ukraine war, essentially a carrot, a potential prize for the Russians if this war in Ukraine ends, the U.S. saying that there is the possibility of historic economic and investment opportunities.

There was also pushback from the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz about the Ukrainians and Europeans not being here at these talks. Here's what he said.

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We are absolutely talking to both sides. The Secretary of State just met with President Zelenskyy days ago along with the vice president, seven cabinet members in Europe at the same time, really showing the importance of engaging our allies. I think the facts will continue to push back on this notion that our allies haven't been consulted.

MARQUARDT: We know that the U.S. Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, is also going to be in Ukraine for the rest of the week for more conversations. And now President Zelenskyy has postponed a trip to Saudi Arabia. He was due here on Wednesday, clearly not wanting the appearance of being involved in these negotiations, which Ukraine was not at the table for.

There's also some confusion about a potential meeting between Presidents Trump and Putin. We heard President Trump just say that he's expecting to do this before the end of the month. But earlier on Tuesday, we did hear the Russian delegation saying that that is not going to happen next week, which is the last week of the month, and the U.S. side saying that so far no date has been set for that meeting. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Riyadh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, the U.S. Secretary of State is now holding a new round of talks in the region. Marco Rubio arrived in Abu Dhabi a few hours ago for meetings with UAE leaders, and that's where our Paula Hancocks joins us from now. And I understand that that meeting now, Paula, has wrapped. Do we know anything that came out of it?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Christina. It was a meeting with the president and the foreign minister of the UAE. A very quick visit here, just about a few hours on the ground. We understand that the Secretary of State is leaving at this point.

We don't have a readout of the meeting, but we know the main topics of conversation. We know that there would have been a deep conversation about that meeting in Riyadh.

Of course, the trip here for the Secretary of State was pushed back by a day so that he could talk to the Russians in Riyadh. And also, they would have been talking about the ceasefire in Gaza, really discussing how they can ensure that phase two of that ceasefire hostage deal does go ahead.

So when it comes to the issue with Russia and Ukraine, those talks with the Russian officials on Tuesday, there would have been a briefing from the Secretary of State, as we know that the UAE is also very much involved in trying to secure some kind of resolution.

They have said publicly that they support some kind of resolution. And in fact, it's a meeting, a series of meetings, that the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, did just a couple of days ago. On Monday, he was here in Abu Dhabi, again meeting with the president and the foreign minister.

And at that point, he really gave his thanks to the leaders for helping with prisoner exchanges between Russia and Ukraine. We know that the UAE has been involved with this.

[04:10:00]

So certainly, at this point, it appears from the US Secretary of State's point of view, he wants to make sure that those in this region, in the Gulf, are briefed, especially given the backlash that we have been seeing from Ukraine and also from Europe -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: And a lot of activity happening elsewhere today. We were just seeing images of Keith Kellogg arriving there in Kyiv. And separately, France are expecting to host a second round of talks with European leaders. Interestingly, including the Baltic states this time. The need for a cohesive strategy within Europe, now more important than ever, Paula, as the U.S. and Russia forge ahead.

HANCOCKS: Yes, we are going to continue to see this flurry of diplomatic activity, I think. Of course, there was that really emergency meeting called by the French President, Emmanuel Macron, for Monday. But then there were European nations who were not happy that they were left out of that discussion. And so those are the countries that he will be speaking to today.

Also, Canada, we understand, will be part of the round of meetings from European leaders today. So it's really an attempt by President Macron and also by some of the other key European leaders to try and create this cohesive strategy for Europe going forward, especially given what we've been hearing from Trump administration officials over recent days.

As you say, though, Keith Kellogg, the envoy for Russia-Ukraine from the Trump administration, is in Kyiv. And he was asked by a CNN team on the ground as he arrived, what was his message?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH KELLOGG, U.S. ENVOY FOR RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: We understand the need for security guarantees. It's very clear to us the importance of sovereignty of this nation and independence of this nation as well. And we're going to -- part of my mission is to sit and listen and say, OK, what are your concerns? Where are we at? So we can go back to the United States, talk to President Trump and with Secretary Rubio and the rest of the team and just ensure that we get this one right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And President Zelenskyy has also said that he wanted to take Kellogg to the front line to show him the realities of the situation in Ukraine -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Paula there from Abu Dhabi. Thank you.

Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro has been charged in connection with an alleged coup following the 2022 election. That's according to a court document filed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege the plot began in 2021 with an effort to undermine public trust in electronic voting machines. They also claim Bolsonaro approved a plan to carry out the coup, which they say included the death of the newly elected president.

Bolsonaro's supporters stormed and vandalized three government buildings in Brazil's capital on January 8th, 2023. Prosecutors say this was a last attempt to overturn the election. 33 other charges he's also facing, and Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing.

Well, Argentine President Javier Milei is defending his promotion of a cryptocurrency whose value collapsed within hours of its launch. In a televised interview Monday, he compared those who invested in the token to gamblers in a casino, adding he thought the crypto would encourage economic growth by funding small businesses. The price of the little-known token soared after Milei posted on it about X. Then its value quickly collapsed, leading to losses for thousands of investors.

Still ahead, a fiery crash landing at Toronto's International Airport captured from multiple angles in a new video. We'll be breaking down the harrowing moment for everyone on board, second by second.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Canadian investigators have recovered the flight data and cockpit voice recorders of the passenger plane that crash-landed at Toronto's International Airport. The frightening moment was caught on camera by the pilot of another plane on a nearby runway.

CNN's Tom Foreman takes a closer look at the new video and breaks it down for us second by second.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When you put together all the video we have right now, what you see is a very rapidly evolving event. Look at this new video. We'll set this at zero when we first see the plane over here.

At this point, everything seems normal. It's about 100 feet in the air, probably traveling 130, 140, maybe 150 miles an hour. It's coming into land, and right around here, the nose should be coming up a little bit.

It should be doing what's called a flare to slow down and touch down in a softer fashion. But look, from that beginning, seven seconds in, there it is, hard on the tarmac, and it is hitting very hard. Right away, what we see is the wheels collapsing on this side, the wing tearing off, which is actually good because it allows the flames to sort of spread away from the cabin as opposed to hanging on there.

And then you saw the plane start to roll like this. Now it's on the side. Now it's all the way over on its back, and all of this just took 11 seconds to happen from when it was normal.

If you were inside, this is what you would have seen. From about seven seconds moving forward in that sequence, when it started turning, and this is just a mock-up, and we've slowed it down here so you can at least see it, this would have been three to four seconds that you went from a perfectly normal flight to upside down in your seats.

[04:20:00]

The only thing protecting you here is the fact that the fuselage has not collapsed, again, an advantage to that wing tearing off instead of ripping it open or doing more damage, and the seats being strong enough, as they are required to, to stay in place and to not fall apart during this impact.

But was it over at that point? No, it was not, because even after all of that has happened, then the plane starts sliding, and after people are upside down, it slides for seven seconds before finally coming to a rest, and only then are people able to get out and start running away from the plane, getting free. In short, it was 18 seconds from what was basically a perfect day, a perfect flight, coming into land, to the moment they were running for their lives.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Just extraordinary that everyone survived.

Now, still to come, NASCAR envisions a future full of electric vehicles, but will President Trump's agenda stall the push for net zero emissions?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Now, the fast-paced world of NASCAR is about to get an upgrade. New electric vehicles are set to be faster, quieter and cleaner than the current gas-burning cars. But will racing fans buy into the change?

CNN's Bill Weir got a close-up look at one of the prototypes at the Daytona 500.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just outside the cradle of American racing, automobile history was made this weekend when Formula Drift superstar Ryan Tuerck swapped out his rubber-burning rig for a machine with twice the power, over 1,300 horses, but with a fraction of the noise and not a whiff of exhaust. Behold, the first electric NASCAR.

WEIR: This is so surreal. Normally, this event would come with the thunderous sound of that internal combustion engine, but all you hear is this high-pitched whine and then just the tires being shredded by those electric engines.

RYAN TUERCK, FORMULA DRIFT DRIVER: The power is just out of this world. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before.

WEIR: It's like twice as much horses as one of the regular NASCARs, right?

TUERCK: Yes, but beyond that, you have the power on demand at all times.

WEIR: Like a power drill.

TUERCK: There isn't a power band. There's just all the power at all times.

WEIR (voice-over): This is one of three electric prototypes unveiled this year, as NASCAR pledges to be net zero by 2035.

[04:25:00]

But while this Chevy Blazer was supposed to be the first electric pace car in Daytona 500 history, it was literally cut off by Donald Trump's armored, plated motorcade, a fitting metaphor from a president who was vowing to destroy EV incentives, charging networks, and tailpipe pollution standards as he promised to fossil fuel executives.

WEIR: Has the politics made your job harder these days?

RILEY NELSON, HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY, NASCAR: We have very clear corporate goals around sustainability, and so our job is to focus on getting those done no matter who's in office or what's going on. So our focus is on, right now, again, energy. And right now, the racetrack you have behind you, that keeps you up at night.

And how do we decarbonize that within the next 10 years? And so that's everything from energy efficiency, LED lights, bringing in different APB technologies, other partner technologies, so that we can reduce our own operating footprint as a sport, and then bring that to the fan and educate the fan on how can we bring some of these technologies into our communities and then help support the growth and sustainability across the country.

DAVID RAGAN, FORMER NASCAR DRIVER: I guarantee you there's more EVs in the parking lot today than there was five years ago. And in another five years, there's going to be a lot more.

WEIR (voice-over): David Ragan is a third-generation NASCAR racer who now drives an electric Ford Mustang in retirement simply because it's fast, fun, and cheaper to fuel and maintain. He believes this fan base is destined to make that same discovery. So the market, not the president, will decide.

RAGAN: And I think the manufacturers really, that they've got their finger on the pulse. Chevrolet, Ford Motor Company, you know, Toyota, the big partners here at NASCAR, they've all got their different plans for how they're going to attack that. And again, I think NASCAR is just saying, hey, we want to be prepared for when that evolution takes place.

JOHN STAHLBUSCH, EVP OF SALES, ABB: So Daytona, they just electrified their parking lot. So whenever their employees pull up, they'll be able to charge their vehicle. Once charging becomes more ubiquitous, and it sort of gets integrated into the fabric of the everyday American, I think it'll become more and more accepted, and it'll be utilized more and more by everybody.

WEIR: You were telling me this is a conscious effort to win hearts and minds of folks who pay extra for the fumes and the noise.

CHRIS SHIGAS, VICE PRESIDENT, ABB: We're in the energy transition right now in this country. The energy transition isn't for some people. It's for everyone.

So I think we need to have better conversations about how we use energy in the United States. And we welcome all the opinions, and all the opinions out here today, because these are important decisions to make our country stronger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Now, wildlife officers have been scrambling to save more than 150 whales found stranded on an Australian beach. But by Wednesday morning, only 90 whales were alive. And although rescuers tried to send them back out to sea, they returned to shore due to strong winds and rough seas.

Now authorities have made the choice to euthanize them. They say they want to minimize the false killer whales' suffering as they have become disorientated and distressed.

I'm sorry to end on a sad note, but that does it for us here at CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining me. Stay tuned for CNN "THIS MORNING" after this quick break.

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