will actually use those, those medications. so i think, you know, even though some medications exist, the idea that new therapies are necessary, i think, is also what's part of what's driving this research. >> and what about i mean, is there more data to come from this study, like on smoking or. >> yeah. so they found and again, anecdotally they're observing all these things. they're seeing people curb their their interest and their appetites obviously. but then the drinking and also smoking of that group of 48 people, 13 of them were smokers. and again, this wasn't part of the study, but they actually were looking at were those habits being curbed as well. and they seem to be they seem to be. again, i want to emphasize these are small studies. they're going to need to be replicated. no one is saying that these are going to be medications that you're taking solely for alcohol use disorder, or solely for smoking, but again, there's a lot of enthusiasm around this. and we'll see what the data sort of bears out.

>> it's really intriguing. sanjay, thanks. the news continues right here on cnn. >> it's thursday, february 13th. right now on cnn this. >> morning. >> i think we're on the way to getting peace. >> negotiations for peace. president trump. >> says russian. president vladimir putin is ready. >> to end. >> its war. >> in ukraine. but how much. >> of a. >> role will ukraine. play in talks about its own future and sovereignty, if any? plus. >> kennedy is. >> not a doctor. he's not. >> a scientist. he's not a public health. >> expert. >> confirmation de robert f. kennedy jr. gaining key support. the vaccine skeptic now one step closer to becoming the head of health and human services and shrinking the workforce. mass firings have begun now across federal agencies as the trump administration gets a big win from a judge for its buyout program

5 a.m. here on the east coast. here is a live look at the washington monument, the white house. good morning everyone. i'm jim sciutto in for kasie hunt this week. great to have you with us. we begin with president trump declaring negotiations to end russia's ongoing invasion of ukraine will start immediately. it's not clear. he's not making it clear if ukraine will play a role. the president had a 90 minute phone call wednesday morning with the russian president, vladimir putin. he described it as highly productive. but his response to this question later in the day has officials in kyiv reeling. >> do you view ukraine as an equal member of this peace process? >> um, it's an interesting question. i think they have to make peace. their people are being killed, and i think they have to make peace. i said that was not a good war to go into, and i think they have to make

peace. that's what i think the president said he and putin agreed to meet each other in person, in each other's respective countries. >> president trump also spoke to the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy after his conversation with putin. he has already ruled out nato membership for ukraine and is warning that they are not likely to get back land. russia has invaded and taken possession of. >> would you. >> support zelenskyy. >> ceding territory or exchanging. territory in. >> any agreement. >> to end the war? >> well, he's going to have to do what he has to do. but you know, his poll numbers aren't particularly great, to put it mildly. >> doesn't say anything about who invaded ukraine. trump's critics, like his former national security advisor, john bolton, says the celebrations have already begun in the kremlin. >> i don't have any expectations anymore. i think i think we know exactly what's going to happen. president trump has effectively surrendered to

putin before the negotiations have even begun. >> cnn global affairs analyst kim dozier joins me now. i've heard a lot of concern from ukrainian officials, from officials here in washington, including lawmakers from both parties, that trump has to bolton's point, signaled that he's going to sell ukraine out here. is that an accurate impression? >> i've heard similar expressions of fear. this is a. >> complete departure. >> from the biden administration's nothing. about ukraine without ukraine. um, this is a moment when. europe is really going to have. to step up if it wants ukraine to survive this presidency as some. sort of viable entity. um, britain has declared a 100 year relationship with ukraine. other european officials that i'm hearing from are very concerned about. um, if russia gets a win here, it'll just be a matter of time before russia invades one of the baltic

countries. perhaps this is permissive, and china is also watching. what signal does this send to china about taiwan? but when you talk to people close to donald trump, they say, look, he just wants to make peace during his term. he wants to stop spending u.s. money on this. and he doesn't see these geostrategic implications. he just wants it done. and putin has just given him a win by returning all of these americans. and this is all it's just really bad news for ukraine. >> trump has conceded three things that normally you might expect to gain concessions for, one of which is no nato membership for ukraine, second of which is ceding territory, but also saying, in effect, that u.s. aid and no u.s. troops would be involved in policing a peace. where does that leave the negotiations? if if trump has

publicly ceded those positions, what more does ukraine have to give? >> yeah, some officials watching this are like, look, that's not very different from the biden administration. only the biden administration wouldn't say it out loud, but just saying it out loud does signal to russia, you know, here's our hand. we're not going to fight for these things. it spells some very ugly conversations in the munich security forum that's just starting this week. as europeans try to convince trump behind closed doors, as i'm told secretary of defense pete hegseth yesterday got angry messages as well of europeans saying, why are you giving this gift to russia and trying to convince them that for your the future of your presidency, you don't want to look like you're losing to moscow. and the ukrainians are hoping that a rare earth mineral deal of some sort. >> get trump on board. >> especially as as china has

something like 70% of the rare earth minerals supply or has captured it, and perhaps ukraine can say, you know, look, you can make money off of this. >> remarkable argument to have to make president zelenskyy clearly walking a tightrope here. i want to play his reaction to trump and hegseth taking nato membership off the table. and get your thoughts on the other side. >> i don't. >> think that. >> this. >> door to. >> nato is ever truly open. i've always. >> said that. >> we wanted. >> it very. >> much, and we were constantly told. >> about the open. door policy. >> and you know that we know the policy of the united states of america. the previous administration's policy for all these years and the current administration with regard to nato, nobody is inviting us to nato yet. >> and to your point and to his point there, i've been told for months that it was the dirty little secret, right, that no one in europe or the u.s. truly believed nato membership, at least in the near term, was possible. but the question became, what security guarantees does the u.s. and the west offer

ukraine in in lieu of nato membership so they could feel confident it won't get invaded again? some have discussed in israel type arrangement where there's not an article five like mutual defense commitment, but there is a clarity that the u.s. and nato would back up ukraine if it were if it were to be invaded again at a minimum with military support. is there any substantive discussion of a substantive security guarantee to replace nato membership? >> european nations had already been talking about providing zelenskyy troops, and zelenskyy has asked for proposed that hundreds of thousands of nato troops enter ukraine to act as a at least a speed bump for russia, trying again. but my understanding is that the white house might be against that, because russia doesn't want nato troops in there. so there's going to be this this tussle over what security guarantees ukraine can get. and zelenskyy also said in an interview

yesterday, the u.s. has to be part of the security guarantees or it really doesn't count. >> well, you would also think that ukraine should be part of its peace negotiations. but president trump wouldn't even grant that when he was asked in the oval office, where does that leave ukraine if this is a deal? actually, where does it leave america's european allies? if this is a straight up putin to trump negotiation, will they force something on all the other parties? >> the european allies know that one of the one of the ways in the past that they've changed trump's mind is by appealing to his ego. so they will be appealing to him, saying, you don't want to look like you got steamrolled by vladimir putin and try to stiffen his spine. but zelenskyy is in a really tough spot. he can't play hardball with trump and he knows it. >> it's it's existential for ukrainians. they fear the future of their country as a sovereign state. understandably so. and we should remind russia's intention at the start of this invasion

was to absorb the entire country. it wasn't to to play footsie with ukraine. kim dozier, thanks so much as always, coming up on cnn this morning, fears of a widening trade war. president trump to meet with the prime minister of india. one country that could be hit with reciprocal tariffs later today. plus, on high alert california bracing for a major storm system that could bring flooding and mudslides. and robert f. kennedy jr.. clearing a key senate hurdle in just a few hours, the full senate will vote on his confirmation. >> i'm going to let him go wild on health. i'm going to let him go wild on the food. i'm going to let him go wild on medicines. >> lockerbie sunday at nine on cnn. >> here's to getting better with age. >> here's to beating these. >> two every thursday. help fuel today. >> with boost high protein complete nutrition. you need. and the flavor. >> you love. so here's to now.

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whether to approve robert f. kennedy jr. to lead the department of health and human services. democrats took to the senate floor to oppose him. >> americans didn't vote to bring. >> back measles. >> americans didn't. >> vote to bring back polio. americans didn't vote to bring back dangerous diseases. that we thought we. >> had wiped. >> out decades. >> ago. >> it's hard for me to imagine a nominee less qualified. >> if the senate had a secret ballot, i bet you that robert f. kennedy jr. would never have come close to confirmation. >> but that's not how it works. and kennedy's confirmation is all but certain. after some key republican senators said that they would indeed back him. and it's not just republicans. as cnn's dana bash reports, there is some growing grassroots movement in his corner. >> let us in. let us in. >> october 2024, battle creek,

michigan. this is a monumental moment. an army of protesters delivered 400,000 petitions to kellogg's headquarters demanding. the company make good on a pledge to remove artificial dyes. from its food. >> i'm here for the mom. all the moms who struggle to feed their children healthy food. >> the leader, vani hari, a food activist known as the food babe, who says cutting out the processed and fast food of her youth not only helped her shed weight, but curbed serious health struggles. she has a wellness brand and a massive online following. >> i feel. >> like my. >> voice represents. so many. >> ordinary citizens, moms and activists and dads and and so many people across the united states that have just had had enough. >> hari volunteered for barack obama's presidential campaigns. she was a delegate at his 2012 convention, where she wrote. labeled gmos on signs. she got

disillusioned with politics and turned to activism, pressuring restaurants like chick-fil-a and subway to take some additives out of their food. >> why is it citizen activists like me and the people that follow me, and all the grassroots movement holding these companies accountable? why isn't there anybody in washington doing this? >> she and others, livid about the american food system, found common cause with robert f. kennedy jr.. >> there's. >> i think, a real. hunger for politicians across the aisle. >> to. >> be targeting this voter. >> anxiety about. >> why are. we getting. >> so sick. >> kylie minogue and his sister casey are well known leaders in the so-called maha make america wealthy again movement. >> i got a. >> call from. >> a safe food advocate named kelly means. >> he was a gop trump critic who turned supporter and helped broker the first call between kennedy and then candidate donald trump last summer. >> don't you want. >> a president that's going to

make america healthy again? >> with that endorsement, the maha movement came with him. dan pfeiffer, a former senior obama aide, says democratic leaders missed an opportunity. >> we're not. >> living in the same social media internet spaces that a lot of the public is. >> where. >> you know, people talking about, you know, what to feed your kids, what chemicals to avoid. long before he even decided to run for president, 2024, rfk jr. lived in those spaces. >> and when trump nominated kennedy for secretary of health and human services, the maha network went to work. >> i was getting. >> hundreds of. messages a day. >> personally, and thousands through the office. >> despite serious misgivings about kennedy pushing conspiracy theories and regularly suggesting vaccines cause autism, which was scientifically debunked. >> by. >> mr. cassidy. >> republicans like louisiana senator bill cassidy, a medical

doctor, saved kennedy's bid for hhs secretary. >> vaccines save lives. >> they are safe. they do not cause autism. there are multiple studies that show this. mr. kennedy and. >> the. >> administration reached out. >> seeking to reassure. me regarding. >> their commitment. >> to protecting the. public health benefit of vaccination. >> are you completely confident that none of those theories that rfk jr. has, and he's expressed many times over the years, will be part of america's public health, as he promised to senator cassidy? >> i am. >> completely confident. >> that bobby kennedy will come in with. opinions and. >> believe those opinions. >> do not matter. bobby kennedy. >> is coming in to institute. a process. >> and i know that many people on the left watching that can't stand bobby kennedy and stand president trump, i know they resonate with. >> something that's happening. >> i know they resonate, that

there's a strain that we're touching on. >> childhood chronic disease. >> and i would just urge them there's a mass opportunity. >> in society. >> to support the trump administration. on this sector. >> dana bash, thanks so much for that story. new overnight mass firings are now underway as president donald trump and elon musk's quest to shrink the federal workforce takes a new turn. it's underway. plus, a deadly explosion. explosion tears through a shopping mall. we'll have the morning roundup just ahead. >> aveeno introduces. new daily moisturizing cream. it's clinically proven to moisturize dry skin for 48 hours and instantly strengthens skin's barrier for softer, smoother skin. aveeno. the power of oat for sensitive skin. >> big or. >> small essential big.

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send info kit. >> com physicians mutual. physicians mutual. >> cnn news central today at 7:00 eastern. >> this just in to cnn. 15 people injured after a car drove into a crowd in munich, germany. this, according to a german newspaper. it is unclear right now if this was an accident or an intentional attack. vice

president jd vance is expected to arrive in munich today for the munich security conference. a number of world leaders and senior officials going there. happening today, president trump will meet with the indian prime minister, narendra modi at the white house. the meeting on the same day, trump is expected to announce reciprocal tariffs on any nation which has levies on u.s. exports, and that includes india. >> i may do it later on, or i may do it tomorrow morning, but we'll be signing reciprocal tariffs. the world has taken advantage of the united states for many years. they've charged us massive tariffs that we haven't charged them. >> president trump is not the only key meeting on modi's agenda. reuters is reporting that first buddy elon musk is set to meet with modi as well to talk business. he's going. >> to personally meet. with prime minister modi, and his agenda will not be the interests of the people of the united

states of america. elon musk, as a representative of the white house. is going to sit down with prime minister modi and talk about tesla's business and elon musk's business in china. >> i mean. >> you couldn't make. >> this up. >> you couldn't make this. >> up. >> cnn's kristie lu stout is live in hong kong. and once again, tariffs on the table as president trump meets with a head of state. i wonder, does modi believe they can come to some sort of deal while he's here? >> well, that's what he's hoping. and you're right. tariffs is top of mind here. narendra modi is in the united states. he will soon meet with president trump a man he has called a quote true friend. so we're looking at to see whether there's so-called true friendship can help overcome serious concerns about trade, about tariffs as well as immigration. now, so far, india has managed to escape the wrath of trump the tariff man. modi wants to keep it that way. in fact, sources tell reuters that modi plans to meet trump with tariff concessions in hand.

these are concessions that could boost u.s. exports to india and perhaps avert a potential trade war. now, in the past, trump has called out india. it's called india, quote, a very big abuser on trade. but modi is trying to keep the vibe positive. in fact, on wednesday, a few hours ago, he took to social media to post this. let's bring it up for you. he says this landed in washington, d.c. a short while ago. looking forward to meeting potus donald trump and building upon the india usa comprehensive global strategic partnership. our nations will keep working closely for the benefit of our people and for a better future for our planet, unquote. but it's not clear what modi can offer in terms of immigration or migration. the number of indian nationals entering the u.s. illegally has surged dramatically in the last few years. we did see that dramatic video from u.s. border patrol of 100 migrants being deported in shackles that sparked outrage across india. but whether or not they can bring this friendship to the fore and put those issues aside remains to be seen. back to you. >> based on recent experience with donald trump, it's very much a bottom line issue. a transactional one. often kristie

lu stout in hong kong. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> all right. we're just past 27 minutes. past the hour. here is your morning roundup. wow. a suspected gas explosion at a department store in taiwan killed at least five people, injured 20 others. it happened in a food court, construction zone on the 12th floor of that building. a united jet goes off the runway in snowy weather at saint louis airport. the plane slid onto the grass, as you can see there after landing. thankfully, no one was hurt. emergency crews met the plane, got everyone off safely. evacuation warnings are in place for parts of fire ravaged los angeles county. the scorched earth creating a high risk now for flooding and mudslides. right now, southern california is bracing for its most significant rainfall in more

than a year. straight ahead on cnn this morning, secretary. pete hegseth is in brussels right now meeting with nato leaders, just one day after president trump said talks will begin soon with russia's president to end the war in ukraine. not involved at this point is ukraine's leader. plus mass firings now underway at federal agencies and the department of education seems to be target number one. >> at noon. >> do you want the. >> department of education to be closed? >> oh, i'd like it to be closed immediately. look, the department of education is a big con job. >> let the conclave begin. >> why do i feel like. >> a cow. >> being priced by the farmer? >> the new york times raves. >> it's every cardinal for himself. >> in hands down. >> the best picture. >> of the year. afi hails rare as the film that. >> endlessly entertains and. >> is a stunning cinematic achievement. >> i understand the trick is to

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atlanta. this is cnn. >> 5:33 a.m. here on the east coast. here's a live look at milwaukee glowing this morning. good morning everyone. i'm jim sciutto in for kasie hunt. great to have you with us right now. defense secretary pete hegseth is in brussels meeting with nato leaders, and he is doubling down on his latest comments regarding russia's ongoing invasion of ukraine. >> there is no betrayal there. there is a recognition that the whole world and the united states is invested and interested in peace, a negotiated peace, as president trump has said, stopping the killing. and so that will require both sides recognizing things they don't want to. >> the fact is, many ukrainians see betrayal coming. these comments come after president trump said negotiations to end the war would begin soon. but those negotiations between president trump and russian president vladimir putin, no

mention of the ukrainian leader. yesterday, hegseth made it clear that a key piece of those negotiations would include ukraine giving up part of its sovereign territory. >> we want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous ukraine, but we must start by recognizing that returning to ukraine's pre 2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. >> by the way, those borders were changed by not one but two russian invasions. he also said the u.s. does not believe that membership for ukraine in nato is realistic. joining me now is cnn correspondent clare sebastian. she's in brussels. claire, i wonder when you speak to nato officials there, european leaders, diplomats, et cetera., do they see now the u.s. preparing to abandon ukraine? is that how they read these comments? >> well. >> they're certainly not saying that, jim, we've had sort of a

collective response from leaders yesterday, which was to say very little not to engage with questions on the rhetoric coming out of the trump administration, not to engage with the idea that those those sort of concessions, as it sounded like that pete hegseth made in terms of, you know, offering up potentially some of moscow's key demands that they were not a capitulation to moscow. so there was a sort of paralysis yesterday as they tried to deal with these unexpected remarks. i think what we're seeing today is a hardening of the response. nato officials are coming out and saying, look, nothing can be decided for ukraine without ukraine. we heard that from the secretary general. we've heard that from the uk defense secretary, the nato official just now told us that nato membership is not something that can be necessarily negotiated with russia, and that for them, the position remains the same as decided in 2008, that ukraine is on a path to nato membership and has firmed up at the washington summit last year. that path is irreversible. but we did actually hear some criticism of

pete hegseth comments. interestingly, coming from the second biggest donor to ukraine in dollar terms from germany. take a listen. >> ich es und das sage ich auch. >> it's regrettable. >> and i'm saying this too. >> this is. >> part of the truth. >> the trump administration has already made public. >> concessions to putin before. >> the negotiations have even begun. >> so that was sort of the clearest criticism that we've heard from nato members. others are continuing to try to argue that there actually isn't a contradiction with the nato position that texas comments talk about. you know, no nato as part of a settlement. that doesn't mean necessarily that they can't continue down the path towards future membership, which of course, no one had ever claimed was imminent. but this is a very fine line. of course, as you know, jim, for these countries, on the one hand, they do want to reaffirm their support for ukraine, but on the other, they don't want to risk

their bilateral ties with the u.s. we've already got impending tariffs, which they're trying to grapple with, and they don't want the appearance of disunity in nato as we know that moscow and other countries, frankly, are watching very closely. so an extremely fine line they're treading here. and major questions remain, some of which, of course, we may get answers for in munich, when more u.s. officials will be there meeting with zelenskyy, among others. >> yeah, i mean, they may want to hide the disagreement, but it's quite a public public one over the future of ukraine and seems to be coming, coming, coming out right now. clare sebastian in brussels. thank you so much. we do have this news just in to cnn. hamas says that it will now release hostages as planned on saturday. earlier this week, hamas threatened to postpone the next hostage release, accusing israel of violating the cease fire deal. president trump urged israel to cancel the deal and, quote, let all hell break out. if hamas had

followed through on that threat, something israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu echoed. now, turning to this, a major legal victory for the trump administration and its efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce. a federal judge is now allowing the so-called deferred resignation offer to federal employees to proceed. it gives workers an option to leave their jobs but keep getting paid through the end of september, according to the office of personnel management. so far, about 75,000 people have accepted that package. close to 4% of the roughly 2 million federal employees who have received that offer. additionally, cnn has learned that mass firings are now underway at federal agencies. so far, probationary employees at the small business administration and the department of education have been impacted. the full scope of the firings is not yet clear. it comes as president trump and elon musk's musk's department of government efficiency doge, as it's known, worked to overhaul the inner workings of the

federal government shrink it, which includes completely dismantling one department, the department of education, soon. >> do you want. >> the department of education to be closed? >> oh, i'd like it to be closed immediately. look, the department of education is a big con job. we're ranked. so they ranked the top 40 countries in the world. we're ranked number 40th, but we're ranked number 1 in 1 department. costs per pupil. >> joining me now is axios senior contributor margaret talev. good to have you on this morning. thanks for coming in. let me ask you, let me understand the difference here between the firings now underway and this buyout deal that allows people to leave their jobs but get paid through september. because you have two different things going on here right now. >> that's right. and the first. >> pave the way. >> for the second. and what the judge. >> did was. not to. say did. >> not did not. >> rule on. >> the legality. of this buyout. >> but ruled. >> that the. >> people who tried to block it.

>> didn't have. >> standing. >> that the unions didn't have standing. so what does that mean? that means that potentially there is an avenue to challenge it legally. it just couldn't be the people. >> who would have standing. >> i think that's a great question, and it sounds like the unions, the folks who brought it are trying to figure that out right now. but i mean, perhaps employees, although if the employee didn't take the buyout, why would they need standing? so i think it's a very interesting legal question. but now that precedes, you know, part two, which is going to be massive layoffs. there's already been an order signed. this is already underway. there will be litigation around that too. what will happen? how far will it go? how long will it take? what's the recourse in the meantime? um, the goal was to get between 5 and 10% of the federal workforce to take that the buyout offer. >> and right now, at 4%. >> yeah, they fell short of that. usually in any given year, the stats tell us around 5% leave through attrition, but they don't leave by february. okay. so it's entirely likely that even if there weren't mass

layoffs, that more than 5% would leave this year. but i think the questions now are like, where? where will these layoffs take place? where will the impacts be? and i think for many of the americans who are looking at this thinking, this is good, the bureaucracy is, you know, bloated. it's all these fat cats in washington there. they may or may not know that most federal workers work outside of washington. i think it's something like four out of five, like it is the overwhelming majority. >> where is it most likely that americans watching right now will feel the loss of those workers? where in what department might they or agency might they notice? there's no one there to, i don't know, sign the checks for payments, et cetera., things like that. >> yeah, it's really interesting because depending on how this all shakes out, it could be things you don't expect. it could be like a benefit that you need to get, or your family's trip to a national park. it may not be all within the department of

education or usaid, or if it is usaid, it may be something that would impact people closer to home, like farmers, as opposed to a faraway person who's not an american living in another country. so i think, um, i think most americans who are all on board with this are on board with it because of their views that their taxes are too high or that the bureaucracy doesn't do things as the year goes on, or maybe next year when the true effects of this are felt, it will just be like a huge shortage of staffing, like under the plans right now, for every person who gets laid off, i think the plan is something like you can only replace one person out of every four people, so this will have a real impact on staffing across government. >> and of course, the next target is federal spending, thinking medicare, medicaid and possibly medicare as well. and we'll see what the impact is. margaret talev, thanks so much. >> yeah, thanks. >> straight ahead on cnn this morning after a crushing super bowl defeat, is travis kelce now thinking about retiring? cnn

sports update is next. plus the future of ukraine hanging in the balance. its very survival as a country. as president trump declares talks to end the war in ukraine will begin immediately. but between the u.s. and russia. >> do you view ukraine as an equal member of this peace process i'm. >> a tiny. >> pinch of. knorr chicken bouillon will save you more. gas in driving. >> downhill. >> because just one sip of this delectable silky chicken ramen noodle. >> soup will. >> put an end to your drive through. dinner rituals. >> it's time. >> to bring out the cook in you and tell them to throw that knorr bouillon in. >> that tasty, silky. >> combo of. >> delightful carrots. >> luscious mushrooms, and a touch of bok choy. make your own nauta combo. it's not fast. >> food, but it's. >> so good. >> aveeno introduces new daily

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the new samsung galaxy s25 ultra with xfinity mobile. physicians mutual. call or visit. send info wkyt.com for all. >> the details. >> physicians mutual. physicians mutual. >> closed captioning brought to you by mae sot. book.com. >> if you or. >> a loved. >> one have mesothelioma, we'll. >> send you a free. >> book to answer questions you may have. >> call now and we'll come to you. >> 808 two one 4000. >> well. >> i think putin couldn't be happier. i tell you, they're drinking vodka straight out of the bottle in the kremlin tonight. it was a great day for moscow. >> a great day for moscow. what about ukraine? after a 90 minute phone call between president trump and russian president vladimir putin, those two leaders agreed to meet and begin negotiations immediately to end the war in ukraine. but apparently without ukraine's.

participation. >> freezing out. >> president zelenskyy of this process. >> a bit. isn't there a danger of that? >> no, i don't think so. as long as he's there. but, you know, at some point you're going to have to have elections to. >> what's he talking about there? president trump and his defense secretary pete hegseth are already ruling out nato membership for ukraine, also warning the ukrainians not to expect to recover territory taken by force by russia. here was president volodymyr zelenskyy's response. >> i don't think that this door to nato is ever truly open. i've always said that we wanted it very much, and we were constantly told about the open door policy, and you know that we know the policy of the united states of america. the previous administration's policy for all these years and the current administration with regard to nato, nobody is inviting us to nato yet. >> joining us now live from kyiv is ukrainian parliamentary parliament member kira rudic. good to have you back. thanks so much for joining. >> hello. >> jim, and thank you so much

for having me. >> i wonder, do you hear in president trump's comments yesterday and the comments of the defense secretary that the u.s. is preparing to abandon ukraine? >> well, we are indeed concerned with what we heard. however, we are trying to take it all as the surrounding discussions, hoping to see some clear steps on what is going to happen from the u.s. side. and at the munich conference. i guess we will have more concrete information. of course, we are not happy with the fact that there is isolation of president putin has finished, and that there was this call with president trump. but we are, of course, are also concerned that the responsibility to support ukraine is being put on our european partners. and we don't hear that our european partners are really ready to accept this responsibility. so, you know,

jim, the key question is rather from ukrainian people today. they were asking me like, what have we done wrong? like where did we go wrong in our attempts, in our fight, in the values that we are fighting for, in the steps that we are taking every single day? and i do not have a good answer to that. >> yeah. what is ukraine's plan b? if the u.s. pulls back as president trump seems to be indicating and might even exclude ukraine from those peace negotiations? and if europe can't fill that gap, what does ukraine do? or is it a position then to lose the war? >> well, jim, we are right now at a very similar position that we were in 2022 when we were not a member of negotiations about ukraine, when it seemed that everybody will be decided behind our backs. it did not happen and we were able to show the world that we are ready to fight for our freedom and surprise

everyone who said that we will fall in 2 or 3 days. right now we continue fighting. we are still hoping that the resources to continue supporting ukraine will be found within the frozen russian assets, which are ÷300 billion that are being stored right now in the belgium euroclear fund. and we strongly believe that this is the missing resource that we can use to cover for the expenses of ukraine's defense. >> let me ask you this because you heard president trump's comment there saying, and then ukraine will have to have elections. that caught my attention there, because trump has often publicly criticized the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy. do you believe trump wants zelenskyy gone? >> well, i have no information about that. but i can tell you clearly that it is very hard, almost impossible, to conduct the elections right now when we have around a million people serving in our army and we have, uh, at least 8 million people,

uh, abroad. and of course, russia will have a huge influence and try to influence the next ukrainian elections. so the sequence needs to be first end of the war and second elections. >> kira rudik, as i always say when i speak to you, i wish you peace and safety. thanks for joining us. >> thank you and glory to ukraine. >> well. >> time now for something very different. sports. fresh off a painful defeat in the super bowl, kansas city chiefs star travis kelce is opening up about retirement. coy wire has this morning cnn sports update. so do we think we saw him play his last game? >> it could very. >> well be jim. let's talk some sports ball travis kelce. >> has played 12. >> seasons in the nfl. super bowl marked his 200th game of his career yesterday. he did not rule out retirement. it's a big question going on the sports world. he broke jerry rice's record for most career super bowl receptions on sunday jim, but he was a non-factor against

philly. just four catches 39 yards. and on his new heights podcast with his brother jason, the ten time pro bowler admitted that hanging up the cleats is a possibility. listen, i know everybody wants to know whether or not i'm playing next year, and right now i'm just kicking everything down the road. i'm kicking every can i can down the road, and i'm not making any crazy decisions. i think i'm going to take some time to figure it out, and i think i owe it to my teammates that if i do come back, uh, that it's going to be something that, um, it's a wholehearted decision, all right. to the nba for the second game of the lakers. luka lebron era and luka showing some razzle dazzle against the jazz. jim slick dish to rui hachimura. look at that. rui led the lakers with 19. but how about this one luka driving to the rack behind the back to austin reaves for three. his money 16 points for luka in just 23 minutes lebron had 18. it wasn't enough. salt lake city steamrolls l.a. 131

119 snapping the lakers six game win streak. utah's markkanen led the way with a game high 32. check out the overtime thriller at madison square garden. nixon hawks karl-anthony towns becoming just the fifth knick ever with back to back 40 point games. he's on a heater. he scored 44 in this one, but here come the hawks late in the fourth from the logo gym. trae young with three of his 38 points on the night and with less than 10s to go, george neang bang hawks tie it up there. send it to ot. but that's where new york rises up. jalen brunson giving new york the one point lead nailing the coffin. brunson scored 36 in a 149 148 win. and here we go. big payday for all star infielder alex bregman. according to multiple reports, the free agent agreeing to join the red sox on a three year, $120 million deal. the 30 year old spent his entire nine year career with the astros, helping them win two world series. bregman is

expected to move to second base with the sox, so we shall see how that affects their chances of making a good run at the postseason. yeah. >> i don't understand the mavs letting dominic go. i just don't see him play in l.a. right now anyway. i'm sure they're going to miss him. >> yeah, no doubt they did get a win last night with adams. the crowd rallied around them. they're trying to they love their team let alone who the individual players are. >> i hear you coy wire. thanks so much. in our next hour on cnn this morning, reshaping the federal government, president trump's big buyout win as firings are now beginning across multiple agencies. plus, kash patel inching closer to confirmation as the head of the fbi. democratic congressman glenn ivey. he's going to join me to discuss that. and more. >> james brown. >> one of my. >> favorite performers, has a song called the big payback. there's a place for that in funk and the dance floor, but not at the fbi.

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