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>> welcome back. >> have i got news for you? news saturday on cnn. >> key talks without all the key players. the u.s. and russia at the negotiating table today to focus on how to end the. war in ukraine. but president zelenskyy says no one decides anything behind our backs. what we know about these discussions. >> plus. >> the moment. >> of impact, we're going to show you new videos. >> of a delta flight. >> crashing into toronto. >> then flipping upside down and. sparking flames. passengers now sharing the. >> chaos inside. >> the. >> plane as. >> we get new. >> details from officials just moments ago. and the top official at the social security administration quits after refusing to give elon musk's doge team access to sensitive information. we're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central.

>> the first day of face to face talks between top u.s. and russian diplomats aimed at ending the war in ukraine, has wrapped up both sides, leaving the negotiating table in saudi arabia agreeing on four principles, including working out a deal that all parties support. >> the goal. >> is, and we agreed on what the. >> goal is. the goal. >> is to bring an end to this. >> conflict in a way that's fair. >> enduring, sustainable and acceptable. >> to all parties involved. >> what that looks like, will, that's what the what the ongoing engagement is. >> going to be. >> all about. >> i came away today convinced that they are willing to begin to engage in a serious process to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can end be brought to this war, whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this conflict. willingness to to agree to certain things. >> notably, these high stakes talks are taking place without

the involvement of ukraine, which was not invited. today, ukrainian president zelenskyy postponed a trip to saudi arabia scheduled for later this week. he says he wants to end the war, but adds that we want it to be fair and that no one decides anything behind our backs. cnn's alex marquardt is with us now from riyadh. so, alex, walk us through where things stand. >> well. >> brianna, this was a 4.5 hour meeting at a palace here in riyadh. and this was meant to, according to the u.s. delegation. really jump start, reset u.s. russian relations. that, of course, have been frozen for the past few years. this is going to be the beginning of a long and complicated process. according to the u.s. delegation. there was nothing concrete decided, no solutions that were agreed upon for ukraine. and this conversation was not just about ukraine. i think primarily it was for the united states, because that is the key to unlocking so much more. but the russians are seeing it essentially as that reset. so what we've learned from the

american side is essentially that four broad points were agreed on. the first, interestingly, is about the embassies in washington and moscow. the two countries have not been behaving diplomatically, to say the least, for the last few years. and those embassies have been working at reduced levels. so they want to get those back up and running in the ways that they're supposed to. then there's this specific point about ukraine and delegating, naming high level officials to carry out the u.s. russia negotiation side on the ukraine question, working towards, of course, a peace deal. and then, brianna, they're looking past the war in ukraine, essentially assuming that if things go according to plan, that there could be a new day in u.s. russia relations in which there could be, as they say, historic, economic and investment opportunities. secretary rubio spoke to that earlier today. take a listen. >> beginning to engage in identifying the extraordinary opportunities that exists. should this conflict come to a

acceptable end, the incredible opportunities that exist to partner with the russians geopolitically on issues of common interest and frankly, economically on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and will also improve our relations in the long term between these two important countries. >> brianna, we now know that president zelenskyy has canceled a trip here to riyadh tomorrow. there's a lot of talk about how the ukrainians and the russians, the europeans are not at the table. the mike waltz national security advisor pushed back on this, saying that the u.s. is constantly talking to its european allies, to its ukrainian allies. we know that the ukraine envoy, keith kellogg, is going to be in ukraine for the rest of the week, and having meetings with president zelenskyy and others. brianna. >> all right. alex marquardt in riyadh, thank you for that. let's bring in matthew chance, who's also in saudi arabia covering these high level talks. and matthew, i know you spoke with members of moscow's negotiating team. what are they saying about the talks?

>> i mean. >> they're being, you know, pretty positive. >> about them saying that, you know. >> they welcome. the sort of dialog. >> that's been taking place, i think, from. >> you know, russia's point of view. >> whatever they. >> get out of this in terms of. tangible results or concessions or whatever it is with. >> the the bilateral. >> u.s. russia relationship. >> they've already. >> got a win, which is that. >> russia for a. >> long time has wanted a seat back at the top table. >> of international. >> diplomacy with its high level delegates meeting face to face like this and with the possibility of a presidential summit on the horizon. they've certainly got that. and it was that sentiment, that mood that was expressed by the negotiator, kirill dmitriev, who's the head of the russian sovereign wealth fund, that i managed to speak to after the negotiations here in riyadh and concluded. take a listen to what kirill dmitriev had to say. >> so you. >> describe these talks as positive. in what way were they positive? >> i think again.

>> in the previous administration, there was so much damage done to any communication, any dialog, any understanding of each other. i think biden administration. so i think we're starting from a very low base, and we have lots of road ahead of us. but i think the conversation was a dialog trying to understand each other's position, respectful dialog. and that's already a huge accomplishment. no ultimatums. really understanding each other's position. so still a long road ahead, difficult road ahead. but definitely russia and us, two very important countries in the world have started talking together in a positive, professional manner. >> yes. so the fact that they're talking together is being seen by the russian negotiators as something that's positive. i think sort of stepping back a bit, the other big win out of this entire process, from a kremlin point of view, is that for many years, even before the war in ukraine and the full scale invasion of that country by moscow and the kremlin has

been sort of dreaming of sowing discord within the western alliance. and the fact that president trump is pushing so hard and so quickly for a peace deal right now with with ukraine and the european allies not at the table, you know, to some extent the kremlin is seeing that that dream become a reality. and so that's another win for the kremlin. out of all of this. >> matthew chance live for us in riyadh. thank you so much, matthew. let's dig deeper into these developments with igor novikov, a former adviser to ukrainian president zelenskyy. also joining us, julia ioffe, a washington correspondent for puck news and an expert on u.s. russia relations. thank you both for being with us. igor, first to you on this postponement of zelenskyy's trip to saudi arabia. it had been scheduled for tomorrow. why do you think it got postponed? take us inside. his thinking. >> well, there's. >> a huge. >> smokescreen kind of covering the. >> entire process. >> and president.

>> zelenskyy, since he. wasn't invited. he's not part of these negotiations. he didn't want to be in the same. >> kind of geography with, you. >> know, the american and russian delegations. >> not to kind of add to. >> that disinformation that surrounds the. >> entire process. >> julia, set the scene for us. as you see it, these talks, are they real? i mean, is this substantive? what do you think? well, i think, uh, unfortunately. >> they're massively substantive. just in terms of the meeting itself taking place and the format of the meeting and the fact that europe isn't at the table, that ukraine isn't at the table, and that one of the things they've already agreed to is restoring the. staffs of the respective embassies in moscow and washington. if you recall, the staffs. >> that were. >> kicked out, the the, quote, unquote, diplomats. >> that were kicked. >> out, the russian diplomats that were kicked out were mostly russian spies under diplomatic cover. so the fact that the u.s. just. agreed to let them back. >> into the. >> u.s. is. >> a. >> massive win for russia.

>> um, and if you. >> watch sergei lavrov, the russian foreign minister's press conference afterwards, it was very much the press conference of a victor, that the very fact that the u.s. just came back to the negotiating table with them didn't get anything in response that the u.s. did on this proposal by kirill dmitriev that, you. >> know. >> american companies will be allowed back into russia. et cetera. underscores the point that. for russians, for putin, americans are weak. >> we're soft. >> we're cowardly, and we're motivated only by money. and the fact that we're biting on all of this, that the u.s. is biting on all of this, just is proof of concept for putin, that all he had to do was wait. biden out and get his guy back in the white house. and he's getting everything he wants and more. >> i wonder when you hear secretary of state marco rubio say that both sides will have to make concessions. what concessions is russia ready to make? >> i don't. >> think any and i don't know

what concessions they're being asked to make by the americans. i think the other point i think that's very interesting is that the whole time russia has been saying, why do we need ukraine at the table? why do we need the europeans at the table? the europeans are weak and not substantive. the two superpowers, u.s., the u.s. and russia should be the ones to decide ukraine's fate. without ukraine, ukraine is little and it doesn't matter. and the u.s. never agreed with that approach. and now we got a new administration that does that, and also concedes that russia is on par with the u.s., even though it is not an economically, militarily. and we just gave that to them again for nothing. >> igor, what does ukraine do? is it prepared, do you think, to really say no and not agree to something that it feels has admitted it as a real factor? >> well.

>> we actually. >> said no back. >> in 22. >> when. >> uh, remember the whole kyiv. >> in three. >> days situation. so we were good at saying no. >> and i genuinely don't. believe there's. >> a deal possible without. european union at the table, without turkey at the table. so i think, you know, what's happening now is the. process between, uh, the u.s. and russia and president trump. he's a businessman. he's a negotiator. so the same way you can win the war without weapons, uh, as was the case, you can't actually make a deal without negotiating. so i don't think anything really bad has happened yet. but when making a deal with the devil, you have to remember the cost comes later. >> and also, finally, just before we leave, uh, i mean, when you see, obviously the land being an issue, the territorial claims, it seems like that is something that ukraine doesn't want to talk about, but has not been able to regain and actually has been losing ground to russia

on. is that a reality that they will have to face, and what would that look like that they would have to cede that land to russia. what would that look like and mean for the future? do you think? >> well, uh, to be honest, i don't think first of all, we should separate that issue from all the other issues. for me, for example, the two most important issues, uh, are the security guarantees, because russia will be motivated to return and claim the whole of ukraine sooner or later. i mean, that's already a fact. and secondly, uh, it's important what happens to whatever is ukraine after this whole process in terms of its future in the west, in terms of the rebuilding process? because if it's left there to rot, once the deal has been made, you know, it's it's going to become part of russia sooner or later. i mean, if it's abandoned, it's going to be russia. >> igor novikov, julia ioffe, thank you so much to both of you for the discussion. we appreciate it. and still ahead, some new videos showing that moment that a delta plane

crashed in toronto ahead. an update from investigators on what may have led up to that moment. >> plus, new cnn reporting on a covert operation. the cia has been flying reaper drones over mexico. we're going to discuss exactly what they're looking for when we come back on cnn news central. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you? news saturday on cnn. >> hi. >> hi. >> chocolate fundraiser. >> chocolate. >> with a chase mobile app. things move a little more smoothly. >> on the. >> a. >> number one. deposit checks easily and send money quickly. oh. and that's convenience from chase. make more of what's yours. >> oh, our. >> car's value.

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down the runway, catching fire. the plane then rolls on its roof before coming to a stop. delta now says 21 people were hurt. two of them today remain in the hospital. thankfully, though, all 80 passengers and crew survived. officials on the ground there actually just gave an update a short time ago. cnn's paula newton is standing by with the latest from the investigation. paula, what can you tell us? >> you know. >> boris, in terms of updating. >> the investigation. >> they cannot. >> update many. >> of the crucial. >> details about it. >> and that. >> is because this. >> is an active investigation. >> in fact, they said that that plane that we're. >> looking. >> at there. >> will remain on that runway for at least another two days so that investigators can take a look at the site itself. at issue, though, boris, of course, have to be those weather conditions. now, no one knows if it played a factor, if it played some kind of a role or played no role at all. but i want you to listen now to deborah flint, who is the executive in charge there at the toronto airport, talking about what the weather conditions were like, not just on this day, but in the days

prior. listen. >> from last thursday to sunday, toronto pearson saw extreme conditions, two separate snowstorms on thursday and sunday. we got more than 20in, 50cm of accumulated snow. that is actually not typical. in fact, it is more snow within that time window than we received in all of last winter. there were many delays and cancellations across this part of canada and the u.s. northeast during this time, creating numerous flight delays and backlogs. >> so on that day that i witnessed for myself on the tarmac, i was delayed about 45 minutes, about an hour before this incident happened. there was snow blowing everywhere. that doesn't mean that i had anything to do with this incident, but at issue now is the fact that yesterday and he would not repeat it today, the chief there, the fire chief, was saying that from what he witnessed, the runway was dry and there were no crosswinds.

whether or not that bears out in the investigation, we'll have to see. but what's crucial here, boris, is that we learn about what kind of weather conditions may possibly be safe for this airplane, because it is a regional jet that many have described as a workhorse. i'm on them all the time. i'm sure you are as well. what are the conditions? and we actually had a former ntsb chair had say on cnn the other day that, look, the weather may become more of a factor than we know of right now in terms of when we have extreme weather events. it was a blue sky day in toronto. that does not mean that weather did not impact this flight, and that is what investigators are going to be looking at. now, there are at least 20 investigators from the transportation safety board in canada on site, but as well faa and ntsb officials, as well as the go team, as they call it, for delta airlines. they have so much data now, boris, they will get to the bottom of this. and we expect a preliminary report within a month. >> yeah, look forward to potentially getting some answers there. paula newton, thank you so much for the update. brianna. >> passengers on board that

delta flight also providing key details for investigators. i spoke with two survivors just hours after their harrowing ordeal. >> 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. it was mass chaos. i was upside down. the lady next to me was upside down. um, we kind of let ourselves go. >> and fell to hit the ceiling, which is surreal feeling. um, and. >> then everybody was just like, get out, get out, get out. >> we didn't really know anything was the matter. or at least i didn't until, like, the second we hit the ground. um, there was no, like, real indication of anything. and then, yeah, we hit the ground and we were sideways, and then we were upside down, hanging like bats. some people were kind of hanging and needed some help

being helped down. and others. others were able to get down on their own. and then, yeah, we kind of all all got off the plane and everyone was, for the most part, fine. >> cnn transportation analyst and former transportation department inspector general mary schiavo is here with us now. mary, i do want to play that video again. this new video of the plane crashing we see on approach. to the untrained eye, it looks pretty normal. but we can see here that very hard landing that those passengers described it quickly turning over on its side, the wings coming off as it rolls onto its back, and a lot of smoke. tell us what you are seeing there. >> are you seeing this? >> well, i'm seeing what you're seeing, but it does. >> provide a. >> lot of clues. >> and i'm also seeing out of the. >> corner of that. >> shot a lot. >> of blowing snow. >> so the. >> aircraft was coming in. >> very fast.

>> faster than recommended. >> according to. >> some other reports that we've seen. and it's coming in. >> you know, at. >> such a speed. >> and at such an. >> angle that. >> well, in. >> flight, as we call it, kind of pancaking, you literally just smack down on the runway. whereas if you come in. >> you know, with a regular controlled descent. >> the the. >> back wheels touch. >> first at the same. >> time and then the. >> nose settles in. it's called flaring. >> but you. >> know. >> the at the report today at the briefing today they walked. >> back the everything. >> being clear and dry of yesterday. and nothing's ever as simple as this. air crashes are caused by dozens of things. there will be many dozen recommendations. >> but if. >> this aircraft was coming in and anything some of this blowing snow obscured any vision might explain why they landed at the very end of the runway, why they landed so fast. why they didn't do the flare and slow, and a controlled landing. but i think given. today's briefing, the focus is now back on weather. >> and also. >> what happened in the minutes

and seconds. before this touchdown, when there were still options, when there was still time to go around, still time to do a missed approach. but that video. shows it hit the landing gear, either collapsed, broke off the right wing, broke off. that's when the fireball happened. and the left wing. >> remember. >> is still an airfoil. so it's lifting the. >> plane up. >> and then it rotates over. and that, you know, that kind of explains right there on that video what happened. the the why why it happened is what the investigators are going to do for the coming weeks. >> and listen, anyone who's flown a bit has experienced different kinds of landings in different kinds of conditions, right? we've all had that lovely landing where you just kind of float over the runway and touchdown so seamlessly, and then we've had some that hit a little harder. i guess the question i have for you is if this were a nice sunny day and it were not very windy, uh, would a landing like that

without snow on the runway, perhaps providing some slipperiness? could it have been different? i mean, what is that? what kind of conditions? and with visibility does that normally create? >> well, it can create a lot. >> of, of conditions. and what. >> we did not hear today and we haven't. heard so far is really what were the crosswinds. because this plane, like every aircraft has limits. you can only fly in certain you know, crosswind knots of crosswind and, and even direct winds and um, for landing the limits about 35 knots for this kind of aircraft. but on a crosswind with a fouled runway, meaning slippery, uh, snow, ice, et cetera. it can be as low as 15 knots. and so we didn't hear anything about that today. but that will also be something for the investigators at the last moments. did you have, you know. burst of flurries because the report today said yes, there were occasional snow flurries. and did you have a crosswind?

and that could explain an awful lot. but a nice clear day when you're floating in and you just touch down so peacefully and quietly. yeah, that's what we all hope for. but this was not their experience. according to the passenger counts, lots of bumps and gusts, et cetera. and of course, once it touched, there were no other options. you could not then, you know, do a go round. you couldn't put full power in because it lost its gear and immediately a wing and flipped. >> the engines. >> were gone. >> so does it tell you anything about how quickly it it turned on its side? what does that an indication of? >> yes. i mean, that video is going to be very important to evidence, um, because it did happen very quickly, which means that with the wing gone, um, your other wing that's left, that looks like the right one was gone. the left one is left. i mean, that is moving at a pretty high rate of speed, and that just lifts that side of the plane up. that's what an

airfoil does. and so that the plane, you know, what was left of the plane really it didn't have a choice at that point. that wing was creating lift. and that caused the plane to turn over. um, that wing wings always want to fly. and that one was still trying to fly. >> all right, mary schiavo, thank you so much for your insights. we appreciate it. coming up, a top federal prosecutor resigns in protest. we'll have details on the demand that she refused to comply with. >> cookbooks. >> corporate fat. >> cats swindling. >> socialites. >> doped up. >> cyclists, and, yes, more crooked politicians. i have a feeling we won't be running out of those anytime soon. >> a new season of united states of scandal with jake tapper, march 9th on cnn. >> get in on by one foot long. get one free right now in the subway app. that's right. by one foot long sub. get another free deals this good usually come with a two year contract. grab the deal online or in app with code bogo only for a

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>> call one 800 859 2400. that's one 800 809 2400. >> there are some fresh new resignations in the nation's capitol as president trump and his special government employee, elon musk, make sweeping cuts to federal agencies. a source telling cnn the acting commissioner of the social security administration has now stepped down because musk's doge team was trying to get its hands on highly sensitive information. >> cnn's rene marsh is here with more on this story. rene, what can you tell us about this? >> so this is. >> the acting. >> commissioner of the. >> social security. >> administration. >> michelle king. >> she has been at. this agency for some 30 years, more than 30 years. and she walked. away from all this time of service because she clashed with doge and doj's request for access to these sensitive systems that house american sensitive information at the social security agency. we're talking about financial information. medical information. there are about 72.5 million americans who receive social security benefits, from retirees to

children, as well as disabled people. so we're talking about millions of americans and their personal information and doj's access. and we understand that was at the core of why she left this agency. uh, but, you know, you hear from doge musk and even the white house. they say that we have to get access to these systems because we have to root out this fraud and waste that is happening from agency to agency. and actually, the white house spokesperson on this recent resignation saying, uh, president trump is committed to appointing the best and most qualified individuals who are dedicated to working on behalf of the american people, not to appease the bureaucracy that has failed them for far too long. so these sort of resignations don't seem to bother them based on on this sort of statement that we're that we see here coming from the white house. but it's not just the social security administration. we've talked about doj's access at the irs, at treasury. and of course, this has been, um, you know, something that we've seen

in the courts. many unions have brought, uh, concerns to the courts, raising questions about whether doge has the legal, you know, right, to have access to all of this information. so while all of this is playing out, we are seeing what we're seeing here at this agency where people are saying no resigning. and michelle king was one of them. >> yeah, we see it time and again. rene marsh thank you so much. appreciate it. in the meantime, there's another major departure, and this one is happening at the justice department. the head of the criminal division within the dc u.s. attorney's office has left her post. >> cnn's katelyn polantz is following this story for us. caitlin, do we know why she quit? >> we do. we're gaining some. insight into. that through our sources. >> this top. >> prosecutor, her name. >> is denise chung. >> she was. >> running the. >> criminal division. >> in the. >> u.s. attorney's office. >> in. >> washington, d.c., a. longtime prosecutor. >> at the justice. department held. >> lots of. >> different roles.

>> there over many. different administrations. she resigned. >> and the reason? >> a clash. >> with what. >> she was being asked to do by the political appointees of. >> the trump. >> administration, including those. >> top people. at main. >> justice, like the. >> acting deputy attorney general. >> emil bove and the. >> man that donald trump. >> has selected. >> on a permanent. >> basis. >> that he wants to run. >> the u.s. attorney's office. >> and. >> martin. >> what we are. >> learning here. >> boris and brianna. >> is that this was. >> over an investigation. >> a grand jury. >> investigation into funding around. >> the. >> environmental protection. agency funding that had been appropriated. >> by. >> congress. >> that had been. >> used to. >> go to nonprofits at the end of the biden administration, that that was what the department. wanted her. >> and prosecutors. >> to look into. and denise chung. >> she didn't want to do. >> it for ethical reasons. >> whenever we asked the justice. department about. >> this today. >> a spokesperson there. >> said that her. >> refusal is not an. >> act of heroism. >> just a failure.

>> to follow the. >> chain of command. >> on her departure. >> notice to the office. denise chung. >> wrote to a. usa there that. >> she believed that they always. conducted themselves with utmost integrity. >> katelyn polantz, thank you so much for the update. so you have these high level resignations, and then you also have widespread federal layoffs. today we're learning more than 700 workers at the cdc have been fired since friday, the latest in a string of dismissals targeting agencies ranging from the faa to the consumer finance protection bureau. with us now is catherine royce. she was terminated from her role as an honors attorney at the cfpb. she is also dealing with a very personal health battle that could be impacted because of losing her job. catherine, thanks so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us. just if you could to start walk us through what this process has been like. what did you think when you read that termination letter? >> thanks for having. >> me, boris. um, so. >> i was in the. >> second round of termination. there were about 100 people

fired from my agency on tuesday. so a week ago, um. >> i had actually. uh. thrown a. get together at my house for the people who had previously been fired on thursday night last week. so that was when i got the email that i had been fired. um, after the initial wave of, you know, shock and grief, i felt anger when i read that, um, memo they sent me. i felt anger personally, because i am struggling with some health issues that i don't know. um, if i'll have the health insurance to cover at the end of the month, i'm locked out of my health savings account, so i don't know how i'll pay those bills. i'm also angry as a person with a credit card because the cfpb is the only agency that protects consumers. through or regarding all sorts of financial scams. so if the cfpb can't do its mission without people like me, people

who use any kind of financial product in america, whether that's credit cards or mortgages or student and auto loans are going to suffer. i was also angry as an american citizen because the procedural protections that are in place for federal employees, um, such as having to fire probationary employees for cause, um, prohibiting employees from taking part in partisan political activity on the job, they are there to guarantee the independence of the civil service. there is a procedure that the president could have used if he wanted to downsize our agency, if he wanted to get rid of it. um, that procedure is to go talk to congress and make a law. um, and the failure to respect that procedure really bodes well, bodes ill for the american constitutional order. >> sure. catherine, if you don't mind me asking, what health issues are you dealing with? and how has this forced

you to adjust? i understand that you've had to reschedule some appointments since you were fired. >> yeah. so this is not the news i thought it would be sharing on national news at any point soon, but circumstances have changed. i, um, was diagnosed with cushing's disease almost two years ago. so during the spring of my second year at harvard law school, um, i had neurosurgery that made to take out a brain tumor that stood a 5050 chance of killing me. my neurosurgeons and endocrinologists told me in no uncertain terms that i required annual mris. from that point on out, the rest of my life, um, to ensure that my brain tumor did not return, i was scheduled for that check in appointment in april. i had to cancel it because i don't have health insurance at that point. um, i'm currently in a mad scramble to try to get something

in before the end of the month, but i don't know if that's going to work. um, so in addition to the uncertainty about my rent, about my friends jobs, about where we're all going to live, if we'll ever see each other at after the end of this month, there's also that extremely personal worry that something might be brewing, and i won't have a chance to catch it. >> catherine, i'm so sorry that you are dealing with this, but i am grateful for you sharing your story and your perspective. so folks out there get a better understanding of what federal workers like you are experiencing. folks that have decided to dedicate themselves to serving not just the government, but the american people. we have to leave the conversation there. catherine royce, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you. >> of course. still to come, cnn's new reporting about a covert cia program, drones being used to spy on drug cartels in mexico. we have details straight ahead.

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blitzer tonight at. six on cnn. >> a week after we learned u.s. military planes were flying in the skies around mexico to spy on drug cartels, we're now finding out that the cia is actually flying drones in mexican airspace for the same purpose. this is according to current and former officials familiar with the matter. >> and it's a sign of president trump's dramatic reorientation of national security assets to the southern border. these are assets that had been routinely used to spy on suspected terrorists in places like syria, iraq or somalia. they'd also been used in places like the ukraine war. we have cnn's katie was part of the team that broke this story. tell us what you're learning here. yeah. brianna, what we're what we're learning is. >> that. >> the cia is. >> now flying mq nine reaper drones in mexican. airspace to spy on drug cartels. now, really. >> important to. >> understand that these drones are not armed. >> right now, even though they are capable of being armed. and

the. >> cia has. >> flown this kind of surveillance. >> flight trying. >> to look for. >> information on cartels in mexican. airspace before in support. >> of the mexican government. but in. >> this instance, it noticed the flights that it was. >> doing to congress using. >> a. particular kind of notification that it uses for. covert programs that it intends to either. conceal or deny, suggesting that this. >> represents a pretty. >> big expansion of. >> what the agency was doing. >> in mexico. >> prior to this. >> now, a cia spokesman declined to comment on these flights specifically, but did say that the agency is broadly really turning its focus to the cartel issue in mexico. this is all part of this broader effort by the trump. administration to really shift the the kind. >> of. >> not just the assets, but sort of. >> the tools and authorities. >> that it uses in the traditional. counterterrorism mission and. >> kind. >> of map that onto cartel issues specifically. >> how is mexico responding to this news that u.s. drones are flying over their territory? >> yeah, it's a good question. they haven't said a lot yet. we

we do know that the mexican government, of course, has in the past agreed. to flights of this. >> kind. >> but against the backdrop of the sort of public musing from the trump administration. >> about the potential. >> for using. military action against mexican cartels inside the sovereign nation of mexico and allied country, it's certainly possible that these flights could kind of escalate tensions between. >> the. >> u.s. and the mexican government. the the the complicating. >> factor here. >> is that even though the cartels and, and. and terrorist organizations that. >> the u.s. military and intelligence community are sort of used to dealing. >> with, they do share some. >> operational similarities. >> right. but it's it's not a one for one comparison. and senior, sorry, current and former. >> u.s. officials. >> that we spoke to in the course of. >> reporting this story. >> pointed out that like, look, yes, some operational similarities here, but cartels not are not ideological, right? they don't control territory. they're not trying to to.

>> govern their. >> commercial organizations. and they are operating in a functioning state right on the. >> u.s. border. so it's. >> not a slam dunk that the. >> u.s. >> is going to be able to neatly. map these counterterrorism tools and authorities on to the counter cartel mission straight out of a movie. it's so it's so interesting, clear and present danger. that's right. thank you so much. appreciate it. still ahead, we just received an update from the vatican on the pope's condition. we're going to take you to rome next. >> time to press rewind with. >> neutrogena rapid. >> wrinkle repair. >> it has derm proven retinol expertly. >> formulated to. >> target skin cell. >> turnover and fight not. >> one. >> but five. >> signs of aging. >> with visible results in just. >> one week. >> neutrogena dupixent can help people with asthma breathe better in as little as two weeks, so this is better. >> and this. >> dupixent is an add on treatment for specific types of moderate to severe asthma. it's not for sudden breathing problems and doesn't replace a

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vatican. officials say pope francis, who has been hospitalized for the last five days with a complex respiratory infection, now has pneumonia. let's get more now from vatican correspondent christopher lam, who is in rome. christopher, this is getting more serious. what can you tell us? >> yes. >> brianna. >> this is. concerning news for a pope who is 88 years old and has had five days in the hospital behind me, the word that the vatican keeps using about the pope's condition is complex. the clinical picture, they say, is a complex one. and the treatment to treat this polymicrobial infection that the pope has is also complex. we have been told that the pope has pneumonia that has required further therapy. we also know that the pope's treatment has been modified on a number of occasions to try and help him battle this infection. so this

news just in from the vatican. they're also saying that the pope is in good spirits and that he asks for people's prayers. now, we don't know how long the pope is going to be in hospital. um, it all depends on how he responds to this treatment. uh, we are going to be getting more updates from the vatican in the coming days. we're expecting to hear from some expert medical people to help us understand more the pope's condition. what we do know about polymicrobial infection is, is that it is a multi-tiered one. it includes or can include viruses, bacteria, parasites. the pope's condition or the precise infection the pope has. we don't know. the battery hasn't said what that is, but we are hoping to find out more details in the coming days. but clearly, the news that the

pope has pneumonia for someone who has suffered from respiratory infections in the past and is vulnerable to them. of course, as a young man he had a part of his right lung removed. removed because of a respiratory infection. this news is concerning, brianna. >> yeah, it certainly is. christopher lamb, thank you so much. still ahead toronto airport officials giving an update after terrifying new video shows the moment that a delta plane crashes on the runway. we're going to break down what we're seeing there, what we're learning from officials next on cnn news central. >> okay, everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. >> to ensure with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health, and ensure complete with 30g of protein. >> nervive. love will keep us together. >> now for something you can both agree on a sleep number. smart bed is perfect for

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