main reasons why we chose to do that. the first reason is we want the world to see guy and avatar are alive. they are alive and they're speaking to us. they're asking us to release them. the other reason, and for me, maybe it's more selfish reason, but i think that after hamas did what they did and they keep playing psychological tricks on us and they they torturing us psychologically, uh, both the hostages and the families of the hostages. i think that israel need to to make a statement. this cannot keep going. you can't keep doing that. the the next hostages that would be released must be guy and avatar must be guy and avatar to prevent this from happening again, to make them realize that they can't, uh, take any hostage and make a make make a cynical show out of him. and that's a torture both for us and the families. it's not about the faces. it's not about the deal. it's simply about being human. >> thank you so much for talking to us.

>> thank you so much for having us. >> the news continues right here on cnn. >> it's wednesday, february. >> 26th, right now. on cnn this morning. >> can you tell us who the administrator of doge is? >> again, i've been asked and answered this question. elon musk is overseeing doge. >> who's the boss? the white. >> house finally identifies who's actually. leading doge. and today president trump holds his first cabinet meeting with. >> the world's. >> richest man at his side. >> a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are going to deliver the america first agenda. >> speaker mike johnson. >> gets a. >> win, convincing just enough republicans to pass president trump's. >> budget blueprint. >> but there are potential. >> roadblocks ahead. plus. one final goodbye, a moment many hoped would never happen. mourners lining the streets. >> of israel. >> to honor. three slain hostages. shiri bibas and her. >> two little. >> boys.

>> it's 5 a.m. >> here on the east coast. >> you are. >> looking live at the capitol dome in washington, d.c. good morning everyone. i'm kayla tausche. >> in. >> for kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. in just a few hours, president trump will host the first cabinet meeting of his second term, 18 of his 22 cabinet nominees have been confirmed so far, but no senate confirmation is needed for. elon musk, the world's richest man turned special government employee who will also get a seat in the white house cabinet room. >> the president and elon is his entire cabinet, are working as one unified team, and they are implementing these very common sense solutions. >> but musk's most recent move, threatening federal employees with their jobs if they don't respond to an email, may not be going over well with some cabinet attendees. quote, a trump administration official tells cnn the move led to some annoyance among not only top

officials, but even some cabinet secretaries, adding that the secretaries are in charge of their own agencies and need to conduct their own reviews for where cuts may be needed. doge now also facing blowback from team members within the government. 21 staffers from the u.s. digital service, which was the precursor to doge, resigned in protest tuesday over the lightning fast cuts for musk and his team. despite the controversy, musk still seems to have the confidence of the only person he needs. >> i think it's a very smart thing and it says if you don't answer, essentially, you know, there's a penalty to pay, like that's the end of the job. >> musk has said that. >> the order itself doesn't say that. i think that's part of the confusion. >> is he speaking. >> for you when he. >> says. >> you'll be terminated? >> everybody speaks for me. i'm the one i'll take responsibility. you know the old statement, the buck stops here, right? >> joining me now to talk about all this is margaret talev, senior contributor at axios. margaret, good early morning to you. >> good morning. >> thank you for being here. set

the scene for this cabinet meeting today and why it's so different from others. >> well, now that. >> the cabinet is. >> in. >> place. you have got a. >> series of new. >> heads of. >> agencies who thought that. >> they were taking the job. because they were in control of what. >> happened to the people who work under them. so as you remember, in president trump's first term, there was that cabinet meeting where everyone was instructed to go around the room and talk about how great president trump's leadership was. it could it could definitely happen again today. but i think what we're beginning to see and what we've seen over the last few days, is this pushback from newly minted cabinet officials instructing their teams, um, you don't need to comply with that or you shouldn't comply with that, or we don't know whether you should comply with that. we're waiting for more guidance, or you can comply with it if you want to. but don't actually put any, um, sensitive information in there because malign foreign actors could get access to the email. and so this is either going to be the first confrontation or the first kumbaya moment. it

will either be for the cameras in a way that, um, solidifies elon musk's standing or for the cameras in a way that doesn't. and so there's a lot of anticipation around what we're going to see. but i think behind the scenes, regardless of what we see, there is, uh, mounting resistance, both from these new cabinet officials who do not want elon musk to be in charge of them and to handicap them, but also for members of congress who have begun to see some of this resistance play out in town hall meetings. >> there's historically been a focus on a president's first 100 days, but perhaps this time it will be the first 130 days, the time in which elon musk will be serving as a special government employee. and, um, issuing some of these instructions to different agencies. we've also learned that there's an executive order forthcoming that will instruct some of these cabinet secretaries to prepare for what cnn has reported will be large scale firings. do we know what that will look like at a practical level? >> yeah, i think i mean, i think we're all including the cabinet

secretary is about to find out. and we saw yesterday, um, the the u.s. government finally naming a person who works for the u.s. digital service. that is not a household name and i don't think will become a household name to say, well, this is the person who is actually in charge of doge. >> apparently news to her. her name is amy gleason. at the um, at the precursor to doge before she was named as a champion of change by the obama administration and reportedly was in mexico on vacation when she received word that she had been tapped for this role. what do we know about her? >> well, we know that it that elon musk is the person who is in charge, but he is not in charge because of the process by which he's been hired. so this is like make decisions first and then figure out how to technically justify it for legal purposes after the fact is, is really, i think, what we're beginning to see going on. but there are two things going on at the same time. and one is that trump is empowered musk to be the front man on this, whether it's with the chainsaw at at a

group of party faithful or whether it is without the chainsaw in other more public events. but to set the tone and to set the scene. and the second is that what we heard even before the beginning of this administration was from the president's outside advisers as well, is that there is a real desire to reduce the size of government. if that happens to happen naturally, because government employees get so anxiety ridden or confused about what they're supposed to do, that they just go off and find another job. that's okay with a lot of these folks, too. so i think we're seeing all of these strategies and tactics kind of come into play at the same time. and, um, so far they have some running room from the courts. they may be hemmed in in some ways, but in other ways they're proceeding apace. >> um, before i let you go, you had previously served as the president of the white house correspondents association. for those in the american public who are reading the news about some of the changes to the press pool and the fact that the white house wants to control the small

group of journalists that's going to be with the president at all times. how do you see that changing the information that the public will receive? will it change it? >> there are there are two important aspects of, um, independent free press being able to be in a room with the president. and one is that the the people in that room can validate and verify for themselves what they see, what they hear, conversations that are going on. but the other is the ability to ask questions of that president, whoever the president, to hold them accountable on difficult decisions they make, to get them to weigh in about big matters that are happening in the world. and most of the press's interaction with the president tends to be in these limited space gatherings. you have a you shout a question on the tarmac on air force one, you are able to ask a question when the president is passing you. journalists don't have free reign to walk around the white house and knock on the president's door and say, can i come in and ask you a question? and so that really is a big part of what's important here. this is not about the business of

relative business leverage of individual news organizations. news organizations function as the voice of the people and the eyes and ears of the people. and when you see any administration try to limit and we haven't seen it in our lifetimes. like this. what's happening when you see an administration try to limit who can get into those rooms and, and ask those questions, um, it it is concerning because of the potential for a larger chilling effect and the potential that the public will be able to receive less vetted, fact checked information. >> margaret, we appreciate that context and we appreciate you being here with us. thank you. thank you so much. margaret talev ahead on cnn this morning. the doge effect, the trump administration expected to tell federal agencies to prepare for more large scale firings. plus two near plane collisions. a few airliners avoid catastrophe at some of america's largest airports. and ukraine's

president making travel plans. he's on his way to the white house to meet with president trump. >> i hear that i hear that he's coming on friday. it's a very big deal. it could be $1 trillion deal. >> cookbooks. >> corporate fat cats. >> swindling socialites, doped up. >> cyclists. >> then, 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. payne hits fast, so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. and now get max strength. topical pain relief precisely where you need it with tylenol. >> precise with fatigue and lightheadedness. >> i knew something was. >> wrong when i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a five times greater risk of stroke symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath,

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>> i'm sure you're wondering why your mother and i asked you here tonight. it's because it's a buffet of all you can eat. butterflies, shrimp and sirloin steak. >> yeah. >> that's the reason. >> i don't get it. >> do you have any idea how much this will cost at other restaurants? >> not really. i'm only six. >> a lot, honey. a lot, kiddo. >> oh, okay. >> yeah. >> i'm natasha. >> bertrand at the. >> pentagon. >> and this. >> is cnn. >> right now, israel and hamas reaching an agreement to exchange the bodies of four hostages for the release of hundreds of palestinian prisoners. that happening? possibly as early as today. it comes as final goodbyes in israel for three hamas hostages who did not survive. you're looking at live pictures from funeral services for shiri bibas

and her two young sons, ariel and kfir. thousands of mourners lined the streets as their caskets passed by. the remains returned last week as part of a hostage deal between israel and hamas. the young mother and her two sons, now becoming a symbol of the brutality of the hamas attack on october 7th. cnn's jeremy diamond has more. >> behind me is indeed that funeral procession for fear. ariel and shiri bibas, who were killed in hamas captivity. you can see hundreds of israelis at this very junction, but thousands of israelis have been lining this entire procession. as we now see these vans coming through, carrying the bodies of fear. ariel and shiri bibas, their mother. they were both they were all three taken hostage from kibbutz nir oz on october 7th and for 16 months, so many who we've spoken to here have held out hope that perhaps they would return alive. but instead, this is a very

somber moment where so many israelis are now devastated, as they learned last week, that they indeed returned dead from hamas captivity. hamas has claimed that they were killed in an israeli airstrike. the israeli government says that they were killed by hamas captors with their bare hands. but right now, just very somber, very emotional scenes as we watch, as people bow their heads in grief and in solidarity with the bibas family. >> devastating scenes. thank you, jeremy diamond. and later this hour, i'll speak with the father of israeli american soldier chen, who was abducted and killed by hamas. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy could be visiting the white house by the end of this week. a source telling cnn and the u.s. that the u.s. and ukraine have reached a deal on revenue from ukraine's mineral resources and reconstruction. president zelenskyy, already making travel plans.

>> i hear that he's coming on friday. certainly it's okay with me if he'd like to. and he would like to sign it together with me. and i understand that's a big deal. very big deal. it's it's a very big deal. look, it could be $1 trillion deal. it could be whatever. but it's rare earths and other things. >> cnn's salma abdelaziz is live in london. salma. the u.s. has viewed this deal as payback for prior support, but the ukrainians have suggested that this is leveraging future generations. how did they get to this point? and what do we know about the deal? >> well, let me start by explaining that this is a deal that has been reached, but it is a framework. at this time, we haven't had official confirmation from u.s. sources. i know you heard from president trump there, but we haven't had an official statement from either side. what we understand is in, again, this framework is a the ugliest parts of the deal. the thorniest parts of the deal have been removed. that's according to ukrainian officials. you may remember that this all began when president trump wanted to exact the toll

of a $500 billion mineral deal from ukraine, something that president zelenskyy said was unacceptable, something that he said was absolutely nowhere near the actual figure that the united states has contributed to ukraine. so you can expect that that number, that assessment has been downgraded to a figure that is acceptable to both sides. we also understand in this deal that there will be an agreement for a joint exploration. the u.s. and ukraine exploring rare earth minerals together in that country. a fund will be created and portions of that fund could be used to back reconstruction efforts in the country. you may notice that i haven't mentioned the most important part, which is security guarantees. that's why president zelenskyy refused to sign these deals. in the beginning, he says he wants something back. he wants protection from the united states, from russia's aggression. in exchange for this deal. president trump did indicate yesterday in the oval office that there would be later

conversations on that security guarantee. he even said that he had discussed the possibility of a security guarantee with russia, which i'm sure has raised a few eyebrows. but now it's about the next step, really. president zelenskyy should be arriving in the white house this friday, potentially, and you have to keep your eye on how the relationship unfolds between president trump and president zelenskyy, because it has been less than friendly in the last few days. >> we'll of course, be watching that body language on friday. salma abdelaziz, thank you for your reporting. ahead on cnn this morning, house republicans passing their first major legislative test, narrowly pushing president trump's so-called big beautiful bill over its first of many hurdles. plus, more than 100 intelligence officials about to be fired. details on the sexually explicit messages that allegedly occurred in government chat rooms. that's ahead.

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and file members of the intelligence community brought the issue to gabbard attention. acting irs commissioner doug o'donnell plans to retire on friday. the announcement, coming after the trump administration slashed 6000 jobs at the agency during the height of tax filing season. president trump intends to name former missouri republican congressman billy long to be the next irs commissioner. long favors wiping out much of the nation's tax code. former new york governor andrew cuomo is preparing to announce a run for new york city mayor. a former declaration is expected as soon as this weekend, according to four sources. cuomo resigned from his job as governor in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal, a scandal in which cuomo denied all wrongdoing. and another peaceful night in the hospital for pope francis. the vatican says he is resting this morning and receiving treatment for double pneumonia. on tuesday, the pope reportedly showed a slight improvement despite

remaining in critical condition. straight ahead on cnn this morning, the supreme court ordering a new trial for an oklahoma inmate on death row. plus, house republicans providing president trump with an early victory lap in the budget battle. >> thank you all for staying on a on a long night. we got it done. we're going to celebrate tonight. and we'll roll up our sleeves and get right back at it in the morning. >> amid upheaval and sweeping changes. >> the president of the united states. >> trump, heads to capitol hill to share what's next. follow cnn for complete coverage and in-depth analysis. the presidential address to congress tuesday at eight on cnn. >> like a relentless weed. >> moderate to severe. >> ulcerative colitis symptoms. >> can keep. >> coming back. >> start to break away. >> from uc with tremfya with rapid relief at four weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation at one year, many

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7:00 eastern. >> 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast. you are looking at the space needle and the skyline of seattle, washington, where it is 2:30 a.m. pacific time. good morning everyone. i'm kayla tausche in for kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. new this morning. multiple safety incidents at america's airports on tuesday, including one near collision at chicago's midway airport. another passenger jet disaster just narrowly avoided a southwest flight landing on tuesday was forced to quickly pull up when a smaller jet crossed the runway. the southwest pilot, demanding answers from air traffic control just moments later. >> about 2500. >> for going around. >> 20 504. >> roger maintain 3000. >> that's 20 504. how'd that happen? >> the faa and ntsb also want to know how that happened and have opened an investigation. the new york times also reporting a

second airliner at reagan national airport in washington, aborted its landing yesterday to avoid colliding with another plane ready to take off from the same runway. the faa saying, quote, the airplane's pilots were told to scrap the landing by an air traffic controller to, quote, ensure separation was maintained between this aircraft and a preceding departure from the same runway. end quote. in a statement to cnn, an american airlines spokesperson characterized the canceled landing as a standard go around, nothing out of the usual. the house of representatives voting to pass a budget blueprint that moves president donald trump's agenda forward. >> a lot of hard work ahead of us, but we are going to deliver the american first agenda. we're going to deliver all of it, not just parts of it. and this is the first step in that process. >> the budget passage was also a major win for house speaker mike johnson, who, along with his leadership team, spent hours convincing several skeptical republicans to vote in favor of the plan. even president trump spent part of tuesday helping

make calls to will whip votes. >> so tell us why you changed your vote, congressman. >> because there are legitimate. >> cuts and it's. the right. >> direction to go. >> it's not everything i wanted, but in this game. >> you're either at the. >> table or on. >> the menu and it's. >> time to get it at the table. >> did they promise you anything? >> there's no quid pro quo. but the president assured. >> me that he. >> would work towards. >> cuts. and and he's never lied to me. >> he's always been. >> honest about it. >> and the speaker backed. >> him up. >> johnson only lost one republican vote. in the end. congressman thomas massie of kentucky. but tuesday night's win was just the first step. republican leaders in the house and senate will now have to come to an agreement on how to move forward with a package. as the two chambers adopted vastly different plans. the drama leading up to the vote shed a light on some of the stark divisions within the republican party, which could make the next hurdle even more difficult. joining me now is shelby talcott, white house correspondent for semafor. shelby. it was a surprise even to republicans on the hill that

this ended up passing when it did. what comes next? >> yeah. >> that's the. >> big question. and it was certainly a surprise. remember, the vote was actually briefly scrapped. and i really do mean briefly before all the lawmakers were called back in. >> so now. >> of course the senate has to adopt this. and the issue with that is the senate this entire time has been making their own bill, their own separate bill, different than this. >> much bigger. >> bill that the president is prefers. and so that is the next step. >> and there's going to be some issues with that, because senate republicans have already voiced some opposition to some of the things that are in this house bill. and so they're going to have to figure out how to work together. and one of the really notable things throughout all of this is the president has sort of taken a step back when it comes to these negotiations, to the point where some lawmakers have said, you know, we wish he would be a little bit more vocal on what he wants and and which bill he prefers so that we can

move forward perhaps more easily with all of this. >> so in lieu of the president's involvement on some of the details, which i should note is the same as the way he operated during his first term, where he didn't really traffic in the fine print of the health care proposals that republicans put forward, or even the tax bill to a certain extent. but has the president expressed a personal desire for any specifics in this bill, and if not, who is really driving the conversation on the substance here? >> well, the president has expressed that he prefers what he calls a one big, beautiful bill, which is what house republicans have have preferred. he likes that the taxes are in there. he likes that there's new spending on immigration enforcement. but beyond that, the discussions have really been up to lawmakers. and of course, there have been people on president donald trump's team who are involved. but you're right, the president doesn't typically go in there and discuss the fine print of this.

now, the one thing i will also point out is this is a really big bill. and there's going to be questions about how this bill jives with the efforts from the federal government and from elon musk's department of government efficiency to actually cut spending and reduce all of that. >> some of the numbers floating around about the pledges to cut spending in this bill, or about $2 trillion. top senate democrat chuck schumer suggests that the republican bill could cut $880 billion in medicaid alone. how are those two efforts jiving and what is the view today on this specific day by republicans of what elon musk is doing? is there discontent stirring? >> well, one of the big things when you talk about medicaid cuts, that was some of the that was one of the topics that some of the skeptical republicans who ultimately ended up voting for this bill were worried about. they were concerned that there were too many cuts. there were

too many potential cuts to medicaid. and that's certainly going to be an issue that's brought up in the senate as well. now, as far as as far as these doge cuts, you know, lawmakers are, by and large, letting donald trump just sort of go with it. and there have been concerns raised by some republican lawmakers who are hearing from their constituents about how these cuts are affecting people back home. but by and large, there hasn't been a concerted, overwhelming push from the republican party when it comes to these doge cuts. a lot of republicans that we speak with say, you know, donald trump won this election. let's let him see. let's let him do what he says he wants to do and see what happens. >> you know, we talk a lot about doge and some of these long term goals of the administration and what's coming down the pike several months from now. but we only have about 20 days left of government funding. and then there's the potential of a major economic default later this spring. are republicans or the white house talking at all

about fixing those issues in the interim? >> well, listen, they're plowing ahead and there are quiet conversations, i'm sure, behind closed doors. but by and large, they are putting on a brave face. and their argument is we're going to get this done. we're going to figure it out. now, i will note 20 days is not a lot of time. time, and we have seen this happen before. and the big question is, can they get this all done in such a short period of time when really senate republicans and house republicans are in vastly different positions when it comes to this spending bill. and that's going to be the big question. now, i will note, the president does not want this to happen in 20 days. and so there i anticipate that there is going to be a real push from the white house to figure out a way to get this done. >> the countdown begins. shelby talcott, white house correspondent at semafor. our thanks to you this morning. thank you. we were just talking about those town halls. the anger is real. several republican lawmakers facing frustrated voters in their home

districts who are furious about elon musk's efforts to slash the federal workforce. cnn's tom foreman has more. >> are you. >> okay with chaos? >> are you okay? government employees are going to be let go. and that's just the reality of it. >> shouted down. >> at town halls. >> hey. >> hey. >> let's restore some order. >> so yelling. >> screaming, yelling at. >> me is not going to get any answer. >> okay. >> protested on their way to. >> work. >> we've lost 10% of. >> our workforce. >> shut up. >> and let him talk. >> i will. >> not, sir. >> republican lawmakers are. >> being hammered by voters. including their. >> own boy. >> over the. >> department of government efficiency, or doge, which is. chainsawing federal. >> jobs in blue. and red states alike. >> right now, i think we should just be using a scalpel. >> and some elected. >> leaders are now. >> pushing back on doj's unelected cutter. >> in chief. >> if i. >> could say one thing to.

>> elon musk, it's like. please put a dose of. compassion in this. these are real people. >> when you have. >> a president. >> who can affect somebody's business. >> or somebody's livelihood, it just needs to be done with with deliberation. >> for weeks, the. >> parade of departing. >> workers has. >> been growing. >> from the faa to the. >> irs, from health. agencies to the small business. >> administration, from. veterans affairs. >> to the national parks. >> and more. >> and when elon musk demanded this past weekend that all remaining. workers justified their. employment in an email or be. >> fired. >> president trump initially was all for it. >> i thought it was great because we have people that don't show up to work, and nobody even knows if they work for the government. >> but around a dozen departments in. >> trump's own. administration effectively told. >> their workers to ignore musk. >> trump appeared to back down, leaving party bosses to put the best face on a bad situation. >> i think the vast majority of the american people understand and applaud and appreciate the

doge effort. >> polls show voters want less government waste, but a slim majority now think doge has gone too far. and by the hour, it seems more gop congress members are subtly backing the resistance. >> if i. >> were a senate confirmed, uh, dad of a department and i had somebody from the outside, uh, undermining my ability to manage and demonstrate, there's one leader in every department. >> i'd have a problem. >> with it. >> tom foreman, thank you for that report. ahead on cnn this morning, a done deal. ukraine's president reportedly getting ready to travel to the u.s. to meet with president trump. plus, a somber day in israel, the remains of a mother and her two young children laid to rest. >> twitter. >> breaking the bird. premieres march. >> 9th.

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>> closed captioning is brought to you by purple. greatest sleep ever invented. >> we've been out of a job. >> that's because purple. mattresses are made with patented. >> gel flex grid technology. >> do not go to purple.com. >> do not. >> visit a purple. >> store. >> we're learning that israel and hamas have reached an agreement to exchange the bodies of four israeli hostages for hundreds of palestinian prisoners, possibly as early as wednesday evening. that's according to an israeli source. and it indicates that the gaza cease fire deal remains intact, at least for now. this comes as crowds in israel gather for the funeral of shiri, ariel and kfir bibas, who were taken hostage by hamas on october 7th. the idf says they were brutally murdered in gaza in the first weeks of the war. their bodies were returned to israel late last week. paula hancock has the details on the latest agreement. >> israel was supposed to have

released 620 palestinian prisoners from israeli jails on saturday, including 23 children within that. in return for those six live hostages that we saw released from gaza, however, israel said that it was delaying that release because it did not appreciate the humiliating ceremonies. it says that it saw, with the hostage releases also saying hamas had carried out repeated violations by making videos and public displays that demean the dignity of those hostages. now, what we did see on saturday, we saw some of those hostages being brought up onto a stage which we had seen in previous weeks, and some of them being made to speak to the crowds, the crowds of militants, and also of bystanders. there was also a propaganda video that hamas released which showed two of the as yet unreleased israeli hostages watching these proceedings from a vehicle. so

israel said that because of these, these violations of the ceasefire deal, they would not release the palestinian prisoners. now, hamas, in turn, said that that was a violation and said there would be no discussions on phase two of this hostage ceasefire deal until they were released. so it shows the fragility of this ceasefire deal. as of this point, we understand that there will be an exchange of these prisoners and the bodies of four israeli hostages that, according to an israeli source familiar with the matter. but looking forward, we still do not have details of any negotiations on phase two. phase one is supposed to end this weekend, so the temporary ceasefire technically ends this weekend. there were supposed to have been indirect negotiations between hamas and israel since early february. that has not happened. we're also hearing from an israeli source familiar with the matter that the israeli government would like to extend

the first phase as long as possible to try and get more hostages back. it is unclear and unlikely that hamas would agree to that, but it just shows how fragile this entire three phase hostage deal is. paula hancocks, cnn, abu dhabi. >> our thanks to paula hancock. more now on russia's war on ukraine. president volodymyr zelenskyy is expected to visit washington on friday to sign a deal granting the united states the rights to some of ukraine's natural resources in exchange for aid and reconstruction. more now from cnn's chief international security correspondent, nick paton walsh in kyiv. >> increasingly positive signs that a deal will be signed between. >> the united states. >> and ukraine in the coming days. the ukrainian official saying that in their perception, the united states and ukraine have agreed terms for a deal over ukraine's rare earth minerals and natural resources being used to pay back what the trump administration says is

debt over aid from the united states to ukraine. to help it defend itself. after russia's invasion. now, the deal apparently may end up being signed later this week in washington. the official is saying that the white house has proposed a meeting on friday between president volodymyr zelenskyy and president donald trump. when asked about this, trump said that he'd heard zelenskyy was coming to see him on friday, said he was okay with that, and also suggested that zelenskyy would like to sign the deal. during that meeting. that's not a full throated embrace of the deal by trump or an official announcement from the white house that, indeed they have agreed terms, but it's certainly significant progress. after a week of intense acrimony between trump and zelenskyy, in which trump called zelenskyy a dictator. zelenskyy suggested that trump was living in a disinformation circle, and the relationship really appeared to be in freefall. in terms of the deal's content. well, we understand from a ukrainian

official that some of the thornier items have been removed. indeed, we were told on monday that it wouldn't have security guarantees in it that the ukrainians had sought, as the americans had resisted. it appears, according to the ukraine official we spoke to today, that some language pertaining to ukrainian security may have been put back in, but this does seem to be a framework agreement. uh, talks about ukrainian reconstruction, but may leave some of the uglier details for further discussions. but what's really going to be important is whether or not trump does indeed meet zelenskyy on friday and how they get along, because it's their personal acrimony that has hung over bids by european leaders to try and get trump to embrace the idea of ukraine support more fully, and indeed to try and assist any european role in peacekeeping forces here. it's been a breakneck fortnight of the united states getting closer to russia in separate negotiations of acrimony between ukraine and u.s. presidents, and

now, it seems potentially this deal looking in better shape than it has for quite some time. if the two presidents meet on friday and do heal that relationship, that will be an enormous relief for ukrainians here who are desperately concerned that their main financial and military backer may be significantly less invested and potentially relief, too. for europeans who have been in something of a scramble since the role in the united states, not only in ukraine's security but that of europe as a whole, has been in doubt over the last fortnight. nick paton walsh, cnn, kyiv, ukraine. >> the supreme court, meanwhile, ordering a new trial for oklahoma death row inmate richard glossip. glossip was convicted in 1998 for arranging the murder of barry van treese. the verdict called into question amid allegations that the state withheld evidence. cnn's brynn gingras has more. >> for 28. >> years. >> oklahoma death row inmate richard. glossip maintained his

innocence. now he's getting another chance to prove it. the lifeline coming from the u.s. supreme court. a majority of justices ordering a new trial for the man who has eaten his last meal three times, writing, quote, conclude that the prosecution violated its constitutional obligation to correct false testimony. the evidence at the heart of the justice's decision are notes from oklahoma prosecutors on the testimony of justin sneed. sneed is the man who actually killed hotel owner barry van treese in 1997, but he placed the blame on glossip for orchestrating the murder as part of a plea deal to keep himself off death row. the notes show prosecutors knew their star witness had been treated for a serious psychiatric condition. but glossip supporters say they never revealed that to the defense before trial. the highest court agreed such a revelation would be significant in any case, and was especially so here, where sneed was already nobody's idea of a strong witness. glossip's lawyer

telling cnn glossip is thrilled beyond words about the decision. it's been a long road for glossip, full of reprieves and stays in many courts over the years. cnn has interviewed glossip several times, and he had this to say when the supreme court decided to hear his appeal in may 2023. >> i have a long bucket list and i want to do everything on that bucket list. so i. >> got a. >> lot of life. >> to it, and i'm going to. fight for that. >> in that fight. glossip has gained support from unlikely places from a bipartisan group of oklahoma lawmakers, many who are staunch defenders of the death penalty. >> what's happened to richard glossip. >> is not right. >> to the state's republican attorney general, who told a parole board he couldn't stand by glossips conviction. >> in the name of justice. i humbly. >> ask that. >> you support. >> clemency now. freedom may be in his future, a hope glossip has held on to for decades. it seems you're maybe a bit closer to that bucket list. >> i know. >> i can't wait. >> for it.

>> i have. i'm just ready to be there, to be with my wife and to see my wife happy. >> brynn gingras, cnn, new york. >> coming up on cnn this morning, a near disaster at a major u.s. airport. how a quick thinking pilot averted a runway collision with only seconds to spare. plus, president trump, eight years after he held his first ever cabinet meeting, is set to hold the first of his second run in the white house today. someone who wasn't there the first go round. elon musk. >> never has there been a president, with few exceptions, who has passed more legislation, who has done more things than what we've done. i think we've been about as active as you can possibly be. >> 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.

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network. >> it's wednesday, february 26th. right now on cnn this morning. >> the president and elon is his entire cabinet are working as one unified team. >> who's in charge here? today elon musk, unelected and not confirmed, will be in attendance for president trump's first cabinet meeting. plus, this. >> a lot of hard work ahead of us. but we are going to deliver the america first agenda. >> after hours of back and forth, house speaker mike johnson flips multiple republican holdouts to pass his budget blueprint. but what comes next might be even more difficult. then later. >> it's a very big deal. it could be $1 trillion deal. >> is ukraine's president caving to trump? the deal he's ready to