answer lies in the bamboo itself, as pandas gnaw on the plant, they absorb genetic material from the plant. those nutrients start to influence the panda's senses of smell and taste, and make it easier for them to find the freshest and most nutritious bamboo. all right, a huge mile marker. five months after hurricane helene. interstate 40 connecting tennessee and north carolina reopens finally tomorrow. it has been a long time. it's been really difficult in the region to be able to cross between the two states. since the devastating floods and landslides from last september, and officials do warn excited drivers be patient. it's one lane both ways and the speed limit 35mph, but it will be open as permanent repairs are underway as well. all right. a revenge plan gone wrong florida authorities say a teenage girl mad at her ex boyfriend thought it would be a good idea to take revenge this way by spray

painting the car. she also threw some eggs, so apparently she's got money. the problem? that's not his car. it's the neighbor's car. authorities say the teen and her friend decided to spray paint and throw eggs at what they thought was her boyfriend's vehicle. that teen, now facing criminal mischief and dui charges. investigators charged her friend with possession of marijuana. all right. a programing note for you. join roy wood jr, amber ruffin and michael ian black as they serve up a smart take on the news of the week tomorrow night at nine and streaming next day on max. a new hour of cnn news central starts right now. the stakes could not be higher between president donald trump and vladimir zelenskyy. they could sign an historic deal on ukraine's rare earth minerals as ukraine's fate is hanging in the balance. plus, what we're learning about the deaths of gene hackman and his wife betsy,

in what authorities are now calling suspicious circumstances. they were found dead in separate rooms along with their dog, and the sheriff says they may have been there for weeks. and almost a month after the deadliest aviation incident in nearly 25 years. a special way to honor the victims. many of them figure skating budding stars. i'm sara sidner with omar jimenez. john and kate are off today. this is cnn news central. >> all right. happening soon. a critical face to face mein with the world, watching the fate of ukraine's future on the line. as president trump soon welcomes ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy for critical talks at the white house. now on the table today, a rare earth minerals deal that president trump says the two will sign. zelenskyy, though, wants u.s. security guarantees against

russia, an issue trump has said likely won't be necessary, saying just yesterday that he trusts russia will keep their word. i want to bring in chief national security analyst jim sciutto. now, jim, it's almost hard to put into words how high the stakes are and the global impact of this meeting and potentially what comes out of this meeting. what are you watching for? >> listen, you know, it's ridiculous. we're in a situation here where what might come out of this is perhaps the u.s. president acknowledging that russia invaded ukraine, which is which is a fact. he's he's been reluctant to do that and had his u.n. ambassador vote against a resolution that rightly identified russia as the aggressor in its invasion of ukraine. he'll be pressed on that today. i imagine whether he moves at all. unclear. also, will he not refer to zelenskyy as a dictator? of course, the elected leader of ukraine, he's backed off that charge from last week somewhat. or at least he denied saying that or claimed he didn't remember saying that. i imagine he'll be pressed again

on that. and will he somehow find a friendlier way to describe zelenskyy, who the u.s. has been helping defend itself right, for these last three years? i mean, the bar is so low in this relationship right now that those two things would be a move in a positive direction, right from the perspective of ukraine for this mineral deal. you know, it's interesting. the wall street journal refers it today as, as a deal that ukraine, in effect, can't refuse. ukraine, it seems, feels pressure to to sign this just to keep open the possibility of a security guarantee. right. because because president trump and the trump administration has not been willing to attach those two things together. zelenskyy is hoping that this improves the relationship in some way so that president trump gets there eventually. but right now, the quite public position of the president and the administration has been it's not america's problem that any security guarantees really will have to come from europe. and again, it just shows how much the bar has

moved on. this relationship and the war from president trump's perspective. >> and, you know, this meeting comes on the tail end of we saw french president emmanuel macron, u.k. prime minister keir starmer all over again that that issue of trying to have some sort of security guarantees on any deal that is potentially struck here, um, if a deal is not struck on that front, does europe even have the capability to do this on their own without the americans? >> it doesn't have the same capability. the u.s. has just such a bare right. i mean, the military is bigger than than anyone's. and by multiples compared to europe. europe does have capabilities. it is spending more on its own defense. and you've heard a number of european countries, particularly the eastern facing nato allies, the ones closest to the russia threat, who have consistently have been most concerned about the russia threat. we're talking about the baltic states, poland, et cetera., being willing to step up. so you're hearing from these leaders from from the german chancellor, the new expected

german chancellor coming in the u.k., prime minister, the french president macron, that they are willing and able to back up ukraine. they don't have the same resources. but it seems that they're willing to to step into this vacuum here that the u.s. has created. and we'll see. right. what we do know is that without any help, the worst predictions from folks i speak to in the pentagon is that perhaps ukraine can maintain its defense for a number of months, six, six months. and remember, omar, you know, this is a it's an existential question from ukraine's perspective because from their view, if they can't defend themselves, they lose their country. they don't just lose a little bit of it. they fear that they lose their country to russia, which we should remind people was russia's intention when it began this full scale invasion three years ago. >> jim sciutto, always appreciate the time and reporting. sara. >> all right. cnn chief global affairs correspondent matthew chance. joining me now from moscow, where the kremlin is certainly watching and waiting to see what happens in this meeting between trump and

zelenskyy. but they certainly were cheering trump when he called zelenskyy a dictator. but first, matthew, you just heard an announcement from russia just moments ago. what what was what's going on? what did you hear? >> yeah. >> so there's. >> been bilateral talks between the united states and russia over the past couple of days. there was a session held in turkey yesterday in istanbul in turkey, where they discussed kind of. rebuilding each other's embassy and the diplomatic corps in each other's countries, which has been whittled away over the years because of the ukraine war and other issues as well. um, it's been announced within the past few minutes that the russians have finally appointed a new ambassador to the united states. he hasn't gone there yet. obviously, he was at these talks yesterday, but it's been since october, when russia last had an ambassador in the united states. there's also, you know, a move been put forward to try

and, you know, bolster the embassies in both countries so they can rebuild their diplomatic staff there. i mean, anecdotally, i can tell you that the the u.s. embassy here in moscow, which is designed to take hundreds of people, has got such a skeleton staff in place right now that senior diplomats are having to do the cleaning. they're not even able to hire outside staff to clean the corridors. and so that's the sort of low level of staffing at the embassy here in russia right now. and i expect there's something similar taking place over in the united states as well. so so this is a step towards addressing that deficit. sarah. >> yeah, that's a really interesting point you just made there that they're looking at. they've appointed a new ambassador to the united states, something that has been unwelcome in the u.s. until the trump administration was put in place. we will see what happens there. matthew chance, thank you so much. really appreciate your reporting there from russia. for us. and with me now is kurt volker. he is the former u.s. ambassador to nato and the

former u.s. special representative for ukraine. negotiations in the first trump administration. first, let me get your reaction to what we just heard from matthew chance, who is in moscow now. just hearing that they have appointed an ambassador to the united states. is it a good idea for the u.s. to bring back and allow a russian ambassador back into the country? >> well, i think you. >> have to look at all these. >> pieces together. >> what president trump. >> is trying to. >> do is get russia. >> to stop. >> the war. >> in ukraine. and so he's offering both sticks. >> and carrots. >> on the stick side. you know, we can talk. >> about that. but sanctions are still in place. >> trying to drive down energy. >> prices. >> continuing to. >> arm. >> ukraine, perhaps. and then on. >> the. >> carrot side, something like allowing a new ambassador. >> to be there and regularizing. >> the embassy. so he's trying to maneuver this. >> to get russia. >> to get to an agreement. >> to stop the war. so it's. >> uh, you. >> know, it's it's. >> a. it's a judgment call. you know, you have an ambassador, you know, russia is doing some. terrible things. but at the.

same time, if you can use this to get an end to the war, maybe it's. >> worth it. >> senator jeanne shaheen, we just spoke to you last hour, and she said that trump is falling for putin, who is manipulating him. um, and sort of tricking him into trusting him. and trump says he trusts putin. um, is she right? >> well, i don't know. uh, because, uh, everything trump has done so far has actually. >> been maneuvering. >> russia and moving things toward the possibility of an end to the fighting in the war. trump has said that he trusts putin, but that doesn't mean he does. that may also be a tactic on his part. >> we are seeing this idea of a deal that trump says is pretty much a done deal that will be signed when president zelenskyy comes to the white house, and that's going to happen, uh, in just a bit from now. um, what do you make of this minerals deal? because in looking at where some of these rare earth materials are in ukraine, they're in the

majority of it in the eastern part of ukraine, where the fighting is still happening, where there are landmines, um, and where reporters are saying, look, it's one of the most dangerous places that you can go. um, and the president is talking about sending u.s. personnel into, into ukraine to help dig out these materials. is this realistic? >> uh. >> i do think. >> it's realistic. >> it is not only there that you have these these minerals, and the deal is broader than that. it includes natural resources generally, including oil and gas as well, which are a much quicker win, if you will. and in terms of what this does, uh, it provides a way for president trump to tell the american people that ukraine is paying its way. it's no longer charity. it's no longer aid to ukraine. it's it's a deal between our two countries. and it's a partnership for president zelenskyy. it gets the u.s. invested in ukraine. so we now have a stake in their success as well, which is a much stronger position to be in than just providing aid and waiting and seeing what happens. and as far

as the economics go, uh, it is very difficult for ukraine right now because of the ongoing war to gain any value out of these natural resources. so the way this is being pitched is that, you know, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing. and it's a win win in this way for both countries to do this. >> what do you think of the argument that much of the funds, if you will, um, given to ukraine, go back to the united states. they pay for the munitions, they pay for some of the the companies that are sending over, um, these munitions and, uh, military apparatus to ukraine. >> yes. uh, so i think this is this is normal in a sense. if you have a country that has resources, they can buy weapons and support, and they can use that to defend themselves. and i think from president trump's perspective, this is more fair

as a sustainable issue for the united states, for the american people, the united states to work with ukraine on a fair basis, to provide support and to be paid back for the support that's given. that means it's not coming out of taxpayers pockets. that means that it is not something that should be politically difficult to continue for. as far as the eye can see. >> is everything okay back there? i'm just checking on you. it sounds like there's a wild animal in your house. >> no, no. just people coming and going. >> okay, okay. just just making sure. it just seemed a little wild back there. i wanted to check on you. um, lastly, i do want to ask you about these, um, tariffs that trump has said he's going to impose on europe. um, is it a good idea to sort of start making hay and making waves with europe as he's trying to do this deal, to try and make a deal with ukraine, to try and deal with to russia to, to some

degree. >> yeah. um, these are all different moving pieces which are are coming together at the moment, but there's tremendously high risk as well. so you're focusing on the european side of this. what president trump wants is for our european allies to take on a bigger share of the burden, and for them to provide security guarantees to ukraine, possibly with some kind of u.s. backup. that's all in order to prevent putin from attacking again, to be threatening tariffs on our european allies at exactly the same time is troubling to our european allies. it is irritating them. and i think that these issues can be dealt with and can be done separately. for example, europe has already lowered the tariffs on u.s. automobiles that would come in to europe in order to even out the tariffs with the united states. uh, but it is it is troubling to see that just as we are getting these pieces coming together, a ceasefire in ukraine, reciprocity in terms of the economics with ukraine,

deterrence from europe, burden-sharing that this could all still come apart. >> always the consummate, uh, ambassador, someone who is diplomatic to his core. kurt volker, thank you so much. really appreciate you coming on. have a great weekend, omar. thank you. >> all right. a legal blow to the trump administration's mass firings. we're going to tell you why a federal judge blocked some of the layoffs and what it means for federal workers today. but does that ruling come too late for many who have already been impacted by the administration's purge? we're going to speak with the fired worker who just lost her job days before giving birth. and new details this morning surrounding the death of two time academy award winner gene hackman and his wife, betsy. what we know about what police are calling suspicious circumstances. >> cookbooks, corporate fat cats, swindling.

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this morning about the investigation? because for a lot of people, it does seem odd. at the very least. >> yeah. my friend. good to be with you. and we got important information from the sheriff late yesterday. what he said is that the medical examiner has actually conducted autopsies on both gene hackman as well as his wife, betsy. they say the initial assessment has determined there are no external signs of trauma. they have ordered tests to look for things like carbon monoxide poisoning, as well as toxicology reports, which are pretty standard in these cases where you have a death that takes place under suspicious circumstances. but this obviously a tragedy, but also a mystery. and just to kind of walk you through how this happened. on wednesday, a911 call came in here to the sheriff's office by a caretaker at hackman's home. and sheriff deputies responded. they found betsy in a bathroom on the floor. she was surrounded by pills that were scattered about. as you mentioned, the german shepherd was found in the

closet, also deceased. and in another room. gene hackman himself. so authorities have launched this investigation to try to determine what what caused all of this, to try to come up with some type of timeline. so we're talking about two investigations going on at the same time. you have the sheriff's department investigation and then the medical examiner's investigation. now, authorities say that at this point, it doesn't look like there's any foul play. there were no signs of any type of struggle. nothing was taken from the home. when authorities arrived, the door was actually open. so a lot of work that's going on behind the scenes right now to try to get the community some answers. gene hackman had obviously been out of the spotlight for many years, retiring from hollywood long ago. not much has been seen of him. we did get a new video that was taken just about a year ago, where you see him coming out of a shopping center here in the santa fe area. nevertheless, obviously a revered member of this community and the sheriff's department says they're trying to get the community answers. it's also worth pointing out, sara, that this is not the first high profile death investigation that authorities here have worked.

this is the very same investigative team that handled the rust movie shooting investigation involving alec baldwin. so they're used to conducting, you know, these high profile cases. they understand that a lot of people out there want answers. >> yeah. we're looking at some video of gene hackman who has has been pretty reclusive ever since he sort of left hollywood 20 years ago and enjoying his life in santa fe with his wife. all right. thank you so much, josh campbell. i know you stay on this for us. it's good to see you, my friend. over to you, omar. >> well, the united states, first measles death in over a decade is ringing alarm bells as newly appointed health and human services secretary rfk jr.. seemed to downplay the spreading disease. we're going to talk to a doctor in texas working to curb the spike in cases. stay with us. >> have i got news for you? it's back. let's think of some new games to play. >> what do you got? yes. something like, uh. >> oh. >> what? >> keep playing the same games. >> yeah. >> let's do the same games. >> have i got news for you

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>> 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. >> four measles outbreaks this year in this country. last year, there were 16. so it's not unusual. we have measles outbreaks every year. >> so that was the newly appointed secretary of health and human services, rfk jr.. seeming to downplay the measles outbreak, which has now killed one unvaccinated child in west texas with reports of 146 measles cases now being seen across several states, and the number of cases going into the hundreds. many doctors are concerned by the seeming casual response to these reports, and the department of health is also ignoring repeated questions on whether rfk jr. recommends people get vaccinated against max verstappen against measles.

excuse me? a lot to get into here. joining me now is the commissioner for the texas department of state health services, doctor jennifer shuford. thank you for being here. um, can you just tell me what the situation is right now in your state, where you all come from, where you all are confirmed cases wise? and if there is a particular age or demographic, you are seeing cases most often. >> sure. >> we are seeing. >> a worrying. >> expanding outbreak of. measles in our panhandle and south plains region of our state, which is on. >> the western. >> part of our state. um, we are. seeing we've seen 146 confirmed cases so far. there is other suspect cases. >> cases that. >> we're still trying to test and cases that. >> we know. >> have not been tested and are going uncounted. and so that this is actually larger. than our confirmed count case. >> and it continues to grow. >> right now about 50% of those cases are in school age kids. so age 15 to i mean i'm sorry, 5 to

17 years old, but we are seeing a good number in infants as well. those kids less than one year old. about 10% in those kids where we know they can have really serious outcomes. um, and so it is something that we're concerned about and that we're following closely and trying to intervene on. >> and, you know, the average measles outbreak since 2020 has been limited to to six cases over an average of 20 days. obviously, this west texas outbreak has doubled. that largest outbreak from the last five years over the course of just a month, and the largest in texas in decades. um, what are you all doing at the state level to try and to try and contain this. and do you feel like you have a good handle on on the spread currently going on there? >> so we. >> are ramping up vaccine efforts all across that region of the state. we know that the mmr vaccine, which is mumps, measles and rubella and contains

that measles vaccine, is very effective and provides long lasting immunity, long lasting protection. and so we are trying to really get that vaccine out to all the people in that region who might not be up to date on their measles vaccine. um, we know that there has been 146 cases and 20 of them have been in the hospital. many of them have had pneumonia and one child has died. and so we don't want that to happen to any more of our population. and so we are working to get vaccines out aggressively across that region to provide the best protection that we possibly can against measles. >> and, you know, while i have you here, i just want to clear some things up as well, because i know you all have been in touch with health and human services throughout this. and secretary kennedy jr. did say there were two deaths at one point and that measles outbreaks are not unusual. can you confirm the death toll still stands at one? and based on what you

typically deal with infectious disease wise, i mean, is this outbreak usual for you? >> so, um, there has only been one death that a we know of in texas associated with this outbreak. and so, yes, the death count stays at one. this outbreak is unusual for texas. we haven't had this sort of an outbreak since the early 1990s. and it's seriously impacting the population in that region. and so we're taking this very seriously and using many resources to try to contain it. >> and i know it's still early. you all are looking at a number of factors, but i mean, how much do you attribute this spread to lack of vaccinations? >> the mmr vaccine, the measles vaccine has been effective through decades. we know that that vaccine was the reason why we could declare the united

states, uh, eliminated from measles or measles, eliminated from the united states back in the year 2000. it was based on the effectiveness of that vaccine. and and in areas where we see declining vaccine coverage, we see increases of measles outbreaks. and so we are concerned that the lowering the lower vaccine coverage rates that we're seeing in some communities just make them a lot more vulnerable to these measles outbreaks. and, um, that this community has had some falling vaccine coverage rates in recent years. and so we're trying to correct that, trying to get vaccines out there to protect our population and to try to get rid of this, this measles outbreak that's affecting them right now. >> and the last thing just quickly before we go. you've worked in medicine for decades. have you ever dealt with a measles outbreak personally, in the work that you've done? yes. >> no. >> um, since measles was declared eliminated in the united states in the year 2000,

i haven't had a lot of chances. we only have sporadic travel related cases usually, and i haven't had a chance to take care of a patient with measles. um, but if we continue to see decreases in our vaccine coverage rate, we'll see more and more cases. and our doctors here in texas and across the united states will have the opportunity to take care of more measles cases, one on one. >> mhm. uh, doctor, jennifer shuford really appreciate the time perspective. thanks for being here. >> yeah. thank you. >> of course. all right. coming up. no authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe. i am quoting from a scathing ruling from a federal judge directed at the administration's federal purge efforts. and she was part of the purge just days before she was set to give birth. we're going to speak with the federal employee who had her life upended by the administration. stay with us. >> twitter. >> that's a. >> great name. we invented a whole new thing. >> no one. >> could possibly have.

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>> thinking. partnering to unlock. >> new ideas., to create new. >> legacies. >> to transform. >> a company. industry economy generation. because grit and vision, working in lockstep puts you on the path to your full potential. old school grit. new world ideas. morgan stanley. united states of scandal with jake tapper returns sunday, march 9th on cnn. >> new this morning, a federal judge is blocking the trump administration and doj's efforts to slash the federal workforce. now, the judge in san francisco ruled the mass firings of probationary federal employees are likely unlawful. labor unions and nonprofits are suing on behalf of thousands of probationary employees who have lost their jobs. cnn's rene marsh joins me now from washington. so, rene, what else did the judge say? >> well, omar, this judge essentially said that opm overstepped its authority when it directed the mass firing of

thousands of probationary employees, government wide. and the judge who was appointed by bill clinton also said, and i'm quoting, uh, opm does not have any authority whatsoever under any statute in the history of the universe to hire or fire any employees but its own. so very strong words from this judge here on this. and at the heart of this lawsuit is this february 14th opm memo asking agencies to send separation letters as soon as possible to probationary employees who they deem nonessential. now, probationary employees are those who have been on the job a year or two years or less. the judge ordered opm to rescind its directive and also to inform several agencies that it had no power to dictate these firings. but the lawyers for the trump administration argued that opm only made a request, not a demand, and that agencies weren't obligated to follow. the judge wasn't buying that. the acting head of opm

also made the same argument, but the judge also acknowledged that agencies themselves do have the authority to fire probationary workers within their own agencies. and the judge also said that he himself could not order the government to necessarily reinstate previously fired workers. so it really is still a bit unclear what the full impact of this ruling will be on the thousands of probationary employees who were fired. it's also worth noting that this ruling came on the same day that noah laid off some 800 of its workers. many of them were probationary. >> omar., rene, appreciate the reporting. i'm also going to have to use in the history of the universe much more often, if it's being used in legal documents. appreciate the reporting, sarah. >> that's quite a thing coming from a judge there. all right. continuing the conversation with the federal worker in california who just lost her job and lost it days before giving birth. joining me now, doctor justine

beaulieu. thank you so much for coming in and speaking with me this morning. i want to talk to you about the federal judge in san francisco. just saying that the firings of provisional workers are likely unlawful, but that those already fired probably will not get their jobs back. what are your plans upon hearing something like that? >> yeah, that i. >> don't. >> have any. >> hope of getting my job back at this point. um, so. >> not planning on that. >> um. >> looking for jobs. >> i've i've. >> i have. >> a small. >> network of. >> of colleagues. >> who are sending. >> me links and, um, future openings that i'm keeping track of. and i think one, one deadline. >> is coming up. >> so i'm already working on my cv. >> all right. how did you find out you had been terminated? like, was it a message from doge or from the department that you worked for? >> it was from. >> the usda. opm office. and first, i.

>> got a a call from. >> my supervisor, and basically saying, you know, you should expect this email by the end of the day. and, um, i sat. there for an hour and a half waiting for that email to come through. uh, it actually came through the next morning. >> in what capacity were you serving the american people? >> i was what's called a risk manager working for aphis. it's, uh, with within the usda. and i was in charge of. >> uh. >> helping helping a group. >> of other risk. managers and policy. >> analysts. >> open up. >> market access to folks trying to import and export plant material, uh, into and from the united states. so, you know, our chief responsibility was to, you know, making sure. >> that pests. >> pathogens, insects, things like that, that are foreign to

the united states don't come in to the country on plant material. and that's purely to protect american agriculture. well. >> what is your biggest concern as you see these layoffs happening in such big numbers in places like the usda? um, or other agencies? what is your biggest concern that what might happen, because there are so many fewer employees to look out for, things like you said, like pathogens coming into the u.s. that could have a devastating effect on agriculture. >> yeah. i mean, it's i have sat and thought about it for a while. it's it's like, you know, the imagination can really run wild. it's it's, you know, from from not being able to grow a specific crop in a specific state because of these pathogens or insects or, you know, perhaps even throughout the whole country. um, you know, grower livelihoods, farmer livelihoods are at stake. absolutely. um, i

think it could potentially. be. >> so just give us a second. we're having a technical glitch. as you know, this happens all the time when we're using things like zoom to to do interviews. so let's just see if justine can still hear me. um, i think we lost her. all right. you were just hearing from justine boloko. she worked for the usda. uh, she was very concerned that the number of people being fired could lead to real potential health effects, not only for farms and farmers and all the things that they do, but for the american public. so we will see what happens. as she is currently looking for a new job. all right. coming up. all eyes are on washington as president trump and ukrainian president zelenskyy meet with the future of russia's war hanging in the balance and the devastating crash over the potomac river has impacted so many people across the nation, perhaps none more than the figure skating community. legendary skater brian boitano

co-hosting an event to honor their memory. the details behind legacy on ice ahead. >> listen to chasing. >> life with me. >> doctor sanjay. >> gupta, wherever you get your podcasts. >> no matter. >> what kind of teeth you gotta brush or it'll be electric cleans better with one simple touch. oral-b's dentist inspired round brush head hugs him, cleans him, and gets in between him for 100% cleaner teeth. your perfect clean starts with oral-b. >> just close the doors and. >> you're in a world of your own. travel is not just about the destination, it's also about how you get there. fly emirates. fly better. >> what do people. want from a medicare. >> advantage plan? >> let's find out. >> i want a $0. monthly premium. >> i take a lot of medications, so i. need prescription. >> drug coverage. >> if you would like help. >> making an.

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risk from our equipment by over 90%. that's something i want to believe. [skateboard sounds] see if sparks are right for you at sparks. >> the presidential address to congress tuesday at eight on cnn. >> all right. january's deadly plane collision over the potomac sent shockwaves across the country. it became the deadliest aviation disaster in nearly a quarter century, killing 67 people aboard a commercial flight and a military helicopter. the figure skating community was hit especially hard because more than 20 people on board that american airlines flight were attending a u.s. figure skating development camp this weekend. a special event

called legacy on ice will honor their memory. and joining us now, we are so lucky to have him. olympic gold medalist brian boitano. you are co-hosting this event with fellow olympic champ kristi yamaguchi. two huge names in the skating community. what can you tell us? that that we will see. >> thank you. >> and since you said two huge names, we. >> have a lot of the legends coming from peggy fleming to. nathan chen, nancy kerrigan, scott hamilton. so a lot of the legends are attending. but, you know, this event is a tribute to the victims of the flight. and because the figure skating community is so tight knit and connected, it's really an example of how, um, how the strength of the skating family is there to support each other in loss and in hope. >> and brian, can you just tell us a little bit about about where the proceeds will go to this? obviously, this impacted the skating community so significantly. but but such,

such a wider tragedy as well. >> all the proceeds are going to go to the victims victims families. so all the contributions will go directly to the victims families and and already they're, um, they're giving money away for, um, the victims to, uh, deal, you know, with the tragedy. you know, the the things right away in the tragedy. >> i understand that you were were good friends with yevgeny shishkova and vadim naumov, who were both traveling with the team as coaches. what can you tell us about those two coaches? >> uh, wow. um, you know, they were world champions in pairs. uh, and apart from being such amazing skaters, they were also incredible people. they were teaching the future of american skating. um, they, you know, had a lot of a lot of students. and they actually left behind behind their, um, son maxim, who i

actually gave his award in wichita on sunday because he placed fourth in the senior men's division. and i saw his father that day and just wave waved to him from a distance. um, but that's, you know, the last time that we saw of them. so my heart goes out to them. i mean, my heart goes out to all of the people who have lost, um, someone on the flight. but especially i keep thinking about maxim, the son who has been left behind. he's an only child. he has a really, you know, great skating future. and i do believe that he may be performing in legacy on ice this weekend. >> wow. what an incredible moment that will be. >> really? i mean, the stories of resilience that are going to come from this, from something so awful and horrific. um, it's hard to put into words. i mean, how is the skating community moving forward or trying to, i guess i should say, after such a devastating loss of of young talent, for example. >> oh, ma, you know, it's, uh, we are a very resilient group. i

mean, we have learned how to fall and get up and build, you know, and build again. we actually this isn't the first tragic airline crash that we have been through. in 1961, we lost our entire world team going on the way on to the world championships in belgium. um, so we've done this before, but we are a resilient group and we are there for each other, and it's a very small, close knit community. and so the ripple effect hits, hits all of us. and that's why we, as you know, you know, the whatever the older people in the sport or as you call legends are coming together with all of the current world team skaters. they are all going to be there and perform. and so it's just it's it's a group effort. it's something that we can show that we all come together to support the people who have lost so much. >> um, it's a beautiful thing to do, and it's such a beautiful sport to watch. it was

beautiful watching the two coaches there. um, actually perform. um, brian, i just wanted to ask you. this might be a bit cheeky of me, but are you going to do a triple axel? >> in my brain? i will be doing all the triple axels that you want, but i am putting on my skates. i'm going to put on my skates. i'm not. i'm going to skate to center ice, to introduce people and to introduce the show. and then i'll skate back. so that's about as much as i want to do right now. >> that's more than i can do, my friend. it's more than i can do. i'd be on my butt, like, before i even touch the ice. i would be out. so it will be beautiful to see you do that. and i think the families are. ultimately, this is a real tribute and a beautiful thing to do. so thank you to you and all of the amazing skaters, olympians who are going to take part in this as well as others. >> thank you brian. >> well, thank you so much. thank you guys. >> all right. >> and before we go, a routine bus ride turned into a nightmare for more than a dozen ohio middle schoolers when their bus

suddenly caught on fire. thankfully, they all got out safely. but here's how. one student said they were able to get out. >> but it caught on fire. we were all scared. we called our parents, but luckily the bus driver got us all safe and he already called for a backup. >> he's now the school district credits. the bus driver's quick response and yearly bus evacuation drills for the students. safe escape. i don't know what kind of drills you're running, but i don't know if you can prepare. >> for this, and i am proud of that. kudos to the bus driver. what an incredible person. we we know how we were on the bus. >> yeah, i was not i wouldn't have. >> unruly is the word i would use. speaking of which, we got to go. we're going to be unruly. it's the weekend. have a great day. cnn newsroom up next. >> cooked books, corporate. >> fat cats. >> swindling socialites. doped up cyclists. >> then yes, more. >> crooked politicians. >> i have a feeling. >> we won't. >> be running. out of.

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