skeptical mennonite community, growing vaccine skepticism across the broader population and laws in texas that allow people to express that skepticism by not getting their kids vaccinated. so are outbreaks like this going to become more common across the country? well, the data might suggest they are, you know, you need 95% vaccine coverage in a community to stop these outbreaks. taking hold and taking off. it's called herd immunity. now, we used to have that across the united states, measured by kindergartners getting the mmr that was above 95% just five years ago. it's now below 93%, 5% just five years ago. it's now below 93%. skepticism is rising. vaccination rates are falling, and also the department of health and human services is now led by rfk jr., who this week

has been promoting alternative therapies and not explicitly promoting the vaccine. >> nick watt thanks. the news continues here on cnn. >> hello and welcome to all our viewers watching around the world. i'm lynda kinkade ahead on cnn newsroom. russia steps up its attacks on ukraine as the u.s. stopped sharing intelligence with kyiv. what we know about the fallout from donald trump's political about face. it comes while ukrainian zou faced taking refuge in america, are facing new fears why they might be sent back to the war zone. they fled. plus, police reveal new details about the actor gene hackman's tragic death. what we know and what investigators are still digging into. >> live from atlanta. >> this is. >> cnn newsroom with lynda kincaid. >> ukraine is taking more deadly fire from russia. just as kyiv prepares to talk peace with washington, officials say at least 23 people were killed and

more than 50 others injured in russian strikes across eastern and southern ukraine over the past day. 11 of the victims died in the city of dobropillia, where eight residential buildings were damaged. officials are concerned some people may still be trapped under rubble. washington and kyiv is set to resume talks in saudi arabia next week, following the recent clash between their leaders in the white house. on friday, u.s. president donald trump threatened to slap more sanctions on russia because of continuing strikes on ukraine. but he still had sympathetic words for russian president vladimir putin. >> do you, mr. president, think that vladimir putin. >> is taking advantage of the u.s. pause right now on intelligence and military aid to ukraine? >> i actually think he's doing what anybody else would do. i think he's a i think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and i think he's hitting him harder than than he's been hitting him. and i think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now.

>> well, for more, i want to go to nada bashir, who joins us from london. good to have you with us. so donald trump, certainly frustrated that he hasn't been able to end this war like he promised on day one of entering office. he now is threatening sanctions on russia for the first time. but also, you know, again, speaking quite fondly of vladimir putin. what more can you tell us? >> that's right. >> we know. >> of course. >> that president putin and president. >> trump have have. had a. >> close. >> relationship. >> that is certainly. not a secret. >> but of course, this warning of sanctions comes as russia continues to its intensify its targeting of ukrainian territory, as you mentioned, just a little while ago, that we saw yet more attacks overnight. but of course, what we're also hearing from president trump at the same time is essentially downplaying the need for security guarantees for ukraine also. and this comes as talks between ukrainian officials and u.s. officials continue to intensify. also following that, somewhat hostile and unprecedented oval office meeting between president

zelenskyy and president trump just a week ago. so clearly, there is mounting pressure on both sides. we are seeing somewhat of a shift, certainly from the u.s. perspective, in terms of the support being offered to ukraine. we've heard from president trump not only, again, downplaying the need for security guarantees, but also indicating that ukraine may not have much leverage or choice. perhaps when it comes to the sort of deal on the table brokered by the u.s., we've seen the u.s. pausing military aid, scaling back shared intelligence when it comes to the sort of intelligence that could assist the ukrainian army in targeting russia, and, of course, also a suspension in ukraine's access to crucial satellite imagery that could provide assistance in terms of monitoring the advancement of russian troops. but again, as we are seeing these developments, there is still that open dialog between ukrainian officials and trump officials, something that, according to president zelenskyy, is only intensifying. take a listen.

>> then. >> today, the. >> most intensive. >> work ever has been going on all. >> day with president trump's. >> team at various levels. many calls. the topic is clear peace as soon as possible, security as reliably as possible. ukraine is as constructively oriented as possible now, of course, we are also expecting to see a ukrainian delegation traveling to saudi arabia early next week to meet with u.s. >> officials, the u.s. envoy, steve witkoff, expected to be present in those meetings for further discussions around a possible peace agreement. we had heard previously from president zelenskyy a somewhat more optimistic note following meetings with eu officials, of course, seen a stepping up of support from the european union, or at least commitments of support for ukraine. but we heard from zelenskyy suggesting or indicating that there could potentially be a pathway to some sort of cease fire or cessation of hostilities in the air and at

sea. so bringing an end to the missile attacks and drone attacks that we're seeing on ukraine, and also to military activities in the black sea as well. so potentially a pathway there for some sort of sustained peace agreement. we know, of course, also that the u.s. secretary of state, marco rubio, spoke to ukraine's foreign minister yesterday, a statement from the state department later reiterating that message from u.s. president donald trump that there needs to be an immediate end to the war in ukraine, but also calling on both sides, both russia and ukraine, to take steps towards achieving a sustained peace. ukraine's foreign ministry saying it believes u.s. leadership still plays an essential role in achieving any sort of ceasefire agreement. >> linda and i just want to ask you about what's happening on the battlefield, because north korean soldiers are there and along with the drone and missile attacks we've seen, russia has made significant advances right?

>> that's right. we are seeing advances by the russian armed forces. and of course, a continuation of those deadly attacks that we have seen over recent days and weeks, again, raising concerns as to what is really at stake here for civilians, in particular on the ground in ukraine, as the ceasefire negotiations continue. now, just in the last day, we have seen yet more deadly attacks by the russian military on ukraine. at least 25 people killed, more than 50 people injured in a series of missile and drone attacks carried out by the russian military. we've been hearing from ukrainian officials saying that they believe there could still be people buried beneath the rubble of their homes. at least eight residential buildings have been damaged, and these attacks were targeting, of course, eastern and southern ukraine around the areas of donetsk, kharkiv and kherson. so again, that real underscoring of what is at stake here for civilians as these ceasefire negotiations and discussions continue. >> all right. nada bashir

staying across the door from london. thanks very much. well, president trump is weighing ending temporary protections for ukrainians fleeing the war. mr. trump won't say if he plans to revoke these protections, but his administration is considering that very move. trump's comments come as reuters news agency reports that the white house is planning to revoke temporary legal status for thousands of ukrainians. the white house press secretary is calling the report fake news and says no decision has been made. we're joining me now from maryland. is mark hetfield. he's the president of the hebrew immigrant aid society. good to have you with us. >> good to be here. >> thanks. >> so we know more than a third of ukrainians have been displaced since russia's invasion. almost 7 million have fled the country. and now we're reading that trump may revoke the legal status for some 240,000 ukrainians in the u.s., but adds that he's not looking to hurt anyone. i mean, surely if this went ahead, this would hurt those impacted right?

>> well, frankly, he's already hurt those impacted because of the uncertainty that they now face and the anxiety that they now face is, as we just heard, the war is not over and it is not yet safe to go back to ukraine. >> and this is meant to be part of a broader effort to strip the legal status of 1.8 million immigrants. your organization helped 8000 refugees settle in the u.s. last year. are you speaking to those people, or are they worried about what their future could look like? >> i mean, i've never seen such high levels of anxiety right now. the trump administration wanted to do a mass deportation, but i guess they couldn't find enough undocumented immigrants. so they're taking people who were here legally, like haitians and venezuelans and stripping them of their protection. and now ukrainians are living under that same threat. >> and given that you operate in 20 countries, including ukraine, where people there have obviously been living and

surviving during russia's war over the past two years, what are they telling you about how they feel right now as the u.s. moves to strip aid from ukraine and as russia steps up its attacks? >> well, obviously they're very, very worried, especially when you add up all the different pieces that you see here. the the end of sharing intelligence with the ukrainian government, the the cold war that seems to be now going on between the u.s. and ukraine. and now we're threatening to take away the status, the legal status of ukrainians who are living here, who fled a very hot war. it's creating a lot of anxiety across the board. >> is this a political thing? do you think trump is just using the and those here legally in the country as another chip in this negotiation? >> i'm afraid that it appears that way. but these are human beings who fled for their lives. they're working now in the

united states. they need security. their employers need to know that they're going to remain in legal status. so it's really cruel and completely unnecessary. >> i mean, if it were to go ahead, i suspect this move to strip almost 2 million people of their legal status would face legal challenges. right? >> oh, well, i mean, absolutely, the people can still claim asylum, right? so what it's really going to do is clog up the immigration courts even worse than they already are, already clocked. there's already a backlog of literally millions of people in immigration courts. and under u.s. law, ukrainians will still have the right to claim asylum. so they won't necessarily be immediately deported, but they're going to have to fight for their right to stay here. and they shouldn't have to do that. they left a war, and they were they were brought here by the united states government until it's safe to go back. >> yeah, it's really, really tough hearing what they they're going through. mark hetfield we appreciate you getting up at this hour to join us. thanks so

much. >> thank you. >> well, yet another twist in the bitter north american trade war that seems to shift on an hourly basis. u.s. president donald trump is now threatening canada with tariffs on lumber and dairy products. he claims the northern neighbor is cheating american farmers. >> canada has been ripping us off for years on tariffs, for lumber and for dairy products. >> well, it comes just a day after mr. trump offered ottawa a one month reprieve for products that complied with an existing trade agreement. earlier, the canada bureau chief for the new york times spoke with cnn about how canadians are reacting to trump's hardball trade tactics i think at this point, canadians and the canadian government are sort of beyond the point of frustration. >> i think they've moved into anger. that's kind of culminating in resolve. some of the things we're hearing across the political spectrum here, and it is important, and we're in an election year. and so it's really interesting to watch

political parties in canada coalesce around certain principles. those are diversify our friends, you know, rely less on our southern partner, former partner and look to europe and to other places for friends and for allies as well as, you know, bolster intra canadian trade. obviously, these are not going to replace the relationship with the united states, which is so vital. but i can tell you that there's a lot of resolve and actually societal level decision to to change that relationship with the united states, which really seems to have been breached and injured in a really serious way. >> well, addressing his chaotic tariff strategy on friday, president trump said more changes and adjustments should be expected in the future. president trump is dismissing reports of conflict between elon musk and secretary of state marco rubio. the new york times is reporting that musk and rubio butted heads in a cabinet meeting thursday. the report also says rubio is not the only

cabinet member to air their differences with musk during that session. >> sean duffy. >> the transportation secretary, had a pretty contentious back and forth with musk. he accused musk of trying to fire. air traffic controllers in in the midst of what is a crisis for the faa, and then came rubio, and that was the tensest exchange. and rubio has been complaining privately to people for for weeks about how disruptive musk's effort has been, what jonathan and i learned. as we were talking to people is that is the president said very little during this meeting. he mostly just watched the spectacle as if he were watching some kind of a sporting event. >> well, mr. trump claims there was no clash and says the men get along fantastically well. a developing story right now in toronto, canada. police searching for three men who opened fire outside a pub in the city's scarborough district. 12 were injured, six shot. the victims range in age from their

20s to mid 50s. police say that at this time no one has died from their injuries. stay with cnn for updates on this story. more now on the breaking news we first told you about a short time ago, south korea's president has just been released from detention. take a look at these pictures. this is yoon suk yeol waving to supporters as he walked out of the detention center last hour. lawmakers voted to impeach yoon, and he was also indicted on criminal charges after declaring martial law in december. he was then detained in january, and on friday, a court ordered for him to be released. cnn's mike valerio is live for us in seoul. good to have you there for us, mike. so the president, now released from detention. tell us more so he was. >> released. >> linda. >> because of two things. this court here in seoul said, first of all. >> he apparently. >> had his charges filed too late, according to the court's point of view.

>> and then also. they said that the investigators who are central to this case, linda, may not have had jurisdiction over this charge of leading an insurrection. so to preserve his rights, this is what we see. the elected president, the sitting president of south korea, now out of jail. and he is he was, i should say, behind bars in detention, all because of martial law. the declaration you may remember everybody at home that he declared on december 3rd, throwing this country into chaos. and why that happened is because this president here, well, he had a log jam in the legislature, a political stalemate. so from his point of view, he thought his next best move would be to declare martial law, to call in members of the military, to go to the seat of democracy in south korea. and prevent political activity from happening in the national assembly. in fact, it was banned according to the martial law decree. but here in south korea, lawmakers can vote to overturn

martial law. and they did. so this, linda, is an effort to hold him criminally responsible for going outside the boundaries of the constitution and declaring martial law. that's what this is all about. and then in a second bucket, the country is meanwhile deciding whether or not he's going to stay or go as president of south korea, the constitutional court that's just down the street from where we're standing right now. they are expected to rule in a few days whether or not his impeachment will stand. lawmakers say he should be impeached. but in this country, you need a court, the top court, to validate that. so two battles, whether he stays or goes as president. and then also if he's going to have prison time. but the practical matter here, he was in jail and now he's going to fight these battles from the comfort of his home. linda. >> yeah, he certainly looks happy about that. mike valerio in seoul, south korea. good to have you with us. thank you. thanks. well, still ahead,

investigators in new mexico held an unprecedented news conference unveiling how actor gene hackman and his wife died. plus, the number of highly contagious measles cases are growing in texas and in a nearby state. details next. >> what do you. >> got there, larry? time machine. you're going to go back and see how the pyramids were built or something? nope. ellen and i want to go on vacation, so i'm going to go back to last week and buy a winning lottery ticket. can i come? only room for one. >> how am i getting home? >> sitting on my lap like last time? ronald? >> fine. but i'm bringing this. >> all right. >> or you could try one of these savings options. >> the right money moves aren't as far fetched as you think. >> there it is. see? told you. it's going to all work out. thanks. future me. >> today her. >> game starts with a. >> drive. >> but the real. >> work is. >> what came. >> before. >> inspired by a coach who

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>> stay in the know from your doc to their door. >> we're learning new details about the cause of death for oscar winning actor gene hackman and his wife. investigators are revealing that hackman died of heart disease. they say his wife likely died days earlier from a rare virus linked to rodents. cnn's josh campbell reports. >> the manner of death is natural. >> a mystery solved, revealing tragic circumstances. as a new mexico chief medical examiner released autopsy conclusions in the deaths of gene hackman and his wife, betsy arakawa hackman. >> based on the circumstances, it is reasonable to conclude that miss hackman passed away first, with february 11th being the last time that she was known to be alive. mr. hackman probably died around february 18th. >> gene hackman's death at age 95 came about one week after his wife passed away, also at their

investigators. their bodies were found on february 26th, both showing signs of what authorities referred to in a search warrant affidavit as mummification. >> i think he died as a result of his his heart disease and with alzheimer's being that contributing factor, he was in a very poor state of health. he had significant heart disease. and i think ultimately that is what resulted in his death. >> 65 year old betsy hackman likely died from hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a rare infectious disease transmitted from rodents to humans. infection can come up to two months after exposure to mice, droppings and urine and cause flu like symptoms, according to the medical examiner. >> i don't know when she began to feel ill, and those are just things that i don't know that i'm ever going to have the answers to. >> even more questions still remain. >> there is no reliable scientific method to accurately determine the exact time or date of death. he was in an advanced

state of alzheimer's, and it is quite possible that he was not aware that she was deceased. what about starvation? there was no food in his stomach, which means he had not eaten recently, but he had also no evidence of dehydration. >> officials had previously narrowed down the timing of gene hackman's death, using data from his pacemaker. >> his last. >> event was recorded on february 17th, 2025. the sheriff also revealed new details about the hackman's final days after tracking the couple's cell phones and mrs. hackman's communication and activities that suddenly stopped on february 11th. she was walking around, she was shopping, she was visiting stores. but my detectives didn't indicate that there was any problem with her or struggle of her getting around. now the case isn't closed yet. authorities are still working to determine what happened to that poor family dog. of course, being in a crate without food or water for a prolonged period of time would be the likely reason for his

death, but authorities are working to conduct a necropsy just to confirm. authorities say they're also still working to pull certain information off the cell phones of gene and betsy hackman. all that said, sheriff adan mendoza in santa fe said that he believes authorities are close to finalizing a timeline regarding what they believe happened here. josh campbell, cnn, los angeles. >> the measles outbreak in texas and new mexico is growing. health officials in west texas report nearly 200 confirmed cases. that's up from 159 tuesday. the majority are among children aged 17 and under. the new mexico health department reported 30 measles cases friday. officials there are investigating the cause of death of an unvaccinated person who tested positive for the disease. the texas reported that its first measles death last month was a school aged child who was not vaccinated. health officials in both states expect the cases to increase because measles is highly contagious. more now from cnn's medical correspondent meg

tirrell. >> well, these cases of. measles in west texas and new mexico are spreading so quickly that the. >> total number. >> of measles cases in the u.s. >> this year. >> just through. >> the beginning. >> of march, is now approaching. what we saw in all of the year of 2024. and the figures that we see here are actually an undercount because they don't include friday's update from texas and new mexico. so we're getting even closer to that figure. on friday, we learned that texas's cases have now grown to 198. that's up by 39 since tuesday, including 23 hospitalizations and one death in that school age child, which was the first death from measles in the united states in a decade. in new mexico, cases are now up to 30. that's up by 20 since the previous update. and also we learned from new mexico's health department that they're investigating a death of a person who died and subsequently tested positive for measles. now, we don't know much about this person other than that they were unvaccinated and they hadn't sought medical

care. now, if this is confirmed to be a measles death, it would be two deaths out of a known about 230 cases, which would be a very high death rate. and experts tell us that suggests there is probably a lot of spread of measles and unidentified cases that are happening right now. now, cdc also sent out a health alert, alert about the measles outbreaks in texas and new mexico, warning health care providers to be aware of symptoms of measles, and also reminding folks that vaccination is the best form of prevention. and we are also learning that the department of health and human services has asked the cdc to conduct a study about vaccines and autism. this, despite there being robust scientific evidence, lots of studies that have looked into this and found that there is no link between vaccines and autism. and so we don't know exactly what this study is going to look like or when we might hear more about it. but advocates for people with autism told us that this was really concerning, saying, quote, even just the notion that the

government needs to study this is harmful. they said it will plant seeds of fear, particularly for new parents who may not be aware of the history of research on this. parents will withhold vaccines and children will die, emphasizing again that there's been a lot of research into this question finding no link between vaccines and autism, and noting that diverting resources to this takes it away from answering unanswered questions. >> well, pope francis spent a peaceful night in hospital. the vatican said in an updated update released just a short time ago, that the pontiff had a quiet evening. the 88 year old continues to receive therapy to help his breathing as he battles pneumonia in both lungs. a vatican source said friday that the pope's condition was stable but complex. his prognosis still guarded. the pontiff's first audio broadcast since his admission was released late thursday. the vatican source says the pope wanted to record the message to express his gratitude for people and their prayers. many american veterans are worried about the trump

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possible. >> learn more at wounded warrior project org slash together. >> i'm nick paton walsh. >> in kyiv. >> and this is cnn. >> welcome back. as the trump administration continues to fire federal workers, the department of health and human services is now offering voluntary buyouts. the agency says it will pay employees up to $25,000 to leave, as well as an early retirement incentive for those eligible. workers have until march 14th to take the offer. the department of labor is reinstating all probationary employees at the trump administration had fired. it comes after a federal judge this week said the office of personnel management does not

have the authority to order mass firings. the judge also said the firings were likely illegal. the department of homeland security says it's rescinding the collective bargaining agreement that covers tens of thousands of transportation security officers offices at all airports. the union says that's clear retaliation for its efforts to take the administration to court over its actions against its workers. the union's president says the tsa officers make sure air travel is safe and that many of them are veterans. well, some veterans are worried about plans to cut 70,000 jobs at the department of veteran affairs. our brian todd reports. >> 45. >> as he searches for the names of his buddies on the wall at the vietnam veterans memorial, jack ferguson, who served as an army plane mechanic in vietnam, has other concerns on his mind as well. he worries about the services he could lose at his local veterans affairs hospital near philadelphia, due to possible staffing cuts at the va

planned by the trump administration. >> i rely on them for all my vaccinations, my booster shots, my covid shots. i got. >> their concerns that some of that may be curtailed. >> absolutely. >> yeah. according to an internal memo obtained by cnn, the trump administration is planning sweeping job cuts at the department of veterans affairs. the memo says the va, in partnership with elon musk's doge, will move aggressively and aims to revert back to its 2019 era staffing levels. that means more than 70,000 of the more than 470,000 va employees could be terminated. >> this unknown. this confusion. the possibilities that. >> things could. >> be bad for. >> veterans is causing. >> a lot of harm. >> it's causing. >> a lot of angst. >> patrick murray, a marine who served in combat in iraq, is an amputee wounded by a roadside bomb. he's now the legislative director for the group veterans of foreign wars. the services he fears could be cut, he says, are tough to replace. >> what i. >> use va for. >> is things like my wheelchair. wheelchairs can be thousands of.

>> dollars. >> if those services. >> are reduced. >> at va, if certain. >> prosthetics. >> if certain other. >> functions like that are rolled back, that's going to cost a lot for veterans like me. >> cnn spoke to congressional staffers talking to va employees. the staffers fear thousands of registered nurses could be terminated from the va, which the president of the american nurses association says could be devastating. >> over 80%. of va's are critically short nurses already, so this would have a detrimental impact in taking care of our veterans. >> in an email to cnn, a spokesman for the va said of the possible nursing cuts, quote, no one has proposed this and it will not happen. still, democrats on capitol hill are worried about any cuts to the va. >> elon musk. >> sees veterans. >> as roadkill. >> on his. way to revenue for tax cuts. >> but republican senate majority whip john barrasso, a doctor who's worked in va hospitals, says the va does need

to be streamlined. >> there is. >> a lot. >> of fat within the system of the va, and there's clearly areas for improvement. and we just need. >> to make sure. >> our veterans get the care that they need from qualified providers. >> jack ferguson couldn't agree more. >> i think a lot of people look around their neighborhood and they aren't even sure who the veterans are. i think our country owes it to the veterans to make sure they get proper care. >> and in response to the reporting on the possible staff cuts, peter kasperowicz spokesman for the va sent cnn a statement saying that the va will always provide veterans, families, caregivers and survivors the health care and benefits they have earned. but he said, quote, we are also making major improvements to strengthen the department. and he said that many are using rumor, innuendo and disinformation to spread fear in the hopes that the va will just keep doing the same thing. it has always done. brian todd,

cnn, washington. >> well, thousands of photos and documents are set to be deleted from the u.s. defense department's archives as part of the trump administration's mandated purge of diversity, equity and inclusion content. that's according to the associated press, marked for deletion of references to world war ii medal and honor recipient. details about the first woman to pass marine infantry infantry training, as well as the enola gay aircraft. enola gay aircraft that dropped an atomic bomb on japan due to the word gay. enola gay was the name of the mother of the pilot who dropped the atomic bomb on hiroshima. defense secretary pete hegseth ordered pentagon leaders to remove content that highlights diversity. that's per president donald trump's executive order. the white house is embracing the idea of becoming the crypto capital of the planet. president donald trump welcomed the crypto industry's elite to the white house friday. he used it to outline his plans to legitimize the controversial digital

currency. >> i promise to make america the bitcoin superpower of the world and the crypto capital of the planet, and we're taking historic action to deliver on that promise. as you know, around the table. yesterday, i signed an executive order officially creating our strategic bitcoin reserve. and this will be a virtual fort knox for digital gold to be housed within the united states treasury. >> well, a digital fort knox seems to be just one of the administration's plans for cryptocurrency. but there are serious questions about regulating it. i want to welcome brady dale, a crypto reporter for axios. he joins us from pittsburg, kansas. great to have you with us. thanks for getting up early for us. >> yeah, thanks for having me. >> so trump hosted this first of a kind crypto summit and advised investors never sell your bitcoin. what is the president's plan for cryptocurrency?

>> well on the bitcoin you know he just wants to sit on it i guess with the theory that you know not selling a bunch of bitcoin will support the price. and that will encourage people to stay in the industry. the other big thing he talked about yesterday is just, you know, stopping the government from being a roadblock to the crypto industry. there's a lot of evidence that over the last couple of years, under the biden administration, the banking regulators were very reluctant to let banks work with crypto companies. and so, you know, they're turning that around. yesterday, the office of the comptroller of the currency reversed a rule that required banks to get special approval to work with crypto companies or do crypto work. so it's that kind of thing. he just wants to he wants to take the friction away. >> and of course, just a few years ago, many of our viewers might remember trump was a crypto critic. he was saying it was a disaster waiting to happen. he called it a scam. but of course, upon entering office this year, he and melania signed a meme coin deal. he, of course, has a financial stake in the

crypto business. is this a conflict of interest? >> well, yeah, there's definitely a conflict of interest there. i mean, in particularly the the toughest one is the is the meme coin because the meme coin, they sell more of it, you know, every few months anybody can buy it. it's just sort of a weird way that a person can, give a financial can can give some money to the president. so that is definitely that's definitely a concern. but i think what's changed since his last presidency is in the subsequent four years, the crypto industry just got a lot bigger and a lot more robust. and i think he saw that. and i think the president just likes industries that bring jobs and wealth to america. so i think he got enthusiastic about it. >> and talk to us about the crypto reserve. he signed this executive order that's meant to be like a gold reserve, but right now it would only comprise of current bitcoin and digital assets that have already been seized by a federal law enforcement agencies. they don't seem to be planning a huge buy up right now. is that a disappointment to investors? >> it's a disappointment to

yeah, well, it's especially a disappointment to people in the other the so-called altcoins, the xrp, the solana's, you know, that the coins that probably most people have never heard of, i think they were hoping to see the government make a big acquisition of them, and that would be a huge that would be a huge boon to those more minor coins. but this plan is what the president has been saying since last year. you know, he first brought this up in nashville during the campaign, and he said, we're just going to keep the $20 billion worth of bitcoin that we've already got sitting in in federal storehouses. and so it's not it's not too much of a surprise. i'm actually expecting to see some sort of plan for, you know, what they call budget neutral buying. probably finding some line of revenue somewhere of bitcoin from the treasury department and the commerce department in the next few months. but it's not going to be huge. i mean, the plan is to just not dump a lot of bitcoin on the market. >> and of course, the crypto industry did make significant donations to trump to get him elected. what are they hoping to get from him? >> well, the two biggest things that the crypto industry wants,

you know, from a policy perspective. and trump talked about this yesterday, is they want legislation to create clear rules for stablecoins. stablecoins are this really popular form of cryptocurrency. that's just sort of dollars on blockchains. and they want they want that. they want the the lines for regulation in the united states cleared up what they call the market structure bill. those are the two top priorities is get get that legislation done, get clear rules of the road in the united states. and then, you know, they'll go from there. but i think those are the two goals. >> and just how volatile is crypto and why would it make sense to keep a reserve? >> well, cryptocurrency is super volatile. there's no question about that. but if the plan is to just sit on it for a long time, i mean, at least so far, you know, bitcoin has consistently gone up over time. you know, if you zoom out far enough, no one's ever lost money if they bought bitcoin and held it for, you know, 3 or 4 years, especially the four year range. so over long lengths of time,

people don't tend to lose money. and so if the government isn't going to be a crypto trader, it's just going to sit on what it has. there's not much risk. and of course, there's also not any risk because the government didn't buy this bitcoin, they just seized it from various criminals. and so there was there was never any taxpayer money involved. >> all right. we'll leave it there for now. but brady dale, we appreciate you getting up bright and early for us. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> well, syria is reeling from the worst unrest since the rebels ousted the assad regime late last year. a monitoring group reports that hundreds of people have been killed in clashes. new details next. and a hamas official says u.s. president donald trump is using double standards when it comes to gaza. we'll explain why on cnn newsroom. >> twitter. >> that's a great. >> name. >> we invented a. >> whole new. >> thing. >> no one could possibly have

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>> one. allahu akbar. hello. >> the monitoring group says this week syria experienced its worst unrest since the fall of the assad regime in early december. the syrian network for human rights says more than 225 people have been killed since thursday in clashes between government security forces and supporters of ousted president bashar al-assad. the group says the death toll includes at least 100 government personnel and 125 civilians. syria's transitional government is urging civilians to stay away from security operations. in a televised speech friday, the interim president vowed to pursue those responsible for killing security forces. he also urged security personnel against what he called excessive or unjustified responses. the violence has sparked pro and anti-government demonstrations in several cities. the senior hamas figure is accusing u.s. president trump of, quote, blatant double standards. mr. trump is demanding that hamas release all hostages. its holding that hamas

official says the u.s. president is ignoring the thousands of palestinians in israeli prisons. cnn jerusalem correspondent jeremy diamond reports. >> well, there's a. >> lot of uncertainty over the future. of the cease fire between. >> israel and hamas, as well as over the negotiations that could potentially extend that cease fire. while israel has certainly been thrilled to see the united states supporting its blockade of aid to gaza, unless hamas accepts new conditions for extending the cease fire, it's also been thrilled to see washington exerting far more pressure on hamas than it is on israel. in terms of the next stage of these negotiations, there is some discontent in jerusalem over the united states speaking directly to hamas. israel making it clear to washington. according to israeli media reports, that it opposes the united states direct negotiations with hamas. publicly, israel has only said that it, quote, expressed its position to the united states. but even that tersely worded

statement gave us some indication about how israel feels about these direct contacts, the first ever, as far as we know, between the united states and hamas. but what we don't know is which track of these negotiations and public efforts will actually lead to hostages being released to the cease fire being extended, or to all of it collapsing altogether. and israel going back to war in gaza. you know, on the one hand, we have president trump making this ultimatum to hamas release all the hostages now or face hell to pay. then you have the direct talks between adam boehler, the hostage envoy, and hamas officials. and beyond that, of course, we still have those negotiations being mediated by qatar and egypt. indirect negotiations between israel and hamas, which actually led to this cease fire in the first place. and we've learned that a hamas delegation has indeed arrived in cairo on friday to discuss the ceasefire deal and push towards the second

phase of this cease fire. egypt's state information service said there have been, quote, intensive contacts between egypt, qatar and the united states to provide the necessary guarantees to move towards a second phase. no word on an israeli delegation traveling to cairo to participate in those talks, though. we also know that steve witkoff, president trump's special envoy, he's been supposed to travel to the middle east for the last week or two now, but still has not. it seems that he is waiting on progress to see what kind of progress is actually being made at the negotiating table before he makes the trip to engage in those talks directly. jeremy diamond, cnn, tel aviv. >> with u.s. state department is conducting a full review of all visa programs amid reports of an impending new travel ban, and one u.s. official tells cnn that afghanistan could be included. an executive order issued last month by president trump asked cabinet members to compile lists

of countries for which, quote, vetting and screening information is so deficient as to warrant a partial or full suspension. on of the emissions of nationals, restrictions could be implemented as soon as next week. during his first term, mr. trump barred travelers from seven majority muslim countries. well, space is facing mounting scrutiny after their latest starship rocket exploded mid launch. still to come, the investigation into what the company calls a rapid, unplanned disassembly. we'll be right back. >> speak now or forever hold your. >> only took for our cough liquid. unlike robitussin dm liquid, delsym 12 hour liquid offers 12 hours of cough relief all day or night. delsym cough. crisis averted. >> work. >> play blink. relief work. >> play. >> blink. relief. >> the only 3 in 1 extended

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creating a task force to oversee preparations for the 2026 fifa world cup, set to be hosted by the u.s., canada and mexico. some travel executives have said the u.s. travel system might not be ready for a mass influx of foreign visitors. 8 million people are expected to come to the u.s. for that tournament. fifa's president says the world cup will create around 200,000 jobs and boost the economy by $40 billion. well, the festival in india that honors the hindu god krishna by showering the crowd with colored powders and sweets is underway. le do holi is celebrated each year at the beginning of spring, along with the bright powders crowds throw laddoos at each other. it's an indian dessert. dessert. dessert. dessert. sorry. 19. dessert that resembles a donut for the faithful. the festival honors krishna and his love for the goddess radha. tradition says the colors and treats symbolize krishna's blessings. it's making me hungry. thanks

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