it's thursday, february 20th, 2025. this is "cbs news mornings."

winter blast. millions of americans are under winter weather alerts as another cross-country snowstorm hammers the mid-atlantic coast. safety in the skies. two small planes collide in midair. the latest in a string of crashes in recent weeks. we ask the new transportation secretary if it's still safe to fly. first, war of words. president trump ramps up his fight with ukraine's president with name-calling and false accusations. good morning. i'm michael george. well, nearly three years into the war in ukraine and now a war of words has broken out between ukraine's president and president trump. trump called president volodymer zelenskyy a dictator after zelenskyy accused trump of echoing russian propaganda. but here at home trump is also waging battles against the leaders of two u.s. cities. cbs' jarred hill is here with

the latest. good morning. the president picking a lot of fights at once. >> president trump is going after his current home and his former home with this, all the while drawing instant criticism from within his own party as he raises the rhetoric on ukraine. today president donald trump is going up against two major american cities. overnight on air force one, he complained about crime in the nation's capital and backed a republican idea for the federal government to take over washington, d.c. >> i think that we should run it strong, run it with law and order. >> reporter: the city's mayor posted on social media "washington, d.c., is a world-class city." this hours after president trump pulled support for new york city's efforts to curb heavy traffic by charging drivers higher fees in busy areas during business hours. trump writing, "congestion pricing is dead. manhattan and all of new york is saved. long live the king." the state's governor is challenging the move in court. >> we're going to fight.

we do not back down, not now, not ever. [ cheers ] [ chants ] >> reporter: across the country, protests intensified against sweeping federal firings. cbs news has learned more than 6,000 irs employees will have their jobs eliminated by the end of the week. most of them expected to be newer probationary hires. meanwhile, president trump escalated his war of words with ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy. >> a dictator without elections. >> reporter: trump accused zelenskyy of starting the war which began after russia invaded ukraine three years ago and said he's misusing u.s. aid. some senate republicans pushing back. >> i do not green that president zelenskyy is to blame. >> reporter: zelenskyy suggested president trump lives in a disinformation space. the white house has held talks with beth countries this week aimed at ending the war. back to domestic issues, president trump is also throwing his support behind elon musk's idea to use some of doge's so-called savings to give a

check to american taxpayers as well as using it to pay down the federal debt. speaking of taxes, the irs workers that are being fired were, quote, not deemed as critical to filing season, according to an email obtained by cbs news. >> all right. thanks for breaking that down. breaking overnight, a gut-wrenching day for israel as the bodies of four murdered hostages, two of the youngest and one of the oldest, return home. hamas handed over the remains said to be of the bibas family. mom shiri and her young sons ariel and kfir along with the body of 84-year-old oded lifshitz. video of the bibas family being object deducted was widely seen on line withshiri clutching her boys in her arms. just 4 and nineth old at the time. the family's fate has not unknown for much of the war and the red-headed boys have come to symbolize the nation's agony following the october 7th attack. the husband and father was freed

from captivity earlier this month. lifshitz was a lifelong peace activist and would drive people to medical appointments in israel. to the winter weather slamming parts of the southeast. the storm brought heavy show to to virginia and north carolina, and made a mess of the roads. multiple crashes around norfolk, virginia, stopped traffic on a major interstate. vehicles were pulled from ditches, and drivers are urged to stay off the roads. both virginia and north carolina are under a state of emergency. up to a foot of snow fell near virginia's coast, and dangerous ice coated the roads in north carolina. and lingering snow showers could dump another inch or two of snow through the rest of today in parts of virginia and north carolina where winter storm warnings remain in effect through the evening commute. another disaster in the sky. two small planes collided in midair in southern arizona kiling two people. officials said each plane had two people on board when they collided at marana international

airport tuesday morning. one of the planes hit the ground near the runway and caught fire. the other handed safely. -- landed safeli. the faa says the regional airport does not have a control tower so pilots use a radio channel to let other pilots bow their position. this three weeks after the midair collision over washington, d.c., and a string of other high-profile air accidents. senior transportation correspondent kris van cleave talked with transportation secretary sean duffy about the safety of our skies. >> reporter: is it safe to fly? >> so the simple answer is yes, it's safe to fly, of course. i'm going to fly later today. i've been flying for the last week. >> reporter: on his first full day as transportation secretary, sean duffy faced the deadliest u.s. aviation accident in more than 20 years -- the midair collision over washington that killed 67 people. it was the first of several high-profile crashes that have stunned americans. including this delta flight from

crash-landed in toronto monday, all 80 on board survived. >> if you get on a plane, if you look at how many people fly, how many flights we have, of course it's a safe space. >> reporter: yet we've had these five real high-profile incidents in the last three weeks. it leaves people wondering what is going on. >> each is very unique. and i do think as we look at the incidents with the crashes is gives us an opportunity to say what went wrong, what can we improve upon in the system off these crashes? >> reporter: improving the nation's air traffic control system is a priority for duffy. >> the systems that we use are so old. we should be the envy of the world. we have systems across our network that are run on floppy disks. >> reporter: how do you get that package of upgrades actually done and implemented? >> if we're going to do this, i need the congress to move faster with us. we can't wait four years, six years, ten years. we have to do it right now. >> reporter: he's enlisted the

help of elon musk owner of rocket and spacecraft builder spacex. >> spacex has some of the brightest minds working for them. i've asked some of his bright minds at spacex to say, listen, what do you see are some simple, easy steps that we can take to upgrade our system. >> reporter: democratic lawmakers are demanding answers over duffy's decision to lay off hundreds of faa employees in the midst of the recent accidents. >> all the critical safety positions like air traffic controllers and inspectors, all of those positions have been protected. no one's been fired. we're hiring into these spaces. >> reporter: because of the ongoing crash investigations, the secretary couldn't speak specifically about individual accidents but says they are watching those investigations. as updates come in, he says the department of transportation and faa will move to make changes to make flying even safer. kris van cleave, cbs news, washington's reagan national airport. coming up, the corruption case against new york city mayor eric adams back in court. the trump administration's rationale for dropping the

charges. and a historic oceanliner on its final journey. this is "cbs news mornings." this is "cbs news mornings." some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking allstate first. duke versus unc. what a storied rivalry? like you know to check your outfit first before meeting your girlfriend's family. that's a tough one to recover from steve. the disappointment on their faces says it all. uh-uh. yeah, checking first is smart. yeah. so check allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. you're in good hands with allstate. aah, it's a good day to cough. oh, no! bye, bye cough. later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours?! hmmm, ok. not coughing at yoga. antiquing not coughing? not coughing at the movies?! hashtag still not coughing?! aaah. oww!

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...even if you're healthy. why? if you're 50 or older, you're at 6.4 times greater risk of getting pneumococcal pneumonia. so schedule at vaxassist.com today. the "ss united states" is on its final voyage this morning. at 990 feet, the historic oceanliner is the largest passenger ship ever built in america. it crossed the atlantic 800 times, carrying four presidents. but it's been rusting away in now a florida county is turning the ship into the world's largest manmade reef. it's headed to the gulf coast to be prepared for its new home at the bottom of the sea. the sudden death of a man who shot a black teen and the latest on the corruption case against new york city's mayor. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "the new york times" reports a top justice department official suggested helping the trump agenda is more important than prosecuting corruption.

acting deputy attorney general emil bove raised the idea during a hearing when the judge asked him to explain why the trump administration is abandoning the corruption case against new york city mayor eric adams. bove said the case was hindering adams' cooperation with trump's immigration crackdown. he denies accusations he's offering a quid pro quo. the "detroit free press" says a mom has been charged with first-degree child abuse in the case of her three children found living in squalor. kelli bryant is accused of abandoning her kids in 2020 and forcing them to live alone for at least four years. officials say they found the children, ages 12, 13, and 15, living in, quote, horrifying conditions, including a toilet that didn't work. bryant faces up to life in prison if convicted. and the "kansas city star" reports andrew lester has died days after entering a guilty plea in the shooting of an unarmed black teen. the missouri man had been scheduled to stand trial on charges including first-degree assault.

in 2023 prosecutors said lester, who's white, shot the 16 -- the then-16-year-old student, after he rang the doorbell. he survived. lester was scheduled to be sentenced in march. coming up, a small dog on the run on a busy san diego highway. how the animal was eventually wrangled. .

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ look at this, some scary moments for a tiny chihuahua mix dodging traffic on interstate 5 in san diego county. he led drivers on a wild chase for about ten miles. video shows the dog outrunning

people who tried to help. you see him dashing in and out of traffic. finally someone was able to grab him from under a stopped suv and hand him over to the highway patrol. the dog named henry was reunited with his very grateful owners. maybe henry should be on a leash. apple unveils a new lower priced iphone, and microsoft creates a new state of matter. here's shanelle kaul with today's cbs "moneywatch." >> reporter: stocks closed in the green wednesday as investors looked past fears around new tariffs. the dow rose 71 points. the nasdaq and the s&p 500 each gained 14 points. apple unveiled a new souped up version of its budget-good friendly iphone. the iphone 16e touts new a.i. features, a more powerful battery, and camera. pricing starts at $600. a 40% increase since the last edition of this kind. a big scientific discovery from microsoft.

the company says it's created a new state of matter. microsoft calls it topological qubit and says it could be usee to solve mathematical, scientific, and technological problems. they made a powerful machine called a quantum computer. and kfc is leaving kentucky. the company formerly known as kentucky fried chicken is moving its corporate headquarters and about 100 employees from louisville, kentucky, to plano, texas. kentucky's governor condemned the move. kfc started back in 1930 when harland sanders, known as colonel sanders, started sell -- selling chicken from a kentucky roadside motel. that's your "money watch" report for this thursday morning. i'm shanelle kaul, cbs news, new york. ahead, we go behind the scenes of a new daytime soap opera that's about to make history here on cbs. with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis my skin was no longer mine.

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here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ 4 ♪ kiss me goodbye i'm defying gravity ♪ ♪ and you can't pull me down ♪ well, the tonys are going to defy gravity this year.

that's because the very popular cynthia erivo will be hosting the ceremony. the "wicked" actor won a tony award for her lead in "the color purple" in 2016. she says she proud and excited to serve as the emcee. and you can watch the tony award when they're handed out june 8th right here on cbs and streaming on paramount plus. cbs is welcoming a new era in daytime television. "beyond the gates," the first through daytime drama in 25 years, premieres on cbs monday. it's a collaboration between cbs and the naacp. the series delves into the lives of the powerful and prestigious dupree family. danya bacchus has a preview. this is going to make history. how awesome is that? >> reporter: "beyond the gates" is guaranteed to be unlike anything seen before on daytime television. >> it's an absolute thrill to be a part of this historic moment in television. >> reporter: in a gated

community in maryland, with 27 sets and a cast of 20 regular characters. >> the duprees are the backbone of their crest. they are activists, politicians, doctors, lawyers. >> reporter: viewers can expect a captivating mix of romance and intense family drama. >> i fell in love with an inconvenient man. >> now you have to deal with the inconvenient consequences. see how that works? >> you're going to see scandal, love, luxury, you're going to see heartbreak. you're going to see a little of everything. >> what is family without drama? you got to have a little drama. [ scream ] >> well, so much for stop by for a cup of coffee. >> reporter: "beyond the gates" is groundbreaking. the series is the first one-hour daytime drama to feature a primarily black and multicultural cast. >> we're just so excited about it to bring in all different kinds of stories from all

different kinds of people. it's going to be inclusive with so many to folks. >> reporter: sheila ducksworth and michele val jean are the first black executive producers in daytime television for a soap opera. >> i've been living with this in my head the last four years. for me this moment is surreal. you talk about a dream come true moment. >> reporter: a historic moment -- [ cheers ] -- filled with all the love and betrayal and secrets needed for daytime television. danya bacchus, cbs news, los angeles. and don't miss the series premiere of the drama "beyond the gates" on cbs and streaming on paramount plus this coming monday. and coming up on "cbs mornings," move over pepperoni. bon appetit introduces us to pizza makers taking pies to the next level. i'm michael george. this is "cbs news mornings." "cbs news mornings." ah mornings! cough? congestion? i'm feeling better. all in one and done... with mucinex kickstart. aaaaaaaaaaaaa. - headache? - better now.

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i guess what i'm looking for from you is, i mean, i know how the fire affected me, and there's always a constant fear that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago and we are in a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪ cue the trumpets on this thursday as w