there is no sort of proof from him that volodymyr zelenskyy is a dictator. volodymyr zelenskyy is a hero who cares about his people and is trying to save them for more. why doesn't he share that same rhetoric about vitamin putin? why doesn't he share the same rhetoric around xi jinping or kim jong-un, who he gets along with very well, i might add. all of the republicans who think that joe biden was too cognitively impaired to be president, i think trump and his team should be taken out of office. host: plenty of criticism about this decision in the major national print papers this morning on the op-ed pages, including from the editorial board of the wall street journal. donald trump tilts towards a ukraine sellout, putting pressure on for a deal than he does on the kremlin. the u.s. government's biggest cut is in global credibility right now. writing about ukraine. cal thomas writing in the mostly conservative pages of the washington times op-ed pages, no substitute for victory. putin must be defeated, is what cal thomas writes. this is from nicholas kristof

president of ukraine volodymyr zelenskyy has just been speaking about his country's war with ukraine,russia, i should say. >> yeah. it comes as us vice president jd vance launched a scathing attack on europe yesterday, accusing governments and leaders of abandoning the values that have held europe together since the end of world war ii. well, let's just listen to what he had to say. >> the threat that i worry the most about vis a vis europe is not russia. it's not china, it's not russia. it's not china, it's not any other external actor. and what i worry about is the threat from within. the retreat of europe threat from within. the retreat of euro farm, and now they have clark's farm, and now they have both been reserved for adoption. so that's a little bit of great news for us. there we go. so see the duchess. >> watching on television. we have duchess there reserves. >> she's been reserved. and we also have veera who's been reserved. >> oh there we go. >> oh there we go. >> yeah. and i just think that is such an important message that you can adopt beautiful dogs who also need a hom

volodymyr zelenskyy has said listen, there is not going to be any peace unless ukraine is involved inions. but russia has said somewhat condescendingly "yes of course we'll talk to ukraine." but it's made it clear that it considers the main pipeline is going to be moscow and washington. that has a lot of people in europe and certainly in ukraine worried and quite pessimistic. >> john: finally, liz j.d. vance, the vice president, gave a very brusque speech as it's been reported to that european audience. what was the reaction there? >> reporter: the europeans basically were told by mr. vance that they had failed to control immigration and now that people were upset about it being out of control, they were trying to muzzle the protests, muzzle the parties that were trying to bring it to the fore and in fact it was an erosion of free speech. the europeans were furious about that, of course. the german defense minister said it was absolutely unacceptable. >> john: liz palmer for us in munich, germany. thank you so much, liz. first there were the fires and now southern california is drying

president. >> donald trump calling. >> ukraine's president. >> volodymyr zelenskyy. >> quote. >> a dictator in. >> a social media. >> post. >> attention. >> this is incredible, the. >> host says. >> trump is obviously. >> angry. having had modest success. >> as a comedian. >> zelenskyy writes the u.s. president couldn't have won in. >> the. >> ukraine conflict. >> and the u.s. >> was giving him money in vain. zelenskyy is doing his job poorly. donald trump now calls zelenskyy. a dictator. >> this is what he. >> wrote. >> many russians now hoping the trump induced thaw in u.s. russian relations could bring fast sanctions relief at the souvenir shop in moscow, boss alexander is rearranging the matryoshka dolls, according to what many here hope could be the new world order. >> our president and american. president and also we have the mohammed bin salman al saud. >> also. >> so all friends of. >> russia on. >> the street. much praise for president trump. sometimes, maybe a bit too much. >> what do. >> you think about donald trump? >> i think maybe. >> small stalin. >> you think. small stalin?

tensions escalating between president trump and volodymyr zelenskyy. zelenskyy accusing trump of living in a russian disinformation bubble. trump firing back, calling zelenskyy a dictator. several republicans disagreeing with trump's comments but not criticizing the president directly. for more, let's bring in nbc's meagan fitzgerald. good morning to you. >> richard, good morning. we've seen president trump falsely claim that ukraine started the war, when in fact we all watched nearly three years ago when russia invaded ukraine without cause. trump then taking to truth social to say that zelenskyy refuses to hold elections and called him a dictator. keep in mind here, we're talking about a democratically-elected president who won elections in ukraine back in 2019, then imposed martial law during war, suspending elections, which isn't an unprecedented move. but look, there's no doubt about it. we are seeing quite a dramatic turn by a sitting u.s. president. under president biden the u.s. was incredibly aligned with ukraine, delivering hundreds of billion

there is no sort of proof from him that volodymyr zelenskyy is a dictator. volodymyr zelenskyy is a hero who cares about his people and is trying to save them for more. why doesn't he share that same rhetoric about vitamin putin? why doesn't he share the same rhetoric around xi jinping or kim jong-un, who he gets along with very well, i might add. all of the republicans who think that joe biden was too cognitively impaired to be president, i think trump and his team should be taken out of office. host: plenty of criticism about this decision in the major national print papers this morning on the op-ed pages, including from the editorial board of the wall street journal. donald trump tilts towards a ukraine sellout, putting pressure on for a deal than he does on the kremlin. the u.s. government's biggest cut is in global credibility right now. writing about ukraine. cal thomas writing in the mostly conservative pages of the washington times op-ed pages, no substitute for victory. putin must be defeated, is what cal thomas writes. this is from nicholas kristof

the president has picked up his rhetorical attacks on the president of the invaded country, volodymyr zelenskyytrump called zelenskyy a dictator, a word he has been hesitant to use to describe vladimir putin and more urgently trump said zelenskyy started the war. a sign that he shares the russian worldview. elizabeth palmer has been monitoring what is more than a rhetorical spat but a public morality play in which america is taking on a new role. liz, this was a whole litany of insults against zelenskyy. >> reporter: it was a humdinger of a post on truth social, posted today. a real broadside. he called zelenskyy a "moderately successful comedian." if you'll recall, he was an actor before he became a politician. trump also called him a dictator who had done a terrible job and warned zelenskyy that he better move fast or he's not going to have a country left. finally, he claimed that he, donald trump, was the only one who could negotiate with russia and end the war. >> john: remind us again, liz, why the elections have been delayed in ukraine. >> reporter: well, normally they would have had elec

president donald trump is attacking ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy who responded by saying mrtrump is in a disinformation bubble. >>> a federal judge may dismiss the corruption case against new york city mayor eric adams, who is accused of offering a quid pro quo to the trump administration. >>> and we asked transportation secretary sean duffy is it's safe to fly. >>> president donald trump escalated attacks on ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy on wednesday, calling him a dictator and blaming ukraine for russia's invasion. and as cbs' erica brown reports, trump doubled down in those comments in a speech wednesday night, all this as the president and elon musk press ahead with their mission to make drastic cuts to the federal government. >> reporter: president trump continued his war of words with volodymyr zelenskyy hours after calling the ukrainian president a dictator. >> a modestly successful comedian, president zelenskyy talked the united states of america into spending $350 billion to go into a war that basically couldn't be won. >> reporter: trump accused zelenskyy

after ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy expressed frustration about being excluded from those talkspresident trump amped up his criticism of zelenskyy. this is the latest from last night. [video clip] pres. trump: think of it. a modestly successful comedian, president zelenskyy, talk to the united states of america into spending $350 billion to go into a war that basically couldn't be won. they never had to start, and never would have started if i was president, never a chance, it didn't start for four years, never would have started, but a war without the u.s. and trump will never be able to settle, they will never settle that were without our involvement. that's why they did such a great job this weekend. that's why saudi arabia did such a great job this weekend in hosting. the united states has spent 200 billion dollars more than europe, and europe's money is guaranteed. they get their money back. it is a form of a loan. nobody knows that. i know that. why isn't someone saying we do at the same way? we spent much more money. we have to equalize. while the united states gets nothi

ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy. live from the munich security conference.and, uh, we have heard from him both in a speech that he gave and that then in his comments with christiane talking about need for security guarantees, the ongoing war with russia, and also talking about where the u.s. could come into play and a trump administration. so he said that he would not accept any peace deal that would be done behind ukraine's back. he urged europe to form a coordinated policy to end the war in his country, and he received a standing ovation. he also said that the continent faces a simple choice now. >> some in europe may be frustrated with brussels, but let's be clear if not brussels, then moscow is your decision. >> if i recall, that received some boos in the crowd. mr. zelenskyy spoke a day after u.s. vice president j.d. vance addressed the same gathering and vance laid into european leaders, accusing them of backsliding on democracy and restricting freedoms. germany's defense minister is calling the accusations unacceptable, while a ukrainian parliament me

vance then went on to meet with president volodymyr zelenskyy of ukraine. of discussion about what the contours of a peace deal might look like between russia and ukraine. a lot of accusations that american officials are giving too many concessions to the russian side before those discussions even start. vice president vance softening some of the messaging from washington in the past few days, not laying out any hard lines, saying that he's leaving all optionality, as he called it, for president trump. but president trump, we know, has said that, for one, he doesn't believe that ukraine should join nato. he says that russia should be welcomed back into the g8, which they were kicked out of after they invaded crimea. president zelenskyy insisting that, of course, ukraine has to be part of the conversation. they need to be at the table when there are negotiations about their future. he said that u.s. support is necessary, that security guarantees are absolutely essential. that will be a focal point for the conversations going forward. president trump's ukrain

ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy.ire that started monday night at a manufacturing warehouse in the philadelphia suburb of abington burned into the day today until firefighters finally got the flames under control. there are voluntary evacuations in the area, however, over concerns about air quality. ♪ ♪ today, a federal judge called the department of government efficiencies access to sensitive government agencies data unchecked authority of an unelected individual but allow the access to continue. at mar-a-lago, the president defended the individual, that's elon musk, but went on the offensive against ukraine's president, blaming zelenskyy for russia's invasion saying he "should never have started it." cbs's chief white house correspondent nancy cordes was there. nancy, we will get to doge in a moment. but help us understand what the president was saying in the context of what sounded very much like he was blaming zelenskyy for being invaded. >> reporter: right. he kind of got his back up when he asked why his secreta

president donald trump calling ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy, quote. >> a. >> dictator in a social media post. >> attention. >> this is. >> incredible, the host says. >> trump is. >> obviously angry, having had. >> modest success as a comedian. >> zelenskyy writes. >> the. >> u.s. president couldn't have won in the ukraine conflict. >> and the u.s. was giving him. >> money in vain. >> zelenskyy is doing his. >> job poorly. >> donald trump now calls. >> zelenskyy a dictator. >> this is. >> what he. >> wrote. >> many russians now hoping that trump induced thaw in u.s. russian relations could bring fast sanctions relief. >> at the. >> souvenir shop in moscow, boss alexander is rearranging the matryoshka dolls, according to what many here hope could be the new world order. >> our president. >> and american president. and also. >> we have the mohamed. >> bin salman. >> al saud, also. so all friends of russia. >> on the street. much praise. >> for president trump sometimes may be a bit too much. what do you think about donald trump? >> i think maybe. >> small stalin. >> do you thi

nato a very big issue as he meets with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. earlier, the vice president told the wall street journal that the u.s. could hit russia with sanctions and even possibly send u.s. troops to ukraine if the russian president failed to negotiate in good faith, saying, quote, there are economic tools of leverage. there are, of course, military tools of leverage as well. cnn national correspondent alex marquardt joining us now live from munich. and i wonder, alex, who do european diplomats and officials believe because you had say one thing, you have vance saying another and you have donald trump. now making concessions prior even to the start of the negotiations. >> yeah, jim, it's a very good question. and i think the biggest concession is the question of nato membership for ukraine. pete hegseth really alarming. european nato allies just a few days ago, saying that that ukraine would not end up with nato membership in any kind of peace deal with russia and donald trump essentially confirming that yesterday in the oval office. but we a

but ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says he hasn't been invited to that table yet. for the latest, let's go to molly hunter. so many developments over the weekend. >> reporter: that's right. so many developments, and a flurry of diplomatic activity at the end of last week and over the weekend. according to two sources familiar w with the negotiation as you mentioned, u.s. secretary of state marco rubio and michael waltz and steve witkoff are heading to saudi arabia for meetings with russia. they laid out four priorities, a permanent end to the war, a diplomatic end to the war, integration and changes to aid for ukraine. what's not clear is when ukraine and allies will be invited to the table. ukrainian president zelenskyy was asked about the negotiations. take a quick listen. >> can you accept any peace deal that is cut without ukraine? >> no. >> do you feel like you have a seat at the table right now? >> i not only count on it, i'm sure that we have to be there. >> and the secretary of state seemed to soften the language saying of course ukraine and europe will be

but these talks exclude ukrainian officials, including their president, volodymyr zelenskyy. european leaders also holding an emergency meeting in paris after the trump white house said they, too, would be excluded from these negotiations. nbc's matt bodner joins us now. matt, what is the latest, and where do we go from here? >> reporter: jessica, good morning. the trump administration has signaled very clearly that they want to end the war in ukraine. but their approach has set off alarm bells in ukraine and across europe. not only has the white house stated publicly that several of ukraine's key demands for peace negotiations are, quote, unrealistic, but also that ukraine will not be present for today's talks. this in itself marks a departure from previous policy, mainly from the west, that nothing will be done concerning ukraine without ukraine. president volodymyr zelenskyy in an exclusive interview with "meet the press" over the weekend said ukraine would not recognize any u.s.-russia deal that does not include ukraine in the process. western allies are also looking at t

volodymyr zelenskyy was not invited to the meeting between marco rubio and russian leaders. >>> donaldrace on computer chips and even pharmaceuticals that come into the united states, it could start as soon as april 2nd. >>> people are talking about the president and elon musk after they appeared on cable tv, they are defending the department of government efficiency headed by elon musk, also defending the overhaul of the government and the president said elon musk does not have too much power because the buck stops with him. >>> it is a headline that nobody wants to hear in the wake of the recent wildfires, the trump administration is firing about 10% of the u.s. for service workers, agencies say they manage about 1/5 of the state, this means they are responsible for fire mitigation, things like controlled burns and brush clearing. and in placer county, more than 50% of the forest lands are managed by the u.s. forest service and the cuts have people worried. >> it is nerve-racking, if it wasn't for the teams that were prepped during the mosquito fire, i'm sure many more would have los

our kristen welker asked volodymyr zelenskyy over the weekend. take a listen. >> can you accept any peace deal that is cut without ukraine? >> no. >> do you feel like you have a seat at the table right now? >> i not only count on it, i'm sure that we have to be there. >> ukraine doesn't feel like they have a seat at the table. european allies, jessica, feel like they have been excluded from the first round of talks. at least yesterday on cbs the secretary of state seemed to soften the administration's language just a tad, sayg ukraine and europe will be involved in any talks. now two u.s. officials tell nbc news that the intention is for the u.s. to host a bilateral meeting with russia, then a bilateral meeting with ukraine and finally talk together. what is clear is that the u.s. is setting the pace, setting the tone, and there are big questions about what conditions may have been agreed between president trump and president putin before these negotiations even get going. jessica? >> and when, if and when, zelenskyy gets the invite remains to be

treasury scott bessent treasury department talking about recent tropic ukraine, meeting with volodymyr zelenskyye deal about rare earth minerals talked about the u.s. and ukraine has not worked and here is what zelenskyy has said about it. >> open them for the business of the united states. that is what we have. that is where we can put money and make profits together and here it's very important that in this document shall be a term to protect it and that is the -- if we're not given from the united states i believe the economic treaty will not work. >> bret: we will see what happens there. welcome back to the treasury department. we're going to bring in our panel fox news chief political analyst brit hume. martha mccallum executor editor story with martha imagine cam lump and sandra smith co-anchor of "america reports." brit, your reflections about what scott bessent said, the treasury secretary about these negotiations? >> well, he certainly was brimming with confidence. and apart from the nobel prize comment which you cited he also said that the president's plan to try to bring about a settl

president. >> of course, the other quite important part of this equation is ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy. zelenskyy is expected to meet this week with the vice president, jadee moncur vance, at the munich security conference. zelenskyy is signaling he is ready for talks if his country can get security guarantees. as ukraine approaches the three year anniversary of russia's full scale invasion. >> jia cobb human bullet. >> if i had an understanding that america and europe would not abandon us and that they would support us and provide security guarantees, i would be ready for any format of negotiations. >> joining me now to discuss jill dougherty, cnn contributor, former cnn moscow bureau chief. jill, good to have you. just quite a simple question. trump. very coy about when how many times he talked to putin. that is not normal for a president typically state to state conversations are not only confirmed, but also there are readouts of these calls. how unusual is it? and is there any reason why trump will not say if, when, why he's spoken with the russian leader? >> well, i think there ar

. >> the vice president is expected to meet with volodymyr zelenskyy later today.ce told "the wall street journal" they could hit moscow with sanctions and potential military action to push russian president vladimir pollutant into a deal to end the war in ukraine. secretary of state marco rubio on his way to security conference but his plane had to turn around after taking off joint base andrews last night due to mechanical issue here too he is now on a smaller aircraft heading to the conference. secretary of defense pete hegseth in poland right now sharing this post of him starting off his morning working out with u.s. troops. he is also meeting with polish leaders in warsaw to discuss bilateral defense operation and efforts on the eastern thanks gimmick planks and he's also to meet with the president of poland later today, carley. >> carley: brooke coach a thank so much. kurt volker, thank you for joining us. let's talk the latest news from vice president j.d. vance who suppressed a lot of people when he said sending u.s. troops to ukraine moscow failed to negot

. >> meanwhile, he also responded to volodymyr zelenskyy concerns over a lack of a ready plan to end the war in ukraine. it comes after donald trump spoke with vladimir putin and agreed to work very closely to end the conflict. ukraine's president says putin isn't preparing for peace, but to continue deceiving the world, and insists any peace deal must guarantee ukraine's independence. meanwhile, the foreign secretary, david lammy, has spoken with the us vice president, saying the uk us special relationship is as endunng special relationship is as enduring as ever and assuring they had agreed on ukraine. >> i was very encouraged in our conversations about ukraine. all of us have this desire to bring this horrendous war to an end. we share the view that there has to be an enduring peace. we recognise that this can't be minsk 3.0. this has to be a serious negotiated peace. and there was an agreement that zelenskyy and the ukrainians have to be part of that negotiated deal. >> in other news, now an indian man has been found guilty of raping and murdering irish backpacker danielle mclaug

. >>> ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy announced he is postponing a planned trip to saudi arabiad from talks being held there between the u.s. and russia about ending the war in ukraine. delegations from the u.s. and russia met tuesday for the first day of negotiations, and both sides said the talks were productive. natalie brand is at the white house with more. >> reporter: after more than four hours of talks, secretary of state marco rubio said the u.s. and russia have agreed to appoint high-level teams to work on a path to end the war in ukraine in a way that is sustainable and acceptable to all sides. >> we're not going to prenegotiate an end to this conflict. these are the kind of things that have to happen through hard and difficult diplomacy in closed rooms over a period of time. >> reporter: secretary rubio is joined by middle east envoy steve witkoff and national security adviser mike walz. >> this needs to be a permanent end to the war and not a temporary end, as we've seen in the past. we know just the practical reality is that there is going to be some discussion of t

president donald trump calling ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy, quote, a dictator in a social media post. attention. this is incredible, the host says. trump is obviously angry, having had modest success as a comedian. zelenskyy writes the u.s. president couldn't have won in the ukraine conflict, and the u.s. was giving him money in vain. zelenskyy is doing his job poorly. donald trump now calls zelenskyy a dictator. this is what he wrote. many russians now hoping that trump induced thaw in u.s. russian relations could bring fast sanctions relief at the souvenir shop in moscow, boss alexander is rearranging the matryoshka dolls, according to what many here hope could be the new world order. >> our president. >> and american president, and also. >> we have. >> the mohammed. salman al saud, also. so all friends of russia. >> on the street. >> much praise for president trump. sometimes maybe a bit too much. what do you think about donald trump? >> i think maybe. small stalin. >> you think small stalin? why? >> why? but character. >> donald trump. >> of course i like donald trump.

trump's special envoy, keith kellogg, began his face to face meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy in kyiv. the sit down comes one day after president trump and zelenskyy traded barbs, with trump, calling him a dictator and repeating false claims. these kremlin talking points that ukraine began that war. >> and last night, president trump said russia wants to see the war end. but we are now learning that u.s. intelligence sources say there's actually no evidence putin plans to seriously engage in peace talks. cnn's nick paton walsh is in kyiv. nick, can you tell us anything about this meeting between kellogg and zelenskyy? >> yeah, it clearly has ended because we had our first readout of it from president zelenskyy himself posting on his telegram channel that the meeting was productive and he's grateful for u.s. support and that it's important that american strength is felt here, that the conversation was about the battlefield return of ukrainian prisoners of war and effective security guarantees. that's something that ukraine has persistently asked for. despite the slim things tha

president trump say he wants ukrainian elections, are you concerned that he has an issue with volodymyr zelenskyy specifically that he wants him gone? is that how you read that demand? >> um, yeah. it seems right now that president zelenskyy was standing up against vladimir putin and he made the claims that are the best to our country, and this is why he is, of course, um, an uncomfortable part of the negotiation. we understand that. but right now, the whole country stands behind him. and i'm wondering, why does president trump have nothing to say about how putin was elected and how the elections in russia were conducted before they were, because they were obviously not acknowledged by many democratic states. >> is it possible that by targeting zelenskyy in this way, as well as blaming ukraine for russia's invasion, that trump might strengthen zelenskyy? >> that could be because, you know, today, um, even through parliamentarians, when we were discussing, uh, it amongst themselves, um, we, we were talking that, yes, all of us, we have, um, many questions and perhaps criticism to president and his

western alliances but and already suspicious and fraught relationship between donald trump and volodymyr zelenskyy. it really escalated mightily with trump calling him a dictator. but also that was in reaction clearly to vladimir zelenskyy saying that he is getting misinformation and disinformation from russia. but i am told by aides to the president, the american president, that he was furious by that remark and furious at the notion that he's being fed talking points by vladimir putin. but, jake, that is exactly how this is all played out. we've seen it with our own eyes, and it really is escalated ever since that phone call one week ago with vladimir putin and donald trump have, as they reset the russia u.s. relationship or worked toward it. they have also reset the u.s. ukrainian relationship and simply pushed them to the outside. but vice president j.d. vance, in a new interview today, is defending his boss in scolding vladimir zelenskyy. take a look at this, he says. the idea that zelenskyy is going to change the. president by badmouthing him in public media. everyone who knows the president

. >> president trump also spoke to the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy after his conversation with putin. he has already ruled out nato membership for ukraine and is warning that they are not likely to get back land. russia has invaded and taken possession of. >> would you. >> support zelenskyy. >> ceding territory or exchanging. territory in. >> any agreement. >> to end the war? >> well, he's going to have to do what he has to do. but you know, his poll numbers aren't particularly great, to put it mildly. >> doesn't say anything about who invaded ukraine. trump's critics, like his former national security advisor, john bolton, says the celebrations have already begun in the kremlin. >> i don't have any expectations anymore. i think i think we know exactly what's going to happen. president trump has effectively surrendered to putin before the negotiations have even begun. >> cnn global affairs analyst kim dozier joins me now. i've heard a lot of concern from ukrainian officials, from officials here in washington, including lawmakers from both parties, that trump has to bolton'

thank you. >> coming up, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says his country will not accept any peace deal between the united states and russia unless kyiv gets a seat at the table. what this could mean for negotiations. next on cnn news central. >> cooked corporate fat cats swindling socialites, doped up cyclists and yes, more crooked politicians. i have a feeling we won't be running out of those anytime soon. >> a new season of united states of scandal with jake tapper. march 9th on cnn. >> it's time. yes, the time has come for a fresh approach to dog food. every day, more dog people are deciding it's time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs fresh food from the farmers dog made by vets and delivered right to your door. precisely portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. >> the time has come. >> like a relentless weed. moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from you. see, with tremfya with rapid relief at four weeks, tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remi

also, just a short time ago, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said the u.s. that he does not believe the u.s. has a plan for settling the conflict in his country. a lot going on, a lot being walked in, walked back with us now, cnn global affairs analyst kim dozier and cnn chief national security analyst jim sciutto. couple what happened with hegseth texas saying what he said, walking part of it back now at all with jd vance, the vice president, giving an interview with the wall street journal where he said there are economic tools of leverage on russia and of course, military tools of leverage. but now there's some questions being raised about whether he meant military or not. but what's the situation with meshes calibration right now? jim. >> listen, i think the only words and comments that matter are trump's right. despite the mixed messages you hear from hegseth or from others involved, gop senators included, listen to what trump is saying. and trump has been quite clear in ceding ground on a number of positions to russia. and this is why, as our fred plei

but one thing is clear volodymyr zelenskyy is no longer hailed as a hero here in washington, certainly in this administration. and jake, that changes everything. >> all right. cnn's jeff zeleny at the white house for us. thanks so much. cnn's chief international anchor, christiane amanpour is in munich, and she spent the day speaking with world leaders. christiane, good to see you. what are world leaders telling you about how they viewed vice president vance's speech? >> well, honestly. >> it was. >> a. >> stunned silence to a lot of it. >> quite a lot of shock. >> in the room. >> there were a lot of senior delegates there. afterwards, the german. defense minister basically. >> said his words were, quote, unacceptable. >> a spanish delegate said it was indecent. but on the other hand, they did like the fact that he did say nato was here to stay, that the united states viewed it as a very strong, you know, transatlantic alliance. and they took that good part of his speech, so to speak. but it was meant to be, they thought, going to be about mostly ukraine and how to implement the, the,

. >> president volodymyr. >> zelenskyy in. munich after. >> berating european. >> leaders and likening. >> them to. >> cold war. >> tyrants. >> vance turning on allies who are increasingly worried about president trump's push. >> for peace with vladimir. putin. and angry. >> protests as the trump administration. >> fires federal. >> employees by the thousands. health care workers are. >> now being. >> targeted in a move being dubbed the valentine's day massacre. welcome to our. >> viewers in the. >> united states and around the world. will blitzer is off. >> i'm pamela. >> brown and. you're in the situation room. >> and we. >> begin with the intensifying battle over the integrity of the u.s. justice department under president trump. we're standing by to see if the doj is able to take a key step forward in its effort to drop the corruption case against new york mayor eric adams, after multiple prosecutors quit in protest. jeff zeleny is standing by in the white house, but first to cnn's senior justice correspondent, evan perez.

tripling, quadrupling down on criticisms and conspiracy theories about ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. >> he refuses to have elections as low in the real ukrainian polls. i mean, how can you be high with every city is being demolished? it's hard to be. somebody said, oh, no. his polls are good. give me a break. a dictator without elections. zelenskyy, better move fast or he's not going to have a country left. got to move. got to move fast. >> no elections. right? because of an ongoing russian invasion, the president of the united states calling democratically elected president of an ally a dictator. it's true that the elections scheduled for last spring were postponed. but that delay, which has repeatedly been authorized, we should note, by ukraine's elected parliament, is due to the ongoing russian invasion. president trump's comments once again echo a key kremlin talking point. >> unfortunately, president trump, i have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for the american people who always support us. unfortunately lives in this disinformation spa

ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says he is open to talks. peace talks with vladimir putin. nbc's matt bradley following that story for us. this comes just days before zelenskyy is expected to meet with vice president j.d. vance. they're going to be at the munich security conference. what more can you tell us? >> yeah, chris, it's not just j.d. vance. secretary of state marco rubio also expected to meet zelenskyy at this annual munich security conference this weekend. there's also expected to be an appearance from the president's new special envoy to ukraine, keith kellogg, who the president said today is also expected to visit kyiv, the ukrainian capital, as early as february 20th. so amidst all of this splashy debut for the new administration in europe, it's really looking like ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is really feeling the pressure from all sides. now, as we mentioned, he's about to meet with the vice president, a man who in the past has suggested cutting off aid to ukraine completely. that's an even harder line on supporting ukraine than president trump has

it was only then that he spoke to volodymyr zelenskyy in ukraine. and this is something that marks a dramatic shift in u.s. policy, certainly during the biden administration since the invasion of ukraine. there is no question that this is something that was front and center in the trump campaign. he wanted to restore relations, and vladimir putin absolutely wants to be sort of removed from his isolation on the world stage. and donald trump, he believes, can help him do that. so. taken together, interesting in the oval office this afternoon, as trump was swearing in, tulsi gabbard as the director of national intelligence, he was asked specifically about vladimir zelenskyy. and he said as long as he's there but his poll numbers aren't very good. so talking about zelenskyy in a weaker state certainly underscores how this is viewed going into this, but that the first meeting in a saudi arabia, the president said, would be without zelenskyy there at the table. he said perhaps he would join other meetings. but the question here is, is zelenskyy completely

think of it a modestly successful comedian, volodymyr zelenskyy, talked the united states of america into spending $350 billion to go into a war that couldn't be won, that never had to start. he refuses to have elections, is very low in ukrainian polls. and the only thing he was good at was playing biden like a fiddle, a dictator, a dictator without elections. zelenskyy better move fast or he is going to have or he's not going to have a country left. now, just for the record, the number that he gave there $350 billion. that's not correct. according to the kiel institute. the u.s. has spent about $119 billion to help ukraine as of the end of 2024. now to be clear, that post we just read comes after trump already blamed ukraine for starting a war that began, of course, when russia launched an unprovoked invasion three years ago. and this all prompted the following response from zelenskyy himself this morning. >> unfortunately, president trump, i have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for the american people who always support us, unfortunately liv

but they left out the leaders of ukraine, president volodymyr zelenskyy. sounds more than a little annoyed as he warns no decision should be done behind his back from kyiv to moscow to washington, d.c., we're live in all the key places where these decisions are going down. plus who's really running doge the department of government efficiency. see what the trump administration wrote in court filings about elon musk. that seems to be completely at odds with what trump and others have tried to portray. and upside down after that unbelievable crash landing in toronto, proving why the fasten seat belt sign is so important. more passengers are describing the terrifying moments as authorities investigate how in the world something like this could happen. welcome to the lead. i'm jake tapper. we start with our world lead, a four hour meeting in saudi arabia about ukraine's future without ukraine or its european allies. at the table, secretary of state marco rubio says he and his russian counterparts will work to end the conflict in ukraine in a way that's, quote,

and then another call with ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy. did president trump just set up what could be the end of the war and what would be the terms? plus, the price of eggs. rising at a rate not seen in nearly. >> a decade. >> and that is not the only common item seeing a price hike. why is there any blame on president trump, who said he'd reverse inflation on day one? and the eerie new. audio released from the moments before the disaster on the titan submersible. that's the underwater explosion that killed five passengers. what does this reveal about what went so terribly wrong? welcome to the lead. i'm jake tapper. president donald trump said earlier today that negotiations to end russia's war on ukraine are set to begin on friday in munich. that is the major news today. out of a nearly 90 minute phone call between trump and russian president vladimir putin. trump posted details about his call with putin, who, by the way, started this unprovoked war nearly three years ago. trump also posting he was then going to call ukrainian president

that comes as jd vance is due to meet with volodymyr zelenskyy today to talk about the ukraine russia >>> hundreds of federal workers are out of a job and thousands more are bracing for sweeping layoffs, all orchestrated by the department of government efficiency headed by elon musk. cbs news learned that recent hires still on probationary status have received termination notices including 1000 workers at the department of veterans affairs, elon musk has called for the elimination of entire federal agencies to cut government costs. >>> a federal judge in washington, d.c. ordered the trump administration to temporary restore funding for conflicts in place before president trump took office, they filed a lawsuit against the president's 90 day freeze on aid. >>> and a supersized party in philadelphia today, the eagles going to celebrate their super bowl win with a big parade in philadelphia, the threat of severe weather not deterring the crowds expected to line the parade route, it is going to be ending on the famous rocky steps at the city's museum of art, of course the eagles beat the

should this be read as an indication that donald trump is not exactly thrilled with volodymyr zelenskyys to mind for me, john, weather here in the united states or whether overseas, one of the things we hear a lot of this we have got to preserve democracy but i find it remarkable how often the solution to preserving democracy is dispose of democracy in the short term to preserve it in the long term. there is hypocrisy in that argument whether it be around free speech. be so j.d. vance the conference taking the europeans to task over backsliding over speech and go over the times we have to preserve democracy but the means by doing it to expose democracy. i think this will be a key component of negotiations going forward. >> john: volodymyr zelenskyy is not happening what is going on and postpone saudi arabia trip and he will not go until march 10th. here is what he said on "meet the press" sunday. >> i will never accept a decision between the united states and russia involving ukraine. never. out there is no later in the world that can really make a deal without -- >> john: i would think

other parts of the world not so good. >> president trump is trashing volodymyr zelenskyy as a modestly successful comedian and a dictator without elections. writing zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left. the relationship frayed. >> well, it's one that's frustrated right now and, clearly, is going in the wrong direction. >> peter: because, after trump blamed the russian invasion on ukraine. >> should have never are the started it. you could have made a deal. >> democrats condemned trump. >> it's disgusting to see an american president turn against one of our friends and openly side a thug vladimir putin. >> zelenskyy did too. >> president trump with great respect for him as a leader, unfortunately, lives in this disinformation space. >> a warning in the daily mail from vice president vance. the idea that zelenskyy is going to change the president's mind by bad-mouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration. russian diplomats say there may or may not be a trump-putin mee

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,

trump's phone call this week with putin, before even talking to america's besieged ally, volodymyr zelenskyyset off a swift backlash. zelenskyy rejects any us-russia deal without kyiv's involvement. nato allies slammed any quick fix, saying that would be, quote, a dirty deal. and they even warned that trump has already negotiated a victory for putin. indeed, u.s. defense secretary pete hegseth had earlier echoed putin's talking points during his first nato meeting. >> we must start by recognizing that returning to ukraine's pre-war 2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. the united states does not believe that nato membership for ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. >> he did say that any settlement would have to come with firm security guarantees for ukraine, but nato troops would have to patrol the lines without american peacekeepers. so does president zelenskyy feel the rug being pulled out from under him, or as he tells his people, quote, we believe that america's strength is sufficient to pressure russia and putin into peace. i asked him here at the munich securi

he responded to what is happening between donald trump, volodymyr zelenskyy, j.d. vance, quoting george h.w. bush from the early 90s saying this will not stand, this will not stand this aggression against kuwait. that's how presidents use to talk and history will judge the way today's leadership is dealing with the dictator in vladimir putin. to that, everybody watching at home across america, j.d. vance posted something that i think is incredible. it's a long but i want you to read it. j.d. vance said this is moralistic garbage which is unfortunately the rhetorical currency of globalists because if nothing else to say. trump and i have made two simple arguments, first, the war would not of started of president trump was an office and second, either europe or the biden administration at any pathway to victory. i was two or three years ago, it was trail. -- it was two or three years ago, it was true. i want to lay those out, first of all, he laid out number 1, he said while western allies, security benefit from the generosity of the united states, and they have walk

told me that they were expecting a response from the president, given what ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy said this morning, arguing that the president operates in a disinformation space, arguing that he wished there was more truth coming from the trump team. all things that clearly have gotten under donald trump's skin and issued and prompted really this response. i want to read for you just some of what he said. the post in this post he says, um, that zelenskyy is, quote, a dictator without elections. zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left. he also argued to say that zelenskyy, quote, refuses to have elections is very low in ukrainian polls and the only thing he was good at was playing biden, quote, like a fiddle, he said, of course, without evidence, continuing to kind of repeat some of these talking points from the kremlin about zelenskyy's waning influence. now, all to say, of course, this comes at a very crucial and critical moment in these talks that the united states is trying to facilitate between russia, ukraine and european leaders to find an end t

vance meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy in munich on the sidelines have secured a of state, mike pompeo, joins us now. we appreciate you being with us. >> are you having a problem hearing us, mr. secretary? it sounds like we don't have him dialed in. so, what happened today was that j.d. vance gave a big speech before the munich security conference. from there, a bilateral meeting with volodymyr zelenskyy where he said, sandra as we tried to reach communications with the secretary was this at the big table. >> the goal is as president trump outlined it we want the war to come to a close. we want the killing to stop, but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that will have eastern european conflict just a couple of years down the road. spill and that was the vice president for short time ago and we have reestablish communications with the former terry former secretary of state, mike pompeo. i don't know how much you could hear that we want to craft the piece that doesn't fall apart in a few years. can they get it done? >> john, thanks, i