The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/12 at 04:00 EST

Episode Date: February 12, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/12 at 04:00 EST

In Scarborough, there's this fire behind our eyes. A passion in our bellies. It's in the hearts of our neighbors. The eyes of our nurses. And the hands of our doctors. It's what makes Scarborough, Scarborough. In our hospitals, we do more than anyone thought possible. We've less than anyone could imagine.

But it's time to imagine what we can do with more. Join Scarborough Health Network and together, we can turn grit into greatness. Donate at lovescarborough.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neil Herland. An American teacher who was detained for more than three years in Russia

returned to the United States last night. Mark Fogel is free as part of an exchange with Russia. U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Fogel to the White House last night before a swarm of journalists and cameras. I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now. I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. President Trump is a hero. These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes. Fogel was caught with marijuana at a Moscow airport in 2021. The U.S. is not releasing details about the so-called exchange,

but in a statement calls the release, a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine. Canada's premiers are presenting a united front. They're all in Washington for a series of meetings as part of a major push against tariffs. Kate McKenna has more. The president has a, he has an agenda and he's moving fast.

Nova Scotia premier Tim Houston acknowledges the road ahead might be bumpy as president Donald Trump appears set on tariffs. We just want to make sure that he understands the importance of relationships, that the tariffs can make things more expensive. All 13 premiers are in Washington today. They'll be holding a series of meetings trying to convince American movers and shakers that tariffs are painful and unnecessary. But Trump's position appears to have hardened.

This week he announced a global tariff on steel and aluminum set to take effect mid-March, and he's still threatening a 25 percent blanket tariff on all Canadian goods. A White House official speaking on background says if both tariffs go ahead, they'd be stacked, resulting in a 50 percent levy on Canadian steel and aluminum. Finance Minister Dominique LeBlanc is also in Washington meeting with someone central to Trump's tariff agenda, Secretary of Commerce nominee Howard Litnick. Kate McKenna, CBC News, Washington. All of Canada's living former prime ministers are asking Canadians to fly the national flag this Saturday as a sign of patriotism amid tariff threats from the U.S.

Joe Clark, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper and Kim Campbell have signed a joint letter. On big issues we tend to come together. This is the same thing that over the last few weeks with the statements of President Trump has made there's been a lot of closing ranks and this is an opportunity for us to come together and say there are some issues where we're all Canadian. This Saturday is Flag Day, an annual holiday to mark the first time the red and white maple leaf flag was raised on Parliament Hill in 1965. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has appointed a new czar to crack down on the illegal fentanyl trade at the Canada-U.S. border. Kevin Brousseau was named to the role Tuesday.

Tricia Kindleman reports. Former Mountie Kevin Brousseau is being asked to work closely with U.S. counterparts and law enforcement agencies. In a statement thes say he will accelerate Canada's ongoing work to detect, disrupt and dismantle the Fentanyl trade. Nearly 10,000 kilograms of Fentanyl were seized at U.S. borders in 2024, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Only about 20 kilograms were seized by authorities at the northern border. Despite those small numbers, the government says it's an important step.

In recent weeks, we've seen other elements of a $1.3 billion plan also rolled out, including additional law enforcement personnel at border crossings, and Black Hawk helicopters have also been added at borders in Alberta, BC and Quebec. Trisha Kindlevin, CBC News, Toronto. The U.S. Congress is launching a new task force to investigate federal secrets. For years, conspiracy theorists have questioned whether the U.S. government is hiding information from the public. Anna Paulina Luna is a Republican congresswoman from Florida.

We'll be conducting investigations into the following. The assassinations of JFK, RFK, and Dr. Martin Luther King, unidentified aerial phenomena, also known as UAPs, the Epstein client list, the origins of COVID-19, and the 9-11 files. And that's the CBC News.