The World This Hour - The World This Hour for 2025/02/13 at 00:00 EST

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

The World This Hour for 2025/02/13 at 00:00 EST

It's the epitome of classical ballet, beloved the world over. The National Ballet of Canada invites you to experience Swan Lake, revel in Tchaikovsky's glorious score, and an unforgettable production directed and staged by Karen Kane, whose vision emphasizes the love story at the heart of the ballet. Presented by Nicola Wealth Management, on stageth to 22nd. Tickets are selling fast. Secure your seat now at national.ballet.ca. From CBC News, the world this hour. I'm Neil Herland.

A team of Canada's premiers entered the White House Wednesday afternoon hoping to take their fight against tariffs straight to the source. After about an hour, they left. The CBC's Katie Simpson reports from Washington. Well, the premiers were able to secure some face time with two senior White House officials. However, they're not the officials that really are the ones that are going to be shaping Donald Trump's decision on this. They sat down with a deputy chief of staff, his name is James Blair, and they met with a senior advisor

who deals with hiring in the White House. It has been described as constructive or pleasant by both sides. The goal was in this case for the Canadians to get a better understanding of what it is exactly Donald Trump wants in order for Canada to avoid tariffs. So in terms of some of the issues they discussed, British Columbia Premier David Eby sort of got into that. We had frank conversations about the 51st state comment where we underlined that that was a non-starter. That was obviously consistent among all the Premiers.

So something in there that Premier Eby said seemed to get the attention of James Blair, who is a deputy chief of staff, who was in the meeting put on social media. He said that, you know, they never agreed that Canada would not be the 51st state, but they would just pass Premier Eby's comments on to the president. Katie Simpson, CBC News, Washington. Before the premiers went to the White House, Canada's finance minister met with senior

Trump officials. Dominic LeBlanc spoke with the nominee for U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and economic adviser Kevin Hassett. We now have, I think, a good understanding of their process markers over the next number of weeks. And they were very clear that Canada very much has their attention and they want to work with us to structure an economic deal that's in the interest of both countries. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is back in Ottawa tonight.

He met with European leaders in Brussels Wednesday, hoping for stronger ties with Europe, as relations with the U.S. are strained. Olivia Stefanovic has more. Let's be very clear. Conversations around a 54th state are a non-starter. After meeting with the leaders of the European Union, Justin Trudeau insisted Canada isn't interested in joining a union with the United States. It's a great pleasure for me to host today Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

European Council President Antonio Costa says it's an opportunity for closer ties with Europe. We are reliable and predictable friends. He says the two allies should work on a coordinated response to Trump's global economic threats. Canada's Defence Minister Bill Blair joined the Prime Minister in Brussels. As for Trump's comments on Canadian sovereignty, Blair is downplaying the rhetoric. I do not believe that that represents a real threat to us, but those remarks are disrespectful. Olivia Stevanovic, CBC News, Brussels. There is fresh hope that the war in Ukraine could soon end.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke Wednesday with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine. As Chris Brown reports, Trump is expressing optimism. I think we're on the way to getting peace. I think President Putin wants peace. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Donald Trump says he spoke to Vladimir Putin for a remarkably long 90 minutes. We're going to meet also probably in Saudi Arabia. But Trump appeared to indicate Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will not be at that first

meeting. And when asked if Ukraine is an equal partner in these peace talks, It's an interesting question. I think they have to make peace. It was Russia, of course, that invaded Ukraine almost three years ago. Justin Trudeau, meeting with NATO officials, was also asked about the new US position on Ukraine. It is only Ukrainians that get to decide what is acceptable to them as an outcome

of any peace negotiations. Donald Trump made no such promise as he emphasized the need for a fast end to the war. Chris Brown, CBC News, London. And that is your World This Hour. For CBC News, I'm Neal Herland.