Thursday morning news: February 19, 2026

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DHS shutdown, Jeffries remarks » Democrats and Republicans remain far apart as the shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security rolls into day six. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

JEFFRIES: We’ve not seen any high-level effort coming from the President, or from the House or Senate Republican leaders. We have no idea where they’re at.

Democrats continue to demand changes to Immigration and Customs Enforcement before they’ll support funding for DHS.

The list of demands includes requiring agents to get warrants in more situations, wear body cameras, and identify themselves.

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters:

LEAVITT: Last night they sent over a counter proposal that frankly, was very unserious, and we hope they get serious very soon because Americans are going to be impacted by this.

Homeland Security employees have one more week before pay day, when essential workers like TSA agents and Coast Guard personnel will be asked to work without receiving their normal paychecks for the time being.

Ukraine-Russia latest » Karoline Leavitt also weighed in on U.S.-brokered peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.

She said once again that ending that war is a top priority of President Trump.

LEAVITT: …but I think the president views this entire situation as very unfair. Not just for Russians and Ukrainians who have lost their lives, but also for the American people and the American taxpayer who were footing the bill for this war effort before President Trump put a stop to it.

Negotiators from Russia and Ukraine wrapped up the second-round of talks in Geneva, Switzerland, yesterday.

Ukraine's lead negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said the two sides are making progress:

UMEROV: The next step is to achieve the necessary level of consensus to submit the developed decisions for consideration by the presidents. Our task is to prepare a practical, not merely formal, foundation for this.

The head of Russia's delegation said the talks in Geneva were difficult but businesslike. 

The White House says both sides plan to schedule more talks in the near future.

Avalanche update » Officials in California say the search for a missing skier is now a recovery operation rather than a rescue mission. That comes after eight people were already confirmed dead after they were buried by an avalanche in the Sierra Nevada mountains on Tuesday.

Officials were able to rescue six of the skiers. 

Nevada County Sheriff Shannan Moon says two of them were taken to an area hospital after being carried two miles to a search party’s snowmobile.

MOON: Of the two that were injured, one individual was stabilized last night and released. One is still being treated at the hospital. I've been told both subjects are non-life threatening injuries.

Moon said that the 15-person group was comprised of nine women and six men and included several contracted ski guides.

It has been described as one of the deadliest avalanches ever in California.

U.S. to deploy more missile launchers to the Philippines » The United States is sending more high-tech missile systems to the Philippines in response to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher has more:

BENJAMIN EICHER: The U.S. and the Philippines announced joint security plans this year that include more deployments of quote: “U.S. cutting-edge missile and unmanned systems.”

The U.S. has already deployed a mid-range missile system called the Typhon, and it sent an anti-ship missile launcher to the northern Philippines last year.

And Beijing is not happy about it. China has called on the Philippines to withdraw the missile launchers, but officials led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. have rejected that demand.

The latest deployment plans come as the two allies again condemned what they called China’s “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive” actions in the region.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Zuckerberg testimony » Outside of a Los Angeles courthouse Wednesday:

REPORTER:  Mr. Zuckerberg, did Meta purposely design the platform to harm children?

Reporters fired questions at Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, which owns Instagram. He did not respond.

Inside the courtroom, Zuckerberg sparred with opposing lawyers, who allege that his company knowingly sacrificed the mental health and safety of underage users in pursuit of profit.

Julianna Arnold, founding member of the group “Parents RISE!”, is also a plaintiff suing social media companies after the death of her daughter Coco.

She accused Zuckerberg of not telling the truth.

ARNOLD: It does not match any of the internal documents that we are now seeing, and he's not able to answer those questions now either. And so he's fumbling over them and we just see that as a sign of, you know, he knew perfectly well what was going on.

Meta and YouTube are the two remaining defendants in the case, after TikTok and Snapchat settled.

Meta and YouTube insist their platforms were not designed to addict or harm kids, highlighting under-13 bans and safety features.

I'm Kent Covington. 

And straight ahead: more powerful AI tools bring increased data privacy concerns. Plus, the health benefits of having an involved father.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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