>> well, maybe now he's trying to make up for the fact that he didn't vote that way. he did not vote his conscience. but the 17 republicans who did, what happened to them? >> 12 went. >> adios. >> amigos, sayonara. >> the majority. >> of them. >> there. >> just five remaining still in congress. i think mitch mcconnell, you might make the argument. well, he wanted to stay in power. but you know what the bottom line is? he's going to be retiring anyway. and he last ran for reelection back in 2020. so he really had nothing to lose. >> so how will history remember him? >> i mean, look, we don't know how history will necessarily remember him, but his popularity right now. take a look at the net approval ratings. look at this. -39 points. >> i lined. >> up a slew of different politicians nationwide. mitch mcconnell is by far the least popular. and look at donald trump all the way on the other side of that ledger at plus three. donald trump, a lot more liked by the american public than mitch. >> mcconnell is. all right. harry enten, thank you

prosecution of new york's mayor, eric adams, resign after their bosses at the department ordered corruption charges against the mayor dropped. also tonight, the president asked what, if anything, russia should give up to end the war. they started in ukraine. and he doesn't come up with a single sacrifice moscow should make. and later they thought it was going to be a short trip into space. but they've now been on the international space station since june. tonight my fascinating and fun conversation from space with the astronauts. suni williams and butch wilmore. just how much longer will they be up there? good evening. thanks for joining us. we begin tonight with the breaking news. today's resignations from the department of justice. after being ordered to drop corruption charges against new york mayor eric adams. quitting today, danielle sassoon acting u.s. attorney for new york's southern district. also stepping down. john keller, acting head of the justice department's public integrity section and deputy assistant attorney general kevin

driscoll, the department's top career prosecutor. then this evening, we learned from sources that as many as three additional public integrity prosecutors also quit. all of this follows what happened just three days ago, when the new acting deputy attorney general, emil bove, a former attorney for president trump, ordered danielle sassoon to dismiss the charges against adams. bova's memo to sassoon laying it out raised eyebrows in that he said the doj reached its determination, quote, without assessing the strength of the evidence. now, instead, bove said that the case, which was supposed to go to trial this spring, would have distracted the new york mayor and mayor adams from supporting the federal government's crackdown on migrants. now, on this broadcast monday night, law professor jessica roth paraphrased the argument that bove was making. >> it's because we want mayor adams to be able to pursue the president's immigration policies unfettered by worrying about this prosecution, and also because we think that the prosecution itself was in some ways politically tainted when it

was brought from the outset. >> now, roth went on to call that highly unusual. but tonight, the resignation letter by danielle sassoon goes further, and it is blistering. quoting now, adams has argued in substance, and mr. bove appears prepared to concede that adams should receive leniency for federal crimes solely because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the administration's policy priorities. what's more, she recounts a meeting at which she suggests that bove did not want anyone having a record of what was actually discussed. quoting again from her letter, adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. mr. bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. so it seems like they confiscated the attorney's notes. that wasn't the only bombshell from sassoon, who, we should note, has some

very conservative credentials. she's listed as a contributor to the conservative federalist society, and she clerked for the late supreme court justice antonin scalia. so it's hard to paint her as some sort of deep state stooge. and she is relatively new to the job. she isn't some biden era agent hiding out in the doj. as for the bombshell, she reveals they were going to have further charges against mayor adams. she writes, as you know, our office is prepared to seek a superseding indictment from a new grand jury. under my leadership, we proposed a superseding indictment that would add an obstruction conspiracy count based on evidence that adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the fbi. late today, the president was asked about it at all. >> did you personally request the justice department to drop that case? >> no, i didn't know nothing about it. i did not. >> the president was talking to cnn's kevin liptak a few moments later, responding to someone else's question. he turned back to kevin and added this. >> that u.s. attorney was actually fired. i don't know if

he or she resigned, but that u.s. attorney was fired. >> now, two two sources familiar with the matter tell cnn that emil bove had plans to fire her, but she quit first. did the president order her firing? that is certainly another question to ask him. in any event, the president certainly knew about the adams case, was sympathetic to the mayor, and certainly made it clear. >> i know what it's like to be persecuted by the doj for speaking out against open borders. we were persecuted, eric. i was persecuted, and so are you. >> eric emil bove responded to sassoon today, saying he's put attorneys who worked the case on leave. mayor adams attorney weighed in, denying any quid pro quo and saying, quote, we offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us. as for the mayor, who made a pilgrimage last month to mar-a-lago and conspicuously attended the inauguration two days later, he met today with ice director tom homan and promised to use his executive power to allow ice officers to return to the city's jail on

rikers island and increase cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies. so lots to talk about with us tonight. cnn chief law enforcement intelligence analyst jon miller, cnn senior legal analyst elie honig, who served as a federal prosecutor with the southern district, and cnn's kara scannell and former fbi deputy director andrew mccabe. kara, let's talk a little bit more about what danielle sassoon said in her letter to emil bove. >> well, i mean, as you lay it out, she's very transparent about what happened in those meetings. so she's making the public record here about what transpired and sort of the pressure that she was under and just what beauvais was doing without even her input. >> it's a very detailed like, i think six pages or eight pages. >> eight page letter, very single spaced, a lot of detailed information in there. but she writes in there. it is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward adam's opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration and other policy matters with dismissal of a criminal indictment. she actually says that this amplifies the argument of the weaponization of the

justice department by playing favors for people that they like, who are in line with their politics. >> she's essentially suggesting that it's the trump department of justice which is now weaponizing. >> right, and saying that, you know, she still stands behind this. she dispels that. the prior u.s. attorney was motivated, saying this investigation began before him and that they followed all the proper channels. they went through doj to get sign off from higher levels within main justice. in order to do that. i mean, she also lays out what is going to be potentially some issues here, which she says could be embarrassing for the department because they have to bring this whoever. ultimately, if it's beauvais himself or if he gets someone else to write a motion to dismiss to the judge, and the judge is not likely to rubber stamp this, he's going to want more information, because this is not based has been transparent on the legal arguments and the legal merits of the case, but really about the political use that donald trump hopes to gain from staying in with with eric adams and even pointing out that one issue here is that it's improper for a prosecutor to hold something over someone's head and to hold

a criminal indictment over eric adams, and to see if he does comply with what trump wants, saying as beauvais directed that this would be dismissed now, but could potentially come back later after the. >> november sort of damocles over eric adams if he if he does something the trump administration doesn't like, they can just bring back the charges. i mean, it was remarkable three days ago when we learned that the charges had been dropped or were supposed to be dropped. this is stunning. >> yeah, we're way beyond unusual here. this is thoroughly unprecedented. i mean, we've never seen anything like this. and what's so unusual here? i mean, this is what happens when politics infects prosecution. and what jumps out to me is this detail, the political motive here. it's not even disguised. it is explicit. and to put a point on it, what emil bove says in his letter to the southern district of new york is the reason we need to dismiss this case, as cara said, is so that mayor adams can continue to support our immigration agenda.

well, what if eric adams had said, i'm actually not on board with the immigration agenda? by emil bove logic, then no dismissal in that case. and so this is what danielle sassoon means in her letter when she says it's a quid pro quo. the exchange is right out there. it's overt and it's overtly political. it's the worst thing that can happen to doj. >> so what happens now? do they does emil bove and the department of justice in d.c. just hire somebody else who will sign these documents. >> this is not over because, as cara said, doj has to find somebody. they'll find somebody. there's 6000 prosecutors. beauvais himself will sign it, but doj has to submit a paper to the court saying we want to dismiss. here's why. but then the judge has to sign off. i'm telling you right now, a judge is not going to sign off on this. i don't i'm not big on predictions. there's no way a judge signs off on this. then you get into a situation. what happens? because doj is going to say, all right, judge, but we're not sending anyone to prosecute the case. so it's going to be a showdown ahead on this. >> john miller i mean have you seen anything like this recently or in recent decades? >> i don't know what i mean.

you'd have to go back to, you know, the saturday night massacre of watergate, where nixon ordered the firing of the watergate prosecutor and the attorney general wouldn't do it. so he was fired and the deputy attorney general. and so it went till they found robert bork, the solicitor general, who said, i'll fire him. um, but i mean. this in an ongoing criminal matter and a public corruption case. >> here's the i mean, it's a high profile involving the mayor of new york. >> here's the thing, though. it's the personality factor here that gets me. when i was in the new york city police department running the nypd, half of the. jttf. >> the joint terrorism task. >> force, the joint terrorism task force, we picked up the january 6th cases. the head of the national security branch in the u.s. attorney's office was emil bove. and when we needed search warrants, we went over there. when we needed subpoenas, we went over there when we needed preservation orders. all the legal process we needed and what we got from emil bove at the time was, you know, we need

more cases. you know, we've got to pick up the pace here. we've got to get these guys. so how you go from that guy to donald trump's criminal defense lawyer in the manhattan da's case to deputy attorney general in an acting capacity, where he is now behind firing the move to do a mass firing of the same fbi agents he was directing on the january 6th case as the the chief. >> i hadn't realized he was directing january 6th cases. >> yeah. >> and under these new under. >> packaged up all of those investigations and sent them to the u.s. attorney in washington. but all the process we got to do that was directed by him. so now you see him, you know, on the other side of that coin and trying to shut down a case from his own old alma mater, the southern district of new york, where he was a chief under a u.s. attorney, where they where they did cases like this. it's such a complete reversal that it's a little bit of a shock to the system of former and current

federal prosecutors who say, we don't do that. >> andrew, have you heard cases where the acting attorney general tells an attorney from the justice department to to not take notes and actually, like, takes their notes? >> no, no, no. and in any reasonable world, that does not happen. very sensitive meetings take place at the department of justice every day on national security matters. sometimes on matters where, uh, where people in high level white collar cases, maybe political corruption cases come in with their attorneys and they make kind of a final pitch to doj to avoid getting indicted or something like that. notes are taken, notes are retained. there's nothing it would be it would be insanely irregular for a senior justice department person to say, okay, give me everybody's notes before you leave room. that's like an organized crime meeting, right? nobody wants to leave. uh, any evidence behind. but to be clear, what is happening here is not just politicization or weaponization. we use that word a lot lately. this is

corruption. this is corrupt at its core. they are trying to use the levers of the criminal justice system to achieve a political result. it it it doesn't get any more corrupt than this. what is specifically. >> the corruption? >> the corruption is using what they have control of with the department of justice controls is the criminal justice system right? who gets indicted? how they get tried, how strong those cases are. they are taking that system which they are obligated to use for the public benefit, and using it instead to achieve some political result. in this case, immigration enforcement, that is, immigration enforcement and your willingness or ability to engage in it has nothing to do with the case that the grand jury indicted. they indicted the case based on the facts that were presented to them and the law. and the way those two things are applied and and now the case goes forward. the mayor

has every opportunity to present a detailed, full throated defense of himself at trial. but that's how the process works. they have completely derailed the process here and demanded the dismissal of this indictment to to achieve a political result completely outside the system. it's outrageous on any count. >> i got to say. i mean, i'm no lawyer, but i read. an eight page letter and it's it's very convincing. and also, she comes off seeming very responsible and ethical. i mean, she's relatively new to this job. it's not like she wanted to to get out of here or she, some old holdover who's been there for for 40 years. um, is she in trouble? like, can she is there some can she be? >> i don't think so. i mean, she's left the department. what beauvais has done is put the members of the team, the line prosecutors on administrative leave, saying that he's going to have them investigated under the auspices of the office of professional responsibility,

which could ultimately, depending on the recommendation, result in their termination. but i don't see what recourse they really have against her personally. i mean, she does have the conservative credentials that they would have expected her to perhaps follow in line, but she's also saying that she has these credentials because she's following the rule of the law. >> that's what i found so chilling about emil bove response when she pushed back in that eight page letter. and this goes to your point. before john, the response was, well, now everyone around you is fired too. and we're going to investigate all of you not criminally, but internally within doj. i mean, that's a very serious thing. and if we look big picture over what's happened in the first not even month of this new doj. okay, let's take the lesson here. all the january 6th rioters have been pardoned. eric adams has gotten out of this case for explicitly political reasons. that's on one hand. on the other hand, all the january 6th, all the jack smith prosecutors have been fired. a lot of the january 6th prosecutors, not emil bove, but all the other ones, a lot of them have been fired. so the message is as clear as can be. we're going to reward you or punish you for

your political views with the prosecutorial might of the justice department that goes against everything that's written on that door at the doj building. >> elie honig grenell john miller. thank you, andrew mccabe as well. coming up next, more breaking news which will likely please vladimir putin. the president, when pressed, cannot come up with a single sacrifice that putin should make to end the war in ukraine. later, the president takes fresh aim at fellow republican mitch mcconnell, the only republican who voted against rfk jr.. for hhs secretary trump questioned mcconnell's mental fitness and if he ever actually had polio as a child. >> anderson cooper 360, brought to you by the lexus tt. everyone's happy when it comes to taking a seat in the three row lexus tt experience. amazing at your lexus dealer. >> hey guys, there's a change in the air. two changes. two changes. >> mhm. >> the three row luxury tt because everyone should feel like the center of the universe.

>> if you have heart failure or chronic kidney disease, vasica can help you keep living life because there are places you'd like to be. serious side effects include increased ketones in blood or you're in, and bacterial infection between the and genitals, both which may be fatal. severe allergic reactions. dehydration. urinary tract or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. stop taking and tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, rash, swelling, trouble breathing, or swallowing. tell your doctor about lightheadedness. weakness, fever, pain, tenderness, redness or swelling between the and genitals. ask your doctor about vasica today. >> premium meat for a natural diet. >> most people don't realize how processed typical dog food is. at the farmer's dog, we believe dogs should be able to get their daily nutrition without the excess processing.

>> the digestibility is just better. we have the right amount of protein, the right amount of fat, the right amount of nutrients being added. but it's real food. >> everybody wants to take care of their dog in the best way that they can. our mission is just to help them do that. >> what's up carl nation? it's your number one broker with the best full service wealth management skills in the biz. >> actually, i'm seeing something from schwab. >> uh oh. >> yeah. schwab lets you invest and trade on your. >> own, and if you want, they can even manage it for you. >> not to mention, schwab has a team of specialists for taxes, insurance and estate planning, all with low fees. >> we're experiencing technical difficulties. >> uh, carl. schwab. >> schwab. a modern approach to

wealth management. >> nada bashir offering free. >> to all those who never give a second thought to being the first craig here pays too much for business wireless. so he sublet half his real estate office... to a pet shop. there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to an incredible 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. switch to comcast business internet and mobile and find out how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us with a qualifying trade in. don't wait, call, click or visit an xfinity store today.

on betterhelp. i'm here to help find their why. breaking news a day president trump yesterday. >> likely ukraine. >> would get back. territory lost in the war. >> he once again. >> parroted russia. his rationale for the war in ukraine. one. effectively ceding ground before stated desire for peace. negotiations could even start. earlier tonight, he was also asked. what should russia give up? you have suggested. >> with regard.

>> to the russia-ukraine. >> war, membership. territory that was seized back 2014 by russia. what should we give up? russia has gotten himself into something that i think we're in. if i were, it would not have happened. but as far as the negotiation, it's too early to say what's going to happen. uh, maybe. russia will give a lot. maybe they won't. and it's all dependent on what is going to happen. the negotiation really hasn't started. but i will say as far as nato is concerned, from many years before president putin, i will tell you that i have heard that russia would never accept that. and i think ukraine knew that because ukraine, ukraine was never requested to be until more recently. so that's the way it is. and i think that's the way it's going to have to be. >> well, here comes the same day. pete hegseth appeared to walk back comments about ukraine not joining nato, that he made nato headquarters in brussels on wednesday. i want to clear about

something. >> that pertains to. >> no membership, not being realistic. >> outcome for. >> negotiations. that's something. >> that was stated as part of my remarks here as coordination with executing these ongoing negotiations, which are led by president trump. all of that said, these negotiations are led by president trump. everything is on the table in conversations. vladimir putin and zelenskyy. >> joined by kaitlan collins also chief national security correspondent nick paton walsh it is pretty remarkable that secretary hegseth, on his first big international trip yesterday, point blank, says you're not going to join nato. and then today. now walk it back. >> yeah. i mean, his comments yesterday were extraordinary, but secretary hegseth they did because it was really laying down a marker of the future, of what the negotiations could look like. it was before we, the president trump, spoke with

president putin yesterday, and it only came hours later that we found out about a 90 minute call and got the reality of that. and those call. and so to see soften those comments today was equally remarkable because it raised a question of what that meant. we had asked questions back in the white house yesterday. if. comments by the defense secretary were taking bargaining chips off the table, because those are things that putin clearly wants these negotiations. and so i asked president trump about that today in the oval office. he himself also acknowledged that. he was softening his comments. did you ask secretary hegseth to walk back his comment saying you are going to go won't go back to pre 2014 because you could use. >> 77 minutes. but those comments were good yesterday and they probably good today. they're a little bit softer perhaps, but i thought his comments yesterday were pretty accurate. i don't see any way

that. any country in russia's position could allow them just in their position could allow them to join in. >> so the president was acknowledging that he was kind of easing up on them. but then trump himself agreed with what secretary had said yesterday that it is unrealistic for nato to have ukraine join as a part of this, and also those pre 2014 borders, which is for russia, illegally annexed crimea. that that was unlikely as well. and so he himself was kind of laying down the markers as they were hoping that these talks would move forward from here. >> yeah. and nick, i mean, you spent so much time covering the war in ukraine front lines. you just heard president trump again was asked this afternoon with prime minister modi about russia should give up and. associations again seem to blame the war on ukraine joining nato, which is a line russia has been using. how much is there a president trump's position and his position? >> i mean, it's eerily familiar. it seems to. have conversations

with the kremlin. vought said. between that, he appeared to. >> reiterate in public. to recap, russia invade ukraine. it appears to be a strategic decision about trying to ensure that the country and its orbit stay very much ukraine, close to the european union and in. for the future. but it's a very long. unrealistic. that wasn't the reason why war started. and so yeah, we're seeing increasingly things that women would like to have some part of u.s. policy being spoken by trump. it is a bit fuzzy on the details of. nato membership, but it's something certainly has reached recently as a bid to try and get some sort of security guarantees. if there was a future ceasefire. and the fascinating thing about. it is that ukraine can't join or get a 2014 borders back. reality is not accepted by the european

allies of ukraine, but it was one that they were going to lay out in public. but essentially the bulk of it was part of negotiating strategy in the same way that trump the best he basically showed their hand and at leaves me wondering whether this actually may have been more by design. it may be about washington making sure publicly they're saying things putin wants to hear as part of a process he may not be privy to a stage. anderson. >> caitlin you'd like to see russia rejoin the g7 and formally the g-8. russia's membership suspended because they annexed crimea and invaded. you wonder why he wanted to see them back in this group. >> so this is a long standing position, actually, that he's had. i talked to over the years. he his first time in office. but what's notable about him reiterating it today and pretty forcefully for why he thinks russia should be involved today, is that it happened after russia invaded ukraine in 2022. and of

course, after all the deaths, ukraine deaths that russia has caused by by invading and keeping his troops and continuing to bomb ukraine even in the of crimea and took that land. i asked the president what his response would be if russia invaded, took over land, sovereign land that was not there when he was in power. given he was criticizing obama for what they did. he didn't really get into the details there, anderson, but this speaks to how he views russia instead of kind of pushing them aside or ignoring them and not having conversations with russia with putin until they have made some concessions here, with some

troops that are ready, willing to have those discussions, to have those talks, and told them to meet with them. and as we've seen other european leaders, or even president biden himself, reject that notion because of the invasion of ukraine. >> supporting ukraine in the way that it has been over the last several years in terms of money for weapons and continuing the war. would they be able to wage this war longer? >> um, in short, no, really. i mean, the europeans certainly have said that nothing is guaranteed through this year. europeans don't have the kind of industrial capacity to supply weapons at the scale that you need. so it's more a drone war than it has been. so some of this is homegrown now in ukraine, but. it isn't there. to tap into frozen russian reserves and use that. but that's deeply problematic so that the united states has an enormous problem on the ukrainian battlefield. and look, you just got to remember this moral issue here as well. we're dealing with ukrainian military that are

short of infantry, are losing on front line. and now we're hearing their key supporter. they've always been a trump wasn't a huge fan of this conflict. but parroting at times what seems to be kremlin notions about how the war started. and i want to draw your attention to one thing said last night, trump called into question the future. of zelenskyy, saying that you'd have to have elections soon and talked about polling. that's not good, to put it mildly. that's essentially started an electoral race. i think it's fair to say in ukraine, trump is saying everybody is going to have to hold a vote in wartime. and a leader who is now trying to run towards the same time. so these words, they seem often isolation in the oval office, part of that kind of show we're seeing of trump involving himself in the peace process here, are going to have very immediate consequences. currently, 200,000 people in trenches trying to kill each other. >> nick paton walsh kaitlan

collins i'll see you at the top of the hour. thanks. coming up next. mitch mcconnell's vote against rfk jr. for hhs secretary. the president's reaction to. questioning. well, document part of. the battle of polio. later, astronauts butch wilmore and suni williams a fascinating conversation with them ahead in space. how the building eight months in space. they thought it was going to be a pretty short ride, and the chances they now have to finally come home. >> i-kiribati naim qassem for settlers to the area. to find out why nothing is what it seems like a piece of. 108. >> seemed like. >> we moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. and keep coming back. start to break away from you see rubaya with rapid relief at four weeks. trump blocks a key source of

information at one year. many will experience remission and super bowl 100% visible healing. their intestinal life, serious allergic reactions increased risk of infections may occur before treatment. you, your infections and tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need el-sisi healing is possible with trump. ask your doctor about home fire today. >> tiny home trend. this is more like it. the same footwork, hand speed. get your slippers, step in and

>> lazy >> it's only once on inside the firm and now 70% on the news. >> limited edition shows. hey, guys. roland bragg text. because everyone needs. kursk region.

maybe we can help each other out on. thursday. yoshi miyazaki coming up here. try to getplans

once again. nine tablets for just $7 plans.com. nba all stars. george o'toole tv screen on sports on max. robert f. kennedy jr.. today. >> health and human services. his swearing in came shortly after every republican but one voted to confirm him, that one being a the former majority leader, mitch mcconnell, and

secretary kennedy has a long record as a skeptic at best. in a statement calling his vote today. senator mcconnell, i will not condone the relitigation of proven cures and millions of americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles, kaitlan collins. the president had this to say. >> uh, no. the people that he wanted to go to the end and he wanted to say leader, he wasn't he's not equipped mentally, he wasn't equipped in years ago, in my opinion, he let the republican party a hell of a lot, the republican party, but evenity just straight down the tunnel, never really had it. but he's not voting against. but he's voting against me. but that's right. he endorsed me. you know, it made me think that was easy. what? david folio, obviously, and i wanted to go back. he had polio. he had polio. and, you know, i have no idea if he had polio. well, i can tell you about him. he said he should have been leader.

>> cnn senior political commentator jennings, who served in several senior campaign positions for senator mcconnell. also, miss scott is somebody who's been close to me for a long time. and. i'd like to hear. >> i don't love it. i mean, these guys obviously aren't friends and they're not going to be friends. and, um, you know, the republican party, senator mcconnell, was 17 years old and he served the country well and served our nation, uh, well. and he's obviously coming to the end of his career here on this vote today. >> look, i. >> he cast away many grudges. i think he had a personal story regarding his polio, uh, experience that led him to cast this vote. i would note he didn't vote to put the nomination on the floor as he did the other people. he voted against. he tried to obstruct the trump credit here. uh, but he cast his personal. opinion, which all senators do. participation is 90 plus percent of the time, uh, he's going to

be with donald trump on issues of the day, whether it's energy or immigration or taxes. but, you know, on this one day, he's had a personal experience. and that led him to cast his vote. so i love it when people are fighting. uh, but, you know, my hope is in the future, they'll be able to work together on big ticket issues facing the country. >> i mean, it is amazing that that mitch mcconnell has trump on his beliefs on rfk jr. and austin tice and also tulsi gabbard, um, that the president sees that as a personal attack on him is fascinating to me. not surprising, but it's interesting. i was. >> going to say, have you been watching that? obviously, i two people in office and you mcconnell was the majority leader. he kind of, you know, ace in the hole and united states senate. he helped him get some of the things done he needed to get done. now we're mr. connell who if if i don't give a flying fig was the person it would be mitch mcconnell. right. and that is what he is up

to right now. he is saying what he thinks or voting what he thinks. and the rest of us are kind of sitting back acknowledging it. i wish he would have had that kind. >> of. >> the last time we had a vote, because if they had done that last piece of info, donald trump would not. president of united states. >> what do you what is behind mcconnell's vote against pete hegseth tulsi gabbard? >> well, he was pretty clear about how he felt about these nominees. pete hegseth he didn't believe that he was qualified on gabbard. he laid out a few issues on which he strongly disagreed with her, such as the, uh, her views on a student who is a traitor. to the mcconnell said on rfk. i think this whole issue of the polio vaccine was deeply personal to mcconnell. in each case, he voted to allow the nomination to come to the floor. so he voted on the cloture piece. but he just obviously had a difference of opinion with trump about whether they were right for the job. now, talking about all

three. and i would point out he's going to get his entire tenant. and all three of these people have a chance to serve our country. and mcconnell with hegseth is going to have a chance to work with him in his role as chairman of defense subcommittee on appropriations, and he'll be the one funding the pentagon. so they're going to have to work hard. and i think they will work together. so i think. we're we're going to see is that mitch mcconnell is a loyal republican, and he's going to try to achieve republican conservative outcomes, whether it's on immigration and national security or taxes. and i think the vast majority of the time he and trump are going to be on the same page, maybe on a few issues they won't be. but obviously, um, you know, the republican party is unified on most policy it has ever been under trump. uh, and they're on the cusp of being able to do some great things i think will be part of most of them. >> john, it is interesting to try to figure out what hhs is going to what the public health system is going to look like under robert f. kennedy jr..

>> it is interesting. i always approached government thinking about what's going to make america stronger. what are kids to do to compete in the future as they go forward? there's so many things we can't predict, but there are things that we know. we know that the world is safe now that we have polio vaccine. we know we all go back to work and we're able to go back to school because there was a covid 19 vaccine. so the question is, is that going to govern what. does the hhs does and what? secretary kennedy allows, or is this going to be his personal feelings or some random rumor he's heard on the internet? and i would just hope that the. president president trump listens to the scientists, and they all pay attention to the data so that we can be safer. >> as well. thank you so appreciate it. up next, when can they return home? a conversation with astronauts. williams and butch wilmore next. >> getting vaccinated

pneumococcal vaccine. >> so am i. for pneumococcal pneumonia? >> i'm getting kind of funny because pneumococcal pneumonia. hospital is six times greater because i'm 50. expanded for those. older to get vaccinated. you're also, if you're 19 or older with certain conditions. 20 is proven to help protect against both pneumococcal pneumonia and disease. in those. 20, if you have a severe allergy, weakened immune system, a common side effects include injection site pain, headache, muscle joint pain. and to help protect adults for over a decade and have an established safety profile. >> i won't be able to keep my plan. ask your doctor. >> about any. you'll be back.

you know who can help people customize, renew to all. ouarab only pay for what you need. every kenner. >> purchase, trading partner and number one export destination for 17 states. our economic partnership keeps millions of americans working. we're here right by your side. >> your life is pretty smart, but when it's time to eat, suddenly you feel out of sync. refresh your teen.

>> and get checked for tuberculosis, an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur like tuberculosis or other serious bacterial, fungal, or viral infections. some were fatal. tell you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. >> had a vaccine or plan to or if inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions and severe eczema like skin reactions may occur. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. >> now taxes is getting the turbotax app and filing your taxes yourself 100% free. if you didn't file with us last year. now this is taxes filed for you in the app by 2018. when you switch to turbotax, do it yourself.

>> you make good choices, always planning ahead. like to not just chase a career, but one day. follow your heart with ambition like that. you need someone who elevates advice to a craft at ubs. we match your vision with insight and expertise to shape a unique outcome for you. advice is our craft. >> businesses and communities come together. on tiktok. >> they don't show up like they do on tiktok. >> and i had all these people rooting for me on tiktok. >> empowering over 7 million u.s. businesses. >> there's no way. for this building or any of my employees. >> with maybe a few hundred people seeing millions of their take off to see you. >> i don't think i could have gone this far. i didn't have that kind of community. >> small businesses thrive on tiktok. mike valerio isa soares.

and this is jenin. astronauts aboard the international space station. you finally get to come home. commander suni williams captain has been there since june. their departure date has been in flux. they had technical issues with boeing's starliner spacecraft after they were in a worldwide. randa slim polarized. it was a good time talking with these two remarkable american astronauts. so we're gonna play you a lot of my conversation with them because it's. and hear about what in space life and frankly, they deserve as much attention as they can get for their sacrifices. suni williams and butch wilmore earlier, kenner williams. wilmore, thanks so much for joining us. you've been up there since last june. how are you doing? >> pretty good actually. >> you know, we've got food, we've got clothes. we're having great crew members up here, you know. of course it was a little bit longer than we had

expected. but, you know, both of us have trained to live and work on the international space station. and we i think we've made the most of it. >> we. if you'd like to be floating around all that time, i mean. i was going to ask captain, but his short hairs up all the time. does it feel weird? >> you know, it's a lot of fun. i like my hair. sort of. it's a little look, so it's. it's cool. i have lived here before, and it is just amazing how when you come across the hatch after you've been here, it's like, oh, my gosh, i remember what this is all like. i remember feeling what it's like. feeling. and i think both of us did really quickly. um, and i think i'm hoping the same will be true and come back home. >> how much time to. get? >> yes. a little bit hard, as usual. um, i've been up twice before, for a long duration missions, and it's almost a day for day that you get that. like

fast twitch muscle action back again. i think will be a little bit sad when that feeling of space sort of leaves us after about 24 hours and we're not a little bit like. sickness from can. that will actually a little bit of that goes away just because that means that really physically the spaceflight came to an end. yeah. you don't know randa slim, but gravity is really, really tough. uh, what we'll feel when we're back to gravity is tough. >> tough. boris sanchez on your body. >> uh, yeah. everything. i mean, we have no gravity. all the effects of gravity. we're floating as. >> we. >> put you back, gravity starts pulling everything. your lower extremities. the fluid is shifting. it's always that way. when you face all that fluid is going to be pulled. my extremities. and it's really going to be different. even if you don't even feel a pencil when you lift it. when we get back, even to lift a pencil, we will feel the weight. that's

that's the transition back that we all experienced when we come back to earth. >> and what the latest information you have from now about your. is still be brought home on a spacex spacecraft. >> yes. right now the plan is that ten will launch on 12th of march. they'll come here. and dock. we'll do a turnover for about a week. return on the 18th of march. >> and why can't you leave sooner? i mean, what will happen between now and march 12th when you're expected to depart? >> um, bring crews to and from space station. we have a cycle, a period of time where those things can play and alter that cycle. since ripple effects all the way down the chain, we would never expect to come back. uh, just special for us. >> or anyone, unless it was.

>> on the. >> floor and two on either side. >> when you dream, do you dream that you are in space, or do you dream that you're on earth? >> that's a great question. actually. my father was a neuroscientist and asked me that same question when i returned home the first time, and i didn't really think too much of it about it when i was up here. but i do dream that i'm up here at times when i'm here, and i do dream that i'm home as well. i think, you know.

well as over here. we've got a couple little micro centrifuges over here that we have plants and animals in at times. um, right on the other side of butch is a glove box where we've done some stem cell research as well as dna sequencing. um, and behind right behind us, where you saw in the beginning there's an airlock where it's can take payloads out of the space station, and then with the japanese robotic arm, put it on a platform out there, and those could be earth observation satellites. so there's stuff throughout this whole station, and it's about the size of, i'd say like of a seven for

seven. the interior of that, as you fly through the space station takes about 30s. >> it takes me about 15. >> we're going to have more of my conversation with them ahead. i just think it's remarkable what they're doing. commander williams and captain wilmore talk about their families and what it's been like being away from them for eight months, and how they stay connected. we'll be right back. >> after the source with caitlin collins next on cnn. >> uss. like you're with us every step of the way.

>> and on top. >> of your. to. >> and to all those who. >> give us comfort to be the first ones said, thank you. sir. proud supporter of our nation's first responders. anyway, it. >> is first 5th may. >> mae sot on.

>> my idea. they come in 12. ron torbert. borgen last breath 1328. most people don't realize how typical dog food is at the farmers market. we believe dogs. be able to the nutrition we have the processing. this. >> is what joint pain looks like when you keep moving. >> with a leaf. that's well. uninterrupted leaf. >> a leave strength to last 12 hours. >> tap into etsy for home and style staples to help you set any vibe. from custom lighting under $150 to vintage jackets under 100. for affordable pieces to help you make a fresh start, etsy has it.

>> knock, knock. number one broker here for the number one hit maker. >> thanks for swinging by carl. >> no problem. so what are all those for? >> this helps me adjust the base, add more guitar, maybe some drums. >> wow. so many choices. >> yeah. like schwab. i can get full service wealth management advice, invest on my own and trade on thinkorswim. >> you know, carl is the only front man you need. >> oh i got to take this. >> carl it's

i'm more comfortable sharing things with him. >> or now in my conversation today with commander suni williams and captain butch moore, who have been aboard the international space station since june. months longer than expected after problems with their boeing spacecraft. we talked about what it's been like being away from their families. take a look. i know you have kids. how often do you get to speak to your wife? to to your daughters? i mean, they must be, first of all, just so proud of you. and they must. i mean, when kids in school ask, like, what are your parents? do

you got? they must be top of the list in terms of what their what their dad is doing. >> i appreciate you making that comment, anderson, i really do. um, i'm proud of them. my daughter is in college. my my oldest. my youngest is a senior in high school. i'm missing her senior year. that's the lowest. the highest point for me. uh, but she's a trooper. my wife is something else. she's amazing. uh, they're the ones that are that are really resilient in all this because, you know, their their lives have been altered to, you know, since since i've been here, we've had a hurricane hit houston. i had to replace my roof. tree fell down. neighbors and people from church came and cut it up and hauled it off. people cut my grass, all that. so thanks to all of them. and and and like i said, my, my ladies are have been amazing. and i just say hello to y'all. deanna, darren logan and happy valentine's day. >> is there anybody you want to say say hi to or. >> sure. i would love to say hi to my husband. um, and also my niece and nephew. who my my niece is actually graduating

from high school this year too. and one of our other crates that his son is graduating from high school, too. so, uh, you know, we've all missed some time with our family up here, and and that's that's unfortunate, but you know what? you know, they are also, like butch said, very resilient and, you know, ready for, you know, to support us. and that is that's a huge task to ask them to do. but they're up for it. >> yeah. well, i mean, you know, all folks in the military make tremendous sacrifices serving overseas and away from their families and their kids. and you guys are just you're doing incredible things. and it's such a sacrifice. and i appreciate talking to you, and i appreciate all you're doing. thank you. it makes us all proud. >> anderson, it's been a pleasure talking to you today. and thank you so much for being interested in the international space station and our space program. we have a lot of things to do in the future, and we're looking forward to having a bunch more space explorers join us. >> yes. thank you anderson. >> all right. you take care. stay