will stand up right against a deal that they would perceive as against ukraine's interests or against europe's interests? or is the is are the politics of the town such that, listen, it's largely a done deal. >> there are definitely some republicans, including mitch mcconnell, which you talked to earlier and then others. i think that would speak out. i mean, you saw senator wicker of mississippi just speak out over at the munich conference saying that defense secretary pete hegseth made a rookie mistake. i think that there are some interests. that being said, even the ones that are supportive of ukraine recognize that the politics that trump tapped into of america first sending money over to ukraine are unsustainable. >> yeah. and there you go on on the politics point. um, he may have his finger on the pulse. uh, gentlemen, thanks so much to all of you for for sticking around so long this morning. and thanks to all of you as well for watching this morning. i hope you have a good weekend. i hope you have a good valentine's day. i'm jim sciutto and cnn news central starts right now.

>> the world is watching. >> as vice president jd vance is set to meet with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy today. and ahead of that, the vice president is giving a new interview that's getting a lot of attention and also potentially causing a little bit of confusion with the administration. all right. >> this morning. >> new accusations. >> of. >> an attempted quid pro quo. >> federal prosecutors. resign one after the other in defiance of justice department orders to drop the case against new york mayor eric adams for what the new york times calls explicitly political reasons. and then overnight, treacherous mudslides and flooding around the burn scars of deadly fires that swept through california. sara is out today. i'm john berman with kate bolduan. this is cnn news center.

>> harakat al-muqawama al-islamiyya. >> so we are standing by for vice president jd vance expected to speak very soon in munich, and he just gave a new interview to the wall street journal, laying down a new marker for the negotiations to end russia's war in ukraine, saying that the united states could use sending troops to ukraine as a tool of leverage if russia failed to negotiate in good faith. someone listening to that very closely. ukrainian president zelenskyy, zelenskyy also laying down his own marker for those negotiations, saying now he does not believe the u.s. has a ready made plan to end russia's war. van jones zelenskyy set to meet later today. so where is president trump on all of this? it seems clearly tbd, but moments ago, defense secretary pete hegseth doubled down on his assessment that u.s. troops will not be needed in ukraine. and also breaking overnight when it comes to the actual war, a drone

attack at chernobyl's nuclear site. radiation levels there now needing to be monitored. ukraine saying that this latest strike by russia is more proof that russia that putin is not preparing for negotiations, but rather furthering his lies. cnn's alex marquardt with us now from munich. a lot has already happened this morning, and a lot is still to come today. what's the very latest? put it all together for us. alex. >> yeah. kate. we're only a few hours into this conference. one of the most important of the year in terms of national security. behind me is where it's being held. all manner of political, economic and military officials have been filing all morning. filing in all morning. but in just about 90 minutes time, kate, we will be hearing from the american vice president. and that is arguably the biggest speech of the day. he will be speaking on all manner of things, including weighing in to european politics. we understand, but it is going to be his comments about ukraine that i think most people are going to be focused on. we are getting some

conflicting messaging out of the administration over the past few days. uh, vice president vance giving an interview to the wall street journal in which he appears to be taking a tougher line on russia and what it would take to get them to the table to negotiate a peace deal in ukraine, saying that there are economic tools of leverage that can be used against russia. and there are also military tools of leverage that can be used against russia. now, whether that means u.s. troops going into ukraine, that is a major question that we're going to be listening out for, because you remember just a couple of days ago, the secretary of defense, pete hegseth, said quite bluntly, there will be no u.s. troops going into ukraine, that there would not be u.s. involvement when it comes to security guarantees for ukraine. that's a big thing that the europeans and ukrainians want to see the u.s. be a part of. and he also said that in an eventual deal that ukraine would not be a member of nato. but now we have the vice president saying, still, everything is on the

table for these negotiations. i want to play a little bit of what the secretary of defense, pete hegseth, had to say earlier today as he tried to clarify these varying positions. >> my job. >> today and in brussels was to introduce realism to the conversation, the reality that returning to 2014 as borders, as part of a negotiated settlement is unlikely. the reality of u.s. troops in ukraine is unlikely. the reality of ukraine membership in nato as a part of a negotiated settlement? unlikely. and i stand by the comments that i made. >> kate, i think many would say that the reality is far from clear at this point. but of course, that's what negotiations are for. but there are many wondering why the u.s. appears to be giving russia concessions before these negotiations even begin. most notably saying that ukraine will not be a member of nato and trump. just saying yesterday

that russia should be allowed to once again join the g-8, which they were kicked out of back in 2014 after invading ukraine the first time. kate. >> alex, thank you so much. we're going to come back to alex quite a bit this morning. there's a lot happening there. john. >> all right. this morning, new rounds of firings, thousands of federal employees let go. the department of veteran affairs alone reported it dismissed more than 1000 employees at the department of energy. one told cnn, quote, our leadership was visibly shaken by it all. the cuts are even happening inside the agency handling the cuts. the office of personnel management. dozens laid off there. let's get to cnn's alayna treene at the white house for the latest. so what's the status this morning, elena? >> well, john, as you said. >> we are seeing now the trump administration directing agencies to fire thousands of workers who are on this probationary status. officials have really set their sights, we're told, on these probationary employees that people have only been in the

government for about a year or two at most, mainly because they have fewer job protections and they're easier to fire. now, more than 200,000 employees, we're told, are part of this, you know, probationary status or have been working for the federal government for less than a year. and really, this culling that we saw take place on thursday was taking place at the departments of energy and veterans affairs. but it comes after we saw scores of people being laid off and fire yesterday at a number of different agencies, including the department of education, the small business administration, as well as the consumer financial protection bureau. now, one thing that's interesting about this is it is a shift in guidance from what we know of the office of personnel management, which has really been directing and leading a lot of these layoffs, had told agencies earlier this week they had said earlier this week that they did not have to terminate all of these employees that they had placed on probation. but now we're hearing a shift again. like i said, in that guidance, i want to read to you what we got from an opm spokesperson on

this. they said, quote, agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the president's broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the american people and the highest possible standard. now, one thing as well that we're learning is the nature of these firings. they're being fired via email or via calls. we heard a lot of opm staff had been fired on a broad hamas microsoft teams call and other different ways. so we're really seeing this kind of be delivered throughout the entire federal government. the thing that's so notable, though about this, john, and just to take a step back and talk about why this is happening, one, we know one of the top goals right now, top priorities of the trump administration, is to really try and reduce significantly the size of the federal workforce. of course, that's a goal of elon musk and the department of government efficiency. but they're also arguing that this is because a lot of these employees didn't take that so-called buyout. and now they're saying, we warned you

that your job could be threatened. now you're actually seeing that put into practice. >> we'll see the impact this has on lives and departments. alayna treene, thank you so much for this reporting, kate. >> a top u.s. attorney quits in protest and several others follow her lead all over a justice department order to drop the corruption case against new york city mayor eric adams. so what now? we'll work on that. and on the same day that vaccine clinic, rfk jr. was sworn in as the new health and human services secretary, louisiana's health department says it will no longer promote mass vaccination. and a wild moment that might be better described as completely and 100% crazy pants. a father was recording as his son is swallowed by a whale. don't worry, the whale spit him back out. >> the boeing. >> 747 has crashed in the lockerbie area., trying to find

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politicization of the justice department. cnn's kara scannell is here. and the letters, the back and forth letters between sally kohn and emil bove from the justice department. i've never seen anything like this. >> yeah, john, i mean, this is really stunning. as you said, her letter is eight pages, single spaced. she doesn't mince words, laying out what she still believes is the strength of the case, even as she has come in and taken a fresh look at it. you know, she also says in this letter, you know, she makes these accusations that beauvais, who has ordered her to dismiss the case, saying that they need not on the merits, not because of the strength of the evidence, but because adams needs to be able to run his job as a mayor and to help trump. run the immigration enforcement policies that he wants. so sassoon responds to that, and this is following in-person meetings that they've had as well. she says adams attorney repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. i remained baffled by the rushed

and superficial and superficial process by which this decision was reached. and, you know, this is all this was this just pressure coming from them. she's saying that, in fact, what they are doing now is actually amplifying this concern about the justice being politicized by saying that they should dismiss this case, not on the merits. now, after she resigned, she sent a letter to the attorney general and then informed her staff. beauvais then put two of the line prosecutors who've been working this case on administrative leave, because they would not sign a motion to dismiss. he then brought it to washington, d.c., transferred the case entirely there. folks in the public corrupt public integrity section, which oversees these corruption cases, five of them resigned because they wouldn't sign this. so the next step is does beauvais himself sign it? he is an alumni of the southern district of new york, which also makes this extraordinary. or does he get someone else to do it? but that doesn't end there, because the judge is going to have to sign off on this. and as sassoon explains in this letter, they are opening the department up to some embarrassment here

because the judge is very likely going to have a hearing, haul them in and ask them what grounds? what legal grounds? does he have to actually agree to this dismissal? and you know, we saw, remember, general michael flynn, his case. there was issues with that too. a similar thing came up here. and ultimately trump pardoned him because it got so messy within the courts. >> again, they do not cite legal reasons for dismissing or not prosecuting this case. i mean, that's what's so stunning here. in his response, going after sassoon after she resigned. also just worth looking into as we go forward on this. thank you so much for your reporting on it. all right. this morning, evacuations and school closures after a major storm delivered flooding and mudslides to areas just devastated by wildfires. and then tiktok is back. well, in the app stores for now. does this break the law that congress passed? >> have i got news for you is back for another season. roy

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>> cats swindling. >> socialites doped up. >> cyclists then 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. >> this morning. parts of southern california are cleaning up after a storm brought some really heavy rain and flooding to an area. the same area still reeling from those devastating wildfires last month. we're going to show you some time lapse video, going to show it to you right here. this is showing just how bad a mudflow can get and how quickly sliding down a mountain and then flooding the area below. we also want to show you this. a mudslide and debris just sweeping away a car. sweeping the car actually into the ocean in malibu. city after city, just facing a dangerous mess. cnn's allison chinchar tracking this one for us. allison, what are you seeing? yeah. so the one. >> thing that we want to note is that the rain is starting to calm back down, and we'll continue to do so over the rest of the day today. so hopefully those scenes from yesterday do not continue through the day

today. but yes, this is what it looked like. kind of trying to clear out all of the mud and the debris that kind of fell onto a lot of these roadways and even into some folks neighborhoods. you look at some of these rainfall totals, even some of the ones on the lower end, say 2 to 3in, which you have to remember for some of these areas, they got that in a very short period of time. so it may not seem like that high of a number, but if it all comes in at once, it takes all of that water and can spread that water as well as the mud and all of that debris onto those roadways. here's a look at the last 48 hours. you can see again, widespread across portions of southern california. you had at least two inches of rain, but some of those areas picking up 4 to 6in total. now when we widen this back out again, you can see it is still raining across portions of california, including southern california, raining right now in san francisco, sacramento, as well as more of that moisture begins to push eastward. and that's what's going to happen. all of that moisture is going to continue to spread off to the east, so that by the time we get to tomorrow morning, saturday morning, you've got snow across portions of the midwest and very heavy rain starting to develop

across the ohio valley, tennessee valley, as well as the southeast. and the potential for even some strong to severe thunderstorms is possible along the southeast here, stretching from texas all the way up through portions of kentucky. and very heavy rain is also going to be a concern across some of these areas just because of the sheer volume of rain. here's a look at the best chance for that severe weather. and this does include very damaging wind gusts, as well as some potential tornadoes. >> allison, thank you very much for that. still ahead for us. we have breaking news this morning. pope francis has been admitted to the hospital. we are now learning for what the vatican says is continuing treatment for bronchitis. we've got an update for you from rome. and they have been stuck in space for months and months when, remember, they're only supposed to be up there for days. what astronauts butch wilmore and suni williams now say they are looking forward to most as their return trip to earth is finally set. for now. >> the boeing.

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and your best, we'll see for car insurance. >> go to finance buzz.com. >> now it's nba all-star in the san francisco bay area. featuring castro rising stars. oh my goodness. state farm all star saturday night and the all star game presented by kia with a new 14 tournament. nba all-star 2025 begins tonight at nine on tnt. >> we are tracking some breaking news. we're now hearing from the vatican confirming pope francis has been admitted to the hospital. vatican saying that the 88 year old pontiff is being treated for bronchitis. let's get over to cnn's christopher lam, though. he's in rome. and, christopher, you also saw the pope yourself this morning. what's the very latest you're learning? >> well, kate. that's right. pope francis has about was about to be admitted to hospital for

bronchitis. he's been suffering from this for some time, but he's been continuing with meetings in the vatican. and i was there this morning for one of those meetings. he had a private audience with mark thompson, the chief executive of cnn. and i saw the pope, and he seemed mentally alert, but clearly is having real difficulty speaking for sustained periods due to these breathing difficulties. that he is seems to be susceptible to. now, the pope is going to be in gemelli hospital behind me on the 10th floor there is a special suite of rooms for the pope, where he will be treated and where he will have tests. the pope has been determined to keep going with a very, very hectic schedule in recent days. despite this bronchitis, he's been asking for aides to read his addresses and speeches because he hasn't been able to to deliver them, and he's been having lots of meetings. but

it's clearly a moment where he needs to stop. he needs to be tested properly, and he needs to receive sustained treatment. the pope is 88 years old. he has been vulnerable to these respiratory infections in the past. he's been hospitalized for bronchitis in recent years. and when he was a young man, had part of his right lung removed. so there is that vulnerability that the pope has to these infections. so we'll have to see what happens in the coming days. the vatican has announced that the pope will not have any audiences over the next three days. while he has this treatment. kate. >> three days at least. we'll have to stay updated on what we can learn once he is as he is getting admitted. thank you so much, christopher, for that reporting, john. >> all right. just moments ago. pretty harsh criticism of defense secretary pete hegseth by the republican chair of the senate armed services committee, roger wicker. this came in an interview with our friend

jonathan martin just published in politico in response to hegseth ruling out ukraine joining nato. wicker told politico he was puzzled and disturbed. he said hegseth, quote, made a rookie mistake in brussels and he's walked back some of what he said, but not that line. i don't know who wrote the speech, wicker said. it is the kind of thing. tucker carlson could have written, and carlson is a fool. again, this is roger wicker, the republican chair of the armed services committee. i prefer we didn't give away negotiating positions before we actually get started talking about the end of the russia, ukraine war, right. 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 pleitgen, our colleague, is saying, in russia, they are celebrating what they are hearing for trump. one, trump has said ukraine will not be in nato, never should be. and trump went so far as to say it was discussion of that that caused the war. right? i mean, that's a that's a straight up kremlin talking point to justify its invasion. trump has said ukraine will not get back all of its territory, in effect ceding

territory, ukrainian sovereign territory at the start of negotiations. trump has said the u.s. will not be involved militarily there. and now trump is saying russia should be invited back into the g-7, which it was kicked out of because of the ukraine invasion. he's the commander in chief. and regardless of of any walk back you hear from hegseth or criticism, you hear from republicans in the senate still willing to speak out publicly on this, right? trump is the one driving this train, right? and the train is going in one direction, and that is ending this war. and if need be, forcing that man's hand to take, to take, to make concessions, he frankly doesn't want to make. >> you know, kim, it makes me think about a quote i read the new york times. i can't remember who specifically it was from, but it was suggesting that president trump likes to suggest that his foreign policy is peace through strength. but where's the strength? this person asked. does russia see strength in

this? >> what russia sees is positive messages all around. look hegseth used some hedging language. he talked about it being unlikely and unrealistic that ukraine would join nato, and that it would get back all of its territory from the 2014 and 2022 invasion. but all russia heard. all europe heard was that the u.s. was backing out on, you know, the washington nato summit last year. yes, it was under biden, but nato members pledged for an irreversible pathway for ukraine's nato membership. and now you've got various trump administration officials backing out in different ways. then you've got vance coming in and saying, no, everything's still on the table. but to jim's point in the oval office, trump's made comments like, well, russia says that nato troops in ukraine and

nato membership is a nonstarter. so that's the way it is. it's as if, you know, he's willing to bully. greenland. he's willing to bully european nations about tariffs, but not moscow. >> so that is something to be sure. jim volodymyr zelenskyy, the ukrainian leader, suggesting or saying that he doesn't see that the u.s. has a plan to end a war. where do you think he's looking right now for help and for guidance? >> he's scared. right? i mean, because, as he's often said, it's an existential fight for for ukraine. he's trying to survive, keep ukraine alive as an independent state from russia. remember, russia's intention was to absorb the entire country. that was their plan. you know, they weren't talking about playing footsie with ukraine. they wanted to take take it over. uh, my sense is that ukraine right now is looking for some hope from the

u.s., but frankly, its greatest hope lying with its european allies right now and a european leader noted to me, just in the last 24 hours that if you add up the support for ukraine's military right now, more than half of it comes from ukraine itself. in financial terms, weapons terms, about 25% from europe and 20% from the u.s. so if the u.s. removes that 20%, it's significant, but it's not deadly. and that the plan going forward may be that ukraine and europe are on their own right with, with if not no u.s. support, then limited u.s. support. we should note, john, that when you listen to hegseth and others other comments, vance too, and trump, they're not just talking about pulling back from ukraine. they're talking about pulling back from europe as a whole, a less of a u.s. involvement in europe's security. this is a massive it's a massive shift for the

u.s. >> what is europe hear there, kim, that segues into what i was going to ask you. does europe feel as if it can or should be committing more resources to ukraine? >> they've been discussing it behind closed doors. and the officials i've been in touch with are talking about, you know, we are fully aware that we're going to have to eventually go it alone, especially when they look at trump referring to putin as someone he can, quote, unquote, trust on this issue of ukraine. this is a guy who has been indicted in the international criminal court for war crimes, is not welcome in just about any european capital. so his turnabout on his warmth towards putin has him being hailed in london by politicians of all political stripes as another neville chamberlain. that was the british prime minister who traded away european territory in hopes of dissuading hitler

from invading anywhere else. and a year later, hitler started his conquest of europe. >> gave him a little bit of czechoslovakia in hopes he wouldn't take the rest. and then he went and took the rest. jim sciutto kim dozier, thank you both for being here, kate. >> rfk jr. has been confirmed and also just been sworn in as the secretary of health and human services, now heading up america's public health agencies. and in some of his first comments as secretary, the known vaccine cynic said this. >> i'm not going to take away anybody's vaccine. if people are happy with their vaccines, they ought to be able to get them. what we're going to do is give people good science. we don't have good safety studies on almost any of the vaccines. >> now, that is the very same language that kennedy has used for years and also used during confirmation hearings to win over support from skeptical republicans for his confirmation hearing for his confirmation, saying that the country does not

have good safety studies on vaccines. well, doctor after doctor and expert after expert say that's not true. the science around approved vaccines is safe and publicly available. here's what the director of the vaccine education center at the children's hospital of philadelphia, doctor paul offit, has told us. >> there's been dozens of studies showing that there is no association between getting a vaccine and developing autism. he says. if the data are there, rfk jr. says if the data are there, what is he talking about? of course the data are there. he just ignores those data because it doesn't fit with his fit in, with his fixed, immutable, science resistant hypothesis that vaccines cause autism. >> and now, after rfk jr.'s confirmation, the louisiana department of health says it will no longer promote mass vaccination programs. cnn's meg terrell has more. >> we've learned that louisiana's surgeon general sent out a directive to state

health workers, saying that while they've historically promoted vaccines for vaccine preventable illnesses going forward, quote, while they encourage each patient to discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their provider, the louisiana department of health will no longer promote mass vaccination. in that same memo to health workers, he emphasized that health workers should treat vaccines with nuance, and he said they should recognize the differences between seasonal vaccines and childhood immunizations, which he said were an important part of providing immunity to our children. now, i talked with the new orleans public health department director, dr. jennifer avegno, about this, and she expressed alarm at hearing that this was being communicated. she said she'd already started to feel this from the state that they had been pulling back from mass vaccination events, that they had run together in the past, where she said together they vaccinated hundreds and hundreds of people against particularly seasonal viruses. and she said that new orleans is trying to fill in that gap. she said

they're an independent public health agency, so they don't have to abide by this directive. and she said they're not planning on abiding by the directive. but she said it's really worrisome because already you've seen louisiana's childhood vaccination rate decline, she said. and she pointed out particularly they've had a really bad flu season. it's been severe nationally. but she said it's been especially bad in louisiana. and if you look at vaccination rates in the state, they have been declining for kids for the flu vaccine, they're now down to 11% for the most recent season, and that compares with 42% nationally, which health experts say is too low. they say when you start to get communications that are fuzzy, that really are not clear with people around the importance of vaccination, then you start to see vaccination rates go down and you start to see outbreaks go up. so folks are quite concerned that we may see this in other states. avegno also told us she didn't think it was coincidental that this directive came out on thursday,

the same day that robert f. kennedy jr. was sworn in as health and human services secretary. and of course, he has made comments questioning the safety and the efficacy of vaccines, which experts in the space say are not accurate. >> here we go. >> meg tirrell, thank you so much for that. joining me right now is the democratic congresswoman from michigan, debbie dingell. it's good to see you again. congresswoman. you are sitting in ann arbor, home to one of the best medical systems in the country with the university of michigan. what do you think rfk jr. means for public health in the u.s. and for your constituents? >> well, good morning, kate. um, i've been spending a lot of time, uh, at with my doctors and nurses at the hospital. i actually do rounds with the head of the hospital. uh, every couple of months. and i've been there a lot more lately because of the researchers concerns. i mean, what's already happening because of nih cuts last week. research has stopped these

scientists who have found cures or are finding solutions for liver cancer, brain cancer. some of the most difficult cancers. that research has been stopped. but i've spent a lot of time with the pediatricians to, uh. i like that i go over to the hospital and they're worried. look, i am actually somebody who got gay from a flu shot. so i studied this a lot, and i am afraid of shots, but i did a lot of studying before i got covid. we don't want to see measles outbreaks. we don't want to see smallpox come back. we have we we have to educate people, not make people fearful. and this is a very scary time right now in this country for health care. and they're going to cut medicaid too, which is how so many children in this country, it's their only source of health care. seniors do long term care. >> you know, and the question remains. what can congress do

about it? because i asked that because senator lisa murkowski, she's a republican who was, hesitant to to support rfk jr.. she she took her time in pushing him, asking very tough questions after she eventually did vote in support of him. she told reporters this after the vote. i think there are many of us who have asked for specific commitments, most specifically related to vaccines, and we want to be able to hold him accountable to that. so we're going to be checking in, we're going to be calling him in, and we're going to be following through. do you think that is going to be enough? >> well, i think congress has got to use all of the tools at its disposal. and we've got litigation too. i think litigation. legislation. legislation, education, education and communication are going to be really important. look, i had a very blunt talk with, uh, with him. i've obviously known his family forever. he and i have both had injuries from vaccines. it doesn't make me not get

vaccines. i knew to get covid, i had to get covid. was i scared to death? i mean, i would told people i was scared to death. i was. and the first time i got the shot, i waited to die, i didn't die. i became part of helping, not spread covid or making it worse. and i plan on. and he assured me now, but that, i mean, we got to hold him accountable, that he wasn't going to stop those vaccines. look, i'll give you another example. i just had rsv. i hadn't gotten the rsv vaccine this year because i thought it was like the flu shot. well, it's not a live vaccine, and i won't make the mistake of not getting an rsv vaccine next year. he's got to educate people. we've got to be educated consumers. but he cannot discourage people from getting vaccinations because they save lives. children don't die of polio or smallpox now because those vaccines are there. >> i i'm so sorry that you were you had rsv and i didn't i really and i've known you a long time. i did not know the history of, um, that you've had

with with vaccines and the long road that it's been. um, that's really important perspective that you bring to this conversation. um, being being skeptical. >> educated. >> yeah. it's i really. didn't even know that. >> skeptical is not the right word. i know vaccines make a difference in life. some people, something happens to you. it doesn't mean you say no. they do save lives. and that's what i never forget. having had a very negative experience. i want my community to be safe. so we have to talk it through. but you've got to. what his responsibility to do is to not be anti-vaccine, but to make sure that they are safe. >> um, another topic i want to ask you about is tariffs. um, the tariffs on steel and aluminum that are all steel and aluminum coming into the united states. president trump was asked yesterday if he had heard or what he had heard from business owners and ceos, um, about this. if he had heard it was a good thing. and places

like the question was referencing pennsylvania, let me play for you what he said. >> they are in love with it. as you know, in pennsylvania. u.s. steel is through the roof. they're all through the roof. that's why i didn't want u.s. steel to make a deal with japan or anybody else. i think it's going to do great. but, um, i think maybe more than anybody else, the steel companies and aluminum companies, they're in love with what's happened. and this will eventually be the car companies and chip companies. >> i mean, i heard from economists like larry summers, though, that these tariffs in particular are going to cause prices to rise. and he and he says hurt job creation. what are you hearing? i mean, these questions are central to your state. what are you hearing from the auto industry. >> so just. >> remember i'm someone who says, i actually probably agree with donald trump more than many republicans do on tariffs as a tool in the toolbox. and i do believe that i worked with him

very closely on nafta was the worst trade policy that we've seen in our history, and we needed to do something. and by the way, we need to immediately renegotiate usmca, which replaced nafta. so china can't go into mexico, build a plant and call itself a north america product. the way that he's doing it straight across the board, it's a you got to do it as a part of a strategy, a strategic focus, not just do it straight across the board. the workers want to see their jobs come back. now we need to build steel in this country. it's it is a national security issue. we cannot be reliant on other countries. so we need to bring it back. but we need to do it in a way that the companies have time to plan. they can integrate it into their plan. it shouldn't be straight across the board, but quite frankly, tariffs in steel, aluminum, cars, manufacturing, it's one of the most important tools. you have. and leveling the playing field for manufacturing

industries. >> it's good to see you, congresswoman. thank you so much. coming up for us, businesses are on edge this valentine's day. why shoppers in one community say they are too afraid to go buy flowers. and a father and son's south american adventure took a biblical turn as they kayaked and encountered a whale. >> just close the doors and you're in a world of your. own. travel is not just about the destination, it's also about how you get there. it's emirates fly

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march 9th on cnn. >> this is. >> cnn. >> the world's news network. >> so new this morning. it is valentine's day. so happy day to those who observe. it is one of the biggest days of the year for flower vendors. but many shop owners are on edge this morning over the president's immigration policy. cnn's julia vargas jones is live in los angeles flower district, where i think you can see the impact of this. julia. >> yeah. you can. this is the largest flower district in the country. john. they've been working around the clock here. they haven't closed since last night, hoping that a bump in sales from valentine's day will help them make up for the slow days that they've had in the past few weeks. this is, of course, fears of immigration actions that we hear are coming to los angeles, similar to chicago and new york could

impact this industry. $1.1 billion moved in this six block radius in los angeles. this is an industry that one of the directors here of the los angeles flower market tells us, is moved by immigrants. it is an immigrant community. if you've ever seen john, a vendor selling flowers in the los angeles streets, it is likely that they got those flowers from here. it's not just those vendors, the customers that are coming here as well. and another layer to this, the vendors here are saying that the fear of tariffs could also affect them. the u.s. is the largest importer of flowers in the world. most of them we've seen boxes here from ecuador, colombia, canada. all of that impact could be massive. but the good news is that california is still one of the least the least expensive state to buy a dozen roses. i already got my bouquet this morning,

john. 12 beautiful roses. happy valentine's to you guys as well. >> they are lovely and it serves as an excellent reminder for some people, theoretically, who i will not name. nice to see you. julia vargas jones appreciate your reporting on this. kate. >> one of the few good reasons you wake up before anyone else in the entire world gives you a little extra time. >> to remember the toys. >> yeah. >> all right. more headlines that we're tracking this morning. you can download tiktok again from apple's app store and google play. the app was unavailable to download as of january 18th. of course, after the supreme court upheld the law passed last year banning the app in the united states over national security concerns, tiktok's chinese chinese owner bytedance fought the ban on free speech grounds. obviously, the supreme court, we know how they decided. the app briefly went dark, but president trump has now delayed enforcement of the ban for 75 days to allow for more negotiations toward a sale to a u.s. owner, new u.s. owner

and whiteout conditions. it caused a major pileup on an oregon highway on thursday. authorities say just shut down portions of interstate 84 outside of portland after the winter storm caused as many as 30 cars to crash. a number of injuries were reported. one suv even caught fire. everyone got out of safe. a got out of that one safely. the interstate has reopened since, but winter storm warnings remain in effect this morning. this story is straight up crazy pants and something everyone who plays in the ocean has wondered about, i'm sure. a man named adrian was kayaking off the coast of chile last saturday, and a humpback whale literally swallowed the 24 year old hole. it was only for a few moments, though. and then the whale spat adrian back out. his father captured the entire thing on video, and they were able to paddle away. because i know also what you are now wondering is, what the heck does it feel like to be swallowed by an enormous whale? well, adrian's take he didn't know what was happening, thought he was going to die, and then suddenly he's back out on

the surface of the water, completely insane. he also described the entire experience as slimy. john. >> i just think we don't look at this from a whale's perspective. >> and what are your thoughts on that? >> you know, what is a kayaker taste like? i bet it doesn't taste like krill or small crustacean, for instance. >> no, i think he said, i have something stuck in my teeth, and he's like, they don't make floss this big. so, you know, that's what we do. >> all right. point taken. okay. this morning, nasa says it may be able to bring home astronauts butch wilmore in suni williams after more than eight months in space. finally, cnn's anderson cooper spoke to them from the international space station. anderson wasn't there, but they were. >> commander williams, what does it feel like to to be floating around all that time? i mean, uh, i was going to ask the captain, but his hair is pretty short. i mean, your hair is up all the time. is that. does it feel weird? >> you know, it's a lot of fun. i like. >> my crazy hair up here. it sort of gets a little einstein

look, so it's. it's pretty cool. both of us 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 floating. and i think both of us adapted really quickly. um, and i think i'm hoping the same will be true when we come back home. >> yeah. how much time does it take to to adapt when you land again? >> yeah, that's going to be 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 a day that you get that, like fast twitch muscle action back again. but i think both of us 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 motion sickness from coming back home. um, that will that will actually be a little bit sad when that goes away, just because that means that really physically the the spaceflight came to an end. >> i know you've been asked this question before, but do you feel you've been abandoned? >> we don't. >> feel abandoned. we don't feel