redefining insurance. >> cookbooks. corporate fat cats. swindling socialites. doped up cyclists and 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. >> closed captioning brought to you by guilt visit gilt.com today for up to 70% off designer brands. >> guilt has the designers that get your heart racing and insider prices new everyday. hurry, they'll be gone in a flash. designer sales at up to 70% off. shop gilt.com today. >> harakat al-muqawama al-islamiyya. >> you're fired! >> and then rehired. the federal government forced to claw back terminations after realizing the country actually needs these workers. the latest on a chaotic government overhaul. >> plus, the political future of new york city mayor eric adams hanging in the balance today. next hour, a federal judge will

consider the controversial motion to dismiss the corruption charges against him. the move, setting off a series of resignations from city hall to the justice department and echoing the kremlin. president trump calling ukrainian president zelenskyy a dictator after falsely accusing ukraine of starting the war with russia. zelenskyy says trump lives in a disinformation space. we're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. >> mar-a-lago. >> we start this afternoon with chaos and confusion boiling over as president trump and his government efficiency team slash away at federal agencies. officials tell cnn the defense department is now on the chopping block, bracing for cuts to its civilian workforce that could come at any moment. widespread layoffs are happening

so fast that doge is now scrambling to clean up a mess after it fired thousands of federal workers last week by trying to get some of them back. we're learning the department of veterans affairs just reinstated about a dozen employees who provide support to vets through its crisis line, and the usda says that it's working to revoke termination letters sent to staff working on bird flu response efforts. let's turn now to cnn's natasha bertrand, who has been tracking impacts at the pentagon. natasha, what are you learning about these impending cuts? >> well, boris, these. >> possible cuts could impact thousands and thousands of civilian employees inside the pentagon. we are told that doge staffers began meeting with senior pentagon officials on friday, and they have continued to work inside the building trying to find office space, trying to get clearances and basically set up the infrastructure inside the pentagon to continue working on all of these cuts. now, we're told that the combatant commands, which are the major military commands globally, they

were asked to submit lists of probationary employees to opm, to the office of personnel management. by the end of the day yesterday, to potentially cut them. now, probationary employees, the civilian employees inside the pentagon. they typically have been on the job for about a year, and therefore they have less protections, fewer protections than full time, you know, than than employees who have been there longer. now, that probationary period can also be extended to 2 or 3 years. but broadly, these are civilian employees who have been on the job for about a year or less, and therefore they are essentially easier to fire. now, it's unclear just how many employees are going to be terminated. again, the pentagon has been drawing up lists of all of these civilian employees who could be on the chopping block. but broadly, the defense department has about 950,000 civilian employees who conduct pretty critical functions every day at the department of

defense, including roles like intelligence, cyber security, foreign military sales. a lot of things that are really important to the day to day functions of the u.s. military, including operations. and so it remains to be seen whether any exemptions are going to be made here to the broad swath of possible terminations. we are told that defense officials have been scrambling to try to come up with exemptions for the people that are in the most critical national security roles, boris. >> we'll see how it turns out. natasha bertrand, thank you so much for that update. let's pivot now to the usda with cnn's meg terrell, who has been tracking what's been happening at that agency. so, meg, walk us through this story. these folks that were working on bird flu suddenly rehired. >> yeah, boris, i mean, the usda tells us that they're prioritizing the bird flu response. and so several categories of workers were supposed to be exempt from these terminations. they say those categories include people in emergency response roles, veterinarians, animal health technicians, folks who are

working to support the hpa response. that's the highly pathogenic avian influenza response. and they say other animal health priorities. so they told us in a statement that, quote, although several positions supporting hpai or bird flu were notified of their terminations over the weekend, they say we are working to swiftly rectify the situation and rescind those letters. we've asked just how many people that applies to us. at the same time, i've heard from a source at cdc that the same thing is happening there. they say that they are trying to rescind terminations of workers either that had protections or who do jobs that nobody else can do. we don't know if that's specifically related to bird flu or to other things, but that's amid more than 700 jobs that were terminated at cdc since friday. >> boris meg tirrell, thank you so much for an update on that, brianna. >> happening now, government employees are rallying in cities across the u.s. they say they're taking a stand against elon musk and doge as the trump administration makes sweeping cuts to numerous federal agencies. with us now is ariel

cahn, a federal worker who was fired from her role as a social science research analyst at the centers for medicare and medicaid services. ariel, thanks for being with us. and just give us a sense. tell us what you were working on at the centers for medicare and medicaid innovation, because you actually tweeted at elon musk about it. >> thank you so much for having me. so i worked at the centers for medicare and medicaid innovation, which was a small office inside of the larger agency that runs medicare and medicaid. and the goal of all of our programs is to make medicare and medicaid more efficient and improve outcomes. i was specifically staffed to a maternal health project, so we were working on improving maternal health outcomes in medicaid, and we were trying to do that at lower cost. and so it's particularly frustrating because it feels like our office was actually very well aligned with the mission of doge. um, not all of the models have been, um, financially or have have generated savings, but they've all, you know, improved outcomes

or made some sort of positive change. but if the models don't accrue savings, they're terminated. and, um, and so that we can keep things running efficiently. >> so why were you terminated? what did they tell you? and i mean, what was the process? was this a did someone call you into an office? was this a phone call? >> oh, gosh. no, it was not that organized. um, from what i understand, the leadership at my office still doesn't even know who all was terminated over the weekend. um, i'd obviously been following the news, and i knew that they were firing people across agencies, and they were mostly firing people who were in this probationary period, which i was. and so i felt very nervous. um, but i had been assured by our leadership that, um, they had asked for exemptions and that we were, um, you know, aligned with the mission of the administration and that we should be okay. then saturday morning, i got a

panicked text from my boss that said, call me. they're firing people. everything we learned yesterday was a lie. um, and later that day, i got an email that indeed said i had been fired and i had to call my own boss and let him know that i had been on that list. >> so if leadership, if you, you know, wasn't aware who was being fired, um, the who still made the decision. they're still not aware who made the decision. who fired you. >> i'd love to know that. um, yeah. i mean, i assume it came from someone at doge. again, based on the news. um, and they, you know, apparently were reviewing people's job titles and the explanations that our managers had given for our positions had to be 200 characters or less. so basically a tweet. um, and i guess, you know, based on that information that they had, they cut

everyone, um, across cme, uh, who was in the probationary period. >> so was it an email? >> it was an email with two attachments. and as soon as you opened the email, roughly an hour later, you lost access to your computer. >> and so what are you thinking? i mean, how are you? how are you feeling about your personal situation, but also about the mission of your program and, and what it's going to do without folks like you? >> yeah. i mean, personally, i'm really upset. like, this was my dream job that i had worked many years to get, and i was so excited to be on my team doing the work i was doing. i'm also outraged for my colleagues. one of my colleagues had actually been at cms for nine years, um, but had recently been promoted. and so he was in a probationary category again because of his promotion, which, of course, he earned because he was doing good work. and he's also a veteran. he had been deployed to iraq and

kuwait. and so to see my colleagues being treated like this kind of fuels my fire. um, but then finally, i'm worried about the work. i believed in the mission of cme again, as i mentioned at the opening, not every model has been successful, but i believe that even when you learn things that don't work, that's a lesson worth learning because, um, in healthcare, it's really complicated. i believe our president has said that in the past. and so as we try and make it better and try and make it more efficient, it's important to test things on a smaller scale before we take them nationwide. and so that we aren't taking things nationwide that don't work. um, and i'm really worried, you know, particularly the maternal health project, like the maternal health, um, outcomes in this country are, um, embarrassing, frankly. and we were going to be working on making them better. and i'm worried when you cut a third of that team. and i know more team members feel very, very vulnerable. um, i just wonder what happens to that work.

>> yeah, it's a big question. um, ariel, thank you for being with us. we're very sorry about what you're dealing with. thanks for thanks for taking the time. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> boris. >> just under an hour from now, a federal judge is set to consider the justice department's request to dismiss corruption charges against new york mayor eric adams. the doj argues that continuing the case not only hinders the mayor's ability to govern, but also interferes with president trump's immigration crackdown. at least eight federal prosecutors have resigned in protest, some of them alleging a quid pro quo. allegations that the doj and the mayor deny. let's take you now live outside the courthouse with cnn's paula reid. paula, what can we expect from this hearing? here we go. >> boris. something that we're seeing just in the past few minutes, a big pivot from the justice department. now, we know the justice department has been under fire since they first announced this move to dismiss

this case. this set off a controversy, including over half a dozen prosecutors, including the trump picked u.s. attorney here in manhattan, resigning over this decision. and just moments ago, attorney general pam bondi, his chief of staff, chad mizelle he started a twitter thread laying out a more legalistic explanation for why they want this case dismissed. this is the first time that we have heard them talking about sort of concrete reasons beyond immigration enforcement, right? because the concern was that initially when the deputy attorney general sent the memo saying that this needed to be dismissed, he specifically said that the decision was not based on the merits of the case or assessing any legal theories. that's what set off the concern about a quid pro quo, because their argument was that this case should be dismissed so that he would have more time to contribute to immigration enforcement, a key priority of president trump. but in his twitter thread, michelle goes through a lot of reasons that he believes this case should be dismissed, including the enormous amount of resources it would take to bring a case like

this. he also goes through, in this extensive twitter thread, past cases, public corruption cases that have failed. it is true that while overall they have had a lot of success at the justice department prosecuting corruption, they have had a lot of very high profile missteps and cases dismissed, even a very prominent conviction that they got against the former governor of virginia was eventually overturned by the supreme court. and it has made. successfully prosecuting corruption cases more difficult. now, this is the kind of legal argument that may or may not win in court, but this is certainly a more substantive argument than that that was made in the initial memo that set off the firestorm inside doj. so i think it's significant that just moments before this hearing, we are getting a more legalistic argument out of the justice department coming directly from the attorney general's chief of staff. and we'll be watching to see what the judge inside says about this. emil bove. the deputy attorney general who sent that memo, he is going to be

inside court today. i'm told by a source familiar with his thinking that he thought it was important to have a senior member of the justice department leadership in court today to defend this decision. so we'll be watching to see what kind of questions the judge has for the justice department. how many of these new arguments, these more precedent based arguments come up as they defend this? but it does appear that the justice department, in the wake of this enormous controversy, is pivoting to a more substantive defense of this decision. >> yeah, it will be interesting to see what happens there. so so there's the legal fight, and then there is the political question of what new york governor kathy hochul might actually do with eric adams. she had an important meeting with democrats discussing just that. bring us up to speed on that angle of things. >> yeah. that's right. she is meeting with other officials to discuss the possibility of trying to remove the mayor. now, that is easier said than done. i

think they're also watching right now to see what happens in this hearing. so no imminent decision. but she is certainly facing a lot of political pressure based on the controversy that this decision by the justice department has set off. so first, we'll see what happens inside this hearing, looking to see if the judge is just going to have some critical words for doj, or if there's any sign that the judge might reject this move to dismiss the case. i do think that these new arguments, the justice department is putting out in the last hour, these certainly put the justice department on more solid ground because it is rare for judges to reject these kinds of motions to dismiss. but this is, of course, an extraordinary situation. and the first big test inside a courtroom for the trump justice department, not related to doge or executive orders. >> an extraordinary, extraordinary situation, and one that we will be tracking closely. paula reid, live outside the courthouse in manhattan. thank you so much. still to come this hour, a war of words. trump attacking

president zelenskyy of ukraine as a dictator, while zelenskyy says trump lives in a disinformation bubble. how this for tat could potentially impact peace talks. plus, the wreckage of that delta plane that crashed on monday is due to be cleared from the runway today in toronto. the latest details on that investigation. and the vatican says that pope francis is fighting pneumonia in both lungs. we'll take you live to rome for an update on the pontiff's health. when we come back. >> lockerbie sunday at nine. >> on cnn. >> lactaid is 100% real milk, just without the lactose. delicious, too. just ask my old friend kevin. >> nothing like enjoying a cold one while watching the game. >> ah. >> who's winning? >> we are my friend. we are. >> nexium 24 hour prevents heartburn. acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all day and all night. heartburn. acid

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that can last. ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. >> liberty. >> liberty mutual is all she talks about. since we saved hundreds by bundling our home and auto insurance. >> it's pronounced liberty. >> liberty. >> liberty, liberty. nice try kid. only pay for what you need. >> liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. >> so i can take the steak home. yeah. and as many butterfly shrimp as i want. cake. >> you can. take home everything. >> ice cream machine. everything. dessert bar. everything. fork. everything. that guy's had everything. >> careful. or it's. >> going. >> to. >> be broccoli. >> everything. >> no, thanks. i'm good. >> it's the news. >> welcome back. >> but it's also kind of not the news. >> we don't fact check it. we don't care, man. >> wants all the information on this show. so terrible. >> have i got news for you? saturday at nine on cnn. >> president trump is parroting russian talking points again about ukraine today after falsely claiming yesterday that

ukraine started the war with russia. just a short time ago, trump posted a long rebuke of zelenskyy on truth social that includes this quote he refuses to have elections, is very low in ukrainian polls, and the only thing he was good at was playing biden like a fiddle, a dictator without elections. zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left. a lot of factual problems with that post. we should note trump posting it just hours after zelenskyy made an appeal to trump and his team. for more truth. >> unfortunately, president trump, i have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for the american people who always support us. unfortunately lives in this disinformation space. >> that appeal clearly unanswered. we have cnn anchor and chief national security analyst jim shooter with us. trump sounds like putin. >> yeah, he is repeating. >> putin, right. and it's not

just an overlap of talking points here from trump and putin. it is a mirror image of those talking points. he he blames ukraine for the war. remind folks russia invaded by the way, two times in 2014 and again in 2022. and it has invaded other countries in europe, going back to georgia in 2008. one he says ukraine is to blame. two, he he gloms on to this russian justification that it was ukraine desiring nato membership that caused the war. um, which, by the way, you this began long before that was even on the table. and three now calling zelenskyy a dictator, which again was another one of the justifications putin going in. remember he said that zelenskyy was a nazi and created this whole nazi threat there, which doesn't exist and is also just an asinine point to make, given that putin is an actual dictator. right? who killed his opponent? i mean, he goes so far as to kill his opponent,

poisoning alexei navalny, having his spy services do that. so we now have the u.s. president endorsing kremlin positions on this war. and listen, republicans in congress that i speak to, and i'm sure you do as well know that's false, as do at least two of his senior advisers, because they've said so publicly. mike waltz and marco rubio, at least previously. do they go along with this? we'll see. >> i think one of the most concerning things is, and it's kind of an abstraction for so many americans, the post world war ii world order that we've enjoyed. people don't think about it because they've enjoyed it. right. it's sort of something they take for granted. are we seeing perhaps a realignment? >> 100%. this is not just trump apparently abandoning ukraine because he's been quite public, as have his senior advisers at the munich security conference, for instance, that the u.s. no longer will ensure europe security, saying, in effect, it's your job, regardless of nato. that is quite a move. and

then more broadly, to your point here, what has largely held since world war two is this rules based international order sounds kind of boring, but to your point, it has largely kept the peace among the superpowers. uh, putin has violated that by invading a country to change the borders by force. and trump is, in effect, endorsing that and moving the u.s. back from what was a bipartisan position for decades that the u.s. supports that because it's in our interest to do so. it's not just a favor to europe or to asia or to other countries around the world. it's in our interests to have borders respected. uh, and it's worked largely. trump seems to be saying, we're moving on. >> jim sciutto, thank you so much. really appreciate it, boris. >> let's expand the conversation now with michael bociurkiw from ukraine. he's a former spokesperson for the organization for security and cooperation in europe. michael, thanks so much for being with us. what do you make of

president trump calling zelenskyy a dictator? >> unbelievable. >> i never thought we would reach that day. um, you know, two. months ago or so, two months or so ago, i said there's no floor to mr. trump's subservience to mr. putin. and now we see that's playing out. these remarks are unhinged. they're divisive and they're dangerous. and it plays exactly into mr. putin's narrative. now the hope here is that with mr. trump's short attention span, maybe he'll move on to another ally or enemy. but i have to make one quick point here is that as we speak right now here in odessa, the view is russia right now has no solid red lines enforced by the united states. we got hammered last night with drones, and we'll see what happens tonight. but it is a very, very dire situation here because of all that. >> i wonder if you think this tension between zelenskyy and trump was bound to happen, given

their history. obviously, trump's social media post came after zelenskyy said that the president lives in the disinformation space. could this tension have been avoided? >> i don't think so. i think mr. zelenskyy was working very, very hard to ingratiate himself. if he can use that term to mr. trump. remember, and trump 1.0, it was mr. trump who tried to extort dirt out of mr. zelenskyy and hunter biden. and in exchange for for weapons, those javelin missiles. and now mr. zelenskyy has proactively gone to mr. trump and said well he probably shouldn't have said it. but he said let's make a deal. and mr. trump says, okay, you're going to pay us back to the tune of half $1 trillion for what we've given you. so i think they did everything they could here, but extremely, extremely divisive. this could also play into the hands of opponents of mr. zelenskyy here on the ground.

>> i'm curious what this tells you about how the white house sees negotiations to end the war. >> i don't think they i think it's amateur hour, with all due respect. and, you know, the cheerleading show we saw yesterday in riyadh because i don't know how many times mr. rubio and company said mr. trump is the only person on earth who can solve this war. but i think what's happening here is you have all of these different so-called. diplomatic lines working. general kellogg here in ukraine today. but at the end of the day, it's going to be mr. trump that who decides what's going to happen. and god forbid, is he acts on what he said is that if mr. zelenskyy doesn't have elections, which is impossible to do during a war, the country could be gone. well, if russia comes further into ukraine, they won't stop. they will go into other neighboring countries for sure. >> there are clear reasons why holding elections in the middle of this war, specifically would

be problematic and would amplify russia's lethal abilities. i wonder what you think about why trump and putin are so aligned with their view, not just of ukraine, but but seemingly of europe as well. >> you know, it's a really good question, and we've thought a lot about that. but, um, you know, i guess the beauty of being donald trump is you come into position without any ideological baggage. so you don't care about the rules based international order or other principles. but i have to make a quick point here in case people don't understand, is, as osce election observer, i can understand why you don't have elections right now because they become targets for the russians. and the other thing with millions of ukrainians overseas, there's no way that they can the u.s. embassies can handle that flow of voters for credible election. >> michael bociurkiw will leave

the conversation there. thank you so much for sharing your point of view. >> thank you. >> still to come on cnn, debris from that delta plane crash at toronto pearson international airport is set to be removed today. it comes as we get a new glimpse from inside the plane, showing the dramatic evacuation. don't go anywhere. >> cookbooks, corporate fat cats, swindling socialites, doped up cyclists and yes, more crooked politicians. i have a feeling we won't be running out of those anytime soon. >> a new season of the united states of scandal with jake tapper, march 9th on cnn. >> 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. >> ontario, canada. stable and secure. when the world around us isn't. you can rely on us for energy to power your growing

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international airport from the runway today. all 80 people on board the flight survived. thankfully, a senior investigator of canada's transportation safety board seen here revealed that the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have both been recovered. and also, for the first time, we're getting a glimpse inside of the plane when passengers were still strapped upside down in their seats. the person who took this video told me earlier this week that it was like they were hanging like bats. cnn's pete muntean is here. pete, where are we in this investigation? >> let's start with the good news first. >> and this is the latest from delta airlines, that. >> of. >> the 21 people. >> who were injured in this crash, 20 of them have. >> been now released from. >> the hospital, leaving only one person. >> still in the hospital. the video. from inside that flight really gives you. >> a better. >> idea of the injuries that were detailed by first responders yesterday. we're talking about sprains. back injuries. they said they treated people for anxiety. not all that big of a deal, though. when you consider how bad this crash

could have been. people often get injured in an incident like this when they're hanging from their seatbelts and they unbuckle their seatbelt and gravity takes over, putting them on the roof of the plane, which is now the floor. the big thing now is how this crash happened, and the questions will be answered in large part by the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder, which are now in a lab being used by canada's transportation safety board. they also said that they will be looking at the condition of the runway. and that is key because there are so many questions in the aviation community now about the weather report at the time, the blowing snow across the runway and if there were flat lighting conditions which could contribute to a lot of illusions, meaning that it explains the video that we saw where the plane continued descending into the ground without much of a roundout or a flare, cushioning the descent and really kissing the runway, which is the norm. i want you to listen now to delta ceo ed bastian, who is on cbs this

morning. he said he could not comment on the state of the investigation, but commended the flight crew for this incredible response and evacuation. >> the reality. >> is, is that safety is embedded into our system. air travel in the united states is the safest form of transportation and travel there is, period. and it's because we train for events like this. and yes, it's amazing the work that our team did up at endeavor, but that's what we expect out of them because we are prepared for all types of circumstances. >> delta airlines says the wreckage of delta 4819 will be removed from near runway two three at toronto pearson international airport sometime today. something else that delta is doing right now is removing bags from on board the plane. they say that that and reuniting those with passengers will take a matter of weeks. it's better to have that be the case than take your bags with you and slow down the evacuation. we did see that in some cases of these

videos of people evacuating this plane. all of those things can be replaced. your life cannot. and seconds are on the line when something like this happens. >> such a good reminder. the do's and don'ts there. i do want to mention these are actually live pictures. so as you can see the fuselage there still on the runway as this investigation continues and a very active scene there with the baggage, we see it underway. pete muntean thank you boris. >> now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. incredible video shows a heroic rescue. the moment an arizona police officer smashes open this window with his baton to save a woman trapped in a fiery rollover crash. her pickup had been rear ended by a cement mixer. you see the flames there? the officer and an off duty firefighter were able to pull her out of the window to safety. arizona police say that she was taken to a local hospital. also, seven men have been charged for their roles in robberies targeting the homes of pro athletes, including travis kelce

and patrick mahomes. the men, allegedly members of a south american theft group. you see them here are accused of stealing more than 2 million bucks worth of property. the complaint says the break-ins occurred while the athletes were away or playing in games. if convicted, these folks can face up to ten years in prison. and the colonel is leaving kentucky. he's heading to texas after 95 years. kfc headquarters is moving to join its sister brand, pizza hut in plano, texas. that means hundreds of jobs are moving to kentucky's governor. andy beshear says he is disappointed. he says colonel sanders would be as well. is it going to be texas fried chicken? no. just ahead, the jfk library reopens today after a brief closure tied to federal layoffs. so what is behind the sudden change? jfk's nephew will join us next. >> to the situation room with wolf blitzer tonight at six on

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>> our thoughts and prayers. >> are with those whose lives. >> were tragically. >> taken. the dots all start to connect together. >> somebody did this purposely to these big boys. >> lockerbie. the bombing of pan am flight 103 sunday at nine on cnn. >> the jfk presidential library in boston is back open today after abruptly closing tuesday afternoon. we're told that visitors were escorted out. the doors were locked. signs were posted citing an executive order. the library's foundation says the closure was due to the sudden dismissal of federal employees. i want to bring in stephen kennedy smith, the nephew of former president john f kennedy. he's also a board member at the library. stephen, what led to the decision to close the library yesterday? what changed to allow it to reopen today? >> yeah. >> so we. >> received a that, um, six employees were fired.

>> um. >> and those employees were the employees who handled the interface with ticketing and the public, as well as public events at the library. so we had no one, um, basically to interface with the public. so we had to shut the library down. um, and that was done without any consultation whatsoever. so these people are actually paid for by the library itself from revenues that are generated by their activities, and they generate a net surplus for the federal government. so it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to fire the people who are generating revenue for the organization. so that's number one. um, we did get the library open because the senior staff and archivists agreed to volunteer. so they are now manning the desks and, you know, handling the public. they are not trained on the ticketing machines so that the library is free to the public today. and going forward, until we get that figured out. but it's just a very chaotic and ill thought through way to deal with an

important, you know, public institution that stands for our sort of historical memory and collective civic identity. and this goes for all the presidential libraries. you know, we're not, a partisan organization. we've given the profiles in courage award to george bush, to gerald ford, to john mccain. last year, it was republican secretary of state from kentucky. so our our role is to educate the public about our shared civic values and american history. so at a time when the country is so divided, it just seems really ill considered and senseless to do something like this. and the other thing i'll say is that the national. yeah. >> can you shed light on the process of can you shed light on the process of how this went down, uh, how people were informed, how their supervisors found out, how the board was informed? >> yeah. i mean. communication was sent to the head of the

library that these people were were fired. i mean, it's as simple as that. there was no consultation with the board, with the library staff. uh, whatsoever. um, and, you know, to their credit, i mean, the the library, the remaining library staff stepped up and volunteered and tried to help, you know, to keep the library open. but we were expecting to have the library closed for some time until we figured this out. i mean, in addition to these people, the national archivist of the united states was fired, as well as, um, her deputy, who's been at the national archives since 1993. and they are being replaced with political operatives from the trump organization. so, you know, it's part of the government takeover. and partisan, uh, attack on our civic institutions, frankly. and similarly, the board of the kennedy library was also dismissed without any notice.

and david rubenstein, who's the chair, was also dismissive. >> of the kennedy center. >> attributed his own personal funds to kennedy center. yes. sorry. he contributed his own personal funds to rebuilding the renovation. the washington monument. he bought a copy of the emancipation proclamation and donated it to the u.s. government. he was setting up an endowment to permanently ensure the financial future of the kennedy center when he was let go. so in terms of, you know, fiscal, uh, you know, this isn't about saving money, obviously, because they're not saving money by doing this. >> and you've you've laid out a number of ways in which you feel like this isn't about being fiscally responsible. what is? and you've even raised the question of, uh, you know, leaders of these institutions that are so important in sort of a little d democracy way. but what is the symbolism of this

library being closed when jfk is? i mean, he's really the icon of the democratic party. >> yeah. i mean, i don't like i want to stay away from making this partisan, right? i, i think that, um, you know, the the kennedy library is a place where people can come to be inspired about american democracy. >> whether you. >> don't think stephen. >> it was targeted, is that what you're saying or you just don't want to comment on it? >> i mean, i hope that it wasn't targeted. i'm here more to speak to the future of this organization. what i think it contributes to american democracy and what presidential libraries in general contribute. but it it the timing is unfortunate, to say the least. um, and, you know, i think it's ill considered and it should be reversed that these employees contribute funds to the federal government. they serve a critical mission of educating

citizens about democracy. and, you know, democrats can go to the reagan library and learn about what republicans have done for the country. and republicans can come to the kennedy library and learn about what democrats have done. that's what we need to do right now is is build a civic identity. that's a common civic identity and not divisive. and partisan. >> both phenomenal libraries. i will attest to that. stephen kennedy smith, thank you so much for being with us. we really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. thanks for your good work. >> yeah. of course. pope francis is now said to be in good spirits, despite the serious health setbacks that has kept him in the hospital for days now. we'll go live to rome for the latest. next. >> billy. >> i need help. >> with the clicker. >> yeah. one second. >> grandma, this guy's gonna buy my. >> car. no, he's still there. okay, you need carvana. >> what's your. >> plate number? >> boss. mo.

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>> closed captioning is brought to you by sokoloff law. >> mesothelioma victims call now. >> $30 billion in trust. money has been set aside. you may be entitled to a portion of that money. call one 800 809 2400. that's one 899 2400. >> a day after being diagnosed with double pneumonia. pope francis is said to be alert and reactive and showing some slight improvement. the vatican says he had a peaceful night in the hospital and was able to eat breakfast this morning. get out of bed and sit in an arm chair. cnn vatican correspondent christopher lam is now live with us from rome. christopher, what do you make of this update? >> well. >> boris and brianna, we've just. >> had a further. >> update from the vatican about the pope's condition here at the gemelli hospital behind me. uh, the vatican saying that his condition is stable and that

there has been a slight improvement following blood tests and therefore, there is some encouraging news for the pope as he battles double pneumonia, a very serious condition for a man of 88 years old with a history of respiratory infections. the pope also met with prime minister, the prime minister of italy, giorgia meloni. they had a 20 minute meeting. the pope is also, we understand, doing some work. he's making some appointments of bishops. he's seeing he's receiving papers. so despite the very serious condition, the pope has, there is some. encouraging developments tonight. boris and brianna. >> christopher lam live for us outside that hospital where the pontiff is being treated in rome. thank you so much. so just minutes from now, a federal judge is going to consider the doj's request to dismiss corruption charges against new york mayor eric adams. we'll take you live outside the courthouse with an update in

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