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>> pentagon paused, the defense. >> department holding. >> off. >> on a plan to fire potentially tens of thousands of civilian employees. the legal roadblock that could save these people's jobs. plus, whiplash diplomacy. after falsely claiming ukraine started the war, president trump today admits russia attacked but still blames ukrainian president zelenskyy for not stopping it. we're live in kyiv with the latest talks just wrapped. >> and a doctor who went viral after airing her. >> frustrations about the health insurance industry. >> is now. >> speaking to cnn. >> we're following these major developing. >> stories and many. >> more, all coming in right here to cnn news. >> center. hello. i'm brianna keilar here in washington with omar jimenez in for boris today. great to have you. and we are following developments on a major reversal at the pentagon today. the defense department is now pausing its plan to carry out

mass firings of civilian employees. officials telling cnn defense secretary pete hegseth and pentagon attorneys are now reviewing how those firings may break the law and impact u.s. military readiness. >> and this. temporary pause comes as president trump and elon musk have been slashing the federal workforce and scrambling in recent days to. reinstate terminated workers tasked with. >> critical jobs, such. >> as managing america's nuclear weapons. cnn's natasha bertrand reports. >> we're learning that the pentagon has hit pause. >> on a plan to carry. >> out mass firings. >> of civilian. >> probationary employees across the pentagon, terminations that could have impacted over 50,000 employees across the department of defense. because the pentagon now is doing a legal review to make sure that the office of the secretary of defense is in compliance with the law when he orders these mass firings to be carried out. that is because the law says that the secretary of defense cannot reduce the number of civilian employees across the

pentagon without first carrying out a thorough review of how these firings might actually impact u.s. military readiness. a lot of these civilian employees are in very important positions across the department of defense, including intelligence, cyber security, foreign military sales, other mission critical functions, including operations that the pentagon really cannot spare at this point. and for that reason, defense officials had been scrambling all week to come up with lists of employees who should be exempt from these mass firings because they carry out such important roles inside the pentagon. and so now we're told that the pentagon is hitting pause on this plan for now, while the secretary of defense and the office of general counsel inside the department of defense can carry out a review to make sure that the department is in compliance with the law, and also that these mass firings and the people who do ultimately get dismissed does not impact u.s. military readiness, does not essentially harm the u.s.

military's ability to carry out some of its mission critical operations and functions. now, it remains unclear just how long this pause is going to be in effect, but we are told that several employees inside the pentagon, they are breathing a sigh of relief today because the original plan was to start firing these probationary employees as soon as today. so it remains to be seen just how long this pause is going to be in effect. but as we have seen in other agencies across the federal government, many of them have had to claw back employees that they have fired because they acted too hastily, and they fired people who were in very important roles for u.s. national security. and so the pentagon right now, we're told, does not want to be in that position and is taking a beat until it can figure out all of the implications and adjust as necessary. >> all right, natasha bertrand, thank you very much for that. and let's talk about this more with leon panetta. he served as defense secretary under president obama, and he served in many, many other roles across administrations. i do want to

see what you think, secretary, about. and there is a pause. we again, have to emphasize that. but these planned terminations that were expected to impact 50,000 plus civilian employees, we should note many of these are veterans at the pentagon. they go from service and then often switch over into civilian service at the pentagon. what are your concerns about the possibility of losing their expertise? >> i think, uh, i think. we're at a very dangerous time where, uh, i'm afraid that these mixed signals and chaos and disruption coming out of the administration are weakening our country. i mean, the reality is that there is a process to look at whether or not there are employees that are critical to our readiness. that's a process they should have engaged in before they made any recommendations. but instead they went ahead and talked about

50,000 employees getting kicked out, realized that they had violated the law and not taken the right steps. uh, when you have this kind of chaos and disruption, very frankly, you're sending a very bad signal to the world about our ability to be ready to defend ourselves and to do what's necessary for our national security. so this is not just fun games in the administration. these carry serious implications about our national security. >> am i hearing are you are you worried that america, because of these cuts, is more vulnerable to an attack? >> well, what i'm worried about are the mixed signals that are coming out of this administration. uh, the president making comments, uh, that indicated his support for putin and his position

undermining our allies like ukraine, our european allies. uh, now taking steps to go after our defense budget, for god's sakes. uh, what that does is it sends a terrible signal not just to our allies, but to our adversaries as well. and so what i'm worried about is whether or not as a result of what's happening here, we are creating a more dangerous world and a weaker america. >> secretary hegseth may be looking at firing some. he may fire some senior generals and admirals here soon. and when you look at the list that that he appears to be, uh, focusing in on, it is heavy on women. it is heavy on those who were close to secretary austin. uh, and maybe some of those who were tied to the end days in afghanistan.

what do you think as you look at the names that you're seeing? >> well, what bothers me is that, you know, you can't just have, uh, elon musk going around, uh, with a chainsaw, uh, and recommending different cuts. uh, there needs to be thought. there needs to be a strategy. uh, when i was, uh, director of omb in the clinton administration, uh, we reduced the deficit by $500 billion, but we did it by working it through the budget carefully analyzing programs, recommending reductions where they could be made, recommending some increases. and we did it with a strategy that everybody understood. what i sense right now is there is no discipline in trying to develop the strategy of what this administration is trying to accomplish. >> yeah, certainly with your perspective from omb, uh, i can only imagine how you look at it.

secretary leon panetta, thank you so much for being with us. and we're also standing by for a key court ruling. a judge could be ruling today on whether president trump's executive order dismantling that u.s. agency charged with delivering humanitarian assistance around the globe is legal. >> and we're still standing. >> by for. >> that. >> decision. as we wait, though, some gop lawmakers are hearing firsthand really the backlash to the mass firings that we've seen in various parts of the government. at a town hall in georgia last night, a republican congressman faced plenty of boos and pushback to trump's moves in his first month in office. take a listen. >> laura jarrett elon. >> was going to be the main topic tonight, and he's going to continue to be the main topic tonight because we are all freaking off about this. you're going to hear it and feel it. >> as you said. >> on fox news. i believe that there's hundreds of billions of dollars to be saved with medicare, medicaid, social security that needs to be cut. and why not take that money

from. taxing the billionaires and corporations? instead? why is a. >> supposedly conservative. party taking. >> such a. >> radical and extremist. >> and sloppy. >> approach to this? >> tyranny is rising. >> in the. >> white house. >> and. >> a man. >> has declared. >> himself our king. >> so i would. >> like to know rather, the people would like to know what you, congressman and. >> your fellow. >> congressman, are going to do to rein in the megalomaniac in the. >> white house. >> when you talk about tyranny, when you talk about presidential power, i remember having the same discussion with republicans when biden was elected. >> you hear the reaction there. cnn's jeff zeleny joins us now. so, jeff, i mean, obviously, you look at that. you see, there clearly is some pushback, at least among his constituents there to some of these firings and the way that they've gone about. has the white. house

rethought any of these cuts? i wonder how they're reacting to what we've been seeing. >> in a short answer, no, they've not been rethinking these costs. but that meeting, they're just northwest of atlanta last night was certainly a window into what many members of congress, both senators and house members, the phone calls they've been receiving over the last month. we've been reporting and hearing, of course, just like many, many. sorry about that, omar. let me start that again. what you were hearing really is a lot of what members of congress have been hearing in the phone calls through their offices, really, for the last month or so, they've been hearing a lot of pushback from constituents, a lot of questions about are these firings are these freezing of government programs the right way to go about this? but no, the white house has not acknowledged really any errors in this except

for the pentagon. i mean, that is an unusual really. the only example i can think of, of where there's been a a a pause put in place, but the president just finished speaking to governors for a little over an hour or so. and in the course of that conversation, there was some pushback, some exchanges from governors on a variety of things. but we have not seen any sign of a regret or slowing down. in fact, quite the opposite. elon musk was also at this meeting, as he usually is with the president, and they are going full speed ahead. but when you talk to members of congress on both sides, they are hearing from constituents here. so that's, you know, the beginning of these town meetings. we certainly recall them from the the era of the the tea party, where there was sort of protests rising up across the country. we don't know if this is the beginning of that, but it certainly had that flavor. >> and some of these cuts, while they happen in washington, you know, have impact on employees across the country. jeff zeleny, really appreciate the reporting. now, as we mentioned, we're

still waiting a key ruling in regards to u.s. aid. but what we're learning about how president trump's freeze is directly affecting people's lives. at one orphanage in kenya, for example, it's created a life and death situation. right now, this children's home in nairobi cares for around 100 hiv positive children. usaid pays for the life saving medicines that keep them alive at an average cost of about $1,000 a year per child. without usaid and that medicine, these children could die. i want to bring in usa. i want to talk more about these usaid cuts. i want to bring in susan reichel. she's a former senior foreign service officer at the agency. thank you for being here. i mean, we've been talking about it. we're awaiting a final decision from a federal judge on whether he'll allow the trump administration to to dismantle the agency or essentially indefinitely block that from happening. you were at usaid for decades. what are you feeling right now? >> well, right now. >> we are. >> living day by day. >> all of us who have worked in development with usaid as a

partner. and i'm so glad you used that example from kenya. and there are so many examples from across the globe where usaid has been on the front lines, literally, you know. saving lives. 25 million lives have been saved as a result of the president's emergency program. pepfar, as we affectionately call it. and you just highlighted there in kenya, um, those employees and partners across the globe have been told to stop working. they have been fired. uh, this week we have had more than 250 humanitarian assistance officers for usaid who were let go. um, these are the people who respond to disasters. go in when there's an earthquake or a tsunami who are saving lives. and so, uh, right now, you know, we're waiting for this next court order. we do feel as though the court does understand, um, we there was a

case yesterday where clearly irreparable harm has been done to everybody who has been working on development. and we do development for our national interests as president kennedy and every president since has supported foreign aid as well as the polls we've seen this week a lot of support, not just for foreign aid, but for usaid. >> and let's talk about those national interests, because, you know, a lot of what usaid does is over its soft power influence. for example, you always talk about the three d is diplomacy, development, defense. but in a recent report from the now fired usaid inspector general, he wrote that staff reported the counterterrorism vetting unit supporting humanitarian assistance, were told not to report to work and could not then conduct partner vetting. so can you just explain a little bit of about how important is that partner vetting, and does that endanger our federal employees? >> absolutely. and that that's so critical. what we do, and we are so appreciative that the

inspector general highlighted that last week. and then, as you know, he was fired by the trump administration as soon as issuing, uh, that information, that agency notice, uh, partner vetting is really making sure that all u.s. taxpayer dollars are not going into a situation that could actually prevent, create harm to the united states. so we vet all of our partners, we make sure that it is not going to be leaked. and so when we hear these allegations of corruption and things that have been said about usaid being worms, it really just startles us because frankly, there is so much oversight of usaid as there should be of all taxpayer dollars. we want to make sure that all u.s. taxpayer dollars are being used well, and that's why we have inspector generals. and not only was the inspector general for usaid fire, but as you know, across the u.s. government, and you have to wonder why? because they are the ones who make sure there is

accountability. and in this case, our inspector general was concerned that there was over $8 billion of humanitarian assistance that could not be used effectively. if there were people like i just described who were who were managing it. >> and look big picture. we're we're a month into the trump administration, weeks into seeing some of these cuts and freezes. and we don't know what the future of the agency will be officially, as we wait on this, on this order. um, but how does this past month do you believe how does it impact the global standing of the united states in regards to humanitarian aid? >> oh, i've heard so many stories across the globe from my former colleagues and partners. and, uh, they said, you know, so much trust and confidence in the u.s. is broken. and their biggest concern, besides, obviously, the impact it's having on daily lives is that they will turn to others such as china and russia and those who, you know, where i used to serve in colombia, uh, china is

already trying to fill the space from all the assistance that we're not providing. uh, president petro, the president of colombia, is already planning a trip to russia. it's just putting us into a situation that i think is dangerous for america. >> susan, i really appreciate the time and perspective. thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> all right. ahead this hour on cnn news central, trump attacks president zelenskyy again, this time saying the ukrainian leader isn't needed to negotiate. we're going to have a live report from ukraine next. >> plus, supporters of luigi mangione are packed inside of a u.s. courthouse where the suspected killer is set to appear. we are following the latest there. and then later, new reporting that president trump is planning to take over the u.s. postal service, a move that could end service to people in rural areas. >> come back. >> have i got news for you? new tomorrow on cnn.

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>> the whole story with anderson cooper. >> is a five time emmy. >> winner for long form journalism. >> this week, microsoft founder bill gates joins anderson for a special one on one. the whole story with anderson cooper sunday at eight on cnn. >> days after claiming ukraine started the war, when it didn't, president trump backtracked. listen to what he said in a radio interview today. >> russia attacked, but there was no reason for. them to attack. you could. >> have talked. >> him out. you. there was no reason that he should have attacked russia. could have been. talked out of that. >> so easily. >> now, trump later said that ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy does not need to be at the meetings with russia about seeking a peace between the two countries. >> i've been watching. >> for years and i've been watching. >> him negotiate. >> with no cards. >> he has no. cards and. >> you get sick of it. >> you just.

>> get sick. >> of it. >> and i've had it. he's been in the meetings for three. years and nothing. >> got done. so i don't think he's very important. >> to be at meetings, to. >> be honest with. >> you. >> now, as president trump slams ukraine's president trump's special envoy to russia and ukraine, keith kellogg, he took a different tone. kellogg posted about it, quote, extensive and positive discussions with zelenskyy, the embattled and courageous leader of a nation at war and his talented national security team. cnn's nick paton walsh is in kyiv for us, covering the u.s., ukraine talks. so, nick, i mean, what impact are president trump's comments expected to have there? >> yeah, i mean, i think it's important we correct the record of a couple of things the president said in that interview. he said that nobody tried to talk putin out of the invasion. well, the united states made public their intelligence that russia was about to invade. and indeed multiple occasions. and the cia director, bill burns, it seems to moscow to lay out the fact they knew this was going to happen until the russians not to

do it. so that's one issue. the other thing he said is that he's had three years to negotiate or in negotiations. there have not been meetings for three years. ukraine has not been talking to russia because they don't trust it at the negotiating table, and because many of ukraine's allies have also felt that diplomacy hasn't been the way forward until russia seems ready for it. so just part of the issue here, i think, is a lot of the things we're hearing trump say are revisionist to some degree today. he said that russia did ed attack, and that's correct. but he sort of immediately caveated that with the idea that that was essentially because biden and zelenskyy hadn't properly spoken to putin. all of this terrain of i hate to say it, but falsehood over the past three days has shaken many ukrainians here. it's left zelenskyy in a complex position where he was obliged to say, i respect trump, i respect the american people, but they live in a different space. trump lives in a disinformation space. and that sparked another trump tirade. today we have another bid by

zelenskyy, i think, to try and put the relationship back on track. along with trump's special envoy to the ukraine and russia conflict, general keith kellogg. and those tweets that you referred to. but we have very little detail about the content of these meetings. and kellogg, apart from a press availability at the railway station when he arrived, has been notably absent from public view here. apart from tweets, the last one you're referring to on his personal xkcd.com account. what we do know is there is great focus on this rare earth mineral deal, and it is one that initially was focused on repairing the united states for previous aid. ukraine officials saying that negotiations around this have been going on today, that they have a sense of real urgency around them, that they are now going through several drafts of this particular document, and the ukrainians are trying to get security elements into there. that's a little different from security guarantees that zelenskyy has been trying to get. but i think we're into a dark moment here in terms of the

ukraine u.s. relationship, because it's been overshadowed in a real freefall over the past three days of this spat between their two presidents. and now it is essentially a very transactional deal that's being hammered out, in which ukraine gives up potentially half of its natural resources or rare earth minerals in exchange. hopefully, they hope for security elements, guarantees, or maybe some future aid. >> can you talk a little bit more about that, nick? that idea of security elements, because without future security guarantees, it's hard to see how ukraine and how zelenskyy could just say, yes, we will give up these resources. they're already going potentially, you know, to listen to trump, to have to give up this territory that russia has taken here over the last several years. that would be a lot to give up. maybe too much. it seems. >> yeah. i mean, i think realists suggest that the idea of ukraine getting back those territories now is farfetched to

some degree. they tried in the counteroffensive in 2023. that didn't work. so a peace deal is likely to freeze territory as it is. and i think most ukrainians accept that's going to be very tough for kyiv to reverse security guarantees. well, the u.s. have said explicitly, and i asked president zelenskyy about this in person. the u.s. had explicitly they won't put troops on the ground, and they seem to be prevaricating on military aid, zelenskyy said. we'll just give us air defense, give us patriot missiles that are adequate to keep the ballistic missiles back. so that's an ongoing discussion, and it seems to be one that shifts the idea of security guarantees more towards ukraine's european allies. but in all honesty, without the united states assisting them, they probably don't have the sheer volume of force or economy or military production to be able to give ukraine all that it needs. so this is constantly shifting, and part of these negotiations, and we'll see european leaders, i think, here at the anniversary on monday and in washington talking to president trump, so much moving. but a lot of it

frankly, about the deterioration of ukraine, what is their most important relationship. and that's with the united states. mhm. >> nick paton walsh, appreciate the reporting as always. coming up, she documented an experience she had with an insurer and then her video went viral. cnn speaks to the doctor about her experience. >> that's next. >> dry eyes still feel. >> pretty rough. >> or tired with my bow. i can. >> feel my bow. >> my bow is the only. >> prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye. too much tear evaporation. >> for. >> relief. >> that's my bow. >> yeah. >> remove contact. >> contact lenses before using my bow. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. i redness and blurred vision may occur. >> my bow. yeah. >> ask your doctor about prescription. my book. >> speak now. >> or forever. >> hold your. >> only took for our cough liquid. >> ha ha.

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executives. he's pleading not guilty in a state case. he does, though, have yet to enter a plea on the federal charges. >> now, today's hearing is happening as we hear more from a texas surgeon who went viral last month. doctor elisabeth potter posted a video detailing an experience with a health insurer that she says had never happened before. cnn's meena duerson visited the texas surgery center, where potter specializes in breast reconstruction, to talk about why the video resonated so widely and why doctors like her feel so frustrated with the health insurance industry. >> let's stay here. go ahead. >> this is the surgery center. >> where. >> doctor elizabeth. >> potter operates on. >> breast cancer patients. she's actually in surgery. >> right now. >> she had a video. >> in january talking about an incident she had with the health insurance company while she was operating on a patient. it's 2025., and. insurance just keeps getting worse. never had this happen before. >> in her video, which she posted to instagram and tiktok, doctor potter described being in surgery. >> when she got a message that a

health insurance representative. >> was trying to reach. >> her about a patient who had. >> turned out was already on the operating table. >> i scrubbed out of my case and i called united health care, and i was like to understand that she's asleep right now and she has breast cancer. it's out of control. insurance is out of control. >> her video. >> has now been viewed. >> over 13 million times across platforms. >> and inspired other doctors to weigh in. >> this is exactly what is wrong with insurance companies dictating the kind of care that patients should have. >> they put in place systems that require physicians to jump through insane hoops to get obviously appropriate care for a patient. >> i didn't think that. >> it would. >> resonate so deeply, but once i. >> saw the. >> comments coming in, it just uncovered. >> something. >> that was already there. >> days after her post, united. >> health care demanded. >> she remove the video from her social media channels, accusing her of making false claims. >> what i said. >> in that video was true. >> what happened that day? >> i got a message that united.

>> health care. had called the operating room and wanted to speak with me, and immediately my mind went to, oh wow, are they going to deny something for this patient? i looked over at my partner, another microsurgeon who's there? and i said, i think if i take this call, i might make a difference for this patient. they say united health care did not ask or expect you to scrub out and call right away. >> why call. >> them back right away? no one made me. that was my choice. i thought they might deny her. could they stick her with a giant bill that could be financially devastating? and i have seen that the environment that i'm practicing medicine in is when an insurance company says jump, i say, how high? and that just doesn't feel good for patients. >> united health care declined our request for an interview. >> but in a statement, a spokesperson. >> told cnn in part it had approved the patient's surgery. an overnight stay days earlier, but its medical director reached out to the hospital for clarification after the hospital submitted a separate stay request. united calls erroneous and that the director had asked to speak to the nurse caring for

the patient. united healthcare emphasizes he did not ask to be transferred to the operating room department, did not ask to speak with the physician while she was in surgery, and never asked the doctor to leave surgery. united also. >> added. >> most importantly, the patient received all necessary care. was not responsible for the erroneous bill and the surgery and overnight observation stay are covered by the members plan with minimal cost to the patient. doctor potter's video came weeks after united healthcare ceo brian thompson was shot and killed in a letter to her. the company accused her of creating a potential life and safety threat for its employees, noting some commenters on her video were invoking and seemingly praising thompson's accused killer, luigi mangione. >> i would never condone violence. i'm a doctor. i take care of people. but if we're going to talk about it, then what i would say is it is not my fault that united healthcare had the reputation that it had that led people to react that way. i did not promote those comments. but americans are speaking out. >> is this unique to united? >> this is not unique to united.

there are two competing interests doctors wanting to take care of patients and companies and industries prioritizing financial profit. that's at the heart of insurance and healthcare. >> for potter, who specializes in breast. >> reconstruction for. >> women with breast cancer. >> thank you so much. >> insurance is an inescapable part of her conversations with patients. >> doctor potter, how are you? all righty. you guys, this looks really, really good. and we've already have a little air in there. yeah. you're going to look gorgeous. thanks. >> i have been far. >> more terrified. >> of insurance. like by a power of 100 than. >> the cancer. so the cancer itself feels to. >> me. >> kind of manageable. >> we go through and get approval. is this going to be an outpatient home the same day? are they going to stay overnight? what kind of anesthesia do we want? what materials do we need in the operating room. and insurance gets to weigh in on all of it. >> how much of your job is this? >> a lot. i've heard before, like, insurance shouldn't practice medicine, but they are. they are in the room, and the balance has shifted so far towards cost controlling and

efficiency that it feels less like i'm able to practice the best medicine for my patients. >> while her video about united got the most attention, potter's frustration is with the insurance industry more broadly and shared by colleagues like fellow breast cancer surgeon doctor julie sprunt. >> we have a. >> young patient. >> who's in her. early 30s. she was so upset that her insurance wouldn't cover the wigs that she wanted to wear while she was getting chemotherapy. and i thought of how hard she has worked as a nanny to pay into insurance. it starts to feel like the humanity that is so necessary in health care isn't there anymore. >> i didn't go to medical school to learn how to decipher insurance plans. i went to medical school to learn how to take care of human beings. and i would assume that insurance would help facilitate that and not create obstacles. i think there's a good place for insurance, but we've got to

have a reckoning. maybe something really good can happen. we'll see. >> meena duerson cnn. austin, texas. >> thank you, nina, for that reporting. coming up next, israel vows revenge after claiming the remains of a woman returned by hamas did not belong to kidnaped mother shiri bibas. >> coming up. >> super man. >> the christopher reeve story tomorrow. >> at 10:00 on cnn. >> speak now. >> or forever hold. >> your only took for our cough liquid. >> ha! ha. >> unlike robitussin dm, delsym liquid offers 12 hours of cough relief all day or night. delsym cough. crisis averted. >> ontario, canada. stable and secure. when the world around us isn't. you can rely on us for energy to power your growing economy and for critical minerals crucial to new technologies. we're here right by your side. >> empower. >> i got. >> her a little something. >> a little something, dad.

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pain. call one( 800) 530-2299. that's one ( 800) 530-2299. >> israel is vowing revenge against hamas after israeli officials stunning claim that the body of israeli mother shiri bibas was not one of the four sets of remains that was handed over by hamas yesterday. >> her body was supposed to be released alongside those of her young sons, but hamas says there may have been a mix up. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu had this strongly worded reaction. >> these hamas monsters also cynically refused to bring back the boy's mother, shiri, and

sent the body of a gaza woman instead. in brazen violation of the agreement, all of israel is united in grief. and as the prime minister of israel, i vow that i will not rest until the savages who executed our hostages are brought to justice. they do not deserve to walk this earth. nothing will stop me. nothing. >> cnn international diplomatic editor nic robertson has more on what happened from jerusalem. >> hamas is describing this as a mix up. in essence, they're saying this is, on their part, an honest mistake. you've heard from prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying very clearly that he doesn't believe that. he believes that that that hamas is not acting in the good interests of israel at this point and is vowing for this revenge, if you will, to make sure that hamas pays for this.

so where is her body? hamas is implying that this mix up would mean it is somewhere still in gaza. do they know precisely where it is? but but i think this is only just one of the tensions that has emerged out of all of this. it's not just what hamas would describe as the mix up over her body. israelis would describe as something else. but what a challenge on hamas's narrative that the family, the boys died in an israeli air strike very, very clearly now in quite extreme terms. the idf is describing this, their deaths as cold blooded murder. >> contrary to hamas, lies. ariel and kfir were not killed in an air strike. ariel and kfir bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood. the terrorists did not shoot the two

young boys. they killed them with their bare hands. afterwards. they committed horrific acts to cover up this atrocity. >> so you have this extreme variance now between the two narratives, hamas says, and the israeli government. and into all of that, the bibas family, the aunt of kfir and ariel, has, in essence, gone against what the prime minister is saying rather than calling for revenge, is calling for release of the other hostages to be the priority. now, this is what she said. >> for ariel and cathy harris sake, and for jardiance sake, we are not seeking revenge right now. we are asking for their cruelty only emphasizes the urgent need to bring shiri back to us. save the lives of the living hostages, and return all the fallen for burial. >> president trump. >> i'm asking. >> you, please assist israel and

our family in completing this important mission. >> but in essence, the real question is where is shiri bibas body? and at the moment, as far as we know, hamas doesn't have dna testing equipment. it has had a huge number. they would say over 48,000 people killed. the challenge to find shiri bibas body may be huge. but hamas has yet to give more details about how they're going to reset what they are describing as as a mix up. >> all right. nic, thank you for that report. the white house responding to reports the administration is considering taking over the postal service. such a move could cut off service, though, to some rural parts of the country. >> speak now. >> or forever. >> hold your.

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>> tragically taken. >> the dots all start to connect together. >> somebody did this purposely. >> to these people. >> lockerbie. the bombing of pan am flight 103. >> sunday at nine. >> on cnn. >> closed captioning is brought to you by sokoloff law. >> mesothelioma victims. >> call now. >> $30 million. >> 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 800 809 2400. >> welcome back. today, the trump administration is denying reports about plans to take control of the u.s. postal service, though multiple outlets report the white house could lay the groundwork to privatize the service, which could impact how a lot of americans get deliveries. >> let's go to cnn's alayna treene, who is live for us at the white house. what are you learning about this, elena? >> yeah, well, these reports are essentially saying that the president and his administration are seeking to seize control of the united states postal service and fire its leaders and bring it more under the direct control

of the commerce department. now, there's a couple things here i want to point out. one is that the white house is saying that this isn't true. the reporting is that essentially he would be signing an executive order soon to do this. they argue no such executive order is actually in the works. this is what they say. they say, quote, this is not true. um, no such order is in the works. and secretary lutnick is not pushing for such an eo. however, there's a couple things i want to point out. one is that we are actually going to see howard lutnick be sworn into office in just about half an hour. now in the oval office. i'm sure some reporters are going to try and ask him questions about this, so stay tuned for that. but the other thing here is that this isn't a secret that the president has been fixated for many years now on wanting to privatize the united states postal service. that reminds you, back during his first term, he actually tried to move forward with plans to do so before that got scrapped. and then we know earlier, before he was sworn into office, when he was still president elect, he talked about it as well, saying he thought it was a smart idea. we also know it came up in a meeting between him and lutnick, who then was

his co transition chair, where essentially the president argued, you know, look, we know that the postal service is losing a ton of money. he argued that, you know, this shouldn't be something that is subsidized by the united states. and then he made comments kind of to that effect during a press conference back at mar-a-lago. i want you to take a listen to what he said. >> well, there is talk about the postal service being taken private. you do know that. >> not the worst. >> idea. >> i've ever heard. >> really isn't. you know, it's a lot different today with, uh, between amazon and. >> ups and. >> fedex and all the things that you didn't have. >> now, brianna and omar, a couple things. one, those were, again, comments that he made in december before taking office and also ones that i know from my conversations with trump administration officials, that is something that is on the president's mind. this idea of trying to privatize it. now, just to get into some of the context here around the importance of the united states postal service. one is that, you know, millions of americans

obviously rely on this for prescriptions, items, et cetera.. but one thing that is unique about the postal service is that it is committed to bringing packages all over the united states, even places that maybe some of these private companies, like the president was referring to. amazon, amazon, fedex, et cetera. don't want to reach something called the last mile. so there are a lot of concerns about what would happen if this agency, which i should point out is more than 250 years old, we're no longer to be a public service and rather a private one. omar. brianna. >> yeah, really interesting stuff. alayna treene. thank you. live for us from the white house and minutes from now, the man accused of murdering a health insurance ceo on a busy new york city street will be appearing in court. we are standing by for all of the developments, and so are many of his supporters. >> thank you. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you? new tomorrow on cnn. >> speak now. >> or forever hold.

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