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of relief. >> 12 hours. >> mhm. okay. not coughing at yoga. and taking. not coughing. not coughing at the movies. still not coughing. ah. >> oh. mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion in any type of cough day or night. it's not cough season. it's always comeback season. >> cook books, 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. >> he's accused of gunning down the united health care ceo on a manhattan sidewalk in. minutes from now. luigi mangione will face murder and terror charges inside a new york courtroom. we're following the latest.

>> plus, the pentagon putting a plan to fire thousands of civilian employees on hold. why? the defense department is hitting the pause button. and as the bird flu takes a serious toll on the nation's poultry farms in steps. turkey. we're talking about the country here, how it's helping out with the u.s. egg shortage. we're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. >> all right. any moment now, at this point, we're awaiting luigi mangione, the alleged gunman in the high profile killing of the united health care ceo. he is set to appear in court. now, the 26 year old has pleaded not guilty to state murder and terror charges. but if convicted, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> spectators have gathered inside. you see them here? they're also outside the courthouse ahead of this hearing

today. this is mangione first court appearance since he was arraigned nearly two months ago in the shooting death of brian thompson outside a hotel in manhattan. police say the executive was ambushed as he walked to an investor conference. cnn's brynn gingras is with us now from new york. brynn, what are we expecting in court today? >> yeah. so, guys, this is just a status conference hearing. this is going to give the chance for prosecutors and luigi mangione defense team to update the judge on where they are with this case, and it's possible we may get a trial date set by the judge at the end of this hearing. it's also possible we might hear some of that evidence that has been turned over from prosecutors to mangione defense team. a lot of that, of course, we were learning as this case was unfolding back in december. but it's possible we might hear a little bit more detail. but what is happening right now, i can tell you, is there is a crowd, dozens of people who are outside, as you guys showed the viewers in the hallway of that courthouse waiting for luigi

luigi mangione to show up for that court appearance. we know his defense attorney, his lead defense attorney, karen agnifilo. she has already arrived. when she arrived. she went over to that group of people inside that courtroom in the hallway or the hallway, rather. and they cheered her. and really, we were understanding that the the court martials that are there right now weren't exactly happy about that eruption of cheers. but we can only imagine what will happen when mangione himself shows up with with the police, of course, by his side. we also have been seeing for several hours now people outside as you're seeing there, um, supporting mangione, wearing t-shirts, holding signs saying free mangione. we've seen so much support for mangione ever since this all happened back in december. and of course, we have also heard so much from law enforcement, from political leaders, the governors of both new york and also pennsylvania,

where he was arrested, saying, you know, he is no hero. he committed or he allegedly committed a crime here. so it's certainly interesting to see the fascination for mangione. thus, you know, the fact that everyone is sort of not everyone. a lot of people are saying there's just a movement that has now started against the health care industry because of mangione, and that seems to only be growing as we have this, you know, little update in the court process in just a few minutes, guys. >> all right. we'll be watching to see what happens. brynn gingras. thank you. and while we do wait for this hearing to start, let's bring in cnn legal analyst and criminal defense attorney joey jackson and michael alcazar. he's a retired nypd detective. he's now an adjunct professor at john jay college of criminal justice. so, joey, you're looking at this spectacle. the mangione supporters in the court area today outside, luigi signs. it was projected last night on a new york city building. what do

you think about this spectacle? and what are you expecting today? >> yeah. >> brianna, it's a very unique case, inasmuch as you see a brazen alleged killing right before our eyes and you see this mass public support for him. right? so it really is unique in that from that perspective. but i think today, you know, when a case begins, it starts with a grand jury and of course, a grand jury in this case delivered 11 counts as it relates to murder in the first degree, right, under the act of terrorism, the second degree murder charge and assortment of gun charges. et cetera. and remember, the grand jury is not deciding guilt or innocence. they just decide whether there's reason to believe a crime was committed. and he committed it. and then it ends. of course, the case itself, with either a verdict or a plea. but there's a lot in between. so just very briefly, brianna, in terms of today, the in between, what i'm expecting is to know what is the status as it relates to discovery. there's a lot of information that has to be exchanged. there's three different really proceedings that are happening. right. the one today exclusively deals with

the state case. but don't forget right, right across the street in federal court, he's facing federal charges as well for which he can get the death penalty. new york state, you can. and then there's this pennsylvania case. there's a lot of coordination with respect to discovery that needs to be turned over. where are we in that process? when will the case be ready? when, if ever. will there be pretrial proceedings such as hearings? so i want to know, as everyone does, what's the status of that information? and will we learn anything new as it relates to any revelation of information that was turned over, or are there any glitches as it relates to the discovery process, which the defense needs in order to move forward to represent their client? >> and those are some of the questions we could we could get answers to in this status hearing. michael, i want to bring you in because mangione released his first public statement from prison last week. he says he's grateful for the support he's received and powerfully, the support has transcended political, racial and even class divisions as mail has flooded in from across the country and around the globe. he goes on to say he reads every letter he receives. why do you

think he put that statement out? and what do you make of what it said, especially at this point in the legal proceedings? >> i think he's just trying to get more support. right. he wants people to know that that he's reading them. so he wants it to to to keep coming. i guess in a way, i don't know if he's thinking the support will help him with his case. it's definitely an anomaly that he's getting so much support. i can't figure out why they would support a person suspected of homicide, so it's definitely unusual. an unusual occurrence. >> and joey, just on that point, i mean, is there an avenue here where you see the media strategy sort of becoming part of the legal strategy? >> so, omar, i do i think it's a big deal. you know, in a case like this, which is is just so rare, right where you have to michael's point, a situation where you have a brazen killing, but yet he's got, you know, free luigi. he qualified bachelor, you know, could he

marry me tomorrow? so why is all that relevant? it's relevant because we have this thing called jury nullification. and what that means in english is that a jury, right. knowing that a person is guilty has the authority to excuse it. now, people may think, hey, you're crazy. that will never happen here, but stranger things may have occurred. and so to the extent that we have a health care system, right, that a lot of people are railing against, that people don't know why they deny claims, why they're causing people so much frustration, et cetera.. do the attorneys use that as a wedge issue, as they're using to raise now? right. what is it, a half $1 million in order to have the jury say, you know, maybe we should overlook this? i doubt it happens. right. there's a lot of evidence pointing to him being the one who's done this, but a jury can excuse it's called nullification. and i think omar rihanna it plays big in this particular case. or could. >> michael, can you talk a little bit about the security footprint because this is someone who, in the past, when he was being arrested, shouted

out right to the cameras, he wanted to send a message. i don't know if he's going to try to do something like that today. um, but there's a lot of people there who aren't normally there. what does that do for the security footprint? >> well, i mean, new york city is used to a lot of fanfare when we're dealing with high profile cases. i'm sure his lawyers are already coached him on not to scream anymore. it's not a good look for him to scream to the audience to to to the to the fans, to the people standing outside in the gates to to rile them up. i don't think it helps him. uh, to me, it makes him look more guilty. so a lot of police presence, a lot of uniformed presence to make sure that the the bystanders are safe. the media presence is safe and that luigi gets to the courthouse. safely. >> and we also should note, uh, joey, to you, that when someone is this notorious, let's just say the word right. that could

create issues. and not just in new york, but everywhere for a jury pool. so what are you expecting ultimately, when it gets to that point? >> you know, brianna, here's the view, right. what happens is great question that jurors are not impaneled because they don't know anything about the case. right. you would suspect in terms of the jury that they're going to know about the case. the issue is not did you know about it? did you hear about it? do even you have opinions about it? people have opinions. can you put that aside? and based upon what you know, can you evaluate the case for the evidence you hear in the courtroom? and could you swear to your duty? no matter what you think about the health care system, what you think about luigi, what you think about politics, what you think about whatever that you can make a fair, honest assessment and render a just verdict. so i think you'll see when it gets there, if it gets there, a lot of jurors being excused for cause, meaning they have entrenched reasons they can't get over. but i do think we can impanel there will be an impaneled fair jury and there will be a determination if it goes to trial, that based on the merits of the case or lack thereof.

>> again, we are still waiting for him to enter court. we've been following those live images joey jackson and michael alcazar, thank you so much for being here. >> thanks so much. thanks, brian. >> all right. just ahead, pressing pause. not us. the defense department suddenly halts a plan to fire thousands of civilian employees as we learn new details about why the process is not moving forward. >> plus, cnn's new reporting from within the irs. as fear spreads through the agency over its sweeping layoffs and what they could mean for your tax returns. and a new report americans are in, they're not feeling good about the economy. the big worries driving concerns about the prices we're paying and whether they'll get better. well, that and much more coming up on cnn news central. >> the lead with jake tapper today at 4:00 on cnn. >> okay, everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. >> to ensure with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health, and ensure

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the go immune support, try emergency crystals. no water needed. >> 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. why all the information on this show so terrible? >> have i got news for you tomorrow at 9:00 on cnn. >> welcome back, everyone. now to a major development at the pentagon, the defense department now pausing its plan to carry out mass firings of civilian employees. >> officials tell cnn defense secretary pete hegseth and pentagon attorneys are now reviewing how those firings may break the law and impact u.s. military readiness. cnn's natasha bertrand is with us now. natasha, what are you learning about the reasons these were put on pause? >> yeah. brianna. so these mass firings could have affected over 50,000 probationary civilian employees inside the pentagon. essentially, those employees who have been on the job for about a year or less, but in some cases up to three years. and we are told that that has now been put

on hold pending a review by the secretary of defense, as well as by the pentagon's office of general counsel to determine what kind of impacts such a mass termination could have on u.s. military readiness. essentially, there is a law, title ten, u.s. code of the u.s. code, section 129 a is the specific code here that says that the the secretary of defense may not reduce the number of civilian employees inside the pentagon or reduce the overall number of civilian employees in the workforce without first conducting some kind of serious analysis about how such a reduction could impact national security, how it could impact lethality and readiness of the u.s. military. because a lot of these employees, of course, they do carry out very critical functions. some of them are in intelligence, cyber security, foreign military sales, things that are very critical to operational readiness and mission critical operations. and so it would be potentially very

disruptive to have them all fired at once. it's for that reason that we also saw defense officials scrambling to make lists of individual workers who they believe should be exempt from these mass firings because of the potential impact letting them go could have on u.s. national security. and we've already seen, of course, across the federal government, other agencies have had to kind of claw back employees that they have let go because of this very concern, because they were actually more critical to that agency's functioning than was previously known. so this is what they're doing right now. it's a pause. it is unlikely to last very long, we're told, but it is giving the lawyers and the office of the secretary of defense a little bit of time here to make totally sure that everyone that they're letting go here is not going to impact the readiness of the u.s. military. >> all right. natasha bertrand, thank you so much for the report. joining us now to talk about these developments and more is republican congressman pat harrigan of north carolina.

he's a former green beret and he's a member of the house armed services committee. congressman, thank you so much for being with us. what's your reaction to the pentagon putting these sweeping terminations on pause? >> hey, thanks for having me today, brianna. i really appreciate it. look, i think it's it's a prudent pause. right. uh secretary hegseth came out, reviewed the law. i think that everybody needs to understand that as the administration has gone through the process that they need to go through to rid our government bureaucracy of fraud, waste and abuse, that we have to do it in accordance with the law. and so i think that this is proof positive that they're doing it, that they're taking it slow. they're being very exacting about the next steps that they're going to take. and i think it's very prudent. >> i do want to talk about the pentagon budget, which is another part of what appears to be the downsizing here. hegseth secretary hegseth outlining 8% cuts a year for five years. your

house republican budget increases the budget for the pentagon by $100 billion. trump actually backs that. i know you wanted increased. how do you square those proposed cuts with a proposed increase? >> all of that squaring is happening right now, and i think you laid it out pretty well, brianna. everybody is in a little bit different position right now. you've got house armed services, which is looking at, you know, kind of another $260 billion on top of where we are right now. president trump last week came out and said, cut it by 50%. secretary hegseth said drop it by 8% a year for five years. and the reality is, is the truth is probably, as it always is, somewhere in the middle. and what we need to do is we need to get the senior leaders from the military. we need to get the branch chiefs. we have got to get senior folks from the hill and senior folks from industry together, and figure out how we actually need to move forward in the department of defense with respect to our budgetary apparatus. and i think, you know, i don't want to take up

too much time with this, but we are at a very interesting point in our history where we're in a historic defense squeeze, because not only are we $36.3 trillion in debt, we're running a $1.8 trillion a year deficit. our debt to gdp ratio is as high as it's ever been at 123%. we are also spending less on defense than we ever have since world war ii, at 2.9% of gdp. so there's a lot of work that needs to go into squaring all of this together. >> and i do want to turn to the war in ukraine. your senator thom tillis, calling for lawmakers to be real about the risks that vladimir putin poses to the world. i want to play part of what he said on the senate floor. >> whoever believes that there is any space for vladimir putin and the future of a stable globe, better go to ukraine. they better go to europe. they better invest the time to understand that this man is a cancer and the greatest threat

to democracy in my lifetime. >> as i said, you're a former green beret de oppresso liber. that's to free the oppressed. the motto you've been very clear about who that is in this war, but russia is at the table with the trump administration. how important do you think it is that ukraine has a real seat at the table in these negotiations? >> look, i think the greatest threat to democracy in the history of this country is actually the debt and deficit. and we need to be very clear eyed about this. and this is some very tough talk that needs to happen. but president trump is actually having these talks right now. if we don't have the dollar, we have nothing. and i think it's pretty rich that most of the congress, i will say congressional representatives and senators that are the very closest to ukraine on this topic, that are the most vocally supportive of ukraine, are also the same people that have never seen a spending bill that they

didn't vote for. and we've got to understand, it really is not about whether you are for or against ukraine in this conflict right now. it is about the baseline understanding that we are 36.3 trillion in debt. we're running a $1.8 trillion a year deficit. and this is the single greatest threat to our national security that we have ever had. and if we do not respect our dollar with our spending, we will not be able to do the things that we want to do. i hear. >> you, i hear you on that, sir. i hear you on that, sir. it seems congress can focus on both of these things. i'm asking you about whether ukraine should have a seat at the table. a real seat at the table in these negotiations. >> the answer to this question is we can't focus on both things. and i think, brianna, this is what's so important to get out of this. and this is what i'm trying to convince all of my colleagues in congress that we're in this situation. we were doomed to fail in ukraine because we're losing the economics of wars. we are

producing the high cost problems to our enemies, low cost solutions. and so as we find ourselves collectively, $350 billion into this war, we are getting our tushies kicked by russia and china and their ilk, who are producing very. inexpensive weapons that are bleeding us dry. president reagan orchestrated the most amazing financial takedown of the soviet union, and we do not understand that putin and xi are orchestrating the exact same takedown of the united states in real time right now. we are the frog in the proverbial water bowl that is getting boiled. >> well, then, let me ask you this. you're you're one of a number of people who think that putin saw the way the u.s. withdrew from afghanistan as an open invitation to invade ukraine. you have two bronze stars from your service in afghanistan. you were in some pretty hairy places. you're one of a relative few people in

washington who really knows what it means to go to war. so how much is riding on this negotiation to make sure that putin doesn't take it as an invitation that he can invade a nato country, which obviously would have ramifications for the u.s. without much pushback. >> it's incredibly important. i hate the position that we're in right now, but what i want people to understand is that if you care about freedom and democracy and the future of freedom and democracy around the world, you must understand the position. the united states of america is in right now. and we have got to get elected officials in office that respect the dollar. because, look, when america fails to lead, the world burns. but america cannot lead. if we have an absolutely worthless dollar, that is the problem that we have right now. president trump is trying to protect it at all costs. >> but at this very moment in time, when there is negotiation going on to end this war, how do

you deal with that? >> i think president trump and vice president vance have been very clear. the war needs to end. it needs to wind down, and it doesn't need to wind down six months from now, 12 months from now, three years from now, it needs to wind down right now. and that's exactly the policy that they're putting in place. >> but you, of all people have been very clear that it's not just about winding down a war. it's about how you wind down a war. >> i don't disagree with you there. and what i'm telling you is that we have a clear and existential threat to the future of our country, with how far in debt we are and how unmanageable our deficit is moving forward. from this point on, we all want. i lived by the motto, i want to see anyone that wants to be free, be free, and i want to help them in that endeavor. the problem is, we have to realize that we have consistently spent ourselves into a position where

we can no longer do that for the globe. we can't. we have to come back. we have to bring this under control. that's why president trump is pursuing the policy that he's pursuing. that's why elon musk is so involved in the doge process. he is legitimately concerned for the good faith and credit of the american dollar. and i am too. and so are any clear eyed republicans that are in congress right now. this is the path that unfortunately, we have to take due to actions that have been taken by the last generation of folks who are in office. >> i have many more questions for you, congressman. unfortunately, we have a little bit of breaking news, so i'm going to bid you adieu. thank you so much for being with us today. really appreciate your time. >> thanks, brianna. appreciate you. >> and i want to take a look. now, this is our breaking news. luigi mangione has entered court in manhattan, so we are getting a look at the man who has been charged with killing united

health care ceo brian thompson. and you're seeing here all of the security around luigi mangione as he makes this very quick move, obviously, from one area, as he has come from the manhattan department of corrections, to go there into court. we will continue to follow what happens in court. we'll be back in just a moment. >> 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 any time soon. >> a new season of united states of scandal with jake tapper. march 9th on cnn. >> so handsome. >> i think. oh, i, i can't buy this. >> whoa, whoa. you're in power. investment account has grown. you earned it. so. >> oh. >> get good at money. >> so you can be a little bad. and power. >> tap into etsy for original and affordable home and style pieces like lighting under $150 to brighten your vibe for under

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nations, including egypt and jordan, met today in saudi arabia about the future of war ravaged gaza. now, their their vision may be different than president trump's proposal. that really stunned the middle east. trump wants the u.s. to take over and rebuild gaza, removing about 2 million palestinians from their homeland. >> so far, no word yet on the arab leaders blueprint. but a report published in egypt's state run al-ahram weekly said cairo was proposing a 10 to 20 year plan that would allow the palestinians to remain, keep hamas out of governing or resisting, and that gulf arab nations would pay for it. joining us now is cnn military analyst, retired air force colonel cedric leighton, who is with us here. so this is interesting. these arab countries trying to counter trump's riviera plan, which i think a lot of people saw as just not realistic anyways. but what would the alternative be? >> so that really. >> depends on a lot of things, brianna. this is very interesting because there's a

developer in the uae who is looking at this and saying that he can build prefab houses for about $2 billion. i think it was to house the palestinians in gaza while their permanent homes are being built. so that might be part of a the more concrete aspects of a resettlement or refurbishment plan for for gaza. the arab states, the gulf states, especially qatar, uae, saudi arabia have a long history of supporting efforts in gaza. and the egyptians, of course, as well. and they might may be coming up with a plan where they do something like this, where they keep the people in gaza, but rebuild kind of in a piecemeal type fashion, uh, maybe from north to south or from north to, you know, one way or the other that they could actually make that make that work. so that's one possible way that they could respond to this. and of course, they're going to have to pay for it. and i think the gulf cooperation council

governments know that they're going to have to do that. >> and we saw sort of the difference or i guess maybe the discomfort when the king of jordan was visiting the white house and trump blurted out the plans to take over gaza, to rebuild it, to move palestinians temporarily or on a longer term basis. and even the king said, well, let me go speak to some of our arab partners. he didn't commit to it at that point. um, i guess my question is, with what they come up with on a plan to move forward, how do they get around the united states and the will of what president trump wants to happen in that area, which, again, would likely complicate some of the politics within some of those countries. how do you do that? >> i think that's going to be very interesting to watch omar. and it's it's really hard to predict exactly how that's going to happen. but one thing that the trump administration or trump even himself has said is that in some ways, this is kind of a proposal on his part. it is not necessarily something that he's actually going to do. if there's an alternative plan. in

fact, secretary of state rubio has mentioned that if he can, if he if the arabs have a chance to put together a plan, they'd be interested in seeing it. that, you know, the u.s. proposal is basically, uh, a framework from which to work. but if the arabs can do it better or can do it more quickly, then they should go for it. >> so if this cairo plan, you know, the idea, keep hamas out of governing or resisting. so hamas has a vote here? unfortunately, yes they do. and so what are the complicating factors? >> so the main complicating factor is, is one where you actually kind of witness this when you watch the hostage transfers and you see the number of fighters from hamas who are still able to carry weapons, who are still in their uniforms and who are still quite active in hamas, that's an indicator that hamas is still there, that they are a potent force and they are not going to leave gaza quietly. they may go underground, either figuratively or literally, but they are going to be a presence

in gaza. they may agree to, on the surface, leave power, but they're not going to agree to completely leave power and and let somebody else take over. they're going to have a say in this, and they're going to stay for a long, long time. >> yeah. >> no, i was just going to throw one more in. i mean, what do you make of just quickly, the status of the cease fire of where we are right now. >> it's remarkable that the cease fire omar has stayed, uh, kind of on the trajectory that it's on. it's very vulnerable. it's, you know, because of the latest developments where the hamas provided the wrong body to, uh, of one of the hostages, one of the deceased hostages to the israelis. that, of course, has upset the israelis. and that is the kind of thing that could break any of these cease fires, any of these cease fire developments. but i think that for right now, it's fairly remarkable that the cease fire has stayed in place. discussions for the second phase are supposed to start fairly soon. if that happens, if that progresses, there's a chance that the cease fire could last a little bit longer.

>> let's not forget there are many more living hostages. idf, uh, associated hostages or soldiers, including. uh, israeli americans. cedric, thank you so much. really appreciate it. next on cnn news central, some irs employees are warning now of potential late refunds. come on. is the agency is slashing thousands of jobs? no, thank you is right. next we're going to talk with someone who used to run the agency. got some more information. >> maria torres-springer 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. >> it's really been a gift having mom live with us. but as a nurse, my training told me she needed more help than i could provide. so i connected with a place for mom, my senior living advisor understood our unique

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>> 882 one 4000. >> welcome back everyone. president trump's mass firings at the internal revenue service may be the first step toward abolishing the nation's tax collection agency. commerce secretary howard lutnick said this week the president wants to do away with the irs and replace it with what it calls an internal revenue service, funded by tariffs. now, already, the president slashing of federal agencies has ignited chaos and heightened fear in some cases about what happens next, not only for the fired employees but for millions of u.s. taxpayers, which, if you didn't know, tax season is here. here to talk more about the impact of the irs cuts is mark everson. he was irs commissioner during the george w bush administration and is now vice chairman of alliantgroup. uh, mark. all right. let's just start with we have seen thousands of probationary employees, at least at the irs, fired from the from the agency. what is the realistic impact on everyday americans when something like that happens? >> um, let me start by saying

the president was very clear he wanted to make the government more efficient and more responsive to people. that's a that's a praiseworthy endeavor. i get that that was part of the election. um, at the same time, you'll recall that under president biden, there was an enforcement build at the irs was 80 billion. that was added and disproportionately towards enforcement that received no, no republican support. so it's it's hardly surprising that you now have adjustments taking place at the irs. uh, the real issue here, though, and it runs to the system to access that that doge wanted at treasury on the payments, and it runs to the computer access at the irs is the ability to deliver the many transactions, as you're indicating, over 200 million people are working on their on their taxes right now. i hope you are. >> i actually already finished, so i'm way ahead of schedule. >> good. but so, uh, i think

those of us who have have held the position of commissioner, we, we feel to a person that what you shouldn't be doing is you shouldn't be rushing on any adjustments you do with the irs. you they've got a new nominee. the president has identified former congressman billy long, asked him to run the agency. i would let him get in there and see what adjustments they want to make. but, uh, because there is some risk, operational risk of doing things right now, it's sending obviously a tremor through the agency, even if the people who have been laid off this week don't directly work on submissions processing. >> so it sounds like, correct me if i'm wrong cuts or at least relooking at at some potential inefficiencies. good thing right now. but what do you make of of i guess the way doge has gone about its cuts, the suddenness of it in some cases trying to access certain sensitive data, uh, regardless of what season we're in, it's been pretty

fast, and. >> they've moved very quickly. and and i do caution, uh, in this area, the systems access in particular. but the treasury secretary has, has, uh, worked out an accommodation and says, yes, you can look at the systems, but you can't have access. it's read only. and so i think they're very clear that they don't want people going in and tinkering with systems, and nor do they want at the that's on the payment systems. there's 5 or 6 trillion that goes out to social security and everything else. and then on the irs systems themselves, same sort of thing. they're saying, uh, very limited. be able to do your research and by all means, they want help improving the technology. and the irs, to its credit, has been working on that the last several years, and they've made some strides. but now to your point. what's happened is several thousand. i think it's 6 or 7000 people who've joined on the enforcement side are now being let go. and i just think the better thing would be to wait

till get congressman long in there, get him up before finance get him confirmed. he's on the trump team and then work out what the right approach is. >> and i want to ask you too, about you know, i mentioned it before coming to you because the trump administration has been talking about abolishing the irs altogether. replacing it with what lutnick described. the external revenue service powered by by tariffs. right. you of course, would need would need higher everyday prices to sort of balance out the lack in taxes. but when you look at how much america does collect in taxes per year, where do you even begin to? if someone walked up and said, hey, i want to turn this into an external revenue service. where do you even begin? >> uh, that's a very tall order. and, uh, the tariffs would operate independently of the irs. they come in ultimately now, but they're not collected by the irs directly. um, and this would take congressional action, and it would be a long term process. so while the president and the congress can discuss these matters, we still have to pay our taxes, and

people have to get that paperwork in or file electronically by april 15th. so let's not disturb this apple cart. while that very important obligation of citizenship is taking place. >> you heard it and you heard it here first, but you're going to hear it often, not just because you're a former irs commissioner. pay your taxes. uh, good to see you. thanks for being here. >> thank you. >> all right, everyone, we'll be right back. >> i'm rafael romo at the georgia. >> state. >> capitol in atlanta. >> this is cnn. >> can a personal loan unlock. >> your ambitions? >> oh, yeah. consolidate bad debt and save money for your next goal. sofi personal loans, low fixed rates. borrow up to 100 k, no fees required. >> problems with gray hair? not anymore. with the new. alpecin gray attack. an easy to use shampoo for darker and thicker looking hair. day by day, fight for your hair with the new alpecin gray attack. available

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order@nuts.com. yes, we have more than nuts, but still the website is just nuts. dot com. >> we do have breaking news. los angeles mayor karen bass has just terminated the city's fire chief in the wake of last month's devastating wildfires. >> cnn's natasha chen is standing by with the latest. natasha, what do we know right now? why is the mayor announcing this right now? >> well, omar. >> and brianna, the mayor is about to start a press conference to talk about this in more detail. this follows a press release that mayor bass sent out within the past hour,

announcing the firing of los angeles fire department chief christine crowley. mayor bass named two issues in her press release. one is that on the morning that the fire started, she said, we know that 1000 firefighters could have been on duty in the morning. the fires broke out, were instead sent home on chief crowley's watch. furthermore, the second issue, a necessary step to an investigation, was the president of the fire commission telling chief crowley to do an after action report on the fires. the chief refused. these require her removal. and so now there is an interim chief in place. a veteran of the department. we're hoping to learn more details about the mayor's decision here as she steps in front of cameras very soon. but to put this into context, there has been a lot of political back and forth between the fire, the fire department leadership and the city of los angeles over the past months and years. the chief. chief crowley

had said that they had been underfunded for the past decade. she said the city had slashed the fire department's budget by more than $17 million compared to the year before, severely crippling, in the chief's opinion, their ability to maintain fire apparatus, to have enough staff on duty. and so, of course, there is a lot of finger pointing and blame going back and forth. um, the fire commission, civilian fire commission, the leadership there said despite all of this, it's unlikely that the number of staff that the fire department, even fully staffed, could have, you know, gotten a fast control over the fires the day the those fires broke out because of the severity, the scale, the magnitude of those fires that happened so quickly with hurricane force winds. so we're about to hear a lot more on this. but this is just the latest in this political firestorm. omar and brianna. >> all right natasha chen, thank

you. and coming up, accused killer luigi mangione court hearing just minutes long. this is a video moments ago of him leaving court. we're learning more though about what happened inside. stay with cnn. we'll be right back. >> nice going lou. >> nothing like a little confidence boost to help ease you back into the dating scene. of course, that also includes having a smile. you feel good about. fortunately, aspen dental specializes in dentures and implants made just for you with affordable options and flexible ways to pay. and now they're $0 down plus zero interest if paid in full in 18 months. helping our patients put their best smile forward. it's one more way. aspen dental is in your corner. >> ontario, canada. your third largest trading partner and number one export destination for 17 states. our economic partnership keeps millions of americans working. we're here right by your side.

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>> who knows. >> what tomorrow will bring? but >> what tomorrow will bring? but as for me, i'll. baby in a i guess what i'm looking for from you is, i mean, i know how the fire affected me, and there's always a constant fear that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago and we are in a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise]

800) 991-2982. call now. >> welcome back. >> have i got. >> news. >> for you? >> new tomorrow. >> on cnn. >> closed captioning is brought to you. >> by sokolov 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. >> 800 859 2400. that's one 800 809 2400. >> a key test to president donald trump's power to reshape the federal government. a federal judge could rule today on the dismantling of usaid. >> plus, the defense department is now temporarily pausing its plan to carry out mass firings of civilian employees. pentagon lawyers are reviewing the