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took to x to warn that failure to respond will be taken as a resignation. but that threat was not in the actual email. leaders at several agencies, including the fbi, are pushing back and telling staffers not to reply, at least for now. cnn's jeff zeleny and katelyn polantz, join us for more. this is certainly caused a lot of confusion. jeff, what more can you tell us about this email and the agencies that are telling their staffers? hold on a second. don't respond just yet. >> good morning pamela. it has caused some confusion, but also the first signs of rifts in this administration, with senate appointed cabinet secretaries instructing their staffs and employees to actually not follow the order of elon musk over the weekend. the email dropped into inboxes late saturday afternoon, and ever since then, the guidance throughout this federal government, both here in washington, of course, and across the country, has been mixed as federal workers are wondering how they should whether they should respond to

this. and really, there is a long and growing list of agencies and departments instructing their employees to not respond to this, because for a variety of reasons, one, the it's not how the chain of command works. the several other workers have, of course, top secret or classified information. they don't want to be shared by email, but this is one example from the fbi. the newly confirmed fbi director, kash patel, sent out a pretty clear message to his employees in the department. it reads like this. the fbi, through the office of the director, is in charge of all of our review processes and will conduct reviews in accordance with fbi procedures. when and if information is required, he will coordinate the responses. for now, please pause any responses. so basically saying ignore elon musk. do not send out that message. now the president responded over the weekend. giving some affirmative support to the elon musk plan at at the

department of government efficiency's, but did not really weigh in on that. so we will see if he does later today when he's asked about this. but pamela, it's really the first example, really, from a department of homeland security to the health and human services agency to the director of national intelligence and several other examples of their leaders telling their employees to ignore elon musk, at least for now. so the question remains, why did he send it out? and does he have the authority to actually do so from the hr department, if you will? otherwise known as the office of personnel management. >> yeah. thanks, jeff. and that question of whether he has the authority is now being challenged in this new lawsuit filed against doge. right. katelyn polantz. >> yeah. pamela, it was only a matter of time until this and ended up in court before a judge. and what we saw on sunday is a new lawsuit or an updated lawsuit in federal court in northern california, where unions are saying, hey, this seems unlawful. the reason that they are in court, this is just

one of many, many lawsuits challenging the firing of federal workers. and they're trying to argue that the way that it's being done just isn't legal. now, a lot of these cases have fallen flat, at least in their early stages. they haven't been able to convince judges to put a stop on trump's ability to fire people across the federal government. but now we do have this particular h.r. at opengov email as part of one of the arguments. so in this case, in northern california, the unions are writing to the judge asking for emergency intervention, and they are saying that nowhere in the office of personnel management history has there ever been a policy, a program, a rule, a regulation that required federal workers to submit some sort of information about their work to the office of personnel management? and they're saying that because there was no notice in advance in the federal

register, which is part of the regulations of the way the government runs that, that's why it's unlawful, and it should factor into the judge's decision. whenever he does look at the possibility that perhaps federal workers shouldn't be able to be canned, but much is to come. this judge has not looked at this yet, and there are many other cases about the firings of federal workers and even the use of this email address to ping federal workers across the government. we're going to be waiting to see if there are more things like this in court. it's very likely we're going to hear a lot about this this week. >> yeah, for sure. there is so much going on in court. katelyn polantz thank you for helping us understand the state of play. and also federal workers with usaid received their own ominous email over the weekend after a judge dissolved that order, pausing the layoffs there. about 2000 employees were laid off sunday night. most of the remaining full time staff were told they've been placed on administrative leave. it's all part of the trump administration's ongoing effort

to dismantle the agency. it provides humanitarian assistance around the world. joining us now is chris milligan. he served as a foreign service officer at usaid for 31 years under six presidential administrations. chris, just this morning, i got an email from a usaid employee saying, i'm a tenured civil servant and veteran who received my notice last night feeling betrayed after a lifetime of public service. i know a lot of folks with the agency share that sentiment right now. >> that's correct. and first of all, there's enormous confusion out there. there's a lack of clear communication, and there's mixed messages. i know some employees who are told, you're essential, you have to report to work. and with one letter and got another letter saying you will be terminated. there were employees who were told that there would be no terminations overseas, and now they're being terminated overseas. even the coordination support team, which is designed to to ease this transition, has employees who are being

terminated. so there appears to be a lack of a consistent plan and a lack of leadership on this issue. and that's creating a lot of chaos and a lot of concern among the employees. >> and these layoff workers. i mean, they will affect aid workers, right? and war zones and disaster recovery areas around the world. some of them are in dangerous places around the world. what is your biggest concern right now? >> well, my biggest concern is what is the plan and how are we going to keep america safe? the secretary said that foreign assistance is essential for our national security. it prevents pandemics back home. it creates jobs here, back home. it prevents violent extremism from coming to our shores. it stems the tide of migration. when you turn that off and you fire the experts that are doing that, what's the plan for keeping america safe? what's the plan for creating jobs back at home? >> and what about the direct impact on americans who are here, who help usaid and its missions, including, you know, for example, farmers like in my

home state of kentucky, who provide some of the food that sent overseas. what is the direct impact at home in that way? >> there's an immediate and direct impact. usaid purchases $2 billion worth of agricultural products from u.s. farmers. and not only that, we prevent diseases from overseas from coming back and wiping out farmers harvests here at home. we usaid purchases over $1 billion in u.s. pharmaceuticals as well. we usaid, through one program alone called prosper africa, has facilitated $130 billion worth of trade deals for american companies. so there is an economic impact immediate back here at home. >> i'm curious. i've been asking a lot of folks this question because i think it is important to note that there are several americans, many americans, um, who are finding out some of the work that usaid did, which was appropriated by congress, approved by congress. but, you know, they say, look, we don't like these programs. why is our taxpayer money going to this? why are we supporting

usaid? and even some democrats are not sort of coming out. and for a full, robust defense of usaid. what do you say to them? >> i said that that's a fair question. and every penny that aid spends is approved by ambassadors at post and approved back in washington under the secretary of state. if there is a new secretary of state and he has new priorities, we will usaid would implement them. i've worked across six presidential administrations. priorities change, and there is a way of changing those priorities. rather than gutting an entire national security agency, which then puts american lives at risk. >> last time you were on this show, you spoke of usaid workers and other countries who were unable to get home to the u.s., including several pregnant women and a colleague with an ailing parent. any updates? there? >> employees overseas are still struggling. they're being told that they will get an offer for a voluntary repatriation back to the united states. they are told if they don't take the voluntary repatriation package, they will be held financially responsible

for their own return, which would cost thousands of dollars, and they would face financial ruin. so i wouldn't call that a voluntary repatriation. i know that some employers are still having difficulty accessing education for their children and accessing health care. the usaid payment system remains frozen by the department, and so money can't flow to provide the services and needs that our employees overseas require. >> chris mulligan, thank you for coming on. >> thank you. >> also this morning, reuters is reporting the trump administration is directing ice agents to find and deport thousands of unaccompanied migrant children. just last week, the president reassigned a top immigration official after the rate of arrests and deportations slowed. cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us now. what more are you learning about this, priscilla? >> well, pamela, it's been whiplash for the legal service providers who are representing and also assisting unaccompanied

>> it or categorizing them as a flight risk public safety, or border security. now, this is all part of a concerted effort by the trump administration to locate unaccompanied children that they say are missing. >> this is something we hear often from white house border czar tom homan. now, in talking to experts, they say that yes, there are some children that unfortunately may be exploited after they cross into the united states. there are others, however, who may not have gone to immigration court, but they are okay. they are with

sponsors. this is, again, all an effort to find what they call the missing children, and a way to account for them. again, the reason, or rather by having them show up to immigration court if they missed a hearing before. but the reason that it's also whiplash for a lot of those that are serving them is because last week there was another memo. and that memo had cut off legal services to unaccompanied children. and that quickly prompted some confusion and chaos, because these children were then potentially expected to show up to court by themselves to not have legal representation with them. well, that memo has since been reversed, but you can see with all of this that it has led to a lot of confusion, that it has prompted concern not only among the legal service providers, but also the sponsors. those can be relatives or family friends that are caring for these children in an environment where, even if this is an attempt to just account for these children's can certainly be one that stokes a lot of fear among those who are

caring for them. >> pamela alvarez, thank you so much. and still ahead this hour, president trump and emmanuel macron meet at the white house. can the french president help repair the rift between trump and ukraine's president, as that country marks three years of war with russia? i'll speak with the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, who is in kyiv next. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you? new saturday on cnn. >> buying a car is kind of a big deal. there's like a million options, and you deserve something you love. at cargurus. we get it. as the number one most visited car shopping site, we make sure your big deal is the best deal. >> hourly amazon employees earn an average of over $22 per hour in communities across america. >> hey! >> we're going big tonight. >> let's go. >> amazon offers hourly employees health care on day one

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he held a, quote, perfect g7 call alongside president trump. macron joined trump in the oval office for the virtual meeting and called their talks very friendly. macron will return to the white house soon for a high stakes mission to revive the trump administration's unraveling support of ukraine and tell trump to not be weak in dealing with vladimir putin. macron's visit comes as other leaders from europe and canada arrive in kyiv to mark a grim milestone. russia launched its illegal invasion of ukraine three years ago today, but the growing rift between trump and ukraine's president is overshadowing today's show of solidarity. solidarity. trump has accused vladimir zelenskyy of being a dictator and even starting the war. cnn's alex marquardt joins us now. alex, how important is macron's visit to the white house today? >> it is critical, pamela. this is the beginning of what could be called a diplomatic counter-offensive by the europeans. amid these fears that the ukrainians and the europeans are being pushed aside in these discussions over a ukraine

russia peace deal. this is the beginning of a flurry of meetings. this week. we have macron today, the british prime minister, later this week. a number of other engagements between u.s. and european officials. and macron's task today is going to be telling trump to not give in to vladimir putin. there have been these accusations of concessions already being given by the trump administration to the russians of continuing to send military aid, humanitarian aid, economic aid to ukrainians. and this big question over security guarantees, what the u.s. can offer in terms of guarantees to the ukrainians. now the europeans are putting their best foot forward with macron. he is certainly among the european leaders who trump likes the most. macron knows how to flatter and please donald trump. we saw that invitation to the reopening of the notre dame cathedral just a few months ago, in which trump was essentially treated like a sitting president. but pamela, this is a critical moment. the third anniversary, as you note, of this war that began on february 24th, 2022. i was there on the

ground in in southern ukraine. there was a tremendous amount of fear. and since those early days, there has been just an extraordinary amount of damage done to that southern city, mariupol, as well as to the rest of the country. and this fourth year of the war is arguably going to be its most consequential since the war began. major questions now over this minerals deal that the u.s. is trying to strike with ukraine. ukraine pushing for those guarantees to be part of this deal that could be on the on the scale of hundreds of billions of dollars. but the u.s. pushing back on that, here's what the national security advisor mike waltz, had to say earlier today. >> let's grow together in an economic partnership. and, of course, the u.s. would protect our assets for which we are invested in. this could mean trillions, not only for the ukrainian people, but for us and for stability for the region. and that economic investment is one of the best security

guarantees that ukraine could hope for. >> so mike waltz saying there that the u.s. involvement with ukraine is essentially guaranteed, but with the ukrainians and europeans want to see is a military offer from the united states. we've heard the brits and the french talking about some 30,000 european troops on the ground for ukraine as peacekeepers. we heard donald trump saying, i don't want to send u.s. troops into ukraine. so what could that assistance look like? whether it's intelligence, air support or something else that is going to be the big task for president macron today. >> alex, thank you so much. let's continue this discussion with former kyiv. is the from kyiv i should say is the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine serving under former president george w bush. he is now senior director of the atlantic council's eurasia center. ambassador, thank you for coming on. so the french president is at the white house today. the british prime minister is due thursday. how much influence do they bring into these meetings? >> i think they can make a real

contribution to ensuring that the trump administration stays on the course that they outlined weeks before the inauguration to establish a stable peace requiring significant compromises both from ukraine and from russia. we had a very bad 12 or so days where the trump administration seemed to be beating up on the victim, ukraine, but they faced some real pushback from conservative media, from the europeans, and even indirectly from republican lawmakers who pointed out all the errors in the statements made by the president. >> what is the message that you would like president macron to really drive home today? >> well, the europeans have already sent a message with the two meetings that macron convened in paris. but the beginning of the week, where he and starmer, the british p.m. and other european leaders have put together at least a first idea for putting european troops on the ground, as president trump suggested as part of his

plan to establish a durable peace. so this gives something for president trump to cling to, or rather, to embrace as he then goes to putin and say, you've shown no interest in compromise. let's see you compromise. >> president zelenskyy surprised a lot of people. you probably know this. you're in kyiv right now when he said for the first time, by the way, that he was willing to resign his presidency if it brings peace to ukraine. let's listen. >> if it's about peace in ukraine and you really want me to leave my position, i am ready to do that. secondly, i can exchange it for nato if there is such an opportunity. >> today, trump's national security advisor is repeating the administration's opposition to ukraine being admitted to nato. what do you make of zelenskyy's offer there to resign? >> i think that this is an effort by zelenskyy to deal with the very bad information coming from some people who support president trump, who are

clueless, naive about the danger that russia poses to the united states, who claim that zelenskyy is continuing this war because it keeps him in power. now that's just nonsense. and this is a dramatic way for zelenskyy to underscore that. >> what do you say to those who might argue that this is just donald trump's way of trying to make a deal? he knows vladimir putin and he is trying to appeal to his ego rather than poke the bear in order to get him to come to the table for a peace deal, and that this could ultimately, the strategy could ultimately end this war. what do you say to that? >> i don't rule that out. meaning that that's what president trump is trying to do, because we saw a similar approach to kim jong un during the first term. the dictator in north korea. but as we know, that effort did not succeed. and so president trump correctly walked away. so this may be what president trump is trying to do, and i hope that it is. but it's not tactically the best way to handle this. and putin has no desire to have a real cease fire. now he wants to capture

more ukrainian territory. he wants to drive ukrainian forces out of the kursk oblast, russian territory, whereas president trump wants to get a quick peace deal. but a durable peace deal, meaning that putin does not attack ukraine again. so i think what president trump will learn is that the soft words are not going to move putin to actually negotiate in a serious way. >> what would move him to negotiate in a serious way? >> well, i think president trump actually made that clear in his first few days as president, second term, when he said putin is the obstacle to peace and we need to turn up the screws with economic pressure. and then, of course, vice president vance, in his interview with the wall street journal, uh, i don't know, ten or so days ago, 12 days ago, said that maybe we need to not just increase economic pressure, but even military pressure on on ukraine, on russia, on russia. and that would be the smart way to proceed. >> what is the sentiment there? i mean, you're there in kyiv. today marks three years of the

russian invasion of ukraine, that the war there that has taken so many lives. tell us what it's like there. well. >> well, i arrived on the train with many of the european leaders and also others who were here for a big conference on the war put on by the yes foundation. uh, and the mood is a little bit grim because people are concerned that maybe all those pleasant words to putin and the sharp criticism zelenskyy means that president trump will abandon the concept of attaining a just, durable peace right by insisting on only ukrainian concessions. i think that's probably not the right way to understand this, but this is very much on people's minds. but there are others who are here, including, for example, former british prime minister boris johnson, who believes that trump is, you know, trying to, um, sweet talk putin and trump is going to insist on conditions to get a durable peace. >> all right. we will see how it all plays out. ambassador, thank you for your time. >> my pleasure. thank you.

>> and still ahead this hour, as elon musk and his government efficiency department cut the federal workforce, some conservative priorities could be on the chopping block as well. i'll speak with the republican co-chair of the doge caucus. up next. >> we handcraft every stearns and foster using the finest materials like indulgent memory foam and ultra conforming inner springs for a beautiful mattress and indescribable comfort. save up to $800 on select adjustable mattress sets at stearns and foster. >> i'm premium wireless for $15 a month at mint mobile, when my premium wireless for $15 a month, i think. why not premium wireless for $15 a month? let's be honest, premium wireless for $15 a month, am i right? let's just stop having i write these. okay, guys. >> this is what it feels like to file with taxslayer. >> i'm the refund, boss. all your refund is belong to me. >> nope. >> not today. >> oh. >> start for free and get your

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>> the end result of the fraud and abuse that has been discovered already. oh. >> what? >> he's getting rid. >> of the dye. >> books. >> let's discuss with republican congressman pete sessions of texas. he sits on the financial services and oversight committees, and he is a co-chair of the house doge caucus. congressman, thank you for being here. you held a town hall there over the weekend. you had one of your own. um, there were certainly some there who support doge, but much of the pressure came from constituents of yours who were expressing grievances about how doge cuts could impact them and why congress isn't doing more about perceived overreach by trump. what are you going to do with the feedback you received at that town hall? >> thank you very much. uh, first of all, i'd say anybody that was there would have disagreed with the article. that was in the new york times. it was a very thoughtful, articulate meeting where people

express their views. i provided them information. data, uh, and understanding about where we're trying to head. and it really was not only quite civil. i think that every person that was there felt like it was worth their time. and so i'd like to say that i do recognize that the american people have questions and they do need answers, and we owe them those answers. but it is certainly one that finds itself and lends itself to not all the answers are necessarily available right now, so feel free. any question that you've got i'm ready. >> what did you learn? you know, it's important, as you know, to to get outside of the bubble in dc. go talk to your constituents. and what did you learn from talking to them and some of the concerns that they have about what's happening in washington? >> well thank you. the i go back to waco, texas or the district every single weekend i meet with

people on a regular basis. we have discussions, talks. my office is very open. people can email me. i call people back. i write them. the feedback that is coming is one that is very understandable. when a new administration, whether it be president obama, whether it be president trump, whether it be president biden, has an agenda that they would choose to then play out. president biden had a very quick start. i think president trump has a very quick start. so the things that are occurring are not always apparent to everybody, but our country is faced a change. a change was voted, uh, for donald trump to bring some of those changes. one of them is our fiscal our financial nature that the country is engaged in. we are going to, as a result of not just, we think, the american

people, but a demand by congress. we are going to have government workers come back to work. whoops. that's square one. fight right off the bat. and we're still engaged in that battle. the president, i think, openly offered anybody that did not want to come back to work. he gave them ten months where they could then admit that they did not want to come back and they would be paid. i felt like that was not only the right thing to do is very benevolent. even that is being fought right now, so that we are going through a circumstance where we need government workers. so out of the office of personnel management, people are receiving emails saying, please give us an idea about what your job is. please feel free to tell us that. and agencies are now saying don't respond back. well, that's the wrong thing. just because you tell us what you do

and what importance that is, is not an indication that we would not respect that. opm is needing that information. omb think. >> like like kash patel. i mean, some of these people saying that are trump people that trump put in there. these agencies, you think the people like him are wrong to say, don't respond right now. we have our own process in play. >> well, i would simply say if an official from the government office of personnel management, opm, is asking for data and information, i would think that they could respond back very favorably and say, let me tell you who i am and what my job is and the importance of my job. and here's what i achieved last week. so of course, that would be important to do. i don't offer any feedback about an agency head about whether they said do or don't do that. i

would say an outside organization other than in this case, the department of justice, ask a question. i would respond back. >> and some of these agencies believe some of the officials there believe it's it's usurping their chain of command. but there are you know, president trump has made clear he supports this effort. i want to dive in a little bit more to the impact of these federal employees in just a moment, but but i want to ask you something because you brought up, you know, constituents get upset from different administrations and what their policies are. and this is in line with that. during the biden administration, you supported legislation that would have mandated more oversight on biden's executive orders, which you said were causing, quote, out of control inflation. um, and the white house so far has touted that they have had more executive orders now compared to biden and other administrations. given the intensity with which trump is using executive actions, should he be subject to that same oversight? >> he is subject to that oversight. the difference is, is that what president biden did

was tell employees to stay at home. open up the border. change dramatically. america's security posture by allowing the lack of rule of law. this is, i think, what might be the opposite. and that is you got to come back to work. you need to tell us what you do. you need to be a professional and responsible. and if you do not want to come back to work, just let us know. we need to know what we're working with. as you know, over any given three year period of time, the government through gao is dealing with a trillion, $700 billion worth of waste, fraud and abuse. we need government workers back at work. we need databases that correspondingly provide information. >> i mean, they've already been ordered. back to come to work. that's why with 6600 federal workers in your district, what are you telling them? how

concerned are they with losing their jobs, what impact this could have on them and their families? we've talked to many, including veterans. i spoke to one this morning who said i've had a lifetime of service to this country with my military service. i found purpose working for the federal government. i've only gotten good reviews and now i'm laid off. what do you say to people like that? and veterans? should they be laid off? >> you know, i don't i don't really know which agencies i know that, you know, like the fbi is going to reassign people. but i think that if someone were to send you a question, if you're in the va, if you're in the 17th district of texas, you should respond back in correspondingly, send our office. we're attempting to comply. i would like my job. i'm back at work. and here's the the the what i do to perform. and then we will make that determination of trying to work with the agencies to come back and say, we believe these are critical jobs. i believe

that they are. and i believe the va is very important, and we will be very pleased to engage on their behalf. but let's go to the to the top side. the top side is, is that our government is filled with at least 100,000 people that would wish to leave. once that is known and understood, that will offer some clarity as to how many and how many would be working on a job to perform, that they still have an obligation to perform a job that needs to be done. and that is what i, as congressman would want them to do. >> but do you think veterans in particular? again, you're a big supporter of veterans. do you think those veterans who had good reviews, who had military service and found purpose in their service and the federal government, they should be laid off? what do you think should happen to veterans in particular? >> well, you're asking a question, not knowing. i don't

know enough about necessarily the va, the va. we need to and we will get in and do our oversight. how many people in the va said did they want to leave? what are those critical jobs? but you will also recall that the veterans administration completely ran out of money and had to have $15 billion added to them last september because the money had been absconded with and went to help the border and illegals coming to this country. at least $15 billion. so one would question some why wisdom. and they're trying to make a determination. how many workers do we need and what are those advantages going to be. >> right. and you're correct about the $15 billion. but and on the veterans it wasn't just that the va. i spoke to a veteran this morning from usaid who who was expressing the sentiment. i've spoken to others as well. i wish we had more time. congressman pete sessions, i appreciate the

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over a list of probationary employees listed by first name and last initial identifying them for potential cuts. the problem was that they sent this email over an. unclassified network, potentially exposing the list to foreign government hackers. current and former officials told us that this risk, not only making it impossible to send some individual officers into undercover roles, it also risked exposing the jobs themselves as cia jobs. in a lot of cases, cia jobs are disguised publicly as state department roles in foreign embassies. and so if a foreign government was able to learn that a given role was actually a cia role, they might be able to reconstruct who had met with past occupants of that role. according to sources that we spoke to. so now what we've learned is that the cia is conducting a formal damage assessment to determine the potential harm that could take place from a counterintelligence perspective, if this information were to be hacked or exposed in any way. we've also learned that some officers on the agency's seventh floor are quietly discussing how mass firings and the buyouts that have already

been offered to staff risk creating a group of disgruntled former employees who might be motivated to take what they know to a foreign intelligence service. so, taken together, look, this this really underscores the depth of concern from at least some current cia officials that trump's kind of move fast and break stuff approach to cutting the u.s. government may be creating some unique counterintelligence risks when applied to the cia. pam. >> all right, katie, thanks so much. we'll be right back.

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>> welcome back. >> have i got. >> news for you? >> news saturday on cnn. >> breaking news into cnn. grammy award winning soul singer roberta flack has died. cnn's stephanie elam has more on her life and musical legacy. >> i heard you sang a good song. >> with soulful lyrics and piano prowess. roberta flack knew how to dazzle a crowd. >> killing me softly with his song. >> known for ballads like 1973 killing me softly with his song. she bent music to her will, combining classical art with jazz and rhythm and blues. born february 10th, 1937, in black

mountain, north carolina, flack was a piano prodigy. in a 2012 npr interview, she said her voice was a gift, yet she wanted to become a concert pianist. but in the 1950s, the chances of a black girl becoming a professional classical pianist were slim. that didn't stop her from pursuing her dream. and at age 15, she received a music scholarship to attend howard university in washington, d.c. but while in grad school studying opera and classical piano, her father died. flack put her career on hold, returned home, and took a job teaching music and english. >> i got to a point. well, i. >> don't want to teach music anymore. i just want to sing. i looked up on a little club in washington., where she met jazz musician les mccann, who was instrumental in getting her signed to atlantic records. >> and in 1969, the songstress released her debut album, first

take. >> i felt the earth. >> her music gained little attention until clint eastwood asked to use one of her songs ever. >> i saw. your face. >> the film play misty for me pushed the first time ever. i saw your face to number one and scored flack her first grammy. >> when i first heard the words killing me softly with his song, just the sound of those words together had had such magic for me. >> she recorded more than 20 albums throughout her five decade career, with hit singles like feel like making love. >> that's the time. >> i feel like. >> making love. too good. >> the balladeer also tackled social and political issues, like in the song tryin times. >> these are trying. times. >> nominated for 14 grammys and a winner of four. flack is also

known for her humanitarian efforts. she advocated for music education for underprivileged youth. flack suffered from a stroke in 2016. she recovered and continued performing in 2022. the killing me softly singer was diagnosed with als and retired. flack didn't fulfill her early dream of becoming a concert pianist. but her classically trained approach helped her charter her own course, leaving a distinctive mark on popular music. >> yeah. >> our thanks to stephanie elam and thank you for joining us. i'm pamela brown. don't forget, join wolf blitzer and me in the situation room starting monday, march 3rd. weekday mornings from ten to noon. in the meantime, you can follow me on instagram, tiktok, and x at pamela brown cnn. stay with us. inside politics with dana bash starts after a short break. >> this is cnn, the world's news

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