tv CNN News Central CNN February 25, 2025 4:00am-5:00am PST
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next year, which to me seems like he's going to do it in a more responsible way, which is, you know, to be said. >> perhaps use the federal government as a cautionary tale in some respects. >> people want the government to move fast and change things. that's what means. it means to be to be unhappy with the status quo. and i think democrats should help republicans do it. you know, when bill clinton cut, cut the workforce, as we mentioned earlier, he had 55 democrats in the senate decide to help him cut government. you couldn't find five democrats in the senate who would be for cutting government. right now, the democrat party is out of place here. >> well, yeah, we can have a whole conversation about that. they didn't even go to congress to have the conversation, you know, get. >> a cup of coffee, offset, continue this conversation. there is a lot more to be had there. perhaps they're also after elon musk's deep pockets in the next gubernatorial race. we will see. my thanks, as always to our panel. brad, kendra and leah, it's been a pleasure to have you guys today. thank you for our viewers, everyone, for joining us. i'm kayla tausche. cnn news starts right now.
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>> no one knows who is in charge. that's how one federal employee is describing the federal government right now. after trump doubles down on elon musk's demand to justify their jobs while their bosses tell them not to. so what happens now that the deadline has passed? >> the united. >> states sides with. >> russia at the united nations. >> seen. >> as a vote. >> against ukraine. >> as president trump wants to make it. >> very. >> very clear. he does not think vladimir putin is a dictator and a terrifying moment captured on video, a fiery explosion on a quiet suburban street. new reporting on why it happened. kate is out today. i'm john berman with sara sidner, and this is cnn news central.
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>> it's bedlam. that's how one irs staffer is describing the mess. millions of federal workers are in. as elon musk says, they have a second chance now to justify their jobs, even as the trump administration says they don't have to. musk's original email ordered workers to list five things they did last week, or face getting fired. overnight, the initial deadline for the expiration. after mixed messages from donald trump officials as one department of veteran affairs staffer put it, nobody knows who is in charge and who they're supposed to listen to. the frustration clear this morning. >> yet another scare tactic meant to humiliate, dehumanize, demoralize the federal workforce. we want to go to work every day. we, you know, are accountable to the american public and not to a billionaire. >> also breaking overnight new reporting, the acting irs chief will step down in the middle of their most busy season tax season. in the wake of these mass doge cuts, the new york
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times and wall street journal saying he'll announce it today. just weeks into his new role. cnn's alayna treene is at the white house with more on this chaos, confusion, bedlam. those are the words that the workers are using. what are you hearing from the white house? >> that's right. >> that's what we are hearing from. >> federal employees. >> who have been. discussing kind of their initial reaction. >> to this. >> and it's true. i mean, a lot of people are confused and don't necessarily know who to listen to on this. you know, for one, you had elon musk over the weekend saying those who did not respond by that initial deadline, which was last night, um, would face resignation. and then they are also hearing from their agency department heads and their bosses, um, within their own agency, saying, actually, don't do this. so a lot of questions over who you know, who is the person we should be listening to. and it comes as, of course, we have seen six different departments. that includes the department of justice, the pentagon, the fbi, the state department, um, dhs, energy, et cetera. them telling their employees not to listen to
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this, in part because some of the work that they do was confidential. they don't want them sharing any privileged or sensitive information. i note at these different agencies as well. those were the agency heads are the ones who were picked and selected really by donald trump. so it's not, you know, other employees telling or other people who, you know, might be considered establishment people telling their employees not to listen. it's people who donald trump put in these roles. but look, we did hear an update from elon musk on this. i want to read to you what he said. he said, quote, subject to the discretion of the president, they will be given another chance. failure to respond to a second time will result will result in termination. now this comes after sarah. we know that opium had sent different guidance, arguing that this was voluntary, that they didn't have to respond to this email. but then again, here you're having elon musk saying, actually, if you don't, this is mandatory. if you don't respond, you could be terminated. now, i think a key question in all of this is, of course, where is donald trump on
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this? i am repeatedly asked questions about what, you know, is this going to be the thing that frustrates trump with musk? is this going to be the thing that damages their relationship? and the fact is, no, we actually heard him in the oval office saying he thinks it was an ingenious idea that musk was pushing. but all to say, and just one important point i want to put on all of this is, of course, the real world impact. these are people, sarah, who have jobs, who are confused, who want to make sure, um, you know, who should we be listening to? are they're afraid that they might make a wrong move and lose their jobs. and it's so important to keep remembering that, because in all of this confusion, there are people who are trying to do the right thing here. sarah. >> yeah. and you point out this sort of relationship with with musk and trump. but to be clear, this is on trump's directive that doge does these cuts. so we will see what happens next. alayna treene, thank you so much. live from the white house for us. and over to you, john. >> all right. developing this morning, house speaker mike johnson is getting squeezed by everyone. that is the assessment
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from punchbowl news. the speaker hopes to pass a budget resolution today to push through the republican agenda, but it's not at all clear it will pass. not at all. he can only afford to lose one republican vote in more than one. or if he. >> if i had some indication that we could reduce some spending, i could possibly get there. but currently i don't have those. i mean, to be determined. it's still a moving target. we'll see if the vote were held tonight. i don't think the votes are there. i'm currently a lean no, but we'll see where we get overnight. >> all right. with us now is congressional reporter for the aforementioned punchbowl news, micah sooner. do they have the votes? >> as of right. >> now? >> no. >> um, i mean, obviously, we're seeing a lot of. skepticism about. whether this vote. >> is going to be. >> held today. i know the speaker. >> left the capitol yesterday saying that he's determined to
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bring a vote to the floor, as was planned yesterday. i know that he's facing a lot of opposition from conservatives in his party. >> we saw. >> victoria spartz saying that she's a pretty hard no. i spoke. >> with the source very. >> close to her, saying that she's pretty set in her ways in terms of how she's going to vote. uh thomas massie is a very difficult lawmaker to move. uh, is currently a no. and we saw others come out, such as congressman warren davidson that has expressed, um, you know, a difficult pathway for this to happen. um, so johnson is facing a lot of pushback from conservatives and, and other groups of the conference as well. and i think he's slowly trying to chip away at these negotiations. >> it seems that the most rigid opposition right now, at least the people you listed are from the writer. for people who want to see more explicit, bigger spending cuts, what about from the more moderate wing of the party, specifically the ones who are concerned about cuts to medicaid? >> yeah, i mean, he got a lot of pushback from members of the house agriculture committee, members of the hispanic conference, and a lot of these moderates that really wanted to move away from these cuts to
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medicaid, snap other social safety net programs. but so far, those moderates are already starting to fall in line a little bit. they've expressed a little bit more optimism and positive language around their conversations, with the speaker saying that they're feeling a little bit more optimistic. and as we know, these moderates are usually the ones that end up falling in line more so than conservatives that are a little bit more difficult to move on. these kind of issues. >> that is the pattern as of now, though. does it look like speaker johnson has the votes? we'll see what happens by tonight. we love your reporting. thanks so much for being with us. quote. the trump administration royally screwed up. that's a new statement from a republican lawmaker after the united states voted against blaming russia for the invasion of ukraine. we are standing by for new updates on the pope this morning. the vatican said he rested well at night, though he is still in critical condition and we still are lacking so many details. and it's the largest crypto hack on record. hackers stole $1.5 billion in
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cryptocurrency in a single heist. >> cookbooks, corporate fat cats. >> swindling socialites, doped up cyclists and yes, more crooked politicians. i have a feeling we won't be running out of those anytime soon. >> a new season of united states of scandal with jake tapper, march 9th on cnn. >> bye bye. >> cough chest congestion. hello. >> 12 hours of relief. >> 12 hours. >> not coughing. hashtag still not coughing. mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion in any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm its comeback season. >> buying a car. >> is kind of. >> a big deal. >> how do. >> you know if it's the right car. for you? >> um. >> ooh, with the most deal ratings and complete vehicle history from cargurus. >> that's how. >> boom! >> mucinex nightshift starts working at bedtime to fight your worst nighttime symptoms. how could you and leaves your system fast? by the time you wake up, you're ready to take on the
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bully and invader. nikki haley, trump's former un ambassador, said america must choose a side and it should never be the side of dictators. but when asked directly if he would call putin a dictator, as he did with ukraine's zelenskyy last week, this was president trump's response. >> jorge engels zelenskyy a dictator. would you use the same words regarding putin? >> uh, i don't use those words lightly. i think that we're going to see how it all works out. >> he does not use those words lightly, but he did use them against ukraine's president, who is not a dictator and is duly elected. cnn's nick paton walsh in ukraine's capital, kyiv. uh, there is one person that is loving this. and of course, those in ukraine hating what they're seeing. what are you hearing from putin, from the kremlin? >> yeah, i mean, putin yesterday obviously clearly must be taking some relish in the idea for
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probably the first time in living memory on an issue like this. the united states voting alongside russia against so many of its allies at the same time. putin offered a version of his own rare earth mineral deal to some degree, remarking how available rare earth minerals were inside russia. is that a competing offer with ukraine, or just simply trying to add fuel to the idea and the trump administration that there are potentially economic deals to be had with moscow? we don't know. and he did indeed also cast doubt on the electoral legitimacy of vladimir zelenskyy. again, talking about his low polling. obviously, i should remind you that in the 20 or so plus years that vladimir putin has been in power, the elections he's had have been heavily managed in his favor. and so, yes, moscow certainly seeing in this some reason to feel reprieve. but at the same time to there was a remarkable scene really with emmanuel macron, the french president and trump yesterday. you can't
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really understate how quick it appears that the french leaders actions upon trump have been. we saw him sidle up to him during a g7 video call. the two men together suddenly there and then it appears that they spoke, uh, also vladimir zelenskyy of ukraine spoke to trump as well. and then literally about an hour or so later, we have macron and trump together. and it appears the rare earth mineral deal is, according to u.s. treasury secretary scott bessent, at the one yard line close to signature. and trump invites zelenskyy to washington, potentially in the next week or so, to sign that deal. so that in itself is a remarkable turn of events, i should point out. trump in the past three weeks has again invited zelenskyy to washington, or suggested indeed, that they would meet. but that didn't actually happen. we'll see if this time it's different. it does appear that a lot of the time in the white house, that the french president was kind of trying to speak for trump when he talked about the solidarity of the united states and how that deterrence would assist in
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deal making and a peacekeeping force of potentially french and british soldiers, um, would have the solidarity of the united states and that their role would be not dangerous, but credible. and so a lot of fast moving developments, whiplash to some degree. the dual track here, i think confusing for many observers because we see when it comes to russia, the trump administration, clearly they don't want to offend. maybe that's some amongst trump's advocates who think that he doesn't want to antagonize those. he wants to make deals with. well, there's a revisionism in some of this which is deeply distressing to many ukrainians, frankly, about who started this war. and it sees an erosion of the united states and their allies position steadfast with ukraine. but at the same time, too, i think we're also seeing a slight change in trump's feelings towards european security brought on by the macron visit. what this all materializes towards, we simply don't know. we are in a different world. a week earlier. who knows where we'll be a week from now? >> yeah, and there were
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remarkable scenes with macron correcting donald trump on the world stage about how much money europe has been spending to help ukraine. nick paton walsh, thank you so much. live there. you and your crew stay safe there in kyiv. all right. with massive layoffs being announced each week, what will the financial impact be? how? firings at the nation's largest employer will hurt families and potentially the local economies. and dallas prepares to face luka. the mavericks will play the nba superstar for the first time since they traded him to the lakers. this ought to be fun. >> 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 is all the information on this show so terrible? >> have i got news for you saturday at nine on cnn. >> bye bye. >> cough or. chest congestion? >> hello. 12 hours of relief. >> 12 hours. >> not coughing. >> hashtag still not coughing.
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matchup. cnn sports anchor coy wire is here. and coy, i swear to you, last night, i'm going to sleep. i can't remember exactly what time, but like i always do, i check the box scores before going to bed. oklahoma city is ahead of minnesota by like four with 34 seconds left. and i'm like, this thing is over. but no. >> yeah. >> oh. >> as he says, our boston. >> boy. >> they're the t wolves. >> erased that whopping 25 point. >> fourth quarter deficit. >> to come back on the road against the top team in the west. the thunder john thune two of the brightest young stars going at it. shay gilgeous-alexander for okc mvp frontrunner. he went off for 39 points, but he misses this shot in the final seconds of regulation. so it goes to ot. six wolves scored in double digits. and look at their young stud anthony edwards in overtime. final seconds with the lead swooping in for that huge block on sga, securing a 131 128 win. down more than 20 in the fourth, facing a team with a win percentage over 800,
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minnesota's the first team ever to pull off that type of comeback that john missed because he fell asleep ah, that awkward moment when you run into your ex in public. l.a. lakers star luka doncic, fresh off being shipped off from his former team in one of the most shocking trades in nba history. facing his former team, the mavericks, tonight for the first time, the midseason trade sent doncic to l.a. anthony davis to dallas. now, davis won't play tonight. he's dealing with a leg injury, but doncic is coming in hot. john putting up 32 in a win over the nuggets. game is at ten eastern on our sister channel tnt. lucas coach jj redick said it's going to be weird. >> every day that he's. >> been with us. >> it's becoming. >> just a little bit more normal. um, it i've, i've been there like the first time you play your old team, particularly. >> this. >> this close in. in time duration. it's it's going to be weird. but he'll be able to handle it. >> all right. finally. john, are
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you tired of the tush pushing? no. not when kate or sarah might shove you out of the good lighting on set. there. the tush push where quarterback barrels ahead while getting shoved by his teammates like a snowplow, often for a first down. some say it's unfair. it's unstoppable. others say don't hate. figure out how to stop it. like probably jake tapper. you know, eagles fans the super bowl champs. they made it popular. well, nfl mvp troy vincent says at least one team has submitted a rule proposal to ban this play. at least 24 of the 32 team owners would have to approve the rule change. what say you, john? are you tired of the tush pushing? >> no. i think the defense is have to adjust. yeah. there we go. >> oh. >> there. >> we go. >> you do the tease. >> hey. >> if you're doing. >> first downs. >> tush push. i'm here for it. they should do it every single play. okay, that's what i think. and now i've moved him out of my light. and it's my turn. thank you so much, coy. >> thank you. that was the highlight. >> of my day. i love you. the
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trump administration says federal workers do not have their list of accomplishments. then they might be fired. so who wins because their bosses are telling telling them they don't have to fill out the information. and new reaction from trump voters on how the president and billionaire elon musk are handling their government to handling this government takeover, as they're calling it. >> i must keep saying, well, i found $1 billion of waste here and social security. there's hundreds of hundreds and hundreds of people that are collecting it that are between 100 years old and 110. can you believe any of that? now? >> harakat al-muqawama al-islamiyya cnn sports coverage of the nhl is brought to you by aspen dental. visit aspen dental.com today. smile. we're in your corner. >> 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
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with culinary glory on the line, it's time to put it all on the plate. >> season premiere tournament. of champions sunday night at eight. >> mike. all right, president trump and elon musk efforts to rapidly shrink the size of the federal government has led to thousands, tens of thousands of layoffs. the move having, of course, a devastating effect on the families directly affected here. but what do all these cuts mean for the job market and the economy as a whole? cnn's matt egan is joining me now. what are economists saying about these widespread terminations that are coming all at once? and not just, of course, in d.c., where a lot of people think of federal workers, but across the country. >> yeah. so this is another shock to the economy. we're talking about mass layoffs in what is the largest employer in the united states, the federal government. right. there's 3 million civilians who work for the federal government. some context that is equivalent to the u.s. workforces of amazon, walmart and ups combined. think
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about that for a moment. and now this federal workforce is under siege, as elon musk and the trump administration, they try to cut costs, they try to make the government more efficient. there are estimates that perhaps 200 to 300,000 federal workers could get laid off here. this is, of course, devastating to all the families who rely on government paychecks. but the economists that i'm talking to, they're not overly alarmed about what this means to the economy at large. they're not projecting a spike to the unemployment rate. they're not warning of an imminent recession. i think that's for two reasons. one, it's because while the federal workforce is big, the u.s. economy itself is even bigger. look at this. so the 3 million federal government workers, if you put that in context, overall, there's 171 million workers in the economy at large. so this represents just less than 2%. the other thing here is there are more job openings than there are workers to fill them. so there is hope
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that these laid off federal workers are going to get rehired in the private sector. but look, there's a lot of unknowns here, right? this is not coming out in neatly presented government filings or sec filings. right. this is coming out in drips and drabs and email leaks and court fights. so there's a lot of uncertainties here. and it's not happening in a vacuum. right. there's also the immigration crackdown. there's the on again off again trade war. there's uncertainty over the rate the tax cuts and what's going to happen there. and this is just another uncertainty. >> it is. so what are these government layoffs mean. particularly though for washington, d.c. and other local economies? >> yes, sir. look, the impact for those economies is going to be much more dramatic when you look at the d.c. area with virginia and maryland, we're talking about almost a quarter of all federal workers who are in that area. but it's not just d.c. a number of states have congressional districts where federal government workers make up a large percentage of the total workforce, including washington state, colorado, new
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mexico, texas, ohio, north carolina, and georgia. and there is a domino effect here when there are these layoffs, because some workers are going to have to sell their homes. so you could see home prices take a hit. some workers who get laid off, they're going to stop spending at some of those local businesses. and i do want to just stress here we are talking about real people who have real families and real dreams. i talked to a 24 year old woman in iowa who found out on valentine's day that she had been laid off from the u.s. geological service, and she said she feels like a lot of this is just a waste because the government spent all this time and money training her. now they have to rehire, find someone else to fill her position, and she's got to find a way to pay back $25,000 in student debt. and by the way, sarah, now she's got to go on unemployment, which, of course, is funded by the government. >> yeah, it's all a tangle, isn't it? matt egan, i had to come over here, but it's it's no
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slight against you. it's a great report. >> appreciate you sarah. >> all right. joining me now is former white house spokesperson for president george w bush pete seat and cnn political commentator and democratic strategist maria cardona. thank you both for being here. you heard matt egan talking about some of these effects of layoffs around the country. cnn has also talked to workers inside the federal government. one of them is calling this confusion, another saying, this is bedlam, that we don't know who is in charge. some of trump's selected agency leaders are saying one thing, trump and musk saying another thing. this is all being battled out also in court. i mean, is this good for america, pete? ultimately. >> it's not. >> good for america, ultimately. >> look. >> i am. >> very sympathetic to the idea. >> and the critical. >> mission that i think doge is undertaking and that is trying to cut spending and reduce the size and scope of the federal government. however, at times it
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looks like the keystone cops are executing this operation, and we have another story almost daily where they have to backtrack on some of these indiscriminate firings and layoffs. but i would say to federal employees, this could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. if they if they are too anxious, if they're feeling anxiety and their motivation goes down and they're not producing. that could ultimately result in the worst, which is losing their jobs. so this is a time, if any time exists, to step it up and work twice as hard as ever. >> maria, does this seem like it's being done on productivity? because in some cases it appears it's just slashing and it has nothing to do with the work that you've done in the past. >> it has absolutely. >> nothing to do with productivity, sara. and i think that is one of the problems. you
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have. >> somebody like. elon musk. >> with his, you know. >> teenage band. >> of minions who know nothing about government. going in and slashing and burning and taking a. wrecking ball to what should be done in a strategic way. look, pete's right. we all should be for cutting waste, fraud and abuse. the problem is, is that that is not what these people are doing. they are going indiscriminately and cutting everything because they don't know what they're doing. and they think that just slashing and burning and breaking things is what americans want. and look, americans do want to make sure that their federal government works better. but the way to do it is to actually go in there with people who know what they're doing. these people don't know what they're doing. and it's not just the cost of these people's lives and livelihoods. it's a cost to the lives and livelihoods of americans at large. and you had,
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you know, people going in and firing federal workers from our nuclear facilities. and then they had to go up and say, oops, you know what? no, we need to hire those people back because they do important jobs. they fired people that were in charge of foodborne illnesses. oh no, wait, we do need those people. this is the problem. they have no clue what the federal government does. the vast majority of these workers are dedicated, committed public servants who are doing a service to all of us, keeping keeping us safe, making sure that our lives and livelihoods are the best that they can be, keeping our children educated, making sure that our seniors are taken care of. making sure that low income families have the food that they need to feed their kids. it's all of these services that the government provides that now republicans are finding out, actually, that their constituents like, which is why they are being faced at their town halls with really off constituents. and i think it's going to come back and bite
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republicans in the. >> we have seen that once in georgia in a deeply red area where, you know, during a town hall, one of the republican representatives faced the wrath of of the voters there, concerned about what they were seeing from the trump administration. i want to talk to you about, you know, sort of the u.s. on the global scale. republican congressman dan bacon said this, and i'm going to quote him here. he said the trump administration royally screwed up today on ukraine. please explain to us how the u.s. couldn't even agree on a u.n. resolution supporting ukraine and condemning moscow's unprovoked invasion three years ago into ukraine. is this a remarkable change in u.s. policy? >> well, we also have to decide whether or not words on paper actually matter, whether these toothless demands from the united nations make a difference. they might make a difference to the diplomats who sit in turtle bay at the united
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nations, who will think that they did something meaningful, that that draft that the united states did not support, you know, demanded that russia stop the invasion? that's not going to put an end to this war. what will put an end to this war is negotiations. and it is an implicit acknowledgment that russia is the aggressor, that the united states is sitting and talking with them. first, ukraine didn't start this. russia started it. but russia is the one that will have to lay down their arms. >> says that russia did or did not start. >> this is an implicit acknowledgment. but but but, sarah. but, sarah, do you really think that the russians are going to be encouraged and interested in negotiating in anything close to good faith if we're out there constantly attacking them? and that's what i think this resolution was. it was not necessary for the greater end game. it would just
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make some folks at the un feel good about themselves. they could pat each other on the back, maybe a couple high fives and hugs, and that would be the end of it. we need to end the war and do things that actually matter to end this war. >> yeah, you may be right about some of that, but diplomacy does matter. and when people are talking and trying to get to a solution, they do have to have some of these messages put out that that is sort of what the united states has always done, but they're not doing it anymore. pete. maria cardona, thank you both so much. appreciate it. john. >> all right. this morning, the vatican says pope francis rested well all night but is still in critical condition battling double pneumonia at a hospital in rome. cnn's ben wedeman is there right now. ben, let's get the very latest from you. what do we know about the pope's condition? >> well, apparently. >> what we heard from vatican sources today is that he's in basically the same condition he was in yesterday, which continues to be critical. but
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they say there is slight improvement. that even though he continues to receive oxygen, it's at a lower flow and a lower concentration that his kidney situation, although it's described as insufficient functions, uh, it is not something that the doctors are particularly concerned about. we're told that the pope is not bedridden, that he's eating normally, that he can stand up and move around. but nonetheless, the concern is that for somebody who's 88 years old who has a history of respiratory problems, who over the weekend had to receive blood transfusions and oxygen and had renal failure. briefly, the concern is that even though there is a slight improvement now, that that's no guarantee going forward, that he's going to actually recover from this. so the doctors are being very
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cautious. but as i said, they do say there has been a slight improvement in his situation. john. >> ben, you've covered so much from rome and so many different papacies. what's the level of transparency you think you're getting from the vatican at this point about the pope's condition and the language they're using? >> certainly what we're. and under pope francis, there has been a certain amount more, more we can say transparency in terms of describing the situation on a variety of occasions. we've had doctors come out and explain in quite a decent level of detail exactly what his condition is. so they've been fairly transparent now going back previous situations, for instance, when 20 years ago, at this point in the year when john paul the second was clearly ailing, the messages were somewhat confused. we heard, for
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instance, just hours before the death of john paul, the second was announced that he had eaten several biscuits for breakfast. we're not getting that sort of mixed message at the moment, so the feeling is that the vatican is being pretty straightforward about his situation, none the less. that doesn't really relieve the concern of many people who are watching this pontiff trying to work at the same time as suffering from double pneumonia, which is obviously a very serious medical condition. but we saw last night thousands of people in saint peter's square, uh, praying for, uh, his quick recovery. and that's going to happen tonight and going forward, hopefully until the pope, uh, recovers. john. >> ben wedeman in rome, it's great to have you there. thanks so much for sharing your reporting and your experience with us. all right. this morning, newly released dash cam video of a shocking explosion in a quiet street. so what caused this blast in recent number one? jillian, why? you should never
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investigating what they call the biggest crypto heist ever. north korean hackers stole 1.5 billion with a b dollars from bybit, the world's second largest crypto exchange. it happened in just minutes. they have already laundered about 160 million of the stolen loot through accounts linked to north korean operatives. experts say these thefts of funds half of north korea's missile program. bybit says it can cover the loss, while u.s. and south korean investors rush to try and recover the money. so far, only 43 million has been reclaimed. all right. this is just to show you how dangerous a gas leak can be. watch this. whoa! shocking new dashcam footage capturing the moment a building in kansas exploded, sending firefighters running for safety. they were called to the area after hearing that there was a gas leak. and as they were walking towards the building, the blast rocked the scene. the cause of the leak under investigation. thank goodness they didn't get close
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enough to have to deal with that. wow. a rare find now by a 12 year old turned an ordinary day into an awesome one. >> babe. >> oh my god. oh my god. >> i love that enthusiasm. the young boy and his grandfather spent their president's day at a sports card store in indiana, bonding over their shared love of baseball cards. what started as a simple card pack opening quickly became historic when he pulled out a one of a kind babe ruth card, complete with the great bambino signature. >> when we can, uh, share. >> this this hobby together. and and. >> do have. a grandfather grandson bonding time. >> i mean, that's priceless. >> right there. >> i think i'm going to hold on to it. definitely. it's just a one in a lifetime pull, and i probably will never get anything just like it.
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>> that is super cool. what i love is to see him and his grandfather bonding and how excited they both were. they were both like kids. wonderful. john, did you have a like a are you a baseball card collector person? >> did i do i? and i would just like to say to people whom i might live with, i know they take up a lot of space, but you can see you can see they're completely worth it. so thank you for that. >> mr. berman. he's sorry is what he's trying to say. >> it's okay. it's all going to be okay. overnight, we heard from dan bongino on his podcast for the first time since being named fbi deputy director. he told listeners he is grateful to take the job and will transition out of his role as a right wing commentator. >> obviously, we're going to be working with. >> a team of. people to make this transition from. >> me political. >> commentator dan. >> to deputy director of the fbi. dan. >> those are. >> different roles, require different skills.
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>> skills i have and have used before, and i plan to use again. >> all right. with us now is the former deputy director of the fbi and cnn senior law enforcement analyst, andrew mccabe. he says he can sort of flip a switch and turn off the partisan dan bongino and go back to a non partisan. dan bongino, what do you think of that? >> well john that'd be great. >> but as an fbi agent. >> i. >> have. >> to say. >> there's no evidence. >> of that. >> so i'm. >> withholding judgment. >> what he will find. >> on day one is a. >> job that. has over 80. >> direct reports. 56 of. >> which run entire field offices. he will find out that every one of. >> the toughest problems, the hardest decisions in the fbi. >> ends up on his desk. he's going to understand. that making. >> those. decisions quickly. >> and accurately. requires a massive understanding of. >> criminal law. >> and an. encyclopedic knowledge of a huge. >> organization with almost limitless capability.
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>> and massive. problems and ability chances to make mistakes that really matter to people. so fbi is going to have a lot of work to do. >> andy, i heard you all day yesterday. you were very eloquent on your views on this pick. what do you think or what qualifications do you think dan bongino has? or more accurately, does not have to fill this role? >> well, there's there's no evidence, john, that dan has any significant leadership experience. you know, as i just mentioned, he's going. >> to find himself. >> in the driver's seat of a massive organization. 38,000 people, 12,000 agents, and really responsible for. one of the most important missions in this country, that is to protect americans and to uphold the constitution. so without any significant experience leading a large organization, without any knowledge of the fbi and i should say having already expressed a deep antipathy and resentment and distrust of fbi
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people, he's going to have a really hard time convincing this workforce that he is with them and motivating them to accomplish the huge things they have to do every day. >> and very quickly, in 20s or less, andy, what do you think the people in the fbi are in for? >> i think they're in for a really rough ride. you know, they're a they're a wise and experienced crew. and so i would expect that probably approaching this entire period with a great deal of skepticism. >> andrew mccabe, thanks for coming on this morning. really appreciate your time. sara. >> all right. thank you, john. president donald trump's first month in office has been shock and awe. show of executive orders, mass layoffs and upending foreign policy. trump voters are paying attention. the question this morning is, do they like what they are hearing and seeing from donald trump and elon musk? cnn's john king is going all over the map, and his latest stop takes him to colorado to check back in with
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those who supported the president. >> the rant spans more than 100 acres, home to 60 horses and one last bison. >> this little guy down here, his name is trouble. >> a bit ornery at times, yes. trouble. >> you know, it's like trump. i really don't like him as a person. i think he's arrogant. kind of a jerk. >> but david hayes is a funny man. >> i tried farming for a while, and i would rather get run over by a bison, you know? >> the northern colorado ranch has been in his family since the 1880s. the white house in washington are far away. >> we got, like, hot dogs. >> yes. hayes wants the government shrunk, but he doesn't see a coherent plan. and he doesn't trust elon musk, doesn't believe what he says, doesn't want trump letting musk poke around social security or tax files. >> i don't know how many people he's fired. and, you know, must keep saying, well, i found $1
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billion of waste here and social security, there's hundreds of hundreds and hundreds of people that are collecting it that are between 100 years old and 150. can you believe any of that crap? he can't substantiate it. you can't believe it. so that's a trust issue. >> a blue collar, rural guy in one of the nation's most competitive congressional districts. a three time trump voter who calls the president unfocused and arrogant. but democrats should hold the celebration. but if you had a do over tomorrow and you had to pick again between trump and harris, what would you do? >> i would still do trump. >> so a conservative independent, is that fair? >> very conservative. independent, yes. >> so would esmeralda ramirez-ray. she smiles when asked about trump's frenetic first month. >> i voted for that. i love it. >> what did you vote for? >> i voted for a president that was going to put america first. i voted for a president that was going to secure our borders. and
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i voted for a president that was going to make sure that we were respected throughout the world. and i believe i'm getting that. >> greeley is the northern edge of colorado's eighth congressional district. that is 40% hispanic and has a significant undocumented population. ramirez reyes, a court interpreter for defendants who don't speak english. she agrees with trump that some who crossed the border illegally are violent criminals, but she wishes he would add that the overwhelming majority are good people. >> i was raised as a migrant worker working in the fields. those are the people that are out there picking their crops. so even though i support trump, i don't believe that he's the end all, be all savior of humanity. nobody is. >> now, this one, we've had a canadian hoser for a long time before all this stuff came up. well, it fights with american and canadian hockey players and everything. >> like hayes todd waufle says, trump can be arrogant and pompous, but like ramirez, he's a fan of the early pace. >> i like him going full speed.
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let's get let's get things done. let's find out if the policies work, if they don't work. but yeah, this is the baby brewing system. boil it up. >> their waffle started satire brewing seven years ago. business is good. and he constantly debates expanding. but a plan to boost sales by adding canning machines is on hold because of trump's tariffs on aluminum. >> and you fly enough, you understand? you know, uh, buckle your seat belt turbulence ahead. >> waffles is a trademark of many trump voters, except the things that make you cringe to get the things you want, like a better economy and a stronger border. >> trump's going to say what he's going to say. and yes, some is going to be exaggerated, some are not going to be true. but at the end of the day, i think you have to sift through all that. is he going to get things done? is he going get the country moving the right way? >> let go right in front of your eyes. just like that. >> austin jenkins voted for lower taxes and less regulation that would help his small businesses, including this cocktail bar and the greeley hatchet house. >> he seemed like the lesser of two evils, in my opinion. >> but jenkins finds the first month unsettling. not a fan of tariffs or executive orders by
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the dozens or musk popping from agency to agency. >> i thought they were supposed to be checks and balances somewhere. >> so where do i let go? >> shoulder height right in front of your eyes. so okay. >> plus, he sees fear in the latino community. wishes trump would find a more compassionate way to improve border security. >> i think there's a better way to go about it. i don't know if it's necessarily just force them out. >> trump, of course, won't be on the ballot next election, but this district will help decide whether republicans keep their tiny house majority. >> the cost of living is getting crazy here in colorado, and i hope that they would have some kind of an impact on helping that. >> the new republican congressman won by just 2000 votes. his 2026 reelection prospects will likely hinge on trump's performance. on whether swing voters here see the president as focused on the big issues. or veering too far off target. gaza john king, cnn, greeley, colorado.
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