is lashing out in europe, is rallying around ukraine. we have some new details on how the fallout from trump's fiery oval office meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is spreading across the globe. >> we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in the situation room. the kremlin is now celebrating friday's very contentious exchange of ukraine's leader in the oval office and revealing, and, i should say, reveling in the confusion and the worry that has caused a lot among the u.s. allies. >> yeah, there's a lot of concern among the u.s. allies. and today, moscow is saying that europe's emergency summit on ukraine was not aimed at achieving peace, and that the u.s. is now coming into alignment with russia. those u.s. allies will be anxiously tuning in tomorrow as president trump addresses a joint session of congress. cnn chief national

affairs correspondent jeff zeleny is at the white house. jeff, has there been any response to these new comments from the kremlin saying that the u.s. is now coming into alignment with them? >> pamela. >> not direct response, but that certainly is hanging over the entire new week here at the white house. the kremlin obviously was very pleased by what was happening on friday. you could see that happening in real time as the meeting. the proposed deal really blew up right in the oval office, which sent europe scrambling over the weekend, and the white house also scrambling to make clear that they are the ones who have the upper hand. but that is a central question here. this, uh, the idea of a deal being blown up, which was expected to be signed on friday over the rare earths minerals with ukraine, potentially leading to a peace process with that off the table. the european leaders met all weekend long, and the white house now is saying that they welcome europe's increased involvement in this. but the question that is unanswered this morning, and likely will be in the days ahead, is this going to

potentially extend the war in ukraine rather than retract it? is this going to give vladimir putin more leverage to fight longer? so the white house is not responding directly to what vladimir putin and the kremlin are saying? of course, they are very sensitive to the glee from the kremlin, because that simply opens the door to criticism that they are aligned with them. but the white house this morning certainly is welcoming a europeans leader's increased involvement in in peacekeeping moves in ukraine. >> pam and jeff, do you expect the president to address his evolving stance on ukraine during his joint session of congress tomorrow? >> he absolutely will. i mean, look, he was expecting and hoping to announce a deal. you'll remember he campaigned. he said he could end the ukraine war on the first day in office. of course, that was not achieved. but he was hoping to announce a deal. now, that obviously isn't going to happen, but he is likely to talk about ukraine, talk about america's strength, how ukraine

will not have a blank check going forward. but the central question is, pamela, how is the response from republicans going to be this is still very much a divided issue inside the party in terms of how much assistance and aid the u.s. should give to ukraine? we are seeing one of the biggest realignments in the world order in u.s. foreign policy in generations here. so the president, yes, will address this. but the question is, is this advancing the goal of reaching a peace deal? that is very much unclear. pam. >> all right. jeff zeleny, thank you so much, wolf. >> all right. thanks to both of you. i want to continue this conversation right now with cnn's chief international anchor, christiane amanpour. she's joining us live from london. christiane, how damaged is this relationship between the u.s. and ukraine? and does president trump have the will or the desire to repair it? what is your assessment? >> it's hard to tell. both sides have said when they're ready for peace, they should get back together. clearly, the europeans hope that ukraine and the united states repair the relationship. but, wolf, it goes way beyond u.s. and ukraine.

it's u.s. and the whole transatlantic alliance, essentially. the pieces are now being picked up by europe. you had the british prime minister here convene a very large number of european leaders, as well as president zelenskyy. this weekend. he did it yesterday here. president zelenskyy went to visit the king as well. he got a lot of support from everyone who he came in touch with. and keir starmer made it very clear that as soon as he saw the debacle unfold in the white house on friday night, he immediately called president trump. he called president zelenskyy, he called president trump again, and he is trying to be the bridge. the traditional position of the uk in the transatlantic alliance. but the reality is that the united states has stepped back, at least according to its own proclamations right now. the europeans are doing it all, i.e. trying to come up with a peace plan and putting and pledging a coalition of the willing to put boots on the ground should there

ever be a peace plan, and also to up spend money and finance to defend ukraine. so all of that is happening overnight, as it's perceived here, that the united states overnight has changed its alliances, essentially, and essentially coming this close to rupturing the transatlantic alliance and pivoting away from pax americana and towards russia. and as jeff just said, it was very notable what the kremlin spokesman said, that everything that the president trump is now saying, as he said, dmitry peskov aligns with our views. this is not a good thing for the kremlin to say about the united states. and, you know, we have a major realignment in u.s. foreign policy at the same time as there's a major war being fought in in europe right now. so it's a very critical moment, a starmer said. we are at a crossroads in history. >> and, christiane, as you know, some republican lawmakers here

in washington are suggesting that president zelenskyy should consider stepping down. do you believe this is what the white house wants? >> hard to tell. i mean, look, i'm telling you that the newly elected winner of the german elections, he's trying to put together the coalition. but friedrich merz a conservative, actually said today that he believes that it looked like a manufactured escalation, not a spontaneous exchange. there is such a view that this administration was trying to trip and trap zelenskyy. whatever you might think of zelenskyy's body language or his comportment that this was, you know, this was not the right way to go. and so what's happening is that they are trying to figure out how to how to recoup all this and whether they can go forward with any trust and credibility of the united states with them. and they're trying to figure out how to step into this, but they're doing it. and it's actually quite interesting to see in the white house, as predicted, did say that they are

pleased to see europe stepping up. it's what they said they wanted all along. but in ukraine, the ukrainians are supporting him. zelenskyy has said. i'm not going to step down. we don't have elections because nor did you in britain have elections during the war. it's impossible. but if i can be, you know, get ukraine into nato, which he said before, i'll step down, my job is done. the whole reason this thing went south on friday is because there was no security guarantees in that mineral deal. it wasn't a ceasefire deal. it was a transactional deal. a mercantile deal, you know, to to, you know, geological deal, if you like a business deal. it wasn't a ceasefire plan. and there were no security guarantees for any future cease fire or peace. so that's the crux of what's being figured out now here in europe. >> finally, christiane, before i let you go, a senior u.s. official now tells cnn that the u.s. has suspended offensive

cyber operations against russia. critics say this makes the u.s. more vulnerable to russian cyber attacks, which have not been suspended. what do you make of all of this? >> well, look, it's hard to understand why and in what direction. and why do that now, of course, there's plenty of commentary as to why the united states might be taking many of these moves right now, and many of these sort of what most people believe and well can see are, in fact, kremlin talking points. and again, nobody has tried to actually put a peace plan in front of putin. do we know what president trump says? we're quite far along talking to putin about peace. what are the details? because the kremlin has actually not said anything different or anything to suggest that they might want a good faith peace deal. um, one that's, you know, concessions on all sides and something that both sides can agree to. not at all. the kremlin still is standing publicly by its

maximalist demands. so not at all sure why this why this directive has come from the new defense secretary and what it's aimed for. but if it's trying to placate putin, most of those who understand putin says he only understands strength. that's all he understands, whether they're russians who worked with him, whether they're european leaders who've worked with him over the decades. that's all he understands. >> christiane amanpour. excellent analysis. thank you very, very much, pamela. >> and still ahead this hour, rfk jr. promised democrats that he would change his message about vaccination as health secretary. what he is saying this morning as a deadly measles outbreak spreads in texas. >> and that's so worrisome. and later, the former new york governor, andrew cuomo, says he's running for mayor of new york city. we'll ask the current governor, kathy hochul, if her former boss is ready for a political comeback. stay with us. you're in the situation room.

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>> and a doorbell camera captured flames erupting just outside myrtle beach. you see it light up the sky just feet from the front yard. officials say more than 5000 acres have been scorched so far. health and human services secretary robert f. kennedy jr. says the measles outbreak in texas is a call to action for everyone. in this new op-ed, he writes, vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons. >> but kennedy stopped short of actually saying people should get the vaccine, calling that a personal decision. the outbreak in west texas has now grown to almost 150 cases, and many of those cases involving unvaccinated children between the ages of five and 17 years old. >> doctor paul offit joins us now. he is the director of the vaccine education center at the children's hospital of philadelphia. he is also on the fda vaccine advisory committee. doctor, what do you think about

that statement? do you think it went far enough? >> well, i think it. >> was internally contradictory. >> so you're right. on the one hand, he talks about the importance of community immunity, recognizing that there are some people who can't be vaccinated because they're too young or because they have certain high risk medical conditions like cancer and a vaccine's not going to work in them. and then he turns around and says, but that's your decision. that's your personal decision about whether or not you want to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection in the midst of an epidemic that's already killed one child, the first child death in this country in more than 20 years. so that was upsetting. frankly. >> doctor offit, do you expect this outbreak that is so worrisome? do you expect it will likely slow down once it gets to communities where the vaccination rate is higher? >> sure. if if a community has a rate of vaccination at 95% or greater, i think it will slow down. this is a generally a

winter spring disease. so so usually it starts to fade away by may anyway. but if you have communities where vaccination rates are less than 95% and unfortunately that's a number of communities now it will continue to spread. and this is the most contagious, vaccine preventable. and frankly, infectious disease period, far more contagious than covid or influenza or rsv. >> we should reiterate, you are a member of the fda vaccine advisory committee. there is this meeting scheduled for later this month. what is the status of that meeting and what can we expect from it? >> canceled? i think with no plan of having it. my understanding is that the fda has decided that they don't want this external independent advisory committee, independent of the government, independent of the pharmaceutical company, to advise on the science behind a particular public policy recommendation. which is too bad, because it's a committee meeting that is open to the public. it's transparent. whereas when it goes sort of behind closed doors, the public doesn't get to see or listen to

the debates that surround various scientific policy decisions. >> so, doctor, what are the other potential consequences of not having that meeting? >> i think there's value in holding a policy, a science policy to to a rigorous standard. and and when we have our meetings, we often have vigorous debates. we don't always agree because because sometimes the science is imperfect. and i think it's important for the public to see that. now they don't get to see that not only at our committee, the fda vaccine advisory committee, but also the advisory committee for immunization practices, which advises the cdc that also had a meeting canceled in february. you worry. i mean, robert f kennedy jr.. talks endlessly about how we need transparency. and if anything, it seems like it's going in the other direction. we're putting things behind closed doors. >> all right. doctor paul offit, thank you so much. >> important discussion. still ahead, a woman who just lost her dream job as a yosemite park

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tonight to decide if they will accept or decline buyouts of up to $25,000. an email sent this morning says the offer is coming before a, quote, very significant reduction in headcount over the department of education. president trump has repeatedly vowed to abolish the entire department, and said he hopes linda mcmahon, his choice for education secretary, will, quote, put herself out of a job. >> well, shockwaves from the mass firings are being felt across the country, including at iconic national parks, where resistance rangers led protests over the weekend. joining us now is andrea townsend, who was fired from her position at yosemite national park. andrea, i'm so sorry that you're going through all of this. just walk us through what happened. >> thank you. >> i appreciate that. >> um, on. >> i'm sorry, february. >> 14th. >> i received. >> an email stating that. >> i would. be terminated from my position, effective

immediately. so, without warning, um, had. to pack up and leave my office by the end of that day. um, specifically, the the letter that i received stated that the department determined that i had failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment. >> and is there any truth to that? a lot of people we've spoken to said they had performance reviews and so forth that showed otherwise. >> elon musk. >> yeah, that's exactly right. i have multiple performance reviews. official performance reviews stating that i had exceeded the expectations that were outlined for my position. >> what was it like seeing these demonstrations across the country in support of you and your fellow workers? >> it was amazing. it was very inspiring, very empowering. i think that people across the country agree that our public lands are important, and the people who caretake those lands should be respected and treated with dignity. um, so i've been really inspired by the protests

that we've seen around the country, especially even here in yosemite. >> well, many of these parks were already short staffed. i'm sure you can speak to that. what are the biggest threats facing them following these cuts? what are your concerns? >> you know, i'm a wildlife biologist, so my concern first and foremost is for the resources that these lands conserve and protect. and, you know, these firings, we've seen losses of not just biologists but hydrologists and geologists and range specialists and foresters, you know, the folks that spend their lives working to protect these resources. and so my fear is that we're going to see degradation of those resources. and that's going to lead to a decrease in the visitor experience in these parks as well. >> how so? because a lot of families right now might be planning their summer vacation, might be wanting to visit yosemite. how do you think what has happened might impact their experience this time around than perhaps years past?

>> well, i think, you know, here in yosemite, we've lost custodians. we've lost our locksmiths. so i think there's going to be, you know, more trash. there's going to be more conflicts with wildlife that are, you know, coming closer to human waste. and there's going to be issues with, you know, locked doors. you know, the things that you don't normally pay attention to when you're here because you're able to just enjoy the beauty of the park are going to be more apparent because we don't have the staff to to keep things running as efficiently as we would like. >> what is your message for this administration? >> um, my message is that this is not something that the american people will stand for. this isn't a partisan issue. these are our public lands. this is our water. this is our. these are our forests. these are our rivers. these are our jobs. and we have rights. and we're not just going to take this lying down. >> andrea townsend, thank you so much for coming on. >> well, we wish you only the

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competitive on the global level. >> cnn correspondent brian todd is joining us right now. brian, i know you've been doing a lot of reporting on this. walk us through what this actually means, beyond the symbolism. >> well, a lot of it is symbolic, guys. and a lot of people are talking about this. but what you should know also is that already more than 30 states across the country have already designated english as their official language. now, according to donald trump's executive order. uh, this means that it will promote unity. it will promote a shared culture and also encourage new americans, newly arrived immigrants, to learn how to speak english. that's the rationale behind the trump executive order. but it also means that, uh, it also allows government agencies and other groups that receive federal funding to choose for themselves whether they offer spanish language translations for certain key instructions. um, so they'll be able to make that call on their own each agency. what that means is from possibly filing your taxes to applying for social security and disability and other benefits, you could lose translation on a

government website, possibly. again, it's going to be up to the agencies to decide that. so that's why a lot of people are talking about this, and that's why you're getting some pushback from some immigrants rights groups. >> just to be precise, if somebody wants to apply for a u.s. passport, a u.s. citizen who speaks spanish wants to apply for a u.s. passport, they won't get the instructions in spanish. >> it's possible that they won't. now, again, it's going to be up to each individual agency and what's really going to be interesting to see from now on is that which agencies are going to go along with this or which or which will keep offering, uh, instructions and other things in spanish and other languages. you've got a lot of immigrant groups pushing back on this. here's a quote from george carrillo, co-founder and ceo of the hispanic construction council. quote, and this is what he's talking about here. imagine families navigating health care or legal systems without materials in a language they understand. it is a barrier, not a bridge. and you've also got pushback from puerto rico, where 94% of the people there speak spanish. uh, pablo jose hernandez rivera, he's the resident commissioner

of puerto rico. he's also the non-voting member of the house from puerto rico. this is his quote, according to the new york times, this reflects a vision of american identity that conflicts with our puerto rican identity. um, so, again, pushback from immigrants rights groups to this. we really have to see how it's going to apply in reality, when people really want to apply for something and don't have a translation and then can't do it. another immigrants rights leader said, this is going to kind of take away our competitiveness with the rest of the world. so a lot of people talking about it. we really have to see what it means in reality. and this, of course, goes back to donald trump's been harping on this theme for years. this goes back to the 2016 presidential campaign where he i don't know if remember, he criticized jeb bush for answering some questions in spanish. he said, this is a country where we speak english, not spanish. it goes back that far. >> we remember that. so so there is that question. how much of this is symbolic? right? given what he has said and how much of this will have a direct impact on people's lives? and i guess what you're saying is we'll have to wait and see.

>> we do have to wait and see. a lot of people are saying this is mostly symbolic and trump playing to his base, which of course he is. there are also people who believe this is. discouraging immigration and, you know, preventing people from getting basic services and needs that they need to apply for. um, but, you know, the reality is going to really play out when someone like you mentioned, wolf applies for a passport, applies for social security, and cannot read english and, and has to have some other help in translating it into spanish or another language. that's where you're going to probably see a lot of people either not applying for those benefits, not getting them, and that could be a potential problem. >> all right, brian todd, thank you so much for all your reporting. welcome to the new situation. >> it's great to be here. >> he's a regular in the issues. >> he's been here from the from day one. >> 20 years. 20 years. all right. thanks very much, brian. appreciate it. there's more breaking news coming into the situation room right now in illinois. a man is pleading guilty in the 2022 shooting at a july 4th parade in highland

park, illinois. that's just outside of chicago. seven people were killed and dozens were injured. let's go live to cnn law enforcement correspondent whitney wild whitney. first of all, what are you learning about this plea deal? >> we're still working. through what the. >> conditions of the plea deal. >> are, wolf. >> what we know is. >> that he's pleaded guilty to murder. and attempted murder. he was facing. >> a long list of charges. >> 21 counts of first degree murder. >> three counts for. >> each person killed, as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. prosecutors had previously dropped the 48 counts of aggravated battery. so slimmed down just slightly, wolf. but what today we know is that he pleaded guilty again to murder and attempted murder. this is a really important moment, wolf, not just because it is the end of a horrific chapter for these families who have had to live through this every day for the last three years, but also because it's a really abrupt moment in the court. there has been quite a bit of back and forth here,

wolf, over what crimos fate would be. what we know is that before he had pleaded not guilty, then he indicated he was willing to take a plea deal and then abruptly changed his mind at the surprise of even his own attorneys. the this last trial, this final trial was set to begin today. there had already been jury selection. this trial was supposed to begin with opening statements, but moments before that happened, wolf robert crimo the third pleaded guilty. again, we are still working through the conditions of that plea deal. but again, this is the end of a just, gut wrenching chapter that these families were going to have to live through, wolf, because this trial was expected to last about a month. the 48 survivors were all expected to testify. prosecutors had also told the court they intended to bring forward thousands of pages of evidence, and a video in which they claim the shooter confessed. again, moments before that was all set to begin. he pleaded guilty. sentencing is set for later in april. wolf.

>> whitney wild reporting for us. whitney, thank you very much. pam, this story was very personal for me. i've got very close family living in highland park. >> oh, wow. i didn't realize. >> they were okay. >> yeah. >> but it's still very personal and personal for a lot of those families directly impacted. still ahead. right here on the situation room. as the department of government officially threatens to lay off thousands more federal workers, the governor of new york has a new message. you're hired. we'll speak live with governor kathy hochul ahead.

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inherited your ears, allergies and questionable singing voice. don't make them inherit your final expense tab to. >> the presidential address to congress tomorrow at eight on cnn. >> former new york governor andrew cuomo is now plotting a major political comeback, announcing over the weekend his candidacy for mayor of new york city. cuomo resigned from office back in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal. he denies all those allegations. joining us now is new york's current governor, kathy hochul. she served as lieutenant governor during the cuomo administration. governor hochul, thanks so much for joining us. when cuomo stepped down back in 2021, you called his behavior. and i'm quoting you now repulsive. do you think he is fit to serve as

new york's mayor? >> first of all. >> wolf, congratulations on the new show. delighted to be on your first episode. also, here's what i want to tell you about the mayor's race. and this is going to you're going to hear today all the way up until the election's over for the primary in june. i will work with whomever the really smart voters of new york city decide they want to be their mayor. that is not up for me to decide. i don't even vote in the city. but i will say also, i will support people ultimately after they're elected who support my agenda of increasing public safety, dealing with the homelessness crisis, people with mental health problems, closing down illegal cannabis shops, making our streets safer. so i'm looking forward to working with whomever wants to partner with me to lift this city up. but in the meantime, i'm not focused on the politics. i have a state to run. i've got multiple crises, many of them emanating from washington. i was with children yesterday who are severely ill, who are parents, are parents, are terrified of losing medicaid. so i will say this will all work itself out.

but i'm focused on governing the state of new york, nothing else. >> the governor of new york, as you well know, and the mayor of new york city have to work together very, very closely. if cuomo wins that race and becomes the next mayor of new york, would you be able to work with him despite some of that history? >> it's up to the voters, wolf. i'm not injecting my voice into this election. there's a lot of people that have put their names forward. i admire anybody who wants to run for office. i'm in my 16th election. i know how challenging it is, but i want people who put the city first, who understand that i have done more to help this city than anybody in a long time investing money. i'm literally paying for overtime for our police officers, nypd to be on the subways and guess what? subway crimes are way down. i'm working on getting more homeless off the streets, building more housing. no one has ever taken this on the way. i have to reduce the cost of living here in this great city. so my agenda is broad based. it's very supportive of the city. i had to

work with bill de blasio as mayor. i work with eric adams for the last number of years. and whatever the voters decide, i will respect that. >> you know, governor, i want to turn now to president trump's sweeping efforts right now to slash the entire federal government. do you host a roundtable this morning with workers hit by those federal job cuts? what kind of impact is this having in my home state of new york? >> it is absolutely devastating. you know, some people are on the verge of tears. i gathered about ten people who unceremoniously were dumped, some of them on valentine's day, people that were working to fight consumer fraud, making sure that the huge corporations that are trying to evade taxes have to pay people to take care of our veterans, people who are making us safe. all of them were just dumped. and i know that trump musk administration doesn't have regard for them. they think they're disposable, that they make no contributions. but guess

what? these are people who keep our skies safe. they're the ones who are researching, making sure we can have cures for our kids so our kids don't get sick taking care of vaccinations. countless ways that these are highly valuable people. but in new york, we're saying you get fired by them. in new york, you're fired. and just literally today, you'll start seeing in washington at union station, you'll see ads that show basically this message that you want a job in public service. we respect you. we want you to stay. and so here it is. we want you to come back and work for us. i will hire you, i need you. we have 7000 openings in the state of new york, and we value public service. public servants take care of our people. that's what it's all about. so come on, on board. we'll hire you. >> on another very sensitive issue. governor, i want to get your thoughts. president trump is now pushing ahead with plans to slap 25% tariffs on canada and mexico starting tomorrow. canada, of course, borders new york state. you and i grew up in

western new york, right on the border with canada. how is this going to affect new york state, which has such close economic ties with canada, especially? ontario? >> it will be devastating. you know, the synergy to us in western new york, it's not another country. it's just our neighbors across the bridge. and the jobs, the people go get their education back and forth, the the close connections, but also the businesses that thrive in new york and in canada because we have one. they're our largest trading partner, $5 billion worth of trade across our borders every single year. that's going to affect the cost of steel and aluminum as we're trying to build up. we're building micron, the largest semiconductor manufacturing plant going on right now, the largest investment in history going on in syracuse, new york. i have to keep that going. and for our businesses to think that some of their commodities, their products are now going to cost 25% more, how is that about reducing people's costs? we were promised lower prices on day

one, inauguration day. not only is everything going to go up, even eggs. eggs now cost $11 in new york city, up 20% from what they've been on inauguration day. so this is not the trend. this is not what we were promised. and i encourage the administration to look closely at how they can keep the promise of reducing the cost of living for every american, but particularly people who are hard hit here in new york. >> yeah, very hard hit indeed. governor, the trump administration has already delayed the implementation of these tariffs before. do you foresee that happening again? >> i hope so. i hope they understand that what is a good sound bite is not going to help in reality, especially the businesses and the people who voted for you. these are people in the north country of new york. it is a predominantly, predominantly red area. they voted for you, mr. president. and now their jobs in manufacturing are on the line. and i'd be terrified to know that the damage that could happen is people losing their

jobs in new york and all across america. we can't let that happen. so continue to delay. let's work this out. let's find a solution. but let's not drive up the cost on people all across this country. that's the last thing we need right now. >> the president has repeatedly tied his proposal for a lot of tariffs to the flow of drugs crossing the border, including the canadian border, into the united states. are you seeing evidence of significant drug trafficking from new york's border with canada? >> there was a time when there was a spike, but i have deplored more people on the border. the canadians are working closely with us, the border patrol. it is a fraction of what is being talked about. it is a problem. of course, we don't want a single drug to come across the border, but it does not justify the cataclysmic impact that tariffs will have on the state of new york. so we can solve the problem at the border. we don't want drugs coming over. we don't want gangs coming. we don't want human traffickers coming over. we get that. we'll

work with you. we'll work with the federal administration on this. but this is such an extreme remedy that is going to have a ripple effect across our entire economy, and especially in a place like this state. >> new york governor kathy hochul, as usual, thank you very, very much. appreciate it. we'll continue this conversation down the road. >> sounds good. thanks, wolf. >> and before we go, i think you want to share something with our viewers. >> that's right. we had well beyond the fact that this is the first debut of the situation room with both of us, which is a true honor for me. i appeared on the late show with stephen colbert last week. it was such a surreal experience. it meant a lot to me. it was so much fun and, you know, it was my mom's favorite show. she just loved it. she'd watch it every night. she passed away in 2020, so it was especially special for me. i want to play a moment, wolf, where he asked me about when you and i first met. >> now.

>> do you remember. >> the first time you met wolf? >> i do, i was a little kid, and i met him in atlanta, georgia. and i remember my parents saying, you're about to meet wolf blitzer. this is a really big deal. and i just was like, his name was wolf. and then they introduced me to him, and he had this big white beard. and i literally was like, is he, like, part wolf or something? you know, like as a little kid, your imagination runs wild. he was this mythical creature to me. and then i watched him on cnn and i was like, oh, my god, i want to do that one day. that looks like the coolest job ever. and he said, really? you knew that? >> do you still think it's the coolest? >> i still. >> think it's the coolest job ever, and i can't believe i'm actually doing it with you, which is completely surreal that at that age, you know, i looked up, i remember watching you, um, covering the war and then being in the situation room, and so it's really cool. i told him, i said i wanted to be start off, i want to be a detective, an archeologist. and then i saw you doing this and i thought, hey, i could do that. you know, all three jobs require being a digger. so i thought i could do

that. >> and i know when i saw you on stephen colbert's show, i was thinking of the first time i was on a late night show. that was after the first gulf war, a long, long time ago. i don't even know if you were born yet. >> we have it right here. >> look. there's wolf on the tonight show with johnny carson, and he said really nice things about me, and i loved it. and i'm sure you loved being with stephen colbert. >> it was. it was an honor. and you told me that you realized when you were on johnny carson's show. hey, hey, maybe i made it. >> maybe i become famous as a. result of the first gulf war. that was my initial thought. that, wow, i could a kid from buffalo, new york, all of a sudden. all on the tonight show with johnny. >> and i felt that way. a kid from kentucky, you know, i was just a girl. i'm a girl from kentucky ending up, you know, being here with you. and then on on stephen colbert's show. it was really cool. you know, we talked about the press as well. freedom of the press. what's happening with the white house. and it was just a really important discussion. you're talking about the importance of our job right now to hold power to account and to ask the tough

questions of people in power and to aggressively cover the white house without fear or favor. >> and we always are worried right now, especially now, about some problems involving the freedom of the press. it's so, so important for the american people. >> well, we're going to continue to cover it here on the situation room. nothing will deter us. right, wolf? >> we're together. >> we are together. >> we're a team. going back to atlanta when we were there for the buffalo bills, dallas cowboys super bowl, tom johnson, who was then the president of cnn, a good friend of your family, a friend of mine invited us to come to the super bowl. unfortunately, the first half was okay. the second half terrible. >> i don't remember that part, but i can just confirm to our viewers you were not part wolf. you are fully human. >> i look. >> partly that. well. >> no. >> but no. >> it's very fun here. >> yeah. we thank you all for joining us. >> and to our viewers, thanks very much. you can keep up with us on social media at wolf blitzer and at pamela brown cnn. will be back here tomorrow and every weekday morning for our

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