serious snow, but wowee, that's my mother. >> we're talking fire and ice. basically, for both of these areas. yes. so behind me you. >> can. >> see this video. now this. >> is from. >> two days ago. this was from near san antonio, texas. the fires that they had, it's going to feel like deja vu all over again for some of these areas in texas, because we have another threat coming back in for this same area just a few days later in portions of new mexico, portions of texas, and even the panhandle of oklahoma. now we're also seeing, finally, that system that you saw the snow with that is finally going to exit the region. the only thing we're really going to see kind of linger is going to be a lot of these gusty winds. you can see portions of the northeast stretching down through the southern appalachians. you're still looking at those wind gusts up around 60mph. also winds going to be very gusty. we're talking about the potential for fire. so new mexico, arizona, portions of texas and oklahoma same thing. some of these areas could see those winds up around 40 to 60mph. when you take that,

combined with the very dry conditions, yes, you are looking at the high potential here for some wildfires. again, most of this stretches from southern colorado all the way down to the texas-mexico border. those wind gusts, the dry air and also including portions of that ongoing drought for much of this area. >> thank you for tracking it all. allison chinchar a new hour of cnn news central starts right now. >> breaking this morning, president trump planning to sign an order as soon as today to dismantle the department of education. more breaking news. an economic stunner. a new report that u.s. employers cut more jobs last month than any february since 2009. and then a dramatic rescue caught on camera a car in flames on the side of the road before an officer springs into action. i'm john berman with sara sidner and kate bolduan. this is cnn news central.

>> breaking this morning we are learning today is likely the day president trump signs away. the department of education. sources say he is preparing to sign an executive order that will direct new education secretary linda mcmahon to eliminate the agency. but hold that thought, because senate democrats would have to be on board and they are not. but deep staffing and program cuts will likely continue. all of this amid new details on a behind the scenes, closed door pressure campaign playing out on capitol hill as republicans look for control over billionaire elon musk's firing decisions. just moments ago. stunning new data out on doj's effect that finds u.s. employers cut more jobs last month than february. since 2009. cnn senior political analyst mark preston with me now we will get to musk in just a

moment. but first, your reaction this morning to this new order against the department of education. now, to be fair, trump has been promising this for a long time. it is also one of the key objectives of project 2025. what's your read? >> well. >> i mean, no doubt in you're absolutely right. he has been. saying this for years now. >> he said it in. >> the first administration his first time around. and this is something that republicans have been talking about since it was first created back in 1979. they didn't like the idea of the federal government having any role in state education. you are right, though, just because donald trump says that he is going to have an executive order signed to eliminate it doesn't mean that it is gone. poof, it goes away. the reality is, is that it houses two major funding programs. one of those has to do with disabilities to help local schools with funding to help children with disabilities. and of course, the other one is title one funding. now those are

funded by congress. they were done differently than the department of education. but you are absolutely right. donald trump is going to be able to go into the department of education, and he will be able to get a lot of those programs. >> i mean, he can he can essentially gut it and make it not function without completely closing it and getting that permission. we will see what happens and what that does to the teachers and the principals, and of course, the students and parents that have to deal with all of this in the end. all right. let's go on to elon musk. he was on the hill yesterday having a private meeting with republicans who are facing backlash and town halls over some of his cuts. what do you make of this emerging relationship? is there one. >> well, first of all, elon musk, i was surprised that he was so quote, unquote deferential to house republicans and senators yesterday when we went up on capitol hill. the reality is that congress hasn't had any role in this doge process. and we now hear the house speaker, the republican house speaker, saying that he's now going to be in touch with

elon musk. but the reality is, again, and i'm going to keep on saying reality is that house members are going to have to go home to their constituents. and we have seen this so far already, and they're going to have to answer for the actions of donald trump and elon musk, who's not on the on up for election in 2022. elon musk and donald trump. that's why you're going to see some pushback from these republicans. >> i love it when you bring reality to us at 8:03 a.m. it really is great. have plenty of coffee. when mark preston is here, you got to be ready for him. thank you. mark, i really appreciate you, kate. >> all right. joining us right now to talk more about this is democratic congresswoman madeleine dean from pennsylvania. it's good to see you again. congresswoman. thanks for coming in. there's a few headlines that are coming through this morning. i wanted to get your take on first, what we're hearing that president trump could sign an executive order today, that as they were just discussing to officially dismantle the department of education, it's something that

they've been teasing for a while. do you think this will happen? this is going to happen. what can congress do to stop it? if congress can kate, i. >> have real sympathy. >> for you. >> and your reporting. >> because it is. >> also what i. struggle with. the outrage. >> of the day. there are so many issues i want to talk to you about, but it is pathetic. and ironic that we start the day with the threat to cut to close down the department of education, but it is no surprise i'm a former educator. i'm a former teacher. what you do want is an educated electorate, but not if you're donald trump and his cult like members. they want citizens who are not educated. take a look at project 2025, page 319. the chapter on education. this is what the first sentence says. shut it down. eliminate the department of education. i'm a mom and a grandmom. we don't want to eliminate the department of education of education. we want

our children educated so that they can grow up and be whatever they want to be. but donald trump doesn't want that. will he do it? sure, he'll do it. will it stick? no. he's so erratic. he's so unreliable. this is an incompetent administration that is making life very difficult for my constituents. >> let's see what next moves happen and what, as we have seen, legal challenges may come from it. another headline that just came through, and this has to do with you have been outspoken in criticizing the doge moves, and we're seeing evidence of the impact of it in a new way this morning. new data analysis just came out that says u.s. employers cut more jobs last month than any february since 2009, the largest share of job cut announcements coming in the government sector. your reaction. >> and what a sad tally that is for the united states economy. and this is allegedly a

president who wants to grow jobs. what we saw in the last administration under joe biden was month after month after month of job growth. my constituents are calling me. my constituents are calling to say they've lost their jobs, talented career people who worked for the federal government, whether it's the va, usaid, department of education, other places they're calling me. so this president is doing everything, as i said, so erratically and incompetently. and the jobs report is a reflection of that. take a look at what the wall street journal did in terms of the erratic nature of the tariffs. of course, employers are going to be losing jobs and laying off workers. they can't predict supply chains, they can't predict the cost of goods that they will bring into this country. so, sadly, as the wall street journal said, this is sort of the dumbest tariff policy that they have seen. this is an economy that was robust

and growing. inflation was coming down. that's not going to happen with this president and where he's headed. >> and more word today from an internal memo that the department of the va is looking to cut maybe more than 70,000 positions, taking it back to 2019 levels. so it does keep coming. i want to ask you also about an effort that you have been spearheading in congress. you are a co-sponsor of the house bill, the house version of the take it down act, which is something that the first lady, melania trump, has come forward and is now championing. championing. it's an effort to combat deepfake revenge porn. it is something that the president highlighted this effort during his address tuesday. how closely are you working with the first lady on this? >> well, i was delighted that when she came to capitol hill, she touted our bill, a bill. i introduced a couple of sessions ago to protect young women and girls. but anybody actually

against a.i. generated images, sextortion and the terrible kinds of revenge porn. so i'm delighted to have the first lady on my side for take it down. i think we will get it passed because i think there's a real recognition. and when i heard the first lady actually speak about our bill, i asked my team, let's try after a note and say, we're happy to work with you. i want to do things that work for the american people, but take a look at and i have to go back and take a look at what happened only ten days ago. i'm thinking about the third anniversary of the invasion of ukraine. we're no longer talking about the fact that the united states in the un disgracefully voted against ukraine. we're not talking about the fact that we in congress passed $183 billion worth of aid. and what did this president do? he has blocked the last $100 billion. he's blocking the sharing of intelligence for a country at war in europe. we're

not talking about the disgraceful behavior in the oval office. on february the 28th, not ago, where our global standing was just so diminished by the two bit bullying of a vice president and a president. it's so sad that we are in such erratic, chaotic times as a result of this president. and please pay attention to the republicans who in a cult like way, cheered him on with his lie after lie after lie with the state of the union or the joint address. as i say, i have some sympathy for you. i imagine you have some sympathy for me. we are chasing the chaos, the incompetence, the compromise. when you've got elon musk, who has $38 billion worth of contracts with the united states, going in and tampering with our information. >> one good thing i know is cnn has a lot of people working on it all the time to cover it all, and we are proud to cover all

the news coming from all of it. so, congresswoman, thank you for very much. thank you very much for coming on. john. >> all right. this morning, in a major new ruling, an appeals court allows president trump to remove the head of a federal watchdog agency. for now. breaking this morning, you heard kate mention it. recession level layoffs in the country that we haven't seen since 2009. details from a surprising new jobs cut report and a three inch long flaming hot cheeto has sold for almost $90,000. if you want to know what separates us from the animals, it's this. >> speak now. >> or forever. >> hold your peace. >> only took for our cough liquid. unlike robitussin dm liquid dm liquid delsym 12 hour liquid offers 12 hours of cough relief all day or night. delsym

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>> you'll love. >> find us in store and online. >> a new development in the legal challenges over one of president trump's key firings. a federal appeals court now allowing the president to go ahead and fire the head of the special counsel. for now, the independent watchdog agency

investigates whistleblower complaints and protects government employees from mistreatment and retaliation. cnn's katelyn polantz is joining us now. give us some sense of what the judge said, and then what happens after this? >> well, sara. >> this. >> is a procedural. order from the. >> d.c. circuit. and just a reminder. >> we're talking. >> about a guy named. >> hampton dellinger. >> the. >> special counsel. he's not jack smith. he's not. robert mueller, he's not john durham. he's a different kind of special counsel. he's a person that investigates. complaints from the federal civil service. and then argues on their behalf if he thinks they should be reinstated. so he's the guy that's really at the center of a lot of these fights over donald trump and his power to fire people in the executive branch. not only is he the person that's arguing for, say, 6000 probationary workers at the department of agriculture to get reinstated, which is something that he successfully argued yesterday, at least temporarily, for them to go back to their

jobs. he is also at the center of trump wanting to be able to fire people. right? trump wants to remove dellinger from his job. a lower court reinstated him temporarily. now it's at an appeals court. they said, no, actually, we can let him stay. sit out for now. we're going to look at this into the spring. they're going to hear legal arguments, at least on paper, into april. they'll probably try and take up this case pretty fast, but this is an issue going straight to the supreme court. ultimately, the justice department has made very clear that's what they want to happen here, ultimately. and there's going to be a lot of court proceedings before we actually see whether or not hampton dellinger gets to stay in that job. >> yeah. caitlin, also, i want to get to this. a recent court filing, shedding some light on the chaos inside the cfpb after employees were ordered to stand down on their work that happened last month. what is the ripple effect of this? >> yeah, sarah, we're now starting to see evidence in these cases where people are suing against the trump

administration, saying you can't shut down agencies, you can't have all of these people fired. and in the consumer financial protection bureau, sara, there was a series of internal emails that were posted in court yesterday showing just how chaotic it is in an agency like that. when you fire everybody or try and fire most people at the cfpb. right now, a judge has paused a lot of the dismantling of that agency. but just this week, one of the internal emails from a person who directs research there, a man named jason brown, he wrote two others at the cfpb. i know that as we are resuming our work, we are confronting a few challenges. the firing of much of our staff impacts our ability to complete assignments as planned. he then went on on that email to say, if you can take on other jobs, if you're still working, that would be helpful. also, we have a lot of issues with it right now, but there aren't i.t. people because they lost their jobs. so we're trying

to figure out what to do there as well. quite a mess, sarah. >> very messy. but you know what's not messy? those snazzy glasses you got on today. i love them. very nice thanks. all right. thank you. caitlin. kate. >> snazzy. not used enough. coming up for us, a u.s. customs and border protection surveillance blimp at the southern border. it gets caught in big winds, sending it some 600 miles off course. and actor steve carell with a surprise for high schoolers recovering in the aftermath of the california wildfires. >> gum problems. >> could be the. >> start of a domino. >> effect. >> periodontics. >> active gum repair, breath freshener clinically proven to help reverse the four signs of early gum disease, a toothpaste from periodontics, the gum experts. >> jordan saw nose let. >> out a. >> fiery sneeze.

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>> pond hockey. tell us your story erin burnett. out front tonight at seven on cnn. >> when the new headlines this morning, u.s. employers cut more jobs last month than any february since 2009. the largest share of job cuts cut announcements coming in the government sector, which is where, of course, doge has been bringing about mass firings by the company. challengers count there were more than 62,000 announced cuts across 17 federal agencies, and in all, the analysis showed job cuts across sectors, across sectors of more than 172,000. cnn's harry enten joins me now to talk more about how people are feeling about when we're talking about the cuts that doge is bringing about. how are they feeling about it? >> yeah, this, to me was one of the more shocking figures that i saw. made me go, wait a minute, hold on one second. whoa! americans on trump and joe's

efforts. elon musk and doge doge should influence government spending and operations. look at this. 54%. the majority say that he and they should. how about approve of trump trying to cut staff at government agencies? again, you get a majority here 51%. so yeah. elon musk might not be that popular, but these cuts and the idea of spending cuts, at least within the federal government and cutting at government agencies, that actually has majority support. i was truly surprised by this, kate. but the numbers are the numbers. >> well, there is there is a view that cuts across democrat and republican of people thinking that washington is too big, bloated federal government waste, fraud and abuse. i mean, those are drain. the swamp is what people run on over and over again. how do they feel? what do they think they're actually cutting? >> yeah. what do they think they're actually cutting? democrats want to argue that the type of spending that musk is cutting is mainly necessary programs, but that comes in at just 36%. the wasteful spending actually wins the plurality here at 42%, according to a recent washington post ipsos poll. and i think that is the reason why you see that when it comes to

dusk and moses musk and doge, you see, in fact, the majority believe he should have some influence because they believe the plurality believe that he is cutting wasteful spending, not necessarily programs that democrats are arguing. >> tomato. tomato. i do like dusk and mosh, though. i think i think we need to keep that around, but the definition of wasteful is, i think what is really starting to come into play. correct. what people necessary to one is wasteful to another. we are seeing that and finding that how are americans feeling about the size of the government? >> yeah. so what is exactly going on here? what is sort of driving these numbers underneath? government is doing too much or too little. back in 2020, when trump lost reelection, 54% said too little. by the time he won reelection in 2024. look at that. too much won the majority at 55%. it was the inverse. so i think there's this real push from the american public to want spending at the u.s. government to drop. and i think that's part of the reason why they're giving musk and doge that majority, at least at this point, when it comes to his influence over federal government. >> they're giving him running room on this. but that's where

that's why i think these numbers show why transparency and what is actually being done, and why the problems of they've made mistakes in putting things up on their wall of receipts that didn't actually happen or not. why that is so important and critical. >> i think that's exactly right. we'll have to wait and see what happens. what's popular one moment may not be the next. we'll see. >> could change quickly. good to see you, harry. thank you. john. >> by the way, dusk and mosh is my favorite new, new clothes. >> that stick and hand to song skin. >> doge, my dear friend, back to you at the desk. yeah. >> thank you very much. harry enten winning a grammy near you. all right. a little more on the breaking news this morning on this really stunning jobs report. u.s. employers cut more jobs last month than any february since 2009. it's a recession level spike in layoffs. this report comes from challenger, gray and christmas. they say it is the 12th highest monthly total in the 32 years the challenger has been tracking job cuts. the 11 others and four of them came during the pandemic, all occurred when the

u.s. was in recession. with us now, bakari sellers, political commentator, and matt mowers, he is a former trump administration official and president of valcour global public strategy. and friends, i want to put up stock futures because the markets did not like this report, reacted very sharply. we can see, i think hopefully soon. there we go. wild swings downward. the dow, the nasdaq, the s&p all down more than 1%. they were up a little bit yesterday on the whole tariff back and forth. but for the week bakari they are way down. and i just want your view on what the economic environment is and the political implications that might have. >> i mean, i think. >> that the word of the day. >> has to be uncertainty, john. i mean, the economic. >> future of this. >> country is. >> deemed to be uncertain. >> when you look at. >> these numbers, there's no economic indicator that shows that we are actually in the midst of a healthy or growing economy. whether or not you're

looking at job numbers, whether or not you're looking at wage numbers, whether or not you're looking at the stock market, there is nothing this president or elon musk or the house or senate have done which actually show that economically we're on solid footing. i mean, and that's just a fact. regardless of who comes on here, what panelist comes on here, what member of congress comes on here? they can't point to one economic indicator that says that this economy is growing or going in the right direction. and again, this is what voters voted for. they voted for this level of uncertainty. and this is what we have. >> matt, to an extent, the administration is leaning into policies that could potentially exacerbate some of the numbers you are seeing now. how do you feel about that? >> well, look, you just. >> peel through. >> that report you just talked about. i think when you actually break it down and you tell the american people that nearly 40% of. >> the.

>> jobs came from government. >> jobs. >> taxpayer funded jobs that are now being eliminated. most americans, i understand. >> in. >> washington, d.c. and some places that are going to be more impacted, that. >> it's going. >> to be a slightly. >> different political calculation. but most americans across the country are going to say, it's about time. i mean, look, you've had an ever growth in the expansion of the federal government. you know, they say it's been the most since 2008. what happened in 2008? barack obama gets elected president, oversees one of the largest expansions of the federal government in recent american history. it actually kind of stayed flat under donald trump. plus, we then had covid. you saw an additional expansion under joe biden. so of course you're going to see a reduction right now when you're actually finally saying, we're going to cut the size of government. and look, there's been a, you know, unholy alliance between big government and big corporations for a long time. sometimes corporations are trying to follow where the government is going. they're trying to read the trend. and so that's part of the reason why you're probably going to see a little bit of an outcry, even from corporate america, because they're dependent on big government often. and that's the system that donald trump was elected to change. i mean, you look at the polling that harriet talked about, the american people are

with them on this. as long as the president is out there explaining it, they're going to give him a long leash to do exactly what they elected him to do, which is to turn upside down the system. >> no. and harry's numbers were telling, although they were before this report. and just to be clear, this report says that many of these jobs cuts are, in fact from the government, but a lot are due to fear of trade wars, which aren't government jobs, fear of bank bankruptcies, actual bankruptcies. that's not anything to do with the government jobs cuts and also otherwise throughout retail, big jobs cuts. there. bakari, i do want to ask you, because matt brought up sort of the feeling about elon musk and what he's doing. the republicans have told their members, according to the new york times and others, to stop holding public town halls because of the feedback they're getting. this is from the times representative richard hudson of north carolina, the chairman of the house republicans campaign arm, issued a stark message to the gop rank and file stop having in-person town halls with your constituents. the directive, relayed to lawmakers

during their private weekly meeting in the basement of the capitol, comes as the republican town halls have devolved into angry shouting matches across the country. your view? >> yeah. representative hudson is a coward, and i think that members who don't go out and meet with their constituents are displaying cowardice. and the fact is, look, this is what happens when you advocate your duty and your responsibility. i think that republicans who got elected to the house and senate majorities are now sitting on their hands and doing absolutely nothing and allowing doge and the elon musk and his band of 25 year olds run roughshod throughout the united states government. and it's just ironic to sit back and watch, because if we wanted to have, matt and i could actually go in a room and have a conversation about what precise cuts we should make to government so that it actually moves more efficiently. what they're doing now, americans are not going to be pleased when the when farmers have to go to the usda office and realize that the line is wrapped around the

building because of asinine cuts, they're not going to like when they go to their federal social security building and realize that their checks are like people are looking for their tax returns, but they're firing irs agents. americans are not going to like this. but hell, congress isn't doing the job, so who cares? >> matt, it is interesting because elon musk did meet with house and senate republicans yesterday, and our reporting is he was told by republicans, hey, you know, we kind of need a say in this rand paul told him, if you want these cuts to be permanent, we have to vote on this. what are you hearing from republican elected republicans, matt, about how much involvement they want? >> well, the truth is, they'd love to have a lot of involvement. but the problem is they hadn't acted for years. right. in their own base. republican party's base has said they want to see a decrease in the size of government. i saw it, you know, when i was in the first trump administration, we proposed our budget reduction for our own office. congress ended up giving more money than they did the year before because

they're so reactive to those political pressures. and i think what you're going to see, though, and the reason why president trump and elon musk and others are doing this the way they are is because if you do it piecemeal, if you go out and you have a study and come out with your findings and you try to recommend these things, you're going to see so much pushback from whether it's public sector unions, whether it's the actual bureaucracy, what have you. the next thing you know, four years is up and you've made no progress. and then what was the point? they know they have to act quickly in order to try to enact some of the changes that americans clearly are desperate to see right now. and i think congress is going to go along with it at the end of the day. and not only that, they will probably make a lot of those cuts permanent in a serious way that they haven't done before. >> well, we'll see. and again, right now, this morning, there is serious pushback from the stock market. stock futures very much down. investors very concerned with what they are seeing in this economy. matt mowers bakari sellers, thanks to both of you, sarah. >> all right. this morning, after all the bad stuff you see in here, we're giving you a break. here's the good stuff.

students at several high schools in pasadena, california, that just experienced devastating fires and school closures just got a huge present. a reason to dance. >> attention. attention, all seniors. this is steve carell. alyssa's kids wanted me to let you know that they will be paying for all of your prom tickets. gregory guillot. oh one. enjoy the prom. and remember. >> this. >> is steve carell. >> steve carell did that without cracking a smile in his traditional way. all right, tickets to prom typically cost around 100 to $150 apiece, but this year, it's free. many of these families suffered through those los angeles wildfires. the charity alyssa's kids will

donate $175,000 for more than 800 students to go to prom for free. sounds fantabulous. kate. >> fantabulous is right. so is steve carell. fantastic. the impact of tariffs on your groceries. taking a look at that as items are already getting more expensive. and elon musk suggests that donald trump should pardon the ex-police officer convicted of murdering george floyd, the man who led the prosecution against derek chauvin, minnesota's attorney general is our guest. >> on the good stuff brought to you by viking exploring the world in comfort. when it really. >> philosophize about it, there. >> is one thing you don't have. >> enough of. >> and that's time. time is a truly scarce commodity. when you come to that realization, i think it's very important to

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all day or night. delsym cough. crisis averted. >> are you having any fun? what are you getting out of living? who cares for what you've got? if you're not having any fun, have a little fun. >> as the trump administration. elon musk and the doge team look to overhaul the government through spending freezes and mass firings, four attorneys general are using their platforms to let voters voice how they feel about those moves. democratic ags from minnesota, new mexico, oregon and arizona are holding a series of town halls. the inaugural event was last night in phoenix and fired federal workers, shared stories of how their lives have been forever changed. >> i was heartbroken to receive an email on monday, february 24th that said i was terminated immediately. that meant that not only could veterans no longer access the services i provided, but i could not follow my own

code of ethics. providing termination services to the veterans. >> minnesota attorney general keith ellison is joining me now. he was part of this town hall. thank you so much for being here this morning. let me first ask you, what do you and your fellow attorneys general plan to do when it comes to those people who are suffering from from being fired? many say they're being fired unjustly well. >> we're gathering information which. >> very well could form the basis of a lawsuit to defend their employment rights. so much of what the trump administration has been doing is illegal. that's why in the some seven lawsuits we have filed, we have been successful in all of them so far. >> you know, a lot of the republican base and republicans in general talk about states rights. do you think that donald trump is trying to crush states rights? >> donald trump has no regards

for states rights. he has no regard for the rights of anyone who doesn't do exactly what he says. and that is exactly why we have to stand up at this moment. our country is based on the rule of law. we have a country based on a constitution, and i will admit, as a person who has seen a lot of things, i'm shocked at the absolute blatant disregard this president has for the law. and so we're going to continue to stand up for the rights of our states. states have the right to make laws that fit the needs of the people of that state. and that's just what we're going to continue to do. but i want to tell you, we don't wake up in the morning looking to sue donald trump. we sue donald trump when donald trump violates the law, which is quite frequently. >> because you are the minnesota attorney general and were well versed and took part in the trial of derek chauvin, the officer who now former officer

who murdered george floyd. i got to ask you about this, elon musk tweeted a post asking president trump to pardon convicted murderer derek chauvin of the federal civil rights charges that he pleaded guilty to. musk has enormous power and influence with donald trump. what do you think of this? >> i think that it is, sadly, another example of blatant disrespect for the law, blatant disrespect for george floyd and his family and people who remember those very, very ugly days of of march 20th, may 2020. and i also think that, you know, it's it it doesn't it doesn't it does matter. it matters a lot. but i want listeners to know that his state charges where he got 22 years, 22.5 years will remain no matter what trump does. those convictions

are solid. but i hope that donald trump has enough humanity to recognize that releasing derek chauvin would cause untold injury to george floyd's family and the many, many people who feel vulnerable because, you know, they share experiences like the one. >> the family said. >> it experienced. >> yeah, i have spoken with the brothers of george floyd, who said this would set them back and set the country back 400 years. so ultimately, do you agree with that? >> i do agree it would set us back as a society. we took great steps forward. there's 18,000 police departments across the united states after the murder of george floyd. many of them had a reflective moment and did a lot of things to try to improve police, community relationships. and, you know, police departments depend on trust. and derek chauvin destroyed that trust. and they've been trying to rebuild

it. so it's actually really hurting law enforcement, because what you're saying is good conduct, bad conduct, it doesn't matter. you get to murder people if you want to. and so for every chief and every police officer out there striving to make a better department with a better relationship with their community, it is a spit in the face to them. >> to keith ellison, i appreciate your time this morning. thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. >> also new this morning, president trump's 25% tariffs on most everything coming from mexico and canada already having a real world impact. distributors are seeing higher prices for things like avocados, tomatoes and more. and fruits and vegetables from mexico aren't the only items getting pricier. cnn's natasha chen has been looking into this for us. she's joining us now. natasha, what are you learning? >> well, this importer. >> and. >> distributor here in los angeles.

>> prepared for this. >> moment knowing. >> the tariffs. >> were going to come. they actually ordered a bunch of avocados. to arrive on monday before the. tariffs took effect. so these pallets of avocados that you see were at original price. but had they ordered them to. arrive today, they would have paid 25% more out of pocket for this to cross the border. now the limes, however, these ones did come in today and they're already more expensive than the same box would have been on monday, because on monday it would have cost this company about $30 to bring in each box. and on that 25% tariff, now it's 37, $38. and of course, that cost is passed along. their customers are other distributors and supermarkets. and so some of them are actually right across the street opening their doors right now, getting ready for their clients. customers, potentially from restaurants around los angeles, coming to them to find produce. so you can see how this cost just trickles on to pass on to the next person and the next person, ultimately to the consumer. here's what the sales

manager, jaime herrera, said about this moment of uncertainty. >> it is hard. >> to sleep. >> at night. >> because you're. >> thinking, okay, how are we going to do this? i go, are we going to have enough customers as it is? you know, like you mentioned earlier, you know, ice on the streets, people are not buying. consumers are limiting themselves. and we're bringing in all these products not knowing whether we're going to be able to sell it or not. and we're not only that, but, you know, the savings that we have on the side, we're now bringing it out because we have to pay those tariffs that we have to. it's to capitalize in a little bit. and so that's what's concerning is that we're going to get capitalized really quick. >> and of course there are now retaliatory tariffs as well. retaliatory actions after canada started pulling u.s. made liquor from its shelves earlier, the ceo of brown-forman, which makes

jack daniels whiskey, said that the move was disproportionate. here's the quote that's worse than a tariff, because it's literally taking your sales away. now, of course, depending on the product, depending on the actual bit of produce, there could be different winners and losers in this. if american growers are making the same thing as the mexican growers in the same season, maybe they can stand to benefit short term. but all of this is very unpredictable, hard to do business for the people trying to make it work. >> trying to make it work exactly right. natasha chen, thank you so much, john. >> so tomorrow, the texas department of state health services will issue an update on the total number of measles cases in the state. as of now, there are 159 cases in western texas. one death has been confirmed. a cnn investigation finds vaccine hesitant religious communities, along with laws that allow texans to make a choice on vaccinating their

children that could be fueling the spread. sarah. >> all right. new this morning. can the eu take america's place when it comes to helping ukraine? what is happening at a summit in brussels with zelenskyy and european leaders wondering if trump will abandon them all, and what police had to do to save a life when this car burst into flames? those stories ahead. >> cnn health central, brought to you by neuriva brain health supplements. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. >> for years. >> one supplement claimed. it improved memory. >> but the. >> truth it. >> can't. >> support those claims. >> choose nariva. >> plus, which supports six brain health indicators. >> including memory with. >> clinically tested ingredients. >> it's time to switch to nariva. >> so what do you think about these? >> we're going to take. >> everything down to the. >> studs, from design and products to removal and installation.

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this isn't peace through strength. this is going over to the other side. in the case of the war in ukraine. give trump credit, he knows a good slogan when he hears it, but he's not pursuing it. he has made one concession after another to the kremlin. really? to the point. as i say, we've basically. >> so you don't see this as strength. >> no, i see this as weakness because in trump's mind, relations between states are dictated by the personal relations between their leaders. he likes vladimir putin. he thinks he's his friend. he doesn't like volodymyr zelenskyy. and and this is how he's reacting. he's already through his public statements and statements by his top advisers, giving away key positions that should have been the subject of bargaining. now putting really significant pressure on ukraine by, quote, unquote, suspending the delivery of aid and the provision of

intelligence that will give increasingly over time, russia significant advantage on the battlefield. >> yeah. talk to me about intelligence sharing because over the last 48 hours, administration officials have seemed to confirm that there is a pause on sharing that intelligence. how important is is that? >> well, it depends in part on exactly what it is they're withholding. if they're withholding everything, obviously that's the the most serious. and it's not it's just not clear from public statements what they're doing. but but the cumulative effect of not having this takes a real toll both on defensive operations and in terms of any offensive operations that ukraine wants to pursue. but i think the biggest casualty here is trust between whatever little is left of trust between ukraine and the united states and between the united states and what are, at least as of today, still our nato allies. >> if you were president zelenskyy or if you were advising president zelenskyy,

now, what would you tell him? >> well, i think zelenskyy has tried to make up with trump. he will find there's no limit to kissing the ring that's required, but it's it's a matter of reality that he needs u.s. assistance. the europeans are long on rhetoric, short on performance, typically, and the the weapons and ammunition that we've been supplying have been critical to ukraine's defensive position. so it's maybe unfair. life is unfair, but i think he's got to grit his teeth and do what's necessary to get this assistance turned back on again. that's a short term solution. but what trump is doing by this kind of approach is ripping up years, decades of goodwill that the united states has built up, not just in europe, but around the world. he's he's capitalizing on what the record of past administrations have been for his own personal.

advantage. >> but if zelenskyy did make an abject apology, going even further than he's gone so far, what do you think that would do? do you think that would be enough to to to help ukraine for the long term? >> no, it'll be enough for today. as i say, once you're in this kind of circumstance with trump, there's very little upside to it. that's why really, vladimir putin and the russians have no incentive whatever to come to the negotiating table quickly. trump is giving them, day by day, a stronger and stronger position. and this is just trump on his own. i mean, i don't know what his advisers are telling him, but if you set about systematically to weaken ukraine, you couldn't come up with a better plan. >> i want to ask you quickly about tariffs, the tariffs that the president threatened to impose, then pause, then did impose, then backed off. what message to the international community does this tariff policy have beyond just

economics? >> well, i think it shows erratic, nearly irrational decision making on the president's part. you know, he said in the state of the union, he had talked to the three ceos of the of the big american automobile manufacturers. they were all on board with the tariffs. he went after canada and mexico. and yesterday, according to press reports, we saw a people kneeling begging for relief from tariffs. but it wasn't those mean canadians. it was the ceos of the american auto companies which the tariffs are designed to protect. they're designed to give room for american manufacturers. and instead it's americans that are hurt. honestly, i think republicans should be up in arms about this. i don't think the republican base, or even many democrats voted for hidden tax increases, which is what these tariffs are. it's just unbelievable. and the effects on the economy, i think, are going to be felt in a lot of ways here and abroad, most importantly in the short term, because of the uncertainty that they're

creating, businesses are going to hold back from investments in key strategic decisions until they know what the lay of the land is. and since with trump, it changes daily, i think we're going to risk a real pause in economic growth. >> ambassador john bolton, thanks for coming on this morning. appreciate your time. kate. >> also new this morning, a dramatic rescue captured on body camera in new jersey. here it is. a driver was trapped in his car after his car crashed into the back of a tanker truck carrying diesel fuel. both vehicles burst into flames. you can see it. the smoke flying in the sky and an officer on patrol in the area arrived and sprung into action.