cloud cover, you see. but this is going to combine with a secondary storm system and potentially bring us a multi-day, severe weather setup that will break out across the nation's midsection thursday, friday and into saturday. so these are the two locations we are monitoring for the potential of severe storms. that includes tornadoes, strong winds and large hail. again towards friday and saturday. >> sarah derek van dam, thank you so much. appreciate you. a new hour of cnn news central starts right now. >> who knows. president trump in new comments overnight, not ruling out a possible recession, saying about questions that a recession could set in this year, as he his head fake tariff strategy sets in in a new way this week and a new escalation in the administration's crackdown on pro-palestinian protests on college campuses, federal immigration authorities now involved arresting a palestinian activist linked to

the protests at columbia. and this morning, an investigation is underway. a small plane crashes into a parking lot at a retirement community. but the pilot said just moments before impact. john is out today. i'm kate bolduan with sara sidner. this is cnn news central. tariffs could go up. and who knows if a recession will happen. that is what president trump is saying now as the nation enters week two, really of his head spinning tariff war. the whiplash is real and there is no relief in sight. it seems as those two statements from the president are important and unlikely to do anything to calm escalating trade tensions. right now, the united states is staring down a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum that donald trump's commerce secretary says will start wednesday. so could all of this lead to a recession?

here's the president, in his own words. >> of course you hesitate. who knows? all i know is this we're going to take in hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs, and we're going to become so rich, you're not going to know where to spend all that money. i'm telling you, you just watch. >> cnn senior political analyst mark preston is leading us off this hour. it's good to see you, mark. there's a lot leaning on that. who knows when he says, who knows? when asked about a recession. but goldman sachs late last week raised its 12 month recession probability from 15% to 20. what's the president doing here? >> the president. >> is being the president. >> i mean, this is how he acts. >> sometimes he. well, let me rephrase that. oftentimes he will do things for the moment and not worry about what the consequences at the end. as you said, we are heading into a week of economic uncertainty right now. we have who will be the new president of canada? the prime minister of canada came out last night and said he is ready to go

toe to toe with donald trump. now, the trump administration says that these tariffs, specifically that we're seeing on mexico and canada, have to do with national security issues, right? they are to try to stop fentanyl, except the problem is in canada, it's a minuscule amount of of fentanyl. and i don't want to to lighten that, but it's a minuscule amount of fentanyl that comes across the canadian border. so the tariffs don't seem to make a whole lot of sense. but he also said he didn't want to predict that a recession was going to happen. because if he does predict one right now, kate, we will certainly go into a recession, no question. and he doesn't want to tell his supporters and all the folks who supported and backed him voted for him, that they are going to feel pain this summer and you will feel pain in the summer. >> one thing that we are also hearing more about, and it actually it's more than palace intrigue, which is fascinating in and of itself because it's having real impact is the tension that has been now kind of exposed between elon musk and some in donald trump's cabinet, some of the great reporting

coming from the new york times and just what that looks like. the president was asked about it, really brushed it off last night. what's your read on it? >> well, elon musk is the friend you bring to the party that none of your other friends seem to like. but yet maybe elon musk is the guy who brought all the beer to the party. let's say if you're under age, right? the bottom line is elon musk right now is trying to make nice with some of trump's biggest supporters. laura loomer, for instance. she is a right wing activist. they had a nice little go back and forth on the on twitter or x this weekend. same thing with marco rubio, one of the, you know, a cabinet secretary who musk seemed to overshadow last week. he had a nice little exchange with elon musk. elon musk went up to capitol hill to meet with congressional republicans. and, you know, in the senate as well. try to make nice with those folks. and now we know. now we know from maggie haberman who, you know, is the trump whisperer

in many ways that donald trump wants steve bannon to make up with, with elon musk. now, the problem with that is, is that steve bannon and elon musk have two different thoughts about about governing and what have you. steve bannon is very much of a populist in a way. elon musk is not so much. >> and also this week we just had congresswoman malliotakis on a member of house republican leadership to talk about it's shutdown week. once again, i mean, politico playbook had it perfectly this morning. shutdown week is here dot dot dot again i think is what we need to say. what what are you watching in this. i mean you have i think there's only one republican. no. right now there seem to be some on the fence. but then you have this very direct appeal slash demand from president trump to get on board right now. >> you're right. so let's look at this as a two step effort. first effort first step is going to be in the house of representatives. we'll see a vote on tuesday. now republicans have enough votes to pass the

budget in the house of representatives. except, as you note, some republicans don't like the budget. so mike johnson, the speaker, is going to try to get some democrats to come over, perhaps, and help him pass this budget. now, if we see these democrats come across and support this budget, it's because they feel like they are in danger of losing reelection when they're up next year. so look in the house and see what happens over in the senate. same thing. let's see what happens over there, except let's see how many democrats in the senate decide to come over. john thune needs about i think, 7 or 8 democrats for the government not to shut down on friday. >> let us see. it's going to be a fun week to watch, cover and report. >> make any plans this weekend? no, no plans this weekend. kate. >> sounds good as long as i get to hang with you, buddy. thank you. >> you're very nice. i'm making plans. anyway, with me now is democratic congresswoman nikki budzinski of illinois. thank you for coming on this morning. let's get straight to something that will rattle the markets.

likely. the president refused to rule out a recession. and then our kate bolduan just spoke with nicole malliotakis of new york, who says there's been talk about a recession for well over the past year. these are her words. she says this is something that has been a threat going back to the biden administration. what do you think of malliotakis comments well. >> i disagree, i think that we. >> were actually coming out of what could have potentially been a recession. we avoided that, and now we're back in a situation where there is talk of a possible recession, and this is directly related to the tariffs that this administration is imposing on some of our strongest trade partners, like canada. look, i think that tariffs are something that can be used with a scalpel when you're looking at china. i represent a steel community in granite city. china's been dumping cheap steel in the united states for far too long. again, tariffs could be used as a scalpel to actually incentivize more american

manufacturing in the steel industry. and supporting american workers. but the way the trump administration is going about this, imposing significant tariffs, blanket tariffs on some of our stronger trade partners like canada, that's going to negatively impact our economy. and we're seeing that rock the stock markets, we're seeing increased talk, as you mentioned, of a recession. and we're going to see consumer prices go up. this is exactly what the trump administration said they were going to be addressing, which was bringing down costs. they are literally doing the opposite of that. >> yeah, there is talk of prices probably going up because of all this, even though those tariffs not yet in place for canada and mexico, certainly canada has responded saying we are going to leave everything in place until we get some answers. i do want to ask you about this. you are a big supporter of workers unions. the uaw leadership, however, says it supports the tariffs, saying that the free trade agreement really didn't give

america what it needed. what do you say to the uaw? >> well, the uaw, the united steelworkers have also weighed in, and they've pointed out that we do have good trading partners with countries like canada that we've been able to reach agreements that account for workers rights, that account for environmental protections. and we believe that we should have fair trade. as as a democrat, i believe in fair trade. i believe that we live in a global economy, but there are countries like china, like i mentioned, that have been dumping cheaper steel into the united states and putting our industries at a disadvantage. w at using tariffs and not blanket tariffs like what we're seeing in countries like canada. >> are you planning on voting for or against the republican stopgap bill to fund the government for another six months? that has to happen in the next four days to avoid a government shutdown. >> yeah. look, i am not inclined

to be supporting this. this is not a clean, continuing resolution for folks at home. this is just the republicans kicking the can down the road, unable to actually come to the table. actually, republicans left the negotiating table last week with democrats to actually get to a full and complete federal budget. what we know about what is going to be hitting the house floor tomorrow is the potential for billions of dollars of cuts. also turning over some of this appropriations for agencies as slush funds for elon musk and donald trump to do as they will with this federal funding. and what we've seen with this attack on the federal workforce, the trump administration's interest in slashing and eliminating agencies, i just don't feel comfortable for the american people and for the constituents that i represent. giving them this unchecked power with a continuing resolution. >> yeah, we just heard from congressman malliotakis about

this, and she says, oh, this is the exact same bill that democrats approved six months ago. is she correct? >> it's no, she's not. what we know is that there could be tens of billions of dollars of cuts in non-discretionary funding. this is at a time where we just voted on a budget proposal that could potentially cut up to $880 billion in medicaid, passing a continuing resolution that would make further cuts into non-discretionary funding, i think is reckless for the american people. i'm very concerned about what this administration, how they would decide to use their discretion, which they would have complete control of, where they would like to fund priorities. are they going to continue to support mental health initiatives for our va? are they going to continue to support some of our nih initiatives, which we know have been on the chopping block? this cr that's going to hit the floor on tuesday in the house, gives them full discretion. the trump elon

musk administration, full flexibility to make the cuts where they want to make and make investments that they see fit. and i just believe as a legislator, congress should have that authority and does have that authority to make those determinations. >> you have the power of the purse is usually congress's job. congresswoman nikki budzinski, thank you so much. appreciate you coming on this morning, kate. >> so a small plane up in flames after crashing just after takeoff. everyone on board managed to survive. the latest on an investigation now underway. and greenland will elect a new government tomorrow. as president trump still is saying that the united states needs to get to greenland one way or the other. and the growing list now of celebrities speaking out against deep fakes still flooding the internet have i. >> got news for you is back. let's think of some new games to play. what have you got? >> yes, something like.

>> a. >> what if. it's keep playing the same games. yeah. let's do the same games. >> have i got news for you saturday at nine on cnn. >> 10,000 by next month. >> i don't see. >> we won't. >> know unless we try. >> right. >> how long have we waited for something like this? we'll have to alert suppliers, coordinate shipments. already alerted, already coordinated. every supplier sees changes as they happen. since when can we just scale up? mid cycle. since we brought in bdo people. who know. >> know bdo. you know that thing your family does? yeah, that thing. someone made it a thing way back in the day. but where did it come from and how did it get all the way to you? curious ancestry can help you find out with detailed dna results and

inspiring family history memberships. what are you waiting for a sale? well, lucky you with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. my skin was no longer mine. >> my active psoriatic arthritis joint symptoms held me back. >> don't let symptoms define you emerge as you with clearer skin with tremfya. most people saw 100% clear skin that stayed clear even at five years. tremfya is proven to significantly reduce joint pain, stiffness and swelling. >> serious allergic reactions. >> and increased risk of infections may occur before treatment. your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. >> emerge as you with clear skin. ask your doctor about tremfya. >> bye bye. >> cough later. 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. >> your record label is taking off, but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. >> i need indeed. >> indeed you do. our advanced matching helps find talented candidates so you can connect with them fast. visit indeed.com slash hire. >> when winter. >> season hits, emergency supports your immune system with so much more than vitamin c, be ready to fight back with

>> the big dance. >> march madness. magic. >> for you. out of the door. i'm on the march. magic. high for love tonight. >> so this morning, an investigation is underway over a plane crash in pennsylvania. a small plane went down just after takeoff, bursting into flames in the parking lot of a retirement community. just yesterday. i mean, just look at that fire. five people were on the plane. they were taken to a local hospital with injuries. cnn's pete muntean is tracking this one, and he's joining us now. the pictures here are very are really scary. pete, what learning about this.? >> kate. >> big talk in the aviation community about this crash. this involved a beechcraft bonanza, the type of plane that i fly often. and investigators really now have their clues cut out for them and their work cut out for them. this crash took place only about a minute after takeoff

from the lancaster airport. and this plane went down in a retirement community. thankfully, nobody on the ground injured by that big fire. but preliminary flight tracking data shows this plane lifted off about 3:15 p.m. eastern time yesterday, only made it to about 200ft above the ground. then started descending at a pretty slow speed above the ground and a pretty slow rate of descent before crashing into a parking lot and erupting into flames. now, the pilot of this plane radioed the control tower that he had a door pop open and needed to return to the airport. want you to listen now to the air traffic control audio from liveatc.net. >> lancaster tower bonanza 347. >> mike has an open door. we need to return for a landing. >> at 347. >> mike. roger. you want to make it to three 1 or 2 six? >> lancaster tower. i cannot hear you with the wind. so we're going to return to two six. we're going to do downwind. >> and three, four, seven. mike. roger. runway two six cleared to

land. >> 26347. mike. >> you can hear the exchange there with the pilot and the controller there saying that he could come back in and land on another runway. obviously he did not make it a bonanza. is a pretty capable and strong airplane, and this one was heavily modified with a turbine engine built by rolls-royce. the plane is two doors, a door on the right side by the pilots, and a larger barn style door in the back for passengers. not really clear here which one the pilot was talking about, but a door opening in flight, often cited as a cause of crashes in these kinds of airplanes. the key is to fly the airplane first, not get too distracted, come back around and land. the average person might think a door opening in flight is a big deal, but at low altitude mostly just creates a lot of noise. land closed the door and on your way. five people on board this plane, kate. and here's the latest. the new york times reporting. three were taken to a burn unit. two of them airlifted, two more were taken to a hospital nearby lancaster. kate. >> let's hope for their recovery and a quick recovery at that. pete, thank you so much

for your reporting as always. coming up, still for us, a prominent leader in pro-palestinian protests at columbia university has now been arrested by immigration agents, but the white house may have to do with it. we'll bring you that. and a playlist fit for a king, literally. king charles sharing some of his top tracks. >> playing could you be loved. >> by. >> the late. >> bob marley? >> i always recall his words. >> the people have a. >> voice inside of them. he gave the world that voice in a way that no one who heard can ever forget. >> and. we love in the 90s, enron brought us the ultimate visionary, jeffrey skilling. >> enron cooked its books, overpaid its executives. the whole company went. >> down the tube. >> united states of scandal with jake tapper sunday at 9:00 on cnn. >> welcome to. >> the now. way to network.

>> they switched. >> to juniper's. >> a.i. native network. and everything simpler so. >> they can take their game to. >> a whole new level, because. >> now their network. >> is. >> self-configuring and self detecting and self-healing. they even have a virtual assistant named marvis, so they can simply ask the network. >> what is. >> the wi-fi today? >> that's the new way to network at work with real a.i., letting you rise above it all. >> touches of black. >> they say a lot without having to say much. they stand for elegance, refinement, and prestige. even a little can go a long. >> way. >> and though they're darker than the darkest night, they make you see everything in a new light. the kia x-line nightfall collection. >> kia movement. >> that inspires. >> there are. >> days i feel stuck. >> in my head, even on an

antidepressant. lingering depression symptoms can make it hard to break through. i wanted more from my antidepressant. i asked about vraylar. adding vraylar to an antidepressant significantly reduces overall depression symptoms better than an antidepressant alone. >> vraylar is an approved for elderly patients with dementia related psychosis due to increased risk of death or stroke, report changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts to your doctor. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, which may be life threatening or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death. weight gain and high cholesterol may occur. difficulty moving tremors, slow or uncontrolled body movements, restlessness, and feeling like you need to move. nausea, constipation, insomnia, dizziness, increased appetite, and fatigue are common. side effects may not appear for weeks vraylar breaking through to relief. >> ask about vraylar. >> we are. >> living with afib and over

half a million of us have left blood thinners behind for life. we've cut our stroke risk and said goodbye to our bleeding worry with the watchman implant watchman. it's one time for a lifetime. >> let's get you home. >> country roads. >> paying your rent should count for something. with rent. >> rewards from rocket mortgage. >> your rent counts towards buying. >> a home. >> helping turn more renters into owners

that wish list a reality, check your home equity line faster than a bank loan. cheaper than a personal loan. >> are you hungry? >> i'm hungry. >> perfect. >> i'm so excited. this is cuisine at a different level. >> oh, yeah. >> food makes. >> me so happy. >> eva longoria searching for spain premieres april 27th on cnn. >> there is new fallout this morning from those college

campus protests over the war in gaza. federal immigration authorities arrested a pro-palestinian activist and recent graduate who helped lead the antiwar demonstrations at columbia university last year. in a social media post, the homeland security department accuses mahmoud khalil of leading, quote, activities aligned to hamas. khalil's attorney says he was taken into custody as part of what she says is the government's repression of student activism and political speech. joining me now is cnn's gloria pazmino. gloria, this activist was arrested despite having a green card. >> yes. >> so the first thing we should mention is that having a green card certainly does not prevent you from. >> being arrested, right. >> but the key question here is why he was arrested. now we see the the statement there from the department of homeland. security saying that he was aligned, that he led activities aligned to hamas, a designated terrorist organization. what we do not know yet is what, if anything, he has been charged with. we do

not know where he is being held, and we do not know if he is going to be brought before an immigration judge at some point to determine the next steps in what we usually know as due process. right? that's what people get when they are arrested. so that's why there's been a lot of criticism and a big response to this arrest. now, here's what we know about khalil. as you said, he led student protests last year on the campus of columbia university. he was one of the negotiators with the university, and he was at the center of this movement, which was centered at columbia university. in response to the israel-gaza war. now, since then, he has graduated, and he was arrested on saturday night by immigration authorities at his apartment. now, we know all of these details from his attorney, miss green. now his wife, who was who is eight months pregnant, was present during the arrest. and she tells us that when they came to arrest him, they said that they were

revoking his student visa. they said, no, no, he doesn't have a visa. he has a green card. and officials apparently responded by saying that that was being revoked too. so there's a little bit of mystery going on here in terms of what happens next. what, if anything, he's been charged with and whether or not he is going to be released. a lot of outcry so far from student activists and members on campus who say that this is sending a chilling message about freedom of speech. >> the first amendment. >> exactly. now the administration is saying that this is in response to president trump's executive order, which he signed two weeks shortly after taking office. and it said that this is to combat anti-semitism and directed schools to monitor and report activities. now, columbia university has responded to the presence of ice on campus over the weekend, but they have not

directly acknowledged the arrest of khalil. we're waiting for them to get back to us on that. and for now, we're waiting to learn more from his attorney, who said that this is an open repression of student activism and political speech. >> it is interesting because we don't know what he's being charged with and that ice was involved, but he had a green card. so what that is all about is quite confusing here. i know you will keep following this. i know that there's some of the students i also spoke to on the campus who were very concerned, hearing that he had been arrested and not knowing why. lots of questions here. gloria pazmino, thank you so much. i really appreciate it. all right. ahead, president trump has plans to slash more federal jobs. how his push to overhaul the federal government is disrupting the lives of america's veterans. and a 44 year old british woman just accomplished something no woman has done in seven years. we have more on her nascar debut.

>> twitter is having this moment. it shaped the way that we receive news. oh my god. what the world is going on. feelings are getting hurt. relationships are getting severed. that's bad. >> twitter breaking the bird sunday at ten on cnn. >> what do you got. >> there, larry? >> time machine. >> you're going to go back and see how the pyramids were built or something? nope. elon and i want to go on vacation, so i'm going to go back to last week and buy a winning lottery ticket. can i come? only room for one. >> how am i getting home? >> sitting on my lap like last time? ronald? >> fine. >> but i'm. >> bringing this. >> all right. >> or you could try one of these. savings options. >> the right. >> money moves aren't as far fetched as you think. >> there it is. see? it's going to all work out. thanks. future me. >> what are folks 60 and older learning these days? >> new perspectives. >> how to fix things. fun

recipes. >> car. >> this isn't the way home. >> that's right. james. >> it isn't. >> where are we going we're here. >> the future isn't scary. >> not investing. >> in it is. >> were you in. >> on this? >> nothing gets by you, james. >> nasdaq 100 innovators. >> one etf. >> before investing, carefully read and. >> consider fund investment objectives, risks, charges, expenses and more in prospectus at invesco. >> com our heart attack was scary. >> never want to go through that again. >> but we could. >> with heart disease you never know. >> so we made changes. >> green juice.

>> diet. exercise. >> statins helped. but our ldl, or bad cholesterol. it was stuck. stuck just couldn't lower it enough. and high ldl. >> meant a real risk of another attack. so i said, let's ask our doctor about repatha. >> what can i say? listen to your heart. >> repatha plus a statin dramatically lowers ldl-c. >> by 63% and drops the risk of having a heart attack by 27%. do not take repatha if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can occur. get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing or swallowing. swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat, or arms. common side effects include runny nose. sore throat. common cold symptoms. flu or flu like symptoms, back pain, high blood sugar and redness, pain or bruising at the injection site. >> we won't let another heart attack set us back. >> and neither should you. >> listen to your heart. lower your ldl-c and your risk with repatha. talk to your doctor. >> look out. cause here i have. >> you always had trouble with your weight? me too. >> discover the. >> power of wegovy with wegovy. i lost 35 pounds and some lost

over 46 pounds. >> and i'm keeping. >> the weight. >> off. >> i'm reducing my risk. >> wegovy is. >> the only weight management medicine. >> proven to. >> reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack or stroke in adults with known heart disease and obesity. don't use wegovy with semaglutide or. >> glp one medicines or in children. >> under 12. don't take if you or your family. >> had mtc men2. >> or. >> if allergic. >> to it. tell your. >> provider if you plan to have surgery or a procedure, are breastfeeding, pregnant, or plan to be. >> stop taking. >> and get medical. help right away. if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or any of these allergic reactions. serious side effects may include pancreas inflammation and gallbladder or severe stomach problems. >> call your prescriber. >> if you have any of these symptoms. wegovy may. >> cause low blood. >> sugar in people with diabetes, especially if you take medicines to treat diabetes. >> call your. >> prescriber about vision changes. if you feel your heart racing while. >> at rest, or if. >> you have mental changes, depression or thoughts of suicide may occur. common side effects include nausea,

vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, stomach pain, flu or upset headache, feeling tired, dizzy or bloated, gas and heartburn. some side effects lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. >> with wegovy. >> i'm losing weight. >> i'm keeping. >> it. >> off and i'm lowering my cv risk. >> we ask your prescriber about wegovy. >> learn how to experiment with. >> new. >> technologies without getting played by them. >> listen to. >> terms of service with me. clare duffy. >> available now on spotify or. >> wherever. you get. >> your podcasts. >> so today, democratic senators are making moves to try and force the trump administration to rehire veterans who have been fired as part of the mass layoffs in the doge efforts. this is new reporting coming from abc news saying that democrats, senators tammy duckworth and andy kim are planning to introduce this new legislation. and according to abc, what the bill would do is also not only force the rehiring, but also require the trump administration to provide a quarterly report to congress

on the number of veterans removed from the federal workforce and the justification for their firing. veterans make up roughly 30% of the federal workforce and have been hit hard by these. this kind of the slashing of the federal workforce so far. we're joined right now by two veterans who are living this and facing this in real time. army veteran david pasquino. he was fired from his job with the department of veterans affairs last month, and marine veteran gabriel delauter, who was fired from his job at the irs. gentlemen, thank you very much for joining me this morning. you know, david, just learning and hearing about this new push by these two democrats to get the government to rehire veterans like you. what do you think of that? and with everything that you've been through, are you ready to jump back in and head back to the va? >> well. >> thank you for having. >> me, katie. >> i think. >> that it's a good push. i think it's the right direction. >> especially after.

>> so many illegal firings. by the administration and doge. i think that it would help protect. >> our veterans and serve. >> them better. >> and i. >> would be willing to go back. i my life has been one of service, and i'm definitely not done serving, so i would be willing. to go back and continue. >> to serve. >> gabriel, some of the estimates are that several thousand veterans have been cut from their jobs throughout various agencies. what has this meant for you? what has this felt like for you? >> i mean, it's sad. honestly, i always thought that our country took care of its veterans. so like when you hear that 6000 of them got fired for just doing their job, it's disheartening. i got the opportunity to meet david at the state of the union. we were sitting right next to each other and we both had the same story. so we kind of connected there and we both kind of feel the same way. just it's discussed in a sense and on that. >> i had seen that, that you didn't know each other before

the president's address. you met under the strangest of circumstances, right? sitting in the gallery watching a president's address. and i'm sure neither of you probably thought you would ever be sitting at and also facing really very, very similar stories in what you faced and in how you were fired and the circumstances under which with which it was presented to you. what has that meant, david, to you to kind of, i don't know, find another level of brotherhood in in gabriel. >> well. >> it's been great. you know, like you said, katy, that we connected at the. presidential address to congress and, you know, shared very many similar views. he is a veteran just like myself and disabled. and, you know, it's it's it's nice it's nice to have, you know, brotherhood with another person who has shared a similar experience. i also have many coworkers that i still keep in contact with who were let go at

the same time, and we all share that bond as well. >> you know, gabriel there is a lot of talk about more cuts to come. we know that the va, there are tens of thousands that are employees are expected to be cut from the va. but at the irs, it sounds like something similar is coming, that it's been described as a reduction in force would be coming soon. just in just the work that you do and the work that you have done, knowing that a slap like a cutting of the irs workforce is coming in the midst of, i mean, let's be honest, tax filing season. i mean, what is that going to look like? >> i mean, i've been i've been out of the agency for two weeks, so i can't speak on it really. but it's i assume it's going to look like chaos. i know everybody hates paying taxes. i do too. it's it's not a fun thing to do, but it's very necessary. the investment that you put into the irs, they they make a lot more money than you invest in them. so i think it's a good idea to keep the irs

around. it's it's sad to see that it's getting cut. and i think i'm hoping it doesn't delay people's tax returns, because i know a lot of people rely on their tax returns every year, especially families with children, maybe for clothes, food, extracurricular activities. so it's it's going to be a big, hit if they get cut like that. >> i want to play something for both of you because it's gotten a lot of attention. and i think i'd really like to know your views on it, because some of what we have seen is a generally dismissive view of government workers among administration officials, and talking when talking about the cut to the federal workforce, specifically when it comes to veterans. i want to play something that one of donald trump's close advisers said last week that encapsulates this. >> we have a fiscal responsibility to use taxpayer dollars to pay people that actually work. that doesn't mean that we forget our veterans by any means. we are going to care for them in the right way, but perhaps they're not fit to have a job at this moment, or not willing to come to work. >> that's alina habba, who now works as a top counselor to the

president. gabriel, what's your reaction to that? >> so i got that live on another news station last week, and it was it's still disheartening to hear it now. still she's she's wrong. i mean, i invite miss harbor to join me. i can take her and show her what i used to do at work. it wasn't something that you can sit at home and do and sit in a home office. i was a project manager for the irs, so we were constantly. i was constantly in buildings all over the state of connecticut. i ran all of the buildings in the state of connecticut. so you can't really do that from home. so i invite her to come with me one day if she would like, and i can show her all the facilities in connecticut and what i did. and since i've been removed, i can show her probably how things aren't running up to par. >> david, your reaction to that, and i guess what you would hope anyone in the administration or anyone else would know about your work and the work of veterans in the federal workforce. >> yeah, when i. >> first heard that, i was

definitely i was definitely shocked and appalled by her flippant tone and dismissive attitude towards veterans. in my role in the, in the department of veterans affairs, i was a human resources specialist doing recruitment and placement. specifically, i was hiring the i.t. professionals that build, sustain and integrate the i.t. infrastructure for the entire va, including the electronic medical health record system that we are. they've been trying to get up and running to, communicate between dod va as well as civilian caretakers in va. unfortunately, that's not an easy job. we sometimes have to review tens, you know, hundreds and thousands of different applicants. and it's not something that you just sit there and, you know, do in a day. as far as the return to work i was more than willing to go back into the office five,

six, seven days a week. i was willing to serve. it would have been a 45 minute round 45 minute drive, one way. hour and a half. and to the local facility. and i absolutely was committed and ready to do that. so the fact that she thinks that we're lazy or not ready to return to the office or anything of that nature is absolutely not true. >> well, it's great to meet you both. thank you both for coming on. and and speaking out. thank you so much sarah. >> thank you. >> thank you. katie. >> all right. tomorrow, people in greenland head to the polls to elect a new government. a key vote as president trump is still pushing to take control of the danish territory. he said just last week, during his joint address to congress that the u.s. would get it one way or another. cnn's frederik pleitgen has more on what the people of greenland are saying about trump's determination to take over. >> reporter it's. >> an unlikely place for a

geopolitical tug of war. >> greenland. >> with a population. >> of about 57,000. >> known for. >> its fishing, natural resources and glaciers, goes to the. >> polls on tuesday. >> something that in the past probably wouldn't have. attracted a lot of. >> global attention. >> but that was before greenland caught the eye of u.s. president donald trump. >> we will keep you safe. we will make you rich, and together we will take greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before. >> it's a bold offer, especially since greenland is a territory of denmark, though it's semi-autonomous with its. >> own parliament. >> but it does rely on denmark for about half its annual budget. the u.s. already has a military base in greenland, which plays a key role in missile defense and satellite communication, and greenland is also the gateway to the arctic, lying on the shortest route from north america to europe. so its location is strategic. but if forced to choose between the

u.s. and denmark, many greenlanders say they prefer another option. we don't want. >> to be danes. we don't want to be americans. we want to be greenlandic. >> it's a question of identity that many greenlanders feel is at the heart of this election. >> we need to be independent. we need that identity for our people in the arctic. >> i hope. greenland to. >> get more. >> out of in the world. picture. right now it's just dependent on denmark and the money we're getting from there. >> most of greenland's main political parties support independence for greenland, which can be declared if a referendum passes and the danish parliament approves. but they differ on how soon that should happen, with one party saying greenland should cut ties immediately. >> let's hope for a quick process, but as soon as we start that process, we have several other things that will start. one of them will be defense negotiations with the united states about the defense of greenland. when we are

independent. >> trump's comments are also reverberating in denmark itself, which recently said it will spend more than $2 billion to boost arctic security and admitted it had neglected greenland's defense for years. it's a relationship that could soon change if greenland steps up its pursuit of independence, or uses its leverage to negotiate a better deal with denmark. >> there will. >> be a new government, and it will put a tremendous pressure on the danish government to have a position, a real position in terms of if greenland wants independence, what will the cost be? >> independence isn't on tuesday's ballot, but the results could reconfigure greenland's future, something the u.s. and many others will be closely watching. fred pleitgen cnn. >> fred, thank you so much for that. let's turn to this. katherine legge has accomplished something no woman has done before, or at least in seven years competing in the nascar cup series. she made her debut yesterday at the shriners shriners children's 500 at

phoenix raceway in arizona. cnn's coy wire here with much more. that is one thing i'd like to do against you. i'd like to race cars against you. that would be amazing. >> oh. >> let's go. i've got a go kart track just up the road. >> here in atlanta, so. bring it, girl. listen, 44 years old. katherine legge says this felt like her first day of school. she spent 25 years in racing, raced in practically every type of car. indycar, formula e, but this was her first time in a cup series race, nascar's top level. this type of car. it was a rough ride. she spun out twice, first early in the race with out any contact, then later bumping off another car, taking out daniel suarez with her. she did not finish the race, said they made some changes to the car the night before. still 17th woman ever in nascar's top level first since danica patrick. it was christopher bell taking the checkered flag, winning his third race in a row. he's rolling. he's the first driver in four years to pull off that feat in the cup series. as for legge, she says she is keeping her head up. she's hungry for

more. >> baptism of fire. you know, i think there's a lot of positives to take from it. obviously there were mistakes made, but i learned so much and hopefully i get to come back and do it again. >> all right, let's go. women's conference title game action. it's the dawn of a new day. like groundhog day for coach dawn staley and her mighty south carolina. they win the sec women's tournament again, a third straight, now ninth under staley, dominating number one texas, who hadn't lost since january 12th. 6445 chloe kitts is your tournament mvp. now the gamecocks turn their sights to march madness to make a run at repeating as national champs in the men's side, michigan state capturing the big ten regular season title with a 7962 drubbing of their rivals michigan. but the spartans did not like that a couple of wolverines were standing on the logo at midcourt as michigan shot free throws. game still going on. michigan state has a

tradition where the seniors kiss the logo in their final home game. afterwards, michigan coach dusty may he's defending his players, saying, hey, the game was still going on, man. >> i didn't know there was a tradition where they're shooting. >> a free throw, and we have guys standing at half court that there's not a tradition that we can't stand at half court as the game is going on. so i'm not familiar with that one. is that a tradition? >> i'm just going to tell you right now, kate, when we do our go cart race, i will start a tradition. i will stand on the logo that they have there at the finish line after i beat you in our race. >> you can stand at that line and then you will see me blowing past you. >> let's go. >> bring it. you should see this hair in the wind of a go cart. >> me too girl. >> i love you. >> oh. >> i love. your coy. >> i love a little michigan-michigan state rivalry too. that's good stuff. thanks, buddy. i love that man. >> and coming from florida, i will just crash into the both of you. so just fyi, nobody's

winning because i'm going. >> to crash. >> sarah, i. i cherish my life too much to race against. >> sarah. >> all right. thanks, guys. all right. this is a cool story. after 99 years and extremely overdue library book in new jersey finally returned to the shelves. >> thinking this had to have been taken out by my grandfather. >> we're supposed. >> to be returned. three 3126 and. >> unfortunately. >> he passed away the next year. i said, i have to return this book to the library. i was. >> sure they would like to have it back. >> thank goodness you had to pay a fine for that. 99 years would be a big old fine. mary cooper found a library book borrowed by her grandfather, as you heard there in 1926. the book's name? homemade toys for girls and boys. it was stamped by the ocean county library. cooper said her grandfather likely checked it out to make toys for his kids, and the book will now

be displayed in a locked case for all to see. because get this, the library is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. that is super cool. all right. ahead. judges appointed by democrats and republicans are pushing back on president trump's effort to remake the federal government. more on their message from the bench. that and more stories ahead. >> on the good stuff brought to you by viking. exploring the world in comfort. >> when it really philosophize. >> about it, there's 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 spend time wisely. >> and what better way of. spending time. >> than traveling? >> continuing to educate.

ourselves and broaden. >> our minds. >> viking. >> exploring the world in. >> comfort. >> some people just know they could save. hundreds on car insurance by checking all first. like, you know, to check first that you bought seats in the right section. >> kansas has. >> so check allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. >> and power. >> hey, i got her a little something. >> a little something, dad. >> oh, a. >> high wall. >> rolled his. 401 accounts. >> into an ira. >> and it's grown. >> nicely, so i. >> say. >> let a grams be gramps. >> okay, just promise me it doesn't make a lot of noise. >> go, baby. >> go! thanks, grandpa. >> get good at money so you can be a little bad. and power. >> when my doctor gave me breztri for my copd, i noticed things changed. breztri gave me

better breathing. starting within five minutes. it also reduced flare ups. >> breztri won't. >> replace a rescue inhaler. >> for. sudden breathing problems. >> it is. >> not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened. breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling problems, urinating, vision changes or eye pain occur. >> ask your doctor about breztri. >> you know that thing your family does. yeah, that thing. someone made it a thing way back in the day. but where did it come from? and how did it get all the way to you curious ancestry can help you find out with detailed dna results and inspiring family history memberships. what are you waiting for a sale? well. lucky you. >> when our numbers guy frank goes on vacation, the deals on the. >> most affordable. >> german engineered car brand in america. get even.

>> better. >> are you coming back? >> hop in. >> during volkswagen. >> deal days. >> the deals are in.

ney. it probably will cover the drinks. >> united states of scandal with jake tapper sunday at 9:00 on cnn. >> an american president is not a king. that is a quote from a federal judge in washington late thursday. and it really reflects a growing number of judges speaking up and pushing back against the trump administration's aggressive moves to shrink the federal workforce and purge the federal government. cnn's joan biskupic is tracking all of this. she's joining us now from washington. joan, what are you hearing about all of this.? >> morning, kate. good to see

you. you know, more than 100 cases have been filed against the trump administration initiatives. you know, the funding freezes, the personnel cuts, the immigration policies. and we've noticed a pattern among some of the judges hearing these cases to go beyond the case at hand, to talk more broadly about what the trump administration is doing. and let me just tell you, a couple of them. a judge in seattle said the rule of law is, according to president trump, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain. you mentioned that a judge in washington, d.c., had said an american president is not a king. and then just last thursday, we had a judge in rhode island say, this is what it all comes down to. we may choose to survive as a country by respecting our constitution, the laws and norms of political and civic behavior. or we may ignore these things at our peril. and i'll tell you what's noteworthy here is that's

actually controversial. kate, even within the judiciary. i talked to some current and retired judges about this emerging pattern, which i want to just say to be sure it is rare right now among the judges, but it seems to be increasing and judges are watching this with trepidation because there is a culture of judicial reserve and restraint, and some think some have been heartened by judges speaking out, putting some check on the executive branch. and but some think that judges should, you know, kind of be more restrained, especially at this time of polarization. so there's a real conflict here. and as you know, we're really watching to see overall what kind of check the third branch is going to be on the executive branch on president trump, when we've already seen that the legislative branch, the congress, can be controlled by republicans, is really essentially in league with the president right now. and there is the separation of powers

that's intended to have a check and balances. so it's not just that we're seeing these protests from the bench in lower courts, but we're also seeing that that itself is stirring some controversy. kate. >> joan, thank you so much for your reporting. sara. >> all right. new this morning singer celine dion is warning her fans about a.i. generated songs that are circulating the internet, and she's one of many celebrities who have been mimicked online through the use of a.i. and deep fakes and scam artists are using their likenesses to convince people to empty their wallets. cnn's hadas gold is explaining how celebrities are fighting back to try to protect themselves, but also to protect you. >> and now it's time to play. >> fast money. >> steve harvey. >> is best known as a man who runs game shows and. >> awards money. >> well, that's $20,000, y'all. >> but after. >> decades in the spotlight, his likeness and voice are.

>> now being used by. >> scam artists who are utilizing a.i. to trick his fans into giving their money away. >> i've been telling. >> you guys for. >> months. >> like this. >> medicare scam. viewed millions of times, with over 100 million. tv viewers and social media followers. >> i love you so much. >> harvey is among a growing number of celebrities speaking out, backing. >> new. >> legislation and technologies that aim to. protect a celebrity's image. how does this affect you when your image is used in things like scams? >> see, see, that's hurtful because, you. >> know. >> look, i've prided myself on my brand. >> being one of authenticity. i don't want fans of mine or people who aren't fans to be hurt by something because i said, go do it. and it wasn't even me. >> several new pieces of legislation aimed at combating deepfake a.i. are now being considered by congress. >> i'm here with you today with a common goal. >> first lady melania trump has thrown her support behind the take it down act, which aims to criminalize non-consensual a.i. generated deepfake and revenge

porn. another bill, called the no fakes act, aims to hold creators and platforms liable for unauthorized a.i. generated images, videos and sound. it's garnered the support of the recording academy, the screen actors guild, the motion picture association and major talent agencies. >> it's freedom of speech. it's not freedom of make me speak the way you want me to speak. that's not freedom. that's abuse. >> harvey wants legislation to include harsh punishments, including financial penalties and even jail time. >> if you make money off lying to people, scamming people, then i think that's that's worthy of a fine. and some time. >> harvey now uses a new platform called vermileo to help him track and request takedowns of the ever growing number of deepfakes of himself popping up every day. >> so back in 2018, there were maybe 19,000 pieces of deepfake content. today, there are roughly a million created every minute. so trying to find and play this game of whack a mole is quite complex.

>> vermilio ceo dan neely says deepfakes can run the gamut from a.i. chat bots acting as a famous person to a.i. generated phone calls that mimic a celebrity's voice. >> and it's called big ole freak. >> we have his name, image and likeness. we've then taken that and turned it into something that we call fingerprints. so fingerprinting is a way in which we go and look at various things that are in a piece of content. so an image of you is made up of millions of pieces of data. we use those pieces of data to go and find where it exists across the internet. >> there are limited legal recourses for celebrities battling deepfakes of themselves. vermileo automates the cumbersome process of sending platforms takedown requests as the technology improves at a rapid pace. celebrities are now agitating for washington to keep up. >> i mean, why wait? how many people we got to watch get hurt by this before somebody does something? >> and i'm told that the no fakes act will be reintroduced in congress in the coming weeks. but one change that the senators behind this bill, which is a bipartisan bill hope to have, is to bring these online platforms on board with them. they're the

ones that are going to be potentially facing fines as a result of this legislation. but i'm told by a source familiar that they hope that the legislation will still retain its teeth while being workable for these platforms. >> it would be the first major legislation up against social media platforms, so it sounds like something that makes sense if they're taking people's money using deepfakes. >> exactly. this is so important for the celebrities, but also for everyday people who are facing things like deepfake porn and deepfake. you know, we've seen so many stories like this where somebody's image voice has been used against them, and this will at least finally put some sort of penalties behind that. >> all right. hadas gold, thank you. great reporting. it was great. a new hour of cnn news central starts right now. >> right now. top u.s. officials, including secretary of state marco rubio, are on the way to saudi arabia for what really may be the make or break talks and moment leading to the end of russi