let's bring in now, betsy klein there in florida near mar-a-lago. so what more are you learning about plans for top trump officials to travel to saudi arabia for these kinds of peace negotiations? >> yeah. >> fred, we are learning that a trio of top trump lieutenants is set to travel to saudi arabia to meet with senior russian officials in the coming days, according to two sources familiar with the plans. who tell me and my colleague jennifer hansler that it will be secretary of state marco rubio, special envoy steve witkoff and national security adviser mike waltz in the coming days, meeting with those high level russian officials. now, our colleague matthew chance, just a few days ago, had reported that the kremlin was starting to assemble that high level negotiating team. and matthew chance had reported that it would be top political intelligence and economic figures from russia, including that official, kirill dmitriev, who had played a key role in securing the release of a u.s. prisoner from russia earlier this week. now, president trump told r

cnn's betsy klein is near trump's mar-a-lago home in florida. betsy, good to see you. walk us through what we know about the president's plans to try to end the fighting in ukraine. and as i'm asking you this, i want to take you. i want to go now to the tarmac where president trump is just arriving. and let's listen in to what he had to say. >> daytona was fantastic. the crowd was amazing. the people loved. that sport, and they're wonderful. >> people that. >> run it. >> and they had a. >> little rain delay. >> but we'll go home and watch it. i guess some of you will. and others will try and create peace throughout the world. do you have any questions, please? >> sure. did you speak to secretary rubio this morning? >> i did. >> what is the latest. >> with the negotiations. >> in saudi arabia? >> we're we're moving along. we're trying to get a peace with russia, ukraine. and we're working very hard on it. it's a war that should have never started. >> do you expect zelenskyy. >> to be involved in these conversations? what will his. >> role be? >> i do. >> he will be invo

cnn's betsy klein is joining us right now. betsy, help us understand what this court order for now means. >> that's exactly right, frederica. and president trump and his team have taken steps to actively dismantle usaid and reimagine u.s. humanitarian aid around the globe. now, to put this in some perspective, usaid s annual budget was about $40 billion this year out of about $6.75 trillion overall for the federal government. so a very small portion of u.s. federal spending abroad. but president trump on day one had an executive order ready. he issued that on reimagining and reevaluating u.s. foreign aid. after that, we started to see stop orders on these. usaid projects. and then workers, of course, as you mentioned, physically dismantling the usaid signage. but all of this after acting leadership announced all direct hires would be placed on leave just before midnight on friday. that would bring this 10,000 person workforce down to just about 300 people. so significantly, dismantling their efforts. and all of that halted when

cnn's betsy klein broke this story. ins us now from west palm beach, florida, with more details. betsy, what more are you learning? >> well, paula, moments after president trump spoke with russian president vladimir putin last week, he indicated that he wanted those talks to end russia's war in ukraine to begin, immediately. and to that end, we have learned that he is dispatching three of his top lieutenants to speak with high level russian officials. that includes, according to two sources familiar with the plans, secretary of state marco rubio national security advisor mike waltz and special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, who will travel to saudi arabia. one source tells us in the coming days, declining to say when specifically. but our colleague matthew chance says that the kremlin has also begun assembling its own high level contingent of staffers. and that's going to include top political, intelligence and economic officials. now, president trump told reporters days ago that he could soon, depending on the

cnn's betsy klein is at the white house. she joins us with more on this. so let's start first, betsy, with this new ultimatum. >> that's right. president trump really taking a victory lap at cpac earlier today, playing his greatest hits as he addressed supporters in longtime capitol hill allies and other leaders of the conservative movement from across the country. but really railing against some of his political adversaries. he said he had, quote, a resounding mandate for dramatic change in washington. and to that end, we are seeing trump reimagine the size and scope of the federal government and the federal workforce. you know, he has tasked elon musk and his so-called department of government efficiency with finding ways to dramatically slash federal spending. and as trump was speaking, trump called musk, quote, a patriot. he said he is doing a great job. and during those remarks, musk himself issued an ultimatum to federal workers on social media, saying in a post, quote, consistent with president donald trump's instructions, all federal employees will

cnn's betsy klein is joining us live from the white house with more on this. betsy. >> well, fredricka, as oren just laid out sweeping changes to the very top levels of the u.s. military leadership. but also, we're expecting significant cuts to impact the pentagon's civilian workforce. now to get into the numbers. there are about 950,000 civilian employees at the defense department, and we are expecting about a first tranche of about 5400 civilian employees. this impacts probationary workers who do not have mission critical roles, but the civilian employees do things like research, analysis. they are also teachers who educate our service members children abroad. they build things for the u.s. military, ultimately. we do expect these cuts to be much bigger and impact about 5 to 8% of the pentagon's civilian workforce, according to sources. so just doing the math there, that is between 47,000 and 76,000 total cuts. now, the pentagon budget makes up about 14% of u.s. annual spending. so clearly, president trump moving quickly here to cut that federal spending. but

cnn's betsy klein is following the latest developments president donald trump continuing to flood the zone with content. >> speaking to reporters aboard air force one for about 30 minutes as he made his way to new orleans to attend the super bowl on sunday, president trump announced that he would be unveiling reciprocal tariffs on countries that tariff the u.s. on tuesday or wednesday. at a press conference, he also unveiled plans on monday to announce steel and aluminum tariffs at a rate of 25%. that is 25% on all steel and aluminum imports coming into the u.s. both of these moves, taken together, mark a trump making good on a key campaign promise of his 2024 campaign. president trump also doubled down on his plans to redevelop gaza, telling reporters aboard air force one to, quote, think of it as a big real estate site. take a look. >> i think that it's a big mistake to allow people, the palestinians or the people living in gaza to go back yet another time, and we don't want hamas going back and think of it as a big real estate site. and the united states is going to own it and will

betsy klein, thank you so much. so as mass layoffs are spreading across several federal agencies, people in north carolina took to the streets to protest the recent firings. they are irs workers who lost their jobs this week, expressed frustration. >> they were just like, hey, come in tomorrow and turn all your stuff in. you're no longer with us. >> i wish it would have been. handled a lot better than. >> it was. i wish they would. >> have looked. at performance and not just the date i started. >> the reason we took this job. >> was for career stability. >> and. >> um, because we wanted to be with the company for a long time. the only thing we can. >> do now is just have hope. >> it feelle. >> i got. >> two kids. >> i got turning four and one. um, mortgage. this is the best job i've ever had, to be entirely honest. it even says here in the email that they're citing. the reason why i'm fired is because of my performance. but until today. >> i hadn't gotten a performance review. >> i was like, the first person on my t

betsy klein, cnn, traveling with the president in west palm beach, florida. >> the uk's prime minister, keir starmer, says he is willing to put british troops on the ground in ukraine to enforce a peace deal, if necessary. he's also urging european nations to step up defense spending. starmer is among the european leaders who are holding an emergency summit in paris later today. french president emmanuel macron says he spoke with saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman on sunday, explaining that europe should be at the center of fostering peace in ukraine. matthew karnitschnig is the editor in chief at euractiv and he joins us now from berlin. good to have you with us. >> good morning. >> so top trump aides are set to meet with russian officials in saudi arabia tuesday. without europe at the table and without ukraine, although u.s. envoy general kellogg says the negotiations will take place in kyiv this week. but how is a peace deal possible if the u.s. and the eu are not working together on this? and where does it leave the transatlantic alliance? >> well, the reality is that a peace d

cnn's betsy klein is joining us right now. betsy, great to see you again. bring us up to speed on these developments. >> well, fredricka, the trump administration is actively taking steps to gut usaid and other humanitarian programs across the globe. but president trump was once a vocal proponent of the agency because his daughter was. and back in 2019, just to underscore how important this was, president trump then featured usaid and its work in his state of the union address. he announced the creation of wdp, the women's global development and prosperity initiative, which would be spearheaded by his daughter, and fall under the umbrella of usaid. he signed an executive order on the matter at a major signing ceremony in the oval office just a few days after that. now, what this program did was bolster women's economic empowerment across the globe with things like ending food insecurity and providing capital to women entrepreneurs looking to start small businesses, among other issues. but it was a very big priority for ivanka trump and sources that we spoke

cnn's betsy klein joins us now. betsy, walk us through these details. >> well, jessica, president trump and his team are fundamentally changing the role of the u.s. in the world on humanitarian aid. and if this feels a little bit jarring, it's because president trump himself was once a vocal proponent of usaid. and i think no one tells that story better than his daughter and former senior adviser ivanka trump. now, this was such a priority for president trump back in 2019 that it was a key piece of his state of the union address unveiling plans to sign an executive order launching the women's global development and prosperity gdp initiative, which he signed in the oval office just a few short days later. now it was a priority for ivanka. she spearheaded it. it fell under the umbrella of usaid, and therefore it was a priority for president trump. now, sources that we spoke to who worked closely with her, as well as beneficiaries of this program, talk about the real impact it had on millions of women around the world.

cnn's betsy klein joins us from the white house. betsy, what's the latest on this? >> well, jessica, certainly a lot of uncertainty for the federal workforce and the trump administration doing very little to quell that anxiety. we heard from president trump earlier today, speaking to a friendly audience at cpac, where he played some of the greatest hits, but also said that he believes he has, quote, a resounding mandate for dramatic change in washington. and to that point, we have seen him take steps to dramatically reshape the federal workforce and slash federal spending, along with elon musk, who he's tasked with doge the department of government efficiency to really slash that federal spending. and as president trump was speaking at cpac, we also heard a mandate from musk, who said in a post to social media, consistent with president trump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done. last week. failure to respond, musk says, will be taken as a resignation. now, cnn has obtained multiple copies of

cnn's betsy klein is joining us right now. betsy, what can you tell us about this new interview and how it fits with trump's use of executive authority? >> well, fredricka, back during the 2024 campaign, then candidate trump said that he wouldn't have time for revenge and retribution because he'd be too busy making the u.s. successful again. but we have seen him as president over the last few weeks really reimagine his use of executive authority, authority and using that authority at times to seek retribution against his perceived political enemies. now, this started fast and furious during his initial days in office, as he started issuing executive orders, weakening protections for federal workers, he pulled security details, and he also reassigned and dismissed career. department of justice officials. but in recent days, he has taken additional actions. expanding on that authority and themes of revenge and retribution. there appears to be a personal through line. we saw him get rid of security clearance for former president j

. >> cnn's betsy klein is joining us right now. betsy, what more can you tell us about this new interview? >> well, fredricka, president trump campaigned and said in a town hall back in 2024 that he would not have time for retribution as president. he'd be too busy making the u.s. successful again. but as we have seen over the past three weeks, president trump is really expanding and reimagining how he uses that executive authority and using that authority at times to target people who he perceives as political enemies. now, we saw that during the first few days of his administration, as he was issuing those fast and furious executive orders, we saw him issue executive orders, weakening protections for federal workers. we saw him pull the security details from a number of officials from his first administration, as well as reassigning or dismissing department of justice career officials. but new moves over the past few days have really underscored a president intent on settling scores. we saw him on friday announce that he was revok

cnn's betsy klein is joining us right now. etsy, what can you tell us about this new interview and how it seems to be really flexing the president's powers? >> that's exactly right, frederica. i mean, back in 2024, during the campaign, then candidate trump said he wouldn't have time for retribution. he'd be too busy making the u.s. successful. but as we have seen him really reimagining the use of executive authority. we're seeing him use those presidential powers to take revenge and retribution against his perceived political enemies. now, that started fast and furious on his first days in office. of course, we saw him pull the security details of top officials. he reassigned and dismissed career department of justice officials. he also issued executive orders, weakening protections for career civil servants. but in the past few days, his actions have expanded on these themes of revenge and retribution, and the through line has really been a personal one. of course, we saw him on friday, announced that he was revoking the secur

in saudi arabia, cnn's senior white house producer, betsy klein, is covering the president tonight in west palm beach. betsy, what more can you tell us? >> well, paula, we know that senior trump administration officials are set to travel in hours from now to saudi arabia for these key talks with russian senior officials. that includes national security advisor mike waltz, as well as special envoy for the middle east steve witkoff. and according to witkoff, they are traveling tonight and that meeting. we are learning moments ago is going to be taking place on tuesday. they are going to be meeting with this high level team assembled by the kremlin. that includes political, economic and intelligence officials. now, senior trump officials, including those who are involved in these talks, have really been calling this, describing it as a initial first step. following that key talk between president trump and russian president vladimir putin aimed at assessing whether putin himself is serious about ending his war in ukraine, which is, of course, on the cusp of its third anniversary. but her

cnn's betsy klein is joining us now from west palm beach, florida. d, betsy, the white house has since responded to that ruling. what are they saying tonight? >> that's exactly right, jessica. well, president trump ran and won on this idea of slashing waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. and he has installed elon musk and the so-called doge department of government efficiency to take that task at hand. now that doge staffers have started going into different parts of the federal government, different departments, and accessing different systems, including this very sensitive treasury department payment system, now, new york attorney general letitia james, along with 18 other state attorneys general, filed a lawsuit contending that musk's associates, who are qualified as federal special government employees, excuse me, were unlawfully granted access to that sensitive treasury system. and then a federal judge ruled that temporarily restricting the doge team from the system, citing risks to sensitive and confidential information as well as v

cnn's betsy klein has been following it now. she joins us now from west palm beach. y, he covered a lot of ground. he talked for about a half hour. what more can you tell us? >> you're absolutely right, jessica, to describe it as flooding the zone. president donald trump, speaking to reporters for about half an hour aboard air force one as he made his way to new orleans and making good on a pair of campaign promises on the topic of tariffs. so, as you mentioned, he will be announcing reciprocal tariffs on tuesday or wednesday for all countries that tariff the u.s. he also announced that on monday, he will be unveiling 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to the u.s. again, 25%. now, trump also doubled down on his plans to redevelop gaza, telling reporters to think of it as, quote, a big real estate site. take a look at what he said. >> i think that it's a big mistake to allow people, the palestinians or the people living in gaza to go back yet another time, and we don't want hamas going back and think of it as a big real estate site. and the united states is

cnn's betsy klein explains what could happen next with that ruling. betsy. good morning. >> well, victor. >> and amara, president trump ran and won in 2024 on slashing waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. and as. part of those plans, he has really empowered elon musk and the so-called doge department of government efficiency. so we are starting to see. >> doge employees. >> deploy into different government departments and start going through different systems, including this very sensitive treasury department payment system. now, new york attorney general letitia james and 18 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit that contended that musk's associates. >> who were. >> categorized as special government employees, were. unlawfully granted access to that treasury system, and a u.s. district court judge temporarily restricted the doge team from that system. that judge cited risks to sensitive and confidential information, as well as vulnerability to hacking. now, the white house lambasted that ruling on saturday. in a new statement, spokesman

cnn's betsy klein is joining us live from the white house. betsy, what can you tell us about what he's likely to say? >> well, of course, those remarks are still ongoing, fred, but so far, president trump is taking a victory lap to this very friendly audience at cpac and really playing the greatest hits. talking about his 2024 victory. and we should talk about some of the people that are in the audience, because not only is it some of his top officials as cabinet secretaries and other high ranking administration officials, it's also top congressional allies and also a number of leaders of the conservative movement across the globe, including the president of poland and the president of argentina. so president trump, recognizing all of them moments ago as he began his remarks, but notably, he said, quote, he has a resounding mandate for dramatic change in washington, and he is going to use it. so over the past few weeks, we have seen president trump really reimagine the role of the u.s. and the world and our alliances. we have seen him dramatic

cnn's betsy klein is joining us now from west palm beach, florida. betsy, how is the white house responding to all of this? >> well, jessica, president trump ran and won in part on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. and to do that, he has really empowered elon musk and the doge, the so-called department of government efficiency. and we have started to see in recent weeks, members of doge staff deploying to different parts of the federal government, accessing different systems. and we saw in one case, a critical treasury department payment system. now, new york attorney general letitia james and 18 other attorneys general from states filed a lawsuit saying that musk's associates, who are categorized as special government employees, were unlawfully granted access to that very sensitive system. and a u.s. district judge ruled earlier today to temporarily restrict the doge team from accessing this sensitive treasury payment system. he cited the risk to sensitive and confidential information, as well as vulnerability to hacking.

cnn's betsy klein is. >> at. >> the white house. she joins. >> us now with more. betsy, president. >> trump also criticizing government workers who have been doing their jobs remotely. this comes, of course, as elon musk issues another ultimatum on x. what more can you tell us about that? >> well, jessica, president trump taking a victory lap at cpac to a friendly group of supporters and longtime allies, as well as leaders of the conservative movement from across the globe. but in his remarks, he said that he had a resounding movement for dramatic change in washington. and we have seen him take steps toward really transforming the size and the scope of the federal government, including the federal workforce. he has tasked elon musk and his so-called department of government efficiency with finding ways to slash federal spending and transform the federal workforce. and as trump was speaking, we heard from elon musk a new ultimatum. musk saying in a post on social media, quote, consistent with president trump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive

cnn's betsy klein is joining us now from the white house. betsy, we heard from president trump at cpac talking about remote workers. then we heard from elon musk. >> certainly, and not much to quell anxiety for the federal workforce. jessica, president trump took a victory lap at cpac, speaking to a friendly crowd of supporters and allies, ticking off some of his key accomplishments. of course, taking aim at some of his political rivals. but he said that he believes he has a resounding mandate for dramatic change in washington. and to that end, jessica, we have seen the president over the past few weeks in office dramatically reshape and reimagine the scope and scale of the federal government. and he's doing that along with elon musk, who he has tasked with really finding ways to cut federal spending and slash the federal workforce. trump at cpac called musk a patriot and said he is doing a great job. but as trump was speaking, musk was issuing a mandate of his own an ultimatum to federal workers, saying, as you just detailed, list what you a

cnn's betsy klein is with us now with reaction from the white house. betsy, take us through what the president has been saying. >> that's exactly right, fredricka. >> president trump clearly. >> monitoring the situation. >> quite closely from mar-a-lago, where he is this weekend. announcing early this morning in a post to social media that those three hostages had been released by hamas, including one american citizen. and trump said in that social media post that all three, quote, seem to be in good shape. now, all of this comes right after earlier this week, as hamas had threatened to postpone the release of those three hostages and trump had issued somewhat of an ultimatum saying that hamas should release all of the remaining hostages. and if they didn't, that israel should, quote, let hell break out. but trump, clearly giving israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu a little bit of cover to do whatever he sees fit going forward. here's what he had to tell reporters in the oval office just yesterday, saying that the ball is firmly in israel's court

but first, let's go to cnn's betsy klein, live in west palm beach, florida, for more on her new reporting. betsy, what more are you learning? well, paula, president. >> trump is. >> dispatching three. >> of his top. lieutenants for these talks with senior. >> russian officials aimed. >> at ending russia's war in ukraine, which is just now on the cusp of entering its third or entering its fourth year, i should say. president trump will dispatch secretary of state marco rubio special envoy for the middle east steve witkoff and national security adviser mike waltz to saudi arabia for those talks, according to two sources. one of those sources tells us it will take place in the coming days, but declined to put a specific timeline on that for us. but matthew chance, our colleague, has reported that the kremlin has begun assembling their own set of of senior russian officials who will be part of these talks. he says that it will include top political, intelligence and economic figures, and that includes kirill dmitriev. he's that russian official who was instrumental in the release of an americ

cnn's betsy klein is joining us now. what more can you tell us about the judge's order for this agency that really has been around for decades, even though ivanka trump had her own connections to the agency during her father's first administration. >> that's exactly. >> right, fred. >> and if the actions of the past few weeks feel a little bit jarring, that's because president trump himself was once a vocal proponent of usaid and its programs. and i think no one tells that story better than ivanka trump, his daughter and former senior adviser. now back in 2019, just to underscore how important this was, the president talked about usaid as a key piece of his state of the union address. he announced plans to launch w gdp, the women's global development and prosperity initiative, under the umbrella of usaid, spearheaded by his daughter, ivanka trump. now, if it was a priority for ivanka, it was a priority for the president. and this program w gdp, it did things aimed at boosting women's economic empowerment abroad, things l

cnn's betsy klein is joining us right now. walk us through these details. >> well, fred, we have seen the trump administration dramatically reshaping the role of the u.s. in the world as it comes to humanitarian aid and slashing federal spending. now, to put this into some perspective. usaid budget last year was $40 billion out of about $6.75 trillion for an overall u.s. federal budget. but it was really one of those early first targets of president trump's team. and we saw just on day one, issuing an executive order calling for a reevaluation of foreign aid programs. then we started to see some of these usaid projects be subject to stop orders across the globe. and then acting agency leadership called for putting all direct hires on leave as of just before midnight on friday. now that, as you mentioned, was subject to a stop from a halt by a federal judge who issued an order temporarily blocking more than 2000 usaid officials from being placed on leave. now, it would have impacted about it would have left about 300 usaid offi

as betsy klein reports, the talks on ukraine would follow this week's conversation between the u.s.. >> moments after his phone call with russian president vladimir putin, president donald trump indicated to reporters that he would like to see talks toward ending russia's war in ukraine. start, quote, immediately. and to that end, we are learning that president trump is dispatching three of his top lieutenants to saudi arabia for talks with senior level russian officials in the coming days. now, according to two sources familiar with those plans, we are learning that secretary of state marco rubio national security advisor mike wallace, as well as special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, will travel to saudi arabia for those talks now. our colleague matthew chance has learned that the kremlin has also begun assembling its own set of senior level officials to participate in those negotiations. that includes top political, intelligence and economic figures. now, president trump, for his part, has also indicated that depending on the progress of those talks, he too could meet in

cnn's betsy klein has more from the white house. >> president trump taking a victory lap to a friendly at cpac on saturday, ticking off some of his accomplishments, taking aim at his political rivals and saying that he believes he has, quote, a mandate for dramatic change in washington. now, to that end, we have seen president trump take steps toward dramatically reshaping the size and the scope of the federal government. and he has dispatched elon musk and his so-called department of government efficiency to find ways to dramatically slash federal spending and trim the federal workforce. so trump at cpac said that musk was doing a great job. called him a patriot. but during that speech, musk himself announced a new ultimatum for federal workers, saying, tell us what you did or you'll be fired. in a tweet he posted, he said consistent with president donald trump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week. federal failure to respond will be taken as a resignation. now, cnn has obtained multiple copies of that

betsy klein, cnn, the white house. >> so as president trump enjoys his victory lap, many americans arewing increasingly concerned about the future of the u.s. economy and, more precisely, the impact it's had on their household finances. new reporting from the university of michigan shows consumer sentiment dropped more than expected to a 15 month low in february. that's a startling turnaround from the economic optimism shown after trump's november election win and fears of growing inflation are driving consumer confidence down as americans worry about how the president's plan for steep tariffs will impact prices. still, trump continues to sing the praises of his controversial strategy. here he is. >> we're going to have so much money coming in from tariffs all. you're going to say your senators and your congressmen are going to say, please, sir, please, you're making us look so bad. we have so much money coming in. i didn't know this was going to happen. please don't do this to us. we look very bad. >> i want to bring in connor lockhart, who's a senior forecaster and senior economic co

. >> betsy klein is joining us from. >> west palm beach. and betsy. >> the president. >> just spoke on his way to the super bowl. >> he made some news. >> what more can you tell us about. >> that? >> well, jessica, that's right. president trump spoke with reporters for about 30 minutes aboard air force one on the way from palm beach over to new orleans, where he will attend the super bowl later today. and he made a little bit of news on tariffs. he announced that he would be unveiling reciprocal tariffs at a press conference either this tuesday or wednesday. and that that would be posed almost immediately and would apply to every country that tariffs the u.s. this was a major campaign promise for president trump back in 2024. he also announced that tomorrow, monday, he will be unveiling steel tariffs on u.s. steel imports at a rate of 25%. now, if the theme of the first few days of the trump administration was flood the zone and the theme of next week is tariffs, the theme of the past few days has been revenge and retribution. jessica. i mea

cnn's betsy klein has more from the white house. betsy, good morning to you. >> good morning, victor. president trump taking a victory lap with a friendly crowd at cpac on saturday as he played his greatest hits. took aim at some of his political rivals. and he said that he has, quote, a resounding mandate for dramatic change in washington. now to that end, in his first weeks in office, we have seen president trump seek to really reshape the size and scope of the federal government, and he has tasked elon musk and his so-called department of government efficiency with doing just that, finding ways to slash federal spending and trim the federal workforce. now, during those remarks at cpac, he said that musk was, quote, doing a great job. but even as he spoke, musk was issuing a new directive and an ultimatum aimed at federal workers, saying, list your accomplishments or you're fired. musk said in a post to social media, quote, consistent with president donald trump's instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email re

cnn's betsy klein is covering the president tonight in west palm beach. betsy, what more can you tell us about what the president is saying tonight? >> well, paula, top trump administration officials are heading to saudi arabia soon to begin those high stakes, high level talks with senior russian officials. so special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, along with trump, national security advisor mike waltz, are traveling to the region to saudi arabia sunday into monday, according to wittkopf. joining up with secretary of state marco rubio, who is already traveling in the region for previously scheduled meetings. they will be meeting on tuesday with top officials selected by the kremlin, including political, economic and intelligence officials from russia. we have also learned that saudi arabia will be a key mediator during these talks. and of course, that comes after crown prince mohammed bin salman was

. >> cnn's betsy klein is following reaction from the white house after that court order against musk's team. >> president trump ran and won in 2024 on slashing waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. and as part of those plans, he has really empowered elon musk and the so-called doge department of government efficiency. so we are starting to see doge employees deploy into different government departments and start going through different systems, including this very sensitive treasury department payment system. now, new york attorney general letitia james and 18 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit that contended that musk's associates, who were categorized as special government employees, were unlawfully granted access to that treasury system, and a u.s. district court judge temporarily restricted the doge team from that system. that judge cited risks to sensitive and confidential information, as well as vulnerability to hacking. now, the white house lambasted that ruling on saturday. in a new statement, spokesman harrison fields telling cnn, quote, these frivolous

cnn's betsy klein broke the story. she joins us now from west palm beach, florida, with more details. betsy, what more are you hearing from your sources? >> well, paula, just moments after president trump spoke with russian president vladimir putin earlier this week, he indicated that he wanted talks to end russia's war in ukraine to begin immediately. and to that end, we are seeing president trump dispatch three of his top officials for discussions with senior level russian officials in the coming days. now, two sources familiar with the matter tell us that secretary of state marco rubio national security advisor mike waltz, and special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff will be heading to saudi arabia for those talks with the russian officials in the coming days, according to one of those sources. now, one of the sources, our colleague matthew chance, had reported the kremlin has been assembling a very high level negotiating team, top political, intelligence and economic officials in russia to participate in these

cnn's betsy klein explains who will get a seat. >> well, viktor and amira, shortly after his call with russian president vladimir putin, president donald trump said that he wanted talks to end russia's war in ukraine to begin, quote, immediately. and to that end, two sources familiar with the plans tell us that president trump has dispatched three top aides to travel to saudi arabia in the coming days to begin those talks. that includes, according to sources, secretary of state marco, national security advisor mike waltz, as well as special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, who will be in saudi arabia over the coming days to begin these talks with senior level russian officials. now, our colleague matthew chance has reported that the kremlin has begun assembling those senior russian officials, and they will include top political, intelligence and economic figures. now, president trump also told reporters that he expects that he could also be meeting himself personally with russian president putin. and he said that that could take place in the not too distant future and would also

. >> frederica betsy klein at the white house. thanks so much. all right. now to the middle east, where hamas has released the final living hostages under the first phase of the cease fire agreement with israel. a total of six were freed today. and as we've seen in previous weeks, there were emotional reunions. >> across. >> cup. >> o malley. >> israel was expected to release more than 600 palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the agreement, but that has been delayed. cnn's nic robertson is in jerusalem. nic, what can you tell us about this delayed release? >> yeah, this is. >> an unexpected wrinkle. and something that hamas is actually calling a violation of their agreement with the israeli government. the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, is having what's being called a security consultation right around now, this evening to decide about future. hostage releases. and also, we're. told that that that meeting, they'll take a vote on the release of these palestinian detainees and prisoners. there are 620 of them, by the way, 151 um, life or long t

. >> to come on that betsy klein in west palm beach for us. thank you so much for that reporting. and joining us now is the national. >> president of. >> the national federation of federal. >> employees, randi irwin. >> that union. >> representing more than 100,000. >> government employees. >> randi, thank you so. >> much. >> for being here with us. >> this this. >> new news. >> yeah. how are you advising your union members right now? >> we're telling them, don't take this deal. >> it's a bad. >> deal. they're making. this administration is trying to make it sound like. >> like. >> like they're offering a deal. that's good. they make it sound like they're going to get time off until september 30th. in fact, these folks are going to have to work until september 30th. so it's no deal at all. they're also making it sound like if they don't accept this deal, then they're going to be ripped. they're going to be there might be a reduction in force and they'll be laid off. but in reality, they have no protection from a reduction in force. if they accept this deal. so it's a terrible deal