thank you, major garrett, ed o'keefe. our coverage will continue on cbs news 24/7 and your local news and tonight on the "cbs evening news." this has been a cbs news special report. i am john dickerso >speaker8>announce how he intended to strengthen relations with japan. >speaker10>the united states is totally committed to the security of japan. we will extend the full strength of american deterrence capabilities in defense of our friend and ally. 100% in the years. >speaker8>the president also suggested that japan's nippon steel would no longer buy u.s. steel as planned, and instead invest in the company. >speaker10>president >>trump also indicated that he had not ruled out tariffs on japan. in the meantime, the president, whose administration is now facing another lawsuit in response to its efforts to put nearly all usaid employees on leave. but that buyout deadline that was tonight is now extended to monday. so far, at least 40,000 federal workers have chosen to take the administration's offer and resign. natalie brand

tomorrow, by the way, is cole's last day working for the@vetera. >> maurice: ed o'keefe at the whitethanks. >> john: still ahead on the "cbs evening news," lonnie quinn with the return of winter. >> maurice: and we will have these stories. >> i'm nancy cordes. for kids in foster care, moving from home to home is hard enough, but imagine being given a trash bag to tote all your belongings. one man who lived it is now trying to give children something more. that's tonight's "eye on america." ♪ ♪ >> i'm imtiaz tyab at one of ukraine's largest titanium mines. part of a potential deal between presidents trump and zelenskyy that could dramatically change u.s.-ukrainian relations and the course of the war. that's next on the "cbs evening news." ♪ ♪ next on the "cbs evening news." ♪ ♪ lear answers. people with graves' could also get thyroid eye disease, or t-e-d, which may need a different doctor. find a t-e-d eye specialist at isitted.com asthma. does it have you missing out on what you love with who you love? it's time to get back out there with fasenra. fasenra is an add-on treatment for

. >> john: ed o'keefe talked to one who took the deal and to a former twitter employee who believes sheers like her got taken by musk. >> reporter: cole kracke reviews education applications for the veterans benefits administration outside of minneapolis and didn't initially believe an offer that came in late january. a deferred resignation plan, inspired by elon musk, called a fork in the road. leave and get paid to do nothing through late september, or stay but risk getting laid off. >> a couple of my coworkers actually reported it as phishing because it did not look official. >> reporter: but kracke did the math: 13 years in the navy, five years in the va, vested the retirement system in june, so he sent a one-word reply. did you think to yourself, maybe this is too good to be true? >> once the acting secretary of the va flat out had said this offer is valid, it's illegal, and it will be honored, what more do i need? >> reporter: attorney shannon liss-riordan represents more than 2,000 cautionary tales, former employees of twitter, now x, owned by musk. when you first saw him offer a

ed o'keefe is at the white house to try to sort it all out for us. >> reporter: hey, guys. administration telling agencies they can ignore what musk said entirely, adding even more confusion in the closing hours before a threatened deadline. to reply or not to reply that was the question roiling the nation's 2 million plus federal employees. >> the morale is, of course abysmal right now. we are being told we're not worth the money that's spent on us. >> reporter: workers, including alex berman with the internal revenue service were dumbfounded by elon musk who, on saturday told the rank and file they would have to share what they got done last week. failure to respond, he said will be taken as a resignation. it's something musk also asked twitter employees to do when he started layoffs there. a formal email from the office of personnel management asked federal employees for replies by 11:59 p.m. tonight with approximately five bullets of what you accomplished last week. >> this is just another step in the demonization and harassment of employees who have only worked to serv

cbs's ed o'keefe has more from washington. >> reporter: to reply or not to reply.t was the question roiling the nation's 2 million-plus federal employees. >> the morale is of course abysmal right now. we are being told we're not worth the money that is spent on us. >> reporter: workers including alex berman with the internal revenue service were dumfounded by elon musk, who on saturday told the rank and file they'd have to share what they got done last week. failure to respond, he said, will be taken as a resignation. it's something musk also asked twitter employees to do when he started layoffs there. a formal e-mail from the office of personnel management asked federal employees for replies with approximately five bullets of what you accomplished last week. >> this is just another step in the demonization and harassment of employees who have only worked to serve the american people. the other thing is who's going to read 2.4 million questionnaires? >> reporter: adding to the confusion was that decision by several of the largest federal departments to instruct wor

cbs' ed o'keefe spoke with one man who took trump's deal and with a former twitter employee who believesnd others like her got taken by musk. >> reporter: cole for the veteran's administration outside of minneapolis and didn't consider in january, a deferred resignation plan called a fork in the road. leave and get paid to do nothing through late september, or stay, but risk getting laid off. >> a couple of my coworkers actually reported it as fishing because it did not look official. >> reporter: but crackey did the math. his 13 years in the navy plus five years at the v.a. means he invests the federal retirement system in june. so he sent a one-ward reply. did you think maybe this is too good to be true? >> and once the acting secretary of the v.a. flat-out said this offer is valid. it's legal, and it will be honored. what more do i need. >> reporter: attorney shannon represents more than 2,000 cautionary tales, former employees of twitter, now x, on the other hand by musk. when you first saw him offer a fork in road to federal employees, after everything that went on at x,ed which wha

we begin with senior white house and political correspondent ed o'keefe who is traveling with secretary of state marco rubio in panama. ed? >> reporter: margaret, good morning. these are sweeping tariffs, the president using a 1977 law to suggest there is now an extraordinary threat from fentanyl and illegal immigration and that all three countries are failing to address those challenges. starting tuesday, there will be 25% tariffs on all mexican exports, 25% tariffs on most canadian exports, 10% tariffs on canadian energy exports and 10% tariffs on all goods from china. the president acknowledged this could lead to higher prices, some pain, maybe, maybe not he wrote on his social media platform, but we will make america great again and it will all be worth the price that must be paid. >> this has triggered a trade war. canada's prime minister announced tariffs on beer, bourbon, wine, clothing, fruits, appliances. what else should we expect is coming that could hurt american consumers? >> reporter: well, we should anticipate there could be a tit-for-tat here because the orders that the

we begin with senior white house and political correspondent ed o'keefe traveling wsecretary of state marco rubio. >> reporter: the president using a 1977 law to suggest there is now an extraordinary threat from fentanyl and legal im frags and all three countries are failing to address those challenges. starting tuesday there will be 25% tariffs on all mexican exports. 25% tariffs on most canadian exports. 10% tariffs on canadian energy exports. 10% tariffs on all goods from china. this morning the president acknowledged this could lead to higher prices, writing, will there be some pain, yes, maybe, maybe not. but we will make america great again and it will be worth the price that must be paid. >> can's prime minister announced tariffs on beer, lumber, wine, fruit, clothing, appliances. what else is coming that could hurt american consumers? >> reporter: well, we should anticipate there to abtit-for-tat because the orders that the orders that the president signed give him the authority to keep raising tariffs on the three countries if they respond in kind. that could be an uptick in

. >> that is ed o'keefe traveling with the secretary of state. >>> closer to home now, new york city's new congestion pricing charge could soon hit a dead-end. president trump has vowed to terminate the $9 toll by rescinding federal approval. the charge is designed to reduce traffic, clean the air, and help fund the city's transit system. it's patterned off a similar toll in london that's been in place for 20 years. but during that time, the charge has doubled and london is the most congested city in the world. ali bouman reports. >> reporter: it's monday morning in central london and we're riding in the back of grant davis' black cab. >> for nearly 40 years of my life and brain has all been the roads of london, journeys through london, yeah. >> reporter: now going on his fourth decade as a cabbie, davis knew london before congestion pricing and he knows it with. did you notice a change in the traffic when it first was getting started? >> yeah, definitely. but it was only short-term. since then, it's built up. this is just another burden. >> reporter: london first implemented its conge

but ed o'keefe from cbs had a great question at the briefing today about what this means, given they want to dismantle. >> the department of education. >> if they get rid of the department of education. here's that moment today. >> as of now, this will be enforced through education, through title nine is if the abolishment of the department of education continues, which, as the president said yesterday, it's something his team is looking at and considering. it's something he talked a lot about on the campaign trail. then, of course, we will look at additional maneuvers to ensure that these very important policies can be can be implemented. >> and it is a question of how do you enforce this if it doesn't exist, if the department of education doesn't exist any longer? >> yeah, it's a great question. and that very well might be the case. i mean, he has been doubling down on this. one of the sources i was talking to today pointed out this is a republican and a trump ally, that actually a bunch of these executive orders he's signing don't necessarily have that much weight. like they are n