i want to go back to manu raju, who has been following kind of all of these dynamics. also, i believe you just spoke to a top democrat, senator richard durbin. what are you hearing, manu? >> yeah, the democrats recognize that there's very little that they can do. i asked dick durbin, could you have done anything differently? you guys fought this tooth and nail. what else? he said, what can we do? we don't have simply don't have the votes. he called the prospects and the expectation that robert f. kennedy jr. will be confirmed in. durbin has already called that frightening. but that's really not it. it's really fallen on deaf ears of sorts among most republican senators who are really falling in line in both of these nomination votes. we do expect that the shou chew, both tulsi gabbard is and to be confirmed here. and i'm just seeing that mitch mcconnell, we're watching him go in towards the vote right now. he's the one republican senator we are watching. and if he's a no vote, he may be the only republican no vote. he did not answer questions from reporters on his way i

cnn's manu raju is outside the senate. intel intelligence select committee's chamber. manu, tell us what you're hearing. >> yeah, this vote is going to happen in a matter of minutes. this committee typically operates around bipartisan lines, but this is a bitterly divided committee, which will be a party line vote. and just in a key moment earlier today, senator todd young, a republican who had been wavering about this nomination, announced that he would vote to move ahead on kavanaugh's nomination to lead the intelligence community. after having extensive conversations. i was told with jd vance, the vice president, and getting assurances, including about some of his concerns about about how she would deal with people who had leaked classified information, including edward snowden. that became a big flashpoint during the hearing last week. and that is something that democrats have seized upon as well. the top democrat on the committee, senator mark warner, earlier today lashed out at gabbard's nomination and urged republicans to vote against her my concern is this. >> a

manu raju is still here. manu, i know you've got some new reporting on on the conversations that are being had. before you get to that, i just want to set the table by showing our viewers an exchange that senator bill cassidy, a medical doctor, republican, had or at least tried to have with rfk jr.. during one of the hearings last week my concern is that if there's any false note, any undermining of a mama's trust in vaccines, another person will die from a vaccine preventable disease. >> and that is why i've been struggling with your nomination. >> so open about it. you have new reporting about it. >> yeah. look, yesterday, we now know from our sources that cassidy and kennedy spoke. they spoke. it sounds like more than once. this is not unusual for the trump team. remember how pete hegseth one ultimately got the vote? they reached out to senator thom tillis, who was wavering at the time. they spoke for two hours on the day that tillis ultimately came on board. cassidy clearly has concerns he wanted kennedy t

as manu raju just reported. you heard him, senator schumer now signaled that democrats are not necessarily ready to take a hard line stance over musk. are democrats fighting fearlessly right now? >> well, we sure as hell are. you know, that's how we protected the medicaid, you know, portals. that's how we dealt with the treasury secretary. when i said he was giving people the keys to the treasury payments, we're holding them accountable. we're stepping up the effort on whistleblowers. and i can just tell you, wolf, that we need chutzpah more than ever to do what the country needs. >> senator. senator ron wyden, thanks very much. the book, once again, is entitled it takes chutzpah how to fight fearlessly for progressive change. thanks for coming in. coming up wolf. coming up, the new warnings tonight in the middle east, as israel says, fighting will resume in gaza if more hostages aren't released. stay with us. >> all there is with anderson cooper. listen, wherever you get your podcasts. sore throat. >> got your

thank you so much, manu raju.so let's discuss this more with cnn legal analyst and former counsel to assistant attorney general for national security, carrie cordero. hi, carrie. so what do you make of patel's chances of being confirmed to lead the fbi? and now we're just learning that the vote has been delayed. >> well, as manu was describing, at least publicly, it doesn't seem like there are republican senators, including some of the most influential, who sit on that senate judiciary committee, who are willing to break with the president and oppose his nomination. but this delay is a step that enables both parties on the senate judiciary committee to take a pause, to reevaluate the record that mr. patel established when he did have his hearing publicly. and to take that into context with all of the events of the past several days at the fbi and between the fbi and the doj. so it does. i think it's an appropriate development that they delay this vote so that they can more carefully assess what's going on at the f

manu raju. we've been watching you buttonhole senators over the course of the last 20 or 30 minutes. what is the word right now on capitol hill about where cassidy is leaning? >> and the you end up getting run out? >> yeah, and we're waiting right outside the senate finance committee where just in a matter of moments, the big question is going to be, what does senator bill cassidy do? he, of course, is a louisiana republican. he's up for reelection in 2026. he's also a medical doctor who has expressed concern about rfk jr.. s views about vaccines. at last week's hearing, he said that he was struggling with how rfk jr. is dealing just with knocked down the notion that vaccines are linked to childhood autism. now, after that remark, in which he said he was struggling, he did have extended conversations with kennedy on sunday. but in talking to and talking to cassidy yesterday, he was very clear he was not ready yet to make a decision on how he will ultimately come down. but if he votes no in this

i'm manu raju. president donald trump has only been back in the white house for 20 days, and already the government he leads feels drastically different. trump and his right hand man, elon musk are wasting no. time turning federal agencies upside down, testing the limits of their power, installing loyalists in key positions and seeking to eliminate federal programs while trying to purge the workforce. even if it's not clear they are legally allowed to do so. but trump's actions the last few days have also spanned the gamut. new. this morning, he disclosed to the new york post that he has spoken to vladimir putin as he tries to broker an end to the ukraine war. he also said he's taking control of the kennedy center in washington, blocked an anthony fauci museum exhibit and stripped joe biden's access to classified intelligence. and that's just to name a few. but not all these changes are moving forward, at least not yet. judges are blocking some of trump's most controversial moves, including his plan

i want to go straight to cnn's manu raju on capitol hill. manu, what more are we learning about cassidy's decision to vote yes? >> well, this was a surprise. well, for people on both sides, they really did not know how he would ultimately come down because he had been struggling with this nomination. he said that publicly last week. he had not made a decision on that as of last night. this morning, he indicated in a post on x that he had had a number of conversations all up until this critical vote, and he posted on social media saying that he had intense conversations with bobby kennedy over the weekend, as well as with the white house. he said he'd received some, quote, serious commitments from the administration. he also indicated that he spoke to the vice president, jd vance, in order to get to. yes, but he really has not tipped his hand other than that he did talk to us very briefly coming out of this high stakes moment where he voted to advance this nomination to the senate floor and indicated that he would be speaking on the senate flo

cnn's manu raju is live on capitol hill. nd manu, we're now learning that gabbard swearing in is happening in the oval office as we speak. >> yeah. this came after months of internal battling to try to win the votes and win over skeptical republicans, who were uncertain whether or not she was the right person for this job. a number of who are concerned about her past positions on russia, things that she had said about edward snowden, the infamous nsa leaker, and as well as her meeting with bashar al-assad in 2017. but she went behind the scenes, reassured republicans that she was on the same page with them on a number of those key issues. the the president's team urged republicans to fall in line as well, and she made some commitments about how she would deal with a potential leakers within the intelligence community that won over some republicans, including senator todd young, who is one of the key swing votes in all of this now. ultimately, she won over all republicans other than one senate republican leader, the former sen

cnn's manu raju is on capitol hill. manu, what are you hearing from lawmakers?ah, this came down almost along straight party lines, a 5248 vote in the united states senate. there were a lot of republicans initially concerned about some of her past statements involving russia. her push to get the charges dropped for edward snowden, who, of course, notoriously leaked lots of classified information. but she was able to alleviate a lot of those concerns behind the scenes. and these pressure campaign undoubtedly played somewhat of a role to some of those wavering senators. but there was one republican senator who broke ranks the senate republican leader, former senate republican leader, current kentucky senator mitch mcconnell, who put out a statement saying that the senate should withhold its consent because he said that she did not have the requisite experience and espoused views that he said should not give her such an important post. he said the nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the president receives are tainted by a director of n

cnn's chief congressional correspondent manu raju is up on capitol hill. tell our viewers what you're learning. >> yeah, this is an effort to try to get donald trump's agenda moving everything from tax legislation to overhaul the tax code, new immigration restrictions, as well as sweeping energy policy. put it into one bill, get it through the house, get it through the senate. but there are divisions, not just between the house republicans and senate republicans, significant divisions there, but also within the house gop ranks. and in talking to republicans today, they are demanding deeper spending cuts than what the speaker is proposing. as others are saying, it's going too far. >> as it stands, i think it falls short. and so but it's a work in progress and we'll we'll just keep working on it. if it doesn't change. >> could you vote for it? >> i would. >> say right now, based off the folks that i've talked to, the votes are not there to pass it as is. >> i'm not happy with. >> the number of cuts. >> the president has said he doesn't want to. >> cut medicai

cnn's manu raju joins us now live from capitol hill. manu, what are you hearing from lawmakers yeah. >> uncertainty and uncertainty. >> about how firm of. >> a line. >> to actually. >> draw when this critical vote comes. and that's going to be, as you mentioned, march 14th. that is the deadline that congress needs to pass legislation to keep the government open. and this is why they have leverage. and the razor thin house republican majority, they will need democratic votes to get that funding bill across the finish line. and on the senate side, you need 60 votes to advance legislation to overcome a filibuster. that means seven democratic votes would be needed, at least to advance this in the senate. so now the democrats are asking themselves, what are we going to exactly demand in this negotiation? now, the democratic leaders in the house and senate are acting cautiously. chuck schumer this morning tried to shift the blame more to republicans, saying the republicans need to get on the same page and work on a bipartisan basis. and hakeem

and now to our cnn chief congressional correspondent, manu raju on the hill. what are you hearing from lawmakers? >> well, republicans themselves are uncertain what to make of this. some of them were surprised, and many of them are surprised when they first heard this. others rejected out of hand, said this is completely unworkable. >> and many. >> of them want more details, especially as donald trump is talking about this more and more and suggesting this is not something, just something he was just spouting off at the press conference, but actually something that he actually wants to see accomplished. but even so, there are still republicans who don't believe this is something that can actually be pulled off. >> i'm just arguing. >> what is the logistical challenge. >> of rebuilding. >> gaza. >> which i. >> am told there's not a brick. >> standing upon a brick in a way which implies structural integrity. >> but do you think do you think your constituents would want you. >> should remain with the people who own it. >> do you think your constituents will want

jeff zeleny manu raju. thank you. well, we are just over two weeks into trump's second term and elon musk's doge has been on a tear. the world's richest man seems determined to remake the federal government in his image, and he's doing it at breakneck speed. in the span of just 17 days, musk has effectively killed die in the federal government, offered buyouts to millions of federal workers, gained access and read only, according to the administration, to the treasury payment system, ousted key civil servants, effectively shuttered key federal agencies like usaid, and take aim at others, including medicare and the department of education. all of this in less time than it's taken for some of trump's cabinet picks to be confirmed, including those who head who would head some of the agencies in musk's crosshairs. and cnn is also learning this morning that just days into trump's term, musk's lieutenants at the treasury asked its acting head to shut off all payments to usaid, a move so out of line that it prompted the acti

i'm manu raju. it's been a whirlwind second week for the 47th president. the trump vision for his new term is becoming clearer. he's testing the limits of his power, pushing the boundaries of the constitution, seeking a dramatic overhaul of the federal government that he now controls, and now sparking a trade war with america's largest trading partners, injecting fresh tension with the nation's neighbors, whose economies have become intertwined over the past several decades. now, this comes on top of the new administration push to dramatically overhaul the federal workforce. a purge at the fbi of anyone who participated in investigations against him, and a botched plan to halt all government grants. but the decision to slap canada and mexico with 25% tariffs on nearly all imports and another 10% levy on goods from china, fulfills a campaign vow made by trump. but it could also break another central promise trump made that he would end inflation and lower prices at the grocery store. and the white house justified trump's move as necessary to force the canad

now to an update from our chief congressional correspondent, manu raju on capitol hill. nu, i wonder what you're hearing from house and senate republicans who took part in that meeting? >> yeah, the house. republicans are indicating. >> they plan to press ahead with their. >> own strategy, even if. >> it is running into a collision. >> course with. senate republicans who. >> have their own plan. >> part of. >> the. >> speaker's plan. >> would include basically. every aspect. >> of the trump agenda, including major. >> tax overhaul. the senate republicans say that tax piece simply. >> is not ready. they want to punt on. >> that issue. >> and they're moving on a. >> the first step on this process next week taking a different approach. but there's another problem. the house republicans still still don't have an agreement among themselves about what this initial proposal would actually look like. and in talking to the members coming out of the meeting, they sounded more optimistic. but they also indicated there was more work ahead, even as they are facing a confrontation with

cnn's manu raju is on capitol hill. manu, you asked speaker johnson about these orders. what did he say? >> you know, he and other top republicans are treading very carefully. they know, of course, the importance of the courts and the fact that they are a co-equal branch of government. but they also don't want to anger trump and want to make sure that they are not getting crosswise with how the administration plans to handle these court orders, including that one that came out on friday that said that the treasury department payment systems could not be accessed by jd vance and his top doge officials, and that they should destroy those records that were downloaded from those systems. i asked whether or not ask the speaker himself whether or not he believes that the white house should comply with those orders. should the white house comply. if the federal court orders them to do something, such as destroying the records that they downloaded from the treasury department? >> well, look, there are. >> appellate processes. >> and all of that. i haven't followed the latest on

let's go to cnn's manu raju on capitol hill for us. manu, speaker johnson's comments to you this morning about trump and the courts drew quite a reaction. >> yeah. and look, this is further than. >> he went yesterday when i talked to him about this issue before. and since then there have been a number of judges that have stepped in and said that some of several of trump's actions simply go too far and halting several of donald trump's early moves, raising questions about how exactly the white house will respond. now, when i asked mike johnson about this today, i asked him about whether he believes the white house should comply. if ultimately the courts were to say that they did something wrong, they were in violation of the law. and about jd vance's tweet from over the weekend when he said that judges aren't allowed to control the executive's legitimate, legitimate power. and the speaker indicated that he was aligned with the vice president i will say i agree wholeheartedly with with vice president jd vance, my friend, because he's righ

cnn chief congressional correspondent manu raju joins us from capitol hill. manu, tell us what you're learning. >> yeah. in fact, tulsi gabbard just got a big boost. to her potentially moving ahead with her confirmation because of the support from two republican senators who had indicated some concerns or had not taken a formal position yet on her nomination. in the aftermath of last week's hearing before the senate intelligence committee, those two senators senator susan collins of maine, saying she will support the nomination, saying she had alleviated gabbard, had alleviated some of collins concerns. also, senator james lankford had some issues about how she answered the question about edward snowden in particular, at that hearing, she did not explicitly call snowden a traitor in that hearing. she later had comments about that behind closed doors, wrote an op ed about her views on that one over james lankford. but senator todd young remains uncertain. he is still the key swing vote and could determine whether or not this nomination moves to the senate floor

cnn's manu raju joins us now. manu, what are they saying? >> yeah, actually, there's either defending him or shrugging off this comment altogether. mike johnson, the speaker of the house just moments ago was asked about this, indicated it was a surprising comment by donald trump last night who said that repeatedly this takeover of gaza idea, but one in which the speaker suggested he could get behind. >> we're trying to get the details of it, but i think this is a good development. we have to back israel 100%, and so whatever form that takes, we're interested in having that discussion. but it's it was a surprising development, but i think it's one that we'll applaud. >> would you support the president's troops? >> and i just caught up with the senate majority leader, john thune, and asked him a similar question about whether or not this was an idea that was worth pursuing. if it was a feasible proposal. and this is what the senate majority leader said. >> senator, what do you think of trump's take over gaza? is that a realistic idea? to bring

cnn's manu raju has been following this. manu. >> yeah. 5248 but almost completely along party lines, except for one vote, the republican leader, the former republican leader, and still kentucky senator mitch mcconnell, joining with democrats to oppose this nomination. but that was not enough to stop the nomination on any party line vote. of course, you would need four republicans to break ranks. that did not happen here. after weeks of battling to get across the finish line. tulsi gabbard did manage to do just that to become the next director of national intelligence. that vote, 52 to 48, despite concerns that democrats had been raising for months and despite some apprehension from some swing vote, republicans, ultimately almost all of them, except for senator mcconnell falling in line. she was able to reassure them behind the scenes, some of the pressure campaign also may have had an effect on some of these members, who are wavering on what side to go, but ultimately, she is on her way to getting this very critical post ove

manu raju is out front, so, manu, let's just start here. russell vought obviously, obviously so central to that particular project. does it appear he'll be confirmed? >> it really does. aaron. >> despite the efforts by democrats to try to drag out this process as long as possible, try to fight russell vote's nomination tooth and nail. in fact, last week when the committee that was considering the nomination met to send this nomination to the floor, democrats boycotted the proceedings altogether. the 11 republicans voted in unison to send this to the senate floor. and today the democrats forced the senate to jump through an additional procedural hoop that essentially was cleared along straight party lines. and then there will be a vote in the middle of this week to shut down debate. democrats plan to force the senate to go through all the use, all the hours of debate, ultimately to force a final confirmation vote as late as late thursday night. but no question about it, he has the votes to be confirmed, and this is one of the most powerful p

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senate majority leader john thune told cnn's manu raju, quote, i mean, the courts obviously are the sort the branch of our government that calls balls and strikes and referees, and i think they've got an important role to play. not quite strong words there. house speaker mike johnson added this. >> i wish the courts would allow the executive. >> and the legislative. >> branches to work, but we'll see how all that. >> develops. >> joining us now, joey jackson, cnn legal analyst i mean, those words from john thune, kind of sorta they have a role, maybe. i mean, we have a constitution. there are co-equal branches of government. the judiciary has the right to review actions by other branches of government here. i just wonder, as you watch this, is this administration laying the groundwork to just straight up defy court rulings? it doesn't like? >> yeah. >> they certainly. could be. >> jim. >> good morning. >> to you. i think. >> we're an important. >> moment in our history. and that important moment. is going to be telling as to how that very high court, which, you know, has a really conserv

sabrina rodriguez of the washington post, cnn's jamie gangel and cnn's manu raju. hello.ng like starting a monday on a very, you know, easy, fluffy topic like the future of our republic. um. but, jamie, i want to start with you because i know you spent a lot of time this weekend doing reporting with the likes of steve. >> yes. i love listening to professor vladeck. i, you know, it's. i spoke to legal experts, former doj folks, judiciary folks, and they say the light is blinking red as as steve just said yet. right. they so far, the courts have held, held. but the experts that i'm talking to are really concerned. when you look at donald trump's history, he's willing to fight things out in court. he's willing not to listen to courts. and also the fact that he feels he has not just a mandate, but immunity, that he's powerful and they all feel we are, if not in a constitutional crisis. yet on the edge. >> manu, you spoke to jim jordan, who is the chair of the judiciary committee. so he is one of those people who, in theory on paper, that paper being the constitution of the un

i want to go to cnn's manu raju, who was outside. that hearing has been working his sources on this. we're going to talk about some of the sort of the medical points that he made, which are all very, very interesting. but what i want to ask you about were the promises that we all just heard. senator cassidy say that he got from rfk jr. about touching base with congress, not replacing people in these key government agencies without checking with with cassidy and others. first, among many other promises. it's definitely not the same kind of check and balance that we have seen even remotely in the past two weeks. so maybe we should be skeptical, but it is certainly someone like you and me and all of us to make sure to bookmark everything that senator cassidy just said. >> yeah, and it's very noteworthy. i mean, note also saying that the cdc would not remove anything from its website suggesting that vaccines are not linked to autism, childhood autism. that, of course, had been a flashpoint during last week's hearing in which rfk jr. hedg

inside politics sunday with manu raju is next. >> have a great day.

off camera by cnn's manu raju whether the administration should comply with court orders, senate majority leader john thune merely said that the courts have got, quote, an important role to play. and house speaker johnson did not say once again, a lot to start off the week. cnn's kaitlan collins joins us from washington. so what, if anything, is the president signaling tonight about how he'll respond to these federal court orders? >> it's not clear yet. of course, the legal option here is to appeal this, anderson, and to continue with the legal recourse here. but the question is, is he adopting this strategy of what you're hearing there, what we are hearing from two of his top advisers, the vice president and elon musk, about potentially defying these orders. now, there is some nuance in what each of them is saying. and this is something that i've been hearing from my sources and from people all day, which is the difference here. and jd vance's tweet that he posted saying about, you know, generals being fired or the attorney generals using her discretion to, to prosecute who the justice d

manu raju, up on capitol hill, thanks very much. and to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. erin burnett outfront starts right now. >> outfront next, the breaking news. tulsi gabbard is. >> in as. >> america's director. >> of national intelligence, someone who russia has embraced. and it comes on the same day trump says he's making a. >> deal with. putin to end the war. >> in ukraine. at what cost? plus fired. and now coming back at inspectors general, now suing trump to get their jobs back. and one of them is my guest tonight. and a family feud from the white house to the world stage. musk's son has been by his side, but his son's mother is saying she's not okay with it. let's go out front. and good evening. i'm erin burnett. outfront tonight, the breaking news. tulsi gabbard, the united states new intelligence chief gabbard sworn in tonight as the nation's director of national intelligence, someone whose nomination was deeply controversial, even among republicans, because she has, among other things, embraced russian talking points a

he said this to our manu raju is, quote, our way to combat belt and road in the competition with china. is he wrong? >> i don't think the president is saying that he wants to eliminate the mission. i think he's saying he wants to do it more efficiently, and. >> he's saying usaid is the way to do that. is roger wicker wrong? >> no, usaid, maybe not under its current leadership is the way to do it. but there's a mechanism in which to have and dispenseoreign aid properly. >> okay. so you as i mentioned, you sit also on the house armed services committee and we are expecting layoffs of the civilian federal workforce. i wonder if you are expecting layoffs or dismissals of any of the military leadership any time soon. >> well, that's going to be the purview of the commander in chief. but clearly we need to take our most talented folks and reward them. and folks that aren't doing their jobs well, they need to go. and, i mean, it was the father of modern progressivism, franklin delano roosevelt talked about public sector unions and how problematic they are. so i would agree with fdr in that re

calls was to sfpd and as we heard from chief scott district attorney brooke jenkins, public defender manu raju our city attorney david chu, we have a firm commitment here that our sanctuary city is here to stay because sanctuary city is not in conflict with a safe city as julian gardner just said as well. and we are going to maintain that and continue to commit that to our neighborhoods, to our community because without sanctuary city we cannot engender a sense of trust and without trust we cannot ensure public safety here in san francisco and that is our commitment. and thank you all for being here again today. >> and from district six, matt dorsey, thanks to everybody. i'm supervisor matt dorsey and it has been my honor to serve this city 14 years of which in a san francisco city attorney's office that fought again and again successfully to uphold our city's sanctuary city policies. and for those who look at sanctuary three as an ideological issues, i want to just remind everybody about the important principles that underlie it. the federal government is responsible for immigration, not loca