. >>> also tonight, the sweeping cuts coming to the pentagon. sources telling abc news defense secretary pete hegseth is calling for cuts, the most in more than a decade. is the defense secretary also looking to remove a number of top generals? what we've learned tonight. >>> a deadly midair collision. two planes crashing into each other, one plane then plunging to the ground. >>> and the delta crash. the cranes that have arrived to pick the passenger jet off that toronto runway. and tonight, what we've now learned about that crash, the black boxes now recovered, amid questions about the crew's experience. what delta's ceo is now saying. >>> tonight, authorities say this selfie tells the story. the suspects charged with breaking into the homes of pro athletes across the u.s. while they were away, while some were in games. including patrick mahomes and travis kelce. what authorities saw in this photo. >>> tonight, the mother who gave up a baby boy at 5 months old, after learning she was implanted with the wrong embryo. she gave the boy to his bio

and we welcome doge to the pentagon and i hope to welcome elon to the pentagon and his teamworking in collaboration with us. there are waste, redundancies and head counts in headquarters that need to be addressed. there's no doubt. look at a lot of the climate programs that have been pursued at the defense department. the defense department is not in the business of climate change and solving the global thermostat. we're in the business of deterring and winning wars. things like that we want to look for to find efficiencies, and many other things, the way we acquire weapon systems and procurement and there's places we want the keen eye of doge and we'll do it in coordination and not do it to the detriment of american operations and tactical capabilities. president trump is committed to delivering the best possible military. the defense department is not usaid. usaid has a lot of problems i talked about with the troops pursuing globalist agendas that don't have a connection to america first. that's not the defense department but we're also not perfect either. where we can find billions

there were a lot of studies happening in the pentagon. a lot of great people across the enterprise looking at different ways to do this. a seachange moment was in 2018 at a national space council meeting. i remember sitting there. the main topic was space traffic management where a policy was going to be signed, but president trump opened that meeting. i remember seeing him speak and there was a teleprompter and he spoke clearly that he's here directing the pentagon to be in the process to establish the space force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. that was a huge moment. the president of the united states giving the direction for the pentagon to be in that process. it was very clear, he did not say stand it up because the president did not have the authority to create six branch of the armed forces. that authority rested with congress. at that point, it was a lot of debate, discussion about the right way to do it. i will never forget audrey schaefer mentioning, who was in my policy office, everything between you and the u.s. is di

what exactly is going on here at the pentagon? and we'll discuss. >> super man the christopher reeve story saturday at ten on cnn. the tempur-pedic breeze makes sleep feel cool. so no more sweating all night or blasting the air conditioning because the breeze feels up to ten degrees cooler all night long. during our presidents day sale, save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets. >> dear doctor k, i used to think i was never meant to be beautiful. i was teased because of my teeth. i didn't like the person looking back at me in the mirror. i never thought i could afford dental implants. you and your team work within my budget and help me feel confident in the plan we made together. i love my new smile. thank you. >> congratulations. you have a beautiful soul, cynthia. >> finance the smile you want for as low as 1.48 a month per arch. schedule a free consultation. >> my mom used to tell me, if you want to be a champion, you got to be a champion at life. i got to watch her play at her highest from when i was born. from one ge

>> first, get them out of pentagon. base and change the design we could do that now, critically? >> another one they are competing against ms. out late by the fact that you are going to win there going to lose. >> no contract and we are saying we are establishing difficult for them, this is not necessarily about money it is a mission they actually want to engage in lots of people working for them you can attract incredible officers and there so many out there but they need to be told top down it's okay to get them aligned so they are not on an island of team is together a strategy of adaptable cross enticing of the second the burden would put on the contract, the number of things they have to sign certifications and godly so this committee can really help. >> that's not a statute, is it? >> yes or. statute we obligate in fermentation and -- >> maybe if you have some ideas on that. you did a great job on a piece in october but i love the idea of these programs how do you envision the system working when rvices have a lot

targets the pentagon. >> elon musk's. team now focusing on military spending as the defense secretary considers firing top generals. then president trump ratchets up attacks on ukraine's leader, calling president zelensky a dictator after blaming ukraine for russia's invasion. and a judge grills a top doj prosecutor about the move to drop a corruption case against new york's mayor. as the 11th hour gets underway on this wednesday night. good evening once again, i'm stephanie ruhle, and welcome to the midweek nightcap. it is day 31 of the second trump administration. i know you feel like you've aged six years, but it's only been 31 days. and on this day, d.o.j. has hit the defense department. nbc news reports its employees arrived at the pentagon earlier this week, but the agency has not shared their names or what exactly they're doing there. and defense secretary pete hegseth is considering firing generals as early as next week. meanwhile, tension between the u.s. and ukraine is escalating after president trump called ukr

they're already sending a team over to pentagon. i think i read this in politico. >> ok. >> i am kidding. [laughter] there are doge teams preparing to take on just about every agency, and i can't imagine that the single largest agency by spending and workforce would be immune. look, doge is led by a silicon valley disruptor entrepreneur group. i think there are some genuine. potential complications in terms of conflicts of interest of some of the core players being government contractors, but the question -- >> elon musk has a contract with the pentagon for starlink. >> i'm clear, yeah, so you know, transparency, conflicts, but to be positive about something. there are a lot of legacy platforms that are still being acquired because of the home state congressperson, senator saying you've got to keep buying these. this is a chance to inject a little entrepreneurial urgency in terms of looking at new systems and platforms. it's also a chance for there to be some really ugly deals cut that don't actually serve our national security and

elon musk brings his budget-cutting shears to the pentagon. the trump administration takes a hard look at predecessor spending on illegal immigrants, trying to take billions of dollars back allocated for climate change programs. but first, breaking tonight, we're just a few hours away from negotiations between senior u.s. and russian officials aimed at improving ties at trying to find an end to the war in ukraine. the talks are scheduled to begin in saudi arabia. some of america's allies in europe fear they may be excluded from the negotiations, and are worried about the final deal, calling an emergency meeting to talk about it. senior white house correspondent peter doocy starts us off live from the north lawn tonight. good evening, peter. >> good evening, bret. president trump and the french president macron spoke on the phone, and macron plans to visit the united states in the coming days. president trump assured macron that he and putin plan to make a deal as the peace progress begins in saudi arabia with crown prince mbs playing peacemake

we'll see what happens at the pentagon.is there room for cutting finding greater efficiency in government? >> yes. >> is there room for actually improving the technological delivery of services for the 21st century? absolutely. is that what's being pursued here? it does not seem to be the primary concern. it may be to pay for the tax cuts that we're discussing. but it's also i think it's about a power grab that is unprecedented. if indeed, you know, people's tax information is being accessed. that is a privacy concern unlike we've something we've ever seen. >> but isn't. >> that something people don't notice? >> well, here's what. >> they do because i think people give a damn. >> about just. >> just relate it to this really quickly. i also think that part of the strategy here is to starve government of the resources it needs to deliver for people. so guess what? >> government sucks. >> and if government continues to suck, people will continue to think that if government sucks, it's not worth saving. it's not worth saving de

the pentagon is continuously lagging behind. we can't keep conducting business as usual. a game changer and we needed now. the u.s. is entering the most dangerous time we have faced since world war ii. in response we must expand our capacity to produce and sustain high-end weapons like ships, aircraft, missiles. we must adopt autonomous adaptive and networked systems. this is not an either or effort. we must produce the systems quickly. doing so will ensure that we can do turo app terrorism taking action against those and our interests. peace through strength. i look forward to discussing these initiatives more with our witnesses. i welcome all three of them to our hearing and i recognize my friend for his remarks. >> thank you very much. let me join you and welcoming our guests. thank you. you have made unique and important perspectives to this discussion. this is a very serious and important discussion. for many years this committee has examined various challenges for the defense acquisition system. time and time again we have heard the system is too slow, too rigid, to

what steve did first on our subcommittee and then moving to the pentagon was vital. i wish doug rivera were here because he risked his career for a quarter of a century to do this. who was against him? fellow americans who didn't quite get it. they were wonderful people but in the air force construct in particular, you were a dead man or woman if you mentioned this. you would certainly lose your membership in the club. i don't blame all the folks who could not whisper to us what the right thing to do was. they were worried about their career. the house is the least action place for action to be expected because all previous men are great senators and their famous and -- but like, really? stuff can happen in the house too. all the revenue bills come from the house and most people here want the muffin. mike and i decided we're going to work together. that's rare in washington, almost unheard of. but what's wrong with it? we're all on the same team, folks. get over it. so that ability -- we could make sausage together. mike passed it in the republican congress. i had to

i don't think it's abnormal, that an incoming administration at the pentagon, a new secretary defense with one for a view, all of its spending and expenditures. so i think it's the haste of how quickly this has been announced, the context of what's happened and the secondly from high members of the administration from the vice president at the munich security conference, a secretary of defense success in germany. and then the most recent comments of president trump uh, some, some comments against the president of the once unit and attacking them. i think all these are, are important contextually of this discussion of what kind of guy has recently announced what we can them off this to work and equate this to as a lot of political rhetoric and, and the coming weeks and months. i think it will still come down to the workers and, and the pentagon and department of state of working out at the working level not only in washington, didn't form capital stuff continuing these partnerships in spite of a lot of the political rhetoric. i think it's right for nato allies and partners and european

in total savings. >> steve: regarding the cuts at the pentagon.know uniformed personnel would be exempt. >> lucas: correct. >> steve: currently the pentagon, the department of defense employees 700,000 civilians. any idea how many of those are going to get chopped? >> lucas: it's not clear right now, steve, you are right. 1.3 million men and women on active duty. they are exempt from those cuts. mentioned 700,000. that's not just in the washington area, of course, it's all over the country. f-35. there is parts on that plane from all 50 states. so, when they are looking at different costly weapon systems or people working for the defense department, they are looking not just in fact not just around the country but around the world, guys. global force as you all know. >> brian: i don't understand lucas and i don't know if anybody is capable of answering this. but how can you make an assessment so quick? to me, don't you need to really look at some of these agencies besides just saying give me 10% of your force? because some might be overtaxed, some

coming up, pounding the pentagon. what sources are. >> telling nbc news. >> about doge eyeing sweeping budget. >> cuts at. >> the department. >> of defense? >> plus. >> what the doj. >> told a. judge about why it is looking to drop corruption charges. against new. york city's mayor. we'll talk to a lawyer who was at that hearing. and later, hundreds of. thousands hospitalized by the worst flu season in at least 15 years. why is this year so bad? >> we're back. >> we're back. >> in 90s. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! >> join today for just $15. >> for your first year with automatic renewal. >> and your second membership. >> is free and. >> get instant access to discounts. >> on eye. >> care, prescriptions. >> savings on. >> travel. >> dining, and deals from top retailers. >> so many. >> ways. >> to save. >> instant resources, tools

i really am your people ask me if i am comfortable with doge coming into the pentagon, yes! and clearly, we have some confidential stuff, some very important national security secrets have to be protected, unlike may be the transportation department. jonathan: does that give you some pause though? sen. wicker: we have to be careful. the commander in chief knows that. and surely elon musk does. but to the extent that this doge operation is uncovering wasteful spending that nobody can justify, it is -- it is helpful and it is popular with the people in the -- donald trump gets a much higher approval on that then he got in the election. jonathan: will it still be popular with you if he comes to the pentagon and starts cutting funding willy-nilly? sen. wicker: i don't think he will do that. jonathan: why do you think he won't? sen. wicker: the spending he has advocated cutting so far has seemed wasteful. and i made this statement after the usaid -- after he began to take over usaid -- i've always thought it it is important for us to combat the china belts and road initiative. jo

. >>> doge employees working inside the pentagon. nbc news reports the defense secretary may dismiss top military generals. the showdown one month into trump's presidency. >>> the winter storm sending temperatures plunging below zero. rescues from freezing water in virginia. parts of the south under states of emergency. >>> just in, new ruling in the idaho college murders. the evidence allowed in. >>> the arrest in a string of burglaries targeting celebrities and pro athletes, including travis kelce and patrick maholmes. >>> good news tonight, the mother/son duo making history on the basketball court. >>> this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. welcome. the world has been virtually turned upside down in the war between ukraine and its russian invaders. with american president trump sharply turning against ukrainian president zelenskyy. in a social media post, trump labeling zelenskyy, who is the democratically elected leader of ukraine, a dictator. inaccurately accusing ukraine of starting the war. trump's form

eastern only on cnn. >> a major shakeup could soon come to the pentagon. sources tell cnn there's a list going around with the names of top generals and admirals. the defense secretary, pete hegseth, may fire after he vowed to get rid of what he calls woke officials within the department. he's also ordering the military to prepare for deep budget cuts. let's take you now live to the pentagon with cnn's oren liebermann, who has more. oren, let's start with this list. first. do we know who's on it? >> boris, we do have a sense of who is on this list. i will say what's unclear is if this list is final or. >> definitive, there. >> are seven. names here to be fired. worth noting that three of them are women. perhaps the biggest. >> name on. >> this list is general, c.q. brown, the u.s .'s top military officer, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, secretary of defense pete hegseth, had called for him to be fired right around the election. so this appears to be him following through on what he said he was going to do just several weeks ago. now, again, uncl

spending in half. . ~' cutting pentagon spending in half. . ~ ., ., half. intel, reports suggest _ half. talk to me about intel, reports suggest the - half. talk to me about intel, | reports suggest the business could be split?— could be split? yes, their shares are _ could be split? yes, their shares are getting - could be split? yes, their shares are getting a - could be split? yes, their shares are getting a big l could be split? yes, their- shares are getting a big boost from the back of the news that some companies are mulling a deal that could split the company in two. one is interested in the chip design business but another is interested in its factories and those company shares are down on the news but intel are rising although the companies have not submitted any formal offer, and these are very informal preliminary talks. intel stock has been on a tear after signals from the us may be about to provide support for its domestic chip industry but the stock has struggled in recent times with the ceo saying he has the big turnaround but it has not bee

the pentagon wants to avoid welcoming elon's team and cooperating at the pentagon. jennifer griffin, fox news. >> still to come, many people spent their president's day holiday protesting against some of president trump's policies. plus. [music] >> these are the programs where they were feeding kids before they went to school. these were the programs where they were setting up medical clinics because the public hospitals were overfilled. >> a new exhibit in oakland teaching us about the lesser known side of the history of the black panther party. >> and there's a chance for some low 70s this week in the five day forecast. that would be nd there's a chance ♪ ♪ ♪ president's day. protesting the president. nearly 1000 demonstrators took to the streets in boston. the 5051 movement calling the demonstrations no kings on presidents day. the protest denouncing president trump and elon musk. a similar protest in tampa. not my presidents day demonstrators also having issues with the recent stream of executive orders and federal firings. they also argue that musk is being giv

it's bringing adam clements is a for the pentagon official. i'm a former us different on out and always good to have you with us. i mean, these pentagon cuts out them come at a time when trump is quoting on nato allies to increase defense spending. how significant, then all these costs, particularly against the backdrop of ukraine and trump pulling back from the us european allies this. thank you, darren. i think it is so early in the administration. we don't know all the details of exactly what will happen. i don't think it's abnormal that the incoming administration at the pentagon, a new secretary defense with one for a view. all of it's spending an expenditures, so i think it's the haste of how quickly this has been announced. and i think you're absolutely right, the context of what's happened and the signaling from high members of the administration from the size president at the munich security conference, a secretary of defense success in germany. and then the most recent comments of president trump. uh, some, some comments against the

when is the last time the pentagon passed an order, ever, really? and we want to pass an audit, you have to have financial information that allows you to trace the payments. so, you know, once in a while, the treasury has to force payments if it thinks the payment is going to a fraudulent organization. stop the payment. if a company or organization is on a do not pay list, we should not pay it, i'm sure you would agree. it's quite hard to get on the do not pay list and this means it's someone that is -- dead people, terrorists, known fraudsters, that kind of thing, we should not pay them. but currently we do, which is crazy. we should stop that. president trump: by the way, hundreds -- thousands of transactions like that. we have a big team. and for the sake of the country, i hope that the person that's in charge and the other people that report to me that are in charge are allowed to do the right thing, namely make sure everything is honest, legitimate, and competent. but we're looking at just -- when you look at usaid, that's one. we're going to l

but there are certainly contracts that could potentially be canceled at the pentagon. elon musk, for example, has been a huge critic of manned fighter jets, something that the congress and the pentagon have spent an enormous amount of money on in the past. so i suspect we'll start to hear more rumblings of doge staffers inside the pentagon. likewise, we're also hearing from other agencies who are starting to fire and lay off people beyond just these so-called probationary employees. department of homeland security, for example, my colleague julia ainsley reported, citing two sources, is going to lay off hundreds of senior level officials who the trump administration believes are not in line with their priorities on issues like immigration. so expect to see these firings continue for the short term here, especially after this federal district court judge ruled yesterday that the doge, or at least the federal government, has the authority to continue making these cuts for now. >> you know, and, senator, as we hear more and. >> more cuts, we're also hearing stories of som

liebermann at the pentagon. and this. >> is cnn. >> new developments this evening after a powerful, deadly storm caused heavy rain and flooding in the eastern u.s. at least nine people are dead, with eight of the deaths in kentucky. the death toll is expected to rise. water rescues are continuing tonight, with more than 1000 people rescued so far. millions remain under flood alerts across the eastern part of the u.s. and new video just in shows a semi truck under water after severe flooding in western virginia. you can see homes almost completely submerged. cnn's danny freeman is in virginia. with more on the situation. there. >> it was an incredibly busy day in virginia. we're here right now in salem, virginia. it's just outside of roanoke, and this is the roanoke river behind me. it has receded a little bit, which is the good news. but earlier, especially overnight hours between saturday and sunday, it was risen here about my hip level. a local person that i spoke with said that it was the highest that he had

yeah, that was because the pentagon chief made some interesting comments, didn't the, on peace talks between russia and ukraine? what was said, right, so they knew chief of the pentagon, went to to the nato headquarters in europe and says that washington doesn't see ukraine returning. so it's a borders offer 2014 as something realistic, and basically that means crime in it kind of means that washington is ready to recognize crimea as a part of russia. let's listen to what he said. we must start by recognizing that returning to ukraine's pre 2014 borders is an unrealistic objective chasing this. illusionary goal will only prolong the war and caused more suffering . this is quite an interesting statement. it's coming from the new chief of the pentagon because it really goes against everything that was said earlier by the previous se, us administer ration, which was completely against recognizing crimea, as part of russia. and even now, still uh, the website of the state department says that the, the us government to recognize this crime in as part of ukraine to give you an example of t

we will look at cutting waste in the pentagon. >> and ig. just briefly respond. >> i am not an expert on this, we can argue on what the military needs. but, beforein you add more mone, why don't you get rid of the waste, let them get rid of that. >> if i may reclaim, multiple wars. we are at war. isis is reemerging. the technology that p we need to keep them over there so they cannot get here. we are at 2.9% gdp on defense in 2025. that is the lowest we have been in decades at a time when i thinks the threats would justify more spending. i appreciate you. you are consistent. we have a different view of what it takesee to defend about amera you are right about waste. does anybody want to change the personnel? do we want to pay people less? half the budget is locked-in with personnel costs. we need it now. that is why we are doing $150. time is expired. next will be senator warren. >> mr. chairman, on behalf of senator canaanite, we agree we need more 150 millimeters shells in a world war ii facility welcome many members of the committeede. >>

we will look at cutting waste in the pentagon. senator sanders: mr. chairman, can i just briefly respond? chair graham: just a second. senator sanders: we can argue -- and i am not an expert on what the military needs, but before you add more money, why don't you get rid of the waste and the fraud? let them get rid of that -- chair graham: because -- if i may reclaim the time. because in mult the wars -- multiple wars, we're at war. isis is re-emerging. the technology to keep them over there. we need to help allies. we're 2.9% on g.d.p. on defense. that's the lowest in decades at a time when the threats would ask for more spending. i appreciate you. you're right about waste. but i am telling you, half the budget is personnel cost. does anybody here want to change the personnel? do we need to pay people less? really, half the business is locked in with personnel cost. i think we need more capability. we need it now. that's why we're doing $250 billion. i oppose the amendment. the time has expired. next will be senator warner. senator warner: on behalf

the pentagon could be the next target here. peter alexander is following that for us. >> reporter: nbc news has learned defense secretary pete hegseth is considering firing military generals and some of the department's most senior officers as early as this week. according to two defense officials and three congressional sources. most of those targeted have been closely associated with former defense secretary lloyd austin, who served under former president biden and have worked on dei initiatives or have voiced opinions. they plan to cut $50 billion. it comes as doge employees are working inside the pentagon, according to senior officials, eyeing staffing cuts there. president trump alongside musk dismissed concerns about conflicts of interest with musk's businesses, even though the tech billionaire's companies, like spacex, ave massive contracts with the federal government. >> if there's a conflict he won't be involved. i wouldn't want that, and he wouldn't want it. >> reporter: first the mass firings, now the fallout. across

you haven't gotten to the pentagon yet. what about the pentagon? just looking at the irs.ten, you said it before, stole my thunder, but follow the money. follow the money, see where it goes. they went through this in argentina. had a really corrupt president for like ten years, said she stole like $10 billion. this is that on steroids. united states, bigger and better than everybody else, so the level of fraud here, i mean people will go to jail for this and you have to lose all hope and humanity because there is such massive fraud, waste and abuse. great trifecta. it is on a scale of biblical proportions. >> jesse: pam bondi is going to be busy. i want to see a lot of people locked up. very busy woman. all right. go back to studying those coked up japanese sparrows, okay? rough-mac -- [laughs] all because of 800 grand. so long. trump sends the cei behind enemy lines. straight ahead. ♪ ♪ 7 million us businesses rely on tiktok to compete. within a week of posting, i had over $25,000 in sales. i don't have a million dollars to put towards marketing and branding. tiktok was t

coming up, top brass at the pentagon, as we were hearing from david. uh, they may be getting the boot soon from the new defense secretary. what? sources are telling cnn about a possible purge. that's after a break. >> it's the news. >> welcome back. >> but it's also kind of not the news. >> we don't. >> fact check it. we don't care, man. >> why sell the information. >> on this show so terrible? >> have i got news for you? saturday at nine on cnn. advil targeted relief. >> the only topical pain reliever. >> with four. >> powerful pain fighting. >> ingredients that start working. on contact. >> to target tough pain at the. source for up to eight hours of powerful relief. advil targeted relief. >> if you have generalized myasthenia gravis. picture what life could. >> look like with a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90s. for one thing. could it mean more time for you? can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you. do not use it if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients. i

>> all across the pentagon. that is the general sentiment right now. doge is now inside the pentagon, working with senior officials to try to get lists, essentially, of all probationary employees across the entire defense department, those employees who have been on the job for about a year or less and therefore have less protections than other employees who have been there longer for possible termination. and that could happen as soon as the end of this week. we could see large swaths of these probationary employees, civilian employees, we should note, be fired across the pentagon. we were told that these lists of these probationary employees were actually due to doge and to the office of personnel management last night, and so they are being reviewed right now. and we should note that, you know, the pentagon has over 950,000 civilian employees. of course, not all of them are probationary, but still, this is expected to potentially impact tens of thousands of these civilian employees across the pentagon. military active duty military personnel are cur

. >> well, look, i've been a critic of pentagon spending for a long time, and i think that the pentagon could spend its money more efficiently. i think we should be investing in the modern, cheaper, smaller, nimble systems like drones and autonomous underwater vehicles, as opposed to the big, heavy old things like tanks and aircraft carriers that cost a lot of money to build and take a lot of expensive people to operate. so i'll be the first to say that the pentagon could modernize, could better meet today's threats, and probably save some money in the process. but let's be clear, that's not what's going on with this administration. this administration can't get out of its own way. trump himself said that he wants to raise the pentagon's budget by about 100 and or $150 billion. and the very next day said he wants to cut the budget in half. the defense secretary says a different thing every day of the week. so they can't get out of their own way. they're contradicting themselves and therefore they clearly, anderson, they clearly have no plan to keep the country safe. >> um, it's a terrif

> officials at the pentagon on. >> friday, and they. >> have been. >> tasked with. >> asking the pentagon to essentially come up. >> with lists. >> of probationary employees all across the. dod for potential termination. and those lists were due by the end of the day yesterday. now, it's unclear at this point just how many civilian employees throughout the pentagon this is going to affect federal probationary employment, as you see, there typically lasts one year. it can be extended to 2 or 3 years, but by and large, the employees that are potentially going to be fired have been in their job for about a year, and therefore they have less protections and they have less of an ability to appeal their firing. so essentially, it is a lot easier to do away and fire these employees than other employees who have been there longer. and that is likely the point. right. and so it's unclear just how many are going to be impacted by this. the department of defense has approximately 950,000 civilian employees currently working for the dod service. members, members of the military who are currently acti

is there any indication that we should expect the same over at the pentagon?think of this less as cuts, christina, and think of it almost more as reallocation of money. okay. so the way that this was initially presented is it's an 8% cut across the board, but there's 17 different agencies or combatant commands or departments that will be exempted from that. so those are those are things like the mission along the southern border, securing the southern border. the indo-pacific command, which focuses in large part on china and the pacific area. they will be exempted from those cuts. so the 8% that equals about $50 billion will be taking away from things that are not in line with president trump's current national security and defense priorities. so things that had been a priority under president biden, like diversity initiatives, climate change and how that impacts national security, those sorts of things, the money will be taken away from those programs and those agencies, those departments. and we should expect instead for it to be reallocated to things that a

or will he go into the pentagon and try to make it more efficient and more effective? we don't know. and as you've pointed out, there's no transparency on this. we're just going to find out as it happens. and that is against our constitutional democracy. and. >> and and when it comes and when it comes to the funding of the military, can't think of anything more dangerous than not knowing, not having and just taking a meat ax to it. well. >> sorry, but one thing more dangerous would be cutting off food for starving people, which which is what we're doing by shutting down usaid programs. >> yeah. congressman adam smith, thank you for coming in, sarah. >> all right. ahead. american teacher mark fogel has been released from a russian prison in exchange for an unknown russian citizen. what we've learned about this deal and the potential release of another american detainee in russia today. plus, flu cases are surging into the millions as this flu season is on track to be the most severe in more than a decade. we're paging doctor gupta to try and keep you safe. that's ahead.

we will look at cutting waste in the pentagon. senator sanders: mr. chairman, can i just briefly respond? chair graham: just a second. senator sanders: we can argue -- and i am not an expert on what the military needs, but before you add more money, why don't you get rid of the waste and the fraud? let them get rid of that -- chair graham: because -- if i may reclaim the time. because in mult the wars -- multiple wars, we're at war. isis is re-emerging. the technology to keep them over there. we need to help allies. we're 2.9% on g.d.p. on defense. that's the lowest in decades at a time when the threats would ask for more spending. i appreciate you. you're right about waste. but i am telling you, half the budget is personnel cost. does anybody here want to change the personnel? do we need to pay people less? really, half the business is locked in with personnel cost. i think we need more capability. we need it now. that's why we're doing $250 billion. i oppose the amendment. the time has expired. next will be senator warner. senator warner: on behalf

now, probationary employees, the civilian employees inside the pentagon. they typically have been on the job for about a year, and therefore they have less protections, fewer protections than full time, you know, than than employees who have been there longer. now, that probationary period can also be extended to 2 or 3 years. but broadly, these are civilian employees who have been on the job for about a year or less, and therefore they are essentially easier to fire. now, it's unclear just how many employees are going to be terminated. again, the pentagon has been drawing up lists of all of these civilian employees who could be on the chopping block. but broadly, the defense department has about 950,000 civilian employees who conduct pretty critical functions every day at the department of defense, including roles like intelligence, cyber security, foreign military sales. a lot of things that are really important to the day to day functions of the u.s. military, including operations. and so it remains to be seen whether any exemptions are going to be made

she covers the pentagon for us. can you put that $50 billion in context with us?talking about across the board cut of 8% of the dod budget. there are 17 different departments or commands, various areas that have been exempted because the trump administration says that they are working towards things that are aligned with the priorities of the donald trump white house and the pentagon under secretary of defense pete hegseth. those include things like the southern border, prioritizing the indo-pacific command or the threat from china. the things we expect to be cut are not in line with the trump administration priorities. that includes diversity initiatives, dei, climate change funding. we keep talking about this as a cut of $50 billion. this is taking about $50 billion in programs that the trump administration does not support and reallocating that money towards the sorts of programs that they do support. now, it's -- i will say every time there's a change in administration, especially if it's a change in party, there are changes to the budget. that's the right of