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The Lead with Jake Tapper

NTSB Looks Into Conflicting Altitude Data Before Crash; Trump Faces Uncertain Votes Over Gabbard And Rfk Jr.; Beyonce & Kendrick Lamar Dominate 67th Grammys. Aired 5:00-6p ET

Aired February 03, 2025 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[17:00:00]

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to "The Lead," I'm Jake Tapper. Whether you voted for President Donald Trump or not, you probably expected to see some disruption to the normal way the government does things. Tariffs, aggressive deportations, efforts to shrink the federal government. The question in that last part, efforts to shrink the government, is how? How is the Trump administration working toward accomplishing that goal?

Two weeks into his second term, the answer is with very broad strokes and blunt instruments. For instance, most federal employees received a letter pushing them to resign now and be paid through September or risk the elimination of their positions in the future. And maybe some of you are thinking, good. The government needs to shrink. And maybe you think that these employees are bureaucratic dweebs here in D.C. enforcing crazy regulations or whatever.

Except I heard from one of those federal employees earlier today. She's a friend of mine. She's a psychologist for the Department of Veterans Affairs at a VA. Not here in D.C. Out there in the heartland. What's her job? In my view, her job is making sure that veterans with post-traumatic stress don't kill themselves. That's how I would describe her job. She says she's gotten this fork in the road letter from the Trump administration four times in the last two weeks, including this afternoon.

And she is worried, what if 5 percent of people like her, Veterans Affairs psychologists, leave, don't feel security in their job? And how many veterans, psychologists can we afford to lose? Afford as in veterans' lives, not whatever balance sheet the folks at DOGE have. What about the air traffic controllers or the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the two deadly plane crashes last week? There was confusion about that yesterday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told me this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: For our department, actually, the critical positions in regard to safety are not offered that early retirement. We're going to keep all our safety positions in place, no early retirement. We're all going to stay and work and make sure our skies are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Some government positions are important. This is all of a piece with last week's memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget detailing a sweeping freeze on trillions of dollars in federal grants. White House officials first said the memo was clear as day, but then they quickly rescinded the memo the next day because it was clear as mud.

They presented a complicated topic with little apparent thought or nuance. Many congressional Republicans didn't know, couldn't answer how the freeze would impact federally funded agencies that help the most vulnerable Americans keeping their lights on or giving them nourishment. Now, the funding freeze is still alive, but it's now paused while parts of it are tied up in federal court.

Trump wants to effectively shrink the size of government and make policy changes. Fine. But how? Where? We're not getting any transparency and there isn't any apparent accountability. We don't know exactly what Elon Musk, the world's richest man, is doing as he heads DOGE, the new Department of Government Efficiency tasked with slimming down the size of government.

And God bless, slim down the government. But one thing we do know is that Trump's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has granted Elon and co. full access to the government's payment system. That's the system that pays out your Social Security benefits, your tax refunds, and payments to federal workers and contractors, adding up to more than $5 trillion a year. Why is he being given this access? Why?

According to people familiar with the department, Trump-affiliated employees had asked about Treasury's ability to stop payments. But one person says that's not their role. Their role is just to, quote, "make the effing payments." President Trump was asked about this today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Mr. President, why is it important for Elon Musk to have access to the payment systems at Treasury?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITEDS STATES OF AMERICA: Well, he's got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good, if we agree with him. And it's only if we agree with him. He's a very talented guy from the standpoint of management and costs. And we put him in charge of seeing what he can do with certain groups and certain numbers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Certain groups and certain numbers? Which ones? VA psychologists? NIH cancer researchers? Who? Surely parts of the federal government could be whittled down, but what we've seen so far is an axe being brandished and swung recklessly. And I have to say, this really reminds me of two weeks ago, how the president approached the January 6th pardons. [17:05:02]

Trump's team had originally told the public, including here on CNN, Inaugural morning, that President Trump was going to engage in a process to make sure there was some care involved in who got pardons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON MILLER, TRUMP-VANCE TRANSITION SENIOR ADVIDER: We've made very clear in the past that President Trump has said we're going to look through each of the cases individually. We've also said that definitely do not support in any way, shape or form anyone who's been violent towards law enforcement or things of the nature. But there have been a lot of people who have been treated unfairly. So they're going to look on a case by case basis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No shape -- in no way shape or form anyone who's been violent towards law enforcement and things of that nature is going to get a pardon, that's what he said. But according to Mark Caputo from Axios President Trump ended up saying F-it and he gave clemency to all 1,500 or so of them.

Now, if the Trump team had taken any care, he might have seen that among those he was pardoning, he was showing compassion and clemency too were, per a fascinating piece by Tom Dryspak at National Public Radio, Peter Schwartz sentenced to 14 years in prison for four separate assaults on police officers on January 6th.

Prosecutors noted his quote, "jaw-dropping" criminal history of 38 prior convictions going back to 1991, including throwing a lit cigarette at a victim and striking her near her eyes. Also terrorist threats against police in 2019, assaulting his wife in 2020, quote, "including by biting her on the forehead and punching her multiple times." Hope he's enjoying his pardon.

Then there's Theodore Middendorf, who had yet to be sentenced in his January 6th case, but last May pleaded guilty according to prosecutors. to committing an act of sexual penetration against a seven-year-old. He's in prison for that charge. Hope he's enjoying his pardon from President Trump. Lest we forget David Daniel, who last fall was charged with production and possession of child pornography, of a prepubescent minor and a child under 12 years old, quote, "sexual acts with two young girls in his own family," prosecutors say.

To be clear, Trump's clemency does not apply to any charges other than those relating to January 6. There are other criminal cases that are ongoing. NPR reports that Middendorf and Daniel are still behind bars. And I doubt President Trump wanted to show clemency to people accused of being pedophiles. But he did. He called the whole group hostages and patriots. And there's a reason why governing effectively as with a pardon process, can take some time.

There's a reason why there is a process and there are standards. Even for effective disruption, effective shrinking of government, effective pardoning, it takes work, not just hand grenades. CNN Chief White House correspondent and anchor Kaitlan Collins is live at the White House. Kaitlan, Elon Musk, a big role in Trump's efforts. You have new reporting on Musk. The White House now says he's a, quote, "special government employee." What does that mean?

KAITLAN COLLINS, ANCHOR AND CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, for people who may be wondering what that designation entails, Jake, it's basically that he's not fully in the federal government, but he's also not fully outside of the federal government. And this has been a big question that we've been asking the White House for about three weeks given, of course, we've seen Elon Musk here since day one.

When Trump was inaugurated, Elon Musk was one of the first people here that we saw on the White House campus. He has an office not far from where I'm standing now. But now the White House has confirmed on the record, according to the press secretary, Caroline Levitt, when I spoke with her earlier, that yes, Elon Musk is what is designated as a special government employee.

And when you look at that, we've seen them in previous administrations, Joe Biden's administration. Trump had them in his previous administration when he was facing impeachment, and he brought in people to help him as he was repairing for that to happen up on Capitol Hill. What this means is that you can only work for 130 days or less out of a three hundred and sixty five day period as a federal employee.

We know that Elon Musk has an office here. We know that he has a White House e-mail address that uses. He does not take a salary, I should note. But that is not necessarily mean that he doesn't have to file a financial disclosure form. That is still something that we're trying to figure out right now whether that's something that could become public as well, because some of the employees who work here do have to file that. They have pretty rigorous ethics disclosures and they do file those, and those are eventually made public.

So that's still a big question here. Jake, it's also a question about the timeline here. If he can only work 130 days out of that one year period, what that looks like going forward, as we've certainly seen how broad his scope is here at the White House. And you heard the president confirming earlier what CNN reported over the weekend which is that Musk and his allies did gain access via the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, to that critical payment system inside the Treasury Department.

Typically, it's pretty close hold, Jake, because it's what disperses the trillions of dollars that the federal government pays out, has access to a lot of sensitive data, and Musk and his allies worked to obtain access to it this weekend. They were granted that access. It has raised questions, of course, given Elon Musk has really big government contracts and what all that entails in terms of what he will now have access to.

[17:10:04] The president earlier today said that if there is a conflict of interest that pertains to Musk that he will not be involved in that matter, he will not work on that matter. It is still a major question. How is that enforced? Who is looking over that? And I should note, Jake, that as a special government employee, that there still is this rule that applies to Elon Musk. It's essentially for federal ethics and conflicts of interest and basically saying that they cannot work on any matter that pertains to them in their financial interests outside of the government.

So that is still a question as to what that looks like. But it is, as we are getting a really good look over the last few days, just how much Elon Musk is touching different facets of the federal government, from the Treasury Department to the USAID and all of these other really major components that we're seeing where Trump is saying one thing, Elon Musk is working to fulfill that when it comes to employees and also getting access to a lot of information as a result of this, Jake. And as a reminder, he does have a top secret security clearance.

TAPPER: So just a quick question. Where's the accountability for Elon Musk? Like he's not elected, he's not confirmed to a Senate position, he's running this kind of quasi-agency, DOGE. Like, obviously he reports to Donald Trump, is that it?

COLLINS: It doesn't appear that anyone else really has a purview of that. Trump said earlier today that basically he has veto power over what Elon Musk does. That if he wants to do things that they agree with, then they'll do it. Trump said earlier, if they don't think it's appropriate, then they won't do it. But that is really from our understanding, Jake, how this power structure and how this dynamic works. Obviously, Elon Musk and Trump have developed a very close relationship.

But this isn't just for him. I would note there are other czars that are in different positions, including on immigration and the border czar, Tom Homan here who also aren't, you know, Senate confirmed positions and don't have to go before the Hill and testify. That's really just the cabinet that pertains to. And you are seeing these other officials who have really high-ranking roles and a lot of power, including Elon Musk.

TAPPER: Yeah, I just don't think I've ever seen a czar this powerful before in the history of czars outside of, you know, the Soviet Union. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. You don't want to miss Kaitlan's show, "The Source," which airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. Let's bring in the panel for their reactions. I want to start with President Trump's relationship with Elon Musk.

And again, like all czars before, unelected, unconfirmed, but he is also a substantial donor to President Trump and hugely powerful. Like I really -- this isn't meant as an insult, just meant as a fact. I can't recall a czar more powerful than this one. "The Washington Post" reports today quote, "Trump views Musk as doing the task he assigned him and the president benefits from letting someone else take the heat for drastic and controversial measures. One advisor described Musk as doing the quote dirty work noting that his public approval ratings were dropping."

That's according to people close to President Trump talking to "The Washington Post." You just heard Trump said that Musk only has access to letting people go if Trump agrees with him. What's your reaction to all this Kate and then Shermichael?

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well it is troubling that somebody with this wide a berth has, to your point, no accountability. There's also no transparency. I mean, we don't know what Musk is doing, except when he sends people to storm into agencies like USAID to block people from getting to their desks. And we hear rumors of things like physical altercations between DOGE employees and USAID employees.

So the idea that Musk has just given wide berth to do essentially whatever he wants in the government without accountability or transparency, of course that's troubling. I think this idea that some of the Trump team has that Musk is going to draw the political heat away from Trump is foolish. I think Musk is such a high profile figure. He is repeatedly out there on (inaudible) on his behalf carrying out his directives.

And so I think the idea that Musk is going to somehow absorb this on behalf of Trump is foolish. Now, maybe Trump will cut him loose at some point. He'll decide that he's become too much of a liability and it'll cut him loose. But I don't think we should make any mistake that he's doing Donald Trump's bidding. He's doing it in a very high- profile way.

TAPPER: Yeah.

BEDINGFIELD: And the lack of transparency, I think, should be concerning to every American.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, is there a problem with having sort of an outside entity doing forensics, accounting if you will, of federal funding. I don't necessarily think so. I do think you got to be careful about protecting essential jobs and roles. You sort of talked about that in your opening monologue. I'm not against that, but I am almost certain being a former government appointee you are as well, Kate, there is a ton of waste in the federal government.

And the government does supposedly have entities in place to try to prohibit that, Jake. They haven't necessarily done a great job. So in that regard, I think Musk's appointment is really notable and needed. As it pertains to USAID, I mean, USAID was started by John F. Kennedy in the early '60s with the main goal and mission of humanitarian aid across the globe. Well, they have gone well beyond that gaze.

[17:14:58]

I mean, they have started stuff in Cuba in the early 2000s. Venezuela getting into clandestine types of operations well beyond their purview. And so as an outsider, if I'm looking at this particular entity that we're appropriating $50 billion to, then I'm beginning to ask myself, are they effectively utilizing those dollars to their original mission? And if they are not, how do we reform it? If we can't reform it, do we tear it down and build something new? I think that's an appropriate question to ask.

I would argue that Musk is going to be tasked with answering that question across the federal government. The accountability factor is a good question. I would argue that the president should probably appoint someone to oversee what DOGE is doing. The president is obviously incredibly busy. And I think that's how you have the proper checks and balances in place.

BEDINGFIELD: But I think -- well, can I just say on this USAID piece? I mean, the fact is there is congressional oversight of USAID. There's congressional oversight of how they spend their money. So the idea that USAID is just out acting on its own without any kind of oversight is just, that's factually not true. But secondly --

SINGLETON: Cuba, Venezuela, let's not forget those two instances there, Kate.

BEDINGFIELD: But humanitarian aid -- humanitarian aid isn't charity. It's in the interest of the United States to ensure that there are places around the world where we are helping to control disease that can only ultimately come back to our shores, that we are helping to ensure that there's stability so that terror groups are not rising from the chaos and disorder.

SINGLETON: But I think we could do that with the new sovereign wealth fund that Trump just signed an E.O. on that today. I'm curious to see what that morphs into overtime.

TAPPER: Let me just bring in Charlie Dent, if I could. Congressman, Congress is in charge of the purse strings, right? And Congress is in charge of oversight over the executive branch. So, again, I don't have a problem with shrinking the size of government. Like, the idea that we spend too much compared to what we take in is just a fact, and the interest on our debt is preventing the United States from spending money on things that would help the American people.

Instead, we're spending it on interest on our debt, hundreds of billions of dollars. So let's just posit like that maybe there's a good goal here. How do Republicans in Congress feel about this? Like, because this is kind of their job and they're not doing it, and they're not even looped in.

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, let's start with it. What's happening at USAID, shuttering USAID, is an egregious abuse of executive authority full stop. Elon Musk doesn't have the authority to shut it down. By the way, his role I thought was advisory, to give the president advice. That's fine. Give him advice. But this is an operational role, to shut down USAID and they do a lot of very important humanitarian work around this world.

Congress appropriated money for this agency and it's the executive job to carry out that order. I mean, when Congress passes a spending bill, an appropriations bill, becomes law, that's not a suggestion. They're not giving advice to the president. It's a command. They are telling him how to spend the money. What's happening right now in the federal government is it absolutely beyond anything I've ever seen.

We're talking about a purge at the FBI, shuttering USAID, pardoning J6 criminals, watching a preemptive war against Canada and Mexico -- Canada, in the name of national security. Has anybody ever been in Normandy? The Canadian cemetery is right down the street from the American cemetery. They're not a threat. They're our dearest friends and allies. Reagan called them our kin and we're treating them, we're insulting them. This is outrageous.

But USAID, back to this, Congress has a role to play here. They are not a bystander in this. They're gonna have to fund -- here's what's gonna happen. March 14th, the government must be funded. Republicans will need a lot of Democrats to help them pass a funding bill and I suspect Democrats are going to make a lot of demands like making sure that the monies that have been appropriated be spent as designated or as ordered by Congress.

So, Republicans, I think, are under a lot of stress right now in the Congress. There's a lot of heartburn, and I'm just waiting for the dam to break. I think a number of them are going to have to speak out forcefully on this rather soon.

TAPPER: All right, everyone. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Now that tariffs on Canada and Mexico are paused for 30 days, what kind of impact might that have on the U.S. economy? That's next.

Plus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visiting the United States. What his big meeting with President Trump could mean for the ceasefire and hostage deal and its fragile future. Stay with us.

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[17:20:00]

TAPPER: Our "Politics Lead" now, just moments ago, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on X or Twitter that President Donald Trump agreed to pause the implementation of planned tariffs on imports from Canada, most imports, for at least 30 days after speaking with Trump twice today. This after President Trump also is delaying tariffs for Mexico by 30 days after Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum promised to send 10,000 soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border this morning to stem the tide of undocumented workers coming into the U.S.

We turn now to the governor of Kentucky, Democrat Andy Beshear. Governor Beshear, thanks for joining us. We've just gotten the news that the tariffs on Canada have been paused for 30 days. I guess that means that your bourbon distillery workers don't have to sweat about prices of bourbon going up in Canada. Is Trump's strategy working here, do you think?

ANDY BESHEAR, GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY: Listen, I'm glad that this has been pushed off for at least 30 days. But the president is playing a game of brinksmanship with the well-being of the American people, and especially our hardworking families. You look at Kentucky, where we've got the best economy of my lifetime. We've worked hard to get here. We've broken every record for private sector investment, wages, new jobs, and exports. Last year, over $40 billion of exports from Kentucky, $9 billion went to Canada.

[17:24:58]

This means 20-plus percent of our exports are going to Canada, and how critical that market is for us. What Donald Trump has threatened to do would cause job losses in Kentucky, would cause prices to go up at the grocery store and at the gas pump. And for a president who I think was elected because voters had a gut check moment and thought he would do more to lower prices, this would be a betrayal to those very same Americans who just want help at the end of the month paying the bills.

TAPPER: Well, those very same Americans, those Kentuckians, overwhelmingly went for President Trump, and he ran on tariffs. He ran on imposing tough fines on Canada and Mexico. So, I mean, how do you square that? Yes, they wanted lower prices, but they also -- I mean, President Trump was not hiding the fact that he loves tariffs. He's loved tariffs for decades.

BESHEAR: But when you look at the impact, I certainly don't think voters and voters in Kentucky were seeing, for instance, what it would do to our signature bourbon industry. Let me give you three numbers. First is 30. That's the number of points that Trump won Kentucky by. But the next is 95. That's the percent of the world's bourbon made in Kentucky, but it is all the bourbon worth drinking. But the number we're worried about is zero. That's how many bottles of Kentucky bourbon were going to be on shelves in Canada, which again is our number one export partner.

Listen, when someone, anyone's policies threaten the livelihood of the people of Kentucky, I'm certainly going to speak up and speak out. And this tariff policy is a really bad idea. Think about this from Kentucky. Mitch McConnell says it's a bad idea. Rand Paul says it's a bad idea. And I say it's a bad idea. Why can these two Republican senators and this Democratic governor all agree? Because it's a bad idea.

TAPPER: So I just want to put up this image we have from Canada. It is already a sign in a Canadian liquor store near the American whiskey, near the bourbon from Kentucky. It says buy Canadian instead. I guess they're pushing rye, which is big up north. Bourbon as you know, $9 billion industry in Kentucky. Why do you say no bottles would be sold in Canada if these tariffs went into effect as opposed to just it costing more?

BESHEAR: Well, what we saw from Canada and from some of its leaders, where they were going to pull down all of those products from some of the nationally or the stores that are owned by the government. It was a direct threat, which was already starting to hit the bourbon industry in Kentucky. And when you think about the bourbon industry, think about folks working in a bottling plant. Think about the coop ridge (ph) where they make those barrels, or think about the farmers that are providing the corn, and their entire harvest may go to a single distillery. Now, these are salt of the earth Kentuckians trying to do the very

best to support their families. And this type of policy that is done for non-trade reasons, and it would come back and would hurt them significantly. You know, my goal isn't to be a Democratic governor or a Republican governor, but to be the best governor for my people. And these tariffs will hurt my people and the rest of America if they go into place a month from now or a year from now.

And the idea that we'd be dealing with this every single month, that's going to create instability not just in the bourbon industry, but across all of our industries. It's going to cause harm in and of itself. It's going to create such uncertainty for business that it threatens the American economy.

TAPPER: Democratic Governor of Kentucky Andy Beshear, good to see you sir. Thanks for joining us.

Coming up, the critical airplane part pulled up in the Potomac River earlier today as investigators reveal new details about last week's deadly crash.

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[17:29:59]

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our National Lead, recovery efforts continue in the Potomac River here in D.C. after the fatal collision last week between the Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342. Earlier today, a crane lifted the American Airlines jet engine out of the water as salvage teams removed large pieces of the wreckage that killed 67 people on board both aircraft.

For more on the recovery efforts and where the investigation stands now, I want to bring back CNN's Pete Muntean. Pete, you just interviewed NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, who's investigating obviously what happened. What more do we know about what happened?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the salvage and recovery effort, Jake, will be key to the NTSB's investigation. We just heard from salvage and recovery crews, and they made two major find, they're using the floating crane equipment behind me, not only a fully intact jet engine from American Airlines Flight 5342, but they also recovered a large, jagged piece of fuselage. We know that those parts will go from here to a hangar on Reagan National Airport where investigators will essentially begin laying those parts out to essentially try and find blind spots to the pilots of American Flight 5342 and the pilots of the Black Hawk helicopter.

We did not get a briefing from the NTSB today, although I did speak exclusively with NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and she tells me investigators right now are not only going through the flight data recorder data from American Flight 5342 and the cockpit voice recorder, but they have recovered a cockpit and data recorder of combined function from onboard the Black Hawk helicopter. It is waterlogged. They are not able to download all of the data yet. But I want you to listen to what Chair Homendy told me about how critical that is to this investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:35:12]

JENNIFER HOMENDY, NTSB CHAIRWOMAN: Every piece of information is critical to the investigation and so the NTSB is about transparency. So when we can provide that, I think that will be helpful to provide some additional context and what we're looking at in this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Jake, I have to tell you, I am here at National Airport all the time and this is an eerie scene. Planes are taking off and landing on Runway 19 behind me. And if you're a passenger in any one of those flights, sitting on the left side, you can see the salvage operation going on. No doubt. The sky is devoid of the sound of helicopters. That's because the main helicopter route that was in use at the time of Wednesday's collision is now temporarily closed by the FAA.

And in a company-wide memo, American Airlines said today that is welcome news and they will be working with Congress and the new administration to make sure that aviation is safer. Jake?

TAPPER: And -- and Pete, preliminary data from the National Transportation Safety Board released over the weekend shows conflicting reports between air traffic control and the American Airlines jet recorder about the Black Hawk's altitude when the collision occurred. How are investigators going to reconcile this discrepancy?

MUNTEAN: Investigators know pretty definitively that this collision occurred at 325 feet, which is above the 200 feet altitude restriction on the helicopter corridor here. Now investigators are trying to pull more detailed radar tracks from a different radar facility than here at the control tower to try and figure out what may attribute that discrepancy. Were controllers in the tower able to see up to the minute, up to the second data about the helicopter's altitude and position? That data refreshes every five seconds, Chair Homendy tells me. She says in a case like this, that's a pretty long time.

TAPPER: Pete Muntean, thanks so much. We continue to learn the names and honor the 67 people killed in Wednesday's crash. Among the victims, 12-year-old Brielle Magdalena Byer and her mother, Justina. Brielle just had a Taylor Swift themed birthday party earlier this year. Sixteen-year-old Edward Zhou was alongside his parents Yu Zhou and Kaiyan Mao. Outside of skating, Edward was learning to play piano. Also lost 16-year-old Cory Haynos, whose parents Stephanie and Roger also died in the collision. Cory had just landed a clean triple axel, something he had spent months working on.

I want to bring in Kalle Strid. He's a former skater for the Swedish National Skating team who coached these three young skaters. And Kalle, I'm sorry, I can't even imagine the devastation you're feeling. You coached Brielle and Cory and Edward. Edward was one of your first students. What should people watching know about these three young skaters and their families?

KALLE STRID, FIGURE SKATING COACH: They should know that they were all fantastic individuals and they should not forget them. It's something that is very important to me and also the -- the families that I've spoken to that are -- that are surviving of this that they should not forget them. They were amazing people and they had such bright futures.

TAPPER: I can't even imagine how hard these last five days have been. How are you doing?

STRID: It's a -- it's been very hard. It's -- I -- I was at the scene on -- on -- I -- I was at the camp in Wichita from Sunday to Tuesday and I just hugged my kids goodbye on Tuesday since I was flying back one day earlier. I was with the same flight just the day before from Wichita. And I hugged Brielle and Edward and told them to -- to work hard the last day and do their best. But I couldn't find Cory and I -- I figured I was going to hug him when we get back to Virginia. So -- but unfortunately I didn't get to do that.

TAPPER: Nearly half the people on board the flight were connected to figure skating. How -- how devastating has this been for the larger figure skating community?

STRID: It's a big loss for the figure skating community. The figure skating community has been fantastic. There's been so many elegies, so many rings, putting up candles, flowers, et cetera. And -- and -- and going to the GoFundMe of these families to try and -- to try and help out the remaining families, which I encourage everyone to do to try and donate money and help the remaining families.

But the figure skating community has of course been hit hard. This was -- this was the future of figure skating. These -- these skaters on board were some of the most talented ones in the country. And -- and it's hit the sport hard.

[17:40:04]

TAPPER: Kalle Strid, thank you so much. May the memories of your students be a blessing.

STRID: Thank you, Jake. Thank you for having me.

TAPPER: Two of President Trump's more controversial cabinet picks face crucial votes tomorrow in the U.S. Senate. We're just learning from some key Republican senators about whether they will support the nominee to be Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. That story is next.

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TAPPER: And we're back with breaking news in our Politics Lead. Ahead of two crucial votes at the U.S. Capitol tomorrow, CNN is just learning how key Republican senators who have not yet said how they're going to vote will vote on one of President Trump's most controversial nominees, former Democratic congresswoman turned Republican, Tulsi Gabbard, who's been nominated to be Director of National Intelligence. CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju joins us from Capitol Hill. Manu, tell us what you're learning.

[17:45:01]

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In fact, Tulsi Gabbard just got a boo -- 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's concerns.

Also, Senator James Lankford had some issues about how she answered the questions 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 Langford. 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. That vote tomorrow.

Also, Jake, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a critical vote tomorrow before the Senate Finance Committee for him to lead the Health and Human Services Department. One person to watch, Senator Bill Cassidy, the main swing vote on that committee. Just moments ago, Jake, he said he still has not made a decision on how he will vote tomorrow. He did speak with RFK Jr. yesterday. And I caught up with the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Mike Crapo, who indicated that he has been talking to senators to advance -- try to advance this nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Have you -- have you spoken to Senator Cassidy about this.

SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID): I've spoken to all the senators about it. And I'm not discussing what the senators say to me.

RAJU: What would -- what would you say your level of confidence is ahead of tomorrow?

CRAPO: Once again, I'm not going to tell you how I predict votes.

RAJU: Do you think that -- how do you think he did at the hearing last week, especially when it came to the issue of vaccines?

CRAPO: I think he answered all the questions very well.

RAJU: Even Cassidy seemed to be troubled by it because of his issue about vaccines specifically. Did you have any --

CRAPO: Ask him about that. RAJU: But you didn't have any issues?

CRAPO: I don't. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So as you heard from the chairman of the committee, they're not predicting the outcome, perhaps because it is unclear what the Bill Cassidy ultimately will do. Because, Jake, if he were to vote no on this committee tomorrow, that would be enough to prevent this from going to the Senate floor and essentially scuttling this nomination altogether. Cassidy, a medical doctor, someone who's up in 2026, someone who had expressed concern -- concerns about how Kennedy had responded to the questions about whether vaccines do in fact cause childhood autism.

He would not say that he agrees with the science that frankly says that it does not. There's no link between the two. That caused concerns with Cassidy how -- of those -- any of those concerns been resolved in those private conversations that took place yesterday. That is uncertain at the moment. So we'll see what Cassidy has to do, Jake, during that key vote tomorrow.

TAPPER: Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Coming up, the shout out that this show, The Lead, got last night at the Grammys.

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[17:51:35]

TAPPER: Our Pop Culture Lead now, the biggest night of the year for music saw upsets, dazzling outfits, and of course, some fantastic performances. Among the highlights, Beyonce, her royal highness, winning her first ever album -- album of the year award for "Cowboy Carter." CNN entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us now from Tinseltown. Elizabeth, who else won big last night in addition to Queen Bey?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: You know, Jake, the big winner of the night truly was the city of Los Angeles. You know, this was the first award show to take place after the devastating fires in our community. And all of the tributes were so beautifully done. First responders were on the stage. In fact, two L.A. firefighters were the ones who actually presented Beyonce with her album of the year award. At the end of the night, Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars, they sang "California Dreamin'" as, of course, a tribute to Southern California.

And host Trevor Noah announced that over $7 million was raised just by viewers at home who scanned that QR Code while they were watching the Grammy. So it was a great night in terms of raising awareness and fire relief. But some of the other big winners aside from Beyonce, you had Kendrick Lamar, who won two major awards on stage last night. He's about to enter the best week of his life now going into the Super Bowl where he's the hat halftime performer. And also Sabrina Carpenter, Shakira and Chappell Roan also all won big awards last night. Jake?

TAPPER: I will be there at the Super Bowl watching his performance. That's not what I'm excited about. But that should be fun.

WAGMEISTER: You -- you would never miss. You would never miss the Eagles ever.

TAPPER: I would never miss it. Yes, I'm there for the Eagles not -- not Kendrick Lamar, although I'm a fan. There was an acceptance speech quite unlike the others. Tell us about that.

WAGMEISTER: Yes. So I mentioned Chappell Roan, who won for best new artist, and her performance was incredible, Jake. But her acceptance speech was very powerful. She actually called out music industry executives in front of their face in the very room where they were. Let's take a look at what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHAPPELL ROAN, SINGER-SONGWRITER: I got signed as a minor. And when I got dropped, I had zero job experience under my belt. And like most people, I had a difficult time finding a job in the pandemic and could not afford health insurance. It was so devastating to feel so committed to my art and feel so betrayed by the system. Labels, we got you, but do you got us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Everyone was on their feet applauding for Chappell Roan. And Jake, I have to tell you, last point. You know who else was on her feet all night long? Taylor Swift. She was dancing literally the entire night and had, I think, the best night ever.

TAPPER: All right. I hope she has a horrible Super Bowl, though. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much.

I guess you can say also The Lead is so Julia, because we're everywhere, even at the Grammys. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quote, brat, you're just that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes, end quote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:54:46]

TAPPER: You might remember when Jamie Gangel and I and some others, Kaitlan Collins, we talked about "Brat Summer." According to my Gen Z staffers, I killed the phenomenon "Brat Summer" when I asked about it during a panel segment last July, it was prompted by my Gen Z daughter. But it does appear "Brat" is alive and well, even if clueless Gen Xers and boomers don't understand what it is. Charlie XCX, the creator of "Brat Summer," took home three Grammys last night, including one for best Electronic Dance Album for the album "Brat." Congrats, Charlie XCX. Our last leads are next.

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TAPPER: In our Money Lead, good news for anyone hoping to score a last minute Super Bowl ticket -- tickets for the -- could be historic game are 50 percent cheaper than last year's. Today, the cheapest ticket price is under $4,000 on resale websites, which while still expensive, has fallen in recent days. Resale experts say the lower prices could be due to less fan interest in New Orleans, especially after the recent terrorist attack, or that fans are just less excited about seeing those annoying Chiefs in the big game for three years in a row.

[18:00:13]

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X and on the TikTok at JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X at TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show once you get your podcasts. Go Birds. The news continues on CNN with Phil Mattingly sitting in for Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. See you tomorrow.