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Soon, Vance Speaks After Meeting With Zelenskyy; Trump Administration Fires Thousands of Fed Workers in Push to Shrink Government; Acting U.S. Attorney in New York and Five Others in D.C. Quit After Being Told to Drop Mayor Eric Adams (D-New York, NY) Case. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 14, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The world is watching as Vice President J.D. Vance is set to meet with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today. And ahead of that, the vice president's giving a new interview that's getting a lot of attention, and also potentially causing a little bit of confusion with the administration.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning, new accusations of an attempted quid pro quo, federal prosecutors resign one after the other in defiance of Justice Department orders to drop the case against New York Mayor Eric Adams for what The New York Times calls explicitly political reasons.

And then overnight, treacherous mudslides and flooding around the burn scars of deadly fires that swept through California.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, we are standing by for Vice President J.D. Vance, expected to speak very soon in Munich, and he just gave a new interview to The Wall Street Journal, laying down a new marker for the negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine, saying that the United States could use sending troops to Ukraine as a tool of leverage if Russia failed to negotiate in good faith.

Someone listening to that very closely, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy's also laying down his own marker for those negotiations, saying now he does not believe the U.S. has a readymade plan to end Russia's war. Vance and Zelenskyy set to meet later today.

So, where is President Trump on all of this? It seems clearly TBD. But moments ago, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth doubled down on his assessment that U.S. troops will not be needed in Ukraine.

And also breaking overnight, when it comes to the actual war, a drone attack at Chernobyl's nuclear site, radiation levels there now and you need to be monitored. Ukraine saying that this latest strike by Russia is more proof that Russia -- that Putin is not preparing for negotiations, but rather furthering his lies. CNN's Alex Marquardt with us now from Munich. A lot has already happened this morning and a lot is still to come today. What's the very latest put it all together for us, Alex.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. We're only a few hours into this Conference one of the most important of the year in terms of national security. Behind me is where it's being held all manner of political, economic, defense military officials have been filing all more filing in all morning. But in just about 90 minutes time, Kate, we will be hearing from the American vice president. And that is arguably the biggest speech of the day. He will be speaking on all manner of things, including weighing into European politics, we understand. But it is going to be his comments about Ukraine that I think most people are going to be focused on.

We are getting some conflicting messaging out of the administration over the past few days. Vice President Vance giving an interview to The Wall Street Journal in which he appears to be taking a tougher line on Russia and what it would take to get them to the table to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine, saying that there are economic tools of leverage that can be used against Russia. And there are also military tools of leverage that can be used against Russia.

Now, whether that means U.S. troops going into Ukraine, that is a major question that we're going to be listening out for, because you'll remember just a couple of days ago, the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, said quite bluntly, there will be no U.S. troops going into Ukraine, that there would not be us involvement when it comes to security guarantees for Ukraine.

That's a big thing that the Europeans and Ukrainians wanted to see the U.S. be a part of. And he also said that in an eventual deal, that Ukraine would not be a member of NATO. But now we have the vice president saying still everything is on the table for these negotiations.

I want to play a little bit of what the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, had to say earlier today as he tried to clarify these varying positions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: My job today in Brussels was to introduce realism to the conversation. The reality that returning to 2014 borders as part of a negotiated settlement is unlikely. The reality of U.S. troops in Ukraine is unlikely. The reality of Ukraine membership in NATO as a part of a negotiated settlement, unlikely.

[07:05:05]

And I stand by the comments that I made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: Kate, I think many would say that the reality is far from clear at this point, but, of course, that's what negotiations are for. But there are many wondering why the U.S. appears to be giving Russia concessions before these negotiations even begin, most notably saying that Ukraine will not be a member of NATO and Trump just saying yesterday that Russia should be allowed to once again join the G8, which they were kicked out of back in 2014 after invading Ukraine the first time. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Alex, thank you so much. We're going to come back to Alex quite a bit this morning. There's a lot happening there. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, new rounds of firings, thousands of federal employees let go. The Department of Veterans Affairs alone reported it dismissed more than 1,000 employees at the Department of Energy. One told CNN, quote, our leadership was visibly shaken by it all. The cuts are even happening inside the agency handling the cuts. The Office of Personnel Management, dozens laid off there.

Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for the latest. So, what's the status this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, John, as you said, we are seeing now the Trump administration directing agencies to fire thousands of workers who are on this probationary status. Officials have really set their sights, we're told, on these probationary employees. They're people who have only been in the government for about a year or two at most, mainly because they have fewer job protections and they're easier to fire.

Now, more than 200,000 employers, we're told, are part of this, you know, probationary status or have been working for the federal government for less than a year. And, really, this culling that we saw take place on Thursday was taking place at the Departments of Energy and Veterans Affairs, but it comes after we saw scores of people being laid off and fired yesterday at a number of different agencies, including the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration, as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Now, one thing that's interesting about this is it is a shift in guidance from what we know, the Office of Personnel Management, which has really been directing and leading a lot of these layoffs, had told agencies earlier this week. They had said earlier this week that they did not have to terminate all of these employees that they had placed on probation. But now we're hearing a shift again, like I said, in that guidance.

I want to read for you what we got from an OPM spokesperson on this. They said, quote, agencies are taking independent action in light of the recent hiring freeze and in support of the president's broader efforts to restructure and streamline the federal government to better serve the American people and the highest possible standard.

Now, one thing as well that we're learning is the nature of these firings. They're being fired via email, via calls. We've heard a lot of OPM Staff had been fired on a broad mass Microsoft teams call and other different ways. So, we're really seeing this kind of be delivered throughout the entire federal government. The thing that's so notable, though, about this, John, and just to take a step back and talk about why this is happening. One, we know one of the top goals right now, top priorities of the Trump administration, is to really try and reduce significantly the size of the federal workforce. Of course, that's a goal of Elon Musk and the Department of Government efficiency. But they're also arguing that this is because a lot of these employees didn't take that so-called buy out. And now they're saying we warned you that your job could be threatened. Now, you're actually seeing that put into practice.

BERMAN: We'll see the impact this has on lives and departments.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much for this reporting. Kate?

BOLDUAN: A top U.S. attorney quits in protest and several others follow her lead all over a Justice Department order to drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. So, what now? We'll work on that.

And on the same day that vaccine cynic RFK Jr. was sworn in as the new Health and Human Services secretary, Louisiana's Health Department says it will no longer promote mass vaccination.

And a wild moment that might be better described as completely and 100 percent crazy pants, a father was recording as his son is swallowed by a whale. Don't worry. The whale spit him back out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: All right. New this morning, stunning fallout from what is being called the Thursday afternoon massacre. The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan quit. Five other senior prosecutors in D.C. also resigned. The acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon left over demands from the Justice Department to drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as soon as a new eight page resignation letter, which is just as I said, stunning, vehemently defends the case against Adams and makes new accusations against the mayor and his team.

This morning, questions are being raised over what some see as the overt politicization of the Justice Department.

CNN's Kara Scannell is here. And the letters, the back and forth letters between Sassoon and Emil Bove from the Justice Department, I've never seen anything like this.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John. I mean, this is really stunning. As you said, her letter is eight pages, single space, she doesn't mince words laying out what she still believes is the strength of the case, even as she has come in and taken a fresh look at it.

You know, she also says in this letter, you know, she makes these accusations that Bove, who has ordered her to dismiss the case, saying that they need not on the merits, not because of the strength of the evidence, but because Adams needs to be able to run his job as a mayor and to help Trump run the immigration enforcement policies that he wants.

[07:15:10]

So, Sassoon responds to that, and this is following in-person meetings that they've had as well. She says, Adams' attorney repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed.

I remained baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached. And, you know, this is all this was this just pressure coming from them. She's saying that, in fact, what they are doing now is actually amplifying this concern about the Justice Department being politicized by saying that they should dismiss this case, not on the merits.

Now, after she resigned, she sent a letter to the attorney general and then informed her staff. Bove had then put two of the line prosecutors who've been working this case on administrative leave because they would not sign a motion to dismiss.

He then brought it to Washington, D.C., transferred the case entirely there. Folks in the Public Integrity Section, which oversees these corruption cases, five of them resigned because they wouldn't sign this. So, the next step is, does Bove himself sign it, he's an alumni of the Southern District of New York, which also makes this extraordinary, or does he get someone else to do it? But that doesn't end there because the judge is going to have to sign off on this.

And as Sassoon explains in this letter, they are opening the department up to some embarrassment here because the judge is very likely going to have a hearing, haul them in and ask them what grounds, what legal grounds does he have to actually agree to this dismissal.

And, you know, we saw General Michael Flynn, his case. There was issues with that, too. A similar thing came up here and, ultimately, Trump pardoned him because it got so messy within the courts.

BERMAN: And, again, they do not cite legal reasons for dismissing or not prosecuting this case. I mean, that's what's so stunning here. And Bove, his response going after Sassoon after she resigned also, just worth looking into as we go forward on this.

Kara Scannell, thank you so much for your reporting on it.

All right, this morning, evacuations at school closures after a major storm delivered flooding and mudslides to areas just devastated by wildfires.

And then TikTok is back, well, in the app stores for now. Does this break the law that Congress passed?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, parts of Southern California are cleaning up after a storm brought some really heavy rain and flooding to an area, the same area still reeling from those devastating wildfires last month. We're going to show you some time lapse video, we're going to show it to you right here. This is showing just how bad a mud flow can get and how quickly sliding down a mountain and then flooding the area below. We also want to show you this mudslide and debris just sweeping away a car, sweeping the car actually into the ocean in Malibu, city after city, just facing a dangerous mess.

CNN's Allison Chinchar tracking this one for us. Allison, what do you seeing?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So, the one thing that we want to note is that the rain is starting to calm back down and will continue to do so over the rest of the day today. So, hopefully, those scenes from yesterday do not continue through the day today. But, yes, this is what it looked like kind of trying to clear out all of the mud and the debris that kind of fell on to a lot of these roadways and even into folks' neighborhoods.

You look at some of these rainfall totals, even some of the ones on the lower end say two to three inches, which you have to remember, for some of these areas, they got that in a very short period of time. So, it may not seem like that high of a number. But if it all comes in at once, it takes all of that water and can spread that water, as well as the mud and all of that debris onto those roadways.

Here's a look at the last 48 hours. You can see again widespread across portions of Southern California. You had at least two inches of rain, but some of those areas picking up four to six inches total.

Now, when we widen this back out again, you can see it is still raining across portions of California, including Southern California, raining right now in San Francisco, Sacramento, as well as more of that moisture begins to push eastward.

And that's what's going to happen. All of that moisture is going to continue to spread off to the east. So, that by the time we get to tomorrow morning, Saturday morning, you've got snow across portions of the Midwest and very heavy rain starting to develop across the Ohio Valley, Tennessee Valley, as well as the southeast

And the potential for even some strong to severe thunderstorms is possible along the southeast here, stretching from Texas all the way up through portions of Kentucky. And very heavy rain is also going to be a concern across some of these areas just because of the sheer volume of rain.

Here's a look at the best chance for that severe weather and this does include very damaging wind gusts as well as some potential tornadoes.

BOLDUAN: Allison, thank you very much for that. Still ahead for us, we have breaking news this morning. Pope Francis has been admitted to the hospital, we are now learning, for what the Vatican says is continuing treatment for bronchitis. We've got an update for you from Rome.

And they have been stuck in space for months and months when remember they were only supposed to be up there for days. What astronauts much Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams now say they're looking forward to most as their return trip to Earth is finally set for now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: Yes, we are tracking some breaking news. We're now hearing from the Vatican confirming Pope Francis has been admitted to the hospital. Vatican saying that the 88-year-old pontiff is being treated for bronchitis.

Let's get over to CNN's Christopher Lamb, though. He's in Rome. And, Christopher, you also saw the pope yourself this morning. What's the very latest you're learning?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, that's right. Pope Francis has about, was about to be admitted to hospital for bronchitis. He's been suffering from this for some time, but he's been continuing with meetings in the Vatican. And I was there this morning for one of those meetings. He had a private audience with Mark Thompson, the chief executive of CNN, and I saw the pope. And he seemed mentally alert, but clearly is having real difficulty speaking for sustained periods due to these breathing difficulties that he seems to be susceptible to.

Now, the pope is going to be in Gemelli Hospital behind me on the tenth floor.

[07:30:01]

There's a special suite of rooms for the pope where he will be treated and where he will have tests.