Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Elon Musk to Attend Trump's First Cabinet Meeting; U.S. and Ukraine Agree to Minerals Deal, Zelenskyy to Visit White House Friday; Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA), Trump Pull Off Last-Minute as Win as House Passes Budget Plan. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 26, 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: Gathering the cabinet. President Trump holding his first cabinet meeting of his second term today and with a plus one, Elon Musk, who is not a cabinet secretary the last time we checked, also expected to be there.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And a narrow win for Republicans after late night drama on Capitol Hill. Speaker Johnson, President Trump managing to convince multiple Republican holdouts to say yes on a critical step to move Trump's agenda forward. But could the whirlwind vote mean bigger problems ahead for Johnson?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, one strange long haul flight. A couple forced to sit next to a dead body for hours. What the airline is saying this morning.

I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: If there was any question left of the power and influence that Elon Musk has gained in this administration, this morning, it is about to get laid on the table, quite literally. Donald Trump's holding his first cabinet meeting of his second term, and among the group will be someone who is not in the cabinet, not vetted or approved by Congress, and frankly a man whose role the White House continues to struggle to define.

Elon Musk is expected to attend with a seat at that table, just as CNN is hearing that there is growing frustration among some of those very same cabinet secretaries over Elon Musk-DOGE moves targeting their agencies, some headaches and some annoyance. That is how Trump officials are now describing the feeling this morning about Musk's threats to fire federal employees who do not meet his demands.

So, let's start with Alayna Treene this hour with this new reporting from the White House for us. Alayna, what are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, look, I think you said it exactly right, Kate. I mean, Elon Musk's power is only going to be further solidified today when he joins Donald Trump's cabinet members for that first cabinet meeting this morning at 11:00 A.M. Now, this does come, though, as we're learning, and I'm learning from my sources, administration officials, White House officials, et cetera, that some of them are growing frustrated with how Elon Musk is kind of pushing out his DOGE efforts, that way to take the chainsaw to the federal government.

I'm told it's not necessarily that he wants to find, you know, the bloat in government. We know a lot of people who are in the Trump administration in the White House agree that there is waste, fraud and abuse that could be found and they want to root out, but it's the ways in which he is doing it, I'm told. That is where this frustration is stemming from.

One is that they were not given a heads up when Elon over the weekend -- Elon Musk over the weekend had issued that email asking workers, what did you do last week, ask them to list out five things, and then arguing, this is really the key point here, saying that if they didn't respond, that they would be forced to revive, resign or have their employment terminated.

And that's where I was hearing that a lot of this came from. One is that some of these cabinet secretaries were just sworn in. Some haven't even had their confirmation votes yet. And they need time, these sources were arguing, to go through their review process to look at, you know, their needs, who they want to keep, et cetera.

The other part of this, though, is that, you know, the questions of who has the authority to actually fire people who work in their own agencies. They thought that that was decisions that they should be making, not someone like Elon Musk and DOGE.

Now, we did hear the White House yesterday clarify that the president's, you know, agrees that his cabinet secretary should be the ones making these decisions here, but it comes as there's been a lot of confusion. And, again, we're hearing some of this frustration really start to show as Musk has been doing more and more regarding the federal workforce.

But the one thing that's really important to keep in mind here, Kate, is the one person who is not frustrated with Musk, and that is Donald Trump. I am told that he is really cheering on Musk's efforts. He is arguing that he wants to see him do more.

And then we actually saw him post this morning kind of tripling down on his support of Elon. He said, quote, I thought it would be appropriate to take out my thank you truth to Elon Musk after all of us big election win. Nothing has changed. Run, Elon, run. So, clearly, Donald Trump is standing behind him. Kate?

BOLDUAN: That's at least what it seems right now. Great to see you, Alayna.

[07:05:00]

Let's see what happens this morning with that cabinet meeting. I appreciate it. John? BERMAN: All right. New this morning, we're learning that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to meet with President Trump at the White House on Friday. A Ukrainian official tells CNN the U.S. and Ukraine have agreed on a deal to Ukraine's national resources and reconstruction for the country for the United States to get a piece of the profits from it. The U.S. backed off some of its most extreme financial demands, but it's unclear if Ukraine is getting the security guarantees it was hoping for.

Let's get right to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz with the latest on this. Salma, good morning.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. So we are seeing signs of progress after a rollercoaster couple of weeks when President Trump and President Zelenskyy were trading barbs. We're hearing now from Ukrainian officials that an agreement has been reached to give the United States access to the country's rare earth minerals.

Now, I need to explain that this is basically a framework of an agreement. A final deal, as you mentioned, is set to be signed in the White House as early as this Friday. Again, we don't know the details. It's a framework, but we understand that the deal will include a measure for joint exploration of those rare minerals, and it will set up a fund and portions of that fund will go to that reconstruction.

I have, of course, not mentioned the most significant, most important demand for Ukraine, which is security guarantees. Ukraine essentially wants U.S. protection from Russian aggression. President Trump has commented on this and said it is something that could be discussed quote later on. He also indicated that he has spoken to Russia directly about these security guarantees. That's something that I am sure has raised eyebrows.

But it is the first sign, if you will, of progress in recent days when it seemed that relationship was souring by the minute. But it will all be about that meeting on Friday, John. Watch closely. These two men have had a bitter animosity for the last few days. Does President Trump begin to warm to President Zelenskyy, begin to show that he is willing to back Ukraine in this fight, or does he continue that pivot that we've seen towards Russia?

BERMAN: Yes. Look, and remember, Trump called Zelenskyy a dictator, would not call Vladimir Putin a dictator. That will make for an interesting meeting if it happens on Friday.

Salma Abdelaziz, thank you very much. Sara?

SIDNER: Right ahead, a late win for House Speaker Mike Johnson, pulling off a stunning turnaround to advance President Trump's agenda in the House, but the drama, not going to end there.

Also, a time when fears are heightened to fly two planes in two different cities, one in Chicago, the other in Washington, forced to abort landing within 90 minutes of each other. What went wrong?

And a fire captain is captured on video pleading for her life covered in blood. Police are now searching for her wife in connection with her murder, and this isn't the first time she's been accused of killing a spouse.

Those stories ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning, two budget blueprints have passed after a surprise win for President Trump in the House overnight. Last night, nearly every House Republican fell in line, passing a budget proposal to advance Trump's agenda. The final vote came out to 217 to 215 after Speaker Mike Johnson lost just one single vote from Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie. That single vote was all he could afford to lose.

The win came after Trump got on the phone, pushing multiple Republican holdouts to change their minds, and they did.

CNN's Manu Raju has more on what's next after this turnaround.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: By the narrowest of margins, House Speaker Mike Johnson getting a win and pushing through the Republican budget blueprint out of the House after a furious effort behind the scenes to try to lock down support for this plan, ultimately getting it approved by 217 to 215 vote. One Republican voting against the plan, that's Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Several others had indicated that they were going to vote against it because they were concerned that it did not cut spending enough, but ultimately both Johnson and Donald Trump themselves got on the phone. They urged these members to get in line and, ultimately, they did.

And now the question is going to be how they'll go forward from here and whether they can actually reach an agreement on the other side of the Capitol with Senate Republicans who have a much different plan. Remember, this is just simply the budget blueprint, a framework, an outline of how they plan to move ahead with Donald Trump's agenda.

The House and the Senate are in much different places. The Senate has a much narrower plan dealing with mostly on immigration issues and also on defense issues and also on energy issues. They don't get into the issue of spending cuts. They don't get into the issue of a debt limit increase and they certainly don't touch overhauling the United States Tax Code.

That is all those provisions, a debt limit increase and overhaul of the tax code as well as deep spending cuts about $1.5 trillion in spending cuts. That is in the House plan. The speaker of the House wants everything in one bill because he believes that in this narrowly divided House Republican that they can only get one bill done through this budget process. They're employing that because they can avoid a filibuster in the Senate by going through the budget process. And they know they believe they only have one bite in the apple to pass the entire agenda. So, what does it happens next? We have to first agree with the Senate on what the ultimate budget blueprint is, then to pass that out of the House, pass it out of the Senate again, and then they have to draft the actual legislative text under all those categories, whether it's a tax overhaul, whether it's spending cuts, which is bound to divide their party, as well as other major issues as well, how to deal with immigration provisions and the like.

[07:15:04]

That is going to take a significant amount of work to not only draft, but also get their party on the same page.

But at the moment, Speaker Johnson breathing a sigh of relief after it looked for a moment they did not have the votes on Tuesday night. In fact, they had scrapped the vote. They were going to pull the vote, send members home, ultimately changed their mind because some members indicated they were going to vote yes. And then they brought members back minutes later to cast this decisive vote, getting this first hurdle cleared, barely getting it cleared. But now, as the speaker said himself, the hard work begins, and it's going to be very hard to get their party in line and send a bill ultimately to Donald Trump's desk.

BOLDUAN: What could go wrong there? Thank you, Manu.

Coming up for us, three legal setbacks for President Trump, within 90 minutes, he was ordered to restart payments on foreign aid. He was blocked from banning refugees and blocked from freezing federal grants. How those rulings are pumping the brakes on his agenda and where the fight goes from here.

And Luka gets revenge on Dallas with a triple-double and a win.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: So Luka Doncic gets a little revenge against his former team, the Mavericks. His trade to the Lakers earlier this month, as you well know, sent shockwaves through the NBA, setting up for quite a face-to-face reunion last night. And the game did not disappoint.

CNN's Andy Scholes has the highlights. Andy, what are those highlights?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, you know, Kate, Ever since that trade earlier this month, you know, fans have had last night circled on their calendars, you know, what would Luka do in his first revenge game against the Mavs? And, you know, many Dallas fans have certainly not forgiven G.M. Nico Harrison for trading Luka.

Nico on the court in that blue suit watching Luka warm up before the game. And Laker fans at one point actually chanting, thank you, Nico, during the game for the trade. First quarter, Luka knocking down a three and then he kind of screams towards the Mavs bench. That was actually Luka's only three of the night. Just 6 for 17 from the field, but he and LeBron had the two-man game going, especially in the fourth. Luka to LeBron there for three, gives the Lakers the lead. Moments later, Luka again finds LeBron for the slam. LeBron scoring 16 of his 27 in the fourth. Luka finished with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 12 assists for a triple double. Lakers would get the win, 107-99, and here was Luka afterwards on facing his former team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUKA DONCIC, LOS ANGELES LAKERS GUARD: I can't even explain what -- there was a different game. Like I said, sometimes I don't know what I was doing. And, you know, I'm just glad it's over, honestly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. While we now watch Luka on the Lakers, another basketball legend calling it a career. After 20 seasons in the WNBA,

Diana Taurasi making her retirement official in an interview with TIME Magazine saying, mentally and physically, I'm just full. The 42-year- old leaves the game the most decorated player in women's basketball history. Taurasi won three WNBA titles, three NCAA titles at UConn, and she's the only basketball player to win six Olympic gold medals. Tarausi also leads the game as the WNBA's all time leading score, nearly 3,000 points ahead of Tina Charles, who is in second.

And speaking of all time scoring records, Alex Ovechkin now just 12 goals away from Wayne Gretzky's all time mark. Ovechkin scoring here on the power play for goal number 883. He needs 12 in 24 games to break the record this season. Capitals did lose 3-2 to the Flames.

Calgary goalie Dan Vladar said afterwards, it was kind of cool to give up a goal to Ovechkin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I was cheating a little bit, but there's a reason why he has so many goals like that. And, you know, obviously it's going to be a story for my kids one day that, you know, a player like this scored on me. But, obviously, at that moment, you don't appreciate it. And, you know, you don't. I'm happy we just played twice against them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: I like that attitude. You can catch the Vancouver Canucks take on the Los Angeles Kings tonight on TNT and streaming on MAX at 9:30 P.M. Eastern.

You know, Kate, I really find myself appreciating a segment like this today because, you know, we say goodbye to Diana Taurasi. And then we still have LeBron at 40-year-old and Ovechkin at 39 years old hanging on and we still get to watch them play. We need to appreciate it because we don't know how much longer we have with those two.

BOLDUAN: I appreciate all those things, especially, did that guy say what I thought he said in that sound bite from the locker room?

SCHOLES: He said cheating. He said he was cheating a little bit. Yes, I know. If you listen to it again knowing that it's cheating, you'll hear it this next time.

BOLDUAN: I will have to listen again because my brain turned off after I thought I heard what I thought I heard.

Andy, thank you so much. I really appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: Oh, look, I definitely heard what you heard because we were on the subject of aging there. I thought it was just all part of the same theme.

All right, buy your way to America, President Trump's new proposal to sell access to the country. Forget green cards. What about gold cards?

And this morning, three American women found dead in their rooms at a beach resort. We've got new details on the investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

SIDNER: All right. Three rulings in 90 minutes, all delivering major legal blows to the Trump administration's agenda. The rulings deal with funding for U.S. aid, refugees, and the freezing of federal funds.

CNN's Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz is in Washington with all the details for us. Give us some sense of what these judges said and what it means to Trump's agenda.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, the commonality here is that all of the judges are looking at ways that the Trump administration has tried to turn off the spigot of money going outward to programs, nonprofits, a refugee admissions program. And the judges are saying, you just can't turn off the money that quickly in the way that you're doing it.

So taking these one by one, there was a federal judge in Seattle who essentially stopped the administration trying to block the money going to the nation's refugee admissions program.

[07:30:04]

That's one. The second one case that came in yesterday from a judge in Washington.