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President Trump Meets With British Prime Minister in The Oval Office; Democrats Introduces Protect Veteran Jobs Act Amid Trump Firings; Democrats Introduces Protect Veteran Jobs Act Amid Trump Firings; Elon Musk Claims FAA's Air Traffic Control System is Failing And His Company Should Get that Contract. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 27, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, 45TH & 47TH U.S. PRESIDENT: -- people are in Ukraine and they get attacked.

MAN 1: (Inaudible).

TRUMP: You know, I've always found about the British, they don't need much help. They can take care of themselves very well. You know what? No, it sounds like it's evasive, but it's not evasive. You know, the British have been incredible soldiers, incredible military, and they can take care of themselves. But if they need help, I'll always be with the British, okay? I'll always be with them. But they don't need help. You look at their career. You have done very well over the years, haven't you?

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We have. I'm very proud of our country, and we have -- but we've also always been backing each other up between our two countries. That is why this is the greatest alliance for prosperity and security I think the world has ever seen. Whenever necessary, we absolutely backed each other up, and that's --

TRUMP: Could you take on Russia by yourselves?

STARMER: Well.

TRUMP: All right. (Inaudible). Yes, ma'am.

WOMAN 1: In his remarks at the Munich Security Conference, Vice President Vance condemned free speech violations in the UK particularly. Could you respond? What is your message?

TRUMP: I have an idea. We have the man right here. Come on, let's go, J.D. let's -- we're putting you on stage.

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Great. Yeah. Look, I said what I said, which is that we do have, of course, a special relationship with our friends in the UK and also with some of our European allies. But we also know that there have been infringements on free speech that actually affect not just the British, of course, what the British do in their own country is up to them, but also affect American technology companies and by extension, American citizens. So that is something that we'll talk about today at lunch.

STARMER: We've had free speech for a very, very long time in the United Kingdom, and it will last for a very, very long time. Well, no, I mean, certainly we wouldn't want to reach across U.S. citizens, and we don't. And that's absolutely right. But in relation to free speech in the UK, I'm very proud of our history there.

MAN 2: Will you discuss (inaudible) with the Australians and the Brits. Will you be discussing AUKUS with the Prime Minister, sir?

TRUMP: What does that mean?

MAN 2: AUKUS, the Australia U.S. Defence Alliance --

TRUMP: Well, we'll be discussing that. We had another great relationship, and you have, too, with Australia.

STARMER: Yeah.

TRUMP: We've had a very good relationship with Australia. Please.

MAN 3: Mr. President, while we have the Vice President here, are you both disappointed that the AFD didn't come first in the German elections, given your previous support for them?

TRUMP: No. Whatever happens with Germany -- look, the relationship has been very strong with Germany, but we'll have to see what happens. They have a lot of things going on right now. Will have to say -- no, I'm not disappointed about anything. If anything, you would say that the group that we would be most opposed to lost but we got along with them also. We have a very good relationship with all groups in Germany.

WOMAN 2: (Inaudible) CEO Erik Prince was on our channel, News Nation. He was talking about his proposal to use private forces to assist in deportations. Have you read that proposal and do you support it?

TRUMP: No, I haven't seen it. I don't think it's necessary. Our people are doing a phenomenal job. I wouldn't be opposed to it necessarily, but I'd go to our military people and I'd go to Tom Homan and Kristi. I'd go to the various and ask. But I don't see it as being.

We're doing unbelievably in getting people out, getting criminals out, people that should have never been here, that the Biden administration with their stupid open border should have never allowed. They came in from prisons and jails and mental institutions and gang members and drug dealers coming into our country like this. We're getting them out and we're doing really well. I mean, the level of effectiveness has been incredible. Everybody is talking about it. How about one more?

WOMAN 2: Mr. President --

TRUMP: Well, not -- you've asked.

MAN 4: Mr. President, one on the Middle East --

TRUMP: Go ahead. You look so nice. Here we go. Here's the kill.

WOMAN 3: Mr. President, are there areas specifically of Ukraine that you're talking about in giving back, specifically Crimea? Have you gotten to those details yet (inaudible).

TRUMP: Well, you mean the areas that were taken?

WOMAN 3: Yeah.

TRUMP: There are a lot of areas that were taken. We've talked about it. A lot of the sea line has been taken and we'll be talking about that. And we're going to see if we can get it back or get a lot of it back for Ukraine, if that's possible. We'll be seeing about that. Okay, thank you very much, everybody.

WOMAN 4: Thank you, press.

TRUMP: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

WOMAN 4: We're headed out.

TRUMP: Thank you.

WOMAN 4: Thanks, guys.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We have been listening to President Donald Trump alongside the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer inside the Oval Office answering reporters' questions. Ahead of this big meeting between Starmer and Trump, Starmer expected to ask Trump for assistance when it comes to handling the future of Ukraine.

Trump, there giving an update on talks with Russia, saying that Russia has been acting very well, though he didn't want to specifically get into details about a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, saying that he wants to have a deal first. Notably, Russia has said that they would not tolerate any kind of peacekeeping force, whether with the U.S. or EU troops inside Ukraine.

[14:05:06]

The President there was also asked about some of his rhetoric toward Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who's set to go to the White House tomorrow. Trump saying that they're going to sign off on this rare earth minerals deal in front of the press, even though Zelenskyy said that it hadn't been finalized yet. The President there was asked whether he still thinks that Zelenskyy is a dictator. Trump playing coy, saying, did I say that? I can't believe I said that.

There was also an interesting interaction with Keir Starmer when Trump was asked about this backstop, this idea of having the U.S. support any kind of peacekeeping force in Ukraine. He said that the U.S. will be there doing business. We'll be over there working in the country, digging our hearts out was the way that he described it.

He was asked, if British troops were attacked by Russian forces in Ukraine, would the U.S. come to the aid of those forces? Trump acknowledged that it was a bit of an evasive answer, what he said. He jokingly said that the U.K. wouldn't likely need help. And he turned toward Keir Starmer and jokingly asked, could you take on Russia by yourselves? Really a telling moment there about Trump's view of Ukraine.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And it was interesting, too, that he kind of was saying that just having U.S. there with private industry digging would in itself be a bit of a security guarantee. And it was also interesting, as Keir Starmer sort of pulled him a crone interjected to say, actually, we're not getting all of our money back, what we're putting into the war in Ukraine.

And I also do just want to note, which is something that is certainly, I think, of interest to our domestic audience, which is that Trump was asked, are you tracking how many veterans are being fired as we see all of these federal workers who are getting the ax? He says we are. He says we take good care of our veterans. He says we're watching that very carefully. He said they're trying to make it the smallest number possible, and went on to again say, we're taking care of our veterans. We love our veterans, are going to take good care of them.

We should note, though, that thousands of veterans have been fired and there are more firings expected and more veterans are expected to be fired. So far as we see these firings, they appear to be pretty indiscriminate as probationary employees are being canned despite their military service. Republicans have been sounding this alarm privately to the administration. We're hearing Democrats sound it pretty publicly. But listen, I think the headline here was all of this love from Keir Starmer for President Trump.

Let's go to Jeff Zeleny at the White House. Hand delivering, Jeff, a letter from the king, which was clearly something that really appealed to President Trump. He really ate it up. A letter inviting him for what Keir Starmer stressed, again, an unprecedented second state visit from the monarch.

JEFF ZELENY, CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look that was a bit of showmanship to open up this Oval Office meeting that is opening up several hours of discussion here. And there's no doubt that the American President loved to be invited from the king. Perhaps a better question is at the end of this 30 minutes or so what the king may have to say of what Donald Trump just talked about, this special relationship.

The meeting opened up in a very friendly way and it was friendly throughout. But when you listen to some of the answers that Donald Trump gave about Vladimir Putin, the friendship sounds very strong on that front as well. Donald Trump talking about Vladimir Putin saying, I think he'll keep his word. I've spoken to him. I've known him for a long time now. We had to go through the Russian hoax together. So really find once again finding common cause with Vladimir Putin and treating him as though he is an ally, which, of course, that is not the case.

So several different headlines there. But I think the bottom line is this security agreement, which has been a central question hanging over all of this, will the U.S. come to the aid of European allies and Ukrainians? That is still very much an open question. Donald Trump essentially dismissing the idea of the Europeans needing the U.S. as a backstop. You just went through it there. Very interesting.

So I think that the British can stand for themselves. Don't need our help. Well, the bottom line is it's just sheer raw math of it. There aren't enough military forces in Great Britain or France or throughout the whole of Europe that can do what the U.S. can do in terms of being a deterrent for Russia here.

So I think this meeting ends with as many questions as it began about the actual progress here. And if the Macron visit on Monday and if this visit today has pulled President Trump farther from Putin at all, it certainly did not sound like it. And finally, at the very end there, the President not only called Zelenskyy a dictator, he tweeted that a couple times as well.

[14:10:03]

But to your point, Boris, he was coy when he was answering that. I think he was very well aware that he called Zelenskyy at one point a dictator. Of course, that would be Putin, not Zelenskyy.

KEILAR: Yeah, very good point. Jeff Zeleny at the White House for us, thank you so much.

And in today's homefront, 3 in 10 federal workers are veterans, and they're getting hit hard by these firings. Something that President Trump was just asked about in the Oval Office a short time ago.

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WOMAN 5: (Inaudible) 30% of the federal workforce. Are you tracking how many veterans have been fired so far --

TRUMP: Yes, we are --

WOMAN 5: (Inaudible) DOGE to --

TRUMP: We are. And we take good care of our veterans. And we're watching that very carefully. And we hope it's going to be as small a number as possible. But we are having great success in slimming down our government. It's been really very successful. And some took payouts and buyouts and others took other things.

And some people, we're finding out, don't even exist. We're finding that we have a lot of people that don't exist that people thought that did. We will be making a statement on that. But we're taking care of our veterans. We love our veterans. We're going to take good care of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Many veterans have now been fired from agencies across the government, and more firings of veterans are expected. And this really shouldn't come as a surprise, because for decades now, Democratic and Republican presidents, including President Trump himself in his first term, have made it a priority to bring the expertise and the institutional knowledge of veterans into the federal workforce, pitching them on serving their country even after their military service comes to an end.

Let's speak now with Democratic Congressman Derek Tran from the Armed Services Committee. He is a freshman member of the House. He's an army veteran, and he's also a former employment lawyer, as it were, who has introduced a bill to reinstate veterans who have been let go without cause. First off, Congressman, as we try to get a sense of just how big this is, do you have a sense of how many veterans have been fired as this point?

REP. DEREK TRAN, (D) CALIFORNIA: Look, our estimates are telling us it's about 6,000 veterans that have been just recklessly let go from their workplace.

KEILAR: And it does appear so far that these probationary employees have been let go indiscriminately. So are you looking at really what the share of the workforce is and just kind of tabulating that, or are you compiling this from anecdotes that you're hearing?

TRAN: That's right. We're looking at overall, how many federal employees have been fired. But more than anything, you know, what I'm hearing from my constituents and those that are affected is that they're pissed off. You know, they dedicated their life to serving our country, and then now, you know, when they want to serve in the federal government and they thought they had their dream job, it gets ripped away from them.

KEILAR: So this bill that you've introduced, it's called the Protect Veterans Jobs Act, and it would also require these federal agencies to give a detailed explanation of why workers who are veterans were dismissed. How would that protect them?

TRAN: Look, I think when it comes to congressional oversight, that's very important. When we have federal employees who are veterans who serve their country and now they're in the workplace for us, we ask them to serve again, we got to make sure we protect them. It's the right thing to do. It's common decency. I think when we have federal agencies reporting to us and sharing with us the details on why these veterans are being terminated, we have better control over what's happening at the executive branch level.

KEILAR: And, of course, you're a Democrat, so you're in the minority, right? In the House, in the Senate, this doesn't go anywhere without Republicans. And what we've seen so far is that Republicans, they do seem to be sounding the alarm in some ways, a few of them, at least. But privately with the Trump administration, this is obviously very public. Do you have Republican buy in on this?

TRAN: This is -- my bill is very nonpartisan, right? We all talk about how much we love our veterans and we want to take care of them. Well, here's their chance. We have President Trump just saying how much he cares about our veterans. Here's his chance to protect them. You know, and talking to some of my Republicans from across the aisle, they tell me how great my bill is, but they're shying away from it because they're worried. They want to see how this plays out.

KEILAR: You are formerly an employment lawyer. I don't know if you realized how handy that insight might come these early days of your job as a congressman. How are you seeing this particular issue with veterans and also with other federal workers --

TRAN: Yeah, look --

KEILAR: -- from that vantage point?

TRAN: Absolutely. I think, you know, I thought I hung up my litigation employment jersey when I came to Congress, but absolutely not. No, I'm here to make sure that I protect veterans. I'm talking to my Democratic colleagues. You know, we want to make sure -- not just veterans, but any employee that indiscriminately gets terminated without the right procedures, protocol, this is something that should have been done surgically, not so recklessly as we've seen with DOGE and how this administration is handling.

KEILAR: Can you speak to -- and we hear this from veterans, Democrats and Republicans who are in Congress, and how they see that job as sort of continued service.

[14:15:04]

We hear this from federal workers, too, about how they view their jobs as continued service after they leave the military. There are these caricatures of who federal workers are. Can you tell us a little bit about how that is informing veterans?

TRAN: Yeah, look, well, for me, you know, I served as a veteran and now I'm serving again in Congress as a federal employee, you know, and I think it's all about our nature to give back. Our wanting to protect this country and serve our country. Wearing, donning the uniform and wearing that uniform and now putting on a suit and going into the workplace. It's about making sure that we take care of our community and our country. And that's the mindset that almost every veteran federal employee has when they come back in to serve.

KEILAR: Well, Congressman Tran, thanks for being with us. Thank you as well for your service. We appreciate it.

TRAN: Thank you.

KEILAR: And still to come. Elon Musk claiming the FAA's communications system is just months away from catastrophic failure unless his company takes over a huge government contract.

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[14:20:54] SANCHEZ: New today. Elon Musk is claiming that America's air traffic control system is on the verge of failing unless his company takes over a massive government contract, at least temporarily, at no taxpayer expense.

KEILAR: So here's how the billionaire tasked with overhauling the federal government justifies what is clearly a conflict of interest. Verizon communications system to air traffic control is breaking down very rapidly. The FAA assessment is single digit months to catastrophic failure, putting air traveler safety at serious risk.

The Starlink terminals are being sent at no cost to the American -- the taxpayer on an emergency basis to restore air traffic control connectivity. The situation is extremely dire, he says. CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is here with us. All right, Pete, so I mean, is it dire? Do we know what this is based on?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, this once again brings up these big questions about Musk's conflict of interest with the federal government. And it is correct to say that the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic technology is old and in many cases obsolete. And that's backed up by a Government Accountability Office report out only two months ago. It said urgent FAA actions are needed to modernize aging systems. 92% of the FAA's facilities and equipment budget goes into sustaining that old system.

What is not clear is why Musk is targeting this now, how Starlink could help and really what it could cost in the long-term. Telecommunications are the backbone of the air traffic control system. Remember that directions to pilots are delivered via radio, but it's phone lines that are used to relay critical communication between air traffic control facilities.

Two years ago, Verizon was awarded a contract to modernize that system. It's a $2 billion deal called FENS that stands for the FAA Enterprise Network Services. That deal was essentially to build out an entirely new telecom network for the FAA that would last until almost 2040. Verizon says even after Musk's swipe, it will continue working with the FAA.

Here's the new statement. We are at the beginning of a multi-year contract to replace antiquated legacy systems. Our teams have been working with the FAA's technology teams and our solution stands ready to be deployed. We continue to partner with the FAA on achieving its modernization objectives.

Musk is pretty low on details here. It is not clear how Starlink satellite internet would help replace that plan. We do know from the FAA it's testing Starlink internet at three different sites in the U.S. One at the FAA's testing center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Two more Starlink terminals are being tested in Alaska. The FAA says those are non-safety critical sites though Alaska is an important proving ground for aviation. It's the state with the highest number of pilots per capita where flying is really a vital way of life.

KEILAR: Really interesting. Pete Muntean, thank you for the report. We're also following fallout from Musk's cuts to the federal workforce. Toda, USAID employees who have been fired or laid off by the Trump administration him a filing in and out of the agency's headquarters, each of them given just 15 minutes to grab their personal belongings and then leave. A crowd of supporters have been outside greeting the ousted workers. Federal government employee Musk addressed the cuts during yesterday's cabinet meeting and admitted that some mistakes were made. But he said they've been fixed.

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ELON MUSK, SENIOR TRUMP ADVISER: We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect. But when we make a mistake, we'll fix it very quickly. So for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola, Ebola prevention. I think we all want Ebola prevention. So we restored the Ebola prevention immediately and there was no interruption.

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KEILAR: The former senior USAID official who led the Ebola outbreak response under President Obama, Jeremy Konyndyk, is with us now. So Jeremy is now the President of Refugees International, I should mention. Jeremy, what is the current status of Ebola prevention efforts by the U.S.?

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JEREMY KONYNDYK, FORMER SENIOR USAID OFFICIAL: Well, the teams that used to lead that at USAID have been absolutely eviscerated. And I have no idea what Elon Musk is talking about when he says they've been brought back.

The vast majority of the staff who worked on Ebola response, who worked on outbreak response, and who worked on deploying disaster responses at USAID, have been forced out of their jobs. Many of them are showing up at the building today not to fight Ebola, but to be, you know, to be given 15 minutes to rapidly collect their belongings from years of service at USAID and then be forced back out of the building again. So, you know, he's just on a different planet.

KEILAR: Okay. Are you saying that when he says this -- he's saying it was fixed? Are you saying he's lying?

KONYNDYK: He is. He's wrong. Whether he knows he's lying or simply just has no idea what he's actually cutting, I couldn't tell you. What I can tell you is that he's incorrect. The vast majority of the workforce in the Global Health Bureau and the Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance at USAID, which are the teams that deploy after or kind of during a major outbreak emergency to go support WHO and support the responding country, those teams have not been reconstituted.

KEILAR: Okay, so tell us about those teams, how they kind of jump to when there is an outbreak and how you can't really know when that is.

KONYNDYK: Yeah, so, you know, I led the response in 2014 to the huge Ebola outbreak in West Africa. And we were deploying virologists, disease experts, logisticians, people who could set up Ebola treatment units, epidemiologists to go track down where, you know, where we were seeing the transmission occurring.

All of that expertise is being pushed out of the agency right now. Those people have not been brought back. They've not been restored. And of course, they're dismantling all of the surrounding infrastructure of the agency. So USAID now is not capable of deploying any kind of disaster response team because of the destruction that's ongoing.

KEILAR: Can you, if there is a disaster, reconstitute a team like that?

KONYNDYK: No, not easily. You know, these are capabilities that have been built up through kind of processes of iteration and experimentation and learning over decades. And they're incredibly capable. But you can't just toggle that capability on and off every couple of years.

When you lose those people, when you lose those systems, when you lose the kind of institutional muscle memory that you need in order to get a response team off the ground within hours of a major disaster. You can't just kind of cobble that back together once it's all fallen apart.

KEILAR: Okay, so listen, just really quickly, if you're talking directly to Elon Musk, what do you need him to know so that we are all protected, so that this kind of thing can be contained?

KONYNDYK: What we need Elon Musk and the President and Secretary Rubio to know is that USAID is a vital part of securing and protecting America. It's a vital part of protecting us against health risks abroad, responding to disasters, and it's a vital part of how America shows up in the world. The people who work there are incredibly hardworking. These are the kind of people who will walk headlong into an Ebola hot zone in service of their country. And they deserve much better than the treatment they're getting right now.

KEILAR: Jeremy Konyndyk, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

KONYNDYK: Thank you.

KEILAR: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. accused of downplaying the growing measles outbreak after getting multiple facts about it wrong, including the death toll, the severity of cases, why people are being hospitalized, and more. The latest on the situation in West Texas, next.

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