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New York Governor Declares Emergency as Firefighters Battle Spreading Brushfires On Long Island Near The Hamptons; Ukraine: Russian Strikes Kill At Least 20, Dozens Injured; NYT: Trump Cabinet Clashed With Musk In Explosive Meeting, Allies; SC Carries Out First Firing Squad Execution In U.S. Since 2010; FAA Investigating SpaceX's Latest Rocket Failure; Veterans Speak Out As V.A. Braces For Steep Cuts; "United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper" New Season Starts Tomorrow at 9PM ET/PT. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 08, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:23]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I am Jessica Dean in New York.

And breaking news tonight, New York's Governor is declaring a state of emergency as a handful of brushfires spread through The Hamptons near the end of Long Island in New York. You see the video showing large plumes of smoke filling the sky.

Governor Kathy Hochul says multiple agencies are now fighting that fire. Right now, we don't know of any injuries or any buildings being impacted, but we do know that the fire shut down part of a highway. We will talk to the governor about the fires and her response at the top of our next hour at 7:00 P.M.

In the meantime, we will keep an eye on these.

Also new developments tonight in Russia's war on Ukraine after a week of intense Russian strikes on Ukraine's energy sites, there were yet more deadly attacks overnight. President Zelenskyy saying they prove that Russia's goals are unchanged.

This is happening as President Trump effectively flips the switch on Ukraine, suspending military aid and some intel sharing with Kyiv.

CNN's Melissa Bell is following the latest developments for us -- Melissa.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More civilian deaths in Ukraine over the course of the last day, 23 people killed, many more injured, say Ukrainian officials, the result of missile and drone strikes in Ukraine, even as Ukrainian forces on the frontlines are under pressure, specifically, we understand, from both Ukrainian and Russian bloggers in the Kursk Region captured by Ukraine, you'll remember last August.

What we understand is that Ukrainian forces there are now in their weakest position since that area was captured with fears that what might have been a crucial bit of leverage for Ukrainians is looking less and less certain for them.

This, as Ukrainian officials prepare to meet with American officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. President Zelenskyy himself will be in the country on Monday.

At the heart of those negotiations, what we understand is this partial ceasefire idea that was initially floated by the French President, now backed by President Zelenskyy, essentially what it would include should it be accepted and go ahead, is the idea of a ceasefire in the air, on the sea and on critical infrastructure.

So the key -- the battle lines would continue to be fought over, but what the plan entails is that limited ceasefire, a prisoner swap as a sort of trust building step, as officials hope that a ceasefire along the full front line can at some point be reached.

But certainly for President Zelenskyy, the ending of -- the freezing rather of American aid, military aid, with all its vital importance to Ukrainians' air defenses, again tested over the course of the last day. But also, perhaps most importantly, the end of the intelligence sharing with Ukrainian authorities really leaves it in a very weak position as it heads into those key negotiations -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Melissa Bell for us. Thank you very much for that.

Joining us now is CNN senior military analyst, Admiral James Stavridis. He is a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, and as you heard in Melissa's reporting there, these recent moves by President Trump -- shutting off military aid, pausing some intel sharing; now, the satellite imagery have weakened Ukraine's negotiating position.

So does this effectively in your opinion, push Ukraine toward defeat?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: I think it does not push Ukraine inexorably toward defeat, but it moves them, as you point out correctly, into a much weaker negotiating position. Think about that partial ceasefire, which in my view, is a very good idea that President Macron and President Zelenskyy are pushing. It would stop attacks at sea, it would stop these kind of attacks in the air, it would stop attacks on critical infrastructure.

The reason Putin might be willing to do that is if the Ukrainians were to continue to be able to use their drones against Russian infrastructure. So when you take that away from the Ukrainians by taking away the intelligence sharing, you are kind of tying one hand behind their back as they go into the negotiations, not the right way to treat an ally and a partner.

DEAN: And I am curious if you think NATO can effectively fill the gaps left by this rapid scaling back of U.S. support in all the ways we just laid out.

STAVRIDIS: I think that NATO has enormous capability even beyond the capability of the United States. If we take the U.S. out of the equation, the rest of NATO still has a $500 billion defense budget, the second largest in the world.

[18:05:12]

It has two million troops. It has more than the U.S.' 1.5 million. They do have intelligence and space capability, but unfortunately, Jessica, it is not as good as that of the United States.

Watch for the Europeans, by the way, if the U.S. continues down this path of kind of pulling back from NATO, pulling back from Ukraine, the Europeans are going to build a very capable and powerful defense industrial base, but that is going to take time.

So I would say at the moment, as we head toward these negotiations in Riyadh next week, it would be far better if the administration would show support.

A final thought here, one positive thing we can point to last night on Truth Social, President Trump threatened Russia, said stop this kind of attack. Stop this kind of ongoing strikes. Get ready for peace. Get ready for negotiation. It is the first time I've seen him criticize Russia in a while, maybe that will help somewhat.

DEAN: I do want to show some of the satellite images the administration has now cut off. So for example, what we are looking at right now is a drone factory in Russia showing new construction to the facility and increased security late last year. Again, just one example.

But, Admiral, how does Ukraine use information like this in its planning, in its strategy? How has this beneficial to them?

STAVRIDIS: Yes, I've spent a lifetime looking at images and photographs like this for U.S. strikes. We use it in depth to key where are we going to launch our tomahawk missiles, where are we going to put our precision-guided weapons? The word is "targeteers" spend an awful lot of time around the table also seeking to avoid unnecessary collateral damage.

So for all those reasons, Ukraine uses them the same way. Having access to that intelligence which says, okay, there are so many drones at this site, and then having the images that show you precisely where they are located in that perhaps rather vast base allows you, the Ukrainians in this case, to use very precise drones to go after the offensive weapons of Russia that are striking them.

So this is absolutely crucial, both intelligence and imagery, two different things. We, in the U.S. are very capable of using it. The Ukrainians have gotten much, much better over three years of war and when we just snap the switch and turn it off, it hurts their efforts.

And in this present moment, it hurts their negotiating ability as they come to the table, hopefully over the next few months.

DEAN: And in the meantime, President Trump is again casting doubt on whether the U.S. would defend NATO allies if they were attacked. I want to play a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think its commonsense, right? If they don't pay, I am not going to defend them. No, I am not going to defend them.

I got into a lot of heat when I said that. They said, oh, he is violating NATO, but if the United States was in trouble and we called them, we said we've got a problem. France, we've got a problem. A couple of others I won't mention. Do you think they're going to come and protect us? They are supposed to. I am not so sure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And again, just reminding everyone, you're a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

What is your takeaway from those comments?

STAVRIDIS: Just two very fundamental points. Number one, the only time Article V of the NATO Charter, which is the we all defend each other clause, the only time it has been activated in the 80-year history of the alliance is when we were attacked on 9/11. And yes, the British, the French, all of them came and stood with us for the next 20 years of war.

I commanded 150,000 troops in Afghanistan, well over a third of those were European troops. They suffered significant losses. They came and fought and died alongside us in Afghanistan when we were attacked.

So its factually incorrect to say that the Europeans haven't stood up to their end of the bargain. And, Jessica, the second point is a pretty straightforward one. The idea of NATO is not a pay as you go structure. It is that we all pool our resources.

[18:10:10]

We realize that we are stronger together. And again, I said it before, a moment ago, but our defense budget is about $900 billion. The second largest defense budget in the world is Europe's, somewhere between $400 and $500 billion, bigger than China, bigger than Russia. So they are certainly pitching in quite significantly.

I will close with this. The Europeans absolutely should increase defense spending to north of two percent, perhaps up to three percent. That would get them roughly where we are at 3.3 percent. I think they should do that.

But in the interim, we ought to continue to see the value proposition of NATO. They have come and fought for us when we were attacked. They have spent significantly on defense. We need to be working with them, not degrading them in the way that you heard a moment ago.

DEAN: And I do just want to look ahead. Now, you mentioned the meetings in Saudi Arabia. Ukrainian and U.S. teams going to meet there next week.

President Zelenskyy has been suggesting an air and sea ceasefire. It is something that was first raised by the French President, Emmanuel Macron. What kind of impact might that have? How plausible is that?

STAVRIDIS: I think it is an absolutely powerful idea because our ally, our partner, our friend, Ukraine is getting pounded from the air and their economy is in difficult straits, no pun intended, because the Russians are able to interdict shipping in the Black Sea. So this would be a very good asset for the Ukrainians if we could get that across.

In terms of is it plausible? It is going to take a lot of pressure on Russia to accept even that level of ceasefire. But President Trump, as I mentioned in his most recent tweets and posts, has talked about putting pressure on Russia. If we are going to get the Russians to the table, it is going to require President Trump to put real economic pressure, sanctions, go after their shadow fleet at sea. If we do that, I think it is plausible.

DEAN: All right, Admiral James Stavridis, thank you so much for being here with us. We appreciate it.

STAVRIDIS: Thanks.

DEAN: Still ahead, tension in the Cabinet.

Tonight, the President is denying it, but there is new reporting on explosive arguments between Elon Musk and other administration officials. What we are learning about the possible fractures within the inner circle.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:17:29]

DEAN: President Donald Trump is now threatening even more punishing tariffs against Canada at the end of a dizzying week when it comes to trade policy, with Trump stepping down his tariff threats on a few fronts.

There are also signs of possible fractures within the White House. "The New York Times" reporting on explosive arguments between Elon Musk and Trump officials in the Cabinet room of the White House.

CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida.

Betsy, let's start there, about this clash and what President Trump is saying about it.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: That's right, Jessica.

President Trump convening his Cabinet along with Elon Musk for a meeting that was ostensibly centered around DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency and devolved into an airing of grievances.

"The New York Times" reports on this major moment of tension between Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, where rubio was chided by Musk for not doing more to slash State Department workforce.

There was also a moment with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Musk taking aim at Duffy's organization and trying to eliminate air traffic controllers through DOGE, and Duffy pushed back, saying, we can't do that since there have been a number of major plane crashes in recent weeks.

Of course, ultimately, President Trump making clear that he is willing to place some limits on Elon Musk as he told his Cabinet that they have the final say over their staffing levels.

But asked about this "New York Times" reporting, the President said there was no clash. And even today, just moments ago, issuing a statement on social media, he says "Elon and Marco have a great relationship. Any statement other than that is fake news."

Of course. Jessica, we should note that Elon Musk was among the very small group of advisers traveling with the President here to Palm Beach on Air Force One last night.

DEAN: And Betsy, there has also been on these tariffs so much back and forth on what is happening, what is being paused, what is being enacted, what are you learning about the new tariffs kicking in on products from Canada next week?

KLEIN: Yes, it has really been a week of whiplash on the topic of tariffs and President Trump views tariffs as a tool for negotiation, particularly the threat of tariffs.

So he imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, America's neighbors on Tuesday. By Thursday, he had backed off, issuing a one- month reprieve. And then on Friday, that reprieve was short lived. He said that he would be placing 250 percent tariffs on Canadian dairy and lumber products.

[18:20:00]

The President says that this is about fairness, but this is roiling the markets and causing major uncertainty among American businesses, investors and consumers, and also setting up a key test for how the leaders of those countries are going to navigate Trump over the next month.

DEAN: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much for that reporting.

Joining us now, CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

Ron, always good to see you.

Let's talk about Elon Musk for a second. I feel like we talk about him a lot.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, that's right.

DEAN: But just knowing what has happened at the White House during this Cabinet meeting where we really continue to see this tension between what he is trying to do and what these Secretaries are trying to do at their agencies with questions of who is in charge.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, great reporting by Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman.

DEAN: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: And it is almost as if they are operating, Jessica, I think on different time frames. You know, the Cabinet officers are the front line people who are going to be held responsible when the rubber -- as the rubber meets the road. As the Transportation Secretary said, you know, it is one thing for you to come in and say, lets fire a bunch of air traffic controllers. But basically he is saying, I am the one who is going to have to respond if there is a major plane crash.

And you know, that, I think is what -- we have talked about this before, you know, whatever degree of backlash there is at the front end and there is some and maybe more than I would have expected in terms of town halls and public opinion polls showing public concern about kind of the indiscriminate and almost reckless nature of these cuts, there is a great deal more political exposure on the back end when, you know, if you start reducing the federal workforce in the way that they are, when things go wrong, like this measles epidemic in West Texas, people are going to be asking questions.

And I think the resistance of the Cabinet officers reflects that they are the ones on the frontlines responsible for those results when those questions are asked.

DEAN: Well, and it is interesting because then we saw Trump posting that these cuts need to be made with a scalpel, not a hatchet, which was interesting language to hear from him.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

DEAN: But you talk about the kind of the blowback and who will face that, and I think you and I have talked about this. It won't be -- President Trump who is not eligible for another term, Elon Musk not running, it is to your point, people maybe who have a future in the Republican Party, maybe some of these Cabinet Secretaries and the Republicans who will be running in 2026 and beyond.

BROWNSTEIN: Right, right. So certainly, you know, 2026 is the frontlines of response to everything about Trump and it is worth noting that the last five times a President went into a midterm election with a unified control of government, which Republicans have now, voters have revoked it in that midterm.

No President has defended unified control of government through a midterm since Jimmy Carter in 1978. And as I wrote in on cnn.com a couple of weeks ago, that's the longest such streak in American history. We've never had five consecutive times where a party lost control in the midterm.

And so you see Republicans kind of feeling under the gun to get everything that they want to get done in these two years to basically leverage a 49 percent win in the popular vote into a mandate to fundamentally reshape the federal government at home and to reconfigure America's relations with the world.

But the risk of all of that is that, you know, they are activating a lot of unease in parts of the electorate, and it is the members of Congress who are going to have to go on the frontline and defend that.

And by the way, I still view all of this, all of these cuts in the federal government as the warm up for the real fight that is coming later this year over the federal budget and in particular, a Republican reconciliation budget plan that is going to attempt to extend the Trump tax cuts, which mostly benefit people at the top and fund that largely by cutting programs that benefit the middle class and the working class, especially Medicaid and enhanced health care subsidies.

DEAN: Yes, and so there are questions around how that potentially might go over with voters. And then you throw in tariffs, which Trump has said that those could mean, in his words, a little disturbance. He said he is okay with that. We've heard from other Cabinet officials and allies who have said, you know, it is just the beginning. I wouldn't worry about that for the short term.

But listen, Americans voted Trump in to bring the cost of living down. Even in the short term, I think the question is, will they be patient with him if the prices continue to stay high? What do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: I think he is already paying a price. I mean, I think there are two big points about the tariffs. I think first, that in many ways, they are a symbol of Trump's conception of the presidency. In this sense, the constant hairpin turns, the perpetual instability, I think, is a feature, not a bug.

[18:25:00]

It makes it very hard for businesses to plan, it makes it very hard for anybody to plan and markets don't like that. But, you know who the constant instability is good for is Trump. It forces everyone, whether its domestic industries looking for carve outs or other countries to constantly stay on his good side.

It is a way for him to -- the unpredictability is a way for him to increase leverage over everyone else in the political system, and in some ways, the symbol of the whole administration, I think, was this decision when they dropped the case against Eric Adams, but they left open, you know, the idea that they could bring it back at any point, basically, if he didn't do what they want. That I think is what we are seeing on tariffs and so many other fronts.

But to your other question, look, Trump's economic approval rating in recent polling, particularly Gallup, is below his overall approval rating. And you might say, so what? That never happened during his entire first term. During his entire first term, the economy was kind of a tailwind for him, faith in his economic management. And he is facing more doubts about the economy, I think, than he did at any point except the height of COVID in his first term.

And you are also seeing in polling, like the CNN poll, that a majority of Americans, especially a majority of Independents, say he is not focused enough on the biggest problems facing the country, which, as you note, was inflation. That is why people elected him above all. And right now they see him as distracted from that.

The greater risk is that they will see his agenda on things like tariffs and cutting Medicaid and cutting health care subsidies as not only kind of missing the point, but compounding the problem.

So, you know, Trump is not in a bad position overall in public opinion, slightly better than he was in the first term at this point, although weaker than every other President. But if you look at the grades people are giving him on the economy and the fact that they are lower than his overall rating in a way that was never true in his first term in either Gallup or CNBC polling, it never happened, I think there is a little bit of a yellow, if not red light, you know, kind of blinking at him.

DEAN: Very interesting. Ron Brownstein, as always, our thanks.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Still ahead, a South Carolina death row inmate executed by firing squad. Why he chose to die this way.

We are also following breaking news on Long Island, where firefighters are working to contain a brush fire in Suffolk County. The flames and smoke forcing a portion of the Sunrise Highway to be shut down. New York's Governor Kathy Hochul, has declared a State of Emergency. We are going to talk to her at the top of the hour.

We are back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:31:54]

DEAN: A South Carolina man has become the first person executed by firing squad in the United States in 15 years. Sixty-seven-year-old Brad Sigmon spent more than two decades on death row for double murder - double murders. His lawyer says he opted for bullets because three lethal injections on another condemned inmate inflicted, quote, prolonged and potentially torturous deaths. Sigmon's legal team called last night's execution horrifying and violent. CNN's Legal Analyst Joey Jackson joins us now.

Joey, this was only the fourth firing squad execution in nearly half a century. And to just get some context around this, back in 2021, South Carolina passed a law that would allow for the use of firing squads in state executions, that legislation partially motivated by the state's inability to get lethal injection drugs.

Do you think Americans should be surprised that this is - that people are dying with the - through the death penalty with a firing - by firing squad?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. You know, Jessica, this is somewhat different, as we know. And I know society changes all the time, norms change, values change, a lot of things change. But this may be a bridge too far for some, but apparently not for others, right?

There is a school of thought out there which would suggest that death by firing squad is even more humane than other methods of death. You had an issue with what they used to call Old Sparky in Florida, where there were problems in terms of the electric chair. There were issues - you alluded to it - in terms of the cocktail of drugs that they use in order to put people to death, whether they weren't available, whether they were working properly, whether they were leading to prolonged instances of people suffering.

And so, here we go, death by firing squad, where in this particular jurisdiction, South Carolina, people volunteered, say, hey, I'll join you. Three people who are employees, Jessica, of the Department of Corrections, fired a shot. There was literally a target on the condemned inmate's heart, and he's no longer.

And so, there'll be a societal debate in terms of whether it's humane, inhumane, whether it's, you know, this should be what's happening. But here we are. It did happen. And the issue is, moving forward, what's it going to look like.

DEAN: Right. And I think that is a question, is we are seeing more debate, as you mentioned, over lethal injection, which, of course, had been the route that I think was much more common to see in recent history, states using lethal injection for the death penalty. But now we are seeing different methods, because, in part, sometimes it's hard to get these drugs, et cetera, et cetera. And the questions around if it actually - as those attorneys said, if there is a prolonged death that's involved with those drugs.

JACKSON: Yes, there's no question. And I think that's part and parcel to what we see, right? This is - there's only five states out of 50 who have this method. And, of course, Idaho just is really considering - and it's just about there - whether or not death by firing squad should be the primary method.

[18:35:00]

And so there are only other, you know, four states. I think that says a lot with respect to whether people think that this is the appropriate manner in which it should occur, right? The death of someone, and it shows a society where we're moving to, right? This seems to be a bit more barbaric. Some would argue, hey, I'm completely wrong, that if you shoot someone in the heart, they're dead instantly. They're not suffering from the really issues that they talked about, Jessica, with regard to these drugs that were used and how it would cause really this prolonged and undue agony and suffering and pain.

And so, will we see other states in the union to move towards firing squads? Will this be the norm, even though it's been 15 years? I think that remains to be seen. But in these norm-busting times, I would not be surprised?

DEAN: Right. And it's just kind of another example of states deciding for themselves kind of where they fall on that spectrum.

JACKSON: Yes, there's no question. And to that point, you notice that in this particular execution, you didn't see the Supreme Court step in, right? The United States Supreme Court, that is. They generally don't get involved in state issues. It's up to the state. They don't get involved with regard to the method of execution. Some might think this is improper. It's unconstitutional. Under the Eighth Amendment, cruel and unusual punishment, the Supreme Court says no.

This particular state Supreme Court in South Carolina said no, perfectly appropriate, fine. You're going to be sentenced to death. And so, yes, I mean, you have instances now where I think it's going to be a state issue and various governors, right, that are elected in each state and the different state legislatures that are elected in the particular jurisdictions and communities are going to make the judgment call as to what should be the appropriate method.

And just to button this up, Jessica, we should note that there are 27 out of the 50 states that have the death penalty at all. And then, of course, the five that I mentioned that have firing squads and each has a protocol with regard to how it's done, whether you volunteer, whether there's empty bullets or live rounds, whether you stand 15 feet, right, as in South Carolina, or 25 feet as in Utah, so everyone makes their own decisions.

DEAN: Yes. A good context there. All right. Joey Jackson, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

JACKSON: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: After the break, flights were delayed and diverted to avoid chunks of flaming debris raining down from the sky this week after a SpaceX Starship exploded after its launch. More on what CEO Elon Musk called a minor setback when we come back. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:42:05]

DEAN: The FAA is investigating the latest explosion of a SpaceX Starship. The live stream shows fiery debris falling from the sky after it broke up shortly after launch Thursday. The vehicle is central to Elon Musk's goal of heading to Mars. It's launched twice this year, and twice it's blown up. So, you can see where that could be a real problem.

Let's discuss this with astrophysics professor Adam Frank from the University of Rochester. He also wrote the book, "The Little Book of Aliens."

Adam, what happened here? Thanks for being here. Tell us what happened.

ADAM FRANK, ASTROPHYSICS PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER: Yes. Well, this was not what any of us were hoping for. Space - the Starship is not only important for getting to Mars eventually, which is a much larger project, but getting to the moon. It's a big part of NASA's project to try and get to the moon, you know, hopefully by 2027 or so. And so, this is the second time that the Starship has exploded before it even - I mean, before it even got to places or parts of the mission that it had gotten to before.

So, what this shows is now, you know, SpaceX is amazing. They've done amazing things. Eventually, hopefully they'll figure this out. But there's so many parts of this mission that have to work in order to get us to the moon before, say, the Chinese do in 2030, that this just pushes everything back. The brilliant SpaceX engineers can't even get to start testing some of the things they need to test because they have to get through this hurdle first.

DEAN: Yes. And Musk really categorized this as what he said was a minor setback. Is it indeed minor, do you think? What do you think?

FRANK: I think there's some concern that this is taking longer than they wanted it to take. You know, again, like I said, SpaceX has done amazing things. The researchers there, the engineers there are fantastic. But it's clear that there are some things that still haven't been worked out and it's taking longer to work them out than I think those of us who are really interested in, you know, getting back to the moon with the Artemis program would like for it to happen.

DEAN: And you mentioned, you know, trying - get back to the moon in a timely manner before China does. Help people understand this kind of race to get back to the moon, to really push forward with this.

FRANK: Yes. So, what's really amazing is that, you know, the human future in space is taking off, you know, no pun intended, right? Is that you see there's lots of private companies that are getting into space. Last week we had - or recently we had two private companies land small robots on the moon. China is highly invested in getting to the moon.

So, it's really - within a decade or so, we expect to have a real human presence on the moon. And of course, this is really important for the U.S. to continue its lead, so to speak, or its frontier in space.

[18:45:03]

And, of course, one of the ironies that's happening with all this is all of those brilliant engineers at SpaceX were all trained at U.S. universities, most likely, or U.S. institutions and it's those institutions which right now are under threat from what is happening with the administration. You know, we have the - we basically have the most extraordinary scientific enterprise the world has ever built. And, you know, a lot of the leaders in science right now will tell you that that's really kind of up for grabs and no one would like that to happen more than, say, China.

DEAN: Right. And - certainly - and they are looking to capitalize on that. All right. Adam Frank, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

FRANK: Thank you.

DEAN: Up next, President Trump sweeping government job cuts are hitting veterans especially hard. Many of them fear that crucial services they need could be scaled back or removed altogether.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK FERGUSON, VIETNAM WAR VETERAN: I think our country owes it to the veterans to make sure they get proper care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:37]

DEAN: Veterans wounded in service to the nation are speaking out. They're worried about losing basic needs like wheelchairs, even prosthetics. These fears come as the Trump administration looks to make steep cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs. More than 70,000 jobs are at risk, and CNN's Brian Todd spoke to the veterans about their concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): As he searches for the names of his buddies on the wall at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Jack Ferguson, who served as an army plane mechanic in Vietnam, has other heavy concerns on his mind as well. He worries about the services he could lose at his local Veterans Affairs hospital near Philadelphia, due to possible staffing cuts at the V.A. planned by the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FERGUSON: I rely on them for all my vaccinations, my booster shots, my COVID shots I got there.

TODD (on camera): Concerns that some of that may be curtailed?

FERGUSON: Absolutely, yeah.

TODD: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice over): According to an internal memo obtained by CNN, the Trump administration is planning sweeping job cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs. The memo says the V.A., in partnership with Elon Musk's DOGE, will move aggressively and aims to revert back to its 2019 era staffing levels. That means more than 70,000 of the more than 470,000 V.A. employees could be terminated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MURRAY, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR, VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS: This unknown this confusion, the possibilities that things could be bad for veterans. It's causing a lot of harm. It's causing a lot of angst.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice over): Patrick Murray, a marine who served in combat in Iraq, is an amputee wounded by a roadside bomb. He's now the legislative director for the group veterans of foreign wars. The services he fears could be cut, he says, are tough to replace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURRAY: What I use V.A. for is things like my wheelchair. Wheelchairs can be thousands of dollars. If those services are reduced at V.A., if certain prosthetics, if certain - other functions like that are rolled back, that's going to cost a lot for veterans like me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice over): CNN spoke to congressional staffers talking to V.A. employees. The staffers fear thousands of registered nurses could be terminated from the V.A., which the president of the American Nurses Association says could be devastating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER MENSIK KENNEDY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN NURSES ASSOCIATION: Over 80 percent of V.A.s are critically short nurses already, so this would have a detrimental impact in taking care of our veterans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice over): In an email to CNN, a spokesman for the V.A. said of the possible nursing cuts, quote, "No one has proposed this and it will not happen." Still, Democrats on Capitol Hill are worried about any cuts to the V.A.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Elon Musk sees veterans as roadkill on his way to revenue for tax cuts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice over): But Republican Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, a doctor who's worked in V.A. hospitals, says the V.A. does need to be streamlined.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN BARRASSO (R-WY): There is a lot of fat within the system of the V.A., and there's clearly areas for improvement. We just need to make sure our veterans get the care that they need from qualified providers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (voice over): Jack Ferguson couldn't agree more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FERGUSON: I think a lot of people look around their neighborhood and they aren't even sure who the veterans are. I think our country owes it to the veterans to make sure they get proper care and --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD (on camera): In response to the reporting on the possible staff cuts, Peter Kasperowicz, spokesman for the V.A., sent CNN a statement saying that the V.A. will always provide veterans, families, caregivers and survivors the health care and benefits they have earned. But he said, quote, we are also making major improvements to strengthen the department. And he said that many are using rumor, innuendo and disinformation to spread fear in the hopes that the VA will just keep doing the same thing it has always done.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right. Brian, thank you for that report.

CNN's original series "United States of Scandal" is back for a second season. CNN Anchor and Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper revisits some of the most unbelievable controversies of the modern era.

And this week's episode focuses on the ABSCAM scandal and a scheme to offer politicians cash bribes through hidden camera meetings. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't investigate and convict criminals with angels.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So the FBI takes a gamble. They'll let this con man try to earn his freedom by conducting stings on white collar criminals. But they had no idea how far that would go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It started in a very humble way. The object was only to recover stolen art and securities.

[18:55:03]

And to everyone's amazement, who was involved in the investigation, three years later, it resulted in the conviction of six United States congressmen and a United States senator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: A new season of "United States of Scandal with Jake Tapper" airs tomorrow at 9 PM Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

Still ahead tonight, a state of emergency in New York as a raging wildfire forces highways to close. We are talking with Gov. Kathy Hochul about this after the break. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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