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Zelenskyy To Meet With European Leaders In London; GOP Lawmakers Support Trump's Handling Of Zelenskyy Meeting; Protesters Line Streets As V.P. Vance Visits Vermont Ski Town; Trump-Zelenskyy Spat Highlights U.S.'s Changing Role In World Politics; Israel Stops Entry Of Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza; Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Enters Race For New York City Mayor; Tributes Pour In After R and B Singer Angie Stone Dies in Crash; Vatican: Pope Francis Resting After Peaceful Night In Hospital; Pope Francis Battles Double Pneumonia As Vatican Calls His Condition Complex. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired March 02, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:38]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: It's a brand-new day. You're starting it with me and I appreciate it. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, March 2nd. I'm Victor Blackwell. Here's what's happening this morning.

First up, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is meeting with European leaders. This is a critical summit that is happening today. He's working to shore up support for a peace deal after that public Oval Office argument. We'll tell you what we're hearing from those leaders. That's coming up in a live report.

Also developing right now, Israel has blocked entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza after the end of phase one of the ceasefire deal with Hamas. We'll tell you what Israel demands before they'll allow aid to move in again, and how Hamas is responding.

And former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, he is working on a political comeback. He has announced a run for New York mayor. Why he believes he can win after a scandal forced him to resign from office more than three years ago.

Plus, more than 50 million people are facing a threat of severe weather outbreak this week. What to expect as this powerful system sweeps across the south.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all stuck the landing. We're on the moon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Cheers and champagne at mission control after Firefly's Blue Ghost lander touched down on the moon. More on the mission and what NASA hopes to accomplish. That's coming up. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is on friendlier ground this morning in London. European leaders are gathering for a vital summit today on Ukraine's future. Western allies are hoping the summit will revive the momentum towards an acceptable peace deal that was slowly building last week. Of course, that was before it came crashing down in the Oval Office Friday, with Zelenskyy's fall out with President Trump.

President Zelenskyy met with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday at 10 Downing Street and received a, look at this, much warmer reception than he got at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: You have full backing across the United Kingdom and we stand with you, with Ukraine, for as long as it may take to achieve what we both want to achieve, which is a lasting peace, a lasting peace for Ukraine based on sovereignty and security for Ukraine. So important for Ukraine, so important for Europe, and so important for the United Kingdom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: And while European leaders are rallying behind Zelenskyy and Ukraine, U.S. lawmakers they're obviously divided here, most Republicans are siding with Trump, even praising him. While Democrats have slammed Trump's actions and taken the opportunity to fundraise off that Oval Office fiasco.

We're covering all of this with CNN's Clare Sebastian outside 10 Downing Street in London. Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv. Clare, we're starting with you. Let's start with the latest on the meeting.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Victor. Look, this is the second hastily convened meeting of European leaders in as many weeks. And I think it's fair to say that the stakes were high before Friday's meeting in the Oval Office. They are now exponentially higher.

These European leaders face a task not only of coming up with some way of fronting credible security guarantees for Ukraine after the war. They also have to think about their own security now with the U.S. potentially pulling back on its commitment to European security. But they also have to try to now help Ukraine rebuild the bridge to the U.S., its closest and most powerful backer.

So, I think we'll be watching all of that play out. We did hear from the British prime minister this morning, Keir Starmer, speaking to the BBC, and he set out a key plan for how he thinks today is going to go. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STARMER: We've now agreed that the United Kingdom, along with France and possibly one or two others, will work with Ukraine on a plan to stop the fighting. And then we'll discuss that plan with the United States. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So, I think a measure of the diplomatic tightrope that Keir Starmer and other leaders are having to walk here is just how carefully worded that was, a plan to stop the fighting. He didn't call it a peace plan. He didn't call it a ceasefire.

I think that may be a nod to the fact that, obviously, the U.S. is going to be watching this. They don't want to see Europe sort of undercutting their efforts, getting out in front of them. But equally, he then says he's going to present it to the U.S. So, does that mean that the U.S. gets a veto over this plan?

[06:05:03]

How are they going to sell that to the Ukrainians? So, extremely difficult balancing act today. And I think it's interesting to note two things. One, that we're going to see a meeting between Keir Starmer and Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, here in Downing Street any moment now. We're waiting to see when she arrives. She is a key ally of Donald Trump. Perhaps she will be a key figure when it comes to bridging that gap.

And secondly, President Zelenskyy will also be meeting with King Charles this morning. This is interesting given that President Trump was also handed an invitation to a second state visit from King Charles by Keir Starmer in the White House on Thursday. This is a key measure, I think, of the U.K.'s desire to offer that solidarity to Ukraine off the back of Friday's meeting in the Oval Office, so a high stakes meeting, an incredibly important moment for Europe this morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that invitation, part of the diplomatic push to set the table for Zelenskyy's arrival on Friday. And we see what happened there. Clare Sebastian in London for us, thank you.

Let's go now to Nick Paton Walsh, who is live in Kyiv. Nick, we heard the European perspective of what's on the table today. Now from Kyiv, the Ukrainian element here of just how high the stakes are for what happens at this summit.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, I think it's really important after the scenes in the Oval Office for there to be a contrast, a remedy to that. Particularly, I think, remind Moscow that Zelenskyy is not out in the cold with all of NATO. I mean, we are looking at a meeting in London, which pretty much with that sort of changing guest list at times embodies all of NATO apart from the United States. The United States, the key plank to all of that.

But it's obviously seemingly here. Like we have a third track emerging for peace plans. Remember, initially the U.S. spoke of their two tracks, the United States and Russia, and then the United States and Ukraine. Well, they were supposed to separately move towards ideas for a peace that then would conform and try and work out a solution. It's clear the U.S.-Ukraine relationship well that's in jeopardy to say the best at this point.

So, now we have Europe trying to find a way of creating that idea to move forward, that potentially the United States can be happy with. What we still don't have in all of this is the most important thing, a rapprochement between Trump and Zelenskyy. That does seem like a distant prospect at the moment, constantly changing this world. But that rare earth deal needs to be signed, and there needs to be a clear suggestion from the United States that it's willing to continue military aid.

The big fear here is that as this relationship deteriorates, as we continually see those around Trump, consider the Oval Office scenes as a win for him and cast doubt on the fitness of Zelenskyy as being a U.S. partner that that potentially brings the moment when U.S. aid is frozen or deteriorates even closer.

Can Europe step up into that? It's unclear at this stage. They want to project the idea that they can, and the idea of using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine's defense is increasingly gaining track here, or that they would use necessarily more of it. But without the United States' intelligence support, some of the key air defense elements that they supply, Kyiv is in severe peril.

So, we'll be looking today to see if this European meeting can be practical, whether it can be symbolic enough in its support of Zelenskyy. And whether too, I think, it can provide President Trump the feeling that probably there's something going on that he probably wants to be involved in.

There seems to be a wider feeling amongst Trump administration that they want to peel Russia away from China in some way. I think most analysts think deteriorating that relationship, which is basically the bedrock of the Russian economy at the moment, is a farfetched, if not fanciful one. So, we are seeing here the tectonic plates of global orders and security moving constantly. And whatever we see in London today will help define where Europe wants to place itself in this key part piece in Ukraine.

BLACKWELL: And we'll all be watching it very closely. Nick Paton Walsh there from Kyiv, thanks so much.

And despite this fallout abroad, President Trump, Vice President Vance are getting support from members of their party. House Speaker Mike Johnson and the second ranking Senate Republican John Barrasso both praised the president's handling of the high stakes meeting.

CNN's Betsy Klein digs into this diplomatic breakdown and what's happening also behind the scenes -- Betsy.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Victor, despite that united front among European leaders, the White House really views this as a win for President Trump. And to that point, they spent Saturday amplifying messages of support from top Republican lawmakers, as well as members of the cabinet and other top White House officials. Really rave reviews for how Trump handled that situation with President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. Now, notably, what we haven't heard is any messages of criticism from any major Republican lawmakers so far. Now, Vice President Vance is in a remote Vermont ski town this weekend, and we did see protesters lining the streets in that town, including one protestor with a poster that said, quote, "Go ski in Russia, traitor."

[06:10:03]

Now, remember that on the campaign trail, President Trump campaigned in part on ending this war and the U.S. support for the war more broadly. American support for Ukraine has waned over the past three years. And Trump really views this from an economic standpoint. He believes he can be a peacemaker and broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine.

That meeting with Zelenskyy in the Oval Office was ostensibly aimed at shoring up a critical minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine. Zelenskyy was expected to press the U.S. on security assurances for a potential peace deal. Of course, instead, a breakdown in diplomacy.

Trump and Vance berating Zelenskyy for not expressing enough gratitude to the U.S. And after the press departed, those two sides retreated to separate rooms in the West Wing, where Trump's advisers encouraged him to end the talks altogether.

Trump then dispatched his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, to tell the Ukrainians they were no longer welcome. But Vance's harsh words -- excuse me -- Waltz's harsh words continued.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: He's clearly solely focused on believing he needs to fact check and correct every nuance. You know, it's like a, it's like a, you know, an ex-girlfriend that wants to argue, you know, everything that you said nine years ago, rather than moving the relationship forward.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

KLEIN: Trump now claims, Victor, that Zelenskyy doesn't want to make peace, an assertion that, of course, Zelenskyy has refuted. But of course, what's notable here is that Trump is dramatically reimagining the role of the U.S. in the world and U.S. alliances more broadly.

Diplomats say that events like these, these heated arguments between world leaders, happen all the time. They're totally normal. But what's absolutely not normal is that all of this took place in full view of the White House press corps.

Now, Trump, for his part, a master of stagecraft, said it was going to make, quote, "great television." But of course, Victor, so many questions ahead about whether they can salvage the relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine.

BLACKWELL: All right. Betsy Klein reporting for us there. Betsy, thanks so much. With me now is "The Hill" congressional reporter Mychael Schnell. Mychael, good morning to you. So, let's -- let's start in Congress. And we've heard some voices around the president.

Is there a -- is there a John McCain in Congress now, someone who has the bona fides who will stand up and say, despite maybe not having the greatest influence, but will say, Mr. President, you are wrong on this, we need to stand by and behind Ukraine and Zelenskyy? Is there that figure on the Hill?

MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: There are certainly a few people who could be, Victor. It's just a question of how loudly do they want to use their voice against Trump in this political atmosphere, where he is so clearly the leader of the party.

Somebody like Don Bacon. He's a congressman from Nebraska. He's a Republican, serves in the House. He put out a statement on Friday after that Oval Office clash, saying, it's clear that Russia is the aggressor in this situation and that Ukraine is the one that needs our support. And that Ukraine stands for freedom, and Russia does not support the U.S.'s western values.

We also heard similar account from Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican from Pennsylvania, who also serves in the House. Somebody like John Curtis, Republican from Utah. He's a senator. He also expressed regret about what happened on Friday, expressing support for Ukraine and noting that Russia is the aggressor in the situation.

So, there are certainly voices within the Republican Party. Despite a growing Trump year and more America first over the years, there are still those Reaganite conservatives who prefer a muscular foreign policy, are supportive of allies overseas. It's just a question of how loudly are they going to want to use their voice, again, in this atmosphere that is so dominated by the America first philosophy.

BLACKWELL: And we'll see how much that is influenced by whatever comes out of the summit in Europe today. Let's talk about the Democrats' response here. Their fundraising off this, and politicians and parties, fundraisers off almost anything. But how fertile do they think this is for them?

SCHNELL: Look, I think that that's going to be the question with everything going forward, really, because of course, all this campaigning and all this messaging is in preparation for the 2026 midterm elections. We are very far away from November of 2026, particularly when you talk about political timing, where a week could be an eternity.

So, what ends up being the salient message going forward? I think that we're still trying to figure that out. But again, as Republicans -- or as Democrats, I mean, are reeling from the crushing election losses of 2024, still trying to pick up the pieces and figure out who is the leader of the party? What's the message that is going to resonate most with voters?

[06:15:02] Is it going to be a foreign policy message focused on Ukraine and Russia? Is it going to be something like the Medicaid message that we've heard a lot from recently from Democrats, as House Republicans are trying to get their sweeping Trump agenda bill through Congress?

Those are the questions that we're going to see Democrats cycle through in real time. I will say, though, Victor, in 2024, the Ukraine message wasn't very salient among voters. We know that it typically comes back to the economy. We know that abortion also tends to play a key role, but the economy is usually number one and immigration is usually number two. But it seems as though Democrats are utilizing the news of the day events at hand to make a salient message off of that.

But what will really be meaningful and the most impactful as we get closer to the midterms? I think that's still an open question, and it's going to be throughout this entire year.

BLACKWELL: That funding bill that you mentioned there is this intraparty fight before you even get to the Democrats and their rejection of the DOGE cuts of whether or not to include those, whether or not to implement those, incorporate them in the bill inside the Republican Party. Some say 1,000 percent yes. Some say absolutely not, because you don't even know what it is.

Who is winning? Where is the tug of war right now?

SCHNELL: I think that we're going to get a real good sense of that this week. Over the past week, we had talked a lot about on Capitol Hill, about that Trump agenda bill, that those tax cuts, border security funding, energy policy. But now with that, in the next phase of the process, after that budget resolution was adopted in both chambers now Congress is going to start really focusing on government funding.

That deadline is March 14th. It's just 12 days away at this point. We are getting closer and closer every hour. So, the conversation is and what I've been hearing from a lot of conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill is they want these DOGE cuts in the government funding bill.

It's likely going to be a continuing resolution, and they want to put language to implement those DOGE efforts in the legislation. They're saying, why are we having this Department of Government Efficiency if we're not going to codify what's getting done?

The problem with that, of course, is that if you put the DOGE cuts in a government funding bill, it's almost certainly going to lead to a government shutdown because Democrats are never going to be on board. And that's the problem that you mentioned, Victor, that not even all Republicans were on board.

In fact, Susan Collins, who's the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. last week she cast doubt on this idea of putting DOGE cuts in the continuing resolution, saying, well, let's discuss that maybe for next year's appropriations process, funding process, once we can dig more into what DOGE is doing and examine how to go forward with that.

But, of course, this is all going to put Speaker Mike Johnson in that tenuous position of handling his right flank and appeasing those folks who could potentially challenge him in his job, while also averting a government shutdown because he doesn't want to do that in Trump's first 100 days. Over the next 12 days, that is going to be the main focus for Johnson and the main focus of lawmakers up on Capitol Hill.

BLACKWELL: The clock ticks. Mychael Schnell, congressional reporter for "The Hill," good to have you this Sunday. Thanks so much.

And of course, during all the upheaval and the sweeping changes, President Trump heads to Capitol Hill to share what's next. Follow CNN for complete coverage and in-depth analysis. "THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS TO CONGRESS" begins Tuesday at 8 p.m. on CNN.

Still to come, Israel is blocking humanitarian aid from going into Gaza. Could the decision upend the ongoing ceasefire talks?

Plus, it's now official former New York governor Andrew Cuomo is running for New York City mayor. We have more on his announcement.

Plus, a milestone moment in space travel. Firefly's Blue Ghost has touched down on the moon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:23:33]

BLACKWELL: This morning, Hamas condemned Israel's decision to stop humanitarian aid from moving into Gaza. They call it cheap blackmail and a war crime. Hamas accused Israel of violating the cease fire agreement. Israel says Hamas is refusing to extend the first phase of the ceasefire.

Israelis want to continue the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners and more aid moving into Gaza. Hamas criticized Israel's push for an extension. They call it an attempt to avoid further negotiations.

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo has entered the race for New York City mayor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW CUOMO (D), FORMER NEW YORK GOVERNOR AND NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE: It won't be easy, but I know we can turn the city around, and I believe I can help. And that is why I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Cuomo's entry into the race could signal a political comeback. He resigned, as you remember, in 2021 after sexual harassment accusations from at least 11 women, which he denies. His return also sets up a potential showdown with Mayor Eric Adams. The current mayor is facing scrutiny after Trump's Department of Justice ordered prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Adams. Adams denied any wrongdoing.

This morning, people are remembering soul and R and B singer Angie Stone. The Grammy award winner died Saturday morning in a crash while heading back to Atlanta from Mobile, Alabama. She's known for her hits like "Black Diamond" and "Wish I Didn't Miss You," career spans more than four decades.

[06:25:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGIE STONE, SINGER (singing): I can't eat, I can't sleep anymore. Waiting for love to walk through the door. I wish I didn't miss you anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: It's a hit. It's a hit. Angie Stone also acted in T.V. shows like "Girlfriends." Films, including "Scary Movie." She is survived by her son, Michael D'Angelo Archer II, who is also a recording artist. Angie Stone was 63 years old.

This morning, the Vatican says that Pope Francis had a peaceful night, is resting. He's battling double pneumonia and suffered a respiratory setback on Friday, needed to be put on a breathing machine. But the Vatican says there's been no further crisis since.

CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb is in Rome with the latest. And the Pope, he just released a statement about his condition. What did he say?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, it's Sunday here in Rome. People are gathering in churches to pray. And they're here at the hospital behind me at the Gemelli, praying for Pope Francis.

And the Pope has released a message for the Sunday angelus that he does each Sunday. And it says that he feels in his heart the blessing that is hidden within frailty, because it is precisely in these moments that we learn to trust in the Lord. At the same time, I thank God for giving me the opportunity to share in body and spirit the condition of so many sick and suffering people.

So, a strong message from the Pope to show to people that he is trying to get better, but that he is seeing this time of illness and sickness as a moment to come closer to God. He also says in this message that he feels carried by the prayers of so many people that have shown that they are supporting Francis at the moment.

It's not just Catholics who are praying for Francis. We've heard from the imam of the Grand Mosque of Rome, the largest mosque in Europe, who says he's praying for the Pope, says he sees the Pope as a leader of humanity or a voice for humanity, who is a voice for peace and fraternity.

Of course, the Pope has done much to work with Muslim leaders throughout his pontificate. Now, in terms of the health position, it has been more encouraging recently. The Vatican said that the Pope is stable on Saturday. Of course, there has been this -- there had been this respiratory difficulty that the Pope experienced on Friday.

We're told by the Vatican that the Pope has been alternating between high flow oxygen and oxygen through a mask and a ventilator, a machine operated device. So clearly, it's still very much a difficult situation for the Pope. He's been in the hospital now since February the 14th. He has pneumonia in both of his lungs. We are awaiting further update from the Vatican with more detailed medical information this evening on Sunday, Victor.

BLACKWELL: The message in frailty. All right. Christopher Lamb for us there. Thanks so much.

Russia and China, listen to this, they're looking to exploit the uncertainty that a lot of federal employees are feeling right now. We'll tell you what we're learning about alleged efforts to recruit disgruntled former national security workers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:33:08]

BLACKWELL: The sources say that Russian and Chinese intelligence services are trying to take advantage of the recent mass firings in the federal government. They're recruiting employees working in National Security who've been fired or feel they could soon be fired. That's according to four people familiar with recent U.S. intelligence on the issue and documents reviewed by CNN.

With me now to discuss, CNN senior national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Juliette, good to see you this Sunday morning. This is an expected byproduct of these mass firings I imagine.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR SECURITY ANALYST (on-camera): Yes, and outside of any of the politics of what's going on in this country, if you are an adversary for an intelligence agency, and you hear a country that you want information from is quickly getting rid of lots of its intelligence agencies in a way that many of them will perceive as unfair unjust desperate. You would -- you would reach out to them

So, there's no specific proof that this has happened yet. But the -- the fact that that Russia and China are making it clear that this is what they hope for should not be a surprise to us. Intelligence agencies tend to be less dramatic let's say then then what has been going on in the last couple weeks in terms of government employees and what they experience. And we're seeing the same kind of, you know, mass firings layoffs and disruptions within the intelligence community that we've seen -- that we're seeing in other offices throughout government. BLACKWELL: Is it explicit or could people be unwittingly --

KAYYEM (on-camera): Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- sharing information with what they do not know is the Chinese or the Russian government?

[06:35:03]

KAYYEM (on-camera): Well, I've been in this world. So, there's -- there's something about the discipline of being within, you know, the four walls, let's say, wherever you're working, DOJ, DHS, and the intelligence communities.

So, you know, you're going in every day. You're -- you're -- you're being monitored, your computers are owned by the government. There's all sorts of you're getting training. There's all sorts of disciplining aspects because you're around colleagues who are on the same mission. On your own, you're going to be just less disciplined.

So, you're exactly right that there's both that the -- there might be a desire for people who are fired to sort of, you know, stick it to the United States. Right. But there also can be things that are done to them. They -- they talk too much. They -- they are approached by someone they think is a friend or a potential girlfriend or -- or boyfriend, and they disclose too much information.

So, it's that -- I think it's a little bit of the chaos of what's going on will get will sort of undermine that discipline. I should also say mistakes have already been made when you ask me, what are the intelligence threats internally? We certainly know that the DOGE employees or the DOGE workers are not even employees. That's the problem. We don't know much about them. Their security clearances. We don't know what kind of information they have.

We do know that classified information has been disclosed to them, including from the CIA about who may be covert operatives. And it's that kind of information flow that also can be used by enemies.

BLACKWELL: Let's stick with DOGE and information flow, because the -- what did you accomplish last week? E-mails are due tomorrow by 11:59 p.m. And so, the Department of Homeland Security says that its employees must comply. But they say --

KAYYEM (on-camera): Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- that because of their national security responsibilities, it'll stay internal. Now, contrast that with what we heard from Health and Human Services, the first time this e-mail came out from OPM and they said the Health and Human Services says that assume what you write will be read by malign foreign actors.

How can --

KAYYEM (on-camera): Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- Homeland Security say, oh, we're safe? It'll stay in house.

KAYYEM (on-camera): Right.

BLACKWELL: And HHS says somebody who wants to hurt us is going to read this. Just write that accordingly.

KAYYEM (on-camera): Yes. Are you asking me to determine whether there's a consistent message coming out of DOGE?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

KAYYEM (on-camera): The answer is no. I mean --

BLACKWELL: OK.

KAYYEM (on-camera): -- it is, you know, you can't -- you can't square it because it's so random off the cuff through tweets, e-mails sent on weekends for Monday deadlines. I mean, none of it -- none of it is how a stable government and its workforce ought to behave or be subject to.

You know, I know people will get into the debate whether what DOGE is doing is -- is -- is going to make us more efficient and undermine fraud. I don't even think we get there yet.

The question we have to ask ourselves, is this the process that we want to streamline services, to get government employees to disclose what they are doing?

And so, all of these issues about are they disclosing, are they not disclosing? None of that has been determined. No one has an answer. So, they're just, you know, leadership in these offices is just sort of throwing out these random things to try to satisfy, I think, a lot of the public statements made on Twitter by -- by Musk.

It's this, you know, I just wrote a piece for The Atlantic on this. This is like it's this kind of sort of madness. I mean, that's essentially what it is that really makes Americans less safe and secure, because it's not making government more efficient. It's getting them -- it's making government less able to prepare Americans for the threats we face.

And so, the DOGE debate really has to take into account, you know, are all these, you know, this chaos, so to speak, is it worth the price of the disruptions? And that'll leave to our political analysts, but you can't deny it at this stage.

BLACKWELL: Well, Musk said that these e-mails are supposed to be pulse checks to determine if people are alive. I guess now they have to check every week that you're still alive and working with the government.

Juliette Kayyem, thanks so much for the analysis. Enjoy this Sunday.

KAYYEM (on-camera): Thank you.

BLACKWELL: All right, the workweek will start with severe weather for millions of Americans.

Coming up, where we could see strong tornadoes, hail and powerful winds?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:44:21]

BLACKWELL: A critical 12-mile stretch of I-40 in North Carolina's Pigeon River Gorge is now reopened. It's been five months since Hurricane Helene damaged it. This is a critical transport route for trucks between ports on the East Coast and the Midwestern hubs and while it is still under construction zone reopening two of four lanes there will be in the area regional industries and national supply chains can get through. The highway is shut down in September at almost 300 miles to drivers' routes.

Between now and Tuesday more than 50 million people will be at risk for severe weather as powerful storm systems sweep through the south.

[06:45:01]

CNN meteorologist Tyler Mauldin is joining us now with details.

I got a peek at the map over your shoulder and some people are in for it.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on-camera): We are certainly going to see the severe weather systems progress over the next few days millions of people under that threat. And this could be the most considerable threat that we have seen in months, especially when it comes to tornadoes.

So, follow me over here to the map. What you'll notice on the map behind me is that multi-day severe weather threat. That does get progressively worse as we go through time, culminating with a level three out of five threat right now for the Deep South on Tuesday.

We have two weather systems at play. The lead weather system is right here over the plains right now. The second weather system is coming into the Pacific Northwest at this time. Neither look too formidable at this very second. However, notice what happens as we go through time. Once we get to this afternoon, we are seeing that line of thunderstorm activity begin to bubble up over the plains today. Then it fades away only to come right back as that secondary system sitting over the Pacific Northwest right now makes a beeline down here to the plains and the -- the Deep South.

This most severe weather will be right down into Louisiana and Tuesday afternoon around one, two o'clock local time, that all progresses eastbound into Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia. Yes, we all see that as we into the wee hours of Wednesday.

The potential for tornadoes very high and could only get higher as we go through time. We're talking long track, strong, destructive tornadoes. Unfortunately, it is that time of the year. We are going to see the threat for tornadoes statistically increase from here. On average, we see roughly 89 tornadoes during the month of March. It peaks as we get into May with nearly 300 tornadoes, Victor.

BLACKWELL: All right. We are certainly, as you say, in that time of year. So --

MAULDIN (on-camera): Absolutely.

BLACKWELL: -- thanks for watching it for us. Tyler Mauldin.

MAULDIN (on-camera): Yes.

BLACKWELL: Touchdown. The Blue Ghost Lunar Lander is now on the moon. What is next in this historic mission?

We'll take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:51:34]

BLACKWELL: This morning the U.S. made Blue Ghost Lander successfully landed on the moon. Over the next 14 days Blue Ghost will take pictures of an eclipse and a rare phenomenon last seen by astronauts more than 50 years ago. It's called the Lunar Horizon Glow.

You know when there's something happening in space, we turn to retired NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao and he never lets us down.

Leroy, let's start with this this phenomenon this lunar glow. What is it? What makes it so significant? What do we hope to learn?

LEROY CHIAO, FMR NASA ATSRONAUT: Well, sure people think of the moon as a vacuum that there's no atmosphere around it, but it actually does have an extremely thin atmosphere. It's a very -- very low pressure. And so, the glow is caused of course by sunlight passing through that atmosphere and in the right conditions. You're able to observe it.

So in earth, of course the sunlight passing through our dense atmosphere makes it glow these beautiful shades of blue. Not sure exactly what color the lunar glow is, but I suspect it's a shade of blue as well.

BLACKWELL: That'd be nice. Let's talk about the company that's doing this. This isn't NASA's it's a private company only the second one to do it. Why do you think it's -- it's so rare only the second company to do this?

CHIAO: Well, that's right. It's difficult to land on the moon several organizations including countries had tried and failed just several months ago in an intuitive machine successfully became the first U.S. spacecraft to soft land on the moon since Apollo 17 back in 1972, and congratulations to Firefly Aerospace for now being the second since then and the second commercial company to do so.

NASA's commercial lunar program nicknamed CLPS is really hitting its stride and you see that with today today's successful landing intuitive machines got another one, another lander the Athena Lander scheduled to land in just four days and it's carrying the first commercial rover if successful It will be the first commercial rover to go explore the moon.

So, a lot of things happening in this clips program.

BLACKWELL: And more on the challenges we always you mentioned that soft landing, we always look for that to be the first evidence of success in these missions. And so, they've accomplished that, but over the next two weeks, what else -- what are the else are they navigating so that they get all that they're hoping for out of this mission?

CHIAO: Sure. This mission the Blue Ghost Mission, they've got a number of NASA payloads on board, some of the highlights, they've got a drill, they're going to take a drill and drill down about one meter around three feet and they're going to see about manipulating they have some mechanisms are going to manipulate the regolith, which is the -- the dirt if you will on the surface of the moon. They've got some experiments to how to mitigate dust. That's always a concern that dust, you know, the -- the moon dust can -- can interfere with operating of mechanisms, can cover solar -- solar arrays and keep them from generating electricity.

So, a number of different experiments and I expect that they'll you know -- they've done the hard part, they've gotten there. And so, I expect that we'll get some interesting data from then over the next two weeks from this vehicle.

BLACKWELL: On the commercial program you mentioned with NASA and you talk about a rover which will be the first commercial rover. If everything goes as planned pretty soon. Is that the trend of space exploration? Is that of course we see with SpaceX and Blue Origin, but is it going more toward the next few vehicles we'll see on the moon are going to be privately owned.

[06:55:19]

CHIAO: Right. Well, it's kind of a partnership. Well, it's very much a partnership. You know, NASA went down this path a long time ago, more than a decade ago, and they started doing things a new way. You know, partnering with companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin, and now these lander and rover companies, helping them along with funding, and in many cases pre paying for services that is paying up front for services that NASA is interested in to help them get that influx of capital to be able to develop these vehicles.

And of course, NASA expertise and they're always looking over their shoulders, helping them along with their experience. And you can see it's worked out very well, we've developed the capability to send NASA astronauts and cargo to and from the ISS with SpaceX, and hopefully soon Boeing will begin regular operations. And of course, these landers are shining example of that kind of a partnership arrangement.

So, I suspect that this will be how we do things in the future rather than the old way, which, you know, we see efficiencies in this kind of these kinds of partnerships, and these -- these small commercial companies are nimble, they can -- they can pivot, they can move, they are attracting a lot of young people, young engineers, high quality talent, and it's exciting.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I remember when I was working in South Florida, before I came to CNN and covering the end of the shuttle program, and the question was, what will fill the gap? What will be next? And I think we're getting our answer with all these companies that are leading the rover, lander, and these crewed missions that will be coming.

Leroy Chiao, always good to have you.

There's much more in the next hour of "CNN This Morning Weekend," Ukraine security front and center as European leaders meet in London, we have live reports from the UK and Ukraine.

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