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Trump Pauses Military Aid to Ukraine; Kara Swisher is Interviewed about Trump and Musk; Jason Miller is Interviewed about the State of the Union. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired March 04, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:18]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: It's half past the hour here on the East Coast, but I want to say good morning to Minneapolis in Central Time.

Good morning to all of you. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

Here's what's happening right now.

Global financial markets are trending down this morning as President Trump's new tariffs take effect. They impact billions of dollars of goods from Canada, Mexico and China. Canada immediately hitting back with its own tariffs on $30 billion worth of U.S. products. And it promises more to come.

President Donald Trump will address Congress tonight, and the nation, to tout the sweeping changes he's made during his first month back in office. That includes slashing the federal workforce. He's also expected to lay out more of his agenda.

U.S. military aid to Ukraine paused at this hour. President Trump ordering this after he - after a heated Oval Office argument with the Ukrainian president last week. Western officials warn that this freeze could have a major impact on Ukraine's ability to defend itself within just weeks.

And a Trump administration official tells CNN the pause could be reversed, but only if the president decides Zelenskyy is committed to seeking peace. At the same time, President Trump is suggesting it might be time for Zelenskyy to go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, maybe somebody doesn't want to make a deal. And if somebody doesn't want to make a deal, I think that person won't be around very long.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: It's worth noting that the Kremlin has sought for years to see new leadership in Kyiv, and that Ukraine reportedly foiled multiple Russian attempts to assassinate Zelenskyy.

So, is all hope lost for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine? Not yet, according to Vice President J.D. Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: If he called tomorrow and said, I am ready to adopt your plan for peace, he can come back?

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think that if he called and had a serious proposal for how he was going to engage in the process.

Look, there are details that really matter that we're already working on with the Russians. We've already talked with some of our allies. He needs to engage seriously on the details.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Eva McKend, Elliot Williams and Jackie Kucinich back with me to dissect this a bit.

Eva, I want to talk to you.

When they message about what needs to happen, what are you hearing?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the message is not a surprise because, you know, it seems - this is - this is - this whole episode is instructive of entirely how President Trump views foreign policy. It seems like a lifetime ago, but the entire first impeachment trial was about this. It was this pressure campaign.

CORNISH: Yes, when I heard that, I was like, here we go again.

MCKEND: Yes.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCKEND: This pressure campaign on - on Ukraine.

CORNISH: But is the idea that he's got to apologize to come to the table? I mean I know we don't have the answer to this, but looking at what is diplomacy, what are we looking at?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: But that's the thing, we don't know because the standards are fuzzy. What will it take to sort of constitute him coming back to the table?

But there are enough cracks there. And you can even see in the vice president's comments (INAUDIBLE), there's enough cracks that it seems that there - there is an opening. It's just not clear what that opening actually is.

CORNISH: OK, so a CBS News poll asked whether Trump's actions and remarks favor Russia or Ukraine. Trying to get a sense of what Americans think. And it was saying that 46 percent believe Trump favors Russia over Ukraine, 43 percent saying he treats them equally. Over time, a little bit of a shift. But we do know, Jackie, that people, Americans, don't really want to be in long wars. And is that an argument that resonates?

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE BOSTON GLOBE": I think it did, particularly with Republican voters. That is, I mean, you saw the support for Ukraine sort of eroding over the course of last year and the longer this goes.

CORNISH: Yes.

KUCINICH: That said, you are seeing the same messaging coming from the Kremlin and the United States, and congressional allies on The Hill of even - even President Trump are getting concerned about that tone.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCKEND: And we shouldn't - we shouldn't underestimate how important it was to voters that our involvement decrease.

I met a Haitian American woman on the campaign trail. This was a group that President Trump disparaged a great deal. And it was more important to her as an American citizen for us to not be involved to the extent that we were in terms of this monetary investment in with Ukraine.

CORNISH: Yes. Because the details are hazy, right? Is it loan guarantees? Is it that? Is it that?

MCKEND: Yes.

CORNISH: And people just see it as being involved.

MCKEND: We have to be humble in our assessment of this because a lot of voters actually like what they see. They don't want this level of foreign aid commitment.

CORNISH: OK, you guys stick around.

It's 34 minutes past the hour.

I want to turn back to President Trump's address to Congress, and specifically his special guest.

[06:35:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TRUMP ADVISER: This is the chainsaw for bureaucracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Elon Musk, the man with the chainsaw, is expected to get a lot of attention tonight. A source within the White House tells CNN that the president will highlight Musk as an example of how his administration is already changing Washington. Their sweeping cuts to the federal workforce aren't exactly winning everyone over. According to a CBS News/YouGov poll, 86 percent of Democrats disapprove, while 87 percent of Republicans approve of agency staff cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH SMITH (R), NORTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: God anoints people. He's anointed President Trump. So, if Elon Musk wants to cut trillions of dollars out of this budget, and if my family has to tighten our belt and not go on vacation because of it, I'm down with that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: But even among Republicans, there seems to be some disagreement.

Here's what a three-time Trump voter, who lost his job at the IRS, told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES DIAZ, FIRED IRS WORKER AND VETERAN: I think with all large agencies there's - there's going to be some people who underperform. And I believe there is some fraud, waste and abuse. But I don't think that they're doing a very good job of - of finding out exactly what needs to be cut. I think they're just taking, like, the chainsaw to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss, podcast host and CNN contributor Kara Swisher.

Good morning, Kara.

KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, how you doing?

CORNISH: I know you've covered Elon Musk for a long time. People are going to wonder what he's wearing, where he's sitting. But what do you think is significant about him being at this speech?

SWISHER: Well, because they keep trying to focus on him, which is really interesting. I mean President Trump is doubling down on that Elon's the answer for him, especially with all this performative stuff around chainsaws and, you know, the world's richest man. And he comes in and takes over cabinet meetings or press conferences. So, I don't know, maybe he'll be standing next to him on the podium in that regard. He's - he's very close to Trump, obviously.

CORNISH: What do you think about the way Democrats have been trying to talk about it? I also know there's been like a lot of protests at Tesla factories and things like that.

SWISHER: There have.

CORNISH: Do you think anything is actually resonating? SWISHER: I don't - it may resonate. And I do think the numbers for

Musk are so different than Trump, which is really quite striking. He - as I've said many times, he's the heat shield for Trump on this stuff. And he's willing to take it. I don't think people overall like this guy. They don't also like the idea of an unfettered billionaire doing what he wants with a chainsaw. It does - I mean the visuals are really strange. It's like, I'll just cut everyone no matter what they do. And I think that last person you just noted said that.

But we'll see. I mean, people - again, he's a - he's a - he's a heat shield for Donald Trump and it's - and in that regard it's working.

CORNISH: I remember we've been talking in the past, and you thought that their relationship kind of - could expire.

SWISHER: Yes.

CORNISH: That there are two people with big egos, used to being in charge. What are you thinking now, though, as you see them?

SWISHER: I don't, actually. Musk has done a very good job of being ubiquitous around him and very solicitous of Trump, I think. And I don't know how they encounter each other privately, but I think he's very solicitous. I think it mystifies a lot of people in the Trump world who I've talked to, and they don't know why he has such a such - such an attachment to Musk, but he does. You know, he appears with him all the time. He feels like he's a family member.

And I feel like he, you know, it's like a famous person that walks around with you. I don't - I don't really understand it. But I do think that Musk's popularity has declined. And I don't think it's just these protests. The numbers show that. I think the numbers at all his companies are doing it. But again, he doesn't mind taking the heat for Trump for some reason.

CORNISH: Musk, of course, makes big use of X, which used to be Twitter. And I know you're actually in a new CNN original series that follows the creation of Twitter.

SWISHER: Yes.

CORNISH: I want to give people a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEL HARVEY, VP OF TRUST AND SAFETY: When people are building products, when people are building features, there's this analogy that I use, which is, an engineer comes to you and they're like, I've made the perfect kitten. It doesn't need food, doesn't need water, it will never grow old, it will never die. It is the perfect kitten. And you look at the kitten and you're like, why can this kitten shoot bullets? And they're like, well, that's not - that's not what you're supposed to use the kitten for. I told you all the things the kitten was intended to be used for. And I'm like, yes. And someone, whether accidentally or on purpose, is going to shoot a bullet with this kitten. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Kara, can you translate a little bit?

SWISHER: Wow.

CORNISH: I mean -

SWISHER: I'm not sure I can.

CORNISH: Exactly. But it's the idea maybe that Twitter was not as innocuous as it turned out to be. And going into this night where the president is messaging, kind of how do you think about its legacy?

SWISHER: Well, you know, people always think it's so powerful. It isn't that big in general compared to everything else. And it's been declining, obviously, over the years. And Twitter has always sort of underperformed itself.

[06:40:00]

I think the question is, he's got this worldwide megaphone that Musk is using and he puts - he amplifies it in his favor, too. He's changed the algorithm to favor himself.

CORNISH: Yes.

SWISHER: And so in that way its useful, right? It's useful. And he can do a lot - whatever he wants with it. He can make it into this place where we all look at kitten videos, or we all look at murderous kitten videos, right? Or kittens. And either way we're staring at the thing. And I think that's why it's useful. It's a propaganda machine in this case that Musk is using, not just here. We have to think of it beyond this country, but around the globe.

CORNISH: That's Kara Swisher.

Thank you so much.

SWISHER: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: You can also watch CNN's new original series, "Twitter: Breaking the Bird," starting this Sunday at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific. That's only on CNN.

Still ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, a top special agent at the FBI says he's being forced to retire. What did his incoming boss have to say about that on Truth Social?

Plus, President Trump prepares to address Congress tonight. What can we expect from the first major speech of his second term? I'll ask Trump adviser Jason Miller about it.

And the group chat is back as Jay-z is filing a lawsuit of his own. We're going to talk all about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:45:35]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, President Donald Trump returns to Capitol Hill to address a joint session of Congress. You might remember how his last one ended.

(VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi actually tearing up her copy of that speech at the end. I doubt Speaker Johnson is going to be treating his copy quite the same way tonight.

President Trump previewing his speech on Truth Social, saying, quote, "I will tell it like it is." Vice President Vance says it's going to be fun.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to have fun tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You think so?

VANCE: Because the president of the United States, he's going to make a lot of good arguments. He's going to talk a lot about a lot of the successes that we've had in these first 45 days. He's also going to be himself, which means he's going to poke a little fun, and we're going to have a good time tomorrow. So, I'm just going to try to enjoy it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now to talk about tonight's speech and more is Jason Miller, senior adviser to President Trump.

Jason, thanks for being here.

I want to start by following up on what we heard from the vice president about the arguments for success. What's going to be the main goal for Trump in his speech tonight?

JASON MILLER, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes. Well, good morning, and thank you for having me.

So, this evening, typically this would be done after the first year a president is in office. But since President Trump has already served as president before, he's going to come in, he's going to level set with the American people about where exactly we are as a country. What's happened over this past four years, what he's been able to accomplish over the last four or five weeks, then what we still have yet to go and accomplish.

So, we've all seen the flurry of executive orders and securing the border, the mass criminal deportations, getting to a ceasefire in the Middle East. We've seen that. But what we have to go do next, when we talk about the efforts to bring down prices, you do that by reducing energy costs. You do it by stopping all of the reckless spending that we've built up. We have to go and get this tax bill done. I think you'll hear the president this evening talk about the one big, beautiful bill so we can keep taxes low, and take it even lower for Americans. Also need to make sure that we make these border fixes permanent. And then also, as we look ahead, really got to look to the future and make sure we're winning things such as the AI war against China, having a marshal plan for energy.

So, it's a bit of where we are, what we've accomplished, what we're going to do, both in the short and in the longer term.

CORNISH: Obviously, the White House is already hearing some criticism about what has been done. "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board talking about tariffs, for example. In their new op-ed, which is actually titled "Trump takes the dumbest tariff plunge." And they write that, "Mr. Trump also objected when we reported an analysis by the Anderson Economic Group that the 25 percent tariff will raise the cost of a full-sized SUV assembled in North America by $9,000 and a pickup truck by $8,000." They pose this question, "is this how the new Republican Party plans on helping working class voters?"

Jason Miller?

MILLER: Well, God bless "The Wall Street Journal." But as we saw from President Trump's first four years in office, that's not what happened at all. In fact, the president had 1.4 percent inflation rate, nearly a record low during his first time in office. Even with the tariffs that were put into place. And what's going to happen is that companies -

CORNISH: Jason, sorry to interrupt, but do you get the sense, though, that the tariffs will have to be discussed? Meaning that he'll have to say to the American people, there could be some pain ahead

MILLER: Well, actually, I would say that he's going to lean into it and he's going to talk about how increasing tariffs can actually go and close the trade deficits, which January we saw a record trade deficit, particularly when it comes to countries such as Canada, Mexico, China. And how, if we don't go and do this now, we're going to be completely wiped out by certain industries here in the United States.

The other thing, too, is that ultimately the costs on this are going to be carried by the producers and the foreign countries as opposed to Americans. We need to make sure that we rebuild our industrial base here in the United States, that we're not vulnerable to supply chain disruptions, as we saw during the pandemic. And as we've already seen, President Trump has received record-setting early amounts of capital investment from various companies and from even other countries because the U.S. is still the best place to put your money if you want to grow and expand a company or get a return for your buck.

CORNISH: I think it's pretty clear that the person who has played the largest role in shaping the president's first days in office has been Elon Musk, especially when it comes to reshaping the federal government. [06:50:04]

People have questioned that work. They've even questioned sort of his proof, what he calls his wall of receipts. An example in "The New York Times" fact checking about what's happening with DOGE and its team when it comes to sort of the accountability.

So, for you, is that another thing that the White House needs to talk about, what the DOGE team has actually accomplished in a way that the American public can understand?

MILLER: Yes. And I think there's a big disconnect between what we see and what we hear in the media and what the rest of the country is actually thinking at the moment. In fact, polling out yesterday in "The Daily Mail" and "Jail Partners" (ph) actually shows that President Trump has his highest favorability rating that he's ever had. And the reason being is he's taking this wasteful spending head on. A lot of people remember that when inflation started under Joe Biden, it was because of the wasteful spending. We had those two bills. We were pumping money into the economy that, quite frankly, just didn't exist. And also under Joe Biden they went and cut off -

CORNISH: But, Jason, can I add one other thing. Elon -

MILLER: But - but I - what - I'm trying to explain what this was -

CORNISH: No, no, it's OK. I just want to bring it back to the ID (ph).

MILLER: But I'm trying to explain that that's - but that's -

CORNISH: Elon Musk has a lower rating than the president.

MILLER: Right.

CORNISH: And over time, is that going to be a gamble to have that relationship so close?

MILLER: But - oh, not at all, because what President Trump is doing is he is authorizing his administration to tackle inflation head on. And we have to do this. I mean we're running a nearly $2 trillion deficit every single year. The national debt is up over $36 trillion, approaching $37 trillion. If we don't take action on this, inflation is going to continue, we're going to move toward insolvency financially as a country. We have to go and take this on.

People are so frustrated when they hear that certain folks in Washington, for example, they don't even have to show up to work anymore. Well, that's all changing under President Trump. He's making workers get back to the office. If they have a non-essential job, or if they're not actually contributing, or if they don't exist, or if they're not showing up, then guess what, we're going to get rid of them and we're going to go and - then clearly we don't need those jobs.

The American public, people who wake up every day, who are watching this show right now and getting ready to go - spend eight or nine or ten hours working to provide for their families, are sick and tired of what they see coming out of Washington. They want the reckless spending stopped. They want the economy fixed. They see the border being secured. Now we're going to get some other great things done as well.

CORNISH: Before I let you go, obviously in foreign policy, the issue with Ukraine has come to the forefront. The administration pausing military aid to Ukraine while the president pushes for his peace deal.

I want to play for you what the president's former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, has to say about what he thinks the Russian view of all this is going to be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. H.R. MCMASTER (RET.), FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP: Putin couldn't be happier.

He appeals to President Trump's sense of aggrievement, right, that, you know, Donald, you know, like me, you know, you've been treated so unfairly. And he's been very successful at it because he's a master manipulator and one of the best liars in the world.

And he's being played like other presidents have been played, like other leaders have been played, through that same playbook of Putin's.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Jason Miller, can you talk about your response to that? Because it's more than McMaster out there saying that he doesn't believe Putin can be trusted and that many administrations have sort of fallen prey to his strategies.

MILLER: Well, with all respect to General McMaster, I think he's missing the point a bit, and that's that President Trump is the only person, the only person stop - talking about stopping the killing. And sometimes leaders can use the carrot. Sometimes they can use the stick. And in this case, I think President Trump is using the two by four to go and get his point across to President Zelenskyy. And that is, that President Trump wants to stop the killing. Zelenskyy has got to get back to the table. He has to take this seriously. No more goofing off or shown up to the White House and his bespoke tracksuit and tearing up and ignoring deals and things of the sort.

If we're going to stop the killing, there has to be a partnership with the United States, Ukraine, a number of other countries, and the Russians as well, because right now the Russians hold all the cards.

Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians do not hold the cards. They do not have the leverage. President Trump will get an end to this war. He's going to save lives. Every single week that goes by where Zelenskyy plays these games, thousands more Ukrainians die. That's a shame.

CORNISH: That's Jason Miller from the White House.

Thank you for your time. MILLER: Thank you.

CORNISH: I want to get reaction from the group there, especially just taking on Ukraine at the end where he says, sometimes you use the carrot, the stick, sometimes you use the two by four. Is that kind of summing up the foreign policy that we see right now?

WILLIAMS: Oh, I think so. It's - and again it's just a question of what's the carrot, what's the stick and what's the two by four.

CORNISH: Or also, who gets the two by four, right?

WILLIAMS: And who gets the two by four and how and -

CORNISH: I think that's been a big thing of like our - is the U.S. becoming a co-bully of a country like Ukraine?

[06:55:02]

WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes, more than anything else. And, you know, a guest earlier in the program had referenced this point. It's the extent to which Russia is animated by some of the rhetoric coming out of the United States. Yes, it may serve American's fundamental interests. Even talked about this, that voters actually want us out of Ukraine in some way. But, you know, at what cost?

CORNISH: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And is it at the cost of exciting Vladimir Putin, which just doesn't seem to sit right.

CORNISH: And, Jackie, you've reported on Jason Miller for a long time. What do you make of sort of how he answered that towards the end, right, which is to pivot away from a Russia answer to talk about Zelenskyy and make fun of his tracksuit and things like that.

WILLIAMS: Bespoke (ph) tracksuit.

KUCINICH: Well, I mean, the thing that stuck in my head was that Russia holds all the cards. And it just feels like -

CORNISH: Which is what he said. We should say that's a quote from him.

KUCINICH: Which is what - which is what - which is - yes, yes, which is what he said.

And it - partially it's because the United States is handing them some - a deck. They're really empowering Russia. And it - as you - as you just said, kind of playing bully, a country that was attacked, that - that was invaded. We can't let that - and this - and - but you also can't look at this relationship with Zelenskyy. I mean he - those comments he made at the end, in a vacuum. Because as Eva said at - in one of the other segments, this is a very fraught relationship that goes all the way back to 2017.

CORNISH: Yes. MCKEND: It's - it's also politically risky to double down on this demonization of federal workers. I've been out there talking to federal workers. Many of them are conservatives who supported President Trump.

CORNISH: Yes.

MCKEND: And so, this idea that they are mowing them all down because they're all lazy and ineffective, some of these people supported President Trump. And I think that just reinforcing that idea that they are useless, and that is not a good strategy.

CORNISH: Yes, but here's the flip side. When I think - first of all, Democrats are bringing a bunch of federal workers tonight. But also, you know, there's this thing that lives rent free in my head, which is that, for decades the number of federal workers, which was the largest employer out in rural communities, has dwindled. And in a way it feels like Democrats are sort of defending the capital city in "Hunger Games," you know?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: Like, it's the wealthy area with all the jobs and the bureaucrats. Why should they have it all?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: I mean, what's the, kind of how do you counter that perception?

WILLIAMS: May the job cuts be ever in your favor.

But the - you know, where this all comes to a head I think is later this year Virginia is having a governor's election. Virginia has, I believe it's 150,000 or 155,000, don't quote me on the number, but a lot of federal workers, many of whom are Republicans. And how this all plays out, this kind of rhetoric in this purple state, I think, will be a big test of how all this lands.

CORNISH: Yes. OK, guys, stay with us.

Fifty-seven minutes past the hour.

Before we move on, I want to clarify. I got the title wrong for Jason Miller. He's senior adviser with Donald Trump's transition team.

Also, our morning roundup. Some of the stories you need to know to get your day going.

The head special agent at the FBI's New York office being forced into retirement. Last month, Agent James Dennehy had just told employees he was ready to dig in amid all the firings at the bureau. Incoming deputy FBI director, Dan Bongino, decided to mock Dennehy's retirement, posting, "heads are rolling as FAFO," you can Google it, "appears to be hitting the FBI." Today in the Supreme Court they're hearing arguments in Mexico's $10 billion lawsuit against Smith and Wesson and six other major U.S. gun makers. Mexico's government alleges the companies design and market guns specifically to drug cartels. It also claims up to 90 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico are actually made in the U.S.

And mogul Jay-z now suing the anonymous woman who withdrew a lawsuit accusing him of rape. He's also suing her attorneys, alleging that they knew the allegations were false. In a statement, one of those lawyers said that the woman stands by her account and that Jay-z's lawsuit has, quote, "no legal merit."

Elliot, battle of words with lawyers?

WILLIAMS: Yes, but he's got 99 problems and the laws governing harassment and assault are one. So, he - we're not - we haven't seen the end of this story (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: OK. Before I let you guys go, I want to talk about what we are keeping an eye on, the stories that we think people need to know today, that it's like, we don't know the answer yet.

Jackie Kucinich.

KUCINICH: You know, I'm curious what - if Trump is going to name check some of the cities, the so-called sanctuary cities, as he goes through his -

CORNISH: So, Democratic led cities that had permissive immigration policies.

KUCINICH: Democratic led cities - yes, thank you. As he did in - when he was talking about crime in his 2017 speech, he namechecked Chicago. And it's - not everything is about Boston, but it's because - it's because Mayor Wu is testifying tomorrow in the House Oversight Committee. So, what effect something like that would have on these city - big city mayors here.

CORNISH: OK, Elliot, you.

WILLIAMS: Picking up on Ukraine, what are the other parts of the hammer that - that come out?

Elon Musk - SpaceX controls Starlink, which is the internet satellites.

[07:00:00]

Do they suspend internet coverage over - over Ukraine in a way that hampers its military?

CORNISH: Yes.

MCKEND: Today and beyond I'm really interested to see how federal workers harness their political power in this moment. They can prove to be really effective messengers for Democrats, especially because some of them are conservative, voted for President Trump, and now they have the ability and the platform to tell their stories.

CORNISH: All right, I want to thank you all, the group, for joining me today. I want to thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. And "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.