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Top DOJ Official Tells Prosecutors To File Dismissal Of Mayor Eric Adams (D-New York City, NY) Case; Vance Meets With Zelenskyy After Berating European Leaders; Mass Layoffs Under Way As Trump & Musk Slash Federal Workforce; Eagles Fans On Parade: Huge Super Bowl Victory Party In Philly. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 14, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, new fallout from the Justice Department's push to drop criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The DOJ scrambling to get someone to sign off on the dismissal after a seventh prosecutor quit in protest.

Also this hour, Vice President J.D. Vance meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich after berating European leaders and likening them to Cold War tyrants. Vance turning on allies who are increasingly worried about President Trump's push for peace with Vladimir Putin.

And angry protests as the Trump administration fires federal employees by the thousands, healthcare workers now being targeted in a move being dubbed the Valentine's Day massacre.

Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world where Blitzer is off. I'm Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin with the intensifying battle over the integrity of the U.S. Justice Department under President Trump. We're standing by to see if the DOJ is able to take a key step forward in its efforts to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams after multiple prosecutors quit in protest.

Jeff Zeleny is standing by the White House, but first to CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. Evan, where does all of this stand right now?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Pamela, we're still waiting to see a Justice Department lawyer actually file the paperwork to seek the dismissal of this corruption case against the New York City mayor, Eric Adams. At this hour, that still has not happened. And now we're in day two of a spiraling crisis at the Justice Department with multiple, we now have seven people who have resigned, refusing to sign the dismissal that was ordered by the Justice Department just, you know, earlier this week.

Now, the latest to go is a prosecutor, Hagen Scotten, here in the Southern District of New York. And on his way out, he really scorched the bosses, including Emil Bove, who is the acting deputy attorney general. He's sort of been the one who has been orchestrating all of this, trying to push people to file this dismissal.

I'll read you just a part of what he says as he walked out the door. He said but any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials in this way. If no lawyer within earshot of the president is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool or enough of a coward to file your motion, but it was never going to be me.

Now, what he's referring to here is this idea that they would drop this case against Eric Adams. The Justice Department is planning to drop this case against Eric Adams, in exchange that he would -- the idea that he would help to enforce immigration laws here in New York City.

Now, both Eric Adams and the Justice Department leadership say that there was no quid pro quo. This is not actually a trade, but that is certainly what all of the lawyers who have been working on this they interpret it to be that way.

Now, earlier today, we had additional people at the Justice Department in Washington who met with Bove. He was pressuring them to file this dismissal, Pamela. They all left this meeting, went for a strategy session. And at the end of that, our understanding is at least one person has decided to sort of fall on their sword and do the motion to file this dismissal.

Now, we still have not seen that show up in the docket in the Southern District of New York. Of course, Pamela, the next step is for a judge to actually take action on that motion. Pamela?

BROWN: Right. We'll be waiting to see how this plays out. Evan, stand by.

Jeff Zeleny is at the White House. Jeff, President Trump spoke out about the Adams case and the fallout a little while ago. Tell us about that,

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Pamela. For the second straight day, the president said he had no knowledge or involvement in the decision to remove charges from the New York mayor. Of course, underscoring all of this is this administration's wish to have a better relationship, in fact, helping hand on immigration cases in New York City. But in the Oval Office today, the president washed his hands of all of it.

[18:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: But I know nothing about the individual case. I know that they didn't feel it was much of a case. They also felt that it was unfair with the election. I think there's also something to be said. I read that there's something to be said for what they were doing. It looked to me to be very political. But why didn't they bring this up like four or five weeks ago, six weeks ago, whenever it happened? You know, they just sat around and didn't complain. Then all of a sudden they complained and they know they're all being dismissed anyway. So, you know, that's called politics, I guess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the president mischaracterizing there the resignations in mass of these career prosecutors, as well as the acting U.S. attorney at the Southern District of New York, who his administration appointed in its first days back in office. So, the president is saying he had nothing to do with this at all, but it raises the question, certainly, he's saying politics were at play here, but there -- that does not answer the question or the underlying charges here clearly were against Adams.

But this administration once again wanted a friendly hand on immigration cases and enforcement in New York, and with Adams, they thought they had one, Pamela.

BROWN: All right. Jeff Zeleny, Evan Perez, thank you.

A lot to discuss here. Let's bring in our legal and political experts. Jennifer Rodgers, I want to start with you. This is a blistering letter from this SDNY prosecutor accusing DOJ of trying to gain leverage over Adams with this dismissal. What do you make of this allegation?

JENNIFER RODGERS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it looks to me, Pamela, like it's exactly right. And if you look at not only this letter from Hagen Scotten, but the letter from Danielle Sassoon, that's eight single spaced pages, it spells it out in great detail. Emil Bove effectively admitted it. This was a politically motivated dismissal. They sought the dismissal because Eric Adams needed to be free from the indictment in order to focus on the Trump administration's immigration priorities, and that's why they were seeking it.

They said explicitly Emil Bove did in his letter it was not about the merits of the case, the prosecutors who brought the case acted properly and with integrity. And it was only about this notion of Eric Adams being freed up in order to help the Trump administration. So, that's exactly what it is about.

That's why Mr. Scotten and Ms. Sassoon were so vigorously and saying that, ethically, they were not in a position to seek its dismissal because it wasn't about the merits of the case at all, and it would be improper for them to go before a judge and seek a dismissal of a grand jury-obtained indictment on that basis.

BROWN: Alyse, assuming DOJ does find a prosecutor willing to sign onto this dismissal, the judge in this case would still have to agree to this move. How potentially problematic could that be? ALYSE ADAMSON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Pamela, that's a great question. I mean, typically when the DOJ moves to dismiss an indictment, there are good reasons for it. And so it's mainly just procedural and it happens here for all the reasons articulated, and Jennifer just broke down, it's very suspect as to why this indictment is being dismissed.

And, you know, reviewing the case law, some of it was cited in Danielle Sassoon's resignation letter, there is a scenario where the judge could deny the motion. Because, remember, they have to do this by leave of court, meaning the judge has to accept it and grant it.

I believe the standard is something like clearly contrary to manifest public interest. It would have to be met for the judge to deny the motion, which is very difficult to say what the judge will do here. Because, practically speaking, if the prosecuting authority says they don't want to prosecute, how could they possibly go forward with the case? That's on the practical level, not on the legal level.

So, I think it's going to be interesting to see if there's any pushback from the judge if the judge makes them articulate a more legally grounded basis for the dismissal and what comes after that. So, we're just going to have to see.

BROWN: And, you know, these quid pro quo allegations from the prosecutors who resigned in protest, they're coming as Mayor Adams appeared on Fox and Friends with Trump Immigration Czar Tom Homan. Let's listen to part of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER CZAR: And if he doesn't come through, I'll be back in New York City and we won't be sitting on the couch, I'll be in his office up his butt saying where the hell is the agreement we came to?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Does this not sound like an agreement to you, Lauren?

LAUREN TOMLINSON, REPUBLICAN STATEGIST: It's hard to tell because if they're referring to the agreement of Eric Adams helping with the immigration enforcement or Eric Adams agreeing to help because they dropped the case. You know, only those in the rooms are truly going to know that, but it definitely wasn't a good look.

[18:10:01]

And I think that is the optics of this in particular are really rough.

You know, the Trump administration has said repeatedly that they feel like DOJ under the Biden administration was weaponized, that they thought that they went after all sorts of different people unfairly. And so this is very much in line with that. However, it would be really beneficial for the Trump administration not to dismiss corruption part charges, especially since this hasn't played out in court at all at this point. So, you know, like we said before, it's going to be interesting with this goes before a judge, whether this holds up and if they're able to actually dismiss this, because I think it's actually in the best interest of the Trump administration if the judge does not allow this to go forward, and Eric Adams does have to defend himself a little bit more thoroughly in court.

BROWN: Ashley, to bring you into this conversation, Mayor Adams released the statement today saying in part, quote, I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers, I never offered nor did anyone offer on my behalf and any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case, never. Do you buy that, Ashley?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Listen, my advice to Mayor Adams is to heed the lessons from the former mayor of New York who actually sold his soul to the dark side. It always ends in shameful ruin when you get in bed with Donald Trump. And that's where this thing is headed, and that's what was clear in that interview, which is why Adams' smile quickly got wiped off when the czar said he was going to put his foot up as you know what, so, nevertheless.

But here's the thing that I think is really at play here. It's a pattern we're seeing on the part of Donald Trump to not only test but to undermine the guardrails and now he's being bolstered by the Republicans in Congress who are threatening to impeach conservative judges for ruling against Donald Trump. So, that's really what's at. This is a bigger play at hand here. It's some real dictator type stuff, real swampy stuff that we're seeing play out right before our own eyes. And, again, it's being bolstered by everybody around the president, as well as Republicans in Congress.

BROWN: Alyse, Governor Hochul is facing calls to remove Adams from office, given the, quote, quid pro quo allegations that have been made. This is what the governor said about that. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): I did see the letter that was issued by the acting United States attorney. The allegations are extremely concerning and serious. But I cannot, as the governor of this state, have a knee jerk, politically motivated reaction, like a lot of other people are saying right now. I have to do it smart, what's right.

RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: But you are consulting with other leaders, consulting with your advisers and looking anew at this matter, given the recent events?

HOCHUL: Of course, I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Alyse, do you think there is sufficient cause to take this drastic step?

ADAMSON: Well, that's a great question. We have to remember that, especially the criminal justice system, because I, for one, still believe in a criminal justice system, the defendant is presumed innocent before proven guilty. And so these are still just allegations. I will say the evidence is particularly strong in this case. I've read the indictment. Even Emile Boce could not attack this case on the merits when seeking a dismissal.

So, you know, again, I think that we're in a position where we can say it probably happened based on the evidence, but he has not had his day in court, and because of Trump's DOJ, he probably will not. And so it might be one of those situations where it's up to the people of New York to remove Mayor Adams in the upcoming mayoral election, which is, I think, a distinct possibility if the governor does not remove him.

BROWN: So, Jennifer, I mean, why is Bove the one who's pressuring all these other prosecutors to sign off on this dismissal? Why is he doing it? Help me understand that.

RODGERS: Well, I'm only speculating here, Pamela, but I suspect it's because he doesn't want to be standing in front of Judge Dale Ho answering the really tough questions about this shady deal. I mean, he's a former SDNY prosecutor. I don't think he wants to come home to his former district in this light. I think he wants to force one of his underlings to do so because this is a bad case. The ethics are highly questionable here. And I think even though he can, there's no reason technically why he couldn't just do it himself.

They want to both have the kind of deniability of this was a decision or an action done by the lower level prosecutors. Of course, that's all gotten blown up with all of this out in the open in the last few days. But I think he really doesn't want to stand there in the well of the courtroom with Judge Dale Ho on the bench, asking him about the motivations behind all of this. That's my take.

BROWN: All right. We will leave it there. Thanks to you all and happy Valentine's Day.

[18:15:00]

Just ahead, new reaction to comments by vice president J.D. Vance, where the V.P. criticized American allies and downplayed threats from Russia and China.

Plus, an update tonight in the investigation into the deadly D.C. midair collision, including whether pilots missed instructions from the control tower.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Tonight, President Trump is applauding Vice President J.D. Vance for berating European leaders in their own backyard. Vance stirring up plenty of controversy as he met with U.S. allies in Germany, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is covering it all in Munich, a very busy day it has been for him. Alex, European leaders have a very different reaction, to say the least, to Vance's speech than President Trump. ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They certainly did, Pamela. Many of that audience were expecting to hear a speech about the administration's vision for a settlement in Ukraine, or perhaps a more general national security speech.

[18:20:05]

Instead, what they heard was this blistering, scolding speech from the vice president about European domestic policies. He accused them of cracking down on free speech, on social media, on the freedom to worship. He said that the biggest threat to Europe was not external, but internal, and he singled out mass migration, talking about an attack here in Munich just yesterday that was carried out by an Afghan migrant.

Here's a little bit more of what he had to say here in Munich today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The threat that I worry the most about vis-a-vis Europe is not Russia, it's not China, it's not any other external actor. And what I worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values, values shared with the United States of America. As it turns out, you can't mandate innovation or creativity, just as you can't force people what to think, what to feel, or what to believe. And we believe those things are certainly connected.

And, unfortunately, when I look at Europe today, it's sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War's winners.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And, Pamela, many in that audience sat there quietly stunned later. We heard from the German defense minister who said that what Vance had told that audience was unacceptable.

Before Vance left back to Washington tonight, he actually met with members, the leader of the far right AFD Party here in Germany, that party taking part in a close election. Its members known for language associated with Nazis that is racist and anti-Semitic. Pamela?

BROWN: How was Vance's meeting today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy playing into all of this?

MARQUARDT: Well, many were watching that very closely, Pamela. Vance did not put down any hard lines. He said he wanted to preserve the optionality for Trump, essentially keeping everything on the table. We've already heard from Donald Trump saying that Ukraine should not be a member of NATO. We've heard the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, say that American troops should not take part in the peacekeeping operations in Ukraine. Those many have said are concessions already being given to the Russians.

For his part, Zelenskyy thanked the U.S. for their support, but said that the most important thing right now are security guarantees. That Russia will not invade Ukraine again in the future, but administration officials have already said that those guarantees should fall to the Europeans rather than the U.S. Pamela?

BROWN: Alex, thank you so much.

Let's bring in our experts on Ukraine and Russia. Jill Dougherty, I want to start with you. This was, to say the least, as Alex pointed out, a very controversial speech from Vice President Vance. Listen to how top leaders in Europe are receiving that message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAJA KALLAS, HIGH REPRESENTATIVE OF THE E.U. FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: When, you know, listening to that speech, it seems like, you know, they tried to pick a fight with us, but we don't want to fight with our friends. We have other threats coming from outside.

BORIS PISTORIOUS, GERMAN DEFENSE MINISTER: He spoke of the annihilation of democracy and if I understood him correctly, he compared conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes. Ladies and gentlemen, that is unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Was that pointed speech by the vice president a misstep, Jill?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it depends on what he was trying to do with it, I think. To the Europeans, obviously, it was a misstep and beyond, because they're quite angry about it. I think, you know, if the vice president had given that speech in the United States, it wouldn't be a big deal because he's said that before. But the fact that he is at Munich, they are trying to work out some type of peace agreement to end a war and which, by the way, includes Russia, the biggest violator, I would say, of human rights and the right to free speech in Europe right now, to say it in that context, I think was quite shocking.

So, again, what did it do? I think it angered the Europeans and maybe that is partly what they wanted to do. The administration, as far as I can tell, doesn't have a Ukraine policy worked out right now. How do you end the war? There's no policy right now. So, if you talk about other things, and you go in with a lot of ideas, kind of put your friends and your opponents on a back heel, it does somethihng.

BROWN: Well, he gives the speech and he also meets with the head of Germany's far right party, Ambassador Taylor, which calls for the immediate lifting of sanctions against Russia and opposes weapons deliveries to Ukraine, among other controversial things more extreme that Alex had laid out. Was this meeting counterproductive to peace talks? How do you see it?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: Well, he also said -- Vice President Vance also said that we might have to -- we, the United States, might have to put more sanctions on Russia to bring them to the table. [18:25:08]

He has said we might have to provide more weapons to the Ukrainians to allow them to stop the Russians and, again, to bring Putin to the table to negotiate.

So, those are the strong messages that he gave to President Zelenskyy. I have no idea, of course, what he talked about with AFD, but the message that counts is to Putin and that is, we're prepared to provide weapons to the Ukrainians, and we're prepared to put sanctions on you in order to bring it to the table to end this war.

BROWN: Just to follow up on that, do you think there's been mixed signals from this administration when it comes to Ukraine and Russia though? Because we heard what the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said, you know, basically say to Ukraine, you shouldn't have any hope of joining NATO and other things that Russia liked and had been saying over the years, and then you have the vice president coming out and as you pointed out saying, we're going to give more weapons to Ukraine or we could put some sanctions on Russia. What's the strategy here, the message here, in your view, Ambassador?

TAYLOR: Well, I think Jill's right. I think the message and the strategy are evolving. But it does sound like there's a strong element of security guarantee that President Zelenskyy says he needs before he even sits down with Putin. So, the security guarantee that is emerging has to do with and is going to come from Europeans. And that's what the secretary of defense has said, and that's what the vice president has said.

And so that part of the European role in providing the security guarantee, that is troops on the ground in Ukraine to deter another invasion by Russia. This is what Zelenskyy's after. That's an element of the strategy that's emerging pretty clear.

BROWN: Jill Dougherty, Ambassador Bill Taylor, thank you both.

I felt bad I didn't get to go back to Jill. Did we have to go?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BROWN: Tonight, New York Mayor Eric Adams is again denying allegations of a quid pro quo deal with the Trump administration to get those corruption charges dropped. And now we're getting a new development. Evan Perez, tell us about what's going on because there's been hours of this back and forth over whether the case can get dismissed and it seems like that's happening.

PEREZ: Yes, it just happened in the federal court here in Southern District of New York. The filing from the Justice Department was signed and it is now asking the judge to dismiss these charges against Mayor Adams. Now, the next step is, of course, for the judge, Dale Ho, to actually accept this. But I'll read you just a part of this filing, which has taken, you know, the last couple of days with seven resignations from people who refuse to actually do this for this to actually come to fruition. And it begins basically saying that the acting attorney general has determined pursuant to an authorization by the attorney general that dismissal is necessary and appropriate and has directed for this to be done.

And what they're saying here, Pamela, is that the acting deputy attorney general has concluded that continuing these proceedings would interfere with the defendant's ability to govern New York City, which poses unacceptable threats to public safety, national security and related federal immigration initiatives and policies.

They also go on to say that because these charges have been going on, the mayor has not been able to get access to -- he doesn't have a security clearance anymore. He can't get national security information. They also say that this is an improper prosecution and blaming the former U.S. attorney, Damian Williams, who, if you remember from Emil Bove's letter just yesterday, Pamela, one of the things that since he left office, he published, he put up a website and there's been speculation as to whether or not he plans to run for governor of New York. So, all of those reasons are cited in this document.

One of the interesting things about this, it is signed by Ed Sullivan. He is a very senior attorney in the public integrity section in Washington, D.C. Headquarters Justice Department, but it also bears a signature here of Emil Bove, who is the acting deputy attorney general. He's the one who has been overseeing all of this. And, frankly, I think you and I, we've been discussing all of this, you know, he could have signed this from the start and this would have avoided all of this drama. But his signature is also on this document, along with Tony Bacon, who is the top official in the criminal division at the Justice Department headquarters. Pamela?

BROWN: Wow. All rightm Evan Perez, a lot to break down here.

CNN Legal Analyst and former Federal Prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers, along with former U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin.

Jennifer, first to you, what is your reaction to what Evan just reported and that also Emil Bove's signature was on there at the end?

RODGERS: Well, it's funny, Pamela. I had just finished saying that I thought he hadn't taken it upon himself to make this motion because he didn't want to face the music with Judge Ho. So, we'll see if Judge Ho calls everyone into court to discuss this, which I expect he will, whether Emil Bove shows up to answer questions in front of Judge Ho or not.

[18:35:01]

But that's what happens next. I mean, they gave the same litany of excuses we've heard for why they're dismissing this case to Judge Ho, claiming it's in the public interest because it was a political prosecution to begin with and Mayor Adams is too busy to face prosecution.

Those are protectual reasons if for no other reason than the fact that they clearly said that they would hold this over Eric Adams' head and it would be reevaluated after the election as to whether the case should return. It was a politically motivated prosecution the first time around when Damien Williams was in charge, it would be the same now. So, that's a ridiculous assertion.

So, I expect judge will have a lot of questions for whoever shows up in his courtroom. And I look forward to hearing him suss out what's really going on here for the public record.

BROWN: So, Judge Shira Scheindlin, I'm looking forward to hearing your insight here given the role that you used to play as a judge, potentially overseeing something like this. How do you see Judge Dale Ho viewing this dismissal motion considering the quid pro quo allegation in this case?

SHIRA SCHEINDLIN, FORMER U.S. DISTRICT COURT JUDGE: I think he's going to listen pretty hard to both sides, and he's going to have a lot of questions for everyone. I don't think he's simply going to rubber stamp this. I agree with Jennifer that he's going to be a pretty searching inquiry. Because in her letter, Danielle Sassoon, she pointed out that it has to be in the public interest.

And if it's not in the public interest, it shouldn't be dismissed. So, he can question them and say, why is this in the public interest, or why isn't it in the public interest to let this go right now? Because the way this is structured, the administration is going to own this mayor, frankly, they're going to own him. Because if he doesn't do what they want to do, he knows that the indictment is coming back. So, that's a pretty ugly idea that he really won't be independent for the remainder of his term, which is all of 11 months.

So, it's a strange fight to pick, but they've picked it and now we'll see what happens in the courtroom.

BROWN: And, you know, Jennifer, Evan was going through the dismissal and there are reasons for this and some of the top reasons are that, you know, it was distracting. I mean, he didn't have a security clearance. He couldn't do his job. He couldn't help the administration on, you know, immigration and so forth.

And it does raise the question. So, by this standard, are other officials in the country who are running states, you know, are they immune from corruption investigations and charges because it could interfere with their ability to handle immigration matters and other matters that Eric Adams does as mayor? It does raise that question.

RODGERS: Yes, exactly, Pamela. I mean, basically, anyone who's busy, anyone who has an important job, certainly anyone who's any sort of public official is now taking careful notes because they're going to say, listen, you can't charge me. You can't prosecute me. I have a lot to do. I have an important job.

Basically, you can see this as part of a larger pattern, actually, Pamela, the complete dismantling of the anti corruption apparatus of this country, from the firing of virtually all of the independent inspectors general to the, quote/unquote, pause and enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and now the pardon of Rod Blagojevich, this dismissal of the case against Eric Adams that they're trying to do, they do not want public corruption to be punished or even pursued in this country. This is a part of that pattern, and I think it's very, very troubling.

BROWN: Judge, if this dismissal motion were presented to you, would you sign off on it as a judge?

SCHEINDLIN: Certainly not immediately. I would have a lot of questions for those prosecutors from main justice, and I would want Bove, by the way, to appear in my courtroom because he's the one who wrote the eight-page, single spaced letter explaining this all and being very rough, very rough on the people from the U.S. attorney's office and from the public integrity section at main justice.

So, given what he has written and what he has said, I would demand that he come into and answer my questions before I would sign off on this.

Now, that said, it's very unusual for judge not to go along with a dismissal motion from the government. So, we'll have to see how it plays out. Remember, this is a fairly new judge. It's about a year. He has no background in criminal law, but I'm sure he's been thinking about this for days. He will be well prepared. He's a smart guy and he'll do his job. So, we'll see what happens.

And, by the way, I was listening to the last answer from Jennifer. I think it may depend who that public official is. If it's not a friend of the administration, I'm not so sure that they wouldn't go forward with a prosecution. So, you have to be on the right side of this president. That's for sure.

BROWN: We'll have to see it. And I think your other point about, you know, the judge and calling Bove that you would, in this case, it raises, you know, the fact that like, look, even if this judge signs off on this, which would be likely, I mean, it would be unusual for a judge not to.

[18:40:00]

A lot more information could come out, particularly about allegations about quid pro quo. So, that's also really worth emphasizing here.

Judge Shira Scheindlin, Jennifer Rodgers, thank you so much.

Coming up, more on our breaking news, including a look at how Mayor Eric Adams' relationship with President Trump has evolved.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Breaking news tonight, the Justice Department now officially filing a motion to dismiss criminal charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The case casting a spotlight on Adams' relationship with President Trump, as Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The embattled 64-year-old New York mayor being intensely scrutinized tonight for cooperating with the Trump administration on immigration. Eric Adams, a Democrat, is allowing Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to operate on Rikers Island, New York City's largest and most violent jail complex.

It comes as Trump's Justice Department has moved to dismiss charges in a sweeping corruption case against the mayor.

[18:45:06]

Adams denies a quid pro quo, telling Fox News, while Trump border czar Tom Homan sat right next to him that he simply not bucking the Trump team on immigration like he claims the far left is.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK: Let's be clear, I'm not standing in the way. I'm collaborating against so many others that don't want to collaborate.

TODD: But Adam's coziness with the Trump team has caused upheaval in the Justice Department, where more than half a dozen senior officials have resigned after refusing to sign off on dismissing the corruption case.

PROF. LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It's a nice little arrangement all the way around except for justice. This is not justice. You know, the scales of justice are going haywire here.

TODD: Adams wasn't always so chummy with Trump. In 2019, posting messages on Twitter and Facebook slamming the president over his immigration policies, once saying Trump's hatred is bottomless.

But since the corruption charges were brought against him in September, and with Trump's ascent to power, Adams has changed his tune.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Since Donald Trump has been elected, Mayor Adams has worked even harder to firm up his relationship with the Trump administration.

TODD: Adams has recently praised Trump in public, praise Elon Musk. He made a pilgrimage to Florida to have dinner with Trump, greeted Trump at a UFC event in Madison Square Garden, and skipped Martin Luther King Day events in New York to attend Trump's inauguration.

Following a playbook for ingratiating himself with the president used by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a string of powerful tech billionaires.

MITCHELL: I think to get on Trump's good side, you got to go down to Mar-a-Lago and kiss the ring. If you're a Democrat, you've got to be willing to not just criticize Democrats, but specifically criticize the Biden administration. You got to feed into this kind of bro-y alpha male way swagger, if you will.

TODD: Trump said he would consider a pardon of Adams if he was ever convicted. Adams was asked in November by Wolf Blitzer if he's asked for one.

ADAMS: That is not on my agenda.

SABATO: It's possible for Trump and the Justice Department to bring these charges back in some form. So only a pardon will solve his problems, and he may get a pardon if he continues to cooperate fully.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): We asked analysts how might Eric Adams best navigate this relationship with Trump moving forward? They said compliment the president often in public. And if he ever gets to a point where he disagrees with Trump, think twice about speaking out about it in public -- Pamela.

BROWN: Fascinating evolution of their relationship.

TODD: Yes.

BROWN: All right. Brian Todd, thanks so much.

And coming up, new details on what some federal employees are calling a Valentine's Day massacre.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:48]

BROWN: New tonight, federal health workers are calling it a Valentine's Day massacre.

CNN's Rene Marsh is here.

Rene, tell us about these new firings by the Trump administration.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, you know, this really started earlier this week where we were talking about layoffs and we were hearing in the hundreds. And now fast forward to today, and we have just its rapidly taken off this new phase of firings across the federal government. And now we're in the thousands.

And these labor unions who represent a lot of these career employees, they haven't even been able to get their arms around the full scope and scale of just how many federal workers have been dismissed.

But here's what we know so far. More than 1,000 were let go from the Veterans Affairs. Trump's V.A. Secretary Doug Collins said that this would save the agency some $98 million a year. Two thousand fired from the Department of Energy. Nearly 1,300 fired

from the Centers for Disease Control. We also have 3,400 from Forest Service. And then later this afternoon, we learned over 2,000 from the Interior Department.

And I spent some time speaking with these unions to get a sense of what sort of jobs and positions these people held before they were let go.

At Forestry, for example, these are a lot of people, not necessarily within the firefighting unit, but they were the desk workers. They were the individuals who dealt with making sure trails were cleared and many times, especially in the summer, where they this was peak time for wildfire season. Those were the individuals that the agency would tap into as reserves when they needed more manpower.

And now, this source at Forest Service says without these people, they will likely have to lean more on private contractors when they're fighting these intense wildfires, which, by the way, were seeing a lot more of. And he points out that that will mean an increase in cost.

So just a sense, Pamela, of just what sort of positions were seeing people, being told essentially that they no longer are employed with the federal government.

BROWN: And we'll see, as time goes on, what the impact could be to others, right, the ripple effect of that.

Rene Marsh, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:28]

BROWN: And Philadelphia Eagles fans take their Super Bowl victory celebration to the streets.

Here's CNN's Danny Freeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Philadelphia flying high Friday as the city of Brotherly Love celebrated their Super Bowl champions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: E-A-G-L-E-S! Eagles!

FREEMAN: Philly, a sea of green, as scores of fans lined the streets to cheer on the Birds.

Officials projected over a million supporters would flood the city.

When did you get here?

UANNA TOWERS, EAGLES FANS: Six in the morning.

FREEMAN: And why was it so important to be out here?

TOWERS: Because this is everything Philadelphia is about, is about diehard fans willing to do anything to just celebrate one moment that may never come again.

FREEMAN: The Eagles and their fans savored every memory of dismantling the. Kansas City Chiefs, piece by piece, in their 40 to 22 victory Sunday.

KEN, EAGLES FANS: My grandfather, they are huge Eagles fans, and the fact that I'm getting to see two is just -- it's over the top. It's the best feeling ever.

FREEMAN: In the end, poles were climbed, beers were thrown, and absurdity existed as --

CROWD: Eagles!

JAMES SMITH, EAGLES FAN: This -- this city is one of the greatest cities in the world. We get a bad rap, but it is what it is, right? And so we come out and support our teams through thick and thin, and we're just happy right now, at least for the Eagles.

FREEMAN: But the love for the city and its football team coursed through the heart of. Philadelphia on the Ben Franklin parkway at the Valentine's Day party as the city that bleeds green watched their Eagles soar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we are the champions -- come on, Philly -- of the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Now, while the vast majority of the celebrations were peaceful today, a source with the Philadelphia Police Department did confirm there was a shooting near the parade route, but emphasized it was outside of the footprint of the parade. Two women were shot in their legs, both are in stable condition.

Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And our thanks to Danny Freeman.

I'm Pamela Brown in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now. Have a great weekend and happy Valentine's Day.