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Zelenskyy Says, Talk With Top Trump Envoy Gives Hope; Sources Say, Hegseth Could Fire Top Generals and Admirals Soon; Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) Says She Won't Move to Oust Mayor Eric Adams (D-New York City, NY). Sen. Mitch McConnell Announces He Won't Seek Re-Election; U.S. Senate Confirms Kash Patel For FBI Director; Hawaiian Volcano Spews Lava 400 Feet Into The Air. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired February 20, 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]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his talks with a top Trump envoy are giving him hope. That's in spite of the growing feud between Trump and Zelenskyy and the deep uncertainty over reaching a deal to end Russia's bloody invasion.
Also tonight, breaking news, a major shakeup at the Pentagon could be imminent. Sources now telling CNN Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth appears to be on the verge of firing top U.S. generals and admirals, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
And there's also breaking news out of New York City right now, New York Governor Kathy Hochul just announced she will not move to oust the city's Mayor Eric Adams, at least for now. We have details on her decision and the new limits on Adams' power she's now proposing.
Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.
And let's get right to the breaking news. Just hours after the White House lobbed new attacks at Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president now says he has hope following a visit from a top Trump envoy.
Our Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh has details. He's joining us from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Nick, this meeting with Keith Kellogg clearly left an impression on Zelenskyy.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly in his nightly address to Ukrainians saying how that meeting has indeed restored hope and mentioning how they address security guarantees, the exchange of prisoners of war potentially, and also the economic elements of their relationship with the United States, that's pointing towards the rare earth minerals deal that Trump's cabinet and Trump keep talking about. But what a tumultuous 24, 48 hours for U.S.-Ukrainian relations that's certainly taken a blow. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (voice over): This is the closest Ukraine has got to President Trump's noisy push for peace. President Zelenskyy has wanted to meet U.S. Envoy Keith Kellogg for weeks, just not on a day like today, with the U.S.-Ukraine relationship crumbling around them, making what they actually discussed matter less and less.
Well, we're now leaving the presidency after being told that we're not expected to get a press conference or statements.
Not a suggestion that either man looking for publicity. And we are being told that that format is the request of the American side.
The last 48 hours have seen Ukraine standing with its main backer in free fall. But their fight against an advancing Russian aggressor has not stopped, even if the garish rhetoric around it has seemed to drown the dying out.
Trump falsely saying Ukraine started the war and its leader was deeply unpopular, refusing elections.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: A dictator without elections. Zelenskyy, better move fast, or he's not going to have a country left.
WALSH: And then adding Zelenskyy was asleep when he was meant to meet Trump's treasury secretary in Kyiv.
TRUMP: Essentially, they told him no, and Zelenskyy was sleeping and unavailable to meet him. He traveled many hours on the train, which is a dangerous trip.
WALSH: For clarity, here is Zelenskyy meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during that visit, both visibly awake. And here they are again, neither apparently asleep.
But the litany of untruths from Trump continues, perhaps designed to pressure Ukraine into a deal over rare earth minerals that Bessent brought with him. Trump's national security adviser pressing again the need for a deal.
MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: The war has to end. And what comes with that? What comes with that should be at some point elections. What comes with that should be peace. What comes with that is prosperity that we've just offered.
WALSH: Two presidents, one in dire need of the other's help, the other apparently keen to leave him that way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH (on camera): Now, that does appear, at least in what Zelenskyy said today, to be a bid to suggest this rare earth minerals deal is progressing forwards. He talks about how he's instructed his officials to work very carefully and quickly, how economy and security must go hand in hand and the details of the agreements matter. [18:05:03]
The better the details, the better the results. So, I think a suggestion we might be edging towards that sort of economic deal.
Although it is stark, frankly, just to emphasize in the transactional relationship of the Trump administration when it comes to Ukraine, that the national security adviser and so much the talk about simply defending Ukrainians here from the Russian aggressor revolves around the nature of the deal to clear past debts. Remember, this rare earth minerals deal is about paying back the money that Biden administration has already given Ukraine. It's less until things have changed potentially about future aid and security guarantees.
So, certainly after a very bad 48 hours, Zelenskyy trying to suggest they're moving forwards. And in the same address he talks about how he'd spoken to the leaders of France, Norway, Denmark, Finland and even South Africa. So, allies there, but my gosh, their most important one, rocky 48 hours. Wolf?
BLITZER: Yes. Nick Paton Walsh reporting live from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.
Meanwhile President Trump's National Security Adviser Mike Waltz is backing up his boss, demanding more appreciation, his word, appreciation from Ukraine, and refusing to say who Trump believes is responsible for the war.
Our Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny is joining us from the White House right now. Jeff, give us the latest.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, here in Washington, it has been an extraordinary about face in terms of U.S. foreign policy. Certainly, the biggest one is since the Biden administration, but much beyond that. Perhaps decades and decades of foreign policy by the Americans being set aside for this new way that the Trump administration is pushing with Vladimir Putin.
Now, Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, he said the president remains very deeply troubled by Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his refusal to accept that rare earth deal that Nick was just talking about. He declined again to say who he believed was responsible for the war.
But, Wolf, one other thing is so on point here. It wasn't the Biden administration alone setting this U.S. aide. This was a bipartisan deal by members of Congress, including some Republican members as well. Mike Waltz of Florida was one of them. He was asked about this by our Kaitlan Collins during the White House briefing today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You wrote in an op-ed in the fall of 2023 that, quote, Putin is to blame, certainly like, Al Qaeda was to blame for 9/11. Do you still feel that way now, or do you share the President's assessment, as he says, Ukraine is to blame for the start of this war? WALTZ: Well, it shouldn't surprise you that I share the president's assessment on all kinds of issues. What I wrote as a member of Congress is was as a former member of Congress. Look, what I share the president's assessment on is that the war has to end. And what comes with that? What comes with that should be at some point elections. What comes with that should be peace. What comes with that is prosperity that we've just offered in this natural resources and economic partnership arrangement and end to the killing, and European security and security for the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, it is the president who's been reinventing some history there of the invasion of Ukraine, which happened three years ago on Monday. Republicans here in Washington as well also have been doing a tremendous about-face, including members of the Trump administration as well as Republicans on Capitol Hill. Wolf, this used to be a bipartisan support to help Ukraine. That has changed tremendously.
Now, the president is looking for something directly from Zelenskyy, and that is essentially money, payback for some of these funds over the years. The question here is this reset relationship with Russia, which really has been an extraordinary move over the last week or so. We will see where it develops next week here at the White House. So, the leaders of the United Kingdom and France will be meeting with the president trying to urge him to support the western alliance. Wolf?
BLITZER: Those will be very important meetings, indeed. Jeff Zeleny at the White House for us, thank you very much.
Our political and national security experts are here with me in The Situation Room right now. Beth Sanner, let me start with you. How do you read this new, I'll say apparent, little bit more optimism coming from President Zelenskyy right now about his relationship with the U.S.?
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, clearly, General Kellogg is a person that is of two minds. He has always been a very, very close and loyal supporter of Donald Trump, but he also has been consistently a very strong supporter of Ukraine, and has a lot of experience with transatlantic relationships. And so, you know, when Kellogg goes and he speaks his heart in private, I'm sure he's saying the right things.
The real question for all of us is how much will that then translate into Donald Trump's approach.
[18:10:00]
And I think the really good news here today is I was actually glad to see the press conference canceled. I was surprised to hear some people say that that was a bad idea. I think it's a great idea. This all needs to be taken out of the public discourse because every time someone speaks, it is just going to make President Trump mad. It would be better just to stop talking and put it in private. BLITZER: The press conference didn't happen after the meeting between General Kellogg and Zelenskyy, even though a lot of people thought there would be a Q&A after that meeting. And General Kellogg is the special Trump envoy to the Ukraine talks right now.
David Chalian, you're our political director, our Washington, D.C. bureau chief as well. You got a lot of hats right now. Some Republicans are publicly breaking with President Trump right now when it comes to Ukraine. I want you to listen to Republican Senator Thom Tillis just a little while ago. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Whoever believes that there is any space for Vladimir Putin in the future of a stable globe, better go to Ukraine, they better go to Europe, they better invest the time to understand that this man is a cancer and the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.
Vladimir Putin is a liar, a murderer, and a man responsible for ordering the systematic torture, kidnapping, and rape of innocent civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, David, how much pressure, if any, do you think, does this kind of talk from Republicans put on Trump to not break completely with Ukraine?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: I don't know that Thom Tillis' passionate comments on the Senate floor apply any real pressure to an action that Donald Trump will take, but I do think it is indicative of something important, which this is -- there is a clear divide inside the Republican Party, which we know Donald Trump has largely remade in his image. So, there are lots of senators who may have sounded like Thom Tillis years ago, who are now on board to just do all things Donald Trump, you just heard in response to Kaitlan Collins' question how the national security adviser is different Rhetorically than he was when he was a congressman.
But there are lots of Thom Tillises, even publicly, Lindsey Graham, for one others, who are in the Republican conferences in the House and the Senate on the Hill who show a divide. And that is always a potential area of weakness and that may stem some effort to bring everyone together.
I don't think it's a real pressure point for Donald Trump, Wolf, but I do think they in the White House don't want this to be an issue that sort of tears at the Republican coalition.
BLITZER: Good point. Ashley Allison, could these comments, the latest comments that we're seeing from President Zelenskyy, be a sign that the Trump administration's strategy right now is perhaps creating a new path towards peace?
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, one would hope. I think there might be two. I agree with you, Beth, like maybe we need to take some of this out of the forefront, because every time a press conference happens, it seems like we change a policy position.
I'm not surprised to hear the national security director say that he now is aligned with the president. A lot of times, as someone who goes into the White House, you are at -- you're serving at the leisure of the president, and so one of your commitments is that I am going to support your vision.
What I think is important, though, is that, publicly, you can say that, but privately, our hope should be that Mike Waltz is in those situation rooms saying the things that he believed from that op-ed in 2023. That is part of what political appointees do. I didn't always agree with my boss, Barack Obama, and when we were in strategy meetings, I would try and push him on something. But at the end of the day, he's the boss.
And so if that is actually happening, perhaps, to Beth's point, maybe General Kellogg and Zelenskyy are having more like this is actually where we're trying to get, to be. I'm not saying I agree with this approach, but maybe they're saying this is where we're trying to get in public, but our strategy -- or privately. But our strategy publicly is to make this position to try and to negotiate. So, I don't know if it will work, but one would hope.
BLITZER: I want to get Lance Trover into this conversation. As we just heard, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, who will be meeting soon, we're told, very soon, with President Trump, he says he will warn President Trump at that meeting to, quote, not to be weak in the face of Putin. What do you make of that?
LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think Donald Trump, it's very well reported, as somebody who takes in all views, he talks to everybody. So, I find this criticism of him that he's like completely siding with Putin to be a little short sighted. This is a negotiation. There's going to be a lot of ups and a lot of downs.
I think there's one thing we're all agreeing on. If this got taken out of the public, I think it would be a lot better for a lot of folks. But let's remember politically, the support for endless wars in this country is basically nil at this point. The support for this Ukraine war is waning every single day in this country. And so unless Europe or somebody else is going to take over the mantle and go full-on war with Russia, this thing needs to end.
And I would just add that when you think about the fact that Donald Trump, you know -- yes, I mean, that's what, that's basically it. When you think about where he is and how he needs to end this war, he needs to be given the space to do, to end this, to do it properly.
[18:15:02]
ALLISON: Can I just say though, it would be nice for him to operate from a position of negotiation with facts that Ukraine did not start this war? TROVER: I don't disagree with you, but let's also remember he's not wrong in that Russia holds a lot of cards in the state. They have to be part and parcel. They absolutely do --
SANNERS: He holds more cards actually, and that's my concern here is that we are not realizing how much President Putin wants this negotiation. And we need to hold those cards. So, I don't disagree with you on most of what you've said there at all.
TROVER: But in negotiations, everybody's going to have to swallow a bitter pill. And I think both sides are going to have to. And not everybody's going to love what happens. But I think we need to give the president some leeway to try to get what he promised he would get done, and what I think everybody wants done, which is to get this war over.
BLITZER: Quickly on some political polling that we just have here at CNN, David, we're getting these first job approval numbers for President Trump's second term in our brand new CNN poll. Break this down for us.
CHALIAN: You see there now he's at a 47 percent approval. It's actually numerically, Wolf, higher, a higher approval number than we ever had through all four years of his first term. It is still historically low for a president at the start of this term. He's only beating himself there eight years ago.
But what I think is really intriguing here, he is tilting negative now. The honeymoon is over. He's upside down. A slim majority, 52 percent disapprove of the job he is doing now. And there are some warning signs here for the White House, namely in our poll, Wolf, 62 percent of respondents said he is not going far enough in bringing prices down. And this, of course, is what delivered him to the Oval Office for a second time. And that is a real red light for the administration. If the country doesn't see him addressing the most important issue to voters, that's something that will be of concern inside the White House.
BLITZER: Important points. All right, we're going to have more on these poll numbers coming up later. Guys, thank you very, very much.
BLITZER: Just ahead, new CNN reporting on a remake of U.S. military leadership. This is a big deal. The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, now looking to fire top U.S. officials very soon, including the country's most senior military leader and the first woman on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Plus, a longtime leading Republican lawmaker says he's leaving Washington, but not before some unfinished business.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following. Sources now telling CNN some top U.S. generals and admirals could be on the way out as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth weighs firing military brass he claims are too political.
CNN's Oren Liebermann is joining us right now with details. What do we know, Oren?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has made no secrets about his efforts and his desires to reshape the top of the military. In fact, he has said that the top U.S. military officer, General C.Q. Brown, should be fired for being too woke. This is what he said in November of last year, just days before he was named as President Donald Trump's pick to be defense secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, first of all, you got to fire you know, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and you got to fire this -- I mean, obviously you're going to bring in a new secretary of defense, but any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the DEI woke shit, it's got to go. Either you're in for warfighting, and that's it, and that's the only litmus test we care about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: Rumors about these firings have circulated around the Pentagon for weeks, but now it seems they may be far more imminent, although there is no specific date or timeline for when these can happen, but a list including seven top generals and admirals is now circulating among some Republican lawmakers, according to sources familiar with the matter. General C.Q. Brown is on that list, as is Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the chief of naval operations, effectively the head of the Navy. She, too, has been name checked specifically by Hegseth. He, in his book, wrote this about her calling her a DEI hire. If naval operations suffer, at least we can hold our heads high because at least we have another first, the first female member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hooray, he wrote in his book, The War on Warriors, which came out last year.
There are other names on the list. Of the seven names on the list, which has been shared with CNN, three of them are women. There are also some names for promotions on that list, including the person who may be the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, if this goes through the current commander of Indo-Pacific Command, who would be in line, Admiral Sam Paparo.
We'll see how this plays out, if it plays out, and the speed with which this happens. Wolf?
BLITZER: Potentially very, very dramatic developments, indeed. Oren Liebermann, thank you very, very much.
I want to get some reaction from Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen. She's the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. She also sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. First of all, what do you make of Secretary Hegseth potentially firing these high ranking officers, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff? He deems them too political.
SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Well, I think the only one who's being political here is Secretary Hegseth and firing people because they're women or because they're African-American. That doesn't seem to me the way the military has normally worked. It's not -- you know, he talked a lot about wanting to restore lethality to our military. Well, what he's doing now doesn't improve the lethality. It doesn't improve the readiness. It just creates political divisions at a time when our military strength has been that it is not political. And Secretary Hegseth is introducing politics into the military in ways that are not good for our national security.
BLITZER: I know, Senator, you just returned from Ukraine with Senator Tillis, a Republican, and Senator Bennet. President Trump is blaming Ukraine for starting the war with Russia and calls Zelenskyy a traitor. What is your reaction to these comments?
[18:25:00]
SHAHEEN: Well, President Trump is just wrong. He's factually incorrect. We all saw Russia invade Ukraine in February of 2022. We saw the tanks go into the country. We just returned, as you pointed out, from Ukraine, where we saw the courage and the resilience of the Ukrainian people. And we visited Bucha, where Senator Tillis and I just went to the floor of the Senate to talk about what we saw in Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, where the Russians came in, they held siege in that town for 33 days. They indiscriminately shot civilians. In fact, that was the target of what they were trying to do, we heard from the investigators who showed us the picture of a Russian commander who deliberately said, kill the civilians because we want to frighten the people of Bucha and the people of Ukraine.
They committed all kinds of atrocities, rape, torture, and indiscriminate killing over 500 people, taking people hostage. We don't know where a number of those citizens are today. That's the person that Donald Trump wants to give away the store to. And it is -- you never start a negotiation by giving away all your leverage at the beginning. And that's what Donald Trump is doing.
BLITZER: And I just want to have one correction, President Trump called President Zelenskyy a dictator, not necessarily a traitor. I just want to be precise on that.
The House speaker --
SHAHEEN: Well, again --
BLITZER: Yes, go ahead.
SHAHEEN: -- he's wrong about that because President Zelenskyy was duly elected by the people of Ukraine.
BLITZER: Yes, that's an important point, indeed. Yes, he was. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, today said there is, quote, no appetite for another aid bill for Ukraine in Congress. That's what the speaker said. Does this mean that the U.S. will no longer support Ukraine in their fight against Russia?
SHAHEEN: Well, I was at the Munich Security Conference with a delegation of a bipartisan delegation with lots of Republicans and Democrats. We met with President Zelenskyy. We talked to him about how the war is going. We, I think, to a person, encouraged him to keep at it. We talked about how we are supporting Ukraine. We want to continue to equip the country. We want to ensure that they have leverage as they're going into any negotiation with Russia. And we want to make sure that Ukraine is at the table for any negotiations.
So, I think that may be Speaker Johnson's position. I don't think that's the position of Republicans in the Senate.
BLITZER: Senator, we're also just learning that a federal judge has issued a new ruling clearing the way for the Trump administration to carry out mass firings of federal workers. What's your reaction to that?
SHAHEEN: It's unfortunate that this has been an indiscriminate effort Musk, one of the richest people -- the richest man in the world who has multiple conflicts of interest as he's looking at what he wants to do with government programs and people. And the firings have been not based on expertise or experience or what we need. It's just been an across the board. For example, they fired about 400 FAA employees at a time when we know that accidents in our skies have been increasing, when we know we're short 3,500 air traffic controllers. We need those people at the FAA to provide the safety so that people are comfortable flying.
BLITZER: Senator Jeanne Shaheen, thanks so much for joining us.
SHAHEEN: Thank you.
BLITZER: And coming up, the major announcement tonight from the Governor of New York as she weighs whether to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
BLITZER: All right, there's breaking news. New York City Mayor Eric Adams is keeping his job, at least for now. New York Governor Kathy Hochul just announced she would not be moving to oust him from office but did propose some new limits on the mayor's power.
I want to bring in CNN's Gloria Pazmino. She's in New York for us, Gloria, so what is the governor saying?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, two primary things and she said that ultimately it's up to New Yorkers to decide whether or not the mayor should get to keep his job and that they get to do that by elections. She also made this decision after having several high- profile meetings with the city's top Democrats, specifically some of the city's black elected leaders. And according to sources that are familiar with those meetings, they told me that something that was weighing very heavily on the governor was that the fact that she was going to do something that would set significant precedent if she removed him.
And she was aware of the optics, right? She's the first woman governor of the state of New York. Eric Adams is the second black mayor of the city of New York, and that weighed heavily on her. This is someone who is going to be up for reelection in a year, and so all of that was part of her decision.
But she is moving ahead to put some guidelines in place that are going to limit the mayor's independence. Take a listen to her explaining what she is doing earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): After careful consideration, I have determined that I will not commence removal proceedings at this time. My strong belief is that the will of the voters and the supremacy and sanctity of democratic elections preclude me from any other action. I cannot deny the people, this great city, the power to make this decision for themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:35:00]
PAZMINO: Now, Wolf, very important here. The governor wants to install a new inspector general. That person is going to have some oversight powers over the city's financial agencies as well as its investigatory agencies. And she said this is all to prevent any sort of interference. Remember, this is happening because the mayor has this federal case hanging over his head, and Trump's Department of Justice has directed federal prosecutors here in New York to drop the charges.
That hasn't officially happened yet. The judge had a hearing on that decision yesterday, and we are awaiting for him to rule on it. So, the governor is saying she wants to increase these guidelines, ensure that there's no interference when it comes to the city's investigatory capabilities. The mayor so far responding, we have a statement that he issued just a short time ago, saying that he understands that she is putting this in place.
He questioned the legality of it. He said, I was elected by the people of New York City and its working class communities to uphold their values, and that is what our administration has done. While there's no legal basis for limiting New Yorkers power by limiting the authority of my office. I have told the governor, as we have done in the past, that I am willing to work with her to ensure faith in our government is strong. I look forward to continuing those conversations.
This is important, Wolf. The mayor is in a really tough position. He has struggled to kind of get back on his feet to show that he is going to be able to govern. A lot of people here in New York have called for him to step down. So, we'll see if these guardrails go into effect.
Also important to note, Wolf, this is subject to legislative action. So, Kathy Hochul is going to need the state legislature and the city council to agree with her and put some of these into law. Wolf?
BLITZER: We'll see how that unfolds. Gloria Pazmino in New York for us, thank you very much.
I want to bring in our legal experts, Norm Eisen and Elliot Williams, right now. And, Elliot, how significant Are these proposed restrictions on Mayor Adams' independence, as proposed by Governor Hochul?
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Not nearly as significant as removing him from office would have been, but she simply could not do that for the reasons Gloria laid out there. It would have been a remarkable step, never having successfully been done in New York's, I guess, 235 year history or whatever else.
They're all in the world of oversight. Yes, they are positive additions to the city, putting in new staff to oversee an inspector general and funding for lawsuits and so on. But, again, the mayor didn't, I think -- pardon me, the governor did not really have a ton of options here. As Gloria had noted, it would have been historic move. But also, you know, the most popular black politician in a city that needs black voters to elect politicians, mayor and governor, there really wasn't.
BLITZER: And it's never happened in New York State before. It would be a first, to be sure.
Norm Eisen, do you think these proposed restrictions go far enough, though, to address the concerns about Mayor Adams?
NORM EISEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Wolf, the mayor is so profoundly compromised by this unsavory arrangement that he's made with the Trump administration, so unseemly that the Trump appointed interim U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, resigned with a very fiery resignation letter talking about their trading a meritorious criminal case for immigration enforcement, and, of course, she's a conservative herself, a former Antonin Scalia clerk. So, I think the mayor is hobbled.
An I.G. is a good step we will see if he lives by it. I do think that you're going to need endorsement by other legal authorities to do this.
Ultimately, the voters seem to be fed up with Eric Adams, and that is going to be the denouement here, a political one. And I think that informed the governor's choice. The decision she might have made is going to be delivered by the voters, not that far down the line.
BLITZER: We'll see how that unfolds. Elliot, Judge Ho has yet to rule on the Department of Justice motion to dismiss the charges against Mayor Adams. Is there anything to read into that?
WILLIAMS: I don't think there's anything to read into that other than the fact that the judge is probably taking his time and making sure to write a careful, reasoned legal opinion. He said it at the hearing, this is a tricky situation for the court.
Now, it's not common for a judge to override a prosecutor's decision to want to drop a case, but there were certainly considerations here for some of the things that Norm had pointed out, where there were serious allegations made that, you know, that maybe raised some eyebrows.
But I do think the judge is really just taking his time in writing an opinion here. I would think we would get one soon but nothing to see here.
BLITZER: Norm, what other actions short of a dismissal could Judge Ho take?
[18:40:01]
EISEN: Well, the next writing that comes from the court could resolve things. But if you pay close attention to that hearing, he's keeping all his options open. What he can do is demand more information. And he should do that because that dismissal without prejudice reeks to high heaven, Wolf. It wasn't just the interim U.S. attorney, it was six other senior officials who walked out. That's why there's been such a lingering debate about it.
So, I hope Judge Ho won't resolve. I don't think he has the power to reject, but he can investigate, and he should lay out a plan to do that, have hearings. And, Wolf, he should look at the ethics issues, including for the DOJ official, Mr. Bove, who examined this.
WILLIAMS: Very quickly, you can just put everybody under oath, everybody who came up in this case. It's probably not going to happen, but the judge has the power to do that. Bring them all in. Make them talk.
BLITZER: Good discussion. Elliot Williams, Norm Eisen, to both of you, thank you very, very much.
Coming up, we're getting new details on why one of the most well known Republicans in Washington is now calling it quits.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:23]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The long time Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed today he won't be seeking reelection.
CNN's Brian Todd has more.
Brian, McConnell has been more forceful about pushing back on President Trump ever since his return to the White House.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf. Mitch McConnell has thrown caution to the wind. In a sense, he has voted against three of Trump's cabinet nominees. And as he prepares to exit the senate, he leaves behind a complicated legacy with President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): On the day he turned 83 years old, the courtly, venerable Kentucky senator said this term, his seventh, would be his last.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): And I remain deeply, deeply grateful.
TODD: Mitch McConnell leaves a legacy of more than 40 years in the Senate, 18 of them as his party's leader, some of the most consequential maneuverings in conservative politics, and a complicated relationship with President Trump.
SCOTT JENNINGS, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO MITCH MCCONNELL: I actually think McConnell and Trump are forever intertwined in history.
TODD: McConnell, so instrumental in getting Donald Trump elected the first time. Once a key player in advancing Trump's agenda had been recently defying the president, voting against the nominations of high profile Trump cabinet picks Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Pete Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, the lone Republican in the Senate who went against all three.
MICHAEL TACKETT, AUTHOR OF MCCONNELL BIOGRAPHY, "THE PRICE OF POWER": For Mitch McConnell, this is what liberation looks like.
TODD: Trump brushed off McConnell.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I feel sorry for Mitch. He wanted to go to the end and he wanted to stay leader. He wasn't -- he's not equipped mentally.
TODD: For the long time loyal Republican, a late career change, of course. McConnell recently telling "60 Minutes" he felt unencumbered to be finally out of Senate leadership.
MCCONNELL: I will be more outspoken about things that I particularly care about than I have been in the past.
TODD: How is his relationship now with Donald Trump?
MCCONNELL: We haven't spoken for quite a while. I was very upset about what happened January 6th.
TODD: It was that period, a McConnell biographer says, that really turned him against Trump.
TACKETT: I think the final straw was the 2020 election and the decision by President Trump not to accept the results, but the riot itself was the thing that truly turned him away.
TODD: At the time, McConnell publicly scolded Trump on the Senate floor.
MCCONNELL: Former President Trump's actions preceded the riot were a disgraceful, disgraceful dereliction of duty.
TODD: There was a time when Trump lauded McConnell, especially for getting conservative justices confirmed.
TRUMP: Mitch McConnell has been fantastic. He has been really great.
JENNINGS: Getting the three justices, including Amy Coney Barrett. I mean, this is all sort of part of the shared McConnell and Trump history.
LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, PUCK: And their biggest legacy at this -- at this time is overturning Roe v. Wade.
TODD: But after their split over January 6th, Trump turned on him.
TRUMP: Mitch McConnell is a disgrace.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: And tonight, another Republican is taking a swipe at Mitch McConnell, Florida Senator Rick Scott, who had previously challenged McConnell for Republican leadership in the Senate and had clashed with him on other issues, told the Conservative Political Action Conference that McConnell is among, quote, establishment Washington Republicans desperately clinging to relevance by obstructing President Trump's agenda -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Brian Todd reporting for us -- Brian, thank you very much.
Coming up, one of President Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees just cleared Senate confirmation.
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[18:52:51]
BLITZER: President Trump's very controversial pick for FBI director just won a very close vote to lead the agency's repeatedly attacked. Kash Patel clearing Senate confirmation today. The vote was 51 to 49.
Let's get some more from CNN security correspondent, former FBI agent Josh Campbell.
Josh, how are agents based on what you're hearing reacting to the news of Kash Patel's confirmation?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, inside, the FBI, agents, analysts, professional staff, what they're grappling with is how to take Kash Patel at his word. Do they take the word of the person who was testifying in his confirmation hearing, saying, there will be no retribution? You know, I will not do anything that would threaten the independence of the organization, or do they take the word of the Kash Patel, who was on extensive record before those hearings in podcasts and interviews and writing his book, essentially calling for retribution against the FBI? And so you can imagine just how unsettling that is, wondering what the
shape of this organization is going to take. And of course, the big concern is that, you know, people say, if you want to reform the FBI, that's one thing. Bring in someone to reform the FBI. But to have someone who is so politically close to a president is taking us back into history.
You know, it's 50 years ago that Congress actually passed a law that would ensure an FBI director would have a ten-year term, and that's because for many years before that, the FBI and CIA were actually engaged in real abuses. And you had an FBI director who was trying to curry favor with presidents. The concern now is to have someone so closely aligned and acolyte of a president that could threaten the independence of the organization.
But as you mentioned today on Capitol Hill, he was up for a Senate vote. Just before that final vote was taken, Senate Democrats, in a last ditch effort to try to appeal to their Republican colleagues, made a series of speeches. Have a listen here to Senator Dick Blumenthal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Think about what you will tell your constituents. More important, your family. Maybe your grandchildren, about why you picked and voted for this person who will so completely and utterly disgrace this office and do such grave damage to our nation's justice system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:55:05]
CAMPBELL: But, of course, despite those speeches, Democrats failed here. He was able to actually make a squeak by to confirmation he will be the next FBI director. And again, you know, as I started, you have a lot of unsettled people right now inside the bureau wondering what is going to happen next. Will they see, you know, the same types of mass firings that they're seeing at other agencies? Will he actually try to put his hand on the scale when it comes to particular investigations? A lot of concern moving forward, Wolf.
BLITZER: We shall see. Josh Campbell, thank you very, very much.
And we'll be right back with more news.
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BLITZER: Finally, tonight, look at this incredible video coming in from Hawaii, where an extremely active volcano is spewing lava up to 400 feet in the air. This is now the 10th time the Kilauea volcano has erupted in the last two months. Officials say hazards include rock falls and volcanic gases, but say the eruption isn't currently a major threat to people outside the immediate area, although it could still impact air travel.
Thanks very much for watching.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
