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The Situation Room

Musk Takes Center Stage at Trump's First Cabinet Meeting; Trump Says, Zelenskyy to Sign Resources and Rebuilding Deal at White House Friday; American Airlines Flight Aborts Its Landing in D.C. to Avoid Another Plane. First Measles Death In U.S. In A Decade As Texas Outbreak Worsens; Israel Receives Four Coffins Containing Bodies From Red Cross. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 26, 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, Aaron -- Elon Musk, I should say, takes center stage at President Trump's first cabinet meeting, even as sources tell CNN his welcome is wearing thin with some Trump officials. But the administration is embracing Musk's very aggressive approach and taking new steps toward mass federal layoffs across the country.

Plus, President Trump confirms Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House this Friday. The Ukrainian leader expected to sign a deal on mineral rights and reconstruction for his war-torn country. I'll get reaction from newly elected Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California.

And the exploding measles outbreak in Texas has just claimed the life of a school-aged child. Does Trump's health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have a plan to contain the surge despite its history of anti-vaccine activism?

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

Our top story tonight, a cabinet meeting unlike any we've ever seen, Elon Musk dominating President Trump's first roundtable with agency chiefs, a sign of his growing power and influence within the Trump administration.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is over at the White House for us with details. Jeff, walk us through today's historic meeting.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, if there were any questions where their power lies in this new Trump administration, the first cabinet meeting today made clear it is not among members of the cabinet. That was clear in the opening moments of the meeting, where the president turned to Elon Musk, who was sitting in the side of the room, and had him explain his government efficiency program. Of course, many cabinet officials are well aware of this, because they've been dealing with the fallout from that email that Musk's group sent last weekend, asking for all government employees to effectively justify their existence. But the cabinet secretary sat in silence as Elon Musk spoke, but there were so many questions that still needed to be asked. And for more than an hour, the president answered many questions from reporters, including what happens to those government officials who do not send back those emails, many of them following orders of their own cabinets and agencies. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'd like to add that those million people that haven't responded, though, Elon, they are on the bubble. You know, I wouldn't say that we're thrilled about it, you know, they haven't responded. Now, maybe they don't exist. Maybe we're paying people that don't exist. Don't forget we just got here, this group just got here, but those people are on the bubble, as they say, you know, maybe they're going to be gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the president's saying people are on the bubble for not sending back those emails, even though many of those cabinet agencies, those officials sitting right around that room instructed their employees who work in national security departments and others to not respond to that.

But the bigger question here is the administration is planning a broader mass firing. All agencies started working on that in great detail. It was Elon Musk, actually, who acknowledged he can make mistakes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, PRESIDENT TRUMP ADVISER: We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect. But when we make a mistake, we'll fix it very quickly. So, for example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was Ebola prevention. I think we all want Ebola prevention. So, we restored the Ebola prevention immediately. And there was no interruption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: But, Wolf, the bottom line to all of this is five days after those six words from Elon Musk, what did you do last week, went out last weekend, the administration is still scrambling and struggling to explain this. Shortly after the meeting, the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles, went to Capitol Hill to have a lunch with Senate Republicans. I'm told she was asked many questions by these Senate Republicans who is exactly running things, Elon Musk or the cabinet agencies? She made very clear, we're told, that Elon Musk reports to the president, not these cabinet officials. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Jeff Zeleny reporting for us, Jeff, thanks very much. And as he reported, most of this cabinet meeting, it's supposed to be a meeting with cabinet officials discussing what's going on, most of it more nearly an hour the president spent answering news questions from reporters who were gathered inside.

[18:05:04]

Our political and legal experts are joining me right now. Let's start with David Chalian, our Washington, D.C. chief and political director. David. Elon Musk clearly dominated this cabinet meeting in many ways. He was even being talked about when he wasn't speaking. Listen to Trump respond when asked about whether the cabinet was happy with Musk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Let the cabinet speak just for a second. Is anybody unhappy with Elon? If you are, well, throw him out of here. Is anybody unhappy?

I have a lot of respect for Elon that he's doing this, and some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone's not only happy, they're thrilled. So, go ahead, Elon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, David, what do you think that response reveals?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, I think that you saw that there were cheers for the president and his newfound best friend and patron, you know, the wealthiest man in the world who's standing in the corner of the room here.

Let's be clear, as you know well from covering White Houses, cabinet meetings are not really where like actual work gets done. There are always a bit of a visual prop to get a message out for the day, but nobody seizes on it as sort of the setting for their show the way Donald Trump does. And in his producing of the Trump show, he has cast Elon Musk in a starring role.

And what I think you saw there is a president who is pleased with his lead cast member's performance to date.

BLITZER: Interesting. Laura Coates is with us as well. Laura, Musk is unelected, as we all know, unconfirmed, not a member of the cabinet. He was there, though. Yet he's seemingly as important as any cabinet member in that room, right?

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: He seemed to have been. Of course, it is the prerogative of the president to decide from whom he wants to receive advice. That's the whole premise of the actual cabinet. But he does have a special government employee status, which essentially means he has a limited amount of time before certain protections or requirements are going to have to kick in.

But the primary one that everyone has to think about are conflicts of interest. This is going to continue to be a sort of Damocles and one point to recognize with him, if he has a conflict of interest, if he is not impartial in the performance of his even outside expertise, he could run up against some legal consequences.

And so it's one thing to present and give information as any piece of evidence. Maybe outside consultant would be, but if you start to teeter on the line of doing that which you're not entitled to do or staying too long in that role without having the official title of a government employee, well then you've got some consequences to face. And who will actually enforce that with a very amenable table of people is probably the big question tonight.

BLITZER: Big question, indeed. Van Jones is with us. Van, why do you think President Trump has so closely aligned himself with Elon Musk despite pushback from some major Republicans?

VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that quarter billion dollar investment in the campaign probably doesn't hurt that Elon gave to Donald Trump. But, you know, we should be clear, this is what Trump wants. He wants to have us talking about the theatrics in that room and not what's happening across the country, as Elon Musk's unvetted, unqualified, and unknown young men with laptops are plugging themselves in and stealing possibly data that they have no right having with no oversight. That is a massive threat.

So, you know, he comes up and he pulls off his shirt. He's got the tech support. He wants us talking about that, of the theatrics and not the dangerous reality that's being created. If we had a president AOC, a liberal Democrat president, who brought in a bunch of her friends and they brought their laptops and they started taking all the data and doing whatever they wanted to, Republicans would be in the streets as well. They should.

This is no way to run a government. This is a dangerous president that's being set. It's embarrassing to see. 55 minutes and you don't hear from a single a cabinet member, even the vice president, but you hear from Elon Musk. It's embarrassing, but it's also dangerous.

BLITZER: Erin Maguire is with us as well. Erin, I want to play something else we heard from President Trump about Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, as it's called. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: One of the most important initiatives is DOGE. And we have cut billions and billions and billions of dollars. We're looking to get it maybe to a trillion dollars. If we can do that, we're going to start getting to be at a point where we can think in terms of balancing budgets, believe it or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Erin, do you believe that?

ERIN MAGUIRE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, AXION STRATEGIES: I believe it's work they're trying to do to bring down the money being spent by the federal government.

[18:10:02]

But I would push back on Van just very briefly here because, Van, you levied some kind of serious accusations there --

JONES: Yes, I did.

MAGUIRE: -- about these 19 year old kids with laptops potentially stealing important information. That's a serious thing to allege against people. I don't have any reporting or information that there's being anything illegal done. So, I would be careful on the fear mongering here.

But to Van's larger point --

JONES: Why are they there? Why are they there? Why are they there? Are they vetted? I got vetted before I went to the White House.

MAGUIRE: You're putting impropriety to their motive and alleging possible illegal action.

JONES: Yes, I am.

MAGUIRE: That is not okay.

JONES: Yes, it is okay. Well, I was vetted. Are they vetted? Are they vetted? Are they vetted? Are they vetted?

MAGUIRE: Does that qualify --

JONES: Are they vetted?

MAGUIRE: -- you to say that they're possibly committing fraud?

JONES: Can you walk in the White House with no badge, with no I.D., with no vetting and put your laptop in? And if you did that --

MAGUIRE: Do you know that they did that?

JONES: Yes.

MAGUIRE: Do you know that they did that, Van?

JONES: They're not vetted.

MAGUIRE: Do you know for a fact that that had happened? Because right now you're just letting allegations and you're doing everything Donald Trump wants Democrats to do right now.

JONES: No. You're doing --

BLITZER: Everybody stand by. Stand by, guys. I want to get back to David Chalian. Should President Trump be concerned that these DOGE cuts will prove to be politically unpopular with so many of his own voters? CHALIAN: Well, there's no doubt. I mean, you can see that concern has already been expressed to the White House by Republican members of Capitol Hill. And we don't know the extent of what will be cut yet, but there is no doubt, Wolf, that we saw it with the initial funding freeze that was put in place, and then they reversed course on, because there was sort of an outcry from Republican members to the White House that persuaded them in addition to a court ruling that then came out that persuaded them to reverse course there.

But also, as we're talking about, you heard today in the cabinet room the president was asked about Medicaid cuts coming up. And he said, well, they're going to try to look for fraud in Medicaid, but he didn't want to have a read my lips moment, but he was asserting that Medicaid would not be cut in terms of benefits to people.

We'll see if that's true given the blueprint that the House passed last night. But if you look at where Medicaid recipients are, huge concentrations of Medicaid recipients are indeed in Donald Trump country, politically out there in this country.

BLITZER: Yes, that's a serious development indeed.

Laura, I want to get back to you. Musk's authority over DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, has been in question now. The White House says he is not the administrator but that he oversees it. What is that distinction that they are trying to make?

COATES: Well, it could be a distinction without a difference. That's part of the cries for transparency from the electorate, from members of Congress, from the media as well, to understand the distinctions there. Now, it is likely, based on the fact that to the extent that somebody exercises direct discretion and can dictate what happens based on information they receive, there's a liability that can be assigned in terms of either credit or responsibility, but also in terms of who would have to respond and be responsive to Congress and otherwise the American people. So, perhaps it's the idea of trying to have a kind of Shakespearean arose by any other name moment.

But at the end of the day, it is all going to be about how the vehicle of DOGE is used by those who actually have the authority to terminate or continue employment for people. That's where the courts are going to focus on as well. Any idea of having -- going outside of one's congressionally delegated authority, well, we're already there.

BLITZER: Everyone, thank you very, very much.

This note, Laura, of course, will be back later tonight, 11:00 P.M. Eastern for her excellent show, Laura Coates Live. We'll be watching.

And just ahead, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sharing details on what he wants to talk with President Trump about during his upcoming visit to Washington right here on Friday. We'll talk with Democratic Senator Adam Schiff about the future of Russia's war In Ukraine.

Plus, details on why an American Airlines jet had to abort its landing right here in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: President Trump just confirmed the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is visiting the White House this Friday to sign a deal on resources and reconstruction. But President Trump says he won't promise Ukraine security. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We're going to have Europe do that because it's in -- you know, we're talking about Europe, it is their next door neighbor. But we're going to make sure everything goes well. And, as you know, we'll be making a -- we'll be really partnering with Ukraine in terms of rare earth, we very much need rare earth. They have great rare earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and has more on the rollercoaster relationship between these two leaders.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I think President Trump's confirmation that Zelenskyy will visit him on Friday has marked a moment of certainty in a day where things did seem a little wobbly for a while.

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine giving a press conference in which he said he didn't want ten cents of the money introduced into this rare earth minerals deal to be involved in the reimbursement of the United States for past aid given to them. He considers that to have been grants, whereas clearly President Trump considered it to be debt. That's something indeed Trump emphasized again while speaking with his cabinet members around him. But what really is the focus of all of this is the security guarantees that this deal might indeed have in it.

[18:20:01]

Zelenskyy said that he was more comfortable with the language in the draft that he'd been informed about when he gave his press conference. That was point number ten he referred to. I've seen a copy of that draft, and it is very loose terminology indeed. It says the U.S. would support Ukraine in trying to obtain security guarantees, but the U.S. isn't really involved in that at all. And Trump was clear on that too, saying that they weren't going to provide security guarantees beyond very much, and pointing towards the Europeans to do that instead.

This is really, I think, what their discussion is going to be about. The two men are going to meet. They may well be involved in some sort of signing ceremony or the draft of the document we saw points more towards the U.S. treasury secretary and Ukraine's foreign minister as being the signatories. That same draft, too, also kicks the really thorny stuff down the road. It talks about a 50 percent of relevant resources from Ukraine's financing going into this fund, but it says, as soon as this first framework document is signed, there'll be immediate negotiations on a fund agreement that deals with the more complex stuff.

So, really a back and forth over a week of very turbulent relations, but, ultimately, it's if these two men meet and heal their relationship that Ukrainians can feel more comfortable that the U.S. still has their back. Wolf?

BLITZER: Nick Paton Walsh reporting from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. Thank you very much.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff of California. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. As you heard, the president says the U.S. will not be making, in his words, security guarantees to Ukraine beyond very much, close quote. How do you interpret that?

SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Well, this is an effort to pressure Zelenskyy into giving up something for nothing. And I have to say this on top of the resolution at the United Nations where the United States sided with Russia, betrayed Ukraine, is one of the most shameful incidents in modern history. I think millions and millions and millions of Americans watching this not only disagree with the president but maybe for the first time are just downright ashamed of the president because we have betrayed an ally. We've not only betrayed an ally, but we've betrayed our principles. Are we to be nothing except transactional now? We have no commitment to democracy, no commitment to our allies. It's all going to be about the money. That seems to be Donald Trump's orientation, but what a sad chapter of our history.

BLITZER: What do you see, Senator, as the purpose of this minerals deal that President Trump is expected to sign with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Friday at the White House?

SCHIFF: Well, I think probably from Donald Trump's point of view, he hopes that this will help get his hands on some of the mineral wealth of Ukraine in exchange for nothing. So, what's in it for Zelenskyy? I have to imagine the only thing in it for Zelenskyy is maybe trying to improve somewhat his relationship with this hostile U.S. president who seems so beholden to Vladimir Putin.

Frankly, I think it's a difficult errand for Zelenskyy. He has been really Churchillian in his leadership through these three years of war. Ukrainians have made just tremendous sacrifices. And to be reduced to this by his most important ally, the United States, coming in hat in hand with some kind of fig leaf offer of the mineral wealth of his country in exchange for a little or nothing, it is really just tawdry but it is, you know, what this administration has reduced our allies to.

BLITZER: On another very sensitive subject, Senator, I want to get your reaction to President Trump's response today when asked about sending another what did you do last week email to hundreds of thousands of federal employees around the country, including, of course, in California. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: You mentioned you're interested in doing another round of this email. When would you like to see that? What would be the deadline? And this time, would it be mandatory?

TRUMP: I think Elon wants to, and I think it's a good idea because, you know, those people, as I said before, they're on the bubble. You got a lot of people that have not responded. So, we're trying to figure out, do they exist? Who are they? And it's possible that a lot of those people will be actually fired. And if that happened, that's okay, because that's what we're trying to do. This country has gotten bloated and fat and disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: What do you make of that Senator?

SCHIFF: Well, I think President Trump's description of bloated and fat may be a good description of the White House and its modus operandi. But, you know, what this really is is just an effort to denigrate and demean people who are working hard. Some have worked as a career in the service of the country. If you sent that very same memo to Elon Musk, what did you do last week, his answers might be, well, we fired a bunch of people working to stop the spread of Ebola, and we fired a bunch of people working to stop the spread of bird flu. That's what he's been up to.

[18:25:00]

And, frankly, if that were any other federal employee, they would deserve to be fired.

But I think this is just an effort to, as bullies do, try to bully people who are working for the federal government. They just in the House passed this budget resolution that wants to essentially cut taxes by $4.5 trillion for their wealthiest supporters and large corporations. And to do that, they need to cut as much as they can cut. And they hope these emails so demoralize people working for the government that they'll just outright quit so they can have more money for their tax cut. This is really what's at work here.

BLITZER: Let me get to another sensitive subject, Senator. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, is now warning the Senate not to make changes to the budget blueprint the House narrowly passed last night. But Senate Republicans tell CNN, Republican Leader John Thune says changes need to be made. How do you see all of this playing out?

SCHIFF: Well, it's really hard to see how it plays out. But I think, you know, we may be headed for a Trump shutdown. They very much don't have their act together. And here, you have the House saying basically our way or the highway or we're going to shut down the government. That would be adding more catastrophe, another Trump shutdown, we went through that in the first Trump administration. But, look, I think they've got a very narrow margin in the House, a bit bigger margin in the Senate. And their goals are internally conflicting. They say they want to address deficits and debt. And yet they're pushing a tax cut that will only explode our deficit and debt, and you just can't square that circle.

BLITZER: Senator Adam Schiff, thanks so much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, we have details on the latest air crisis as an American Airlines jet is forced to perform a last minute maneuver to avoid colliding with another plane on the runway right here in Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: Tonight, another very scary close call at a U.S. airport is adding to deep concerns about airline safety, a near collision on the runway over at Reagan National Airport, just outside of Washington, D.C., happening only about a month after that deadly midair crash there. 67 people were killed in that midair crash.

Brian Todd is working the story for us. Brian, this new incident was one of two aborted landings here in the United States only yesterday.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was, Wolf, and they come on the heels of several other mishaps involving planes, many of them at major airports. Tonight, passenger confidence is severely shaken.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (voice over): New details tonight on hair-raising incidents like this one. A Southwest Airlines jet had to pull up at the last-minute on Tuesday to avoid a private plane crossing the runway at Chicago's Midway International Airport. Newly released data says the planes came as close as about 2,000 feet from each other before the Southwest plane initiated the go around.

Just about 90 minutes before that, another incident occurred at Washington's Reagan National Airport. An American Airlines jet approaching from the north had to cancel a landing and turn away when it was just 450 feet off the ground, after it came within one and a quarter miles of a plane preparing to depart on the same runway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: American 2246, just go around. Turn right, heading at 250, climb maintain 3,000.

TODD: One passenger on the flight telling CNN it was terrifying.

All of this after a series of other plane mishaps. Toronto, February 17th, a Delta Airlines jet slides and flips over in a fireball upon landing. Incredibly, all on board survived. January 29th, an American Airlines regional plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collide over Reagan National Airport. All 67 people aboard both aircraft kill. Two days later, a private medevac jet crashes into a northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, killing seven people.

Passengers we spoke to, shaken by these recent incidents.

GABE EWING DEL RIO, AIRLINE PASSENGER: I don't really have much choice in the matter, but I'm not as confident as I was.

REBEKAH ROGERS, AIRLINE PASSENGER: You know, it does make me nervous just Because I travel a lot.

TODD: On Monday, passengers aboard a Delta plane were forced to evacuate down slides at Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport when smoke or haze permeated through the cabin. In early February, the wing of a Japan Airlines jet struck the tail of a Delta Airlines plane while taxiing at Seattle Tacoma International Airport.

PAMELA TATE, AIRLINE PASSENGER: Right now, I'm very scared to even get on the plane. I'm being honest with you. There's too many mishaps going on.

TODD: Some of this is coincidence, safety experts say, but there is also an underlying crisis.

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: It's an underscoring of just how stressed the system is. We've got a lot more traffic going on these days. We've got controllers and pilots under stress because of the increased use of runways.

TODD: What's the most immediate problem that needs to be fixed right now?

GOELZ: We need to make sure that our air traffic controllers have the personnel to do their job so that they are not forced to be doing overtime, forced to be staffing more than one position at a time,

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Reflecting the overall volume of traffic and what air traffic controllers need to keep track of these days between January of 2023 and September of 2024, the NTSB investigated 13 runway incursions in the U.S. involving so-called for hire flights, meaning smaller chartered flights.

[18:35:01]

Those incursions ranged in category from some with no immediate safety consequences to others where a collision was narrowly avoided. Wolf, the system is under extreme stress right now.

BLITZER: Yes, a lot of people are very nervous about flying right now. Brian Todd, thanks very, very much.

I want to get some analysis from CNN Aviation Analyst Miles O'Brien who's joining us right now. Miles, thanks as usual for joining us.

It feels like There have been more plane crashes and incidents lately. Is that the case or are they just being reported on more widely?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: It might be a little bit of both, Wolf. It could be sort of a statistical aberration, but we do have a system that is stressed and frankly antiquated. This is a 1950s design system in the 21st century dealing with record amounts of traffic, chasing the same amount of runway concrete virtually.

There are many ways the system can be improved. There are many ideas that have been partially implemented and only partially funded for the FAA. But there are gaps in the air traffic control, the number of people in those tower cabs. We have less seniority in the cockpits and we're still relying on spinning radars and communications on VHF radios when there are technological solutions that can make it much safer.

BLITZER: They got to do that. What do you suspect went wrong, Miles, and caused this latest very close call, very disturbing, over at Reagan National Airport?

O'BRIEN: Well, at Reagan, this is unfortunately all too common. These go-rounds have become part of the routine there. And that's part of the problem as well, is that the system has sort of accepted this as a routine occurrence when, in fact, it is the system blinking at least yellow and possibly red, saying there's just too many aircraft in that small area, too much for the system to accommodate.

Now, near collision after near collision, and, finally, at Washington National Reagan National, we have that horrible mid air collision, which was an accident 50 years in the making. Why that helicopter route was allowed to be there so close to the final approach path is mindboggling to me.

BLITZER: Yes, me too. How much of a factor is Elon Musk's DOGE, Department of Government Efficiency, and its cuts to the FAA, playing here?

O'BRIEN: Well, there's no proximal cause. It's too soon to link this directly. But this, down the road, will have a profound effect. We should be doubling down on the FAA and adding people and adding technology and upgrading this system in a much more wholesale manner.

There's a simple system called runway status lights, Wolf, that are employed at 20 airports across the country, but not Midway. It's a simple system that has red blinking lights which are based on detection from sensors, which indicate the runway is in use. It doesn't need the controller to be involved in that at all. And that aircraft would have seen a red light there if that system was in place.

These are the kinds of systems that need to be employed across the board along with systems that reduce the amount of VHF radio communication, more telemetry involving just data. And all of these things need to happen the opposite of cutting the FAA, to put it that way.

BLITZER: Midway is that airport in Chicago, where they had a very scary incident yesterday as well.

Miles O'Brien, thanks very much for your expertise.

And just ahead, a decision by Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos today leads a top editor at the newspaper to quit and raises serious questions about the billionaire's influence over the newspaper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of the Washington Post, just announced the paper's editorial page will undergo a significant shift to focus on free markets and personal liberties.

Our Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter is joining us right now. Brian, this is what Bezos actually said about the changes he is now making, saying the newspaper will publish opinion stories, and I'm quoting him now, in support and defense of two pillars, personal liberties and free markets. And he goes on to say that the viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.

The Post, as you know, Brian, has already received a wave of criticism. What are you hearing about this?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, right now, Wolf, the Post is facing another round of subscriber cancelations as customers express their anger with Bezos decision. The Post's opinions editor, David Shipley, well known in Washington, has quit over this shift in direction, which sounds a lot like The Wall Street Journal editorial page approach, more conservative or libertarian in nature.

Of course, Bezos is free to do whatever he wants with the paper he owns, but the legendary former Post editor, Marty Baron, spoke out today saying he believes Bezos is prioritizing his own business interests at Amazon and Blue Origin ahead of the Post. Baron calls this a betrayal.

Other Post veterans are also speaking out today saying they believe Bezos is trying to appeal to President Trump and the Trump administration. After all, the administration can either help or hurt Bezos' businesses a lot based on the decisions the administration makes.

BLITZER: Interesting. Now, the White House, on another media issue, announced this week it will no longer allow an independently chosen press pool to cover the president, and will instead include which journalists are granted access. The White House Correspondents' Association released a statement about this change, saying, and I'm quoting now, this move tears at the independence of a free press in the United States. It suggests the government will choose the journalists who cover the president. In a free country, leaders must not be able to choose their own press corps.

[18:45:03]

So, Brian, how do you think this change that Trump is pushing forward now, what do you think about this change? And how it's being covered?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Well, he wants more propaganda than news. Today, for example, big respected newswires like the "Associated Press" and "Reuters" were shut out of Trump's cabinet meeting photo-op. But the White House made room for Newsmax, the Blaze and Fox News.

In other words, Trump is sidelining traditional news sources that ask tough, probing questions, and he's promoting pro-Trump MAGA media outlets that are better known for opinion rather than real news coverage.

Day by day, Trump is tightening his grip on the press, trying to restrict press access, trying to frankly restrict -- restrict First Amendment freedoms. But ultimately, First Amendment freedoms are about the public's right to know. It's not about press freedom. It's about the public's freedom, ultimately, to know what the government is doing.

So this is a test that will continue to add up as Trump tries to take these actions, and journalists just try to do their jobs.

BLITZER: It's so disturbing for those of us millions, most people who support a free press here in the United States.

Brian Stelter, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, the Texas measles outbreak turns deadly. What you need to know how to keep your family safe as the disease spreads.

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[18:50:28]

BLITZER: The measles outbreak in Texas has taken an alarming turn tonight. A child has died. It's the first measles death in this country in a decade.

We're joined now by Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.

Dr. Hotez, thanks so much for joining us.

This is the first U.S. measles death since, what, 2015? What concerns you most about this latest outbreak?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT: Well, you know, this is a -- we understand from the Texas Department of Health that it's an unvaccinated school age child. So it was a death that was entirely preventable, Wolf.

This is a very, very large and very dangerous measles epidemic. We know at least 124 reported cases in both West Texas, and the neighboring county in New Mexico. But I think it's still accelerating. And kids are still piling into the children's hospital in Lubbock.

So we're still at an early stage of this.

BLITZER: What should parents do, Dr. Hotez, in these high risk areas, if their child is too young to get fully vaccinated? You need two shots, right?

HOTEZ: Yeah. That's right. Well, a single shot will give you about 90 percent protection. And usually we give that around 12 to 15 months in a second around school entry 4 to 6 months. So what you want to do is make certain that your child can get close to fully vaccinated as possible. At the minimum, make certain your child has at least a single dose of the vaccine, and there are some flexibility.

So, for instance, if you've vaccinated your child at one year of age with the first dose, you can actually give it a little bit earlier than waiting for the 4 to 6 year age group. But that's the key. This is a vaccine that's very effective, very safe. But if you're not vaccinated, 20 percent of those kids who are unvaccinated go into hospital -- measles, pneumonia, measles, diarrhea, measles, encephalitis, measles, hearing loss, and the list goes on.

BLITZER: Yeah. So worrisome.

We're now learning, Dr. Hotez, that an upcoming FDA meeting to discuss the flu vaccine has been canceled without explanation. Without this meeting, it's not clear how vaccine manufacturers will get guidance on making shots for the fall season that's upcoming. How concerning is this?

HOTEZ: Yeah, this is a head scratcher, Wolf. I don't understand it. You know, first of all, we pulled out of the World Health Organization, so we don't have access to the WHO data, and they're meeting now or in the next couple of days. And because you need about a six-month lead time in order to make decisions of which of -- which of the specific three influenza viruses you include in the vaccine, usually we use two influenza A strains, H1N1, H3N2, and then influenza B.

CDC is not at that meeting as far as I know. So we're already missing out on that one. And because the vaccine manufacturers have to make those decisions, and then they get the green light from the FDA to decide what to use for the U.S. as well. And now that meeting is not happening.

BLITZER: Dr. Peter Hotez, thanks very much for your expertise. And we'll be right back.

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BLITZER: The bodies of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza by Hamas have just been handed over in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Tsachi Idan is expected to be among them. He was kidnapped after watching Hamas shoot and kill his teenage daughter, Maayan. I first met Tsachi's wife, Gali Idan, in Israel just weeks after he had been kidnapped. She sat down and shared the horror her family has endured. We then reconnected last August when I was back in Israel.

Throughout this nightmare, Gali has held on to hope that her husband would return alive.

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BLITZER: What do you miss most about Tsachi, your husband?

GALI IDAN, WIFE OF TSACHI IDAN: I miss his voice. And, I miss his hugs. And I miss the -- the time that we have together. And I miss him joking with the kids and laughing, and making dinner with him and watching a movie, taking a walk.

I miss every little thing. It's been too long. It's been too long. It's unbearable. We have no air anymore. They have to come back. It's part of us.

BLITZER: And your daughter, Maayan. She was killed. Murdered that day?

IDAN: Yes, yes.

BLITZER: And you miss her, obviously, every day, too.

IDAN: I'll tell you something. I tell you something that is -- I cannot grieve about Maayan yet because I'm in an ongoing war to save my husband. I didn't want to see her grave. I couldn't. And it's going to be a year, and I need to go and see her.

And I can't. I need Tsachi to be here. And we need to do it together. He needs to see her grave. He needs to grieve with me. We need to hold each other through this.

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BLITZER: My deepest condolences to Gali and the Idan family. May Tsachi rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing.

I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Starting next Monday, THE SITUATION ROOM is moving to mornings. Join me and my colleague Pamela Brown every weekday from 10:00 a.m. Eastern to 12:00 noon Eastern.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.