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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees

Prosecutors Formally Ask To Dismiss Case Against NYC Mayor Adams, Ending Internal DOJ Standoff; Federal Judge Still Must Approve Decision To Drop Adams Case; Ending Internal DOJ Standoff; Trump: "A Lot Of People To Blame" For Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine; Vance Attacks European Leaders About Free Speech At Munich Security Conference; Sources: Trump Officials Fired Nuclear Stockpile Employees Not Realizing What Their Mission Was; Why Some Want To Hold Local Electric Co. Accountable For Wildfire. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 14, 2025 - 20:00   ET

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

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Thank you.

ADRIAN SIMANCAS, KAYAKER SWALLOWED BY WHALE: Thank you.

DELL SIMANCAS, FATHER OF KAYAKER SWALLOWED BY WHALE: (Muchas gracias.)

BURNETT: Just an absolutely incredible story, Pinocchio in real life. Well, thanks so much for joining us on this Friday night. That will be a good way to end the evening. AC360 with Anderson begins now.

[20:00:26]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Tonight on 360, breaking news. After seven resignations in two days and counting the Trump Justice Department finally find someone to sign off on dropping the corruption charges against New York's mayor.

Also tonight, the vice president meeting with NATO allies, but instead of the usual pep talk, he gives them a scolding.

And later, more than 300 of the men and women in charge of securing the country's nuclear arsenal have been fired. And we've just learned the administration fired them without realizing what they actually do.

Good evening, thanks for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez sitting in for Anderson.

We begin with breaking news out of the Department of Justice. We've just learned who finally agreed to sign off on the dismissal of corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The Justice Department late today filed documents with the judge in the case seeking dismissal of the charges without prejudice, meaning they could be revived again.

Listed as signatories, Antoinette Bacon, who supervises the Justice Department's Criminal Division, and Edward Sullivan, senior counsel with the Public Integrity Section. Notably, acting Deputy Attorney General and former Trump criminal defense attorney, Emil Bove's signature is also on the document. This comes after a mass exodus at DOJ and New York's Southern District, which was set to try the case this spring.

When Anderson signed off last night, six people had resigned over what some of those quitting have criticized as a politically driven deal to coerce Adams' cooperation with the administration's immigration enforcement policies. Today, a seventh stepped down.

Here's what the president said about it, while also saying he knows nothing about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... they had a problem, and these are mostly people from the previous administration, you understand. So, they weren't going to be there anyway. They were going to all be gone or dismissed. If not, they know on Tuesday they're all being dismissed, you know, the whole country is being -- because what you do is you come in and you put new people in.

So when you say resign, they're going to be gone anyway. But I know nothing about the individual case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Based on his comments, it sure seems like he does. He did, after all, talk about it on the campaign trail, including famously back in October at New York's Al Smith Dinner, literally in front of Mayor Adams. In any case, the president's claim that these were all Biden hires on their way to being fired is simply not supported by the facts.

Danielle Sassoon, the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York, was a Trump appointee, a conservative federalist society lawyer who once clerked for the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

The latest to quit top Adams' prosecutor, Hagan Scotten clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts. He's a decorated combat veteran and was a rising star in the prestigious Southern District.

In fact, still up on the Justice Department website, six pages of press releases on important cases he's been involved with, including the successful corruption prosecution of the FBI's former New York head of Counterintelligence.

In his resignation letter today, Scotten took the acting deputy AG to task, calling out Bove, who has been at the center of this legal storm, for seeking the dismissal of charges against Mayor Adams. But in a way that could revive them if Adams doesn't do the administration's bidding.

He writes, "No system of ordered liberty can allow the government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives." He goes on, "any assistant US 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." Yet, the administration already seems to have done just that. Yesterday, Mayor Adams agreed to cooperate more fully with ICE on immigration enforcement, and this morning he did a joint appearance on Fox News with Tom Homan, the border czar, who reminded him of his obligations. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: An agreement which Hagan Scotten, Danielle Sassoon and five others now either could not stomach and or simply wouldn't take part in. Or, as Scotten put it in his letter to Emil Bove, "I expect you will find eventually someone who is enough of a fool or enough of a coward to file your motion, but it was never going to be me."

For more on this, we are joined by CNN's Kara Scannell. Kara, what do you know about how those three signatures wound up on that court filing tonight? It was not without drama.

[20:05:21]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It wasn't, Boris. And, I mean, this may have been a case where the person who stepped forward was not the fool or coward, but more of the fall guy. Here's what we know. People familiar with meetings that took place today tell us that Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, had summoned those who were left in the Public Integrity Section. That's after five people resigned last night when they refused to sign this motion to dismiss.

So, Bove had this meeting them. He said he needed one career person to step forward and to sign the document. Now, after Bove left the team, they met and talked together, they considered a range of options, sources tell us, including a mass resignation. But then it was one longtime member of the team, someone close to retirement, Ed Sullivan, who said that he would step forward and sign the document.

Now, on the document, he is also joined by the acting head of the Criminal Division, Tony Bacon, as well as Emil Bove's signature himself. But this was an act that was perhaps seen to help save the team and end the crisis instead of leading to more and more resignations.

So, you know, this week began with this directive. We had seven resignations. And then ultimately there was one person who was willing to step forward in Public Integrity. And now they filed this motion officially asking the judge to dismiss the case.

SANCHEZ: So, what happens next, Kara? When and how would the judge respond? SCANNELL: So this is the big question here. This judge, Judge Dale Ho, who was appointed by President Biden, has this option now of whether he is going to sign off on these documents as they're filed or if he will call everyone in for a hearing. And if he goes that route, it's possible we could learn a lot more about some of these conversations, because he is likely to drill into how they came to this conclusion, because, as Bove has said in his directive and in the filing, he is making this motion not based on the merits of the case, but more so on the use that they could have for Adams in helping Trump's immigration enforcement.

So, it's possible the judge could call everyone in. And now, I mean, there is a wildcard scenario where he could resist dismissing the case, but it is more likely than not that it will ultimately end there. I mean, we do have a history in the, remember Mike Flynn, Trump's National Security adviser, was charged criminally. There was a similar situation that played out, but ultimately Trump stepped in and pardoned him. This, though all remains to be seen -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we'll see what happens. Kara Scannell, thank you so much.

Let's get some perspective. Now with us, CNN legal analyst and former deputy assistant attorney general Eliot Williams. Also, CNN political commentator, Xochitl Hinojosa, until the change of administration, she served as director of Public Affairs at DOJ, and with us as well CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst, John Miller. Thank you all for being with us.

Eliot, this internal DOJ standoff is over. This court filing signed by three different folks, including Emil Bove. What do you think the judge is going to do with this?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The standoff is over, but this saga is not over, Boris. And I think the judge at a minimum, and Kara touched on this a little bit, has some sort of hearing to air some of these things that happened here.

Now, look, under the law, the judge is not obligated to accept the Justice Department's dismissal or decision to dismiss the charges. But in practice, how is that going to work? He can't direct the Justice Department to try a case that they don't want to try. And he also cant appoint someone else in the Justice Department from another office to do it, because it's run by the same DOJ.

So, in practice, it doesn't go anywhere. I think if anything, he has a hearing. And maybe, you know, as Kara was touching on here, has them these really sweeping claims that Danielle Sassoon made on Monday about quid pro quos and trading favors on immigration.

Perhaps, he gets them to talk. The judge gets them to talk about those things in court under oath on the record.

SANCHEZ: Eric Adams did respond to the accusation of a quid pro quo on Fox. We'll get to that in a second but let's take a step back and talk about this standoff. Xochitl, because seven career prosecutors resigned over the past 36 hours. In your time at DOJ, did you ever see anything like this?

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No, I was at DOJ this last time and I was at DOJ 15 years ago and in my long time there, I have never seen anything like it.

When people asked me before I left, how do we know that people -- the Trump administration will do the right thing? How do we know that, you know, when there's something that's going wrong? I will tell you, this is probably the worst case scenario that I could have ever imagined.

Just to put it in context for you, the Public Integrity Section is DOJ's front line against corruption. These are career men and women of the Justice Department whose responsibility is to go after corruption. And I have never seen political appointees go and demand that they do something else for political purposes.

So, I completely agree with Eliot. I think the judge should be asking some serious questions about what happened. I've never seen this type of resignation before. I've also never seen political leadership go after the career professionals.

And you know what, what I've seen from the career professionals, not only in this instance but over the last few weeks and same at the FBI, is nothing but courage.

[20:10:39]

SANCHEZ; John, Mayor Adams may get out of this federal case, but his political career is on the rocks and there are growing calls for him to resign or be removed by Governor Kathy Hochul, who can do that, it's within her power. Where do you think he goes from here?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, Boris, the machinations have been way more complicated than they were supposed to be. I mean, his political career may be on the rocks, but with this case staying in place, that would be a death knell towards running for reelection, successfully getting reelected. So, he needs this case to go away for his political career to rebound, if that's going to happen.

But look at what was created here. The Justice Department could have gone into court and said, we have reviewed this indictment carefully. We believe that the top count on bribery is weak. It lacks a clear smoking gun, quid pro quo. And we've seen many of those cases reversed involving other public corruption cases. And for that reason, we're going to ask for it to be dismissed in the interest of justice.

Instead, what they did is they created this narrative that actually, in the case that lacked a quid pro quo, introduces one in their own documents, we'll drop the case in return for help with the migrants. Even though were not saying that, but were saying that. And now they've taken a deal that could have been a clean legal decision and turned it into a political mess that makes DOJ look bad, makes the US attorney look bad, makes Eric Adams look like he's complicit in this for his own interests and it didn't have to be that way. This is what happens when you have political operatives at the White House directing lawyers what to do, and then having them figure out how to stitch that together.

SANCHEZ: Eliot, I want to ask you about that point that John made about how -- if the evidence was flimsy, DOJ could have come out and said, we don't have explicit proof that Eric Adams did this. I do want to point out, though, for viewers, as John was talking, you did something very spooky. You kept your eyes on the camera and furiously took notes. What were you writing?

WILLIAMS: Well, what was I writing? Well, you know, I'm just thinking about the fallout here and what happens next? And, you know, John was laying out some of the -- some of the quite serious allegations here. What happens? And I think this is sort of how business is going to be done.

Congress would be the body to really investigate -- if the Justice Department is truly behaving in an improper manner, Congress would be the body to call those folks up and have them come in and testify. This Congress currently is constituted -- is not likely, John is laughing.

SANCHEZ: No, I think he's absolutely right.

WILLIAMS: I mean, I just don't think this Congress is really any likely to do that. I mean, probably not for a couple of years. You know, if there's a change in administrations.

SANCHEZ: You've got to teach me how to do those notes trick. Kept his eyes on the camera as he was taking notes. Xochitl, why do you think DOJ didn't come out and do this the way that John described and say, hey, the evidence here isn't great, but instead they spelled out, well, he can help us with immigration enforcement, therefore, the case should be dropped.

HINOJOSA: So, I actually think that's an interesting question, because what you were playing at the beginning of the segment is essentially transcript from Donald Trump saying that these people were going to leave anyways. These are people who are not loyal to the president and if you've watched CNN over the last few weeks, you will see that Trump loyalists believe that the government, including the Department of Justice, should only be stacked with people who are loyal to Trump.

But I have news for them, that is not how the Department of Justice works. They didn't take an oath of office to be loyal to the president. They took an oath to the Constitution and every single career individual at the Justice Department understands and abides and should be abiding by the rules of federal prosecution. These are the rules that guide them in cases like this.

And so, I have bad news for the Trump administration. But if they continue to do this, which they believe that they are entitled to, because that is what the president wanted, then they are going to continue to see resistance, and they're going to continue to see people stepping down, because that is not what we do at the office. [20:15:03]

SANCHEZ: John, as you were chuckling at the suggestion that Congress may provide some kind of oversight here, I wonder if this does in fact slide and the case against Adams goes away. What does that do to the rank and file as Xochitl was describing at DOJ, the prosecutors that helped put these cases together and then potentially also other politicians out there that may be taking calls from folks overseas seeking to offer them all sorts of luxurious gifts.

MILLER: The chilling effect cannot be overstated when you have people who are being fired, either mass firings, as suggested at the FBI, directed by the White House or selected firings across DOJ of prosecutors who worked on cases involving Donald Trump. What you have at the end of that is a Public Integrity Section that is not going to take on cases that may touch officials who are connected to power in Washington, which is exactly what they exist for at their highest level. FBI agents who were not going to want to work on National Security matters or matters involving political corruption.

You're basically degrading these agencies, turning one into the ministry of justice and the other into the secret police if you create a situation where they're afraid to go, where the information takes them.

SANCHEZ: John, Xochitl, Elliot, appreciate you all, thanks for joining us.

Up next, more on the Justice Department official and former Trump criminal defense attorney, at the center of this story. Emil Bove and his surprising history before his involvement with Donald Trump.

And Christiane Amanpour joins us from Munich, where Vice President Vance today gave American allies the kind of talking to that certainly got them talking.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:47]

SANCHEZ: Tonight's breaking news and the run up to it has thrown a spotlight on Emil Bove, the Justice Department official, whose name is at the bottom of the motion to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. He was well known before all of this for in his role as a Trump criminal defense attorney. But as 360's Randi Kaye reports his story before all that is no less interesting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Following the January 6th attack on the US Capitol in 2021, Emil Bove helped track down and prosecute suspected rioters. At the time, Bove was helping lead the counterterrorism section in the US Attorneys' Office for New York's Southern District.

A former colleague told CNN Bove was appalled at what was going on during the riot, and was leaning in to fully support the FBI's efforts to investigate, locate and arrest the subjects.

In a stunning turn, four years later, Bove is now acting deputy attorney general under president Trump. Bove had left the US Attorneys' Office and became a member of Trumps criminal defense team in 2021. In 2023, Bove teamed up with Trump's defense lawyer, Todd Blanche, in the hush money case. Trump was found guilty and is appealing the conviction.

Now, Bove is leading a new Justice Department effort called the Weaponization Working Group.

According to a memo Bove wrote, the FBI actively participated in what president Trump appropriately described as a grave national injustice by investigating the January 6th US Capitol riot.

Bove is expected to be named principal associate deputy attorney general in Trump's Justice Department. He's hardly waiting until that role to make an impact.

This week, Emil Bove ordered federal prosecutors to drop federal corruption charges against new York City Mayor Eric Adams.

PAM BONDI, US ATTORNEY GENERAL: It was done at the directive of Emil, so that case should be dropped.

KAYE (voice over): The move to drop the case resulted in the resignation of acting US attorney for New York's Southern District, Danielle Sassoon, along with other top prosecutors.

In her resignation letter, Sassoon made it all sound like some sort of quid pro quo. Writing in part: Bove proposes dismissing the charges against Adams in return for his assistance in enforcing the federal immigration laws.

In accepting Sassoon's resignation, Bove responded with allegations that the SDNY weaponized the Justice Department under the last administration.

In just his first week on the job, Reuters reports that Bove instructed federal prosecutors to investigate local officials who refused to assist federal immigration authorities, announced an investigation of a local sheriff in Upstate New York over the alleged release of an immigrant living in the US illegally, and traveled to Chicago to witness the arrest of at least one migrant.

Bove has since ordered the firing of all prosecutors hired on a probationary basis to work on January 6th related cases.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): The deputy attorney general was trying to demonstrate to everybody in the Department of Justice there's a new sheriff in town, and that's Donald Trump and the Department of Justice no longer has any independence at all in executing the criminal law enforcement function.

KAYE (voice over); Bove got his law degree from Georgetown University. He served more than nine years as an assistant US attorney in New York's Southern District, and will now leave his mark in the nation's capital.

Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Randi for that report. With that as a backdrop, we're joined now by CNN political commentators Karen Finney and Shermichael Singleton. Great to see you both.

Hope you're enjoying this Valentine's Day.

Shermichael, it's tough to make the case that these prosecutors refuse to drop the case against Adams over partisan reasons. They're Federalist Society lawyers, people that have served the military, they clerked for conservative Supreme Court justices. Do you buy that as an argument that they refuse to drop over partisan reasons?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, I don't know why they refused to drop, but I do have some issues with the allegations of a quid pro quo. I mean, prosecutors all the time will say, well, if you testify against this person, we'll drop the charges or lessen the charges or if you give up this bigger name, the person will drop the charges or will lessen the charges. That happens all across this country, in courtrooms, across America and I'm sure millions of Americans out there probably have experience with this.

[20:25:04]

With that said, some of the allegations against Adams taking trips, you know, maybe that's an ethical violation. It doesn't mean that the mayor should have potentially face years in prison. I don't necessarily think so. And if I'm being honest, Boris, there are politicians across this country who do a lot of very corrupt things, they just don't happen to look like the mayor of New York City and a lot of those things are swept under the rug.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh No, no, it ain't because he's Black. It's because he's corrupt.

SINGLETON: What do you base that on?

FINNEY: He has already gotten a -- he has --

SINGLETON: Have you seen the evidence?

FINNEY: Yes, I actually have.

SINGLETON: What evidence? Tell the American people. What evidence? There hasn't been a jury yet.

FINNEY: Keep talking or let me talk.

SINGLETON: You interrupted me, but go ahead, Karen.

FINNEY: He -- look, a couple of things, sure a number of people within his administration have already been convicted. And let's just pull back and remember that this is a man who is already on the ropes and is a former Republican, unpopular in the city for a number of things. So, he's already facing -- was facing a tough reelection.

And in the documentation, I believe, in the letters it says he showed up and said, hey, you do this for me. I could do this for you on top of the quid pro quo allegations around what the ways in which he was engaging with the Turkish government, and the ways in which he actually made New Yorkers less safe, because over a building where the Turkish government wanted a relaxing of the rules and regulations with the Fire Department, and they asked the mayor to help them out. And the mayor got lots of fancy trips and lots of upgrades that were very suspicious.

SINGLETON: So that is just so- so--

FINNEY: No, no, no, there was a very long trail. So, just politically, I think we should remember this is a mayor, very entrenched in New York politics who is already in trouble. So, it's not surprising that he would then show up --

SINGLETON: Be as at may, we don't have any proof that this man is corrupt, that that's an allegation. That's an innuendo based upon your opinion -- based upon your opinions --

FINNEY: That is not based on my opinion. It's based upon the Department of Justice --

SINGLETON: What evidence have you seen? Are you part of a jury?

SANCHEZ: Isn't that for a jury to decide?

SINGLETON: Correct. It is for a jury to decide but a prosecutor can also decide to dismiss a case if they want to.

SANCHEZ: If they believe that they don't have enough evidence, we didn't see DOJ come out and say that the reason that they're dropping this case is because of the evidence.

They came out and said he can help us with immigration policy. You made the point that often prosecutors will drop charges if somebody flips --

SINGLETON: Exactly.

SANCHEZ: In the advent of another criminal prosecution. This isn't for another criminal prosecution. This is over changing the rules of the sanctuary city.

SINGLETON: I know, but I disagree with that. It is to the benefit of the United States government and the United States prosecutors again all the time, if you service, the government will dismiss or lessen a charge. How is this any different?

SANCHEZ: It's not for a criminal prosecution. It's bettering the government for a criminal prosecution.

SINGLETON: That's the discretion of the prosecutors.

FINNEY: Well, let's put it this way. These career conservative lawyers were so appalled at what they were being asked to do, they endangered their careers because this is a MAGA GOP right now and decided to stand on principle -- seven people and quit. So you can be in fantasyland all you want, brother.

SINGLETON: Fantasy land? What fantasy land am I in? Please tell me. Please tell me.

FINNEY: You're -- I don't know why they would have quit. Well they were --

SINGLETON: When did I ever say that? I haven't -- I haven't even mentioned the prosecutors who quit.

FINNEY: Yes, you did.

SINGLETON: I could care less about them quitting. If you want to know, my honest opinion about it.

FINNEY: The first question was why do you think they quit, you said did --

SINGLETON: I said, I don't know, that's what I said.

FINNEY: Okay, you said, I don't -- okay.

SINGLETON: Let's get the language correct, Karen.

SANCHEZ: Do you think Kathy Hochul should remove Adams as mayor?

FINNEY: So, I think the pressure is mounting on her. There's another process by which they could remove Adams and that would involve some of the other citywide officials. The pressure is mounting on her.

The pressure has been mounting, frankly, since this was first -- the case was first brought. I suspect, by the end of the weekend, either there will be a city process in place, which involves the city comptroller and others, or the governor will be facing calls to remove him because, again, he has been on the ropes for a long time. There's a lot of shady stuff that's been going on. I know a number of people who work at city hall, so I'll just leave it at that.

SINGLETON: Of course, there's an election coming up. Karen, brought this up, allow the people of New York to decide if they want to reelect this man or choose someone else. Why should the governor get involved? And I'm actually a bit surprised that Democrats are saying anything about this. When Joe Biden pardoned his son, a bunch of members of his family, where were calls about a constitutional crisis or this being appalling. Democrats had absolutely nothing.

Secondarily, I'm also surprised again. And, Karen, I know you want to say this isn't about race, but how many other politicians who are not Black and Eric Adams is more of my complexion than yours, do a lot of corrupt BS and no one ever lifts the rug to question what they're doing. But here's this Black man, the most powerful mayor in this country, and all of a sudden we want to look at some trips, Give me a freaking break.

FINNEY: Well, it's a lot more than trips. It was about corruption.

SINGLETON: Give me a break.

SANCHEZ: Karen, Shermichael, thank you both. Love is in the air on Valentine's Day, appreciate the conversation as always.

FINNEY: Love our debate.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Next, Vice-President JD Vance delivering a blistering message today for European allies. We also have more breaking news involving oversight of America's nuclear arsenal. Did the Trump administration fire some key employees without actually knowing what they do? Stay with us.

[20:30:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:34:38]

SANCHEZ: At the White House this afternoon, the president, again, refused to assign any blame to Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you blame for the war, Ukraine or Russia?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think this. I think that there are a lot of people to blame. All I can say is very simply, if I were president, that war would never have happened.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

[20:35:00]

SANCHEZ: Now, just yesterday, the president appeared to blame Ukraine for wanting to join NATO for Russia's invasion, while also not saying what Moscow should give up to end the fighting.

Meantime, European allies were hoping for clarity today on what would happen in Ukraine when Vice President JD Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference. Instead, Vance berated them. And we've learned that shortly after that, he met with Alice Weidel, the leader of Germany's far-right party. According to her spokesperson, they talked about German domestic politics and the Ukraine war.

It was a busy day in Munich. Our Christiane Amanpour was there and joins us tonight.

JD Vance spoke at the Munich Security Conference and his remarks are being scrutinized. I want to play a portion of what he said and get your reaction. Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

JD VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SANCHEZ: The vice president went on to criticize Europe's commitment to democratic elections and freedom of speech. But Russia is continuing to recruit soldiers and manufacture weapons and ammo at a very rapid pace. Do you think anyone in Europe shares his view?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Honestly, the reaction from key Europeans afterwards was very shocked. They really had expected to hear from the vice president, you know, the second in command to the president, more about plans for the Russia, Ukraine and ending the war, as President Trump has said.

Instead, they got a real scolding. They got a lecture in their words. The German defense minister called it unacceptable. A Spanish delegate called it indecent. And they were very, very shocked. They described it as instead of taking the actual security and defense portfolio, they felt that Vance was just going on the ideological, political, you know, cultural war footing.

SANCHEZ: Yes. You got a chance to speak with NATO Secretary General. And I want to play a short but very important moment from that conversation. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: My worry is that we are now already negotiating with Putin without having Putin yet at the table.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SANCHEZ: This is an objection we've been hearing for the past few days, that by saying Ukraine will not join NATO or that it's unrealistic for Ukraine to expect to return to its pre-2014 borders, that the United States is taking these things off the table before a negotiation with Putin even begins, essentially giving the Kremlin concessions in return for nothing. Is it clear to you why the Trump administration is doing that?

AMANPOUR: It's unclear to me, only that you know that the Trump administration has had this idea about this war ever since Trump was president in the first term. They buy the Putin logic and many other people who actually think, I mean, on a certain side of the democratic divide, that Russia was tempted by the move of the United States and NATO further and further east.

This, of course, is not, in fact, what exactly happened and not why the war happened. The real issue is that Russia does not want a sovereign and independent Ukraine. It really still has out there Putin's desires to see essentially a Ukrainian surrender.

It wants to take over quite a lot of the land, not only that it occupies, but land that hasn't even fallen yet. It wants Ukraine to demilitarize.

SANCHEZ: You have an upcoming interview with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and he recently said that he asked President Trump, quote, "to not make any decisions about Ukraine without Ukraine". Trump is clearly determined to make some sort of deal to end the war or at least to secure a ceasefire.

Does Zelenskyy have leverage? What kind of leverage could he have to ensure that Ukraine isn't forced into some kind of deal that would allow Russia to simply restart its efforts in a few years?

AMANPOUR: Well, Boris, this is a very, very important point because that stunned everybody. The readout from President Trump of his call with President Putin stunned everybody. Europe was not for a loop. Ukraine was not for a loop because the consensus over the three years of the war is that nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.

And Ukraine now, Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a meeting with Secretary Rubio, Vice President Vance, today here, and clearly put that message across because that is coming across now loud and clear. The Europeans are saying that as well.

If you want us to bear the burden of, you know, the eventual peace guarantees and then much more on the defense of Europe, we'll do it, but you can't exclude us. We have to be part of whatever solution is going to happen.

SANCHEZ: Christiane Amanpour in Munich tonight. Thanks so much for being with us.

AMANPOUR: Thanks, Boris.

[20:40:05]

SANCHEZ: Now let's see what Americans think of all of this. CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten joins us now. Harry, great to see you as always. Walk us through how support for the war in Ukraine has changed over the years among Americans.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes. I mean, look, remember when the war started back in 2022, early 2022, there was so much support for Ukraine in the United States. It was, you know, there were flags in the yards. You couldn't really do anything wrong in the American minds if you were Ukraine.

Look at this. U.S. support for Ukraine is too much in its war against Russia. Back in February of 2022, it's just 7 percent. Look how that number has skyrocketed up to 41 percent now in February of 2025.

And among Republicans, it's the vast clear majority of Republicans who feel that U.S. support for Ukraine is too much. So you can feel that domestic pressure, that domestic base, that Republican base on JD Vance's side and the president's side as well, arguing that, you know, Russia and Ukraine have to come together.

SANCHEZ: What about President Zelenskyy? Do Americans believe that Ukraine's president is doing the right thing with this war?

ENTEN: Yes, this is to me is one of the most fascinating stats, right? I can remember, you know, Zelenskyy visiting the United States back in 2022. There was just a lot of support from in the Congress, from President Biden. But take a look here. Confident Zelenskyy will do the right thing when it comes to world affairs.

Back in 2022 among Americans, it was 72 percent. Look at where that number absolutely tumbled, less than a majority now in 2024, down to 48 percent. The percentage of Republicans who are not confident, it's the clear majority of Republicans again.

So these numbers are really being driven by Republicans. And so it isn't much of a surprise that you see Republicans like JD Vance going overseas and saying what they're saying.

SANCHEZ: Do the numbers support the idea that Americans want the war to end?

ENTEN: Yes, if there's one thing that Americans agree upon, it's a negotiated peace. Look at this, 78 percent of Americans want a Russia- Ukraine negotiated peace deal, just 16 percent opposed. You rarely get 78 percent of Americans who can come together on anything, but they come together on the idea that Russia and Ukraine should have a negotiated peace deal, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Harry Enten, always great seeing you.

ENTEN: Great seeing you, my friend.

SANCHEZ: Up next, more breaking news. The firing of more than 300 people overseeing the nation's nuclear weapons without apparently knowing what these people actually do.

Later, new reporting on what may have caused one of the two massive fires in Los Angeles County. We'll be back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:46:40]

SANCHEZ: More breaking news tonight. This time involving mass firings, the nation's nuclear stockpile, and the people doing the firing apparently not understanding just who they were letting go. It's a mess.

And CNN's Rene Marsh is here to help us make sense of it. Rene, who are these employees? Why were they fired?

RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, more than 300 staffers at the National Nuclear Security Administration, which is the agency tasked with managing the nation's nuclear stockpile, were dismissed on Thursday night as part of the broader layoff at the Department of Energy.

Now, these employees are employees with a mission that is critical to the nation's national security. And some of the employees included staff on the ground at facilities overseeing contractors who build nuclear weapons, and they're charged with inspecting those weapons.

Now, the termination notices also went to employees at NNSA headquarters who write requirements and guidelines for the contractors building nuclear weapons. Now, sources tell CNN that members of Congress expressed great concern when they learned about this, so much so that senators visited Energy Secretary Chris Wright to express those concerns about the cuts.

One source telling CNN that Congress is freaking out because it appears DOE didn't really realize that NNSA oversees the nuclear stockpile. So, Boris, tonight, the agency is in the process of sending emails to impacted employees rescinding their layoff status.

SANCHEZ: Rene, has DOE responded to these firings?

MARSH: Well, the Energy Department, a spokesperson, disputed the number of affected employees, telling CNN that less than 50 people were dismissed from NNSA. And they also went on to say that those individuals primarily held administrative and clerical roles.

Now, 50 may be the final number once the emails rescinding terminations go out, but it is our reporting that that was not the number that triggered the panic on Capitol Hill, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and those folks may decide not to go back to those jobs.

Rene Marsh, thank you so much for that breaking news.

The L.A. wildfires, we have some new information about how some people there suspect that one of the worst of them started in a unique way. And we're going to bring you what the response was to those allegations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:53:49]

SANCHEZ: A terrifying moment to share with you out of Malibu, California, where heavy rains triggered massive mudslides.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, are you alright? Get out. Get out. Go right.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

SANCHEZ: That is an L.A. County firefighter climbing over that fence yesterday. He's lucky to have suffered only minor injuries after the truck he was driving was swept into the Pacific Ocean. You see it there. Meantime, the investigations into last month's wildfires are still underway, but some people are convinced they know the culprit behind one of the biggest, the Eaton fire. Veronica Miracle has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One month after the Eaton fire tore through Altadena, all across Los Angeles are people like Dorna Khazeni.

MIRACLE: All of this is donations.

DORNA KHAZENI, LOST HOME IN EATON FIRE: All of this is donations.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Living in an Airbnb and lucky enough to have survived the deadly fire, but at the cost of everything she owned.

KHAZENI: This is the avocado tree. And then you come down and over here is the barn.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Her house now looks like this.

KHAZENI: I've just never, ever seen such a landscape of devastation.

[20:55:02]

MIRACLE (voice-over): Khazeni is one of many Altadena residents now suing Southern California Edison, the main electric company in Los Angeles.

KHAZENI: Yes, I guess I just want somebody to be accountable.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Ali Moghaddas, a partner at Edelson PC and Khazeni's attorney, says his firm has now spoken to thousands of people who lost their homes.

ALI MOGHADDAS, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING EATON FIRE VICTIMS: They're scared. Top of their mind is, you know, how am I going to afford this? They want to hold Southern California Edison accountable.

MIRACLE (voice-over): What exactly caused the fire that killed 17 people and destroyed or damaged 10,000 structures is still under investigation. But according to Moghaddas, there's mounting evidence that suggests Southern California Edison's equipment sparked the blaze.

MOGHADDAS: People that have been flooding us with videos, with photographs. And it's pretty tough for SCE to dispute videos of their equipment arcing. Subsequent fire breaking out at the base of their tower.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Arcing happens when electricity jumps from one point to another through the air, often creating a flash and can generate significant heat. That's what's seen here on surveillance video from a gas station in Altadena, Moghaddas' firm claims, pointing to flashes of light near transmission towers owned by Edison. At the exact same moment, electrical sensors in homes across part of the U.S. recorded a massive disruption.

BOB MARSHALL, CEO, WHISKER LABS: We looked at the data and we were like, oh my gosh, something very substantial happened here.

MIRACLE (voice-over): Bob Marshall is CEO of Whisker Labs. His company makes household devices to detect electrical problems. The night of the fire, the network detected electrical circuit malfunctions, also known as faults, in Eaton Canyon.

MARSHALL: They coincide in time with the flash of light that you see on that ARCO gas station camera. And what happened is there's a giant release of energy that actually propagated across the entire western electric grid.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, whether or not it was the cause of the fire, something happened.

LABS: And I want to be clear, we cannot say and are not saying that the faults that we detected were the source of the fire. What we can say with 100 percent certainty is that there were very large electrical grid faults in the area at the time, and exactly at the time that the flashes of light occurred on the camera.

MIRACLE (voice-over): In their newest complaint, lawyers from Edelson are turning their focus to this small tower, which they say was decommissioned decades ago. SCE says it's not decommissioned, but has been idle since 1971.

MIRACLE: What are your experts finding in the -- at the base of the tower, all around it?

MOGHADDAS: One of the things that they've been looking for are physical marks, and we call them arc marks, on the conductors that show that there was actually an explosion that occurred here.

MIRACLE (voice-over): This is a claim SCE disputes. A spokesperson says the idle tower has no obvious signs of arcing on the base of the tower. New video that has only recently surfaced shows the clearest view yet of what appears to be a fire erupting at the base of that small tower.

MOGHADDAS: So we know now that this fire occurred because of that decommissioned tower. The only question is, why did it happen?

MIRACLE (voice-over): SCE also disputes this. In the days after the fire, Southern California Edison repeatedly claimed that there was no evidence to suggest their equipment caused it. They've since walked that statement back.

In a pre-recorded video statement last week, Pedro Pizarro, the president and CEO of Edison International, said SCE is exploring the possibility that its equipment was involved, but stopped short of taking the blame. PEDRO PIZARRO, PRESIDENT & CEO, EDISON INTERNATIONAL: SCE has not seen the kinds of things that are typical when electrical equipment starts a fire.

MOGHADDAS: We're getting the same playbook from Southern California Edison, making us go into court and demand that they preserve evidence, making us go into court and demand that they produce data to us.

MIRACLE (voice-over): As the legal process gets underway, Khazeni faces the reality of rebuilding what was lost. For her, holding who she believes is accountable is about preventing the next Eaton fire.

KHAZENI: Maybe they will be more aware of their responsibilities towards the human beings who count on them.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MIRACLE (on-camera): Boris, last week, Southern California Edison published a regulatory filing that they made to the California Public Utilities Commission. And in that filing, they said that on January 19th, they re-energized all four of the lines in question, saw a flash of white light and then de-energized the lines.

Well, now, Edelson PC, the law firm that was featured in this story, is saying that by doing so, by re-energizing those lines, SCE has irreparably altered potential evidence in this case. And they're now asking a judge to sanction SCE and its lawyers.

We spoke to SCE. They said that these allegations are absurd and that they have and will continue to preserve evidence. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Veronica Miracle, thank you so much for that report.

Thank you so much for joining us tonight. We have a quick programming note before we hand things over. This weekend, be sure to tune in for the new CNN Original Series, "Lockerbie: The Bombing of Pan Am Flight 103". A fresh look at the mysterious circumstances behind the deadliest terror attack on the United States until 9/11. The first two episodes premiere this Sunday at 9:00 only on CNN.

The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts right now.