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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Trump Calls Zelenskyy "Dictator" Twice as Feud Escalates, Interview with Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA). Russians in Moscow Praise Trump After He Criticizes Zelenskyy, Calling Him a Dictator; Judge Delays Decision on DOJ's Push to Drop Corruption Charges Against NYC Mayor; West Texas Measles Outbreak Grows to 58 Cases; Seven Men Charged in Connection With Nationwide Burglaries of Pro Athletes' Homes. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired February 19, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: ...which is raising questions and Pete we should talk about this other crash in the U.S., two planes collide in mid-air.
This is something, of course, that was seen after that Delta plane flipped over. These are new images that we are getting there. Are you learning anything more about this mid-air crash today?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No doubt everyone's jumpy. It's been an incredible string of crashes. Not much connective tissue between them, though.
This latest crash in Tucson about general aviation airplanes, mid-air collisions among small airplanes are rare, even rarer among commercial flights like we saw three weeks ago.
KEILAR: All right, Pet Muntean, thank you so much for the latest and thank you for joining us.
AC360 starts now.
[20:00:44]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, President Trump continues his attacks on Ukraine's President, calling him a dictator and pushes a lie he started the war. We're keeping them honest.
Also, tonight, the disturbing measles outbreak in Texas, the worst in decades. Dozens are infected and 13 people, mostly unvaccinated kids, have been hospitalized.
And new details about a string of high profile robberies of star athletes, including Kansas City Chiefs quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Authorities reveal who they say was involved.
Thanks for joining us tonight. We begin with the President of the United States for a second time today, calling the democratically elected leader of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a dictator. Words that are music to the ears of the actual dictator, Vladimir Putin, who sent his army and missiles into Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A dictator without elections, Zelenskyy, better move fast or he's not going to have a country left.
I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job. His country is shattered.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that's the President again for the second time today, calling Zelenskyy a dictator, nearly three years into Russia's invasion, which, just as a reminder, looked like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And we are here at the Antonov Airport, which is about 25 kilometers, 15 miles or so out of the center. These troops you can see over here.
Stand up, Louis. These troops, you can see over here, they are Russian Airborne Forces. They have taken this airport --speaking to officials earlier, Ukrainian officials. And they're saying that the plan isn't just to surround the Ukrainian capital.
They fear now that the plan is to take the capital to decapitate the leadership of Ukraine and to replace that leadership with a pro- Russian government. That's what Ukrainian officials are telling us now, they think is the Russian plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That's Matthew Chance reporting the coverage from the 24th of February, 2022 as Russian troops, on orders from Vladimir Putin rolled into Ukraine, a dictator launching a war of aggression that would become the biggest in Europe since another dictator invaded Poland in 1939 touching off the Second World War.
Now, back then, the same as now, this country was divided over getting involved in European affairs. And in his fireside chat to the nation, President Roosevelt did not commit to defending Europe. What he did do, however, unlike today, was tell the simple truth about the war and who started it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THEODORE ROOSEVELT, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Until four- thirty o'clock this morning, I had hoped against hope that some miracle would prevent a devastating war in Europe and bring to an end the invasion of Poland by Germany. (END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Plain speaking from an American President nearly 86 years later, here's what the current President is doing, most recently tonight and earlier today, in his equivalent of a fireside chat, social media quoting from president Trump now, "Think of it a modestly successful comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskyy talked the United States of America into spending $350 billion to go into a war that couldn't be won, that never had to start, but a war that he without the U.S. and Trump will never be able to settle."
And just yesterday he flat out said Zelenskyy started the war. He said it in response to complaints from Kyiv about being frozen out of peace talks over its future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think I have the power to end this war and I think it's going very well. But today I heard -- oh well, we weren't invited. Well, you've been there for three years. You should have ended it three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Should never have started, he said. Neither Ukraine nor its President did start the war, Russia and Vladimir Putin did.
The President continued today, writing "Zelenskyy admits that half of the money we sent him is missing. He refuses to have elections, he's very low in Ukrainian polls and the only thing he was good at was playing Biden like a fiddle." The president then calls him a "dictator without elections" and warns that Zelenskyy "better move fast or he is not going to have a country left."
He did the same as you just heard tonight, that thinly veiled threats aside none of what he said about Zelenskyy, his polling or the money is accurate. As for the polling which the president has said -- separately said by the way was down at four percent approval as the President's words, that's just not true. According to recent survey in Ukraine, 57 percent of Ukrainians trust Zelenskyy, 37 percent do not.
His supporters actually fluctuated in the 60's and 50's for about a year or so. The numbers already dropped from the 90 percent approval he got in the months following Russia's invasion back in 2022.
As for the $350 billion figure, the Inspector General overseeing it puts the number of at $130.1 billion obligated, of which $86.7 billion has actually been disbursed. And that includes Ukraine related funding sent to countries other than Ukraine.
[20:05:33]
Now, the allegation that President Zelenskyy admits that half the money is missing, that's just not true either. What he actually said to the Associated Press earlier this month was that although people talk about Ukraine getting as much as $200 billion in USAID, Ukraine had only received about $76 billion. He then said, according to the translation by Ukrainian news outlet that he doesn't know where all the professed additional money has gone, that perhaps these higher figures are correct "on paper."
Which is not the same as him saying the money is missing, let alone implying, as the President just did, that there's something shady going on.
As for calling Zelenskyy a dictator for not holding elections, well, Britain's Winston Churchill didn't hold elections during the Second World War. And by the way, when the war was over and he was voted out of office, he did not try to overturn the outcome.
As for Vladimir Putin, he's held elections, but they are a foregone conclusion. Here's a headline after his last one: Putin extends his rule after predetermined vote. Indeed.
What is incredible is that President Trump, the President of the United States, is now echoing talking points that Vladimir Putin has pushed repeatedly.
Putin has called Zelenskyy's presidency illegitimate and said he should hold elections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We're hearing that Russia wants to force Ukraine to hold new elections in order to sign any kind of a peace deal. Is that something that the U.S. would ever support?
TRUMP: Well, we have a situation where we haven't had elections in Ukraine, where we have martial law, essentially martial law in Ukraine. And yes, I would say that, you know, when they want a seat at the table, you could say the people have to -- wouldn't the people of Ukraine have to say like, you know, it's been a long time since we've had an election that's not a Russia thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: We're keeping them honest. Not an exclusively Russia thing would be more accurate. Trump and Putin are on the same page on this.
In any case, President Zelenskyy weighed in today about what President Trump is saying about him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): Unfortunately, President Trump, whom I have great respect for him as a leader of a nation that we have great respect for, the American people who always support us, unfortunately lives in this disinformation space.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: Well, he said that against the backdrop of two newspaper interviews with Vice President Vance in which Vance warned Zelenskyy not to publicly criticize the President, quoting him now in "The Daily Mail": "The idea that Zelenskyy is going to change the President's mind by badmouthing him in public media, everyone who knows the President will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration."
Well, meantime, even some Republican lawmakers appear uneasy with at least some aspects of the President's Ukraine position, though some, such as Senator Lisa Murkowski, fell back on the variations of the GOP mantra during the first Trump administration of -- oh, I didn't see that tweet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): I would like to see that in context because I would certainly never refer to President Zelenskyy as a dictator.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): The President speaks for himself. What I want to see is a peaceful result, a peaceful outcome.
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Make no mistake about it, that invasion was the responsibility of one human being on the face of this planet. It was Vladimir Putin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Former Vice-President Pence also weighed in, tweeting, quote, "Mr. President, Ukraine did not start this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives. The road to peace must be built on the truth."
Former National Security adviser, John Bolton called what the president said, "Some of the most shameful remarks ever made by a U.S. President."
And again, as you saw just a short time ago tonight, the President repeated those remarks.
Joining us now is Massachusetts Democratic Congressman and Armed Services Committee member, Seth Moulton. He visited Ukraine during the war. He's also a Marine combat veteran of the Iraq War.
Congressman, I just want to know what is your response to President Trump's comments on Ukraine's President Zelenskyy calling him, among other things, a dictator?
REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): You said it very well. I mean, he is echoing Putin's talking points. It's as if to go back to your history lesson about President Roosevelt, President Roosevelt had started giving Hitler's talking points for invading Poland or if the President had blamed the United States for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
This is truly unprecedented in American history, and it's dangerous. It's dangerous for our National Security, because if Trump goes around supporting our adversaries, supporting dictators who invade sovereign countries, then at some point they're going to invade countries with security guarantees from the U.S. and American troops are going to be fighting and dying.
COOPER: There are those who support the president who argued this is some sort of three dimensional chess that he is just rebalancing the power in the world and the rest of us just don't understand the genius of what he's doing. What do you say to that? I mean, he does seem to be alienating our allies, all the members of NATO, who we have alliances with, in favor of Vladimir Putin.
[20:10:39]
MOULTON: What I say to people who say that is stop lying, because the mental gymnastics that you see Republicans undertaking to somehow justify the unjustifiable, to somehow justify literally supporting our enemies, which is the definition of treason, is amazing. I mean, I was at the Munich Security Conference this past weekend, and after events like the Vice President's shameful, embarrassing speech to our European allies, the most hypocritical speech I've ever heard an American official give in my entire life.
The Republican senators were doing these mental gymnastics to try to get out of criticizing the administration. Why, Anderson? Because they're scared. They're just scared of Trump. They're so scared of Trump, they can't present the truth to the American people.
COOPER: Yes. I mean, it was interesting to see Lisa Murkowski saying, well, I need to see the context. I mean, you can look at the context all you want. It doesn't get any better.
MOULTON: No, there's no context for that.
COOPER: John Thune told CNN's Manu Raju that there's no question that Russia is the aggressor here. Later, he told Fox that this is, "The back and forth that occurs in a situation like this where the stakes are really high."
What leverage, if any, do congressional supporters of Ukraine, Republicans, I mean, I don't know if any Republicans would speak up or Democrats alike, what can anybody in Congress do? I mean --
MOULTON: Congress could do a lot, it's Congress' job. But Congress is run by Republicans right now who, again, are just scared of Trump. And so, behind-the-scenes, Democrats like myself, especially those of us who do have good relationships with Republicans across the aisle, especially on National Security committees like the Armed Services Committee, we're trying to convince our Republican allies to just have some courage to say in public what they're saying in private.
To say to the U.S. President what they said to our European allies over the weekend when they tried to reassure our allies, tried to strengthen NATO in the face of the Trump administration, repeatedly undermining it. COOPER: Well, the other thing that's developing, I mean, according to a memo obtained by CNN, the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, has now ordered the military to prepare plans to make massive budget cuts, eight percent cuts per year, for the next five years.
I mean, everything I heard while they were running was about raising money for the military, about improving the military. I think Hegseth had spoken about that just a few days ago.
You're obviously a veteran -- what do you believe -- does that make sense to on the one hand, say were going to be improving the military and, you know, getting it ready, you know, fighting ready and yet were going to have these cuts.
MOULTON: Well, look, I've been a critic of Pentagon spending for a long time, and I think that the Pentagon could spend its money more efficiently. I think we should be investing in the modern, cheaper, smaller, nimble systems like drones and autonomous underwater vehicles, as opposed to the big, heavy old things like tanks and aircraft carriers that cost a lot of money to build and take a lot of expensive people to operate.
So, I'll be the first to say that the Pentagon could modernize, could better meet today's threats, and probably save some money in the process.
But let's be clear, that's not what's going on with this administration. This administration can't get out of its own way. Trump himself said that he wants to raise the Pentagon's budget by about $100 or $150 billion. And the very next day, said he wants to cut the budget in half.
The Defense Secretary says a different thing every day of the week. So, they can't get out of their own way. They're contradicting themselves and therefore they clearly, Anderson, they clearly have no plan to keep the country safe.
COOPER: It's a terrifying thought to end on, but we are going to leave it there. Congressman Moulton, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.
MOULTON: Thank you.
COOPER: Joining us now is CNN senior political commentator David Axelrod, also CNN national security analyst and former Deputy Director Of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner.
David, what do you think the impact of this is if President Trump is seen as agreeing with or repeating arguments that Vladimir Putin or just abandoning Ukraine, basically. . [20:15:01]
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, let's be clear. He -- 81 percent of Americans in a poll that was released today, say they don't trust Vladimir Putin in these negotiations. Nine percent say they do. The president is among those nine percent. Twelve percent of Americans have a favorable view of Vladimir Putin. Most Americans recognize that Vladimir Putin is a murderous, autocrat, dictator, war criminal who instigated this war and the President is trying to rewrite history in a way that completely conflicts with people's views; 64 percent of Americans view Ukraine as a friend or ally, only 11 percent feel that about Russia.
So, you know, it really is hard to see. It may not be an issue that tips voters because it doesn't touch them, you know, personally, but this goes to some core, core beliefs that Americans have shared, Republicans and Democrats for a long time. And, you know, I think this president believes that he can rewrite any history or recalibrate any story.
This one may be a little rough. The last thing I'd say is it's kind of laughable to say, he says, that Zelenskyy played Biden like a fiddle and Zelenskyy is a dictator. A lot of people would say right now it looks like he is being played like a fiddle by Vladimir Putin.
COOPER: Beth, I mean, why do you think President Trump continues to say that Ukraine started this war? I mean, do you think he actually believes that is -- can he not conceive of a country not wanting to be invaded and not just wanting to quickly make a deal? He keeps talking about them, they should have made a deal.
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: He believes there are a lot of talking points that are around that. The idea that Biden wanted Ukraine to be in NATO, which is not true, actually, it was kind of the opposite, which was a bit of a problem.
So, it's like a lot of talking points, but you can really trace this back to the Russia hoax, that call, that meeting in the Oval Office with Zelenskyy and the call where the President was demanding information from Zelenskyy on the Biden's and Hunter Biden in exchange.
So, all of this traces back and there's a very emotional thing that Zelenskyy inadvertently triggered today by saying, you know, he's in this space of disinformation and that, to Trump's ears is saying, you're saying I'm a tool of Russia. This is Russia hoax all over again, right?
And so, he really hit the one button and hit it hard. And which is why you're seeing all these people around Trump reacting this way. I'm not defending it. I'm just saying this is how it is.
COOPER: David, I mean, it's an interesting point that this goes back to that quid pro quo that Trump was suggesting. You know, well get you the weapons you need if you, you know, at least say you're going to launch an investigation.
AXELROD: Yes, no, he wanted Zelenskyy to be an accomplice in dirtying up Joe Biden, who he feared as an opponent. And look, all things are filtered through Donald Trump's personal politics. I mean, I think that's pretty clear. The question is, Anderson, to me, we've seen some Republicans speak out. Senator Wicker and some others have been pretty outspoken. Many others have been muted. It's kind of extraordinary to watch Marco Rubio, who was a vehement opponent of Putin, vehement anti-communist, strong supporter of human rights around the world when he was in the U.S. Senate, now trying to justify this position, which is a complete sellout to Putin.
You know, and I wonder at what point some Republicans are going to say this is a bridge too far. And I guess it's when public opinion is such that they feel safe to do that. But this is really, really an abrogation of fundamental principles that many of them have espoused for a very long time.
COOPER: Beth, you know, Congressman Moulton was talking about the -- this memo CNN has seen about Hegseth going to be asking for a plan for eight percent cuts to the Pentagon's budget every year for the next five years. I mean, people's eyes glaze over at percentages.
Can you just explain -- I mean, is that a big deal? What impact would that have? And can you cut fraud and waste and at the same time build up your military capacity and modernize it?
SANNER: Right, so, if you just took that eight percent cut over the next five years as planned, we're at like 3.4 percent of GDP for our Defense spending. And President Trump says that Europe, that's at two percent or so, they need to be at five percent.
Okay, I'm throwing out a lot of numbers. But if you took us out now five years with would that cut every year, we would be at two percent.
[20:20:17]
So you can see how like, none of this kind of makes sense unless and this is what some people are saying, that they're going to take all those cuts and move them into different programs. Now, that's possible.
But you know what? A memo that's written on Tuesday with the due date on Monday is not going to come up with a great plan for the most complex organization I would argue, in the entire world, right, $850 billion in spending, you know, bases in 80 countries, all of this interconnectivity. It's just ridiculous.
And so, our National Security actually could be at risk because people don't understand, if you cut one thing here, what is the effect there? You have to actually plan and think this out. And I know that that's painful, but you actually have to plan and think.
COOPER: But that seems so old fashioned and boring.
SANNER: I know I and I, maybe I am, Anderson.
COOPER: I mean --
AXELROD: Can I just say one thing about this, Anderson? I think we ought to put this in the context of what's going on the domestic side, because right now they are trying -- desperately trying to figure out a way to cut the budget enough to be able to pass through this reconciliation process.
A huge tax cut and the Freedom Caucus in the House is demanding $1.5 trillion in cuts. And it's very hard to cut the budget unless you cut deeply into the Pentagon, to cut it at that level.
So, I suspect that that may be animating some of what's going on here.
SANNER: Absolutely.
COOPER: David Axelrod, Beth Sanner, I really appreciate it. Thank you. Great conversation. Thank you.
Coming up next, "The Source's" Kaitlan Collins with new reporting on the presidents thoughts and mindset surrounding Ukraine, what her sources are telling her.
And later, New York's mayor in federal court. The question is, will a judge accept the Justice Department's request to drop the mayor's corruption case?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:26:38]
COOPER: We're talking tonight about the President, who for a second time today verbally attacked Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leader of an ally, Ukraine, and echoed Vladimir Putin's view of Zelenskyy and the war. Attacks which we should underscore were factually untrue.
More now on the presidents motivations in making them. For that, were joined by "The Source's" Kaitlan Collins.
So, what is your sense of the President's mindset as he seems to be ratcheting up these rhetorical attacks on Ukraine and Zelenskyy?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's not really a surprise, Anderson, to the people around President Trump. He's been saying a version of this for months now, even before he was elected.
He was casting blame for this war on President Zelenskyy. He's always been very distant from Ukraine, never really has felt a lot of love from them, Obviously, ever since his first impeachment in his first term in office.
And so, to hear him say this now, though, the reason it's different is because he's now the President of the United States and is leading these negotiations, including with his senior aides, that are happening between the United States and Russia, so far, not Ukraine being included in that that picture, despite what Trump told me just a few days ago in the Oval Office, that Ukraine will have a seat at the table. And what's different also here from Trump's first term, where, you know, after that summit in Helsinki with President Putin, where Trump sided with Putin over U.S. intelligence, we saw the fallout from Senate Republicans, from Trump's own advisers on that, convincing him that he had to say something afterwards.
That is not what's happening here. Instead, we are seeing people like the Vice President JD Vance, amplify Trump calling Zelenskyy a dictator, among his other claims that he made earlier in that post.
And so, the same with the White House, really just, you know, elevating this and saying, this is the official White House line. This is not someone one-off. This is truly the position of the administration and that's what's notable going into this period, as we are expecting President Trump and President Putin to meet in the foreseeable future.
COOPER: I mean, there's very little -- very few Republicans criticizing President Trump. Does the White House even care about any congressional reaction at this stage?
COLLINS: I think it depends on what it looks like in terms of Senate Republicans. We're seeing a lot of them say they don't agree with Trump, that Zelenskyy is a dictator. They're not criticizing Trump necessarily for calling him a dictator in this situation.
Among the other claims he makes inflating how much aid the U.S. has sent to Ukraine compared to Europe, and other claims that he was making there. And instead, they're just simply pointing to the fact that they believe this war has to end, that Trump has promised to end it since he was on the campaign trail. The question, though, is how this war ends and what this looks like.
And of course, Zelenskyy himself lashed out at Trump overnight after Trump had repeated what we hear from the Kremlin a lot, which is that Ukraine started this war, casting doubt on Zelenskyy as a legitimate leader, saying that he was disliked by his own people, and he was saying that Trump is surrounded by disinformation coming after that phone call with Putin, where Trump started bringing up the Ukrainian election, started bringing up Zelenskyy's poll number.
And so, he was essentially arguing that it was really waking up to that headline this morning. That is what led Trump to outright call Zelenskyy a dictator now. And the question is how this shifts the negotiations going forward as Trump's main envoy, Keith Kellogg is in Ukraine and arrived shortly after all of this happened.
COOPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks very much. We'll see you at the top of the hour for "The Source." Your guest is Republican Senator Eric Schmitt of Missouri.
More now on how all this is being received inside Russia. For that, Here's CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Breaking news on Kremlin-controlled TV. Even the anchor can hardly believe her eyes. U.S. President Donald Trump calling Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, "a dictator" in a social media post.
Attention, this is incredible, the host says. Trump is obviously angry. Having had modest success as a comedian, Zelenskyy, writes the U.S. president, couldn't have won in the Ukraine conflict and the U.S. was giving him money in vain. Zelenskyy is doing his job poorly. Donald Trump now called Zelenskyy a dictator. This is what he wrote.
Many Russians now hoping that Trump induced thaw in U.S.-Russian relations could bring fast sanctions relief. At the Skazka Souvenir Shop in Moscow, boss Alexander is rearranging the matryoshka dolls according to what many here hope could be the new world order.
ALEXANDER TSUKANOV, OWNER, SKAZKA SOUVENIR SHOP, MOSCOW: Our president and American president, and also we have Mohammed bin Salman also with us, so all friends of Russia.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): On the street, much praise for President Trump, sometimes maybe a bit too much.
PLEITGEN: What do you think about Donald Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think, maybe small Stalin.
(LAUGH)
PLEITGEN: You think small Stalin. Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Why, but character.
PLEITGEN (voice-over): Of course, I like Donald Trump, this man says. He's a positive president. He will change America and make it great again.
Moscow's leaders optimistic saying they believe the Trump Administration understands their view of the Ukraine war. Where Russian troops continue to make modest gains, this Russian defense ministry video purporting to show drone units hitting Ukrainian positions in Russia's Kursk region.
Russian Leader, Vladimir Putin, visiting a drone factory, also praising Trump, saying a face-to-face meeting is in the works.
We're not in a position where it's enough to meet each other, have tea or coffee, and chat about the future, he says. We need to make our teams prepare issues that are crucial for both Russia and the U.S., including the Ukraine conflict but not only it.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): And Anderson, the Russians are very open about the fact that they want more than just an end to the war in Ukraine on terms favorable for Russia. They want a full diplomatic reset with the United States. And there are actually Russian politicians out there who are saying they believe that the Trump Administration's views on the conflict in Ukraine are actually much closer to Russia's than they are to America's own European allies. Anderson?
COOPER: Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much.
Still ahead, the corruption case against New York's mayor, which the Justice Department wants to dismiss, what happened in court today when DOJ lawyers tried. Also, the measles outbreak in Texas where nearly 60 people have contracted the disease. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:37:18]
COOPER: A federal judge today delayed his decision on whether to allow the Justice Department to dismiss its case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Judge Dale Ho said he was not going to, in his words, shoot from the hip on the bench while pressing acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove and Adams' attorney about the grounds for dismissing the case. Adams was indicted in September on five counts, including bribery, corruption, wire fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
But last week, Bove ordered federal prosecutors to end Adams' case arguing it was tainted by publicity and hindered the mayor's ability to do his job and cooperate with the Trump Administration's immigration crackdown. So that prompted eight federal prosecutors to resign, four New York City deputy mayors also resigned. With me now is CNN's Kara Scannell, who was in court today, along with CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller, who was Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD and served under Adams; and Former Federal Prosecutor, Jessica Roth as well joining us.
So Kara, talk about the hearing. What happened?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So it was really symbolic in court today. You had Emil Bove, the only prosecutor sitting at the table, Todd Blanche, who is going to be the Deputy Attorney General once confirmed that the Senate was there in the audience. But then in the back row, it was the head of the FBI's New York field office sitting there, along with the case agents who worked the case, who no longer had a seat at the table because of how Bove had come in and taken it over. And Adams, of course, was there with his lawyers.
Now, the judge swore Adams in. So he stood, raised his hand, what is said under oath that he was not pressured or promised anything as part of this, and he was not threatened by anything. So Bove seized on that and said to the judge, it's undisputable, there is no quid pro quo here. He told the judge that really the only role the judge had was to decide whether the prosecution was acting in bad faith. And he said, I came up here to look you in the eye, to tell you that I'm not.
And so, he was laying out to the judge that he really thought he had a limited role. But the judge questioned him about just the scope of this, this argument about interference in the mayor's duties. And he said, well, if there was a police commissioner that you were investigating, which is happening in New York, a former police commissioner, he said, would that mean that you wouldn't bring that case because of this same rationale, public safety, enforcing Trump's immigration agenda? He said, absolutely.
He said, well, what if it was a governor at a border state? And Bove said, absolutely, it's prosecutorial discretion. And he was saying it was really important that the Trump Administration's policies be able to be enforced, more so than going after crimes if it interfered with that.
COOPER: Jessica, I mean, the judge indicated he doesn't think he had a lot of latitude here, does he? And what role would he have?
JESSICA ROTH, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: It's true that under the law, the judge does not have a great deal of authority to deny a motion to dismiss brought by the Department of Justice.
[20:40:00]
But what the court does have authority to do is require a statement of reasons and require accountability in the form of actually coming to court and stating before the court what the reasons are for the dismissal.
COOPER: A statement of reasons from the Justice Department?
ROTH: From the Justice Department, and Emil Bove did provide those statements. The problem here is that they really do seem quite pretextual. I mean, the notion that Eric Adams can't carry out his law enforcement duties essentially while he's under the threat of this indictment, first of all, has been denied by the mayor repeatedly up until now. But also, what's -- I mean, it goes to what Kara was saying and the judge's questions about, well, how far would you extend this argument?
It really would suggest that any public official who had anything, any duties related to something touching on law enforcement would essentially be insulated from prosecution for even grievous corruption.
COOPER: Why would anyone outside of New York care about this? I mean, does it have some impact on the law writ large?
ROTH: Well, it has an impact in terms of whether public officials actually would not be susceptible to a criminal prosecution, regardless of how they abuse their office. But it also, I mean, and again, this is sort of the larger context here. The reason why Bove is saying is that Adam should not be prosecuted is in part because he is complying with the president's agenda.
And what's implicit is that if the mayor were not complying with the president's immigration agenda, that the charges could go forward. And that's part of what's been so concerning to people who have worked in the Department of Justice, is there is implicit threat that if Adams is not compliant, that the charges would be reinstated. And so, it's a way of coercing a public official to act in a way that comports with the president's political agenda and prioritizing that over the even enforcement of the law.
COOPER: John, I mean, you've covered legal battles in here for a long time. How does this stack up in terms of being odd?
JOHN MILLER, FORMER NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: Completely unprecedented. And to pick up on your last question, I mean, the effect it is having to people outside New York City, meaning FBI agents, federal prosecutors across the country is, the mantra was always we investigate, we prosecute, and we do so without fear or favor, without fear of pushback or political influence, without favor to people that we like, and that has been reversed.
What agents and prosecutors are thinking about now outside of New York City, inside of New York City, is we now prosecute with fear. If we are going after people who seem to have favor, whether that's at the Trump Administration, because the one place that was meant to protect us, to insulate us, which was our management in the FBI, our director, or the Department of Justice through the Attorney General, they would be that pushback from political influence. And now, the political influence seems to be coming directly through them.
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COOPER: And you're hearing that from people in the field. I mean, that's really depressing.
MILLER: My phones have been ringing off the hook and not just in the last few days, this has been going on since this really started with talk of mass firings based on what cases people investigated over the last four years and looking at resignations from people who would say, including this case with multiple prosecutors, I'm just not prepared to do what you're telling me to do. That's wrong.
COOPER: And Kara, what's next? I mean, is there -- when will the judge rule?
SCANNELL: So the judge said that it served no one's purpose for this to drag out. So he was signaling that he's going to make a ruling on this soon. There was this question, would he appoint someone to serve as an aide of the court who would take the other side and flesh out the legal arguments for him? He didn't really show his hand, but his inclination seemed to be that he was going to issue a decision on this pretty soon. He said multiple times that his hand -- that this -- his responsibilities here were really narrow.
I mean, it was kind of telling by the end of the hearing, he was sighing. He sort of at the end was like, OK, I'm going to take this all into consideration. I'm going to read the transcript and then I'll get back to you guys. COOPER: All right. Kara, John, Jessica, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Why is there a measles outbreak in Texas now? The worst in decades, and now also in New Mexico, plus seven people charged in the high- profile robberies of star pro athletes, who they are and how they were caught, just ahead.
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[20:48:40]
COOPER: Texas Health officials fear the biggest outbreak of measles there in decades may only get worse. 58 people currently have measles after an outbreak that began just three weeks ago. 13 have been hospitalized, mostly children between the ages of five and 17, and most are unvaccinated. Yesterday, New Mexico announced five more cases, bringing the total there to eight.
Joined now by Dr. Peter Hotez, Co-Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital. So Dr. Hotez, what concerns you most about this current, outbreak in Texas?
DR. PETER HOTEZ, CO-DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: My big concern, Anderson, is the size of this. Right now, it's 58 cases. I understand that number is going to be revised in a day or two, maybe getting up closer to 80 cases. And that still may be the tip of the iceberg because I'm hearing there are a lot of kids in West Texas right now that have the characteristic symptoms of measles, meaning the characteristic rash and what we used to call the three Cs when I was a pediatric house officer in Boston -- Cough, coryza meaning runny nose and other upper respiratory symptoms , and conjunctivitis.
So, some are saying the numbers may get up to be a couple of hundred or more. And so -- and the reason you care about that is on average, when you have a big measles epidemic, around 20 percent of the kids get hospitalized. So you do the numbers and it's a big surge on our pediatric hospital system as well.
[20:50:00]
COOPER: You called measles a bad actor. What does that mean? And just how sick are kids getting?
HOTEZ: So, measles is a bad actor because it's one of our most troubling, serious childhood illnesses. So on average, if a -- for during a measles epidemics, roughly 20 percent of kids are hospitalized, a significant percentage will get measles pneumonia, which often can require an Intensive Care Unit admission, even intubation. Also encephalitis, measles encephalitis is a known complication.
Deafness because of measles, ear infection together with the encephalitis, and long-term sequelae, then you have the problem that the measles virus has been shown relatively recently to infect a certain type of cells required for immunological memory, B and T cells, memory cells. So all of that means, this is one of our most -- one of our most feared childhood infections. And to have an outbreak this size is really troubling.
COOPER: And just to say the obvious, there is -- I mean, there's a vac -- there's a vaccine for this, yes? And it works, right?
HOTEZ: Yeah, absolutely. It was developed in the early 1960s by John Enders at Boston Children's Hospital with Sam Katz and Dr. Peebles, and that vaccine, Anderson, a single dose of vaccine usually given towards the tail end of infancy, around one year of age, is 93 percent protective. And then you give a second dose, it's 97 percent protective, around school entry. It's one of the most effective and one of the safest vaccines we have, called the MMR vaccine. And this is why this is so tragic, all of this is preventable. None of those kids had to be hospitalized. None of those kids will have to have -- would have to have measles complications.
COOPER: There are some reports that some of the people who have gotten sick were vaccinated.
HOTEZ: Yeah, a very small number. I think of the 60 so far, almost all of them were either unvaccinated or unknown -- not vaccinated or unknown vaccination status. Around four were vaccinated and that probably means they got a single dose of the vaccine, which is 93 percent protective, which is about what you'd expect. But overwhelmingly, these are unvaccinated kids.
COOPER: All right. Dr. Peter Hotez, appreciate it. Thank you.
Coming up, new details on the theft ring targeting high-profile pro athletes.
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COOPER: The Justice Department has released new details about seven alleged gang members charged in connection with a string of high- profile robberies of pro athletes, including star NFL quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow. Polo Sandoval has the story.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While Milwaukee Bucks forward Bobby Portis was on the NBA court last November, authorities say a team of burglars was stealing nearly $1.5 million worth of property out of his home. The hit is detailed in a newly unsealed federal criminal complaint. In it, FBI agent shared a selfie obtained through a search warrant showing alleged members of a so-called Chilean South American theft group. They smile and show off their loot, including luxury watches in a safe. Notice one wearing a Chiefs top? Investigators suspect some of these men also hit the Kansas City Homes of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and tied in (ph) Travis Kelce in October. Prosecutors suspect seven Chilean nationals of comprising a burglary ring, targeting the homes of pro football, basketball, and hockey players. According to court records, they traveled around the country to the homes of pro athletes using fake IDs to rent cars and hotels.
PAUL VIOLLIS, CEO, VIOLLIS GROUP INTERNATIONAL: They conduct due diligence on who the marks are. Then they conduct surveillance to see what patterns of behavior are. They then go further and conduct a little bit more investigation into the building plans to see points of access. Is this an entire wi-fi system? How do I get into the house? Does it have a backup generator? They put these things together, they select the mark and the time, and that's how they have a high probability of success.
SANDOVAL (voice-over): The property stolen during high-profile burglary seems to fuel lucrative demand on the streets. In a separate investigation, federal agents arrested two men in New York City's Diamond District this month. They're suspected of buying goods stolen from an NFL star, then reselling them in their store.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Polo Sandoval joins us. Now, this is incredible. What is the FBI saying about it?
SANDOVAL (on camera): So the FBI has not only been investigating, Anderson, but they've actually been raising alarms. They even issued a memo to the NFL last November, basically saying that they were looking into this and saying that you have this crime syndicate that's essentially exploiting the team's schedule. So if you think about it, they know when the team is going to be away. So some of these individuals would scout out their homes and know when to break in to steal some of these high-dollar goods.
And they're also warning about their tactics. They go from the very primitive like posing, according to the feds, as joggers or lawn care workers to conduct surveillance on houses, to the more advanced, like using drones. That's hard to believe. But also even using wi-fi signal jammers to try to mess with the wireless surveillance systems that some of these players may have in their homes.
COOPER: So they were able to overcome burglary alarm systems?
SANDOVAL (on camera): Essentially, they were able to know exactly when to go in.
COOPER: Wow.
SANDOVAL (on camera): And that's the key here. What you -- one of the experts that you just heard from saying, it all boils down to what the player, the celebrity may actually be doing, not to advertise some of their high-dollar, high-price goods on social media. Because it's very easy for you and I to simply go onto their schedule, especially if it's a sporting team certainly.
COOPER: Right.
SANDOVAL (on camera): And know when they are going to --
