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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Officials: 21 Passengers Injured, 2 Remain Hospitalized; Eighth Prosecutor Quits As DOJ Tries To Drop Mayor Adams Case; Measles Cases In TX & NM More Than Double Since Friday. Aired 5:00-6p ET

Aired February 18, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: -- chaos in the New York City mayor's office. Eric Adams headed for a public safe face off with the state's governor over whether Adams will be removed from power. The fallout ahead.

And breaking this hour, a big victory in court for DOGE, the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency. A federal judge now declining to issue a temporary restraining order from DOGE being able to access federal data systems and multiple executive branch agencies. In another federal courtroom, a different judge declined to block DOGE from firing employees at those agencies. This as the DOGE mass firing spree continues to cause confusion and chaos among programs that are essential to public health and national security.

We are learning that DOGE attended meetings at the Pentagon on Friday. DOGE individuals, we still do not know exactly how many people have already been fired by DOGE. And apparently neither does DOGE. In the court hearing challenging these mass firings yesterday, government lawyers, Trump administration lawyers could not give a number to the judge. Last night they followed up by submitting a court brief saying they are, quote, "aware that a select set of agencies in fact terminating a number -- terminated a number of employees at the end of last week."

How many were fired? A number. Well, that's probably true.

The judge went on to call DOGE's tactics unpredictable and scattershot. Some examples, the Trump administration last week initially fired more than 300 employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration, but then had to rehire almost all of them. You'd think the world nuclear would have offered some clue as to the agency's important. Trump was asked just about this moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of these workers focus on nuclear weapons security were immediately rehired. Do you have any concerns about how these terminations --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, not at all. I think we have to just do what we have to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Have to do what you got to do with, you know, nuclear weapons and safety. A similar situation unfolding at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the CDC, where more than 700 individuals have been fired since Friday. Now, the first year class of so called disease detectives, these are individuals who help trace the origins of pandemics and disease outbreaks, including E. coli were initially told they were being cut. They were being shown the door, but now apparently they've been spared.

At the Food and Drug Administration, the food chief quit. He said he was actually excited about implementing some of new HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s policies, including nutrition and chemical safety. But he says staff cuts are interfering with the administration's own goals.

Any big changes to the size and scope of the federal government would understandably yield some messiness. You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. But the Trump administration's messy and what the judge called scattershot process is breaking truckloads of eggs. And as we all know, those eggs aren't cheap these days.

Let's bring in CNN's Paula Reid and Jeff Zeleny's in West Palm Beach covering the president.

Paula, despite the chaos DOGE is causing, they did get a major court victory today.

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a big victory here. Judge Tanya Chutkan, you may remember her as the judge who oversaw Trump's criminal case related to allegations of election subversion. Well, today she declined to block Elon Musk and DOGE from accessing federal data at a slew of federal agencies. Now, the suit was brought by a group of state attorneys general. They were also asking her to block DOGE from being able to fire federal employees or place them on involuntary leave.

But she said that this group had not shown how they would be directly harmed. She said, quote, "The court is aware that DOGE's unpredictable actions have resulted in considerable uncertainty and confusion for the plaintiffs and many of their agencies and residents." But she said it remains uncertain when and how the catalog of state programs that the plaintiffs identify will suffer. This is just the second -- this is the second victory for DOGE today.

This morning, another Obama appointed federal judge, Randy Moss here in Washington, ruled that DOGE would not be blocked from accessing data at the Department of Education after students filed a suit asking to protect their data. Again, the judge said they had not been able to show they had been harmed. So at least four times in recent days, these last minute lawsuits that were brought against DOGE have failed in court because plaintiffs have not been able to show a direct harm. Though judges have left the door open that if plaintiffs can later prove that their data was compromised or improperly used or show some other kind of harm, they can come back to court.

TAPPER: So, Paula, we should also note the DOGE mass firings are facing other legal challenges. Our viewers might remember last week I spoke with Cathy Harris. She had been fired from her role as chair of the Merit Systems Protection Board. Here's what she told me about this last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHY HARRIS, FORMER CHAIR, MERIT SYSTEMS PROTECTION BOARD: I'm supposed to only be able to be fired for cause that's malfeasance in office, neglect of duty or inefficiency, none of which apply to me. I've done a really good job. I believe that my firing was illegal and I should be put back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:05:00]

TAPPER: And Paula, today there's an update in her employment status.

REID: That's right. She sued to get her job back. And just moments ago, a federal judge ordered that she be reinstated.

TAPPER: And, Paula, today there's an update in her employment status.

REID: That's right. She sued to get her job back. And just moments ago, a federal judge ordered that she be reinstated as chair of that board. That's the primary agency for federal workers to lodge complaints. Now, her reinstatement is temporary while the court reviews her entire case.

But it's notable, at the same exact time that decision came down, there was a different hearing challenging mass firings going on here in Washington. And the judge was really focused on why people weren't using things like the Merit Systems Protection Board to adjudicate their claims and made no mention of the fact that the board, the board chair, was among those who have been laid off. Jake.

TAPPER: And Jeff, the DOGE chaos is in full swing as they cut jobs. We're seeing more people in top posts resign.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, it's been extraordinary, really, from agency to agency, day by day. There has been another top official. It started, of course, with the Treasury Department, the IRS, now the acting Social Security commissioner resigning after some 30 years. So really, these are piling up. It's almost difficult to keep track of all of them.

But one thing is clear, just the years and decades of experience of federal government experience and knowledge going out the door here. But a central question here as we almost enter the first month of the Trump presidency. I mean, the books. We long thought that Elon Musk was the administrator of DOGE. We thought that he was running DOGE.

We saw him standing in the Oval Office just a week ago next to the president. It turns out he's not the administrator of DOGE. And the president was just asked a short time ago who's actually running DOGE. And he said, you know, you can call Elon Musk an employee, a patriot, a contractor. And the president moved on from there.

So there definitely are still questions here. Who's the actual administrator of DOGE? Never mind all the impact it's having across the government. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Paula Reid and Jeff Zeleny, thanks to you.

And this just in. The Trump administration is reinstating about 30 federal power grid workers who were fired two days ago. Then there's going -- what's going on at the IRS.

Let's discuss all of this with Nina Olson. She's executive director of the center for Taxpayer Rights, which filed a complaint against the IRS and DOGE and others now that DOGE has accessed Treasury payment systems and is attempting to access IRS databases.

So, Nina, you represent taxpayers, particularly vulnerable communities in the United States. That's how your group describes itself. Explain why you think the average American has reason to be concerned if DOGE does get access to IRS databases?

NINA OLSON, EXEC. DIR. & FOUNDER, CENTER FOR TAXPAYER RIGHTS: Well, the IRS databases are protected by Congress that, you know, information is confidential unless Congress has created an exception. And the reason for that is so that taxpayers will feel willing to come in and share their information with the IRS. Otherwise we'll have to have 87,000 revenue agents going out there knocking on doors. And if that information is exposed and leaked through just wide dispersion throughout the federal government, then there's very difficult to control it and that it won't become public and people will then go, I'm not going to file.

TAPPER: But in a normal world, right, the tension is supposed the way that the founding fathers created the system is the executive branch and the legislative branch and the judicial branch. And they're all supposed to be going at each other to create a system with checks and balances. But you're talking about what should because --

OLSON: Right.

TAPPER: -- of what Congress has authorized.

OLSON: Right.

TAPPER: But Congress is completely absent. Republicans who control Congress is completely absent from these debates.

OLSON: Well, we'll see what happens. I think people are really waking up to the fact of what might be happening as some folks come into agencies, particularly the IRS, because again, I'll say the IRS has the mother load of data. It's not just about birth and death. It's about, you know, all of your business activities. It's about your health care, it's about your status of your family. And all of that could be reproduced and go on the dark web and people would be harmed in that way as well. TAPPER: So the White House has said that DOGE is essentially just using IRS taxpayer data, payment data, to look for signs of fraud. My colleague Brianna Keilar asked the White House Deputy chief of Staff Stephen Miller about this earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Will DOGE employees be able to access individual taxpayer ID numbers and Social Security numbers?

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: No. But also keep in mind you keep talking about DOGE employees --

KEILAR: Will they be able to access taxpayer bank account information?

MILLER: They will not be able to access anything that any other appropriately authorized federal employee could access. When you keep talking about, quote, DOGE employees, you're just talking about federal workers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So how would you respond to that?

OLSON: So under the law, federal employees for tax administration purposes, Treasury employees can have access to taxpayer data, including returns if it's part of their Tax administration duties. But there has to be a purpose for them accessing that information.

[17:10:19]

TAPPER: They can't just go sniffing around what the agency --

OLSON: And -- exactly. And it's not clear what roles the DOGE employees have in the IRS. Are they actually detailed into the IRS? What jobs are they detailed in? Are they programmers? Why do they need to see tax --

TAPPER: Well, they're not answering any of our questions. I'm sure the same is true with you.

OLSON: Well, exactly. And I think that what's also important is that the efforts to identify fraud, waste and abuse, the DOGE employees aren't authorized to make determinations of whether there's something fraudulent happening on somebody's return. You have to be a specific kind of employee in the IRS to be able to make those determinations.

TAPPER: Right. Well, I mean, they are not being transparent about what they're doing. I mean, I have no problem with waste, fraud and abuse being tracked down and ended.

OLSON: Right.

TAPPER: But they are being completely opaque. They are not answering any questions about what they're doing, who they're authorizing, whether people are just like, go and look under -- you know, we don't like Democratic Senator Adam Schiff go see if he's doing anything fraudulent or whether or not you have to have some sort of reasonable grounds for an investigation.

OLSON: Well, and the other thing is that the memo that apparently has been negotiated is to give DOGE employees access to the IDRS system. And the IDRS system in the IRS, contrary to what Stephen Miller said, actually is the way that IRS employees look up individual taxpayer account data so they will access it by Social Security numbers.

TAPPER: Right.

OLSON: You know, so it's just, I'm baffled by that statement.

TAPPER: Yes, it'd be nice if we had a legislative branch to do oversight on any of this. Nina Olson, thanks so much.

Turning to the other major story today in our world lead, a four hour meeting between U.S. and Russian officials, culminating with several agreements on starting negotiations to end Russia's three-year war on Ukraine. Without Ukraine at the table, listen to Trump's shocking new assertion moments ago.

(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, 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)

TAPPER: Ukraine should never have started the invasion of Ukraine. That's an interesting comment.

President Trump also casting doubt on where all the U.S. Military aid to Ukraine has gone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have to equalize with Europe because Europe has given us -- given a very much smaller percentage than that. I think Europe has given 100 billion and we've given, let's say, 300 plus. And it's more important for them than it is for us. We have an ocean in between and they don't. But where is all the money that's been given?

Where is it going? And nobody -- I've never seen an accounting of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Matthew Chance is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Matthew, those comments -- by the way, I mean, he does run the government. He's allowed to get an accounting for that money if he wants. I'm guessing that's not going to sit well with either leaders in Ukraine or Europe. MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I mean, look, I know a lot of people in Ukraine who are -- well, I mean, they're freaking out right now about what's going to come next for their country. But this is, yet again, President Trump pressing ahead with his determination to get a peace deal for Ukraine apparently as soon as possible, despite the alarm, the growing alarm inside Ukraine and despite the consternation, frankly, of America's European allies, who feel very much excluded. This, of course, these racist comments coming as U.S. and Russian officials here in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, you know, did the, you know, what was unthinkable even a month ago before Trump was inaugurated, basically meet face to face to discuss the resetting of relations, whether it's political, economic or diplomatic between Washington and Moscow. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (voice-over): The Russians are calling these first U.S. talks a huge accomplishment. After years of hostility, officials from both sides now chatting across a Saudi negotiating table. The U.S. says it wanted to see how serious the Kremlin is about ending its brutal Ukraine war.

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATES: I came away today convinced that they are willing to begin to engage in a serious process to determine how and how quickly and through what mechanism can an end be brought to this war. Whether we can ultimately reach that outcome will obviously depend on every side in this conflict's willingness to agree to certain things.

[17:15:08]

CHANCE (voice-over): For the past three years, Russia has been pounding the front lines across Ukraine, seizing territory in a full scale invasion estimated to inflicted hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides. Despite tough sanctions, though, and steep losses, the Kremlin has shown little sign of wavering. Even now briefing that the war is just one issue along with restoring economic ties in the possible normalization of relations with the U.S. under President Trump.

KIRILL DMITRIEV, CEO, RUSSIAN DIRECT INVESTMENT FUND: I think again, in the previous administration there was so much damage done to any communication, any dialogue, any understanding of each other, so I think the Biden administration. So I think we're starting from a very low base and we have lots of road ahead of us. But I think the conversation was a dialogue trying to understand each other position, respectful dialogue. And that's already huge accomplishment. No ultimatums, really understanding each other position.

CHANCE (voice-over): What's also striking in Riyadh is the absence of key players, not least Ukraine, whose embattled president vows he will not give in to Russia's ultimatums and express surprise. U.S Russia talks are proceeding apace.

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE (through translator): Today, Europe, NATO countries and the United States could give Ukraine hope. Strong security guarantees hope that Ukraine will become a NATO member. But today we do not hear such support from the United States. We know that they and several other European partners do not support a membership in NATO. And I believe that this is Russia's great desire.

CHANCE (voice-over): Another is Russia being back at the top table of international diplomacy and the Kremlin dream of shattering Western unity on Ukraine becoming a harsh reality.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE (on camera): Well, Jake, the other issue which is gathering some steam now is when there's going to be a presidential summit between President Trump and President Putin of Russia. President Trump in the last few minutes saying that he will probably meet his Russian counterpart before the end of February. Now it's -- that's about 11 days. And as far as I'm aware, both sides, certainly the Russian side and people I've spoken to in the U.S. Administration have said they don't want to be a summit unless there's something to announce. And so, that adds to the concern about what the coming days or coming week or so may bring in terms of an agreement between the US and Russia. Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Matthew, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

More breaking news, President Trump has signed a new executive order that he says will expand access to IVF and make it more affordable. We're going to discuss that next.

Plus, more questions than answers as new video surfaces showing the moment a Delta airline flight collided with the Runway. We're live on the scene ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:22:01]

TAPPER: And we're back with some breaking news in our world lead, some notable reaction from a top Senate Republican after today's talks between the Trump administration and the Kremlin. Let's get right to CNN's Manu Raju.

Manu, you caught up with Senator Roger Wicker, who's the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. What did he have to say?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really strong comments about Vladimir Putin and about the fact that the United States is now in these direct negotiations with Russia, Ukraine, not so far part of these negotiations in Europe as well. I asked him about all that. And what about Vladimir Putin can be trusted as Trump has suggested?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Do you think that Putin can be trusted in these negotiations?

SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: No. Putin is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life if not executed.

RAJU: Trump thinks that he should -- there's -- that he wants peace, that Putin wants peace.

WICKER: Well, I read a pamphlet back when I was in junior high called you can trust the Russians. And then parenthetically, it was to be clearly on their side and to violate the rule of law. I think that's what we can trust the Russians to do, is to do anything to their advantage, to take temporary steps. But Vladimir Putin has violated every tenet of international law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And I asked Wicker about the fact that the United States so far has begun those direct negotiations with Russia alone. He said, quote, "I don't know what the scheme is," but he said that the Ukrainians ultimately need to be at the table. And he said, quote, "European interests have to be considered" and, quote, "carefully weighed."

TAPPER: All right, Manu Raju, I'm sorry, I misstated. Roger Wicker is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Manu Raju, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

In our politics lead, moments ago, President Trump signed an executive order calling for policy recommendations to expand access and affordability for IVF and other fertility treatments. With me now, Republican Senator Katie Britt of Alabama. She's one of the driving forces behind the executive order.

Senator Britt, thanks so much for joining us. What does this executive order call for exactly?

SEN. KATIE BRITT (R-AL): Yes. So it says that his team, the domestic policy team, takes the next 90 days and looks for any impediment to access to IVF that looks whether that's, you know, financial, whether that's something kind of sort of in that space. And he wants to come up with solutions for that. So as you remember, the president about a year ago very clearly said, look, I believe in access to -- nationwide access to in vitro fertilization. I was proud to lead all 49 Republican senators at the time in saying we wanted continued nationwide access to IVF.

And President Trump said, I'm going to continue to be a champion for that.

Look, it is clear that we are the party of families and we are the party of life. And he is making sure that more people have the opportunity to achieve what I personally believe is the greatest gift, and that is that of being a parent. And so I am excited about what this means, and I look forward to continuing to lead these efforts if legislation is called for in the United States Senate. We want to make sure that people have an access to bring children into this world.

[17:25:19]

And if you look at the numbers, Jake, just over the last several years, our fertility rates continue to drop. You have 9 percent of men that have challenges with fertility, 11 percent of women that have challenges with fertility. Over the last 40 years, sperm counts have been down 40 percent. As we look to help people bring life into this world, God's greatest gift, making sure that we remove any impediment to that is critically important. So I'm excited.

And once again, this is promises made, promises kept from President Trump and his strong leadership on this important issue.

TAPPER: So, obviously, a lot of this started in your home state of Alabama. And I'm wondering if you worry that this executive order, expanding access to IVF, could face challenges. Last year, the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos created through IVF are considered children because they are fertilized eggs. Are you worried at all about the legal remedies? And how does somebody who considers yourself pro-life, as I know you do, reconcile the issue of a fertilized egg, some of which are sometimes destroyed through the process of IVF?

BRITT: Look, obviously we want to make sure that each and every person has an opportunity to bring life into this world, and that's exactly what happened. After you mentioned the Supreme Court ruling in the state of Alabama sent a chilling effect across our state to fertility clinics from the north to the south and east to the west. But I was really proud of the Republican led legislature, both the Senate and the House, for quickly coming to a solution to make sure that this access to in vitro fertilization could continue. And that gift that so many parents had prayed for, that gift of a child, that they could actually realize that through this process. And so when we look at that and then we look at the governor signing that into law, I know that this is a priority for the people of Alabama.

Obvious, it is a priority for President Trump. I feel good about continuing to be able to move that forward and look forward to being a part of it. I think that IVF is pro-life, and I want to make sure that as many people as possible can bring life into the world.

TAPPER: I know our time is short. You just heard CNN's Manu Raju reporting the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker said that Putin should not be trusted and that, quote, "Putin is a war criminal and should be in jail for the rest of his life if not executed," unquote. What's your reaction, especially with news of a rapprochement between the Trump administration and the Putin government?

BRITT: So once again, this is something that President Trump talked about on the campaign trail. He said, I want to bring a resolution to what is happening with Russia and Ukraine. If you remember, obviously Russia only invaded Ukraine both during the Obama presidency, not during the Trump, but then again in the Biden presidency. He said, we're going to make them come to the table. Six days after he was sworn in, Jake, you remember he said, if Russia doesn't come to the table, we will enforce bone crushing sanctions.

So having them at the table, figuring out how we can make sure we have the best possible resolution for the people of Ukraine, that we make sure that we're doing what we need to do, that we take into consideration all of the different aspects of what has happened and make sure that we find a peaceful resolution so that the killing can stop and so that we can actually have peace, hopefully eventually across Europe and the globe.

TAPPER: Who do you blame for the war in Ukraine?

BRITT: Putin. Absolutely.

TAPPER: Senator Katie Britt of Alabama, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today.

BRITT: Thank you.

TAPPER: New details coming into CNN on the Delta Airlines flight that crash landed on a Runway in Canada. We're live on the scene as investigators try to determine what happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The video capturing the view from the cockpit of another plane on a nearby runway as Delta Flight 4819 attempts to land. Then just as it touches the runway, the plane catches fire, it flips over, and it slides along the runway. As bad as that crash looks, miraculously, all 80 passengers and crew on board survived. CNN's Brian Todd is at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada. Brian, what's -- what's the latest in the investigation of the crash?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, that Delta plane remains on the tarmac at the spot where it came to a stop yesterday. More than 24 hours after the crash, as investigators continue to comb through it. We learned some important new details today from emergency officials and first responders about that first response to the crash.

What they said was it only took them a couple of minutes to get out to the spot where the plane had crashed, where it came to a stop. Their first task, they said, was to put out some spot fires. Now, you saw that dramatic video of the plane turning over, the flames coming from it, the smoke.

That was their first task. They had to put out those spot fires on the plane. And then Todd Aitken, the fire chief of the Toronto Airport, was asked, take us through the evacuation process. What did you do next? He said, actually, by the time they put out those spot fires, almost all of the passengers had self-evacuated at that point and were being escorted away.

Now, as to the cause of this crash and if weather was a factor, officials are now definitively not saying if weather was a factor in the crash, but Deborah Flint, the president and CEO of the Toronto Airport, did talk about the weather that they had been experiencing in the couple of days leading up to the crash. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEBORAH FLINT, PRESIDENT & CEO, GREATER TORONTO AIRPORTS AUTHORITY: On Thursday and Sunday, we got more than 20 inches. It is more snow within that time window than we received in all of last winter. Monday was a clear day, though, and it was an operational recovery day for Toronto Pearson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:35:11]

TODD: Deborah Flint also says that that plane is going to remain on the tarmac for about the next 48 hours at least. During that time, Jake, he said that at least two runways are going to be shut down at this airport, so the delays and the disruptions are continuing here in Toronto. Jake?

TAPPER: Brian Todd at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, chaos, uncertainty, a series of resignations. Is this the beginning of the end for New York Mayor Eric Adams? We're going to have some insight coming up into what's going on with Mayor Adams, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: For those keeping track, an eighth U.S. Justice Department official resigned this afternoon in the wake of the Trump-run Justice Department calling for the case, the corruption case, against New York City Mayor Eric Adams to be dismissed. This as New York Governor Kathy Hochul met with top Democratic lawmakers at her Manhattan office today to discuss the future of the New York City Mayor. Governor Hochul met with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, New York Congressman Gregory Meeks, and MSNBC's Reverend Al Sharpton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:26]

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Mayor Adams has a responsibility to decisively demonstrate to the people of New York City that he has the capacity to continue to govern in the best interest of New Yorkers as opposed to taking orders from the Trump administration.

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Whether or not there's a crime or whether there's enough of an outcry of the city, of -- of a given city, that you've lost the public trust. And the question is, if there's no crime and you go to public trust, how do we gauge the public trust?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In the last day or so, four deputy mayors have resigned from the Adams administration in protest of what appears a quid pro quo of some sort between Adams and the Trump administration. Let's bring in Noah Shachtman. He's a contributing writer for Rolling Stone. And -- and Noah, you have reporting that this is much more than just a fight over whether or not the Trump administration should dismiss this corruption case against Adams in exchange for him cooperating with their legal actions against un -- undocumented immigrants. Rather, you say it's -- it's a war between the Justice Department and the White House. So tell us more.

NOAH SHACHTMAN, CONTRIBUTING WRITER, ROLLING STONE: Yes, that's exactly right. This is not just about Eric Adams' case, although this is about the mayor of the city of New York, the biggest city in the country. It's really about the independence of the Justice Department from political interference. And particularly it's about the independence of the Southern District of New York, kind of the crown jewel of the Justice Department's prosecutorial system. And the Trump administration, the MAGA movement, wants that crown jewel for themselves. And they see the Eric Adams case as a way to seize control of that crown jewel.

TAPPER: I want to read this snippet from your reporting on Emil Bove. He's the deputy U.S. attorney general. You write, quote, Bove is the perfect effing hatchet man, says one criminal defense attorney, Mark I. Cohen, who has represented hundreds of defendants in Southern District of New York cases. He was one of those prosecutors who remind you how much, quote, how much power they have. He was forever reminding us of his stature, this lawyer asks. What did you learn about Emil Bove through your reporting?

SHACHTMAN: Well, I learned that Beauvais was actually a star himself of that crown jewel, of that Southern District of New York, and that he tackled many of the very biggest cases there, including a number of January 6th cases while he was leading the national security division of SDNY. But then he fell out, and he began to be one of Donald Trump's defense lawyers, and he began to develop a lot of suspicions about what SDNY and what some of these New York prosecutors were up to. And eventually he joined the Trump administration.

TAPPER: Could we continue to see these fights break out between the White House and the Justice Department if Trump continues to go after other so-called foes through the justice system, including New York Attorney General Letitia James or Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg?

SHACHTMAN: Yes. That's -- you -- I can guarantee you're going to see those kind of fights. Look, if you were going to go after Tish James, the -- the attorney general here, if you were going to go after Alvin Bragg, the local D.A. here, he's the guy that fought Bove and Todd Blanche in that famous porn star hush money case, you would likely do that through the Southern District. And so you can expect to see many more fights here in the months to come.

TAPPER: All right, Noah Shachtman, thank you so much. Good to see you.

[17:44:00]

A measles outbreak in the Southwest expands, and health experts warn the outbreak could continue to grow, details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: An explosive outbreak of measles continues to expand in the United States in the year 2025. The number of cases in Gaines County, Texas, more than doubled since Friday, according to Texas officials, who said that the outbreak began in a quote, close-knit, under- vaccinated Mennonite community, unquote, but stressed that that church allows for free choice on vaccination and is not the reason for the spread. CNN medical correspondent, Meg Tirrell, has more. Meg, what is the scale of this outbreak?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, I mean, it's getting pretty large. We've learned about 10 new cases really just since late last week. We're now up to 58 cases in West Texas, 13 of those patients have been hospitalized. The vast majority of these patients are unvaccinated or their vaccine status is unknown.

We did, however, learn today about four cases included in this outbreak of people who think they were vaccinated against measles. The measles vaccine has a 97 percent efficacy rate if you have two doses, but that still means if there's a lot of measles around, people could still be vulnerable.

Jake, we also know that this is an outbreak that's happening not just in Texas. We are also seeing cases in neighboring Lea County in New Mexico. Now, so far, we have not heard about a link between the Texas cases and the New Mexico cases. They are, of course, right next to each other county-wise.

But just since last week, we've learned about an additional five cases in Lea County in New Mexico, and that's in a single family. So now we're up to eight cases in New Mexico at this point. This mainly is striking children. We are seeing 15 cases among children under the age of four, 33 cases among kids under the age of 17.

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And so this is something that we're going to continue to watch and they're worried they're going to see more cases, Jake.

TAPPER: And do we know what's contributing to this outbreak other than people who are not vaccinated?

TIRRELL: Well, I think the lack of vaccination really seems to be the big driver here, because they want to keep measles vaccination rates above 95 percent, because this is such a contagious virus. To give you a picture of that, if somebody breathes out in a room who has measles, for the next two hours, that virus can be hanging in the air, and somebody who's susceptible could be infected, even if they never even cross paths with that person.

And one of the things about the place where this is centered, Gaines County, Texas, is they have an 18 percent exemption rate for kindergartners for at least one vaccine there. And so vaccination rates are way too low to be protecting people. Even folks, Jake, we're learning, who think that they're vaccinated.

TAPPER: That's right. Twenty five years ago, the measles was considered eradicated in the United States because of the high level of vaccination. But we do not have that high level of vaccination anymore. Meg Terrell, thanks so much.

Veganism, artificial intelligence, gender identity and murder. Police arrest the supposed leader of a cult like group linked to multiple killings across the country. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our National Lead, three people alleged to be members of a cult-like group tied to several cross-country murders are now in custody. Police in Maryland arrested Daniel Blank, Zach -- I'm sorry, Jack Lasota, and Michelle Zajko on Sunday.

The three are charged with trespassing and obstruction, and they're currently in jail without bail. Prosecutors say the three are part of a larger group of young, former tech workers who call themselves Zizians. Lasota, who goes by Ziz, is transgender, and Lasota was originally declared dead in a 2022 boating accident, according to an obituary.

However, since then, officials have linked the Zizians to several homicides in California and Pennsylvania and Vermont. One includes the killing of a Border Patrol agent, David Maland, in Vermont last month. Authorities say writings online from the Zizians range from conversations about veganism and gender identity to artificial intelligence.

Daniel Blank's father told the San Francisco Chronicle this about his son, quote, he went under the influence of a cult, which I believe it is. Joining us now is San Francisco Chronicle crime reporter, Megan Cassidy. Megan, when did this group first emerge, and -- and how la -- large are they?

MEGAN CASSIDY, CRIME REPORTER, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: So they first emerged publicly, I would say, in November 2019, when a group of four of them were had, you know, staged this kind of bizarre demonstration in Sonoma County. They were protesting the larger rationalist community, which is a community of people in the Bay Area that lately have been really standing up for artificial intelligence, you know, not to kill us all. The, excuse me, I'm sorry. So that's the first time that they showed up.

We believe now that there are about eight or nine of them that maybe don't identify necessarily as members of, like, a Zizian cult, but they do associate with each other.

TAPPER: And how is this group connected to killings across the country, and who are the victims of these killings?

CASSIDY: That -- that would probably take longer than we have to tie all the connections, but they're -- they are connected to three separate incidents, three violent incidents across the country. One was a former landlord of theirs in -- in Vallejo.

Another one is the parents of a member, Michelle Zajko, that they were murdered in their home in Pennsylvania in late 2022. And then the third victim is -- is a, had pulled over two of the members and -- and was shot on the road. It was a Vermont border patrol agent.

TAPPER: And you reported that Lasota faked her own death in 2022, but she spoke to police at several crime scenes. How did she evade detection?

CASSIDY: You know, she has not been directly tied to -- to any of the murders, but she does seem to just have -- have these connections with people that have either been accused of them or have been strongly associated with them. But she -- she was released the first time that we know about after her alleged death because police couldn't tie her to an attack in Vallejo.

And then we also know that she was -- she was arrested when police were searching a hotel room for a gun. She had been arrested and associated -- associated with somebody else that police had been searching, but then they couldn't hold her on any -- any stronger charges. And so she bailed out in, I believe, summer, 2023.

TAPPER: Really bizarre stuff. Megan Cassidy from the San Francisco Chronicle, thank you so much for your reporting. Appreciate it.

Also in today's last lead, Native American activist, Leonard Peltier, was released from a Florida prison today. Peltier was convicted of the 1975 killings of FBI agents, Jack Coler and Ronald Williams, during a confirmation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Last month in the final hours of his presidency, President Biden, when he wasn't pardoning members of his own family, commuted Peltier's life sentence. The 80-year-old was released to home confinement.

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A big programming note starting March 3rd, that's two weeks from yesterday, The Lead is on the move. Look for the show in our new time slot. We're moving to 5:00 p.m., 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern every weekday here on CNN.

If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show once you get your podcast. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer right next door in The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.