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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Admin Defends Agenda As CNN Poll Shows Rising Pessimism; White House: Trump "Very Frustrated" With Zelenskyy Right Now; Senate Confirms Kash Patel To Lead FBI In 51-49 Vote; Trump Economist: DOGE Checks To Americans Wouldn't Drive Inflation; Hamas Releases Remains Of Four Israeli Hostages. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 20, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: He was a good hour's paddle away from dry land, but he did make it safely after the shark eventually went about its way.

[16:00:07]

You like sharks, Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: I do like sharks. They're fascinating creatures.

KEILAR: What did you think about that happening?

SANCHEZ: It's not surprising at all. Humans aren't the only animals that are smart and --

KEILAR: No, don't get me some academic thing. Would you be, like, scared?

SANCHEZ: I don't want to say what I do on TV because my mom watches this show, but they're actually not really that interested in people. Chances are, if you're seeing a shark in the water, you're not in any danger because they're ambush predators. They'll come up and surprise you.

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER -- not surprising us -- it starts right now.

(MUSIC)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Might a partly DOGE-funded check be headed your way soon?

THE LEAD starts right now.

Cut jobs, save the government money, send Americans a check for the difference.

That's the Trump plan being floated at least. But is it realistic? Is it feasible? And might it hurt your wallet more than it would help?

One of Trump's most controversial picks, Kash Patel, has now been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to head the FBI. Coming up, the key Republican senator who helped push him over the line.

And, an Iranian -- an Iranian drone rolled out for a conservative audience near D.C. CNN was invited for an exclusive up close look as Iran hawks try to convince a skeptical MAGA crowd that the Tehran regime is a serious threat.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

With brand new polling suggesting that much of President Trump's early agenda is unpopular with a majority of the American people and with even largely compliant congressional Republicans today distancing themselves from Trump's embrace of Putin and attacks on Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, top administration officials came to the White House briefing room today to tout and try to defend their boss's first month. And yes, I know, it seems impossible, but it has only been one month.

Here's what we learned today. Trump's national security advisor, former Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, who has long been hawkish on Russia, saying, for example, in 2023 that, quote, Putin is to blame for the war in Ukraine like al Qaeda was to blame for 9/11 came before the crowd today. Waltz's new boss has the upside down view that Zelenskyy is the dictator, not Putin, and that Ukraine is responsible for the attack on Ukraine.

So here was the new national security adviser, Mike Waltz, this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: After the president's post on Truth Social yesterday, need to know, who does he think is more responsible for the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Putin or Zelenskyy?

MICHAEL WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, look, his -- his goal here is to bring this war to an end period, and there has been ongoing fighting on both sides. It is World War I style trench warfare. His frustration with President Zelenskyy is -- that you've heard is multifold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No, stated Trump frustration with Putin was aired today, despite the fact that then Congressman Waltz in 2022 assailed Putin's, quote, despicable war crimes by launching strikes against children's hospitals, civilian centers and executing civilians without cause.

At today's press briefing, the Trump team was also pressed on what they are doing to make life more affordable for Americans. They recently floated an idea to give taxpayers 20 percent of savings identified by DOGE or the Department of Government Efficiency. Today, the administration dismissed the argument from some economists that this could lead to more inflation. Perhaps in discussing potential economic action, they're reading the proverbial room, highlighted in a brand new CNN poll today, suggesting that 62 percent of Americans say Trump is not doing enough to address the high prices of everyday goods.

His campaign promise to add the end the affordability crisis, of course, was -- was a huge part of why he won over many non-MAGA votes.

Today's Trump approval rating tilts negative. It's 47 percent. It still lands above the level he reached at any point in his first four years in office. The devil is, of course, in the details because the poll shows signs of fleeting optimism over Trump's return to office. In just a moment, well have a much deeper dive on how Americans are grading Trump's actions so far.

But let's go right now to CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at the White House.

And, Jeff, tell us more about something of a show of force at today's White House briefing from Trump officials. And what -- what we learned about the Trump administration's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war and the economy.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, it was -- the Trump administration is trying to celebrate their first month in office, marking it with all of the executive orders they've signed, all of the actions they have done. You saw some of the top advisers there in addition to the national security advisor, also the top economic advisor, as well as Stephen Miller, who, of course, has his fingers and hands in most of the domestic policy that's been going on.

[16:05:04]

But it is the challenges of the second month now are coming in a much sharper view. Of course, Russia, Ukraine is at the very beginning of that and again asked directly, Mike Waltz, as you said there, a former Florida member of Congress who once believed that Ukraine was the victim in this, now not saying that at all. Asked directly again, if the president believes it was Putin or Zelenskyy responsible for this, did not answer the question.

But, Jake, he said something that was very instructive to how the president really believes this. He said this, we could argue all day long about the things in the past. Well, of course the things in the past are going to help us set the predicate going forward here. So that is one of the challenges.

The president has not repeated something he said for the last couple of days that Zelenskyy is a dictator, in his words. He has an event coming up in the East Room of the White House here shortly. We'll see if he says it there. He is giving a speech tonight here in Washington. We'll see if he sort of escalates this.

But no doubt that is front and center here. Even as the economy remains the central biggest challenge of this administration, at least on the domestic front. You mentioned that 62 percent of Americans say the Trump administration has not done enough to sort of express concern about the growth of prices. That is something that the administration has blamed on the Biden

administration. We heard that again this afternoon. Kevin Hassett, the top economic advisor here, he said that the Biden inflation will not be solved in a month. Well, Jake, it raises the question here. Just how long will it take for the president to address it?

They know that is one of their biggest challenges that could define their presidency as well -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny at the White House for us, thanks so much.

The panel is here.

David Chalian, CNN's Washington bureau chief and political director.

CNN's Kasie Hunt, who's going to anchor a brand new show that will air at this time slot starting March 3rd. That's a week from Monday. It's called "THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT", again, 4:00 p.m. Eastern as THE LEAD slides to the 5:00 hour.

David, let me start with you. What's your big takeaway from CNN's polling out today about how Americans are viewing Trump's first month?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, my first big takeaway is the honeymoon is over, right? We saw that he had some positive remarks marks during the transition. And as you noted, Jake, yes, this is numerically a high for him in CNN polling on an approval rating, even through the four years of his first presidency. But he is upside down, he is under water, and he is lower than any of his modern era predecessors at the beginning of administration.

And I think we get at why here. We tested some of his actions that he's taken so far. And we've asked folks, do you think it's a good thing or a bad thing? And if you just take a look at the chart, look at the left hand side there.

Good thing -- nothing gets rated as a good thing by higher than 37 percent of poll respondents. And that's ending government DEI efforts. Bad thing, if you look at the bottom three, there are a majority of Americans in this poll who say its a bad thing to shut down agencies, to give Elon Musk a prominent role, and saying that the U.S. would take over Gaza, that that really is a clunker of a policy.

TAPPER: Yeah. And I saw a Washington Post/Ipsos poll that had pardoning violence January 6th, defendants.

CHALIAN: Not very popular?

TAPPER: Pretty unpopular, like 85 percent disapproval.

And, Kasie, today at CPAC, Vice President Vance was asked what more needs to be done to make life more affordable for Americans. Here's part of his answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But it's going to take some time to fix what Joe Biden broke over four years. And we know it is -- it is easy unfortunately to burn the house down. It takes a little bit of time to build it back up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Today, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett came to the briefing room and said inflation would not go away in a month. The administration has floated this idea of giving 20 percent of whatever savings comes from these slashings in the federal government size, the DOGE cuts, to Americans, and they've talked about also abolishing the Internal Revenue Service.

Is any of this realistic or enough?

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, is any of it realistic? Certainly, that would be a big political move, right? I mean, Donald Trump did it in COVID, signing the checks.

Remember, even Joe Biden acknowledged like that was a mistake. I passed this big infrastructure plan. Nobody knows I did it. Donald Trump signed the checks. That was smart.

TAPPER: Biden thought that was his one mistake.

HUNT: Well, he thought it was a mistake anyway.

But -- so there are some things here that I think potentially could resonate with people. I think the challenge is, you know, they're trying to say this is all about Biden. Inflation was coming down at the end of the Biden administration. The rate of inflation had been slower for a while.

And I think, you know, David, you know this better than anyone, it's its pretty classic, honestly. It's a classic mistake to over-read a mandate that you have, right? And they have gone in all of these directions that I don't necessarily think Americans were telling them that they wanted them to go.

I mean, you can see I think there were people who had concerns about DEI and the cultural shift in the Democratic Party, but they elected him to bring down prices like period, the end.

TAPPER: And on that subject, David, the CNN poll shows us where Americans think Trump has gone, quote/unquote, too far. What are these areas and how might this impact Trump down the road?

CHALIAN: Yeah. So where he's gone too far are slim majority using presidential power, 52 percent say he has gone too far there.

[16:10:03]

Cutting federal programs, 51 percent of Americans say gone too far. I want to draw your attention to that bottom one, trying to reduce

prices. Only 11 percent of Americans think he's gone too far. In fact, the flip of that, Jake, I think, is the biggest number in our poll. You mentioned it at the top 62 percent of Americans in the polls say he has not gone far enough. He has not done enough to bring down prices. And that that is the crux of how he returned to the Oval Office a second time. And that's going to be a warning sign to this administration.

TAPPER: So we see this -- this pattern playing out, Kasie, where DOGE tells agencies you need to cut. And I think they suggested or at least they referred to the Office of Personnel Management, get rid of probationary people who are not providing critical services. The agencies then slash and it comes out like, hey, you just cut all the people from the veterans crisis hotline. Hey, you just fired all the people in charge of nuclear weapons. Hey, you just fired all the people in charge of tracking down pandemics that are about to break.

Where do you see? And those people are all, I believe, hired back, or at least a number of them. Where do you see the biggest potential for a backlash when it comes to this?

HUNT: Well, honestly, it's -- I'd have to be inside Elon Musk's head to know exactly what they're coming for next for this.

I think that the broad funding freeze is probably the thing that affected the most people in one fell swoop in that it really highlighted the ways in which people interacted with the government, that they may or may not focus on it actually being a government service.

TAPPER: You mean the freeze on grants that they took back or the hiring freeze?

HUNT: That they officially took back. No, the initial funding freeze that came out in the first week or two, right? And that, you know, there are still reports, I mean, there's a lawsuit from the state of Pennsylvania saying --

TAPPER: Commonwealth.

HUNT: The commonwealth, excuse me.

(LAUGHTER)

HUNT: We do call it the Keystone State also. I mean, I did I did grow up.

TAPPER: I'm sorry I got you off track. There's a lawsuit --

HUNT: There's a lawsuit that they're suing the federal government, and they're saying we -- this money that you say is not frozen, actually is frozen. We actually can't get the money that we need, the money that we deserve, that Congress has given us. And this affected real people in their lives. And there are examples of places where it's still affecting people. I mean, I was speaking to someone, you know, that you -- I don't want

to name them, but someone you would run across in the course of your daily life thinks you know someone you're talking to at the grocery store or your dentist or whoever. She was telling me that she's got a daughter in Kansas City, Missouri, who works at a small NGO that helps homeless people in her city, and she's not sure -- they don't know that they should disperse the grants that they have, because they don't know if they're getting any more, and they're worried that nobody's going to be able to stay on the payroll.

The idea that this is just and this is this goes to the cuts in, you know, the federal workforce that could lead to impacts on contracts and other things that the government has yet to pay out, right? The idea that it's just affecting the DMV, like this region, the beltway --

TAPPER: Oh, no, no, no.

HUNT: -- is totally wrong. That I think is going to be the change.

CHALIAN: I think that's why we saw them rescind that initial funding freeze --

HUNT: But they haven't done --

CHALIAN: -- real quick.

TAPPER: Meals on Wheels.

CHALIAN: I mean, I think it was just like, oh, this wasn't really thought through.

HUNT: One other quick note, Jake. I think that there's a non-zero chance, according to according to the number of sources I've spoken to on the Hill, that they will go ahead and shut down the government in March, perhaps for weeks, and that that will be used to try to further their goals of getting more people to quit and also impact more communities across the country.

TAPPER: We ain't seen nothing yet. My understanding is that all these firings that are going on, this is stage one and there is a stage two coming that is going to be a bloodletting of sorts.

David Chalian, Kasie Hunt, thanks to both of you.

Again, Kasie's new show, "THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT", debuts Monday, March 3rd at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. That's a week from Monday. THE LEAD is going to slide an hour later. We'll be on the air from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern every weekday, only here on CNN.

And later today, if Trump were to send you a check, a partly DOGE funded check, what that could do to the U.S. economy. We're going to break down the numbers.

But first, the big announcement from Republican Senator Mitch McConnell today on his 83rd birthday. And days after the U.S., Russia get together in Saudi Arabia, top Trump administration official met today with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Here why this face to face did not quite go as intended.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:18:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTZ: President Trump is obviously very frustrated right now with President Zelenskyy. The fact that that he hasn't come to the table, that he hasn't been willing to take this opportunity that we have offered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, if you're thinking at home when you hear the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz saying that Zelenskyy wasn't even invited to the U.S.-Russia talks in Saudi Arabia this week, how could they fault them for not being at the table, you'd be right. But national security adviser waltz was probably referring to a different deal, this rare earth mineral deal, pushed by the Trump administration, which proposes the U.S. taking 50 percent of Ukraine's mineral reserves in exchange for U.S. aid that has already been given to Ukraine, which apparently does not offer any guarantee of future assistance. So that's that deal, we think.

Let's go right to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv.

And, Nick, Trump sent his Russia Ukraine envoy to Ukraine today to meet with President Zelenskyy. Tell us more.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, we don't know much about what happened in that meeting. There had been a suggestion that maybe we get a press conference afterwards that appeared to not be the case. Apparently, the American side asking for less press availability. We heard from Zelenskyy suggesting the meeting had been productive, that it would indeed touch upon -- it had indeed touched upon that rare earth minerals deal. Again, trying to suggest, I think Ukraine wants to move forward in finding a compromise there as well. And indeed, they discussed some of the elements of peace here, potentially, security guarantees, the return of prisoners of war.

The issue really, though, is this whole visit, so long awaited by Kyiv, has been overshadowed by the frankly horrific decline in U.S.- Ukraine relationship.

Trump calling Zelenskyy a dictator, the Zelenskyy suggestion that Trump lives in disinformation circle. And then the bizarre statement we heard from Air Force One last night that when Bessent, the U.S. treasury secretary, came here to deliver that first draft of the rare earth deal that Zelenskyy rejected, that when Bessent tried to talk to Zelenskyy, Zelenskyy was sleeping.

[16:20:04]

Now, I'm sure Zelenskyy slept at some point during the visit. But, you know, we've seen him in public twice during that. So a litany of mistruths, frankly, that has been levied by the U.S. president against Zelenskyy that's damaged their relationship. Certainly, it may have been aimed at damaging his standing inside of Ukraine. I'm sure many Ukrainians are desperate that their president enjoys a good relationship with Washington.

Where do we go forwards from now? Well, it isn't clear quite what the product from that Kellogg meeting was. Are they going to meet again soon? What will Kellogg take back to the White House to deliver from the Ukrainians? Are they going to sign that deal?

It's such a repeated talking point. You heard a national security advisor Mike Waltz there talking about it yet again. He even went as far as to say that there's an aluminum foundry in Ukraine, that if it was refurbished through U.S. investment, could supply the United States all the aluminum it needs in one year.

Now, that's an extraordinary level of detail for a national security advisor to be going into. It's not talk of peace or arms. And Ukraine needs both urgently -- Jake.

TAPPER: Nick, are there any signs that Zelenskyy may actually agree to this deal about the rare earth minerals?

WALSH: Yeah. Look, I think he's going to be left with very little choice, to be honest. What is totally staggering, Jake, is what we've learned about what's in it, which is two pages of legalese and then a list of about a dozen pages of specific assets the U.S. want their hands on. That's the first draft, and it was only about past aid that the Biden administration had already given. It didn't talk about what they need urgently in the future and what security guarantees might come with it.

So maybe a new permutation might have more of a reference towards that, or might be slightly more in Ukraine's financial favor. Zelenskyy said he rejected it because it was just so not ready as a document and out of their interests. We haven't seen the text, but it is extraordinary, I think.

And a testament to the transactional nature of the Trump administration if you're being generous in your terminology, that Ukraine, struggling to retain its own sovereignty, losing hundreds a day on the battlefield, is now in essentially a barter over how it gets aid from its main backer, Jake.

TAPPER: Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv, thanks so much.

We turn now to Trevor Reed, a former U.S. marine. You might remember Trevor was arrested in Russia in the summer of 2019. He was sentenced to nine years and served nearly three in a Russian prison before his release was secured in 2022 by the Biden administration in a prisoner swap.

After settling back home in the U.S., Trevor went as a private citizen to Ukraine to join Ukraine's forces in battle against Russia. He was injured fighting Russians in their brutal invasion of Ukraine.

And, Trevor, thank you so much for being here. It's good to see you.

TREVOR REED, FORMER U.S. MARINE IMPRISONED IN RUSSIA FOR THREE YEARS: Good to see you, Jake.

TAPPER: What's it like for you to hear President Trump calling President Zelenskyy a dictator, and President Trump saying that Biden and Ukraine started the war?

REED: Well, he says a lot of off the wall things. So that's not that surprising. But I mean, even for Trump, you know, that's just outrageous that he would say that -- even if you don't support the United States sending aid to Ukraine, I think all Americans are smart enough to know that Vladimir Putin is the one who invaded Ukraine and started that war.

TAPPER: You fought in Ukraine, you went there as a citizen to join their troops in battle. You risked your life, you got injured. There were other Americans there, other people there that you fought alongside Ukrainians and others. What do you think when you -- when you think about them and you think about President Trump saying this about the battle that Ukraine started it, Biden started it.

What do you think?

REED: I think it has to be extremely disheartening for anyone who's over there currently fighting. A lot of my friends, are still fighting over there. I have a lot of other friends who have since left. I have some friends who are killed there, some that have, you know, catastrophic wounds from -- from fighting there. And to hear, you know, the leader of your country say that that was something that Ukraine started or something that was Ukraine's fault, you know, that's just got to be a real -- a real kick in the gut.

TAPPER: Yeah. And we talked to American soldiers who fought over there. American soldiers have been or veterans who have been killed over there. Veterans. Not soldiers.

And a lot of them talking about how they see it actually as a much more black and white, good and evil war than wars that they fought in -- in Iraq and Afghanistan. If President Trump were watching right now, what would you want him to know? What would you want to convey to him?

REED: I'd want to let him know that he has a unique opportunity here, to both help Ukraine, but to also help the United States and by supporting Ukraine, he would also be supporting the United States national defense.

You know, Putin is an evil dictator. He's a liar. Whatever type of peace agreement you come up with, with Russia, they are going to violate it 100 percent.

[16:25:07]

And the only thing that's going to keep Russia from violating that is by the use of force or the threat of force or security guarantees for Ukraine. So Ukraine becoming a member of NATO or Ukraine receiving, you know, a guarantee that NATO will put troops on the ground if Russia invades again for the third time, and President Trump is in a unique position to do this, he's the only one that can do this. And I hope that he does for the good of our own country and also for the good of Ukraine.

TAPPER: I mean, Putin already violated a peace agreement. Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons in the 1990s with an agreement with the United States and -- and Russia. We'll give up our nuclear weapons as long as you respect our territorial sovereignty. And Putin obviously has not respected that at all.

Trevor Reed, thank you so much. Good to see you, sir.

Coming up next, the list circulating among Republicans of generals and admirals who possibly will be fired by Secretary of Defense Hegseth at the Pentagon. Are Democrats willing to step in? We're going to talk to a senator on the Foreign Relations Committee next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:30:36]

TAPPER: In our politics lead, Kash Patel has been confirmed. The Trump loyalist was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to lead the FBI. It was a 51 to 49 vote, with Republican Senators Collins and Murkowski joining all 47 Democrats in opposition.

CNN's Manu Raju joins us now live from Capitol Hill.

Manu, Senator Mitch McConnell, who we should note, the former Republican leader, he voted against Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard to be director of the office of national intelligence, and RFK Jr., head of Health and Human Services. McConnell voted against all three, but he voted for Patel?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and we didn't know how he would vote until he actually came into the chamber in this afternoon for this vote. And it wasn't clear how Collins and Murkowski would vote until they both announced their opposition earlier today, citing Kash Patel's past political work in recent political statements as concerns that it could undercut the apolitical nature of the FBI director.

But Mitch McConnell did put out a statement saying that, quote, the bureau's reputation in recent years has been plagued by high profile scandals that risk politicizing its critical work. Director Patel is committed to restoring Americans' trust in the FBI, and I hope and expect he will move quickly to reset the bureau with greater transparency, accountability and cooperation with the Congress.

Now, McConnells statement, though, was pretty middle of the road, Jake, and he has supported most of Donald Trumps other nominees. And when he has, he has put out statements saying that he is proud to support any given nominee. He did not say that with Kash Patel, which is perhaps one reason why he signals how he ultimately views this nominee, even though he did vote in the affirmative in helping getting him to the post.

TAPPER: And Manu McConnell himself made news on the floor of the Senate announcing he will not seek reelection next year. How did his colleagues react?

RAJU: Yeah, this was not a surprise. Mitch McConnell is 83 years old. He stepped aside from being the top Republican in the United States Senate, the longest serving party leader in U.S. history. That was at the beginning of this Congress.

And it had been widely expected that the 83 year old McConnell, who has had health issues in particular in recent years, would step aside. But still, the decision was momentous. He is someone who has been instrumental in Republican politics for decades and helped usher through a very conservative Supreme Court as one of his lasting legacy items.

So, Jake, a lot of Republican senators and Democrats saw this -- that this was coming, but still reflecting on how significant of a moment it was.

TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju, thanks so much.

We turn now to Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut.

Senator, first, I want to get your reaction to Mitch McConnell announcing he's not going to seek reelection. I know you've disagreed with him on a number of policy fronts and strategic pursuits by the conservative movement. He is one of the few Republicans saying anything challenging at all about President Trump.

How do you think the Senate will be different without him there?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, listen, I appreciate the votes that Mitch McConnell has taken. I appreciate the fact that over the last four years, he was willing to reach out to Democrats. We got the bipartisan gun bill done in 2022 that has reduced gun violence rates in this country by 20 percent, because Mitch McConnell wanted to do something in a bipartisan way on the issue of violence in this country.

But nobody's going to forget the fact that after the riots in 2021, he had the chance to vote to impeach Donald Trump and deny Trump the chance to be back in the White House. Had Mitch McConnell decided to vote for impeachment, enough Republicans would have followed him to get that number above the requisite two thirds.

So his legacy is going to be very mixed. He is the reason why Donald Trump is president today, albeit with a record that also includes a lot of bipartisan accomplishment that he helped make possible during the Biden administration.

TAPPER: You said on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, what is your reaction to hearing President Trump calling President Zelenskyy a dictator and suggesting that Biden and Ukraine are responsible for the war starting?

MURPHY: Yeah, there's no separation between the Kremlin and the White House right now. The White House is a full time Kremlin propaganda operation. The way in which they have blamed Ukraine for starting the war, blaming the continuation of the war on Zelenskyy, calling him a dictator.

[16:35:04]

This is music to the ears of Russia, who I think knows that it is probably months away from being able to own and control most, and eventually all of Ukraine. It's a devastating moment for the free world, and I just think that the White House are fools if they believe that Putin will stop there. He is going to see a green light, to continue to use force to expand Russia's borders. And eventually I think there's a real probability that American troops are going to have to fight abroad to protect the global world order and our allies, and perhaps American sovereignty itself.

TAPPER: CNN is reporting that the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, has circulated a list among Republican lawmakers of dozens of generals and other officers that he intends to fire. Apparently, this includes the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown. Have you seen this list? Have you talked to any Republicans about it? What might that mean if these firings go through?

MURPHY: So I haven't seen that list, but obviously this is -- this is devastating. I understand these loyalty purges are playing out in a bunch of different agencies. They are likely unconstitutional.

But the most worrying loyalty purge that could happen is at the Department of Defense, because the Department of Defense, our soldiers, are generals, are supposed to defend all Americans, regardless of whether you are a Republican or Democrat. And this purge, I would imagine, is designed to root out anyone in the Department of Defense who is unwilling to implement an unconstitutional order from the president.

You've seen some of the questions that are being asked today before you get a job in the Trump administration. Did Donald Trump win the 2020 election was January 6th, an inside job? Who is your boss? The American people or Donald Trump?

This is all designed to make sure that the folks in office, even at the Department of Defense, are willing to act in coordination with Donald Trump to corrupt the country for Trump's enrichment and Elon Musk's enrichment. A really, really worrying development. I haven't seen the list, but I can only assume that it is part of this overall effort to try to purge people who are loyal to the Constitution to keep in place people who are loyal only to Donald Trump and his financial interests.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, the warning from Walmart, America's biggest retailer, and what that warning could signal about your money in the U.S. economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:04]

TAPPER: President Trump is considering a plan to send American taxpayers some of their money back. Specifically, it would be a check funded by up to 20 percent of savings identified by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

At today's White House briefing, CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked if the Trump administration worries at all that these potential checks could drive up inflation. The short answer was no.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Oh. Absolutely not, because imagine if we don't spend government money, and we give it back to people, then the, you know, if they spend it all, then you're even. But they're probably going to save a lot of it, in which case you're reducing inflation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So what exactly might this money mean for you for the U.S. economy?

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is here.

Vanessa, would this DOGE dividend be a good or a bad thing, ultimately?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's follow the money, Jake. Just take a look at what's going to happen. You're going to get a check, presumably from DOGE. That money is going to come in. It's going to go into your bank account.

You're going to decide, are you going to spend it or are you going to save it? The White House is banking on you saving it, but ultimately, most Americans are probably going to spend that money.

You're going to buy something with it. You're going to buy products and services with that money. So that is driving the cost of those products up because you have more people wanting those products.

And then, of course, you bring tariffs into the equation. That is going to place a higher premium on prices and goods and services. So all of this together, Jake, you add it all up. You likely are going to get more inflation. TAPPER: Inflation ticking back up would mean higher grocery bills for

Americans still struggling to put food on the table. This has been a big issue we've been covering now for years under Biden and now under Trump, a new CNN poll shows 62 percent of Americans feel President Trump has not gone far enough in trying to reduce the price of everyday goods.

To be fair, it's only been a month, but is there anything President Trump could be doing right now to combat inflation?

YURKEVICH: There certainly could be. And let's just look at two key places where we are spending our money every single day at the grocery store. Prices month over month at the grocery store were up about 4.4 percent.

But look at the price of eggs. Every American knows this story well. The price of eggs up more than 15 percent in January alone. The president and the administration has talked about an avian flu response. We have not heard what that is so far, but that could potentially tackle the key problem with egg prices, which is the spread of the avian flu.

Also, fuel oil, what we use to heat our homes. That was up in January by 6.2 percent. So Americans may be feeling that on their heating bill during these winter months. The president has said that he wants to boost U.S. oil production, to try to basically take us off our foreign dependence on oil.

The problem with that, Jake, is that energy companies here in the U.S. are not really looking to expand their oil production, and there's not necessarily enough refining capacity in order to basically lay out this plan and make it happen.

[16:45:08]

So, two good thoughts in theory, but putting them into practice basically a lot harder than it might look like it might end up being.

TAPPER: Walmart, the nation's largest retailer in a place where shoppers go for -- for good deals. Walmart is now expecting slower sales this year, they say. Why?

YURKEVICH: Yeah. So this is what -- the Dow was down more than 600 points today on this news. And look at Walmart's price today down more than about 6.5 percent.

Walmart is forecasting slower sales because they are reading the room. They are seeing that consumers are pulling back in spending. Retail sales were down about 1 percent last month. Inflation is heating up once again and there are big question marks around tariffs. What is going to be happening with that?

So the CFO of Walmart really laying it out in an investor call earlier today saying our outlook assumes a relatively stable macro environment, but acknowledges that there are still uncertainties related to consumer behavior and global economic and geopolitical conditions.

So Walmart can fare a little bit better than most companies, Jake, but they're certainly not immune to all of these changes in the economy right now.

TAPPER: All right. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much.

Some breaking news coming in from Israel. All busses and train service stopped after reports of multiple bus explosions. What were learning about this, that's next.

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[16:50:54]

TAPPER: It's the breaking news in our world lead. Israel is stopping and inspecting all bus and train operations across the country after reports of explosions involving several busses near the city of Tel Aviv. Israeli police are calling this a suspected terrorist attack. No injuries have been reported as of this minute.

Officials urge the public to remain alert, the public in Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- Netanyahu is expected to give a security assessment shortly, and we'll have more on that coming up.

Also in our world lead, the terrorist group Hamas returned the remains of four Israeli hostages in a cruel handover ceremony -- ceremony earlier today. Shiri Bibas was 32 years old when Hamas kidnapped her and her two young sons, four-year-old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir.

Oded Lifshitz was -- his remains were also returned. He was a longtime peace activist. He drove sick Palestinians to hospitals in Israel.

This is the second time we should note that Hamas ignored President Trumps deadline and demand that they release all of the hostages by a date certain. As Israel mourns the four hostages returning home, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is vowing revenge against Hamas.

CNN's Nic Robertson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a convoy freighted with the pain of a nation, the bodies, Hamas says, are the youngest, October 7th hostage victims and their mother on their final journey home.

And in the fourth Red Cross vehicle, what Hamas says are the remains of one of the oldest October 7th victims, Oded Lifshitz.

In the early morning handover, beginning against the backdrop of Hamas propaganda turning dignified with a short service as the four caskets handed over to the IDF, a moment of closure beginning for the families and a nation hostage to the fate of the Bibases.

Shiri Bibas' fear clutching nine month old Kfir and four year old Ariel, etched in Israel's collective memory. The young family from Nir Oz became icons for hope over despair. Israelis riding an emotional rollercoaster over their fate, worryingly, Shiri, Kfir and Ariel not released with 105 other hostages freed during the first pause in fighting, November 2023.

Shiri's husband Yarden's fate was also unknown. He too disappeared October 7th. Believed taken to Gaza. The first news of Shiri and Ariel coming late 2023, when Hamas claimed they were killed in an Israeli air strike, releasing a propaganda video exploiting emotional sensitivities of Yarden, blaming the Israeli government for their deaths. The IDF called it psychological terror.

Months later, this security camera video captured by the IDF, appearing to show Shiri soon after her abduction. But until this day, the IDF, unable to confirm the fate of the family, cautioning against Hamas statements. When Yarden was finally freed by Hamas three weeks ago, everyone in Israel understood the heartbreaking news awaiting him, his father and sister consoling him against the near certainty of his loss.

Along the convoy route Thursday, flag waving Israelis paid their respects. Hostage Square, somber, not celebratory, as with previous releases, white vans carrying the four on the last leg of their journey to a forensic institute for final identification the country, the Bibas and the Lifshitz fears closer to realization.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:55:13]

ROBERTSON (on camera): And, Jake, we're learning tonight those fears for the Lifshitz family have been realized. The Forensic Institute says they have identified Oded's body. One of his sons saying this ends 503 agonizing days. They say they hope for a better outcome.

Indeed, last weekend, I was speaking with one of his daughters, and even then, just a few days ago now, she was still hoping Oded, her father, was still alive. The family now say that they can begin their grieving -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

We'll be right back.

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