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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Stocks Fall As Tariffs Go Into Effect; Zelenskyy Should be "More Appreciative" Trump Says; Cyber Operations Against Russia Paused; DOGE Wants To Charge OPM For Its Work; Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) Is Interviewed About DOGE, Federal Workers, And The Democratic Party; White House Takes Over Dept. Of Justice's PR Strategy; Vatican: Pope Francis Had Two Episodes Of "Acute Respiratory Failure"; Melania Trump Shines A Light On Victims Of Deepfake Revenge Porn. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 03, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: President Trump past attacking President Zelenskyy again. "The Lead" starts right now.

Today, Ukraine's president says the war with Russia is far from over. That ignited a stinging response from President Trump. What could this back and forth mean for future U.S. support for Ukraine or for the future survival of Ukraine?

And mysterious warnings about possible collisions sent to pilots trying to land at Reagan National Airport just outside D.C. The problem with those warnings, there were no other aircraft nearby. The investigation launched as we hear exactly what pilots told air traffic control.

Plus, just into CNN, the attempt by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to charge another federal agency millions of dollars. How is that making government more efficient?

Welcome to "The Lead," I'm Jake Tapper and we start with a troublesome afternoon in our "Money Lead" moments after President Trump announced his tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China will go into effect at midnight tonight. We saw quite a tumble on the stock exchange, the Dow closing down more than 600, almost 650 points as economists sound the alarm that these tariffs are going to be passed on to the American consumer with the prices of cars, electronics and shoes expected to go up quite a bit. But you will recall before the November election then candidate Trump campaigned precisely on bringing costs down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Prices will come down and come down dramatically and come down fast.

So when I win, I will immediately bring prices down starting on day one. Starting on day one we will end inflation and make America affordable

again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is with me. Vanessa what exactly are these tariffs set to go into effect tonight at midnight?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITIS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, first we saw reaction to these tariff announcements. Just earlier today, as President Trump was speaking, we saw the Dow tumble more than 900 points and the Dow closing about 650 points, erasing all gains that were made since President Trump was elected. This is investors getting nervous that prices will rise and consumers will have to pay more, thus pulling back on spending, putting businesses on shaky ground.

But from Wall Street to Maine Street, American consumers are bracing to feel these impacts of these 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico and an additional 10 percent tariff on China. Things that will be affected are what it costs to produce a car. One estimate suggests it will cost up to $12,000 more to produce a vehicle. Also, we can expect that Americans will be paying about $1,200 more every year because of these tariffs.

And fruits and vegetables come from both Canada and Mexico into the U.S. Jake, avocados, we import about 90 percent from Mexico. We are going to see price increases there. President Trump says the reason he's doing this is to stop the flow of fentanyl, but also to incentivize companies to do business here in America. But you're talking, Jake, about uprooting entire supply chains in order to do that, Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah, bad news for all those avocado toast lovers. The president also announced today that he's going to put tariffs on all agricultural products coming into the United States starting April 2nd. All of them. What does that mean for U.S. farmers?

YURKEVICH: Yeah, President Trump in a Truth Social Post talked about this saying that U.S. farmers should get ready to produce more because he's going to hit all of our foreign imports of food with reciprocal tariffs starting on April 2nd. The problem with that, Jake, is we do rely on a lot of the world for things like fruits and vegetables, wine, cheese.

But the thing to look at here is what do those countries then do to us? They reciprocate with tariffs on U.S. farmers, something we saw in 2019 -- 2018, 2019 during the first trade war. The American Farm Bureau says specifically that this hurts farmers directly.

[17:14:58]

And this was so bad in 2018 that the government created a bailout program, a market facilitation program, just to help U.S. farmers because of these reciprocal tariffs from other countries on our U.S. farmers, Jake. TAPPER: Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you so much. Good to see you. To our

"World Lead" now. Is the path to an actual lasting peace between Ukraine and Russia getting longer and more winding? With no deal after Friday's now infamous Oval Office rumble involving President Trump, Vice President Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, this afternoon Mr. Trump was asked what he would need to see from President Zelenskyy to restart any negotiations for a ceasefire or mineral agreement?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well I just think you should be more appreciative because this country has stuck with them through thick and thin. We've given them much more than Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Just be more appreciative message was relayed directly to Zelenskyy during that Friday meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country --

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: I really respect you.

TRUMP: -- that's backed you far more than a lot of people said they should have.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Have you said thank you once this entire meeting?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: A lot of times.

VANCE: No, in this entire meeting. Have you said thank you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No. Vice President Vance was talking about saying thank you in that meeting, which President Zelenskyy had said. CNN more broadly found a non-comprehensive list of 33 previous times Zelenskyy thanked the United States, including saying he was grateful to Trump just a few weeks ago on February 12th, earlier today. However, there was more back and forth. President Trump blasting Zelenskyy for saying on Sunday that a deal to end the war was very, very far away.

President Trump on Truth Social writing, quote, "This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelenskyy. America will not put up with it for much longer," unquote. Then just a few hours later, Zelenskyy appeared to try to change his own framing of the path to a deal. Zelenskyy writing on Twitter or X, quote, "We are working together with America and our European partners and very much hope for U.S. support on the path to peace. Peace is needed as soon as possible," unquote. Obviously, we don't know what comes next, but the U.S. now is

welcoming a European-led effort to end the war in Ukraine. This morning, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivered a veiled swipe at the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISHPRIME MINISTER: Russia is the aggressor.

MEMBERS: Yeah.

STARMER: Zelenskyy is a war leader whose country has been invaded.

MEMBERS: Yeah.

STARMER: And we should all be supporting him --

MEMBERS: Yeah.

STARMER: -- and not fording over Putin.

MEMBERS: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This after we learned yesterday that the U.S. has actually suspended operations and planning for offensive cyber operations against Russia. A senior U.S. official telling CNN this could make the U.S. more vulnerable to cyber-attacks from Moscow, not having that deterrent there.

No word on whether Trump or Vance have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to say thank you. Let's go to CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Kaitlan, where does the White House actually stand on all of this? Is more appreciation from Zelenskyy really all it would take to appease President Trump?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's kind of a question, Jake, of how long it would appease him for. They certainly want some acknowledgement from President Zelenskyy and from the Ukrainians and the officials that were with him in the Oval Office. Overall, in regards to what happened on Friday, I'm told that is likely what you were going to see happen before there can be any movement forward on the minerals deal, for example, which they were expecting to sign here on Friday at the White House.

They even had the signing table and the chairs already set up before everything blew up, of course, inside that Oval Office meeting. And in recent days, they have felt emboldened by what happened on Friday. You've seen that message as Secretary of State Rubio has forcefully defended what happened in the Oval Office and how President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance handled it as well as the other top officials. And so they do want some kind of acknowledgement, Jake, it seems, before they could move forward in signing that minerals deal.

But when President Trump spoke in front of reporters and took a few questions this afternoon, he still sounded hopeful that deal could be resurrected, that it could be something that the United States moves forward with Ukraine on, that it's not all lost after what happened on Friday. But certainly there has been a large sense of frustration inside the White House that it has not happened yet, that it hasn't materialized and they have not signed it yet.

They do feel now though that they have a lot of the leverage here in terms of how things went on Friday and how they are approaching this. So that's a real question of what that looks like. And of course if they signed the deal, that doesn't mean everything is just done and complete then. It still creates a lot of questions about what happens further down the road. But the president hinted this could be something he talks about tomorrow night when he delivers that joint session address to Congress as he is speaking to them for the first time since he's taken office.

And so that's a real question of what that looks like, Jake. But this also comes as behind the scenes. Trump's top advisors have been meeting all day today on this very issue with Ukraine when it comes to whether or not to send more military aid to Ukraine, aid that is already appropriated and designated to go there.

[17:10:02]

Trump said earlier he had personally not been involved in those discussions, but we do know top officials are having them. And that's a real question of what those look like going forward, Jake.

And as Trump was implying today, saying that if someone doesn't want a deal then that someone is not going to be around for much longer. Clearly referencing President Zelenskyy.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins at the White House for us. Thanks so much. Kaitlan is working on new reporting. Obviously, look out for that on her new show. Not that new actually, her show, "The Source," which is at tonight at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN. Let's go to CNN's Nick Payton Walsh who's in Ukraine for us. And Nick, President Zelenskyy today said he's counting on U.S. support to help with the process to end the war with Russia. What is his next move to try and restart talks with President Trump?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: I mean we've seen him today say that he needs U.S. support for peace and peace is what Ukraine wants so reiterating that idea that Ukraine is not the obstacle here to peace. It's the speed of that particular arrangement that seems to be the difference here.

The Trump administration seemingly in the belief this could happen exceptionally fast but Ukraine and all of its European allies clear that they need to see a peace with guarantees with enough Ukrainian strength that Russia doesn't use a ceasefire as Ukraine says with factual backing as they have done 25 times in the last decade to refit, regroup and then attack Ukraine again. That's the real issue here.

Zelenskyy's positioning obviously as soft as it can be to try and re- ingratiate himself but we've also seen him in London suggest when asked really if he would step aside essentially say well, look, you've got to have elections, you've got to convince me not to be in them and my price for not being in elections is membership of NATO and that's a non-starter. So some defiance there, Jake.

TAPPER: What about some of the calls for Zelenskyy to step aside and I mean, the practicality of it. Obviously, my impression is that politicians in Ukraine are pretty unified in the suspension of elections during wartime even the opposition. How difficult would it be to replace a president during war time?

WALSH: Yeah, it has been remarkable to see a wartime commander here, his position undermined by many of Trump's cabinet in a circle, his advisors, suggesting that maybe he's not the man to take Ukraine forward. We've been looking into this and spoken to the deputy central elections commission chief who's basically said even in peacetime they really need six months to prepare for a real election here to get the processes ready, to rectify problems of polling stations, 75 percent of which he says are inoperable at the moment.

That's a quarter outside of what they think is functional at this stage to make it at a point where it's actually acceptable to international standards. Others saying, look, what do you do with the seven million Ukrainians who are currently refugees elsewhere in Europe? How do they vote, in Poland, for example? Very few consulates, but a million refugees. And also a million people serving in the military, how do they vote?

The real issue here being, if you have a result that is not really meeting a gold international standard, then you add to the Kremlin narrative that the victor is essentially illegitimate. That's worse when they currently are. And I think that's the real concern here. This sort of flip and talking point of Zelenskyy might be replaced. Well, it's frankly impossible here in wartime, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv, Ukraine for us. Thank you so much. As federal workers continue to lose jobs, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is racking up a tab that could top $4 million. Wait till you hear who DOGE is asking to pay for that $4 million. That new reporting's next.

Plus, Andrew Cuomo attempting a comeback, what the former New York state governor who resigned under disgrace is up against as he tries to become the next mayor of New York City.

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TAPPER: This just in, in our "Politics Lead," new CNN reporting finds that Elon Musk's DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency, wants to charge a different federal government agency millions of dollars for the work the DOGE did. What? CNN's Rene Marsh is here. Renee, I know that Mr. Musk is brilliant when it comes to some things, but civics is kind of like something he's getting up to speed on. What's the reasoning behind this? And ultimately, American taxpayers are footing the bill.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. So DOGE is supposed to be saving the government funding, but a draft document obtained exclusively by CNN shows that that work will certainly come at a cost to the tune of millions of dollars according to this draft agreement between OPM and DOGE sent from the executive office of the president. OPM is asking for reimbursement for its services to modernize the agency's systems --

TAPPER: OPM, the Office of Personnel Management.

MARSH: Yeah.

TAPPER: They're in charge of all the federal workers.

MARSH: Exactly, and also, they've really been ground zero for communicating directly DOGE's vision for what the government looks like and instructing federal agencies on just how to slim down the workforce and dismantle certain programs. So this agreement, this draft agreement is between DOGE and OPM and it's billing them essentially for 20 full-time employees at a pay rate that would usually be reserved for government workers who are senior managers. So one of the higher end of the pay scale.

And when you do the math for the length of time of this agreement from January, 2025 to July of 2026, it could be that this bill could be north of $4 million. We reached out to OPM on this. They said that they were not willing to comment, but really Jake up until now, it has been really unclear how will this idea of DOGE be paid for? Like where is the funding coming from.

[17:19:58]

And so we don't know if DOGE is asking for funds from other agencies, but we do know at the very least, they are asking OPM.

TAPPER: And you also have some reporting about how DOGE is acting kind of as a shadow operation within the Office of Personnel Management.

MARSH: Right. So the way career employees explain this to me, it's like a shadow agency that's operating at OPM. Again, they've been central to a lot of this messaging, but these career employees say a lot of these e-mails, whether it be the offering of the buyout, whether it be the e-mail we talked so much about, what did you do last week? In many cases, these career HR officials had never seen those e- mails before.

It is DOGE and people who have been in Musk's world and tied to his businesses who are there in the capacity of DOGE, they are the ones essentially running the show at OPM. And many of these career employees say that they feel sidelined and they've been cut out.

TAPPER: I know there are a lot of people, Republicans too in Congress, who feel the same way. Rene Marsh, thanks so much. Joining us now. Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, a state particularly vulnerable to all the DOGE cuts because there are a lot of federal workers who live in Maryland and of course, Virginia and D.C. Senator, it's obviously not just federal workers. I want to play this moment from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth directing civilian Pentagon employees to justify their jobs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I am now directing each member of the department's civilian workforce, just civilian, to provide those five bullets on what they accomplished in their specific jobs last week to reply to that e-mail and CC their immediate supervisor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you have any idea how many Marylanders have been fired and how is the overall economy of Maryland being impacted by this?

SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-MD): Well, first of all, let me say that we have about 160,000 Marylanders who are part of the federal workforce, the civilians who make sure that our water is clean, the ones at NIH and other places that are leading scientific research. And let me just say this, I don't trust Elon Musk and I don't trust DOGE. I don't trust anything that they're saying about the efficiencies that they hope to achieve.

We just now heard that they are asking these employees to tell them what they have done. They're not concerned about efficiency. Any person who said quit your job, let us pay you for eight months to do nothing. That's not a person who's interested in efficiency. What they're really interested in is making sure that they clear enough dollars to be able to extend the tax cuts for these billionaires. This is the billionaire's run amok.

You know, Elon Musk is getting what he paid for. He paid $220 million to the Trump campaign. So I can't believe anything they're saying. All of this, I think, is built on a total lie. He gave one number that said he had achieved deficiencies of about $16 billion and said, oops, I'm sorry, I made a mistake, maybe it's $9 billion. The public cannot trust anything coming out of Doge, and I most especially do not trust Elon Musk.

TAPPER: Your Governor, Wes Moore, just announced new resources for federal workers who have been fired because of these cuts, including telling them to come work for the state of Maryland. Are you part of this effort to find other ways to keep these residents employed and keep them from having to leave Maryland to find a new job?

ALSOBROOKS: Well we're part of one big team. I'll of course be working with Governor Moore and others to make sure we're doing everything we can to provide for Marylanders. In the meanwhile we are also making sure that we are supporting the lawsuits. I think this is going to be one of the best opportunities we have to fight against what have been many, many illegal firings, probationary employees, those who have shown up who have been there for decades in many cases.

Also working to make sure legislatively that we are doing everything we can to slow down the processes that we are seeing, to demand answers from this administration. But yes, I'll also be working with Governor Moore, working with Senator Van Hollen and the rest of our delegation to also make sure we're keeping resources at the forefront for many of our employees who are suffering. And let's talk about what we're seeing.

It is not only that we're seeing the firings, but we're seeing also that what, groceries have not gone down, the price of groceries have not gone down, inflation is rising. We're seeing also the cost of housing is going to continue rising. So all of this, again, is hurting the American people. And I haven't seen any evidence yet of how any of this helps the American people. It is all about this heist that is happening to take over the government and to benefit billionaires.

TAPPER: Even as President Trump and Elon Musk are enacting all these massive changes, I have to say the Democratic Party, your party, has a huge problem. The latest Quinnipiac University National Poll finds that only 21 percent of the American people approve of the job the congressional Democrats are doing. Even more striking is that 49 percent of Democrats disapprove of what Democrats in congress are doing. How is your party getting it this wrong?

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ALSOBROOKS: Well let me just say this. I will push back on what you just said for this reason. The fact of the matter is there is broad dissatisfaction and unhappiness and distress and I understand all of it and I agree that all of us have more work to do, but be clear, the people who are in control right now are the Republicans. They have control of the Senate, they have control of the House, and they have the White House. And so the people who are really enacting this pain on the American people are not the Democrats.

Now we have a job to do, but I think it is really important that right now the people who should be held to account are also my colleagues in the Republican Party who have been complicit with this. The ones who know better, see better, and I think it's really important for them to continue to speak up. There are so many opportunities for that to happen. But the Democratic Party is not what's causing the pain that we're seeing. It is the leader of the Republican Party who is right now, who is unfit, who is callous, and who has done nothing to support the average American family.

TAPPER: I'm not suggesting Democrats are responsible. I'm just saying you have historically low approval ratings.

ALSOBROOKS: Well you know what, and approval ratings, you know what, again, all of us should be held to do our jobs. We are doing ours right now. We're making sure that we are opposing these unqualified nominees, secretaries who have been nominated. We are making sure that we are also using every procedural tool available to us. And so, you know, all of us have a role to play.

But in this moment, what we must do is to make sure that we are doing what we can to protect the American people who will be harmed and who will die, many of them, as a result of what we're seeing. You look at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where 8,000 people lost their jobs. This is a weather service. Hurricanes, wildfires, people will die as a result of the really unethical decisions that have been made to destabilize our country.

And this is not a time just to point fingers. We need people of good conscience to speak up right now and say, I do not agree with what Donald Trump is doing to harm our country, to harm our relationships across the world. We are becoming less safe every day as a result of what this administration is doing and it requires all of us. This is not a time to be pointing Democrat, Republican, all of us of good conscience and who have any integrity at all should be speaking up and saying it's wrong.

TAPPER: Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

ALSOBROOKS: Thank you.

TAPPER: Today over at the Justice Department, an attempt to defend the Trump agenda has led to a series of missteps. Case in point, the so-called New Epstein files that were released. They were not new. What sources tell CNN about what's going on at the DOJ. That's next.

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TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, new details about the unorthodox public relations approach by Trump's Justice Department to push the President's priorities. Sources telling CNN that the strategy has led to a series of mistakes for the Department of Justice.

For example, just last week, several conservative and far-right influencers paraded out of the White House holding binders labeled The Epstein Files: Phase 1, but the files were not necessarily new. Even Trump ally Steve Bannon called the release a, quote, fiasco. Republican Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna posted, quote, this is not what we or the American people asked for and a complete disappointment.

The Epstein files are just one example of recent DOJ missteps. Here now is CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent, Paula Reid, and CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams. Paula, first to you, what are you learning about how the White House press office is taking over the Justice Department?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Look, I've covered the Justice Department for over a decade. What we're seeing that is unusual here is that the communications, the public affairs department that handles everything from key administration priorities to press conferences on elder fraud, it's all being run through the White House. That is unusual.

It's also, though, an example of how President Trump really wants to limit the traditional independence of the Department of Justice. Now, of course, we talked to Elliot. He'll explain why that's a problem. He spoke to the President. He would say that he just doesn't trust people inside DOJ to do his messaging. So he wants his own people, like Stephen Miller, to have a role in this.

We're told Miller has a significant role in crafting the messaging. DOJ officials told CNN today that Miller talks to, quote, a wide range of individuals across the administration and that his position as Trump's homeland security advisor makes him intricately involved in the Justice Department's immigration enforcement actions. It's not a denial that he is involved in this.

But again, we've seen some missteps here. We saw the Epstein rollout. It's unclear exactly who was responsible for that. That didn't go very smoothly. We've also seen a high-profile press conference where the attorney general sort of conflated a civil versus a criminal case. Look, she was a prosecutor for 30 years, someone who really wouldn't necessarily make those kinds of mistakes.

But the Justice Department responded to our story today by saying President Trump's Department of Justice is laser-focused on making our streets safe, deporting criminal illegals, and ending the weaponization of our justice system. And any assertion otherwise ignores the record-setting first-month accomplishments of this administration. I also got a reaction from the White House that is not thrilled with this story.

But they said the White House will always amplify the accomplishments across the Trump administration, including the consequential work of Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is working to bring transparency and integrity back to the Justice Department. This is a welcome change to the previous administration, whose Justice Department took over the PR strategy of the DNC.

TAPPER: Elliot, as someone who once worked for the Justice Department, how unusual is it for the White House to be this involved?

[17:35:02]

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It's incredibly unusual. And I think people have a hard time with this. And even guests on this network have mixed this up, this idea that because the President appoints the attorney general and the -- and the Justice Department is within the executive branch, that somehow the President has the thumb on the scale of what happens in the Justice Department. That could not be further from the truth. Going back to Watergate, there has been a clear separation between the day-to-day workings of the Justice Department and the operations of the White House.

And in fact, you know, as Paula was talking about, even the communications apparatus operates independently of the White House. It is an entity that is there to serve the Justice Department and, quite frankly, not provide that much information about the -- the goings-on of the Justice Department, much to the chagrin of reporters who cover the institution because of the fact that they want their work to at least appear to be not politicized in the way the White House would be. TAPPER: So one of the reasons why this is -- is problematic, there are lots of them, but one of them is just because of the disrespect for expertise.

REID: Yes.

TAPPER: And -- and, I mean, a DOJ comms person would theoretically know what are the Epstein files that are actually missing, what are the ones that haven't been released, et cetera. Stephen Miller might be very learned when it comes to any number of issues, but you can't be an expert on everything.

How is all of this impacting career officials who have decades of experience, who have served across administrations? Obviously, Trump's priorities become the department's priorities, but, you know, one man can only do so much.

REID: Yes. And he does have a staff of junior aides, political appointees at the Justice Department, but career officials, some of whom, again, I've known for over a decade, these are folks that -- that could help you figure out which reporters cover a certain issue, how to find a lawsuit and disseminate it so you get your message out nationwide. Many of them feel ostracized.

Again, the Trump officials would say, we don't trust these people. We don't trust anyone inside the building based on what our boss has been through. But one high-profile career person, Joshua Stevie, resigned last week, and in his letter he said, quote, I cannot continue to serve in such a hostile and toxic -- toxic work environment, one where leadership at the highest levels makes clear we are not welcomed or valued, much less trusted, to do our job.

And he had been serving as a public affairs official for over 15 years after serving as a Marine. I mean, this is someone who can help you disseminate your message. The Trump administration does not want to work with these people. Again, I said there are issues of trust, but there's also experience that could potentially help the administration. That's what's always happened. Political appointees work alongside the careers, and historically this has not been a problem.

TAPPER: And Elliot, before we go, we were talking about the Epstein files. Last week Pam Bondi went on "Fox," promised Americans would get to see him. Investigative journalist Julie K. Brown from the Miami Herald, who's been on top of this story for years, she exposed Epstein in many ways.

She posted on Twitter, if Pam Bondi really wants to release Jeffrey Epstein documents, she'd need look no further than the ones on the FBI's own website, where more than 10,000 pages are blacked out. Here's a rundown on what's still secret, including documents held by other U.S. agencies. Again, the failure to appreciate expertise can undermine Trump and Bondi's own goals here.

WILLIAMS: Absolutely, and every entity within the Justice Department, civil, criminal, environmental, they have their own comms person that is an expert in these things. Look, I believe it was the Attorney General who said that the release of the -- of the Epstein files was symbolic to show openness.

TAPPER: Transparency, yes.

WILLIAMS: Transparency, right, sorry, forgot the word. Transparency, it's not revealing anything that the public didn't already know. It's purely, in many respects, a stunt.

TAPPER: All right. Elliot Williams, Paul Reid, thanks to both of you.

[17:38:33]

Just moments ago, new -- news of prayers at St. Peter's Square for Pope Francis. The 88-year-old has had two more episodes of acute respiratory failure. What we're learning about his condition right now. That's next.

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TAPPER: In our Health Lead today, Pope Francis suffered two attacks of, quote, acute respiratory failure today according to the Vatican. The Pope has been hospitalized since Valentine's Day with a severe respiratory infection. He's been battling double pneumonia. CNN's Vatican correspondent, Christopher Lamb, joins us now live from Rome. Christopher, how is Pope Francis doing right now?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, it's been a roller coaster following the Pope's health crisis because, you know, a couple of days ago we were told that the Pope was stable, that we'd heard of improvement and now we hear of these crises. The Pope, according to the Vatican, had an accumulation of mucus that caused these problems that had to be aspirated. Now, Francis has been in hospital for 18 days battling pneumonia in both lungs.

A pulmonary expert I spoke to likened the Pope's condition as to having a fire in your house. You can put the fire out, but it's the long-term damage that is the question. And Francis' over the next few days, I think will be -- it will be crucial to see how the Pope recovers, whether he can stabilize or not.

Now, of course, there's a lot of concern in the Vatican. People have been gathering to pray in St. Peter's Square tonight as they have every night these past few days for the Ponte Vecchio. It's a concerning time for Francis and the Vatican. But we're expecting more updates tomorrow, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Christopher Lamb at -- at Rome at the Vatican, thank you so much.

Joining us now, CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Dr. Reiner, can you explain what exactly acute respiratory failure is and how concerning is it for an 88-year-old who has suffered from lung-related problems for much of his life?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, Jake, I think, you know, the bottom line is that the Pope is struggling.

And, you know, he's, as you said, he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. It turns out it was bilateral pneumonia. He comes in a setting of chronic -- chronic lung disease, and he's had multiple episodes of what they describe as sort of acute respiratory events.

[17:45:10]

And what I -- what I bet is happening is that he becomes acutely short of breath. And what we learned today is that he underwent bronchoscopy, which is basically putting a scope down into his airways. And what they did was they -- they basically aspirated or sucked out basically mucus from both lungs. And this very thick, viscous, you know, material in the airways makes it very hard to breathe.

So it sounds like he's having trouble clearing his airways of that material. And then periodically, he's just becoming acutely hungry for air, creating one of these basically crises where his oxygen levels probably precipitously drop. He -- apparently, he has not been put on endotracheal intubation where that -- there's a breathing tube in your throat.

But they've used, machined, probably something called BiPAP, which is sort of one level below that to support him during these -- these episodes. It seems like they're desperately trying not to put him on a respirator, which I would completely agree with.

TAPPER: I want to turn to the measles outbreak in Texas while I have you. Today, we learned of 12 additional cases, bringing the total to 158. Yesterday, HHS Secretary RFK Jr. wrote an op-ed on "Fox," quote, all parents should consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to MMR vaccine. The decision to vaccinate is a personal one. Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles but also contribute to community immunity protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reason, unquote. But he's not explicitly saying, get the vaccine. What's your reaction to that?

REINER: I think it's shameful. And I think if -- if he can't explicitly tell people in the midst of a measles outbreak to vaccinate their unvaccinated children, then he has no business being Secretary of -- of HHS. Every state in the United States requires school-aged kids to be vaccinated for this disease.

Texas allows parents to opt out. But every state does not consider this sort of a personal decision. This is a 60-plus-year-old vaccine that has been shown to be 97 percent effective at preventing this very severe disease.

And it has 60-plus years of safety data. There is no question about the safety and efficacy of this vaccine. And the fact that he cannot bring himself to recommend it tells you, I think, everything you need to know about him. He -- he has been the most focal opponent of this particular vaccine. And -- and -- and I'm -- I'm sure he can't imagine a worse situation than in the first weeks of his tenure as Secretary, having it being a high-profile, high-volume, and now lethal measles outbreak in Texas. But he needs to come out and tell parents to vaccinate their children if they haven't done so already.

TAPPER: Yes. Measles had been eliminated in the U.S. 25 years ago, but it's back, and it just took a --

REINER: Right.

TAPPER: -- it just took a -- a young victim. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you so much, as always.

[17:48:10]

First Lady Melania Trump is making her first big push of her husband's second term, targeting deepfakes and revenge porn, trying to help protect victims directly impacted. That story is next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: Every young person deserves a safe online space to express themselves freely without the looming threat of exploitation or harm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In our Tech Lead, First Lady Melania Trump is now making her first public remarks since her husband's inauguration. She joined lawmakers on Capitol Hill this afternoon to show her support for legislation that would increase protections for victims of non- consensual image sharing, which would include what's called deepfake pornography. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is here. Sunlen, tell us what the First Lady had to say today.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, she called these sort of manipulated online images hurtful and mean-spirited. She said they're especially heartbreaking, Jake, for young girls who are dealing with this online. Now, she was advocating for a bill that's called the Take It Down Act. This was first introduced by Senator Ted Cruz. It would criminalize the non-public -- the publication of non- consensual intimate images, including AI-generated pornography.

It would also require social media networks to remove all content after being notified by a victim of such images. Now, the bill passed the Senate last month. It still needs to pass in the House, but it was notable that Democrats were largely absent from the roundtable event today, while many Republican leaders, Speaker Johnson, House Majority Leader Scalise, they were there, and this was a fact that the First Lady called out today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: I must admit, however, I expected to see more Democrats leaders with us here today to address this serious issue. Surely, as adults, we can prioritize Americans' children ahead of partisan politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, notably, this is a bipartisan bill, Jake, and there are many Democratic co-sponsors of it.

TAPPER: And how does the First Lady's support of this bill tie in her -- into her Be Best initiative from the first term?

SERFATY: The Be Best was from the first Trump administration. She said this is essentially an extrapolation of this, that her advocacy around this continues, and she made that clear today, and it certainly is notable that this is the very first event in the administration. She said this is essentially an extrapolation of this, that her advocacy around this continues, and she made that clear today, and it certainly is notable that this is the very first event she chose to speak out with today in the second Trump administration. She also has invited a victim of this sort of online behavior to be in her box during the President's State of the Union Address.

[17:55:20]

TAPPER: Oh, interesting. OK, I guess we'll see that -- that individual tomorrow. Sunlen Serfaty, thanks so much.

Also, tomorrow night, we're going to be listening for specifics from President Trump on his tariffs on Canada and Mexico, set to go into effect in a matter of hours. Are you going to end up putting the bill? You at home. Are Republicans on board with these tariffs? We'll talk to a House Republican, next.

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[18:00:04]

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.