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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Stocks Tumble After Trump Says Tariffs Will Start Tomorrow; Trump Says, Zelenskyy Should Be More Appreciative; Head of FBI New York Division Forced to Retire; SpaceX Test Flight Launch Paused; Firefly's "Blue Ghost" Lander Operating On Moon's Surface. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 03, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, you could soon, theoretically, be paying more money for cars, electronics, and toys, as President Trump confirms new tariffs go into effect in just a few hours.

Plus, breaking news tonight, the top FBI official in New York has been forced out of his job just a few weeks after telling his staff he was preparing to dig into defend the FBI from political attacks.

And just weeks after the horrific, deadly crash at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport, a new investigation today into why multiple passenger planes about to land over the weekend got collision alerts despite no other aircraft being nearby.

We're going to start the show at this hour with the Politics Lead, however, and two major stories coming out of the White House. President Trump going ahead with those threatened tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China. And also Trump issuing new strong criticism of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Let's go to the White House now and CNN's Jeff Zeleny. Jeff?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, that February threat for tariffs is turning into a March promise for tariffs, at least that's what President Trump is saying tonight. He said there is no more room for negotiations, of course, calling for 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which he backed away from 30 days ago, giving each country a reprieve. He said he will no longer do so.

He's citing the fentanyl that is coming across the border from both countries, even though it's a very small amount from the neighbor to the north here of Canada. But the president addressing this, looking over the criticism of what it would do for prices, he said it would be good for car manufacturers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I would just say this to people in Canada or Mexico, if they're going to build car plants, the people that are doing them are much better off building here because we have the market. We're the market where they sell the most. And so I think it's going to be very exciting, very exciting for the automobile companies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: In fact, it's not exciting at all for the automobile companies. Company by company has really sounded the alarm what this would do for prices. The chairman of Ford Motor Company saying it would blow the hole into the auto industry.

And, Jake, here is why, because of a free trade agreement across North America from Canada to the U.S. to Mexico, goods fly and to produce freely from one country to another through a parts distributions and manufacturing companies. So, this could change all of that.

Nevertheless, the president said he's going forward with this. Of course, he'll be talking about it tomorrow night at his address to a joint session of Congress. It is very controversial on both sides of the aisle, actually, Jake, particularly from some farm state Republicans.

TAPPER: And, Jeff, President Trump said today that he doesn't think that rare earth minerals deal with Ukraine is officially dead. Tell us more.

ZELENY: He said it's not dead. He still obviously wants to sign that deal, as he did here on Friday before that spectacular diplomatic breakdown in the Oval Office. You'll remember there was a signing table in the East Room of the White House here. They were prepared to sign that. But, of course, after the vice president weighed in, the president weighed in, the fight broke out. They did not sign it.

However, today the president saying he would like to sign that deal if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was slightly more appreciative. So, that's what this White House, Jake, is still looking for either an apology or more signs of appreciation despite all of the thank yous we have heard from the Ukrainian of president, that's what the administration's looking for. But that is another topic that will be front and center in his speech tomorrow.

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

Tonight, we've got some brand new reaction from top Republicans about President Trump's handling of negotiations with Ukraine.

CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. Manu, you caught up with House Speaker Mike Johnson a short time ago.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, there's been widespread concern among Republicans and Democrats alike about what is happening with Ukraine, concerns about efforts to try to reach a peace agreement could fall apart, concerns about what this may mean for the U.S.'s support for Ukraine going forward.

Now, I did catch up with Speaker Johnson. I asked him about a comment that came out today by the top spokesman of the Pentagon who suggested that the U.S. interests and Russian interests were largely in alignment with one another. I asked him about his concerns, if he had any concerns that Trump's actions, that U.S.'s actions are aligning themselves with Russia's.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're not aligned with Russia, and I don't believe any Russian propaganda. We have to bring an end to the war. What the president is doing is trying to set the table for that peace agreement to be made, and I'm very grateful that he's doing it. I encourage, as I did over the weekend, President Zelenskyy to come back to the table and accept the deal that was proposed, because that is the solution to get us out of this mess.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And the last question I asked him about was this vote that actually happened last week at the United Nations, in which the United States, the Trump administration, voted against efforts to cast the blame on Russia itself for being the aggressor, for being the instigator, for condemning Russia's war on the world war.

[18:05:13]

The United States opposing that, the speaker there not addressing that directly.

Now, one person who did weigh in on the meeting that happened on Friday between Trump and Zelenskyy is the Senate majority leader, John Thune, the first time he weighed in on that. He has not said anything over the weekend. I asked him about whether he is concerned at all about Trump's actions. He didn't weigh in specifically about Trump, Jake, but he called it a, quote, missed opportunity and he hoped that things would get back on the rails in the days ahead if the two sides are able to begin talking again about a potential peace deal. Jake?

TAPPER: Manu, I've seen Republicans go on social media and criticize Putin. Have any Republicans criticized President Trump's actions because of that meeting with Zelenskyy?

RAJU: Very few, Jake. In fact, one who did over the weekend with Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. She has been someone who has been a critic consistently of Donald Trump, voted against -- voting to convict him in his second impeachment trial, of course. But she said she was, quote, sick to her stomach in the aftermath of what she believes is the United States embracing Russia.

But a lot of Republicans simply do not want to go that far. A lot of them are taking a middle of the road approach, as you heard from Senator John Thune right there, the majority leader, not criticizing Trump, not criticizing what the U.S.'s posture is towards Ukraine, posture is towards Russia, but simply calling it a, quote, missed opportunity, hoping things can get back on track.

So, that has really been the message from a lot of Republicans, concerned about what happened, criticizing Zelenskyy, but not criticizing Donald Trump.

TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill for us, thanks so much.

With us now, Republican Congressman Brian Mast of Florida, he's the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as well as a U.S. veteran. Mr. Chairman, thanks for joining us.

A headline in The Wall Street Journal today reads, quote, Trump has glossed over high prices. Republicans worry it will cost them, unquote. That's the headline in The Wall Street Journal. Are you hoping at all that President Trump makes high prices the center point of his speech tomorrow in his joint address to Congress?

REP. BRIAN MAST (R-FL): I think he'll address that specifically in this way. The plan is simple as it relates to inflation and prices. The government spends less money, your prices go down. You have less taxes, you have more disposable income. The plan is that simple from the administration. That is what they've been working on, cutting the size and scope of government, spending less of your money.

TAPPER: President Trump announced his tariffs on goods coming in from Canada, Mexico, and China. Those tariffs are going to go into effect at midnight tonight. That news sent stocks tumbling about 650 points down today. Do you support these tariffs? Are you worried at all that the cost is going to be passed on to the consumer?

MAST: I support the tariffs and I support the brinksmanship that's going on because it brings results. When you look at what's going on, you see Mexico, instead of getting a plant for making civics in Mexico, they're going to get that in Indiana. You get Taiwan semiconductor getting a hundred million dollars investment into Arizona. You get things being addressed with fentanyl on our border and immigration on our border. You get things addressed on the northern border with Canada as well. And the closer it gets to the midnight hour, the more they're coming to the table with what they want to bargain with with President Trump.

No, no company likes disruption. We know that's the case. They're not going to want to move a plant or do something else. And I can tell you, Ford hasn't called me personally, but I've had a lot of phone calls from midsized companies that have literally been asking, saying, how do we bring this or this or this or this back into the United States of America?

TAPPER: Let's turn to the Russia's war against Ukraine. Today, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said he's counting on U.S. support to help the country find peace. Do you think Zelenskyy and Ukraine can still count on the U.S. for support?

MAST: I think you quoted one half of the argument, which is President Trump saying minerals deal is still on the table, Zelenskyy saying that a deal is still on the table. But in the end, you have -- again, you were asking before about anybody criticizing President Trump, there's nothing to criticize here. He's moving the ball down the field. You have a situation where now Europe is finally realizing they have to be a partner in security. If there's going to be any security guarantee for Europe, that has to come from Europe standing on its own. It has to come from European nations meeting GDP percentages, like Poland is, up at 4 percent, from U.K. saying they're going to up their spending, you know, an additional $2 billion a year, from Germany saying, hey, we're going to create a $400 billion defense fund, and the list goes on and on, from Macron in Paris to others. They're all realizing what President Trump is doing in making sure that Europe is a partner that doesn't need America to go out there and defend every bit of it.

And I'm going to make one other statement on this as well, and that's to say, everybody has to realize that they're still -- it's so ironic. They're still reliant on Russian oil and gas, moving it throughout Europe or moving it to other places and bringing it back into Europe. So, they're essentially putting as much money into supporting Russia and not putting as much money into actually defending Ukraine and then begging us to be the backstop for security.

[18:10:07]

That comes to an end.

TAPPER: Yes. I actually saw a study from a European group that showed that Europeans were actually buying more Russian oil and gas than they were helping Ukraine in terms of the aid. So, in some ways, the Europeans are funding both sides in this war.

But let me just ask you because you said there's nothing to criticize about President Trump's showdown with Zelenskyy and Vice President Vance's showdown with Zelenskyy last Friday. I just want to read, this is from Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, who said on Twitter on March 1st, this week started with administration officials refusing to acknowledge that Russia started the war in Ukraine. It ends with a tense, shocking conversation in the Oval Office and whispers from the White House they may try to end all U.S. support for Ukraine. She says, right now, I'm sick to my stomach as the administration appears to be walking away from our allies and embracing Putin, a threat to democracy and U.S. values around the world. That's a fellow Republican.

MAST: Yes. I would just say look at the results, Lisa. Look at what's going on over there with all the stats that I just gave you about European nations that are upping their defense spending, the fact that we're addressing how much they're still putting into Russia right now, and don't come and beg for us to be your security guarantee when you're still propping up the entity that you're worried about defending against.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Brian Mast, Florida, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you, as always.

MAST: Take care. TAPPER: Just moments ago, CNN obtained the resignation letter of a top FBI official who says he was just pushed out of his job. Those details are next.

Plus, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo sets his sights on a comeback. What we're learning about his new campaign and the clash it sets up with New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Stay with us.

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[18:15:00]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you now. The head of the FBI's New York division has been forced out of his job, announcing moments ago that he was given no explanation for the decision.

Let's get straight to CNN's Josh Campbell, also a former FBI agent. Josh, what happened?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're talking about the FBI's largest field office, the New York Division, thousands of employees, and we know we've been reporting on several senior executives at the FBI who have been pushed out. The latest is James Dennehy, the assistant director who was in charge of the New York office.

In this email that CNN obtained to the workforce, I'll read you what he says. He says, quote, Late Friday, I was informed that I needed to put my retirement papers in today, which I just did. I was not given a reason for this decision.

Now, some important context here, last month, as he reported, amid all of this information out there that there were perhaps going to be mass firings at the FBI, Justice Department officials demanding the names of FBI agents who had worked January 6th investigations, then he sent an impassioned email to his workforce, essentially saying, I've got your back. I'll read you that email, part of that from last month. He said, today, we find ourselves in the middle of a battle of our own as good people are being walked out of the FBI and others are being targeted because they did their jobs in accordance with the law and FBI policy. I'm sticking around to defend you, your work, your families, and this team we call the flagship. Time for me to dig in.

That was something I've heard a lot of FBI employees say that they appreciated to have someone so forcefully out there defending them. And, finally, I'll just read you how he signed off today's note. He told his workforce, quote, I've been told many times in my life, when you find yourselves in a hole, sometimes it's best to quit digging. Screw that. I will never stop defending this joint. Jake, he went on to say that he will just do it willingly and proudly from, quote, outside the wire.

TAPPER: So, it's funny because I mean, I'm old enough to remember when allies of Hillary Clinton thought that the New York field office of the FBI was a hotbed of conservatives and fans of Rudy Giuliani and the like. But the New York field office of the FBI that you're referring to, which Dennehy led, was criticized by the current attorney general, Pam Bondi.

CAMPBELL: That's right. That was just recently, and this was reporting from our colleague, Hannah Rabinowitz. Basically, Pam Bondi recently alleged that the FBI New York division was withholding thousands of pages of documents related to the Epstein investigation to Jeffrey Epstein. She was highly critical as she had sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel essentially demanding an investigation into why she believed that these documents were being hidden.

And so all of this taken together, that investigation, which obviously she has been focused on, and then this larger effort, someone who so forcefully came out there publicly telling his troops, you know, amid all of this potential action from the Trump administration, to clear out members of the FBI, which is largely seen for political reasons inside the Bureau. He stood up and said, no, I've got your back. I'm here. I'm going to fight for you. And in the breaking news now, he's been told he is out.

TAPPER: Josh Campbell, thanks so much.

Meanwhile, in our Politics Lead, Elon Musk's department of government efficiency or DOGE wants to charge the Office of Personnel Management, which regulates the federal workforce, millions of dollars for DOGE's work. This is according to a draft agreement obtained by CNN. The total bill could end up topping $4 million.

Let's bring in Republican Strategist Shermichael Singleton and former DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa. I know that this spelled it wrong over there, Xochitl Hinojosa.

Shermichael, so I understand this draft agreement, it's just a draft between the Office of Personnel Management and DOGE. But, ultimately, taxpayers are paying for it no matter what. What's going on here, do you think?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, the government hires contractors all the time. The government has to pay those contractors for their work. I think the ultimate goal here deregulation coupled with tariffs, coupled with lesser taxes for the American taxpayer will be more money in people's pocket, a net gain to the overall economy. We saw that Toyota is expected to announce that they're going to build Honda Civics in Indiana versus Mexico. That's going to be thousands of jobs for Americans versus jobs in Mexico.

So, again, we're slowly starting to see, Jake some of the promises that the president campaigned on that will soon benefit the American people.

[18:20:06]

TAPPER: You can respond to that. I'm going to give you a dealer's choice here. You can respond to that, or you can respond to what's going on in the FBI field office in New York, because you were until recently the DOJ spokesperson in the Biden administration. XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. Just quickly on DOGE, I think that if Elon Musk is saving all of this money when it comes to DOGE, then he doesn't need to be asking for more money to pay his employees. Unclear how much money he is currently saving with these layoffs and where that money is going to go. So, I think what we would like to hear from him is where is that money going? Is it going back in taxpayer's pockets or is it going, you know, to his employees, et cetera?

On the FBI, I think this is a really interesting firing. My understanding is that, obviously, Trump wants loyalty within the FBI and the Department of Justice, and he's not getting that because that's not what FBI agents are there to do. FBI field office is the largest field office. When you do not have a head of the FBI field office in New York, that makes us less safe.

And so this firing, I think, is extremely alarming because it's what's to come on the January 6th matters. They sent out a survey to all about 5,000 FBI officials across the country and field offices across the country trying to get a sense of what they worked on, what were the January 6th cases? This is the first real firing of someone who is defending the front line FBI agents. And so if he is leaving now, we'll see who else will be leaving from that group.

TAPPER: Shermichael, what do you think about these firings of not just the one of the today's the head of the New York field office in the FBI, but also just the idea that maybe if you just -- even if you just were doing your job and serve the warrant during the January 6th investigations, you might be fired, your job is questionable? And also we saw some people be demoted in the U.S. attorney's office here in D.C. under the new U.S. attorney, Ed Martin, who's a Trump loyalist. And these are people that worked on the January 6th cases also. People are being punished for doing their jobs.

SINGLETON: Well, look, I think every administration has the right, and every president has the authority to set what their focus and agenda will be. And if I were president, for example, and there were certain individuals who I personally believed didn't adhere to my philosophical beliefs in terms of running government and actualizing my policies, I probably would say, hey, we're going to demote you. We're going to promote people who are more in line with my thought process.

That's not necessarily firing them. That's just saying we're moving in the new direction, Jake. This happens all the time across corporate America. I really don't see the big deal with this happening with the federal government. The president has the authority again to do these things. And I think most of the American people will be understanding if he says, hey, I want this person versus that other person.

HINOJOSA: Now, this sounds more like retribution to me. He is demoting people who worked on January 6th cases. He fired the people who worked in the special counsel's office. He is attempting to fire 5,000 FBI officials.

CNN had a story earlier today about how Stephen Miller was controlling the P.R., the public relations part of the Justice Department, the Office of Public Affairs. Further down in the story that is not getting a ton of pickup is the fact that Stephen Miller isn't just controlling the Office of Public Affairs. He is making every major decision when it comes to personnel and policy at the Justice Department. My understanding, it's going straight from Trump, Stephen Miller to Bove. And this ranges from the Epstein files, the firings with January 6th prosecutors, and that's something that's very concerning, and we haven't seen that at the Justice Department before.

SINGLETON: But, Jake, let me just say this, you were a presidential appointee, so was I. And I recall at the department that I was at briefly, almost eight years ago now, when we came in, there were certain people that were indeed demoted, and others who were promoted who were in sync with the secretary's objective in relation to that. I was at HUD.

TAPPER: Yes.

SINGLETON: And in this particular example, this is not new, and you know this very well.

HINOJOSA: HUD is very different than DOJ.

SINGLETON: No. I'm using it as an example, though. My point is every administration comes in and they move people around for individuals who are going to fulfill the objective of the president. That is exactly what these individuals are doing as it pertains to President Trump. Why is this any different from any president in the past?

TAPPER: Shermichael Singleton and Xochitl Hinojosa, it's so good to have you guys on. Welcome to our new studio and our new Bat Time. I really appreciate it.

Why did passenger planes attempting to land over the week and get collision alerts when no other planes were near them in the sky? That investigation is next.

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TAPPER: And we're back with our National Lead. The FAA is investigating reports of midair collision alerts sent to planes trying to land at D.C.'s Reagan National Airport. According to the FAA, several flight crews received alerts warning of nearby aircraft, even when no other planes were there. These messages came just miles from last month's deadly crash between a passenger plane and a military helicopter.

CNN's Pete Muntean joins us now. Pete, what could be behind these false alerts?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Jake, this is strange because these pilots got these alerts repeatedly warning them of a possible midair collision only miles from the site of the crash that killed 67 people a little more than a month ago. The Federal Aviation Administration has now opened an investigation into this. But as of right now, the cause remains a mystery.

The system giving these alerts is called TCAS. That stands for Traffic Collision Avoidance System. It's required equipment in the cockpits of commercial airliners, which essentially warns pilots when the ingredients for a midair collision are brewing.

[18:30:00]

What is especially odd here is that the pilots of multiple flights got these alerts back-to-back on Saturday, and in roughly the same spot, which, of course, let do a lot of chatter with air traffic control.

I want you to listen out of the audio from LiveATC.net.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brickyard 4469, TCAS R.A. we are recovering.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brickyard 4469, would you like to go around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Negative, we got it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brickyard 4469, do you remember how high that was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were about 1,200 feet, there was somebody diving straight ont us, Brickyard 4469.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brickyard 4538 preceding arrival reported a T.A. 2 more miles at 1,200 feet. It's been happening all morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The FAA is clear here in a statement saying there were no airplanes or helicopters nearby these flights to trigger such an alert. Pilots got two types of warnings. One calls out aircraft nearby, one requires the pilot take immediate action. The FAA says some pilots had to abort their landing, something known as a go- around.

Being at low altitude, like coming in for a landing can cause problems with this system, and pilots know that it's not perfect down low, but it is uncommon for so many planes to receive false warnings in such a short period of time. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

And our Politics Lead, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is officially trying for a political comeback, launching a bid to become the next mayor of New York City. Cuomo, as you'll recall, resigned from the governorship in 2021 amid multiple sexual harassment allegations, which he denied. There were also many questions surrounding his administration's directive to transfer recovering COVID-19 patients back to nursing homes. He has repeatedly attempted to defend his administration's actions. Now, he's framing himself as the leader who can pull New York City back from crisis. His campaign message, more police, fewer migrants for a city that, in his words, feels out of control. But can Cuomo convince New Yorkers to give him another chance.

Here is CNN's Gloria Pazmino.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After months of speculation, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has made it official.

FMR. GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City.

PAZMINO: Polling shows the former governor's near universal name recognition positions him as a frontrunner in the crowded field to replace Mayor Eric Adams.

REPORTER: Can you talk about Cuomo's record?

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): We're going to do that on the trail.

PAZMINO: Cuomo, who has allied with Adams before, has yet to mention him by name. But he sees an opening as Adams battles controversies and a federal indictment.

CUOMO: Once again, government leadership has failed to perform a basic function, public safety.

PAZMINO: Cuomo resigned from office in 2021 amid a sexual harassment scandal after 11 women accused him of sexual misconduct. He has consistently denied the allegations, which prosecutors declined to pursue.

CUOMO: The best way I can help now is if I step aside and let government get back to governing.

PAZMINO: His handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has been subject of state and federal probes. Last year, a Republican-led House committee referred him to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution, alleging he lied to Congress about his role in drafting a report that underestimated nursing home debts. Cuomo has denied lying to the committee.

His opponents in the mayoral primary immediately pounced on his past.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The same Cuomo who's always put his ego and his interests ahead of our city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't trade one corrupt chaos agent for another. The answer is Brad Lando.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when he was accused of serial sexual misconduct, spent years hounding the women who spoke out. No, I'm not talking about Donald Trump. I'm talking about Andrew Cuomo.

PAZMINO: There are more than a half a dozen candidates already in the race. Cuomo is pitching himself as an experienced manager with a long list of accomplishments.

CUOMO: Go look at the new LaGuardia Airport that went from the worst to the best. Go look at the new JFK Airport rising from the ground. Don't look at the new Moynihan train station. Go look at the Second Avenue subway.

PAZMINO: The former governor, part of a New York political dynasty, is positioning himself as a moderate Democrat focused on public safety.

CUOMO: People are moving from New York because it's just too expensive, too dangerous and too difficult.

PAZMINO: His opponents blame him for the so-called crisis. The New York Post editorial board calling him, quote, the biggest liar in New York.

ANA MARIA ARCHILA, CO-DIRECTOR, NEW YORK WORKING FAMILIES PARTY: He maybe wants to rewrite history. I'm sure he needs it for himself, for his own soul. But we are not stupid. We remember.

PAZMINO: New York City Democrats will get the last word in the June primary.

GEORGE COMINSKIE, NEW YORKER: I definitely don't want our current mayor to be reelected.

[18:35:01]

I could vote for him. Will I? I don't know yet. But could I? Yes, absolutely.

EMILY SALDANA, NEW YORKER: It doesn't matter like how good he was like as a governor. Allegations are allegations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAZMINO (on camera): Now, Jake, Cuomo has secured a handful of endorsements so far, and today his campaign announced one of their first proposals focused on making New York City more affordable for families. He's also got a message for Democrats on the national stage, Jake, saying that they should be more focused on public safety and issues of affordability. His critics here at home accuse him of trying to selectively rewrite his own political history. Jake?

TAPPER: How much of a clash is this setting up with the current mayor, Eric Adams?

PAZMINO: Well, it's going to be significant, Jake. And the main reason is because Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo are going to be targeting the same voters. They're both going to be looking at black voters, brown voters here in New York, Latinos and Hispanics. They're also going to be going after the labor unions. So, they are going to split a key coalition that any Democrat that runs in this town needs in order to secure that nomination.

These are two men whose message over the years has been similar. They're both considered moderate Democrats. So, we'll see about how they try and split that vote. Whoever gets the most supporters is going to be able to beat the other one.

Now, Eric Adams has made it clear that anyone is welcome to run into this in this race. And we are expecting him to be hitting the campaign trail as well very soon. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Gloria Pazmino in New York for us, thanks so much.

The Taliban offers, quote, no mercy, only imprisonment or death. And that's what one Afghan ally who interpreted for U.S. troops during the U.S.'s 20-year war told me. An advocacy group says this interpreter was finally going to get out of Afghanistan as promised. So, what went wrong? Why is he still stuck in Afghanistan? His harrowing story is next.

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[18:40:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, President Trump's executive order on foreign aid is causing confusion and delays for Afghans who worked for years to help the U.S. during its 20-year war in Afghanistan and were promised safety in the U.S., including a group we've reported on extensively on the show known as Special Immigrant Visa applicants or SIV applicants. I recently interviewed one of those SIVs who's stuck in Afghanistan. He told me he's afraid that the Taliban will find him and his family and kill them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice over): Afghans, who put their lives on the line for the United States, and were promised a safe haven in the US in return for their sacrifice are waiting in limbo, terrified of the Taliban's wrath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If they discover my past, there will be no trial, no mercy, only imprisonment or death.

TAPPER: That's Hasib talking to us from Kabul, Afghanistan. Hasib is not his real name. And that, of course, was not his real voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no job, no income, and no way to provide for my family. And my children go to bed hungry and I cannot look them in the eyes without feeling like I have failed them.

TAPPER: Hasib's fear, not unfounded. In the midst of the disastrous U.S. withdrawal, reports of gruesome killings and tortures of those who collaborated with the U.S. started to surface, such as Sohail Pardes, a translator who worked with the U.S. Army for 16 months, who was dragged from his car and beheaded by the Taliban in 2021.

As for Hasib, he was waiting for his medical exam and was likely just two weeks away from flying to the U.S., according to the Massachusetts Afghan Alliance. Then President Trump took office and signed an executive order titled, Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid. For Hasib, that's when the updates stopped.

That executive order has a direct effect on SIVs, or Special Immigrant Visas. According to the group Afghan Evac, quote, while this order does not directly pause the SIV process, it has shut down the support services that enable it to work. SIV travel is funded by foreign aid. Even if an applicant is approved and receives their visa, they can no longer receive funding for travel.

Advocacy groups say thousands of SIV applicants are stuck in limbo just like Hasib.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For years, I stood shoulder to shoulder with American soldiers risking my life in the hopes of securing a better future for my people. I translated not just words but the trust and sacrifices of those who fought for freedom. I believe in that mission.

TAPPER: Retired U.S. Army Soldier John Moses runs the Massachusetts Afghan Alliance, which supports Afghan families and helps them reunite and rebuild their lives.

JOHN MOSES, CO-FOUNDER, MASSACHUSETTS AFGHAN ALLIANCE: So, Hasib and I have never met, but I had seen Hasib's paperwork. I had seen the letters of recommendation from his commanders and I saw photos and this was what really got me was I saw photos of him with other soldiers, right?

And so I'm retired Army and I know that over his time, there were times that Hasib probably led them out of danger.

TAPPER: Moses is appealing directly to President Trump and to National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

MOSES: If I were able to get Hasib here, we'd be able to help with some rent. We'd be able to help him find housing. But without those flights, and without Mr. Waltz, you know, releasing those flights or pushing on the right person.

TAPPER: When Waltz was a member of Congress, he fought passionately for SIVs.

MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: At the current rate, it'll take 31 years to get out the people that we left behind, and that makes me want to take this podium and throw it through a window.

[18:45:07]

TAPPER: But despite pledges and promises for Hasib (ph) today, still no answers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (on camera): Now we reached out to National Security Advisor Mike Waltz at the White House for comment. We have not yet heard back. Haseeb says he's not asking for favors, simply quote, the promise made

to be honored.

Next, we're going to go out of this world. Two private space companies are shooting for the stars and the moon. We're going to talk with one spacecraft pioneer whose lander just touched down on the lunar surface.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Breaking news in our out of this world lead, SpaceX is about to try another test flight of its starship spacecraft. They're holding at T minus 40 seconds right now, right this second to work out a last second problem.

This is the ninth test.

[18:50:01]

If all goes as planned on this suborbital flight, Starship will conduct its first payload deployment and multiple reentry experiments. Engineers are hoping for better luck than in January. Back then, starship spectacularly broke apart, as you will recall, after separating from its rocket booster, its booster rocket.

This new flight also includes the return and catch of its booster, something that worked successfully last time. We should note.

Meanwhile, on the moon, a private U.S. company pulled off something extraordinary over the weekend. The Texas firm Firefly managed a successful lunar landing on its very first attempt. The Blue Ghost lander is in the sea of crises. That's one of the large, lava filled impact basins created somewhere between two and a half and 3 billion years ago, when the moon was being hit by big things.

Firefly's Ray Allensworth joins us from Texas.

Hey, Ray. So Blue Ghost already is sending pictures from the lunar surface. I posted one on social media over the weekend. It's so exciting.

What's the Lander doing today?

RAY ALLENSWORTH, SPACECRAFT PROGRAM DIRECTOR, FIREFLY AEROSPACE: Yeah. So the Lander today, it's been a very busy first day or so on the surface, and we're really doing a ton of payload operations right now. So we've deployed the antenna. We've deployed the surface access arm and a lot of the payloads are just kind of jumping into life and getting data.

TAPPER: Firefly is only the second private company ever to have a successful moon landing. Other companies and other countries have tried and failed over the years.

What was it like yesterday during that final descent? I can't imagine how -- how the nerves you must have had. ALLENSWORTH: Yeah. The few moments before descent, it was -- it was

really quiet in the control room. I think, you know, we all checked our, you know, our watches after our heart rates were kind of going through the roof. And then, you know, when we finally got our call out from our chief engineer, you know, we stuck the landing. I mean, we just all, you know, through our headsets off, hugged each other, you know, it was -- it was an incredible feeling.

TAPPER: Now, I don't know a ton about lunar geography, but I have to say, if somebody came to me and said, I think were going to land in the sea of crises, that wouldn't be my -- my first pick. Why did you pick the sea of crises?

ALLENSWORTH: Yeah. It's -- it's much more friendly than the name suggests. We partnered with NASA to pick this landing site. It's in a place called Mare Cresium. Mare is a type of place on the moon, and it's really well-suited for our specific payloads on board that wanted to interact with the lunar surface and the dust that's there.

There's not a ton of boulders and hazards in these types of areas. So that was really important for our payload. So we really paired up with NASA to find the best spot for these payloads. And it happened to be in Mare Cresium or, you know, the sea of crises.

TAPPER: What kind of scientific instruments are on the blue ghost? What are you hoping to find on the moon?

ALLENSWORTH: Yeah, there's a lot of different payloads on board. A lot of the payloads are really hoping to study that lunar dust, or lunar regolith, as we call it. They want to see how that material interacts with other types of materials, metals, stuff like that. It will really inform future missions to the moon, where, you know, humans may be returning to the moon, you know, developing habitats.

And it's important to understand what its like to exist on the lunar surface. Some of them are studying the magnetic fields. So there's a really wide variety.

Later this evening, we're going to deploy a drill, and that's going under the surface to measure temperature ranges. So like I said, a ton of variety in the type of data we're going to get.

TAPPER: So these future missions that you have landing missions, are you planning on sending people to the moon. Are you planning on building some sort of place for people to live?

ALLENSWORTH: I think our core competency will be to support those missions, send cargo, send data. We really fit into kind of the greater scheme of, you know, moon to mars and helping pave the way for that. But I don't think we're going to be directly sending humans to the moon.

TAPPER: All right. Ray Allensworth, thank you so much. And congratulations to everybody where you are. Really appreciate it.

ALLENSWORTH: Thank you so much. TAPPER: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:44]

TAPPER: Our last lead start with breaking news in the politics lead. The U.S. Senate just voted 51 to 45 to confirm Linda McMahon to be secretary of the Department of Education.

McMahon is the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment and a major Republican donor. Trump wants to dismantle the Department of Education and has said he hopes McMahon will, quote, put herself out of a job, unquote, by leading the charge to reduce or eliminate the department.

Some incredible video to show you from the Southwest. This is a haboob or an extreme fast moving dust storm. There were scenes such as this today in New Mexico, Texas, and south of the border in Mexico. Drivers could barely see what was in front of them. These kinds of conditions went on for hours. The dust storm was so severe and NOAA weather satellites captured its movements from space.

In our sports, lead, Serena Williams is adding another title to her portfolio, WNBA team owner, the Toronto Tempo, an expansion franchise that will begin playing in 2026, announced today that the 23-time grand slam champion is a part owner.

Joining me tomorrow night for CNN's special coverage of president Trumps address to congress, the must see moments before the speech, the full analysis of the big headlines afterwards, again, speech coverage tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN.

One other thing before you go. I have two books coming out in May, "Original Sin", about President Biden's decision to run for reelection and the cover up of his decline. It comes out in May. And October, "Race Against Terror", about the hunt to prosecute an al Qaeda terrorist who killed Americans and was out to kill more. Check him out at JakeTapper.com.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.