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CNN International: Israel Preparing to Receive Body Said to be Hostage Shiri Bibas; Hamas to Release Six Living Hostages Saturday; Trump: Putin and Zelenskyy Need to "Get Together"; Growing Pushback in Trump's Second Term; Pentagon to Fire 5 to 8 Percent of Civilians Workforce. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired February 21, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: -- March 3rd, that's a week from Monday. The Lead is on the move. We're moving to a new time slot. We're going to go an hour later from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Eastern every weekday here on CNN.
You can follow the show on X, @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcast. The news continues. On CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I'll see you Sunday morning.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Jessica Dean.
And just ahead, Hamas claims to have handed over the body of hostage Shiri Bibas. Donald Trump says Vladimir Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin have to get together and reach a peace deal. And the Beards in the Bronx, the New York Yankees allowing their players to grow beards for the first time since the 1970s.
We begin with breaking news. The International Committee of the Red Cross saying it has transferred a set of human remains to Israeli authorities. Hamas says it has handed over the body of Shiri Bibas. Israeli citizens have lined the streets to honor her, the young mother who was abducted with her two young sons on October 7th.
Earlier, fury across the country after the military said one of the bodies returned from Gaza on Thursday was an unidentified woman, not Bibas. All this coming as six more living hostages are set to be released by Hamas just within hours.
The remains of the Bibas' young sons were returned Thursday, but Israel's anguish over what happened to them has since deepened, as CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Israel's heartbreak overflowed Friday. News the Bibas boys, four-year- old Ariel and nine-month-old Kfir, whose tiny bodies were returned Thursday, were, according to Israeli officials, murdered by Hamas, who had said they were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESPERSON: Contrary to Hamas' lies, Ariel and Kfir were not killed in an airstrike. Ariel and Kfir Bibas were murdered by terrorists in cold blood.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The Bibas family in a rare statement pushing back against revenge.
OFRI BIBAS LEVY, AUNT OF ARIEL AND KFIR BIBAS (through translator): For Ariel and Kfir's sake and for Yarden's sake, we are not seeking revenge right now. Save the lives of the living hostages and return all the fallen for burial.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): The IDF say a previously agreed hostage release Saturday will go ahead as planned. Hamas acknowledged and named the hostages as 27-year-old Eliya Cohen, 40-year-old Tal Shoham, 22-year-old Omer Shemtov, and 23-year-old Omer Wenkert, all abducted 7th October 2023. Plus, two others captured around a decade ago, 39- year-old Avera Mengistu and 36-year-old Hisham-al Sayed.
In keeping with other hostage exchange releases, the IDF said it would release 602 Palestinians Saturday, 157 prisoners in Israeli jail and 45 Gazan men detained since October 7th.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: Joining me now, Mara Rudman in Washington. She's the director of the Ripples of Hope Project at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. She also served as U.S. Deputy National Security adviser in the Clinton and Obama administrations. Thank you so much for being here with us.
Mara, I still -- I want to ask you first, how you would categorize this moment in what was already a very shaky ceasefire and hostage deal?
MARA RUDMAN, DIRECTOR OF RIPPLES OF HOPE PROJECT, MILLER CENTER AT UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY MIDDLE EAST ENVOY AND FORMER U.S. DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Thanks, Jessica. Good to be with you, even under these challenging circumstances. So, listen, this has been a brittle ceasefire, as you suggested, since the beginning. That is not surprising.
I am pleased to see preparations going forward for the exchange tomorrow. The big question for Prime Minister Netanyahu will be less about getting through this phase and more about the decision on going into phase two, in other words, bringing all the hostages home, which is clearly what families and what the large population of Israel is seeking the majority of Israelis.
And I think that the statement by the Bibas family was particularly potent in that regard. And Netanyahu is bouncing that against, frankly, his own internal politics, because he's got two far-right members of his coalition, we're not -- who don't want the ceasefire to go forward.
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DEAN: And as Nic noted and as you noted, the Bibas family, especially these two babies and their mother, have been so embedded in the psyche of Israelis, of people around the world, and now to know for sure, this horrific news that they were all three killed, how does that affect the nation of Israel right now?
RUDMAN: So, as you pointed out, Jessica, I mean, it's everything about everything that happened on October 7th has been horrendous. And Hamas has more than lived up to and exceeded the reputation they already had as -- just it goes beyond words in terms of what they were willing to inflict on -- what they inflicted upon the Israeli people, on the many citizens from around the world who were in Israel on October 7th, what the hostages have endured since and frankly, what the Palestinians within Gaza endure because of Hamas.
And so, in that sense, we shouldn't be surprised though the idea of what happened to these very young children who have been the face of all of this and to their mother is going to further shake the psyche as it does all of us.
I was actually at Kibbutz Nir Oz is where the Bibas family is from in December of 2023. I saw the nursery that these kids were in their house. And so, the -- at the most personal level, I think all Israelis feel that, but that's also why the statement from the family about what they want going forward should be regarded quite seriously, and I think will be by all Israelis. I hope it is by Prime Minister Netanyahu as well.
DEAN: And as you note, he has a choice to make here about how he wants to proceed forward, especially with these negotiations over the next phase of the ceasefire. What will he choose and his government choose to prioritize, right?
RUDMAN: So, yes, good question, Jessica. And I think the issue here is a decision which has faced him at various points over this period over -- since October 7th, and certainly, in more recent months. The decision for Prime Minister Netanyahu is whether he gives in to the demands of his far-right extremists, two members of his coalition who have largely played a role in keeping him in power when he has endured great unpopularity among the rest of Israel, with the security establishment as well.
And these two far-right members of his coalition, one left over the initiation of the ceasefire, but said he would come back if Netanyahu turns away from the ceasefire and goes back to fighting in Gaza. And the second one said he will leave and will not support Netanyahu any further if he goes into phase two. So, it's a stark decision for him, but it's a decision over the interest -- about the interest of his people and the interest of his country over his own immediate short- term political survival because of the threats from these two far- right members of this coalition.
DEAN: All right. So, much more to come on this. Mara Rudman, thank you so much for your thoughts. We really appreciate it.
RUDMAN: Thanks. Thanks for having me.
DEAN: And another of our top stories, Donald Trump says the leaders of Ukraine and Russia will have to come together to end their war. Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump telling Fox News radio of Volodymyr Zelenskyy had no bargaining power with Vladimir Putin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I've been watching for years, and I've been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards. And you get sick of it. You just get sick of it. And I've had it. He's been at meetings for three years, and nothing got done. So, I don't think he's very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: Speaking in the past few hours, President Trump appeared to shift his tone a little, now saying Kyiv and Moscow must negotiate a plan to stop the bloodshed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think that President Putin and President Zelenskyy are going to have to get together because, you know what, we want to stop killing millions of people. You have young soldiers being killed. If you saw the pictures that I saw of the battlefield from satellite, you've never seen any pictures like that. Soldiers are being killed by the thousands a week. Thousands of soldiers a week. As we speak, they're being killed. That's why I want to see a ceasefire and I want to get the deal done. I think we have a chance to get the deal done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: For more on this, we are joined by Global Affairs Analyst Kim Dozier. Kim, thanks so much for being here with us. I want to start first with President Trump, what he was saying today. He did shift his tone a little bit, but it still seems that, overall, he still wants to hold Ukraine far more responsible for this than he does Russia. Would you say that's a fair assessment?
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Absolutely. We've been watching him shift by narrow degrees. First, there was his euphoria after the 90-minute phone conversation with Vladimir Putin, which pretty much shocked many in Washington, but definitely many in Europe and Ukraine.
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And then, he came out with comments blaming Ukraine for starting the war somehow, and he got real pushback from European leaders and also from President Zelenskyy in Ukraine, who I talked to a Ukrainian official today and they said, look, you know, Zelenskyy tried to be very polite about it. He just said, I think he's under the influence of misinformation. Well, anything to do with accusing Trump of being influenced by Russia recalls all of the different court cases, et cetera, and the accusation since way back in 2016 and Trump sees red, and that's when you saw Trump coming back with these angry quotes calling Zelenskyy ultimately a dictator.
Well, in the past 24 to 48 hours, you've had pushback from the GOP community, the MAGA community, including the Newark Post with a headline today saying, this is a dictator, with a photograph of Vladimir Putin. And you've seen Trump's tone change, shift, he reluctantly admitted today that Ukraine started the war, but then it's almost as if, you know, but no, I'm still right. And his brain comes back with reasons that he can still be mad at Zelenskyy. So, it's been a fascinating to watch play out in public.
DEAN: No, you're certainly right. And I did want to ask you about just kind of the schism that we're seeing within the Republican Party itself, because there are Republicans on Capitol Hill who are these more traditionally hawkish Republicans. And I even think about somebody like Marco Rubio who, I think, we all could have put in that bucket until very recently and I think he would still consider himself that way versus the real MAGA wing and how you see that kind of, it's that push and pull between the two that's been spilling out internationally to what happens in Ukraine and Russia.
DOZIER: Yes. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was also one who -- as a congressman, was very hawkish on Russia. But you see the people around Trump know that they've got to manage this carefully, and they've been trying to send messages to Zelenskyy. J. D. Vance, the vice president, did it in a Wall Street Journal article saying, you know, hey, Zelenskyy, you don't want to criticize Trump. That's not the way to get him to cooperate.
Meanwhile, working behind the scenes to signal -- well, also from the White House podium this week, and I say, Waltz said, you know, Zelenskyy's got to come on board on this rare earth minerals deal. And tonight, in Kyiv, Zelenskyy gave a midnight speech, telling the public that he is working and negotiating on just such a deal.
But, of course, the Ukrainians are worried about the fact that the draft deal that he was offered to sign needs to refer to, aid they've received up to this point and not future aid. So, it's more than the devil in those particular details, and that's why Ukraine is going slowly.
DEAN: Yes, there is a lot to hash out. All right. Kim Dozier, as always, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
It has been a week of course reversals from pausing the firing of Pentagon staffers to rehiring nuclear weapons specialists. There have been wins for the White House involving contentious confirmations, including Kash Patel, who has been sworn in as FBI director just within the last hour. But there do seem to be a growing number of concerns from Americans that they don't like the direction Trump is taking.
54 percent in a new poll from CNN saying they are afraid or pessimistic about the rest of his second term. While Democrats are expressing their expected outrage about mass firings and huge budget cuts, some Republicans are getting an earful as they go back to their districts. CNN's Isabel Rosales reports on this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are all freaking pissed off about this. You're going to hear it and feel it.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A flurry of boos and ire in Ruby Red, Northern Georgia as hundreds of voters crowd Roswell City Hall to confront GOP Representative Rich McCormick for his backing of the Trump agenda.
REP. RICH MCCORMICK (R-GA): I came here to have a discussion. You -- I think a lot of you didn't come here in good faith to have a discussion, you came here to yell at me and to boo me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to say for from a conservative perspective --
ROSALES (voice-over): This constituent, igniting a fiery exchange over massive federal layoffs led by the administration's newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Just 20 miles away in Atlanta, around 1,000 workers fired at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is a supposedly conservative party taking such a radical and extremist and sloppy approach to this?
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MCCORMICK: And I'm in close contact with the CDC. Those probationary people, which is about 10 percent of their employee base, which is about 1,300 people, which you're referring to, a lot of the work they do is duplicitous with A.I.
ROSALES: I've read a lot of the comments on X saying that this was a room full of liberals.
GINNY LIM, DEMOCRATIC RESIDENT: No, it was not a room full of liberals. It was a room full of average, normal, everyday Americans who are afraid of what is happening with our country.
ROSALES (voice-over): Ginny Lin, a Democrat from McCormick's district, tells me this White House post is what compelled her to attend the town hall.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tyranny is rising in the White House, and a man has declared himself our king. So, I would like to know, rather, the people would like to know, what you, congressmen, and your fellow congressmen are going to do to rein in the megalomaniac in the White House.
MCCORMICK: When you talk about tyranny, when you talk about presidential power, I remember having the same discussion with Republicans when Biden was elected.
ROSALES (voice-over): Grant Sturgill tells me he proudly voted for Trump three times. But when Trump called Ukraine's president a dictator --
GRANT STURGILL: This is an embarrassment on the world stage, what was said by our president. And I voted for Trump. You can't do that.
ROSALES (voice-over): And on DOGE.
STURGILL: I think it's a mistake to do it too rapidly.
ROSALES (voice-over): Maggie Goldman, a Democrat, hopes the turnout is emblematic of a larger movement.
MAGGIE GOLDMAN: Hopefully it's an opportunity to show other states that they can also get out and go to these town halls with their representatives.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: All right. That was Isabel Rosales for us. Jackie Kucinich is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe. She's also a CNN political analyst. Jackie, thanks for being here.
Look, we -- it can take a minute for what's happening in Washington to begin to be felt in local communities. It was really interesting to see that town hall in that very red district in Georgia. In the end, you know, people talk about what are Democrats doing? What are the courts doing? Is it really up to the American people? Are they the ones that have the only ones with real power here?
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, BOSTON GLOBE: Well, truly, I think you also heard in some other places that there's some concern that members of Congress aren't doing enough for the people that they represent, and I think that's what you're talking about, where the people really do have the ultimate say.
Now, they do have to wait of course, because there's a midterm election. Not for another -- you know, I don't have the months in front of me, but not until --
DEAN: Well, roughly two years, a little less. Yes.
KUCINICH: Roughly two years, less years. And this has only been a month. And I think it's easy to forget that because it has been so intense. It has been so rapid, these changes. And the explanation for them don't seem to be enough for, you know, some of those people in that room and in other places around the country where these changes are just done. And there hasn't been an explanation other than, oh, OK, we were just spending too much money.
And then, there's the extra layer of the chaos, the rehiring, the firing, and then the rehiring. And it's happening, not just in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, it's happening, you know, across the country because only a -- not all federal workers live in these areas.
DEAN: Right. And that, I think, is what is important to keep reminding everyone. It's a high number of people who work for the federal government and who work in these jobs that do not work in Washington, D.C. They work, actually, all across the country.
And to that end, we're getting new information about the Pentagon announcing this plan to fire 5 to 8 percent of its civilian workforce. And 5 to 8 percent, I think, to a lot of people, they go, OK, that seems -- but it's a 950,000-member group. I mean, this is a huge group of people.
KUCINICH: Right.
DEAN: So, 8 percent of that is not insignificant.
KUCINICH: Exactly. And you know, while it is -- well, we're absolutely -- it's right that they're up to the voters. It is up to members of Congress to start speaking up if their constituents are upset. And that is kind of where the rubber meets the road here in Washington, because there isn't a real political will at this point to really stand up to President Trump and to Elon Musk because of, frankly, the hellfire that rains down on members of Congress, Republican members of Congress, who do so.
So, you see kind of delicate dances around that, in some ways, perhaps some back channeling with the White House, but not as -- not in public and not as furiously as you think there would be perhaps that's coming, you know, down the road because this is just starting.
DEAN: Right. As you note, we're only one month in here. But we do have some new polling from CNN on this first month. And within that, it shows that 62 percent of Americans don't think that the president has done enough to reduce the price of everyday goods. Then you couple that with this University of Michigan polling showing consumer sentiment declining for a second month.
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And it was the cost of living that the president was elected to really move the needle on by so many people they list that far and away as their top priority. What's the price for President Trump if he can't get that to budge or if it just goes up?
KUCINICH: Well, in fairness, it has only been a month, and there are only so many things you can do to turn around perhaps inflation, which was going in the right direction at one point to get that to completely turn around. But I think a lot of us, economists, political reporters, are watching to see what happens with these tariffs because the expectation is that they will make the cost of goods to go up, cost of living going up and what the American people -- the response of the American people and their elected representatives to that will be interesting to watch.
Are we going to see another movement? I'm, you know, as -- I'm thinking back to the health care town halls in 2010, when they are -- 2009 when you had, you know, members of the public really utilizing those to speak their mind. Is that going to happen as the months get warmer? We'll have to wait and see, Jessica, but it certainly seems that this is not isolated and it's starting to spread around the country as more and more people become aware of what's happening in Washington and beyond.
DEAN: Yes, and potentially impacted. Jackie Kucinich, thanks so much. Good to see you. And David Huitema was recently let go by the Trump administration. He was the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics. David joins us now to talk a little bit more about this. David, thanks so much for being here. If you will, just tell people a little bit about what you were doing and how you found out about your fate.
DAVID HUITEMA, FORMER DIRECTOR, U.S. OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS: Yes. Well, thank you for having me. You're right, I started just in December as the director of the Office of Government Ethics. This is a tiny little agency that has a pretty simple mission, helping all federal employees and officials meet their obligations to always put public service, service to the general public, over any personal interest in all they do as part of their government job.
And I was just settling into my role and found out just by way of an e-mail, I happened to be checking e-mail over the weekend, and saw that I had received an e-mail from the White House informing me that the president was removing me from my position as the director of the Office of Government Ethics and thanking me for my service. And that was that.
DEAN: Wow. And you note a little bit about what the U.S. government -- Office of Government Ethics does. It was founded after Watergate to make sure federal officials meet that legal obligation to put service to country over personal interest. And so, I am curious what you think people should take away from the fact that you and others like yourself on your team were let go.
HUITEMA: Yes. It's -- yes, I hope people are paying attention. I recognize that the Office of Government Ethics, as I mentioned, is small. You know, our work is mostly internally oriented. We're helping federal employees meet their obligations. We don't have a big public facing role. A lot of people may not have even heard of the Office of Government Ethics.
But the work that it does, the work that other organizations within the federal government do to uphold the principles of integrity and adherence to the law that provide a measure of accountability, they do play an important role in keeping that standard up, that standard of public service.
And so, I hope people first notice the trend, right? It's not just me, it's not just the Office of Government Ethics, the same day that I was removed, the president tried to remove the special counsel. That's the head of the organization that tries to keep the government apolitical, that supports whistleblowers and stands up against prohibited personnel practices. Before that, it was more than 15 inspectors general, the leading force for accountability in the executive branch. So, there really is a trend here to undermine any institution that stands up and is a voice for integrity and public service and that provides any insight and visibility in that regard.
And I think that in the long run, what we'll see, even if you may not notice you know, the absence of the Office of Government Ethics and one thing that it does or doesn't do, over time, this really does take a toll. All right.
And so, we will see an increase in officials doing things that benefit themselves, that benefit their friends, that benefit those who are connected, right, instead of the American public. And what I really fear is that in the long run that in turn will lead to an erosion of faith in our democratic system, right?
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We can all, as citizens, as voters understand when elected officials choose a policy that we may disagree with, as long as it's motivated by kind of their sense of what's best for the country. But when we start to think that our senior officials are in it just for themselves, that buy in to our government, I fear, will really decrease.
DEAN: Yes, it is that buy in that makes democracy tick, it's a really important part. David Huitema, thank you very much for sharing your story, we really appreciate it.
HUITEMA: Thank you.
DEAN: And stay with CNN. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEAN: The Supreme Court has dashed President Donald Trump's plan to immediately fire the head of an independent agency that investigates whistleblower claims. The ruling allowing Hampton Dellinger to remain in the job through to at least the middle of next week.
CNN Chief Supreme Court Analyst Joan Biskupic is joining us now with more on this. Joan, catch us up to these new details.
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure. Good to see you, Jessica. You know, this was the first Test at the Supreme Court of Donald Trump's second term agenda, the first case to make it up there, and as you know, there are just dozens of other cases percolating up, but the justice is essentially punted at this point.
So, we don't have any clear signal, but we do know, at this initial threshold, President Trump lost. He lost at this stage because what he wanted to do was to be able to immediately fire Hampton Dellinger from being the head of this watchdog agency. He had been appointed last year by then-President Joe Biden and he was appointed to a five-year term. And under normal circumstances, these heads of independent agencies can stay in place.
But as you know, President Trump is really trying to inflate his executive power to get rid of many, many office holders and to say, essentially, these independent agencies might not be so independent of the president.
And what was before the justices in this litigation at this point, and I should stress, Jessica, we're at a very preliminary stage, it was a temporary order from lower courts that allowed Mr. Dellinger to stay in place. The Trump administration had gone to the Supreme Court saying, no, lift that order, get rid of that order because when all is said and done, President Trump will succeed on the merits of his challenge to this individual, this Biden appointee, staying in place.
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What the justices did, and it took them all week to kind of figure out what to do here, and they even splintered in the end, it was an unsigned order that essentially said, we're not doing anything yet. We're going to just pause this litigation until next Wednesday when a lower court is already scheduled to have another hearing on this and when this temporary order was -- that favored Mr. Dellinger was going to expire. So, they've bought themselves some time.
But to show you some of the tension behind the scenes at the court, Jessica, our two most liberal justice justices, Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, they said they would have outright denied Trump request and let Mr. Dellinger stay in the meantime while the merits are decided. Meanwhile, Justices Gorsuch and Alito wrote separately to say that the court should have just immediately assessed this temporary order and not just punted essentially and bought time until next week.
So, a minor setback for Donald Trump at this point, but so many more chapters to come, Jessica, not just in this case, but in -- as I said, dozens of other cases coming up to the Supreme Court on how Donald Trump is going to be able to exercise his executive powers.
DEAN: Right. So, much of this is playing out through the courts. And, Joan, I just want to clarify, with Dellinger, all we know for sure right now is that he can stay on for at least until the middle of next week. After that, we're not sure. It's going to be -- it's going to come down to this rule -- this lower court ruling is what you're saying?
BISKUPIC: Yes. So -- and, you know, just to remind everyone how it works, we've got three levels of the federal court. And this goes back to the lowest level, the district court judge. And a district court judge had written a very thorough opinion that essentially said Hampton Dellinger should be able to stay, you know, arguably forever, because her opinion talked about how the law was on the of Mr. Dellinger to be able to stay there, and Donald Trump did not have authority to remove him before the end of his five-year term, but she's going to reassess because her order was just a temporary one.
And then depending on what she says, then it would go up to the next level, a U.S. appellate court, which in the earlier litigation, had sided with that judge, and, you know, essentially said, at this stage of the litigation, everything is -- should essentially stay on hold. Let's preserve the status quo of Mr. Dellinger staying in place. And the Supreme Court, not in as many words, but generally with that sentiment is at least letting him stay for another week.
So, much more on this particular case. But for right now, a Biden appointee is able to stay as head of this agency that actually reviews whistleblower complaints. So, it's a really important agency, especially at this time, at this moment.
DEAN: All right. Joan Biskupic, we know you will be on it. Thank you so much. We really appreciate it.
BISKUPIC: Thanks, Jessica.
DEAN: Coming up, Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing the CEO of United Healthcare, makes a court appearance in New York. We'll have the latest on the charges he's currently facing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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DEAN: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Jessica Dean. And here are more international headlines we're watching today. The Red Cross says it has transferred a set of human remains to Israeli authorities. Hamas said earlier that it handed over the body of hostage Shiri Bibas to the Red Cross in Gaza. Bibas was supposed to be returned Thursday along with the bodies of her two young sons and an elderly man, but Israel says Hamas returned the body of an unknown Palestinian woman in her place.
A federal judge is indefinitely delaying the criminal trial of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but is not yet dismissing those charges altogether. The judge is instead appointing an outside lawyer to present arguments against dropping charges. Adams is facing charges including fraud and bribery. He is denied wrongdoing.
Doctors caring for Pope Francis say his health is improving, but he's not out of danger yet. They say the 88-year-old is not at immediate risk of death, but his treatment needs more time to work. The pope is expected to remain in the hospital at least through next week. Our Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb has the latest on the pope's condition.
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CHRISTOPHER LAMB, VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: It's a week since Pope Francis was admitted to hospital at the Gemelli behind me. And today, his doctors gave a briefing to the media. They said the pope is not out of immediate danger, however, his health hangs in the balance.
DR. SERGIO ALFIERI, GEMELLI HOSPITAL: But the question is the pope out of danger? No, the pope is not out of danger. The door is open to both possibilities because such a major infection with so many microbes, with the appearance of bilateral pneumonia in a man, and we see this, who walks very little and is in a wheelchair, and who's 88 years old.
LAMB: The doctors explained that the therapies treated in the pope have to be finely balanced. There is also a risk of sepsis. It is not clear how long the pope will remain in hospital. Doctors said that he will be there at least for next week. And can only be released when they're confident that he can be treated at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta and no longer needs hospital therapies.
The next question facing Francis is whether he will lead the Sunday Angelus prayer behind me from the balcony of the hospital. Doctors say that is something they will discuss with the pope. Essentially, it is up to him, though, whether he decides to do this. The doctors also said there have been no images of the pope released yet because it wouldn't be fair to share images of him in his pajamas.
Clearly, the pope is not functioning as he normally would. He is sitting in a chair. He is spending some small amounts of time in the chapel. But he is being treated for a very serious case of pneumonia in both lungs. And so, much depends on how he responds to that therapy. We're expecting further updates from the Vatican in the coming days.
Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: The man accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare appeared in court on Friday for a status hearing. Luigi Mangione is charged with first degree murder in the death of Brian Thompson, who was killed while walking on a Manhattan sidewalk in December. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges, but has yet to enter a plea on the federal murder charges. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.
Brynn Gingras is in New York with the latest on this. What did we learn today, Brynn?
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica, listen, it's quiet right now around the courthouse. But earlier today, this area was packed with people supporting the accused killer as he took the next step in this legal process.
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GINGRAS (voice-over): Accused killer Luigi Mangione back in court, flanked by officers shackled and wearing a bulletproof vest.
He walked past dozens of supporters and into a New York City courtroom where his defense attorney argued against Mangione's restraints.
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KAREN FRIEDMAN AGNIFILIO, LUIGI MANGIONE'S ATTORNEY: I don't understand what this show of danger is for. When I go visit Luigi at MDC in Brooklyn, I sit with him. He is unshackled. He walks around freely in the visiting area.
GINGRAS (voice-over): This is his first court appearance since pleading not guilty to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year. Prosecutors listed the evidence that has been turned over to the defense, including cell phone records, body camera footage, and autopsy reports.
The hearing sparking another surge of support for the 26-year-old. This image of Mangione projected onto a New York City building last night and on a truck that circled the courthouse. This while donations continue to pour into an online legal defense fund. So far, it tops a half a million dollars with fans from around the globe giving money. Some glorifying Mangione while also venting frustrations against the healthcare industry.
Mangione himself expressing gratitude for the support on a new website created by his legal team. Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions as mail has flooded MDC from across the country and around the globe.
Mangione is facing 11 state charges in the killing, as well as federal charges, which brings the possibility of the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said if they'll seek it in this case.
Mangione looted law enforcement for five days after the brazen shooting outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel in December, and was eventually arrested while eating at a Pennsylvania McDonald's.
ALVIN BRAGG, MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was a frightening, well planned, targeted murder.
GINGRAS (voice-over): The defense again arguing the media attention on this case is impacting his chances of a fair trial.
AGNIFILIO: Luigi's right to a fair trial is being infringed upon because he is being publicly treated as guilty and as --
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GINGRAS (on camera): Yes. Mangione's defense attorney made a number of arguments in court today. She even tried to get those shackles removed from him while he was actually in front of the judge, but lost that argument. And we know that Mangione will be back in court sometime this summer in June, Jessica.
DEAN: Brynn Gingras with the latest for us. Thank you very much for that. Still to come, China's stunning biotech boom. It claims a brand- new cancer drug is more effective than one made in the West. What it could mean for the global drug industry and patients in need of life- saving medicine.
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DEAN: Pharmaceutical giants in the U.S. that develop drugs for cancer and other diseases are facing growing competition from China. Innovative, cheaper medicines that seemingly outperform their western counterparts are exciting investors and consumers. But the question is, are they too good to be true? CNN's Will Ripley digs into China's biotech boom.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Chinese scientists celebrating a breakthrough, one that may have just outperformed a top U.S. cancer drug.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have made history again.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Akeso, barely known a year ago, is now shaking up the biotech world. Their new cancer drug, Ivonescimab, their first to get major international attention. Going head-to-head with Keytruda, one of Merck's biggest sellers. More than $130 billion so far.
Clinical trials in China show it kept lung tumors from growing for nearly twice as long, sending the stock of Akeso's U.S. partner soaring. Some call it a game changer, just like Chinese startup DeepSeek shook up A.I.
China's innovation push goes beyond biotech, from A.I. to robotics to medicine, China is racing ahead.
MICHELLE XIA, FOUNDER AND CEO, AKESO: I don't think it will be a threat because, you know, innovation, science is the global thing.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Akeso's CEO Michelle Xia telling reporters in San Francisco, China's biotech industry is going global.
XIA: We participate more and more to this ecosystem.
RIPLEY (voice-over): But in China, skepticism is everywhere, especially online. On the streets of Beijing --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, I've never heard of it.
RIPLEY (voice-over): -- several people told us they've never heard of the company or its drug. This man says he still trusts pricier foreign drugs more.
GU ZIHAO, BEIJING RESIDENT (through translator): To be honest, I tend to choose the more expensive medicine. After all, you get what you pay for.
RIPLEY (voice-over): They may have good reason to be wary. A public hospital scandal over questionable drug quality triggered a government probe last month. China's health regulator defended the drug's safety, saying the investigation found the quality concerns to be unsubstantiated, but some say they're not convinced.
RIPLEY: Is there any reason not to trust China clinical trials? REBECCA LIANG, SENIOR ANALYST, AB BERNSTEIN: Yes. So, there's been a lot of scrutiny in the past. The FDA has made rejections because there's been -- the trial setup is not rigorous enough.
RIPLEY (voice-over): Despite the doubts, China's biotech boom is undeniable. Investors are pumping billions into research. And while not all clinical trials are peer reviewed, China's low cost, high speed trials are getting noticed.
RIPLEY: How should patients feel watching this?
LIANG: Well, I think it's good news for patients worldwide. When you're waiting for a lifesaving drug, you don't really mind where it originates.
RIPLEY (voice-over): The U.S. still leads biotech, for now. But Akeso's drug is proof China is closing in fast.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
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DEAN: Up next, giving the New York Yankees a whole new look. The baseball team reversing a decades-old rule about the appearance of its players. We'll explain.
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DEAN: They're not the L.A. Clippers, but the New York Yankees have long had very strict rules about facial hair. Now, for the first time since the 1970s, the team will allow its players to support beards.
The Yankees have traditionally required athletes to be clean shaven, though mustaches were allowed. Some players have criticized the rule over the years, and it was even parodied in an episode of "The Simpsons." The ever-stylish Patrick Snell is here with us now. This is a bit of a kind of a fashion report, Patrick, but this is a big change for them.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: It's huge. Yes. Great Clippers line by the way there, Jessica. A very, very -- look. this is all about a beard or not to have a beard. New York Yankees -- he was that at an judge sporting event one day, well, up until now, that didn't even bear thinking about right, but who knows? It might just be possible. Why? Because we've had this significant development, this rollback of a decades-old Yankees team rule.
A bit more to it, a bit more in terms of background. The Yankees did have a strict facial hair rule in play since the 1970s. The team had generally required players to be clean shaven at all times when they wore those famed pin stripes. But mustaches were allowed.
On Friday, though, this dramatic U-turn after Yankees' managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner, announcing the franchise was amending its facial hair policy to allow well-groomed beards, the decision that walked back a long-standing mandate from Steinbrenner's father, George, who actually bought the team back in 1973.
Here's Hal Steinbrenner speaking at a news conference on Friday. Take a listen.
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HAL STEINBRENNER, MANAGING GENERAL PARTNER, NEW YORK YANKEES: This generation, you know, the vast majority of 20, 30s, into the 40s men in this country have beards. You know, our new vice president has a beard, members of Congress have a beard, the list goes on and on and on in this country and in this world.
It is a part of who these younger men are. It's a part of their character. It's a part of their persona. Do I totally relate to that? It's difficult for me. I'm an older guy who's never had a beard in his life, but it's a very important thing to them, but the most important thing for me was to sit down face-to-face with several of our players and several of our senior staff.
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SNELL: A big U-turn. I do want to pick up on that "Simpsons" reference from earlier, because let's be honest, the rule had been controversial, had drawn criticism, Jessica, from a number of players over the years. Don Mattingly comes to mind. He was famously benched for a game in 1991 after refusing to cut his hair, an incident that would be later parodied in the legendary "Homer at the Bat" episode of "The Simpsons" back in the early 1990s.
Now, the news could also come as a big in particular to newly acquired closer Devin Williams, a player who rocked a beard for many years as a player with the Milwaukee Brewers before joining the Yankees this off -- in the offseason. In fact, his team photo actually for the Yankees had made waves at the start of spring training when he still sported some facial hair, despite the fact the band was that was then in place, some Yankees players criticizing the rule after leaving the club over the years as well.
So, I think overall, fair to say that fans will be pleased with Friday's developments, keeping up with the times, they would some might well say that indeed given the policy. It actually did see some Yankees -- some players actually missing out on joining the Yankees as well. Players actually refusing to join the franchise. So, this is really significant in many ways.
And I do wonder now, Jessica, will we suddenly see a whole spurt, a whole flurry of Yankees players starting to grow some beards? We shall see. Back to you.
DEAN: It may -- very well may be.
SNELL: I think so.
DEAN: We're just going to have to see if they like that new freedom.
SNELL: Yes. Thank you.
DEAN: Patrick Snell, thank you so much. Hawaii's Kilauea volcano has erupted again, shooting lava more than 120 meters or about 400 feet into the Earth. Thursday now, this is the 10th eruption since late December, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Its report says those eruptions can last anywhere from 13 hours to eight days. Officials say it's not a major threat to people outside the Volcanoes National Park on the big island of Hawaii, but it could impact air travel in the region. I'd say so. Just looking at it there.
Now, we all love a beach day, but the crowds at this beach in India are truly remarkable. More than 700,000 sea turtles have arrived on the shore. That is a record number. But they're not just there to chillax, if you will, it's all part of an annual nesting event known as arribada, which lasts around 10 days.
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The female turtles will lay more than a hundred eggs. And in 50 days' time, we'll hopefully see some very cute, very small turtles.
And finally, it's a small and slimy creature and now it is New Zealand's bug of the year. The velvet worm has been crowned victorious. In an annual social experiment, the beastie nests on leaf litter and captures its prey by squirting a sticky goo. As its name suggests, the velvet worm is soft to the touch. Nearly 25,000 votes were cast worldwide. Bug fanatics deciding between a shortlist of nominees including maggots, ants, crickets, and flies. But it feels like the velvet worm is the fanciest and that's exciting.
Thanks so much for keeping us great company tonight. I'm Jessica. Have a great weekend.
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