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All USAID Employees, with Few Exceptions, to be Placed on Leave Starting Midnight; Ukraine's President Offers to Resign If It Brings Peace in Ukraine; Germany's Center-Right Party Wins Elections, Must Build Coalition; Pope In Critical Condition Following Respiratory Crisis; Polls: Trump Job Approval Drops One Month Into Office; Immigration Enforcement Operations Underway in Los Angeles; Musk's DOGE Tactics Echo Past Twitter Takeover. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired February 23, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: It also comes as President Trump last night urged Elon Musk to get, quote, "more aggressive" in Musk's ongoing efforts to purge the federal government.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is joining us now from the White House.

And, Kevin, let's start with this latest news on USAID. What can you tell us about these developments?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's assault on USAID. This coming after last week, a federal judge cleared the way to essentially decimate that agency. Now, virtually all of those agency's workers being put on administrative leave. Employees receiving an e-mail that said, as of midnight tonight, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission critical functions, core leadership and-or specialty designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally.

In addition, 2,000 USAID workers being laid off as part of this effort to gut the agency. Of course, we have already seen Donald Trump, Elon Musk railing against USAID's programs alleging that they were rife with fraud. You've already seen the signs taken down at the agency's headquarters across town. What its advocates say this will do will strip some important programs in the developing world, leaving not only American officials who are serving the country overseas as part of USAID, sort of abandoned at their posts, but also leaving some very vulnerable people without the programs that they might need to survive, whether it's on food, whether it's on medicine.

But clearly, the Trump administration, given this court's ruling, now pushing very quickly ahead to get rid of USAID.

DEAN: OK. And then, Kevin, then there is the confusion tonight, kind of across the federal government, as numerous agencies, including the FBI, are telling their workers not to respond to this mass e-mail from last night that was put out at the direction of Elon Musk, asking them to list what they've accomplished that week. So what do you know about that?

LIPTAK: Yes. And what's interesting here is that these are Trump appointees who are telling their agency staff essentially to not respond to Musk's directive, essentially contradicting Elon Musk about how they should proceed. And I think it really goes to show that there could be a standoff brewing between Musk and some of these Trump appointees at some very critical agencies across Washington.

And it really does sort of test the bounds of Musk's power across the federal government. It certainly is injecting a new degree of uncertainty into the federal workforce, not just among the rank and file, which had already been rattled by the first month of the Trump administration, but also among the senior leaders who are trying to ascertain whether this e-mail is actually legitimate.

And so just today, we've seen, for example, at the Pentagon, a senior official saying that the Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel, and it will conduct a performance review going forward. You've also seen Kash Patel over at the FBI say please pause on any responses when and if further information is required. We will coordinate the responses.

At the State Department, a senior undersecretary telling the staff there that no employee is obligated to report their activities outside their department chain of command. So you already see this uncertainty brewing. I think what is unclear and what no official seems to be clear about at all, is whether Musk's directive in his tweet that any employee who doesn't respond will be terminated is actually actionable, whether that is actually true.

In fact, many have questioned whether it's even legal, including the head of a federal union representing workers. He says instead that this is meant to be cruel and disrespectful, that it reflects the White House's utter disdain for federal workers. At the end of the day, I think that is part of the plan to just make the federal government such an unpleasant place to work for some of these employees that they will just depart on their own as President Trump works very quickly to try and reduce the size of the federal government.

DEAN: And, Kevin, you really distill it down to the heart of the matter there, as you just said.

Kevin Liptak at the White House. Thank you so much for that.

Let's turn now to developments in Ukraine where officials are tonight blaming Moscow for a, quote, "record drone attack" on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine. Officials saying five regions across the country were targeted. At least one person was killed. In the meantime, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he is prepared to step down if it means bringing peace to his country.

CNN chief national security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv with more details on this. NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT:

Jessica, important to provide a bit of context, though, on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's offer to resign if it brought peace to Ukraine or if Ukraine became part of NATO. It's pretty much impossible for Ukraine to join NATO now, and the U.S. has really ruled it out in the immediate future as well.

[19:05:04]

Secondly, if Zelenskyy did step down, well, that would cause chaos, frankly. We'd have probably an election or an anointed successor. I don't even know how that would even work. And so that probably would make some kind of stable peace yet more unlikely. So the two eventualities he outlined there, remote as ideas. And I think really this is key because he's made this suggestion about his future after a particularly acrimonious and messy week in terms of his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Trump called him a dictator, suggested aid money to Ukraine had gone missing, suggested Ukraine started the war, suggested that indeed Zelenskyy was asleep when the U.S. Treasury secretary tried to get him to sign up to a rare earth mineral deal. A litany of falsehoods that's really put that relationship into freefall.

And so I asked President Zelenskyy exactly what place they were at, where the rare earth mineral deal and whether signing that was sort of contingent for further U.S. aid, and also about his relationship with President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH: Do you think you can mend your relationship with President Trump? And secondly, have the American side spelt out to you what happens if you don't come to an agreement over this rare earth minerals deal in terms of what it means for U.S. aid?

ZELENSKYY: As I said, we want successful agreement and if we will understand each other with partners, I hope that it will be, we will sign this first agreement or memo, memo, on which base we will, I mean, I will prepare other documents. So I hope that it will not have influence on other steps of the United States and they will not cancel or stop or freeze any support, especially military support, to Ukraine. This is crucial for us.

PATON WALSH: Relationship with the president?

ZELENSKYY: My relationship with President Trump, it's never was in such best way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PATON WALSH: Now the awkward laughter in the room there really, I think, a symbol of the mess they're in, the ugly reality that the freefall in relationship between Trump and Zelenskyy is overshadowed so much of the complex and urgent task between the two countries in the past week. The rare earth mineral deal in public, at least, the numbers the Trump administration have been talking about, half $1 trillion, well, that's something Zelenskyy is clear he can't sign up to, talking about much lower numbers, rejecting the idea that they have debt with the United States, saying the money they got from the Biden administration was grants.

That is true. There was no suggestion they would indeed be repaying. And certainly in public, the two sides are pretty far apart. There are no security guarantees or future aid promises, it seems, in the latest versions of the document, although there are negotiations ongoing right now. But really, Zelenskyy's comments today I think showing you just quite how complex his position is now, how far he is I think from the good graces of the man who he needs to get on side and who seems much more interested in a peace deal or entente with the Kremlin than necessarily assisting Ukraine. So awkward moments, I think, at the end of a particularly bad week -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Kyiv for us. Thank you so much for that reporting.

Joining us now, CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty.

Jill, thanks so much for being here with us. You know, President Trump had said earlier this week that President Zelenskyy had no cards to play and he had no cards to play. Now we hear President Zelenskyy saying he's willing to step down if it means NATO membership and peace for his country. Is that his card?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's one of his cards. And I agree, he doesn't have a lot of cards right now. I think what Zelenskyy is doing is analyzing what is important to President Trump and then trying to answer that. And so the idea that, you know, he would offer to step down, obviously, is an answer to what President Trump said, which is, you know, he is a dictator without elections. That is how President Trump would describe Zelenskyy.

So Zelenskyy is saying, in addition to explaining that Ukraine right now cannot hold elections according to its constitution, it's in the middle of a war, et cetera. But I think Zelenskyy is saying, hey, if you need me out of the way, I'm willing to do this. But what my country Ukraine needs is long term security and ultimately he would argue NATO. And I think Nick is absolutely right. There's no NATO right now.

But I think that's number one. And then number two, we can talk about this is Zelenskyy is looking at what is important to President Trump. And the second thing, maybe it's number one, is that deal for the rare earth minerals and other minerals that Ukraine has -- Jessica.

[19:10:04]

DEAN: Yes. And I do want to talk about that because there's been so much discussion around that topic. The Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview this week that that mineral rights agreement would act as a security guarantee for Ukraine. Do you think President Zelenskyy can count on that? DOUGHERTY: Well, I don't think Zelenskyy sees it that way at all. I

mean, you know, if you look at these minerals, number one, I think it's important to point out they are still in the ground. And 40 percent of those rare earth minerals are in areas that are controlled by Russia. So this is far more complex. It's a very -- even to mine that stuff is very, very dirty process, very complex, et cetera.

So Zelenskyy is looking at what the United States is saying. Secretary Rubio says this will provide long term security for Ukraine, but Zelenskyy does not look at it that way. He says it never did. You know, knowing that the United States actually did have businesses in the eastern part of Ukraine, et cetera., didn't stop Russia from invading. So I think, you know, we're back to the most important thing, which is, how do you provide long term security? It's very, very complex, but it is existential to the Ukrainians.

So Zelenskyy is maneuvering as quickly as he can. You know, these negotiations over that, the minerals deal, are incredibly fast and furious. But, you know, he hasn't -- he's just going to have to hope, as he said, that the mineral deal won't be a sticking deal for other things that they also need, which is weapons and help.

DEAN: Yes. And I spoke with former defense secretary Leon Panetta earlier tonight, and he told me that the way that the administration and the president are handling this is not, in his words, not peace through strength, but whether the U.S. capitulating to Putin and to whatever his views are on this war. It is something that Russian state TV acknowledged just this week. And we've got a clip of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR SOLOVYOV, RUSSIAN HOST (through translator): When Trump is answering questions about the press conference, I think it is not a coincidence that many of the narratives that are being voiced largely materialized after their conversation.

The phrases he's saying are so deep and so correct they are in total alignment with the way we see things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: In total alignment with the way we see things.

Jill, just the dynamics between Putin and Trump here, that is just such a huge piece of all of this.

DOUGHERTY: Well, it is notable, certainly, Jessica, that some of the very things that the American president is saying the Russian president said and other Russian officials, and I did see that video actually, a few days ago. And, you know, there's a big smirk essentially on the face of one of Putin's main propagandists because essentially what he's saying is Putin was able to convince Trump about the way to look at the world, to look at Ukraine, et cetera.

And as usual, Russia would say, we win. But you know, that aside, I think it is true that there are a lot of talking points that this administration, the U.S. administration, has that are very similar to Russia's. And the question constantly is, why no pressure on Putin? I mean, at least ostensibly, we cannot see almost any. We can see almost no pressure on Putin. A lot of the pressure, all of the pressure seems to be on Zelenskyy.

So why is that? Is that a negotiating tactic, or could it be actually a change in the American position on Ukraine, Europe, et cetera, and certainly on Russia?

DEAN: Yes. All right. Jill Dougherty, thank you so much as always. Nice to see you.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

DEAN: Still ahead, President Trump has been back in the White House for one month. New polling out this week showing how Americans are feeling about that. We'll be joined by one pollster with what Trump might want to pay attention to, if he wants to keep Americans happy.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:19:00]

DEAN: The man expected to become the new German chancellor says, quote, "achieving independence" from the United States would be a top priority for him. Friedrich Merz is the head of the center-right Christian Democratic Union. Exit polls showing the CDU taking the highest number of votes, which will give them the lead there in parliament and in a far -- in a surprise move, the far-right AfD surging to the second highest seats. They're making the transition from a fringe group to a legitimate force in German politics.

And with no party taking a majority, governing Europe's largest economy will come with many challenges.

Our Fred Pleitgen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The German election has produced a clear-cut winner, but not necessarily a stable government going forward. The Christian Democratic Union under Friedrich Merz, their main candidate, has won the largest share of the vote by far. Friedrich Merz is a conservative who says that he wants to jump start the economy. He wants to get tougher on migration as well.

At the same time, this is a devastating defeat for the social Democrats, which so far have had the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, the social Democrats have acknowledged this defeat.

[19:20:08]

One of the worst in the party's history. And Olaf Scholz has acknowledged it as well. But that's where the difficulties begin. Now, what has to happen is that a coalition to govern the country needs to be formed. The Christian Democrats can't do that on their own. They need coalition partners. And as things stand right now, Friedrich Merz said he's not going to do that with the far-right AfD. He says that he is putting a firewall around them and will not cooperate with them or form a government with them either.

That leaves the Green Party and the social Democrats. The big problem is, is that these parties all don't really see eye to eye on a lot of the main issues when it comes to migration, when it comes to the environment, in part also when it comes to the economy as well. So forming a government might be possible, but will it be a stable government? That's going to be the big question. Voters here in this country, though, have spoken very clearly.

They understand that this country has a lot of problems, and they want those problems to be solved. The economy, first and foremost, migration certainly as well. But the other thing that looms also here in Europe, and certainly for one of the largest countries here in Europe, is the war in Ukraine and how that is going to move forward in the future.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Fred, thank you.

Also, new details emerging tonight on the health of Pope Francis. The Vatican saying the 88-year-old pontiff remains in critical condition and is now showing signs of mild kidney failure. The Pope was hospitalized more than a week ago with pneumonia in both lungs and suffered a, quote, "respiratory crisis."

CNN medical analyst Jonathan Reiner told me earlier that this new development in the Pope's condition is worrisome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: In a critically ill patient like the Pope, the kidneys are sort of the proverbial canary in the coal mine. And once you start to see kidney function deteriorate, that is often a very ominous sign. And coming 24 hours after what sounds like an urgent episode where the Pope had difficulty of breathing and needed to be placed on high flow oxygen, the decline in his kidney function suggests a significant deterioration in his overall status.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now is Father Thomas Reese, senior analyst at Religion News Service and author of "Inside the Vatican."

Father Reese, thanks so much for being here with us. I know tonight across the world, people are praying for the Pope's recovery. What are you hearing from people? What is the reaction within, obviously, Catholics? There's many, many, many of them across the world. But what are you hearing tonight?

FATHER THOMAS REESE, SENIOR ANALYST, RELIGION NEWS SERVICE: Well, people are very concerned. You know, the Catholic people love Pope Francis. There was a survey last year by the Pew Center that found 75 percent of Catholics in the United States had a favorable view of the Pope, which is, you know, statistics that American politicians would kill for.

DEAN: Yes.

REESE: They love -- we love him. But -- and we're very concerned about his health. But we know it's in God's hands and it's one of these days he's going to go to his eternal reward.

DEAN: And do you have a sense of what's going on behind closed doors? How -- what's going on there in the Vatican as they monitor the Pope's health?

REESE: Well, you know, the doctors are keeping a good eye on him because, of course, they know the whole world is watching them. So they're very concerned about his health. You know, it's something that they are going to continue to monitor. And at this point, all we can do is pray.

DEAN: And this Pope, as you note, very high approval ratings here in America. But around the world, he's done a lot to really step out beyond what we've seen other Popes do.

REESE: He's been very strong spokesperson for migrants and refugees and for the environment. His encyclical "Laudato Si" put the church squarely on the side of Mother Earth and against global warming. This Pope has also spoken out for peace, for an end to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and Africa. You know, he's been a real voice for moral authority in the world and for calling politicians to deal with these crises that we face.

DEAN: And so what comes next for Catholics around the world? I know you -- you say everyone is praying. Everyone waits to hear. But it does -- you know, we just have to see, I would assume, how his medical condition plays out.

[19:25:00]

REESE: Yes, that's absolutely true. You know, and when the Pope does die, they'll have a funeral within five days and they will meet -- and the cardinals will all gather in conclave to elect a new Pope within 15 days of his death. So the church has procedures for electing a new Pope and for reestablishing someone in the role of Pope in the Catholic Church.

DEAN: All right. Father Thomas Reese, thanks so much for your thoughts tonight. We appreciate it.

REESE: You're welcome. Good to be with you.

DEAN: Thank you. We're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:24]

DEAN: It's now been a month since President Trump's return to the White House. New polling shows he may be losing some of the voter enthusiasm he started off with a few weeks ago.

Approval ratings from Gallup and Quinnipiac, showing Trump dropping a few points with an even steeper fall on IPSOS. A new CNN poll shows 52 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump's performance so far. Something no other President has experienced at the start of their term in office.

But it is important to point out this is still better than at any point in Trump's first four years in the White House during his first term.

Joining us now to discuss this and more, pollster and communications strategist, Frank Luntz.

Frank, thanks so much for being here with us. We kind of just laid out a current state of play, as it were. What do you think of that?

FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIST: I'm glad to have this opportunity because both sides and there really are two sides to this, have something to cheer about this evening.

First, the level of support for Donald Trump has fallen. It is reasonably clear it's been a significant measurement, but the agreement with the general direction of what he's trying to do is positive.

So, Democrats can point to the fact that the numbers that he's dropped below 50 percent support, and that's significant. Republicans can point to the fact that he's more popular now than he was at any time in his first term.

Democrats can say that the intensity of support behind Trump's measures have dropped, but Republicans can say that the support in general for cutting wasteful spending, for cutting the bureaucracy, for dealing with issues at the border is just as strong, if not stronger.

So tonight, both sides can claim victory. But this is only day 33 of this administration.

DEAN: I know it is still quite early, as you note. I want to also ask you about the economy. I know you talked to a lot of voters during the election, and that that came up time and time again that people just simply think it is too expensive in this country, the cost of living.

Our polls show 49 percent of Americans think that Trump's tariffs are not a good thing. This was interesting, though. 62 percent think he has not done enough to lower prices.

Now, as you and I just noted, it's a month in. So, you know, he said he would he would do that on day one. But to be fair, it is only a month in. But how long do you think Americans will give him to bring those costs down?

LUNTZ: The speech that's coming up on March 4th is going to be very important, because that's going to reset expectations for the country. Make no mistake, affordability -- and I'm glad that you said prices because that's really the issue. It's not the economy, it's affordability -- is still the number one issue. And it's the reason why he won the election.

And so, if they see that he's too focused on other things and not driving prices, they will become disappointed or disenchanted. But make no mistake, a President can only do so much so quickly.

This is something that takes longer. They want him to keep his eye on the ball. They want him to be focused on getting rid of those things that causes price to go up.

I will point out that on the issue of energy, which is very important to the overall prices, that Trump has been successful in expanding production and getting rid of some of the regulations that have prevented energy production.

The American people support every energy source all the time, everywhere. So you can see that kind of policy making a change over the long term. But you're correct, the public is impatient and they want to see prices fall right now.

DEAN: And we also, just tonight much of our news has been centered around Elon Musk and his role with DOGE. And you know there's these e- mails out now. They're cutting USAID employees.

When we asked people in our polling about Elon Musk's role in the administration, 54 percent of Americans said that they don't like, it's a bad thing that that Trump gave him this role in the White House.

Did that ever come up when you were talking to voters -- the Elon Musk of it all? Because he has, again, in this first month, played quite a big role.

LUNTZ: It came up and in fact, it comes up often. The public's skepticism about billionaires being involved in politics. And while they don't generically dislike it, they don't like the tone and the demeanor. The reason why I wanted to do this interview is to explain one thing to your viewers.

The overall objectives and the goals and the general policies behind what's been happening is approved of. The way it's being communicated to the American people. No, they don't want to chainsaw drop brought to the government. They don't want this seeming meanness as part of public policy. They do want the objectives. They do want less waste, less fraud, and

most importantly, less corruption. And so, they back the president and his administration generically on what he's trying to do. But the language and the communication of the messaging is over the top and the public understands that these are real people with real families and the public understands that these are real people with real families and real concerns. They're not seeking chaos. They're seeking an orderly change of the way things are.

The Democrats are wrong by talking about resistance because the public doesn't want resistance. They simply want these things done efficiently, effectively, and with accountability. And so, it's still anyone's game who's going to be successful.

[19:35:39]

DEAN: Yes, it's interesting to hear you say that because again and again, having both former bureaucrats, but also Leon Panetta was on who's obviously run OMB. Others who have said, look, it's the way this is being done that, you know, Bill Clinton cut the government back in the 90's, but it was after a whole kind of, you know, evaluation of the government and going through Congress, all of that. It's the way it's being done. And it's interesting to hear you saying that voters and Americans are saying that as well.

LUNTZ: Well, the issue for me is, I appear on a show like yours, and the Republicans get frustrated and the Democrats get frustrated because the end both of them are correct and both of them are wrong.

You can do the right thing, but apparently for the wrong reasons. Or you can do the wrong thing for the right reasons.

The public is asking, make these changes and make them now. Make no mistake, they want results. They want success and they want it. They're tired of waiting, but they want it done in a respectful and a decent, in an organized fashion and they don't see that happening right now.

They're applauding that these issues are being dealt with. They simply want them to be dealt with, with understanding and empathy.

DEAN: All right, Frank Luntz, always interesting to chat with you. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

LUNTZ: Thank you for having me.

DEAN: Coming up, high anxiety, as new video shows the moment an American Airlines flight was diverted today with fighter jets on both sides, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:50]

DEAN: A new round of immigration enforcement operations taking place across Los Angeles today. And as officials move throughout neighborhoods, community activists took to the streets with warnings and guidance. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not open your door unless they have a valid warrant signed by a judge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: This surge is the first since ICE's acting Director Caleb Vitello, was removed as President Trump has reportedly grown frustrated with the progress of immigration enforcement.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is in Los Angeles at one of the areas where ICE conducted one of these operations.

Julia, what more can you tell us about what you're hearing from people in that community?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jessica. We're in Highland Park, which is a neighborhood just East of Downtown LA. This is where one of these operations took place. We spoke with a neighbor, a woman who runs a food stand just around the corner, who said, she knew the man who was arrested. And she spoke about how these actions, these operations are putting fear in this community. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES (on camera): Have you heard of undocumented people in your community and around Los Angeles not showing up to work because they're afraid of Immigration showing up?

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language._

JONES: "Some not going to work, not sending their kids to school and now these families are kind of figuring out what to do, because if the father is not working. How are they putting food on the table or paying the rent?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And, Jessica, these are heavily Hispanic-Latino communities where we have heard of these raids taking place, but we don't know how many people were arrested. We have reached out to ICE for a comment and further information on what happened across Los Angeles today.

But the impact, the potential impact is huge. You know, of the 11 million estimated undocumented immigrants in the United States, 1.8 of those live in California about half of that here in Southern California.

So, of course, these communities, they are feeling targeted and they are recoiling which is what they're telling us. They're not going to school, they're not going out.

It remains to be seen what the next few days will still hold. As we know, that this is expected to be not just one action, but a wave of operations that are targeting these specific neighborhoods and these specific communities -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, more to come from Los Angeles, Julia Vargas Jones, thank you for your reporting.

Well, a bunch of passengers looked out the window today during their flight, and they saw this. Terrifying moments today for more than 160 people on an American Airlines flight on its way from New York to India. It had to be diverted to Rome because of a security scare. But you see, the jets from the Italian Air Force escorted the plane to its landing.

The airline saying law enforcement inspected the plane and found no concerns. The flight is expected to get back on its way tomorrow morning.

Still ahead, is Elon Musk using the same playbook on federal workers that he used in his takeover of Twitter? We'll take a look at the similarities and what it could mean for what comes next for the federal government.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:51]

DEAN: Tonight we've been following the confusion and chaos among federal workers who received an ominous warning, their jobs could be on the line if they don't reply to an official e-mail asking about their work last week.

And as different agencies scramble with different responses, the clock is ticking on the deadline, which is Monday night.

CNN chief media analyst, Brian Stelter is joining us now.

Brian, always good to see you.

What is striking about this? This has been quite -- yes -- quite similar to Musk's playbook when he was taking over Twitter. Tell us more about that.

[19:50:21]

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, it really makes more sense when you see it in the context of Musk's other companies.

When he was trying to take over Twitter in 2022, he sent an almost identical message to the then CEO of Twitter, the guy that he eventually forced out. He said, what have you done this week? His implication was that Twitter wasn't doing anything, that they weren't getting the job done.

We also recall that he axed most of the staff at Twitter. He laid off most of the employees. The app continued to function, although with some trouble, and it currently is still alive. You could say alive and well, but there's a lot of arguments about how well X is actually doing.

It has been able to call advertisers back, but there was a report in "The Wall Street Journal" that it was doing so partly by implying that Musk will use his government connections to punish advertisers who don't play ball.

So, the point is that Musk is using the Twitter playbook on the federal government. But the federal government is a very different beast, and we'll find out if it works in the weeks to come.

DEAN: Yes, it has, you know, hundreds of thousands, millions of employees.

STELTER: Right.

DEAN: And Trump and Musk, today both posted this same meme kind of mocking Americans who are worried they might be losing their livelihoods. What is this about?

STELTER: Right, yes, this is an attempt, I think to -- it's like an own the labs, make you cry more sort of environment, right, where, both Trump and Musk are performing for the MAGA base, knowing that the Trump voting base, the people that truly show up to his rallies, they want to see this happen.

You know, it seems to me that the issue is people don't like bloated government in theory, but they sure do like government services.

So, there's this kind of disconnect between the idea of, yes, let's cut government spending, cut government employees, fire them, but then people do expect the services.

They expect to be able to go to National Parks. They expect their checks to arrive on time. So there's this tension, there's this disconnect. And that's I think what we're seeing play out right now, right?

DEAN: Yes.

STELTER: Musk and Trump are trying to win the social media argument by saying they're employing commonsense, but then months or even years from now, maybe people will feel differently. We'll find out.

DEAN: Yes, we're just going to have to wait and see kind of how the dust settles.

I do also want to ask you about this lawsuit from the Associated Press suing the White House for -- on really First Amendment grounds. The AP not using the phrase Gulf of America, instead using Gulf of Mexico. There is an initial hearing tomorrow. What are you expecting from that?

STELTER: Yes, there's so much going on. But we need to pay attention to this case because this is a real First Amendment test. The AP has been banned for more than a week. The journalists at the AP are not able to functionally do their jobs, reporting on the president, asking the president questions. Their access has been restricted.

So, this is an important case. The first hearing is tomorrow afternoon. The judge in this case, a Trump appointee, will have to hear the AP's arguments for an immediate injunction to stop the White House from implementing this ban.

If the AP loses, it could have negative effects for other media outlets as well. But the AP believes it has a strong case because it's being banned over word choice because it's choosing to describe the gulf as the Gulf of Mexico, the name that's been there for 400 years, and also acknowledge Trump's renaming, but not automatically go along with his words.

Trump here is trying to be the word police. He's trying to employ his decree and force news outlets to use the words he wants. The concern among AP editors and lawyers, as well as journalists at other networks and other news outlets, is that it won't stop at the Gulf, that he'll try to employ his decree is choose his language and force it on people when it comes to other topics as well.

So, this is a really interesting kind of the first test of the First Amendment in the second Trump term -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes, it will be really interesting. I know you've said here before, too, like it's again, something like transgender. If they're writing a story or doing a story on a transgender person, if you're not allowed to use that word, what does that mean? You're denied access over that?

STELTER: Right.

DEAN: More to come on this.

Brian Stelter, thanks so much. Good to see you.

STELTER: Thanks, Jessica.

DEAN: CNN NEWSROOM is back after this.

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[19:58:57]

DEAN: Next on "The Whole Story", Anderson Cooper's conversation with billionaire Bill Gates. In that interview, Gates revealed to Anderson his belief that he may be on the autism spectrum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN, HOST "THE WHOLE STORY" (voice over): Gates now says if he were a child today, he'd likely be diagnosed as having some form of autism.

COOPER (on camera): Do you think you're on the spectrum?

BILL GATES, AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN AND PHILANTHROPIST: I definitely think that term is used broadly enough that I fit into that. You know, it's kind of complex how people do the criteria. You know, would I have been given medicine for that, you know, we're a lot more prescriptive now.

COOPER (on camera): But nobody ever said to you as a child, you're autistic or you should --

GATES: No that term just wasn't used.

COOPER (on camera): You also wrote in the book about rocking, that's something, obviously, that people with autism often do. Is that something -- that you did that as a child?

GATES: Even now, if I go off and I'm really concentrated on something without meaning to, I can start going like this, you know, which is some self-comfort type thing. And it really bugs people.

COOPER (voice over): Gates was lucky. His parents were well aware he needed intellectual stimulation. And they made a decision when he was 12 that led to an extraordinarily rare and life-changing encounter with a computer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: "The Whole Story" airs next right here on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. We're going to see you right back here next weekend. Have a good night.

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