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Next Hour, Trump Holds First Cabinet Meeting of Second Term; Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) Wins Budget Vote, Setting Up Negotiation Round With Senate; New, Two Runway Near-Collisions Involving Planes Reported at Different Airports on the Same Day. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 26, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Next hour, President Trump gathers his cabinet for the first time with a notable guest joining that meeting, Elon Musk.

Two close calls at two major U.S. airports adding to the concerns over air travel safety.

And forget the green card, how about a gold card? It could be the newest ticket to U.S. citizenship for wealthy foreigners and for a hefty price, of course.

I'm Erica Hill in New York. Pamela Brown is off today. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

Well, the countdown is on now. In the next hour, all eyes will be on the White House as President Trump assembles his controversial cabinet for the first time. Also among the attendees this morning, Elon Musk, who, of course, is not a cabinet member. His presence yet another sign of the growing influence the tech billionaire holds in the Trump administration.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president and Elon and his entire cabinet are working as one unified team, and they are implementing these very common sense solutions.

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HILL: His influence and efforts, of course, not without controversy. Sources telling CNN, Musk's ultimatum telling federal workers to justify their jobs or lose them didn't go over well with some of those cabinet officials.

CNN's Alayna Treene joining me now from the White House. So, Alayna, as we wait for this meeting and this gathering, what more can we expect this morning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, look, this is, of course, a notable day, given it is the president's first official cabinet meeting and, of course, acknowledging the presence of Elon Musk, someone who, as you mentioned, Erica, is not Senate-confirmed, is not even a full time staffer in the Trump administration. He is what is called a special government employee. But his attendance today really just, I think, underscores the amount of influence he wields in this administration and with the president himself.

But, look, I did ask a White House official about what to expect and we're going to be from today. We know all cabinet members, those who have been confirmed and those who have yet to have their confirmation hearings are going to be present. But they said that this is really a touch base for all of these secretaries to kind of walk through what they've been doing, lay out what they've been working on in their priorities, as well as to ensure that they're all rowing in the same direction, as that official put it. But I want to take a listen as well how White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt talked about all.

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LEAVITT: Well, Elon is working with the cabinet secretaries and their staff every single day to identify waste and fraud and abuse at these respective agencies. And, you know, you've seen many of these cabinet secretaries, all of the cabinet secretaries, take the advice and direction of DOGE.

So, all of these cabinet secretaries are working alongside DOGE. They'll be providing updates on their efforts, and they'll also be providing updates on what they're doing at their agencies in terms of policy and implementing the promises that the president made on the campaign trail.

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TREENE: Now, Erica, as well, one notable thing just to keep an eye on when we do see inside that room is what the seating arrangement looks like. Will Musk have a and the table, where he is sitting, all things that, of course, I think will provide more insight into exactly how the president and the administration is viewing him amongst the other cabinet secretaries?

HILL: Yes, those optics will be very important. We know the optics are also very important to the president himself, especially when we're talking about cameras in the room.

Alayna, I know you also have some new reporting as well about that reaction from different cabinet officials to the email ultimatum over the weekend from Elon Musk. What more did you learn?

TREENE: That's right, Erica. I've been talking to a number of White House officials, Trump administration officials, all have told me that, really, there's been frustration building among top administration officials, but also among the secretaries themselves, with how Elon Musk has been carrying out some of DOGE's priorities, specifically the way in which, you know, he's using that chainsaw to reduce the size of the federal government. And it comes as, really, what I was told they took issue with was how this email was sent. One is that, you know, not only did he ask employees of all agencies to provide updates on what they were doing, and some of these agency heads were like, you know, you guys are actually doing confidential and sensitive work, you shouldn't be sending that in, but the other part of this, I'm told, the real issue that many of these secretaries took issue with, was the fact that they could be terminated if they did not respond.

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It really raised questions of who has the authority to make these firing decisions.

I'd also note that, you know, I was told that these cabinet secretaries and other top administration officials at these agencies were not given a heads-up. So, that all comes, of course, as we're going to see them in the same room today.

I do think it's worth noting, though, of course, that there's one person who Elon Musk is not getting under their skin, and that is the president himself. Even today, we saw him kind of post about this. He said, quote, all cabinet members are extremely happy with Elon. The media will see that at the cabinet meeting this morning. It comes after he's also been sending supportive messages of Elon on Truth Social as well this morning. Erica?

HILL: Absolutely. Alayna Treene, I appreciate the reporting as always. Thank you.

Let's take you now to Capitol Hill where House Speaker Mike Johnson pulled off a pretty remarkable turnaround Tuesday night to advance an ambitious budget agenda, marking the first crucial step toward massive spending and tax cuts championed by President Trump.

CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju joining me now from Capitol Hill. So, Manu, this is a big win for Donald Trump, for Johnson, for the GOP, but it's not the last step, obviously. What can we expect now in the coming days?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was a difficult road that the speaker just went down to get this across the finish line, clearing a major hurdle, but really just the first of many hurdles ahead in order to get something ultimately to Donald Trump's desk.

Remember the process here. What they approved last night is a budget blueprint, overall framework of what they actually want to try to enact into law. They have to agree with the United States Senate on one budget blueprint. And then after the House and Senate agree, or actually vote on that final budget blueprint, then they have to actually draft the text of the legislation. And that is where things will get really, really complicated because they'll have to do that, and also get the votes through both chambers and the narrowest of majorities in the House, as we saw last night, passing this on a 217- 215 vote, approving the House's version of that budget blueprint with one Republican defection.

Now, today, Mike Johnson plans to meet with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. In fact, he just told our colleague, Veronica Stracqualursi, that he plans, he wants to meet with Thune. He wants, quote, as few changes as possible to the House.

And the House plan is much different in scope than the Senate plan. The House plan is much more sweeping in nature. It has more steep spending cuts, about $1.5 trillion, about $4.5 trillion in a tax code overhaul. It also raises the debt limit by two years. The Senate plan does none of that. It focuses on immigration and defense policy measures. That's really its main focus.

The question is, can they reconcile that? How quickly can they do that? Can they get the votes? All huge questions for Republicans as they try to get this major bill to President Trump's desk sometime in the next couple of months.

HILL: Yes. And as all that is happening, of course, all eyes really are on the White House this morning as we wait for this cabinet meeting.

Alayna just talking about the reaction from some of the cabinet members, but I know a number of feathers have been ruffled on Capitol Hill as well. You've heard that from a number of lawmakers and specifically some Republicans. What are they telling you, Manu?

RAJU: Yes. A lot of them are hearing concerns from their own constituents about how quickly some of these cuts are going into effect. The efforts to purge the federal workforce and seeming not consulting not just with their own cabinet secretaries, but Capitol Hill as well. And that's where you're seeing some pushback from some members of Congress who are urging Elon Musk to go a bit slower.

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SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I had a problem with the DOGE effort going in and trying to accelerate changes and address efficiencies. But I'll tell you, if I were a Senate-confirmed head of a department and I had somebody from the outside undermining my ability to manage and demonstrate there's one leader in every department, I'd have a problem with it.

RAJU: Has Musk been rash?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): In some cases, he has been, I just gave you one example. I think that there's just, things are happening so fast and furiously, and we need to take a step back and make sure that we're doing things in a way that we are rooting out the waste, the fraud and the abuse and the mismanagement, making programs efficient but not resulting in unintended consequences.

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RAJU: So, amid all that, there's also another big deadline coming up on Capitol Hill, March 14th. They actually have to pass another bill to keep the government open. And a big question here, Erica, is whether Democrats try to target Elon Musk's DOGE efforts, how big of a red line do they draw on that? Because their votes will be necessary to get that across the finish line, they have not made a decision on that question yet. Erica?

HILL: Manu, I appreciate it. Thank you.

Also joining me this hour to discuss, Democratic Congresswoman Lori Trahan of Massachusetts who's a co-chair of the committee tasked with communicating where House Democrats stand on the issues. She's also a member of the House Progressive Caucus. It's good to have you with us this morning.

So, as I understand it, you held a telephone town hall last night. Some 8,000 people, I'm told, called in. I know there were a lot of questions about Elon Musk about DOGE, and I do want to get to that. But I want to stick with the budget, if we could for just a minute, because, as I understand it, there were also a number of concerns about potential Medicaid cuts.

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This seems to be probably the most vulnerable program when it comes to making these GOP budget cuts work. I'm curious, when you speak with your Republican colleagues, do they share some of those concerns privately? I mean, we're talking about some 79 million Americans enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP as of October.

REP. LORI TRAHAN (D-MA): Yes, well, thank you, Erica, for having me. Certainly none of my Republican colleagues except for one had any issue with voting for a budget last night that would strip Medicaid from millions of people. You know, children with disabilities who rely on Medicaid for their healthcare insurance, seniors who are living in assisted living centers, also, you know, veterans who want to access their healthcare or food programs that help our hungry children or new moms who might be on the brink of homelessness.

I mean, this budget didn't get any pushback from Republicans. And it's exactly what I heard most about. While I was on my tele-town hall was people feel betrayed. They feel scared. They feel like they're getting ripped off, that these programs are under attack so that Republicans can give a tax break to their billionaire donors, donors like Elon Musk.

HILL: There's also -- when it comes to Elon Musk, when it comes to DOGE, I know you face a number of questions about that too, there are also there's also a fair amount of pushback and questions for Democrats about what is being done, and that's something that Stephen A. Smith on ESPN asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in an interview yesterday. I just want to play his response. Take a listen.

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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We clearly have work to do. But I also think that the American people are increasingly starting to recognize that in this country that we have, you need common sense public servants who are willing to try to solve problems to make life better for hard working American families. And that's our commitment. And we're going to have to do a better job of convincing the American people we got to stop bad things from happening and then articulate our affirmative vision, of course, for making life better for the American people.

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HILL: So, what I'm hearing from him, to be quite honest, we have to articulate it, we have to, you know, put this message out there. I am not hearing a lot of specifics. Is there a plan at this point with Democrats?

TRAHAN: Well, absolutely. I mean, we were home in our districts last week. So many of us, Republicans and Democrats, had in person town halls, telephone town halls, community forums, to hear the concerns. They are scared, right? They are looking at major cuts to their healthcare coverage, their inability to access programs that they've long relied on. And their understanding there that the threat and they're making their voices heard.

We've seen that in Republican town halls this past week. I heard that anxiety on my own tele-town hall last night, a mom with a daughter who has disabilities. If not for Medicaid, she would not have healthcare. That was just moments before Republicans voted to gut the program by nearly a trillion dollars. I heard from a retired airplane mechanic who is so worried about what he's seeing at the FAA and, you know, making those cuts that could potentially make our skies less safe.

People are awake. They're engaged. They're calling offices. They're showing up and lifting up those stories and converting those three Republicans, which is all we need to shut down this betrayal and this rip-off and the gutting of programs that so many hard working Americans rely on is what needs to continue as we go through this budget process.

HILL: So, what is the plan then? You said, you know, converting those three Republicans is what you need to do. How do you make that happen?

TRAHAN: Well, I think they're getting a lot of pushback from their own constituents. I mean, Medicaid is a popular program across our country. Like I said, it allows people, our seniors to be in nursing homes. It gives healthcare to kids with disabilities and so many more. They are feeling that pushback from their very own constituents because the word is out that they would rather cut nearly a trillion dollars from their program to give a tax cut to people who don't need one and get more donations for their reelection campaign.

So, I think the more that word gets out, our biggest power is an engaged citizenry, and that's happening right now. And I think that's actually what's going to help us as we enter and continue these negotiations around the budget.

HILL: You know, the outrage, the very public comments from Americans across the board at these town halls with lawmakers from both sides of the aisle. What about the Democratic message itself?

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Because, again, even in that answer from Leader Jeffries is very thin on specifics. Are you comfortable with the current Democratic message?

TRAHAN: I am. Look, Democrats have long been the protectors of healthcare. You know, we were the ones who established the Affordable Care Act. We've extended that coverage, just in the time since I've been here in 2019, to 22 million more Americans. The fact that it is under siege right now is enormously unpopular with the American public.

And so I think talking about the kitchen table issues, access to healthcare, making sure that we're focused on bringing the cost of living down for everyday Americans, I mean, there hasn't been a single bill brought to the floor this Congress that would lower grocery prices or utility bills or make it easier to buy a home. Those are things that Democrats are focused on. We want to get to work on those issues. It's what we hear most about when we get back home.

So, I think the more that message and that contrast gets out, people are going to understand who have their backs.

HILL: In the next hour, the president will, of course, hold his first cabinet meeting. Elon Musk will also be there. Karoline Levitt just a short time ago said, you know, this is where Elon Musk should be in that meeting. Do you feel that the Democratic response to Elon Musk and to DOGE is adequate at this point?

TRAHAN: Well, I think people are on to Elon Musk and the power that he has been given by this president and the blatant conflict. I mean, here he is, you know, pummeling agencies by firing our federal employees and gutting programs, all the while he's negotiating contracts for his own companies in many of these agencies.

So, I think the people are on to the unfettered access and power that Elon Musk has been given. And part of this rip-off is their programs that they rely on are getting decimated while more benefits, more tax benefits, more contracts are going to Elon Musk.

That is something that people need to understand that is happening right now before our very eyes. It's why we've been able to stop him in court case after court case and we're going to continue using litigation and every legislative tool that we have to end Elon Musk's decimating the federal government.

HILL: Congresswoman, I appreciate your time this morning. Thank you.

TRAHAN: Thank you. Thanks.

HILL: Just ahead here, a close call caught on camera in Chicago when a private jet ended up in the path of that Southwest plane that you see on your screen there. And it wasn't the only near miss of the day. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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HILL: More trouble on the runway. Two close calls at two major airports on Tuesday within 90 minutes of each other. The first at Washington's Reagan National Airport, an American Airlines flight was forced to cancel its landing to avoid another departing plane, and then it's Chicago's Midway. You can see this Southwest flight on your screen. It had been coming in for a landing, but then you see it goes back up into the sky to avoid a private jet that was preparing for takeoff. Well, right after missing that collision, here's what the Southwest pilot said to air traffic controllers.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest 2504, going around.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Southwest 2504, roger that, Climb, maintain 3,000.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And tower, Southwest 2504, how'd that happen?

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HILL: How did that happen? Here is how passengers on that flight reacted.

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EMILY NOVAK, PASSENGER ON SOUTHWEST FLIGHT: I just feel very thankful for who we had flying our plane.

CALEY MASZK, PASSENGER ON SOUTHWEST FLIGHT: Yes. And I was already kind of anxious going on the plane just because of what's been happening this year so far with all the flights, you know, crashing and things happening. So, I was already anxious. And then when that happened, I was extra thankful, very thankful for the pilot and everyone who was involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Those close calls, of course, adding to the concerns over air travel safety.

CNN Transportation Analyst, former Inspector General for the U.S. Transportation Department, Mary Schiavo joins me now.

Mary, when we look at this, I look at everything that's happened over the last number of weeks and I have this moment where I think, okay, you and I have been talking about these things for decades now. Is it just that we are Perhaps it's more public in this 2025 world that we live in. We're hearing about these incidents more often, or is this becoming more of an issue?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, it's a little bit of both. So every year we have about 1,750 near collisions or near misses as we call them. But the Federal Aviation Administration breaks them down into four categories. Category A and B are the most serious. Category A is, you know, just by the grace of God, we did not have a disaster and loss of life.

Now, last year, the last couple of years, those Category A ones have declined, but the overall number, the 1,750 or so, has not declined. So, this year already, we have seen many, and these are the most serious kind. I mean, you know, but for luck, there would have been a tragedy. And, plus, we have had a midair.

So, this year, those most serious ones will be out. But this has been a problem for many literally decades now. And the numbers just keep right on climbing. Other than a few blips, they were down for COVID. But these near misses these near collisions at airports, they're called runway incursions, are a huge problem. The FAA knows it. And they have been developing additional equipment, additional protocols, et cetera, to work on it, but those stubborn numbers don't budge much. It remains a huge issue and a huge risk.

HILL: This is a huge issue. It's a huge risk. Where do you think the risk is coming from? Is it the staffing concerns we've heard so much about?

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I mean, the air traffic controller actually helped in this case in Chicago, right? We heard the private pilot. I don't have the audio with me, but the private pilot basically repeated back to the air traffic controller incorrect directions and the air traffic controller corrected that pilot, thankfully. But still, what is leading to all this risk?

SCHIAVO: Well, you're exactly right. I listened to that air traffic control tape many times. And the pilot of the private plane, from the moment it left the private ramp, seemed to be having difficulty. The instructions had to be read to them twice. They were confused about the runways. And then, finally, the controller had to correct the read back and said, no, that's not it. Stop and hold short. And then from the tape, he did not.

Some of this blame goes on the airport. So, DCA is an old airport. They have intersecting runways, confusing taxiways. If you look at the Chicago airport, you don't get Midway. I mean, the airport map looks like a plaid skirt. I mean, it's just a mess of taxiways and runways. There are old airports. New airports aren't built that way. And also equipment, we have a mishmash of equipment. The top 50 airports have all the best equipment and they get the most traffic.

But if people aren't accustomed to flying in that particular location, it's going to be difficult. They should do a simulator or read the maps beforehand, as you're required to do on the maps. But the problems recently were, of course, the pilots and the airports, not the air traffic controllers, but the air traffic controllers need new equipment. That's what they need.

HILL: It is important. Mary, I always appreciate your insight. Thank you. We're going to have to leave it there.

I want to get to this breaking news now. Just coming into CNN, we have the first reported death from measles in the outbreak that has infected more than 100 -- 120 people rather in West Texas.

Meg Tirrell joining me now with more. Meg, what more do we know about this?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, we're just learning about this death, which the Associated Press is saying was reported today, happened overnight. We don't yet know the age of this person, so we're trying to get more information from the Texas Health Department at this time. But, of course, this would be the first U.S. death or is the first U.S. death from measles since 2015, so in a decade.

This is a large and growing outbreak in Texas. It's now up to 124 cases just since late January. 18 of those patients we heard yesterday from the state had been hospitalized. Most of these cases are in children, the bulk under the age of 18 and some in small children as well. And we know the vast majority of these folks who have been infected by measles have been unvaccinated.

And so we are trying to get more details about this case of the person who's died from measles, but, Erica, the first U.S. measles death in a decade.

HILL: Wow. All right, Meg, I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Just ahead here, give us your tired, your poor, your huddled masses for $5 million, the gold card pathway to citizenship that could soon be an option if you can afford it.

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