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Erin Burnett Outfront
SpaceX Rocket Lifts Off, Mission: Return "Stranded" Astronauts; Democrats Fuming Over Schumer Helping GOP Avoid Government Shutdown; Trump Gets Political In DOJ Speech, Seeks Revenge Against Enemies; Moscow: Russian Troops On Verge Of Ousting Ukrainians From Kursk. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired March 14, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, countdown to liftoff. We are right now just minutes away from the SpaceX crewed launch, the mission to bring home two astronauts stuck in space for nearly a year.
It was an eight-day mission. They have been up there now for 282 days and as we said, there are four astronauts on that capsule going up in just minutes.
Also breaking, furious Senate Democrats helping Republicans avoid a government shutdown, making many Dems livid. One lawmaker tonight calling it all a, quote, f-ing disaster.
And new reporting tonight that the operatives from DOGE who are right now inside the Social Security Administration got more on them as Musk rails against the agency that affect 73 million Americans.
Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we do begin with the breaking news. You see it on your screen, that pristine weather. We are just moments away from liftoff.
These are live pictures of Kennedy Space Center right now, and in just a few minutes here, less than seven, we are going to see this takeoff. You see that -- that -- it appears to be smoke, that's the cooling of the engine.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to blast off with a full crew of people, human beings on board. A high stakes mission that will allow the two American astronauts who have been stuck in space for nearly a year to finally come home.
Now, remember they were only supposed to be up there for eight days. So in incredible tension, waiting for them at this moment, the four astronauts who are on board the top of that capsule there, the tip you see them. The SpaceX Dragon capsule, are about to begin their final pre-launch checks and there are two Americans on board there, also an astronaut from Japan and one from Russia. They are strapped in. They are ready to go. They have been up there
for hours. They are ready, and they are in these final moments now, ready to make their way to the International Space Station where Americans Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams would then be able to come home.
There they are, their 8-day trip to the ISS turned into 282 days.
All right. So right now, here's where we are because we're looking here at second after second, everything is accounted for, that SpaceX launch director is going to verify that all systems are a go for launch and you can see all of that steam coming out, cooling of the engine, part of the process.
I want to go straight to our reporter on the ground from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Nick Valencia is there.
And, Nick, you are there. You can see in the distance the rocket that we are now moments away from launching. All of that -- that steam coming off. What is happening right now?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what a picturesque evening for a launch tonight, it's almost perfect weather here, 95 percent chance of good weather, only because meteorologists can't predict 100 percent chance of good weather.
But in these final moments before the launch, the computers are in charge of the processes and the ground system, so much of what must happen has to be precise because of that precision, it's this ground launch sequencer that's in control. Some of these processes, according to NASA, happen one on top of the other so they need those computers controlling this processes.
The astronauts, of course, they have their own responsibilities and they've been on this vessel for well over an hour now. They're going to be active as well during the stage in these final minutes, making sure monitoring systems checks. They've also gone through their own checks uh including the integrity of their suits. Even the temperature inside the vessel, making sure that it's good before they take off.
Each of those four astronauts on board this rocket will have their own responsibilities but it's going to be the commander and the pilot that are going to be the most active, relaying those communications if they see anything wrong, there's also an escape hatch that's available for them in case they need to evacuate and, you know, get off of this vessel immediately.
[19:00:18]
As far as those astronauts that are on the International Space Station, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, they're 250 miles above us right now, and they are going to have the ability to watch this live, according to NASA. They're going to have a live feed of NASA TV, and should they choose, they're going to be able to see this all happen in real time. Of course, other astronauts that have been up on the International Space Station, they've been able to peer outside the ISS and see the exhaust from some of those rockets that have launched, but some of those rockets that have launched. But you have to be in the exact right spot for that to happen.
NASA tells me that the ISS is currently over the western coast of Australia, as Suni and Butch await this long, strange journey and this handover to bring them home -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Nick, thank you very much. And of course, you're going to be with us here in these next minutes as we watch the launch itself and those crucial first minutes that where -- there's maximum stress on this rocket until they are truly free of the atmosphere and -- and on their way.
CNN aerospace analyst Miles O'Brien is with us as we watch this.
That's the capsule there. You see the crew inside it on top of that rocket. Former NASA astronaut Jerry Linenger is with me as well.
And okay, so -- so we're looking here, our angles sort of switches, Miles. But you see essentially what is the engine chill, right? Coming off the engine that steam or we can we can obviously see a lot of it. These are -- these are some of the most crucial moments.
What is the riskiest part of this right now?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AEROSPACE ANALYST: It's a long list of risks, Erin. But just -- just to be clear, what were seeing is liquid oxygen boiling away. Liquid oxygen is extremely cold. When you fly to space, you got to bring your own oxygen with you in order for the rocket to work. And so it is a combination of liquid oxygen and highly refined kerosene, which lifts Falcon 9 to orbit, the 8.5 minutes or so from what you see right now, 0 to 17,500 miles an hour is a wild ride indeed, and an awful lot of things go have to go right for this to work.
And launch is, of course, a critical phase of flight, if not the most critical phase of flight.
BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, just to think about the speed of acceleration, all of the risks.
Danny Olivas is with us now as well. Also flew on two space missions.
But, Jerry Linenger, let me start with you, because you've flown on a few space missions yourself, you've been in that, you know, waiting, lying down essentially, right? You're on your back and -- and then, all of a sudden, it goes, and they're now in the final minute or two before that happens. What is it like? What is about to happen to the four astronauts as they blast off?
JERRY LINENGER, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: So, first of all, they probably feel like I do. I'm just pumped up and can't wait for this thing to, you know, second times the charm and take off, but they're methodically thinking through things. And there is that launch escape system that can actually pull that capsule off. So should the Falcon 9 rocket have a problem or even an explosion or anything, you have a chance of pulling the capsule out with the four astronauts and parachuting down.
So, of course, they're thinking of all the emergencies that could possibly happen and making sure they're 100 percent prepared for everything.
BURNETT: All right, let's listen to the countdown now. We are less than a minute away from launch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Time of launch. The space station will be flying 260 statute miles over the west coast of Australia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SpaceX, go for launch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Greg, call out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy. Go for launch.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Greg, call out that were go for launch. And we do have a large crowd here in front of mission control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: T minus 30 seconds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Waiting to watch Crew-10 take off today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: T minus 15. T minus 10.
(COUNTDOWN)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one -- ignition and liftoff. Go SpaceX, go Crew-10.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy. One alpha.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And liftoff of Crew-10 now soaring to International Space Station, 1.7 million pounds of thrust now propelling Falcon 9 and Crew-10.
And we're continuing to get good call-outs on the first stage performance so far.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're now 40 seconds into today's flight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our telemetry nominal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Continuing to get good performance call-outs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Throttle down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now we are throttling down the engines in preparation for max-Q. What great timing that was. We just passed through max-Q. That's the largest structural load that the vehicle will see on ascent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vehicle supersonic. Stage one throttle up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now just over one minute and 10 seconds into today's flight, traveling at more than --
BURNETT: You just heard what she said that they have just passed through max Q. As they say generally, if you're going to see something horrific happen, it happens before or at that moment. That is the moment of peak mechanical stress on that rocket. And they have passed through that safely. It is going up, up, up. And you're going to start to see now those -- those engines separate.
Of course, the first of them we anticipate watching here in these next few moments. This is the incredible nature of the accomplishment of this rocket. The Falcon 9 coming back and landing at a landing pad at Cape Canaveral, not obviously where it took off from, but landing. So that's the reusability.
Miles, as we watch this, what do you see? We're looking at the different angles now through Max-Q continuing to go up, still not yet separated yet from those engines, of course.
O'BRIEN: Yeah, I'm always holding my breath at this time and I'm sure Jerry is as well.
(CROSSTALK)
BURNETT: I think 10 seconds here, so you'll see it.
O'BRIEN: Very important thing the astronauts have a crew escape capability. They can separate that capsule from that rocket. And there you see the beginning of the staging. That first stage will drop away.
BURNETT: And there it goes.
O'BRIEN: And it will fly back like a broomstick on end. It's an extraordinary thing. Making this craft reusable.
BURNETT: Is that what we're seeing right here, Miles?
O'BRIEN: Yes, indeed. It's on its way back and we'll see it come down pretty quickly here. And you'll be able to see if they've had success recovering it. But it is -- it's nice to know the astronauts have a get away, to get safely away from the rocket stack. If something goes bad.
And watching Jerry Linenger launch on shuttles, I used to really grit my teeth because they didn't have that capability. There was no crew escape system on shuttle. So this -- this system of getting humans to space is in fact safer.
BURNETT: It is incredible to think about it.
Jerry, do you think of that as you watch this, too, that they would be able -- I mean I know you would have almost no time, but that they have the ability even now at this point -- first engine separating, heading back to landing, second still attached. They would have the ability to -- to separate that capsule if they needed to.
LINENGER: Yes. It's a -- you know, reassuring obviously. And you know, they're just feeling really, really good and concentrating.
The one thing that I -- surprised me about launch, its a low rumble and it just kind of goes right through you like a bass drum beating, and then you start feeling that acceleration. Now you feel you're almost like in a race car getting thrown back in your seat. And it's just, you know, a fantastic feeling. And it's just a yahoo moment.
BURNETT: Danny, we just saw our first view of the crew in the capsule, just a second ago. You know, we don't obviously are not controlling these cameras, but we did just get to see them. One of them was sort of looking left, looking right. But there they were.
Walk me through, Danny. What you're seeing here in these images on the screen.
DANNY OLIVAS, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: Yeah, certainly. As you're accelerating out to orbital velocities as Jerry had mentioned, you're feeling that -- that -- that -- that G force basically being loaded up, you know, right through your chest and you're getting -- sinking down deeper and deeper into your -- into your couch. Everything around you is feeling heavy, you know, reaching the maximum of up to like, three Gs.
And you're just really at that point, just trying to concentrate on your procedures and making sure everything is operating nominally and looking at your displays, getting ready for the next event and trying to figure out, you know, if there's been any problems with the system, trying to monitor those problems before the next event occurs, and just try to stay one step ahead of the vehicle that's, you know, really, you know, accelerating out to 25 times the speed of sound.
BURNETT: So on the left, we see the booster that's returning to Earth. That's the one that we expect just here in these next few minutes. And we're watching, that is going to be landing in landing zone one at the launch pad at Cape Canaveral and on the right side of your screen, you're -- you're seeing obviously, the rocket continue to rise.
[19:10:01]
Danny, you went to school with Butch and Suni, who are up there waiting. We're supposed to go up for what was it, eight days, and it's now been 282 days.
I know you spoke with them right before they left on their mission. And now it's been nearly a year. I mean, gosh, what -- what is this moment for them?
OLIVAS: Yeah. So, so, Suni and I are classmates. 1998, we joined NASA at the same time. Butch came in the class after mine, but we were obviously all there at the same -- same time. I will say that that both astronauts are just absolute superb
professionals. They have dealt with the -- the changes in mission objectives, their own particular mission objectives throughout this entire time, like champs, as I would expect they would. And I know that while being up there on ISS, they've developed camaraderie with the crew.
And leaving is going to be hard. I know they want to come home, but you know, you do certainly form a bond with the people that you work with. Certainly in such a extenuating circumstances. But I know that they're looking forward to coming home. I talked to Suni just shortly before she -- she took off and, yeah, I know that -- that they were ready to conduct this mission and it changed along the way. But they'll be coming home soon.
BURNETT: All right. Nick Valencia, let's just bring nick back in here.
Nick, where you are, obviously, you can see in the distance, I don't. What are you seeing right now? Are you able to start to see this booster returning?
VALENCIA: We are. And many of the news crews are actually pointing at it right now. It's about 3:00 from me, and we're just a matter of seconds away from feeling that booster which detached just moments ago, make impact with the ground here. And as it comes down landing, splashing back down here and landing, we haven't felt that motion just yet, but it really is a sight to see.
This is my very first launch. It's remarkable to be part of this experience. Were two miles away from that initial launch, so I didn't feel it as I expected it as much as I would, but it is a sight to see that booster detach and come down as it comes back down for landing -- Erin.
BURNETT: Yeah, we see that booster coming down miles. You can see it.
VALENCIA: We heard that. I don't know if that translated.
BURNETT: Yes.
VALENCIA: Did you hear that through my microphone. You just heard that as it landed that echo. Just amazing. Just amazing.
BURNETT: That is incredible. Miles, I mean, what we just saw, right? The booster comes back down and lands on a launch pad.
O'BRIEN: Yeah. I mean, have you ever tried to balance, like, a broomstick on your finger? It always reminds me of that. It's amazing to me how they do that. You heard the sonic boom just as it arrived.
And, you know, SpaceX now makes this part of its routine. It's -- it's hard to overstate how this changes the equation for SpaceX to make things fully reusable. You know, I think it's obvious to say it makes things a lot cheaper.
Imagine flying a 737 to Cleveland and then throwing it away. Your airplane ticket might be kind of expensive. And so this has really changed the whole nature of access to low earth orbit. And of course, Elon Musk would like to extend that out all the way to Mars. We'll see how that goes. But for now, low earth orbit in the 20 some odd years of the existence of SpaceX, has become much more accessible to many more vehicles and ultimately people.
BURNETT: So, Jerry, we're going to have the second stage engine here. And were also now where are we in timing in terms of how long it will take once this capsule is in fully released to get to the ISS, which it's going to liaise with, right? The ISS is obviously in motion too, but a few minutes ago was over Australia.
LINENGER: Isn't it great how were talking planetary things? Yes, it's over Australia, we're launching and were going to go catch that thing, you know. So usually it's about 24 hours. They like to get the vehicle up there. You like to check things. You want to make sure all the draco thrusters are working correctly, rendezvous and docking of two massive space vehicles.
You know, coming to the International Space Station, you want to be very accurate. You want everything working. Part of the problem with the Boeing Starliner was some of those thrusters weren't working. So they have time to adjust. They have time to enjoy the environment inside that pretty spacious capsule, by the way, compared to my days in the Soyuz where your -- your knees are in your face and you're shoulder to shoulder.
BURNETT: I've seen a Soyuz. I can't even imagine --
LINENGER: They get to, you know --
BURNETT: This is just to -- sorry to interrupt you, but we're watching the dragon separating out here.
You hear the applause. Because now. And that's obviously coming from mission control.
Dragon is now --
LINENGER: It might be coming from me, Erin, I apologize, but I've been pumped up the whole time here.
BURNETT: What does it mean for you? Dragon is now gone. Dragon is off. Dragon is alone.
LINENGER: It's fantastic.
[19:15:00]
Isn't this unreal? You know, it's just -- you know, I don't know if people understand this. This is unreal.
We are launching people into space, and it's almost like routine. It's unbelievable. And we're going to catch. It's almost like shooting a bullet from down here in Florida and putting it through your window up there, Erin. You know they have to get that thing to go find a international space station out there.
And the brain power of the people that do this is equal to Elon Musk brain power, trust me.
BURNETT: And, of course, you know, Falcon 9 is a SpaceX rocket.
So, Danny, we are just getting a couple images of the crew here. So we've got the second engine coming down. We've got the dragon now is, is on its own, 24 hours.
What do they -- what do they do for 24 hours? But you can't stay awake the whole time. But it's a really cramped way to go. I get it. It's not the Soyuz which -- which I have seen, but -- but still.
OLIVAS: Well, you know, you have -- you have to consider that, you know, when just getting into space that that's a really hard part, right. You need a lot of energy to get there. And one of the challenges is that once you get on, on, on orbit is you now have to reconfigure everything that you've done for on orbit operations. So things that you don't necessarily are going to be caring about, for example, like the -- the engines of the booster, because the booster is now gone, you got to go through a reconfiguration of the vehicle, does a lot of that automatically, but still, you know, you're still on -- on a -- on a timeline, you're still following the procedures.
You see that the crew, for example, is going to continue to remain in their seats and follow along and make sure that they're observing the health of the vehicle. Now is the time to -- to do an on orbit assessment of the vehicle. You know, that is going to take some time and that they got to have -- continue flying to es because as Jerry said, you're trying to, you know, put a thread through a needle from very, very far away.
BURNETT: Well, it is incredible to see that it is now separated. They are -- they are safely on their way, I suppose, at a point where we could talk about how you use the bathroom in those 24 hours is a really good place to be.
Thank you all so very much. And I think anybody who somewhere excited, I felt sort of sick to my stomach and nervous. But thank goodness they are safely on their way. And that means that Butch and Suni are going to be coming home finally at last.
All right, thanks to all. And we're going to keep monitoring this launch as it continues to go up. We've got these cameras on it. We are seeing it. We are seeing the crew.
We also have breaking news back here on Earth. A party remains in chaos. Democrats tearing into each other as some members help the GOP pass its spending bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct, of which -- (END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Plus, Trump delivering a highly political speech inside the Department of Justice, threatening to jail his critics, railing against his own legal problems.
And we have new reporting this hour on the DOGE staffers inside the Social Security Administration of utmost importance for so many millions of Americans.
These are people we are learning a lot about. No government experience. What are they doing and what are their qualifications? New reporting this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:22:45]
BURNETT: Breaking news, an f-ing disaster. That's what one Democratic senator is calling the fight inside his own party tonight.
House Democrats furious after some Democratic senators, including Leader Chuck Schumer, helped push forward a GOP spending bill and avert a government shutdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): They can yell and -- and fundraise off of that. But I'll be the only Democrat that's going to tell America the truth of what shutting the government down. And that would be a (EXPLETIVE DELETED) disaster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, any shutdown of the government would have inflicted, you know, further pain and stress on the stock market, on, you know, even though people get back pay when it reopens, when you layer it in with DOGE, it's a bad time for this to happen.
A new economic survey out tonight, just on the overall situation showed consumer sentiment, just people's feelings about their economic situation and the country's economic situation fell 11 percent this month. That's a stunning plunge for -- for that index. It just doesn't move at magnitudes like that that quickly. It's now at its lowest level in more than two years.
Lauren Fox is OUTFRONT on Capitol Hill.
So, Lauren, what went on today though is Shakespearean. I mean, Democrats are livid tonight at what went down. And they're not just livid in general. They're not livid at Republicans. They're livid at their own leadership.
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And that pressure, Erin, is really coming from two different parts of the Capitol, right. First, there are house Democrats who are furious with Schumer over this decision. If you remember, most House Democrats voted against that House passed spending bill earlier in the week. Their caucus was largely united, being led by Leader Jeffries.
Then what you had is a group, a large group of Senate Democrats being willing to shut down the government. And then at the last minute last night, Chuck Schumer made the decision that he was going to be voting to advance this legislation. That is what happened today.
And that key procedural vote, it was really just a handful of Democrats who were willing to go along with their leadership, Chuck Schumer, and you are really at this moment getting some reverberations of what comes next for this party.
I talked to one Democrat, Senator Heinrich, who said this when I pressed him on whether or not he believed that Schumer was up to the job in this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARTIN HEINRICH (D-NM): Leader Schumer has been very effective in a lot of battles, but we also need to -- these are new times, and we need to all come together.
[19:25:09]
And so, you know, second-guessing leader Schumer out here isn't going to accomplish the kind of unity that were going to need to be able to stand up to -- to the president. So we'll have that conversation inside caucus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOX: And, Erin, that's hardly a ringing endorsement there from one of Schumer's own Democrats within the caucus. Others have been more supportive, saying that Schumer had very few options at this moment. And Chuck Schumer himself has argued that if they went into a shutdown, how were they going to get out of it with a Republican controlled House, White House and Senate? Erin?
BURNETT: All right, Lauren, thank you so much, with all that reporting on Capitol Hill.
Van Jones and Governor Tim Pawlenty are OUTFRONT now.
Van, how angry are Democrats at Leader Schumer?
VAN JONES, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I've never seen this level of volcanic anger at a Democrat ever.
BURNETT: Ever?
JONES: Ever.
BURNETT: Wow.
JONES: We could be grumpy. We can be frustrated with each other. There is a -- there is a volcanic eruption of outrage at Leader Schumer because we want a Mitch McConnell.
I remember when Obama had all the cards, Mitch McConnell drove Obama nuts. I twisted his pinky, broke his kneecaps and got stuff done for Republicans when they shouldn't have gotten an inch. They got miles.
We have a Senate, a majority leader who is beloved in this party, but we want somebody who's going to stand up to this bully, stand up to this bully, do something. And if you shut the government down and it gets it gets a little bit crazy, at least some politics is about the rationality. There's an emotional need to stop Donald Trump and Elon Musk from running over this party.
And I think Chuck Schumer has radically misread the room.
BURNETT: Radically misread the room.
Governor, what do you -- what do you think hearing Van Jones describe the situation like that within the Democratic Party right now?
TIM PAWLENTY (R), FORMER MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: Well, when you hear Van Jones, who's been around the block not once, but 10 or 100 times, say that this is the most angry he has seen the Democrats, that's saying a lot, Van. That's saying a lot.
JONES: Yeah.
PAWLENTY: But, you know, as a former majority leader before I was governor, I understand a little bit about what these deals are like. And any time now, especially now, when everybody's in their political silos, if you compromise, if you try to be a statesman, you get the crap beat out of you. And that's what he probably did at eyes open and knew this was coming.
And two, you know, it's harder for the Democrats to tolerate a shutdown than the Republicans because the Republicans, in broad strokes are less about government, and the Democrats have a lot of constituencies inside of government, all the public employees, all the public employee unions, all the nonprofits and grant recipients.
And so, if there would have been a shutdown, I'm not sure the Democratic hand would have gotten better as the Republicans, I think, could have easily outlasted them and probably had even further advantage in this discussion.
BURNETT: Right. Although, of course, Van, I guess those who are feeling that volcanic anger saying, well, this is allowing Republicans to determine the debate and the terms and what they do, and you're reactive.
And I mean, Hakeem Jeffries is not -- is not on the same side. He was asked about how to handle this. Then he was asked if he's lost confidence in Schumer. Okay, let's hear it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Have you lost confidence in him? The fact that you guys see this so differently?
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Next question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Whoo!
JONES: Listen, first of all I love Hakeem Jeffries. I have tremendous confidence in Hakeem Jeffries. And he is -- he is exactly where his party is.
This is -- this is -- this is -- this is a punch in the gut because we only have leverage in two ways right now. One is in the courts and the other is with Congress. And the only leverage we have with Congress is with this budget fight. And it looks like we just turned in the car.
Listen, when the bully is kicking you in the sand in the face you're supposed to happen is you go and you get the muscles and you come back and you punch the bully. You're not supposed to say, more sand, please. And that's what it looks like Chuck Schumer just did.
BURNETT: I mean, okay, lets listen to Charlamagne tha God who was about as blunt as you are in his own way. This is his message for the Democratic leadership now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD, HOST OF "THE BREAKFAST CLUB": You know why, you know, Dems suck at messaging because they never talking about nothing and they do nothing. So guess what? To me, they all got to go like -- like Dems don't just have a messaging problem. They got a leadership problem.
The Chuck Schumers of the world, the Hakeem Jeffries, they should all step down. And any Dem who isn't fighting for the people and standing with the party should be primaried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: If AOC, if, you know, Schumer doesn't run until I think '28, if he were up now and AOC primaried him, he would be out.
BURNETT: He'd be out.
JONES: He'd be out. I'm not saying --
BURNETT: I mean, think about that, Chuck Schumer. I mean, this is a storied leader of the Democratic Party that you would say.
JONES: Listen, it's the wrong -- we want some alpha energy, and that's not what were seeing is this -- this party is tired of watching Donald Trump and Elon Musk run over this party, run over this country, run over the Constitution.
[19:30:05] And if you only have one opportunity to take a stand and you don't take it, it's very difficult to -- once you lose people's hearts, you -- you can disagree on hit. You lost hearts. Now that's tough.
BURNETT: Governor, you know, to the extent that here's what President Trump said about Schumer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I have great respect, by the way, for what Schumer did today. He went out and he said that were going to have to vote with the Republicans because its the right thing to do. I couldn't believe what I heard, but, you know, I think he's going to get some credit for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Is that the kiss of doom, Governor?
PAWLENTY: Yeah. If you -- if you're a Democrat angry at Chuck Schumer and you listen to that tape, that the clip that you just played, it's sort of like throwing another shovel in the grave.
BURNETT: Sorry. I just threw some more sand.
PAWLENTY: Yeah, I think -- yeah. But I do think. Senator Schumer's shelf life probably wasn't all that long. Anyhow, he's been around a long time, and he could probably see the end from here. So whether its, you know, another three months or another three years, it wasn't going to be another 5 or 10 years.
So he's burning political capital for what he thought was right. And we should at least acknowledge that.
BURNETT: All right. Well, I appreciate both of you. Thank you very much. Such an incredible drama.
And next, more breaking news, President Trump went to the Justice Department and he said to the Justice Department, why? Well, look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's a campaign. And it's by the same scum that you have been dealing with for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Calling his opponents scum. You'll hear more.
A new reporting tonight about the DOGE operatives now working inside the Social Security Administration. These people are crucial. Nearly 100 million Americans' fate is on the line. An agency Elon Musk has railed against, new reporting coming up.
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[19:36:04]
BURNETT: Breaking news, President Trump calling for imprisoning his opponents. It was a 64-minute long speech, campaign style at the Justice Department today, speech that ended with the YMCA -- YMCA song that often, as you know, wrapped up his campaign rallies.
And tonight, Trump repeatedly went after his political opponents.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We will expel the rogue actors and corrupt forces from our government. We will expose and very much expose their egregious crimes and severe misconduct of which was levels you've never seen anything like it.
We had to take all of that abuse, even during the trials. We had to take tremendous abuse. Like, you know, these wonderful guys, they're not legitimate people. They're -- they're horrible people. They're scum. And, you have to know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: The speech that had been billed as law and order, in terms of what the address would be about.
OUTFRONT now, former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb.
So, Ty, what do you hear there when he's talking about, you know, legal opponents, other opponents as scum? He also said the prosecutors who investigated him are deranged. That was his words.
Sixty-four minutes of this. What did you think as you watched?
TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: I was focused a little bit, Erin, on what a sad day this is. I mean, this -- his inauguration, of course, was the death knell of, you know, the independence of the Justice Department, which has flourished certainly in the in the post- Nixon era, 50 years plus.
You know, that ended at the inauguration. But Trump definitely danced on the grave today. And it was -- it was sad for those of us, like myself, who served in the Justice Department and took those responsibilities seriously.
I noticed Pam Bondi said that they're not going to stop serving him. You know, there's nothing about serving him in the oath that those people take. They take an oath to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. And that -- that concept seems to be missing there.
Yes. It was a vengeance tour. Trump's hell-bent on vengeance. People see their 401ks disappearing, the economy going downhill because of the, you know, sort of juvenile approach to bullying on tariffs. And -- and they see national security.
I noticed my friend and former classmate David Ignatius wrote an important article today about the drain on the national security people in law enforcement and justice and elsewhere. And today, you know, we're -- we're very vulnerable economically, security wise, et cetera, et cetera.
But he's focused on vengeance and -- and trying to, you know, torture people that offended him in the past.
It's interesting when he talks about, you know, them as scum. It ignores the fact, of course, that in both of the two serious criminal prosecutions that Jack Smith brought, one involving the January 6th people and one involving the classified documents, none of the facts were contested. All -- all the facts happened and demonstrably so.
Trump's defense was never factual. It was solely based on, you know, his -- his belief that he can do whatever he wants. And he's playing that out in spades now, which is sadly easier than now that Congress has neutered itself. And it's just Trump against the courts.
BURNETT: So he also spoke out today about the judge he appointed. We've talked a lot about her because she was so instrumental. She was so crucial in the Mar-a-Lago case, Aileen Cannon, right? She oversaw the classified documents. She made those pro-Trump rulings again and again and again, right? It defined her tenure on that case.
Here's what he said about her today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We had an amazing judge in Florida and her name is Aileen Cannon. And these fake lawyers, these horrible human beings were hitting her so hard, public relations wise.
[19:40:03]
They were playing the ref. I don't think it's legal. They were saying she was slow. She wasn't smart. She was totally biased.
She loved Trump. She said -- I didn't know her other than I saw her a couple of days that I was in court, and I thought her decorum was amazing.
She was brilliant. She moved quickly. She was the absolute model of what a judge should be. And she was strong and tough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: What do you say, Ty?
COBB: Well, sadly, no one who was paying attention and certainly no informed legal experts, law professors, former colleagues of hers, retired judges, other judges saw her in the light that he just described her. You know, I think when Trump talks about her, you know, it's -- it's sort of trying to convince, you know, America that somehow the wicked witch of the of the west from my favorite movie as a Kansan Wizard of Oz. But the wicked witch of the west is somehow Ms. America. It's just -- it's just, you know, befuddling. But it's consistent with
his narrative of anybody who does him a favor is heaven sent, and anybody who you know, opposes him in any way is -- is the enemy or scum as he, as he says.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Ty, thank you very much, I appreciate it. It's good to see you.
And next breaking news, Elon Musk's DOGE team now inside the Social Security administration, the same agency that Musk said this about.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELON MUSK, TECH BILLIONAIRE: Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And the breaking news, Putin intensifying his attacks and targeting Zelenskyy's hometown as Trump claims he's making progress on a ceasefire. Tonight, on the ground in Moscow.
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[19:46:12]
BURNETT: Tonight, breaking new details about the DOGE team that's now inside the Social Security Administration, an agency that impacts more than 73 million Americans. "Wired" tonight reporting that DOGE's presence inside the Social Security agency is growing. Most of them have tech backgrounds, little to no government experience.
The number of young engineers at the agency has not been previously reported until now. Their presence raising alarms as Elon Musk continues targeting Social Security.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUSK: Most of the federal spending is entitlements. So that -- that's -- that's like the big one to eliminate.
Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.
And there's crazy things like just cursory examination of Social Security. And we've got people in there that are 150 years old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, the 150 years old thing was -- was not true. That was just that they hadn't marked the death date so that that part is not true. He also said dead people receiving Social Security also not true.
OUTFRONT now, Brian Barrett, the executive editor at "Wired".
And, Brian, you've got this new reporting because the DOGE operation obviously is extremely opaque. You are reporting, though, that they have at least ten people inside the Social Security Agency. So what does that mean, ten people? How does that compare to DOGE teams at other agencies, as you know, it?
BRIAN BARRETT, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, WIRED: Yeah, Erin, as you said, there's not a lot of transparency going around. But by our count, this is one of the largest DOGE teams, if not the largest that we've seen at an individual agency. I think it's telling also who is on that team. It's sort of every flavor of DOGE. You've got three private equity guys from the same firm, one of whom is very close friends with Elon Musk.
You've got a couple of guys who just graduated from college. You've got a former SpaceX intern, and you've got a 25-year-old who resigned from DOGE a few weeks ago over racist tweets and then got reinstated after Musk and J.D. Vance said it was fine, let him back in.
BURNETT: So -- so this is the group among the ten as you understand it. I mean, the experience, it sounds like I don't know if the private equity individuals have a lot of experience, but these by and large seems to be very little experience and very little in government, if any.
BARRETT: Yeah. We haven't found any evidence that they got experience working in government other than their last two weeks at DOGE. And it's also not clear what they're doing there other than that they have access to some very sensitive systems. You get the impression that they're there to stand up. Elon Musk's various Social Security conspiracy theories, that's going to be a wild goose chase because they're not true. So I'm not sure how many DOGE engineers it takes to screw in this particular light bulb, but I don't know that it's ever going to turn on.
And meanwhile, you wonder what they're going to do when they have this access to, as you said, sensitive information of over 73 million Americans -- of Americans, personal information, financial information, and the concentration of DOGE power, there is really kind of alarming.
BURNETT: Right. As you point out, the largest, if not one of the largest, if not the largest team thus far.
So Trump this week, Brian encouraged people to buy Teslas, right? He did that. Car sales scene outside the White House right in the driveway. And Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, who Musk recently called a traitor after Kelly visited Ukraine.
And I want to say, Senator Kelly has been very -- very open minded to Elon Musk for a long time. I've talked to him about him. Others have on air, very open minded, but he gets called a traitor by Musk because of his visits to Ukraine. Kelly says he's getting rid of his Tesla. And now he said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And I don't want to be driving the car built and designed by an (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
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BURNETT: Now, Brian, I mean, this the thing about this is the secondary market for Tesla is a big story. But the primary market for Teslas, brand new ones, 16 percent drop in January. I mean, that is that is an incredibly huge number for car sales in one month, 50 percent in Europe, half -- 50 percent drop.
[19:50:08]
I mean, this -- these are stunning numbers. And again, that's just for new Teslas. Not even in the secondary market getting flooded by people like Senator Kelly's Tesla.
How much is all this hurting Musk?
BARRETT: I mean, it evidently -- self-evidently is. There aren't many car brands or no car brands that I can think of, and even brands more broadly that are so tightly tied to an individual personality. So when Elon Musk, the tide turns against him, the tide turns against Tesla, inevitably.
I think you also see that people who tend to buy EVs, probably on the whole, tend to also have more progressive politics. They're more interested in the environment, they're more interested in saving on gas consumption. And these are the same people that Elon Musk is alienating every day.
I think it doesn't help that the president is saying that. He's going to say that anyone protesting or causing damage at a Tesla dealership is a domestic terrorist. That Pam Bondi is saying that it is illegal to -- to go after Tesla.
The disproportionate response from Trump and the administration makes it even stranger, makes it even more of a statement. To buy a Tesla, you have to really believe in that if you're going to buy that car. And I think we're seeing that a lot of people just don't.
BURNETT: Yeah. Well, and certainly something I don't think anybody would have said a year ago would be that Trump would be telling people to buy Teslas outside the White House, just -- just not a worldview that people would have expected. But here we are.
All right, Brian, thanks so much, I appreciate it. It's good to see you.
And next, we have more breaking news. Trump saying he had good calls with Putin today regarding the ceasefire on the same day that Putin attacked Zelenskyy's hometown.
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[19:55:50]
BURNETT: Tonight, President Trump touting a quote, very good chance of a ceasefire in Ukraine, even as Putin attacked Zelenskyy's hometown. And right now is not appearing to be anywhere close to agreeing to a ceasefire.
Fred Pleitgen is OUTFRONT tonight with the very latest, though, from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Russian troops on the move, on the verge of ousting Ukrainian forces from the Kursk region, Moscow says, Ukraine's small and shrinking foothold inside Russia.
The regiments units were mentally prepared and waiting for this moment, the commander says. Therefore, there was enough anger, courage, bravery and desire to win. I believe the personnel fought heroically.
The Russians claiming they've encircled a large number of Ukrainian troops here, a narrative President Trump buys as well, pleading with Russian leader Vladimir Putin not to harm them. At this very moment, thousands of Ukrainian troops are completely surrounded by the Russian military and in a very bad and vulnerable position, President Trump writes on his Truth Social account.
I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since world war two.
And while the Ukrainians claim reports of their forces being encircled are not true, Putin, referencing the U.S. president's plea, says he's willing to let the Ukrainians live if they give themselves up.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We are understanding of President Trump's appeal to treat these servicemen humanely. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that if they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment in accordance with international law.
PLEITGEN: After waiting for hours in Moscow before Putin finally met with him, the Trump administration's negotiator Steve Witkoff left the Russian capital in the middle of the night and in the driving rain.
Russian state TV quickly declaring Putin the winner of this round of diplomacy.
The highly experienced Putin simply outplayed the cornered Zelenskyy and the collective West, which was clearly in a flurry, the anchor says.
And while President Trump says he wants to talk directly with Putin as soon as possible, one of Putin's closest allies, Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko, addressing the U.S. president by his first name, also seemingly hitting the brakes on the administration's ceasefire plans. ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Yes,
Donald wants to stop the war. Thank you to him for this. But at the same time, we must firmly stand our ground. Nobody must push us aside and God forbid, to cheat us, as we now say, or to try and run circles around us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): And, Erin, despite there being very little movement as far as the ceasefire is concerned, the Russians are praising the Trump administration's efforts to try and get U.S.-Russia relations back on track. Vladimir Putin telling his security council that no doubt the situation has started to move, and let's see what comes out of this -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Fred Pleitgen, live in Moscow tonight.
And also tonight, a new CNN series takes us inside the meteoric rise of Twitter, how it suddenly became, at one point, a vital tool for the U.S. government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The State Department asked Twitter to delay scheduled maintenance today in order to keep information flowing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The State Department reached out and said, hey, you should consider taking your downtime. Not during Friday afternoon prayers, because we think there's going to be a big demonstration. And Twitter is a key tool being used there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was like, okay, we can change the time, but just know that I don't like the idea that someone from the United States government can call us, and well honor the request right away, because what if someone from China calls us and wants a thing? Should we do that?
EV WILLIAMS, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, TWITTER: The more you see the thing you're building as this public utility, then its like there's a question of what's right for the business, what's right for society. Is that a question we should be asking? Like, are we a government now? Like we certainly weren't prepared to answer all those -- those questions. It was new to everybody. No -- no one knew what the right answer was.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden, Twitter was running the public square. And who gave Twitter permission to do that? And no one did. I mean, that's the way it works. And I think that that transition into responsibility is hard. No one at the beginning could possibly have understood where it was going.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Well, certainly not when you think about where it is now. Don't miss "TWITTER BREAKING THE BIRD" on Sunday. It's at 10:00.
Anderson starts now.
