Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Judge Halts Musk's Access To Treasury Department Payment System; Interview With Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN); Recent Plane Crashes Raise Safety Questions; DOGE's Young Engineers Spark Controversy, Concern; Bird Flu Prompts NY To Temporarily Shut Down Live Markets; Countdown To Superbowl LIX: Chiefs Vs Eagles. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 08, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:02:23]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

Just 20 days into his second term now, President Trump well under way on a sweeping plan to cut down the size of the federal government. But there are legal roadblocks that are beginning to pile up.

Earlier today, a federal judge blocked Elon Musk's DOGE agency for continuing to access the Treasury Department's central payment system. Late on Friday, a different judge paused what would have been a deadline today for federal workers to accept a so-called buyout offer and leave their jobs.

CNN's Betsy Klein is joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida. Betsy, how is the White House responding to all of this?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well Jessica, President Trump ran and won in part on eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government. And to do that, he has really empowered Elon Musk and the DOGE, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. And we have started to see in recent weeks, members of DOGE staff deploying to different parts of the federal government, accessing different systems and we saw in one case, a critical Treasury Department payment system.

Now, New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other attorneys general from states filed a lawsuit saying that Musk's associates, who are categorized as special government employees, were unlawfully granted access to that very sensitive system.

And a U.S. district judge ruled earlier today to temporarily restrict the DOGE team from accessing this sensitive treasury payment system. He cited the risk to sensitive and confidential information, as well as vulnerability to hacking.

Now, Musk is speaking out on this himself, saying in a post to X that the basis for seeking this information was to require the outgoing government payments have a categorization code, which is necessary to pass audits. And right now, a lot of the time those codes were left blank.

But for his part, President Trump appears to be happy at the work that Musk and his team are doing. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, I wonder what you make of the criticism from Democrats that these staff reductions, the cuts that Elon Musk and DOGE are doing are an unlawful power grab. And is there anything you've told Elon Musk he cannot touch?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we haven't discussed that much. I'll tell him to go here, go there. He does it. He's got a very capable group of people -- very, very, very, very capable. They know what they're doing.

[17:04:51]

TRUMP: They'll ask questions and they'll see immediately as somebody gets tongue-tied that they're either crooked or don't know what they're doing. We have very smart people going in.

So I've instructed him, go into Education, go into Military, go into other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, we have asked the White House for their reaction to this lawsuit as well. But they are very confident in their ability to fight these lawsuits coming at the federal government. A scheduled hearing will take Place on Friday, February 14th, Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein in West Palm Beach, thank you so much.

And joining us now is Republican Congressman Tim Burchett from Tennessee. He sits on the Oversight, Foreign Affairs and Transportation Committees.

Congressman, thanks so much for your time on this Saturday. We appreciate it.

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Thank you, ma'am.

DEAN: Listen, there are concerns from some Americans over Elon Musk's methods in going through these agencies, accessing what is very vulnerable data. Why are you confident this is secure?

BURCHETT: I'm confident it's secure just because of the caliber of the people that they have doing it there. So it's odd to me that the Democrats are sniping at these young folks in their 19, 20, 21, 22- year-old folks, but you've got seniors in both parties who are inept of -- have any cognitive skills almost, and are incapable of governing.

And we've seen that in the past and they've embarrassed us in the national press. We've had them fall down. We've had them stumble and verbally and in press conferences.

And so I, you know, I have I have total confidence in this group. I think that the gripes are -- you're not seeing it from the -- from the old school Democrats. It's the -- it's the young liberal Marxist types that don't approve of $2 million -- they approve of $2 million in sex change for folks in Guatemala, or $6 million for tourism being spent in Egypt or LGBTQ comic books being given to kids in other nations.

Those are the things that America is disgusted about. You know, we've had this Hurricane Helene just ripped through our country and the poor people in upper east Tennessee and, and North Carolina are basically were living in tents and didn't have electricity or water until President Trump came in and wed already allocated $100 million for that.

Where's that money going? I think America is just fed up, ma'am. And they're tired of the overtaxing and over governing. And they're seeing the results.

DEAN: I hear you. I mean, listen, the president was very clear when he ran on what he wanted to do with the government. And the American people voted him into office. So I get that.

What I want to go back to, though, is that you acknowledge these are 19, 20, 22-year-old people who are being designated special government employees who now have access to some of the most sensitive data in this country. And I'm just curious if you would be comfortable if a Democratic administration was doing this.

We don't know how -- what any sort of vetting that these people have gone through. And I'm curious why you think that's ok.

BURCHETT: I don't know if you can say it or not, but these guns behind me, these are guns that my dad took off of dead Japanese soldiers that he actually killed in combat when he was 19, 20 or 21. That was a generation of young people that saved this world from tyranny.

So I have a lot of confidence in young folks and in their knowledge of what's going on. I have complete confidence in Elon Musk and this group that he's put together.

And again, I think the you're seeing it -- you're not seeing it from your old school Democrats. It's the young left wing that are concerned about all this.

DEAN: I don't think that's true, Congressman. I mean, we have heard from people not -- it's not even Democrats that I want to focus on. I'm talking about American people that are worried about if they're going to get checks for head start programs or something like that.

I mean, we saw Chuck Schumer, who is about as old school Democrat as you can get, but I'm talking about the American people who, again, I acknowledge have given you or given the Republicans, rather, and the president -- they want him to do this based on voting for him. That's not at question here.

I think it's about the method and who's handling this information.

BURCHETT: Well, I think Senator Schumer has basically sold out to the far left. He's done -- and that's what you're seeing -- most of these folks that are in raising up in righteous outrage. They're just going to plead to their -- the very far left that keeps them in power.

They know you've got midterms coming up. They're trying to make it as bad as possible. President Trump has stated, we're not cutting off these funds to these groups. You know, they're playing the scare tactics.

Even my own hometown here in Knoxville, the Wheels on Meals people thought they were going to be shut down and nothing further from the truth. Nothing further from the truth.

And that's just scare tactics the left uses. It's the dirty game of politics, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves, because those people that are -- that are doing without have been doing without. And without these cuts, I'm afraid they would continue to do without.

[17:09:53]

BURCHETT: And what we're going to see is with these cuts, we're going to free up monies that will be available to legitimate charities and legitimate people that are in need, and that this country should be and can take care of.

DEAN: And so to that end, you sit on the Oversight Committee. The name is what it -- the name, it describes exactly what you all are supposed to be doing, which is oversight, of course. What kind of oversight are you going to have on that?

BURCHETT: Well, of course I serve on the DOGE committee. I was appointed by Marjorie Taylor Greene, and we are going to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb.

I think you're going to see Medicaid, Medicare -- we're not going to cut it. We're going to get rid of the fraud. So more money can be available to those folks that are in need.

You're going to see the Department of Education squeal like a pig, because we're going to go after that. And, you know, here we are. We spent trillions of dollars since Jimmy Carter made it a cabinet level position, and we are now at 20 or 22nd in the world in education. And we were number one when, when that, when that happened.

I say we -- the 10 percent of the money that that states on average get, we send that to the states in the form of block grants. I have legislation to do just that and allow the locals to do that.

Theres not one federal bureaucrat in Washington, D.C., man, that's taught a kid how to teach at West Hills Elementary School in Knoxville, Tennessee. And I dare say they've never -- they've never caught any kids anywhere to read or write or do arithmetic.

They're bureaucrats. They're like the mob. They take their cut off the top and we can do a whole lot --

DEAN: Yes, I'm from Arkansas. That's where I was raised, born and raised. And that's a very rural state. You know it well. It's your neighbor.

But when you're talking about the Department of Education like that, they do -- they do submit funding for kids in those rural school districts for special -- for special education kids. And I think --

(CROSSTALK)

BURCHETT: Right.

DEAN: Right.

BURCHETT: And it's not one size fits all, ma'am. And you can't --

DEAN: No, of course, it's not. But I think --

(CROSSTALK)

BURCHETT: -- go ahead, I'm sorry.

DEAN: No, no, please. Go ahead.

BURCHETT: I'm going to say Washington, D.C. is the most -- heaviest funded school in the nation and has the worst test scores. And because it's not a one size fits all, what works best in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, North Carolina, or New York does not work -- does not work the same in Florida or Tennessee or Arkansas.

Send that money to the states. Let the locals be held accountable. You have too much money that's tied up because of too many special programs. And nobody is talking about cutting off any programs to special needs kids or kids that are doing without.

What I'm talking about doing is doing away with the fraud and abuse so that we can free up more money for them.

And I think that's why you'll hear the unions against this. You would think that they would want more money for their teachers and more money for the students, but they don't. They want more money for the union and for the organization. And that's why you'll hear all the fighting and fussing.

DEAN: And just lastly. Look, I think one thing that has emerged is it's about the way this is being done. It's not, I think -- I think almost anyone can agree that that there that cut the wasteful spending, please. You know, make the government run more efficiently.

But it's about the way in which its being done. And just going back to kind of where we started here, just the way it's being done by Elon Musk, by these very young people who maybe don't, you know, aren't moving at the pace that I think some people are like, please just slow down for a second and take -- and don't scare people. I think people are frightened. Some people are frightened by how

quickly this is moving and the questions that it leaves for them, that they are worried that there is disinformation floating around.

BURCHETT: Sure. And they're worried because they're going to have to go back to work. These people are.

DEAN: I'm not talking -- no, no, no, but I'm not talking about the employees. I'm talking about Americans who rely on some of this funding or the farmers. Like, I was just talking with an expert on USAID who make -- who farm the wheat that goes, you know, around the globe. People like that.

BURCHETT: Yes, ma'am. And USAID has been a complete rip off of the American taxpayer. Shut it down. And regroup the system so that if the farmers are doing legitimate work, then they should get legitimate pay.

But American taxpayers should not be in charge of policing or feeding the world. We need to take care of our own first. And the money that we send to USAID. Remember that every dollar is borrowed, every dollar is borrowed, that we are giving away.

That model does not work. It is a recipe for destruction. And the people that promote these things, these far-left organizations depleting our funds. That's where -- that is the end result right there.

And you will see the complete destruction of our system. And I think that a lot of people that are in charge of this and they're pushing this, that is exactly what they want to do.

They're Marxists They do not like this country. They hate our flag. They hate everything about it.

[17:14:51]

BURCHETT: And they will do everything they can to wreck it because they're spending this money recklessly. And they've just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. And that's why they're squealing.

DEAN: Yes. Well, ok. I do think that there are a lot of government employees who do love this country a lot.

But Congressman Tim Burchett, thank you so much. We do appreciate your time. We really do. Thank you.

BURCHET: Thank you, ma'am.

DEAN: Straight ahead, we're getting brand new information tonight from the NTSB after a deadly plane crash that killed ten people. That crash, one of several putting the spotlight on Air travel in recent weeks.

Next, we're talking with a former DOT inspector-general about whether everyone can still feel safe about traveling as air passengers in the U.S.

[17:15:28]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Recovery crews are fighting freezing temperatures and slushy sea ice as they try to recover the victims from a plane that crashed off the coast of western Alaska. Federal investigators are scheduled to give an update on that operation tonight.

That crash, the third major air disaster to strike in just the past few weeks, and the crashes have left a lot of Americans rattled, a little uneasy about flying in the U.S.

Let's bring in Mary Schiavo, CNN transportation analyst and former inspector general for the Department of Transportation.

Mary, always good to see you. These crashes certainly have, especially the one in Washington, D.C., have really rattled people. Is it -- is it any less safe to fly than it was years ago? Should people be worried?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, it depends how many years ago we're talking. If we're talking the last 20 years, yes. Any major accident dramatically affects the safety statistics. And just one accident of 67 people would probably, you know, increase the accident rates by, you know, 4 to 10 times because we have gone so long without a major accident that any one accident really skews the statistics.

So statistically, yes, we are less safe. But of course, what can happen is the investigation and the recommendations -- what to do to turn this around can make all the difference in the world.

So yes, we are statistically in a lull right now for U.S. aviation safety but the NTSB and the FAA, if they adopt the measures that the NTSB will propose, we can dramatically increase safety all over again, as can DOGE. There's a way that they can help, too.

DEAN: And talk us through that, about how DOGE could be helpful here.

SCHIAVO: Well, it's kind of a silver lining playbook, but then I'm always looking for that. As a pilot, you always want to find the silver lining to the clouds.

So when I was inspector general, I was tasked by both Congress and the president to find out what was wrong with the FAA's air traffic control modernization program. And they had wasted something like $7.5 billion and that was, you know, decades ago. The cost now would probably be $50 billion. I mean, it's such an important program.

But remember, air traffic control is a giant information technology project -- satellites, computerization. And what we found when we investigated it, besides a lot of fraud, waste and abuse is that the FAA could not manage these huge contracts. And it's not because they're bad people, it's because they did not

have the professionals who could understand it, who could work in this language, who could do this terminology. They just didn't have rocket scientists, for lack of a better word.

And so literally back in those days, they were actually talking about privatizing air traffic control, that perhaps it would be better if just private corporations took it over.

But the FAA did not do a good job of managing those. You know, if DOGE wants to rework the FAA, which I've heard that's coming, the way to do it is not to fire the air traffic controllers. We need those.

The statistics have shown and studies have shown that if you have eyes on the runway, eyes on the on the taxiways, it is a huge margin of additional safety.

But what we have to do is have a coordinated U.S. system where all airports and all aircraft can fly seamlessly in the system. And we have the technology available right now to make mid-air and runway incursions literally historic, a thing of the past, you know, Jurassic, if you will. We can eliminate them.

But you have to have the discipline and the willingness to put the systems in place, not do it piecemeal, not dole it out politically, and then make everyone fly in that system fully-equipped. It's a lot of money, but it's doable. We literally could do it now.

DEAN: Oh, and so do you think that there will be the political will to do that?

SCHIAVO: So what -- what, you know, back when I was inspector general, what we found is we'd make lots of recommendations. You need to do this. You need to do that.

But members of Congress and senators would come forward and say, well, my constituents don't want this, and my constituents don't want that. I actually gave them a name. I called them the "fly by the seat of your pants" lobby because every safety improvement was, you know, met with a well that cost too much.

Yes, safety is expensive, but if Congress -- and it takes Congress to do this too. So every time a constituent complains and we used to refer to certain members of Congress as the senator or the representative from, you know, certain places where airlines are headquartered.

But if you have the political will to do it, you know, Elon Musk, if he wants to do something to make American -- make aviation completely safe, it can be done. But it takes just iron will to make sure everybody flies in the system with all the equipment. And it would be miraculous.

It'd be tantamount to when President Kennedy was a itty-bitty kid. And he said, we're going to go to the moon.

[17:24:50]

SCHIAVO: We can eliminate mid-air. We can eliminate runway incursions. It's possible, but it takes tremendous will.

DEAN: Yes. And we will see. Mary Schiavo, as always, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

SCHIAVO: Thank you.

DEAN: Still to come, CNN's new investigation into the shadowy team of young engineers behind Elon Musk's DOGE and why their unprecedented access to critical government systems is alarming some federal workers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: A DOGE staffer is back on the job after briefly resigning over his link to racist social media posts. His return coming after public support from President Trump and Vice President Vance.

[17:29:48]

DEAN: Marko Elez is one of several young engineers helping Elon Musk shrink government agencies. But critics are raising concern over the group's lack of accountability or government experience.

CNN's Kyung Lah reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So here we have Luke Farritor (ph) who is winning the first lettuce prize on behalf of the Vesuvius Challenge.

LUKE FARRITOR, VESUVIUS CHALLENGE GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Thank you.

KYUNG LAH, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Luke Farritor, was the first person to decipher a word from an ancient scroll that had been buried in volcanic mud for centuries.

FARRITOR: But for the kind of the first part of the challenge, through July, I was interning at SpaceX and just kind of doing this in the evenings and weekends.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the word for us.

LAH: He went on to win the grand prize in a global competition. A 22- year-old undergrad at the time.

FARRITOR: My friends were there. I was cheering, jumping up and down, you know, screaming, crying, all the stuff.

I run most of the things from my laptop. It's just a normal MacBook, don't worry. But then I've just got like five surplus computers in here. This is what I do most of my work from.

LAH: What he does now is work for DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, headed up by Elon Musk --

(SHOUTING)

LAH: -- who's brought in a group of gifted young engineers, some in their early 20's with no prior government experience.

Their current job assignments unclear. But it is clear they're part of the Trump administration's plan to slash government agencies.

Democratic senators sent a letter to the White House describing how DOGE staff has "seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and American's personal information."

In federal court, government lawyers said Marko Elez had "read only" access to a highly sensitive payment system at the Treasury Department.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition, lift off.

LAH: Elez, who previously worked at SpaceX, has been the center of attention. His DOGE position was terminated after "The Wall Street Journal" uncovered racist and eugenic posts on an account linked to him.

But then Elon Musk, the vice president, and Trump himself weighed in.

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Elez, of DOGE was fired for inappropriate posts. The vice president says, bring him back. What do you say?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I don't know about that particular thing, but, if the vice president said that -- did you say that?

I'm with the vice president.

LAH: The injection of unconventional outsiders is alarming some federal employees.

This man, who spoke at a Virginia congressman's town hall this week, didn't identify himself out of fear of retaliation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had Elon Musk in our building and after he visited the building called for a 50 percent cut of the entire agency.

My colleagues are getting 15 minute one-on-one check-ins with 19-, 20- and 21-year-old college graduates asking to justify their existence.

LAH: Most of the hires are connected to Elon Musk's companies, like Ethan Shaotran.

ETHAN SHAOTRAN, AI DEVELOPER AND FOUNDER OF ENERGIZE AI: This is a really exciting time for young folks, for old folks, for everyone.

LAH: He was a runner up in a hackathon contest put on by xAI, an artificial intelligence company Musk founded. Shaotran spoke in 2023 about how AI will change the future.

SHAOTRAN: Really, for the first time in modern history, it's not the physical laborers, the farmers, the factory workers who are being displaced, but it's the white collar workers, the knowledge workers, the engineers, lawyers, doctors, teachers.

And for a lot of the folks in this room, that's really scary. That's really concerning.

LAH: Now, Shaotran is a special government employee, a source tells CNN.

Gavin Kliger, on LinkedIn, lists his job as special advisor to the US Office of Personnel Management.

A 2020 Berkeley graduate, Kliger worked in Silicon Valley for Twitter and then for a data intelligence company. He spoke about that work at a conference in 2023.

GAVIN KLIGER, DIRECTOR, TITLE MARKETING: Additionally, any system with a human in the loop is not going to scale well.

LAH: In a blog post last year, Kliger wrote about two of Donald Trump's then-nominees and showed himself as fiercely loyal to the now president.

Kliger recently removed a Substack post where he charged $1,000.00 to subscribe and read "Why DOGE." "Why I gave up a seven figure salary to save America."

(on camera): We didn't pay. And we did try to reach all of the hires we were able to identify, in addition to reaching out to their family, their friends and classmates. We didn't hear back from anyone.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Kyung, thank you.

And in the 20 days since Trump's inauguration, Elon Musk and his team have blazed a path through the federal government, shutting down diversity efforts, offering buyouts to two million federal workers.

Here's a very long list, ousting civil servants and access to sensitive information at several government agencies, among many other things. This has raised serious privacy and national security concerns. There's also been lawsuits over this.

Joining us now, senior correspondent for TIME, Simon Shuster, who is -- we're so glad that you're here with us to talk about this.

In a recent article about Elon Musk, you wrote, "To many, the idea of one of the world's most accomplished entrepreneurs attacking a sprawling, sclerotic federal bureaucracy with the same velocity and determination he brought to his car startup or rocket company, is cause for celebration, not alarm."

[17:35:13]

But the stakes are different. Does -- does Musk realize this, do you think?

SIMON SHUSTER, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, "TIME": I think he's now starting to realize that the system is not so easy to hijack and take over, as maybe he assumed.

He tried to rush in and take control of really, really critical government systems within a matter of days. You know, really, the -- the arteries and veins and circulatory system of the government, if you will, the computer systems, the data.

But it hasn't worked so well. The courts have -- the courts have pretty successfully begun to block what he's doing.

But I do think, you know, in that passage that you -- you just cited from the story, it's important to -- to note that a lot of people who voted for Donald Trump do see what DOGE is doing, do see what Elon Musk is doing as keeping Trump's campaign promises.

DEAN: Absolutely. Absolutely, they do.

One former senior employee at Twitter told CNN this week, quote, "I remember him directly saying, if you're not adding things back in afterward, then you weren't cutting hard enough to start with."

And -- and that actually does really dovetail into what we're seeing with the federal government. We're seeing a lot of people who are raising the flag and saying, look, you can do this, but could you just slow down and actually methodically go through this versus just cutting everything all at once?

What do you -- what do you think about that approach?

SHUSTER: I mean, I think it's a little bit a misunderstanding to think that they're going in with -- with a kind of bulldozer and slashing and burning. I mean, they're really installing their operatives in the circulatory system of the government.

This was something they had been planning for -- for years. You know, not only Elon Musk, but Russell Vought and many of his allies in the Trump administration, some of the authors of Project 2025 that voters were well informed about before the elections.

You know, all of the things that we're seeing now were pretty well spelled out in Project 2025, in some of the speeches and statements and op-eds that Musk and a lot of his allies we're writing. So none of this should -- should come as a surprise.

Really, we should look back at some of those statements as a blueprint of what Musk is going to do in the coming days and weeks. And it's more of the same, essentially, unless the courts continue blocking him. DEAN: Yes. And so to that end, where do you see this going next?

SHUSTER: It's hard to say. I mean, it was interesting. When we were reporting the article for "TIME" magazine, just in the days that we were working on it, there was a real groundswell of anger among Democrats in Congress.

And also among a lot of the government workers, one of which you had in your previous segment, who we're really frustrated with what's going on, to put it mildly.

A lot of these government workers that are affected now, or fear being affected by what Musk is doing, they may have voted for Donald Trump, and now they might have some buyer's remorse now that they see that these cuts and the slashing of spending in the government maybe sounded good in the abstract during the campaign, but now it affects real human lives.

And I think that starts to feel quite different, both for the people affected and for the people watching at home and seeing these people kicked out of their jobs. And really traumatized by -- by what's -- what DOGE is doing.

DEAN: Yes, that's a great point.

And I do wonder, just based on your reporting and what you -- what you know so far, do you think that does begin to have an effect? Just the real world impacts that now kind of potentially boomeranging back and putting some pressure on the situation?

Or will Musk and his team, does that factor into what they're doing, or are they just very focused in full steam ahead?

SHUSTER: I think it has to, yes. I mean, not -- not so much with the response so far from the Democrats in Congress. I haven't seen that yet materialize into something really substantive or strong enough to challenge what Musk is doing.

The courts, first and foremost, right now, are blocking a lot of his actions. But as we see more of this kind of groundswell of anger growing among the population, I think that could have an effect on Trump's ratings, his popularity ratings as people, you know, throughout America see their countrymen and women suffering, civil servants suffering through what -- what Trump is doing and DOGE is doing.

So I think that could begin to hurt Trump's ratings. And you know that ultimately -- Trump is -- is sensitive to that. He could tell Musk to rein it in and sort of shorten his leash.

But we've yet to see any sign of that. So far, Trump seems to be staying the course and expressing at least his full faith and trust in Musk.

DEAN: All right, Simon, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time. [17:40:03]

SHUSTER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, as bird flu spreads, New York is taking an unusual step. We are live from a market that is at the center of this new effort. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: New tonight, there is alarm in New York City after officials say 15 birds from two city zoos died after possibly coming into contact with the bird flu.

[17:45:01]

On Friday, Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the temporary shutdown of live bird markets in New York City and bordering counties as a proactive move.

CNN national correspondent, Gloria Pazmino, is following this.

And, Gloria, what more can you tell us about the governors order?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, it's impacting live poultry markets, like the one you see right here behind me. We are in Queens, which is one of the counties where bird flu was detected in the last several days. Seven cases in total. And that's what prompted the governors order.

Now the markets have to shut down until February 14th. And they have to go through a specific process of cleanup and disinfection before they can reopen in a few days.

Now for markets where a virus has been detected, those markets have been instructed to get rid of their inventory and also go through that sanitation and cleanup process, as well as inspection.

Now, the governor has said that all of this is just a precautionary measure, that there is no current threat to the public health at this point. But there have been significant increases of bird flu rates across the entire country in recent months. A total of 130 cases have been reported.

Take a listen to the governor talking about this order yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): For a week-long period, no poultry can be delivered to those live bird markets. Each uninfected market must sell down all inventory, undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection, and then remain closed for at least five days. Each must then be inspected by our state and open markets before they can reopen.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAZMINO: Now, the cases that were found here in the state of New York in the past week we're found in Brooklyn, in Queens and in the Bronx. And the order extends to Nassau and Suffolk counties in Long Island.

Now, again, all of this a precautionary measure. And 130 cases detected across the country so far. Most of that has been encountered in commercial birds and some birds, some wild birds, like you mentioned at the top, including some animals that were kept inside the zoos.

As I said, the threat to the public, according to public health officials, right now remains low. However, 67 people have become infected. One of those people did die as a result of the virus.

However, most of those people had been in very close contact with infected animals -- Jessica?

DEAN: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you very much for that.

Still ahead, we are live from New Orleans with final preparations for tomorrow's Superbowl showdown. Plus, where the odds stand on some of the biggest prop bets people hope to cash in on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:35]

DEAN: We are now just 24 hours away from the kickoff of Americas biggest sports game of the year, the Superbowl this year in New Orleans. The Chiefs could make history with a third straight Superbowl win, if they beat the Eagles on Sunday.

CNN's Andy Scholes joins us now.

Andy, I would assume fans are there in New Orleans and they are ready.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, yes. You could just feel the electricity in the air, Jessica. And we're right now at the fanatics Superbowl party. This is the premier event every Superbowl eve.

I mean, you got Travis Scott, Post Malone performing. Kevin Costner, Serena. Pete Davidson, Joe Burrow. They all walk this blue carpet. It's like the who's who of Superbowl weekend.

Now as for the teams, meanwhile, they did hold their last walkthroughs today preparing for Superbowl LIX.

And as for the Chiefs, they are, of course, looking to make history in this game, trying to become the first team ever to win three straight Superbowls. It would be the fourth Superbowl title in six years for the likes of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

And Kelce says he is certainly appreciating this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRAVIS KELCE, KANAS CITY CHIEFS TIGHT END: It's such a special time in in Chiefs history. And -- and this legacy is just a - it's so fun to be a part of because of the people that we have here.

And I'm just trying to, you know, cherish all these memories and make the most out of all these opportunities that we have chasing these rings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Now the Chiefs are one-point favorites right now over the Eagles for Superbowl LIX. And when it comes to Superbowl these days, you can bet on nearly anything.

Now President Trump is going to be the first sitting president to ever attend the Superbowl. You can bet on how many times he will be shown on the broadcast. The over-under for that is one and a half.

Taylor Swift will, of course, be at the game supporting her boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Her over-under on how many times she will be shown on the broadcast is six and a half, so they're expecting to see her much more than President Trump.

And when it comes to Kelce and Taylor Swift, you can actually also bet if he is going to propose after the game. Only like seven to one odds on that. So not -- not great there.

And then the -- 12 years ago, at the Superbowl here in New Orleans, the power went out. You can bet on if that will happen again. But if you bet 100 bucks you only win like $0.70. So they are obviously expecting that not to be the case.

Now, as for Superbowl weekend, I said this is the best place to be on Saturday right here at the fanatics party. Well, last night Shaquille O'Neal, Shaq's Funhouse -- he does it every single year and it is an amazing time.

[17:55:04]

Not only is Shaq out there deejaying, holding a big-time concert, he has a carnival going outside as well to play games.

And you know, I caught up with Shaq and asked him, just why does he love putting on such a great party?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, 4-TIME NBA CHAMPION: As you know, you go to these parties and a bunch of people talking and nobody having fun.

So, you know, you know, I've always tried to, you know, have my brand be all about fun. So I want to throw a real party, carnival rides, games, games that I'm going to beat you in, basketball game next.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: And Jessica, Shaq and I did play that basketball game next. And it was a life moment for me because it was the-first-one-to-make- it win.

(SHOUTING)

SCHOLES: Shaq missed and I actually made it. So I can say that I have beaten Shaquille O'Neal now in a shooting competition.

DEAN: Andy, wow. You should put that on the resume. That's pretty good.

SCHOLES: Yes.

DEAN: Congrats.

All right. Andy Scholes, live from New Orleans, thank you very much for that.

Still ahead, some drastic changes to the U.S. government as we know it, but legal challenges throwing a wrench in President Trump's push to transform it.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)