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CNN This Morning
Trump Claims U.S. Will Take Over, Redevelop Gaza Strip; CIA Sends Buyout Offer to Entire Workforce. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired February 05, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday, February 5. Right now, on CNN THIS MORNING.
[06:00:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Owning Gaza? President Trump's proposal for creating a new Riviera. He's not ruling out the use of U.S. troops to do it.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): How is this making our country safer?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Sounding the alarm. Concern for national security growing after buy-out offers are sent to the entire CIA work force as the FBI provides names of thousands of agents who worked on January 6th cases.
And this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have not weeks, but we have days to stop the destruction of our democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Democrats versus DOGE. Dozens of lawmakers pushing back against Elon Musk's role in the White House. Democratic congresswoman Debbie Dingell will be here to discuss.
And later --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an attack on our education system. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Dismantling the Education Department. The president now preparing an executive order to begin the process of shutting it down.
Six a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at Rafah in Southern Gaza, where, of course, many Palestinians who had been there just now, being allowed in the last few weeks to return to their homes in Northern Gaza.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
It's a head-spinning morning. Two weeks and two days after taking office, President Donald Trump almost casually upending decades of American diplomacy in the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site; level the site; and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Watching the prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu's, face during that is a -- is something worth doing.
"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip," Trump said. This would be a monumental -- is a monumental shift in U.S. foreign policy.
A reminder: There are nearly 2 million Palestinians who live in Gaza. Since the beginning of the war, much of their home has been absolutely devastated. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed.
And only since Trump took office with a ceasefire deal in place have Palestinians been able to return to their homes in Northern Gaza.
This proposal would seemingly have them all leave.
In remarks earlier in the day, President Trump repeated his desire to see Palestinians resettled outside of Gaza. And when he was asked about it, Trump left open the possibility that he will deploy U.S. troops to secure the land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We'll do what is necessary. If it's necessary, we'll do that. We're going to take over that piece, and we're going to develop it.
I do see a long-term ownership position.
We have an opportunity to do something that could be phenomenal, and I don't want to be cute. I don't want to be a wise guy. But the Riviera of the Middle East. This could be something that could be so bad -- This could be so magnificent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: No surprise, the president's words were swiftly rejected by Hamas, which governs Gaza. A spokesperson saying, quote, "Our people in the Gaza Strip will not allow these plans to pass."
So, how are the president's allies on the Hill responding? Here was Lindsey Graham: quote, "An interesting proposal," he says, but, quote, "It might be problematic."
Thom Tillis, quote, "Probably a couple of kinks in that slinky."
John Cornyn simply saying, quote, "Check back with me tomorrow."
As for Democrats, well, Senator Chris Coons's reaction seemed to sum it up. You see him here, burying his face in his hands, a moment captured by NBC. Coons telling reporters this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): You can report that I was speechless. I'm speechless. That's insane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: "I'm speechless. That's insane."
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stood, as we pointed out, alongside the president, and he was smiling as President Trump first laid out his ideas. Then Netanyahu said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I've seen you do this many times. You cut to the chase. You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say. And on after the jaws drop, people scratch their heads, and they say, you know, he's right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:05:12]
HUNT: Our panel is here: Mark Preston, CNN senior political analyst; Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor; Karen Finney, CNN political commentator, former senior adviser to Hillary Clinton's '16 presidential campaign; and Kristen Soltis Anderson, CNN political analyst, Republican strategist and pollster.
Welcome to all of you.
I couldn't even figure out what day it was just a couple of minutes ago, because all of this is just unfolding so incredibly quickly. Mark Preston, I want to just -- like, let's try to big-picture this to
the extent that we can. I mean, we tried to state exactly how enormous this potential policy shift would be.
The question that I think a lot of people across the world are now asking is, is this real? Is this one of these situations where Donald Trump is saying something to set out a negotiating position, like he does with tariffs? Does it amount to basically a threat that he will not follow through on? Or does it amount to something that he is actually going to do?
MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think you're all misinterpreting what he said here. OK? Because what he sees as investment, right? He sees timeshares. He sees casinos. He sees cotton candy stands. There's a lot of opportunity for investment.
At that moment when he said that, unfortunately, he meant it. OK, now there's been some talk where it says, oh, he says these things sometimes, and then we'll walk back.
This is not one of those situations. This is something that he has in his head. And if anybody has any idea or knows --
KRISTEN SOLTIS ANDERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, you know --
HUNT: This is what Gaza looks like right now. OK. Sorry. Jump in.
FINNEY: I'll agree with you that there's that saying: "When you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail."
When you're a reality television real-estate developer, every problem is a resort to be built.
But remember, there's just a couple of weeks ago, we were like, oh, my God, Donald Trump's going to invade Panama. And what that turned into was Marco Rubio having a productive meeting in Panama and then withdrawing from China Belt and Road Initiative.
PRESTON: Yes, but --
ANDERSON: So, there's -- Look, I won't -- I won't dispute that I don't think the United States should have a, quote, unquote, "ownership position" in Gaza.
But I do think that it's not just that Donald Trump actually intends to build a resort there. I just think this is how he talks about every problem.
FINNEY: You know what? But this -- I think that it's not that in this instance. Because when he made the comments about Panama, it was a little more off the cuff. That was literally -- he was looking at his piece of paper, like that was on a piece of paper. That is a strategy.
It is not surprising, considering he is a real-estate magnate. He probably is thinking about the value of that real estate. And the hubris to think, Oh yes, we'll just tell 2 million people they're going to have to move when this is literally the oldest conflict in the world.
PRESTON: It's --
FINNEY: And it's all about where they're located.
HUNT: I appreciate Mike Allen's headline in Axios, which just crossed here on my iPad. Axios AM: "Trump stuns world" -- Elliot.
FINNEY: Yes.
ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: And I also think --
FINNEY: That was the point, by the way.
WILLIAMS: The Panama point is a fair analogy, but it's a question of degree.
You're talking about an action that would destabilize an already profoundly volatile region in the world. You can't tell me that putting 1.5 million people in Syria, Egypt, Jordan or wherever else is not --
HUNT: Jordan and Egypt specifically. Yes.
WILLIAMS: In Jordan and Egypt is not going to lead to a --
FINNEY: Who already said no.
WILLIAMS: -- a horribly radicalized --
HUNT: Have been saying that for years, yes.
WILLIAMS: -- populations in each of these places.
And so, yes, there would -- there would have been profound economic and political consequences to the Panama stunt if it were to happen.
And yes, it was a valuable negotiating tactic, but we are talking about destabilizing the Middle East here. And I think it just -- it's just easy to dismiss this stuff from Donald Trump.
ANDERSON: Yes. But it's not dismissing it. And I do think --
WILLIAMS: I'm not saying you are, Kristen.
ANDERSON: Well, no, but -- but there's also the element here where something like, hey, let's get tough with Panama isn't going to face as much pushback from even within his own party as the idea of putting American boots on the ground --
FINNEY: Right, right.
ANDERSON: -- in the Middle East.
And what is fascinating is Donald Trump has brought in a bunch of new voters to the Republican coalition who are 180 degrees different from the kind of Bush-Cheney type approach of nation building. America can be a force for good, building up democracy.
HUNT: The neocons are not welcome in Trump's Republican Party.
ANDERSON: Right. And so, all of a sudden, the idea that, like, hey, we're actually back in the nation building business is --
PRESTON: We're not -- no, no, we're not --
ANDERSON: -- that's going to be a tough sell for a lot of Republicans.
FINNEY: A lot of Republicans.
PRESTON: But we're not in the nation building business. We're in the wealth creation business.
FINNEY: Yes. That's what it is.
PRESTON: Because -- because he is -- because he wants to create a sovereign, you know --
FINNEY: Wealth fund.
PRESTON: -, wealth fund for -- for the United States, as well.
But here's the reason why I do think he does believe that Gaza can be turned into an Atlantic City from like the 1930s, right? And here's the reason why.
His own son-in-law has --
FINNEY: Yes.
PRESTON: -- said this before. And his own son-in-law is trying to cut deals all around the world.
So, I do think that Donald Trump does believe that Gaza -- first of all, it would solve a couple of things. It would, in his mind, solve the conflict. Bibi would be happy, because there wouldn't be --
FINNEY: He stays out of jail.
PRESTON: There wouldn't be that rub. And guess what? We would create more cities, because we'd build more cities, you know, for all the --
(CROSSTALK)
[06:10:03]
HUNT: Yes. And you could definitely go stay at a hotel there and feel like there was no concern --
PRESTON: Right.
HUNT: -- that someone angry about what had happened might -- I mean, the idea. Sorry, Karen. Go ahead. FINNEY: That's OK. So, I just -- I keep trying to bring us back to the
big picture. And to my mind, the big picture is I see how this benefits Trump and his billionaire friends. Doesn't lower the cost of eggs, doesn't do anything about rent, gas, groceries. And I thought that's what he campaigned on.
He didn't campaign on, "Yes, tariffs might bring some pain" -- That was his quote -- to the American people. He campaigned on lowering costs.
He has signed so many executive orders. He's throwing out these ideas. How about one executive order on -- I don't know -- price gouging?
HUNT: I mean, the situation has gotten so bad that there's literally a heist of $40,000 worth of eggs that we are going to talk about later on in the show, right? Like, that's actually happening in America --
FINNEY: Wow.
HUNT: -- as we -- as we speak.
Mark, to your point, I mean, I want to remind people, too. Like, this is -- this is an old quote from him. This was back in 2018. But, I mean, this is not the only area of the world he thinks, you know, could -- could be a great resort. I mean, here's what he said about North Korea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They have great beaches. You see that whenever they're exploding their cannons into the ocean, right? I said, boy, look at that view. Wouldn't that make a great condo behind? And I explained, I said, you know, instead of doing that, you could have the best hotels in the world right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PRESTON: Again, I would go back and argue that I wouldn't make it a condo, because you can make more money by making it a timeshare.
FINNEY: Timeshare.
PRESTON: I'm telling you, you could rent it out 52 weeks a year.
HUNT: Is that why there's so many ads that are advertising, telling me how to get out of my timeshare? Because the timeshare guys are making so much money on people who have timeshares?
PRESTON: Exactly. Someone gets rich.
HUNT: OK, well, look, in seriousness, I do want to --
PRESTON: Yes.
HUNT: I do want to end on -- I mean, Stephen Collinson here, who paints a lot of our big pictures here at CNN. You can -- you can read his columns every day on CNN.com.
Kristen, he did say this: "To see an American president endorse what would be the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their home in an exodus that would subvert decades of U.S. policies, international law, basic humanity, was breathtaking. If the leader of the world's most powerful democracy led such a forced relocation, he would mirror crimes of past tyrants and create an excuse for every autocrat to launch mass ethnic cleansing programs against vulnerable minorities."
Well, I think we've been making the point here, and you've been making the point that -- this often. Donald Trump blusters to try to accomplish a different goal. I think it's worth marking that an American president is -- is doing something like that.
ANDERSON: There would be an enormous cost, and there would -- there would be, inevitably, an enormous cost to American lives, as well, if something like this were actually carried out.
I mean, just think about we -- we lost American lives with this foolish aid pier idea over there. And that was not necessarily anything to do with an angry population fighting back against a policy that they think is unjust.
And so, I do think that it would be unbelievably foolish and damaging to actually pursue this. I don't think it's going to get anywhere near that point.
HUNT: All right. This is obviously a conversation that is going to continue.
But coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, fighting back. Democrats trying to take on Elon Musk. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell joins me live to discuss what the world's wealthiest man is doing inside the federal government.
Plus, the CIA's entire workforce offered buyout packages. What does that mean for national security?
And President Trump, in the beginning stages of shutting down the Department of Education?
How's that for a series of teases?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I told Linda, "Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job." I want her to put herself out of a job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:18:11]
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TRUMP: Either the deep state destroys America, or we destroy the deep state.
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HUNT: On the campaign trail, President Trump often aired grievances that he has with the so-called "deep state," frequently claiming that CIA agents and officers were part of an effort to undermine him.
Now, that agency seems to be the next in line for deep cuts. On Tuesday, the CIA became the first major national security agency to offer buyouts to its entire workforce.
A source tells CNN that newly-appointed director John Ratcliffe personally decided to involve his agency in the deferred resignation program.
As the offer rolls out at the CIA, FBI employees are suing over an impending purge after FBI officials turned over information about who worked on investigations related to January 6th.
The information includes details of more than 5,000 bureau employees, but not their names. And now, a group of employees are suing the Justice Department, accusing the DOJ of violating privacy laws.
A judge agreeing to keep their identities sealed over fear of retribution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER O'LEARY, FORMER FBI AGENT: Whether it's counterterrorism, great power competition, you name it, from head to toe, those two organizations are what protect America, along with the Department of Defense.
Eroding the workforce, or really getting after the morale and, really, empowerment of the workforce, is going to have a direct impact on national security at every level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So, Mark Preston, you know, I think that there is some willingness from American voters to take a look at the federal government generally and say, hey, like, perhaps we can do more with less. Perhaps we're spending too much. The bureaucracy is bloated.
[06:20:03]
But I'm thinking about, like, the Moscow station chief of the CIA getting an email saying, you can take a buyout. I mean, it seems like this is considerably different than some of those other potential options. I mean, what is the impact?
PRESTON: Yes, because its different. Because that Moscow bureau chief has probably been in the service for 25 years and has probably spent most of his or her life overseas, probably in Russia or in the vicinity. So has that capability. You know, it's interesting that you bring this up. I remember a few
years back, where there was concern that the United States had lost the ability now to understand what was going on and what was the Eastern bloc, which is now Russia and what have you, because the focus had been on -- so much on terrorism that there hadn't been enough boots on the ground and a focus on what was happening in Russia and what was happening in China.
Now you're talking about even further depleting the force that we have currently out there. We should be out there trying to get people to come into the CIA, to get people to come into the FBI, especially at this time.
FINNEY: Yes, it just makes us less safe. Bottom line.
I mean, I think that's -- you know, for a lot of Americans, they're probably seeing these headlines and saying, oh, well, good. He's going in there and shaking things up.
But I do think we have to bring it back to, but it makes you less safe. And God forbid, some of our, you know, people in the CIA with the experience, the expertise, the insight.
Like, think about if the folks at the NTSB would have taken the buyout the week before the crash that we just had in D.C. Who would have been doing the investigation? I mean --
HUNT: Let's think for a second. Yes. No, sorry. Finish.
FINNEY: Just one last thing. The other point I would make, too. Some of those individuals, from time to time, you will find them in USAID projects.
That's the -- that's the other reason why getting rid of -- if you've ever watched a spy show and having been on many of those trips where I was told just, they're coming with us to this site. OK, fine. There they are.
So, point being, it makes us less safe. It's stupid. There's one way to do this that would have been smart, that probably would have also saved us money, but kept us safe and not created so much chaos and pain. But the chaos and the pain is part of the point.
HUNT: Well, and when you think about -- and anyone who has watched a spy show, if you understand anything about how it works, Elliot, is that it is a question of building relationships. Right?
WILLIAMS: Yes.
HUNT: So, if you are a CIA operation, if you're in the directorate of operations, you know, not paramilitary necessarily, but you know, someone whose job it is to have cover at USAID or at the State Department, you are building relationships with assets in the country that you are then using to get information to protect Americans at home from things like another 9/11.
WILLIAMS: yes.
HUNT: Right? And somebody taking that buyout does material damage in that, that suddenly it's not just the expertise and the things in their head, it's the little relational -- relationships that they have to gather information.
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. And having not just watched spy shows but worked very closely with the FBI, which is a counterterror organization.
People are getting wrapped up in this idea of woke stuff at Donald Trump's house. No, the FBI is the only law enforcement entity that is both a counterterror and a law enforcement body. Right?
And these are folks that are spending their careers across presidential administrations, building these relationships overseas to keep Americans safe.
When you begin trying to root out this perceived political bias, you're not just making Americans safe [SIC]. You're actually -- you're actually jeopardizing the free speech rights of those people that work there. They are -- You are punishing them for this perceived bias that doesn't exist.
It's an overwhelmingly right-leaning work force. And I know this having worked there.
So, this idea, these all -- these things all sound great on bumper stickers and talking points, but they're just not real. And they're going to make Americans less safe.
HUNT: Quick, Kristen.
ANDERSON: And I do wonder, too, with something like the CIA, you know, there are plenty of other departments in the government where, if you ask people, do we have too many people working there? People might say, yes, that can be right-sized or whatever corporate lay-off speak we want to use.
But I think for something like the CIA, you then, if you're going to let go a lot of people, you need to have a clear plan for how you're going to recruit new people in to build those relationships.
You've seen Pete Hegseth at the Department of Defense making a big deal over the last 48 hours about, look, here's our new ad campaign to recruit people to the Army. We're going to get people in.
Haven't necessarily heard anything like that about, say, the FBI or the CIA. And I think that's where you start going, Well, wait a minute. Is the plan just to eliminate these people, or is it to replace them with a new crop? Like, what does that even look like?
WILLIAMS: Yes, really, really quick. No. Just to get the background checks for people, to get them up to speed, to be able to do the job.
To, No. 1, find people who have the -- who you can get the requisite clearances to be able to handle this type of sensitive work and get them hired and get them screened can be months.
And so, the idea that you're just going to start firing people and bringing some set of folks on is incredibly difficult. And people don't really have that in their heads.
FINNEY: Yes.
HUNT: OK. Another fiery conversation.
Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, let's talk about the weather, OK? We'll take a break. Heavy rain, flooding and mudslides. California is being inundated with water, and it is leading to dangerous conditions.
Plus, a puzzling proposal. I will ask Congresswoman Debbie Dingell about President Trump's plan to take over Gaza.
[06:25:06]
"Puzzling," an understatement.
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HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
A number of road closures in place across parts of California after heavy rain caused landslides and created scenes like this one in the Bay Area. Yikes.
A landslide sweeping a house clean into the Russian River in Sonoma County. Let's get to our meteorologist, Allison Chinchar.
Allison, this -- this news is a little bit grim, but I do want to wish you a happy National Weatherperson's Day. Because we do, no matter what, appreciate you.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thank you. Yes. I only get to wear this sweater twice a year: today and then for Cloud Appreciation Day, obviously.
HUNT: I think that's the last time we had it on the show. Yes.
[06:30:00]
