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CNN This Morning
President Trump's Allies Look To Clarify His Ideas For Gaza; Attorney General Pam Bondi Quickly Aligns DOJ With Trump Agenda; Bird Flu Cases Lead To Higher Egg Prices In U.S.; Panama Denies U.S. State Department's Claim That U.S. Government Ships Can Use The Panama Canal For Free; FCC Releases Kamala Harris' "60 Minutes" Interview Transcript; Google Removing Hiring Goals Targeting Diversity. Aired 5- 5:30a ET
Aired February 06, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:35]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, February 6th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Let me just take a step back here, because this is an out of the box idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Damage control. The president's team tries to walk back what he said, in his own words about a Gaza takeover.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Guys, this is not Audie's show yet.
PAMELA BONDI, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: I, Pamela Bondi, do solemnly swear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Day one for a new attorney general, Pam Bondi. And how she's wasting no time getting the DOJ in line with the president's agenda.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): We are less safe because hundreds of FBI agents are on the verge of being fired.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: A brewing conflict. Why a top Justice Department official accuses FBI leadership of insubordination.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: All right. It is 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at the Capitol Dome on this. What day of the week is it? It's really hard to keep track nowadays. Thursday.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
As the world is now trying to work through President Trump's proposal for the U.S. to, quote, take over the Gaza Strip, his administration now rushing to clarify what he meant by those comments.
During his joint news conference with Israel's prime minister, the president spoke at length about the U.S. going in and rebuilding Gaza, calling it a, quote, demolition site. He also didn't rule out the possibility of deploying U.S. troops to the territory when he was asked by reporters. One White House adviser described themselves as stunned and tells CNN that they had not heard the proposal until the news conference.
Now, members of his administration are playing catch up with this sudden pivot in U.S. policy.
It sounds like we don't have Marco Rubio there. So the president made clear -- has made it clear is what the press secretary had to say. Here's what President Trump said about where Palestinians removed from Gaza should live throughout the day on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we can build something for them and one of the countries and it could be Jordan and it could be Egypt, it could be other countries, I hope that we could do something where they wouldn't want to go back. Who would want to go back?
The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative. I think the entire world, representatives from all over the world, will be there. And they'll and they'll live there. Palestinians also. Palestinians will live there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be on board with the president's newly unveiled vision for the Middle East.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This is the first good idea that I've heard. It's a remarkable idea, and I think it should be really pursued, examined, pursued and done because I think it will create a different future for everyone.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: President Trump's words already having an impact in Israel, where the defense minister has ordered their military to prepare for the, quote, voluntary departure, end quote, of Palestinians from Gaza.
Joining us now to talk about this Sophia Cai, White House reporter at "Politico".
Sophia, good morning to you.
SOPHIA CAI, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Good morning.
HUNT: So can you talk a little bit about how much other people around the president knew or didn't know about this proposal ahead of this press conference with Netanyahu?
CAI: Yeah. I think a select number of people did know because it was written into his remarks, even though there was no written plan. And so, like many things, it gets written into a speech. He speaks it into existence, maybe adds some flourishes and it becomes a thing.
But I think, you know, everything is negotiation for Trump. This is no different. And he starts with a big opening salvo, and then afterwards, he kind of sees how people reacts. And then we saw yesterday the press secretary had to start tempering that. So, saying that Trump had not committed to U.S. boots on the ground and that any relocation would be temporary.
HUNT: So it does feel like yesterday, presidential aides started to as you as you note, walk back elements of this kind of describe it in a slightly different ways. But the reality is that this, of course, has already started to change the way some people are looking at this. Obviously, we touched on what the Israelis are doing in terms of quote, unquote, voluntary removal of Palestinians from Gaza.
[05:05:01]
I want to play a little bit of what some Gazans had to say about this plan. These -- this sound is translated. The number of these people are not speaking English. But let's hear a little bit from them and we'll talk about it. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will not leave Gaza whatsoever, even though there's great destruction and everything and even the weather. We are staying here in our destroyed homes. We are steadfast in our land and we are not going to give a damn about Trump's statements.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end, Trump comes and tells us this, we would rather eat this rubble and not be displaced from Gaza. We are steadfast here, not him or anyone can get us or uproot us from Gaza. This is our land and we are the honest and true owners of the land. I won't be displaced.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: So I think that gives you a sense of kind of the depth of emotion here, and the kind of reaction that that would unfold where the president tried to actually execute something like this.
CAI: Yeah. I mean, this is their home. I think that depth of emotion that you mentioned, I'm not sure that the president grasped that because, you know, he's a businessman and his focus is on rebuilding. He sent his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff last week to Gaza. And, you know, he was relayed that the rebuilding might take 10 to 15 years.
And so, I think, you know, Trump's approach is that he wants to get as many countries involved. And by, you know, stating that we might own it, it allows somebody like national security adviser Mike Waltz to come in and say, well, if you don't like Trump's plan, then pitch in.
HUNT: Sophia, what do we expect today from the White House on this? And how do you think that this is going to unfold in the -- in the days and weeks ahead?
CAI: I -- actually, I'm not sure if we might get any more details than we did yesterday. The president, you know, did not answer questions in the oval about this issue. And I think, you know, we may continue to hear from his aides kind of cleaning things up on the corner in terms of what he actually means.
HUNT: All right, Sophia Cai, thanks very much for starting us off this morning. Appreciate your time.
All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, Pam Bondi officially sworn in as the nation's top law enforcement officer. How she is taking on DEI programs in her first days in office.
Plus, the CIA sends the White House, an unclassified email listing all of the people it recently hired. The alarm bells that raises.
And spiking egg prices. How people are handling the jump in cost of one of America's favorite breakfast foods.
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SETH MEYERS, COMEDIAN: Authorities in Pennsylvania are looking for thieves who allegedly stole 100,000 organic eggs. On the plus side, Elon Musk is no longer the world's richest man. It's the egg cartel.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[05:12:23]
HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
New Attorney General Pam Bondi issuing a flurry of directives targeting diversity efforts at both the Justice Department and within the private sector. According to a new memo, the Justice Department will, quote, investigate, eliminate and penalize illegal DEI programs focusing on private companies and educational institutions that receive federal money. Another memo said the department will take a look at its own diversity policies, including whether any organizations were awarded federal DOJ grants to promote DEI.
Bondi was sworn into her new role at the White House yesterday. She says that she won't target people because of their political affiliation.
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TRUMP: I know I'm supposed to say she's going to be totally impartial with respect to Democrats, and I think she will be as impartial as a person can be. I'm not sure if there's a possibility of totally, but she's going to be as total as you can get.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Joining us now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Joey Jackson.
Joey, good morning. Always wonderful to see you.
I -- just straight off the top, what's your evaluation of the new attorney general's first initial hours in this role and what she's focused on?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. Casey, good morning to you.
There are many concerns. The first, of course, is that elections have consequences. I don't know that anyone could be surprised that she would effectuate the Trump agenda.
Having said that, the biggest issue is that I'm concerned about whether the Justice Department is going to work for the American people, as it has historically been doing, and as has been the focus or whether or not its going to be just an arm and a loyalist of the president.
Moreover, moving from that, I'm concerned about whether or not we're going to be looking backwards in terms of retribution and grievances and settling scores, or whether we're going to be looking forward in terms of being the biggest law enforcement entity in the country. I'm concerned about its independence. I'm concerned about the institution itself. I'm concerned about measures of trust.
And so I'm not at all surprised that she would be effectuating the Trump agenda. I certainly would just hope, again, that the loyalty is to the Constitution and that the 10,000 lawyers are put to that purpose and not any purpose that is political in nature.
HUNT: Joey, can we talk a little bit about the FBI? Because, of course, we just passed a deadline for FBI agents to turn over information in a questionnaire. There have been all of these questions about what that means.
[05:15:02]
And I want to show you a little bit of what Andrew McCabe said on our air about the agents in the building and what this may mean ultimately for the agency. Let's watch and then we'll talk about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: The idea that the FBI contains some group of rank and file agents who are radical, left leaning partisans who are out there ignoring the directions given to them by their supervisors in order to target Republicans is fantasy. It is a fever dream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: And, Joey, I mean, we've also often discussed on this program that in many cases in the past, rank and file FBI agents have actually tended to be more conservative, perhaps as a group. But again, the imperative to investigate everybody fairly.
JACKSON: Yeah. So this supposed to work in one specific, clearly defined way, and that is that you have FBI agents who are carrying out the agenda, again, of the Department of Justice without fear, without favor, without prejudice, that they're doing their job every day and they are taking the facts to where they lead them.
I think certainly there is a distrust and has been by this particular president based upon his personal experiences in terms of what the FBI has been up to, whether they've been weaponized against him, whether they've been overly partisan.
We see that the new attorney general has called for an investigation in that regard. But at the end of the day, I think you have to understand. We have to understand that institutions need to be independent. They need to be able to fulfill their mission. They need to be able to conduct investigations without worrying about, hey, if I follow my directives right from my superiors and I'm now going to be fired, am I now going to be looked at? Am I now going to be tossed out of a job?
Similarly, you have the Department of Justice, Kasie, their career prosecutors, they're not there wearing a D on their chest every day or an R on their chest saying, ha-ha, we're going to go out here and wreak havoc upon our enemies. They're there to do justice.
And again, I just think, and I believe, and I hope that they need to stick to that mission in order to gain the confidence of the American people and to do the job successfully.
HUNT: Joey, can I ask you broadly about what the role of the courts is going to be as we continue to see these efforts unfold from the Trump administration? I mean, there are a number of examples of Elon Musk and his DOGE outfit going in and directly contradicting laws that Congress has written, shutting down the department of, you know, the USAID is kind of perhaps the most obvious example of that, but you have seen a number of other areas. The federal spending freeze, of course, was blocked by a judge.
But this seems to be setting up to be an enormous series of lawsuits here. Is the system prepared to handle it? And what -- what is your sense of how the courts are going to react to this, you know, landslide avalanche?
JACKSON: Yeah. Casey, it's important to note that we are in unprecedented times. I think were going to see a president who really lives on the margins and who really pushes the envelope every day. I think you're going to have record number of lawsuits. I think that in terms of the legal business, it's going to be an incredible, busy four years.
Briefly, remember, it's supposed to work, right? You have a president who's checked by Congress. The first thing ill say is, will there be that check or will his party simply acquiesce to whatever his priorities are?
HUNT: I mean, as a long time congressional reporter, I can I can tell you at this point right now, were looking at acquiescing, but continue your -- continue your point.
JACKSON: Yes.
HUNT: But that's a problem, Kasie, because you're supposed to be there in Congress to investigate, to serve, certainly as a pushback. And I don't know that that's happening. I think this simple acquiescence. So that's the first thing that we have to be concerned about.
Next now, you have the legal challenges, and we know that very high court is packed by people that Mr. Trump has appointed during his last go around. And so the issue that I'm getting to is whether or not, right, this whole balance of power will really be balanced, or whether it'll be really executive heavy. And if it's executive heavy, will that that ultimate court really serve as a check?
Very briefly, Kasie, you know that this is the first rung of court. Everyone has their trial the lowest level. And then you have your appeals. Will those appeals courts hold? Will they be true to the law or will they have really a political tinge?
Ultimately, if it gets to the Supreme Court, will the Supreme Court evaluate cases predicated upon the facts and the law or political agenda? That's the concern that I have. Ultimately, courts are not supposed to be about, again, going back to the R on my chest or the D on my chest. They're supposed to be about the J on my chest, justice.
And so the concern is whether they will do justice to a record influx of lawsuits that we're going to see moving forward on executive orders.
[05:20:02]
And I'm sure legislation that will be passed, et cetera. It's going to be a head spinning time. HUNT: It's the phrase -- phrase of the week head spinning. Joey
Jackson, thanks very much for your time this morning, sir. I appreciate it.
JACKSON: Appreciate you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Coming up now on CNN -- next on CNN THIS MORNING: the Kamala Harris interview that led to a lawsuit, why the FCC is now showing everyone the full transcript.
And you've probably seen egg prices, how farmers handling the demand in the middle of an egg shortage.
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[05:25:04]
HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
Dairy cows in Nevada have tested positive for the latest strain of the bird flu. That's been linked to severe infections in people. Bird flu is already being blamed for the egg shortage in the U.S.
People have been standing in long lines for the chance to buy what they can -- as CNN's Nick Watt shows us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK HILLIKER, OWNER, HILLIKER FARMS: And you can have two.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frank Hilliker is rationing his eggs. The line forms around 7:00 a.m.
How many eggs do you eat?
EMILIE SOUTHWARD, SHOOPER AT HILLIKER FARMS: Myself, probably, three -- three a day.
WATT: What?
SOUTHWARD: Yeah.
WATT: That's a lot. No?
SOUTHWARD: That's a normal amount.
HILLIKER: Two dozen.
WATT: The average American eats about 284 eggs a year. Well, they used to.
You're consciously dialing back on the eggs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, for sure, yeah.
WATT: Because of the price? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
WATT: President Donald Trump claims the high price of eggs helped him win the White House.
TRUMP: They were double and triple the price over a short period of time. And I won an election based on that.
WATT: He made wild promises.
TRUMP: We're going to bring prices way down, and we're going to get it done fast.
WATT: Then he got egged in the first White House briefing.
REPORTER: Egg prices have skyrocketed since President Trump took office.
WATT: Democratic lawmakers urged him in a letter to crack down on corporate profiteering.
HILLIKER: They put price controls on things, but now, all of a sudden, we're Cuba or Venezuela. You know who wants to be like that?
WATT: Waffle House just introduced a temporary 50 cent egg surcharge and Roberto's tacos round the corner from Franks Farm is charging customers an extra buck 50 for all eggy dishes.
Who are they blaming?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, they take it out on me.
WATT: Smells rather noticeable.
HILLIKER: What smell?
WATT: Do you eat a lot of them?
HILLIKER: No.
WATT: It's too expensive.
HILLIKER: It's gone from $2 to $3 a dozen to $9 a dozen.
WATT: That's massive.
HILLIKER: It is crazy.
WATT: And predicted by the USDA to climb even higher.
HILLIKER: Current egg shortages because of the bird flu.
WATT: It is, fully.
HILLIKER: Because of the bird flu.
WATT: The only way to stop the spread is to cull millions of infected birds, so slashing egg supply.
HILLIKER: These astronomical prices are all due on supply and demand. Economics 101. There's nothing Biden could have done to stop the bird flu. Look, there's nothing President Trump could have done to stop the bird flu. It's neither of their fault.
WATT: You literally have all your eggs in one basket.
HILLIKER: Yes I do. You got to be careful with that.
WATT: There are so many other bad egg wordplays that we could use, but --
HILLIKER: Exactly.
WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Lakeside, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNT: Remarkable.
All right, 27 minutes past the hour. Here's your "Morning Roundup".
Panama denies claims made by the U.S. State Department that U.S. government ships can go through the Panama Canal for free. The agency there that sets the tolls and fees says it's made no adjustments. This comes just days after President Trump again claimed the U.S. would take back the Panama Canal.
The FCC released the full transcript of Kamala Harris's "60 Minutes" interview that aired in October. That interview resulted in a lawsuit from President Trump that accused CBS of deceptively editing the interview in order to interfere with the election. The FCC says it published the transcript because its in the public interest, and to be transparent.
Google, the latest corporation to remove hiring goals tied to promoting diversity. It says they're evaluating other initiatives. The Trump administration has pushed private companies to eliminate DEI programs. Other businesses that have changed their policies include Meta, Target, Walmart and McDonald's.
All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING, an unclassified email to the White House. Could it have exposed some of America's spies to danger?
Plus, President Trump's allies trying to clarify his plans for Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: This is an outside the box thinker who understands, Laura, the definition of insanity, which is trying to do the same thing and hoping for a different result.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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