Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Federal Judge Pauses Trump's Deferred Resignation Offer; Lawmakers Push To Ban DeepSeek On U.S. Government Devices; Flight with 10 Passengers Missing in Western Alaska; FBI Gives DOJ Names Of Employees Who Worked January 6 Cases; Trump On Gaza: "No Soldiers By The U.S. Would Be Needed". Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired February 07, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:36]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Friday, February 7th.
Right now on CNN THIS MORNING:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): I've been saying that all the federal employees, beware of this offer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a reckoning coming. And the American people support this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Pressing pause. A judge steps in to extend the deadline for 2 million federal workers to take the Trump-Musk buyout.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump is an outside of the box thinker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Not backing down. President Trump still talking about kicking Palestinians out of Gaza, even as his team has tried to tone it down.
And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA POWER, FORMER ADMINISTRATOR, USAID: This is a disaster, not just from a humanitarian standpoint, from the standpoint of all the beneficiaries who may in fact die.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: On edge. USAID employees bracing for big cutbacks as the presidents plan to get rid of almost its entire workforce set to roll out tonight.
(MUSIC)
HUNT: Just after 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at the Washington monument. Beautiful shot of Washington, D.C. on this Friday morning. We made it to Friday. The end of -- is this the third week of the Trump administration? The second one, I think so.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
A federal judge pausing the Trump administrations deferred resignation offer to 2 million federal workers. The deadline extended to Monday, when there will be another hearing after several legal challenges. According to the White House, the buyout offer has 65,000 takers so far. It's not clear, though the arrangement is legal.
Still, the administration remains undeterred.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer. If they don't want to show up to the office, if they want to rip the American people off, then they're welcome to take this buyout and we'll find highly competent individuals who want to fill these roles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Also developing this morning, CNN has learned that Elon Musk's top lieutenants at the Treasury Department, they tried to get the acting secretary to immediately shut off all USAID funding last month, using the department's payment processing system. It is the first evidence that DOGE attempted to access the Treasury's tools to effect to block federal payments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're catching them left and right. We're catching 'em. We're catching 'em to a point where they don't know what the heck is going on. They can't believe they're getting caught. And I have great respect for the people that are doing it.
Elon Musk is helping us on it, and he's pretty good. He's pretty good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right. Let's bring in Jackie Kucinich. She is Washington bureau chief of "The Boston Globe".
Jackie, good morning to you. Good morning. In another episode of you can't keep up with how fast
things are moving with this new Trump administration. It's clear here that the -- that Elon Musk and doge are moving very fast behind the scenes doing things that are, you know, not being reported necessarily in real time, that they did try to actually use this payment system inside treasury to accomplish their goals.
The court system now does seem to be catching up in various ways as lawsuits have been filed. But at the same time, its clear that that doesn't seem to be an effective tool right now, as Democrats try to push back without a lot of tools at their disposal.
JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, this is by design. They're moving at this rate and the speed. And in so many different places, in order for courts to courts to be, you know, always playing catch up and you don't have any resistance from Republicans that you thought you might have. I mean, I'm still a little surprised you haven't seen pushback from appropriators, those lawmakers who are the ones -- I mean, they really covet these roles.
They're the ones that help put funding where they would like it to be. People work their whole careers to become one of these lawmakers. And on the Republican side, you haven't really heard a peep.
HUNT: You have not. And, you know, it speaks to the politics of the thing. I mean, my sort of overarching political question is at what point do people start to turn on? Do they start to turn on Elon Musk in a way that makes Donald Trump concerned about that?
Let's talk for a second about this staffer who was forced to resign.
[05:05:03]
So this is "The Wall Street Journal". They say, quote, a key DOGE staff member. This was their exclusive reporting yesterday who gained access to the Treasury Department's central payment system, resigned Thursday after he was linked to a deleted social media account that advocated racism and eugenics.
So I guess there still is a line, you know, that you can't cross here. But this also speaks to the risks of having these unvetted people inside the federal government.
KUCINICH: Yeah, and they're being vetted in real time as well. I mean, this reminds me of the first Trump administration when you had a lot of, you know, our colleagues around the city and beyond vetting people for the administration and the fact that, you know, this is someone who could have had access to all sorts of private material and some of the others that, you know, probably haven't been vetted at this point.
You'd think that would raise concern, you know, within both the administration and with congressional leaders.
HUNT: One other big piece of this is whether or not Musk has conflicts of interest, right. Because lets remember, he's the richest man in the world because --
KUCINICH: Whether or not.
(LAUGHTER)
HUNT: Right.
Let's -- let's -- let's say straight up that there are conflicts of interest that are presenting themselves. So there's been this question of, okay, how are we going to deal with that, right? SpaceX has interests, especially with the federal government. Tesla does to any automaker does is very affected by regulation in many cases of federal -- federal money, other things. The FAA is one place where this could really come up.
And Maria Cantwell, Senator Cantwell was talking about this on the hill yesterday after we should remind everyone, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary said that Musk is going to police his own conflicts of interest, and he's going to just say, oh, I cant get involved in that. I got to, you know, set myself aside.
KUCINICH: Which is what Trump said.
HUNT: Right.
Let's watch what Cantwell said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARIA CANTWELL (D-WA): It's a clear conflict of interest, and Secretary Duffy should make sure that Mr. Musk is not part of the FAA air transportation system. What we don't welcome is a man who's regulated by this sector and who has had fines for violation of safety, which is launch issues related to protecting the flying public at a time when you need the FAA to call the shots and say, don't launch now because there could be a conflict in the airspace, the last thing I want is that guy trying to control the airspace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: I mean, it's a really salient point. I mean, there have been times when, you know, planes have had to be grounded because there's debris from one of the rockets coming down. I mean, this has been a worldwide thing as well. International aircraft have been affected.
KUCINICH: Right. And but until you start hearing that from Republicans with power to affect this change, to go to the president and get his and change his mind. I mean, what -- what Trump said was that, you know, if he gets near anything that they think that it would be a conflict of interest, then, you know, then the administration would wall him off. That hasn't happened yet -- what you said three weeks in at the top of the show?
HUNT: I think so, right? Have I counted the days correctly?
KUCINICH: So we'll have to wait and see if, you know, Senator Cantwell ends up with some voices joining her at some point.
HUNT: All right, Jackie Kucinich, happy Friday. Have a good weekend. See you next week.
KUCINICH: Yep.
(LAUGHTER)
HUNT: All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, the president's Gaza takeover plan. Donald Trump now says the U.S. will have some help turning a war zone into the, quote, Riviera of the Middle East.
Plus, U.S. lawmakers moving against the Chinese A.I. platform that could revolutionize big tech.
And President Trump trying to pull Republican leaders together to pass his agenda through Congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Our message to our friends and colleagues in the Senate is allow the House to do its work.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): What is going to result from these discussions, no doubt, is going to be a piece of legislation that is deeply unpopular in the American public.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:13:22]
HUNT: All right. Welcome back.
Today, two lawmakers planning to propose bipartisan legislation that would ban the Chinese owned A.I. chatbot DeepSeek from being used on government devices. The issue? National security concerns.
Some experts have warned that China could get access to any data that's shared with DeepSeek. Chinese cybersecurity laws require companies to provide access to that information if the government asks for it.
CNN's Will Ripley takes a look at DeepSeek and the people who are behind it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A lunar New Year message live from Beijing, a stage full of humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence. China projecting itself as the worlds next A.I. superpower just days after the world rattling announcement from tiny Chinese tech startup DeepSeek. Last month, DeepSeek was a little known company on the fifth floor of this nondescript Beijing office block. Now it's making global headlines.
DeepSeek's founder Liang Wenfeng, once dismissed as a nerdy engineer with a bad haircut, now hailed by Beijing as China's next tech visionary, rocking the global A.I. industry, leaving Silicon Valley scrambling.
His company employs around 140 engineers, mostly in their 20s and 30s. Many interned at U.S. tech giants, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Nvidia, the same companies that lost billions when DeepSeek announced its A.I. chatbot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crushed our tech stocks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shocked the A.I. world, and turned Wall Street upside down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: National security concerns.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Warning users to beware about data.
RIPLEY: DeepSeek's A.I. model is not just powerful, it's a Silicon Valley disruptor developed at a fraction of the cost, the company claims.
[05:15:08]
But there's one major obstacle, hardware. The U.S. has tightened export controls on advanced A.I. chips made in Taiwan, aiming to slow China's progress.
But Beijing is determined to catch up fast. The global spotlight is already exposing cracks. DeepSeek servers often overwhelmed.
Also, growing concern over censorship.
When we asked DeepSeek about one of the most sensitive topics in China, the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, it didn't just avoid the question, it shut it down. But when we asked whether Taiwan is part of China, DeepSeek did not hesitate to give us the official communist party line.
Critics argue U.S. A.I. models also restrict content, but in China, it's not the tech companies setting the limits, it's the government.
Now, with the help of A.I., Beijing can shape conversations far beyond its borders.
What happens if China wins? Definitively wins?
MATT SHEEHAN, FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: They could use that to impose all kinds of controls and costs on the United States, on all competitors. RIPLEY: China A.I. researcher Matt Sheehan says artificial
intelligence could revolutionize productivity, cure diseases, drive economic growth. It could also spiral beyond human control, potentially destabilizing the world.
Are you nervous?
SHEEHAN: I'm very nervous.
RIPLEY: DeepSeek just overtook ChatGPT as the most downloaded A.I. app in the U.S. once again triggering national security fears over data privacy and the growing power of another app controlled by China's communist party.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNT: And our thanks to Will for that report.
Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING: Elon Musk's DOGE has USAID facing massive cuts. We're going to talk with a former USAID leader about the impact this may have around the world.
And a week long standoff between the FBI and DOJ coming to an end. Ahead, why some FBI employees are now concerned for their safety.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:21:39]
HUNT: All right, 21 minutes past the hour.
Here's your "Morning Roundup".
A Bering Air flight with ten people on board is now missing in Western Alaska. The plane was last seen on radar flying over the Norton Sound on Thursday evening. The Coast Guard and Air Force, now assisting in the search.
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan releasing a statement saying in part, quote: Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, their families and the rescue crew.
The FBI has now given the names of employees who worked on January 6th cases to the Justice Department. It ends a week long standoff between the FBI and the DOJ. The FBI's acting director says they used a classified system to send the list to try to keep those names from being made public and protect the employees' identities.
The first jobs report of president Trumps second term will be released in just three hours. Experts predict that the U.S. added about 170,000 jobs in January. The Labor Department will also publish its final revisions for last year's jobs numbers.
All right. Coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING: GOP House leaders meet with the president to come up with a game plan to get the presidents agenda through Congress. But there's some frustration and tension in the party.
Plus, what the president is saying now about his plans for the Gaza Strip and whether U.S. troops will be involved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DAN CRENSHAW (R-TX): Look, this is -- this is pretty typical, unorthodox Trump policy being thrown out there, but it could end up exactly where it should end up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:27:50]
HUNT: Five-twenty-seven a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at Minneapolis, Minnesota, 4:27 a.m. Central Time at the moment.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
President Donald Trump and his team putting new spin on his comments suggesting a potential U.S. takeover of the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, you may recall the president parked intense backlash when he suggested that the territory could be turned into the, quote, Riviera of the Middle East and did not rule out the idea of sending U.S. troops there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, given what you've said about Gaza, should the U.S. send troops to help secure the security vacuum.
TRUMP: As far as Gaza is concerned, we'll do what is necessary. If it's necessary, we'll do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: It's a move that would, if enacted, displace more than a million, almost 2 million Palestinians reshape global politics.
Early yesterday, President Trump took to social media to reframe his argument. He posted this in part, quote, the U.S. working with great development teams from all over the world, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed, exclamation point.
The White House press secretary later, echoing those comments, she says this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEAVITT: The president has made it clear that he will not be sending boots on the ground. Gaza he is not committed to that. He also has made it clear that American taxpayers will not be funding this effort. The president is trying to strike a deal to ensure that Gaza can actually be a habitable place for human beings who want to live in peace with real economic development, and President Trump is an outside of the box thinker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Well, that sounds different.
All right. Joining us now, national political reporter for "The Associated Press", Michelle Price.
Michelle, good morning to you. It's clear here that they -- I mean, what we heard on Tuesday, it basically seemed like they were saying, were going to have to move 2 million, nearly 2 million Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip to do this. Now, the presidents not backing off this idea of, you know, Trump real estate developer creating something in Gaza, but he's talking about the people who live there, staying there.
And he's being explicit about not putting U.S. troops in Gaza.
