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CNN This Morning
Today: Senate To Vote On Tulsi Gabbard Confirmation; Durbin Accuses FBI Director Nominee Of Purging Agency; OpenAI CEO Fires Back At Musk After Rejecting $97 Billion Offer. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 12, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): And then on Inauguration Day Adams abruptly canceled his schedule and went to Washington. He publicly lauded members of Trump's inner circle, like Elon Musk --
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY: It's time for change, and I've said this for years. And I'm happy that Elon is going to be part of those who are moving that change forward.
GINGRAS: -- while also recently instructing his senior staff to not speak ill of the new administration for fear of losing federal funding, according to The New York Times -- all a shift from the man who once called himself --
ADAMS: I'm the Biden of Brooklyn.
GINGRAS: -- and who now may have also been spared jail time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SCUITTO, CNN ANCHOR: That's quite a change.
Brynn Gingras, thanks so much.
Still to come on CNN THIS MORNING two of the president's most controversial cabinet picks moving closer to confirmation with key votes in just a few hours today.
Plus, this Valentine's Day the City of Brotherly Love has a date -- well, with the Super Bowl champions.
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JIMMY FALLON, HOST, NBC "THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON": Congratulations to the Philadelphia Eagles. One, two, three (taking shots).
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[05:35:30]
SCIUTTO: Five thirty-five a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Milwaukee. Good morning, everyone. I'm Jim Sciutto in for Kasie Hunt. So good to have you with us.
Just hours from now the Senate is set to vote on Donald Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence. Both Tulsi Gabbard and the president's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., are on track for final confirmation votes in the Senate this week.
They are, of course, two of the most controversial picks and despite making it out of committee they are still facing backlash, at least from Democrats.
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REP. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Gabbard repeatedly speaks in language of falsity and conspiracy theories and holds deeply troubling ties to our adversaries. She does not deserve to be in that position.
Putting a very wealthy vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist in charge of America's public health would put every single American in danger. Kennedy is not a doctor, he's not a scientist, he's not a public health expert. The only thing he's an expert in is peddling conspiracies and profiting off his own lies.
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SCIUTTO: Strong words.
Joining me now to discuss all things Capitol Hill, congressional reporter for The Hill, Mychael Schnell. Mychael, thanks so much for coming in.
MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Hey, good morning.
SCIUTTO: So there was a time where even Republicans told me they were doubtful Gabbard and Kennedy would get through, but not it looks like the way has been smoothed. I mean, are they -- are they locks later today?
SCHNELL: I would never say you're a lock when you're talking about Capitol Hill and things can change on a dime, but they're certainly looking like they're in very good shape -- Tulsi Gabbard, particularly. She advanced on the Senate floor earlier this week -- party line, 52-46 vote -- a good sign for her.
There are still some wildcards. Mitch McConnell did vote to advance her nomination but as we saw with Hegseth, he --
SCIUTTO: Yeah. SCHNELL: -- voted to advance but then voted against Hegseth. Also, John Curtis is still unclear if he's going to vote to support. But that's only two people. And as we know --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
SCHNELL: -- with all Democrats voting no it's going to take at least four. That's a high bar to clear. So even if there are some defections it doesn't look like it's going to be enough to sink Tulsi.
SCIUTTO: So what made the difference here? Was it -- was it a charm offensive or a threat offensive by this administration to threaten -- we saw a lot of that quite publicly -- to threaten Republican senators who voted against?
SCHNELL: Yeah. The answer to that would probably depend on who you ask.
SCIUTTO: Um-hum.
SCHNELL: We did see that Tulsi Gabbard particularly engaged in a lot of back-and-forth with some of these senators.
SCIUTTO: Um-hum.
SCHNELL: For example, Todd Young was somebody who was on the fence really until the eleventh hour -- somebody who sits on the Intelligence Committee --
SCIUTTO: Yeah.
SCHNELL: -- which is why he was such a key vote. He said that he had some final conversations with Tulsi Gabbard that ultimately convinced him to support her.
So I think that this just underscores that this is Donald Trump's Senate. And we know that there are still some detractors in the Senate who aren't Trump's biggest fans -- McConnell, Todd Young, Thom Tillis. But with Donald Trump in the White House that is a really strong force and we're seeing Republican senators find it a hard time to go against him.
SCIUTTO: And a lot of folks offering up their money to primary folks who vote against --
SCHNELL: That's right.
SCIUTTO: -- this president on these picks.
Another one who, again, early on -- Kash Patel for the FBI -- seen as a longshot.
Senator Dick Durbin is alleging that he is already personally directing the purge of FBI --
SCHNELL: Um-hum. SCIUTTO: -- employees before he's been confirmed. Have a listen to how the senator put it.
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SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Follow the dots. It goes from the White House with Stephen Miller, the deputy, to the president, to the acting attorney general Bove. And the message is Kash Patel (KP), the initials, wants you to move faster in purging the ranks of the FBI like they've done already in DOJ.
This is the day -- or two days before Patel testifies under oath and on the committee that he's had nothing to do with this. So clearly, he is misleading us or worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Durbin says if that's true he perjured himself at his confirmation hearing.
SCHNELL: Yeah.
SCIUTTO: Is anyone, particularly on the Republican side, taking this seriously at this point?
SCHNELL: Not particularly, no.
We heard from Chuck Grassley yesterday who is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee who didn't seem concerned by this. He said that this was more attempts to attack Kash Patel and prevent his confirmation.
So I don't think that this is going to change the situation very much -- move the needle very much.
Dick Durbin did say that he hopes that Republicans can reconsider their vote in light of this new information. The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote on his nomination on Thursday, so we are sort of in the last-minute moments right now.
[05:40:05]
But again, this gets back to what I was saying before that a) this is Donald Trump's Senate, and b) elections really matter because when we're talking about Democrats trying to join with a few Republicans to down a Trump cabinet nominee they need at least four Republicans to join them and that's a very high bar to clear.
If there were just a few different -- you know, a few different outcomes in some of those Senate races. For example, in Pennsylvania, Bob Casey lost by just 15,000 votes -- .22 percent. That could have been a whole different ball game.
So I think this also underscores that elections really matter and the breakdown in the House and Senate can be the entire story.
SCIUTTO: Yeah. I mean, Hegseth, right? It would have been --
SCHNELL: Exactly.
SCIUTTO: That would have been enough for -- to sink his nomination.
Mychael Schnell, thanks so much.
SCHNELL: Thanks.
SCIUTTO: The feud between billionaire tech rivals Elon Musk and the OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is heating up and getting more personal as well. This after Altman fired back and told a group of investors backed by Musk that his company is not for sale.
CNN's Brian Todd has more.
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ELON MUSK, HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: Yes!
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): As Elon Musk tries to build his empire to an even greater degree he gets rebuffed by one of his biggest personal rivals.
SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OPENAI: It's like another one of his tactics to try to, like, mess with us.
TODD (voiceover): Sam Altman, the 39-year-old CEO of OpenAI, has rejected an unsolicited offer from Musk to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion. Altman says his company is not for sale and told Bloomberg TV he thinks he knows why Musk made that offer.
ALTMAN: I think he's probably just trying to slow us down.
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I think what you're seeing here is that Elon Musk, who has such tension with Sam Altman, could try to buy the company to squash it or integrate it into his own company xAI.
TODD (voiceover): xAI is Musk's own artificial intelligence company founded less than two years ago. It's seen as smaller -- not as advanced as Altman's OpenAI, a leading company in the innovation and marketing of artificial intelligence that wowed the public with its sophisticated, ground-breaking tool ChatGPT.
Altman didn't just reject Musk's bid; he got harshly personal in describing the world's richest man.
ALTMAN: Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I feel for the guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel for him?
ALTMAN: I do, actually. I don't think he's, like, a happy person. I do feel for him.
TODD (voiceover): A far cry from a decade ago when Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI as a charity.
ZOE SCHIFFER, AUTHOR, "EXTREMELY HARDCORE: INSIDE ELON MUSK'S TWITTER": Sam Altman has said that he really looked up to Elon Musk at the time.
FISCHER: When they launched OpenAI together they were considered on top of Silicon Valley and they were doing it as a whole.
TODD (voiceover): But in 2018, Musk left OpenAI.
SCHIFFER: OpenAI's perspective is that Elon Musk wanted to take over OpenAI. He wanted to merge it with Tesla, in fact. And that when Sam Altman refused to do that and, in fact, took over the company himself, that's when their relationship really started to break down.
TODD (voiceover): Musk has since filed multiple lawsuits against OpenAI accusing the company of betraying its nonprofit mission by looking to make a profit with its AI tools -- an accusation Altman denies.
Their feud spilled out in public again last month when President Trump hosted Altman and two other CEOs at the White House to launch a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment. Musk tried to undermine the announcement posting, "They don't actually have the money."
Trump, himself, commented on Musk's disdain for Altman.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He hates one of the people in the deal.
FISCHER: Now this relationship has soured so much since the fact that they're, you know, trading public barbs it really speaks to how much the Trump relationship has really come between the two of them.
TODD: Sam Altman also said he's not concerned that Elon Musk has a new and powerful position in Donald Trump's White House, but he acknowledged he probably should be concerned about that.
Spokespeople for Musk and for X did not respond to CNN's request for comment on Altman's latest remarks about Musk.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Coming up, the race to contain bird flu and the precautions that some farmers are taking to protect their farms and their livestock.
Plus, the Suns' Kevin Durant reaches a major milestone, joining a very small group of elite players.
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[05:48:15] SCIUTTO: Georgia is now lifting its suspension of poultry activities after no new cases of bird flu were found, but farmers across the country remain nervous.
CNN's Jason Carroll spoke to New York farmers about their concerns and what they're doing to protect their chickens and their livelihood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM WARREN, OWNER, STONE & THISTLE FARM: So these are our 2-year-old birds that are out here in a winter house, and they're venturing outside today.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Farmers like Tom Warren have been keeping a more watchful eye on their chickens these days.
WARREN: We'll just have to see what happens.
CARROLL: OK.
WARREN: It's kind of what we're going to do.
CARROLL: All right.
WARREN: And hope for the best.
CARROLL (voiceover): Warren owns Stone and Thistle Farm, a small farm located in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, more than a three- hour drive from New York City. But with the threat of avian flu, the city seems closer than ever.
New York's governor temporarily shut down live poultry markets in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester County as a precautionary measure after several cases of bird flu were recently discovered.
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL, (D) NEW YORK: Over the last week, inspectors have detected seven cases of bird flu in poultry.
CARROLL (voiceover): Cases of bird flu were also found at the Queen Zoo, and possible cases are under investigation at the Bronx Zoo. Last month, a commercial duck farm in Long Island was forced to euthanize more than 100,000 ducks after a bird flu outbreak hit the facility to prevent further spread.
While birds are the likely source of the avian flu on farms, it's a big concern for small farmers, such as Warren, whose livestock and poultry are partially raised outside where they have free range to roam.
[05:50:00]
WARREN: We just hope, I mean, for us, it's mostly we can do a few things to prevent or reduce the risk hazard.
CARROLL: What can you do? WARREN: Well, we -- like I said, we keep our feeders indoors so that deters wild birds from coming down into the place.
CARROLL: You're very pragmatic about the whole thing.
WARREN: Getting agitated about it isn't going to benefit me
CARROLL: Um-hum.
WARREN: -- or the chickens --
CARROLL: Yeah.
WARREN: -- or the farm business, so we take as many precautions as we can.
CARROLL (voiceover): Precautions, such as no one permitted on the farm if they've been to another farm, own a bird, or have had contact with birds, is why we did Daniel Brey's interview over Zoom.
DANIEL BREY, OWNER, BREY'S EGG FARM: You can't see it, smell it, or, you know, you have no idea where the bird flu is until it's too late. Yes, I am afraid.
CARROLL (voiceover): Brey is a third-generation poultry farmer who has dodged avian flu outbreaks in 2014 and 2022. He says an outbreak could be financially devastating for small farms like his and Warren's.
BREY: It's like a death sentence, you know. You lose your cut, or you lose -- you don't have any eggs for three to four months at least. It's a nightmare, but it basically puts you out of business -- a smaller farm.
CARROLL: Is that something that you could survive if you had to shut down for that period?
WARREN: Yes, I'm going to survive. It's the chickens that aren't going to survive.
CARROLL: OK.
WARREN: But, no -- but it would be difficult. It would hurt our business astronomically.
CARROLL (voiceover): His message to consumers during all this, poultry and eggs remain safe when prepared properly.
WARREN: Here, would you like to hold her?
CARROLL: Uh, no.
WARREN: No?
CARROLL (voiceover): Warren says his eggs and chickens are selling, and his well-trained dogs help keep the wild birds at bay for now. WARREN: It's probably unlikely that we would contract it but it's still a crapshoot. I mean, we -- there's a limit to what we can do to control it.
CARROLL: What do you think your odds are?
WARREN: I'm not much of a betting man, so --
CARROLL: OK. OK.
WARREN: -- I have no idea what our odds are. I mean, we've managed to get through a couple of years with avian influenza around without any problems, and we kind of just hope that we'll make it through a couple more years, and then I'm going to retire.
CARROLL (voiceover): Jason Carroll, CNN, East Meredith, New York.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
SCIUTTO: All right, time now for a little break -- sports. And the Phoenix Suns' superstar Kevin Durant officially has etched his name among basketball's all-time greats.
Coy Wire has this morning's CNN sports update. I mean, this is -- this is quite a mark -- 30,000 --
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes.
SCIUTTO: -- points.
WIRE: K.D. 30K.
What's up, Jim?
Kevin Durant, the newest member of the NBA's 30,000 point club. The 15-time All-Star reaching the mark with a free throw in the third quarter against the Grizzlies last night -- and there it is. K.D. joining the likes of Wilt, Jordan, Kobe, Kareem, and LeBron, who is the league's all-time leading scorer.
Now, Durant finished the game with 34 points in the 119-112 loss to the Grizzlies. But immediately after that final buzzer sounded, Grizzlies' star Ja Morant made sure K.D. got that game ball, giving it to him as a sign of respect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN DURANT, FORWARD, PHOENIX SUNS: It's a true honor to be in the same category as those players who helped shape the game and push the game forward. And that's always been my goal is to get the most out of myself every day and the most out of my career. So to be mentioned with those guys means I'm doing something right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: All right. Joel Embiid and the 76ers hosting the Raptors. Philly is down two, Jim, with under 15 seconds to go. Embiid was wide open but instead of taking the shot he turns the ball over. And the boo-birds -- they came out in Philly. The Raptors win 106-103.
He's set to make $50 million plus this season alone. The former league MVP has missed 37 of his team's 53 games this season.
Now there will be plenty of brotherly love in Philly as well. This Friday, Valentine's Day, the city throwing its Super Bowl parade and ceremony for the Eagles. More than a million people expected to line the streets from Broad Street all the way to the Rocky steps at the Museum of Art. Philly public schools and courts will be closed.
All right. Instead of an all-star weekend the NHL is hitting pause on the regular season to host the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament featuring the world's top hockey powers: Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the U.S.
Boston Bruins teammates Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy have developed a tightly knit friendship over their careers but now they'll be playing against each other and may very well meet in the championship game, which would be in Boston a week from tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD MARCHAND, BOSTON BRUINS, TEAM CANADA: It really is special. It -- we're really looking forward to it. I can't wait to take a run at this guy finally and yeah, it should be fun.
CHARLIE MCAVOY, BOSTON BRUINS, TEAM USA: I enjoy being able to compete with him and against him in practice, but it'll be -- it'll be really cool to face off against him and be able to share that experience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: You can catch Marchand and Team Canada take on Sweden tonight at 8:00 Eastern on our sister channels TNT, TruTV, and streaming on Max.
[05:55:00]
Finally, the calendar may say it's only February, but the boys of summer are getting warmed up. Red Sox pitchers and catchers have their first workouts today at Fenway South in sunny Fort Meyers, Florida. Spring training, Jim -- those games start next Friday.
Opening day is set for March 27. That's when everyone will be chasing those Dodgers who are looking to pull off the repeat, and they have completely reloaded.
SCIUTTO: All right, Dodgers smodgers. A Mets fan here. I think we've got a pretty good team. I cannot wait for the start of the season.
WIRE: Yes, you've got Soto. I know you're happy about that.
SCIUTTO: Yep. I'll be watching.
WIRE: All right.
SCIUTTO: Coy Wire, thanks so much.
WIRE: You got it.
SCIUTTO: In our next hour on CNN THIS MORNING Elon Musk holding court in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump sitting right by his side. Democratic Congressman Greg Landsman is here to discuss that powerful duo at the helm.
Plus, a U.S. teacher held prisoner in Russia is now back home. President Trump said another American is expected to be freed soon as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: What were the terms of this deal, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Very fair. Very, very fair. Very reasonable. Not like deals you've seen over the years.
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