Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Mass Layoffs, Reorganization Underway Across U.S. Health Agencies; Richard Sherman: Gunmen Invade Home With Wife & Kids Inside; State Dept: USAID Team Headed To Myanmar. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired April 01, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:33:55]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: There's a widespread purge affecting U.S. health agencies underway right now. Some employees showed up for work today, only to find out they'd been locked out and their jobs had been eliminated.

This is part of a wave of job cuts that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr announced last week to reduce what he calls bureaucratic sprawl.

He's aiming to slash some 10,000 jobs. That's on top of the thousands of employees who have voluntarily left the department.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: CNN's Nick Valencia is covering this.

And, Nick, you have some new reporting. Tell us what you're learning.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We don't know exactly the numbers of how many people have been impacted because, as of this morning, those notices we're still going out.

But, Boris and Brianna, we know that major divisions of the world's leading public health agency, the CDC, have been impacted.

Divisions like the 500-member HIV Division, the Smoking and Health Division. There's also other centers like the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the Center for Mental Health Services at Substance Abuse and -- at the Mental Health Services Administration.

A senior official at the CDC tells me that's what's -- what's most galling about this is that leadership at the CDC is finding out along with everyone else. They're not given a heads-up as to whether or not their staff are going to be impacted by this.

[13:35:05]

As you reported, some of them found out as they we're going to the building this morning to report for work. Others, when they opened up their computer this morning at 5:00, 6:00 in the morning.

And here is the notice that some of them got that CNN obtained earlier today. It says, quote:

"This reduction in force action does not reflect directly on your service, performance or conduct. After you receive this notice, you will be placed on administrative leave and will no longer have building access, beginning Tuesday, April 1st, unless directed otherwise by your leadership."

For those who I've been talking to, who have been impacted, they say it's not lost on them that these notices came out on April Fool's Day. They've been waiting for days.

But they say this an indication, these notices coming out today, is just an example of them that the Trump administration is treating their livelihoods like one big joke.

You know, previously, the HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, had said that he wanted to reorganize HHS to prioritize chronic illnesses. And we're seeing some of that happen. Some of these divisions that don't meet the mission are being cut.

What's leaving a lot of people scratching their heads, though, Boris and Brianna, is that some of those divisions that were impacted are either directly or tangentially related to chronic disease research -- guys?

SANCHEZ: Nick Valencia, thank you so much for the reporting.

VALENCIA: You bet.

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines that we've been watching this hour.

Investigators believe they now know the likely cause of death of the teen son of a former New York Yankees player who mysteriously died while the family was on vacation in Costa Rica.

Officials say that 14-year-old Miller Gardner's death is believed to be related to carbon monoxide inhalation, likely from a nearby machine room in the hotel where he was staying.

Miller is the son of former New York Yankees Outfielder Brett Gardner.

KEILAR: And in Hawaii, a court document is providing new details in the case of a Hawaii doctor charged with trying to kill his wife on a popular hiking trail.

And 46-year-old Gerhard Koenig is charged with attempting second- degree murder after prosecutors say he bashed his wife's head repeatedly with a rock and tried to inject her with syringes filled with unknown substances.

According to a temporary restraining order petition filed by his wife, Koenig had previously accused her of having an affair, which she says led to extreme jealousy. A judge granted that temporary restraining order on Friday. And the Chinese military says it has launched military exercises

around Taiwan as a, quote, "stern warning" after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to counter, quote, "Chinese aggression" in the region during his first visit to Asia.

China's latest military exercises come as Taiwan is looking on nervously as President Trump transforms U.S. global relationships with his America First foreign policy.

And still to come, Richard Sherman shares chilling video of armed intruders breaking into his home. His wife and his kids were inside. And now he's hoping to catch the crooks. We'll tell you how, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:42:18]

KEILAR: Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department will seek the death penalty for accused killer, Luigi Mangione. Mangione is facing state and federal charges for allegedly shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. He has pleaded not guilty to the state charges.

SANCHEZ: A.G. Bondi says she will direct the Southern District of New York to seek the death penalty if Mangione is convicted on capital murder charges.

Now, Mangione's attorney was in discussions with DOJ over the decision. She could not immediately be reached for comment.

Pivoting now to an urgent plea from a former NFL star. Richard Sherman is asking for the public's help after a break in at his home.

Sherman posted screengrabs and a terrifying video of intruders on social media, writing that his house was robbed at gunpoint while his family was inside.

KEILAR: This latest incident is happening months after a string of break ins at the homes of high-profile athletes.

CNN sports anchor, Don Riddell, is following this story for us.

What are you learning about this?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, guys. Well, we know about this because Richard Sherman, who, of course, was a huge NFL star -- he won the Super Bowl a few years ago -- he actually posted the video on the X platform of these men coming into this house.

And this is just extraordinary footage. Really quite chilling to watch when you consider that his wife and children were in the house. You can see the intruders are wearing hoods, masks, carrying bags.

It seems in that video as though one of them is carrying a firearm. It also looked the same way in the still images that Sherman also posted. It looked as though one of the intruders was holding a gun. Now, fortunately, Sherman's family was OK. He said that his wife

handled the situation masterfully. She kept the kids safe, so they're all OK.

He says in one of the posts that a phone was taken from the house. We don't know if anything else was taken.

But the reason he posted this video was because he is really, really hoping that some people might see something, recognize someone, and perhaps that will enable law enforcement to apprehend these intruders.

But I mean, just a terrifying situation. Fortunately, as we say, everyone is OK. And it is just the latest in a string of incidents like this targeting high profile athletes in America.

KEILAR: It's unbelievable. Very scary images there.

Don, thank you for that report.

[13:44:44]

A U.S. team is on its way to Myanmar to help respond to the devastating earthquake there days after help arrived from China. Well speak to a former USAID counselor about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The death toll in Myanmar and Bangkok is climbing as search- and-rescue teams are finding more bodies after last week's catastrophic 7.7 magnitude earthquake.

More than 2,700 people are confirmed dead. But that is a number that has been going up very quickly. And teams are still searching for survivors.

Officials say more than 400 people have been found alive in the hardest-hit city of Mandalay.

[13:50:01]

Then in Thailand, in Bangkok, scanners are helping search teams locate victims buried under the collapsed high rise that you have likely seen video of.

And while the U.S. has been slow to respond, international rescue teams like this disaster relief crew from India are already on site aiding the search. China, Russia and other countries have already stepped up humanitarian donations.

The State Department says a USAID team is heading to Myanmar, but local hospitals are overcrowded with injured quake victims. And the U.N. says the destruction and communication blackouts are impeding relief efforts on the ground.

Chris Milligan is a former USAID counselor. He was also the agency's top official in Myanmar under President Barack Obama. Chris, thank you so much for being with us.

And I just want to detail for our viewers some of what is getting there before the U.S. team. China says it was the first on the ground. They pledged almost $14 million in humanitarian assistance.

Russia quick to follow there. They had a team of specialists, dog teams, anesthesiologists, psychologists, according to the country's emergency ministry.

And the USAID -- USAID said a team was expected to arrive last night. We tried to confirm that, but we've not received a response from the State Department. And a source says they have not arrived.

What do you make of the situation?

CHRIS MILLIGAN, FORMER USAID COUNSELOR: The United States' premier development humanitarian assistance agency of USAID has been dismantled. Normally, at this point, we would have a large disaster assistance response team on the ground.

We would have deployed our teams, our search-and-rescue teams based in Los Angeles County and Fairfax County, and they would be pulling people from the rubble.

If these teams could be on the ground now, we would double the capacity of search-and-rescue and more lives would be saved. I understand that a team will be going, a team of three people.

Vietnam has 100 people on the ground. India has -- has four planes and four ships in motion. We have relief items in warehouses gathering dust. And search-and-rescue teams sitting idle in Los Angeles and Fairfax.

KEILAR: The other thing is -- and we had the Save the Children CEO on yesterday -- and I noticed groups like that, they don't criticize the administration, but it's so clear that they have been subject to a lot of challenges because of all the cuts to grant and aid money.

How is it affecting groups like that, that are so crucial to aid work?

MILLIGAN: That's an excellent question. First of all, they're crucial to aid work because what we can do with them, if we were still funding them, is pivot the programs on the ground that they're doing and pivot them towards Mandalay to provide immediate humanitarian response.

Sadly, the USAID financial system is still not fully functional, so these groups aren't being paid for the work they have done.

Instead of being pivoted and providing relief supplies to Mandalay, they have to let off staff because they can't afford to let off staff, or they're going deep into their own reserves to fund the programs they need to do to keep people alive.

KEILAR: And she did say they are spending from their reserve fund. That was kind of the tell as we spoke with her. What do you say to people who say, but I want the money to stay in

America? What do you say to them as they should be looking and seeing Russia and China are putting a lot of money there.

MILLIGAN: Two things. One, I understand that people say money should stay in America, and that's a fair issue. What USAID has done over decades is build the capacity of other countries to respond to their own disasters so the United States doesn't have to respond to every disaster.

The scale of this one overwhelmed the country of Myanmar. The world is responding, and the United States is sitting on the sideline. So this is the new normal.

This is the new normal when the United States is a weaker international partner, where others, like China, become the world's global leader. And this will be a great cost to us in the future.

KEILAR: And what about that funneling of money? I mean, there is -- not everything was canceled. There is supposed to be an ability to pay out some funds for things like this. Do you know how that's going?

MILLIGAN: It's not going well because it's confusing. For example, the contracts to keep this -- to pay for the search-and-rescue teams and their equipment are in place. The contract logistical contract to move them to Myanmar was severed.

So we have paid for search-and-rescue teams that can't actually be deployed to Myanmar.

KEILAR: Astounding.

Chris Milligan, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

MILLIGAN: Thank you.

KEILAR: And we are following breaking news now. These are some live images out of Boston. Police telling CNN at least two people are in critical condition, several others were injured after a box truck struck pedestrians.

Aerial footage showing that box truck -- you see it there -- it is on its side, on the sidewalk. We will continue to monitor this story.

[13:54:57]

Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:03]

KEILAR: Big on the buildup, but light on the details. President Trump is gearing up to unveil sweeping new tariffs, but some of his own advisers are still out of the loop.