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CNN International: Israeli PM Netanyahu Meeting U.S. Lawmakers Today; WH Defends Gaza takeover Plan, Backs Off Some Elements; Source: At Least 40,000 Federal Workers Accept Offer To Leave. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 06, 2025 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.
And ahead on CNN Newsroom, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to make the rounds on Capitol Hill, and he appears to be on board with President Trump's shocking plans for the Middle East, including taking over the Gaza Strip. Plus, it is decision day for tens of thousands of U.S. government employees to take what some are calling a buyout or possibly lose their job altogether. We'll have the latest from Washington. And plane crash investigators are on Capitol Hill briefing lawmakers on what they know about last week's deadly midair collision.
But, we begin on Capitol Hill this morning with a very busy day for both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister is meeting with lawmakers, as they and the rest of the world absorb the shock of Mr. Trump's plan for the U.S. to take over Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu is meeting with Senate leaders this hour. Later, he will head to the House, where we are expecting to hear from him and Speaker Mike Johnson, who has called the Gaza plan a good development.
President Trump, meantime, walking back some of the details this morning, now saying that no U.S. soldiers will be needed to turn Gaza to what he calls the Riviera of the Middle East. He is still committed to the plan, he says, despite widespread international condemnation. Mr. Trump spoke at a National Prayer Breakfast this morning, sticking mainly to unifying themes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have to make religion a much more important factor now. We have to make it an important factor. And if we do that, it's going to be -- our job is just going to be much easier. It unifies people. It brings people together. Democrats are going to be able to have lunch again and dinner with Republicans. They have to get together. We really have to get together. We all know what's right and what's wrong, and there is going to be compromise on both sides, but we have to just do the right thing, and we have to get together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And the President's announcement about Gaza may have shocked the world, but apparently not Prime Minister Netanyahu. The White House says that he was aware of it before Mr. Trump spoke about it publicly. Now, Israel's defense minister is already ordering troops to prepare for what he calls the, quote, "voluntary departure of Palestinians from Gaza". Mr. Netanyahu is enthusiastically supporting the plan to send them to Egypt, Jordan or elsewhere. Listen to what he told Fox News.
(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)
SOLOMON: Mr. Trump posted this message on social media this morning, saying that Israel will turn over Gaza to the U.S. after the war. He says that two million Palestinians who live there will have already been resettled by that point. He did not say that it would be voluntary, and he did not say how they would be moved. And that's no small detail, as Palestinians insist that they will never leave their ancestral homeland. Many governments around the world are slamming the plan as unworkable, immoral and contrary to international law.
Let's now get more from CNN Washington Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty. Sunlen, great to have you. Talk to us about what more we know Netanyahu's message will be today.
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. His message, Rahel, is quite simply to try to, in essence, answer a lot of the questions swirling in the fallout from President Trump's assertion that he wants the U.S. to take over Gaza, in his words, as you set up so well. And so, he has been on Capitol Hill now kind of, in essence, making the rounds. He met in the last hour with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. And notable that after he met with Thune and some other bipartisan leaders on the Hill, Netanyahu was asked by reporters if U.S. troops would be needed to make Trump's plans for Gaza feasible, and he answered with a definitive no.
And that certainly is a question that many Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill have. What are the details of this plan coming from the White House? What actually will that mean? What will this actually look like? Will this involve spending on the U.S.'s part? Will this involve U.S. troops? So, that -- in that question, at least, Netanyahu said he believes at least that U.S. troops will not be needed.
But, there are certainly a lot of questions. Republicans met yesterday on the Hill with President Trump's top Middle East envoy, and in that closed-door meeting, according to lawmakers, there was certainly a lot of consternation, in their words, about what Trump said about if this was an actual fully baked plan, and wanting, for their part, on Congress' part, to know the details of something that they potentially would have to approve.
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So, again, as Netanyahu is on the Hill today and anticipates to meet with Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, a lot of questions for him, a lot of questions, also for the White House, about this going forward.
SOLOMON: Absolutely, not just sort of what it would look like, according to them, but the genesis of this idea, how long he has had it, who he has talked to about it.
Sunlen, we also know that President Trump is also set to meet with House Republicans today. What are you hearing about that?
SERFATY: Yeah. This is an interesting time, because it comes as Trump's party, the Republican Party, on Capitol Hill is fighting back and forth between Senate and House, a lot of intra-party fighting over how to enact President Trump's legislative agenda, whether they will do it in one large bill or break it apart and go in smaller pieces, a lot of back and forth, really highlighting that there are divisions within the Republican Party. Again, highlighting that Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has a very razor-thin majority that he has to keep in line.
Senate Republicans are pushing ahead. They're going to advance a budget resolution which has some of the big bucket things in the budget, like border security, national defense, energy production, but puns on tax overhaul. Now, House Republicans, they want to package that altogether. So, this puts a highlight, again, Rahel, on kind of the intra-party battles, as they're trying to enact President Trump's legislative priorities, and even though they have the House, the Senate and the White House, it underscores that this is not an easy thing, even though they're in control of all three of those houses.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Trump, for his part, has called for one big, beautiful bill. We'll see if ultimately Republicans can get it done.
Sunlen Serfaty, thank you.
Let's get more perspective now from Aaron David Miller. He is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He is also a former Middle East negotiator for the State Department. Aaron, always a pleasure to have you. Let me just start sort of top line here. We've heard from some, like Columnist for Foreign Policy magazine, Steven Cook, who have called this idea from Trump on Gaza, sheer lunacy, total lunacy. Others like House Speaker Matt Johnson say it's bold. It's decisive. How do you see it, Aaron?
AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER U.S. STATE DEPT. MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Well, thanks for having me, Rahel. Loyalty is the currency of the realm these days. So, I'm not surprised by Speaker Johnson's reaction. Look, I had 27 years of working for Republican -- in Republic and Democratic administrations, Jimmy Carter to Bush 43. This has got to be -- and we've had -- we've come up with some pretty strange ideas, I must say. This has got to be the wackiest and potentially most dangerous idea that I've encountered. And I think it's an unserious proposal without much thought given to implementation or the resonance, negative, that it's going to have, and has had just about everywhere, with the exception of Benjamin Netanyahu, who probably thinks it's a wacky idea as well, but his right-wing constituents love it.
So, I think the chances of this could be implemented, or slim to none. I think the most charitable interpretation is that he did this partly to help Netanyahu buck up his right-wing constituency and maybe move the Arabs to take the issue of Gaza more seriously, but it has fallen flat.
SOLOMON: Yeah. Speaking of Netanyahu and what he really thinks about this, obviously, no one can get inside of his brain, but The New York Times is reporting that the proposal was hastily written, in their words, and that even Netanyahu, despite what the White House is saying, even Netanyahu was surprised by at least the announcement of the idea and that he was only told minutes before they spoke at the podium.
Aaron, what seems more likely to you, and if that is true, that Netanyahu was caught off guard here by at least the announcement of it, what does that suggest to you about Trump's motivations here?
MILLER: Well, again, I think part of it is disruption. It's Panama. It's Greenland, or I think the Gaza proposal, frankly, is less -- he is less serious about the Gaza proposal than he is about those two things. Part of it is the mindset of an opportunistic real estate developer, including Steven Witkoff, who apparently had much influence on the President's thinking when he came back from Gaza.
And let's be clear, Gaza is destroyed, most of it. And if this commitment to Gaza was tethered to a rational, logical plan to try to create some measure of effective Palestinian governance, security, harnessing the international community and the Arab world and tethering it all to a broader pathway to deal with the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, this would be a welcome initiative, but it's not.
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And I think it's also potentially dangerous, Rahel, because it sends a very bad signal to every authoritarian, I'm thinking here, Vladimir Putin and President Xi of China, that, hey, you have territorial ambitions, just announce them publicly, and if you can your power, you can have it. And that's not a good look.
SOLOMON: Is it also dangerous, Aaron, in the sense that even the idea, that the floating of the idea, even if this is a negotiating tactic, perhaps allows those on the ground, maybe the far right, maybe those who have an interest, obviously, in Gaza, to start acting as if Trump is serious? Does it run that risk --
MILLER: Yes.
SOLOMON: -- as well as being dangerous?
MILLER: It's very insightful piece of analysis, and I think it's going to have that impact, not just on the Israeli right, but on Hamas, whose stock in Gaza has obviously been devastated by the destruction and death that their October 7 attack in Israel generated. Hamas is going to use this. It could even affect the pace and flow of the current Israeli-Hamas ceasefire and hostage negotiations, and that, I think, is the key issue here. We're talking about a fantasy tethered to a galaxy far, far away, when the subject of the discussion should be how to implement the actual negotiation that's underway, and if it were successful, it could offer a much better pathway forward than the unserious proposal from a very unserious President.
SOLOMON: Aaron, what about -- Trump supporters might look at this and say, this is exactly why he is an effective negotiator, because you just really don't know when he is serious and when he is not, which allows him to be perhaps more persuasive when he is trying to get the two sides to come to an agreement. Does that hold any weight here, in your opinion? I mean, does the threat of the U.S. becoming involved in Gaza, does that hold any weight in terms of getting the two sides to some sort of longer-lasting peace agreement?
MILLER: If this were part of a strategy, basically to motivate Netanyahu, key Arab states in the Gulf, and what passes for a Palestinian leadership, if it was tethered to an actual strategy, in other words, there would be something to negotiate. Yeah, the unpredictability factor could actually work in the administration's advantage, but because there is no strategy, because the prospects of implementing this -- I mean, think about how -- what are we talking about here?
The President used the figures, what, 1.7 million, 1.8 million Palestinians. That's roughly 500,000 or so short of what the actual population is. What does that mean, even on a temporary basis? What does it actually mean to try to move those parties? The Egyptians would close their borders, so would the Jordanians. Trump would have to deal with the Hamas factor. Look, the Israelis have been in Gaza, what, 15, 16 months, one of the most sophisticated intelligence-driven powerful militaries in the entire world, certainly the best in the region. And yet, after 15 months, they have been unable to eradicate and destroy Hamas as a political organization.
Could you imagine American forces, even though the President and White House seems to have walked that back, put in the middle of this sort of insurgency? It computes in the mind of an opportunistic real estate developer, who loves to shock. It does not compute, in my view, in the real world.
SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, beyond the very real human toll, as you speak about it, it just sort of makes you wonder about the political implications and how different this is than everything we heard from Trump on the campaign trail in terms of Americans going in and fighting foreign wars.
Aaron David Miller, always appreciate your insights and perspective. Thank you. MILLER: Thank you, Rahel.
SOLOMON: All right. And millions of U.S. government workers have to make a critical decision today that will impact their families, impact their futures. Do they take the Trump administration -- do they take that offer, what they're calling a buyout offer, or do they risk getting laid off? Plus, officials from both the NTSB and the FAA are set to meet and speak with lawmakers, as questions remain over last week's deadly D.C. midair collision. We'll go live to Capitol Hill next.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. President Trump, with plenty of help from Elon Musk, is taking a sledge hammer to the U.S. government, leaving hundreds of thousands of federal workers facing the very real and grim possibility of mass layoffs. So far, about 40,000 workers have taken what the administration calls deferred resignation, but that offer expires in the coming hours, and the White House wants to eliminate up to 200,000 positions. Multiple sources tell CNN that the CIA has sent the White House an unclassified email listing all new hires who have been with the agency for two years or less. Now, while it's set to include only first names and last initials, some warn that the move could potentially expose the officers' identities to hackers.
And Elon Musk is now taking a look at Medicare and Medicaid. His team has been given access to certain systems at the agencies which oversee healthcare coverage for more than 150 million Americans.
Let's get to CNN's Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak, who joins us now. Kevin, obviously a lot to discuss here. What's the latest?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and this federal buyout, I think, is the issue that is sort of looming over the White House and really Washington at large today, as the hours tick towards that 11:59 p.m. deadline for federal workers to either accept this offer or decide they're going to stay and sort of risk the potential that they could be just laid off after this offer expires.
As you mentioned, what we heard is that the White House and the Office of Personnel Management have already received about 40,000 people who have accepted this plan. Essentially, they are putting themselves on administrative leave. They would be paid through September and still receive their benefits, but that is well below what their target had been, about 100,000 workers, five percent to 10 percent of the federal workforce.
And one statistic that I think is pretty interesting, I was looking at it, every year, more than 100,000 federal workers retire. That is sort of a normal year in the federal workforce. It's an aging workforce, and you see people retiring at that level every year. So, they haven't even reached kind of the normal rate of retirement. So, they will still need plenty more people to take this offer if they are to meet that goal. And according to officials who are trying to organize it, they do think that they will have plenty of people coming through in the final hours to accept this.
But, I think that there is still a huge amount of uncertainty for these federal workers, who, at the end of the day, really only had a little more than a week to try and decide whether they would accept that this first so-called fork in the road email came to them last week, and throughout the course of the last several days, they've been receiving these updates from the OPM, trying to convince them to take this offer.
One of the fears, I think, that you hear from people who are inside the federal workforce is that by reducing it, even by a small amount, could drastically affect readiness in all sorts of areas of the federal government. And there is just one example that we heard from an official who used to work at the National Weather Service. His name is James Franklin, and he said, by the end of a hurricane season, it's very exhausting. There are storms that are more than 20 to 30 years ago, and any strain on the staff is going to have a negative impact on that product, and maybe the forecast itself. That is just one area of the federal government.
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And if you expand that to all of the different things that the government oversees, whether it's health, whether it's national security, you do hear these fears from former experts and analysts who wonder what the impact will be if the federal workforce is diminished in the way that President Trump and that Elon Musk are expecting it to be.
SOLOMON: It's a really interesting point, Kevin, that a lot of these workers take an oath, and so, as they're thinking about their offers, they're perhaps thinking about why they got into this industry, why they got into these careers, to begin with. But, I imagine there is also a lot of uncertainty, because there are still a lot of questions about whether this is even legal.
LIPTAK: Yeah.
SOLOMON: So, what happens next?
LIPTAK: Yeah, and the unions are actively telling their members inside the federal workforce not to take this offer because they aren't sure that it's legal. Congress has not actually passed or appropriated the funding to pay these severances. Donald Trump has not actually presented a budget, and Congress has not actually presented a budget for this money to actually go out the door. So, there are plenty of questions about whether or not these severances will actually be paid. You hear that throughout the workforce, and that's one of the reasons, I think, they have not necessarily reached their goals, is because people aren't convinced that they will be paid through September. And so, that's a big question that's hanging over this. I think a federal judge later today could potentially rule on some of the legalities of all of this. But, at the end of the day, whether or not everyone signs up for this
that they are hoping for or not, what officials are projecting is that there will still be layoffs to come. They call it reductions in force in the federal government, and I think it's pretty clear that Donald Trump and Elon Musk and all of his aides want to see the federal workforce reduced, whether it's by these buyouts or whether it's by these layoffs. It's almost certain to happen in the months to come.
SOLOMON: So, a lot to watch. Kevin Liptak, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.
And Mr. Trump's efforts to downsize the federal work forces, as Kevin was just discussing there, at breakneck speed have turned the lives of many people upside down for thousands of government employees, in fact.
CNN's Rene Marsh spoke to one of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I keep having to start over.
RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this was not supposed to be the thing that you needed to start over from.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt like going to the federal government was a way to find stability over the long-term because --
MARSH (voice-over): This woman who spoke with CNN on the condition that she remain anonymous was in one of the first groups targeted by an executive order, employees connected to DEI programs. A single parent with three kids, school loans, steep rent, and now facing unemployment.
MARSH (on camera): What is the general feeling across government amongst your fellow federal workers right now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grief. They're angry, many that are confused, but all kind of grieving in their own way. The work that many of us do directly impacts the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens, the people that we serve through these programs that are going to be in far dire straits than we are.
MARSH (voice-over): It's a story playing out across all agencies of the U.S. government, 2.4 million jobs, the country's largest employer, now in the Trump administration's crosshairs for a dramatic downsizing.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): They're shuttering agencies and sending employees home in order to create the illusion that they're saving money.
MARSH (voice-over): CNN has spoken to federal workers at multiple agencies, all who have been placed on administrative leave and are worried about being fired. But, even those whose jobs had nothing to do with DEI have been targeted, according to a union president, some because they had participated in diversity training under the first Trump administration. Others had volunteered to plan events like celebrating Black History Month.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a perfect storm. You are sidelining a lot of your federal workers, making them feel fearful, and it doesn't take long for these systems to kind of break down, and for the institutional knowledge that's lost to have like real world impacts.
MARSH (voice-over): At least 75 career employees at the Department of Education faced the same fate, also placed on indefinite leave, as the President crafts an executive order that will urge Congress to pass legislation that would shut down the agency. The Trump administration's plan to slash the federal government includes firing employees who have been on the job less than a year, offering buyouts and restructuring job titles, classifying employees as political appointments, making it easier to fire them.
REP. DON BEYER (D-VA): I would characterize it as chaos. In just department after department, people have no idea who their leader is, what their job is. Can they come to work tomorrow? It's really the worst thing I've seen in federal government in my life.
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MARSH (on camera): How does it feel to be targeted for the work that you're so passionate about? It's OK. You can take your time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It actually makes me proud of the people that I've worked with and the things that we've done.
MARSH (voice-over): Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
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SOLOMON: And the growing influence and access that Elon Musk now has within the U.S. government is the focus of an emergency legal hearing this hour. At issue here is Musk's involvement in the Office of Personnel Management. Trump administration attorneys are defending the use of a new email address to send messages to the federal workforce, which some government employees say violates privacy laws. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, every once mince words, says that what the Tesla billionaire has been doing inside the government is illegal and unconstitutional. He spoke with CNN about Musk's role in the Trump administration and what it means for average Americans.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): When you see, since Trump's inauguration, Elon Musk becoming $150 billion richer in two and a half weeks, $150 billion richer, you tell me whether or not we are living in an oligarchy, and I think the function of government under Trump, under Elon Musk, will not be to serve ordinary people, but to make the very richest people in this country even richer.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SOLOMON: Now, this morning, air crash investigators are on Capitol
Hill to brief lawmakers on the midair collision over D.C. that killed 67 people last week. They're working to figure out what led to the tragedy when an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane. Now, the NTSB says that different sources have given conflicting readings on the helicopter's altitude, but that it should get a clearer understanding of the Black Hawk's position once the wreckage is recovered from the Potomac River.
Let's bring in CNN's Gabe Cohen, who joins us now from our Washington D.C. Bureau. Gabe, good to have you. Talk to us about what you're expecting on Capitol Hill today. What are we expecting?
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, first, I want to talk a little bit about this investigation, because we know all of those pieces of wreckage from the American Airlines jet are currently being moved to a hangar where investigators are going to be laying them out for this closer examination. They're going to be looking for several details here. One of them is witness marks, those visible signs of damage that could explain how this crash unfolded, some of the angles that were involved. They're going to look at the general air worthiness of that aircraft, its maintenance, what condition it was in, as well as its collision avoidance system. And plus, they're going to look at data from the cockpit, because they want to better understand what those jet pilots were looking at, what they were experiencing just before the crash.
Now, as for the helicopter, it's going to be a significant day, because we've just learned that salvage crews are hoping to pull that Black Hawk out of the Potomac River later this afternoon. That is going to be key, Rahel, because those investigators, who have been going through the helicopter's black box, the flight data, the voice recorders that are on board, have said that they still need additional information that is inside the helicopter. They do not have access to it right now.
So, pulling it out is going to be a huge step toward answering some major questions. Why was the Black Hawk flying above its restricted altitude? Why did the pilots on that helicopter tell air traffic control that they could see the American Airlines flight but seem to take no evasive action? We don't have answers to that. Hopefully, though, investigators are getting a little bit closer to them.
Now, you ask about this busy day on Capitol Hill. We know that officials from the NTSB and FAA are expected to brief this bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate Commerce Committee, really any minute now, about everything that they have learned from the data from the wreckage, the black boxes that they have at this point gathered, plus the early analysis of the wreckage. It's a closed-door meeting. We don't know exactly what they are going to address.
But, we expect they're going to talk about some several major issues, Rahel, that we have been talking about for days now, for example, that helicopter route near DCA, does that need to be changed, given how congested that air space is? Also, what steps need to be taken to improve the FAA's air traffic control system and fill that shortage of controllers that we have been reporting about for years now?
Look, this comes as President Trump, just this morning, made comments, calling on lawmakers to come together and to pass a standalone bipartisan bill to improve air traffic control systems in this country. Rahel, the big question is, what exactly is that going to look like, especially as we are watching DOGE and Elon Musk take these steps to slash the federal budget, slash the federal work force, what now will it look like if they try to build something and spend billions of dollars, potentially to improve safety in the sky?
SOLOMON: Yeah. Essentially, can you walk and talk at the same time, or walk and chew gum at the same time?
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Really interesting.
Gabe Cohen, thank you for joining us.
All right. And still to come, we are tracking upcoming votes for two of President Trump's controversial nominees. Details ahead on both Kash Patel and Russell Vought's links to conspiracy theories. Plus, new details about the suspect in Sweden's worst ever mass shooting. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation straight ahead.
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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. And here are some of the international stories we're following for you today.
The United Nations says that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, after it was captured by rebels. This follows days of fighting with the Congolese army. The UN Mission in the country says that at least 2,000 bodies have been collected from the streets of Goma, and that they expect that number to rise. The armed militia, known as M-23, has waged a renewed campaign against the Congolese government since 2022.
Panama is denying an American claim that future U.S. government ships will not be charged a fee to use the Panama Canal. The U.S. State Department posted on social media Wednesday that that would amount to millions of dollars in savings. But, in a news conference today, the President of Panama called their statement a lie.
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JOSE RAUL MULINO, PANAMANIAN PRESIDENT (Interpreted): I'm very surprised by the statement from the State Department yesterday, because they are making an important and institutional statement from the entity that governs the foreign policy of the United States under the President of the United States based on a falsehood, and that is intolerable, simply and plainly intolerable. And today, Panama expresses, through you and to the world, my absolute rejection of continuing to explore the path of managing the bilateral relationship on the basis of lies and false words. (END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened to take control of the canal since taking office.
The Greek island of Santorini has been struck by another earthquake. This one is the strongest one so far, after days of constant tremors that started last week. The quake had a magnitude of 5.2 and rattled Santorini Wednesday evening. About 11,000 people have already evacuated the island, which is home to 20,000 permanent residents and attracts more than three million tourists a year.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in the Dominican Republic, the last stop of his five-country visit to Latin America. This hour, he is meeting with cabinet ministers before a working lunch with the President of the Dominican Republic. This follows a tense visit following the U.S. decision to freeze funding for the UN-backed mission in neighboring Haiti.
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There is also concern that the move could destabilize Haiti and significantly add to the number of Haitians fling into the Dominican Republic.
And there are new details about the suspected gunman in the deadly school shooting in Orebro, Sweden. Mourners have been gathering at candlelight vigils to honor victims of Tuesday's attack that left 10 people dead and six injured. Police say that the shooter likely killed himself. Sweden's national broadcaster and other media outlets have now identified him as a 35-year-old man. Neighbors describe him as a recluse. Authorities say that the attacker had a license for four guns and that three of them were found next to his body. Swedish authorities say that so far there is no evidence that the shooter had ideological motives for the attack.
And the vote on President Trump's pick for FBI director has now been delayed by a week. The Senate Judiciary Committee will not be voting on Kash Patel's nomination today. That announcement came from the top Democrat on the Committee, Dick Durbin. Last week, the Committee held what turned out to be a combative confirmation hearing when Patel tried to downplay his past promotion of right-wing conspiracy theories and his pledges to pursue retribution against Mr. Trump's opponents.
Senate Democrats, meantime, also grappling with another controversial Trump nominee, Russell Vought, who could soon lead the Office of Management and Budget. Overnight, Democrats protested his nomination by holding marathon floor speeches. Vought is one of the main architects of Project 2025, and is expected to be confirmed tonight. His new role would allow him to oversee the same federal agencies that he wants to eliminate.
My next guest is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Atlanta Journal- Constitution. Tia Mitchell joins us now Washington, D.C. Tia, great to have you. Considering that we've already seen some of Trump's more controversial nominations, Pete Hegseth, for example, for Defense Secretary get confirmed. RFK Jr., Gabbard, they've cleared some key Committee hurdles. Is there any expectation that Patel, who will admittedly now have to wait a week longer, but also Vought may not get confirmed at this point? What are you expecting?
TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Yeah. My expectation is not that they won't get confirmed, but what we are seeing is that Democrats are at least trying to pull out all the stops to delay the confirmations as much as they can, make as much noise as they can ahead of these confirmations. But, in my opinion, all of these Trump nominees are going to be confirmed if and when they make it to the floor for that vote.
SOLOMON: And so, what does that tell us? What does the confirmation process tell us now about the state of Republican descent at this point and what the next few years, at least until the midterms, who knows what the midterms will bring, but what that period could look like?
MITCHELL: Yeah. I mean, I think what we saw particularly with, again, RFK Jr.'s nomination, passing that key Committee hurdle, as you said, Pete Hegseth. There were some initial skeptics, but they were eventually won over. I think what we're seeing is Republicans in the Senate, but Republicans more broadly, are getting behind Trump and Trump's agenda, even -- and those who may be potential road blocks in the way of the Trump agenda are getting heavily lobbied to move out of the way, to quiet their dissent, to the point where public dissent from Republicans is virtually non-existent right now.
SOLOMON: Yeah. And just sort of walk me through that. I mean, some of the voices that you might have expected to be more critical have essentially been silenced. Is that because they're concerned about what the implications might be back home, in their home states, in their home districts? I mean, walk me through the decision-making there.
MITCHELL: Yeah. I think it's a combination. I think it's a combination of wanting to stay on Trump's good side. We know that when Trump is not happy with someone, he is vocal about it. He calls them out. He calls them names. I think they want to avoid that drama. I think some of them are concerned about their next election, and perhaps facing a primary opponent that's backed by Trump or many Trump loyalists like Elon Musk. I think some of them are also hearing from constituents, from ruby-red states or ruby-red districts, or just vocal Republican constituency who are saying, we support Trump. We expect you to support Trump too.
And I think there are also some Republicans, I think, are also making a calculus that, as of right now, they want to give Trump a long runway. If Trump says this is who we want, why not give him the benefit of the doubt and see how they do? I've said that -- I feel like even some of the skeptical Republicans, the ones who are more independent minded, basically told the nominees, convince me to support you. And they said those nominees did that and then got their support.
[11:40:00] SOLOMON: Yeah. But, Tia, what about the Democrats here? I mean, what is their plan? I mean, beyond the marathon of speeches to at least slow down the nominations, and with the pretty significant caveat that they don't have the numbers to actually block any of these nominations, but on Trump's larger agenda, what is their plan moving forward?
MITCHELL: Quite frankly, I think they're still developing a plan. I think Democrats are also trying to develop how to respond to so much coming from the Trump White House all at one time. They don't want to look scatter brain. But, there is -- the nominations are just one of so many things that Democrats find problematic. I will say that Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries put out a 10-point plan. Leader Schumer has said he supports that. I think there is a new DNC chair who is just a few days on the job. So, they're developing their approach to Trump 2.0. I think we're going to see it solidified in the coming weeks and months.
But, Democrats are trying to, again, figure out how to respond to the onslaught in a focused way, and that is still to be determined.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's interesting sort of the way POITICO put it this morning, is, normally, we think about the first 100 days, but a lot of people were caught off guard by the first 100 hours. It has certainly been a very busy week or so.
Tia Mitchell, great to have you. Thank you for joining us.
All right. And the first U.S. jobs report of the year comes out Friday. In just a moment, we will look ahead to tomorrow's numbers and what they could say and tell us about the U.S. economy. Plus, we'll take a look at global shipping giant's -- one global shipping giant's economic forecast for 2025. We'll hear from the CEO of Maersk, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The government's first monthly jobs report of 2025 comes out on Friday, but we've already got weekly jobless data that shed some light on the labor market in the U.S. The number of Americans signing up for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week. There were 219,000 new claims. Looking ahead to tomorrow's monthly numbers, economists are forecasting that 170,000 jobs were added in January, with the overall unemployment rate expected to hold at 4.1 percent. But, what do the January jobs numbers really mean for the future of the labor market?
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich breaks it down for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Rahel, we're expecting a return to pre-pandemic hiring. 170,000 jobs are expected to be added in January. That's a more sobering number than 256,000 jobs that were added in December, just blowing by expectations. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1 percent.
But, January is interesting and a little bit tricky, because companies usually go through seasonal layoffs after the holidays, and this January, you had two administrations in the White House. So, who will or will not take credit for this report, depending on what it looks like?
[11:45:00]
But, we do know that many of Trump's policies were forecasted in advance, issues around immigration and tariffs, which could change hiring levels.
But, overall, the jobs market is slowing. There are fewer available jobs, taking people even longer to find jobs, 10.4 weeks on average, compared to eight to nine weeks for much of 2022 and 2023, and there are more long-term unemployed. Those are people who have been out of work for more than six months. And the places we've seen hiring typically have been in sectors like healthcare and retail, not in white collar sectors like tech and professional business services. That is signaling, Rahel, a trickier jobs market for Americans looking for those particular jobs. Rahel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: All right. Vanessa, thank you.
And one global shipping giant is issuing a warning on trade. The Danish company Maersk, one of the biggest container shipping lines in the world, did beat earnings expectations, but it also said that it's expecting a softer 2025. Concerns with consumer sentiment and rerouting ships to avoid the Red Sea are among the issues that could impact future earnings.
Let's bring in now from London CNN's Anna Stewart, because Anna, you just spoke actually to the CEO of Maersk. What did he tell you?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Listen, there are so many huge geopolitical issues on the table for a shipping giant, one of the biggest shipping giants in the world, whether it is the beginnings of a trade war between U.S. and China, which is threatening to escalate far beyond to Mexico, Canada, maybe even Europe, the issue of the Red Sea, which they're still not sailing through due, of course, to the Middle East conflict. There is a ceasefire but they want to see something more permanent. And then, of course, the current kind of topic of the day, the tussle over the Panama Canal. All of these issues really weighing on this company. They're still seeing demand growth of four percent this year. It is less than last year, but it is still growth.
So, I asked the CEO, which of all these geopolitical issues are you most concerned about?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VINCENT CLERC, CEO, MAERSK: There is actually a big difference today between the different declarations and intentions that are being preferred, and actually what we're seeing on the ground. I talked about, whether we see de-globalization or we see a reduction of the share of China. None of that is happening despite the much you read about it. And for a lot of what is happening today, it's really about getting focused on what are the true signals that we need to act on to continue to support our customers through these difficult times and not get too distracted by the huge amount of noise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: A huge amount of noise, of course, so much of that noise coming from President Trump, particularly when it comes to trade. And I asked about the issue of the Panama Canal. There is a lot of confusion today about whether or not the U.S. has managed to do a deal with Panamanian authorities over that very important waterway, especially for the U.S. Ultimately, Mr. Clerc said everything he is hearing from the U.S. administration, everything he sees from Panama is that both sides want the waterway to run smoothly, to function fluidly, and as far as he is concerned, that is what he needs for him. The issue is more narcotics, security concerns. But, of course, there is just so much to consider when you're looking at trade in 2025.
SOLOMON: Especially when you consider, and certainly correct me if I'm wrong, 90 percent of trade goes on these major ships. What did he say, Anna, your conversation with him about the rerouting of the Red Sea? Talk to us more about that.
STEWART: So, Maersk, like many shipping giants, is still rerouting. So, not going through the Red Sea due to good security concerns. They are having to reroute all the way around the Cape of Good Hope. That is hugely costly, particularly for the customers. It takes about two weeks more of inventory to stay on the water for that route. It costs more fuel. It obviously requires more staffing, and it's pushed up the cost of freight rates, which in some ways is actually really good for a company like Maersk, less good for the customers, but it has meant that they've had to lease big container ships, and those lease deals, which are very expensive, given the demand for containers and ships, those go on for years.
So, this issue will be sticky for a company like Maersk for some time, asking when they think they might be able to sail through the Red Sea? Probably they're looking at the latter half of this year. But, for Maersk, it's really two issues. It's the security concerns, and particularly for their staff on board these ships, but also it's the fact that they don't want to do it too soon, and then have to reverse that decision, because the disruption, particularly for the customers of sort of switching on and off the route of the Red Sea, is just too huge to manage.
SOLOMON: Yeah. It's such an interesting point, Anna. You have to wonder if living through COVID sort of helps them now prepare for this new world. Obviously, COVID was a huge issue for the shipping companies and the supply chains. Great interview, great insight.
Anna Stewart, thank you. All right. Coming up, millions of people around the world are
electrified for Super Bowl XXXIV this Sunday. That's when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Philadelphia Eagles. Go birds.
[11:50:00]
And it's not football that they are waiting for, but the halftime show with Kendrick Lamar. We'll get into it after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: And the Super Bowl is now just three days away. The big game takes place in the big, easy New Orleans, and the game pins the Kansas City Chiefs against the Philadelphia Eagles. Go birds. Not that we're choosing around here, but even if you don't like football, you might still tune in to see the halftime show. That's where Grammy award- winning hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar is expected to headline the half time show. Now, Lamar does often collaborate with other artists. And the big question that we still don't have the answer to is, will Taylor Swift, who will, of course, be there cheering on her man, will she pop up on the Super Bowl half time show? They do have a remix together. So, anything is possible. Watch that space.
Also, another question, can Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs pull off a Super Bowl three-peat? Or will the Philadelphia Eagles recreate their championship glory of 2018?
CNN's Coy Wire spoke with Super Bowl XXXIV champion Marshall Faulk. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: You played in this big game. You know all about the pressures that come --
MARSHALL FAULK, SUPER BOWL XXXIV CHAMPION, & 2000 NFL MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: Yeah.
WIRE: -- from all these superstars, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, all of them. They're human.
FAULK: Yep.
WIRE: What are the distractions, the added pressures that come with this big stage?
FAULK: First of all, when you get here and you then fire yourself out of your element, which is, you're staying in a hotel full week, and then you got to play a game. What I like is that the teams who travel, and we know that the Eagles went to Brazil, so they have some experience on what this is.
WIRE: Right.
FAULK: But, the Chiefs, they'd been here a bunch of times. So, I think both teams can handle that. But then it's taking care of your family, making sure that everybody is settled, making sure all of that stuff is taken care of, and then getting back into your routine, let's say Thursday. You understand? There is a road trip, but then Thursday you start doing -- you're trying to create some normalcy, and then making sure that this game, and everybody wants to say it, oh, play it like it's a regular game. No, no, you don't. You play it like it's your last game, and that is the most important game, and you go out there and hope that you can perform and rise to the occasion.
WIRE: Yeah, because this might be the last time any of these guys make it back to this stage.
FAULK: You never know.
WIRE: How about your thoughts for the big game, the outcome?
FAULK: Looking forward to it, man.
WIRE: Yeah.
FAULK: Like, obviously, the spirit (ph) is one and a half. I think by Saturday or Friday, it would to be down to one. This game is so close.
WIRE: It is.
FAULK: It is so close. When you think about what a Jalen Carter could do, what a Chris Jones could do, these quarterbacks, and what they mean to the running and the passing game. And Mahomes, it's -- I call it the Mahomes magic. Like, the dude has something, man.
WIRE: That elusive --
FAULK: It's -- he has something, and I'm just excited to see the game. And I'm like, I can't -- like, I want to see a team win three in a row, but then I want to see Saquon like, just have one of those epic games like he has been having in the playoffs. But, I don't know if I could have both.
WIRE: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: You definitely can't have both, but here is room for Saquon Barkley and the Eagles.
[11:55:00]
Now, before we go, one more thing. There is also one more group in Pennsylvania that's hoping for a little divine intervention this Sunday. Inside the Our Lady of Angels Convent, the Sisters of St. Francis are praying for an Eagles victory. They've adorned the statue of St. Francis with an Eagles hat and a scarf, and they've even updated the prayer that brought the team a championship in 2018.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SISTER DEBBIE KRIST, OUR LADY OF ANGELS CONVENT: It is in rallying behind Jalen Hurts that we overcome Patrick Mahomes. Where there are Chiefs passes, bless us with swift and brilliant interceptions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Now, the nuns hope to follow their Super Bowl watch party on Sunday with the parade down Philadelphia's famous Broad Street. Now, listen, Broad Street, after the Eagles win the Super Bowl, coming from a Philadelphia native, is not somewhere I would like to be, but those are some tough ladies, if that's where they want to be.
Thank you for being here and spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next. I'll see you tomorrow.
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