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Philadelphia Eagles Beats the Kansas City Chiefs to Win Super Bowl LIX; Trump to Announce Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum; Trump Committed on Owning Gaza; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau HQ Closed for the Week, DOGE Gains Access to DHS; Trump Spoke With Putin to End War Fast, Zelenskyy Open to Negotiate; China Ratchets Up Trade War with the U.S.; Trump Declares Feb. 9 First-Ever "Gulf Of America Day"; Sanctuary City Advocates Push Back Against New York Memo; Young Engineers Working For DOGE Spark Controversy, Concern; Parts Of U.S. Expected To Get More Snow; Former Scammer Uses Skill To Find Culprit Of Costly Hoaxes. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired February 10, 2025 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world and streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead --
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Philadelphia partying into the night after the Eagles' dominant performance in New Orleans, taking down the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Eagles' second Super Bowl.
Trump vows new tariffs, announcing plans to unveil new levies on all steel and aluminum imports.
And Elon Musk's DOGE team gains more access to federal data including information on Americans who have received disaster relief from the government.
Good to have you with us. Well, the Philadelphia Eagles have denied the Kansas City Chiefs a three-peat. They won Super Bowl 59 in dominating fashion in New Orleans, coming away with a 40-22 victory. Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was named the game's MVP after throwing two touchdown passes and running for another while rushing for 72 yards, a Super Bowl record for a quarterback.
Well, Philly fans celebrated the convincing win sweet revenge for the Eagles who lost to the Chiefs on a late field goal in Super Bowl 57 two years ago. And World Sports Andy Scholes joins us again now from the Superdome in New Orleans. Great to see you again, Andy. So the Eagles won in commanding fashion. Take us through all of those highlights.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, you know, Rosemary, we came here to New Orleans for Super Bowl 59 thinking we might see some history and the Chiefs be the first team ever to win back to back to back Super Bowls. But instead, we got a completely different kind of a historic performance from the Eagles defense. They were just dominant in this game as a performance for the ages. We'll show you how it all went down.
The stars were certainly out here in New Orleans for this one. President Trump on hand. He's the first sitting president ever to attend a Super Bowl. And Taylor Swift, she was also here at the Superdome supporting her boyfriend, Travis Kelsey. And Eagles fans actually booed her rather loudly at one point during this game, which was one of the funny moments from the night.
But the story of this game, again, was the Eagles relentless defense. They sacked Mahomes six times in this game. They had him under pressure all night long. The big moment in the first half was rookie Cooper DeJean picking off Mahomes, taking it back 38 yards for the touchdown. So this was Cooper's 22nd birthday today. What a present for him. That made it 17 to nothing.
Mahomes then threw another interception before halftime. It was the first time in Mahomes' career he threw two picks and was sacked three times in the first half. Certainly bad timing for that to happen. Jalen Hurts even found A.J. Brown before halftime to make it 24 to nothing. Hurts was just amazing in the game. Only five incompletions.
He threw two touchdowns, ran for another. Seventy-two rushing yards in this one for Hurts, which was a record for a quarterback in the Super Bowl. Eagles just went in dominant fashion, 40 to 22. And Hurts was your Super Bowl MVP.
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JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES QUARTERBACK: It's been a journey of ups and downs and highs and lows. And I've always stayed true to it in the end. And having this vision of just being the best that I can be and that evolving over time into this desire and this flame inside to win.
COOPER DEJEAN, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES CORNERBACK: It's crazy. We're world champs. Best birthday ever. Best birthday ever. I think everybody in my family would agree too. I'm just happy they're going to be able to be a part of it.
HURTS: Defense played their (BLEEP) off. They played how they played all year, you know, and I truly believe offense wins game, but defense wins championships.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yeah, so the Eagles still celebrate. The party goes on at their hotel and in the streets of Philadelphia. But the Chiefs, meanwhile, this is just a devastating loss. Patrick Mahomes just did not have it in this game. The Chiefs, 23 yards of offense in the first half. That was the lowest offensive output for a team in the Super Bowl since 1990. The Chiefs did not get past the 50 yard line until two minutes to go in the third quarter. Obviously, Mahomes was not happy with his performance or the team's. Here's what he had to say afterwards.
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PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: Credit to the Eagles, man. They play better than us from start to finish. We didn't start how we wanted to.
[02:05:01]
Obviously, the turnovers hurt. And I mean, I just kind of -- I take all the blame for that. I mean, just those early turnovers swing the momentum of the game and then they capitalized on them and they scored -- I mean, they scored on the one and then they got a touchdown immediately after. So that's 14 points that I kind of gave them and it's hard to come back from that in a Super Bowl. And so, just didn't play to my standard and I have to be better next time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Yeah, so Mahomes now drops a 3-2 in his five Super Bowls. Final score, Rosemary, was 40-22, but it really wasn't even that close. If you were here or you were watching, you knew when it was 24- 0 at halftime that this game was over. The Eagles offensively, defensively played nearly a flawless game. This was a complete beat down. Unfortunately, if you wanted to see an exciting game, unless you are an Eagles fan, and I was sitting around a lot of those Eagles fans, Rosemary, they were ecstatic, almost in disbelief of what they were watching as they won the second Super Bowl in the team's history.
CHURCH: Amazing. Big parties ahead. Andy Scholes, go and enjoy yourself in New Orleans there. Appreciate it, great reporting.
Well, ahead of Sunday's big game, U.S. President Donald Trump laid out several new policy plans. He says he'll announce new tariffs this week starting on Monday, including a 25 percent duty on all imported steel and aluminum. And he plans to announce massive new reciprocal tariffs. CNN's Betsy Klein is following the latest developments.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: President Donald Trump continuing to flood the zone with content, speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One for about 30 minutes as he made his way to New Orleans to attend the Super Bowl on Sunday. President Trump announced that he would be unveiling reciprocal tariffs on countries that tariff the U.S. on Tuesday or Wednesday at a press conference.
He also unveiled plans on Monday to announce steel and aluminum tariffs at a rate of 25 percent. That is 25 percent on all steel and aluminum imports coming into the U.S. Both of these moves taken together mark Trump making good on a key campaign promise of his 2024 campaign. President Trump also doubled down on his plans to redevelop Gaza, telling reporters aboard Air Force One to quote, "think of it as a big real estate site." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think that it's a big mistake to allow people, the Palestinians or the people living in Gaza, to go back yet another time. And we don't want Hamas going back. And think of it as a big real estate site. And the United States is going to own it and will slowly, very slowly, we're in no rush, develop it. We're going to bring stability to the Middle East too.
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KLEIN: Trump again suggested that other Middle Eastern countries would house displaced Palestinians in what he described as quote, "beautiful sites." But we should note that most regional leaders, with the exception of Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have rejected these plans. We should also note that 90 percent of Gaza residents have been displaced and many have been forced to move repeatedly according to the United Nations.
So all of this will be a major topic for discussion later this week when President Trump hosts the King of Jordan at the White House in Washington. Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the President in West Palm Beach, Florida.
CHURCH: President Trump is also ramping up his aggressive overhaul of the federal government. Employees at America's top financial watchdog were told not to come into the office this week. The headquarters for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C. will be temporarily closed, according to an e-mail obtained by CNN. It comes after the newly installed acting director, Russell Vought, ordered employees to stop virtually all of their work on Saturday night.
As Elon Musk's DOGE team tries to slash federal spending, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is confirming that they have access to her agency's data. That includes personal data from Americans who have received disaster relief funds.
In a Super Bowl interview with Fox News, President Trump defended Elon Musk's work remaking the federal government. Mr. Trump contends he has a mandate from the American people to eliminate wasteful spending and offered praise for the billionaire.
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TRUMP: But I ran on this and the people want me to find it. And I've had a great help with Elon Musk who's been terrific.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: Bottomline, you say you trust him?
TRUMP: Trust Elon? Oh, he's not gaining anything. In fact, I wonder how he can devote the time to it. He's so into it. But I told him to do that. Then I'm going to tell him very soon, like maybe in 24 hours, to go check the Department of Education. He's going to find the same thing.
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Then I'm going to go to the military. Let's check the military. We're going to find billions, hundreds of billions of dollars.
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CHURCH: Joining us now is CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein. He's in Los Angeles. Appreciate you being with us.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So the Trump administration appears to be testing the limits of presidential power with these big cuts to the federal government. Now the courts are blocking some of the unprecedented access to government that billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE team are getting, while Vice President J.D. Vance says judges are not allowed to control the president's power like this. So where do you see all of this going?
BROWNSTEIN: All of it is hanging directly toward the U.S. Supreme Court, you know, over a period of months and maybe even years. And ultimately, I think the key arbiters on what America's constitutional democracy looks like at the end of this Trump term are going to be those six Republican-appointed justices on the Supreme Court. You know, J.D. Vance's comments today were -- you know there are two ways to interpret that.
I mean the relatively more benign interpretation only relatively is that he was sending a clear signal to those Republican appointed justices of how the administration hopes for them to rule with an expansive vision of presidential power that would allow Trump to make substantial alterations in the operations of the executive branch without changing the underlying statutes which obviously be a change American history.
The even more ominous implication of what Vance was saying is that he was repeating something he has argued before, which is that the president should simply ignore court decisions that he disagrees with and that would set us on a course for a constitutional crisis of the like that we really haven't seen in this country since the Civil War.
CHURCH: And Ron, meantime, Donald Trump says he will announce reciprocal tariffs Tuesday or Wednesday and 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum in the hours ahead, saying he plans to smack tariffs on any steel coming into the U.S. What is the likely impact of all of this?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, the steel and aluminum tariffs he did in his first term and the economy absorbed them. The reciprocal tariffs that he's talking about are much broader. You know, almost all of the U.S. top trading partners I believe have higher tariffs overall on our goods than we have on there.
So the clear implication of what Trump is talking about is to raise tariffs on goods coming into America from a wide array of countries. And of course, he has talked today -- he has said today that Mexico and Canada are not making sufficient progress on the issues that he's concerned about and the tariffs -- the 25 percent tariffs that he threatened and then withdrew on them could be coming at the end of this month.
Donald Trump believes in tariffs. He believes that tariffs both will strengthen our domestic manufacturing capacity and he also wants to shift the funding from the federal government away from income taxes toward tariffs which is another way of shifting the burden from the wealthy toward the middle class. So, he keeps going up to the brink and backing off but at some point, he is going to go over the brink.
I mean, he does believe in tariffs and I think it is only a matter of time till we are looking at higher tariffs, which is going to put obviously enormous strain on his core -- the core reason he got elected, which was that Americans thought he would make their cost of living more affordable than they felt it was under Joe Biden.
CHURCH: And President Trump also repeated his goal to own and develop Gaza. He said it would be a big mistake to let Palestinians return to the enclave, insisting again that regional nations should take in Gaza's Palestinians, despite those countries already rejecting his proposal. So why is Trump still pushing this, given the global outrage when he first mentioned it?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, I mean, I think as we talked about right at the outset in January, almost all the constraints on Trump that limited him in his first term are gone. You know, in his first term, he had to appoint a number of officials particularly in the national security area. You not really part of his MAGA movement or loyal to him. There were concessions to other power centers in the Republican Party. All of that is gone. He does not really have anybody in the administration who is likely to say no to him.
The Republicans in Congress, last time he had Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan as the leader in the Senate and the House, who were dubious of him in the least. This time, you know, not so much. And so, you know, what you get -- what you're getting is Trump more unfiltered. And there are obvious advantages to him in that, you know, he can pursue his agenda with fewer -- with less pushback. But it also means that, you know, his tendency to go to extremes, there's not somebody in the room to say sir, do you really want to do this or is this a place where we need to be.
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So, you know, there's a tendency when Trump say something truly outlandish like the U.S. should own Gaza and redevelop it as some sort of Mediterranean riviera to say that, you know, it's just Trump spouting off. I think in the second term you're going to see him consistently push these ideas more than most people assume when they first hear them.
CHURCH: Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure to get your analysis on all things political. Thank you so much.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Still to come, President Donald Trump says he has spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and he's hoping the war in Ukraine ends fast. We will have the latest details on that conflict just ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. As Russia's war in Ukraine approaches its third anniversary, U.S. President Donald Trump says he has spoken to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and he hopes the war ends, quote, "fast."
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UNKNOWN: I know you don't want to tell us about your conversation with President Putin, but can you clarify whether you had that singe you've been in office? Or whether it happened before you became president?
[02:20:02]
TRUMP: I've had it. Let's just say I've had it. And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended. It's going to end. We have to get it ended. And we have to get it ended soon. It should have never happened, would have never happened if I was president.
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CHURCH: Meantime, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is saying that he's ready to negotiate with Putin if certain conditions are met.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDNT OF UKRAINE (through translation): If I had an understanding that America and Europe would not abandon us and that they would support us and provide security guarantees, I would be ready for any format of negotiations.
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CHURCH: Earlier I spoke with CNN contributor Jill Dougherty. She's also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and former CNN Moscow bureau chief. I asked her about Russia's response to President Trump's comments on speaking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Take a listen.
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JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I would think that the Kremlin doesn't want to, let's say, jump in with both feet and commit to something and say, yes, this happened, if President Trump is going to change it, or maybe it wasn't exactly as they said. So at this point, you know, they're generally saying, we're interested in talking, the Americans have to make the first step, and it has to be on a mutual, respected basis, et cetera. But they're not being as specific, certainly, in terms of, yes, we talked as Trump is saying.
CHURCH: And President Trump says he is likely to meet with Ukraine's president this week. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he is willing to negotiate with Putin as long as the U.S. and Europe supply security guarantees. What is all this signal to you?
DOUGHERTY: You know, I think what Zelenskyy is talking about, and it's probably the most serious of all, is that let's take the situation if there is a ceasefire eventually and things calm down, what about the future? You know, what -- will this be an enduring ceasefire? Or could it be, you know, could it kind of stop and then flare up again and then there are more problems in Europe as a whole?
So I think what he's saying is, yes, we're prepared but we really do need some type of guarantee of our security. Now, he knows that with the United States and Germany and others, some others, saying no NATO at this point, then he has to figure out how do you get some type of security. And it looks as if these bilateral agreements, a series of bilateral agreements with various countries might be the type of deal that he could go for.
But that's what he's worried about, you know, something that goes into the future and that really protects Ukraine from another attack by Russia.
CHURCH: And President Trump reiterated Sunday that the war in Ukraine needs to end. But how do you think he plans to do that?
DOUGHERTY: Well, that's a million-dollar question. It's very complicated. And I don't think that President Trump has a plan that, you know, he has worked out on paper. He has other people to do that. He has General Kellogg who will be -- who is the representative who will be discussing it with both sides. But, you know, when you look at this, Rosemary, it really is very, very complex because you had just one thing.
Let's say there's a ceasefire. You have an enormous border around Ukraine, going up on the east and then over on the north, up by Belarus, to protect that. How do you protect the existing line of -- that lines that exist right now? How do you protect that? Then, what do you do with sanctions? Do you lease, get rid of sanctions? If so, how quickly?
And then we have this issue, which might be the best positive thing of all with these rare earth elements that could be a deal and could be very attractive to the United States, obviously, and perhaps to Ukraine. So that would be one positive. But I'd have to say the real questions, the more negative side of this, the difficult side, is really tough.
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CHURCH: Many thanks to Jill Dougherty there for her analysis on the conflict in Ukraine. And still to come, China hits back with new retaliatory action against Donald Trump's tariffs, raising concerns of an all-out trade war. Back with that and more in just a moment.
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[02:25:00] CHURCH: In the coming hours, President Donald Trump is expected to announce a new 25 percent tariff on all steel and aluminum coming into the United States. It's not yet clear if these levies will be on top of the tariffs already in place on exports from places like China, which has announced its own retaliatory tariffs on some U.S. products starting Monday.
They include a 15 percent levy on U.S. coal and natural gas and 10 percent for crude oil, farm equipment and some trucks and sedans shipped to China from the U.S. Beijing's move comes in response to President Trump imposing 10 percent tariffs on all Chinese products last week and CNN's Kristie Lee Stout joins us now from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. So, what impact will China's tariffs have on the U.S., do you think?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, trade tension is escalating here. China's response to Trump's tariffs, it could be the beginning of a new tit-for-tat trade war and they go into effect today. Here is the breakdown. They include a 15 percent tax on certain U.S. coal and liquefied natural gas as well as a 10 percent tax on crude oil, on farm equipment, trucks and big engine cars shipped to China from the United States.
[02:29:57]
And these tariffs take effect again today and they join other countermeasures that China is using to fight back including controls on metal exports, as well as an anti-monopoly investigation to the U.S. tech giant, Google.
Now China is making this move after what U.S. President Donald Trump did last week.
He imposed 10 percent tariffs on Chinese goods, all in a bid to hold China accountable for the fentanyl trade, according to the U.S. The U.S. says that China is a source for precursor chemicals for fentanyl. China has called fentanyl America's problem and has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization.
Now, the big question is this, what is the bottom line? What will be the material impact from these new retaliatory tariffs? Now, analysts have said that these tariffs from China are modest. They're more measured, especially compared to what the U.S. has used. And they're designed mainly to be symbolic to send a message.
But new analysis just out from the Brookings Institution says that these Chinese tariffs will hurt American voters who voted for Donald Trump, according to the report. I want you to take a look at this portion here. The authors of the study said this similar to the 2018 tariffs, the industrial heartland is again bearing a disproportionate impact from Chinese retaliation. Some of the most intensely affected counties are energy and manufacturing communities in North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Alabama and West Virginia, unquote.
Now, the study adds that between 400,000 to 700,000 American jobs could be affected as a result of this. Back to you, Rosemary.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong -- many thanks for that live report.
And we'll be right back.
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ANNOUNCER: Air Force One is currently in international waters, the first time in history flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America. Please enjoy the flight.
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CHURCH: On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a proclamation declaring February 9th as the inaugural Gulf of America Day.
[02:35:06]
That announcement came as he flew on Air Force One to New Orleans for the Super Bowl. It follows his executive order on inauguration day, when he pledged to officially rename the Gulf of Mexico in the United States. The U.S. Coast Guard began using the new name, immediately, marking its first official use by the U.S. government.
Well, president Trump has also ordered the U.S. Treasury to stop producing pennies. He posted on social media that the U.S. is minting the coin at a cost of more than $0.02, which is, of course, double its worth.
This is not a new initiative. The penny has been under scrutiny for years. Its purchasing power has all but disappeared. In 2023, the U.S. Mint reported that the cost to produce the coin that year alone rose 20 percent, and last year, "The New York Times" magazine published a piece advocating for the penny to be abolished, saying that billions of them have gone missing or are simply sitting unused in people's homes.
Local authorities across the U.S. are pushing back against the Trump administration's mass deportation agenda. They're accusing ICE, the federal agency spearheading the effort, of targeting sanctuary cities.
But in New York, a memo from city hall is sparking confusion around the migrant crackdown.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. There's been a lot of controversy and criticism over the last several days here in New York City after Mayor Eric Adams sent a memo to city workers reminding them of the protocol and what they should do, should they encounter law enforcement officers on their property, say, a school or a hospital or any other city agency where officials might try to enter?
Now, the reason the memo has caused so much concern among some of the city's Democrats, as well as migrant advocates, is because they say that it creates too much of a gray area for how employees should respond. The memo outlines some of the basic things that we have heard in recent weeks that an officer should be asked for their ID, that a person should request to see a judicial warrant, that the city's lawyer should be contacted.
But it also goes on to say that if the person feels like they safety is in danger, and if they feel threatened by the presence of law enforcement officers to essentially step aside and let them in.
Now, advocates and other Democrats here in the city says that that essentially goes against the city's sanctuary city protections and that it gives essentially law enforcement officers encouragement to come into the city and act in a way that might be seen as aggressive or threatening.
Take a listen.
ANA MARIA ARCHILA, NY WORKING FAMILIES PARTY, CO-DIRECTOR: New York City is a proud sanctuary city.
CROWD: Yes!
ARCHILA: We made it so. Eric Adams sent a guidance to city workers, encouraging them to give away the power that the law has granted them. He has told city workers that if they feel intimidated by an ICE officer. They should open the doors of our schools, of our hospitals --
(BOOS)
ARCHILA: -- of our city agencies.
PAZMINO: Now, City Hall tells me that the memo was simply an attempt to remind employees of the protocol, as well as making sure that their safety is always the top priority. They say that that is ultimately the city's responsibility to make sure that its employees are safe at all times.
Now, this is all happening in the background as we are continuing to see Trump's administration crack down on immigration enforcement. One source familiar with the planning tells us that they are expecting to see significant enforcement in the Los Angeles area this month, similar to what we have seen in New York City, as well as Chicago.
Now, in terms of sanctuary cities, which Los Angeles is one, there are several cities that have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, alleging that they are being targeted precisely because they are sanctuary cities. You might remember that one of the executive orders that Trump signed when he took office requires the federal government to withhold funding to jurisdictions that are not assisting with the enforcement of their immigration agenda.
[02:40:01]
They say that this is an illegal targeting that's based on their sanctuary status. So it looks like that will play out in court while we continue to monitor this immigration enforcement in Los Angeles and this debate here in New York City about how our agencies should respond and whether or not the mayor here, Eric Adams, is seen as doing enough to defend New Yorkers.
Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Protests have broken out in the Spanish capital of Madrid, with thousands demanding their right to dignified housing and an end to rising home prices. They want the government to address the city's high rental rates and lack of affordable housing. The average home prices in Spain reached an all time high late last year.
I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers, WORLD SPORT is coming up next.
And for those of you here in the United States and in Canada, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break.
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[02:45:13]
CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
As the Trump administration's attempt to remake the federal government meets resistance from federal judges, Vice President J.D. Vance is pushing back on social media.
Vance says the courts can't control the executive branch's, quote, legitimate power. He didn't refer to a specific court order, but judges have dealt numerous setbacks to president Trumps agenda recently.
In one of the latest moves, a federal judge temporarily barred Elon Musk's government efficiency team from accessing a Treasury Department payment system. Musk called the judge corrupt.
Well, many of the people working at DOGE are young and brilliant college graduates, but some are raising concerns over the group's lack of government experience and their seemingly unfettered access to sensitive personal information.
CNN's Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So here we have Luke Farritor, who is winning the first letter's prize on behalf of the Vesuvius Challenge.
LUKE FARRITOR, VESUVIUS CHALLENGE, GRAND PRIZE WINNER: Thank you. KYUNG LAH, SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Luke Farritor, was the first person to decipher a word from an ancient scroll that had been buried in volcanic mud for centuries.
FARRITOR: But for the kind of the first part of the challenge, through July, I was interning at SpaceX and just kind of doing this in the evenings and weekends.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the word for us.
LAH: He went on to win the grand prize in a global competition. A 22- year-old undergrad at the time.
FARRITOR: My friends were there. I was cheering, jumping up and down, you know, screaming, crying, all the stuff. I run most of the things from my laptop. It's just a normal Macbook, don't worry. But then I've just got like five surplus computers in here. This is what I do most of my work, from.
LAH: What he does now is work for DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, headed up by Elon Musk, who's brought in a group of gifted young engineers, some in their early 20's with no prior government experience. Their current job assignments unclear. But it is clear they're part of the Trump administration's plan to slash government agencies.
Democratic senators sent a letter to the White House describing how DOGE staff has seemingly unfettered access to classified materials and American's personal information. In federal court, government lawyers said Marko Elez had "read only access" to a highly sensitive payment system at the Treasury Department.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ignition, lift off.
LAH: Elez, who previously worked at SpaceX, has been the center of attention. His DOGE position was terminated after "The Wall Street Journal" uncovered racist and eugenic posts on an account linked to him. But then Elon Musk, the vice president, and Trump himself weighed in.
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The vice president says, bring him back. What do you say?
TRUMP: Well, I don't know about that particular thing, but if the vice president said that, did you say that? I'm with the vice president.
LAH: The injection of unconventional outsiders is alarming some federal employees.
This man who spoke at a Virginia Congressman's town hall this week, didn't identify himself out of fear of retaliation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had Elon Musk in our building and after he visited the building called for a 50 percent cut of the entire agency.
My colleagues are getting 15 minute one-on-one check-ins with 19, 20 and 21-year-old college graduates asking to justify their existence.
LAH: Most of the hires are connected to Elon Musk's companies, like Ethan Shaotran.
ETHAN SHAOTRAN, AI DEVELOPER AND FOUNDER OF ENERGIZE AI: This is a really exciting time for young folks, for old folks, for everyone.
LAH: He was a runner up in a hackathon contest put on by xAI, an artificial intelligence company Musk founded.
Shaotran spoke in 2023 about how AI will change the future.
SHAOTRAN: Really, for the first time in modern history, it's not the physical laborers, the farmers, the factory workers who are being displaced, but it's the white collar workers, the knowledge workers, the engineers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and for a lot of the folks in this room, that's really scary. That's really concerning.
LAH: Now, Shaotran is a special government employee, a source tells CNN.
Gavin Kliger on LinkedIn lists his job as special advisor to the US Office of Personnel Management. A 2020 Berkeley graduate, Kliger worked in Silicon Valley for Twitter and then for a data intelligence company. He spoke about that work at a conference in 2023.
GAVIN KLIGER, DIRECTOR, TITLE MARKETING: Additionally, any system with a human in the loop is not going to scale well.
LAH: In a blog post last year, Kliger wrote about two of Donald Trump's then nominees and showed himself as fiercely loyal to the now president.
[02:50:04]
Kliger recently removed a Substack post where he charged $1,000 to subscribe and read "Why DOGE" "Why I gave up a seven figure salary to save America."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (on camera): We didn't pay, and we did try to reach all of the hires we were able to identify. In addition to reaching out to their family, their friends and classmates. We didn't hear back from anyone.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.
CHURCH: New details are emerging about the investigation into the collision of an American airlines plane and a Black Hawk helicopter last month that killed 67 people. Crews have been able to recover all major pieces of the aircraft from the Potomac River, and teams are examining the wreckage for additional signs of what may have gone wrong.
Meanwhile, one crash victim, flight attendant Danasia Elder, was remembered Saturday as her remains were flown back to her home town. Her fellow flight attendants lined up with flowers to pay their respects.
Well, more winter storms are expected to hit parts of the U.S. this week. The new weather systems are threatening to bring additional snow and frigid temperatures to already impacted areas.
CNN's Allison Chinchar has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Over the weekend, we had that system that slid across portions of the Midwest and the Northeast, dumping a significant amount of snow, a lot of areas, picking up at least a half a foot. Now comes a little bit of a break before the next round of systems begins to spread. In late Monday, we start to see the next system develop over the central U.S. and then by Tuesday, it begins to spread across the Tennessee, Ohio Valley and eventually into the mid-Atlantic. Then, right on the heels of that system, we have our next one Wednesday, taking shape across the Midwest that slides over the Great Lakes and spreads that snow right back into the northeast.
Then as we get closer into the upcoming weekend, you've got another system that develops late Friday across the central U.S. before spreading all of that snow and ice across portions of the mid-Atlantic as well as the Northeast.
But the southern tier is also going to get in on the action. It's just going to be warmer. So you're just going to see a lot of rain in those areas, but a lot of it. Take a look at this. A huge swath from Louisiana all the way up through the Carolinas, at least 3 to 5 inches.
But it's not out of the question. Some of these spots could pick up maybe six or even seven inches of rain when it's all said and done by the end of the week. The northern tier, you're looking at widespread of about an additional 4 to 6 inches of snow.
Keep in mind, this is on top of what these areas already got this past weekend. And because the temperatures are below average, all of that snow is not going to go anywhere. It's going to stick around and just start to accumulate as all the additional snow comes in the southern tier, because those temperatures are going to be on the warm side. That's why these areas are just simply going to get rain.
But a lot of it, you have a slight risk for excessive rainfall, not only Tuesday but also Wednesday across portions of the southeast. This includes cities like Atlanta, Birmingham, even stretching back into Shreveport, Louisiana. You look at a forecast, say, for Atlanta, the temperatures are relatively mild, either at or pretty close to the average high, with the exception of Tuesday. But look, several days of rain for at least the next week.
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CHURCH: Experts say people worldwide lost more than $1 trillion to scammers last year, among them a French woman who fell prey to a Brad Pitt deepfake scam, which ultimately cost her $850,000. The man who helped track down the culprits behind that scheme used to be a scammer himself, but now uses his skills to help catch those who carry out these costly hoaxes.
Our Saskya Vandoorne talked to him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
A.I.-GENERATED FAKE BRAD PITT: I shared everything with you.
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This A.I. generated fake Brad Pitt swindled a 53-year old French woman named Anne out of $850,000 in a scam that would become a viral sensation.
Meet the man who says he found the scammers behind the elaborate hoax.
MARWAN OUARAB, FOUNDER, FINDMYSCAMMER: I learned all my skills in the dark side.
VANDOORNE: Marwan Ouarab is a now reformed scammer who not only helps victims get their money back, but helps track down the bad guys.
To catch our scammers, he emailed them a booby trapped link.
OUARAB: By clicking on it, he revealed to us his exact GPS coordinates.
VANDOORNE: Marwan says it was not one but three people behind the fake account.
OUARAB: This is the house.
VANDOORNE: Prosecutors have since opened an investigation and are using the information Marwan collected to bring an scammers to justice. But tracking down online criminals comes at a cost.
Have you ever received threats?
OUARAB: Yes, we've already received threats. I've already moved house, so it's part of daily life.
[02:55:01]
VANDOORNE: Marwan started his company Find My Scammer, four years after he was convicted of fraud and handed a suspended prison sentence. Since then, he says he has been inundated with cries for help. On a normal day, he receives up to 150 requests.
According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, over $1 trillion was lost to scams globally in 2024. And yet, 70 percent of victims didn't report the crime.
OUARAB: It's the girl who was in contact with me, the so-called Zara.
VANDOORNE: Zara is a fake persona who stole both Luca's heart and $70,000. He's another scam victim who has been helped by Marwan and wishes to remain anonymous. "LUCA", SCAM VICTIM: I don't want to do an interview with the face
uncovered because I saw what Anne went through in the case of the fake Brad Pitt, the cyber bullying she suffered, and I don't want to go through that too.
VANDOORNE: Scammers rely on this shame, so victims don't come forward.
Anne tried to take her own life after being ridiculed online.
"LUCA": The whole world makes you feel like you are stupid. I don't want that. Marwan conducted his investigation so we were able to find out that this girl, in the end, she was not in London as she said she was. She was in Dubai, and after that, he was able to get in touch with the authorities in Dubai.
VANDOORNE: He says she was then arrested.
After Marwan helps track down his clients' scammers, he also helps them go over their banks obligations to reclaim their stolen funds.
"LUCA": I was able to recover some money.
VANDOORNE: Marwan says if someone you haven't met in real life asks you for money, even if you've been talking to them for months or years, then that's a big red flag.
OUARAB: I've been a crook myself before. I very much regret it. I think that this is also the path of redemption that I have chosen.
VANDOORNE: Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: A cautionary tale there.
And thank you so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN NEWSROOM will continue with Max Foster in London after a short break.
