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CNN International: Senate Expected To Move RFK Jr. Bid For U.S. Health Secretary Forward Today; Hegseth: Returning To Ukraine's Pre- 2014 Borders Is "Unrealistic"; Hegseth Rules Out NATO Membership For Ukraine. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired February 12, 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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ERICA HILL, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York.
Just ahead on CNN Newsroom, President Trump inching closer to finalizing his cabinet with the Senate set to hold votes this hour on Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. We're going to bring you the very latest from Washington. Plus, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth making his first appearance at NATO and ruling out membership for Ukraine in the alliance. We are live in Brussels. And President Trump doubling down on his controversial Gaza proposal to relocate Palestinians.
We begin this hour on Capitol Hill, where two of President Trump's most controversial cabinet picks are facing critical votes this hour. The Senate is expected, though, to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as the next Director of National Intelligence. She faced pretty intense pushback from both Democrats and Republicans during confirmation hearings, but it does appear her bid will ultimately make it past the finish line. Senators also likely to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination for Health Secretary, Health and Human Services. That sets the stage for a final vote later this week, his bid moving forward despite concerns over his long-time anti-vaccine rhetoric.
CNN Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joins us now with more. So, as I noted, we are now at the point, despite some of that initial pushback, where there is not much standing in the way here this morning.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. Certainly, Republicans have mostly all fallen in line with both of these nominations, starting with Tulsi Gabbard, despite what had been some serious concerns on both sides of the aisle, not only about her qualifications for this job as the nation's top intelligence official, but also some of the things that she had said in the past that essentially put her at odds with the national security positions of the U.S. government.
Her support, for instance, for Edward Snowden, the accused leaker of American intelligence information. She had also visited the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad at the point when he was trying to crush opposition to his dictatorship. She had also suggested that Russia's invasion of Ukraine was the fault of NATO. All of these positions put her very much at odds with sort of the national security consensus in the United States.
But, her supporters, her Republican supporters, particularly those closely aligned with President Trump, had sort of touted her positions on intelligence, saying that she was right to question some of these positions that the United States had taken over the last several decades, that she was right to try and rein in a workforce that has ballooned in size over the last several years, that she was correct to allow more channels of dissent within the intelligence community. And for these reasons, she does seem to be advancing to this final vote and is likely to be confirmed later today.
There had been two sort of key Republicans on the Intelligence Committee, which she had appeared before for her confirmation hearings. One was the Senator Susan Collins from Maine, the moderate Republican. She said that her questions had been answered, that any concerns that she had had going into this had essentially been allayed. Now, she is falling in line behind Gabbard, as she moves to this final vote.
But, of course, in a lot of ways, the confirmation for all of these nominees is really only the beginning. The hard part, of course, comes when they assume these roles, when they assume this position atop the 18 intelligence agencies that comprise the American intelligence community. Of course, this is a moment of deep instability around the world. Intelligence will play a critical part in trying to navigate some of these hotspots that the Trump administration has inherited. So, in a lot of ways, the hard work is now really just beginning.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. And when it comes to RFK, there has been much discussion, of course, about his anti-vaccine rhetoric, his consistent misinformation, which he was putting out about vaccines as well. But, that was not the only concern that a number of senators had. There were questions about whether he actually understood the workings of Health and Human Services. That too seems to have been, I guess, surmounted.
LIPTAK: Yeah, and it's a sprawling agency. 80,000 people work at the HHS, and it's responsible not only for things like vaccines, approving vaccines, making sure they're available to children around the country. It's also responsible, for instance, for Medicare and Medicaid, these agencies that help provide health insurance care to seniors and to low-income Americans.
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And during his hearings, he had actually confused those two programs, which I think caused a lot of alarm bells to ring on both sides of the aisle, questioning whether he actually had the experience and the know-how to run this agency. He had never run sort of a state health department or sort of even a large insurance company, which is where sometimes these secretaries have traditionally come from. But, what you've seen is Donald Trump sort of eroding any Republican
resistance that had one time existed for all of these nominees that had come to their confirmation hearings with a lot of baggage. Eventually, you see these Republicans falling in line. In this case, the key was the Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, who is himself a physician, who had been concerned about Kennedy's stance on vaccines, that he alleges that it could cause autism, which is a claim that has been debunked over and over again.
And it was interesting in those kind of final days, as the Committee was preparing to vote. Even Donald Trump tried to assert on his social media platforms that there could be a linkage between those two, really rebutting all available science to that end. But, at the end of the day, Cassidy says that he gained some assurances from Kennedy that he would be working well with him together over the Committee, that they would meet periodically, perhaps even monthly, and eventually he assented. And now it appears that Kennedy is on his way to confirmation as well.
HILL: Yeah. And important to note, there has been no connection between vaccines and autism, and that very controversial initial study, in fact, was pulled because it was found to be inaccurate.
We do want to listen in now, I believe Senator Chuck Schumer is speaking.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): You all know how bad she is. And so, I know that there are -- that people feel they want to please the President in his nomination. But, there are certain times you have to buck and stand up and say, no, this is just a very bad choice for America, and the nomination of Ms. Gabbard is simply one of those. I plead with my colleagues, I know it's the last minute, to think twice to vote no, as we all will vote, because this is such an awful nomination, who will endanger our national security and our intelligence operations throughout the country and the world. I yield the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The clerk will call the roll.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible)
HILL: So, we're waiting here for this vote to begin, the confirmation vote on Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. Some very strong words there from the Minority Leader, Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, saying to his Republican colleagues, you may want to please the President, but sometimes you have to stand up, saying he was pleading with his colleagues to think twice and vote no, as he said Democrats would be doing.
And saying, Kevin, this nominee will, in his words, endanger our national security, I would note the chances, though, of some of those Republicans perhaps joining Democrats, as you were just laying out, slim to none at this point.
LIPTAK: Yeah. And I think heading into this Trump presidency, as the President was naming all of -- some of these very controversial people to occupy very important roles in the government, there had been a belief, certainly among Democrats, but even among some Republicans, that not all of them would make it through, that eventually one of these nominees, whether it was Tulsi Gabbard, whether it was RFK Jr., whether it was --
HILL: Pete Hegseth. Yeah.
LIPTAK: -- Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, that eventually one of them would not make it. Now, that appears to be untrue, that Donald Trump, because of his sway with the Republican Party, because of his firm grip of lawmakers who are Republicans on Capitol Hill, every one of these nominees appears destined for confirmation. The one exception, I guess, was Matt Gaetz, who he initially said he would nominate to be the Attorney General. Eventually, that nomination fell apart, but that was before it even made -- it made it to the confirmation hearing stages.
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Now, I think it's clear that Republicans are witnessing the start of this Trump presidency, are watching how Donald Trump is executing and wielding his executive power, are noticing, particularly I was mentioning Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, who are up for re-election in the next couple of years and potentially facing primary challenges from the right, they don't necessarily view this as the moment to stand up against some of these nominees.
In their words, they think that their concerns have been allayed, particularly between these one-on-one meetings in which these nominees tried to express sort of a conciliatory view, said that they were ready to work with lawmakers once they were installed in their post, in the case of Tulsi Gabbard, to ensure that the security of the United States was protected, to ensure that intelligence remained a critical component of the U.S. national security spectrum.
But, I think it's clear that Donald Trump has now sort of eroded whatever resistance might have existed before then. Now, that's not to say, particularly when it comes to RFK, that there won't be some Republicans who vote against him. I think a lot of people are still looking to Mitch McConnell, who himself suffered from polio as a child and has been alarmed, to say the least, at some of these questions about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. So, we'll see how that goes when that vote proceeds later this week.
But, I think for Gabbard, it's the best example we have yet of someone who was so outside the mainstream Republican stance. Only a few years ago, in fact, she was a Democrat before she turned to the Republican Party. Now she is fully within the scope of this Donald Trump movement, and her nomination now appears destined for success. She will be installed atop the American intelligence community, to the concern of certainly plenty of intelligence officials who have seen her past statements, who have digested her views of the American intelligence apparatus, and are very eager and apprehensive about what that portends for the future.
HILL: And concerns among allies too, we should point out, who are worried about information and intelligence sharing with the U.S. moving forward based on her past statements and positions, Kevin.
LIPTAK: Yeah. And I think certainly for the America -- the United States's most stalwart intelligence partners, let's say the Five Eyes group of English-speaking nations who share the most sensitive intelligence with the goal of preventing terrorist attacks and that sort of thing, there are concerns about what this means for the sort of safety of that intelligence. Will the United States be a reliable protector of sources and methods of the actual intelligence itself? These nations now have to ascertain, through their own sort of intelligence chiefs, whether this is a partner that they'll be willing to work with going forward.
But, that's not to say that in the United States and within the Republican Party and within the Trump movement, that there isn't a belief that some of her views are valid. She did serve in the military for more than 20 years. She has an experience in the global war on terror that is unique. This is a new generation of national security officials in the United States, including Pete Hegseth, who experienced the global war on terror. The United States is positioning in the world in a way that's different from people who held these jobs previously.
And so, I think for her supporters and for Trump supporters, there is a hope that she will bring that perspective and a new perspective to this job that could eventually lead to some reforms that they say are necessary within that community.
HILL: Kevin Liptak, really appreciate the analysis and the insight. Thank you. We'll continue to monitor that vote, of course, and we'll bring you those results on the tail end of it. We'll continue to monitor that out of Washington, the RFK vote as well.
Meantime, we do want to get you over to Brussels. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying a short time ago that it would be unrealistic for Ukraine to join NATO, also saying that returning Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is also unrealistic. That, of course, before Russia invaded Crimea. Hegseth was speaking earlier today before the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels. He called on NATO allies to also increase their military spending and to support Kyiv in its now three-year war with Russia.
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PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: We want, like you, a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine, but we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine's pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops.
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HILL: CNN National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand joins us now from Brussels. So, that message, which was clearly a prepared statement, certainly in line with what we have heard from Donald Trump, with the position of the Trump administration. How is it being received, though, in Brussels today?
NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erica. I mean, this did not come as a huge surprise to NATO and European allies. They were bracing, really, for well over a year now, even before Donald Trump was elected, for the U.S. to take a step back from its leadership position in terms of supporting the Ukrainians with the bulk of the military aid that they have been receiving, and they started planning for this last summer by setting up their own mechanism within NATO to try to coordinate military aid to Ukraine. So, there were some contingency plans in place here.
But still, hearing Hegseth kind of lay all of this out so starkly and really doing a complete 180 from the policy of the previous administration when it came to Ukraine, in terms of telling the Europeans directly that this is really their problem now, that obviously came as kind of a surprise to folks here, just in terms of how it was laid out, and how it really seems as though Hegseth appears to try to be kind of washing the U.S.'s hands of the Ukraine conflict entirely. Now, he did say categorically that the U.S. would not ever be sending U.S. troops to Ukraine as part of any kind of peacekeeping mission there, and that any responsibility for the ultimate Ukrainian security, when it comes to post-conflict peacekeeping, would lie squarely with the Europeans.
But, here is a little bit more of what he told members of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group earlier today.
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HEGSETH: States faces consequential threats to our homeland. We must and we are focusing on security of our own borders. The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the resourcing trade-offs to ensure deterrence does not fail. Deterrence cannot fail for all of our sakes. As the United States prioritizes its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front.
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BERTRAND: So, essentially, he is saying, look, we have our own problems that we want to deal with in a more serious way, including issues at the southern border, of course, and he also said that deterring a war with China is also a main priority for the U.S. The problem, though, that former Biden administration officials have already started pointing out on X is that saying out loud that Ukraine is never going to be a member of NATO, that just emboldens Russian President Vladimir Putin even more, and kind of gives away what little leverage the West had left on this issue. Erica.
HILL: And it has certainly been something that Russia and Vladimir Putin specifically have wanted to be part of any negotiation. So, that's interesting in and of itself.
Natasha, really appreciate it. Thank you. Well, we are monitoring this Senate confirmation vote on Tulsi
Gabbard, which is now underway. Of course, she is nominated to be the Director of National Intelligence here in the United States. Let's listen in as those votes are cast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Kim, Mr. King, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Lee, Mr. Lujan, Ms. Lummis, Mr. Markey, Mr. Marshall, Mr. McConnell, Mr. McCormick, Mr. Merkley, Mrs. Moody, Mr. Moran.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jim, are you still going back and forth every day?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Moreno, Mr. Mullen, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Murphy. Mrs. Murray, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Padilla, Mr. Paul, Mr. Peters, Mr. Reed, Mr. Ricketts --
HILL: We'll continue to monitor that vote, obviously, as they make their way through the alphabet of the senators there in the chamber.
Admiral James Stavridis is a former Supreme Allied Commander at NATO, who also served as a Commander for the U.S. European Command. It's good to have you with us this hour. I do want to talk to you specifically about what we're hearing from Secretary Hegseth and his comments earlier today in Brussels. But, just real quickly, as we're watching this vote here, the fact that there was so much controversy, so much concern around the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard, who is now, frankly, moments away from likely being confirmed in this vote as the Director of National Intelligence, what is your take on what she will mean to U.S. security? We heard Senator Schumer say a short time ago that she would be endangering the country's national security as DNI.
ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS, FMR. SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER AT NATO: Erica, I think there are two big risks. One is her policy positions are largely out of step with the intelligence community. She has demonstrated in the past a certain level of sympathy for Vladimir Putin, an implacable flow of the United States, met with Bashar al-Assad, a brutal dictator who is now seeking refuge, by the way, in Moscow, under the protection of Vladimir Putin. So, she has got a basket of policy challenges that I think are going to be difficult, and particularly in the intelligence community, many of the people I know and work with are concerned about her support for Eric -- for Snowden, who is clearly a traitor to the United States,
I think the second basket of challenges for her are managerial experience. The U.S. intelligence community is a huge apparatus, well over a dozen separate big agencies. She is going to have to show a lot of managerial skill, and there is nothing in her background that suggests she has the experience to take that on.
HILL: How concerned are you about the impact of Tulsi Gabbard as DNI on these very important relationships that the U.S. has with its allies, specifically when it comes to intelligence sharing and also the message that it sends to adversaries?
STAVRIDIS: Yeah. That's kind of the third thing that is worth mentioning. She has not been assiduous in defending classified material. I think that she is now leading the entire intelligence community. So, if you're in Paris or London or Seoul or Tokyo, are you really comfortable sharing the most high-grade intelligence of your nation with the United States? That's a third and an additional open question she'll have to address, should he be confirmed.
HILL: Admiral, stay with me for just one moment. We're going to listen real quickly as they announce those these results.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Schmidt, Scott of South Carolina, Sheehy, Tillis, Tuberville, Mr. Hoven. Senators voting in the negative, also Brooks, Coons, Hassan, Heinrich, Kim, Klobuchar, Lujan, Murray, Peters, Schumer, Shaheen, Van Hollen, Wyden, Mr. McCormick, aye, Mr. Ricketts, aye, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, aye, Mrs. Fischer, aye, Mr. Schiff, no, Mr. Boozman, aye, Mr. Schatz, no, Mr. Marshall, aye, Mr. Gallego, no.
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HILL: My apologies. We thought we were a little bit closer to the tail end of that vote than we were.
I'd love to pick up on what we're seeing overseas today, if we could, sir. So, the comments that we heard from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talking about, very clearly ruling out NATO membership, saying this cannot be a part of any negotiated settlement when it comes to the war in Ukraine. This is exactly what Vladimir Putin wants. And it stood out to me today that Steve Witkoff, the President's Special Envoy to the Middle East, was on with my colleague John Berman a short time ago, talking about the release of Marc Fogel, and he was asked whether he spoke with Vladimir Putin. He said he didn't want to discuss that, basically wouldn't say either way.
The possibility that there is, in fact, a fair amount of conversation happening in this moment with Vladimir Putin, at the same time that we are seeing this push on Ukraine, what does that say to you?
STAVRIDIS: Tactically, it's good news that were at least at the beginning of some level of conversation. The name you did not mention, Erica, that's worth knowing, is retired Lieutenant General Keith Kellogg. He is the point person on this U.S.-Russia-Ukraine negotiation. He is doing a bit of shuttle diplomacy. I think the release of the hostage is an indication that Putin wants to talk. That's kind of the good news tactically.
What I worry about is what we just heard from the brand new Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who effectively staked out Vladimir Putin's negotiating position, which is to say, no NATO membership, a flat no, and I, Putin, get to hold on to all of the territories that I've conquered. In other words, the pre-war borders are, in Hegseth's words, unrealistic. I think that is an odd place to want to start a negotiation by ascribing to your opponent's position. Better would have been take a harder position. Let's have a negotiation and try and package all this in a way that gets to a better outcome for Ukraine.
HILL: Yeah. I mean, it certainly stands out. We will continue to watch all of it.
Admiral, I really appreciate you rolling with the live punches as they were out of D.C. earlier today. Thank you so much.
And we will continue, of course, to watch that. But, we're going to fit in a quick break here. We'll see you on the other side.
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HILL: Egypt and Qatar are reportedly intensifying efforts to rescue the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas amid concerns that it could collapse at any moment. A Hamas delegation arriving in Cairo today for new talks. It comes, of course, after Israel joined Donald Trump in warning Hamas must release hostages in Gaza by this Saturday or the ceasefire is off. Hamas had earlier announced it would delay the next hostage release, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the ceasefire.
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Mr. Netanyahu says he has ordered troops to gather inside and around Gaza, suggesting the war could resume soon.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (Interpreted): If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Meantime, President Trump not giving up on his proposal to, in his words, take over Gaza, even saying he would own Gaza, talking about evicting the Palestinians during his meeting yesterday with Jordan's King Abdullah.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There is nothing to buy. It's Gaza. It's a war-torn area. We're going to take it. We're going to hold it. We're going to cherish it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Mr. President, take it under what authority? It is sovereignty
TRUMP: Under the U.S. authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: King Abdullah, of course, did not -- if you were watching, you may notice he didn't overtly reject Mr. Trump's plan in front of the cameras, but in a post later on social media, he said there is a unified Arab position against displacing Palestinians from Gaza, and also intimated that he was perhaps more forceful in private. Our next guest says this Gaza takeover plan is unethical, immoral and
it's also illegal. Khaled Elgindy is a Visiting Scholar at Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, and also the author of "Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump". Khaled, it's nice to have you back this morning. So, Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, said a short time ago on CNN that Donald Trump is after, in his words, a more cogent pathway and stressed the need for a different approach that will work. Is there anything in this plan that you see as a different approach that will, in his words, work? We may have just lost Khaled. We're going to see if we can get him back.
While we do that, we'll take a quick break, work on the tech. Stay with us.
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HILL: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill in New York.
Let's take off on some of the international headlines we're following at this hour.
Kilauea volcano is erupting for the ninth time since just late December. You see the lava exploding here on to the Big Island of Hawaii. The USGS says this latest eruption began on Tuesday. Previous episodes have lasted anywhere from 14 hours to eight days.
A large-scale sting operation targeting the Sicilian Mafia, resulting in 130 arrests. Police say the suspects are charged with various crimes, among them, drug trafficking, attempted murder at extortion. According to investigators, encrypted mobile phones are also helping them to conduct business, including doing some business inside prisons with jail bosses.
The world's largest producer of EV batteries is seeking a blockbuster listing. China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. applying for that listing in Hong Kong in what could be one of the city's biggest stock offerings in years.
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It expects to raise at least $5 billion, according to Reuters. The company is expected to use some of that to expand its European footprint.
The AP says it is being punished by the White House for its decision to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. The news organization says one of its reporters was blocked from covering an Oval Office executive order signing on Tuesday because the AP style guide continues to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as just that, and not the Gulf of America, although it acknowledges President Trump's new preferred name for the body of water. Google has changed the name in its maps.
CNN's Hadas Gold is joining me now with more. I was reading this morning as well, though. One of the AP's photographers had actually made it in to that moment in the Oval Office, but the reporter was kept out. What more do we know about what happened leading up to that moment?
HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Erica. This administration, the Trump administration, has spent a lot of time talking about how they want to be advocates for free speech, remove censorship, remove government censorship, but it seems to be a case of free speech for me and not for thee, because they are blocking reporters when they are using terms or languages that they might not -- that they might disagree with. We're actually learning that two separate AP reporters were blocked from two different events yesterday at the White House. But, as you noted, conveniently, the AP photographers were allowed in, and the AP images, of course, are used by many hundreds of organizations worldwide who buy the rights to the AP photos as well as the AP text.
Now, according to the AP, this is what they were told by the White House yesterday, before that press conference in the Oval Office. They say that they were told that if they don't align their editorial standards with President Donald Trump's executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, that the AP would be barred from accessing the event in the Oval Office.
Now, as you noted, when President Trump made this executive order to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, the AP said that they would continue referring it to the Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging the new name, and now they said, because of hundreds of years of precedent, and the fact this body of water has international borders, and the rest of the international community is still referring to it as the Gulf of Mexico. And since AP is an international organization serving international media companies, that this is why they were going to continue using the Gulf of Mexico.
I will note that when President Trump changed the mountain in Denali in Alaska to Mount McKinley, AP said, great, we're changing our use of it to Mount McKinley, because this is fully within the United States of America. It's within President Trump's authority to change this.
Now, in reaction to the reporter being barred, this is what the executive editor of the AP said. They said, "It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish the AP for its independent journalism. Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP's speech, not only severely impedes the public's ask access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment." So, we have to wonder there, is there going to be any sort of legal action from the AP going forward? We also heard from the White House Correspondents' Association. They condemned this, calling it unacceptable.
Of course, this is part of a long line of moves we've seen from the Trump administration blocking reporters that they do not like. We've seen the Pentagon take away office space from news organizations. During the campaign, the Trump campaign blocked reporters from election night. And of course, remember, in the first Trump administration, CNN's own then-Chief White House Correspondent had their press pass revoked, later returned over critical coverage. So, this is just part of a long line of what the Trump administration does with reporters, with news organizations that they disagree with.
I asked the White House for a comment on this. They did not respond to my request for comment. But, we did hear from the White House Director of Communications, Stephen Cheung, who responded to an AP reporter posting about this on X. He responded with a gif of a tiny violin, and the comment, "poor thing". So, clearly they're taking it very seriously.
HILL: Yeah. They certainly are, as they seem to take many of these things.
Hadas, really appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, this just into CNN. The U.S. is planning to free an accused Russian money launderer in exchange for the release of an American teacher. Alexander Vinnik is accused of running a multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency exchange that did business with drug dealers and identity thieves. His release, of course, comes on the heels of American teacher Marc Fogel's return to the U.S. He arrived last night at the White House and was welcomed back by President Trump. In a moment for the cameras, the President also teased that somebody else would be released. Fogel had been detained in Russia for more than three years after being arrested with what his family said was medical marijuana. That happened at a Moscow Airport. The State Department had designated him as being wrongfully detained.
Here is more from President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did the U.S. give anything in return?
TRUMP: Not much. No. They were very nice. We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What were the terms of this deal, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Very fair, very, very fair, very reasonable, not like deals you've seen over the years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: So, we'll continue to monitor for more developments there.
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Meantime, the cost of goods for consumers is still a key issue, not just for those consumers, but for Wall Street, from the price of eggs to overall inflation. New numbers, January's Consumer Price Index tell quite a story.
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HILL: A quick look at the markets here in the U.S. right now. As you see the Dow, the NASDAQ and the S&P, all indices trending south at this point in the red. Of course, this in large part likely due to those inflation numbers as you see, hitting three percent for the first time since June. The CPI numbers for January just coming out a few hours ago here in the U.S., and they were disappointing. Inflation is accelerating, hitting that annual rate of three percent in January. The month itself saw prices rise 0.5 percent from December. That's actually the fastest pace since September of 2023. Economists had predicted annual inflation would stay at 2.9 percent.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now. So, as we break down these numbers, what else is in those details, Vanessa?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. And as you mentioned, that month-over-month number, inflation accelerating by 0.5 percent. If you look at that bar chart that you just had up, you can see the monthly number (TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY) depending on things like food and rent. Those prices seem to be going up. On a yearly basis, on an annual basis, as you mentioned, we are back in the three percent range. We worked so hard to get under three percent, closer to two percent to the Fed's target rate, but that number, year- over-year, we're at about three percent.
And the key indicators of where we've seen the most price increases are shelter, rent. That is what Americans spend most of their money on every single month. Shelter up 0.4 percent. Food, prices at the grocery store and prices at restaurants up 0.4 percent, and energy costs are up 1.1 percent, really led by home heating costs and a little bit of inflation and a little bit of a price increase in gas. But, this is really not the direction that Americans want to see inflation going. This is not where the Fed wants to see inflation going. And the Trump administration, who has promised to lower prices, as they're coming into office, they're seeing prices on the rise. Not a great picture for the month of January, Erica.
HILL: No. It's certainly not. We talk so much about the price of eggs. They continue to go up. The shelves continue to be somewhat barren in a lot of stores. I noticed at one of my local grocery stores, they actually took all the prices off of the egg shells, which is a little shady. When we look at what we're seeing in terms of changes, I know we have some of the numbers there. Walk us through, again, what's driving that search, and also these estimates of how long it can last. This is not a quick fix to turn it around.
YURKEVICH: Right. It's going to be a long time before we see prices come down.
[11:45:00]
Just looking at the month-over-month increase, 15.2 percent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics that puts out the CPI report, says that that is the fastest increase they have seen since June of 2015, and then year-over-year, eggs are up 53 percent. But, if you have been a shopper at the grocery store like yourself, Erica, you shouldn't be surprised by this, because egg prices have been very, very high because of shortages caused by the avian flu. The avian flu has killed millions of egg-laying birds, and that has put a strain on the egg supply system.
We just heard from Kevin Hassett just a few hours ago, of the Trump administration's Economic Council, who said that they have a plan in place for how to combat the avian flu. The Biden administration, they were not able to and really could not combat prices, and the Trump administration isn't going to be able to combat prices, but they can do something to look at the flu, which is the key driver of why these egg prices, Erica, have been so darn high.
HILL: Yeah, absolutely. Then the other issue, though, becomes all of the birds that had to be killed, right --
YURKEVICH: Yeah.
HILL: -- the chickens because of it. You got to wait for them to grow up a little bit.
Vanessa, appreciate it, as always.
YURKEVICH: Yep. Nine months, Erica, and nine months.
HILL: Yes. Just like it. Just like a baby. Thank you.
Inflation is among the topics that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is expected to address today in Washington when he is back on Capitol Hill. He is there testifying before the House Financial Services Committee. During testimony in the Senate yesterday, Powell said America's central bank is in no rush to slash interest rates again. The Chairman also faced questions about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, a feud between the billionaire tech rivals, meantime. So, we'll monitor those comments for you today.
Meantime, a feud between billionaire tech rivals, that's really starting to get personal. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman rejecting a $97 billion bid by Elon Musk and a group of investors to buy the company.
CNN's Brian Todd explains the motives at play here.
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ELON MUSK, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, X: Yes.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Elon Musk tries to build his empire to an even greater degree, he gets rebuffed by one of his biggest personal rivals.
SAM ALTMAN, CEO, OPENAI: It's like another one of his tactics to try to mess with us.
TODD (voice-over): Sam Altman, the 39-year-old CEO of OpenAI, has rejected an unsolicited offer from Musk to buy OpenAI for $97.4 billion. Altman says his company is not for sale, and told Bloomberg TV, he thinks he knows why Musk made that offer.
ALTMAN: I think he is probably just trying to slow us down. SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: I think what you're seeing here is
that Elon Musk, who has such tension with Sam Altman, could try to buy the company, to squash it or integrate it into his own company xAI.
TODD (voice-over): xAI is Musk's own artificial intelligence company, founded less than two years ago. It's seen as smaller, not as advanced as Altman's OpenAI, a leading company in the innovation and marketing of artificial intelligence that wowed the public with its sophisticated, groundbreaking tool, ChatGPT. Altman didn't just reject Musk's bid. He got harshly personal in describing the world's richest man.
ALTMAN: Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I feel for the guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You feel for him.
ALTMAN: I do, actually. I don't think he is like a happy person. I do feel for him.
TODD (voice-over): A far cry from a decade ago when Altman and Musk co-founded OpenAI as a charity.
ZOE SCHIFFER, AUTHOR, "EXTREMELY HARDCORE: INSIDE ELON MUSK'S TWITTER": Sam Altman has said that he really looked up to Elon Musk at the time.
FISCHER: When they launched OpenAI together, they were considered on top of Silicon Valley, and they were doing it as a whole.
TODD (voice-over): But, in 2018, Musk left OpenAI.
SCHIFFER: OpenAI's perspective is that Elon Musk wanted to take over OpenAI. He wanted to merge it with Tesla, in fact, and that when Sam Altman refused to do that, and in fact, took over the company himself, that's when their relationship really started to break down.
TODD (voice-over): Musk has since filed multiple lawsuits against OpenAI, accusing the company of betraying its nonprofit mission by looking to make a profit with its AI tools, an accusation Altman denies. Their feud spilled out in public again last month when President Trump hosted Altman and two other CEOs at the White House to launch a $500 billion AI infrastructure investment. Musk tried to undermine the announcement, posting, quote, "They don't actually have the money." Trump himself commented on Musk's disdain for Altman.
TRUMP: He hates one of the people in the deal.
FISCHER: Now, this relationship has soured so much to the fact that they're trading public barbs. It really speaks to how much the Trump relationship has really come between the two of them.
TODD (on camera): Sam Altman also said he is not concerned that Elon Musk has a new and powerful position in Donald Trump's White House, but he acknowledged he probably should be concerned about that. Spokespeople for Musk and for X did not respond to CNN's request for comment on Altman's latest remarks about Musk.
Brian Todd. CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HILL: There is a whole lot of focus on winter weather in the United States today, multiple systems moving across the country. Luckily for us, CNN Meteorologist Derek van Dam is tracking them all.
[11:50:00]
They're keeping you a little busy today, my friend.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. That's right, Erica. This is a very complex and dynamic storm system with snow to the north, and severe weather and a flood threat to the south. I'll break down all the details coming up after this short break.
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HILL: One winter storm in the week has now come and gone across the U.S., but we are not done. It is on to storm number two, which is about to hit the Midwest and the Northeast today. Parts of Virginia actually recorded over a foot of snow yesterday. Here are some students at Virginia Tech, really making the best of their snow day with a snowball fight on campus, as one does. It looks like the entire student body was there. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 170,000 customers are without power in the state. That is what you don't want on a snowy day.
CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joining us now from the Weather Center in Atlanta. So, storm number two. There is another one behind it. We've got flooding in California. It is a very busy moment right now.
DAM: Yeah. I'm glad to see those college students using that college tuition money wisely there. That's perfect. Look, it wasn't just Virginia that got slammed with the snow from storm number one. It was also the nation's capital. They're going to be clearing the streets for the next several hours, as we still have a few lingering snow and rain showers across the Mid-Atlantic, particularly across portions of Virginia and West Virginia.
But, the main storm system, the more immediate threat, is this storm, millions of Americans impacted by it, from Detroit to Chicago, further south and west, Kansas City, Des Moines, Iowa, for instance. The snow fall totals have been impressive, about 15 centimeters at Reagan National Airport in D.C, but over 35 centimeters for Iron Gate, Virginia. So, that's just one of the many locations that saw over a foot of snow. It's all being driven by a very active jet stream pattern. Remember, this is the upper level winds that drive storm systems across the country from the West Coast to the East Coast. And so, we went through number one yesterday. We are going through number two right now. Then the third one is entering the equation on the West Coast, as it speaks -- as we stand.
So, here is the current radar, and I'm going to focus in on what's happening near Chicago, also known as the Windy City, getting fairly wide out conditions with a heavy band of snow moving across the area, Interstate 80 looking dicey. Now, we do have an additional 15 centimeters of snow anticipated across the state of Michigan. As the storm evolves over the next 24 to 36 hours, it will bring more of a rain to rain snow mix across the areas that had icy and then snow fall yesterday from storm number one.
On the southern flank of the storm, a whole different weather parameter unfolding here. This is the chance of severe weather, which has been increased from the Storm Prediction Center. You see that shading of orange, that's a level three of five. That means a enhanced risk of severe storms that could lead to some of the most powerful tornados that we can experience across these areas. So, we're going to watch out for that very closely.
On top of this, we have a flash flood threat, with millions of Americans under flood watches, as it stands, several inches of rain falling from the sky, and then the third storm of the week enters across the West Coast today for the state of California, a feet across the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges in terms of snow, but the rainfall is the bigger concern, because remember the Los Angeles wildfires in January? Well, there is burn scars there. So, the ground is very vulnerable. So, heavy rainfall will lead to debris flows and mud slides going forward. Erica.
HILL: Yeah, it really is. Absolutely, Derek. Appreciate those updates. Thank you.
[11:55:00]
I also do want to get you all updated. We've been following, of course, throughout the hour this vote in the Senate for the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. She has now been confirmed by a vote of 52 to 48. This was largely along party lines, although Mitch McConnell breaking with Republicans and voting against her confirmation hearing.
It's important to note, there had been concerns raised by a number of senators, among them, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Todd Young. They all voted in favor of her nomination. Lisa Murkowski, as recently as Monday, saying that she still had concerns in terms of what some of those concerns were, why this was such a controversial nomination for this role. Specifically, it was not only her lack of support for Ukraine, but a lot of questions about her past support for Edward Snowden, and an initial questioning, the fact that she refused, in fact, many times, to talk about where she stood on that. There was a lot of behind closed doors discussions, which then senators said helped to change their minds.
But, this was, of course, one of the most controversial, but now Donald Trump's 14th nominee confirmed, 14th confirmed since Inauguration Day.
Stay tuned. The news continues right here on CNN after a quick break.
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