Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Trump Wants to Eliminate Department of Education; Mayor Adams Addresses Dropped Corruption Case; Prosecutors Resign Over Order to Adams' Case; NBA All-Star Weekend Tips Off Today. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired February 14, 2025 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA), ENERGY AND COMMERCE COMMITTEE: And two, to make clear to the American people that he has no plan to lower their cost of living, their insurance bills, their housing bills, and we do.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman Jake Auchincloss, thank you so much for coming on the show.
AUCHINCLOSS: Good morning.
BROWN: Well, coming up with the future of the Department of Education up in the air, what does this mean for student loans? A lot of people are having questions about that, and we're going to be answering your questions about it all, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROWN: As the Trump administration continues purging thousands of jobs from the federal government, the president is again taking aim at the Department of Education and has pledged to eliminate it entirely.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How soon do you want the Department of Education to be closed?
[10:35:00]
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Oh, I'd like it to be closed immediately. Look, the Department of Education is a big con job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: So, what could a post-Department of Education America look like? And what about your student loans or grants? Joining us now for more CNN's Rene Marsh and Adam Minsky, he's an attorney specializing in student loans.
First, Rene, I want to go to you. Where do things stand right now with the department's fate? RENE MARSH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, you know, we have talked about the layoffs and we know that there have been several career employees at the Department of Education who have been fired under this probationary firing. But aside from that, you heard the president, he's been saying that he wants to get rid of this department.
We do have reporting that he has this executive order, which would essentially direct the secretary of education to come up with a plan for how they could diminish this agency by executive order. And then the second half of that executive order would be to urge Congress to dismantle the Department of Education.
It remains unclear if Republican members in Congress truly have the appetite to do such a thing. In the past, they have not. But that's where things stand there. And of course, the Trump's pick for Department of Education secretary was on Capitol Hill this week for her Senate confirmation hearing, Linda McMahon. And she was actually asked about this by Democratic lawmakers, one even saying this feels like a very elegant gaslighting that we are talking to you about running an agency that this administration wants to get rid of.
So, lots of questions about the programs that operate out of the Department of Education. Of course, we know that they are in charge of dispersing federal funds to school districts as well as funding for students looking to go to college. So, of course, lots of people wondering what will that mean?
BROWN: So, Adam, to bring you in because a lot of our viewers are wondering about this, they sent in some of their questions on social media about the impact. I want to read some of them and have you weigh in. First one says, I need to start repayments and just consolidated. Do I even start payments?
ADAM MINSKY, ATTORNEY SPECIALIZING IN STUDENT LOANS: Yes. I mean, one of the myths that's circulating around social media right now is that if the Trump administration does away with the Department of Education, student loans or student loan programs just cease to exist, and that's not correct.
What would happen as a practical matter is the Office of Federal Student Aid, which administers the federal student loan system, would simply likely be moved to a different department. The likeliest candidate would be the U.S. Department of Treasury. But borrowers' obligations on their student loans don't change and access to existing programs shouldn't change. There might be disruptions, but borrowers still have to pay their student loans regardless of what happens to the Department of Education.
BROWN: This might be a little redundant then, this question, but I'll ask you anyway. What more do we know about, you know, the structure of the loans and how they will change and who will be in charge of it? I think there's been a lot -- I've seen, Rene, on social media people say, no, we can file suit because this is impacting us. They're seeing our data. And so, does this make it moot? There's all kinds of questions about that. MARSH: Yes, there are. And Adam said it correctly. I mean, these critical functions of Department of Education, there is no indication right now that they would go away and somehow, all of a sudden, you wouldn't have access to your loans or even like Pell grants. I know that Linda McMahon was asked about that.
The other important message that I think for students who are watching this and are very confused by it, and rightfully so, is that if you are in the position right now to fill out the FAFSA application, regardless of the uncertainties, you should still be filling this out because, as Adam said, I mean, those sort of loan programs, there's no sense that they're (INAUDIBLE) away, most likely they would just be moving to another agency.
I think that's the takeaway. If you're listening, you should continue to fill out the forms as necessary if this is you and if you're headed to college.
BROWN: So, another person asks, Adam, the Biden-Harris administration waived my student loans in 2023. Will this hold in the Trump administration?
MINSKY: That's a great question. It's a question that I often get. You know, obviously, you know, no one knows what the Trump administration is going to try to do. However, there's general agreement, I think, among most legal experts that clawing back loan forgiveness that has already been granted would be problematic for a host of reasons.
We even saw in a current legal challenge involving the Biden administration save plan that the court declined to claw back loan forgiveness that had already been granted under that plan, even while they blocked it for borrowers going forward, because there would be a host of legal and policy complications if they were to, you know, bring back someone's balance after it had been forgiven.
[10:40:00]
BROWN: And what do you say to those who wonder, well, can I bring suit against this administration because my, you know, data could have been accessed and therefore, it could put my loan -- I don't have to pay my loans?
MINSKY: Yes. I mean, so that's another myth that's circulating online. There is a law called FERPA, which is a federal law that protects data from being exposed if it has sensitive personal identified information like Social Security numbers, dates of birth, which the Department of Education does house in its database, you know, for anyone who completes a FAFSA form or is a student loan borrower.
That being said, FERPA has no private right of action. What that means is it doesn't confer on individuals the ability to file a lawsuit for a violation. Your only recourse is to file a complaint with the Department of Education to conduct an investigation. But they're the ones that allowed access to this data in the first place. Now, there is a separate lawsuit that has been brought by, I believe, a California Student Association in federal court under other statutes for the possible exposure of that data. And that lawsuit is ongoing, but there has been a freeze, at least for a few days and allowing DOGE to access that data.
BROWN: Adam Minsky, Rene Marsh, thanks for enlightening us about all of this going on and all these questions -- answering these questions. Thanks so much.
And coming up, stunning resignations all tied to the now drop. Corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. What he's saying about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:00]
BROWN: They are not having it. Several top Department of Justice officials have now quit their jobs after refusing to follow orders to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Fingers are also now being pointed at President Trump for playing a role in getting the case dismissed though he has denied such accusations. CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now in New York.
Kara, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and five other senior prosecutors in D.C. have all resigned because of this. What has the response been like to this wave of resignations really shaking up DOJ?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think the question, Pam, is are people going to the resignations over or will there be more to come? Because the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, resigned after she said she couldn't follow through with the directive set by the acting deputy attorney general who ordered her to dismiss the corruption case against Adams, not based on the merits of the case, but because they said it related to the politicization of the prosecution. And also, they said it was distracting Adams from carrying out President Donald Trump's agenda in New York on immigration enforcement.
So, Sassoon resigned. And in a very pointed eight-page letter, she said it amounted to a quid pro quo. Now, both the Justice Department and Adams' team have denied that there is a quid pro quo, but that caused her to resign. She also informed the Attorney General's office that the line prosecutors who are working on the case in New York would not sign this motion to dismiss. They were put on administrative leave. Then the case was transferred to Washington, D.C. And there, they were also met with a wall of resistance. That's when those five career prosecutors in the Department of Justice refused to sign this motion to dismiss. They all resigned from their positions. Here's Eric Adams reaction after all this took place yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NY): They articulated exactly weaponization. When you looked at leg room turning into bribery, because I asked for a governmental entity to do a building inspection. We need to be clear on the root of all of this. And the --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of the Turkish embassy?
ADAMS: Exactly. The, you know, main justice -- I learned so much through this whole process, they review cases to determine moving forward or not, as my attorney articulated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCANNELL: So, Pam, now the question is, will Emil Bove sign this motion to dismiss and submit it with the court or does another prosecutor do that? And then, ultimately, what will the judge do? Will the judge sign off on this? Will he bring everyone into court for a hearing to really dig into some of these issues and raise questions about the reasons and the rationale for wanting to dismiss these charges, all of that remains to be -- get played out, Pam.
BROWN: All right. Kara Scannell, thank you so much. And just had the NBA's biggest stars are getting ready to show off their skills in San Francisco this weekend. CNN's Coy Wire is here. The action tips off today, Coy.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: What's up, Pamela? We've got the celebrity all-star game, the three-point contest, the dunk contest, but they're already having fun, including all seven-foot-one of Shaquille O'Neal in a dance off with a firefighter. That and more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:00]
BROWN: Both NBA stars and celebrities are in San Francisco to show off their skills on the hardwood as All-Star Weekend tips off. CNN's Coy Wire joins us now. So, All-Star Weekend is really a chance for players to have some midseason fun, right, Coy?
WIRE: Yes. Yes, absolutely fun. And I'm just thinking we should have a CNN anchor All-Star Weekend. You, Wolf, Sara Sidner.
BROWN: We should.
WIRE: Three-point contest.
BROWN: I would crush it. I would crush it.
WIRE: Down contest. No doubt. I'd watch. This is one of the biggest events of the NBA calendar. A nice break before that two-month sprint toward the end of the regular season. The All-Star game this year has a new format. Four teams led by Shaq, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, Candace Parker, playing in a tournament. Andy Scholes caught up with some of the team GMs. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Why is your team going to win on Sunday?
CHARLES BARKLEY, BASKETBALL HALL OF FAMER: Well, we got -- probably got the two best players in the world. Well, Giannis got hurt. We got Joker. Shai Gilgeous is the MVP right now. So, I want -- I know one thing about basketball, it's probably best to have the best players.
SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, FOUR-TIME NBA CHAMPION: I picked my team because in three or four years a lot of those names won't be here anymore, and they're going to be doing what we're doing, talking about the game and talking about what they used to do. So, you know, it's going to be a sad moment in time, even though we have a lot of great young superstars that could continue to carry the mantle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: You see Shaq rocking that hat, Pamela? Our partners at TNT Sports, they've been rocking it in San Francisco, and they've also been showing love to some of the firefighters who've been tackling the devastating fires in Los Angeles. A sweet moment turned to a fun one.
One of the firefighters, Lieutenant Mariano Elias, has some moves. Watch this.
[10:55:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Hey. Oh. Hey. Hey. Hey. Shaq, you better be ready, Shaq. You better be ready, Shaq. Hey. Go. There you go. There you go. There you go. There you go, Shaq. That's what I'm talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: You've heard of the shimmy, shimmy shake. How about the shimmy, shimmy Shaq? My man getting down. That is awesome. Now, see, this would be the highlight of the CNN anchor All-Star Weekend right here, and you would definitely go all out in this one too, Pamela.
BROWN: I'd crush that as well. I mean, obvi, right, Coy? Those were some impressive moves. Wow. Coy Wire, thanks so much. Great to see you.
WIRE: You got it.
BROWN: And you can catch all the action this weekend on TNT, which is part of Warner Media Discovery, which also owns CNN.
Well, the party is just getting started in Philadelphia. The parade celebrating the Super Bowl champion Eagles is just minutes away. We are live in the city of brotherly love as fans are ready to show their team a lot of love, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:00:00]
