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President Trump Orders all Federal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Staff Placed on Leave; President Trump Criticizes Bishop for Statements During National Prayer Service on Inauguration; New Allegations against Pete Hegseth regarding Treatment of His Second Wife Surface; Pushback on Trump's January 6 Pardons; Trump Administration Dismantles Federal DEI Offices, Puts Staffers on Leave. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired January 22, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN E. HERBST, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: -- includes giving up some territory, at least de facto, and at least a moratorium for 20 years on possibly creating membership in NATO. And they require compromise from Putin. And that includes Trump's talked about arming Ukraine heavily once a deal is made to deter future Russian aggression, and he's talked about having a demilitarized zone between Russian and Ukrainian troops to be filled by European soldiers. Those two aspects require Putin to give up his aim of taking effective political control of Ukraine.

The Russians have said they're willing to talk, they're willing to negotiate, but they've said they have not changed their objectives, and they haven't. Putin is going to try to pre-negotiate with Trump before sitting down to real negotiations the conditions he does not like. But Trump can't agree with that, because if he does, he's essentially giving Ukraine to Putin. And he doesn't want to do that. That would make Trump look like a very weak negotiator.

So Putin needs to feel American pressure. Economic sanctions are important. That's true. But nothing will be as important as demonstrating to the Kremlin that we will make it impossible for Russia to make further additional gains on the territory of Ukraine.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That is going to be --

HERBST: That means aid. That means weapons.

SIDNER: Yes -- hard pill for the president to swallow judging from some of his past comments.

Former Ambassador Herbst, thank you so much for joining us.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, the diversity purge. President Trump orders all federal DEI staff placed on leave by 5:00 p.m. today.

And quote, "F it. Release them all." New reporting inside the president's decision to blanket pardon all Capitol rioters.

And the death toll rising as this unprecedented winter storm paralyzes the south.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

All right, breaking overnight, a new decree from the new Trump White House that has "Politico" asking this morning, did Trump just kill DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, for good? That question, triggered by this late-night memo that ordered all federal DEI staff to be placed on leave by 5:00 p.m. today.

CNN's Alayna Treene is outside the White House. Alayna, you've got some new reporting on all this. What have you learned?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: We do, John. So I learned that, actually on Monday, just hours after Donald Trump was sworn into office, we learned that the Office of Personnel Management began calling all of Donald Trump's, or at least a select few of Donald Trump's, I should say, acting cabinet secretaries, giving them this new guidance and alerting them of the changes that were going to be coming very shortly regarding all of the employees that fall under that diversity, equity, and inclusion kind of umbrella. And they said that that guidance was coming momentarily.

Now, as you mentioned, we did see that the guidance was released yesterday in a memo from OPM, essentially telling these agencies that they had until 5:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, to start informing these different employees in these DEI programs that they would be placed on administrative leave effective immediately.

Now, look, I think the timing of this, the reason I bring up that this happened on Monday when the office began calling all these different agencies, is because it just shows how much of a priority this is for Donald Trump. We know that over the past couple years, both he and his allies have really waged a war on what they called the, you know, DEI hires, essentially arguing that it is a form of discrimination.

But I think it's also important to note that this move by Donald Trump is really kind of undoing a lot of the work that the former president, Joe Biden, and advocates of these different DEI programs argued was a move to try and correct historical wrongs. And we know as well that Joe Biden, when he went into office, he very quickly issued executive orders as well, trying to expand who would fall under these DEI programs.

So just a big change that we're seeing now with Donald Trump. One of his first priorities, one of the first orders, I should note as well, that he signed moments after being sworn in, him really trying to kind of set the stage and arguing that all of these different people are going to be on leave starting today.

BERMAN: Overnight, Alayna, the president also taking issue with a Washington bishop. What's this about? TREENE: That's right. We saw Donald Trump post overnight, really,

criticizing the bishop who presided over the service yesterday at the Washington National Cathedral, one of the final events for Donald Trump's inauguration. I want to read for you some of what he posted on his Truth Social website. He wrote, quote, "The so-called bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a radical left hardline Trump hater. She brought her church into the world of politics in a very ungracious way."

[08:05:10]

It went on to say that she, quote, "and her church owe the public an apology." Now, just to get into some of what Bishop Budde actually said during that service, she talked about, and she said, well, I'll quote her. She said, "In the name of our Lord, I ask you to have mercy on the people in our country who are scared." She was talking specifically and referenced specifically people of the LGBTQ community, as well as immigrants and migrants, something we know that the Episcopal Church, which the Washington National Cathedral is, welcomes and supports.

Now, we also had an interview with Budde last night on CNN. She spoke with our own Erin Burnett. I want you to take a listen to how she framed all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. MARIANN EDGAR BUDDE, GAVE SERMON AT INAUGURAL PRAYER SERVICE FOR TRUMP: The people that are frightened in our country, the two groups of people that I mentioned, are our fellow human beings, and that they have been portrayed in all throughout the political campaign, in the harshest of lights that I wanted to, I wanted to, to counter as gently as I could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, part of the reason this is so notable is because, again, this is a tradition for all presidents the day after their inauguration to participate in this national prayer service. But it also shows as well that Donald Trump, you know, the midnight Truth posts criticizing different people, that isn't stopping in his second term, nor since he has been sworn into office. He is still kind of issuing these criticisms very publicly, even as he is president now. John?

BERMAN: I doubt there was much of an expectation that that would stop. Alayna Treene, thank you very much.

Sara?

SIDNER: All right, we've got some new information for you this morning. There are new allegations against President Trump's pick for defense secretary. Pete Hegseth is now accused of being abusive towards an ex-wife. This comes from an affidavit given to the Senate Armed Services Committee by Hegseth's former sister-in-law, Danielle Hegseth. In the sworn statement, Danielle said Hegseth ex-wife Samantha feared for her safety at times, adding they had a code word if she needed help to get away from her husband. Last hour, Kate spoke with Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who is on the Senate Armed Services Committee, about this. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE, (D-VA) ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: We think this latest confirmation of erratic and irresponsible behavior by Pete Hegseth would make him very, very dangerous as the secretary of defense. And we need to get to the bottom of these allegations before we try to rush a confirmation vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Hegseth has denied the allegations. Samantha Hegseth told NBC News there was no physical abuse in her marriage. An attorney for Hegseth also is denying the allegations.

Joining me now, CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox. Lauren, what, if any, impact might this have on Pete Hegseth's chances to get confirmed?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's really the question right now, Sara. It's important, to remember that the Senate Armed Services Committee had already voted along party lines to advance Hegseth's nomination to the floor of the United States Senate, and we expect that that vote could happen as soon as at the end of this week or into the weekend, depending on how much work Democrats want to do to try to slow down this process.

Obviously, they can try to make Republicans burn through all of their available time, but after that, there's very little that Democrats can do because Republicans have a majority with three seats that they could potentially lose here and still get Hegseth through.

One person to keep an eye on is Senator Roger Wicker. He is the chairman of this committee. And he said yesterday to our colleague Manu Raju, "I have not reviewed the document. My reaction is that I have grave doubts as to its substance. I think the nomination is going to go forward by Thursday."

Obviously, there are still some senators who have not said whether or not they are backing Hegseth even before this affidavit was given over to the Senate Armed Services Committee, people like Senator Lisa Murkowski, senators like Susan Collins. We have not heard from Mitch McConnell and how he would vote now that he is no longer the Republican leader.

So there are some question marks here, but is it enough to ultimately doom this nomination? We aren't seeing evidence at this point that this affidavit is making a huge splash on Capitol Hill and is drastically making people who serve on the Senate Armed Services Committee rethink this nomination. Obviously, we will keep you posted as we talk to more members in the hours ahead. Sara?

SIDNER: There have been a lot of allegations, but there has been quite a bit of Republican support. Lauren Fox, thank you so much. Appreciate it. John?

[08:10:00]

BERMAN: All right, with us now, CNN political commentator and former Trump White House communications director, Alyssa Farah Griffin. Nice to see you. Before we talk about the political implications of this, I just want to read one more quote from "The New York Times" on this affidavit. Danielle Hegseth wrote that on one occasion between 2014 and 2016, Mr. Hegseth's second wife, Samantha, hid in her closet from Pete Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety. She also said Samantha Hegseth had given her a code word shared with her and another person that she would use if she needed help.

Again, we'll get to the political implications of vote counting in a second, and Pete Hegseth denies this. But you have a secretary of defense accused of this type of thing. What would the impact be within the ranks inside the Pentagon?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So the issue from the outset with the various allegations against Pete Hegseth is not just that it would harm his -- the way he's respected within the Pentagon, but it also opens him to exploitation from foreign adversaries. Theres a reason that we always want people in national security positions to be of the highest moral character. You don't want people who could be prone to blackmail and different forms of exploitation.

The one thing I will say on this, major brake pumping. His ex-wife denies these allegations, and she has said to contact her lawyer and says that it's not true. I think in any -- I think that makes it incredibly hard for the Senate to take the weight, even though it's a sworn affidavit, when the victim herself is not willing to come forward and say it.

And I'll say this, on these confirmation hearings, I think Democrats completely strategically botched this. There was a heavy focus on the sexual assault, or sexual assault allegations and his past wrongdoings with his wives, and less on the fact that he's the least qualified candidate to ever be put up for secretary of defense. We've seen from Clarence Thomas to Kavanaugh, these often don't matter in terms of stopping someone's confirmation, whereas their credentials to do the job do.

BERMAN: Just to be clear, Samantha Hegseth in her statement, she is the ex-wife, said there was no physical abuse in the marriage. It was a specifically worded sort of statement there, and she will not say anything else. So we won't get much more from her on that.

"The New York times" in its reporting on this, suggested there were maybe a half-dozen Republicans who are curious or hitting pause on this. I will say it was at the Commander in Chief Ball, what was it, Monday night, and Pete Hegseth was greeted like a hero there and was carrying himself like someone who was already confirmed, even though he's not yet. So the political implications?

GRIFFIN: The political implications, I think it's very likely he's confirmed. I think you've got to pay attention to Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and then some of the Senate Armed Services Committee members. I think Tammy Duckworth was masterful in just questioning his basic knowledge of the job that he was going to walk into. That is where people are going to find pause. I think oftentimes these allegations feel like he said, she said cases to many people who are in the position of trying to decide, and I think his credentials for the job is going to be the most important.

BERMAN: So moving forward, beyond Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump is doing a lot, the president is doing a lot, flooding the zone every day. In a way that makes it hard to cover. In a way, it's an effective political strategy. You do so much, how can people pick and choose what they focus on? And I will say, I want you to calibrate here whether or not he's got the right political combination of looking forward and looking backwards, because there's a lot that's backwards looking. Pardoning January 6th people is backwards looking. This executive order, I'm not going to read the whole thing here, but there's an executive order that literally tells government agencies to investigate the last four years. That is backwards looking there. So what do you make of the calibration?

GRIFFIN: This is something that advisers always have to get to Donald Trump on, to not look backward and to be forward looking. But listen, he's taken this shock and awe approach of doing so much that the sheer bandwidth and amount that he is doing is hard to cover everything, because there's a lot that is forward looking. Whether it's ending and reforming birthright citizenship, whether it's crackdowns on deportations or efforts to secure the border, there's a lot that's forward looking. But one of Donald Trump's fatal flaws is his inability to let go of past grievances. He gave what I thought was a strong address in the Capitol. But then he goes to Emancipation Hall and is railing against Liz Cheney. That's not why the public elected him. They want him to secure the border. They want him to bring down the cost of living. They don't want him pardoning January 6th hostages, as he calls them.

BERMAN: On the subject of backwards looking at past grievances, some of the television ratings for the inauguration have come out. Fewer people watched than watched when President Biden was inaugurated four years ago, fewer people watched than when Donald Trump was inaugurated the first time eight years ago. Now, part of this might be shifting television audiences, but it's a significant drop off there. How do you think President Trump feels about that? You've been in the White House for some of these discussions about viewers and ratings and numbers.

GRIFFIN: I have a feeling he's going to push back and say the streaming numbers were there, and it was the most watched inauguration in history. But listen, we live in a deeply polarized country. Half the country is thrilled that Donald Trump is back in the White House, and the other is exhausted and didn't want to tune in. And that's what the next four years is going to underscore.

BERMAN: Alyssa Farah Griffin, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much. Kate? All right, this morning, bipartisan pushback against Donald Trump

pardoning January 6th defendants. How Republicans are grappling with that move today. And a warning from the former US surgeon general. Anti-vaccine sentiments on the rise, why he says vaccine skepticism has a cost that's far greater than many people think.

[08:15:00]

And actor, Justin Baldoni releases a new behind-the-scenes clip from the set of "It Ends with Us." Both he and Blake Lively now claim, it backs up their accusations against each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLAKE LIVELY, AMERICAN ACTRESS: I don't know, I think it's more romantic

JUSTIN BALDONI, AMERICAN ACTOR AND DIRECTOR: Yes, well the whole montage is us talking.

LIVELY: 'Cause it's like the moment you kiss, then you give them the thing that they want to see. Do you know what I mean?

BALDONI: Yes.

LIVELY: So, they should feel like --

BALDONI: That's why almost kissing is also good.

LIVELY: Yes, but we're still talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[08:20:19]

BOLDUAN: This morning, there are new details in President Trump's effort to gut the federal government of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. A memo sent to agency leaders overnight says all federal staffers who work on these programs are to be put on administrative leave, effective 5:00 PM today as, here's the quote, "The agency takes steps to close and end all DEIA initiatives, offices and programs."

Civil rights leaders say they are going to be fighting against this effort.

Joining us right now is the president of the National Urban League, Marc Morial.

Thank you for being here. What is your reaction to this move by President Trump?

MARC MORIAL, NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE, PRESIDENT: Good morning. It was expected, but it's reprehensible. It is nothing but an effort to repeal the progress that this nation has made over the last 60 years, and it has to be resisted.

he executive order is null and void because it seeks to repeal statutory and constitutional values by way of an effective presidential edict.

So, we will be gathering today at the National Press Club to discuss and also, I think, to discuss a series of actions we think we need to take.

Eighty-one percent of the American people according to the Harris Poll, support the notion that private sector companies and the government should hire and be very affirmative in hiring in a way that looks like America.

This is about the progress we've made and an effort to repeal that progress. And so, don't fall for the false argument that this is about the restoration of merit.

What this is really about is saying that only some with merit deserve a chance. What DEI is about is giving everyone with merit an opportunity. That's the fundamental value. It's an American value. We will be fighting for American values.

BOLDUAN: Marc, the White House said, in announcing some of this yesterday and we saw throughout the presidential election, this is one of the center pieces of what Donald Trump ran on, what he promised he would do if he won, and voters knew this when they voted for him.

If gutting DEI, removing DEI initiatives from the federal government, if that is a promise made, promise kept. What do you do about that now?

MORIAL: Because the president has an obligation to be the president of all Americans. He sounded that theme repeatedly. This does not comport with that notion. It isn't just about paying back those who supported you. It's about affirming American values.

I'd argue that DEI was not a center piece of this election. It was about economic issues. It was about border. Yes, it was a subtext. Yes, it was discussed. But let me just go back to 81 percent of the American people.

So, when you challenge the notion that doors should be opened, you're challenging the progress that women have made, that people of color have made, that people of gender identity have made over the years to create a stronger and a better America. That's what this is about, an attack on DEI says the work of the last several presidents going all the way back to the 1960s is now for naught. And we have to resist that because it's not consistent.

I'd appeal to the new administration to open a dialogue with those of us who understand and have worked hard to promote a more inclusive America.

The notion that this is about returning merit. I want to squarely say that's what I call a smoke screen and a cover story. What this is about is saying, we're no longer going to have protections in the government against discriminatory practices. That's what this is all about. It returns us to a 1950s America.

And I would argue that America today is stronger and better because of the foundation laid in the 1960s and the 1970s towards this progress.

So, our event this morning is being livestreamed at NUL.org. We've got almost 20 leaders who will be in a roundtable discussion. And it's just the first of many, many discussions, many strategies, many efforts to really, really suggest and appeal and encourage people to resist this sort of divisive actions.

BOLDUAN: You mentioned opening a dialogue with the administration, have you -- will you request a meeting with the president if he invited you into the Oval Office to have a dialogue, would you and your team be there?

[08:25:04]

MORIAL: I am always open to a real dialogue. I'm not open to a performative event. I'm not open to being a punching bag for any politician of any party. I've been around too long for that. We are not going to participate in that, but we think that a dialogue would be important. But I want to underscore a meaningful dialogue about what's the best interest of the nation.

And I want everyone to know Republican and Democratic members of Congress, we're open to a conversation with you.

Over the years, our efforts to have conversations with Republican leaders have fallen on deaf ears. Business leaders dialogue with us, labor leaders dialogue with us, faith leaders dialogue with us about this. But we are not just about dialogue. We are also going to be prepared to take the necessary actions. And this morning, you'll probably hear about some actions as well as a process to resist.

We want to build a coalition of the willing and the passionate, and those who believe in equal economic opportunity. This is what it is all about.

And so we have to be part of that narrative, part of that dialogue, part of that assertion. Look, people in the community, I can tell you based on -- are upset. They are angry, they're in a fighting mood. Too much work has gone into bringing the nation to where it is to see it wiped out simply because of a single presidential election.

BOLDUAN: Marc Morial, thank you very much for coming on. Appreciate your time -- John.

BERMAN: All right, a quote from a new lawsuit. "He is not a king. He cannot rewrite the Constitution." Twenty-two states now suing the Trump administration over the presidents move to end birthright citizenship.

And this morning, dangerous conditions in the South, after a rare and serious winter storm. Tens of millions of people facing brutally cold temperatures as the death toll from the storm is rising.

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[08:30:41]