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RFK Jr. Confirmation Hearing Today. Fed to Announce Rate Decision; Leavitt Takes Center Stage. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 29, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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


[08:30:00]

REP. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ (D-NY): For this community, the immigrant community. And by the way, this is -- they are even arresting American citizens like the Puerto Rican veteran in New Jersey. And then yesterday, a family in Wisconsin.

So it -- this is an attempt to implement a mass deportation with total disregard of the status of those people that they are arresting.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: I think a key question is you say the people are looking to you for assurance -- assurances. What can you and what can other Democrats in Congress, like, what is your plan of action to push back against this, if there is anything you can do?

VELAZQUEZ: Well, for once, I -- today I'm holding a roundtable with over 70 organizations from my district to strategize as to how can we provide a sense of security for the people that we represent and -- and provide the type of information that will empower these people to take care of themselves.

You know, everyone in this country who is in this country has constitutional rights. They have the right to go before a judge and state their case. And that is exactly what we intend to do. Provide information as to what the -- what are the rights that they have and what are the things that they can, the actions that they can take to be safe in their own communities.

BOLDUAN: Congresswoman, thank you for your time.

Coming up for us, RFK Jr. is in the hot seat this morning, about to sit for his first of two confirmation hearings to be the next head of America's public health agencies. His nomination has been controversial from the start. So, a look at some of the biggest fears that the medical community has of what will happen if Kennedy gets the job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:36:14]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're actually standing by to see Robert F. Kennedy appear on Capitol Hill this morning for his confirmation hearing to become the secretary of Health and Human Services.

Let's get right to CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, great to see you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

BERMAN: This is a big position, Sanjay It does a lot.

BERMAN: Yes. Yes, no question. It's going to be a long day of talking about that position. Think of it as essentially being the CEO of the largest health, medical and scientific enterprise in the world. And that - I mean that seriously. It is the biggest job really in health in the world. Close to $2 trillion in spending, 80,000 employees. If you have Medicare, there's about a billion claims that are seen by HHS every year. They adjudicate these claims. They fund research. They handle pandemics. They decide vaccine schedules. So, you name it, really, anything that comes under the world of health will come under this - under his auspices if he - if he is confirmed.

There's a few of the - few of the 13 agencies that you can see on the list there. CDC is one of the largest Food and Drug Administration, the NIH, and then Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which again is responsible for really - it's the largest insurer essentially in the country.

One of the - I think one of the big questions that is coming up really is just, besides all the specific issues that are going to be discussed today is just overall trust in terms of how much you trust certain organizations or certain people to make health care decisions.

Now, I want to show you some of this, because I think this is really interesting. I'm sure it's likely to come up. How much do you trust each of the following to make right recommendations when it comes to health issues? I don't know how well you can read that, but your doctor is the top one there, and that's the highest, 38 percent of people say a great deal, 47 percent say a fair amount. And the scientists who work at the NIH. They also get pretty good trust ratings.

I think one of the concerns here is with RFK Jr. and President Trump, their trust, when it comes to health specifically, is not very high. And there's a lot of distrust, as you can see on the far right of that screen as well. So, I think these - that's going to sort of be where a lot of these questions revolve. We're going to hear about vaccines, I'm sure, hear about HIV, hear about germ theory, hear about all these different things. But overall, just the trust that you have in institutions or individuals to lead health.

BERMAN: The public health community. Sanjay, what do they want asked at these hearings?

GUPTA: I think - I think there's - there's going to be - its going to be a day, John. I mean there's going to be a lot of different questions because he has had - RFK Jr. has had such a long record of commenting on health issues. He started as an environmental lawyer talking about the environment, sort of started really integrating human health into his discussions around environmental health. He's said in the past that he doesn't think HIV causes AIDS. He has thrown some skepticism around germ theory, which is something that's been around since the 19th century.

But I think the question that a lot of people have gravitated toward are his views on vaccine, which I think he's been the most vocal about. Paul Offit, someone that you know well, he is - he has suggested some questions that get asked specifically about vaccines, saying, if you were the parents of young children today, would you vaccinate them according to the CDC immunization schedule? And if not, which vaccines would you avoid and why? It's a really fair question.

I think that you've heard very different things from RFK Jr. in the past on this. On one hand, I think you're going to hear probably that he has vaccinated his own children, and he thinks that there are vaccines that can be very effective. He's going to say he's not anti- vaccine. And these will probably be part of his opening remarks, my guess, considering that he's taking a more conciliatory approach to this.

[08:40:06]

But at the same time, in the past, he's likely to get asked about the fact that he has said there is not a single, safe and effective vaccine. So how do you reconcile these things? And importantly, what does it mean for the guy who's going to be the CEO of the largest health enterprise in the world? I think these are the types of questions that are likely to come up.

BERMAN: You're doing a really good job explaining the stakes here, which are just simply enormous.

Sanjay, thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it.

All right, we will call you out. The new White House press secretary threatening traditional media outlets and promising to prioritize non- traditional media, like podcasters and influencers, in her briefing room debut. And we're standing by from a major decision - for a major decision from the Fed on interest rates, the first under the new Trump administration. Will they buckle to demands from the president.

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[08:45:09]

BOLDUAN: This morning we are waiting to hear from the Federal Reserve as they meet to consider their first rate decision since President Trump took office. There's almost no doubt, it seems on Wall Street that the Fed will hold steady, pushing the pause button on rate cuts for now. It would be the first pause from the Fed since they started cutting rates last September. An important day on many levels.

Joining us right now to talk about it is CNN economics and political commentator Catherine Rampell, also an opinion columnist at "The Washington Post." It's good to see you in person, Catherine.

Central bank hits the pause button on rate cuts today means what?

CATHERINE RAMPELL, CNN ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It means that we should not expect interest rates that consumers and businesses face to go down much further anytime soon. And, in fact, things like mortgage rates have already been climbing upward, in part because this was expected. Inflation data had come in much higher than anticipated in the past few months. And on top of that, the election of Donald Trump has caused a lot of economists on Wall Street and at the Fed to revise upward - upward their expectations for inflation in the next year.

BOLDUAN: And let's talk about that because none of this happens in a vacuum. Even though the Fed is independent, we must continue to repeat, because Donald Trump, President Trump promised during the campaign over and over again that prices would come down immediately. I think his terminology was, "when I win, I will immediately bring down prices starting on day one." That is something I noticed yesterday. I had on the Democratic governor of Kentucky, and he brought this up during our interview. We're actually talking about promise made, promise kept in terms of immigration reform. And Governor Beshear said this. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): But what I've seen out of his executive orders are him addressing everything but inflation and prices. We see more executive orders on culture war issues than we do on the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So, we are now looking at where the administration is right now. Is there evidence the administration is making moves to bring prices down?

RAMPELL: No. The opposite. To be fair, there is not much the president can do to bring prices down. I said this throughout the campaign every time he promised to bring prices down.

BOLDUAN: You did. You did.

RAMPELL: But that said -

BOLDUAN: People wanted to believe it. Very clearly. That is true.

RAMPELL: Yes. Yes. I understand that.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RAMPELL: I get it. It sucks when you go to the grocery store and eggs are expensive and peanut butter is expensive and everything else.

BOLDUAN: Everything. RAMPELL: The problem is that not only is there no plan, there was

never even a plan for a plan. There was actually one executive order released on Trump's first day in which he said he was going to deal with the cost of living and inflation, but it was basically ordering his underlings to come up with concepts for a plan, if you will, within 30 days. So, nothing there.

Beyond that, if you look at the actions he's actually taking, many of them threaten to raise prices further. So, there are the threats of universal global tariffs, as well as higher tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. That will raise costs for consumers. We saw this happen last time when the tariffs were much more limited. At least some of those additional costs will be passed along to Americans.

Beyond that, there's also his immigration policies. If he removes a large portion of the workforce, that is going to strain supply chains, particularly in the industries where immigrants are more likely to be employed, more like, you know, disproportionately likely to be employed. Think agriculture, food services, construction, all of these things that, again, Americans are feeling the pressure of higher prices.

BOLDUAN: Let me add one more thing in to exactly where you are. When you said agriculture, it made me think of this freeze on all federal loans and grants. And also, at the same time, this buyout move that the administration has sent this email to all federal employees saying you can leave your job because it might not be there. It - added together, it's this massive attempt to shrink the size of the federal government. Donald Trump supporters will say, long overdue. But the unprecedented nature of the size and scope maybe of what they're going at, does that mean that it's also unknown what the true economic impact of it would be?

RAMPELL: Yes, I agree there's a lot of bloat in government. There's a lot of inefficiency, waste, fraud and abuse.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

RAMPELL: That's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about taking a hacksaw to the federal government and pausing, cutting, whatever, lots of programs that Americans depend on for -

BOLDUAN: Yes, if farmers don't get that emergency assistance, they can't farm, which thus hurts the food supply, which thus hurts inflation - hurts prices.

RAMPELL: Or, for that matter, if poor pregnant moms can't get WIC, which is the program that helps them get adequate nutrition, that helps their new babies get formula, that's going to affect their lives as well. Not to mention a lot of cuts, some of which may have been intended, some of which may not have been intended, for health care. You know, there was -- Medicaid, for example, was supposed to be exempted -

BOLDUAN: Yes.

[08:50:03]

RAMPELL: But it looks like, at least for a while, Medicaid directors were locked out. So, lots of - lots of implications for Americans.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And, you know, and we've gone far past what is today, which is, we'll hear the rate cut and then we'll figure out next steps from there. Thanks for being here. It's good to see you.

Coming up for us very soon, one of President Trump's most controversial cabinet picks is going to be facing some tough questions. RFK Jr. is up to be the next secretary of Health and Human Services. Really one of the biggest public health jobs in the entire world. Why now his cousin and his niece are telling senators that they should vote against him.

And a dramatic new look at first responders saving lives as wildfires raged in southern California. An elderly woman pleading with them, don't lose me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) But don't lose me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I promise I won't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we won't lose you. Don't worry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, just a few minutes ago we heard from the new White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, who only yesterday held her first White House press briefing.

[08:55:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would like to point out, while I vow to provide the truth from this podium, we ask that all of you in this room hold yourselves to that same standard. We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that. We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House. So, yes, I will hold myself to the truth, and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter is with us now.

Kind of opening with a threat, Brian.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, this is of a piece with Trump purging lawyers and deleting January 6th records from the DOJ website and revoking Mark Milley's security detail. It's a form of the retribution Trump promised. Many Trump voters want to see journalists put down a notch. So, that's what Leavitt was delivering. That's also what Leavitt's boss wants, by the way. And she performs for an audience of one.

Do you remember that phrase from the first Trump term, an audience of one. We'll see these Trump spokespeople and aides and officials go on television, and they're clearly trying to appease and appeal to their boss. We're seeing that happen again in the second Trump term.

BERMAN: You know, she talked a lot about changes inside the media room itself and how they'll bring in different types of media.

STELTER: Yes.

BERMAN: Listen to how she talked about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're also opening up this briefing room to new media voices who produce news related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats in this room. We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So how has this been received, Brian?

STELTER: Yes. Yes, in the first Trump term there were Skype seats. So, local reporters were brought in virtually. That didn't last very long, but it was a worthwhile experiment.

Now, the new experiment is this new media seat. And - and I'll be blunt, John, I don't care who asks the questions in the Briefing Room. I care that the questions are sharp and that the answers are honest. I think that's probably how the audience feels, too, if the audience cares at all.

I mean, by all means, bring in more voices to the White House Press Briefing Room. But the beat reporters who are in the room every day, who cover the White House for a living, they know what to ask, and they know how to elicit answers and how to follow up. In all likelihood, this new media seat will probably be used by the Trump White House to elicit - to bring in pro-Trump podcasters and influencers to ask softball questions. But hopefully it will be used to really bring in more diversity.

Ultimately, I think we were seeing, in the last 24 hours, the importance of having the press there, all those questions about the federal spending freeze, all the questions about the confusion and chaos. They have been trying to represent the public's confusion and get answers from the White House, John. BERMAN: To that point, and there were really a lot of questions to ask

yesterday, to what extent were those answered by the new press secretary?

STELTER: I would say that's a work in progress. You know, she essentially said over and over again, trust us, don't worry, trust us, we will figure this out. I know Daniel Dale and his team is working on a fact check about some of the contested claims that she made at that briefing.

Right now, of course, we are seeing this flood the zone strategy, this fire hose. In the first Trump term we saw - we saw a firehose of falsehood from the president and his aides. And that's keeping the fact checkers very busy.

Ultimately, it's also an attention war. And I think we have to view this all as a war for attention. Trump wants to be ubiquitous. He wants to be everywhere. Leavitt bragged about that yesterday. She seems to want to be everywhere as well. That's the strategy of the Republicans. If you're a Democrat, you're probably asking yourself, what is the strategy to respond to that? How do you combat someone who wants all the attention and all the publicity, even the bad press? We know that's one of Trump's strengths.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So at least three people were injured after a fire started in the tail section of a South Korean passenger jet on Tuesday. South Korea's news agency said the Air Busan plane was on the runway, was set to depart for Hong Kong when the fire started. One hundred and seventy-six passengers were evacuated. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined. And look at the aftermath of that. My goodness.

And then there's this. Former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is set to be sentenced today after his conviction on 16 corruption charges last July. Menendez could face more than a decade in prison after taking cash, a Mercedes, gold bars as bribes in exchange for helping three New Jersey businessmen and the government of Egypt.

And newly released footage shows Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies helping to rescue a 100 year old woman from inside her senior living facility as the deadly Eaton Fire - wildfire approached in Altadena, California. You can see - we're going to show you, you can see some of the flames that were - well, trust me, flames were exploding outside and rescuers then went inside to look for anyone who could have been left behind.

[09:00:08]

And then this happened.