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Bondi Moves Immediately To Get DOJ In Line With Trump's Agenda; Trudeau Announces Canada-U.S. Economic Summit In Ontario Friday; Trump Doubles Down On Gaza Takeover, But Says No U.S. Soldiers "Would Be Needed." Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 06, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:20]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, on her first day on the job the new attorney general, Pam Bondi, is issuing a slew of memos ordering a review of criminal and civil investigations into President Trump while perhaps, ironically, declaring to fight the weaponization of the Justice Department.

Let's get right to CNN's Evan Perez for the range of these new actions. Good morning to you, sir.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Now look, this was a very, very busy first day for the new attorney general and as you pointed out, one of the things she was tackling on is this idea of weaponization at the Justice Department during the previous administration.

And so she established this weaponization task force that's going to look at not only the two federal cases that was -- that were led by Jack Smith, the special counsel, but also looking at the cases that were started in New York by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney. And the hush -- I'm sorry, the fraud case that was brought by Letitia James, the attorney general there in New York.

And then she went beyond that obviously. She did -- she rescinded a number of Biden-era memos, including one looking at school threats and school board threats. She started a new task force on the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel, as well as pausing funding to sanctuary cities. A lot of work being done by the new attorney general.

She got sworn in at the Oval -- in the Oval Office with President Trump looking on. Here is what he says he expects from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm supposed to say she's going to be totally impartial with respect to Democrats, and I think she will be as impartial as a person can be. I'm not sure if there's a possibility of totally, but she's going to be as total as you can get. (END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: So that's the president saying I'm supposed to say that she is. So we'll see how -- what the new attorney general carries out those duties, John.

BERMAN: And Evan, I understand that overnight there's this question of insubordination in the FBI over the January 6 inquiry into the inquiry. What's going on here?

PEREZ: Yeah, exactly. Look, I mean, the acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove -- he issued a new memo, this time directly to FBI employees, trying to clarify that not all of them should be worried about getting fired -- or at least not more than 5,000 of them.

But in some ways the memo perhaps created new problems for this relationship between the Justice Department and the FBI. He says that he was asking for a smaller group of employees to be identified who were working on these January 6 cases, and that he was denied that information by FBI leaders. He called that insubordination.

But let me also read you just a part of the memo where he's tried to clarify about what they're -- what they can expect.

He says, "Let me be clear: No FBI employees who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties. The only individuals who should be concerned are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, and who blatantly defied orders from department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI."

It's a word, John, that keeps coming up -- the word "weaponizing" -- which, of course, something that Donald Trump used on the -- on the campaign trail. And the question for FBI employees is, you know, what does that mean? What does that define?

Keep in mind, John, FBI employees -- staff not only this investigation -- these investigations related to Trump and his -- and his supporters, but also the investigations of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden. And they haven't been threatened with any -- with any weaponization accusations because of those investigations.

BERMAN: Yeah, and the question here is who is weaponizing whom, on other words.

Evan Perez in Washington. Thank you very much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. To further discuss some of this, joining me now is CNN senior legal analyst and former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Elie Honig back again. We have missed you and we expect to see more of you.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: I'll do that for you. SIDNER: That is my threat for today.

HONIG: I'm always here for you, Sara.

SIDNER: OK.

Let us talk about Pam Bondi. She's expected to order a review, as well, of cases brought against Donald Trump.

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: State cases. We're talking criminal and civil cases that a jury has decided where he lost.

What can she actually do?

HONIG: So part of what Pam Bondi did yesterday is totally normal when she sent out a memo saying here's our new enforcement priorities. We're going to emphasize immigration. We're going to emphasize human trafficking. That's what you would expect to see from any A.G.

[07:35:00]

What you're talking about here -- this new group that's going to examine all the Trump prosecutions -- that is highly abnormal, and I think that is corrosive to what DOJ is about.

Now, when it comes to the two federal cases -- the Jack Smith prosecutions --

SIDNER: Right.

HONIG: -- of Donald Trump -- DOJ can look at whatever they want.

SIDNER: They have the power.

HONIG: That's their stuff.

SIDNER: Of course.

HONIG: That's in-house. That's their files.

It's going to get dicier if they -- if and when they try to delve into the state cases.

SIDNER: Yeah.

HONIG: The Alvin Bragg hush money case and the Letitia James lawsuit. Because DOJ, I believe in the next several months, will say we need your files. And I think Alvin Bragg is going to say no way.

SIDNER: No, right.

HONIG: And we could end up in a showdown in court over this.

But look, this is politicization. I mean, there's no reason to reopen these cases. I've been critical of these cases -- you know.

SIDNER: You have, yes.

HONIG: I think that there have been prosecutorial missteps. But to go into this and to try to declare that these were politically driven I think is, in itself, political.

SIDNER: Political.

And there's this question of what happened to state's rights. I mean, Donald Trump and the Republicans have always been talking about state's rights. And in this case, I don't know --

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- if that's something that's going to come up.

But I do want to ask you about Bondi, who is threatening sanctuary cities. And sanctuary cities, for people that understand what they are doing, they basically --

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- give more protections to undocumented migrants and tell their local authorities not to help out federal immigration authorities.

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: So she's talking about rescinding money -- taking money away from these cities or states that are doing this.

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: How would that work? Does she have the power to do that?

HONIG: Well, it's clear that this DOJ is going to take a much harsher approach to sanctuary cities. One of the first things that was done even before Pam Bondi arrived was a memo went out that essentially said we expect cooperation, and even threatened potential prosecution of people who do not cooperate.

Now, you cannot force locals. The Feds cannot force the locals to cooperate with them. However, they can -- there are a lot of programs that are --

SIDNER: Right.

HONIG: -- depending on federal funding. And that is a potent threat I think to say that if you don't work with us or especially if you interfere or obstruct what we're doing we have the ability -- we're going to at least make an effort to pull back federal funds. That's a really powerful incentive and it may help DOJ get what it wants here.

SIDNER: All right. Let me ask you about another case that is bubbling up. HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: You've got a case that's supposed to come up today that has to do with birthright citizenship.

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: Donald Trump trying to revoke that.

The Supreme Court has spoken on this and has said it's constitutional -- or unconstitutional to take away these --

HONIG: Right.

SIDNER: -- birthright citizenship.

What do you see happening going forward because there are more lawsuits on the way?

HONIG: Yeah. So birthright citizenship is actually -- forget about -- I mean, the Supreme Court weighed in but let's start with the Constitution --

SIDNER: The Constitution.

HONIG: -- itself. The 14th Amendment --

SIDNER: Yeah.

HONIG: -- essentially says that any person who was born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof is automatically a citizen --

SIDNER: A citizen.

HONIG: -- of the United States. And that was 1868. Thirty-some years later the Supreme Court said yes, it means what it says, which is if you're born here, even to immigrant parents, you're automatically a citizen.

Now, Donald Trump, first day in office, issued an executive order trying to withdraw that, and immediately there was a spate of lawsuits. And there's at least five out there now. So far, every federal judge who has looked at Donald Trump's action has rejected it.

And there was one judge -- and there's a hearing again today -- a federal judge in Washington that really excoriated. He said to the poor DOJ attorney who got sent in there to argue this --

SIDNER: Yeah.

HONIG: -- something like this is the most unconstitutional argument --

SIDNER: Yes. HONIG: -- that you're making that I've ever seen. Now you might think -- one might say well, that must be some Trump-hating Biden or Obama appointee. No, it's Ronald Reagan appointee --

SIDNER: Right.

HONIG: -- who said that.

So they will be back in front of that judge today. I do think this is ultimately destined for the Supreme Court. I do think Donald Trump's effort to undo birthright citizenship will be rejected.

SIDNER: All right, we will wait and see. But this is all bubbling up as we are speaking.

HONIG: Yeah.

SIDNER: This is going to start today.

HONIG: Absolutely.

SIDNER: Elie Honig, thank you so much.

HONIG: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: I always appreciate having you.

HONIG: All right.

SIDNER: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: In the wake of President Trump's pause on slapping the 25 percent tariff on all goods coming from Canada and Mexico, the Canadian prime minister has announced what he is calling a landmark event. Tomorrow, Canada will be hosting a Canada-U.S. economic summit focusing on business relationships between the two countries.

The subtext here -- the clock is ticking on that 30-day reprieve, and the threat those tariffs will come roaring back from President Trump very much still out there.

The Canadian prime minister had threatened to retaliate against tariffs if it happens.

The premier of Ontario has also promised to counterpunch. The premier, Doug Ford, saying this now. "We have temporarily averted tariffs that would have severely damaged our economy, giving time for more negotiation and time for cooler heads to prevail. With the U.S. pausing tariffs, Ontario will also pause our retaliatory measures."

Joining us right now is the Premier of Ontario Doug Ford. Thank you so much for being here.

Where do things stand in your view right now --

DOUG FORD, PREMIER OF ONTARIO, CANADA (via Skype): Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: -- at this moment with talks to avoid these tariffs from setting in -- well, I guess, now less than 30 days? Do you think you can avoid it?

FORD: Well, let's hope for the sake of both countries, Kate. This would devastate the Canadian economy, and it would devastate the U.S. economy. We're the number one customer to 28 states across Canada. Ontario alone the number one customer to 17 states and number two to 11.

[07:40:10]

I've always proposed Kate let's build an Am-Can fortress. Let's make us the strongest, the safest, the most prosperous, richest two countries in the world.

We have critical minerals that the U.S. needs. We have the energy that the U.S. needs, and the pot ash, and the uranium. And the list goes on and on and on.

This is a partnership that's been going on since 1867 and all of a sudden this comes along and just really disrupts the two greatest countries in the world.

BOLDUAN: You make an important point that I wanted to ask about, which is you say Canada has what the United States needs.

President Trump made very clear on Monday --

FORD: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- that he does not think the United States needs Canada for anything. Let me play this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, what I'd like to see, Canada become our 51st state. We give them protection -- military protection. We don't need them to build our cars. I'd rather see Detroit or South Carolina or any one of our -- Tennessee -- any one of our states build the cars. They could do it very easily. We don't need them for the cars. We don't need them for lumber. We don't need them for anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And what do you say to that?

FORD: Well, I respectfully disagree. We buy as many cars as we sell into the -- into the U.S. The auto sector is so integrated parts can go back and forth. Eight times the energy -- 4.3 million barrels every day. That's 1.2 billion barrels a year. Electricity -- Ontario keeps lights on in New York. The 1.5 million homes and businesses in New York and Michigan and Minnesota. And that's just Ontario, not to mention Quebec supporting the U.S. with energy. But the point is we want to send more oil, more uranium, more pot ash, more high-grade nickel that keeps your economy going, and more electricity. It doesn't make sense to get in a fight with your closest ally in the entire world. Your closest friend that has fought shoulder-to-shoulder in wars with each other. And, you know, this just does not make sense whatsoever.

We're doing $1.3 trillion of two-way trade, and it benefits Americans and Canadians. Just Ontario alone -- nine million Americans wake up every morning to produce products for Ontario alone. We do $500 billion of two-way trade. Let's build on that rather than just try to destroy it. It does not make sense.

BOLDUAN: You've -- I -- you have threatened if the tariffs set in you will also be putting in place retaliatory measures.

You'd promised to rip up a multi-multi-million dollar contract with Elon Musk's Starlink internet service that I believe is just signed a couple of months ago. Musk responded to --

FORD: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- the news when you said you were going to tear up the contract. He responded with literally saying, "Oh, well" on social media.

Are you concerned that your threat there will backfire?

FORD: No, not at all. You know, I can't support someone hellbent on destroying our province and taking food off people's tables -- destroying the economy. I just can't -- you know, I can't roll over. I don't want to retaliate. Canada does not want to retaliate. That's the last thing we want to do, Kate.

We never started this. We were two great neighbors. And make no mistake about it, Canadians still love Americans, and I know Americans love Canadians. I spent 20 years of my life down in our Chicago and New Jersey facility. I have a tremendous amount of friends. I think there's probably 800,000 or 900,000 people from both sides of the border living in Canada versus living in the U.S. We're so integrated.

BOLDUAN: There's an important --

FORD: We share the same values.

BOLDUAN: There's an important part of this of a question of what's going to happen in less than 30 days now, which is what's going to be the measure? Is it clear to you what metric President Trump is using to measure if you all have done enough to satisfy him to not impose the 25 percent tariff?

FORD: Well, let's hope for both sides of the country. Like the market we saw the other day -- it will react. Inflation will hit. Interest rates will go up. This is just a tax on goods as far as I'm concerned on both sides of the border, and it doesn't have to be that way. BOLDUAN: But that's what I'm trying to figure out is what's his measure? Has President Trump laid out, or anyone in his team laid out to you -- because you'd think they'd want to clue in Ontario on this one -- of what you need to meet or what needs to be done to avoid this from happening in 30 days?

FORD: Well Kate, what I understand it's the border. I've agreed we have to tighten up the border on both sides, by the way.

[07:45:00]

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

FORD: You know, we talked about fentanyl. Per capita we have as many deaths from fentanyl as the U.S. But compared to our friends south of the border, Mexico, we -- it's .001 percent. And my point is that's too much.

But we just have something called Operation Deterrent along our border. Our state police -- if you want to call them -- it's our provincial police -- just busted 600,000 pounds of cocaine coming into our country.

And guns. Ninety-five percent of illegal guns are coming in from the U.S. and heinous crimes are being committed.

My point is let's work together. We've had a meeting with DEA, the U.S. Border Patrol, Canadian Border Patrol, and we have 10,000 people along the border securing our border. I'm in agreement -- let's tighten it up, but it has to be tightened up on both sides of the border.

But what drives everything is the economy.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. What I'm hearing from you is key is together. Yeah. What I'm hearing from you is let's do it together --

FORD: Together.

BOLDUAN: -- not against each other. Let us see.

Premier, thank you very much for coming in from your (INAUDIBLE).

FORD: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking just moments ago, President Trump backtracking, and also doubling down, and also attacking Chuck Schumer all in one social media post as he tries to explain his plan to take over Gaza a day after his aides tried to explain his plan to take over Gaza.

And this morning multiple dairy cows have tested positive for a strain of bird flu associated with severe infections in humans.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:15]

BOLDUAN: Eleven fifty-nine tonight. That is the deadline for federal employees to accept President Trump's offer of paid leave and resignation or face possible termination. As of this morning, sources say, 40,000 workers have opted to take the deal, agreeing to enter what they are calling the deferred resignation program.

CNN's Alayna Treene tracking this one, back with us. What is expected to happen today with all this? What are you hearing from the White House?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, there's -- I mean, look, this was a very swift deadline for these federal workers to decide whether or not they want to opt into this program. Some people refer to them as buyouts but really, it's allowing them to voluntarily place themselves on paid administrative leave through September. It means they will get paid, and they will continue to receive benefits even while not working -- at least that is how this offer has been framed to them.

And as you mentioned, Kate, I've learned now from two administration officials that at least 40,000 federal workers have opted into this deferred resignation program. One of the officials tells me that they expect the number to grow significantly before tonight's 11:59 p.m. deadline.

Now, we also know that the government has really said their goal is to have around 100,000 people accept this offer.

All to say, though, there's a couple of concerns around this.

One is that unions are questioning the legality of this. They're also questioning whether or not this is actually something the Trump administration and the White House can promise people, especially when you consider, of course, that we haven't funded the government beyond the end of March. So questions there about whether or not these people will actually get paid. I've talked to some federal workers who are concerned about that as well.

And then the other thing is that we know as well that after that deadline tonight they are expected -- the Trump administration -- to begin widespread sweeping layoffs for those who haven't accepted this. So people who do not opt into this program -- it doesn't mean that their jobs are necessarily safe, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. Alayna, thank you very much. A lot of uncertainty throughout this morning -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking just a short time ago President Trump seemed to backtrack but also to double down on his plan to take over Gaza. This is what he posted on social media. I want to read you the whole thing.

"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer," -- and I don't know what he means there -- "would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities with new and modern homes in the region. They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free. The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the world, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed. Stability for the region would reign."

All right, with us now is Joel Rubin, former deputy assistant Secretary of State under the Obama administration.

And Joel, just to explain exactly what's a backtrack there. Two days ago, President Trump did not rule out using U.S. troops. Yesterday, the White House's staff seemed to try to clean that up -- apparently, not enough. So President Trump, again today, says a reversal from two days ago -- "No U.S. troops" but does still say the U.S. will own Gaza.

How much clarity does this provide to you?

JOEL RUBIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR LEGISLATIVE AFFAIR, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, PRESIDENT, WASHINGTON STRATEGY GROUP: You know, John, I'm sorry -- I'd rather go to -- get a ticket to Disney World in this case because this sounds like that's what he's designing right now. I mean, this is ridiculous. It's radical and reckless. Clearly, he's incoherent. There is no plan. There is no thought process. The president is untethered from reality right now.

And the worst part about this is that there are actually real world implications for this. There is a ceasefire right now in place between Hamas and Israel that is working -- that is getting Israelis out of Gaza, the hostages out. That's getting aid into Gaza.

[07:55:10]

And he's not talking about that. He's not talking about organizing the next phase. He's not talking about ending the war with the allies on board and a process for the next phase. This is -- this is really self-destructive.

BERMAN: Well, allies of the president say this is just a brilliant negotiating position. He's trying to shake things up in the region. And I'm sure they'll say this statement today, which backs off some of the things he said is even more brilliant.

But in terms of a negotiating position to try to build a future in the region, what does this do?

RUBIN: Well, you know, John, the American president -- part of his power is his word. And what you can't have is an American president whose word can't be trusted -- can't even be understood. Threats like, for example, against Canada and Mexico that were then rescinded in exchange for items that these governments have already agreed to do months prior. And now we see the president talking about ideas that are out of -- out of left field. And so I think for foreign governments to try to figure out how to sign up, how to work with the United States, how to engage, they're going to be scratching their heads saying we don't really know what he's going to say from one day to the next.

And oh, by the way, he's eliminating his foreign assistance arm, USAID, which will likely be the entity tasked with doing much of this rebuilding. So it's completely incoherent from what he's doing right now here to the foreign policy of the United States.

BERMAN: What do you see Israel doing with these statements in the days and weeks ahead? I mean, President -- Prime Minister Netanyahu, who overnight said it's one of the great ideas -- new ideas he's heard. There are Israeli military officials saying they need to make plans for how to voluntarily resettle Palestinians. But what are the real world implications for Israel now?

RUBIN: Look John, you know, I think for the Israelis this is certainly a gift to Prime Minister Netanyahu. The most extreme members of his coalition are cheering about this idea. Because it basically takes off all pressure from Israel to be worried about exiting Gaza and to be worried about having some plan where potentially they could turn over Gaza to Palestinian governance.

And that's the -- that's the sort of discussion that needs to be had here, which is how to ensure that there is a safe, secure Gaza that does not threaten Israel, that is governed by the Palestinians in a way that the rest of the Arab world comes on board and builds peace with Israel. That's the discussion that needs to be had. And right now, what Trump has done is push that discussion off the table.

BERMAN: Joel Rubin, thanks for coming in this morning. Appreciate talking to you -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

This morning the bird flu outbreak hitting a new phase. Dairy cows in Nevada have now tested positive for a second strain of the H5N1 virus. This is the same strain that has been associated with severe infections in several human beings.

CNN medical correspondent Meg Tirrell is joining us now. This is very concerning. What does this mean for the effort to try to contain the spread of bird flu?

MEG TIRRELL CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Sara. I mean, it potentially makes that harder because before this point we had only seen a strain known as B3.13 circulating in dairy cattle. And that was thought to have been introduced one time from birds and then spread among cows. Now we are seeing a second strain that's been introduced from birds to cows -- this D1.1 strain.

And so it means that they are getting infected from birds more than we thought. This is the second known instance. We don't know if there potentially have been more. So that's concerning. But also, this particular strain is the one that has been seen in the few more severe cases of bird flu that we've seen in humans. Of course, there have been cases of D1.1 that people have caught from birds that have been mild but typically the B3.13 strain we've seen in cows -- when we've seen that go into humans that has been mild. And so there are concerns about this on multiple fronts.

Now, this was picked up through the USDA's National Milk Testing program, so they're bringing more states on board to just routinely test milk before it goes out. So in the last 30 days we've really seen these concentrated in Nevada and in California. So Nevada is where this strain was detected in cows.

In terms of people, we know that there have been 67 cases confirmed by the CDC. Most of those have been from workers with dairy cattle. The next most have been from workers with poultry. And then, of course, there have been some where we don't know the source of exposure. And there has been one death of somebody who was infected after having exposure to backyard flocks -- and that person, an elderly person in Louisiana, having the D1.1 strain, died.

So Sara, there's a lot of concern now. We're seeing this sort of new front of this new infection in cows -- Sara.

SIDNER: Just hearing it sort of gives shivers down your spine that this is not completely contained and that it's sort of morphing and changing.

Meg Tirrell, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.