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NWS and NOAA Receive Buyout Email; Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is Interviewed about DOGE; Omar Gonzalez-Pagan is Interviewed about the Transgender Ban. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired February 06, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

DIANE EVANS, JOB SEEKER: I think I should get based on the amount of work I'm putting in. It's crazy. I've applied to over 1,000 jobs in a year, which is crazy.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: And what is your success rate out of those 1,000 jobs of getting a callback?

EVANS: I'm probably being generous here, but maybe one call to 25 applications, maybe more.

YURKEVICH: This is a lot of work.

EVANS: A lot of work.

YURKEVICH: Like, how much time are you spending every day searching?

EVANS: I start my day probably 7:30-ish in the morning. The first thing I do is go on LinkedIn. Over 100 people have already clicked apply and they just posted it yesterday.

People will say to me, why don't you get any job? You know, you're such a snob. You have to be a VP. I've applied to Lowe's, Home Depot, Target, all kinds of stuff around here.

YURKEVICH: And what happened with that?

EVANS: Rejection letters. I got a rejection letter from Macy's being a spritzer person. I worked in Macy's when I was in college. Like, are you kidding me?

My older son, his friend got me a job as a ladies room attendant at a catering hall. A very high end catering hall. But the first week or so it was rough. I looked in the mirror and I cried.

YURKEVICH: How much are you making, like, an hour there at this job?

EVANS: $16.50

YURKEVICH: $16.50.

EVANS: Compared to the 100 I used to make. If you figure out my salary, it was a little bit over $100 an hour. Here's the Macy's.

YURKEVICH: Oh, this is the Macy's you used to work at?

EVANS: Yes. The one that rejected me. You know, I did think that I was going to be able to make a decent living to be able to save and, you know, have money for retirement. And now my job's gone, my money's gone and starting all over from scratch is scary.

YURKEVICH: Right.

EVANS: Oh, here we are.

YURKEVICH: Oh, this is charming.

EVANS: This isn't exactly the life I envisioned, but I'm trying to make lemon drop martinis out of lemons.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: And so I spoke to so many more individuals like Diane. She is not the only one. We just profiled Diane to kind of show what was going on.

But it's interesting because this is the jobs market that many of the federal workers who are taking buyouts or are going to be laid off are moving into right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

YURKEVICH: We also don't know what the jobs market is going to look like in the coming months because there are so many different policy proposals and things that have already gone into effect from the Trump administration. Tariffs. Does that mean businesses are going to pull back on hiring because they have to spend more on tariffs? Does that mean that because of the immigration conversation, are business going to decide that they're not going to be hiring immigrants as much because they're fearful about being on the wrong side of the Trump administration? There's so many different factors at play.

But what we are seeing is that people are simply having trouble finding good jobs right now. And I think a lot of this is about also age. Companies -

SIDNER: I was going to say, that's the elephant in the room in this case.

YURKEVICH: Companies want to hire for less money, junior positions, to save money, understandably. But that leaves people like Diane in a predicament. She's been in her career for over 30 years. What does she do now? Where does she start over again? A big question. And just the emotional impact. Spending the day with Diane, you can definitely see it.

SIDNER: Yes, from - from - from those I know who have - who have lost their jobs, getting a job is a full time job. YURKEVICH: Yes.

SIDNER: And age is a huge factor whether or not the companies want to admit it or not. People who are older who have experience are taking some of that experience off their resumes to appear younger. It's a lot.

YURKEVICH: Yes.

SIDNER: Thank you so much. That was a great story, Vanessa.

YURKEVICH: Thank you. Thank you.

SIDNER: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us, the National Weather Service facing deep cuts, triggering fears now over what that could mean for critical weather forecasts and warnings for all of us.

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[09:38:35]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the National Weather Service now in the sights of Elon Musk's team employees received so-called buyout emails at a time when they already have the lowest staffing in decades.

Let's get right to meteorologist Derek Van Dam. The National Weather Service, NOAA, you know, we, and thousands, depend on their forecasts for severe weather, for hurricanes, things like that.

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, absolutely. Critical information that they create. John. And with the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and the National Weather Service, if we have this understaffed personnel, if we start cutting back more individuals, that means the potential for missing life-saving and property saving information that these meteorologists and researchers are responsible for communicating to the public and causing action for saving life and property, right?

But remember, these meteorologists are not only responsible for the weather forecasts, they're also responsible for the delivery of the hardware, right? So, people who protect this infrastructure, let's say the radars that we look at that cause and help with that life-saving information. What about the weather balloons that actually create the data that goes into the weather forecast models that we, as meteorologists, look to? So, if we start cutting that, the potential there exists to lose that time-sensitive component to these forecasts that we rely so heavily on.

Remember, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles were the first group of meteorologists to warn the public of a strong Santa Ana wind event and subsequent fire event in Los Angeles a couple of weeks ago.

[09:40:06] Now we look forward to the upcoming tornado season this spring and into the hurricane season in the summer and fall. If we don't have those meteorologists, what do we do?

John.

BERMAN: And, Derek, there is some - I'm looking at a map here. There is some severe weather in the Northeast, actually from the Midwest to the Northeast this morning.

VAN DAM: Yes, that's right, John. And this is so critical because it's those meteorologists whose jobs are on the line that are actually issuing the current warnings that are in place right now.

We have a tornado watch that's in place across portions of Kentucky. Several severe thunderstorm warnings issued by human meteorologists. And also these flash flood warnings and flash flood emergencies that were in place across Charleston, West Virginia, earlier today. This is all part of a larger winter storm that's bringing ice to the mid- Atlantic and snow to the upper portions of the Northeast.

But again, if we start cutting the meteorologists, the personnel and the staff, John, it's going to make it more difficult to communicate those hazards to the public.

BERMAN: Yes, harder to stay safe.

Derek Van Dam, thanks so much for the work that you do. Appreciate it, my friend.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, breaking overnight, Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency agreeing in court to limited access in the Treasury's payment system. It comes after a private concern sparked a lawsuit from unions representing federal workers.

Florida Congressman Jared Moskowitz is joining us now.

Jared, thank you so much.

I know this has been an extremely, maybe excruciatingly busy time as you see all of the things coming down the pike. I want to start with this, though, is Trump's demand for names from the CIA, that the CIA has now turned over in an unclassified email, the first name and last initial of the agents, a threat to the agents' security and a threat to national security, in your mind?

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Yes, thanks - thanks for having me this morning.

Yes, obviously, look, there's dramatic concern about how this information is being passed and how it's happening so fast. And so the answer to that is possibly, if it's not being done in a sensitive manner, then, yes, obviously, we could have agents exposed.

And, you know, look, that's what's going on in general. This stuff is happening so quickly without transparency.

Look, I agree with the mission of DOGE. It's why I joined the caucus. I think Americans want to see government spend less money and become more efficient. I think that's a bipartisan - a bipartisan issue. But I think how they're doing it is the problem.

And you don't have to listen to me. Listen to the data. These guys are data guys, right? "The Economist," in November, said that Republicans, these are all - just Republicans, 47 percent of them wanted Elon Musk very involved with the government. That number today, that same poll by "The Economist" is now 26. Just with Republicans.

So, you don't have to listen to Democrats like me, listen to Republicans. Republicans by 20 pints want Elon Musk less involved with the Trump administration. So, it's how they're doing it.

Article One of the Constitution preserves all this stuff for Congress. Again, another data point.

I want to find all of these things. We can audit all of these departments. We can find wasteful spending. But only Congress is going to solve this problem. And I'll prove it. Go to the debt clock right now. Has the debt clock reversed? You know what, ask me in two weeks, has the debt clock reversed based on what they're doing in the executive? Ask me in two months, has the debt clock reversed based on what they're doing in the executive? And the answer is going to be no on all of those times. Only Congress can solve this. So, until the administration reaches out to Congress and Democrats, because they can't do anything in the House without Democratic votes, we're actually not going to solve these problems.

But listen, I agree with the mission of DOGE. We should try to find wasteful spending wherever we can.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about Donald Trump and him demanding the names of the thousands of FBI agents and leadership who worked on the - the thousand plus January 6th rioter cases.

Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said FBI agents who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner do not face the risk of being fired. Do you believe him?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, obviously, we don't want to see revenge in these departments, but also, let's be a little honest, is this a surprise? I mean Donald Trump told us he was going to do this. He said that. He said, right, I'm going to go and get rid of the people at the FBI that weaponized the FBI. And so, I would say that issue was on the ballot. He told the American people he was going to do it. They're now doing it. That doesn't mean that I support it. It doesn't mean that I like it. But he said he was going to do that. Just like he -

SIDNER: Is this revenge, Congressman? Do you see this as revenge and vengeance and retribution as Donald Trump promised he would net out?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, obviously, if they get rid of the people that only worked on the cases that went after Donald, then, obviously, you know, connect the dots where you will.

But he told the American people he was going to do this, right? The EO he signed on the Department of Education, which, again, he can't get rid of without Congress. But the EO he signed on the Department of Education, he told the American people he was going to do that.

I know that we've been outraged over, you know, 50 things, which is their point, flood the zone, overload us.

[09:45:03]

But on all - a lot of those, he told the American people he was going to do it. So, I just don't know why we're - we're surprised.

SIDNER: Here's something he did not tell the American people he was going to do, and he said that he was going to own Gaza, go in with the military, send out the Palestinians to other countries. Do you think that's a good idea?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, let me make two points on this. First point is, is that, look, this is a sad state of affairs for the Palestinian people. And here's what I mean by that. Their leadership has failed them now for 50 plus years. Yasser Arafat turning down peace deals that could have given them a state, could have given them a way to the future. You have Hamas now basically destroying Gaza because they launched a war on October 7th. The leadership of the Palestinian people have put them in this terrible position.

That being said, there's not going to be boots on the ground in Gaza. That's not going to happen.

I do think Donald Trump is trying to shake the system. We know how he likes to negotiate. It is unorthodox. And I think what he's trying to do is he's trying to get the Arab neighbors to step up and take more responsibility in rebuilding Gaza, in the security of - of Gaza. And he's saying, look, if you don't want to do it, then we're going to do it. And we already know that Jordan and Egypt and - and some of the other countries out there don't want to do some of those things.

And so, I think this is a shock to the system and a real proposal. But let me say one more point, this is - this is, I think, really critical, right? This is also part of the strategy, the brilliance of Donald Trump, what he does to - through the media and up here on Capitol Hill, he treats us all like ADHD kids, right? That like, squirrel. Oh, we're going to buy Greenland, over here. Oh, we're going to take Gaza, over here. Oh, we're going to buy TikTok, over here. Oh, Canada is going to be the 51st state, over here, right? And while all of that's going on, there's real stuff that's actually happening that they can accomplish.

SIDNER: But it's -

MOSKOWITZ: And so, you know, this is not going to happen. This - go ahead.

SIDNER: Congressman, it sounds like that you have tacit sort of approval of him making these bold statements about owning Gaza. Is that what I heard?

MOSKOWITZ: No. What I'm saying is, it's not going to happen, right? I mean we're not going to own Gaza. So, the more we spend time on his statement of, we're going to own Gaza, the less - the less time we can spend on the real things that are happening.

What I am saying is, I do think this is a negotiating tactic of his, trying to get the Arab world to do more on the future of Gaza. Just like what he did with NATO in the last administration. I didn't like it, but he did get those countries to put more money into NATO.

And so, look, if he's able to get the Arab countries to put more money into Gaza, into the reconstruction of Gaza, all right, to have a future for the Palestinian people in some fashion, then great. But we're not going to have boots on the ground.

By the way, if you don't have boots on the ground, let's just talk about this logistically. How do you get Gaza? Where do you buy it? Is it on Amazon? I mean, so, like, this is - we're - we're - we're talking about something that isn't happening. So, like, let's move on to a new topic.

SIDNER: All right, Congressman Moskowitz, thank you so much. Appreciate you coming on this morning.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, President Trump also signing new executive - a new executive order continuing his campaign against transgender rights. And now several of his moves are facing new lawsuits and legal challenges.

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[09:52:37]

BOLDUAN: Rolling back transgender rights has been a key focus of President Trump's agenda so far. Wednesday he signed an executive order intended on banning transgender athletes from participating in girl's and women's sports. That is the latest of a series of similar moves by the Trump administration since taking office. Trump signed an executive order seeking to define sex as only male or female. He's banned transgender service members from the military, and he signed an executive order aimed at cutting federal support for gender transitions for people under age 19. And these actions are facing several legal challenges.

Joining us right now is Omar Gonzalez-Pagan, senior counsel for Lambda Legal, one of the groups suing the administration on behalf of two transgender young - two transgender youths, as well as several families with transgender minors, is that right?

OMAR GONZALEZ-PAGAN, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING TRANS YOUNG ADULTS AND PARENTS: That's right, two young adults and five families, including their adolescent children.

BOLDUAN: What is driving the lawsuits, Omar? What do these families say that Donald Trump's executive orders are doing?

GONZALEZ-PAGAN: Well, I think we need to focus on the harms that are being placed on these families. This is pulling the rug out from under them. This is care that is well-established, safe and effective. And not only that, every person should have their health care needs met. Here, this order has caused some hospitals to prematurely cut off their services, abandoning these patients, and really cause harm, endangering their health and well-being of these adolescents and young adults who have been waiting to be able to get the care that they need.

BOLDUAN: Because - and specifically we're talking about - one of the legal challenges you're involved - that you guys are - are involved with is prohibiting federal funding from covering transition related medical care, which includes puberty blockers, hormone therapy, surgery for children under 19. And the - you talk about the harm that this - that this is causing to families. Is it already happening?

GONZALEZ-PAGAN: Absolutely. It's already happening. But I do want to clarify, because it's so important to confront the misinformation out there. When we're talking about minors, we're really talking about medications. We're talking about the access to puberty blockers or hormones that will help them develop in a way that is consistent with who they are. Surgery is incredibly rare, and usually top surgery at most for a minor.

[09:55:01]

When we're talking to adults, we may be talking surgery, and this order does affect some adults, people who are 19, who are of legal age to vote, to join our military, to serve our country, but yet they're not provided - they're not given the ability to consent to the medical care that they need.

BOLDUAN: You're fighting this in court right now. At the same time, you look at, across the country, more than half of the states across the United States already have enacted some laws or policies restricting gender affirming care for minors. How does that fit into your overall effort?

GONZALEZ-PAGAN: Well, this is an attempt to blackmail, coerce institutions across this country to abandon this patient population. Most of this care, as recommended by the guidelines, wants to be - has to be multidisciplinary, has to occur in settings that allow for collaboration between all kinds of health care professionals. That's why it happens in many hospitals. And now they're being coerced of being pulled all federal funding, funding that may not relate in any way to gender affirming care, to not provide this care for this patient population.

BOLDUAN: The latest executive order, the one where he's moving to ban transgender athletes from playing in women's sports, that really - that issue in particular really became a rallying cry for Republicans in the election. Do you see that particular issue as different from the transgender issues that you're - that you're suing the administration over? GONZALEZ-PAGAN: Certainly it is part of a campaign. An unrelenting,

horrible campaign by this administration to systematically prevent transgender people from participating in our society. But it is an order - the athletes order, it is an order that, a, doesn't do anything, and, b, ultimately is creating a problem where there is none. Even the president of the NCAA has testified to Congress that of the thousands of transgender athletes in collegiate sports, there are only less than ten transgender athletes. And nobody is talking about people who are winning races or anything like that. These are people who are trying to participate with their peers, participate in sports that they love, so that they can develop the leadership skills, the teamwork skills that allow us to be successful human beings in society.

BOLDUAN: Let's see where these lawsuits, where these lawsuits go as you're leading the charge on this.

Thank you for coming in, Omar.

GONZALEZ-PAGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

And thank you all so much for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" is up next.

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