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American Teacher Wrongfully Detained in Russia Freed in Exchange; Musk, Trump Defend Sweeping Efforts to Reshape Federal Government; Kash Patel Accused of Ousting FBI Officials Before Being Confirmed. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 12, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: An American returns home. A teacher wrongfully detained in Russia for over three years is back on U.S. Soil. Big questions, though, this morning about how that deal came together the terms of it to get Marc Fogel back home, as the president is also teasing, another American could be released today.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: A rare and oddly informal Q&A session with the DOGE chief in the Oval Office is President Trump and Elon must defend their efforts to overhaul the federal government. Critics are warning the tech giant and his team are gaining too much power with too little oversight.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, do you love your Golden Retriever? Well, that's too bad. The judges at the Westminster Dog Show don't. For the 119th straight time a Lab or Golden did not win, the prize goes to a Nepo baby named Monty.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN News Central.

And the breaking news overnight, American Mark Fogel back on U.S. soil last night. Clearly overwhelmed and clearly overcome by emotion, he stood alongside President Trump with an American flag draped over his shoulders. President Trump welcoming him home and to the White House now after three years of wrongful detention in Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC FOGEL, AMERICAN FREED FROM WRONGFUL DETENTION IN RUSSIA: I feel like the luckiest man on earth right now. And I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all, and President Trump is a hero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This morning, we are now standing by to really find out more. Possibly another detained American to be freed in the coming hours. That was suggested by the president last night. Who this person is, though, or when and where they will be released from, that is unclear. We're also waiting to find out how this deal to free Marc Fogel came together. Who or what Russia is getting in return. The Kremlin says a Russian citizen is being released as part of the exchange. But as you can see, there are a lot of questions still this morning.

Let's get right to Jennifer Hansler. She's got much more on this covering it all. What are you learning about -- what more are you learning about the terms of this deal to bring Marc Fogel home?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well, Kate, both sides of this deal being incredibly tight lipped on the details here. We know broadly based on a statement from the White House yesterday that this exchange as they called it was negotiated by President Trump as well as his special envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. Witkoff was the one who actually flew to Russia. to retrieve Marc Fogel yesterday.

But in terms of who or what was exchanged, both sides have really given very few answers. President Trump was asked about this last night repeatedly, and he did not give much indication about what was involved in this deal, and he teased that more details were to come. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Did the U.S. get anything in return?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Not much. No, they were very nice. We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually.

REPORTER: What were the terms of this deal, Mr. President?

TRUMP: Very fair. Very, very fair. Very reasonable. Not like deals you've seen over the years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANSLER: Meanwhile, Kate, this morning, the Kremlin did confirm that there was a Russian citizen who is going to be released. We heard from the Kremlin spokesperson just a little while ago. He said that a citizen of the Russian Federation will soon return to Russia who is currently being held in the United States. However, Peskov did not give any details about this person's identity. They said that they would not give that out until this person was released and back on Russian soil.

All this, of course, is a major departure from the different exchanges we've seen in the past over the past years under the Biden administration where we had this very tightly coordinated or almost bridge of spies exchange between the two sides where we'd see those tarmac exchanges in these third countries. This is very, very different than what we've seen in the past.

All that to say though, Kate, is there is good news here that Marc is returning home. He was detained over three years ago in Russia for carrying a bit of cannabis, and then he was sentenced to 14 years of hard labor. This was a sentence that his family was worried would be a death sentence for him to have to carry out there, Kate.

BOLDUAN: And now he is spending his first -- he'll be waking up for his first day back on U.S. soil.

[07:05:03]

You can imagine is a long road ahead but what a wonderful, wonderful morning it is for him and his family, But a lot more to come today.

Jennifer, great to see you, thank you so much.

And just a programming note to all of you, we are going to speak to Donald Trump, President Trump's Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, who led the negotiations in this deal, he's going to be joining the show in the 8:00 A.M. hour. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. An extraordinary show of power from inside the Oval Office from a man who has not been elected or had to even face confirmation hearings. Elon Musk appearing next to President Trump at the Resolute Desk. The two men defending the deep cuts they have made to government agencies and making sweeping claims of fraud among federal bureaucrats, although they have not yet provided any evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, CEO OF TESLA AND SPACEX, OWNER OF X: We have this unelected fourth unconstitutional branch of government, which is the bureaucracy, which has, in a lot of ways, currently, more power than any elected representative. And this is not something that people want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Musk there in a baseball cap with his son standing there beneath him. The president and Musk showing they are united and focused on the task of cutting costs, this as they look to quiet growing concerns about whether Musk has too much power when he has never been elected, as we mentioned.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House. Alayna, what was the big takeaway here from this meeting, which was interestingly or oddly sort of casual and informal in some ways?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and that's exactly how I know Elon Musk likes to do these types of things from the conversations I've had with people close to him. But, look, I actually find just that image of them together so striking, especially after we saw that TIME Magazine cover come out last week with that picture of Elon Musk sitting behind the Resolute Desk. Now, we saw in person Musk standing beside the Resolute Desk, obviously, with President Trump right next to him. Just such a striking moment, I think, an image of his growing influence that we're continuing to see grow every single day.

But, look, I also think a lot of this was really about the questions that Musk and DOGE and the Trump administration overall have been getting repeatedly about his power, his influence, and, again, as you mentioned, as someone who was an unelected official. I mean, I know on all corners of Washington, we're seeing people on Capitol Hill, we're seeing the courts all really challenging and being skeptical of some of what DOGE is doing. And this was an opportunity for us to stand there and take questions.

Now, it did seem almost like a surprise spur of the moment thing, but I did talk to a White House official, Sara, on Monday who told me that they were planning this. And part of this was to kind of peel back some of the mystique that surrounds Musk and DOGE overall.

Now, some reporters did ask questions to Musk directly about, you know, what exactly is your formula? What is the strategy for how you were determining what to cut, where to hunt down waste and abuse, as they call it, in the government? Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSK: What are the two ingredients that are really necessary in order to cut the budget deficit in half from $2 trillion to $1 trillion? And it's really two things, competence and caring. And if you add competence and caring, you'll cut the budget deficit in half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Competence and caring. Not really much to go off of there, Sara, but, look, another very interesting part of this as well was when he talked about transparency. He said that DOGE needs to be very transparent. But I would also argue that, you know, a lot of what we have learned from what Musk and DOGE are doing so far has been through sources coming to reporters like us and telling us where these people are showing up and what they are doing. So, I think there's still a lot of questions about some of that accountability. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes. I think we can be honest here. It hasn't been transparent. We've talked to so many federal employees who still don't understand what they are supposed to do at this point because they're not sure what's going to happen and what the directive actually is from the DOGE team. We will wait and see.

Thank you so much, Alayna Treene, for all your reporting there from the White House. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, a top Senate Democrat has called for an investigation after accusing Kash Patel, President Trump's pick for FBI director, of secretly orchestrating the firing of the Bureau's leadership before being confirmed for his role.

A new strain of bird flu that has been spreading in cows has now infected a human. We've got new details on how to keep yourself safe.

And a new announcement from NASA, two astronauts who have been stuck in space for more than eight months might finally be able to come home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:10:00]

BERMAN: This morning, new allegations against Kash Patel, President Trump's nominee to head the FBI, is facing accusations that he personally directed White House and DOJ officials on who should be fired from the FBI even though he has not been confirmed yet. The top Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dick Durbin says he received highly credible information from multiple sources. He is asking the Justice Department's inspector general to look into the claims just ahead of a critical vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow.

Let's get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz for the latest on this. What are you learning, Katelyn?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: John, this is about the question of whether Kash Patel, if and when he is confirmed as FBI director, is going to go on a retribution tour against people who worked on the cases that looked into Donald Trump.

[07:15:01]

So, all of this is breaking just a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee is going to take a closer look at Patel's nomination to be FBI director. He's already gone through some confirmation hearings, and so the votes are to come.

And one of the things that's happened at those confirmation hearings is there have been a lot of questions put to him. Are you going to get rid of people within the FBI just because of what they were assigned to work on? And what Dick Durbin, the ranking member on the Judiciary Committee is saying is that whistleblowers came to him and essentially provided a bunch of information, notes, information about a written list, information about phone calls that were being made, all about how Kash Patel was trying to force out certain senior leaders at the FBI a few weeks ago.

So, what Durbin articulated specifically is that at a meeting on January 29th among acting FBI leadership, there was a written list that was discussed from the FBI director's advisory team talking about certain officials that should be fired or gotten rid of or sidelined at the FBI, notes from that meeting that Durbin says he now has say that K.P., that's Kash Patel, wants movement at FBI and also additional action at the Justice Department.

And then also in that meeting, the acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, who is also up for a nomination to be a permanent leadership position at the FBI, was telling people that he was receiving calls from Stephen Miller over at the White House trying to push the idea that Kash Patel wanted certain people at the FBI out faster.

Why this is a problem? Durbin specifies that in a letter to the inspector general at the Justice Department wanting to kick up an investigation there internally, saying it is unacceptable for a nominee with no current role in government, much less at the FBI, to personally direct unjustified and potentially illegal, adverse employment actions against senior career FBI leadership and other dedicated nonpartisan law enforcement officers.

So, all of this coming before Patel is even voted on. His spokesperson say, this is all anonymous sources, secondhand gossip. The questions continue on as those votes are teed up. John?

BERMAN: Yes, they do. Katelyn Polantz, thanks for the reporting. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, what's happening right now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is in Europe, the first member of the new Trump administration to be meeting with NATO. The topic, Ukraine, his message, everyone other than the U.S., needs to do more.

And in a sure sign that spring is coming, not here yet, that's for darn sure, baseball's just around the corner.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Phoenix Suns superstar Kevin Durant has officially etched his name among basketball's all time greats. The two-time NBA champion is now just the eighth player in league history to score 30, 000 career points.

CNN's Coy Wire has much more on this. All rested up and back in the studio, my friend. Just how great is Kevin Durant?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: So great, 17 seasons in NBA, 15-time All Star, Kevin Durant is now part of a very short list of players who've joined this 30,000-point club. Let's check out the moment. He reached the mark. It was a free throw in the third quarter last night against the Grizzlies. There it is, Durant joining the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, Jordan, Kobe, Kareem and the league's all-time leading scorer LeBron.

He finished with a game high 34 points. It was a 119-112 loss to the Grizzlies, but check out after the final buzzer. Grizzlies star Ja Morant going over to K.D., handing him the game ball out of a sign of respect. Here he is after the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN DURNAT, PHOENIX SUNS FORWARD: It's a real honor to be in the same category as those players who've helped shape the game and push the game forward. And that's always been my goal is to get the most out of myself every day and most out of my career. So be mentioned with those guys means I'm doing something right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Let's go to the NHL. Instead of an all star weekend, the league has hit and paused on the regular season to host the Four Nations Faceoff Tournament. It features four of the world's top hockey powers, Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the U.S.

Boston Bruins teammates Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy, well, they've developed this tightly knit friendship over their careers, but now they'll be playing against each other, and they may very well meet up in the championship game, which would be in Boston a week from tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD MARCHAND, BOSTON BRUINS, TEAM CANADA FORWARD: It really is special. We're really looking forward to it. I can't wait to take a run at this guy finally, and, yes, it should be fun.

CHARLIE MCAVOY, BOSTON BRUINS, TEAM USA DEFENSEMAN: I enjoy being able to compete with him and against him in practice, but it'll be really cool to, to, you know, face off against him and be able to share that experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: You can watch Marchand and Team Canada take on Sweden tonight. Coverage starting at 7:00 Eastern on our sister channels TNT, TruTV, and streaming on MAX. We're keeping it all Boston for our boy John Berman this morning, Kate.

The calendar may say it's only February, but the boys of summer are getting warmed up as Red Sox pitchers and catchers have their first workouts today at Fenway South in sunny Fort Myers, Florida. Spring training games begin next Friday. Opening day is set for March 27th. It's good. Kate, that you kept John out of this segment because he would have waxed poetic about his Red Sox or cried.

[07:25:00]

For the rest of the show, your whole rundown would have been completely blown up.

BOLDUAN: Oh, not like he doesn't do it every day anyway, blowing up the rundown. But I did get a woo-hoo from backstage. But you know what? I like the idea of like spring training. We should take the entire network. The entire show should go to warmer climates during springtime.

It's good to see you, Coy.

WIRE: Sold, I'm in.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

SIDNER: You know, John had just peeked around the corner because he cannot stay out of it. He has to comment --

BOLDUAN: You stay back there --

SIDNER: -- on every sports story involving anything to do with Boston. BOLDUAN: It's even wider. Like you say the word, Massachusetts, he jumps out. He's like, what? You said my name?

SIDNER: Yes, it's literally what he does. He is scowling back there at the both of us. We can take it, though, can't we? We'll take him, Kate.

All right, coming up, transparency, Elon Musk saying that's a driving goal for DOGE during a pretty wild Oval Office meeting, an unusual one, to say the least. But the question that is sort of put to him, where is the transparency? And where is it when it comes to his own finances? We will talk about that.

Plus, CNN talks to farmers who are really concerned that they could be put out of business because of the bird flu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a death sentence. You know, you lose your cut, you don't have any eggs for three to four months at least. It's a nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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