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Thousands Of USAID Employees Given Just 15 Minutes To Vacate Workstations; Trump To Meet With British PM Keir Starmer At The White House; Meta Apologizes, Americans With Disabilities Warn Protections Are Vanishing In Trump's DEI Rollback; Fixes Glitch That Caused Violent Video Recommendations On Reels. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired February 27, 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]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: You can see the signs being held there. They were given 15 minutes within a designated one hour window to pack their things and get out.
This is happening hours after the Supreme Court gave the Trump administration a temporary victory and granted an emergency request to pause $2 billion in court ordered payments to foreign aid contractors. CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Washington D.C. outside of USAID headquarters.
What are you hearing as people have to go in and get their belongings in 15 minutes time?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sara, it's really been an emotional moment for many of the staffers who are coming here today to collect their belongings at USAID. We have seen several federal workers who were either fired or placed on administrative leave coming to collect their belongings.
As you mentioned, they have about a 15-minute window to pick up any items from their office that they want to take home with them. And we are outside of the headquarters right now where as you can see behind me, dozens of people have assembled to try to offer their support for those USAID workers who are now leaving their jobs.
I spoke a few minutes ago with a young woman named Julianne Alphin. She was participating in the Presidential Management Fellows here at USAID, which President Trump terminated just a few days ago. Here is how she described her experience throughout this process. Now she came here to pick up her belongings today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIANNE ALPHIN (ph), USAID WORKER: It's been horrible. There's been like little to no communication with us. We're being treated terribly. I'm worried about overseas staff coming back. I've heard there's a little to no communication with them. There's been no like off boarding with us. It's just been very sudden. One day being locked out of the building, the next being told you're on admin leave, things like that. It's been very difficult.
SAENZ: So what was it like coming back here today?
ALPHIN (ph): Heartbreaking. Walking in the building and seeing all the pictures of our projects that were taken down. Work like getting children vaccines or providing food aid, things that really matter, being treated as if they're nothing. It's really hard to see what do.
SAENZ: What do you think the future of --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ: And so that just provides one slice, one window -- that provides one window into how so many of these federal workers who are being impacted by these cuts and agencies and also efforts to reduce the workforce, how they have been impacted. We know that just on Sunday about 2,000 staffers with USAID were laid off and many more were placed on administrative leave.
This is really been a very uncertain period for so many federal workers in government at a time when the Trump administration has pledged to make cuts at agencies and also trying to reduce the workforce overall.
SIDNER: A lot of emotions there at USAID, which has basically been dismantled. Arlette Saenz, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us right now is Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts. It's good to see you, Congressman. And on the purge that continues, you actually have an op- ed out this morning about the administration's purge over at the Pentagon and the dangers of moves like pushing out senior military leadership with no cause.
Let me read it for our viewers. In part, you write the issue is that Trump doesn't care about the rule of law. So he doesn't want military officers who do care about it getting in his way. And that's the difference between a monarchy or dictatorship and a democracy. Another term for what Trump is doing is blatantly politicizing our armed services.
But right now, it is not stopping. He is not being stopped from those moves. What do you think the real impact will be on the military?
REP. SETH MOULTON (D-MA): Well, the devastating impact would be if long term, the troops lose faith in their leadership. They lose faith because they believe that people were promoted not out of merit, not out of a commitment to service, not out of the fact that they take an oath to defend the Constitution, but because they're just loyal to Trump. And that's the way King's armies work.
And let's be clear, his secretary of defense has clearly said as much. When asked about these firings, Secretary Hegseth said he's trying to remove roadblocks to what needs to get done. Well, one of those route roadblocks were the senior JAGs, the senior lawyers in the Pentagon, the ones who tell their officers and the secretary of defense whether they're following the law. They want them out of the way so that they don't have to follow the law going forward.
[09:35:00]
BOLDUAN: Another thing that is facing, well, and it gets to funding of all sorts is the budget blueprint, the budget fight that is now entering really a new phase. It's kind of like the reality phase of what Republicans are going to be able to pull off amongst themselves as there are differences between the House and the Senate.
Last night, Speaker Mike Johnson was on CNN. He insisted that Republicans will not be making cuts to entitlements to pay for the Trump agenda. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: The White House has made a commitment. The president said over and over, we're not going touch Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. We've made the same commitment. Now, that said, what we are going to do is go into those programs and carve out the fraud, waste and abuse and find efficiencies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Do you believe them? Do you believe that they will not be cutting any entitlements? How do you hold them to it since you don't want those programs cut?
MOULTON: Well, first of all, no, of course I don't believe them. I mean, this is the president who said he was going to end the war in Ukraine on day one, who said egg prices were going to come down. They're going up. He's made any number of lies throughout his campaign, throughout his first presidency and throughout this one. You can't trust him. His vice president, J.D. Vance, said the January 6 protesters and assailants, the conspirators who attacked the Capitol, would not be freed.
I mean, this administration lies all the time. But what's really remarkable is how they've gotten all these Republicans in Congress to just join in lying alongside them. They absolutely plan to cut Medicaid. They've made that very clear. They have to come up with this money to give tax cuts to billionaires somehow.
And ordinary Americans, middle class Americans, are going to be footing the bill. We know that's going to happen. So I'm afraid these Republicans just aren't telling the truth yet again.
BOLDUAN: Congressman, though, is eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, finding efficiencies and more efficiencies in the entitlement programs. Do you think that amounts to a cut to the program in your view? I mean, said another way, like would any changes or reforms to Medicaid be OK?
MOULTON: Absolutely. And I'm not afraid to say that as a Democrat, there are some Democrats who say you can't touch any of this. I've always been a champion of modernizing government. In fact, I have signed on to the Social Security 2100 Act that ensures Social Security will be able to survive. So that it's there not just for my parents who are using it now, but for me and for my kids, which today it won't.
So we do have to make reforms to these programs, but we don't need to cut benefits that Americans are depending on right now. And that's what Republicans are setting out to do with these massive cuts to pay for their billionaire tax cuts.
BOLDUAN: Congressman, I just had a member of Ukraine's parliament on talking about the meeting today and most more importantly the meeting tomorrow between Zelenskyy and President Trump. And she basically said without security guarantees, no deal matters because nothing is -- because it's not -- nothing's going to be enforceable if there are not security guarantees coming from the United States and the Trump administration.
I want to play for you what Donald Trump said about the meeting and about, well, him setting up the meeting with what he said about security guarantees yesterday. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I'm not going to make security guarantees beyond very much. We're going to have Europe do that because it's in, you know, we're talking about Europe is the next door neighbor. But we're going to make sure everything goes well. And as you know, we'll be making a -- will be really partnering with Ukraine in terms of rare earth. We very much need rare earth. They have great rare earth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: One thing not in dispute is how critical this face to face is between President Zelenskyy and President Trump tomorrow. I mean, the Ukrainian member of parliament basically said that like Ukraine's future agreed. When I said, do you think Ukraine's future hinges on this meeting? What do you think Trump is setting up for with this meeting?
MOULTON: I think Trump setting up to sell out to Putin. That's what he's done. It's what he did in his first term, it's what he's doing now. It's just truly extraordinary that a commander in chief of the United States is siding with a murderous dictator who started this war. But that's exactly what Trump is doing.
And on top of that, let's not forget that back in his first term, he was trying to swindle Zelenskyy. Remember when he was trying to get a quid pro quo to go after Biden. That's what led to the first impeachment inquiry. Well, now he's trying to swindle Zelenskyy again. Ukraine is attacked by Russia. Russia should be footing the bill for Ukraine's rebuilding, not Ukraine.
I mean, imagine if someone came and burned down your house and they caught that person and said, oh, no, you're not going to pay for it. Kate, you're going to pay for rebuilding your house because some other guy burned it down. That's what Trump is doing when he's extracting this mineral deal out of Ukraine. It's immoral, it's unpatriotic, it's unAmerican, and it only
encourages Putin to go further. So without security guarantees, get ready, Eastern Europe. You're going to be next.
[09:40:05]
BOLDUAN: One thing's for sure. From Ukraine to Russia to the United States, how those two men address each other talk. And what they say coming out of that meeting is going to be listened to very closely. Congressman, thank you very much for coming in.
MOULTON: You're welcome.
BOLDUAN: Thank you. So Americans with disabilities are sounding the alarm on President Trump's purge of DEI protections. Why? They're saying the administration's latest actions could undermine accessibility and dismantle their rights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: As President Trump rolls back diversity, equity and inclusion protections, Americans with disabilities are raising their concerns about how the Trump administration's actions could make their day to day life more challenging.
[09:45:07]
And how threats to eliminate the Department of Education and cut Medicaid could potentially reverse some of the progress made over the last several decades. Joining me now is Katy Neas. She is the CEO of the nonprofit The Arc, which was -- which is filled with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I know you work on behalf of them.
Can you give us some sense of how Trump's DEI purges are affecting people with disabilities?
KATY NEAS, CEO, THE ARC OF THE UNITED STATES: Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me on. I'd like to just remind your viewers that disability is a natural part of the human experience. All of us at some point in our life, whether it's due to age or illness or injury, are likely to experience a disability.
And disability does not discriminate. All families are affected by disability, regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, income or political party. So people with disabilities are in our families, in our communities every day and are part of the group of people that we all love.
SIDNER: What is your organization seeing and hearing from people with disabilities who are being impacted by some of these new policies from the Trump administration?
NEAS: People are very concerned. They're concerned that their kids with disabilities who have the right to attend the public school and get a good education are not going to get it. They're very concerned that the health care that they get from the Medicaid program is going to be taken away.
They're very concerned that the services that Medicaid provides, especially to adults that allow them to live at home and not in an institution are going to be cut back. And just in general, they're very concerned about what these policies mean for their families, for their independence and for their future.
SIDNER: The Republicans in the House are proposing $880 billion cuts to Medicaid. With that amount of money, I mean, we're talking nearly a trillion dollars to be cut out of Medicaid. Is that something that is just going to dismantle Medicaid, in your opinion?
NEAS: These cuts are dramatic. These are not small cuts. And I want folks to know what Medicaid really does. Medicaid will pay for a newborn with down syndrome who has a heart condition and may need one or two surgeries. Medicaid will pay for that same baby with down syndrome that needs physical therapy to gain strength to learn to sit up and crawl and walk. Medicaid pays for speech therapy for kids with language delays. Medicaid pays for basic health care for people with disabilities that they can't otherwise get.
We don't want those things to be taken away from people with disabilities and their families. And that's what's the potential of these cuts. I just saw your clip this morning that some in Congress are saying they can find cuts from waste, fraud and abuse. I'm not convinced that's accurate. I don't. I think we have dramatic unmet needs within the Medicaid program and that what we need is people need more access to these services and not less.
SIDNER: There is this argument made when looking at Medicare and Medicaid that there's something like $100 million in unapproved payments and they're trying to figure out where that money is. Isn't there some argument that you have to start looking at the fraud more deeply?
NEAS: Here's what I would say. We have laws that establish a set of services for people. We need the people who are responsible for ensuring that the law is effectively implemented to do their job. And that's in large part what the federal government is supposed to do, is to make sure that states are overseeing contractors, that they are following the rules.
It is not people with disabilities that need to bear the brunt of that. We need government to be effective, absolutely. But to be effective is not just to cut services away from people who need them to live with independence.
SIDNER: Katy Neas, thank you so much for your perspective on all of this. And speaking on behalf of those who perhaps are unable to speak with for themselves, really appreciate you coming on this morning.
All right, users say graphic video showing people being murdered and maimed in a timeline of their Instagram reels that they never asked for.
[09:50:00] How did this happen? Meta is responding this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: All right, this just in. Social media platform Meta apologizing for an error that resulted in flooding Instagram feeds with graphic content. For some users they were suggested content that showed people being killed. CNN's Clare Duffy is tracking this one.
I had to read this a few times to believe what I was saying. What's happened here?
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, it's really disturbing. People said that on their Instagram reels feed the short form video feature. They were getting these videos that had sensitive warnings, videos showing people being maimed or killed. Really violent graphic content.
[09:55:06]
And Meta said this was a glitch. It's an error that it is fixing. A spokesperson told me that we have fixed an error that caused some users to see content in their Instagram Reels feed that should not have been recommended. We apologize for the mistake.
But this comes at a time when Instagram is trying to feed more people, get more people using its short form video feature as TikTok's future is in question. So not a great look. And it also comes as Instagram and Meta more broadly have made big changes to their content moderation policies. The company, for example, has rolled back some of its automated screening of violative content and said that only the worst violations would be automatically taken down.
And Mark Zuckerberg himself, the CEO, acknowledged that could lead to more harmful content on the platform. Now, we don't know that played a role in this situation. It may really have just been a glitch, but not a great look for the company right now.
SIDNER: I was curious, like, what do they have it? What do they have people being killed and like --
BOLDUAN: What's the glitch? I think part of, and we talk about this all the time, it's not just when an error occurs, it's how quickly they recognize, stop and correct in these errors that I often think is an important show. There's like, how quick, how long was this happening?
DUFFY: I mean, so far as we know, it was happening a lot of yesterday. And there were, I mean, thousands of reports of this on Twitter, people talking about it. And so it was pretty widespread before they were able to get a handle on it is.
BOLDUAN: Thanks for bringing it to us.
SIDNER: All right, thank you, Clare, and thank you for joining us. We will not show you any murder or mayhem, only love. That's what we're showing. BOLDUAN: We are murder and mayhem.
SIDNER: CNN Newsroom is up next.
BOLDUAN: Now we have another nick --
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