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Judge Halts Musk's DOGE Access to Treasury Payment System; Israel Condemns Frail Appearance of Newly Released Hostages; Ukraine's Options Narrow As Trump Pushes for Peace Talks; Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting "Anti-Christian Bias;" New York Gov. Temporarily Closes Live Bird Markets. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired February 09, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:33]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

Elon Musk's team of cost-cutters just hit a roadblock. Why a federal judge stopped them from getting access to sensitive Treasury Department data. New concerns over the state of Israeli hostages released from captivity. We'll look at the response to the images out of Gaza. And President Trump says he's in communication with his Russian counterpart. We'll have a report from Kharkiv as Ukraine and Russia approach three years at war.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: A U.S. judge is blocking Elon Musk and his DOGE agency from accessing a core payment system used by the Treasury Department. This comes amid President Donald Trump's sweeping plan to dismantle the federal workforce. On Saturday, the court ordered Musk's team to also destroy any information they've downloaded from the system saying there's risk of irreparable harm.

It's used to distribute tax returns, social security benefits, and disability payments, as well as federal workers' salaries. The White House is slamming the decision, calling it judicial overreach.

CNN's Betsy Klein is following the latest developments.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: President Trump ran and won in 2024 on slashing waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. And as part of those plans, he has really empowered Elon Musk and the so-called DOGE Department of Government Efficiency. So we are starting to see DOGE employees deploy into different government departments and start going through different systems, including this very sensitive Treasury Department payment system.

Now, New York Attorney General Letitia James and 18 other state attorneys general filed a lawsuit that contended that Musk's associates, who were categorized as special government employees, were unlawfully granted access to that Treasury system. And a U.S. District Court judge temporarily restricted the DOGE team from that system. That judge cited risks to sensitive and confidential information, as well as vulnerability to hacking.

Now, the White House lambasted that ruling on Saturday in a new statement. Spokesman Harrison Fields telling CNN, quote, "These frivolous lawsuits are akin to children throwing pasta at the wall to see if it will stick. Grandstanding government efficiency speaks volumes about those who'd rather delay much-needed change with legal shenanigans than work with the Trump administration of breeding the government of waste, fraud, and abuse.

Now, for his part, President Trump himself appears to be pleased with the work that Musk and his team are doing. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, I wonder what you make of the criticism from Democrats that these staff reductions, the cuts that Elon Musk and DOGE are doing are an unlawful power grab. Is there anything you've told Elon Musk he cannot touch?

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, we haven't discussed that much. I'll tell him to go here, go there. He does it. He's got a very capable group of people. Very, very, very, very capable. They know what they're doing. They'll ask questions, and they'll see immediately as somebody gets tongue-tied that they're either crooked or don't know what they're doing. We have very smart people going, and so I've instructed him, go into education, go into military, go into other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, Trump's team overall has much confidence in its ability to defend itself from these lawsuits, but a hearing is next scheduled for Friday, February 14th on the matter.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now, several sources tell CNN that U.S.-funded aid work around the world has largely been brought to a standstill. The Trump administration's 90-day freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid continues into a third week. Secretary of State Marco Rubio claims he's issued a blanket waiver for lifesaving programs, but multiple aid workers and contractors with the U.S. Agency for International Development say that doesn't reflect the situation on the ground. It comes after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Trump's plans to put thousands of USAID employees on leave.

Joining us now is Thomas Gift, Director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London. Good to see you again.

So, getting rid of the organization that protects consumers, cutting the team that fights foreign election interference, all of these things, it seems as though Musk and the Trump administration, they're getting rid of all of the guardrails. You know, clearly one of the goals here is to remove as much oversight as possible, both on businesses and on politicians as well.

[05:05:14]

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTER ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, thanks so much for having me, Kim. It's great to be with you. And I think that that's obviously a problem. I mean, these organizations were established for a reason. They provide important protections for consumers.

But you're right that essentially what Trump and Musk specifically is doing is just sidelining any kind of oversight. I mean, we've seen that time and time and time again, whether it's in some of these agencies that you're referring to, or whether it's kind of removing the security clearances of top officials trying to install loyalists. You know, this is really Trump executing his plan. And I think to some extent Democrats have been caught flat footed.

BRUNHUBER: Now, it seems up to the legal system basically to -- to stop it, the federal judge has blocked most Trump administration officials from accessing Treasury records. The playbook here seems to be for the Trump team to kind of move fast and get in before the courts can stop them.

GIFT: I think you're absolutely right. I mean, DOGE particularly raises so many questions about what Elon Musk's real authority is, what type of sensitive information he has access to. The federal judge said in his ruling that by handing over Treasury's payment and data systems to Musk's team, there was a possibility of doing irreparable harm, which is really strong language.

And, you know, just practically basically full access to the federal government data, to aides who work for Musk really should raise alarm bells. But I think you're right. I mean, Musk is sort of going in there quick, try to attack, right, flood the zone very, very fast.

And essentially, you know, Democrats are going to have to rely on the court system to block this, which tends to be quite slow.

BRUNHUBER: Are you getting any sense that there might be opposition brewing from any Republicans to what Musk is doing? I mean, it seems like if there has been criticism, it's generally been pretty muted.

GIFT: Yeah, I think Republicans are almost fully in line with Donald Trump. We know that the Republican Party is fully Trumpified. And so most of the criticism has come from Democrats.

You know, for Trump, I think that this is basically the playbook of his former strategist, Steve Bannon, who always said attack relentlessly, basically create so many stories, so much activity, and do it at a velocity and scale that no one can latch on to anything. And that's really what we're seeing. You know, Democrats don't know what to focus on. It's USAID, tariffs. Canada is the 51st state, the emergency declaration at the U.S.-Mexico border, seizing Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal. I mean, it's all really coming at Democrats at a breakneck speed. It's just this firehose of policies and rhetoric. And I really think that they don't know which way to turn. So it's been disorienting.

BRUNHUBER: So, yeah, if they don't know what to focus on, I mean, it seems as if one thing that they are focusing on is Elon Musk, right? Sort of, you know, getting more opposition, I guess, around him versus Donald Trump. Is that a winning strategy for Democrats, do you think?

GIFT: Well, you're absolutely right. If you look at polling data, Elon Musk's approvals are going down as Donald Trump's are staying more or less constant. I'm not sure if that ultimately is an effective strategy. You know, still, at the end of the day, Elon Musk is technically in an advisory role. And so it's Donald Trump who is having all of this authority. He's delegating it to Musk.

I still think that there's going to be some clash between Musk and Trump. They're just too big of egos. And I think whether that's over personality or a policy dispute, they're just not going to be able to maintain that relationship over time. And so I think Democrats risk, if they kind of put all of their eggs into attacking Musk, that once that relationship breaks down, they're still Trump with very high approval ratings.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll leave it there. I always appreciate getting your analysis. Thomas Gift, thank you so much.

GIFT: Thanks, Kim.

Many Israelis are expressing shock over the frail appearance of the three hostages Hamas released on Saturday. Now, look, you can see the difference in these images showing the men before they were abducted and when they were released 491 days later.

In Tel Aviv, protesters are calling for all the hostages to be released. Some say they're more worried now after seeing the god appearance of the men released on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANIS PARTOCK, PROTESTER: It was pretty complex today. On the one hand, we were very happy to see the release of the three hostages after so many days. But their physical condition was very poor and quite heartbreaking. And it gives a lot of concerns about the conditions of the other hostages still in captivity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:10:01]

BRUNHUBER: The family of murdered Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin is appealing to U.S. President Donald Trump to help free the hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JON GOLDBERG-POLIN, FATHER OF SLAIN HOSTAGE HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: We need to do more. And I'm turning directly to President Trump and to Mr. Witkoff. You have shown that you are the only ones who have been able to get this situation moving, moving forward. And my plea to you, our plea to you right now is now that you've done the hard part of getting movement, getting a deal started, let's not think about phase one and phase two and phase three in many months. Let's think bigger and faster. All 76 hostages out this week, end of war. Who benefits from dragging it out for so long? Not the people of this region. Let's get it done right now. Thank you.

RACHEL GOLDBERG-POLIN, MOTHER OF SLAIN HOSTAGE HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: Godspeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Our Jeremy Diamond has more on the hostage and prisoner releases.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: It was really a roller coaster of emotions. Initially, yes, there was the wave of relief as those three hostages emerged in live pictures for the first time after more than 15 months. But then there was also some pained looks on the faces of many here as they realized the state in which those three Israeli hostages were emerging.

All three of them looking quite frail and emaciated after their time in captivity. It was particularly striking to see the image of Eli Sharabi, a 52-year-old who was taken hostage from Kibbutz Be'eri on October 7th. The difference between how he looked before he was taken hostage and how he looks now, really striking.

Clearly, he has lost a lot of weight. And really these images are driving the Israeli public to focus on the remaining hostages in Gaza. And these images driving a public debate here in Israel over the fate of this ceasefire agreement, with many saying that it is a reason to push to extend this agreement and to ensure that all of the remaining hostages in Gaza come home now.

Earlier this week, it's important to note that the Israeli Defense Minister, the former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, noted that the agreement that is bringing these hostages home now is identical to the one that Hamas agreed to in July. And his point being that all that has happened since then are wasted months during which many of these hostages have faced dire conditions.

But in addition to that sense of urgency, we did see the emotional reunions between these three newly freed hostages and their families. Many of them meeting initially at the Re'im military base in southern Israel and then others also meeting with them at hospitals in central Israel.

In addition to that, we've seen as 183 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli prisons in exchange for those three hostages. They include 18 who were serving life sentences. Several of those will be deported to third party countries. 111 of them were detained in Gaza over the course of this war since October 7th. We know, of course, that some of those who have been detained in Gaza were rounded up as part of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Many of them held without charge or without trial and now, indeed, being released as part of this agreement. And on the Palestinian side as well, both in Gaza as well as in the West Bank, we have seen images of people reuniting with family members. And also, of course, several individuals who were taken to hospitals after their time in Israeli prisons.

Jeremy Dimon, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Five former hostages from Thailand released last week are now back in their home country. Hamas abducted the men during the October 7th attacks. Thailand's Labor Minister says around 5,000 Thais were employed in the area where Hamas attacked. Human Rights Watch says Thailand has dominated the foreign migrant worker market in Israel the past decade.

Donald Trump has been pushing for talks with Russia's leader as part of his effort to end the war in Ukraine. Now Trump is announcing they have spoken, but the statement leaves a big question unanswered. That's next.

Plus, we head to a city that's been battered by Russia's brutal attacks to see how Ukrainians are faring nearly three years into the war. And in less than two hours, voters in Ecuador will begin to cast their ballots in a presidential election that comes amid an unprecedented security crisis. That and more coming up. Stay with us.

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[05:18:19]

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Donald Trump says he has spoken with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. But it's not clear when. Trump revealed that in a newspaper interview published on Saturday. But he didn't say whether it happened before he returned to the White House last month. The Kremlin says it can neither confirm nor deny Trump's statement. Days after taking office, he said he wants to meet Putin to talk about ending the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un is making it clear his country will keep supporting Moscow. He spoke after North Korean troops returned to the battlefield in Russia's Kursk region. According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, earlier reports said North Koreans had pulled back after taking heavy casualties.

All right, for more, we're joined by Nataliya Gumenyuk, an independent journalist in Ukraine. And she's speaking to us from Kharkiv.

Good to see you again. So Donald Trump says he has spoken to Putin. He claims Putin, quote, "wants to stop people dying." Trump said first he would have the war ended in a day. Now that's turned to six months. So are you encouraged by anything you're hearing so far from the Trump administration? Because still at the end of the day, they haven't actually presented any type of peace plan.

NATALIYA GUMENYUK, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: So, first of all, it's not like we really expected to have a very clear plan. And, you know, following the situation, of course, we remained extremely skeptical, first of all, about one day. Then things happening before the integration and really now.

As of Ukrainian position, yes, there is some anticipation and anxiety. However, we should say that there are concerns also there that Donald Trump is rather buying and kind of accepting the Russian position. So for Ukrainians, what is very important to understand, it's kind of it's better to have no deal rather than a bad deal.

[05:20:02]

Because the freeze and the settlement without any guarantees is seen just something which is temporary, a pause, which is allow the Russians, first of all, to continue to collect and accumulate the weapon, to organize the weapon production, to get the weapon from North Korea, the technology from Iran. While if in that moment Ukraine will be dragged into the negotiations and the Western military support will decrease, that pause would be used later for Russia to attack again. So it's really the discussion about the guarantees, first of all, and they are not really on the table if we speak about what the administration of the new American president is speaking.

BRUNHUBER: So are there fears, and President Zelenskyy expressed this recently, that Trump and Putin could kind of make some kind of deal between them without talking to Ukraine?

GUMENYUK: So the point is that yes, there are that concerns, but, you know, it doesn't influence the reality that much, because if President Trump is just mediating and is becoming a messenger of Vladimir Putin, then what's the point? You know, Vladimir Putin didn't change his demands on demilitarization of Ukraine for the last three years, so Ukraine would just continue fighting with resources available, which is, of course, unfortunate. But we also see a bit of, like, better understanding of the American administration, the situation.

So at least this fact that nothing is happening for the couple of months is already saying that the White House is kind of researching and understanding that the situation is not that simple. It's not just one talk, because there should be also, we should understand what is the leverage of the American president in this case against Russia, and that's not the tariffs, because the tariffs, you know, the trade between Moscow and the U.S. are very, very low, so there should be something else.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, in the meantime, President Trump is using some leverage, you could say, against Ukraine. We heard from President Zelenskyy that Ukraine is willing to take Donald Trump's deal of military aid in exchange for access to Ukraine's rare earth materials. So how is that being received in Ukraine, as a necessary pragmatic step or acceding to a type of blackmail?

GUMENYUK: So that's exactly what, which is not considered as a blackmail, because Ukrainians understand Ukraine has a lot of resources. If, you know, the war is going on and Russia will take them anyways, and Ukraine really tried to interest the West, and knowing the Donald Trump transactional nature, you know, to say like, there are things, you know, it's in your interest to defend Ukraine and support, and not to make Ukraine to lose, better, you know, like to have them in good hands.

However, what is considered to be like a blackmail, and I think a lot of Western pundits kind of try to see the -- for instance, the change in the mood by the Ukrainians, saying like, more Ukrainians are ready to compromise. It's not about Ukrainians, like, don't see the path to the victory. We kind of see that the West is pushing, Donald Trump is threatening to decrease the aid. So there should be the kind of solution, and there should be the discussion about the guarantees Ukraine can receive in order not to bigger war to break out in a couple of years, if there would be just the freeze without, you know, any clear conditions.

BRUNHUBER: Before we go, I wanted to ask you this, because you're in Kharkiv, a city that's been under basically a constant attack by Russian drones. Give me a sense of the mood there now, now that we're nearly three years, unbelievably, into this war.

GUMENYUK: Oddly enough, the mood in Kharkiv is pretty defiant, because, you know, the closer you are to the front line, the more real the war is. So disregarding how the, you know, negotiations are, and the talks, and the headlines, you really know that there are soldiers here fighting, they are defending, they are planning the operation.

And by the way, something very interesting, I had a chance to talk recently to one of the Ukrainian brigade representatives, and he really said that according to the intercepts, you know, they received the intercepts of the Russian soldiers. Actually, the Russians are kind of saying like, look, Trump is in power, you know, we need to hold on, because sooner or later this peace will come soon on their terms. I also should say that it doesn't mean that the Ukrainian soldiers do not expect anything. Also, you know, the reality, so the talks are not totally out of touch, to be honest.

However, they are very far from the realities of the war, which is ongoing and isn't at all changing, and the moment where the talks are discussed in the headlines and in the broadcasts.

BRUNHUBER: Listen, it's really great to check in with you again, Nataliya Gumenyuk. Thank you so much for speaking with us.

GUMENYUK: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Three Baltic states have pulled the plug on one of their last links to the days of Soviet occupation. Just hours ago, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia synchronized their newly independent power grid with the European Union's grid. This comes just one day after the three former Soviet republics simultaneously disconnected from electrical grid controlled by Russia. The three countries are for some of the most vocal opponents of Russia's war in Ukraine.

[05:25:15]

In about half an hour or an hour and a half, rather, voters in Ecuador will start going to the polls in a presidential election defined by drug-related violence and widespread energy blackouts.

Current President Daniel Noboa was elected in 2023 after his predecessor resigned, dissolved Congress, and triggered new elections to avoid impeachment. Noboa faces a rematch against political rival Luisa Gonzalez, a leftist politician who's running on a platform to, quote, "revive Ecuador." International observers have been dispatched to monitor the vote.

On Saturday, Ecuador's electoral council distributed election kits and heightened law enforcement's presence around the country to ensure today's vote runs peacefully.

All right, coming up, avian flu is killing birds across the United States. We'll tell you how officials are working to contain the outbreak.

Plus, we'll take a look at Donald Trump's new efforts to focus on faith and what he says is an anti-Christian bias. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will no longer fight financial abuse. The newly installed Acting Director, Russell Vought, ordered employees and an email on Saturday to stop virtually all of their work. America's top consumer financial watchdog is meant to provide oversight over big banks, payday lenders and other financial institutions that could be hurting citizens.

[05:30:01]

A source tells CNN that DOGE deleted the watchdog X's account. You can see here Elon Musk tweeted CFPB RIP with a tombstone emoji. Vought's role as the watchdog Acting Director just comes after Senate Republicans confirmed him to lead the Office of Management and Budget, and he is the co-author of Project 2025.

Donald Trump says he wants to bring faith back to the White House. On Thursday, at the National Prayer Breakfast, he announced a new faith office. He says it will strengthen ties between the federal government and faith-based groups. He's also targeting a task force to investigate what he says is anti-Christian bias. Trump signed an executive order on the issues later that day.

Now, he accuses the Biden administration of targeting Christians. The executive order cited convictions of anti-abortion demonstrators blocking access to abortion clinics. He also claims the Department of Education sought to repeal religious liberty protections for faith- based organizations on college campuses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination within the federal government, including at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI, terrible, and other agencies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Trump's attorney general, Pam Bondi, will lead the task force.

I want to bring in Matthew D. Taylor, who's a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies. He's also the author of "The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy." And he joins me now from Baltimore, Maryland.

Thank you so much for being on here with us. So, this task force to eradicate anti-Christian bias, what are the claims they're making here in a nutshell?

MATTHEW D. TAYLOR, SENIOR SCHOLAR, INSTITUTE FOR ISLAMIC, CHRISTIAN, AND JEWISH STUDIES: Well, they are claiming that the federal government has been weaponized against Christians. They are claiming that there is widespread Christian persecution throughout federal government agencies, and that the task force is there to root out that persecution and that bias, and to counteract it.

BRUNHUBER: So, in terms of the persecution, I mean, we -- you know, they're citing, you know, some cases for, you know, Christian churches being attacked, for instance, but we know Christian churches face far fewer attacks than, say, synagogues or mosques. So, I imagine most of the attacks, as you talk about, are they're fighting, you know, not physical attacks, but it's not as though Christians here in the U.S. are being robbed of power in American society these days, right? You argue the sense of persecution has more to do with so-called vulnerable majorities. Explain what you mean.

TAYLOR: Yeah. So, Christians make up about two-thirds of the U.S. population. Jews make up about 2%. Muslims make up about 1.5%, and it goes and gets smaller from there when you go through other religious groups. So, Christians are overwhelmingly the majority religious group in the United States. Our entire calendar is structured around Christian holidays and the Christian seasons.

So, I think we need to recognize that there is no widespread anti- Christian bias in our society. It's a bit absurd to claim that when a religious community or identity makes up two-thirds of the population, they are somehow being persecuted by the minority.

What we find around the world, though, is that oftentimes when you have religious nationalist movements, like the Hindu nationalist movement in India or the Buddhist nationalist movement in Myanmar, majority groups will often claim that they are being persecuted, but that then can become a pretext for them persecuting actual minority groups.

It's striking that given the widespread realities of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, and as you said, mosques and synagogues tend to have more attacks than churches per capita, there's no task force on rooting out anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Instead, this is enshrining Christian privilege in our society.

BRUNHUBER: OK. So, in this context, then, how Donald Trump might use this sense of persecution, possibly to persecute others, what are you worried about most here?

TAYLOR: Well, I'm especially worried about the federal government going after people that are perceived to have anti-Christian bias. It's striking that this is being led out of the Department of Justice. I am worried that they are going to encourage Christians to think that they are persecuted, to encourage Christians who might feel that they are being unfairly treated, even though, again, they have a great deal of privilege and power in our society, to lean in to those feelings of persecution and even to go and inflict pain on other communities.

Often, when we see this happening around the world where a vulnerable religious majority starts claiming persecution, that is followed by attacks on minority communities, secular groups or religious minorities.

[05:35:04]

BRUNHUBER: Is that because, as well, there is often a connection between Christian nationalists and even more extreme and unsavory groups on the -- on the far right?

TAYLOR: Yes, definitely. In fact, many of the religious advisors who surround Trump, some of the members of his own cabinet, are participating in quite extreme forms of Christian theology, way outside of the mainstream of the Christian tradition. These are folks who even go past what we typically call Christian nationalism into what I would call forms of Christian supremacy.

And because they have these kind of narratives about how they are persecuted, they actually want to take over the government. They want to take over different aspects of civil society and make Christians premier citizens in our society so that they have more privileges than other people.

BRUNHUBER: There is a paradox here. If anyone sort of tries to resist this or fight it, then they are supplying the proof of these so-called anti-Christian forces, right?

TAYLOR: That is my worry. Is that even -- I have studied the folks, many of the people who are involved in this task force or who are advising them. And the way that these folks perceive anti-Christian bias, even mild criticism, even challenging them and accurately pointing out the ways that they are Christian nationalists or Christian extremists, they call anti-Christian bias.

So I worry that this will be weaponized against critics of the Trump administration and critics of some of his Christian advisors and will be turned into its own sort of inquisition against people who might not agree with their agenda.

BRUNHUBER: It is an interesting issue to keep an eye on and see how this plays out in the next months and over the Trump administration.

Matthew D. Taylor, thank you so much for speaking with us. I appreciate it.

TAYLOR: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: And President Trump is withholding aid from South Africa because of a controversial law on the country's stance against Israel's actions in Gaza. Trump says South Africa's land reform law allows the government to seize farmland from ethnic minorities like white farmers without compensation. Trump says the policy violates human rights. He's directing the U.S. to help Afrikaners, the descendants of European settlers, relocate through refugee programs.

South Africa's president says officials there aren't confiscating land before South Africa ended apartheid. Racist policies forcefully removed black and non-white South Africans from land for white use.

The American scientific community is in an uproar. The National Institutes of Health says it's slashing payments for research support, a move that scientists say could devastate the nation's position as a research leader. The average NIH grant typically allows around 30% to be spent on infrastructure costs like facilities, security, and maintenance.

But now a new policy will cap that rate at 15%. Agency defends the move, saying it aligns with the rates paid by private foundations, but critics call it a disastrously bad idea that could cost lives.

Now, this comes as avian flu is spreading here in the U.S. In an effort to stop it, New York's governor announced that all live bird markets interstate will temporarily shut down. Gloria Pazmino has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that order by the governor will require live poultry markets like the one you see behind me to shut down for several days to allow cleanup and disinfection before they're allowed to reopen on February 14th. This is after seven cases of bird flu were confirmed here in New York.

Now, seven cases were found in Queens, in Brooklyn, and in the Bronx, and places like the market you see behind me are now in the process of working through their inventory before they can shut down to begin that cleanup process. That's what the governor's order requires at this time.

Now, public health officials here in New York have said that this is being done out of an abundance of caution and that there is no public threat to the public health at this time. Take a listen. GOV. KATHY HOCHUL, (D-NY): For a week-long period, no poultry can be delivered to those live bird markets. Each uninfected market must sell down all inventory, undergo thorough cleaning and disinfection, and then remain closed for at least five days. Each must then be inspected by our state AG and markets before they can reopen.

PAZMINO: Now, this order is going to affect approximately 80 live markets here in the area in New York City, as well as Nassau County and Suffolk Counties -- Suffolk County in Long Island. And while the public health threat remains extremely low, there has been an increase in virus infections in the last several months. 130 cases have been reported so far, and 67 people have become infected and ill as a result of the virus. One person also died from the infection.

[05:40:06]

We should note that nearly everyone who became ill with the virus had been in close contact with an infected animal. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Victims of an Alaska air crash have been recovered as authorities gather clues about the cause of the tragedy. We'll have that story and more after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: The bodies of 10 victims of a fatal Alaska plane crash have been retrieved and identified. Officials say the pilot and nine passengers have been accounted for. The Bering Air flight disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff Thursday.

On Friday, it was found about 34 miles or 55 kilometers southeast of its destination, the western coastal city of Nome. The wreckage is currently resting on new and unstable sea ice. Investigators hope to retrieve it, but a winter weather advisory is in effect through Sunday night.

All the major pieces of the plane and military helicopter that collided over Washington, D.C. have been recovered. That's according to the National Transportation Safety Board. After scanning the Potomac River using advanced imaging technology, the American Airlines jet and U.S. Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport on January 29th, killing 67 people.

Investigators will now be looking for marks that might show the angle of collision and try to determine whether the helicopter's advanced tracking technology was operating at the time of the crash.

Chinese officials say two people have been rescued after an enormous landslide in the country's southwest. Both are hospitalized and one is in critical condition. Preliminary information indicates that 29 people remain missing, but officials say that number isn't confirmed. A state broadcaster reported that 10 houses were buried when a large chunk of a hillside came crashing down in Sichuan province on Saturday. Officials also say more than 200 people have been evacuated as rescue workers dig for more survivors.

[05:45:06]

The state broadcaster also says President Xi Jinping is urging people to search for the missing.

In the U.S., a fast-moving winter storm is casting a chilling shadow over Super Bowl weekend and into next week as multiple weather systems threaten to bring a dangerous combination of snow, sleet, and ice. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest forecast.

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ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The second of several systems to make their way across the northern tier of the U.S. is finally wrapping up today across portions of the northeast. But there won't be much of a break in between the systems. You can see this morning still dealing with several areas of snow showers across Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and even Massachusetts.

But as we head into the second half of the day, the bulk of that moisture moves offshore, some areas even starting to see at least a little bit of some sunshine into the mix. When it is all said and done widespread across the Great Lakes and into the northeast, you're looking at three to six inches of snow on the ground. But some of these areas, especially where you see that dark purple or even pink color, now you're talking at least six inches of snow. Some spots could even pick up as much as a foot in total.

The other concerning aspect of this system is the ice. Now widespread, a lot of this pink area here, you're talking up to a tenth of an inch total. But these purple areas here, especially across southern and central portions of Pennsylvania, not out of the question to get between a quarter of an inch to as much as half of an inch of ice. Not only does that cause problems on the roadways, but the other concern too is that is enough to bring down trees and even cause some power outages. And we mentioned multiple different systems here.

So as we start off the next week, you can see our next system sliding through across portions of the Ohio Valley. Another one that slides in during the middle of the week across the Midwest. And then the final one that begins to push through at the end of the week and will continue into the weekend across the Great Lakes region and the northeast.

Many of the same areas that have just been hit by this most recent system. One thing to note too is all of this cold air is not only in place, but will stay in place, meaning any of the snow that these areas get in the next several days is likely to stay on the ground. You're not going to see much melting in a lot of these areas.

Take Boston, for example, normal high this time of year, right around 40 degrees, but they will spend every single one of the next seven days below average for temperatures and several days in there of getting some additional snow.

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BRUNHUBER: Chile's president has declared a state of emergency in some areas over what could be record-breaking heat. Experts warn temperatures could soar this weekend over 100 degrees Fahrenheit or 38 degrees Celsius, and that would set a new high mark. Curfews have been imposed in places as the government tries to avoid wildfires. Some meteorologists say there's a pattern behind the glaring heat.

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ANDRES MONCADA, METEOROLOGIST, CHILE METEOROLOGY SERVICE: These temperatures are not normal at all. They are above the normal ranges. Unfortunately, with climate change, they seem to be more and more frequent.

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BRUNHUBER: Artificial intelligence is carving a place for itself in the art world. Ahead, an auction of AI-created work that's raising the question, what is art?

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BRUNHUBER: Crowds in Taiwan celebrated the beginning of the year of the snake by sending hundreds of lanterns floating into the night sky. The spectacular light show marks the end of the lunar new year holiday and the beginning of spring. People from all around the world gathered in the mountainous region of northern Taiwan, write down their hopes for the new year and send them soaring.

As more artists utilize AI, the debate has expanded around what real art actually is. Christie's New York is leaving it up to the beholder to decide. The auction house is curating an online sale this month exclusively for AI art pieces.

CNN's Lynda Kinkade has more on their vision for the augmented intelligence event.

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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Striking and thought- provoking, it's not unusual for art to be critiqued, pondered, and sold to the highest bidder. But an upcoming auction at Christie's New York is pushing the boundaries of the art world, featuring only works created with artificial intelligence. The art sale, called augmented intelligence, consists of about 30 pieces that have been created or enhanced using AI tools, which Christie's says is a sign of the times.

NICOLE SALES GILES, VP & DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ART SALES, CHRISTIE'S: So AI art is such an interesting topic and an interesting category now. It's really been surging in demand. We have clients that are interested from the blockchain and crypto community, but we also seen a lot of -- we've also seen a lot of demand from more high net worth individuals in the tech community. KINKADE: According to Christie's, many of the works are expected to sell for tens of thousands of dollars apiece. Last year, a painting by an AI robot of World War II codebreaker Alan Turing sold for over a million dollars at Sotheby's, surpassing initial estimates of $120 to $180,000. That's a lot of money and potential interest in a medium where there are still many questions over what role AI should have in art.

Christie's says its auction will feature many top AI artists, some who describe their work as a collaboration with AI, but not driven by it.

GILES: It's definitely not a substitute for agency and it is not a way to create more mediocre art quicker. It is a way to enhance what the artist can do and even push the boundaries of art and creativity into a completely new dimension.

KINKADE: It's cutting-edge creativity in the spotlight, where at least in this exhibit, code is a tool just like a paintbrush. The online auction runs from February 20th to March 5th. Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, the Super Bowl is just hours away as the Philadelphia Eagles prepare to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. The host city, New Orleans, has been preparing for the big game by toughening security. Meanwhile, a supermarket in New Jersey celebrated the hosting Super Bowl VIP lookalike contest and people dressed up as music superstar Taylor Swift and her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' famous tight end. The winner is getting $500 gift cards. The store's president credited his employee for the idea.

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STEW LEONARD JR., PRESIDENT AND CEO, STEW LEONARD'S: Every year at Stew Leonard's, all we try to do is figure out how do we do something fun at the Super Bowl? So we were talking, what could we do sort of fun, Britney here said, I got an idea. We said, let's have a Taylor Swift, right, and a Travis Kelce lookalike.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, the Super Bowl isn't the only competition on the gridiron today. Have a look at this, the Puppy Bowl. More than 130 rescue dogs will scrimmage and compete for the cherished Lombardi Trophy.

Organizers also hope the hounds and spaniels will get lucky and be adopted. Still, their game doesn't always go as expected.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't try to hide from me. Come here, come here, come here. It's OK.

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BRUNHUBER: Referee Dan Schachner, who adopted a cute canine for himself, told us what to expect.

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DAN SCHACHNER, PUPPY BOWL REFEREE: It's our 21st year. We're bigger and better than ever. We have 142 dogs -- rescue dogs from across the country participating in this year's bowl. It's a three-hour event. We're going to have 80 different shelters across 40 different states, including 11 special needs dogs. All of our favorites will be there. The kitty halftime show will have a special pregame show. And by the end of the Puppy Bowl, like every year, we expect every single one of our dogs to get adopted.

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BRUNHUBER: And the dog that plays the best will win the most valuable pup award. And the Puppy Bowl airs on CNN's sister network, Animal Planet, at 2:00 in the afternoon today, Eastern Time.

All right. That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in North America, more coverage of the big game is coming up here on CNN This Morning. And for the rest of the world, it's "Marketplace Africa."

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