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CNN This Morning

Freed Women Hostages Handed Over To Israeli Forces; U.S. Freezes Almost All Foreign Aid Effective Immediately; Pete Hegseth Confirmed As U.S. Defense Chief In Tiebreaker Senate vote; White House Says Migrant Deportation Flights With Military Aircraft Have Begun. Buses Arrive Carrying Palestinian Prisoners in West Bank; Federal Agencies in the U.S. Told to Eliminate DEI Positions Within 60 Days; Trump Tours Disaster Areas in California and North California. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired January 25, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:00]

LTC. PETER LERNER, FORMER IDF INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: We did not ask for this war, but we have the tools and we are determined to bring back the hostages. And there are two ways to do that, basically, either through the negotiations or through military operations. We're at a stage today where negotiations are developing the return of hostages, not all according to the agreement, as I talked about just a few minutes ago.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

LERNER: But we expect we will have to --

BRUNHUBER: We will have to leave it there just because we are going against the end of the hour. But Peter Lerner, thank you so much for speaking with us. And we really appreciate all of you watching our breaking news out of Gaza.

Coming up now on CNN This Morning, more on this developing situation. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thank you so much for watching. Please stay with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN This Morning. Thanks for being with us on this Saturday, January 25th. I'm Amara Walker.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you for joining us. We are following several developing stories this morning. We starting with the breaking news out of the Middle East. Four Israeli female hostages are back on Israeli soil. CNN's Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv and we're going to speak with him in just a moment.

WALKER: Yes. The four women were released after 15 months in captivity. Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad flags and fighters were there when the women were handed over to the Red Cross in Palestine Square in Gaza City and in the West Bank.

200 Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released from over prison today. Now, moments ago, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari had this to say about the four freed hostages and another they had initially expected to be released.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADMIRAL DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAELI DEFENSE SPOKESPERSON: Hamas failed to meet its obligations to first release Israeli female civilian hostages as part of the agreement. We are determined to return to the return of Arbel Yehoud, an Israeli citizen kidnapped from Nir Oz, and also Shiri Bibas and her two children, Kfir and Ariel, whose welfare we are extremely concerned about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joining us now live from Hashis Square in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, get us up to speed on the latest. Obviously, a lot of emotions that we've been seeing and hearing from the crowd there behind you.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, without a doubt, the crowd here has been following every twist and turn of this movement this morning, from the moments when we saw Hamas fighters and Hamas vehicles set up in Palestine Square in the Gaza Strip until the moments when those four Israeli soldiers who have been held captive for more than 15 months arrived at that square were brought up on stage.

This crowd behind me at the first sight of seeing those four women, knowing through those live images that they were indeed alive and relatively well, at least from a physical standpoint, erupted in tears of joy, in cheers, an extremely emotional moment where in Israel, as we have seen, every single one of these hostages is near and dear to the hearts of so many Israelis. Everybody here feels connected to their fate.

And today, a week after we saw three female Israeli hostages being released today, four more Israeli soldiers now being released. And this country is in a state of ecstasy. Of course, they are still waiting for the next steps in this process and what the next weeks will indeed bring.

There is so much anticipation around the fate of the remaining hostages in Gaza and whether or not their release will actually be carried out.

For the moment, what we understand is that these four newly freed Israeli hostages, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag, they are all at a military base in southern Israel, the Re'im military base, where we believe that they have now been reunited with their mothers. And shortly thereafter, they will be flown by military helicopter to a

hospital here in the Tel Aviv area, capping 15 months of uncertainty, 15 months of anguish for their families. And shortly thereafter, we expect Israel to begin to release some 200 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are serving life sentences, because this time we're talking about the release of Israeli hostages, and Israel is paying what can be described as a steeper price for their release of the 50 Palestinian prisoners being released for each of those hostages, 30 of them are serving life sentences and they will be released today.

Now, we do have questions about what the next steps will be inside the Gaza Strip.

[06:05:00]

We expected that today people in Gaza who have been displaced from their homes in the north of the Strip would be allowed to return home, that Israel would vacate that Netzerim corridor separating northern from central and southern Gaza.

But the Israeli prime minister's office is accusing Hamas of not fulfilling the terms of its obligation by not releasing Arbel Yehoud, a female civilian hostage who is being held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, it is believed. And they are saying that until that is, until that her release is, quote, secured or an agreement for her release is secured, then Israel will not allow the movements of Gazans to northern Gaza.

So that is something that we are monitoring very, very closely to see how that unfolds, whether or not Hamas can offer any kind of assurances about her relief that will allow Israel to move forward with allowing Gazans to return to the northern part of the strip. So that is a bit of uncertainty at this moment as well.

But as I said, you can see the people behind me still gathered, hundreds, if not thousands of people who have been in Hostage Square watching every twist and turn of this, still paying close attention to the TV screen as we are now waiting for those four newly released Israeli soldiers to be flown to a helicopter here in central Israel to be reunited with their families. And of course, for the video to surface of those emotional reunions. As we have seen just last week.

BLACKWELL: Every element of this deal very delicate. And, of course, you're there watching the choreography. Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.

WALKER: Effective immediately, the U.S. State Department has frozen nearly all foreign assistance. The move follows President Trump's executive order issued on Monday that put a hold on assistance for 90 days. All the US diplomatic posts got a note from Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday.

BLACKWELL: The note said the new administration will be reviewing assistance to see if it is aligned with President Donald Trump's foreign policy agenda. Final decisions will be made after that review. The order does provide a waiver for emergency food assistance as well as foreign military financing for Israel and Egypt.

Joining us now, Sophia Cai, White House reporter for POLITICO. Sophia, thank you for being with me. You know, if, of course, there will be this review. But in halting foreign aid, getting to the root causes of migration, some of that is required -- requires some foreign aid, keeping spread of disease from getting to the U.S. some of that requires foreign aid.

Give us kind of the backstory on this decision. And if there are members of Congress, Republican backers of the president who are on side on this.

SOPHIA CAI, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO: Yes, I think, you know, this is Marco Rubio coming in and saying, I'm not ready to get into the specifics just yet, but we are going to start implementing an America first agenda. And he even specifically spells out the cable that is that each piece of aid will be reviewed for how closely it aligns with President Trump's agenda.

You know, we don't know how much aid this really entails. We know that it is most all foreign aid with the exception of military funding to Israel and Egypt, as well as emergency food aid. And I should point out that during Trump's first term, he tried to a third of the State Department's budget, but Congress came in and stopped that.

I think this time, you know, his America first policy will be more aggressive and he'll probably be more successful because he has the backing of a Republican controlled Congress.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about Pete Hegseth. He'll be sworn in later today as the defense secretary, surviving with the vote of the vice president breaking the tie. Senators Murkowski and Collins, they were nos earlier this week, but Senator Mitch McConnell also a no. Tell us about the significance of his vote now that he's out of leadership.

CAI: I think it's very significant. I think, you know, I saw Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, you know, being in one bucket of being, you know, opposed and concerned with how Hegseth talks about women, some of the drinking. And then with McConnell, he's really significant because of why he's said in his statement, and I'll just read part of it for you. Hegseth provided no substantial observation on how to defend Taiwan or the Philippines against a Chinese attack.

And, you know, that really suggests that McConnell is concerned about U.S. national security and he doesn't think that Pete Hegseth is up for defending U.S. allies or if he would. You know, McConnell will be the chair of the Defense Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee.

[01:10:00]

And that means that he will be controlling the budget of the Pentagon and Hegseth will be coming before that subcommittee to ask for more money. I think it's a sign that, first of all, we have no guarantee that McConnell will be a yes on all of other Trump's other nominees.

And second of all, it just sets up this very contentious, potentially contentious relationship between Trump and Hegseth for the next couple of years as well as, you know, McConnell saying, I'm willing to buck Trump if I need to.

BLACKWELL: Let me ask you about this reporting from the Washington Post overnight that the president late yesterday fired at least a dozen inspectors general. New York Times has that number at 17, just 2022. Congress passed greater protections for the independence of inspectors general. Was this forecast by the president, by the White House?

CAI: So, look, I think it came to a surprise for the inspectors general who were let go as well. I should say, you know, President Trump has this authority, but he really is supposed to give both chambers of Congress 30 days notice. And he did not do that.

But I can tell you a little bit about, you know, why he went and, you know, did this pretty drastic move. So, you know, this is a sign and Trump has shown this whole week that he really wants to do away with anybody and anyone who may not be loyal, including those that are left over from the Biden administration, even if Trump appointed them in the first place. And they are really supposed to be this third party watchdog.

Senator Grassley has said in November that he does not want Trump to, you know, fire or let go of these people. And, you know, Trump seems to have taken no heed and has done it anyways.

BLACKWELL: Yes. And these are the people who are charged with finding the corruption, the waste, the abuse in these respective departments. And the president, according to Washington Post, fired at least a dozen of them. Sophia Cai, thank you.

WALKER: All right. Still to come in a few hours, Pete Hegseth will be sworn in as secretary of defense. The three key Republicans who voted against him and what this means for the largest agency in the federal government.

Plus, federal agencies are being told to eliminate all DEI positions within 60 days. Details on the Trump administration's plans to clamp down on diversity initiatives.

And finally, some rainfall is expected in California. But will it help or hurt wildfire victims? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:30]

BLACKWELL: All right, let's push forward on the reporting from Capitol Hill and his win for President Trump last night. The Senate narrowly voted 51 to 50 to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. Now, Hegseth confirmation process has been mired in allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse and financial mismanagement of veterans charities, all of which he's denied.

WALKER: Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell issued a statement shortly after voting against Hegseth's nomination writing this, effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests. Mr. Hegseth has failed as yet to demonstrate that he will pass this test. CNN's Manu Raju reports now on the tight vote.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 51-50 that was the final vote to get Pete Hegseth confirmed after months of furious battling mostly with Democrats, but ultimately some Republicans voting against this nomination which forced Vice President J.D. Vance to come and do something that's incredibly rare break a tie for a cabinet nominee. Only the second time in history has a cabinet nominee been confirmed by a vice presidential tie breaking vote. But that was necessary after a day of high drama in the Capitol.

Mitch McConnell, former Senate Republican leader, stunning his colleagues voting against the nomination on the floor of the Senate. He held his cards very close to the vest and he did not say how he would ultimately vote. There was great concern among Republican leaders that they would lose this vote altogether because McConnell wasn't saying how he'd vote.

And also Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina he was also all through the course of the day on Friday not saying how he ultimately come down but he ultimately voted yes. Tillis said he spoke to Hegseth for about two hours about allegations of misconduct in from an affidavit that was written by an ex-sister-in-law accusing him of abuse with his from his marriage, from his second wife and accusing him of excessive drinking as well. He denied all those allegations but indicated that he but his denial and a written letter was enough to win over Tom Tills support.

So with Tillis on board, Republicans had no margin for error given that they had already lost two Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski and Senator Susan Collins and they could only afford to lose three at most.

And when Mitch McConnel went to the floor and said thumbs down, that meant that they needed J.D. Vance ultimately to break the tie.

[06:20:02]

Now that Peter Hegseth is in there by the narrowest of margins, he takes on the Pentagon with enormous challenges ahead and concerns among Democrats and some Republicans that he is not fit for the job, that his allegations of misconduct raise questions about his character. And someone who is a former Fox News host and military veteran simply is out of his depth in running the Pentagon. That's what his critics say.

His supporters say that he is the exact person to come in and reform a military in badly need of reform. That's what Donald Trump has said. That's why he picked him and that's why Republican senators ultimately fell in line, pushed him through after this battle that raged on for the Senate for some time, putting Donald Trump's cabinet in place, slowly but surely, one cabinet pick after another as big fights loom on some of the other ones waiting in the wings. Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, Manu, thank you. Now dozens of migrants have been returned to Guatemala as part of President Trump's crackdown on immigration.

BLACKWELL: The White House also says that troops are being moved to the southern border. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House on Friday circulating images of the military along the U.S.-Mexico border that included an images -- image of migrants lining up to board a US Military aircraft.

Now, when you look at the image, migrants lined up and handcuffed is standard when they are boarding a deportation flight. But it was the aircraft, the military aircraft that made the image so striking.

Now, this was previewed by the Pentagon earlier in the week as they sent military aircraft both to El Paso and also to San Diego. Homeland security official telling me that this flight leaving on Thursday afternoon was bound for Guatemala and included about 80 migrants who had recently crossed the U S.-Mexico border.

But the Trump administration is continuing its crackdown, sending additional troops to the U.S. southern border to help with operational readiness. All of this on the heels of President Trump signing an executive order declaring a national emergency at the U.S. Southern border, therefore unlocking Pentagon resources to help with the border mission.

Of course, the situation along the U.S. southern border is different than it has been in recent years, with far fewer border crossings than it had been before, about a thousand a day. But all the same, Trump officials making a show of force along the U.S. southern border as they try to dissuade migrants from coming to the United States. Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much. Joining me now is CNN military analyst retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, good to see you. Let's Start with Pete Hegseth. As you know, there have been so many questions and concerns from lawmakers about his character and obviously his experience, or lack thereof. He's a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He spent about 20 years as a Army National Guard officer. He's a Fox -- former Fox News host.

Are you confident, Colonel, that the Department of Defense will be in good, secure hands under his leadership?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Amara. No, I'm not. And you know, I hate to say this, but this is a person who has absolutely no experience at the highest levels of government. And that's, you know, a telling factor because not only does he have to run the department and of course you'll have a lot of assistance from his deputy secretary of defense and the different service secretaries, as well as the uniform military, but he also has to advocate effectively for the department.

And in addition to that, he has to conduct what amounts to foreign relations on the military and national security aspects of the US. So he's going to be challenged from the get go. It's a challenge for anybody to assume that role, and it's certainly an unenviable position.

But it's even more unenviable when you have a situation where you don't have that depth of managerial and leadership experience that you really need in order to run a department, the largest in the U.S. government of this size.

WALKER: Yes. And when we talk about the size we heard, I mean, the Department of Defense oversees more than 3 million military and civilian personnel, an $850 billion budget. Could you just remind us, Colonel, of some of the consequential, you know, tremendous decisions that the defense secretary makes day to day?

LEIGHTON: Yes, they can involve everything from personnel issues for the military, you know, what kinds of initiatives each of the services is undergoing. He will have to approve the kinds of things that involve military operations. You'll be in the nuclear chain of command. So that means any missile launches or responses to missile launches would come through him.

So there are a lot of things that, you know, that's just a small smattering of issues that he would deal with. These are the kinds of things where you have to be aware not only of the personnel environment but also the political environment as well as the strategic environment.

[06:25:00]

And that's, I think, where there are going to be a lot of challenges for Mr. Hegseth as he moves forward in this role.

WALKER: You know, during his Senate confirmation hearings, it got quite contentious as you saw a lot of grilling about, you know, his past and his experience. But also this from Senator Mazie Hirono, who questioned Hegseth really about his loyalty to Trump, and she asked him whether he would take over Greenland or the Panama Canal by force. Listen to this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MAZI HIRONO (D-HI): And my question is, would you use our military to take over Greenland or an ally of Denmark? PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY NOMINEE: Senator, one of the things

that President Trump is so good at is never strategically tipping his hand. And so I would never, in this public forum give one way or another direct what orders the president gives to me in any context.

HIRONI: It sounds to me that you would contemplate carrying out such an order to basically invade Greenland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Colonel, is that how it sounds to you, that Hegseth would basically do whatever Trump told him to do?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's pretty close to that, I think, Amara. And you know, this is a kind of dangerous territory to venture into here because Greenland, basically a possession of Denmark's, which has an independent domestic policy, is an ally of the United States. You know, it's one thing to go after adversaries. It's quite another thing to go after own allies.

And that's going to if it's not fully thought out and carefully discussed, these are the types of issues that could really, in essence, alliances like NATO and these alliances are critical to the security of the United States. So instead of making America a safe place, it might make America a more dangerous place.

WALKER: All right. Well, out of time. Wanted to ask you about these repatriation flights and using military aircraft, but we're going to leave it there. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: And we're staying on top of the breaking news. We're getting a first look at the four female Israeli soldiers back on Israeli soil after being held by Hamas for 15 months. The new reaction from their families that's ahead in the live report.

[06:30:00]

AMARA WALKER, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners have just arrived in the West Bank. The prisoners are part of the first phase of the ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: Today, four Israeli female hostages were freed. The IDF says they're now in Israel. Let's go now to CNN's Nada Bashir, she's outside of Ofer Prison in West Bank. What's happening where you are?

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: Well, actually, Victor, we've moved away from the Ofer Prison now because the buses have left the prison and they have moved onwards into Beitunia in the occupied West Bank. We're just behind one of the buses. There are three that have been released from the prison today, carrying those Palestinian prisoners, 200 of them are all Palestinian prisoners society and other authorities.

At least, 101 of them had been serving life sentences. Now, as you can see, it is very busy around here. Many have gathered in the streets of Beitunia to welcome the prisoners. Of course, important to note that many of the prisoners being released this weekend have, of course, been charged with more serious offenses.

As I mentioned, 121 serving life sentences, at least 70 are set to be deported. That was very different from last weekend when we saw the majority of prisoners being released were women, many of them, of course, were held under administrative detention, meaning no charges laid against them.

And what we know, of course, is that the Israeli authorities have called for no celebrations to take place. We saw huge celebrations last weekend. It is slightly smaller this weekend on Saturday, however we are expecting more gatherings to take place throughout the day as these buses continue to file behind me and move onwards into Beitunia.

WALKER: All right, Nada Bashir, thank you so much. Let's go now to CNN's Bianna Golodryga. Bianna, you're with one of the families of the hostages earlier today. Tell us more about what we expect and how this all to unfold with now the four female Israeli hostages on Israeli soil.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Amara, I just have to say it was surreal to spend two hours with the aunt and uncle and cousins and friends and other extended family of Daniella Gilboa at their home for about two hours this morning. They invited us exclusively in local media as well to come in and watch their initial reactions to seeing their niece released for the first time in 15 and a half months along with the three other hostages.

And there were tears of joy. There were champagne bottles being opened. It's also Shabbat here, so many of their neighbors and family came to spend this important day with them collectively, to watch that moment. They are hoping to reunite with their niece in the coming days. Obviously, aware that she will need the time, the space to heal, to be with her parents and to get the medical treatment that she needs right now when she will be in the hospital in the coming hours.

And I asked her uncle if he had just -- who had just spoken with his sister, Daniella's mom, how she was doing, how her mom was feeling. And here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAZI SHERABI, UNCLE OF FORMER HOSTAGE DANIELLA GILBOA: My sister didn't stop to cry. But it's a cry of like having a birth. She's like giving birth right now, and she just got her daughter back, Daniella.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:35:00]

GOLODRYGA: Amara, it felt like being a fly on the wall here as this family was reacting in real time. And it's so notable that all of these families in a moment of sheer celebration when they know that their immediate family is now reuniting, that they're continuing to focus and prioritize the release of the remaining hostages, that is something that Daniella's aunt and uncle mentioned to me as well.

Not only Agam Berger, who is the fifth of those IDF female spotters who had been kidnapped on October 7th. She was not included in this release. They are hoping that she will be released soon. But of course, they're talking about all of the hostages, the 90-plus, the many that will not be included in phase one of this deal.

And they also sent a message to President Trump thanking him, saying, you are the only one that could have made this deal happen, and they are imploring him to continue to push for the remainder of the deal, the full deal, phases two and three to be implemented as well. Amara?

WALKER: What a way to describe --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WALKER: Those emotions of the mother, like the cry of giving birth. I mean, that says so much. Wow.

BLACKWELL: All right, Bianna Golodryga reporting for us, thank you so much. Still to come, President Trump is eliminating diversity initiatives. We have the latest on the administration's plans for those who are working DEI jobs for the government. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: New this morning, the Trump administration has told federal agencies to start the process of terminating federal employees in diversity, equity and inclusion roles. In a memo from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, agencies were told they have 60 days to move to terminate to the maximum extent allowed by law, all federal DEI offices and positions.

WALKER: Now, agencies will have to submit written plans on how they intend to execute the reduction in force by January 31st, and stressed that those agencies should begin notifying the employees of DEI offices. Now, joining me is Joseph Seiner, a law professor at the University of South Carolina.

Joseph, good morning to you. Let's start with -- what agencies are we talking about? How many agencies and programs are going to be affected by this as a result of this executive order basically terminating all these diversity, equity and inclusion programs?

JOSEPH SEINER, LAW PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA: Amara, it's an absolute pleasure to be with you here in South Carolina. And in response to your question, this executive order targets all agencies across the board in this -- and vast sprawling federal government and federal contractors as well.

So, this really is going to serve as a death now to DEI programs in both the federal sector and potentially the private sector as well. The federal government has been tasked, the Department of Justice specifically with what I call creating a DEI enemies list, and this could potentially have a chilling effect with companies across the nation.

WALKER: So, not just the federal agencies. We're talking about a massive impact on the private sector. You talk about this list, and I understand that this executive order directs all federal agencies to identify up to what? Nine publicly-traded companies or other entities that might be subject to civil litigation.

Can you talk to me about then what this would mean? And I think you said that there's going to be a tidal wave of private companies self- censoring, anticipating potential litigation if they don't make these moves.

SEINER: Yes, great question, Amara, and this -- we've already seen that Walmart, Facebook, Meta have already cut back on their efforts in DEI programming. And the concern is that it's going to lead to litigation even if they're doing everything to the letter of the law, it's still going to invite people to sue in the civil courts, and that's just going to create a lot of time, a lot of expense.

And rather than going through those efforts, they would just assume cut back and dial back. Now, we are seeing a little bit of pushback in that. I think you saw on the last 48 hours, Costco shareholders voted to resist those type of pushback on DEI programming. And so, there will be a little bit of ebb and flow here.

But one thing is for sure, there's going to be a chilling effect and that's going to really hurt the DEI efforts in this area.

WALKER: What about in the reverse for people who feel like, you know, they have been discriminated against in the workplace when it comes to hiring or firing practices? Do they lose not the rights, but I guess any momentum when it comes to seeking legal action?

SEINER: Yes, that's a great point as well. And the key to remember is that the federal law is still in place. Federal law that protects majority and minority classes from discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin and religion. And it's also important to remember that this also protects older workers as well as those with disabilities.

And you know, a lot of these folks are our neighbors that are potentially losing these types of protections and whose rights are being chilled.

[06:45:00]

Amara, I recall you're very clear moving and brave account that you were willing to share with Brianna Keilar about your personal experiences with discrimination during the pandemic. And I know this hits home for not only for you, but for a lot of viewers. And I think it's important to remember and to reiterate that discrimination is not a vestige of the past, whether it's Muslim-Americans after 9/11 or those being discriminated against on the basis of national origin during the pandemic.

This discrimination still occurs. And DEI is one weapon in the arsenal against that discrimination, and now that weapon is being largely decimated.

WALKER: Joseph, I'm curious to hear, you know, what your take is on some of the language that has been used. And you know, President Trump casting DEI, you know, as a legal discrimination against white Americans. Elon Musk, you know, a close adviser to Trump, Tesla billionaire calling DEI just another word for racism.

SEINER: Yes, there's certainly a lot of rhetoric that's out there. And Trump administration, he's really just fulfilling his campaign promise to terminate what he calls the woke takeover of America. And as you know, as I mentioned, it's at a minimum, it's going to have a chilling effect on DEI efforts and programming across the country.

I think a lot of -- probably a lot of people generally, have a misunderstanding for what that term means. And it's ironic that we are -- we're looking at this in a -- in an environment where we have a labor shortage in this country. I don't know if you felt this, Amara, but when I go out to eat or to the grocery store, you know, I see the need for more servers, more check-out clerks, and hopefully that demand will continue to create the type of diversity that represents the United States.

But these types of efforts are only going to further restrict that labor pool.

WALKER: Joseph Seiner, appreciate the conversation. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Well, still to come, California is expecting some rain this weekend. How this could be either a respite from disaster or disaster on repeat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: President Trump spent Friday touring disaster areas on either side of the U.S. while taking aim at FEMA's response. Now, he was in western North Carolina where people there are still trying to rebuild after Hurricane Helene last September. The President suggested that possibly eliminating FEMA and leaving disaster response up to the states.

WALKER: Later on Friday, the President toured areas devastated by the wildfires in southern California, and despite the conflicts in the past, Trump and California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom actually showed courtesy to each other during the visit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): You were there for us during COVID. I don't forget that. And I have all the expectations that we'll be able to work together to get this speedy recovery.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will. We're going to get it done. Tremendous numbers of lives have been affected. A lot of real estate has been affected. Nobody's ever probably seen anything like this.

NEWSOM: No --

TRUMP: You can almost say since the second World War, when you think of it, I mean --

NEWSOM: Yes --

TRUMP: Nothing like this has happened. And we're going to get it fixed, so we'll get it permanently fixed so it can't happen again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Well, this week in southern California is expecting its first rainfall of the year, and that could help in the fight against the wildfires. But it could also trigger a different kind of disaster mudslides. And it all depends on where and how much rain falls.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking all this for us. So, what are you seeing in the forecast?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, METEOROLOGIST: All right, so, the good news is there's going to be rain which we've been talking about for weeks that we desperately needed. The unfortunate part is for some areas, it might be too much rain in a short period of time. And that's where other problems start to factor in. So, you can see from behind me, we're already starting to get some of that moisture filling in across portions of central California.

And gradually, this system is going to start to slide back down into southern California as we go through the day today, really starting to push a lot of that moisture into the areas where the fires are. Now, with that, as that comes in, you're still going to have some gusty winds in some areas, it will be more of an onshore flow.

So, it's going to have a little bit more moisture than it than the Santa Ana with very dry winds, are -- but still could see some of those winds 20, 30, 40 miles per hour, the hope is they don't make the fires worse before we finally get some of those rain showers to come in.

Now, we talked about maybe some areas getting too much rain, you do have the potential for some flooding, so, you do have some flood watches in effect. They don't begin until Sunday because that's when really a lot of the heavy rain is forecast to come in, and they will last through early Monday.

And you can see that here again as we go through the day, you gradually start to see more of those showers. They're kind of dispersed at first, then they become a little bit more widespread, starting to fill in, especially during the day Sunday. And they'll continue even through the first half of the day Monday for a lot of areas.

Also too, notice a lot of the white on there, yes, there's actually going to be a decent amount of snow for elevations, say 3,500 feet. You're looking at 5, 6, maybe even as much as 8 inches of snow when you really start getting up there, 4,500, maybe even 5,000 feet, you could be looking at, at least a foot of snow before this system finally exits the area.

So, again, some pretty decent totals there, not just for snow, but also the rain. Some of these areas, I would say more widespread, about a half an inch. Some could top out at an inch and a half. And I know for some folks, maybe say in the eastern half of the country, that doesn't sound like a lot. But it is for these areas, especially when the ground is so incredibly dry, it can run off very quickly.

That leads to mudslides and a debris flows, especially in those burn- scar areas. You've got the rain in the forecast, not only today, but also Sunday and early into Monday. The temperatures are also much cooler than average, quite a different story than we had earlier in the week.

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So, that's also going to help those firefighters out as well, kind of having a lot of those. But really, ultimately, we just need rain. It's been 262 consecutive days without that measurable rain in Los Angeles.

BLACKWELL: Let's hope this all means good news.

CHINCHAR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you.

WALKER: Thanks, Allison. Well, two giant pandas have made their public debut at Washington D.C. Smithsonian National Zoo. Bao Li(ph) and Ching Bao(ph) are the first pandas to be sent to D.C. in 24 years. The pair arrived at the national zoo last October from southwest China as part of the country's renewed panda diplomacy.

BLACKWELL: And since then, zoo keepers have been helping the pandas get acclimated to their new environment. They were greeted by big crowds that streamed in throughout the day to see them.

WALKER: They are very cute, and it's cute to watch them chew on those -- are those bamboo leaves? Or yes --

BLACKWELL: You know, I just wonder if at some point they kind of get over like, all right, guys --

WALKER: Stop looking at me --

BLACKWELL: We're here now, go home --

WALKER: Stop looking at me, I know I'm cute, kids love it, my kids would love it. I would -- I would definitely take a trip there just to show them those adorable pandas. But yes, they're probably like stop looking at me.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

WALKER: Like, I'm just a panda --

BLACKWELL: Go over there.

WALKER: All right --

BLACKWELL: All right, still to come, we'll continue our coverage of the breaking news. The release of four female Israeli hostages. Stay with us.

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