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CNN This Morning
House And Senate Republicans Battle Over Trump Budget; White House Reveals Identity Of DOGE Acting Administrator; Family Of Hostage Alon Ohel Pleads For His Immediate Release. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired February 27, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:32:35]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: Five thirty-two a.m. here on the East Coast. Look at New Orleans all lit up for Mardi Gras. Looking very festive at 4:32 in the morning, New Orleans. Good morning, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean in for Kasie Hunt. Wonderful to have you with us.
Just hours after House Republicans passed a key budget blueprint that lays the groundwork for President Donald Trump's sweeping agenda Senate Republicans have signaled they have other ideas.
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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you think that you guys should just adopt the budget resolution that the House passed?
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Short answer is likely no. Long answer is don't know.
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DEAN: While this is just the beginning of a high-stakes clash between Republicans in order for Republicans to use certain procedural powers that allow them to pass that legislation without any Democratic support both chambers have to adopt the same version of the plan, and some House Republicans say they're not budging.
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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think they understand the necessity of letting the House lead on this. We've got a smaller margin than they do. For the first time in the modern era the Senate Republicans have a larger margin than we do in the House. And I've got a much smaller needle to thread here, and I think they recognize that.
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DEAN: Joining us now, Axios congressional reporter Stephen Neukam. Stephen, good morning. Good to have you here. STEPHEN NEUKAM, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Thanks, yeah.
DEAN: I love hearing Mike Johnson talk about that because what he doesn't mention is that the Senate thinks very highly of itself and doesn't like to follow the House all the time.
NEUKAM: No, it does not. But I think the speaker is right. He does have -- at least when you look at the --
DEAN: Yes.
NEUKAM: -- political headwinds that he's managing, he's going to have a tougher job of getting any bill through his chamber just because of the lay of the land there. He was able to get the resolution through earlier this week in sort of very dramatic fashion. That's a huge first step for the speaker.
Now the work begins, right, now that they've sort of entered and authorized the fact that they're going to go through this budget process. Now they have to figure out where their differences are, how do they bridge the gap, and how do they get those bills to look the same by the end of the legislative process.
DEAN: And there are some -- a lot of questions around all of those things for obvious reasons because it is just a blueprint. It's just a framework. But there are a lot of questions even from some Senate Republicans about potential cuts to Medicaid.
I want to hear --
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: I want to play a clip from Mike Johnson on Medicaid specifically. Let's listen to that.
[05:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: He doesn't want to cut Medicaid benefits for anybody, and we don't either. I don't either. We're not going to do that. That's not part of this plan. And the Democrats have been lying it and so it's important for us to clarify that. We're going to take care of those who are rightful beneficiaries of the programs.
We're going to cut the fraud, waste, and abuse out of Medicaid and that's where we're going to get part of the savings to accomplish this mission.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: They want to cut some $880 million from the Energy Committee, which oversees Medicaid --
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: -- and other programs similar to it. And that's where people get squeamish --
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: -- because to get to that number it's hard not to touch what is a giant -- you know, Medicaid takes a lot of money.
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: What are you hearing on that front?
NEUKAM: Yeah. Look, I mean, before -- until they get into this process, we don't know exactly what the cuts are going to look like. I think that they're actually trying to find a way to make the baseline different so they don't have to make the cuts as steep as they would need to be if it were differently.
But look, Democrats are going to use every opportunity to say that entitlements are on the table. And I think Republicans, especially those who are up in 2026, fear going to voters in November next year and knowing that Republicans have entitlements on the table. The one thing that Democrats are going to say on the campaign trail and the one thing that they're doing already in Congress is Medicaid, Medicaid, Medicaid.
Folks -- obviously, a lot of people survive off of Medicaid. It's a very popular program. We're going to have to see how Republicans sort of approach that issue.
But you're right. Given the amount of cuts that they need to make and the instructions that they've given to the committee, it's hard to see a way that they don't cut into the program in some ways without -- to be able to get this process done.
DEAN: Yeah. And just to remind everyone you say people up in 2026 -- that's every House -- Republican House member.
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: Some Senate members --
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: -- but every House member. So they'll have to sort through that.
Then there's the question of do they make these tax cuts permanent.
NEUKAM: Right.
DEAN: The Trump tax cuts are sunsetting. Are they going to extend them? Are they going to make them permanent?
NEUKAM: Right.
DEAN: And there are people on both sides of that within the Republican Party. NEUKAM: Right. And really, the question when you're talking about permanence of tax cuts is the cost of those tax cuts, right? If you make them permanent the cost of the tax cuts the lost revenue is even greater. You have to make up for that spending elsewhere.
Mike Johnson left a meeting yesterday with John Thune and other top Republicans saying that he wanted to -- at least speaking favorably about this idea of current policy baseline, meaning that they wouldn't have to cut as much again from the budget if they had -- if they went with the baseline that they have right now. So they can --
But we'll have to see what they adopt and how deep those cuts are going to be. If they make them permanent -- again, those costs are even higher and they'll have to make higher cuts.
DEAN: Yeah.
NEUKAM: Deeper cuts.
DEAN: Yeah. It's all about math, right --
NEUKAM: Yeah.
DEAN: -- and what they're comfortable with.
All right, Stephen Neukam. Thank you so much.
NEUKAM: Thanks for having me -- yeah.
DEAN: Nice to have you here.
After weeks of questions about who exactly is running the controversial Department of Government Efficiency the White House has finally revealed a name, and it's not Elon Musk.
CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has more on this.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I asked Elon, "Who are these DOGE people?"
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): She is not a household name --
TRUMP: He said, "They're super brilliant computer people and they love the country."
SERFATY (voiceover): -- but Amy Gleason, at least on paper and for now, is the acting administrator of DOGE overseeing Elon Musk's personal mission -- that massive effort to reshape the federal government.
CNN learning that Gleason, for the first time, led a DOGE staff meeting last week with the message "I am here to move this organization forward," according to a federal worker who asked not to be identified. Gleason did not say what her role or title is when she was addressing staff.
AMY GLEASON, ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY: One thing that I've learned about joining the government is you get to work on really cool problems that affect all of Americans.
SERFATY (voiceover): Gleason has kept a low profile but has operated within the federal government for years working for both Republican and Democratic presidents -- even recognized by the Obama administration with a Champions of Change award, work which she spoke about in a 2020 TED Talk.
GLEASON: I'd always worked in the private industry, and I guess I just kind of always assumed that other people would take care of these government big problems. But I have found after a year that nobody else is coming. It's up to us to solve these problems.
SERFATY (voiceover): In the Trump administration she led the creation of a national COVID database.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: For the first time, every day I can see every new admission across the country, and that has been extraordinarily important.
SERFATY (voiceover): Working alongside former White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx as part of U.S. Digital Service or USDS, the agency that has become DOGE, and that she will now lead.
A federal worker who has worked with Gleason in the past but is not authorized to speak on the record describing Gleason as "direct and to the point. Super smart."
Gleason has her roots in health care and tech -- a former nurse who says she ran into hurdles navigating the health care system when her own daughter was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disorder.
[05:40:05]
GLEASON: This is one single year of Morgan's medical record. Not having the necessary information causes delays in diagnosis, misdiagnoses, burden on the patient and family, and stress on the doctors and nurses.
SERFATY (voiceover): She says that fueled her work to build, implement, and streamline electronic medical record technologies. In 2021, Gleason joined Russell Street Ventures, a firm founded by Brad Smith, now also a DOGE adviser, and then was pulled back into USDS, rejoining the federal government in December during the transition to the agency that she is in theory leading.
TRUMP: And I signed an order creating the Department of Government Efficiency and put a man named Elon Musk in charge.
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DEAN: That was Sunlen Serfaty reporting for us. Thanks for that. Also ahead on CNN THIS MORNING the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is still holding for now. We're going to talk to one mother whose son was taken by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks.
Plus, Oscar winner Gene Hackman and his wife Betsy found dead in their Sante Fe home. We're going to continue tracking the latest on that story.
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[05:45:25]
DEAN: Hamas handing over the bodies of four Israeli hostages from Gaza in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. This is the final handover under phase one of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal that's set to expire Saturday. Vans with the remains arriving at a forensic center earlier today. And Israel now conducting DNA tests confirming the identities of all four men.
In exchange, Israel is releasing more than 600 Palestinian prisoners and families gathering to greet them today.
It all comes as the youngest hostages killed in Gaza and their mother are laid to rest at an emotional funeral.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on that.
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YARDEN BIBAS, FAMILY KILLED IN CAPTIVITY IN GAZA: (Speaking foreign language).
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): His voice trembling with emotion, Yarden Bibas summons what strength he has left to say one final goodbye.
His wife Shiri and their two children, Kfir and Ariel, are finally being laid to rest 16 months after they were all abducted from their home near the Gaza border.
BIBAS: (Speaking foreign language).
DIAMOND (voiceover): "Apricot," Yarden says, calling his wife by her pet name. "Who will help me make decisions without you? Do you remember our last decision together? In the safe room I asked if we should fight or surrender. You said fight, so I fought. Shiri, I'm sorry I couldn't protect you all."
Yarden was also taken hostage on October 7 but held separately. Now, just weeks after regaining his freedom, heartbreak.
BIBAS: (Speaking foreign language).
DIAMOND (voiceover): "I'm sure you're making all the angels laugh with your silly jokes and impressions," he says to his eldest Ariel. "I hope there are plenty of butterflies for you to watch, just like you did during our picnics."
BIBAS: (Speaking foreign language).
DIAMOND (voiceover): "Kfir, I'm sorry I didn't protect you better, but I need you to know that I love you deeply and miss you terribly. I miss nibbling on you and hearing your laughter."
Yarden Bibas is not alone in his grief. An entire nation joined in mourning the deaths of the youngest Israeli hostages and their mother who came to symbolize the horrors of October 7.
Their bodies carried to their final resting place in a single casket surrounded by Israeli flags and the orange balloons of evoking those red-headed babies.
DIAMOND: Thousands of Israelis have been lining this entire procession as we now see these vans coming through carrying the bodies of Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas, their mother.
DIAMOND (voiceover): As Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel are laid to rest their family are not done asking questions.
OFRI BIBAS, SISTER OF SHIRI BIBAS: (Speaking foreign language).
DIAMOND (voiceover): "Our disaster as a nation and as a family should not have happened and must never, ever happen again," the boys' aunt Ofri says. "They could have saved you but preferred revenge. We lost. Our image of triumph will never happen."
As one hostage family buries their loved ones another reuniting. After 491 days of captivity, Or Levy is back in his brother's arms.
MICHAEL LEVY, BROTHER OF OR LEVY: He's getting stronger. He's finally eating.
DIAMOND (voiceover): His brother Michael now sharing what he has learned about why he emerged emaciated from Hamas captivity.
LEVY: They were intentionally starved. It's as simple as that. The terrorists next to them ate all the time. They ate next to them.
DIAMOND: Really?
LEVY: Yeah.
DIAMOND: Next to them?
LEVY: Next to them. They even laughed when they saw them looking.
DIAMOND: So their captors were eating full meals.
LEVY: Full meals.
DIAMOND: And what were they getting?
LEVY: Chicken, meat -- they had everything. They were getting nothing.
DIAMOND (voiceover): Those conditions now driving both brothers to push for the urgent release of the remaining hostages.
LEVY: He is right now concentrated on two things. One is Almog, his son, and getting back to being a father. And the second is to bring back all the hostages.
DIAMOND (voiceover): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DEAN: And the family of hostage Alon Ohel is hoping they will soon be reunited. They've recently been told he's alive but wounded and being held in difficult conditions.
His mother, Idit Ohel, is joining us now. Idit, good morning to you. I am so sorry we're meeting under these circumstances.
[05:50:00]
It has been 509 days since your son was taken and I know you just got word about him. This is the first, I think, update you've had. What did you learn?
IDIT OHEL, SON TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS(via Webex by Cisco): Well, I learned that he -- a sign of life. That he's alive. At the same moment, like a couple of minutes or an hour later, I am learning that he's been in the tunnels for the whole time. He has shrapnel in his eye so he can't see in one eye. And that he is being starved, getting maybe a piece of bread a day. And also being chained in his legs so he cannot move for the whole time.
So he is a sign of life but what kind of life is that? Like hell. It was terrible to hear it. Actually, I fainted. I couldn't hear -- I couldn't be -- it was too much for me.
He needs to come urgently, you know? The way he's been treated is not OK. And he's strong. He's, like, surviving this and he'll continue until he is being returned because he is strong. But this is not -- this is very difficult.
You know, all of the hostages that were with him were released -- three of them -- and Alon is the fourth. And now he's alone. So it's not right. He has to come home soon.
DEAN: Yeah -- no. As you're talking it just -- my heart just aches for -- I cannot imagine knowing all of these things about your son and not being able to get to him, and just the desperation with which you want him home. I totally -- I think we can all appreciate that.
What do you -- what is your message to the Israeli government and to the American government as they now try to enter this next phase to get more of these hostages home?
OHEL: First, I want to thank -- you know, I'm in New York and I was in D.C. just before yesterday. So I came all the way from Israel to say, you know, thank you, Trump, for starting this and for people -- you know, hostages coming in and back to Israel. And I want this to continue.
I want Alon to come home, too. I know that he has the ability to do it. I know that he has the power and he's continuing thinking about the hostages and wanting all of them to come home, which is great. And I -- and I mean -- and I'm -- you know, I'm thanking for that and his team, obviously, that is doing all that they can to make sure that this is happening.
It's crucial. It's crucial that it all comes as soon as possible. He does not have -- you know, he's a humanitarian definitely and he needs -- he needs you, you know -- Trump and the administration -- his staff to do everything they can.
And also, I think my government is -- knows this and wants the hostages to be returned. So I hope soon something will happen. I hope soon, you know, Alon will be -- will be home.
DEAN: Yeah. I hope that for you. Yeah, I hope that for you, too.
What comes next for you? I know you said you were in D.C. Were you given any assurances by the Trump administration that they were working on this? That they had a plan?
OHEL: Um, they are talking about it also in the media all the time that this is very important. This is, like, their main priority of bringing the hostages -- all the hostages home. So they are saying that. And they are continuing saying that to us, you know, all the time. So I know that they're probably thinking and trying to do their best to get to some other deal continuous or to go to stage four -- stage two, that is.
And, you know, I don't know. I don't know --
DEAN: Yeah.
OHEL: -- the specific. I don't know. I'm just -- I'm just Alon's mother, OK?
DEAN: You're a mom and you want your boy back.
OHEL: And I wanted to -- I'm a mom.
DEAN: I know.
OHEL: Yeah. You know, Alon just celebrated, if you can say celebrated, his birthday on the 10th of February. His sister -- her birthday was two days before. And this is like the second birthday that her brother is not with her because from the moment she was born -- she's 15, right -- she was born -- she celebrated with him. And she could not celebrate her birthday this year and not last year either. And, you know, she's -- for her it's -- you know, it's traumatic.
[05:55:00] And also knowing that I don't want Alon to continue in this situation. If he continues, I don't know if he'll continue and be alive. So we have to bring him home as soon as possible. And this is crucial because what's he -- what he's going through is not something --
I think if any mother would listen to me now and think just for a moment -- OK, just for moment -- not 509 days but a moment of her child not getting food in his body, is being chained and not knowing the difference between day and light for 509 days, would she be able to, like, breathe? And I have to go with this for so many days not knowing how he his and now knowing that he is in this condition is even worse.
So -- and I'm a mother and I want to help my child. I want to go and hug him and give him what he wants, and I can't do that.
DEAN: I know.
OHEL: And it's just -- it's heartbreaking.
DEAN: I know it is. And Idit, I hope you are with him soon. I hope Alon is with you very, very soon. We are sending you our very best.
Thank you for sharing his story. Thank you for talking with us. We really, really appreciate it. And I hope next time we talk you are back with your son.
OHEL: Thank you. Thank you.
DEAN: Up next on CNN THIS MORNING how big is the measles threat? We're going to ask Dr. Deborah Birx who headed up the White House coronavirus response in the first Trump administration.
Plus, the demise of Democrats. We're going to ask the chairman of the new Democratic coalition how Democrats are regrouping in Trump 2.0.
And also breaking this morning, Hollywood star Gene Hackman, his wife, and his dog all found dead in their New Mexico home. What investigators are saying about that discovery.
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Clip from Amazon/MGM Studies/Orion Pictures "Hoosiers."
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