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Hamas Willing to Release U.S.-Israel Hostage Edan Alexander; Sen. Chuck Schumer to Vote for Spending Bill; Judges Rules Trump Admin. to Reinstate Fired Employees. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 14, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: He is so engaged in the Ukraine issue, he doesn't see a huge amount of gain for this after they get the last American out. He clearly got a lot of pushback to his idea of taking Gaza and moving everybody out. And you know, frequently, when this president has an idea that gets rejected, he kind of moves on.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, and you point out, you know, you talk about the Ukraine, Russia. ongoing situation and the fact that Russia just yesterday said, look, he tried to praise -- Putin tried to praise the deal, but said, here are all the conditions that need to be met. What do you see playing out there? There's a real question of whether Putin is trying to manipulate President Trump right now.

SANGER: Well, I think it's certainly true that Putin is playing for time. It was sort of a yes, but, Pam, right? It was a, yes, I like the concept. And then he loaded it up with all of the usual demands that Russia has had. That, of course, Ukraine can never enter NATO. That Ukraine, along the way, could necessarily have these peacekeepers. He didn't say this explicitly. That Ukraine would have to basically meet all of these demands that he has put in place.

And I think the real test now for President Trump is going to be, is he going to just accede to these? Because his bigger play here is trying to normalize relations with Russia, and I think he probably sees Ukraine as mostly just a speed bump on the way to getting to that bigger agenda. The question is how much he's willing to give away.

Marco Rubio did say yesterday and the day before, whatever we reach has got to be a lasting agreement. So, he is giving the Ukrainians that one piece of it, which is, it's got to be something that's hard for him to violate.

BROWN: But Russia is not known to stick with agreements. We've seen it time and time again.

SANGER: That's exactly the point that we heard Zelenskyy making in the Oval Office.

BROWN: Yes, it's true though.

SANGER: And it's absolutely true. And you saw what that got him. He never even made it to lunch.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Very quickly, before we let you go, David. As you know, the Trump administration, for the first time in a long time, has opened direct talks with Hamas, even though Hamas has been considered a terrorist organization by Democratic and Republican administrations for many, many years. How significant is that?

SANGER: Well, it was significant that they were willing to try, but I thought it was interesting, Wolf, that Marco Rubio on his way out to the to the Ukraine talks said to the press corps that was there, we did it as a one off, and it didn't work. So, that tells me that whatever it was that they were attempting there, it sounds like they haven't completely given it up. It's certainly not a continuing conversation.

It was a big step to talk to them. You know what it was reminiscent of? Of when the Trump administration, in the first term, agreed to talk to the Taliban, which was an equally big move, and ultimately resulted in the agreement that led to the U.S. withdrawal. Now, you may have some issues about how that turned out, but still until.

BLITZER: Until now, all the discussions involving the U.S. and Hamas went through either Qatar or Egypt or other parties. They weren't direct.

SANGER: That's absolutely right. And, you know, I think there's no problem to my mind in the administration thinking there's only one way to go communicate with this group, and it is, you know, directly. But at this point, Hamas is in a really tough spot because they know that they can't administer Gaza. The demand is essentially that they get all of their military out of Gaza. And they probably don't have enough leadership to actually be able to make serious decisions. My guess is that so much of the leadership has been wiped out, that there are probably internal struggles about who even negotiates.

BLITZER: Good point.

BROWN: All right. David Tanger, thank you so much.

SANGER: Thank you.

BROWN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

BLITZER: Right now, the U.S. Senate is staring down tonight's midnight deadline to fund the federal government and to avoid a federal government shutdown. And in a very surprising turnaround, the Senate's top Democrat, Chuck Schumer, now says he's voting for the spending bill backed by President Trump.

I want to get a reaction right now from Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. I know you and almost all the other Democrats voted against this spending bill when it came up in the House of Representatives. How disappointed are you in the Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer right now for giving it the green light and encouraging his fellow Senate Democrats to vote in favor of this continuing resolution?

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): Well, you know, Wolf, let me just say that it's important to remind people how we got here. We find ourselves on the brink of a Republican manufactured shutdown, which no one wants, but the options here are not a Republican manufactured government shutdown or a Republican rip-off, which means to gut the essential services that are essential for people's lives, veterans, health care and food assistance for our seniors, housing assistance that helps our most vulnerable.

There is another option here on the table and that is a 30-day stop gap spending bill, which Democrats are ready to vote on now so that we can actually do the work of a bipartisan on negotiation. They need to advance this Trump spending bill, this harmful Trump spending bill. They need 60 votes. And they don't have them. So, Senate Democrats should not be ceding any ground. We are, they are the final sort of line of defense here in the face of this hostile government takeover.

[10:40:00]

And so, I'm appealing to all of our Senate Democrats, when your constituents are already experiencing so much pain, are so fearful about what could come their way, do not be complicit in this wholesale harm. Hold the line. Listen to your constituents. Center them in this moment. See them, center them and fight like hell for them.

BLITZER: Schumer makes the point that he's not necessarily happy with this latest version, this Republican-backed continuing resolution stopgap measure, but he says a full-scale government shutdown would be even worse because it would have an enormously disastrous impact on millions and millions of Americans across the country if they're not eligible -- no longer eligible to receive federal funds for food, education, welfare, medicine, and stuff like that. What do you say to Schumer?

PRESSLEY: Again, the option in this moment is not a Republican manufactured shutdown because, again, they hold the cards. They have the trifecta. So, if there's a shutdown, the Republicans would be the ones to blame. And none of us want to shut down. We recognize how that would exacerbate so much of the harm that people are already experiencing, but we have an option right now, and that is a 30-day stopgap spending bill while we then do the work of negotiating a bipartisan spending bill.

So, the options here are clear, we can take a vote right now and Democrats are ready to vote for that 30-day spending bill or a Republican manufactured shutdown. But we're only here and on the brink of this because of what they put into motion with their more dangerous and draconian proposals by the minute that are lawless and void of common sense and compassion.

So, Senate Democrats, I am appealing to you, but if you don't want to listen to me, if you don't want to listen to your Democratic colleagues in the House, listen to your constituents. In this moment, we need to be resolute. We need clarity, and we need conviction, and we need unity. You need to hold the line in the face of this hostile government takeover, and stand in the gap. Everything is on the line, so you must do everything. Do not cede our leverage in this moment. Listen to your constituents. They are afraid. This bill is only going to make -- this Trump spending bill, is only going to make people hungrier, sicker, and more poor. And Senate Democrats should not be complicit in that harm. Hold the line.

BLITZER: Congresswoman, only a few moments ago on Truth Social, President Trump praised Senator Schumer for having the, quote, "guts" to do the right thing, calling his support of the spending bill a smart move. How will that sit, you think, with House Democrats?

PRESSLEY: Well, again, I don't think we should be moving in any way to elicit a praise from Donald Trump, who has no respect for Congress and the power of the purse, who is by the hour rolling out proposals and executive actions that are lawless and that are callous. We do not want to be praised by Donald Trump. This is a hostile government takeover. He is a dictator. And what do you meet a dictator with? Defiance.

The Democrats can't only be the adults in the room. We have to be the fighters too. And that is the message that we are hearing every day from our constituents and what they want to see from us in this moment. We have to be exhaustive and leveraging every tool available in their defense.

BLITZER: As you know, some Democrats have actually privately urged your fellow progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run a primary campaign against Senator Schumer. First of all, do you agree with that?

PRESSLEY: In this moment, I think it's safe for me to say that I can speak on behalf of my colleague and all my colleagues in the caucus. What we're focused on right now is the American people. And protecting their healthcare and their food and those essential services. And right now, we find ourselves in the midst of a hostile administration that is taking a wrecking ball to essential government services that are essential to people's lives. People will be poor, sicker, and hungrier, and we have to do everything to stop that.

[10:45:00]

So, this is not the -- you know, the time for, you know, conjecture and forecasting. This is a moment to apply pressure. And so, I'm appealing to constituents to call your senators, do not accept this as an inevitability. Do not accept this as an inevitability. We have to resist, obstruct, agitate, advocate. So, please call your senators. I'm not accepting any of this as an inevitability.

We have to fight. Senate Democrats, hold the line. Listen to your constituents. This is a moment for clarity and conviction and unity.

BLITZER: Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, Democrat of Massachusetts, thanks very much for joining us. Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf. And coming up, we're going to speak to Republican Congressman Pete Sessions on the work of Elon Musk and DOGE, and if it's undermining President Trump's agenda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: President Trump's aggressive cuts to the federal government are tied up in court again, as a pair of judges ruled the administration must temporarily reinstate thousands of fire probationary employees. So, let's discuss that and more with Republican Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas. He sits on the House Oversight Committee and is a co-chair of the DOGE Caucus.

[10:50:00]

Congressman, welcome back to the show. We appreciate you coming back to answer our questions. So, I want to start with this latest ruling. One of these judges called the administration's cuts a sham. And I'm curious what you think. Is this a sign that Trump and DOGE need to be more careful in the way they're operating?

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX), CO-CHAIRMAN, DOGE CAUCUS, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE: I would take that as a senior member of Congress that obviously we're involved in tough negotiation, not only with the federal government and its employees, but also with the judiciary now. The judiciary does have a role and that is to rule on the law. And the law is, as we recall, President Trump was very magnanimous and offered any employee that would choose not to come back after literally four years to offer a buyout. And that was seen by unions as a threat against their literally existence.

And so, when the President was stopped from that he still has a mandate, in his mind, to reduce government spending and said in his mind, fine, if those employees are going to stay, then we do not need the other employees that have not matured to a year. So, the -- literally, we can't have it two ways, it's got to be one way.

And so, if the federal government recognizes that there may be some 100,000 employees that would wish to leave, then we need to move on that. There needs to be clear direction, and it's a muddy pathway, and I know that.

BROWN: What do you mean by that, there needs to be clear direction? Just to better understand what you're saying. Are you saying that the Trump administration needs to provide clear direction? And so, far, that hasn't really been the case?

SESSIONS: Well, what I'm saying is, is that if there are employees that do not wish to come back and to leave, then that needs to be a very clear signal. I think that that's still mired up in court right now. I don't know, even though they have -- even know the feeling is that it's had a tie right now, that needs to be resolved. We need to know what the headcount will be. We need to know who will come to work and who wants to leave. And that's where the president pivoted, as he did three weeks ago when he was challenged on his point of offering employees, just like I had, you've heard me say it lots of times at AT&T, if there's a change that takes place, try and be good to the employees. President Trump tried to do that now. I think he's stuck somewhere between both of those ideas.

BROWN: Right. And just to be clear, we're talking about here are the mass firings of the probationary employees, including veterans. And you've seen some veterans, you know, speak up in some of these town halls. They're upset the way that this is going on.

Just to take a step back, you know, Americans generally support cutting waste, fraud, and abuse. A majority just doesn't like the way Elon Musk is doing it. When you look at the polls, only 35 percent view Musk favorably. This is according to a CNN poll to be clear. Are you at all concerned that Elon Musk is jeopardizing the president's agenda? I know you've had your own town hall and there were concerns there.

SESSIONS: What I am concerned about is that we go to the point that the president made and that is the secretaries of the agencies and the heads of the department will make these decisions. What you and I are in reference to is, are the some 100,000 employees going to stay or are they going to not come to work? The president needs to know which it's going to be. Is it going to be the 100,000 leave? And in that case, he would then need all these other employees. And he's stuck in between Never-never land right now.

And that's what I think the president's trying to do between the court battles and between the American people. I don't like it at all that people who were newly hired had a job, made decisions about their family, made decisions about their future. But this is being played out as hardball, just as it is today in Washington, about whether there will be funding the government. We're funding the government at the same level that we did last year.

To hear the hysterical call that we're going to take and rip people out of their homes and make them poor and not create a circumstance where the government would do its job is being held hostage, not by Republicans. And so, I think we need to get to the point where we can honestly look at each other and say, work with the president. If the 100,000 people don't want to come to work, I'm sure he would keep these other employees.

[10:55:00]

But that's not the option right now. We need to move to where we deal with each other honestly. That's why you're on this show and me too.

BROWN: Right. And just to present the Democrat side, we just had a Democratic congresswoman on saying, look, the CR, you know, you know the argument, isn't what has been done in the past. There are cuts to federal domestic programs that Democrats are concerned with, and they say that they were left out of the negotiating.

But just to follow up, I want to really stick with this, on DOGE because you are a member of Oversight, and there are real questions -- and you're also the co-chair of the DOGE Caucus. There are real questions about accountability for these -- so many of these government agencies now that inspector generals were fired. I mean, who is the watchdog now for all of these agencies? As a member of Oversight, how concerned are you that there is essentially no inspector general in a lot of these agencies? And when I talked to you last month, you said you would ask for more data and information from DOGE about the privacy and national security issues raised by their work. Did you receive those documents from DOGE?

SESSIONS: In fact, I have. And let me go to it because I am the chairman, the subcommittee chairman of government operations. I'll go to the first point that you were asking about, the inspector generals. Some 19 inspector generals were let go. They still have 10,000 employees between them all. They still go to work every day. They are mature employees who know what their job is. It is not unusual, just like every U.S. attorney around the country, what, left. Because they were political appointees, so were IGs.

So, the organizations are still working. They still have their mission. They look every day at their mission statement on the wall and I have no doubt that the IGs, just like GAO has a mission statement. GAO has to operate and does operate with the people who come and see sensitive data and they have to sign non-disclosures and they have to do the things that would be in line with a government employee or someone who is brought in.

Elon Musk spends his time, as you've learned over the last couple weeks, trying to get the astronauts back from space. That's what he's spending his time with. Sure, he shows up and goes for photo opportunities. By the way, we do those kinds of things occasionally. Elon Musk is a busy guy. It is being run by Russ Vought, who is the head of OMB. And I am -- will tell you that we have confidence that he has a plan and knowledge about where he's trying to take us.

When I came home yesterday, I learned, maybe for the first time, that there are tens of millions of dollars that have not been paid through providers for the V.A. And so, there's a lot of work that needs to be done. We do need employees.

BLITZER: OK. Congressman, unfortunately, we have to go. And when you come back on, I'd like to talk about the documents you did receive from DOGE. We didn't get a chance to talk about that.

SESSIONS: Great.

BROWN: Thank you for your time. We'll be right back.

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