the news. >> we don't. >> fact check it. we don't care. >> man. >> wants all the information. >> on this show. so terrible. >> have i got news for you returns february 15th on cnn. >> it's friday, january 24th right now on cnn this morning. >> you are an american citizen. if you were born on american soil, period. nothing that the president can do will change that. >> the first test, a judge blocks the trump administration's birthright citizenship order. the president promising to appeal. plus. >> if you don't make your product in america, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff. >> a warning to the world president trump urging global businesses to build in america or else. then later it's. >> obviously a. >> hail mary at. >> the end. >> and it's not going to

to declassify the records surrounding the assassination of president john f kennedy. all right. it is 6 a.m. here on the east coast. a live look at capitol hill on this friday. we are back in a trump administration. so when friday rolls around, you realize just how much longer the weeks start to feel. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. as donald trump wraps up the first week of his second term already, the nation is seeing this president take his very different approach to immigration, immigration and customs enforcement announcing the arrest of over 500 people on thursday, among them multiple people working at a seafood distributor in newark, new jersey. >> a couple of the guys couldn't show their

identification. three of them got arrested. 26 years in business. i've never seen anything like this. >> newark's mayor claiming that ice officers arrested both undocumented immigrants and american citizens in that raid. in a statement, the mayor, ras baraka, writing this quote, one of the detainees is a u.s. military veteran who suffered the indignity of having the legitimacy of his military documentation questioned, end quote. immigration raids also occurring this week in boston, something that massachusetts governor maura healey was asked about yesterday. >> i wouldn't describe them as raids. what it seems to be is what we expected and what i support, which is the apprehension of criminals in our communities. >> worth noting that maura healey is a democrat. across the country, president trump is facing new legal challenges to another key piece of his immigration plan the push to end birthright citizenship. a federal judge halting enforcement of the president's order, sounding almost exasperated as he did it, saying this quote, i've been on the bench for over four decades. i can't remember another case where the question presented was

as clear as this one is. this is a blatantly unconstitutional order. where were the lawyers when this decision was being made? end quote. no surprise president trump saying he'll challenge the restraining order and implying that the judge's decision was political. >> mr. president, a u.s. judge temporarily blocks the birthright citizenship order. do you have any reaction? >> no. obviously, we'll appeal it. they put it before a certain judge in seattle, i guess. right. and there's no surprises with that judge all right. >> joining us now to discuss our panels here, alex thompson cnn political analyst, national political reporter for axios elliot williams, cnn legal analyst, former federal prosecutor kate bedingfield, cnn political commentator, former communications director for the biden white house. and mike dubke, former communications director in the first trump administration. welcome to all of you. thank you guys so much for being here. uh, elliott williams, why don't i start with you on birthright citizenship? but this is kind of one piece of a broader, um, you know, push that we are seeing

play out immediately here in the initial days. clearly, the constitution says one thing. trump is trying to do another thing with an executive order, but it has a lot of people concerned about what's going to happen if they're pregnant right now, they're not sure what the status of their baby is going to be. um, what, in your view is the status for those people? i mean, there's there's a temporary restraining order here, and is the goal just to get this to the supreme court to actually just challenge it. >> the goal is certainly to get it to the supreme court. now, the status of those people right now is what it was two days ago or three days ago because of the fact that the judge has put in place a national hold on the executive order, at least for now, the law remains what it was. but let's be clear. when you have a federal judge calling your action blatantly unconstitutional, you kind of screwed up. and whether it was merely to move the political needle or actually change the definition of birthright citizenship, we will find out. but again, casey, to echo your point, this all comes from the 14th amendment to the constitution. all persons born

or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, shall be citizens of the united states. that language is plainly clear on its face. um, and, uh, all the if you look at all of the fraught cases over the last decade or so, whether it's abortion or affirmative action or whatever else, there's some ambiguity in the law there that's not here. >> this is pretty ambiguous. >> this is, on its face, pretty clear. and the reason why it hasn't come up since 1898 and the supreme court is because nobody's challenging it, because it's plain on its face. so, yeah. >> so there you have it. here we go. which speaks. >> to that some in some ways, it's not as much of a legal challenge as a political ploy, right? i mean, they want this fight. they expected it to be appealed. and to your point, the they expect the supreme court, they want it to go to the supreme court, because the longer that this fight is in the news, they think it's to their political benefit. >> so we're seeing the tension here for this, this political side of the table in both of these instances. right. the humanity of people who aren't sure if their kids who are born here are going to be able to be

citizens because of this executive order, these people in these raids who, you know, the newark mayor says was an american citizen or like a military veteran, right. these people who are going to have their lives impacted, possibly in really difficult and unfair ways versus what you saw from maura healey, the governor of massachusetts, who says, i actually, this is what i want as well. i wouldn't even call them raids. i want these people apprehended. this is what the voters voted for. i mean, mike, what is the right i mean, obviously, voters want immigration enforcement. can the president go too far at this point? where is the line? >> so i think you're hearing from the governor of massachusetts and from the from the mayor. you're hearing exactly the debate that's happening in america, and you're hearing the debate that was happening prior to the election. there's a lot of there are a lot of people that are really, you know, torn about how to handle immigration and how do you handle violence and immigration. i look, i think this is you've got a president

that is going to test the limits. this birthright citizenship is an example. i mean, i, i was shocked, shocked that lawyers disagree with each. other on on this. right. but you are going to see more and more and more of this, but you've got a president that wants to test the limits and you've got americans that are truly conflicted when it comes to immigration. and how do we how do we deal with it? how do we deal with the millions? >> really interesting point about this debate that's been ongoing, this kind of enforcement action. and i'm not using the word raid. i will say enforcement action quite deliberately was common in the obama administration at the very beginning of the administration. i was at ice for for those four and five years. um, in the beginning, workplace enforcement showing up at whether it's the meatpacking plants or the factories or whatever else and sweeping people up were a common tactic. now, the administration stopped doing that by about april of 2009 because of exactly what i believe the mayor was talking about there, which is that you start sweeping up military veterans and so on, and

it's just inefficient. the approach that the obama folks went to at a certain point was auditing the files of employers to make sure that the employers were actually checking who was working for them. but it's a little bit going in with a hatchet rather than a scalpel when you just start sweeping people up and you're going to see more of that. for people who plainly should not be removed from the united states, but are getting caught up and having to go through the hassle of pulling out their their certificates from the military or whatever else. >> i do think maura healey is kind of largely in the right place here, though, for democrats, which is i, you know, especially for democrats who are in executive office that, you know, they they take it seriously. they are focused on violent offenders. i do think that you reading the results of the election in november, i think you'd be crazy to not say people are asking for tougher enforcement on immigration. so i don't think democrats should shy away from that. of course, i think they should show humanity. they should show empathy. i mean, the point of immigration enforcement should not be cruelty. i think this is where

democrats can really split with the trump administration. i think trump seems sometimes to be quite gleeful in pursuing policies that are hurting young children or hurting young families. you'll you'll will continue to see, i would imagine, more and more, you know, images of women with young children crying because they don't know what is going to happen to their kid. i mean, there are human and painful images that emerge that trump, i think, sometimes comes across as seeming gleeful about. and that is where i think democrats can can very aggressively split with him. >> yeah. there are two words you're not hearing, though. sanctuary city. i'm not hearing sanctuary cities coming from democrats right now, because i think exactly because. >> of the possible exception of denver. i mean, they've been pretty, um, you know, the denver. >> mayor, the mayor said he's already going ready to go to jail to tom homan. >> i've been taking them out. yeah. >> but but to your point, there is every political incentive for a lot of democrats to end up to try to stand up to the trump administration when they start doing these orders. and when we start seeing these images, potentially, of families being

split up, potentially, you know, you know, this gleeful nature. and so i think you're going to actually see a bunch of democrats, not even just denver. i think you're going to see a bunch of democrats across the country try to actually stand up to some of these actions. >> yeah. elliot, let me ask you about this. just because the one pregnant woman talked to the independent, the newspaper, the independent, and her name is monica, monica and her husband arrive in the u.s. from venezuela six years ago. they've been building a life, trying to do everything to make their home here. they're in the process of seeking asylum. obviously, venezuela has had so much political and violence and challenges working, paying taxes. we were able to buy a home, she said. we had reached a point of stability in this country and wanted to have a child. she's now 12 weeks pregnant. i should be worried about the health of my child. i should be thinking about that, she said. instead, she is stressed, anxious and depressed, facing reality that my child might not be able to become a u.s. citizen. and i guess, i mean, you note that there was this stay, but there were there were there was a period of time there where babies were born. and this executive order was in effect. what does it mean?

>> it shows the arbitrariness of how it was all written. were that baby born a month ago. that baby would have been a united states citizen without question, even under this executive order. um, it was quite deliberate that some of the immigration groups that filed suits named pregnant women as plaintiffs, knowing that this sort of legal limbo was going to come up and they could present to the courts that, you know, look at the mess that this has created for people who plainly, by any reading of the constitution, are are citizens and will be citizens of the united states. you don't have to like it if you don't like it. amend the constitution, get, you know, two thirds of the states to to agree to it. but this is the law. it has been since the founding of the nation. and make it worse. >> do you have an answer for if there's a baby that was born under these circumstances, like on tuesday morning at midnight after this executive order was in effect, but before the stay, do they have a problem? >> no, i don't think they have a problem because because the state. it all depends on how the

judge enforces the stay. does it go retroactively to the signing of the order? um, but it's it's a mess. now, that child will have a right to sue if somebody dares say they're not a citizen. >> what a mess. okay, coming up here on cnn this morning, an america first ultimatum, president trump issuing his most direct tariff threat yet. plus eliminating government waste. congresswoman melanie stansbury, who serves as ranking member on the new doge subcommittee. here to discuss. and as a new fire rages in southern california today, the president will head to los angeles to tour the damage and apparently speak to governor newsom for the first time since 2020. >> i certainly plan on being there at the tarmac and and look forward to continuing to work, not just with him, the administration, as it relates to the disaster recovery. >> cnn this morning, brought to you by miralax free your gut to free your mood. >> mira joy. the overwhelming

relief after miralax helps you go miralax works naturally with the water in your body, putting you in a supernaturally good mood. miralax free your gut to free your mood. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. how it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. hotel trivago. >> unnecessary action. >> missing punches, unnecessary check reversals, unnecessary time sheet corrections, unnecessary unwanted sick time get paycom and make the unnecessary. unnecessary. >> we needed a project manager yesterday. we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build our dream team and they did it fast. >> try it for free at ziprecruiter.com. slash hire.

>> covid 19. i'm not waiting. if it's covid, paxlovid. >> paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild to moderate covid 19 and a high risk factor for becoming severe. it does not prevent covid 19. >> my symptoms are mild now, but i'm not risking it if it's covid. paxlovid. >> paxlovid must be taken within the first five days of symptoms and help stop the virus from multiplying in your body. >> taking paxlovid with certain medicines can lead to serious or life threatening side effects, or affect how it or other medicines work, including hormonal birth control. tell your doctor about all medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements you take as certain tests or dosage changes of your other medicines may be needed. tell them if you have kidney or liver problems. hiv one r or plan to be pregnant or breastfeed. don't take paxlovid if allergic to its ingredients. stop taking and call your doctor right away. if you have allergic reaction symptoms. serious side effects can include allergic reactions, some severe, like anaphylaxis and liver problems. these are not all the possible side effects. so talk to your doctor. >> if it's covid paxlovid. >> ask your doctor today. >> i love that my

daughter still needs me, but sometimes i can't help due to burning and stabbing pain in my hands. so i use nervive. >> nervive clinical dose of ala reduces nerve discomfort in as little as seven days. >> now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. >> goldilocks needs a place of her own and fast. thankfully she's on redfin. they update their listings every two minutes and with so many options, she's bound to find exactly what she wants. >> this one's just right. >> is she leaving? yes. >> what's happening? it is happening. >> let's start the bidding at $5 million. >> robinhood gold members get a 3% ira match, while the wealthy hoard their perks. our retirement contributions are boosted by 3%. now, with robinhood gold. >> if you have high blood pressure or diabetes and get a cough, cold or flu, safe tossing is specially formulated for you. powerful, safe and effective cough,

dude, i really need a new phone. check out my new samsung galaxy s25 ultra. it's got galaxy ai. imagine this thing running on our superfast xfinity mobile network. and i also heard that it can do multiple things with a single command. —with google gemini. let me try it. add recipes with overripe bananas to my “dessert ideas” note. that's what you chose to ask it? i had other things planned. ask how to get up to one thousand dollars off the new samsung galaxy s25 ultra with xfinity mobile. price, cheaper. see if you qualify at irokotv. >> here he goes. no, here he

goes. nope. here he goes. nope. make it. no, he is not gonna make it. he's not gonna make it. yes, yes. oh the. >> tbs original wipeout. all new sundays at nine on tbs. >> many, many things have been unfair for many years to the united states. >> president donald trump now taking his second term message overseas, he spoke virtually to the world economic forum in davos, switzerland, yesterday for more than 40 minutes, he listed many of his america first grievances about u.s. trade deals, and he again threatened to slap tariffs on our neighbors to the north. >> my message to every business in the world is very simple come make your product in america and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth. if you don't make your product in america, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff. i say you can always become a state, and if you're a state,

we won't have a deficit. we won't have to tariff you. et cetera. et cetera. but canada has been very tough to deal with over the years. we don't need them to make our cars, and they make a lot of them. we don't need their lumber because we have our own forests. et cetera. et cetera. we don't need their oil and gas, mike. >> i don't know if he's called general motors lately, which makes some of its most bestselling cars. and in canada. but this is clearly a tactic that he uses, right? what real world impact do you think it will have? >> i think it's going to have. i actually do think the rhetoric matters, and there is going to be some real world impact here. major corporations are going to look, what can we do to open up operations in the united states? you're right about gm, but you're, you know, honda, bmw, all these other manufacturers make their suvs in the united states. so all of this. >> does states. >> and right to work states. but all of this does does matter. you know he's got a very strong made in america platform. and

that's what he's doubling down on. and he's taking it, you know, right into the belly of the beast at davos. >> but this is kind of a rerun i mean we saw a lot of this tough talk from him in his first administration. we saw a lot of promises about bringing manufacturing back to the united states. and it didn't really happen. >> in lordstown, ohio. >> right. exactly. right. or the the foxconn plant in wisconsin, that was supposed to be a huge job creator that never materialized. so, you know, the rhetoric is is one thing, but the reality is another. and i think, you know, threatening, threatening tariffs that are ultimately probably going to drive up prices for american consumers, that's going to create a real political pain point for him very quickly. and he's going to have to make decisions about whether he is whether the rhetoric is worth being, looking the american people in the eye and saying, you know, prices are going up because of what i did. and so i, you know, it's easy to it's easy to to bluster in your virtual address to davos in the second week of your presidency. but the reality of some of what he's proposing here, um, will mean

higher prices for people in the united states. >> just a really quick point on this, though. when is this happening? like in the first administration, trump 1.0. it was a year a little later into the administration. he was getting his feet under him. this is now what we're seeing is a confident donald trump. and we're seeing him straight out of the gate. what are we five days into the presidency now? we are seeing him straight out of the gate, going to several of the places, as you point out, that this we've already seen this, but it was he was trying to figure it out in 1.0, 2.0. this is we're on steroids at the moment. we're just blasting through, you know, several of the plays that that that he ran in four years. >> ago, he knows a lot more about manipulating the levers of power, that's for sure. all right. coming up here on cnn this morning, rain expected in southern california. you would think that would be good news because of the wildfires. and it may help in that way. but we'll tell you why that rain could cause even more problems for l.a. plus, president trump's first days back in office came with a slew of pardons and executive orders. michael smerconish it's friday, he'll join us to break it all down.

>> kobe the making of a legend premieres tomorrow at nine on cnn. >> not again. your cold is coming. your cold is coming. >> thanks, revere. >> we really need to. >> keep zicam in the house. >> only if you want to shorten your cold. when you feel a cold coming, shorten it with zicam. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. >> i didn't even know how i was going to buy food for my kids. >> i picked up the phone and called national debt relief. they were my savior. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> now that i'm out of debt, i feel free. i feel powerful. >> i'm doing the things i want to do. singing in a chorus. i'm traveling with my husband. >> i'm thriving. our family is thriving. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. >> hi. mornings. cough. congestion. >> i'm feeling better all in

one and done with mucinex kickstart. >> headaches better now. >> mucinex kickstart gives all in one and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's comeback season. >> and the furniture business. things move fast. ziprecruiter helps us hire qualified candidates who can keep up. we needed a project manager yesterday. we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build our dream team and they did it fast. is that too fast for you? >> four out of five employers who post on ziprecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. try it for free at ziprecruiter.com. slash. >> hire people today are already dying from climate change. >> if we fail to act now, we will see a climate crisis on a scale that is unimaginable. >> we're thinking about how to make cities more comfortable as temperatures continue to rise.

>> yes, it is possible to have better growth and better climate at the same time. >> with fast signs, see the visual possibility in your business with signs and graphics, you can save anything transforming your space begins at our place. fast signs make your statement. >> your florida life. >> is calling and we have the answer. valencia in florida by g l homes premium 55 plus living in five prime florida locations. gorgeous new homes from the mid three hundreds to 2 million world class resort style living 24 over seven huge clubhouses on site dining, pickleball and more. effortless, low

it's awesome. >> don't let this happen to you. download rocket money today. >> super man, the christopher reeve story february 2nd on cnn.

>> closed captioning brought to you by book. >> if you. >> or a loved one. >> have mesothelioma. >> we'll send. >> you a free book. >> to answer questions you may have. call now. >> and we'll come to you. >> 800 821 4000. >> all right. welcome back. firefighters in southern california grappling with new wildfires this week. now though, it does look like rain is heading that way. however, it could also cause more problems like mudslides on the charred areas. so people are putting out thousands of sandbags to try to protect what they have left. let's get to meteorologist allison chinchar with more on this. allison, good morning. >> and good morning. yes, we've got a lot of active fires to talk about in two separate regions of california. here you can see this is in and around the los angeles area. you've got six particular fires here, none of which are back up to 100% containment. so that is certainly something we are going to have to keep a close eye on. now, if we head a little bit farther down to the south, now down near san diego, you also have several fires here. all of these three, however, are at 0%

containment. now the winds are expected to improve as we go through the day today. so that is some good news, especially for the firefighters. right now. you still have a couple that are in like the teens and even the low 20 mile per hour range. and that is expected because we do still have the red flag warning up until 10 a.m. pacific time this morning. we could still have some of those winds around 40mph on the northern side, up to 60mph on the southern side. but that goes away by this afternoon. and we finally start to see those winds calming back down. we also see something else going back down, and that's the temperatures. notice today the high in the 70s. but then the rest of the week is actually below average. but the most important thing that's on this chart is the rain chances. it should begin in the back half of the day saturday for southern california, and then continue through the day sunday, and maybe even the wee hours of monday morning. and that's good news. they need the rain to really help out most of these areas. you're looking at a half of an inch, maybe in some isolated spots, up to one inch total. snow pack is also going to pick up a little bit here.

you'll see a lot of the snowfall for the higher elevations. but yes, casey, the big concern here is if that rain comes down too quickly, it could end up triggering some flash flooding and also some mudslides around the burn scar areas. >> tough to hear. people in l.a. could really use some relief allison chinchar for us this morning. alison, thanks very much for that. still coming up after the break. president donald trump looking to slim down the government with his new so-called department of government efficiency. we're going to talk to the top democrat on the congressional subcommittee that deals with doge congresswoman melanie stansbury. plus, today, congress will take the final vote on whether to confirm pete hegseth to lead the pentagon. >> i do. >> believe the president deserves deference, but obviously. >> i. >> take seriously the advice and consent role assigned to the senate. >> hi, susan. honey. yeah, i respect that, but that cough looks pretty bad. try this. robitussin, honey. >> the real honey you love. plus the powerful cough relief you

need. >> mind if i root through your trash? >> robitussin. >> the only brand with true source certified honey. >> we needed a project manager. yesterday we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build our dream team and they did it fast. >> try it for free at ziprecruiter.com slash hire. >> let's lay one. >> down for. >> a complete unknown. is now an academy award nominee for best picture of the year. >> one take. >> don't miss the film critics are calling breathtaking cinema at the highest level. >> how does it feel? >> a complete unknown rated r. >> we are living with afib. >> and over half a. >> million of us have left blood thinners. >> behind for life. we've cut our stroke risk and said goodbye to our bleeding worry with the watchman implant watchman. it's one time for a lifetime. copd is an ugly reality. i watch as his world just keeps getting

smaller. but then trelegy helped us see things a little differently. with three medicines and one inhaler, trilogy keeps airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare ups once daily. trelegy also improves lung function so he can breathe more freely all day and night. >> trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened. breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling problems, urinating, vision changes or eye pain occur. >> what a. >> wonderful world. ask your doctor about once daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful all day and night. >> it's a. >> lot to be a caregiver and a daughter. >> because you kind of have to take a step back. getting some help would be a great relief. >> from companions to helpers to

caregivers, find all the senior care you need at care.com. >> patients who have sensitive teeth but also want whiter teeth. they have to make a choice one versus the other. sensodyne clinical white provides two shades whiter teeth, as well as providing 24 over seven sensitivity protection. patients are going to love to see sensodyne on the shelf. >> for generations, this ally to the north has been by your side. ontario, canada a partner connected by shared history, shared values and a shared vision for what we can achieve together. stable and secure when the world around us isn't. you can rely on ontario for energy to power your growing economy and for the critical minerals crucial to new technologies. ontario is your third largest trading partner, and the number one export destination for 17 states. our long standing economic partnership keeps millions of americans working in a changing

world. it's time to bring jobs back home and build together more workers, more trade, more prosperity, more security. for generations, this ally to north has been here and for generations more. we'll still be here, right by your side. >> okay. >> everyone. >> our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. >> ensure with. >> 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for. immune health and ensure complete with 30g of protein. >> if you have high blood pressure or diabetes and get a cough, cold or flu, scott bessent is specially formulated for you. powerful, safe and effective cough, cold and flu relief that's formulated so it won't raise your blood pressure or impact your blood sugar. play it safe with safe tussin. >> i guess i'm not the easiest person to please. i like things just right. that's why i love redfin's home recommendations. they know what i want even before i do. a home that's just

right yes. yes. >> cnn news central next to restore competence and effectiveness to our federal government. >> my administration will establish the brand new department of government efficiency. >> president donald trump's new department of government efficiency, or doge, for short. officially established earlier this week after a first day executive order, the new entity, which plans to try to slash billions in government spending, will operate as part of the executive branch and they will have a congressional arm, the house subcommittee on doge. my next guest, congresswoman melanie stansbury, has been named the top democrat on that committee. she tells axios she'll, quote, fight back against efforts to dismantle federal agencies to take away critical programs like social security and medicaid and medicare, and we'll fight back the dismantling against the dismantling of environmental programs. the man tapped to lead

doge elon musk, has shared little so far about his intentions for those programs. >> elon is social security, and medicare is off the table. is it off the table? do you have. any concerns about your company? >> and joining us now is democratic congresswoman melanie stansbury of new mexico. congresswoman, thanks for being here. >> it's great to be here. >> i want to talk a little bit about this, this subcommittee and how you think it is actually going to work. we have seen in the initial kind of onslaught of executive orders, right. in this first week, that a huge focus for president trump is the federal workforce and trying to make impacts there. you have started to talk to some of your republican counterparts on this subcommittee. what's your understanding of what they're going to try to do? >> well. >> at this point, we don't know what exactly they're up to, but my sense is it's not good. whatever it's going to be, you know, immediately after the election in november, the very first committee hearing that the oversight committee had was on dei initiatives. and here we are this week, donald trump, of course, put on leave all of

the federal employees who work on diversity initiatives. we believe that they're going to use the doge subcommittee to eviscerate the federal workforce. we think they're going to go after federal departments, agency heads. we think they're going to go after the retirement benefits and use it also to restructure the government as a way to be essentially a personal piggy bank for elon musk. i mean, i think none of us really understand why elon musk is even interested in restructuring the government, except for that he has billions of dollars in federal contracts. and i think it's notable that up until the inauguration, he was operating his arm of doge out of space, which is the company that he has billions of dollars in front of the federal government with. >> congresswoman, you mentioned retirement benefits and other ways to eviscerate the federal workforce. what's your understanding? a lot of these employees are protected by unions. is it possible for republicans in congress to take away federal retirement benefits? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, the

entire schedule f executive order that was signed by president trump on monday is designed to take away the protections that federal employees actually have. so our unions have told us that actually, there is there is much less to fight back on in the way that the schedule f order has been structured. but congress essentially is the arm of our government that passes laws, that regulates everything from your benefits to how the federal workforce is structured. and so that's why there is a congressional arm. so this is intended to provide the congressional heft, if you will. now, i think it's notable that they put marjorie taylor greene in charge of it on the republican side. so you have to ask, how serious are they? or is this really a political stunt just to generate interest amongst their base in the nefarious stuff that they're about to do? >> let me ask you about elon musk as well, because obviously, i mean, you mentioned spacex. he has all sorts of interests. he's also came in in the last

24 hours for criticism from the anti-defamation league, because he seemed to be joking about the holocaust. and and they wrote about they put this up on, on musk's platform, making inappropriate, highly offensive jokes that trivialize the holocaust, served to minimize the evil and inhumanity of nazi crimes, denigrate the suffering of both victims and survivors, and insult the memory of the 6 million jews murdered in the shoah. and that's, of course, jonathan greenblatt as their leader. and, he says, elon musk, the holocaust is not a joke. are there going to be any recriminations for this from republicans in congress? >> well, i mean, i think we have seen time and time again that republicans do not hold members of their own allies accountable for their actions. i mean, look, they put donald trump back in the white house. and but, you know, if you actually look at the tweet that elon musk put out yesterday, i mean, it's it's shocking. when i saw it, i just

i couldn't believe it. but on the other hand, you know, in addition to supporting donald trump, he's been endorsing and supporting these ultra right wing fascist, nazi, pseudo nazi government entities across the world, including in germany itself, where it's very clear even the arm gesture that he made in the inauguration ceremony that the german government says that is a nazi salute. so, um, i mean, i don't see my republican colleagues turning their backs on him unless it becomes politically toxic for them. but they've clearly mobilized and allied themselves with the far right. and so there seems to be a level of comfort amongst my republican colleagues that is frightening. and i think this is the kind of stuff that we warn the american people on as we were heading into this election, and we're seeing it play out now. >> all right. congresswoman melanie stansbury, thanks very much for spending some time with us this morning, i appreciate it. thank you. all right. coming up next here on cnn this morning, a flurry of executive orders, a sweeping pardon for

all the january 6th rioters and a speech on the world stage. michael smerconish here to discuss week one. and it was a whirlwind week. president trump's second term, plus fulfilling a campaign promise. president trump orders the declassification of the jfk assassination files. >> jfk, rfk. >> martin luther king. he's also planning to declassify the kfc files. i finally get to the bottom of those secret herbs and spices. >> what if. >> you could tackle your dog's itching, soft stools and low energy? millions of pet parents are raving about doctor marty nature's blend. >> such a huge difference in her health, more energy, more playful, no more pooping issues. >> i'm doctor marty. i've been a veterinarian for more than 50 years. the dangerous ingredients added to many pet foods could be impacting your dog's lifespan. that's why i formulated nature's blend. >> now you can feed your dog wholesome cuts of real meat, vegetables and fruit with no artificial preservatives or fillers. try doctor marty risk free. go to doctor marty pets slash tv.

>> ooh, stuffed up again. >> so congested. >> you need saline from vicks. >> just sign x. >> breathe. >> what is wow. >> senex. >> breathe. >> ah. >> covid 19. i'm not waiting. if it's covid. paxlovid. >> paxlovid is an oral treatment for adults with mild to moderate covid 19 and a high risk factor for becoming severe. it does not prevent covid 19. >> my symptoms are mild now, but i'm not risking it if it's covid. paxlovid. >> paxlovid must be taken within the first five days of symptoms and help stop the virus from multiplying in your body. >> taking paxlovid with certain medicines can lead to serious or life threatening side effects, or affect how it or other medicines work, including hormonal birth control. tell your doctor about all medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements you take as certain tests or dosage changes of your other medicines may be needed. tell them if you have kidney or liver problems, hiv one r or plan to be pregnant or breastfeed. don't take paxlovid if allergic to its ingredients. stop taking and call your doctor right away. if you have allergic reaction

symptoms. serious side effects can include allergic reactions, some severe, like anaphylaxis and liver problems. these are not all the possible side effects, so talk to your doctor. >> if it's covid, paxlovid. >> ask your doctor today. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. how it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. hotel trivago. >> whoa. how'd you get your teeth so white? >> you got to use the right. >> toothpaste, doctor. see? >> not all. >> toothpastes whiten. >> the same crest. >> 3-d white removes. >> 100% more stains for. >> a noticeably. whiter smile. new personal best crest. >> and the furniture business. things move fast. ziprecruiter helps us hire qualified candidates who can keep up. we needed a project manager yesterday. we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs.

they help us build a dream team and they did it fast. is that too fast for you? >> four out of five employers who post on

faster confidence, higher price cheaper. see if you qualify at. irokotv. >> closed captioning is brought to you by uqora. help maintain a healthy urinary tract with uqora. >> i've been having utis for ten years. at uqora we make uti relief products. we also make proactive urinary tract health products. uqora is a lifesaver. try it today at uqora. com. >> do you feel like you've gotten enough information about mr. hegseth? >> uh. >> yeah. >> i actually. >> feel i do alaska senator lisa murkowski says she's seen enough about president trump's choice to lead the pentagon. >> pete hegseth. on thursday, hegseth cleared a procedural vote in the senate, setting up a final confirmation vote on his nomination as defense secretary for later on today. murkowski was one of two republican senators joining susan collins of maine to break ranks with their party and vote against

hegseth nomination. >> in general, i do believe the president deserves deference, but obviously i take seriously the advice and consent role assigned to the senate. >> in separate statements, both of these women senators called hegseth character and experience into questions. senator collins saying, quote, he does not have the experience and perspective necessary to succeed in the job. and senator murkowski saying of hegseth, quote, he lacks that strength of character and good judgment that in all departments we need to have, but most particularly in the department of defense. hegseth has faced allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking that he denies. but two more republicans would have to join murkowski and collins, in addition to every democrat, to sink his nomination. >> now i'm going through. >> this last allegation, but. unless i can point to specific firsthand corroborated testimony, i'm not going to cave

to pressure. i'm going to vote for his confirmation. >> all right. our panel is back. mike dubke, this seems like it's on a glide path here. there were some 11th hour pieces of new information. a former family member of hegseth submitting an affidavit claiming she was told that if she were to come forward, there would be republicans who would vote against hegseth. it doesn't seem to be the case. >> no, i think we saw that the the two senators, collins and murkowski, look for both of them. this is on brand. so i am not surprised by that one. one thing if i if i thought this was going to be derailed on that procedural vote, you know, we've got mitch mcconnell out there, we've got todd young, we've got john curtis. there are several other senators who may. >> choose thom tillis there too. >> and well, i think tillis may be a little less i you know, i take tillis at his word. i think he's voting for this. but i kind of view hegseth probably going forward. what will be interesting is when we get to some of the other

nominees. but this hegseth vote tonight seems to be. yeah, on a glide path, to quote somebody else. >> i would also note thom tillis is up for reelection in 2026. >> so is susan collins. susan collins, right. >> if he's not scared by it, if it's not, you know what i mean. if it does not appear that all of the republicans who are in tougher races are breaking one way, i just don't think they're that concerned about the nomination getting sunk. >> right. well, thom tillis is probably a little bit he might be more concerned about his right than. and susan collins is worried about the middle because maine versus north carolina republican primary. yeah. so i mean, i take your point, though, that like, this seems to be going forward. the other interesting thing is, like peter, you know, hegseth has no experience doing this job. and so, you know, now the hard part starts, as they say. >> yeah, you know, so much, so much of the debate has been over the personal misconduct or alleged personal misconduct, and not the fact that you're talking about 3 million employees and an $800 billion budget.

>> well, that's hard enough to do sober, i think, is the issue. i think the question is like, is he is he can he pick up the phone at three in the morning? >> and we and we forget that these are massive management roles. and is this person competent to do. >> it right. and he has struggled. i mean, we've seen evidence that he has struggled to manage much, much, much smaller, less complicated organizations than the department of defense. so this is one of those things where, you know, i agree with mike, it seems very much like it's on a glide path at this point. but it also means republicans are going to own secretary of defense pete hegseth and the things that he does in that job. and that's where democrats, i think, will will start to focus their attention when it comes to to hegseth himself. >> mike, who do you think is actually in trouble? because i keep hearing tulsi gabbard is the name that i keep hearing. >> yeah, that's the name. i think that's the name that you're going to keep hearing. um, it sounds like senator mcconnell is already a no vote. i mean, again, they have to get to they have to get to to four republicans, assuming all the democrats say what was interesting in the hegseth vote, actually, was that fetterman voted against, which there had been some chatter that he was

going to support hegseth. so i, i. >> think you could potentially see him support some trump nominees that other democrats have. >> yes. so i you know, is it four, is it five? but tulsi gabbard, you know, kash patel but i think he's also i think he's going to be okay. i think rfk jr. is going to be okay. it's really it comes down to tulsi gabbard. >> that might come down to a hearing too. >> yeah. >> depending on how that how that one goes. all right. let's turn now to the big picture of what we have seen from the second trump administration. they have only been in office for a very busy full days already. the president has issued a double digit blitz of executive orders as he ticks through a laundry list of campaign promises. >> tonight i'm going to be signing on the j6 hostages pardons. >> protecting women from radical gender ideology. >> ooh. >> they'll have 100% tariff if they so much as even think about doing what they thought. >> this next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship under the 14th

amendment of the united states. >> and that's a good one. this is, to me a very big thing, $500 billion. stargate project. they didn't want the kennedy stuff released, but i'm going to release them immediately. i'm also taking swift action to stop the invasion at our southern border. i signed an executive order to stop all government censorship. i'm also going to ask all nato nations to increase defense spending to 5% of gdp. my team negotiated a cease fire agreement in the middle east. >> and it's worth noting that friday has barely begun. what does this first week tell us about the term ahead? michael smerconish is here to discuss is cnn political commentator, host of cnn's smerconish, and of course, the star of smerconish fridays here on cnn this morning. michael. good morning. this has been quite a week casey. >> first of all, congratulations to you on your upcoming move. i hope i'm allowed to say that it's much deserved and looking forward to seeing you in the in the afternoon. yeah, that's really wonderful. wonderful news. so it's been a fire hose of

information thus far. and yes, the day is young. who knows what today brings. but what occurs to me is very few surprises. in other words, the things that are getting so much attention for those who paid attention. obviously, you and the panel did to the campaign. he told us about die. he told us about birthright citizenship. he told us his definition of two genders. for me, the big surprise, the item on the agenda that causes the most risk of any blowback from his base. the sixers. i thought that the breath of the clemency that was granted to the sixers in the end, if you believe the news accounts, he just said, f it. i'm going to take care of them all instead of going through a case by case basis. and i think it carries real political risk, as borne out by the fact that the largest police union in the country, which supported him in the past three elections, drew a line in the sand on that. and you look at those personalities who were just released from prison this week, they'anto be k

it's going to come back to bite him. i think there will be recidivism from some of the 15 or 1600 who've been released. and what worries me most about that move is the message that it sends not only to those individuals, but the people who support them, that trump has their back. so for me on this friday morning, that's the headline of the week. >> yeah. i mean, michael, i have to say, if you watched the press conference that was given by members of the capitol police force and we we played quite a bit of it yesterday where we heard from officer daniel hodges, who talked about and he's in some of that best known footage from the day where he's jammed in the door, you know, literally screaming for help, you know, and he talked about how the rioters tried to gouge out his eyes. and at the end of his comments, he simply said, you know, i don't understand. and i think, you know, for me, i've covered the republican party for a long time. and, you

know, the sort of trajectory it has taken in the age of trump. but even with trump and the difference that, you know, he i started covering mitt romney's campaign, right. i'm not sure there could be two different people, let alone republican politicians. but i never imagined, even as that transition was happening, that we would see a republican party, that that was pardoning people who were specifically violent against police officers. is that the piece of it that you think is ultimately going to be a problem here? there's officer hodges, by the way. >> well, that's what i find to be. that's what i find to be the biggest shock, because if i go back to the days when i cut my teeth politically in the reagan 80s, as a republican, one who served, albeit in a lower level position in the bush 41 administration. but that's my pedigree. like this is totally at odds with the republican party of my younger days. it was always the republicans. i can think of so many different rnc, so many different republican national conventions where law enforcement was a critical part of it. and and they would always tout the fact that, you know, they were the party that had the

back of the men, largely men then in blue. and this is totally at odds. but i, i don't know that that president trump thought it through. when you when you look at those two personalities, the proud boys and the oath keepers, the guys who were released this week, i hate to even give them more heft by naming them and the things that they said to the media upon their release. you know, somehow i would think that trump wants to get the message to them like, hey guys, i cut you some slack, but please, that's it. go quietly into the night. they show no interest in doing so. that's going to come back in the future. >> i mean, is it i mean, i remember at the time the sort of stand back and stand by line in the midst of trump fighting to not have to leave the white house after the election. is is it an even more aggressive version of that message to those? and you're right to point them out as well. >> the leaders. >> of these groups? yeah. >> yeah. i mean, he he meant

what he said all along. he's been consistent. if if nothing else. look, i'm trying to give him to be fair and to give him the benefit of the doubt. i made sure that i started my comments today by saying, if you paid attention, he's doing that, which he said he would do. the shocker for me is the approach to the j. sixers. i mean, i'm not the only one shocked jd vance, vice president vance is apparently among those shocked because of the comments that he made just a week ago. but it's like everybody has lost their voice on it. i draw the line at at just giving a blank slate to those that i watched, that we all watched being violent with cops and breaching the capital. my own standard is if you were violent on that day, if you breached the perimeter of the building itself, then we're giving you no quarter. if there were others who were overcharged, who have paid their debt to society in three and a half years behind bars. okay, let's have that conversation. maybe three and a half years was enough. so that's what i think. >> yeah. no, it's fair enough.

and i was i found it jarring. also, my colleague donie o'sullivan did an interview with the woman who became she had a pink hat on and she used an ax to break a window. and then he interviewed her outside the dc jail because of course, she's now been released. so michael smerconish, i'm always grateful to have you. if it's friday, it's a friday, so see you soon. and do all of you at home remember to tune in to smerconish. it's tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. eastern. it's right here on cnn. all right, 53 minutes past the hour. here's your morning roundup. tomorrow, four more israeli hostages set to be released by hamas. sources say the fate of the other hostages expected to be released over the coming weeks, could also come into focus tomorrow. although president donald trump says he hasn't met or spoken to any of the january 6th rioters to whom he granted clemency earlier this week, he said he's not opposed to hosting them at the white house. >> i don't know, i'm sure that they probably would like to, i did. i did them something important, but what they did is

they were protesting a crooked election. and, you know, i mean, people understand that also. and they were treated very badly. nobody's been treated like that. so i'd be open to it. certainly. >> the president pardoned more than a thousand people charged in the january 6th attack on the capitol and commuted the sentences of an additional 14 people. today, president trump is traveling to california to survey the damage from those intense wildfires. the governor, gavin newsom, says the white house hasn't formally reached out to him, but he does plan to be there when the president lands. >> and i look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him. and and we're making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him. >> president trump has, of course, heavily criticized the governor over his handling of these wildfires. kate bedingfield, are they going to let him onto the tarmac? >> well, it's their prerogative. i mean, he's not going to be able to get close to trump if they don't allow it. so we'll see. but i think the loss of or

the potential loss of these kinds of bipartisan moments, especially in the wake of, of natural disasters, is so is is actually such a profound loss for our country. i mean, the idea that even the response to something that has devastated the lives of, of people all over southern california is about partisan politics is just it's so demoralizing. i think it does so much to undermine people's faith in government. i think the idea that institutions have no longer people don't trust institutions is in part driven by exactly this kind of thing. a democratic governor and a republican president should be able to greet each other on the tarmac when the president is coming out to survey damage and talk about what the federal government can do to help. i just i it's a small thing, but it's actually not a small thing. >> i'm going to put on my maga hat for a second. and the argument in response is, well, gavin newsom has viciously

attacked donald trump for his entire career. why should donald trump pay him back? all the more. >> reason donald trump should. >> look like the bigger person. but i would argue from a political. >> perspective, i would say people can be political opponents. but still, in times of crisis, come together. the one that comes to mind for me from my great home state of new jersey was barack obama and chris christie in the time. >> of hurricanes. so mitt romney has still not forgiven chris christie. >> which destroyed chris d christie's career but sure. but but. >> but political success versus taking care of the people in your state who are suffering. i mean, at a certain point. >> the other part, though, what i do want to draw attention to here is that the president is going to california. one of the one of the reasons you moved the president around the country when there is a time of natural disaster or, or other times of strife, is that he can show a spotlight on these california fires that have been going on for weeks now. i dare say i think some of the american people are kind of like, i don't want to say they're over the fires, but it's not at the top of the news the way it is. and it will be again, because trump is going out out there. i

also expect that newsom will make it onto the tarmac. and good for him for saying, look, we're going to give all the resources we can to give the briefing to the president. it is important for these folks to come together. we can agree on that. but i think going out there with something that most people probably did not expect donald trump to do, and i'm glad he's doing it. >> all right. president trump is burning through the sharpie budget in his first week in office. among the executive orders, he signed a call to declassify and release the remaining files on the assassinations of jfk, rfk, and mlk jr.. >> that's a big one, huh? a lot of people are waiting for this for a long. for years, for decades. and everything will be revealed. okay. give that to rfk jr.. >> yes, sir. >> okay.

>> give that to rfk jr.. it should be noted that according to the national archives, 99% of the jfk assassination files are already publicly available. i got to say, i want to see the rest. i mean, this seems like a political winner. >> well, and he said, we've been waiting for decades. >> you want the 1%? >> yeah. well, why not release 100%? i mean, we waited decades. but unfortunately, if you actually look at the fine, the fine print, they have 15 days to create a plan and then 45 days to create another plan in order to finally release that last 1%. so people that, you know, when i was a journalist, i would like just to see it all because because that 1% also feeds the conspiracy theories. and like as long as not all of them are revealed, people are going to keep speculating. >> well, do the moon landing next? because that faked moon landing. we need to know what happened in 1969. the american people are calling. we landed. >> on the crazy side of the desk. today is over. >> there. we know what this side is like. >> no. >> you know. >> we're reasonable. >> all right.

>> well, look, guys, since it's friday, i did want to end on this. i just i needed something cute for the end of the week. and, yes, it's pandemonium in southwest china, 25 giant panda cubs. look at them. oh, my gosh. all the cubs were born in 2024 at two separate breeding centers. two of those pandas, bao li and king bao, made their big public debut. these are different pandas at the smithsonian national zoo in dc. so that's here. you can go and see them starting today. if you live here in washington. they loved the snow that we got a couple of weeks ago. and just because you can also see a picture of me from a very long time ago holding a baby panda in southwest china, i'm like nearly 20 years younger in those photographs. but you know, the fact that i still have them should tell you how much i love them. because we love pandas. here, look at this. i mean, we should just play this on a loop, guys, right? >> i will say this for the senators that aren't used to spending their weekends in washington like they will be for the next several weekends, they should go see the pandas. >> pandas this morning with