one( 800) 570-3062. >> why don't you call and find out what a reverse mortgage can mean for you? >> call finance of america and get your free info kit. call one 805 703062 1-800-570-3062. >> here's to getting better with age. >> here's to beating these two every thursday. >> help fuel today with boost high protein complete nutrition. you need and the flavor you love. so here's to now now available boost max. >> can now support your brain health. >> mary janet. hey, eddie. >> no! fraser. frank. frank. fred, how are you? fred? >> support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember. remember. >> nariva mira. joy. the overwhelming relief after miralax helps you go. miralax works naturally with the w

com or just stop by granger for

the ones who get it done. >> the lead with jake tapper today at four on cnn closed captioning brought to you by book.com. >> 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. >> we have some new reporting that president trump plans to dismantle the department of education. we'll show you what moves are already being made in the department and the potential impact that they could have on schools across the nation. plus, beijing punching back after president trump imposes tariffs on chinese imports. china hitting u.s. energy exports and blacklisting two american companies in particular.

>> and fbi employees fighting back, filing a class action lawsuit against the department of justice over possible efforts to purge the workforce. but some of that controversial information that doj was requesting may have already been turned over. we're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to cnn news central. >> new developments now, as president donald trump moves full speed ahead to reshape the federal government. his administration now taking steps to begin dismantling the department of education as the world's richest man wields seemingly unfettered influence over how the country should operate. we're only about two weeks into this new administration, and we're seeing major changes every day with elon musk at the center. in the past several days, musk and his allies have gained access to the treasury's payment system,

threatened to shut down the u.s. agency for international development, actually really shutting it down and planning to move it over to state, offering federal employees a sort of buyout plan and pushing aside career civil servants in several agencies. now, just a reminder, musk was never confirmed by congress, and he has several huge conflicts of interest with the federal government, and he's tasked with making these massive cuts with next to zero oversight. cnn's rene marsh is here with us now. and, rene, the department of education is actually on the chopping block as well. tell us about this. >> that's right. we have reporting that the president is working on crafting an executive order, which would essentially dismantle the department of education. first, the first phase would be to essentially ask the security. the secretary of the department of education to diminish the department and ways to diminish the the department through executive

action. the president would also call on congress to create legislation that would enable him to further dismantle the agency. brianna keilar. >> and there's also dozens of employees at the department of education who have already been told to stay home. is it clear why they're on leave? and what is the agency saying about that? >> right. so we have reporting that some 75 employees from the department of education have been placed on leave, and that is a lowball estimation that coming from the union president representing these employees. and the reason for this being just a lowball estimate is because this individual doesn't have full visibility on non union members. we do know that they received these emails, essentially said they were being placed on paid administrative leave. their email accounts were shut down. they were told that they would be on leave indefinitely. and the reason for this is because of some sort of

link or tie. they had to die. but the union president says their actual job duties had nothing to do with die. what they all had in common was that within the last several years, they attended diversity training, some of them back in 2019 under the trump administration and additional training under the biden administration. and and because of that training, in some cases for just two days, they believe they were targeted. i spent a lot of time speaking with many of these employees. many of them have been with the federal government for decades. they say they love their jobs and were willing to work with this administration, but now they find themselves on the sidelines. and when we talk about some of them not having jobs, having to do with dei, we're talking about individuals who worked on a.i. and integrating that into education. someone working in a grant office. so a wide range of

individuals impacted here, according to their union. again, brianna didn't do any daily work on the issue of dei itself. >> all right. rene marsh, thank you so much for that. and, justin, now president trump is signing executive orders at the white house. we have cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny joining us live now. jeff, tell us what you're hearing. >> well, brianna, we know that president trump again today is in the oval office, as we've become familiar with seeing this pattern really holding court as he signs executive orders, the education executive order that renee was just talking about. would you not believe is on today's agenda, but that certainly will be coming. but today, at least so far, that the president has signed a very tough executive. order on iran. he said that iran should not have a nuclear weapon and very tough language. we will hear from him directly once that video is released from the oval office, but also on un funding.

uh, again, wanting to review the funding that the united nations gets. so a series of of a foreign relations type executive orders on the day, really an hour before the president is scheduled to meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu right here at the white house. you can see the the color guard assembling here, and mr. netanyahu will be coming into the grounds of the white house for that first meeting of a foreign leader that president trump has in his second term. obviously, the cease fire is front and center in their discussion. they're all, um, also scheduled to be holding a news conference later today. but the president still at this moment signing executive orders and answering questions from reporters. brianna. >> all right. jeff zeleny, thank you for that. live for us from the white house, for us., as these dramatic cuts to the federal workforce start to take shape, elon musk remains on his mission to revamp the federal workforce. >> he's also sowing confusion

and chaos within government ranks. the white house calling musk a special government employee working only at the approval of the president. what remains unclear, though, is whether an unelected businessman can wield this level of authority. joining us now, former defense secretary and cia director under president obama, leon panetta. sir, thanks so much for being with us. the white house, obviously, with the help of doge, has targeted omb, the treasury, usaid and all federal employees across the country. ultimately, what do you think their goal is? >> well, there's no question that their goal is to create a great deal of turmoil and uncertainty. look, the problem is, at least in my experience, that presidents are really not able to produce change through executive orders alone. he's issued a tremendous amount of executive orders, but in most cases, those executive orders

either confront the constitution or confront the rule of law. and so you're going to see lawsuits challenging them. joe biden ran into the same thing when he was trying to change student loans. so the the bottom line here is that it does produce a lot of chaos. it does produce a lot of uncertainty. it can weaken markets. it can weaken our economy, and it certainly can weaken our alliances. so real change ultimately only happens when the president is willing to work with congress and work within the boundaries of the law. >> secretary, i apologize. we're having some audio issues here where we can't hear you, but it does sound like your audio is coming across on air. so we'll have to pause the conversation there. we do appreciate secretary leon panetta. we're going to take a quick break. we're going to get these audio issues fixed. and we'll be right back. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you returns february 15th on cnn.

>> what do you got there, larry? >> time machine. >> you're going to go back and see how the pyramids were built or something? >> nope. elon and i want to go on vacation, so i'm going to go back to last week and buy a winning lottery ticket. >> can i come? >> only room for one. >> how am i getting home? >> sitting on my lap like last time? ronald? >> fine. but i'm bringing this. >> all right. >> or you could try one of these savings options. >> the right money moves aren't as far fetched as you think. >> there it is. see, i told you, it's going to all work out. thanks. future me. >> duncan. hello, handsome. how is the kid, anyway? >> he did his first five dives with me. he's solid. >> he just lost power. >> grass! get out right now he's gone. >> no, he's not. >> i got an idea. >> incoming! swell. >> diver, where are you? >> last breath rated pg 13, only

in theaters february 28th. >> land. >> are you hiding from used car shopping? >> what if i overpaid? >> that's nothing to be afraid of. >> show me car fox. >> knowing how a car's accident history impacts price means, you don't have to overpay. >> way better. >> no fear. just fox. say, show me a carfax. >> com. my moderate to severe crohn's symptoms kept me out of the picture with skyrizi feel symptom relief. at four weeks, many people were in remission. at 12 weeks at one year, and even at three years. >> don't use if allergic serious allergic reactions, increased infections, or lower ability to fight them may occur before treatment. get checked for infections and tb. tell your doctor about any flulike symptoms or vaccines. liver problems leading to hospitalization may occur when treated for crohn's. >> control is everything. >> ask your gastroenterologist about skyrizi. >> a vacation starts with how you get there. a private jet experience from one flight's budget. you've got to see this. plug in your itinerary. search from over 5000 planes. pay and you're on your way. nothing

better than a personalized meal on board. >> it should be a beautiful day in the bahamas. mr. herschbach, we should be landing in about 20 minutes. >> a great vacation always starts with your flight experience. >> call for a complimentary flight. >> if you have heart failure or chronic kidney disease, vasagar can help you keep living life because there are places you'd like to be. serious side effects include increased ketones in blood or you're in, and bacterial infection between the and genitals, both which may be fatal. severe allergic reactions. dehydration. urinary tract or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. stop taking and tell your doctor right away if you have nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, tiredness, rash, swelling, trouble breathing, or swallowing. tell your doctor about lightheadedness, weakness, fever, pain, tenderness, redness or swelling between the and genitals. ask your doctor about vasikka today.

>> tap into etsy for original and affordable home and style pieces like lighting under $150 to brighten your vibe for under $100, put your best look forward with vintage jackets or pick up custom shelving for under 50 to make space without emptying your pockets, and get cozy with linen robes for 75 or less. for affordable home and style finds to help you welcome whatever's next. etsy has it. >> ontario. canada your third largest trading partner and number one export destination for 17 states. our economic partnership keeps millions of americans working. we're here right by your side. >> a sleep number smart bed. is perfect for couples. the climate 360. smart bed is the only bed that cools and warms on each side. and all our smart beds adjust the firmness for each of you and now save 50% on the new sleep number. limited edition smart bed. shop a sleep number

store near you. >> four nations facing. >> off with the maple leafs because this game. >> is our. >> game. >> right? >> in the context of efforts to rework the federal government and the federal workforce. a new cnn investigation finds that some of president donald trump's executive actions closely align with project 2025, despite the president saying previously that he knew nothing about it. >> the lengthy conservative proposal called for sweeping transformations of the federal government. cnn's tom foreman has the details. >> we're getting rid of all of the cancer. i call it cancer. the cancer caused by the biden administration. >> reforming or doing away with the federal disaster relief agency, fema dismantling diversity programs, rolling back environmental restrictions, accepting only two genders,

replacing nonpartisan federal workers with administration loyalists, and aggressively pursuing undocumented immigrants. all of those ideas are being pushed by president donald trump. and according to cnn's analysis, many reflect deep ties to project 2025, the 900 page plan of action put out by the conservative heritage foundation. during the campaign, trump repeatedly denied any ties to the project. >> i have nothing to do with project 2025 that's out there. i haven't read it. i don't want to read it purposely. i'm not going to read it. >> and yet, of the 53 executive actions in his first week in office, cnn's analysis found more than two thirds align with the project's proposals, including the use of active duty military personnel along the border. at least 140 trump administration officials and dozens of allies helped craft that document, including his new cia director, chairman of the

federal communications commission and tom homan, the border czar. >> we're going to go. we've got to go. whether it's a school, a church or a hospital. >> more specifics. when the south american country of colombia initially refused to accept military planes loaded with deportees, trump quickly and aggressively threatened to impose a punishing tariff right on script. with what project 2025 proposed? >> as you know, in colombia, they agreed with us almost immediately after i got involved. >> trump immediately revoked the security clearance of top government officials suspected of not supporting his goals. and he's talked up more oil drilling in the far north, where the project 2025 plan says alaska is a special case and deserves immediate action. for all that, a trump spokesman still insists the new president had nothing to do with project 2025, and he's just securing the border, restoring common sense, driving down inflation and

unleashing american energy. of course, some white house critics would just call that trump splaining saying this administration, for all of its claims to the contrary, has been following the project 2025 roadmap pretty closely. tom foreman, cnn washington. >> our thanks to tom foreman for that report. back with us now is former defense secretary and cia director under president obama, leon panetta. secretary, thanks so much for being patient with us and sticking through those issues. obviously, a huge part of trump's effort to rework the federal government to reengineer it, if you will, is led by elon musk at doge. i wonder what you make of his status as a special government employee with a top security clearance and limited ethical transparency obligations. >> well, you know, look, presidents always have had

advisers, but. normally those advisers have a position within the government that allows them to exercise whatever power the president gives them. when you have somebody who's outside of the government that doesn't really in any way have any official status within the government, then it's going to raise a lot of questions about whatever he says or does. >> and some of his allies have taken over the office of personnel management data systems, locking out some senior career employees at opm. i wonder what could they be looking for? do you have any security and oversight concerns? >> well, you know, look, let's just stand back and look at everything that's going on. i've worked in 50 years. i worked for nine presidents,

republican and democrat alike. they wanted to operate by strength, but they also wanted to operate by stability. the last thing they wanted to do was to create turmoil that would undermine markets, undermine the economy and undermine our alliances. and so they really tried to operate within the law. a lot of what's going on now raises challenges to the law. executive orders. sure, presidents can issue executive orders, but as joe biden found out, when you you're up against the law, the courts can also stop those executive orders from producing change. i think a lot of what they're doing violates the constitution and violates the law, and i think ultimately it will be challenged. and so if the president really wants to produce real change, he's going to have to operate as other presidents have operated by working with the congress to produce change in the law. if he's not willing to do that,

then we are not sure any of what he is proposing or threatening can actually happen. >> and, secretary, i'm sorry to jump in here. it's brianna, but we're having some communications issues where boris cannot hear you, but i can. so i'm going to continue on here. i know at one point, obviously, you served as omb director. i think you've had so many jobs in government, you're probably watching what is happening with a vantage point that not many people have. and a federal judge extended a temporary ban on trump's attempt to freeze federal funding. in your eyes, does he have the authority to do that? >> well, you know, again, this is a proposal that runs right into the, uh, the provisions of the constitution, which is that the congress has the power of the purse, not the

administration, but the congress. and therefore, when you suddenly decide to freeze all federal spending, what you're doing is violating that constitutional provision which says that only congress can deal with that kind of funding. so, you know, ultimately, the court is not going to allow a president on his own to basically determine what is funded and what is not funded. that violates not just the constitution. it violates the budget act. >> secretary leon panetta, we appreciate you riding this roller coaster with us. with all due respect to you, secretary, i think brianna could have gone on pretending to be me and no one would have noticed. >> i think someone would have noticed. >> thank you so much, secretary panetta. appreciate your time. >> great to be with you. >> so we are closely watching the white house this afternoon because just minutes from now, israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu is going to meet with president trump at 1600

pennsylvania avenue. their sit down comes as negotiations begin in this crucial second phase of a ceasefire deal in gaza. stay with cnn. we'll be right back. >> lockerbie, february 16th on cnn. >> big. >> small. >> essential. >> big. >> small essential. big big small. >> essential. >> grande pequeno essential. >> no matter what business you're in, verizon business has the network and solutions you need to power it. >> many remedies. >> you take for chest congestion only mask the symptoms. >> hey. >> how you doing? >> this mucus won't move out. >> you're gonna love. >> this property. the guys. >> congestion remedy. harmless.

>> try this. >> mucinex 12 hour treats. the mucus that causes chest congestion for all day relief don't lead. >> fine. i was worried about this side of town. mucinex in mucus. out. >> don't mask symptoms. treat the cause. >> they say seeing is believing. but with stearns and foster, that's only part of the story. we handcraft every stearns and foster using the finest materials like indulgent memory foam and ultra conforming and telecoils for a beautiful mattress and indescribable comfort. every single night during our presidents day sale, bring home incredible comfort with savings up to $800 on select adjustable mattress sets. stearns and foster what comfort should be. learn more at stearns and foster.com. >> take for. sun boat crowned. >> with plaque psoriasis. even the thought of an itchy situation can throw you off your game. otezla is the number one

prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. >> car run. yes. >> otezla can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. >> it's a bird. >> it's a plane. >> doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. get medical help right away. if you have trouble breathing or swallowing. swelling of the face, lips, tongue, throat, or arms. severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting, depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss can happen. tell your doctor if any of these occur and if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. >> baby. what? go. football. yes. yes. >> with less itchy redness. game night is a great night. live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla and scan to hear how it works for a pro football player. >> so i got you a little something. >> warming for him. >> tingling for her. >> should we. >> experience the thrill of bringing them together? say more than i love you.

>> say i want you with me. >> yours and mine. >> ontario, canada. stable and secure. when the world around us isn't. you can rely on us for energy to power your growing economy. and for critical minerals crucial to new technologies. we're here right by your side. >> it's halftime. >> time to open the fridge. >> this is a fridge. >> the cabinets and the pantry.

logo and placed my order. bring your own team together with custom gear. get started today at customink comm. >> this sunday. follow the puppies as they make the jump from shelter to stardom with the first pick in the puppy bowl 21 draft. animal planet's puppy bowl a simulcast event sunday at two eastern. >> right now, we are actually awaiting president trump signing an executive order, a series of them. he just signed a number of them in the oval office, as he has been doing since he went,

since he reentered the white house. and we're now looking at tape of that playing back from moments ago. let's listen. >> we're dealing with lots of different people and lots of different things. we had some terrific people in today and trying to solve some of the problems that are going on in the country and outside of the country. we're doing very well with respect to other countries, really behaving on taking the criminals that they sent into our country, and we're getting them out. these are some some of the worst people on earth, and they're getting out and they're being accepted back in their countries, as you've heard, without exception. so a lot of people thought that was not going to happen. but it's happening very full force. and we're getting some very, very dangerous people out of our country, which is very important. well, perhaps we'll go through the first one, please. >> yes, sir. >> so earlier today, before. >> the press came in, you signed a commission appointing chris

wright to be your next secretary of energy. we have another commission prepared for your signature, sir. this is doug collins to be secretary of the va. doug collins of georgia. >> two very good men. >> okay. >> thank you, sir. >> i see. next up. >> in light. >> of numerous actions taken by a number of bodies of the united nations which exhibited deep anti-american bias, we have an executive order prepared for your attention that would withdraw the united states from the un human rights council, would withdraw the united states from the unrwa, which is a refugee organization, and would also review american involvement in in unesco, which has also

exhibited anti-american bias. more generally, the executive order calls for a review of american involvement and funding in the un in light of the wild, disparities in levels of funding among different countries that, as you've expressed previously, is deeply unfair to the united states. >> so i've always felt that the un has tremendous potential. it's not living up to that potential right now. it really isn't hasn't for a long time. it has. there are great hopes for it, but it's not being well run, to be honest. and they're not doing the job. a lot of these conflicts that we're working on should be settled, or at least we should have some help in settling them. we never seem to get help. that should be the primary purpose of the un. the united nations, and again, it's got great potential. and based on the potential, we'll continue to go along with it. but they've got to get their act together.

>> because what. >> would they need to do, sir, to get their act together? >> well, they've got to be fair to countries that deserve fairness. they have some countries, as you know, that are outliers that are very bad, and they're being almost preferred as countries to those that do their job and are doing a good job. and they have to really they're going to end up losing a lot of countries. they're going to end up losing their credibility like other organizations, and then they're going to be nothing. the potential of the united nations. and not everybody agrees with me on this. the potential of the united nations is fantastic. if properly run. so we'll see what happens. >> how much money are you willing to take away from them? >> well, we're taking away a little bit, but we're not looking to take away money as this is so important that we're really, as you know, the united nations is largely funded by us, but. and it shouldn't be. it should be funded by everybody. but we're disproportionate, as

we always seem to be. but it's something that if it ever lived up to the potential in ten minutes, it would make up the difference. that's the kind of power it could have right now. it doesn't have that power. >> next, sir, this is a national security presidential memorandum that seeks to impose maximum pressure on the government of the islamic republic of iran. many of these provisions are similar to actions that your administration took during your first administration. the basic idea here is to have every department and agency, or many departments and agencies in your government attempt to sanction and control iranian activities, particularly relating to the iranian nuclear program and the iranian export of terrorism through support of various proxy groups abroad. and the intent here is to give you all of the possible tools to, i'd say, engage with the iranian government to ensure that going forward, they are less of a malign actor on the world stage. >> so this is one that i'm torn

about. everybody wants me to sign it. i'll do that. it's very tough on iran. it's what we had before. we would have never had the problem. you would have never had october 7th. we would have never had the problem. had the election gone a different way, which it should have. but this one, i think, more than made up for it. i think we're doing things and it shows that more than made up for it much more historic. the iran situation. hopefully i'm going to sign it, but hopefully we're not going to have to use it very much. we will see whether or not we can arrange or work out a deal with iran, and everybody can live together, and maybe that's possible and maybe it's not possible. so i'm signing this and i'm unhappy to do it, but i really have not so much choice because we have to be strong and firm. and i hope that it's not going to have to be used in any great measure at

all. it'd be great if we could have a middle east and maybe a world at total peace. right now. you don't have that. when i left, you had peace all over the world, and now you have. the world is blowing up. as you know, bibi is coming in to see me later. others are coming in to see me. we'll see what we can do. but i'm signing this and hopefully it will be a document which won't be very important. we'll hardly have to be used. >> so what kind of deal would you be prepared to. >> well, we're going to see i mean we're going to see they ey cannot have a nuclear weapon with me. it's very simple. iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. we don't want to be tough on iran. we don't want to be tough on anybody. but they just can't have a nuclear weapon. >> mr. president, are you going to engage in conversations with your counterpart in iran? i would. do you. >> want to. >> block the sale of iranian oil to other nations? >> well, we have the right to do that. and that's what i did before. and they had no money. they wouldn't have had the money for hamas or hezbollah or anybody else. and i just it

could have been solved. this thing. it just if things went the way they should have, this would have been over long ago. but it's not over. >> how do you think iran is. >> to developing. >> a nuclear weapon? >> i think they're close. i think they're close. they're too close. but again, you can go back. for years i would have said they would have had it during this intervening period, but they're pretty close. peter. >> and why say that you're unhappy to sign it if it's iran and their proxies who have threatened to retaliate against you and your team by killing you guys for taking out soleimani. >> well, they haven't done that. and that would be a terrible thing for them to do, not because of me. if they did that, they would be obliterated. that would be the end. i've left instructions. if they do it, they get obliterated. there won't be anything left and they shouldn't be able to do it. and biden should have said that, but he never did. i don't know why.

lack of intelligence, perhaps, but he never said it. if that happens to a leader or close to a leader. frankly, if you had other people involved also, you would call for total obliteration of a state that did it that would include iran. so i'm signing this, and it's a very powerful document, but hopefully we're not going to have to use it. >> mr. president, if the if the prime minister today were to ask you for your help in striking at iran's nuclear facilities to prevent the kind of progress towards a nuclear weapon, would you give him the green light? would either to do it himself or for the u.s. to participate with them? >> i don't know that that's what he's going to be asking for. i have no idea that it is. you're telling me we're going to have a pretty long meeting. we're going to be discussing a lot of things. not only that, but a lot of things. and i'll let you know if the time comes to let you know. but right now, that's not something that i can

discuss. >> mr. president, when you just said when you said if they do it, they get obliterated. just to be clear, you're talking about if iran made another, made an attempt on on your life. yeah. >> yeah, that would be called total obliteration. and i can't imagine they do that. it should have been stated by biden, but he didn't state it because he had no clue. as you know, as everybody. >> knows. >> what is your. vision actually. >> for relationship. >> do you have anything else? >> no. >> that's all. >> we have. my vision for what? >> our relationship. >> with iran. and would you? >> i'd love to have a good relationship with everybody. they can't have a nuclear weapon. that was my only that was the only thing that was very important. they can't have a nuclear weapon beyond that. you know, we'd be very tough if they insist on doing that. they have some of their leadership. i can tell you right now, and maybe you know it. maybe you don't. but there are many people at the top ranks of iran that do not want to have a

nuclear weapon just for that very reason. >> mr. president. >> what's your reaction. >> to china's retaliatory tariffs? >> it's fine. it's fine. we're going to do very well against china and against everybody else right now. they've taken advantage of the biden administration like i've never seen. i've never seen the deficit with china is about $1 trillion. think of it, $1 trillion. they're using our money to build their military and biden let that happen. you know, we're taking a lot of fires here. we came back. this is like a different place. the good news is we're doing very well. we're doing well with countries that nobody expected would do well with. we are respected again as a nation, maybe at a level that people haven't seen for many, many decades. but when i left, we didn't have any wars. i defeated i.s.i.s. 100% of the i.s.i.s. caliphate, and now the world seems to be ready to blow

up. but we'll see if we can stop it. >> mr. president, the president. >> of shein, have you reached out to the iranians about any. >> kind of deal to start. >> those discussions? >> i mean, i have nothing. i say i'm one that doesn't care whether i reach out or they reach out. a lot of people say, let them reach out, sir. and that to me, it doesn't matter. it's just it's just talk. uh, but, uh, i want to see everybody do. well, i want to see great countries, and i want to see peace in the middle east and elsewhere. we're also working very hard with respect to russia, ukraine. that's a bloodbath. it's a total bloodbath. what's going on there is incredible. what's going on with the soldiers? young, young soldiers being killed by the thousands. i mean, literally by the thousands. and we want to see if we can get that stopped. and i think we've had some very good talks. >> any update on when you would speak to president xi, sir? >> any update on when you would speak to president xi? >> no, we'll speak to him at the appropriate time. i'm in no rush. i'm in no rush do you. >> think that conversation can

lend itself. >> to the type. >> of freeze that it meant for the tariffs for, for canada and. >> well, we'll see what happens. i mean, well, there's a short term freeze with mexico. and as you know, and with canada. but they've agreed to be very, very strong on the border, stronger than they ever were by far, by a factor of about 30. and in addition to that, as you can see, we've been strong because we've had numbers like you've never seen before. i mean, the border is now closed. really closed. and with that being said, we're letting good people come through and we want good people to come into our country. but the border is closed. >> in your in your talks with president, with prime minister. netanyahu today, do you intend to press him about how many deaths there have been amongst the palestinians? are you concerned about that? >> i talk about that to both sides. mean a lot. i talk about that. i talk about the other side. i talk about everything. >> what's your main message to him today during your meeting? >> well, i'm here to listen. he's here to see me, and i'm here to listen.

>> so will. you continue. >> to press. >> will you? the right time. i'll give him my message. >> will you continue to press for this idea that jordan and egypt take palestinians from gaza? >> yeah, i would like to see jordan. i'd like to see egypt. take some. look, the gaza thing has not worked. it's never worked. and i feel very differently about gaza than a lot of people. i think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land, and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable. >> and. >> make it a home. >> i don't want to leave, though. palestinians say they don't want. >> to leave. i don't know how they could want to stay. it's it's it's a demolition site. it's a pure demolition site. if we could find the right piece of land or numerous pieces of land and build them some really nice places with plenty of money in the area, that's for sure. i think that would be a lot better than going back to gaza, which has had just decades and decades

of death. >> where would those pieces of land be? well, they. >> could be in jordan and they could be in egypt, and they could be in other places. you could have more than two, more than one, but you could have more than two, and you'd have people living in a place that could be very beautiful and safe and nice. gaza has been a disaster for decades. >> would the u.s. pay for. >> that? >> i don't contribute. >> i don't think you would pay, but i think there's plenty of people that would in the area that have a lot of money. they certainly have a lot of money. some of the countries over there, they'd like to see it. i know that saudi arabia wants to see peace. i can see that. and, uh, many of the countries there, as far as i'm concerned, they all want peace. i think a you know, maybe i'm wrong on this, but i think iran would like to see peace, too. they've had enough. don't you think they've had enough? >> but the leaders but the leaders of egypt and jordan have said bluntly, they they have no interest in doing this. >> well, they may have said that, but a lot of people said

things to me. they said they wouldn't take anybody back in venezuela. and right now they're flying them right back into venezuela and a lot of people, and they're doing the right thing in venezuela. the panama canal is an active discussion right now. and they said things about that. and. virtually everything that's been said has been incorrectly stated based on the result. >> does not amount to force to return the gaza. wouldn't that amount to forcibly displacing those people from gaza? >> i don't think so. i think if they had the opportunity, they'd love if they had an alternative to they have no alternative right now. i mean, they're there because they have no alternative. what do they have? it is a big pile of of rubble right now. i mean, have you seen the pictures of it? have you been there? it's terrible to live. who can live like that? and very dangerous as shooting all over the place. there's bombing all over the place on both sides. now, i would think if they had an option of of moving to an area either in a large group or

various smaller groups, and take care of the close to 2 million people, i would think that they would be thrilled to do it. they have no. you know, when you say about the gaza strip, they don't have an option. >> to be clear, you're saying they'd. >> be very dangerous. >> they'd be thrilled to leave gaza. >> oh, i think they'd love to leave gaza if they had an option. right now they don't have an option. what are they going to do? they have to go back to gaza. but what is gaza? there's practically not a building standing, and they're very dangerous. you know, those buildings are shifting and they're falling down all over the place. and there's gunfire all over. it's going to be that way for a while. >> mr. president, wouldn't it have made more sense to evacuate people while the war was ongoing, rather than now, when there's a ceasefire. >> which is what you're talking about. >> when it was more dangerous, when there were strikes overhead than now? >> well, the strikes could start tomorrow. there's not a lot to there's not a lot left to strike. it's a demolition site. the whole place is demolished.

it's unsafe. it's unsanitary. it's a not a place where people want to live. >> mr. president, the president. >> nobody. nobody has gone. it's they. they have no alternative but to go back. if we gave them an alternative of living in a beautiful, open place with some, you know, nice quarters there, nice housing of sorts. and we have the money in the middle east to build that. >> do you support israelis actually moving back and creating, building? >> not necessarily. no. i just support, uh, cleaning it up and doing something with it. but it's failed for many decades. and somebody will be sitting here in ten years or 20 years from now, and they'll be going through the same stuff. the wars and, and, you know, they've had civilizations on gaza, many civilizations on gaza, and they're buried in the sand. it doesn't seem to work. >> i'm jet rescue, sir. >> thank you sir. on elon musk, how often are you talking to him? and have there been ideas

that he's brought to you that you've said, oh no, wait a minute, this is going a little too far? >> well, many ideas, but look, he's done a great job. look at all the fraud that he's found in this. usaid. it's a disaster. what? the people. radical left lunatics. they have things that nobody would have believed. that the whole thing with 100 million spent on, you know, what? with money going to all sorts of groups that shouldn't deserve to get any money with the money, i'd like to see what the kickbacks are. how much money has been kicked back, who would spend that kind of money to some of the things that you read about and i read about and i see every night on the news and every morning when i read the papers, who would spend money for that? i would say this the people that got all that money, are they kicking it back to the people that gave it from government? no, that's to me very, very corrupt. the real question is how much of a kickback has there been? and one of the things i want to

investigate rapidly, because i've never seen anything to this extent, the train that's being built between los angeles and san francisco is the worst managed project i think i've ever seen, and i've seen some of the worst billions and billions, hundreds of billions of dollars over budget. in fact, i read where you could take every single person that was going to go in the train and get the finest limousine service in the world and take them back and forth with limousines, and you'd have hundreds of billions of dollars left over. it is the worst thing. and we're going to start an investigation in that because it's not possible. i built for a living and i built on time, on budget. it's impossible that something could cost that much. and now it's not even going to san francisco, and it's not going to los angeles. it's they made it much shorter. so now it's at little places way away from san francisco and way away from los angeles. no, we're going to start a big investigation on that because

it's i've never seen anything like it. nobody has ever seen anything like it. the worst overruns that there have ever been in the history of our country. and it wasn't even necessary. i would have said, you don't buy it. you take an airplane, it cost you $2. it cost you nothing. you take an airplane. but this got started. and if you have to, you drive, you can drive. >> are there other. >> they have hundreds of billions of dollars of cost overruns, and it's not even the same project. it's much shorter. it's way outside of san francisco and way outside of los angeles. so we're going to be looking. >> into this, mr. president. >> that is that doge is going to investigate the train. >> no, i'm doing that myself. >> some of these doge engineers that elon musk has helping him are as young as 19 years old. >> it's good. they're very smart, though, peter. they're like you. they're very smart people. >> thank you. uh, has he have you met any of these guys? >> no, i haven't seen them. they work actually, out of the white house. they're smart people, unlike what they do in

the control towers where we need smart people. we should use some of them in the control towers, where we were putting people that were actually intellectually deficient. that was one of the qualifications is you could be intellectually deficient. uh, no. we need smart people. some are young and some are not young. some are not young at all. but they found great things. look at the list of things. i'll. maybe i'll do it tomorrow. i'll read off a list of 15 or 20 things that they found inside of the usaid. it's it has to be corrupt. nobody could approve that. they could only approve that if they were getting kickbacks. you're talking about you're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. >> and it sounds like you're going to wind down usaid. >> yes, sounds like it. i mean, i think so. >> so how would that when that happens, which part of the government. >> well, i could see marco rubio being in charge, state department, because they're giving money to i mean, some of the money is well spent, i guess, but much of it is really

fraudulent. >> and on the education department, why nominate linda mcmahon to be the education department secretary if you're going to get rid of the education department? >> because i told linda, linda, i hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job. i want her to put herself out of a job, education department. so we're ranked number 40 out of 40 schools, right? we're ranked number one in cost per pupil. so we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. and we're ranked at the bottom of the list. we're ranked very badly. and what i want to do is let the states run schools. i believe strongly in school choice. but in addition to that, i want the states to run schools, and i want linda to put herself out of a job. >> do you think that's something? do you think that's something you can do with an executive order, or are you? >> i'd like to be. >> able to do it. >> yeah, i would like to be able to. look, if i could give the schools back to iowa and idaho and indiana and all these places that run properly, there's many of them, i think. so if you look

at the list. uh, denmark, sweden, norway, believe it or not, china's doing very well on that list. a list of well-educated, you know, where they run their school system. well, you have a lot of countries. not surprising names. i think that if you moved our schools into some of these states that are really well run states, they would be as good as denmark and norway and sweden and some of the other states. and then you'd have the, the laggards and you know who they are. i don't have to go to it, but you'd have the laggards, the same laggards that are laggards with everything else, including crime. but even them, you'll break it into systems. as an example, if you went to new york, you go to westchester county, you go to dutchess county, you go to suffolk and long island and nassau and long island. you have maybe 6 or 7 locations, and you have new york city, which would include the five boroughs. and i think even that would run much better than it does right now. uh, same thing with los angeles or

california. you'd have riverside, you'd have you'd break it up into 6 or 7, but most of them would be states and you'd have one, like in iowa. you give it to the state of iowa, you give it to the state of indiana, you give it. these are really well run states. they don't have debt. they don't have problems. they don't have any crimes. you know, relatively speaking, to speak of. uh, and you would have education that would be the equivalent of norway and denmark and various other places that are at the top of the list. so we're at the bottom of the list and we're the most expensive. we're at the top of the list when it comes to cost per pupil. we spend more money per pupil than any other nation in the world, and yet we're rated number 40. the last ratings came out. you saw them. so they they talk about 40 countries were rated number 40. and i say that if we did this, we would we would go 20 or 30 notches up. we could do great and we would have some of the best districts in the world.

>> but are you. >> looking to do that with an executive order, sir, or do you need to work with congress? >> well, there are some people that say, i could i think i'd work with congress. i think we'd get look, we'd have to work with the teachers union because the teachers union is the only one that's opposed to it. nobody else would want to hold them back. look, we have to tell the teachers union we're rated last in the world in education of the top 40, we're rated. we were 38. now we're 40. we went to 39. we went to 40. we were 37. but we're at 40 now. the thing just came out that's under biden. remember that. >> secretary rubio announced the deal this week that would allow potentially american citizens for criminals to be put in a different country. is that something you're looking to do? >> no, i didn't know that he announced that yet. but if he did, it's fine. yeah, we have hard, hardened criminals, horrible people. you see them pushing people into subways. the train is coming. last week, guy walking around and just sees somebody waiting for a train.

trains coming 40 miles an hour, and he gets pushed into the subway. and that happens all the time. these are sick people. uh, if we could get them out of our country, we have other countries that would take them. they could. it's no different than a prison system, except there would be a lot less expensive, and it would be a great deterrent. send them to other countries. we if we could go a step further. in other words, we're talking about getting the criminals out of our country that come in through other countries illegally. right? the illegal migrants, as i call them. well, we have people that are just as bad as them in our country. if we could get them out, i'd be very happy to. >> pay el salvador to. salvador said that he would wanted you to pay a fee for that. would you pay that? >> well, it's a lot. it's a very small fee compared to what we pay to private prisons. >> but under. >> what is a very, very small fee, i don't know. we'll have to find that out legally. i'm just saying if we had the legal right to do it, i would do it in a heartbeat. i don't know if we do or not. we're looking at

that right now, but we could make deals where we'd get these animals out of our country. and, you know, if you take the shooters, the people that hit old ladies in the back of the head with a baseball bat when they're not looking, they walk down the street. the people that and you see it, the people that take out a gun and shoot you for no reason at all. if we could get these animals out of our country and put them in a different country under the supervision of somebody, that made a relatively small fee to maintain these people, because you know what? these are criminals. you call them hardened criminals. they've been in jail 40 times. there's 142 times. and every time the person gets out, it's a he. every time he gets out, he commits another crime within 24 hours. and it's a heinous crime. it's a rough crime. we don't want these people in our country either. we don't want them in our country. we had the option. if we had the option to get them out and let them be based in some other

country at a fraction of the cost. and frankly, they could keep them because these people are never going to be any good. that person that has been arrested 42 times or 22 times or 17 times and is all in for manslaughter and everything else and only gets out because of a very weak judicial system that only goes after people like trump. they don't go after the criminals, they don't go after people like this, and they laugh at our law. if that took place, you would have a lot less crime automatically. >> so mr. president, whether bashar al-assad o on guantanamo bay is, is there enough space there to accommodate. >> there's a lot of space to accommodate a lot of people. yeah. so we're going to use it. >> can you talk. >> a little bit. we have it. it's already up. it's we have it for nothing. but we can do less expensive and even more secure. we've had other countries come to us saying we would love to do that. we would love to take your criminals and we'll maintain that. we'll, you know, we'll be there jail. and

i'm only talking for the most severe cases. like i watched that guy on tape pushing the man into the subway last week. that man that did that is a real bad guy. many, many arrests. and do you think you're going to convince him someday to be good in a wonderful, wonderful citizen for our country? it's never going to happen. i want to get those people out. i'd love to get them out. along with the illegal migrants, the migrants are rough, but we have some bad ones too. i'd like to get them out. it would be all subject to the laws of our land, and we're looking at that to see if we can do it. >> mr. president. >> american citizens. >> say it. >> what other countries have offered to take these. >> americans? numerous, many. and marco brought it up to. i'm glad he did. uh, because a lot of people are thinking it when i watch some of the crimes being committed in new york city and chicago. look at chicago, the the volume of crime they have and the viciousness of the

crime. these people are horrible people. and if somebody thinks they're going to be wonderful citizens someday, they're wrong. it's not going to happen. it's not going to happen. they're bad. these are hard, tough criminals. in many cases, they're crazy. they're absolutely crazy, but they're very dangerous. if i could get them out of the country and be in some other country where they're glad to have them because they make a small fee compared to what we'd pay to a private prison or to, you know, put them in one of our prisons that cost even more money. i think it would be great. i'd love to get them the hell out of our country. thank you very much, everybody. >> hi, thanks, guys. >> let's go guys. >> let's go. >> thank you the super bowl. thank you. >> i don't want to say, but there's a certain quarterback that seems to be a pretty good winner. >> and just last one because you mentioned him many times. what do you think about joe biden signing on with a talent agency? >> you got to be kidding. he signed on with the talent agency. >> he's got some entertainment agents now. >> i think he's got bigger problems than that. i really do.

i think he's got much bigger problems than that. but i wish him well. we inherited a mess. this place is a mess. but it's quickly being solved. the problem. we're going to make america great again. thank you very much. >> all right. >> guys. >> let's go. >> thanks, guys. >> thank you, thank you. >> we've been listening to president donald trump there from the oval office covering a wide range of topics there, finishing with some jabs at former president joe biden, refusing to give an explicit super bowl prediction. but the purpose of this press availability was his signing of two executive orders, one of them withdrawing the united states from the un human rights council and from unwra, as well the palestinian relief agency. the president saying that he sees tremendous potential for the united nations. but they are no help in settling conflicts that the u.s. works on. the second eo was to put maximum pressure on iran. he wants every u.s. federal department and agency to try to freeze iranian iran's nuclear program and their funding of terrorist

groups through sanctions. et cetera. he also covered a wide array of issues. but he went on about the future that he wants to see in the middle east for gaza. >> that's right. and what did he want or expect for gaza has been in question lately. after he talked about clearing it out, his mideast envoy, steve witkoff, earlier today had said that when the president talks about clearing it out, he's talking about making it habitable. but what we heard from the president there in the oval office is that, no, he's actually really talking about clearing it out of people. he was asked, where would the people go? where would palestinians go? he said jordan and other places. and he seemed to say they would just be very happy to do that, to go somewhere else. um, historically, that is not the case. that is not certainly what would be expected here. so a lot more to fact check, but we're here at the end of our hour. >> yeah. and also he said those chinese retaliatory tariffs are fine. we'll dig into that on the lead with jake tapr