look, the one young lady had her hand blown off practically, and they were not in great shape either. but she's missing her fingers and a big part of her hand. you know what she did? she was stopping a bullet that was aimed at her. she went like that and it blew off her hand. no, i think what they're. i think they want time because i think the people that they have living are in such bad shape because they're sending the most healthy people out, because they don't want to send the least healthy people out. and there was an uproar when they saw the people from yesterday. so these people are so i don't want to do two, and then we do another two and another week, and then we do four and three weeks. no, no. they either have them out by saturday at 12:00 or all bets are off. >> mr. president mr. president. >> mr. president would you still consider withholding aid to those countries if they don't accept your plans to accept?

>> well, i don't want to say that because we've had such a good relationship and we're doing so well just in the short time that we've been talking. i mean, the king just made a statement. i didn't ask him to do that about literally saving 2000 young children from the gaza strip. we didn't know about that. you didn't know about that? nobody did. except for the king and his son. i assume you told your son right? and i just thought it was great. no, i think we'll do something i don't have to threaten with money. we do. we contribute a lot of money to jordan and to egypt, by the way. a lot to both. but i don't have to threaten that, i don't think. i think we're above that. i do believe we're above that. >> would you consider other countries, not jordan and egypt? there was talks about indonesia, albania, other places. >> yeah, sure. and we have other countries that want to get involved. we have a lot of people that want to get

involved. there's a great sense of wanting to help the palestinians. they really there's a lot of good countries out there, people that rule those countries with big hearts. and this gentleman is at the top of the list. >> and if they don't want to leave, how are you going to force them, mr. president? >> oh, they're going to be great. they're going to they're going to be very happy. >> can you, your majesty? >> your majesty. >> should we expect. >> that the jordanian. >> response would be part of a. >> coordinated arab response? >> the response will be from a multitude of countries. arab, international. i know the europeans want to step in. and again, we'll probably have to look to the help of the united states to make sure that cogat, which is the clearing agency on the israeli side, makes it as efficient as possible because 2000 kids, the best way to get to them is by helicopters and get them straight to our institutions. and i also believe that quite a few countries would also probably like to take some of those kids and have them treated in their hospitals. so we hope. >> to launch. >> this asap. >> yes, and that's right, this

should have been done by the biden administration. but you know, they didn't do anything. they didn't know what the hell they were doing. so this should have been done by the biden administration. this should have never happened because october 7th would have never happened if i were president. zero chance of happening. you wouldn't have had that whole mess where the middle east got blown up, and you wouldn't have had ukraine and russia fighting. that would have never happened. and by the way, we're making good progress there, i think. i really think we're making some very good progress. >> mr. president, you. >> said. >> you've said before that the u.s. would buy gaza. >> and today. you just said, we're not going. >> to buy gaza. >> we're not going to have to buy we're going to we're going to have gaza. we don't have to buy. there's nothing to buy. we will have gaza. what does that mean? no reason to buy. there is nothing to buy. it's gaza. it's it's a war torn area. we're going to take it. we're going to hold it. we're going to cherish it. we're going to get it going eventually, where a lot of jobs are going to be created for the people in the middle east, it's going to be for the people in the middle east. but i

think it can be a diamond, it can be an absolute tremendous asset for the middle east. and you're going to have peace. it's going to bring peace in the middle east. gaza the way it is right now. every ten years, you're going to have the same thing happening. i've watched it so long, all the death and destruction of gaza, a civilization has been wiped out in gaza. no, it's going to be a tremendous thing. it's, uh, it's fronting on the sea. it's going to be a great economic development job. it's going to put people to work, a lot of people to work. and those people are all going to be from the middle east. >> and. >> just to follow up with one on that for king abdullah, can you clarify again, sir, how do you feel about the u.s. taking gaza? >> as the president said? >> well, again, this is something that we as arabs will be coming to, to the united states with something that we're going to talk about later to discuss all these options. >> mr. president, take it. >> under what authority? >> it is sovereign.

>> territory under the u.s. authority. >> mr. president, would you seek to personally develop property in gaza after this happens? >> no, i've had a great career in real estate. >> mr.. >> you know, when you've done what i've done in the last number of years, including the four years that we should have been doing something else, frankly, because people see that now for sure. but when you've done what i've done, you can just do more good for people. when you're president, when you're president, we can do things. this is all things that should have been done, but actually things that shouldn't have had to be done. gaza absolutely. it would have been. it would have been so great if the biden administration would have started this. but actually, in all fairness to them, it was they should have never let it happen. it did happen. and because of the fact that they let this happen, this catastrophe of october 7th, something like this becomes practical and very real, meaning the development and and all of

the things that i've talked about with respect to the gaza strip, uh, if you didn't have the october 7th catastrophe and it was a horrible catastrophe, then probably you wouldn't be talking about that. but the the only thing i can say is this is going to bring stability and peace to the middle east and ultimately when it's developed, which will be in quite a while from now, is we want to let things calm down. but when it's developed, it's going to bring tremendous numbers of jobs to the middle east, including the people of your country. >> so. >> mr. president. >> what if it does. >> not bring peace to the middle east? >> there are many palestinians, even though. >> you. >> say that everything is going to be beautiful, everything is going to be lovely. they're not going to want to go back. there are going to be people who want to go back and feel like that. it is their right to do that. you haven't said, well, there will be any type of repercussions or anything. >> that happens. >> we don't think that's going to happen. we think it's going to we think people are going to be very happy, thrilled. a lot of those people that you're

talking about are going to end up maybe living there and maybe working there, but it will be in a different form. uh, we have had tremendous support for this project, and we think the biggest asset of the project, it's going to bring peace ultimately to the middle east. >> all right. >> one last question. >> go ahead. behind you. you've asked enough. >> mr. president, one of your promises on the campaign trail is to bring peace to the middle east. it was. a promise to your voters. arab voters here, the arab voters in the united states oppose this. what do you say to them? >> well, you know, if you look at michigan, where we have a large arab population, as you know, i was just telling the king that we won. as you know, i won the arab population. and when i started off, i wasn't leading. and when i finished a few months later, we started campaigning in michigan. and when i finished, we won it by a tremendous amount. by 30 points. so my relationship with the arab population has been fantastic, and my relationship with the

middle east is very good, very good. with all the countries, just about all the countries. let's see, i would say all the countries, and they all want to do something and they want to see peace in the middle east. all the stories you hear about the middle east not really wanting peace, that they want war, they want this, they want to go to a certain place. let me tell you, those stories are false. they want to have peace. i know them all very well. they want to have peace. they want to have a good life like other people. and we'll bring this will be a big factor in bringing peace to the middle east. thank you very much, everybody. >> all right guys thank you guys. let's go. press press. let's go. come on guys quickly. thank you. thank you. let's go. >> we've been listening to president donald trump and king abdullah of jordan in the oval office. as these high pressure talks at the white house are underway, with the fate of millions of palestinians hanging in the balance. king abdullah ii of jordan is a key u.s. ally in the middle east, and he's sitting down with trump at what appears to be a crossroads of

this relationship, as president trump is threatening to pull billions of dollars of u.s. foreign aid from jordan and egypt unless they agree to take in all palestinians currently living in gaza. we should point out trump seemed to walk that threat of removing aid back, saying, quote, i think we're above that. keep in mind there are more than 2 million palestinians living in gaza. this is all part of his plan for the united states to take over the enclave and redevelop the area into what he describes as the riviera of the middle east. the president there saying, quote, we'll have gaza. there's nothing to buy. even though previously he said that the united states would buy the enclave. he said we would hold it and cherish it. asked under what authority the united states would make such a move, he said under the u.s. authority. unclear exactly what that means given the context of international law. further, trump saying that nobody would question it, saying nobody wants

to stay there, even though cnn has heard from palestinians living in gaza that say that they would rather die in gaza than leave. we did hear from king abdullah saying that he would like to hear egypt's potential plan for taking in palestinians. apparently, there will be discussions in riyadh involving saudi arabia as well. he said, we want to look at the best interest for the jordanian people. he did notably make the announcement that jordan would take 2000 kids. these are children in gaza that have cancer and other illnesses. trump there, describing it as a beautiful gesture. it's important to have the context here. the backdrop of these discussions is a fragile ceasefire. hamas is accusing israel of breaking their deal, and they've threatened to postpone the next hostage release set for next saturday. trump described that as hamas playing cute, saying they want to play tough guy, adding we'll

see how tough they are essentially encouraging israel to expand their military operations in gaza, if that hostage release is delayed, saying at that point all bets are off. this coincides with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu moments ago issuing issuing his own warning, saying the cease fire will end if hamas doesn't return hostages on saturday. a lot to keep track of during this important meeting at the white house. we have cnn's alayna treene who is at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, and cnn's jeremy diamond, who is live for us in tel aviv. elena, what stood out to you about these remarks from president trump and king abdullah? >> i mean, it was quite a remarkable day there. and i note as well that that was just them taking questions in the middle of this bilateral meeting. it is still ongoing, we are told, behind closed doors. the king is obviously still at the white house, so a lot more to learn there. but this was very striking one, of course, because

we saw president donald trump refusing to back off. what he has said is his plans to take over and own gaza, to move in and clean it up in his words, and turn it in to the riviera of the middle east, the king of jordan, who has said previously that he flatly rejects that idea, saying, you know, trying to, you know, let this continue. i think it was very telling to me and noticeable to me that he didn't offer a lot of details. he said that he wanted to wait to discuss it, discuss it further. with president donald trump behind closed doors. he did talk about, as you mentioned, boris wanting to wait and see what egypt and other partners, other arab partners in the region had to say about this, that anything like that would have to be some sort of partnership, that they already have a plan for how they want to move forward with what's going on in the middle east. so still a lot of questions. i think, that we have coming out of this one thing that was very notable, though, was the president seeming to back away from what he told reporters yesterday in

the oval office was that he was open to the possibility of withholding billions of dollars in aid to both jordan and egypt if they declined to accept thousands of palestinians who would be displaced when the united states would take over gaza. he said he, quote, i do think we're above that. he said he didn't think he'd have to threaten it. but again, i think there's going to be a lot that needs to really be worked out behind closed doors. we heard a lot from the president himself, less so from the king of jordan. boris. >> jeremy, over in the middle east, there's this tension, obviously, between hamas, who has vowed to delay the release of these hostages. take us specifically through what they're claiming in the cease fire deal. israel has violated, because it seems as though they're headed to a hostilities resuming. if this isn't resolved by saturday. >> yeah, boris, this cease fire certainly seems to be in its most precarious state that we have seen so far, and we are

only halfway through what was intended to be a six week ceasefire of just phase one of this agreement. and while just a few days ago we were talking about whether or not this cease fire might or might not be able to be extended into phases two and three. now, the question is very much about whether or not we will actually make it to the end of these six weeks, as the israeli prime minister is now saying that if hamas doesn't return hostages by saturday at noon, the cease fire will end. now, it's not entirely clear how many hostages would need to be returned by saturday. he notably did not say all hostages like the president did yesterday, as he suggested this ultimatum to israel. but separately, an israeli official is saying that israel wants to see all nine remaining living hostages set to be released during the six week ceasefire in the next few days. and so that very much sets us up for a scenario where if hamas doesn't

release those nine hostages by saturday, israel may very well return to war. at the same time, it's also clear that the israeli prime minister is being intentionally vague about what exactly are the criteria for this saturday release, perhaps in order to give himself some wiggle room here? hamas said yesterday in a statement that they would not be releasing those three hostages scheduled for release this coming saturday as planned, citing a series of israeli violations, some of which we can verify, some of which we cannot. they include the fact that israeli forces have shot and killed palestinians in gaza since this cease fire has begun, which which we know to be true. it also includes claims about israel not allowing in enough shelter equipment, not only tents, but also these premade mobile homes that were set to enter the gaza strip. we know that many tents have entered. we don't know about those mobile homes entering, but the bottom line is that hamas said they are making this ultimatum now in order to give the mediators some

time to resolve these issues before saturday. we know the mediators are working on it. but now the israeli prime minister has certainly upped the ante. a very, very delicate moment in this cease fire. of course. >> jeremy and elena, thank you both. we're joined now by omer bador. he is a member of the national policy council for the arab american institute. omer, thank you so much for being with us. what stood out to you from what you heard there from president trump and king abdullah? >> yeah. >> what really stood out is the incredible arrogance. >> with. which donald. >> trump is speaking about palestinians. >> he's talking about how he and a group of other people get. to decide where palestinians live, rather than actually allowing palestinians to make that decision for themselves. >> about whether they. >> stay in. >> their own land. >> or not. and you have all this rhetoric about how he's no longer even talking about buying gaza. he's just going to take it, and no one is going to question it. i mean, just the level to which he's detached from reality. it's really hard to put into words the. entire world questions under what

authority trump is allowing himself to basically take ownership of gaza. it's completely bonkers. and the fact that it's framed as concern for palestinians, i think, is what's most distasteful about those comments. because the only reason why gaza has become unlivable is because the united states has allowed israel to destroy gaza in atrocities that are documented by every major human rights organization in the world. now, amnesty international and human rights watch, both describing israel's onslaught in gaza as genocidal. if you want palestinians to be able to live, all you have to do is basically put an end to that onslaught and allow them to live as a free people in their own land. but that seems to be off the table for donald trump, who is choosing instead to fulfill netanyahu's worst fantasies about emptying palestine of any palestinians. for israel to take over the entire territory. >> i do wonder, omar, how you would then approach the issue of hamas because, as you know, they're threatening to delay the release of these hostages over the weekend, trump and

netanyahu both seem inclined to restart hostilities if hamas delays that hostage release. clearly, they want a future where that group, a terrorist group, is not in gaza's future. so how do you reconcile those two ideas? >> yeah. what's netanyahu and trump want? is the defeat of hamas something they have not been able to achieve militarily on the ground? and now they're trying to force through negotiations once more, saying either hamas accepts its total defeat, or else we're going to back to the onslaught. that, again, nobody says is actually targeted at hamas. nobody serious. certainly everybody talks about this as an assault on the entire palestinian population of gaza and making gaza unlivable as punishment until hamas capitulates and buckled. and what we're seeing right now is clearly an effort by israel, seeing that they finally have in donald trump an endorsement of this idea of displacing palestinians. israel

has lost any interest in that cease fire, and they're looking for an excuse and a reason for it to fall apart, which is why we've seen dozens of palestinians get killed throughout the so-called cease fire. why are we seeing israel drag its feet on moving to the next phase of negotiations that could turn that cease fire into a permanent cease fire? all of that is deliberately designed to force hamas's hand to basically make it so that hamas cannot comply with that, seemingly completely giving in to israel's wishes and violation of those terms. and that does mean that we're effectively imminently going back to hostilities that are aiming to displace hamas from the picture entirely. and the issue is here is that there is a double standard with which we look at this is that if hamas is disqualified from being in gaza because of the atrocities they've committed in israel, and certainly they have committed atrocities, there's no denying that. why isn't the opposite true? why aren't the far infinitely greater atrocities that the israeli government has committed in gaza disqualifying of the israeli government remaining in power? and that's what we're looking at here, is

a situation of dominance in which israel gets to impose its will on the palestinians, and they seemingly have trump's complete endorsement in pursuing that. and that is not a recipe for peace. if we're actually looking for a way in which we resolve this crisis, we have to start recognizing that palestinians are equal human beings who are deserving of the same dignity and freedom that israelis enjoy, and that requires a completely a fundamentally different approach from the united states towards this entire issue in which we do start demanding that israel abide by international law and recognize palestinians as people who deserve to be free in their own land. >> i am curious, omar, how you then, uh, respond to the argument that we would not be here at this stage were it not for hamas's atrocities on october 7th, that the reason this war began, the reason this war has been carried out this way, you'll hear from folks who defend netanyahu and the idf is

because of hamas. >> i mean, there is no question that the expansion of israel's onslaught in gaza was triggered by october 7th and what hamas did on that day. but we have to remember that the conflict did not start on that day. there was no freedom or security for palestinians on october 6th. we've had the entire gaza strip under israeli siege. no relationship with the outside world, no connection to the outside world. palestinians in gaza were not allowed to leave gaza or visit any other country in the world unless they had israeli permission to do so. the economy was collapsed, unemployment was through the roof. it was again a situation of dominance in which palestinians were living under the boot of israeli siege and occupation. and if that's an acceptable status quo, then by all means, that's something that you could you can then decide to blame on hamas for having rocked. but that is an unsustainable situation. there is no situation in which palestinians can be denied freedom indefinitely, in which violence is not expected to explode. and if we are serious once again about resolving the core issue, if we're simply

looking for a way to just trade blame, that's very easy to do and we can do that. going back for many, many decades. but if we're interested in solving the issue, you have to deal with the underlying problem and the underlying problem that existed before october 7th is the fact that palestinians have spent decades under illegal israeli rule. the entire world, the international court of justice, the united nations, everybody agrees that that siege and the occupation of the west bank and gaza are illegal, and you can't indefinitely place palestinians under a foreign military occupation and expect for that situation to be sustainable. >> omer, i have one final question for you. as i heard donald trump there talking about some of the inroads that he made with arab communities. i think he he vastly overstated his support among arabs. but you were someone who was frustrated with the biden administration's approach to this conflict. and i understand you ultimately sat out the last election, seeing now trump's vision for the

middle east become more solid, become more imminent and real. do you have any regrets yeah, i can't quite describe them as regrets. >> i mean, i understood that trump was going to bring a worse outcome moving forward. but the reality is the reason why donald trump can say that gaza is unlivable and there's nothing for palestinians left there is because the biden-harris administration facilitated the utter destruction of gaza for 15 months with unrelenting american weapons and diplomatic protection and support, and stepping in to block cease fires and so on. so, yes, certainly trump has made things and seems to be priming us to an absolutely awful situation, but that was built on what the previous administration has done. and i think that the point here that that is really worth emphasizing is that whereas the biden administration supplied the weapons for israel to do what it did in gaza and to its people, killing tens of thousands of palestinian children, there was all this grumbling about how we don't really approve, and we're upset, and we think israel is killing

too many people and we encourage calm, whereas donald trump does not care about coming across as palatable, he will just openly say, essentially endorse what israel is doing instead of pretending what it's not. donald trump comes along and basically says, yes, we are for the destruction of palestinian society in gaza and the displacement of palestinians. but unfortunately, we have to really look at a longer period of dahiyeh american policy towards israel and palestine, in which we treat israel like a country that is above the rules and above the law, and that facilitates the absolute outrages that trump is proposing at this time. >> omar, we have to leave the conversation there. we appreciate you coming on and sharing your perspective. >> thank you so much. >> still ahead this hour, huge questions about a conflict of interest at the justice department, lawyers who defended president trump may now be investigating those who tried to prosecute him. and cnn rides along with federal agents patrolling the southern border. what it reveals about the

president's immigration crackdown. >> what is the biggest impact. >> apprehension. >> detention. >> ultimately leading. >> to. >> removal? >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you? saturday at nine on cnn. >> do your dry eyes still feel gritty? rough. or tired? with my bow, eyes can feel my. >> bow. yeah. >> my bow is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye. too much tear evaporation for relief. >> that's why. bow. >> oh. >> yeah. >> remove contact lenses before using my bow. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. eye redness and blurred vision may occur. what does treating dry eye differently feel like? >> i. >> bow? yeah. >> for relief. that feels. >> i bow. >> ask your eye doctor about

prescription. bow. >> still have. >> moderate to severe ulcerative. >> colitis or crohn's disease symptoms. >> after taking a medication like humira. >> or remicade. >> put them in check with rinvoq, a once daily pill. >> when symptoms. >> try. >> to take control. >> i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. >> when flares try to slow me down. i got lasting remission with rinvoq. check. and many were in remission even at nearly two years. >> and rinvoq. >> helped visibly. reduce damage. >> of the. >> intestinal lining. >> check rapid symptom relief. lasting remission. >> and visibly reduced. >> damage. >> check. >> rinvoq can lower ability to fight. infections before treatment. tests for tb and do blood work. serious infections, blood clots. some fatal cancers including lymphoma and skin. serious allergic reactions. gi tears, death, heart attack and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events. infection hep b or c smoked are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. >> what you see in crohn's in check and keep them there with rinvoq. >> ask your gastroenterologist.

>> about rinvoq. >> get 0% apr. >> for 60 months on 2024 gmc ev models. that's up to $17,200 in average finance savings. >> i'm a patient. >> guy, but searching for a hotel. >> trivago compares. >> hotel prices. >> from hundreds of sites. >> so you can save up to 40%. >> look how easy that is. now i can relax. >> hotel trivago sore throat. >> got your tongue? >> mucinex institute. >> sore throat. >> medicated drops. >> uniquely formulated. >> for rapid. relief that lasts and lasts. >> that's my baby.

>> try our. new sugar free cough drop. >> insta soothe. >> are you sure. >> you tend to exaggerate. >> your turning 65 soon? >> you should. >> really call. >> and ask them yourself. >> thank you for calling aetna. >> how can i help you? do you. >> really have. medicare plans that cover dental. >> vision and hearing? >> yes. >> all three. plus. >> we have plans that include. >> a. >> monthly allowance for certain over-the-counter products. >> really? that's right. >> aetna also. >> has medicare. >> advantage plans with a $0 monthly plan premium. >> oh, i like that. >> turning 65. call 188865. aetna to find an aetna medicare advantage plan that meets your unique needs. >> at morgan stanley. >> old school hard. >> work meets. >> bold new. thinking to. >> help you see. >> untapped possibilities. >> and relentlessly work with you to make them real. >> ah, it's a good day to. >> cough. >> oh no. >> bye bye. >> cough. chest congestion. >> hello, 12 hours. >> of relief. >> 12 hours.

>> not coughing at. >> the. >> movies. >> hashtag still. >> not coughing. ah. >> mucinex dm 12 hour. doesn't just quiet coughs. >> it treats. >> coughs caused by excess mucus at the. >> source and controls. >> them. >> for 12 hours. >> it's comeback season. >> stubborn chest congestion. try mucinex. >> 12 hour. tournament of champions. >> worth. 32 of. >> the world's best chefs. >> put their fate. >> in the spin of a wheel. >> with culinary glory on the line. >> it's time. >> to put it all on the plate. >> season premiere tournament. >> of champions. >> sunday, march 2nd at eight. >> we have breaking news now into cnn, the white house saying that special envoy steve witkoff has been able to secure the release of marc fogel. cnn's alex marquardt is tracking this story and joins us now. alex, what do we know? >> well, boris, this. >> was not something. >> that. >> we were expecting. of course. >> there have been some very. >> notable prisoner exchanges between. >> russia and the united. >> states in the. >> past few years. >> this was. >> not something. >> that we expected.

>> marc fogel, an american teacher. who was arrested. >> back in 2021. >> and then. sentenced and. >> convicted the. >> following year to 14 years in prison on drug smuggling charges, has now. >> been released. >> by the russians in an exchange, according to the white house. we don't know who was exchanged for him, but what we do know is that the middle east envoy, as you mentioned, steve witkoff, traveled. to moscow and managed to secure the release of mr. fogel, or rather, mr. witkoff, as far as we know, was involved in the negotiation. fogel is on his way home. he is out of russian airspace. according to the according to the white house. i want to read a little bit of the statement from the national security adviser, mike waltz. he says that president trump steve witkoff and the president's advisors negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the russians and a sign that we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in ukraine. a number of very interesting elements to this.

boris steve witkoff is the middle east envoy. he's been engaging with middle east partners on the cease fire deal. he is not necessarily someone who has russia in his portfolio. and the direct link in that statement to the war in ukraine, this is something that we've been discussing a lot this week. the trump administration moving closer to presenting a deal to end the war in ukraine. lots of questions about how to get russia to the table to negotiate. and clearly the release of marc fogel is playing into these negotiations. so that is extremely interesting. now, fogel was not exchanged last august. it was a major disappointment to his family in that historic deal that saw saw evan gershkovich and paul whelan come home. he he was not at the time determined to be wrongfully held by the state department. so consider essentially a hostage being held by a foreign government around the world. but he was declared to be wrongfully

detained in december. and so both the biden administration and now the trump administration have been trying to secure his release after he was arrested four years ago with some 17g of marijuana. so just over half an ounce. again, a disappointment to his family that he was not released last year, but now he is on his way home. according to this white house statement, he will be back on american soil and reunited with his family by tonight. boris. >> and as you put it, alex, perhaps a precursor to more developments on a potential deal between ukraine and russia. alex marquardt, thank you so much for the breaking news. there are new questions about possible conflicts of interest at the justice department. people who defended donald trump in some capacity, including in his criminal cases, may now be investigating those who tried to prosecute him. we're learning these top officials are leading what's called the weaponization working group, tasked with examining current and former prosecutors and fbi employees.

cnn chief legal affairs correspondent paula reid is here with this new reporting. paula, talk to us about who these officials are and the work that they're carrying out now. >> sure. >> we're going to. >> look at a. >> few. >> specifically that are causing consternation inside the justice. >> department because of the overlap of their previous work related to january 6th and then their current role. reviewing cases related to january 6th with emil bove. he is currently the. >> acting deputy. attorney general. >> the number two official at the justice department. >> but back. >> in early 2021, he was actually. >> a prosecutor. working on january. >> 6th cases. >> helping to track down suspects and build these cases. now, he left in late 2021 to join a then former president. trump's defense team. but sources say at the time he never raised any questions about the cases they were working on. but it's not unusual for prosecutors to then become defense attorneys and make a little money. but what's unusual now is he's one of the top officials at the justice department. he's the one firing off these letters to the fbi, looking for information about agents who worked on these cases. now, we talked to some

ethics experts, and they say, look, this isn't necessarily an ethics violation, but it certainly is the appearance of a conflict. then also, looking at the acting u.s. attorney, ed martin here in washington, d.c., he's a former activist around stop the steal. he represented several defendants related to january 6th. he is also not recused from overseeing a review of january 6th cases, specifically how prosecutors used obstruction charges in those cases. again, the optics are not good here. it's not clear that it's on its face. right. according to the rules, a conflict of interest. but his main option is recusal. and the problem is, we know that president trump does not like recusal. remember, jeff sessions and russia, right? so, look, this is all unlikely to change, but these conflicts, this overlap is definitely adding to the morale crisis within the department. >> it's got to be awkward if you're an fbi agent who worked closely with emil bove, the acting deputy director, because now he's turning around. he should know them well. he directed them to go find these

suspects. i do want to ask you about perspective that we've gotten from some legal minds, namely, folks that have been in donald trump's circle in the past. they think it's good to have a fresh perspective at doj. help us understand that. >> yeah, this comes from former trump attorney tim parlatore, who worked with a lot of these officials who are now running the department. and he said that he thinks it's actually a good thing to have fresh eyes inside the department, specifically people who have been on the other side of federal cases. many of these lawyers, including todd blanche, who's about to likely be the deputy attorney general. they worked on trump's federal cases. they've been on the other side of this system. and tim's point, i think, is an important one, which is if you look at administrations of both parties, there tends to be this revolving door of the same political people who come in once their party is in power. then you have people who stay there for their whole careers, and there's not a lot of fresh perspective. now, the messaging even trump officials will will confess has not been great. they have not done a great job about

winning hearts and minds there. but there is a lot of distrust. but there's also this other perspective that maybe we do need to have some new people inside the department to look at, possibly some new ways of doing things. >> paula reid, appreciate the reporting. thank you so much. coming up, if you're in the market for a home, don't expect a rate cut anytime soon. find out why federal reserve chair jerome powell is not rushing to lower interest rates. >> have i got. >> news for you is back for another season. roy wood jr.. amber ruffin and michael ian black are finding the funny in the week's biggest stories. >> going to give you all. >> four years of something to talk. >> about. >> if we alive. >> have i got news for you saturday at nine on cnn. >> hank used to suffer from what felt like a cold and flu medicine hangover in the morning. then he switched to mucinex. nightshift. mucinex is uniquely formulated to leave your system faster, so you wake up ready to go. dry mucinex nightshift and feel the difference. >> life.

>> diabetes. there's no slowing down. each day is a unique blend of people to see and things to do. that's why you choose glucerna to help manage blood sugar response. uniquely designed with carb steady glucerna. bring on the day. >> 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. >> sore throat. got your tongue? >> mucinex. instant sore throat. medicated drops uniquely formulated for rapid relief that. >> lasts and lasts. >> that's my baby. >> try our new sugar free cough drop to soothe dupixent. >> can help people with asthma breathe better in as little as two weeks. so this is better. >> and this. >> dupixent is an add on treatment for specific types of moderate to severe asthma. it's not for sudden breathing problems and doesn't replace a rescue inhaler. it's proven to help prevent asthma attacks.

severe allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for face, mouth, tongue or throat swelling, wheezing, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor right away if signs of inflamed blood vessels like rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling, or numbness in limbs. tell your doctor if new or worsening joint aches and pain or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop steroid, asthma or other treatments without talking to your doctor. ask your specialist about dupixent. >> safelite repair. >> perfecting your swing. >> is hard. >> nice shot. >> dad. >> oh. safelite replace. >> but replacing your windshield doesn't. >> have to be. go to safelite. com and schedule a replacement today. >> woo! >> ah! it's a good day to. >> cough. oh. >> no. >> bye bye. >> cough. chest congestion. hello. 12 hours of. >> relief. >> 12 hours. >> not coughing at. >> the movies. >> hashtag still not coughing.

>> ha! >> mucinex dm 12 hour. doesn't just quiet coughs. it treats coughs caused by excess mucus at the source and controls them for 12 hours. it's comeback season. stubborn chest congestion. try mucinex 12 hour. look at them streaming. >> directv without. >> a satellite dish. >> just livin it up. >> did you see. >> how fast that guy. >> found the game? >> he hardly struggled at all. >> you know, every day is a struggle for us pigeons. meanwhile, he's flipping through channels faster than a peregrine falcon. oh. >> you know. >> i dated a. >> falcon once. >> oh. >> janice. she was. >> a. craig here pays too much for business wireless. so he sublet half his real estate office... to a pet shop.

there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to an incredible 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. switch to comcast business internet and mobile and find out how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us with a qualifying trade in. don't wait, call, click or visit an xfinity store today. send info kit.com. physicians mutual physicians mutual. >> closed captioning is brought to you by sokolove law. >> mesothelioma victims call now $30 billion in trust. money has been set aside. you may be entitled to a portion of that money. call one 800 859 2400. that's one 800 859 2400.

>> if you're hoping for a rate cut from the fed, don't hold your breath. the chairman of the federal reserve, jerome powell, faced questions from senators on capitol hill today. here's a taste. >> with unemployment. >> at 4%. >> quite a low level inflation last year was 2.6% for the year. >> so we're. >> in a pretty. >> good place with this economy. we want to make more progress on inflation. and we think our policy rate is at is in a good place. and we're not we don't see any reason to be in a hurry to reduce it further. once we lower rates in kind of rates, return to a lower level, mortgage rates will come down. i don't know when that will happen. >> here is something powell said that will be music to donald trump's ears. as you know may know, powell is a frequent target of the president. he testified that higher tariffs won't necessarily lead to higher prices for consumers, referring to the president's recent round of new tariffs. listen. >> somebody's got to pay the tariff. and it can be it can be

the exporter. it can be the importer. it can be a middleman. >> and somebody pays for that. >> somebody does. but you know, in some cases it doesn't reach the consumer much. in some cases it does. and it really does depend on facts that we haven't seen yet. >> let's discuss with douglas holtz-eakin, who was the chief economist on the council for economic advisors under george w bush. he also served as the former director of the congressional budget office. and he's now the president of the american action forum. doug, thank you so much for being with us. let's start right there. did it did it surprise you that jerome powell made that distinction, saying that companies are suppliers, importers may wind up picking up the cost of tariffs and not passing it along to the consumer. and also, how realistic is that? >> well, i'm not surprised. the chairman has. >> spent a lot. >> of time in the witness chair. >> and he's. >> very careful about drawing a straight line between any administration's policies and something the federal reserve

might have to do. so he's not going to make a direct connection between tariffs and inflation, which would force them to raise rates. he's going to avoid that at all costs. um, but having, you know, sort of looked at the issue, um, it is true that in principle the cost could be borne by the seller, a middleman or the buyer. but in. >> fact. >> the vast majority of the evidence is that those tariff costs will be passed along to the american consumer. and so if tariffs are put in place in a substantial amount for a substantial amount of time, and those are things the chairman also emphasized, we don't know how long some of these things will be in place and how big they'll be, but if the president goes ahead with some of his plans, we will see impacts on the price level. >> what do you think about what he said regarding the fed not being in a hurry to cut rates well, i think he was actually very clear on that. >> inflation has come down from a high of 9.1% to 2.6. the mid

twos maybe three depending on your preferred measure. but it stayed there for about six months. and so inflation has not continued to decline toward the 2% target. so there's no particular reason to declare victory and cut rates further. unemployment remains very low. it's at 4%. and he emphasized that they felt that downside risks to the labor market had diminished. and so again, you're not trying to save the economy from a recession. you still have an inflation problem. those point toward rates staying where they are are being higher than they are going forward. >> i mentioned a moment ago that, as you well know, powell and president trump had some conflicts in his first term. trump has been very clear that he sees the presidency as having some role in fed policy. what do you think of this, this high wire act that powell is performing now where he has to balance what's best for the economy, and a president that's very eager to get involved?

>> well, i think every administration has strong views about what the fed's policy should be. and the the real difference between president trump and others is president trump conveys them publicly more frequently than do other administrations who tend to do this over lunch with the secretary of treasury. but the fed's reaction is the same, which is, you know, we are going to do our job regardless of what other people's opinion might be. chairman emphasized that yet again today, the step further of actually having the president removed the chairman or have a say in policymaking, the fed has firmly said no. so they have established their position for the moment. president trump's respecting it, and they're just going to have to agree to disagree about the the level of interest rates at the moment. >> now, for the moment, trump has stayed away from the fed. i want to ask you. yeah. i want to ask you about something. democrats brought up this growing concern over the apparent shutdown of the cfpb,

the consumer financial protection bureau. it was ordered shuttered by elon musk's doge. here is senator elizabeth warren, a frequent proponent of the cfpb's work. >> if the. cfpb is not there. examining these giant banks to make sure they are following the laws are not cheating consumers. who is doing that job? >> i can say no other federal regulator. >> no one. in other words. >> what does it mean for consumers to have the cfpb stop functioning? >> well in the near term? i think it's exactly as chairman powell said, there is no one who's picked up the mantle of consumer protection among the financial regulators. but if you roll the clock back prior to the creation of the cfpb, there were consumer protections in the law and they were enforced by the the the various financial regulators, the federal reserve, the fdic, the office of the

comptroller of the currency. and what happened with the creation of the cfpb is that those agencies sort of stood down on consumer protection and turned that over to the cfpb. so if the cfpb were to be eliminated, statutorily removed, that mantle would go back to them. they'd have to do that job right now. that's sort of everyone's looking at each other wondering how is this going to play out and who's going to have that role. >> so you would argue that at the current moment, there would be no overlap between the work of these other agencies and what the cfpb does, because folks that have argued that it should be dismantled have said that it's redundant. >> so when it was created, it was redundant. i was among those who had that concern. but, you know, it's been years. and in that time period, the other agencies have stepped back from the consumer protection role and they've left it to the cfpb. that's what it was created to do. if there's not going to be a cfpb, then they will have to pick up and enforce those laws and use their authorities to do so. >> doug holtz-eakin, appreciate the analysis. thanks for joining

us. >> thank you. >> straight ahead. president trump's border czar is firing back at someone criticizing deportations. the pope. we're following that clash, and we're getting a firsthand look at what is unfolding on the border. a firsthand account when we come back. >> lockerbie premieres sunday at nine on cnn. >> get in on buy one foot long, get one free right now in the subway app. that's right. buy one foot long sub, get another free. deals this good usually come with a two year contract. grab the deal online or in app with code bogo only for a limited time. >> rebooking. >> moon and doug. >> you'll be back. >> emus can't help. >> people. >> customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty. >> mutual. >> you're just a flightless. bird. >> no, he's. a dreamer, frank.

>> and doug. >> well. >> i'll be. >> that bird. >> really did it. >> only pay for. >> what. you need. >> liberty, liberty. >> liberty, liberty. >> 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. >> my mental health was better but uncontrollable movements called td tardive dyskinesia started disrupting my day. >> t.d. felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting. i asked. >> my doctor about treating. >> my td and learned. >> about ingrezza. >> ingrezza is. clinically proven to treat td quickly.

>> reducing td by greater. >> than five times at two weeks. number one prescribed ingrezza has dosing. that's always one pill once daily and you can keep taking most mental health meds. >> ingrezza can. >> cause depression, suicidal thoughts or actions in patients with huntington's disease. call your doctor if. >> you. >> become depressed or have sudden behavior or mood changes or suicidal thoughts, don't take ingrezza if allergic. serious side effects may include allergic reactions like sudden, potentially fatal swelling and hives. sleepiness, the most common side effect and heart rhythm problems. know how ingrezza affects you. before operating a car or dangerous machinery, report fever, stiff muscles or problems thinking as these might be life threatening. shaking, stiffness, drooling and trouble with moving or balance may occur. >> take control by asking. >> your doctor. about ingrezza. >> what do you. got there, larry? >> time machine. >> you're going to. >> go back and see how. >> the pyramids were built or something? >> nope. ellen 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? >> told you. it's going to all work out. thanks. >> future me. re.

the realreal authenticated luxury resale shop, now with code tr20 for 20% off terms, apply. >> i'm anthony davis. join me as we prank some of the biggest names in the sports world. it's like impractical jokers is tricking only a lot taller. >> so play with anthony davis. sunday after. nba all star coverage on tbs and stream next day on max. >> u.s. borders are tom homan is cautioning pope francis to stay in his own lane. tom homan was responding to a letter from the pope to u.s. bishops in which he criticized trump's deportation policies and said that forcibly removing individuals will,

quote, end badly. here's homan's response. >> to the catholic church and fix that and leave border enforcement to us. he wants to attack us from securing our border. he's got a wall around the vatican. does he not? >> tom homan also says that by his rubric, the u.s. is still not doing enough. >> i'm not satisfied there's more criminal aliens that need to be arrested. hundreds of thousands. sanctuary cities are putting roadblocks up. we got leaks, so we need to increase the arrests of illegal aliens, especially those with criminal convictions. so we're going to continue. so three times higher is good. i'm the numbers are good for me. not good enough. we got to get more. >> cnn's rosa flores is getting a closer look at how trump's immigration crackdown is impacting u.s. border patrol operations. >> 960 radio check. >> so what we look. >> for is. >> any disturbance in. >> the. >> ground.

>> in the dark., by. ground and. >> at racing speeds. >> on the rio grande. >> at daybreak. >> we had a shooting incident. >> border patrol agent. >> christina smallwood. >> shows us. >> what border enforcement. >> looks like in south texas under trump 2.0. >> since the new administration started. >> how has your job changed? >> it hasn't. >> she still. >> tracks smuggler. >> hotspots and analyzes footprints from border. >> crossers. >> it may be evening. >> our foot traffic. >> so last night. >> right? >> the most significant changes she says president donald trump ending the biden era cbp one app, which was used by migrants to enter the u.s. legally and the de facto end of catch and release, a term for authorities releasing migrants into border communities after immigration processing. what is the biggest impact? >> apprehension? >> detention ultimately. leading to removal? >> she says the day facto end of catch and release is not due to a directive from the president, but actually the result of

extremely low migrant crossings and swift deportations. we spoke to a border patrol agent, sister norma pimentel is the head of the prominent migrant respite center in the area, who over the years has received tens of thousands of migrants from border patrol under both republican and democratic administrations. so since trump took office, the number of migrants released to are. very few, are very few. >> almost. >> almost zero. almost zero. right. so practically the end of what they call catch and release. >> correct. >> she says not zero, but close enough. monthly migrant apprehensions on the u.s. southern border started declining over a year ago. last summer, after the biden administration essentially barred asylum and up deportations, border crossings plunged further despite the sizable drop, president trump declared a national emergency. >> stop the invasion at our southern border. >> citing in part, a flood of migration announcing tariffs. some of those now deferred, all while continuing an ice

enforcement blitz across the country's interior that has led to more than 8700 arrests. >> in south texas. >> eddie guerra, the democratic sheriff of hidalgo county, says the ice blitz has taken six suspected criminals off the streets. what types of crimes? >> individuals with aggravated assaults, sexual assaults, indecency with children. >> the republican mayor of mcallen, javier villalobos, has some reservations about another looming trump policy. what concerns you most about the tariffs? >> our economy. >> putting food on the table. >> inflation. >> historically, migrant crossings are cyclical, which means the day facto end of catch and release could just be temporary. take trump's first term migrant crossings initially dropped, but then spiked in 2019. at the time, sister norma said border patrol was sending up to 1000 migrants a day to her center, and i.c.e. described it like this. >> the humanitarian and national

security crisis, the likes of which we have never seen. >> which raises concerns about yet another aspect of trump 2.0. the move to freeze federal aid that nonprofits in cities like mcallen depend on during migrant surges. >> the city. >> should not be footing the bill. >> back on the rio grande, with agent smallwood all quiet after hours of patrol. do you see any footprints? >> i don't know. >> activity this morning. >> rosa flores, cnn along the u.s. mexico border. >> our thanks to rosa for that report. coming up, it's president trump versus the courts. as judges pause parts of his agenda. cnn news central is back in just a moment. >> still congested? >> nope. >> uh oh. mucinex 2 in 1. saline nasal spray spray. >> goodbye. >> mucinex 2 in 1. saline nasal spray with a gentle mist and innovative power jet spray.

goodbye to congestion. its comeback season. >> let's start the bidding at. >> $5 million. thank you. sir. >> these. >> people of privilege hoarding the financial advantages for far. >> too long. point five at the back. look at them. unaware that robinhood gold. >> members now. >> enjoy the vip treatment. the 3% ira match on retirement contributions 11. >> million, sir. >> once they discover their privileges are no longer exclusive, their fragile reality will plunge into disarray did you know taking xyzal at night. relieves allergies while you sleep, so you wake refreshed for a more productive day. get 24 hour continuous relief that does not fade. be wise. all take xyzal. at night. >> today i. >> choose us how to screen. us for colon cancer. here on my land, not theirs. give me cologuard or. >> excuse me. >> we can do that for you. >> what? no battle?

>> no. >> just a. >> prescription. >> victory. >> cologuard is an. >> effective and. >> noninvasive colon cancer screening test. false positive and negative results may occur. those at high risk should use colonoscopy. skip the drama, ask your provider or request cologuard online. >> the fly replacement program got started by a good friend of mine, who's a navy vet who saw the flag at the office that needed to be replaced and said, wouldn't this be great if this could be something that we did for anyone? comcast has always been a community driven company. this is one of those great examples of the way we're getting out there. >> you know what's smart? >> treating yourself. >> without cheating your. >> goals. >> indulge responsibly with factor. >> all of the flavor. none of the guilt. ready in two minutes. eat smart with factor.

>> ah, it's a good day to. >> cough. oh no. >> bye bye. >> cough later. chest congestion. hello. >> 12 hours. >> of. >> relief. >> 12 hours. >> not coughing. >> at the. >> movies. >> hashtag still not coughing. mucinex dm 12 hour. doesn't just quiet coughs, it treats coughs caused by excess mucus at the source and controls them for 12 hours. it's comeback season. stubborn chest congestion. try mucinex 12 hour. >> so i got you. >> a little something. >> warming for him, tingling for