>> announcer: "this week" with george stephanopoulos starts right now. >> martha: elon musk strikes again. >> he's a very talented guy from the standpoint of management and costs. >> martha: the president's favorite billionaire pushes deep into federal agencies. >> we're going to look at the receipts of this federal government and ensure it's accountable to american taxpayers. >> martha: democrats sounding the alarm. >> an unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government. >> it's unacceptable, unconscionable, and un-american. >> martha: this morning, rachel scott breaks down musk's war on washington. senator chris murphy on how democrats are scrambling to respond. middle east stunner. >> the u.s. will take over the gaza strip, and we will do a job with it too. >> martha: president trump sparks international outrage and

shock at home. is he serious? we'll ask republican congressman mike turner. plus, analysis from our powerhouse round table. and mind games. ahead of tonight's super bowl rematch, former nfl quarterback alex smith takes us inside the all-important mental game to play on football's biggest stage. good morning, and welcome to "this week," and what a week. the relentless headlines can seem overwhelming. more federal agencies targeted, more court cases filed, more chaos and confusion, and that may be the point. under president trump's guidance, elon musk's department of government efficiency taking an axe to the country's foreign aid program usaid while setting their sights next on the

education department, and the pentagon, all part of an effort to massively reduce federal spending, but this is where things stand as we come on the air this morning. ahead of a monday deadline, at least 65,000 federal workers have agreed to take buyouts so far, and doge has gained access to at least 10 federal agencies where they are targeting more cuts to the federal work force, andov overnight, the government watchdog charged with safeguarding american consumers' finances has been effectively shut down. employees sl told in a late-night message to cease all activity, but there is now growing pushback in the courts to musk's moves with judges taking actions to delay and halt many of doge's efforts, including their access to key treasury department payment systems. so we begin this morning with abc's rachel scott on musk's attempts to remake washington and what the courts are doing in

response. >> reporter: over the last three weeks, elon musk and his team at the department of government efficiency have been on a singular mission. shrink the size of the federal government, and this morning, their efforts are being put to the test in a series of court challenges throughout the nation. >> we're going to be doing that throughout government, and i think we're going to be very close to balancing budgets for the first time in many years. >> reporter: just as the signs came down at usaid, the humanitarian agency that's provided relief for 32 million children around the world, a federal judge halted the administration's plan to place 2,000 of the agency's workers on leave. musk's original goal, gut the agency from 14,000 to just over 600. >> this is a disaster not just from a humanitarian standpoint, from the standpoint of all the beneficiaries who may, in fact, die because they won't have access to u.s. resources, but it's a disaster for u.s. national interests and national security. >> reporter: for days, musk and his team had access to sensitive

information at the department of treasury, but a judge temporarily blocking that too saying there was a risk of irreparable harm. saying the department has the social security numbers of millions of americans, but the president showing no signs of slowing down. >> i said, go to the next -- go to the next one. i would like you to look at department of education, and i think you're going to find it's very similar. different, but similar, and go into the military. go into everything. i mean, i want you to go into everything. >> reporter: the administration sent a buyout offer for federal workers with a choice to resign now and be paid through september or run the risk of being laid off. a judge putting that on hold until at least monday afternoon. the white house says the ruling just gives workers more time to take advantage of what they call a once in a lifetime offer. >> it's going to save the american people tens of millions of dollars, and we encourage federal workers in this stoi to accept the very generous offer. >> reporter: the legal battles causing chaos and confusion. the president putting the entire

department of education on the chopping block after roughly 100 employees who work on dei initiatives were placed on leave last week. president trump's team also preparing an executive order preparing the department to make a plan to dismantle itself, and for congress to pass a law eliminating it. his nominee to lead education, linda mcmahon, set to be in confirmation hearings this week. >> we told linda, linda, i hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job, and what i want to do is let the states run schools. >> reporter: after weeks of relative quiet, democrats pushpu pushing back against the administration's efforts. >> we're going to be the opposition. >> reporter: and turning their anger on elon musk. >> no one elected elon musk to nothing, and yet elon musk is seizing the power that belongs to the american people. >> we have not months. we have not weeks, but we have

days to stop the destruction of our democracy. >> reporter: as trump, musk, and doge carry out their purge of the federal government, republicans on capitol hill defending their actions. >> the reality? >> the message to my democratic friends is i hear your criticism, but you need to call somebody who cares. >> he's throwing out big ideas, and if anybody thinks that all of these big ideas are going to be implemented to conclusion, they don't understand the process of disruption. >> why not go through congress for that? >> because you're reporting and you're asking questions about the old way of doing >> reporter: so back to that buyout offer for those federal workers. that hearing is now scheduled for monday. we were told at least 65,000 people had taken the administration up on that offer, but democrats and unions are warning that since this money was noit approved by congress, there's no certainty those workers are going to get it, martha. >> martha: and rachel, we heard trump there say he told elon musk to look at defense spending? >> yeah. the president was asked directly, is there anything that

elon musk cannot touch? he said he's directing him to basically look at almost every single government program. we know two of the most expensive are social security and also the department of defense spending, and so he did say that elon musk will now be tasked with going through and reviewing the pentagon's budget. that's something we really haven't heard a lot of republicans support in the past, but the president did make clear that for now, social security is off the table, martha. >> martha: and we'll see about all of that. thanks, rachel scott. and i'm joined now in studio by democratic senator chris murphy of connecticut who has been outspoken this week, opposing the trump administration's latest move. good morning, senator. >> good morning. >> martha: good to have you here this morning. you have used incredibly strong language, a constitutional crisis, grossly unconstitutional. pretty alarming language. >> yeah. listen. i think this is the most serious constitutional crisis the country has faced, certainly since watergate. the president is attempting to seize control of power, and for

corrupt purposes. the president wants to be able to decide how and where money is spent so that he can reward his political friends. he can punish his political enemies. that is the evisceration of democracy. you stand that next to the wholesale endorsement of political violence with the pardons given to every single january 6th rioter including the most violent who beat police officers over the head with baseball bats, and you could see what he's trying to do here. he is trying to crush his opposition by making them afraid of losing federal funding, by making them afraid of physical violence. so yes, this is a red alert moment when this entire country has to understand that our democracy is at risk, and for what? the billionaire takeover of government. i'm sure we'll talk about this, but elon musk is inside our federal agencies. it's alarming. >> martha: they want to cut the federal budget. they would all disagree it's corruption or anything else.

they want to cut the federal budget, and the work force. do you have issues with that? >> well, i don't, but there's no evidence that that is the goal. ultimately at usaid, they sent a whole bunch of people home who are still getting paid, and i think you have to ask, why are they doing this if it's not actually accruing any savings? and to me, again, the reason is that somebody like elon musk stands to gain from the closure of usaid. it makes america much less safe around the world, but it helps china. usaid is a thorn in the side of the chinese government. elon musk has many major business interests atbeijing, ag beijing happy is going to accrue to the financial benefit of elon musk and many billionaires who outsource work to china. >> martha: senator, you have the court process working.

a judge has now barred elon musk's teams from the treasury data base. they have blocked trump's birthright citizenship executive order. so why not just let the system work? >> well, i mean, first of all, we're not sure it's working right now. i continue to get reports from connecticut that agencies there like headstart programs and community health centers are actually not receiving the funding that they are due. so i think there's a big question as to whether the administration actually is implementing the court order, and the pace of this assault on the constitution in order to serve the billionaire class. it is absolutely dizzying, and so you have to run a full-scale opposition. you can't just rely on the courts. ultimately you've got to bring the american public into this conversation because we need our republican colleagues in the house and in the senate, ultimately to put a spot to this. you cannot just rely on the court system when the challenge to the constitution and the billionaire takeover is so acute

and so urgent. >> martha: you talk about the american public. according to a recent reuters/ipsos poll, a majority of americans, 56% support freezing u.s. foreign aid programs excluding the life-saving assistance. so what would you say to those people? when donald trump and elon musk say, what we are trying to do is exactly what you want. >> but they're not freezing programs. they are eliminating the entire department. their plan is to go from 14,000 employees down to 300. >> martha: and fold it into the state department? >> well, no. they're talking about eliminating it. that's the talking point, folding it into the state department. they were lying when they said that. they're eliminating the department altogether. when you go from 14,000 employees to 300, you have no soft power left in the world. the military tells us that if you eliminate foreign aid, you will have to double the number of bullets you buy them. why? because we prevent conflict around the world through things like economic development and

conflict resolution. i think the american public are learning about the scale of this corruption, how our foreign policy is being turned over to billionaires like elon musk to help them financially, and as the american people are learning how much influence the billionaires have, and how corrupt our policy has become, they are turning against this handover of government to the very few economic elites. >> martha: senator, do talk a little bit about usaid, and how it works. these are -- it's a subsidy program. the taxpayer dollars pay farmers for soy or rice, and those are donated, correct? how much of it is a subsidy? >> well, listen. most of what usaid is doing is employing americans and often foreign nationals to try to prevent instability and conflict. they are also working to try to reduce the reasons why young people join terrorist groups overseas. they are chasing chinese and

russian influence. mine, li i mean, listen. the next question over the next 50 years is who will control the piping of the national economy, the united states or china? it's usaid. not the u.s. military that is working to try to blunt chinese influence. so it's ultimately american and european rules that control the global economy, not chinese rules. so usaid is out there protecting american jobs and american interests, and if you roll up usaid, it is just a massive gift to china in particular, and that is very bad for u.s. national security interests, very bad for the u.s. economy and u.s. workers. >> martha: you talk about the democrats. john fetterman is urging his fellow democrats to calm down on language exactly like yours saying, if you keep yelling, people are going to stop paying attention. democrats have already used the most severe kinds of language and condemnation. it's going to lose its value and no one's going to pay attention to it. your response? >> i don't agree.

i'm not going to calm down. i had 800 people at a rally with 24 hours' notice in connecticut this last weekend. this is a fundamental corruption, and democracies don't last forever, and what those who are trying to destroy democracies want is for everyone to stay quiet, for everyone to believe that the moment isn't urgent. they want to use violence and the threat of violence and the threat of arrest to keep the opposition at home. we are not going to do this. we see this as a crisis of epic proportions. we are watching the billionaires try to steal government from the people, and i think the broad cross-section of the american public as you have seen in the last week is going to rise up and say, enough. if they want to -- >> martha: we have seen in the last week -- we've seen people rise up. we've seen protests, but these are not massive, massive protests. how do you keep doing this? who is leading this in the democratic party? what is the vision? >> well, i mean, we're only two

weeks into the administration, and you have d-- >> martha: yet, and you knew what was going to happen. >> and we have seen some very big crowds, but i don't think the american public knew what was going to happen. i don't think that donald trump ran on giving his billionaire adviser access to americans' personal financial data, access to their medicare and medicaid records. so i do think there's a lot of people out there who didn't think donald trump's going to get some of the most reckless things he said, and certainly the most conflicted billionaires were going to have access to their personal information. >> martha: thanks so much for joining us, senator. we appreciate it. >> thank you. up next, former house intelligence committee chair mike turner reacts to trump's moves to cut foreign aid, and the president's call for the u.s. to take over gaza. we're back in two minutes. [ car engine revving ]

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when you need to remember, remember neuriva. ♪ rinse it out ♪ ♪ every now and then ♪ ♪ i get a little bit tired of the stinks ♪ ♪ that just will never come out ♪ ♪ pour downy in the rinse, jade ♪ ♪ every now and then i rinse it out! ♪ fights odor in just one wash. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. >> martha: millions of people around the world rely on life-lif life-saving aid from usaid. secretary of state marco rubio

says the state department can offer waivers for some of the most critical aid efforts to continue, but there are questions about who would be left at the agency to process those wafivers. we checked in with ngos abroad about how they've already been impacted. >> i'm christine. i'm a deputy executive director at the joint program within the united nations responding to hiv and aids. the united states government provides about 70% of all funding for hiv and aids globally, and so pausing any of that is a big shock to the system. community clinics are closed because communities are not sure what the guidance is, and they're not sure what costs can be covered, and they're afraid that they will be asked to repay services that they have charged to u.s. government contracts. so these are people's lives that are really at risk here. >> my name is yuriy. i'm a founder of hope for ukraine, and we have been

working on the ground in ukraine since 2016, providing humanitarian aid to people affected by war. firewood is a lifeline right now for the people in ukraine because there's millions of people in ukraine that live in frontline areas. they don't have electricity. they don't have gas. so a lot of the small areas that are getting small grants from usaid to bring this firewood into these areas to distribute to families there, now since the aid has stopped, unless there's other organizations that will come in and take the spot, these people will be left in the cold, freezing literally. we've always been thinking that, you know, the united states got our back in our darkest period of time, and now since usaid is pulling away, a lot of people are losing hope. >> i'm shamil, the ceo of search for common ground. a war has just emerged --

re-emerged in eastern congo in central africa, where hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee. we had to stop broadcasting on our network of radio stations in the east of the provide a livelfeline for peopl. literally today, people are running in the wrong direction, fleeing towards violence rather than away from it. the stop work orders we received across more than 30 programs and proje projects, no two were alike. some were inconsistent, ambiguous, or contradictory. chaos has ensued. >> i'm noah, the senior director for international. this is a humanitarian organization working in more than 20 countries around the world to help refugees find safety. the last few weeks have been total and complete chaos. we have had to stop programs for example with survivors of violence against women in latin america and the support that we provide them is often the difference between them being forced to maybe return to those abusive former partners or

becomiing vulnerable to human trafficking. the u.s. abandoning some of the most desperate people in the world right now absolutely will create a vacuum and i'm deeply concerned about who's going to fill that vacuum. >> martha: so much concern out there. i'm joined now by republican congressman mike turner of ohio, the former chair of the house intelligence committee. congressman, so many people worried about this, and impact already. i know some of this is in the courts still, but how concerned are you? >> martha, certainly this is very compelling, and these are obviously needs that are compelling, and they certainly relate to u.s. interests, and we are going through an issue of changes of administration, but i think certainly as you were relating in the last interview that you just conducted, you know, the american people know that we're -- we're in a financial crisis right now. we have, you know, the u.s. government accountability office on february 5th just sent this letter to the president, the president of the senate and the

speaker of the house, and it says the federal government is on an unsustainable fiscal path. the unsustainable fiscal outlook poses serious economic, security, and social challenges if it's not addressed. the report attached indicates that by 2027 will be at a historical ratio of debt to the economy, and it's -- the rounded deficit is $36 trillion. the american public know this is not sustainable. that's just in this congressional session. in two years, we will be at a critical point, and obviously very tough decisions have to be made, and they need to be made now. >> martha: is this the way to make those decisions? there's no doubt you can look at the budget. you can look at places where things have been cut. there's some alarming anecdotes that they put out there that things are in the budget, but is this the necessary and appropriate way to do this given what you're just hearing from around the world?

>> well, i think what you're hearing is that this administration is taking a critical view right now. i mean, we have -- we have a continued resolution that goes through march, and this administration is taking an immediate assessment of where are we spending our funds, where do we need to spend them? and in order to do so, they need to take a stop, a critical view. the american public know that their moneys are being spent around the world and they need to determine how they need to be spent in the way that advances u.s. interests -- >> martha: you talk about, like, reviewing. >> it balances the budget so that we cannot have this -- this debt to ratio at the end of 2027. that's just in two years, that is absolutely as they say, just here an unsustainable fiscal path. >> martha: you talk about assessment or review and look at this, and they're trying to figure this out. they basically took the sign down off usaid. they basically want to close it down. is that really a review, an

assessment? >> well, usaid is a unique situation because not only is it one where they're doing a fiscal review, how should the money be spent, where should we be spending our money, but it's also a policy review, and on a forced policy aspect, and certainly you've heard this from the secretary of state. i mean, we have been on a structural issue where we have defused our foreign policy. we have had usaid that has been separate from really the ambassador structure and our embassy structure. commerce has been separate. d.o.d. has been separate. taking our view where how do we merge these back so we have one voice in foreign policy instead of usaid doing something, our foreign policy and ambassadors doing something, d.o.d. doing something, commerce doing something. how to do we get back to one vo where we advance america instead of everybody doing their own thing in foreign policy, is probably a good policy. >> martha: but you yourself have said elon musk's actions are

disruptive. he's acting like a bull in a china shop. so let me go back to -- >> it's very -- he's very -- first off, let's be clear. usaid is not a criminal enterprise, and people who work for the government have an important job to do, and they need to be honored, and certainly as elon musk goes about his job, which is a very important job. i mean, the fact that we have elon musk looking from the private sector into the public sector, advising the president in ways that we can find, ways to reduce overall spending to get this curve down is incredibly important, and an unbelievable opportunity for our government and for president trump to do what the american public elected him to. he needs to in a more professional way, to communicate with the american public, and certainly communicate to the government enterprise, a professional goal and objective. >> martha: you -- you heard chris murphy, senator murphy, just now say that china might

fill the vacuum in places that usaid leaves. is that a concern of yours? >> i don't believe they're going to -- they're not going to come in and start providing aid of this nature. they don't have the heart for it. they don't have the goals and objectives for it. this is not what they do. it is what we do because we -- we have compassion, and not only do we do it on a government bay sis. we do it on a philanthropic basis, but let's be clear. to counter what the center just said, we do not have a constitutional crisis. what toowe're doing right now i the executive bramplgnch is try to get control over the executive branch. unfortunately sometimes on the left, they view the bureaucracy as a fourth branch of government, and that it's not to be touched, and. in this instance, we have elon musk and the president of the united states going over to the bureaucracy and saying, we're going to take tameme you. we're going to pull you back under the executive branch and look at ways in which we can find savings and we're going to bring this spending curve down, and in doing so, the left believes that they have, you

know, violated that fourth branch. we're going to bring it back under the executive branch. we're going to bring back that spe spending down. i think the american public believe the government is not responsive and no one can tame it. we'll see that president trump and elon musk are going to bring that curve down. >> martha: and i want to turn to gaza and israel. we saw those images of the three hostages that were released this weekend looking terribly gaunt, having hamas fighters next to them. will that make any difference do you think with the ceasefire going forward, but i also want to talk to you about president trump's pledge to take over gaza, which he really doubled down on this week. >> you know, one thing that this has done, it certainly has exposed the issue that the two-state solution isn't a plan, and isn't a proposal. it's a slogan because no one came forward and said, this is -- this is disruptive or provocative to our two-slate solut -- two-state solution. there's to one who's the leader of it. there's no structure for it.

there's no one working on the government structure for the west bank -- >> martha: do the president's comments help? >> i think it does pose the challenge of focusing on the fact that hamas and the palestinians and the terrorist structure that's there needs to be dismantled, that israel does deserve and need a, you know, a peaceful structure, but the palestinians regardless of where they are pose a security threat, that there is no path to a two-state solution. no one is currently working toward it. the fact that there is no alternative i think really has been -- light has been shined on it, and that's going to challenge the beyentire region international community and that'll be challenged to do something. >> martha: lots of outrage from those comments from president trump. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> martha: coming up, how are voters reacting to president

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in two weeks they're saying, i'm reading pit i'm not even saying it, but i'm feeling it. we've done more than any president ever. the first two weeks have been probably, they say the most successful two weeks in the history of any presidency. now all we have to do is keep it going for another couple of hundred weeks. >> martha: president trump this week with his take on the start of his second administration, as we have been reporting this morning there has been outrage in some circles. we wanted to see the reaction of those who voted for him, who

voted for change. so we checked in with a few of his supporters to find out about these lightning-fast few weeks. virginia voter elisa baker may not be completely content with donald trump's first weeks in office, but she is far from unhappy with him. >> there's a lot happening right fast. so i would say probably a little bit of my head spinning, just trying to digest it all. >> martha: we first met baker months before the presidential election. a nikki haley supporter who back then was so disappointed when haley dropped out, that baker was considering staying home on election day. ultimately, she begrudgingly voted for president trump, motivated largely by his stances on immigration and national security. and she is liking what she sees. >> i think the american people spoke strongly that immigration was a top safety concern.

it was one of the things that sue swayed me. i'm glad to see bold action because i think it's needed. >> martha: so far, baker supports president trump's efforts to curb illegal immigration, including deporting migrants even if they haven't been convict of crimes, and when it comes to those controversial moves by elon musk and the department of government efficiency, baker isn't too surprised. >> i think it's pretty characteristic of elon musk and i think, you know, the whole idea of coming in and looking at government efficiency was going to be very disruptive, by design. >> martha: like baker, software engineer rick strucco isn't bothered by elon musk also heavy hand. >> what i will say is i think the government needs to have some kind of check like that introduced, and so even though i'm not entirely certain that he's going to about it the right way, i think what he's setting out to do needs to be done. >> martha: strucko also praised the trump administration's crackdown on immigration. >> i understand the challenge,

right? like, that is a very -- it's a rough situation, and i recognize that, and so as harsh as it can seem, i think it's important to recognize that the responsibility of the president is first to the u.s. citizens. >> martha: trump voter amanda marrone backed trump because of his stance on israel. she likes what she's seen. >> i think he kind of came in strong and he's just taking care of everything that kind of happened over the last few years. >> martha: and while trump's comments this week on the u.s. taking over gaza faced fierce condemnation here and abroad -- what do you think about what he said this week about gaza? >> i mean, he says a lot of dumb stuff. so -- i don't know. i mean, he's a lot of talk. we'll see what he actually accomplishes and gets done. i don't think he's actually going to relocate everybody out of there, but i think that he's, like, working towards some sort of solution that will hopefully, you know, help everybody. >> martha: okay. now let's bring in the round

table. npr white house correspondent asma khalid, dispatch senior ed dirt, sarah isgur, susan glasser, and abc news senior national correspondent, terry moran. welcome, everybody, and sara, i just got to get right to you on the legal question. so much going on. just things thrown into the court, thrown back. what do we do? >> almost every single executive order that we have talked about at this point has been stopped by a court as they decide to litigate it. what i think is going to be really interesting for this administration, because they have done so much and thrown so much spaghetti at the wall, they're not really getting to strategically shape which of those cases for instance, would get to the supreme court, and, you know, as it's commonly said, bad facts make bad law. for this administration, you really wanted to control those facts. which impoundment theory is going up? which firing, you know, the inspector general firings can look a lot different than an fbi agent when you get those facts

in front of a judge. >> martha: and terry you pointed out this week to all of us that you think the most profound case was that -- there's now a temporary restraining order on the attorneys general stopping the treasury department, stopping them going into the treasury department. >> right. we'll see if they akkacquiesce s they say. the attorneys general, democrats all, challenging musk and trump and the doge guys going into the crown jewels, the treasury department. the checking account of the american government, and it gets to first principles, right? the argument is congress was given by the framers, the power of the purse, the power to appropriate and the power to cut, and you can't just zero out line items like that. there is -- there's no supreme court case that says a president can just shutter down an agency or department of government. there's no supreme court case that says the president can refuse to spend money as appropriated by the people's representatives in congress. he's doing this deliberately to change that.

he either will get a supreme court ruling that's friendly to him. this supreme court has been very friendly to executive power, or he'll defy a supreme court ruling that goes against him, nonacquiesce. donald trump is just the guy to do that. >> worth noting on that supreme court point on executive power, they have been very friendly to the idea that executives in charge at the personnel, but not so much when it comes to conflicts with congress and, in fact, donald trump and his first term was the least successful president in history of the united states at the supreme court falling under 50% wins. >> martha: i want to turn to usaid. we've paid a lot of attention to that. people are very alarmed here and especially overseas. susan, do we have an idea of what this will look like? at one point, they did talk about rolling it into the state department. you heard senator murphy say that's a lie. >> yeah. i mean, martha, we've been subjected to, i think, almost the kind of orwellian picture

this week of being acceptability out to erase the name of usaid from the stone walls outside of the headquarters. this was not a policy fight. you know, we can have a policy discussion about what's the best way for america to have soft power in the world, what programs there should be, what there shouldn't be. we have a process for that. it's called the united states congress and in conjunction with the executive branch negotiating. this was an execution, not a policy fight, and to me, it's very telling that they selected a target that may well be very unpopular with the american people, but it seems to me that this is a template for how they are looking to go after other executive agencies, and, in fact, elon musk continues every day to tweet a list out essentially of what's next. there's no process here. it's not an on the level policy conversation, and i think that's very important for people to understand. i get that in washington, we care about process, and out in the world, people care about outcomes, but this is one where

the process and the outcome meet because the united states has just dismantled in effect, the largest foreign assistance organization in the world. more than half of that assistance of about $40 billion a year, about half of that goes to public health around the world. it goes to monitoring diseases and things like that, and the question is how is it possible that one unelected billionaire, the richest man in the world, can unilaterally do that without any process? >> martha:, you know, one of the things, asma, the trump administration will say, he campaigned on this. elon musk was at his side throughout this. they want to cut government. a lot of this we've seen optics, just what susan was saying too, like, it more than optics, but ripping the sign down. >> and he never said usaid on the campaign. >> martha: that's exactly right. >> it was this broad vision of essentially trying to eliminate federal bureaucracy, streamline thi things. he campaigned on things, and cracked down on gender identity.

we're seeing him follow through this week. these are things he said he would do, but i think the speed and scope of just things we have seen this week is unprecedented and to suzsan's point, i would call him a former staffer who said to me, they were emailed at 12:42 a.m. in the middle of the night to not appear at work the next day. this isn't the process of congress sitting there and going through to assess what budg limitations they ought to put. this is the case as susan said, the richest man in the world and there's something very strange about him slashing programs that prevent starvation and hunger and poverty in much of the world. >> martha: but you heard the voters, terry. you heard the voters, the trump supporters. it's, like, that's donald trump. the harshness didn't seem in most cases, to bother people. >> and more importantly, they voted -- they want to see action and they're getting action. the question is, is it lawful? and one of the problems is that

congress, you know, one of the things the framers did when they set up three branches of government, they said this will be good because each branch will be as they said, jealous of their powers and prerogatives, and so you'll get the checks and balances that are supposed to avoid concentrations of power. this congress is on its knees run by, you know, the constitutional office of the speaker of the subserv subservient, totally sub missive and they're not defending the powers of congress. congress should stand up and say, wait. we have the power of the purse. we're article i for a reason. the framers wanted most policymaking government from the branch closest to the people, and as long as congress is silent, we'll see -- >> where were y'all in the last administration? >> martha: i want to go because we're talking about elon musk's kons ta constant tweets a little while ago. the worst 1% of appointed judges as determined by elected bodies be fired every year. this will weed it the most corrupt and least competent.

>> well, speaking of process versus outcome, that's a disaster. luckily, the constitution took care of that. they serve for good behavior which we sort of translated as life tenure. i'm not too worried about that changing. this is fishing with dynamite. over and over again, the american people voted for change. obama was the change candidate, and then they might have felt like they changed a lot, but the american people didn't feel that the substance of the government changed. so donald trump has come in and said, you want to feel change? here. they may not like the result of the change, but i think what you're hearing from those trump voters is they like to at least see someone is doing something, and they're willing to wait and see. i think unfortunately that's what the u.s. congress is doing as well, is they're going to give trump all the leash he wants, the people he wants for his nominations, and then hold him responsible hopefully. >> martha: and susan, i want to return to gaza and the comments the president made this week about gaza. talking really more like a real estate developer than a leader. >> yeah. well, i think it's important to note first of all, that donald

trump said sitting by the side of the israeli prime minister that the united states was going to take an ownership stake, quote, unquote, in gaza that they were going to move out the people there, that we were going to redevelop it, but no, actually we weren't actually going to have american troops there. this is a fantasy. this is not true. it's not going to happen, and i think that's another element that we can't ignore in the sort of shock and awe campaign that has unfold ed in the first few weeks. what they're doing and saying is underpinned by lies and propaganda, martha. >> it worked in philadelphia. it worked in panama, and and mexico. these bluffs have been wo workworking. >> to say it's working, what's to say trump going after its allies and partners never saying a word about its adversaries in the world, russia and china? who's cheering the dismantlement of the largest foreign aid

agency in the world? russia and china are welcoming this. as far as -- >> and yet panama is down the road. >> as far as it goes, i think it's feeding a fantasy to the american people, you know, it's -- it's a sort of el faepha in the room. to say the president of the united states is offering something fantastical, and it has no bearing on reality. israel has been at war with t hamas and has not eliminated the organization since october 7th. the idea they're going to say, thank you, donald trump, we'll leave now so you can redevelop our beachfront property, it's not going to happen. >> martha: i want to talk to asma about that. any thoughts you have. there were a lot of arab american voters who supported donald trump because they just had it with the biden administration's policy, particularly as gaza. so how are they feeling? you did a lot of reporting. >> i think two things. one is on the actual idea that

trump suggested a sort of real estate bid for the united states to take over gaza, one that i think that i was struck by is the idea to change the conversation. for so many years in the united states, the stated position was a two-state solution, and what the president of the united states said very clearly there, that was not within his realm of imagination, and to me, that is very, very important. i think you saw a number of arab countries strongly disagree with what president trump said that you cannot forcibly move an entire population say to jordan or egypt or neighboring countries. i think that is important even perhaps fantastical as what trump suggests it seems. the other thing is about what arab americans are saying. i called up osama siblani. he runs this newspaper in dearb dearborn, michigan. he said i did not support biden or harris per se. a number of arab americans say they didn't support either. people were upset with the biden

administration. they were at a loss. i think many people voted out of anger. >> martha: thanks. i got to stop you, termry. next time we'll do it. up next, it's super bowl sunday. so what does it take to prepare mentally for football's biggest night? espn analyst and former nfl qb, alex smith, joins us when we come back. [ car engine revving ] at ameriprise financial, we know our clients are so much more than clients. they're conquerors and champions, and what matters most to them matters most to us. it's no wonder we have a 4.9 out of 5

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suffering a life-threatening leg injury in 2018. he's now an espn nfl analyst and joins us from new orleans ahead of tonight's big game between the kansas city chiefs and philadelphia eagles. thanks so much for your time, alex. patrick mahomes was your backup on the chiefs when he was a rookie. now you see him playing in the third straight super bowl on the verge of making history. when you mentored him, what was it that you thought was important that you wanted to pass onto him? >> yeah. i mean, it certainly wasn't the secrets to playing quarterback. that's for sure. you know, i think that's the thing about mentorship is there isn't any one thing that you do, you know, i was in my 12th year of football at that point. i had gone through a lot in my career, and had learned a lot, and had really dialed down what it took for me, a father of three at that point, to be able to compartmentalize my home life and work life and all the sacrifices that are required to be an nfl quarterback, and the

unique thing about kansas city is the quarterback room, everybody does everything together. you don't do anything alone, and so patrick was thrust into that, and he didn't skip a beat. >> martha: you have two soo superstars tonight, mahomes and jalen hurts. everybody talks about speed, about athleticism with qbs, but you've talked about intellect and how important that is with these quarterbacks, all the decisions they make on the fly. >> yeah. i mean, both these guys don't get enough credit for that. you know, with patrick, we see the sidearm throws and the no-look throws, and it looks like recess, and improvisation is a big part of his game, but especially these past two years, he wins between his ears. to see what he's done has been so impressive, and see him morph his game. and jalen hurts, the attention is on this run game and saquon barkley, but he's what makes this run game go. so much of it is qb-driven.

he makes so many decisions. so much of what he does doesn't show up on a stat she certainly a big part of the reason they're here, and have a chance certainly to try and knock the chiefs off. >> martha: and we're in washington, and i know he didn't make it to the super bowl, but jayden daniels, from your former team here in washington named rookie of the year. he doesn't even wear a wristband with the plays. no huddle offhands. you boiled that down to poise and said that's something you cannot teach. where does that come from? >> yeah. i mean, that's a great question, martha. because you're talking a guy that maybe had the worst rookie season ever, and to try and do justice to what jaiyden daniels as maybe the greatest rookie season not just in football, but in all of sports, it's really incredible. not just a testament to his criti skill set, which is unique, and jayden daniels sitting in the pocket, feeding pressure. so much of that again with his poise and intellect and accuracy with his arm, and again, just really, really rare to see that, and then in the fourth quarter

with the game on the line, i just can't remember a rookie quarterback delivering so many times in the clutch. just couldn't be more excited for that fan base and that organization. >> martha: and back to the super bowl, you know, i've often wondered, mentally how do you tune out everything? do they care about the crowds? do they hear about the crowds? what do you do when you're on that field? >> yeah, you know, to me it's not so much about the field. it's really the two weeks preparing for this that's the bigger circus. you know, athletes and especially football players are creatures of habit, right? we play once a week so you really -- you're dialed in on what a monday looks like before a game and a tuesday, wednesday, and a thursday. all of a sudden, all of that is thrown off. you're in a new town, you're in new orleans, you're living out of a hotel. the media is just crazy here. there's distractions everywhere, and so i do think that the team that can eliminate a lot of those and dial in on the details that are going to show up on sunday is going to win, you know, certainly the chiefs have been here a lot, and are very used to the schedule and the chaotic nature that is super

bowl week, but on the same time, so are the eagles. they were here two weeks ago. they know this well, and they have great leadership. i don't see that being a great issue or an advantage, but i think when the, you know, the lights are the brightest, i think the team that can block that out has an upper hand. >> martha: you have been very diplomatic in that answer. i won't even ask you who's going to win because i think you kind of explained that. thanks for joining us this morning, alex. we really appreciate it. >> thank you so much, martha. >> martha: we'll be right back.

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when this gets out, and it will get out, it'll brand her. so if you care about her like you say you do, you wouldn't even put her in this position. are you breaking up with me? yeah, lucy, i am. i was just notified that detectives made a drug bust. it's your wife. tim: isabel isn't a dealer. bradford and isabel were rookies together. so she's a cop? was. undercover narcotics. who's carson holland? carson stashed a kilo of heroin in my heating unit. you're facing 10 to 20. i'm sorry.