brennan in washington, and this week on "face the nation," the president's mission to shrink the federal workforce intensifies and his foreign policy deal making reaches a critical juncture.

speaking before a crowd of conservative supporters this weekend, president trump touted his dramatic efforts to reshape the federal government. >> it's all about common sense. over the past month, we've confirmed an all-star team of warriors, patriots, visionaries and put the america first agenda into action. >> late friday the purge of the federal workforce struck the pentagon at the top. during a critical moment for our national security, as the new administration seeks peace talks to end russia's war in ukraine and as a fragile truce between israel and hamas hangs in the balance. we'll speak with trump's top negotiator and envoy steve witkoff. here at home, the president takes aim at democratic governors who oppose his agenda. >> you better do it because you're not going to get any federal funding. >> see you in court. >> new york hasn't labored under a king in over 250 years and we are not going to start now. >> we'll ask new york governor

kathy hochul how she's picking her battles with the new administration. plus -- >> the people would like to know what you, congressman, and your fellow congressmen, are going to do to rein in the mega maniac in the white house. >> lawmakers facing heat from voters over trump's push to slash the federal workforce led by elon musk. maryland democrat chris van hollen and utah republican john curtis will be here. with bird flu, measles and other illnesses on the rise and big changes ahead for america's public health agencies, we'll get a reality check from former trump fda commissioner scott gottlieb. it's all just ahead on "face the nation." ♪

good morning. welcome to "face the nation." millions of federal workers are waking up to renewed pressure this morning. elon musk ordered them late saturday to describe the top five things they accomplished last week or risk losing their jobs. that demand was issued formally in an e-mail yesterday from the office of personnel management, but top leaders in agencies such as the fbi and the state department have instructed their staff to avoid responding for now. just a day earlier the trump staff shakeup hit the pentagon with the ouster of the highest ranking military officer general cq brown and other leaders at the navy, army and air force. for more on that impact of the shakeup we begin this morning with our senior national security correspondent charlie d'agata. it's the president's prerogative to choose his advisors, sure, but what's the impact of firing

his top adviser and when will we get a new one? >> first of all, you have to look at what's going on at the moment, right. what's the immediate impact? this position as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is in charge, as it sounds, of everybody and planning forward. we have the crisis in the middle east that's still unfolding. we've got the crisis at the border where more and more active duty troops are being sent to. guantanamo is getting built up. then you've got ukraine in the future of nato. this comes at a critical time and the dismissal of cq brown will have ramifications. in terms of how long it's going to take to replace that, there will be a sort of senate hearing. a person has been put forward that we're about to speak about. in addition to that, the other top head to come out of that is admiral lisa franchetti. she's a cno chief naval officer in charge of the navy. that's a big one. >> highest ranking woman. >> and unprecedented in that role.

and she was the first to become a fleet commander. there are many firsts in admiral franchetti's career. we've profiled her when she became a fleet commander. highly thought of among her -- among personnel at the d.o.d., including young women who aspire to those sort of levels. cq brown, again, very highly regarded. there was no reason given for the dismissal of these two individuals. >> yeah. >> we do know that secretary hegseth has name-checked cq brown saying he's criticizing him for his dei programs and was he given that promotion because he was black? he says we'll never know. he also took aim at admiral franchetti suggesting she is a dei hire, by virtue of the fact she is a woman. in addition to that was the second in command of the air force who was also removed. a lot of changes. you mentioned the word purge, and that's what it is from the

top. >> who is this nominee who i guess in the process of becoming the nominee, to step into the role? >> that's a good question. there are a lot of people inside the d.o.d. asking who this nominee is. retired lieutenant general dan caine. he retired recently. he's a three-star rank. that's kind of important because this is the first time, at least in my knowledge, might be corrected, the first time a three-star general was promote o ed to that position. >> not the head of a combatant command. >> exactly. like centcom. not in charge of one of the armed services branches. >> big promotion. >> some might call it a leapfrog. if he is to be accepted into this role, he will automatically be given the fourth star, but more importantly, there's certain rules and regulations he would have been the first because he didn't have that combatant command, and he wasn't in charge of one of the armed

forces. but we've been asking around and people who know him personally say he's a stand up guy, nicest man you want to meet. there had been questions about whether or not he was sort of political. i know president trump had said that he had met the guy and said that he loves him, as in he loves trump. according to my sources, the conversation didn't take place. he doesn't own a maga cap. didn't put one on. he's been described as apolitical. he's somebody who may not have the experience, but has the character to lead the force. i think what we have to look at here, right, we have defense secretary hegseth and then this individual, two relatively inexperienced people at the very highest level of the d.o.d. >> at a time of global instability and a lot of change here at home. charlie, thank you. >> thank you. we turn to trump's clash with democratic governors. joining us now from albany, new york, is the governor, kathy hochul. good morning to you, governor. >> good morning. >> i know you were just here in

washington, and you met privately with president trump. in the past, you've said the relationship doesn't have to be adversarial. was your meeting with him adversarial, and what was your top message? >> it wasn't an adversarial meeting, but i was very clear after i found that the trump administration had ended a program that was put in place, congestion pricing, by the duly elected members of our legislature, representing the voice of the people, and with a tweet, he claims that he is the king and, therefore, has the power to destroy it. and i have a problem with that characterization because we labored under a king 250 years ago, and as i said, we're not going back there. i wanted to take my case to him directly and let him see the benefits of this program because our city is paralyzed with gridlock. we had a path forward to be able to make the city move again and it's working.

i wanted to have that opportunity to convey that. i don't know that we're very prsuasive on that front, but that's okay. the people in my state need to know i'm willing to take the fight wherever i have to. >> so to explain, congestion pricing, $9 toll on people driving into lower manhattan below 60th street. your fellow democrat phil murphy of new jersey says he doesn't like this policy. he asked president trump to stop it. president trump's office says this is discriminatory against working class people. how do you respond to that? >> i respond this way, with all due respect to the state of new jersey, they do not tell us in new york what to do, nor does washington, when it comes to policies that we believe are going to reduce congestion, move along vehicles, emergency vehicles are moving faster, air quality is improvement. i have arguments that are important, but no one should be able to second-guess us because that's not how our system and laws was set up. i am the governor of new york.

i will deal with the internal issues before me, without interference from new jersey or the federal government. >> so this is going to the courts? >> oh, yes it's going to the courts. i believe we'll be victorious in the courts and this program will continue. >>, you know, this is not the only standoff between the state and federal government and the tension here. i know you were in washington with other governors who were meeting with the president this week. federal funds account for about 40% of your state's budget. president trump is threatening to withhold federal funds to governors in order to force compliance with his agenda. here's what he said to the governor of maine. take a listen. >> is maine here, the governor of maine? >> right here. >> are you not going to comply with it? >> i'm complying with state and federal laws. >> we are the federal law. you better do it. you better do it. you're not going to get federal

funding at all if you don't. >> that was about transgender athletes on girls' sports teams. are you, democratic governors, going to start to work together on this? is there legal pushback? >> what he is doing is they've described it as flooding the zone. they're attacking california when it comes to fema dollars. they're filing lawsuits in illinois. they're going after maine on this. they're coming after programs that have been duly put in place in the state of new york. what they're trying to do is create this theater of all kinds of activity that is trying to be a distraction to us, and when someone floods the zone in a football game, what you need is the defenders to be very disciplined, smart, but also stand their ground. that's exactly what new york governors -- the governor of new york will do in cooperation with our governors. we're not going to sit by and let our rights be attacked. we'll work with you when there's common ground. let's build great projects and infrastructure. areas where we're going to work with you on immigration and

getting the violent criminals off our streets. we do not dispute that. don't think that you can just come in and bully us around and not expect a reaction from governors. >> you know that when it comes to your state, there's been a lot of focus on manhattan and the department of justice because of eric adams and the ongoing legal issues he has. in the past week, four deputy mayors resigned, seven federal prosecutors resigned after the trump justice department moved to dismiss those five counts of federal corruption indictments against mayor adams. you know the allege is that the dismissal of the charges was in -- related to a quid pro quo around immigration compliance. did you discuss this case at all with the president when you were in the room with him one on one? >> no, i did not. in fact, it's -- we're waiting for the decision by a judge on whether he's going to accept

those -- the recommendation for a dismissal, so that's still in litigation. but i will say this, we are not allowing the trump administration to interfere in the operations of our city, and the legal problems that the mayor is facing, because of the trump administration and the phrasing they have used and indeed an interview done by one of his representatives on national television saying that he's basically got the mayor under his control, that's concerning. i have to be able to put in safeguards. everyone said i have the option to remove him. i still hold that option to remove him. there are a lot disappointed and angry and want something done immediately. i will stand on the fact that we are a nation of laws and one individual, the governor of new york, should not use her voice and her will to override the will of the voters. we have an election in a few months in a primary. i'm going to let the voters decide. i'm going to be very cognizant,

i need to keep an eye on this situation, especially the way the trump administration has telegraphed that they want to get into our operations. i have to be the firewall to stop that. >> having said that, does that mean you do believe there was a quid pro quo understanding with eric adams? >> i am going by what the perception could be. i cannot let the integrity of the administration and the city of new york be undermined by perception that the trump administration actually created. they created this perception. the reality i will never know. but as long as there's the faith of new yorkers that has been undermined by what the trump administration is doing is trying to give the appearance of holding the city hostage, those are what -- that's exactly what they're trying to do. they're trying to create chaos. but we have to be smart as democrats and as leader and parse through this and go do what's right. that will always be my north star. >> governor hochul, thank you for your time this morning.

"face the nation" will be back in one minute. stay with us. hey we're going big tonight let's go safety whoa! should i call mom? no, no don't tell your mother anything

joining us now is president trump's special envoy steve witkoff. he is in miami beach this morning. good morning to you, sir. >> good morning, margaret. thanks for having me. >> have a lot to get to with why you. i want to start on the mid east first. you are headed there this week to work on a hostage deal. i know prime minister netanyahu has changed his negotiating team. will we get to phase two of this hostage deal? and can we get that american citizen edan alexander out any time soon? >>, so i -- we -- we will get to stage two or phase two, and i'm very focused on that. i think it's going to happen. i'm going there probably wednesday evening.

i'll spend five days there as soon as i arrive, making -- going to various countries, including qatar, egypt, israel, uae and saudi arabia. as to edan alexander, he's front and center for us. i know his parents. we talk all the time. he's critical. it's one of president trump's most important objectives is to get all americans home and we're going to be successful in getting edan home, i believe. >> so in that second phase talking about what comes next for gaza becomes part of that. for that day after, do hamas leaders need to leave gaza? are you discussing that? if so, where would they go? >> so, margaret, the may 27th protocol agreement signed last may 27th, sets forth that the

phase two negotiation is much about two things. a, a permanent cease-fire, a cessation of all violence. in addition to that, the fact that hamas cannot be allowed to come back in to the government. i think the way you square that circle is that hamas has to go. they've got to leave. we're going to -- >> physically? >> the negotiation will be around that. i would say physically. that's correct. >> where would they go? has any country offered to take them in? >> well, i think -- i think the defb devil is in the details and we've had discussions around it. i'm not at liberty to have that specific discussion today, but we've got some ideas, and that will be part of the negotiation. >> you've been quoted as saying that when you went to gaza and you personally saw the devastation there, you couldn't understand why anyone would stay, but it doesn't mean you

can't have some sort of right to return if that's the policy that works for people. does the trump administration support palestinians' right to return? >> well, margaret, first of all what i would say is this, president trump is one of the most sensible human beings you're ever going to meet. he understands that it makes no sense to endorse old policy prescriptions that have not worked. what has not worked in gaza are all of these old policy prescriptions. he's come up with a new notion, and the new notion is, let's create a better opportunity for people who have lived in gaza to have a better life for themselves, better upside, better aspirations for what can happen for their children and so forth. the may 27th protocol talked about gaza as if it was a five-year reconstruction plan. we've been talking in the trump administration about a 15-year

horizon, perhaps even 20 years, and now all of a sudden "the wall street journal" printed an article yesterday agreeing with that math. there is a much -- level-setting the facts suggests that nobody can really live there in a safe environment for probably at least 15 years. effectively, we need -- people have been under this misassumption. when under a misassumption you're until going to make decisions correctly. we're making decisions on a real set of facts. there's tons of demolition and artillery shells that could explode at any moment. this is a longer project and people don't belong living there right now. >> but they could return? >> that's -- that's, again, goes to the devil in the details. i'm not sure that anyone has a problem with people -- with people returning. we've had these discussions

around that. i just think the fundamental issue today is, how we get phase two done, and then develop a reconstruction plan for gaza. for that you've got to have a real set of facts. we've been operating prior to the trump administration coming in, under facts that are just not accurate. >> i want to also ask you about russia. you are a very trusted adviser to president trump, and he sent you to speak face to face with vladimir putin. fox reported you sat with putin for three and a half hours. you said that you spent a lot of time talking, developing a friendship and relationship with putin and that's how you helped bring this u.s. citizen marc fogel home. can you take us inside that room? did you have a translator? did you have a note taker? were you talking in english? what happened? >> there was a translator.

in fact, there were two translators. i, to me, the assignment was trust building and speaking on behalf of my boss, the president of the united states, donald j. trump. i had no expectation as to how long the meeting was going to last. i was intent on carrying a message from the president to president putin. i had been advised that the president -- that president putin had something for me to transmit back to the president. the meeting ended. i looked at my watch and it was close to three and a half hours that we were in there. and hopefully that suggests that a lot of good things got accomplished. i think that president trump believes -- and i believe because he believes it -- that trust building begins with good, proper communication. we had really good -- we had a great discussion, me and president putin, and now it will

be up to president putin and president trump to work something out. i think they're going to be successful. >> did you have an intelligence officer or anyone else with you? that's an extraordinary amount of face time with putin. >> i had -- it was just me. >> it was just you. the head of russia's sovereign wealth fund, i know you know hhim told reuters, afterwards they expect a number of american companies return to russia this year. is he right to expect that? did you discuss lifting u.s. sanctions off of russia? >> we did not have that specific discussion at the meeting you're referring to. but i think that, that, obviously, there would be an expectation if we get to a peace deal, that you would be able to have american companies come back and do business there.

i think that everybody would believe that that would be a positive, good thing to happen. >> after the end to the war and concessions were made by russia? >> well, that's what everybody wants. what everybody wants -- the beginning of that, margaret, is -- would be a temporary cease-fire. but the long-term goal would be an end to this. we've had a -- close to 1.5 million deaths, and so president trump -- the -- his -- his agenda is to end this carnage. it just didn't belong -- it didn't need to happen, and it doesn't need to continue, not, you know, another day. we're honored at his direction and i think there's -- you're going to see some -- some real positive developments in the near term future. >> special envoy steve witkoff, thank you for joining us. we'll be back in a moment with a lot more "face the nation." stay with us. have you always had trouble with your weight? me too. discover the power of wegovy®.

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