cristian benavides, cbs news. >>> and there's more bad news for workers at the u.s.gency for international development, or usaid. the trump administration says it's placing nearly all of the agency's 4,700 full-time staffers on leave worldwide and eliminating at least 1,600 u.s.-based jobs. agency workers were notified through a memo on sunday afternoon. it comes after a federal judge on friday gave approval for the administration to pursue those cuts. >>> well, mass deportaions are a hot political issue in german elections right now too, where a major political shift is under way. the alternative for germany, or afd, is on track to win about 20% of the vote. that's roughly double its result from 2021. the party is far right, anti-immigration, and wants closer ties with russia. it also has the support of elon musk. cbs's holly williams is in berlin. >> reporter: it's the afd's best result since the party was established just 12 years ago. during the campaign the party's leader, alice weidel, pledged to carry out the mass deportation of immigrants. popular with some v

cristian benavides, fort myers. ♪ would you be a superhero or a supervillain? hmm... superhero.. i joined the military for my kid. i was always gone. everyone's vaping, constantly. that's how a lot of people try to deal with mental issues. i was hooked like that. ♪♪ i caught my son trying to hit my vape. he's like a little me. he does everything that i do. that was it. i had to quit. californians are beating big tobacco. you can too. >>> it's wednesday, february 12th, 2025. this is "cbs news mornings." breaking overnight, a happy homecoming.

cristian benavides, cbs news, miami. >>> president trump has been floating the idea of sending u.s.roops to gaza. he's talked about taking control of gaza and redeveloping the land while moving the palestinians out. cbs' chris livesay reports. his remarks come just as palestinians are returning home under the ceasefire deal, and many of them see this idea as an attempt to remove them from their homeland. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of gazans since the start of the ceasefire have been moving back home. it lies in ruins, but their connection to the land is iron-clad, says young ismail. "we palestinians will pay no attention to what trump says about displacing us. we will remain in our land and will never leave it. the land of our ancestors." trump says his vision is to turn gaza into the riviera of the middle east. but it's home to over two million people. exactly how he intends to move them all into neighboring countries remains unclear. but the implications conjure painful memories of when hundreds of thousands of palestinians were forced from their homes during the creation

cbs' cristian benavides reports on the firings and the response. ♪ proud to be an american ♪ ♪ >> reporteressing a crowd at the conservative political action conference, president trump revelled over his recent changes to 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. >> reporter: including the mass firing of federal employees, among those cut, 6,000 irs employees right in the middle of tax filing season. though an email obtained by cbs news said the workers were probationary employees and not critical to filing season. the white house says the job cuts are aimed at streamlining the federal workforce. >> and there are many, many -- more than 100,000 people working to collect taxes and not all of them are fully occupied. >> reporter: but some of the firings have caused backlash, including in deep red oklahoma where tulsa congressman kevin hearn held a town hall and some in attendance spoke out. >> undermining congress. >> will you call elon musk in

cristian benavides is in west palm beach, florida, with the latest on the back and forth. >> i thoughtt was great. >> reporter: president trump is defending an email sent to more than 2 million government employees directing them to list five bullets of what you accomplished last week by midnight tonight. >> by asking the question tell us what you did this week, what he's doing is saying are you actually working? >> reporter: presidential adviser elon musk warned it was coming, writing on his social media platform x that failure to respond will be taken as a resignation. >> if people don't respond, it's very possible that there is no such person or they're not working. >> reporter: but while a few agencies urged workers to comply with the email, a number of them, including the fbi and the state department, told staff to pause any response for now. the pentagon also opted out just days after the president made major personnel moves there. he fired the chairman of joint chiefs, c.q. brown, and the chief of the u.s. navy. democratic senator jack reed slammed the move. >> it's the beginnin

cristian benavides has more on how the move could increase costs fluid americans. >> reporter: the tariffsda, mexico and chana will go into effect on tuesday and they could lead to a rise in the price of cars, energy, spirits, lumber and across the agriculture sector. president donald trump says they are necessary and in response to illegal immigration, illicit fentanyl, and trade deficits >> tariffs don't cause inflation, they cause success and they cause a big success and will have great success and it could be some temporary short-term disruption , and people understand that. >> reporter: mexico and canada will face 25% tariffs with the exception of canadian energy at 10%. china will face 10% tariffs. the three other u.s. is the biggest trading partners. >> tonight, i am announcing canada will be responding to the u.s. trade action. with 25% tariffs against $155 billion worth of american goods. >> reporter: the canadian prime minister justin trudeau has already retaliated and said the country was also considering nontariff measures including some related to critical minerals and energy.

more from cbs news cristian benavides. >> reporter: as president trump prepares to leave his mar-a-largoad to new orleans to attend this year's super bowl , protests are taking place across the country over his immigration rate . >> we are here today to say ice come out of our communities and say no to mass deportations to stand with our immigrant neighbors. >> reporter: from california to denver to right outside his golf course in west palm beach, florida , since trump took office, immigration and customs enforcement officers are carrying out about 1000 arrests per day. at the southern border, some of the 10,000 mexican troops who were deployed in exchange for a delay in tariffs were out inspecting vehicles at a border crossing. to the north, canadian prime minister justin trudeau was heard on the hot microphone warning the trumpet series on his proposal to make canada a part of the u.s. on the domestic front, elon musk's department of government efficiency has been given trump's blessing to go over spending at multiple agencies. >> education , just about everything. >> reporter: it is

cbs' cristian benavides reports on the firings and the response. ♪ proud to be an american ♪ ♪ >> reporterwd at the conservative political action conference, president trump revelled over his recent changes to 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. >> reporter: including the mass firing of federal employees, among those cut 6,000 irs employees right in the middle of tax filing season. though an email obtained by cbs news said the workers were probationary employees and not critical to filing season. the white house says the job cuts are aimed at streamlining the federal workforce. >> and there are many, many -- more than 100,000 people working to collect taxes, and not all of them are fully occupied. >> reporter: but some of the firings have caused backlash, including the deep red oklahoma, where tulsa congressman kevin hearn held a town hall and some in attendance spoke out. >> undermining congress. >> will you call elon musk in to testify

as cristian benavides reports his new administration also made its debut on the world stage. >> reportera this weekend, he who saves his country does not violate any law. his new administration has aggressively pushed legal and constitutional boundaries to carry out his agenda. including a new york city where trump downplayed federal corruption charges against the city's mayor, eric adams. >> i know nothing about the individual case, i know they did not feel it was much of a case. >> reporter: the charges which included bribery were suddenly dropped, the mayor said he would start allowing federal immigration agents to work inside the city's infamous rikers island jail. seven career prosecutors resigned after refusing orders to drop the charges against adams, the mayor have pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing. >> this is about a new administration being very comfortable saying , this is what we will do members of the department of justice and either resign, or implement what i am telling you to do. >> reporter: in a new interview with fox news host sean hannity, president trump a