Milley's Security Stripped
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Security stripped the defense secretary, pulling General Mark Milley's security detail and opening an investigation into the retired general. Plus: This decision is lawless, it's destructive, it's dangerous, it's cruel. Not so fast after the White House's federal funding freeze stirs a frenzy, a federal judge presses pause on the president's move for now. And: Bobby himself is a predator.

A scathing warning. JFK, RFK Jr.'s cousin sounding the alarm while his own blood is calling him a predator ahead of his confirmation hearing. And then: The drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA. This was not the enemy. Case closed. The White House shedding a light on the origins of the mysterious drones over New Jersey.

6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at the Washington Monument in downtown D.C. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kayla Tausche in for Casey Hunt. It is wonderful to have you with us today. Donald Trump's retribution tour continues. The Defense Department stripping retired General Mark Milley, the former Joint Chiefs chairman, of his security detail and his security clearance. But I was really going to talk about the level of, you know, what's going on. Why are we doing this? Why are we...

trying to help a guy like Milley. Why are we doing Milley? He was pardoned. What he said? Terrible what he said. It's unclear which remarks President Trump is referring to there, but Milley, who Trump nominated to lead the Joint Chiefs in 2018, has in recent years made several critical comments that seem to reference his former boss. We don't take an oath to a king or a queen or to a tyrant or a dictator. And we don't take an oath to a wannabe dictator.

In a statement, the Pentagon chief of staff saying quote, "Undermining the chain of command is corrosive to our national security and restoring accountability is a priority for the Defense Department under President Trump's leadership." End quote. General Milley, just the latest in a growing list of former Trump officials who have had their protective details revoked

or their security clearances stripped. But this time, the Trump administration went further. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directing the Pentagon to investigate Milley's, quote, conduct. The announcement did not specify which actions warranted review, but Trump has previously attacked Milley for phone calls that he held with his Chinese defense officials during the last months of Trump's first term. Milley has consistently defended those conversations, including in sworn testimony before Congress.

I routinely communicated with my counterpart, General Lee, with the knowledge and coordination of civilian oversight. I am specifically directed to communicate with the Chinese by Department of Defense guidance in order to de-conflict military actions, manage crisis, and prevent war between great powers that are armed with the world's most deadliest weapons.

Years later, as Milley prepared to retire, Trump attacked Milley on social media, writing that if Milley had given the Chinese government a, quote, heads up on the president's thinking, then, quote, this is an act so egregious that in times gone by, the punishment would have been death. Trump ending that message by accusing Milley of treason. One of Joe Biden's last acts as president was to give Milley a preemptive blanket pardon. So Milley is not in legal jeopardy. But the investigation could

result in Milley being demoted from his rank as a four-star general. Milley was asked about Trump's treason comment back in 2023, and this is what he told 60 Minutes. "As much as these comments are directed at me, it's also directed at the institution of the military. And there's 2.1 million of us in uniform. If we're willing to die,

for that document, if we're willing to deploy to combat, if we're willing to lose an arm, a leg, an eye to protect and support and defend that document and protect the American people, then we're willing to live for it too.

Joining me now to discuss Stephen Collinson, CNN Politics senior reporter, Sabrina Rodriguez, national political reporter for The Washington Post, Megan Hayes, Democratic strategist and former director of message planning for the Biden White House, and Matt Gorman, Republican strategist and former senior advisor to Tim Scott's presidential campaign.

Good morning to everybody. I mean, there are so many points of friction between Trump and Milley over the years that it's hard to pinpoint exactly which one this is coming from. There was also, of course, the time that Milley joined Trump when they walked across Lafayette Square during the Black Lives Matter protests, and Milley later apologized for appearing with Trump in that moment. Then there was, of course, the fact that he testified to the January 6th committee. But Matt, this is a general that Trump appointed

appointed to the Joint Chiefs. Do Republicans share his disdain for him, or is this...

Is this a personal vendetta? I think probably a little both. I think Republicans do share this disdain for him. And actually, in some other ways, too. One of the big critiques here among Republicans is Milley's leadership on Afghanistan was an absolute disaster, total misreading of the situation during the Biden years. And I think that is a huge point of contention, especially among people who did not serve with Trump. I also think some of these

actions by Trump dovetail quite nicely with, I think, more Republican priorities just in general, where I think you've, and I've talked about this a lot with you, Megan, as well,

I think Republicans are keen to get back to a time where there is a more clear civilian-led military control. With Mattis and Lloyd Austin, you had generals that had just recently come out of retirement, had to get away around the 10-year essentially cooling off period, for lack of a better term, before assuming the position of Secretary of Defense. I think that is something they want to go back against. And also, candidly, the over-

extension of these security clearances is something Republicans have wanted to pull back for a long time. So, personal might also dovetail with the political here. Steven Collinson, Hegseth has also ordered an inspector general to review Hegseth's, quote, conduct, which is quite a broad mandate for an inspector general, and also ironic considering that Trump recently just fired all of the agency inspectors general. So how exactly will this work? Well, I guess...

Inspector generals are great when they're doing something you want when they Potentially, you know lift the lid on corruption or abuses of power. Perhaps they're not so good but I take your point about the Political generals and I think that's a very good point but at the same time

It's hard to look at this and not see personal retribution on behalf of the president, especially when you view it in the context of the withdrawn security details for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and John Bolton. It's interesting that this, along with the

executive orders and the transgender troops, that's the first thing that Hegseth presided over before, as soon as he got to the Pentagon. So it does suggest that clearly he's going to spend his tenure perhaps advancing the president's social goals. But one thing I would say is that China and Russia, those generals and grizzled defense officials that Hegseth is going to have to deal with are watching this.

and they see a Pentagon that's fighting against itself and not mustered against America's enemies. - Well, there was notably a very large chasm between Trump and his generals in the first term, so much so that there was a book written about it by Susan Glasser and Peter Baker, and they reported that Milley actually threatened to resign, drafted a resignation letter that he then unsent, and that letter, according to Glasser and Baker, said,

"It is my belief that you are doing great "and irreparable harm to my country. "I believe that you have made a concerted effort "over time to politicize the United States military. "I thought that I could change that. "I've come to the realization that I cannot." Of course, that was drafted by Milley and then unsent, reportedly, but Sabrina, how high are the stakes if you're a general in Trump's second administration and you see some of the actions that he's taken now?

I mean, I think there has to be huge alarm for generals right now in the military, for anyone in the military to see the politicization about this. I mean, to be clear, though, this is not surprising. This is something that Donald Trump promised. I think a lot of what we're discussing this morning and we will be discussing in the days to come are things that Donald Trump said specifically he was going to do on the campaign trail. And him talking about General Milley is one of those things where we knew there would be some type of retribution, there would be some type of

you know, review the blanket pardon that former President Biden put in place did not come out of nowhere. It came from motivations and the belief that Trump would be going after Milley. So I think for generals right now, there is a question how to toe this line of supporting the president of the United States and you're supporting the Constitution and you're supporting the American people. And how do you, how does that dovetail? Is there going to be, you know, this moment of saying,

those are not in line with each other? Or how do you navigate doing it? If you're President Biden, are you vindicated in issuing the preemptive pardon? I think President Biden is like, I'm in California. I'm not involved in this anymore. You guys did this. I don't know. But I will say, I

I don't necessarily think it's vindication. I don't think that President Biden ever wanted to be in this situation. Knowing President Biden's relationship with Milley and with the military and how strongly he feels about the military, I don't want to say that he feels vindicated in this. He should have never been put in this position. And I appreciate this venue you're trying to put on this for Republicans being, you know, the political is dovetailing with the personal. But let's be clear here. This is completely personal on Trump's part. And he's doing this to Milley for retribution, just like you were saying. We know this. But to your point earlier and what we talked about on Monday a lot on this set,

Other countries are watching here. And this is just weakening America's place in the world with other countries because we are just letting China and other countries know we have all these weaknesses and this is how you can get to us. And that, I think, is what the biggest takeaway mistake is going to be. Let's be also honest. Milley's a political analyst himself, right? That letter didn't get to Peter Bacon and Susan Glasser because it fell out of the window, right? Milley leaked a lot of this stuff. And look, that's his right. But

But there are also consequences if you're on the wrong side of this stuff when it comes to elections. And he is now seeing that. Political, personal, doesn't matter. It's all the same at the end of the day. We've got a lot more with our panel coming up later in the hour, but straight ahead on CNN this morning. After weeks of unexplained drone sightings left residents on edge,

The White House now saying it has answers about those lights in the skies. Plus, today, RFK Jr. takes the hot seat on Capitol Hill. The tough questions ahead for Donald Trump's vulnerable pick to be the nation's next health secretary. And Democrats dig in their heels to push back against President Trump's federal funding freeze. We'll speak live with Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle.

To me, this is inherently corrupt. Not one damn person thought this through. My words on this are going to be simple to the Trump administration. We'll see in court. I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast Terms of Service, Natasha Shule is a cultural anthropologist who studies technology design and addiction. So I'm 53. If I'm scrolling on some form of social media, it's going to be Facebook's.

She has some answers about why we're so hooked on our devices and some steps we can take to curb our infinite scroll. Follow CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts. I think the uncertainty, the chaos that has happened since last evening when we heard about this has caused a lot of grave concern on the part of older adults who rely on Meals on Wheels as a lifeline.

Chaos and confusion unleashed earlier this week, the White House Budget Office ordering a pause on federal aid. The mood could have potentially impacted trillions of dollars in government spending, including for some public programs that affect millions of Americans. Now part of that plan temporarily blocked by a federal judge, but not before sparking intense backlash by Democrats. This decision is lawless, it's destructive, it's dangerous, it's cruel.

It's illegal and it's unconstitutional. Donald Trump has done a lot of bad things in the last week, but nothing's worse than this. Despite the short-lived confusion over the order, Republicans supported the move.

I think it's appropriate to take a look at it and make sure there isn't some nefarious actions. We think that some of the areas that could be restricted if they are items that the executive branch has the authority to issue or to look at. He's not halted, he's reviewing it and in a certain amount of time he's gonna release it again. That's what he ran on. So Matt, I'll start with you. Republicans, they're broadly supportive in general of clawing back government funding. But when some of these cuts

hit on the ground in red states, Meals on Wheels, Head Start, Medicaid. What do you think the response will be? - I think in many ways what we're seeing from Trump, especially as the transition started, is a reversion of businessman Trump in a way. I think this is actually in many ways the first start of a negotiation. I think that is how to look at this a little bit. And look, I think one of the things that they, this thing was very broad.

And they need to be very clear to not just kind of let a vacuum form where Democrats are defining what's not happening. And they seem to be a little bit caught off guard by this, how Democrats are defining what's in this and what's not. So they need to be a little bit more proactive as they go and define exactly what this means and what it doesn't mean too. But I think in some ways this is more of a negotiating tactic to get things on the table. - Sabrina, do you think this was a strategy to just throw everything against the wall and then see what they come back with?

with the understanding that some of these things are going to be challenged in court? A little bit of that, absolutely yes. I mean, we saw that Trump talked about this again. This is something that on the campaign trail he said, you know, we know that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to appropriate funds. The money, you know, gets allocated by Congress. Trump is disputing that. Trump is arguing that he should have power, that he, his agenda, if it doesn't align with what his vision is of the United States,

his future, if it doesn't align with his agenda, that this is something that he should be able to do, that he should be able to cut funds and decide where money goes and where it doesn't go. I think the miscalculation that the Trump administration made here was just the outrage, the chaos, the confusion that was gonna happen. I think yesterday was defined for a lot of us as seeing on social media misinformation of what's on it, what's not, and it's because this was a two-page memo that did not articulate extremely clearly what was included and what was not. And I think some of that chaos and confusion

and

could be intentional, could not, but is the way that it is landing for a lot of people. And against a fire hose of administrative actions, perhaps they thought that it would go under the radar. But Stephen Collinson, you wrote a little bit about Trump's authority here. I mean, you note in your piece today for CNN.com that he's a bombastic disruptor, that he was elected with what he sees as a broad mandate here. But you said it also reflects Trump's view that the presidency has almost unlimited power and he can simply decide what is legal and what isn't.

Yeah, it was interesting. Some of the administration officials that talked about this yesterday were saying, well, he has the authority to do this, so he's going to do it. We've decided he has the authority. On the issue of firing those prosecutors, the argument was, well, this law is unconstitutional.

You know, the president has a mandate to change. A lot of his voters are disenchanted with government. He's trying to bend government to his will. The problem is, if every president comes in and starts declaring unilaterally laws unconstitutional and saying that they're not going to honor what the Congress has passed, you don't really have a democratic system anymore.

You know, every law that's passed in the history of the republic is presumably under threat because a strong-arm president wants to do exactly what he wants. That's the issue here. And what it's going to do, we're going to have three or four in one week

cases that are probably going to end up before the Supreme Court and they're going to start defining what presidential power looks like in the 21st century. The judge who paused this funding freeze, at least until Monday, said that she doesn't believe that the administration actually knew which programs they were going to cut. Megan, some of the irony here is that the details and the plumbing of a program like this would be run by the Office of Management and Budget, which the administration is largely trying to gut.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that it was made clear they didn't know it was in that when they put out three different letters from OMB trying to clarify because the narrative kept getting away from them. I will give Democrats a lot of credit. It showed that we had a pulse for once. We were fighting back and it only took a week to try to get some more movement. You got these groups together and there was an organization that filed a lawsuit and we got a say before it went into effect, which I give the Democrats a lot of credit for organizing and doing something to show. I don't think you can negotiate with people's lives and I don't think that's what they were trying to do, but that ultimately what was happening.

happening here. And I do commend Democrats for finally standing up and being like, no, we are going to do something here. We are going to talk about the

Potential buyout of federal workers a little bit later on this hour, which I know we all have thoughts on. But for now, straight ahead on CNN This Morning, a warning about President Trump's hardline approach on immigration. Pennsylvania's Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle is here, and he says it could lead to massive global disruptions. Plus, mystery solved? The White House insisting all those drones over New Jersey were not the enemy.

Heavy snowfall blanketing the Northeast, creating scenes like this. Parts of Niagara Falls freezing over from the cold and snow. I'm cold just looking at that. The winter weather is not over quite yet. Let's go to meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, say it ain't so.

Astonishing. Yeah, that video speaks for itself. I think my job is done here this morning. It's frigid across the Northeast. Everybody who's there knows it. Got my friends in New York City saying, hey, what are you going to do about this cold? Well, there is some relief coming, but I'll explain that in just a moment. We've got to get through another day of these frigid temperatures.

Strong winds and also the potential for the snow squalls that we had yesterday, but this is a different system. What's a snow squall? It's that intense burst of snow that reduces visibility is at a moment's notice. It's all driven by winds that are gusting over 40 mph at some locations.

across the interior of the northeast. So here's a look at the visibilities right now. Look at Saranac Lake dropping to just above a mile. But this could get worse as the morning progresses because it's all about the cold front that will sweep through this region, bringing that banding of snow. And if it's driven by the wind, we likely will see those visibilities drop below a mile across the central portions of New York. So there's another storm system that's coming. This one is predominantly going to be a

rainmaker with the exception of the northern tier of this, the higher elevations of New England. It's also going to bring the round of severe weather potential at least today, starting with central Texas and marginal risk. But tomorrow we see the potential for wider severe weather outbreak there across central Louisiana. Something will monitor lots of rain associated with this. Bottom line is there is warmer weather, but we have to flip that with the potential of rain as well. And ground groundhog day, of course, on Sunday, which will coming in. Will he see his shadow?

- We'll be watching, Derek Van Dam, thank you. Still ahead on CNN this morning, Donald Trump's choice to lead Health and Human Services faces a Senate grilling. How a last minute account from one of Robert F. Kennedy's own family members might put his confirmation in jeopardy. Plus, a blitz of executive orders allowing immigration arrests to happen in locations like schools, churches, and hospitals. We'll speak to an ACLU lawyer about those changes.

We are picking up the worst of the worst in this country that are making our streets so dangerous. If you're an illegal and if you're dangerous, we have a target on you and you will not be welcome.

This week on The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish. Polls show Gen Z is drinking a lot less. People of all generations are talking about reducing or stopping drinking. I mean, if you've been on social media for half a second in the past few weeks, you've run into some mention of dry January. What's pushing so many people to reassess their entire relationship with alcohol? And now that sobriety isn't just for people who go to meetings, what are you all doing to fill the gap?

Listen to The Assignment with me, Audie Cornish, streaming now on your favorite podcast app. When the circumstances arise, we got a national security threat, a significant public safety threat. We're going to go. We got to go. Whether it's a school, a church, a hospital, the national security is important.

After a standoff over migrant deportation flights from the U.S. to Colombia, those flights are now resuming. On Tuesday, Colombian jets returned with more than 200 deportees who had been rounded up in the United States. Those flights, of course, at the center of a weekend controversy which nearly resulted in a trade war between the two nations. Those flights containing no criminals, that's according to a statement from Colombia's foreign minister. Among those sent back, 77 women and 21 children. Two of the women were pregnant.

"The treatment, to be honest, was quite harsh. After the change of government, they moved us around with our hands and feet shackled, lights 24 hours a day where one couldn't sleep, and they didn't give us the right to a phone call. They were always shouting, 'Shut up. Things are going to go very badly for you.'" Back home, the Trump administration isn't ruling out other aggressive actions at the border.

Right now, the Insurrection Act, which is still being considered based on operational needs on the southern border, so no decision has been made, is specifically in the context of countering that cartel threat. In the interior, it's going to be about enrolling state and local law enforcement to massively increase the supply of guns and badges to conduct these immigration raids.

This all coming as President Trump is set to sign the Lake and Riley Act into law today. Joining me now to talk about all of this, Lee Gelernt is an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. Lee, you just heard Stephen Miller, the White House's deputy chief of staff there, talking about potentially invoking the Insurrection Act at the border. What would that mean in practice and do you believe it would be lawful?

Well, we'll have to see what it means in practice. But that is really unprecedented. Invoke the Insurrection Act to go after migrants. What it would mean is it would allow the military to start engaging in immigration arrests. I mean, we have never seen that before. And, you know, I would just say I suspect that there will be legal challenges to that. And I think some of the states will do that.

We have seen military troops already dispatched to the southern border as of last week. And when asked about the criminality of those who have been arrested and those who have been deported so far, the White House explained in a press briefing yesterday that its view is that anyone who has arrived in the U.S. illegally has broken immigration law and is therefore a criminal. How do you respond to that?

Right. So I think you're hitting on the exact right point. They're talking about serious threats to public safety. And what they're trying to convey to the American public is these are all really serious criminals with very serious criminal offenses. What they're really talking about is just rounding up every immigrant they can find who they believe is here illegally. And they're also eliminating due process. So people will not even have a chance to

to show that they deserve to be here. I am hopeful that the American public will push back when they see what mass deportation actually looks like in practice. I think when they were voting, they thought, well, this is just going to be very serious criminals and national security threats.

If they start to see mothers rounded up, children ending up in foster care, or U.S. citizens, I'm hopeful they will push back. We will be looking for legal violations everywhere in the country, monitoring it to see whether they're violating the Fourth Amendment by entering without warrants, by rounding up people, profiling. But we're also hoping...

hopefully gonna document what's going on so the American public can really see that these are not serious criminals they're rounding up. These are mothers with families, young children, as your introductory piece showed. - But specifically, where do you believe that legal recourse could be pursued and could be successful, considering that if an individual has been found to be in this country illegally, what legal rights does that person have?

Right. So they have a right to a hearing, and that's what the Trump administration is trying to eliminate for lots of people. And so the immigration laws are not so cut and dry. You may have come here illegally, but you still have a right to remain if you're going to be persecuted or tortured when sent back, if you have U.S. citizen family. So one of the critical things we're fighting for, and we've filed a lawsuit already, is to make sure that people have hearings and not just round it up and put on planes. I think that's a

basic American value is people should get a hearing, basic due process before anything happens to them. So that's going to be a critical aspect going forward of what we're going to try and do is to make sure people have hearings. The other thing is just from a public policy standpoint,

We should not be rounding up immigrants at schools, hospitals. I think it doesn't make sense from a public policy standpoint. Also, bringing in local law enforcement, taking them away from fighting serious crimes to round up families makes no sense. Well, keep us updated on those efforts, Lee. We appreciate you joining us this morning. League Alert is an attorney with the ACLU. Thank you.

Thanks for having me. Caroline Kennedy, meanwhile, is urging senators to reject her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., when his confirmation hearings begin in three and a half hours. RFK Jr. is hoping to be confirmed as President Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services. Caroline Kennedy sending senators a scathing letter and releasing this video with claims you might find troubling. We grew up together. It's no surprise that he keeps birds of prey as pets.

because Bobby himself is a predator. He enjoyed showing off how he put baby chickens and mice in a blender to feed to his hawks. In October, RFK Jr. posted a video on his social media pages explaining his love for falconry and where it started.

And I read a book about Camelot, about the young King Arthur called "The Once and Future King" by T.H. White. And T.H. White was a British falconer and so he had a chapter in that book about young King Arthur and learning falconry. And I read that. It was very, very detailed and to me absolutely riveting.

Trump's HHS nominee made a lot of animal-related headlines during his own presidential campaign for dumping a dead bear in Central Park, refuting claims that he ate a dog, claiming he had a brain worm, and for the time his daughter claimed he used a chainsaw to cut off the head of a dead whale.

My panel is back. Of course, those are some of the more salacious headlines, but the concerns are very real among lawmakers, in some cases on both sides of the aisle. Matt, the pro-life movement that has tried to go after RFK for his anti-abortion views hasn't really gained much steam because Republicans have knocked it down, but there are concerns about his views on vaccines and potentially his conflicts of interest.

Yeah, I mean, the pro-life, you're right. That was something I was curious about, say, a couple months ago, whether that would be the dog that would bark around this nomination. It hasn't been so far. And also, I think just as likely to see a Democrat or two be Bernie Sanders and a couple other people vote for him as well. The Caroline Kennedy thing, nobody cares what she thinks about this whole thing, to be completely honest with you. So I think that's really just kind of noise. But I'm interested to see kind of very much so, does he go down, no pun intended, any rabbit holes

during this hearing. - Did you plan that? - I swear that I didn't. I swear. Look, because I think the hearing's gonna be crucial. I think right now he is on track to be confirmed. That could change depending on what we see at the hearing.

but likely still likely to be confirmed. Caroline Kennedy, to Matt's point, was an ambassador under President Biden. The Kennedy family largely aligned with President Biden when he was running. They made a very big show of the Kennedy family's support. So do you think that her video as as

scathing as it was, do you think it will actually move the needle here? No, and I respect Caroline Kennedy a lot, and I think she has a right to put her views out, and that's great, but I think that we need to stop attacking on his character and start attacking on his lack of qualifications and what his views actually are. Some of the things that he wants to do with HHS are pretty radical. Some of the things we're not looking at

food coloring dye, red three or whatever it's called. I don't think that anybody would object to looking at what's in our food and doing some of those things. But I think with vaccines and some of his other policies, I think are pretty radical. And I do think that's where it's going to come out in the confirmation hearings. As far as nominees go, Sabrina, we've now gotten past many of the more mainstream nominees. And now some of the thornier names are coming up for these hearings, whether it's Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard or Russ Vogt, which Senate Budget Committee Dems are trying to get that hearing delayed.

because of what's happening at OMB. And I'm curious what you think the path is for some of these folks. - I think in the case of RFK, for example, I think he benefited from, we spent months really focused on Pete Hegseth's nomination and the many issues around that and the many conversations of the many different allegations against him. Now that has been cleared, he has been confirmed,

And now we're kind of moving to the next wave of the controversial picks, you know, RFK Jr. being one of the ones that is a little more debated, Tulsi Gabbard as well. But when it comes to RFK Jr., I think it's really telling that we haven't heard people come out really and publicly oppose him. Of course, the usual, you know, Democrats that we expect to be opposing him are, but

There's folks, some Democrats, that haven't really said very much about where they're gonna land, and we have Republicans that have not really come out and vocally opposed him. So I think the path is sort of cleared, or the runway is sort of cleared. I think people understand the mandate that Donald Trump is really leaning in on, trying to execute, projecting, executing on, and that's gonna make it really hard

for any lawmaker at this point to try and derail a nomination. - We will leave this conversation there, but still to come after the break, the White House's directive to freeze federal funding, sparking backlash from congressional Democrats. Up next, we'll talk to Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle about that funding fight. Plus, after months of mystery, finally some answers about those drones illuminating the skies over New Jersey. - Our military knows and our president knows

And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense. There's nothing nefarious, apparently. But they're checking it all out. I think it's just one... There's a lot of drones authorized. It's stupid, buffoonish, childish. This is an illegal power grab. That is bulls**t. That is reckless. I have a lot of questions because not one damn person thought this through.

That was Minnesota Governor Tim Walz offering a few choice words yesterday about President Trump's federal funding freeze. The sweeping and abrupt directive causing confusion within both public and private organizations that rely on federal grants and loans. Among the programs it could affect, school breakfast and lunch programs,

Section 8 rental assistance and temporary assistance for needy families. While a judge issued a short-term pause on the policy yesterday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune downplayed the freeze, defending it as something, quote, most administrations do. I think they are clarifying it, and I think this is not unusual for an administration to pause funding and to take a hard look and say,

scrub of how these programs, how they're being spent and how they interact with a lot of the executive orders that the president signed. Joining me now is Democratic Representative Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania. He's the ranking member of the House Budget Committee and also sits on the House Ways and Means Committee. Congressman, thank you for joining us. I want to start first anecdotally about your district and what you're hearing from organizations there about the impact that this has had so far.

Well, great to be with you. You know, I'm right here in my home in Philadelphia. I represent about half of the city. It comprises my congressional district. It is a largely working class district of people who go to work every day. And a lot of them live paycheck to paycheck, paycheck by paycheck.

So when we're talking about all of a sudden Head Start being frozen and Head Start facilities not able to access the portal yesterday, where suddenly Medicaid frozen, you know, Medicaid is what pays for the majority of people who have an elderly parent or grandparent in nursing homes. So those are just two of the many, many examples where government funding interacts with the normal daily lives

of many of my constituents. So I heard outrage yesterday. And by the way, so did the Trump administration, because by late

Yesterday, they were backtracking on a number of things they had said just the night before. And now a federal judge has paused this program at least until Monday. And I'm wondering if in those intervening days, if you think that you can either get enough opposition from your Republican colleagues to kill this proposal, or if you can get enough clarification from the White House to limit the impact to some of those organizations you just listed.

you know i have to say i was not surprised uh... as extraordinary as it is in contrary to what the senator can said this is unprecedented and extraordinary this is not what an incoming administration every does because it is completely contrary to the constitution and the federal law uh... but as a remarkable as a step as it may be i was not surprised because russ bought the incoming o_n_b_ director

He was one of the principal authors of Trump's Project 2025. And in that document, he wrote in great detail that this is what they would be planning to do. So I think this is going to be litigated in the courts. The Supreme Court previously has upheld unanimously the right of Congress to control the purse. It is pretty clear in Article 1 of the Constitution that Congress has the power of the purse. So I think we will ultimately prevail

But until that is finally resolved in the courts, I think you're going to cause a lot of disruption and a lot of heartache needlessly among the American people. Finally, Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller said yesterday that perhaps the political affiliation of some of these agencies resulted in the funding being cut. I want to play that sound for you and get your response.

Overwhelmingly, the career federal service in this country is far left, left wing. The American people... I don't know that to be a fact. Well, I'll give you a great example. We looked at USAID as an example. 98% of the workforce either donated to Kamala Harris or another left wing candidate, just as an example.

A Trump official later told CNN that he was referencing outside studies and analysis on the political affiliation. But that as an element here, what does that say to you?

Well, first, I mean, I really doubt that organizations like Meals on Wheels and others really have any sort of a political bent one way or the other. That's number one. Number two, Stephen Miller is an individual who just makes things up in order to justify his hateful agenda. 98% of no organization has made a campaign contribution. Actually, very few Americans make campaign contributions. I think they total under 1% of the population. So the reality is,

We're dealing with an extreme ideology that is going to be pushing through many extreme things that the American people didn't vote for. They voted for change simply because they didn't like how high costs had gone up in the post-pandemic era.

They're not getting costs coming down. Instead, they're getting all of this nonsense and craziness that they didn't vote for. And my concern is every indication is that it will continue under the Trump administration. Well, Trump has suggested he would pull the levers of the Impoundment Act. Perhaps that is exactly what he is doing here. Representative Brendan Boyle, we appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you.

54 minutes past the hour, here's your morning roundup. Dramatic video shows the moment an F-35 fighter jet plummeted from the sky, crashing at an Air Force base in Alaska. Officials said it happened during a training mission. The pilot, who was safe, managed to eject in time, seen in the video parachuting to the ground. That pilot in stable condition.

The Trump administration offering buyouts to potentially millions of federal workers. They have until next Thursday to take the deal, which includes severance pay through the end of September. A fork in the road, that was the subject line on the email eligible employees received yesterday. It includes instructions to simply reply with the word resign if they want to take the deal. If that sounds familiar, it's the same subject line that Twitter employees received shortly after Elon Musk purchased the social media site and gave its workers a similar ultimatum.

We will reduce a lot of government headcount, but we're going to give, I think, like very long severances, like two years or something like that. Not every federal worker can take a buyout. Military service members, postal workers, and those working in immigration and national security are ineligible. Now turning to this, you might remember late last year, a flurry of mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey led to panic and confusion and a few lighthearted jokes.

When last we met, these ominous sky visitors were being reported all over New Jersey. But since then, the drones have done what everyone in Jersey does: go somewhere else. We finally have some answers. White House Press Secretary Caroline Lovett says those flying objects were not, in fact, the enemy.

After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons. Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.

Levitt said the sightings got worse when curiosity was piqued. This explanation in line with what the Biden administration said at the time, specifically that these drones were not nefarious. Let's bring in my panel. Megan John Kirby at the National Security Council had said that they were mostly legally manned aircraft at the time. Perhaps putting the FAA detail on here provides a tiny bit more clarity, but largely the same.

Absolutely. I mean, this is just one of those things that this story became breathless and it just kind of spun out of control and was a great headline for a few hours. I'm glad that we have answers, I guess. But I do think it was actually pretty smart for her in her first briefing to give us some news at the top to sort of smoke and mirrors over here of what was really going on with the government freeze before they got into question. So, I mean, I thought that was a good tactic. We still are only told that most of them

are authorized by the FAA. - Yeah, exactly. The Biden soundbite you played earlier was just incomprehensible. I don't know why it wasn't made more clear literally that it was authorized by the FAA at the time. I disagree with that on the smoke and mirrors point, but I agree with you on the point that it was smart. You go in the first briefing with news that can, you know,

be something they could play on. - Pointless news, but still news. - It was. - Do you feel better that hobbyists are flying drones that are in some cases the size of an SUV? - I think this whole thing is like a conspiracy theorist's dream situation. I don't think that this is gonna stop people from talking about it. If anything, I think this reinforces people are really saying, "But wait, what is going on?" 'Cause I have questions after this.

You know, it's interesting sometimes how these stories, they pick up a life of their own. At the end of the Biden administration, there was a feeling that there wasn't anyone in control necessarily. It was the end of an administration at a time when people are feeling insecure, not just about their economic lives, but about America's role in the world and everything. So sometimes these stories become a bit of a metaphor for the national mood. I remember before 9/11, there was this summer where everyone was obsessing about shark attacks.

And that was the problem. And then the real threat to America suddenly became clear. So they do tell us something about where America is, even if they seem ridiculous and frivolous. Can I ask you about the Musk mirroring the email to Twitter employees to all federal workers? Yeah, a fork in the road. A fork in the road. That was-- I mean, can you imagine if you're a federal worker and that suddenly shows up in your inbox?

Clearly, it's a symptom of his desire to get these government reforms going very quickly. And I guess you could say it's a pretty innovative thing to bring in the corporate solution on manpower and reducing manpower here.

But yesterday was an interesting data point on this, because it showed people just how important government is in their lives in many ways, in ways we don't think about. If suddenly thousands of government employees start taking these buyouts and there's no replacements, that could cause chaos. I mean, it's possible Trump could be more successful than he actually hopes to be.

in reducing the size of government, he may end up paying a political price. So that's something interesting to watch, I think. He may end up paying an actual price if a lot of people end up taking the buyout. They say that they can save $100 billion, but there might be a lot of people who end up taking that. Would you take it?

It's a pretty generous offer. It's more generous-- Twitter was only three months. It's a pretty generous offer. And look, it's competitive with private sector, actually. It's not like these guys are getting railroaded here. Well, we'll see if they report out some of that data. We're all very curious. Thank you all for joining. Matt?

Matt, Megan, Sabrina, Stephen, we really appreciate your time today. And thank you all for joining us at home. I'm Kayla Tausche. We wish our best to Casey Hunt and hope she gets better soon. CNN News Central starts right now.

After a decade of history, exes Christina Haack and Tarek Al Moussa finally face off. The flip-off is a house-flipping competition. There's so much at stake. It's the ultimate design showdown like no other. This is war. Things are definitely going to get heated. If I lose to my ex-wife... Bring it on. I'm back with a vengeance. The Flip-Off special series, January 29th at 8 on HGTV. Stream next day on Max.