'This Week' Transcript 2-2-25: Canadian Ambassador to the U.S. Kirsten Hillman

This is a rush transcript of "This Week" airing Sunday, February 2.

ByABC News
February 2, 2025, 10:17 AM

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, February 2, 2025 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC "THIS WEEK" ANCHOR: Trade war.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: These are promises made and promises kept.

STEPHANOPOULOS: President Trump slaps new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China. America's biggest trading partners vow retaliation.

JUSTIN TRUDEAU, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: This is a choice that, yes, will harm Canadians. But beyond that, it will have real consequences for you, the American people.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What could it mean for your wallet? Canada's ambassador to the U.S., Kirsten Hillman responds.

Cleaning house.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If they fired some people over there, that's a good thing.

STEPHANOPOULOS: The Justice Department and FBI target scores of agents who investigated the January 6th attack. Pierre Thomas on the unprecedented move, plus Chris Christie and Rahm Emanuel on the impact.

Midair disaster.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Crash, crash, crash.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Days after the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years, authorities search for answers, as Trump baselessly blames diversity program.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you saying this crash was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring?

TRUMP: It just could have been.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Gio Benitez is live on the scene, and Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus break down Trump's attacks.

Confirmation clashes.

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE NOMINEE I'm offended by the question.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: Show me a single statement I've made about science that is erroneous.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Trump’s cabinet picks grilled on Capitol Hill. Will his most controversial nominees make it through?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCEMENTS: From ABC News it’s THIS WEEK. Here now, George Stephanopoulos.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Good morning and welcome to THIS WEEK.

The Trump team promised shock and awe to start his second term. Two weeks in, the shocks keep coming. Dozens of actions to purge the federal workforce, push perceived adversaries, moves to freeze foreign aid and domestic spending. This weekend alone, a late Friday firing of prosecutors involved in the January 6th investigations. Saturday, the website for the Agency for International Development went dark as health initiatives and medical research projects around the world shut down. And late yesterday, sweeping tariffs imposed on America’s three largest trading partners, Canada, Mexico, and China, sparking the prospect of a trade war that could hurt American consumers and shake the global economy.

Senior White House correspondent Selina Wang starts us off.

Good morning, Selina.

SELINA WANG, ABC NEWS SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, George.

President Trump is taking extraordinary steps this weekend. He's hitting America's biggest trading partners with steep tariffs that are set to take effect this Tuesday. Now, Mexico and Canada have already vowed to retaliate with tariffs of their own. All of this could upend global trade and hurt American consumers too.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (voice over): This morning, America on the cusp of a trade war with its biggest trading partners.

TRUMP: They've treated us very unfairly.

WANG (voice over): After President Donald Trump signed three executive orders imposing 25 percent tariffs on all exports from Mexico and Canada with a lower 10 percent tariff on Canadian energy exports and 10 percent tariffs on goods from China.

Trump justifying the tariffs by blaming those countries for illegal drugs and undocumented migrants entering the U.S. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slamming Trump's move late last night.

TRUDEAU: Tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities.

WANG (voice over): And saying Canada will hit back, imposing a 25 percent tariff on more than $100 billion worth of American goods. Trudeau also blasting the very premise of Trump's decision to impose tariffs, saying the Canadian border is safe and secure, and that Canada is taking further steps.

TRUDEAU: Less than 1 percent of fentanyl, less than 1 percent of illegal crossings into the United States come from Canada.

WANG (voice over): Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, also vowing retaliation and slamming the Trump administration for accusing the Mexican government of working with drug traffickers. But Trump's executive order says if the countries retaliate, the U.S. can further increase its tariffs too.

China also responding, saying it filed a case against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization and defending its record on fentanyl. President Trump campaigned on lowering prices for Americans, but this could have the opposite effect.

TRUMP: There could be some temporary short-term disruption, and people will understand that.

WANG (voice over): Experts say these tariffs could cause American families to pay $830 more on average this year with higher prices for fresh produce, alcohol, electronic, cars and more. And prices at the pump could rise as much as 70 cents per gallon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (on camera): And, George, it's not just higher prices for U.S. consumers. This could also have a huge impact on U.S. jobs and companies.

I spoke to the head of a Canadian trade group that represents Canadian automakers, and he says these tariffs could even shut down North American car production, putting American jobs at risk.

George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Selina Wang, thanks.

Let's go to our correspondent Matt Rivers in Mexico City.

Matt, the response from the Mexican government already pretty fierce.

MATT RIVERS, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, George. And the potential for disruption between the U.S. and Mexico is enormous. Not only is Mexico the U.S.'s single largest bilateral trading partner, even ahead of China, but cooperation on drug enforcement and migration also key. All of that, George, now on much shakier ground this morning.

As expected, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum forcefully responding to Trump's tariffs. She said Mexico will respond with boast tariff and non-tariff retaliatory measures of their own. But she seemed to take the most exception with why the Trump administration said they're putting these tariffs in place. The White House saying in part, “Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico.” Sheinbaum responding, saying, “We categorically reject the White House's slander of the government of Mexico for having alliances with criminal organizations. If there is any such alliance, it is in the gun shops of the United States that sell high-powered weapons to these criminal groups.”

Now, look, the Trump administration is correct when they say that corruption has allowed drug cartels here to flourish. I mean we just saw it for ourselves when we spent time last week with drug and gun smugglers working for the cartel. It is systemic here in Mexico, and it has been for decades. But it's one thing to say organized crime and corruption is a problem. It's another thing to say the Mexican government has officially allied itself with these cartels.

Now that claim has made officials here in Mexico City livid. It really even takes this beyond just tariffs. Sheinbaum offered Trump to set up a working group between both sides to try and solve some of these issues, George. But how this plays out, really anyone's guess.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Matt, threats to retaliate so far, but no specifics?

RIVERS: No, nothing specific in terms of how Mexico is going to retaliate. They had a couple of options on the table, George. They say they're going to go with the second option. But exactly what they're going to target in terms of U.S. products, we're not sure yet.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Matt Rivers, thanks very much.

Let's bring in the Canadian ambassador to the United States, Kirsten Hillman.

Madam Ambassador, thank you for joining us this morning.

Your reaction to the Trump moves?

KIRSTEN HILLMAN, CANADIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Well, I mean, we're – we’re disappointed, obviously. This is a disrupting and incredibly successful trading relationship. A trading relationship that was just renewed by President Trump in his last term when we renegotiated the NAFTA and brought our trade between our two countries to 99 percent tariff-free. So, we're really disappointed and we're hopeful that they don't come into effect on Tuesday. We're ready to continue to talk to the Trump administration about that. And in particular about all the work that we're doing with them, and on our own with respect to the border and the issues that the president has said are at the core of this -- this move.

STEPHANOPOULOS: What could happen between now and Tuesday that would prevent the tariffs from being implemented?

HILLMAN: Well, I mean, I think that – that is really something that is in the president's hands. We have been meeting nonstop with his border officials. We've invested a billion dollars in furthering some of our equipment on the border, ensuring that we have the boots on the ground, working with the U.S. police service on joint training, joint exercises, going to China with them to deal with the precursor problem. So, we are – we are leaning in hard on this, and we feel that we've made incredible progress. You know, illegal crossings between Canada and the United States, as you said in your opener, are less than 1 percent of the crossings into the United States. But even at that, they're down 89 percent in recent months. So, --

STEPHANOPOULOS: But –

HILLMAN: Please, sorry, go ahead.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Sorry.

Based on – based on the conversations you all have had so far, do you have a clear idea of what the United States is looking for to prevent the implementation of the tariffs?

HILLMAN: Well, the focus has been on the border, fentanyl and illegal migration. And as I say, we – we've invested in a lot of equipment. We've invested in additional infrastructure. And we have put together a plan that we are implementing with the border czar, Tom Homan. We met with him on Friday. We walked through it. We have joint exercises. We have joint training. And we're going with officials from the White House, our police agency, to China in the coming days to – to try and grapple with the precursor issue. So, it’s hard to know what more we can do, but we're obviously open to any other suggestions that come our way.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you’ve had these lower-level conversations, but nothing between the prime minister and the president?

HILLMAN: So the prime minister and the president have discussed this a few times, not in recent days, but they have discussed it. And we've discussed it with senior members of the White House as well, and we've laid out our plan.

And my understanding is that the plan and some of the actual outcomes results of what we have done have been presented to the president.

STEPHANOPOULOS: President Trump seems to be banking on the prospect that Canada is going to back down.

HILLMAN: Yeah. I -- you know, look, I think the Canadian people are going to expect that our government stands firm and stands up for itself.

I don't think we're not at all in interested in escalating. But I think that there will be a very strong demand on our government to make sure that we -- we stand up for -- for the deal that we have struck with the -- with the United States, which as I say is at a 99 percent tariff free trade between our two countries.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So if these negotiations do not bear fruit before Tuesday, what exactly is going to happen on Tuesday?

HILLMAN: So, on our side, we will be implementing 25 percent tariffs on U.S. products. We will go up to a hundred billion U.S. dollars worth of products. We will start with about 30 billion and then we will give notice of -- of the remainder of the products probably for about 20, 21 days and then implement those if need be, if we haven't found a way out of this -- this situation.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And what will be the message to -- to Canadians? Would it be to stop using products from the United States, a boycott?

HILLMAN: Well, I’ll be honest. I -- we as a government aren't necessarily needing to send that message. Canadians are perplexed, I think disappointed.

We view ourselves as your -- your neighbor, your closest friend, your ally, you know, a country whose -- whose citizens have fought and died with you around the world, in defense of values that we share who come to the aid of the Los Angeles fires most recently.

And I think are really perplexed by this move. So I don't think anybody will need to tell Canadians what to do I think that they will make their decisions on their own.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You say perplexed. Do Canadians feel betrayed?

HILLMAN: I think -- I think they're -- I think they're confused. I don't think they understand where this is coming from. I think they know the degree to which we have made every effort to address the president's concerns and so they just don't understand where this is coming from, and I -- and probably there's a little bit of hurt, right?

We have 400,000 to 500,000 people that move back and forth between our two countries every day -- businesses, tourists, students, workers -- and there's a sense of partnership, of family, of being each other's best -- as I say best customer, best friend.

So I think that this is something that we really don't -- the Canadians don't understand.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you think -- do you understand what's going on here? Do you think President Trump values the relationship and the alliance with Canada?

HILLMAN: Well, I mean I -- I hope so, I hope so. And I think that in some respects, he most certainly does.

I think that we're going to have to see where this takes us, and I think that we are -- we are eager to help the president achieve his goals. You know, he's interested in energy dominance for the United States. A third of what we sell to the United States are energy products and they're affordable and they're reliable and for the most part, if you didn't get them from us, you'd probably have to get them from Venezuela or other non-allied countries.

So we're -- we're eager to, you know, build on that. We provide critical minerals that you don't have here in the United States that are essential for defense technology and high technology. We are keen to continue to sell those into the United States and to -- to work to even do more.

But it's hard to maintain that sense of common purpose and moving forward if we get into this kind of a dynamic on tariffs. So our --

STEPHANOPOULOS: Is that --

HILLMAN: Please?

STEPHANOPOULOS: Excuse me. Is that energy cooperation on the table, could it extend to that as well?

HILLMAN: Well, I mean, for us it is. I -- we'd like nothing more than to talk about how we can build on the strength that we already have on both, you know, oil and gas, but nuclear and hydro. We provide the United States with almost all of the hydro and about a third of the oil that you import and use. So -- or -- 80 percent of the oil that you import and use but -- and almost all of the electricity.

So let's do more, right? This is our -- our view. A third of your uranium comes from Canada. What you don't get from Canada, some of it you get from Russia. Why -- why -- why not get it all from Canada?

You know, these are our perspectives on this. We'd like to double down on everything that we are doing rather than getting into a dynamic that takes us down a road of -- of ripping apart some of these excellent aspects of our relationship.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally, what should American consumers expect going forward and what's your message to American consumers?

HILLMAN: Well, I mean, again, our message is, this is not something that Canada wants to do. This is not a path that we are interested in going down. We are actually interested in being and continuing to be your best customer. We buy more from you than any other country on the planet, and we love our American products. So, we support 8 million jobs in the United States through the exports that you send to us. Let's keep that going, and let's build on that. Let's not – let's not diminish it.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Ambassador Hillman, thanks for your time this morning.

HILLMAN: Thanks for having me.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Coming up, President Trump's campaign of retribution against the Justice Department continued on Friday. Chris Christie and Rahm Emanuel join us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Will you commit that you will not tolerate the firing of the FBI agents who worked with the special counsel's office on these investigations?

KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR NOMINEE: Senator, every FBI employee will be held to the absolute same standard and no one will be terminated for case assignments.

BLUMENTHAL: And I'm –

PATEL: All FBI employees will be protected against political retribution.

BLUMENTHAL: They deserve –

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Donald Trump's push for retribution against officials who investigated the January 6th riots ramped up on Friday, firing more than a dozen prosecutors with thousands more FBI agents under scrutiny.

Chief justice correspondent Pierre Thomas has the details.

And, Pierre, we heard FBI pick Kash Patel say right there that agents would be protected against retribution, but exactly the opposite seems to be happening right now.

PIERRE THOMAS, ABC NEWS CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: George, the FBI is in perhaps its most stressful moment as an agency since the terrible days of 9/11 when it faced an overhaul in its mission after a series of missed signals that contributed to the attack. The Trump administration believes FBI leadership was complicit and participated in politically motivated investigations targeting President Trump. And they're hell-bent on rooting those people out of the FBI, flatly stating that those senior agents cannot be trusted to implement Trump administration agendas.

At least eight senior FBI officials who were a part of former FBI Director Chris Wray's brain trust have been told retire, resign, or be fired in the very near future. And we’re also learning that some of the top agents who run FBI field offices across the country may soon be forced out as well.

And more sweeping changes within the FBI could be coming. On Friday, FBI staff were told that any personnel who were involved in the January 6th investigations and another lesser known case out of New York are going to have their status reviewed by the Justice Department, which asked the FBI for a list of names.

George, this potentially involves thousands of FBI agents and other personnel. It certainly has sent shockwaves throughout the bureau. The acting director of the FBI, Brian Driscoll, appears resistant to a large-scale purge, telling the FBI staff overnight in a statement that he’s working to understand the purpose of the list and vowed that we're going to, quote, "Follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what's in the best interest of the workforce and the American people always."

He noted the request for the list came as FBI personnel continue to do their jobs across the board including helping with a gruesome crash on the scene of the Potomac. The workforce is up in arms on Friday. The FBI Agents' Association fiercely pushed back calling any such potential plans outrageous and warning that such a broad purge would severely weaken the bureau's ability to protect the country from national security and criminal threats, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: And Pierre, Justice Department prosecutors are being targeted as well.

THOMAS: Well, a number of senior prosecutors and main Justice headquarters were forced out during the first week of the Trump administration, and on Friday, the new acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C. fired dozens of attorneys who worked on January 6th cases.

So there's a lot of upheaval, George. We'll have to see how this all plays out. As my sources continue to warn that we are in a particularly dangerous threat environment in every sector, George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Pierre Thomas, thanks.

Let's get more on this now from former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, just back from his tour as U.S. ambassador to Japan.

And Chris, let me start with you. You're also a former prosecutor. You're close with Chris Wray, the former director of the FBI. You have a lot of sources in and around the community. What are you hearing about all this?

CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR, ABC CONTRIBUTOR: You know, George, I wouldn't use a word like panic when it relates to the men and women of the FBI because they work under really stressful situations, but I will tell you that they are stunned by what's happening. When you talk about the list that they were asked for -- let's remember something. None of these agents who worked on the January 6th cases volunteered. That's not the way it works.

In fact, at the FBI, they do the opposite. They don't want you volunteering and self-selecting for an investigation because that may mean you bring some bias to it. You go and you select these people. So they were instructed by their bosses to work on the January 6th cases, and what happened as a result of that? Hundreds of convictions in front of juries, in front of judges that were appointed by both Republican and Democratic administrations.

So they're saying to themselves, what exactly was informed about the investigations and about their work? Their work resulted in convictions that were brought by juries or guilty pleas, and that were accepted by Republican and Democratic judges, and so if the president wants to pardon those people, that's his right to do, but it's not then his right to fire these folks.

And let me tell you, they're all civil service protected, George. None of them are political appointees. So what's going to happen for these folks who don't go voluntarily is they're going to file grievances and lawsuits and they're ultimately going to win them. And the last piece I would say is this. Understand how long it takes to get a new FBI agent on board. If you fire hundreds, if not thousands, and it would be thousands on this list of FBI agents, it takes 12 to 18 months to get them on board.

By the time you go through the interviewing process, the vetting process, then they go to Quantico for their training, and then become on board as a brand new FBI agent. In the threat assessment we have right now across the world, to lose that many agents and then take a year to a year and a half to try to replace them is incredibly dangerous for our national security, and for what? Because they did their jobs.

And if the president wants to do this by pardoning people, well, I disagree with pardoning people who violently attacked police officers on Capitol Hill. It's his right under the Constitution to do it, but this is overboard, and it's not going to work.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Rahm, we've never seen a move like this before from a president. What's the likely impact?

RAHM EMANUEL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO JAPAN: Well, it's going to be dramatic. I mean, George, a couple of points. On Tuesday, the president's going to host Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. He did exactly this, attacking the Justice Department inside Israel. It turned the country inside out. The defense forces warned him, your deterrence is going to be degraded and you had October 7th, the worst killing of Jews since the Holocaust.

Now look, the bureaucracy of the Justice Department as well as the FBI, they can be running a campaign of internal vengeance or external vigilance, and it's one or the other. They can't do both, and we've seen this movie before, and it ended in October 7th. The Chinese are hacking us and cyberattacking and the North Koreans constantly. The FBI and the Justice Department are key to it. That is also true about terrorist actions.

And I will tell you one example, when I was chief of staff, a young man in the intelligence agencies found a word that he said did not make sense on a communication. A lot of people said, oh, it's nothing. Forget about it. We encouraged him to pursue it. We all did, and he pursued it and it ended up being the young man in Denver bought 12 backpacks, a lot of chemicals and was driving north -- rather, driving east to New York. We arrested him eventually.

You have the FBI agents who are confronting China, North Korea, Russia, our enemies, Iran, who are cyberattacking the United States constantly, lawyers who are also just asrecently prosecuting a case against a Treasury official handing over secrets to the Chinese on economic data. You can either be focused on internal vengeance and the campaign that we're doing or external vigilance.

Our guard is down. We know how this movie ends and it ends like October 7th. That was a mistake for Israel. We need not make that mistake.

This is dangerous and I totally agree with Chris on this very point. These officers did not volunteer. They took the assignment to do their job and they prosecuted. There was juries.

These people on January 6th, they committed crimes and most dangerously killed officers or harmed them, police officers.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Chris, we’re starting to see --

(CROSSTALK)

EMANUEL: They serve the time for that.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You mentioned that a lot of these agents are likely to bring legal action to protect their jobs. We’re seeing this kind of testing of the legal limits with a lot of these executive orders from the president -- the firing of the inspector generals as well.

I guess, my question is, does the president care whether or not this faces legal challenges? Does he just want to make the point?

CHRISTIE: No, he wants to make the point, in fact, he kind of likes the legal challenges because then it takes it off his plate. He gets to make the statement, the aggressive statement of doing, firing inspectors general, or in this case, what he's doing at the Justice Department, the FBI, and then it gets handed over to the courts.

And if the courts overturn him, he blames it on the courts and says these are awful judges, even though many of the ones that have reversed some of his actions are pointed by him. And that's what he'll do.

No, he -- he has no problem with doing this. Look, I warned about this for a year before this election that this was going to be much different than the first term.

Donald Trump knows what it's like to be president now. He knows what the ramifications for actions are and are not, and his view is I’m going to do everything I want to do and if the courts want to reverse it later, that's fine.

George, it's like when I was governor. He called me at the early part of my administration when I had a $10 billion deficit. And he said to me, look, this is what you do, declare bankruptcy.

And I said, Donald, I can't. I’m a state. I’m not allowed to declare bankruptcy.

He goes, do it anyway. It'll go to the courts. It'll land there for two years. They'll forget about all this and you'll look better.

That's the way he approaches those things. That was 2010, George. It's no different 15 years later.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Rahm, you know, we've never seen -- we -- you, of course, served in the White House. You helped draft executive orders, helped draft executive actions. But we've never seen the kind of scope that we're seeing right now, and Democrats seem a little flummoxed about how to respond.

EMANUEL: Yeah, look, I -- I have a general rule given -- look, the Democrats are in the minority, George. They don't have a bucket to spit in and a window to throw it out.

So you have to have kind of a guiding North Star -- litigation, communication, mobilization, and you got to decide which ones go into which category.

Example A, this recent decision on USAID, foreign aid. While I don't agree with it, I would go die on that hill.

On the executive order, as a perfect example, executive order dealt with DEI at schools. We just had a report that showed that at the worst time in 30 years, our eighth graders can't read a third of them and there was no kind of discussion of that but there was an executive order here. That to me is about communication and that to me is about where Democrats can stand up and say, let's deal with the reading crisis, not the -- it's about reading, writing and math, not about D, E and I, and go take that battle on because that is -- defined where we want to focus where the American people are.

Look, the Oval Office, George, comes with a tool called the bully pulpit and right now, we're 100 percent bully and zero percent pulpit, and that's going to come back, and the Democrats need to decide which areas they want to fight on.

Ex -- example on the inspector generals. It's clearly against the law. I would take that case and do litigation for one other simple reason, you spend $3 billion a year nationally on inspector generals and they saved you close to hundred billion a year. That's a really good return on your investment.

Now, Chris and I, governor, mayor, we hate inspector generals. They are a pain, but they're a good pain and they're worth all the stress you get from them because just like in April 23, 2023, the inspector general of the FAA said we don't have enough trainers for all the air traffic controllers. That's the type of work they do. Take that fight on, because that's a fight worth fighting for, and that's a hill worth dying on.

And to me, you got to decide some are litigation, some are communication and some are going to be mobilization. And you got to decide which ones go into which category.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally, Chris, the president seems to bank on the -- on the fact that Republicans in Congress are not going to press him on this.

CHRISTIE: Well, so far, it looks like they're not. I mean, Chuck Grassley said some things and wrote a letter. The question is, are they going to hold him to it or not?

Look, Congress has to decide, are they an independent branch of government or are they just going to be in -- Republicans in the majority, are we just going to be rubber stamps? I think these votes on cabinet members coming up, whether it's RFK Jr. or Kash Patel, below cabinet, but a very important job at the FBI -- are these people they're going to confirm?

They're going to say, OK, we're going to turn over the national security -- I thought that the Patel hearing was really interesting. He's saying all this is going to be protected once he's there. Well, what they're doing is doing all of the dirty work before he gets there. I mean, let's -- we're not stupid. We see what's happening here.

They're having other people do it for him and then have him come in and not have to take responsibility for it. The idea that there's not communication going on right now, George, between the guy you've designated to be the Head of the FBI for the next 10 years, and the people who are doing this operation as acting members of leadership and justice is ridiculous. Of course, they are. And the president is the one orchestrating this.

I thought the most interesting answer in the hearing was when Cory Booker asked Kash Patel, has the -- have you had any conversations with the president about people to investigate or not to investigate? And his answer was not to the best of my recollection.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Not credible?

CHRISTIE: Well, I mean, I kind of remember every conversation I've ever had with a president. How many are Kash Patel having that he doesn't remember? Come on.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Chris Christie, Rahm Emanuel, thanks very much. Donna Brazile and Reince Priebus are coming up, plus the latest on the investigation into the deadly plane crash outside Washington. We're live on the scene. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD INMAN, NTSB MEMBER: The team that is working on this crash at DCA collectively has over 350 years of seniority with the NTSB. We will find out what happened, and we will do everything we can to prevent it. And I don't want anyone to think because we are working two accidents – this is not what – this is what we do. Week in and week out. Just today a lot more people are paying attention to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANOPOULOS: That's Todd Inman of the National Transportation Safety Board, providing an update on the investigation into this week’s deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C., as more concerns emerge about aviation safety after another small plane crash in Philadelphia Friday.

Transportation correspondent Gio Benitez has the latest.

Good morning, Gio.

GIO BENITEZ, ABC NEWS TRANSPORTATION CORRESPONDENT: Hey, George, good morning.

The NTSB saying overnight that the air traffic controller gave the crew of that helicopter multiple warnings about the plane coming in for a landing. The biggest question now is, was that helicopter flying above the allowed 200 feet, and why?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BENITEZ (voice over): This morning, recovery crews working to pull the wreckage from that devastating plane crash in Washington, D.C., the deadliest in nearly 24 years in the U.S. Salvage teams using a crane to pull debris from the icy Potomac River. Divers searching for the 24 remaining bodies of the victims, many believed to be trapped in the jet's fuselage.

Overnight, the NTSB saying some of the most trusted location data shows the crash happening at just over 300 feet, higher than the 200 feet the Black Bawk was supposed to be flying at. But the NTSB saying the tower radar that air traffic control was looking at showed 200.

BRICE BANNING, NTSB INVESTIGATOR: Initial data indicates that he may have seen 200 feet. That needs to be verified. Our ATC group is working it.

BENITEZ (voice over): Some of that information coming from the black boxes aboard both the plane and Black Hawk, now in the NTSB's hands. Video obtained exclusively by CNN shows the horrific moment when that Black Hawk, on the left side of the screen, collided with the American Airlines passenger jet Wednesday night. You can see the plane and its bright headlights as it makes its approach to the runway before the fiery explosion upon impact sent both aircraft plummeting into the river. With questions already swirling about aviation safety, a second catastrophe Friday night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh (INAUDIBLE).

BENITEZ (voice over): A fireball caught on surveillance video showing a medical transport jet plunging into a residential neighborhood in northeast Philly. The terrifying incident leaving all six aboard the plane, including a child, dead. Another person on the ground killed, 19 others injured.

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): The city is working around the clock to keep people safe, to understand what happened, and to be there for those who are impacted.

BENITEZ (voice over): President Trump insisting on Thursday that flying remains incredibly safe in the United States.

TRUMP: I would not hesitate to fly. I – this is something that it’s been many years that something like this has happened, and the collision is just something that we don't expect ever to happen again.

BENITEZ (voice over): But with the investigation still in its early stages, the president suggesting, without evidence, that diversity hiring may have led to the deadly crash, andaccusing his predecessors of lowering the standards for air traffic controllers.

MARY BRUCE, ABC NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Are you saying this crash was somehow caused and the result of diversity hiring? And what evidence have you seen to support these claims?

TRUMP: It just could have been. We have a high standard. We've had a higher -- much higher standard than anybody else and there are things where you have to go by brain power.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BENITEZ (on camera): And, George, a reminder here these investigations are incredibly complicated and they take time. Nailing down exactly what caused this tragedy is absolutely critical so that it never happens again -- George.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Gio Benitez, thanks.

Let's get more on this now from former DNC Chair Donna Brazile, former RNC chair and Trump White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus.

Thank you both for joining us this morning.

Donna, let me begin with you. That -- that call from President Trump blaming the crash perhaps on diversity initiatives was echoed by other members of his cabinet. Your reaction?

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, as you well know, George, politics has no place -- no place whatsoever at a crash scene especially this tragedy. At a time like this, we want a president to help us mourn and grieve, to show compassion, to comfort those who are right now just trying to figure things out.

When I heard the president after just a few words where he talked about unity and then he started to pivot to politics, to laying this on President Obama, President Biden and then, of course, the real appalling insult on DEI, diversity, which includes every American, women, minorities, people with disabilities, veterans. It was just a low moment again for President Trump, but we need to remember right now that a full investigation is underway, there's still recovering bodies, and our gratitude goes to the men and women who are out there on that icy Potomac still trying to recover, so that we can get all of the facts together.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Reince, was it a mistake for the president to jump the gun on the investigation like that?

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER RNC CHAIR & FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF & ABC NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't think so. I mean, he didn't really jump the gun. I think we kind of taken this a little too far. I mean, first of all, there is a real investigation going on. You can see the good work of the DOT and the NTSB. It's completely professional.

But there are disturbing reports that are coming out of, you know, why were there 19 people in the tower? And the only thing I'd say is, I think we need to be a little careful just assuming all of this stuff is just baseless information. I mean, the president is getting the most detailed updates and investigative information every single hour of the day and sometimes he shares that information with the American people.

The one thing I know on this DEI issue and it's front center in his brain is that, you know, he put together -- this was all -- this was the 50-day -- the 50 executive order promises that the Trump administration had been campaigning on for months and months. The DEI initiatives are in the top 10 of things that President Trump was going to undo.

And I think that in fact people do support equal treatment and not preferential treatment and this is something, whether it be CRT, whether it be DEI, or whatever alphabet soup is out there, this is something that Donald Trump was crystal clear about and he's executing on today after being elected by a majority of Americans.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, I mean, there's no question that was a promise he made. But do you have any evidence linking the DEI initiatives to the crash?

PRIEBUS: Well, there is a -- there has been a -- first of all, there was a biographical questionnaire put out by the Obama administration that when we went in the first term that we undid, and then the Biden administration came in and they put in all these DEI initiatives through all the agencies.

There is right now a -- it's been going on for a long time, a class action lawsuit against the FAA where -- where it is alleged that a thousand hires have been made as part of a DEI initiative that compromised safety standards and put -- gave people preferential hiring, you know, through a point system, preferential hiring, and overlooked others that were may have been more qualified.

That case hasn't been dismissed. It's been going on for three or four years now, and it hasn't been dismissed. So there -- it could be out there.

I’m just saying before you just assume this is just a bunch of nonsense, I don't -- it may not be, and I think people need to look at this stuff.

BRAZILE: George, what -- what I know about DEI and what I think I understand about equity, equal justice under the law is that over the last 50, 60 years, the American people have really worked hard to ensure that no American is ever left behind, that we enlarge the pool of qualified individuals to work in and out of the government, in the private sector.

DEI is a tool, a tool that enables the government or corporations or individuals to open the door, to remove barriers, to bring in the best and the brightest.

PRIEBUS: OK.

BRAZILE: This is not an attack on the America.

PRIEBUS: Here's the deal.

BRAZILE: This is an opportunity for every American to participate in the greatness of our great -- wonderful nation. It is not about discrimination. But when you target people, when you say that people, simply because of the way they look or how they walk or who they love, are not qualified to do the jobs, it is -- it is not true.

And look, this is Black History Month, but Black History Month cannot be celebrated without talking about American history because it's history we've all made. And that once again, we see an administration that is saying, no, we're not going to have these celebrations anymore. We're not going to acknowledge the pain and suffering, the Holocaust. This is not who we are as Americans. We are bigger than this. We want a country as good as it's promised.

PRIEBUS: I believe that -- I agree with some of -- some of what Donna just said. I mean --

BRAZILE: Well, thank you.

PRIEBUS: A lot of it, I mean, yes, we need to give people opportunities that wouldn't have had opportunities, but we can't give people favoritism. And there's a big difference between giving a lawyer an opportunity because people can pick and choose whoever lawyer they want to hire. There are standards for taking the bar exam, accreditation, and you go interview the lawyer and you hire a lawyer.

But it's a -- it's another thing if you're on an airplane and you have DEI initiatives that may have given preferential -- preference to someone sitting in a control tower.

BRAZILE: That's not how it works.

PRIEBUS: I'm not saying it's true.

BRAZILE: That's not how it works.

PRIEBUS: All I'm saying Donna, is there's a difference between opportunity, which I agree with, and favoritism. That's all we're saying.

BRAZILE: Well, I just want to reassure the American people that flying is safe. I've been on airplanes all my adult life.

PRIEBUS: It is safe.

BRAZILE: And I have seen -- I've been on a plane with two female pilots and say, wow, I am. This is going to go fast. I mean, this is about opportunity. This is who we are as Americans. You know, James Brown, one of my favorite, favorite artists of all time, said, I don't want nobody to give me nothing. Just open the door, I'll get it myself. That's what people have said for centuries in America.

Just open the door, give us the opportunity. Give my father the opportunity. Someone who had a college scholarship, he went into Korea, he fought for this nation, four bronze stars. A U.N. (ph) medal for valor? Are you going to tell me he was a DEI? No, he was a brave and patriotic American. That's what this is about. It's not about dividing the American people; it's about bringing us together because we are stronger together.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Thank you both for your time this morning. Coming up, three of Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees face tough questions this week. We'll break down the latest from Capitol Hill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: Several of President Trump's most controversial cabinet nominees faced tough questions on Capitol Hill this week. The big question now, will they all get confirmed?

We're going to discuss the outlook after this report from Jay O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAY O'BRIEN, ABC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This week's signs of a brewing confirmation battle for two of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees, facing a bipartisan grilling on Capitol Hill.

SEN. RON WYDEN, (D-OR): You say one thing, and then you say another.

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD, (R-OK): Was Edward Snowden a traitor?

O'BRIEN: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard both making their case.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JUNIOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: Those reports in the hearing yesterday have claimed that I was anti-vaccine and anti-industry. Well, I'm neither. I'm pro-safety.

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE NOMINEE: What truly unsettles my political opponents and I refuse to be their puppet.

O'BRIEN: Kennedy, Trump's pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, pressed on everything from embracing medical conspiracy theories to pushing falsehoods about vaccines. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor and potential hurdle for Kennedy's confirmation chances saying he's struggling with the nomination.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY, (R-LA): Will you reassure mothers, unequivocally and without qualification, that the measles and hepatitis B vaccines do not cause autism?

KENNEDY: Senator, I am not going into the agency with any --

CASSIDY: That's kind of a yes or no question.

KENNEDY: If the data is there, I will absolutely do that.

O'BRIEN: And some Republicans with reservations about Gabbard, too, tapped to lead National Intelligence.

GABBARD: I have no love for Assad or Gaddafi or any dictator.

O'BRIEN: Now under scrutiny for previously mimicking Russian talking points on issues like Ukraine and praising whistleblower Edward Snowden.

SEN. MICHAEL BENNET, (D-CO): Is Edward Snowden a traitor to the United States of America? That is not a hard question to answer when the stakes are this high.

GABBARD: Senator, as someone who has served in --

BENNET: You answer yes or no.

O'BRIEN: Despite some Republicans rallying to their defense.

Are you not concerned about Bobby Kennedy's views on vaccines?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL, (R-KS): So I think Bobby put that issue to bed.

O'BRIEN (voice-over): Both nominees still yet to lock down the key holdout votes they'll need to be confirmed.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The jury's out?

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS, (R-ME): That's correct.

O'BRIEN: For THIS WEEK, Jay O'Brien, ABC News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANOPOULOS: OK, let's get more on this now from Associated Press executive editor Julie Pace, "USA Today" Washington bureau chief Susan Page.

We saw Pete Hegseth get through on a very close vote. Are these two candidates going to make it?

JULIE PACE, ASSOCIATED PRESS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Look, I think these are two of the most controversial nominees and probably the two who are on the bubble. Gabbard may be a little more imperiled actually than Kennedy at this point. Watch what the MAGA movement does, though. They really rallied around Hegseth and were instrumental in ensuring that he got over that finish line, narrowly there, and you're starting to see the same thing happen right now, and they will put pressure on all of those senators that you just saw right there and basically say, look, we're going to make your lives pretty miserable for the next couple of years if you don't let these nominees go through.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Even though, Susan Page, both Robert Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard former Democrats?

SUSAN PAGE, USA TODAY WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, and interestingly they had these hearings this year. They both made their situation worse, not better, and it wasn't in response to kind of gotcha questions by Democrats. It was in response to softball questions by Republicans who were trying to help them deal with the fundamental issue that is the most troublesome. The causes of autism in the case of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and her attitude toward Edward Snowden in the case of Tulsi Gabbard.

I don't think the MAGA movement will determine what happens with them. It is Donald Trump who will need to decide how much capital he wants to spend, how much pressure he wants to put on Republican senators to get particularly Tulsi Gabbard over the finish line.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you both -- have we seen any sense yet that Republicans on the committee really don't want to go along? How much -- how overt is the president going to have to be?

PAGE: Well, I think he'll have to be pretty overt. You mentioned Hegseth. You know, in that case, Thom Tillis indicated he was troubled -- you know, that he was a possible no vote. Donald Trump got on the phone with him for two hours and he relented. And that's the kind of pressure that Trump alone can bring, and we'll see if he does that in these cases.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You believe Gabbard is in more trouble?

PACE: I think she -- I think she's in trouble because of questions like that Snowden question, you know, a fairly straightforward question that is shared, bipartisan -- bipartisan views are that Snowden has been a traitor.

Now, she did have another moment on Snowden when she said she wouldn't seek to a pardon from President Trump. And that seemed to assuage Susan Collins who posed that question there. But that inability to answer that specific question seems like one that's going to hang over her head, in addition to things like lack of experience, the sort of mysterious trip to Syria to see Assad -- there's a lot of open questions around her right now.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Susan, how do you see the interplay between these nominations and the amount of political capital that President Trump would have to spend to get them through, and the big fights coming down the road on the tax and spending plans?

PAGE: Well, it is a sign of, will Republicans hang together even if they're uncomfortable with some aspects of Trump's agenda. And the safe bet is that, if push comes to shove, Republicans will hang with Trump even if they don't want to.

PACE: I think that's right because look, Republicans over and over and over again, have fallen in line. And I think one of the unique aspects of President Trump in these -- in these confirmation hearings is, in most administrations, you see one cabinet official fall because the White House decides I'm not going to spend my political capital there.

STEPHANOPOULOS: You sort of had that happen with Matt Gaetz right at the beginning.

PACE: Exactly. And so, we kind of cleared that already. So there's really no incentive for Trump right now, watching the ways Republicans have fallen in line on so many matters, there's really no incentive for him to back away from either of these nominees at this point. We'll see what happens in the next couple of days.

And I'm not quite sure that there is a link between putting political capital on the line in these confirmation hearings and then doing it again for some of the other legislative priorities.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Yeah, Susan, the argument could be victories beget victories.

PAGE: Well, and they do. But Trump could also make a decision that this is one he might well lose, especially I think on Tulsi Gabbard. And that's why we think we see Vice President, Vance now making calls to the Hill with his former colleagues in the Senate to figure out if they can get this nomination, this confirmation done, or is it really in peril.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Susan Page, Julie Pace, thank you both very much.

PACE: Thanks.

STEPHANOPOULOS: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

STEPHANOPOULOS: That is all for us today. Thanks for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "World News Tonight" and I'll see you tomorrow on GMA.