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Supreme Court to Decide Immigration Action; Interview with Rep. Luis Gutierrez; Lawsuits in Flint Water Disaster; Freed American Speaks For First Time; Attorney General Uneasy About Prisoner Swap; Supreme Court Takes On Obama's Immigration Actions. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 19, 2016 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: The former American prisoner, Amir Hekmati, has now spoken to the world. The former U.S. Marine went before the cameras just moments ago describing his emotions during his four and a half years in captivity and his release three days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And how did you feel when you found out how big the movement was to get you back out and people keeping it in the public light?

AMIR HEKMATI, U.S. MARINES: Well, I don't know and I still don't know. I just know that everyone from the president, the Congress, even the Iranian officials who were our captors, essentially, they were amazed and had asked us, why is it that they're working so hard for you? And I just said, well, that's America, and they love the citizens. And even the other Iranian prisoners were really moved, you know, by all the support.

But there's still a lot that I don't know, and it's all coming to me slowly. Our communications, obviously, for the first two -- almost two and a half years, I had very little communication, if any. And we were -- when I did finally get access to a telephone, I wasn't able to get all the details because of the sensitive situation that I was in. But I just know that so many people had supported us and I am extremely humble and grateful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was it like when you guys were waiting for that plane because there was a big delay from when you were supposed to leave from when that flight actually took off, right?

HEKMATI: Yes, it was very nerve-racking. I was worried that maybe the Iranian side was going to make new demands in the last minute or that the deal wasn't going to work out. So, up until the last second, we were all worried and concerned. We were just put in a very small room, and we had no telephone or access to any information. We kept being told that we're going to be taking off in two hours, and two became six became 10.

So, a total of almost two and a half days was really nerve-racking. But when we finally got to see the Swiss ambassador, Ambassador Haass, who really did a lot for us, and Mr. Myer (ph) and the Swiss government, we just felt an immense pressure come off our shoulders. And when we finally got on the plane, that's when we knew that --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amir, did your Marine training kick in during any of this time?

HEKMATI: I think so. I didn't want to let my Marines -- fellow Marines down and the reputation of the Marine Corps. So, I tried my best to, you know, keep my head up and withstand all the pressures that were put upon me, some of which were very inhumane and unjust.

And then, hearing about some of my fellow Marines supporting me really gave me the strength to put up with over four years of some very difficult times that me and my family went through. So, semper fi (ph) to all of the Marines out there.

As soon as we got out of the Iranian air space, the champagne bottles were popped and the Swiss are amazing, their hospitality, chocolates, veal was served. And we were on our private jet that usually the foreign minister of Switzerland or the ambassadors use, so this -- they really did an excellent job and we thank them for the hospitality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You seem so well and people are going to be stunned and delighted.

HEKMATI: I am well. And I'm only going to get better, I hope. And this has really been an exceptional time for me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Our Senior National Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen was there. You heard him asking some questions. Fred, how did he look off camera over there? How did he behave?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, he looked also very, very strong and someone who really wants to get on with his life, wants to overcome all this. I was actually able to speak to Amir for a couple of minutes before he came out there to talk to the media. And he said that he was doing alright. He had a very strong handshake.

He also, again, reiterated how grateful he was for the support that he had been receiving obviously from people in the United States but also now that he's back here in Landstuhl, Germany at the American military facility. You know, the fact that the doctors are caring for him, the fact that he's getting this world-class medical treatment here.

And also, the fact that obviously his family members are around him now. There are supporters. He's starting to realize the full extent of the support that he had been receiving in the four years that he was there in Iranian captivity. But this is certainly a man that when I spoke to him, he seemed like someone with a very, very strong will who appears to be in very good shape, physically.

But certainly he is also aware of the fact the past four years that he spent in Iranian captivity definitely also took a toll on him. That's one of the reasons why he knows he has to undergo this protocol right here where they do the psychological and medical evaluations to make sure that they sort anything out so he doesn't have further issues down the road. It's something they keep telling us here at Landstuhl and it's something that they are also specialized in -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, we're so relieved for him and his family. I saw Congressman Dan Kildee of Michigan who worked really hard on his behalf all these years standing right next to him as well.

[13:05:05] What about the two other Americans, the Christian pastor, Saeed Abedini, and Jason Rezaian of "Washington Post"? They're getting medical attention where you are there at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. How are they doing?

PLEITGEN: Well, it's interesting because they appear to be doing quite well, also. One of the reasons why we say that is that because the indication is that there were pictures of Jason Rezaian, for instance, also meeting with his family as well.

And I spoke to Ali Rezaian, Jason's brother, yesterday. And at the time I spoke to him, he said he hadn't been able to meet Jason yet, because the folks here at the medical center didn't want that to happen too quickly, because they feel that these three men, after undergoing all of the things they went through, it could be overwhelming for them to see family members too quickly.

At the end of the day, though, Ali did manage to see his brother, Jason Rezaian, and that certainly seems to show that the physicians here believe that he's strong enough for that.

Now, Jason Rezaian, himself, has told the "Washington Post" and has told Ali that he is in good spirits. That he also feels very well physically. But, again, he also knows that he's going to have to go through this protocol, that he's going to have to let these specialists here at the Landstuhl Medical Center do their work, because they have done this a lot of times. They're very experienced in all of this. Bowe Bergdahl, for instance, was here as well.

And, again, he knows that they are trying to help him. But, of course, all three of these men want to go back to the U.S. and to their lives as fast as possible -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Totally understandable. Thanks very much. Fred Pleitgen on the ground for us in Germany.

It took 14 months of turbulent talks between Iranian and U.S. officials to sort out this prisoner swap. And we're now learning about what was happening inside the Obama administration during that time. We're getting some new information about serious concerns some top U.S. officials had about concessions within the deal.

I want to bring in our Justice Reporter Evan Perez, our CNN Global Affairs Analyst Kimberly Dozier and our CNN Political Analyst Josh Rogan. Evan, you're getting some new information. There was some resistance going on behind the scenes. What did you learn?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, certainly, the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, had some concerns, Wolf. She wanted to make sure that they limited the number of Iranians who were going to be let go to people who had committed violent -- violated economic sanctions, for instance, to make sure that this didn't really set a precedent. And, most of all, she wanted to make sure that all of the Americans were released by the Iranians.

And, in particular, on Bob Levinson, they wanted to make sure that if we can't get him back, at least that the Iranians would turn over all of the information that they have on his disappearance. As you know, the Justice Department officials, the FBI officials believe that the Iranians know a great deal more about that and so does Levinson's family. His son addressed some of that today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Now that everything else has been done, everybody has won. The nuclear deal happened. Iran got what they wanted. They had sanctions lifted. They had Iranians come home. The U.S. has gotten the Americans home. And the only people who are suffering is my family, at this point.

My dad, he's over there. It's been almost nine years. He's suffering an unimaginable nightmare and he was the only one of these Americans who was over there serving his country. What does that say about how the U.S. government treats people who are over there and abandoning them even after they have been serving our country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And, Wolf, you know, the one thing is that the U.S. believes that Levinson is no longer in Iran. That the last time the family got any proof of life was in 2010, 2011. They got videos and photos of him pleading for help. They believe that he is somewhere else in Southwest Asia. The question is will the Iranians comply with what they are -- they have now promised which is to provide information about his disappearance in Iran those many years ago.

BLITZER: Yes, he's been in jail and -- disappeared for so long. Bob Levinson, former FBI agent. He was then a contractor for the CIA when he went missing in Kish Island, a little island right off the coast of Iran.

PEREZ: Yes.

BLITZER: What about these other two other Americans who have not been released either? Are they saying anything about why they weren't released? There are at least two more U.S. citizens who are still being held by the Iranians.

PEREZ: That's another question I think, certainly for the attorney general. She wanted to make sure everybody was released. And, obviously, that's a disappointment now that that didn't happen, as well as the lack of information about Levinson. Simply because he -- as you mentioned, Levinson was a former employee of the Justice Department. And it was very important for them to know exactly what happened to him. All we have now are promises from the Iranians. BLITZER: He was working on behalf of the U.S. government, too, and so

there is a responsibility to try to get him out. Hopefully, they'll find him and get him out, at some point. Thanks very much for that. Evan, don't go too far away.

Kimberly, you've been doing a lot of reporting on the Ayatollah Khamenei (ph), the spiritual leaders, obviously a big leader, in Iran. He seems to be sort of skeptical about this whole deal.

In a letter from the Ayatollah to the Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, he says, let me quote, "remarks made by certain American politicians during the past couple of days are totally a cause for suspicion." He goes on to say, quote, "the lifting of the sanctions on its own is not enough to bring about improvement of the country's economy and facilitate people's livelihood." That's it.

[13:10:10] So, where does the Ayatollah stand, as far as this letter is concerned as the U.S. and the more moderate elements of Iran try to move forward?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the Ayatollah had backed this deal, but he is now sounding much like U.S. officials after the completion of the deal, coming out with warnings that you can't trust the U.S. We have U.S. officials saying that you've got to watch Iran. You can't trust them.

Also, this was a real victory for the moderate president. And we've got elections coming up in Iran in February. And so, it's as if the Ayatollah, who represents the hard-line side of the political parties who are running, is trying to take the shine off of the euphoria that the Iranian public might be feeling about the deal, saying, hey, we don't know how this is going to turn out. Think about long-term security and think ahead when you're going into that voting booth for the parliament or the assembly of experts who might choose the next Ayatollah. He wants it to be a hardliner.

BLITZER: Because these elections are coming up, Josh, as you well know, you've been writing about this. Apparently, the hardliners are deeply concerned. If these elections are relatively free, the moderates will win. And now, there is increasing pressure to prevent some moderates from even running because they're not acceptable. What are you hearing about that?

JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Well, it's so interesting because we see Rouhani and Khamenei battling over Twitter. And even though the Iranians can't really see Twitter, we can get a peek inside their politics. And it seems that Khamenei is campaigning against Rouhani and the moderates.

And what's interesting is that unlike in America , the elections are fixed, right. So, you have 3,000 moderate candidates which the Guardian Council approves 30 of which Rouhani got four of his guys. So even if the moderates win all the seats they're up for, the hardliners are going to win these elections. They're going to control Iran. And what that means for the future of Iran relationship is that despite that progress with the nuclear deal and this prisoner swap, which can be counted as positives, the basic fundamentals of the mistrust and the hardliners running Iran and the U.S. tension with Iran are likely to continue for the foreseeable future.

BLITZER: So, it, obviously, they -- it's a very complicated story and it's not going away anytime soon. But an enormous is at stake right now -- an enormous amount of interest is at stake right now. Guys, thanks very much.

Coming up, the U.S. Supreme Court is taking on one of President Obama's signature actions on immigration reform, one that prevents millions of people from being deported from the United States. We'll update you on this major decision. That's coming up.

[13:12:40]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:43] BLITZER: The U.S. Supreme Court will now step into the middle of a major controversy over immigration reform here in the United States. More specifically, the court has decided to take up the issue of President Obama's executive actions on immigration. Those were signed back in 2014. But after more than half of the state objected, federal courts stopped the executive actions from taking place. That was a huge setback to the president.

Here's the reaction today from the White House. Quote, "we are pleased that the Supreme Court has decided to review the immigration case. The policies will make our communities safer, they will make our economy stronger, and they are consistent with the actions taken by presidents of both parties, the laws passed by Congress, and the decisions of the Supreme Court. We are confident that the policies will be upheld as lawful."

Our justice correspondent Pamela Brown is here with more.

Pamela, what exactly is the Supreme Court going to have to decide right now?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically the Supreme Court's going to look at whether or not this is constitutional, the president's immigration plan, which is further than what the lower courts had looked at. This program that was really the centerpiece of President Obama's second term was banned in Texas and several other states after they brought a lawsuit, and then it was upheld by the appeals court.

So the Supreme Court today taking up the issue and deciding whether or not the U.S. can allow these 4.3 million undocumented immigrants to stay inside the U.S. and apply for work authorization and other benefits. Wolf, these are people who are parents of lawful U.S. resident citizens, and also those children who were born outside of the U.S. who have -- were raised in the country. The Obama administration applauding this decision by the high court today to take this up, and here's what Josh Earnest had to say during a briefing at the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We've got a lot of confidence in the legal arguments that we'll be making before the court. The kinds of executive actions that the president took a little over a year ago now to try to bring some much needed reforms and the greater accountability to our broken immigration system were clearly consistent with the precedent that was established by other presidents. And clearly within the confines of his authority as president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So this is being looked at by the Obama administration as a victory because had the high court not decided to take up the case, the lower court's ruling would stand, meaning those programs would be banned in Texas and elsewhere moving forward. So a big deal for the Obama administration, but the stakes still very high deciding -- determining, you know, why the Supreme Court, whether or not this is constitutional.

BLITZER: And they'll have to decide, the nine justices, before the end of June.

BROWN: That's right.

BLITZER: Before they go into their summer break. All right, Pamela, thanks very, very much.

A decision on the president's executive orders on immigration will come down in effect right in the middle of the presidential campaign here in the United States. Joining us now from Chicago is Democratic Congressman Luis Gutierrez. He's a member of the House Judiciary Committee.

Congressman, the Supreme Court handed victories to the administration, decisions, for example, on same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act, both considered constitutional. Does that make you hopeful that the court, in this particular case, will once again rule in the White House's favor?

REP. LUIS GUTIERREZ (D), ILLINOIS: First, Wolf, thanks for having me on. It's a great day in America. A great day to be an American. I'm proud of the fact that the Supreme Court has taken on the case. And I'm very joyful today.

[13:20:06] Four million people, the Supreme Court can give them a way to register with the government. That is, with their own money, take a -- go into a serious background check, check out their fingerprint, pay for it themselves, register with the government, get a work permit. I am very optimistic that what the president has done is lawful, constitutional and follows many, many precedents that other presidents and chief executives of the United States have already taken. So I am very confident that when the Supreme Court -- Wolf, you have to understand one thing really about this. That is, had the Supreme Court not taken it, it was dead. It was never going to be going anywhere in the 7th Circuit. It was over. President Barack Obama would not be president of the United States and it would have taken years. The fact that the Supreme Court knows this and they want to make it an issue. And it's great that it should become an issue in July of this year, as everybody's having their conventions and we're looking forward to a presidential campaign with the nominees of each party.

BLITZER: But it's by no means a slam dunk for your side. The argument against the president's executive action, that he himself on several occasions, when rejecting this kind of unilateral executive action, had said, he's the president of the United States, he's not the emperor of the United States. So there's a legal battle that's going to be unfolding, and there are conservative justices, liberal justices, as you well know, congressman.

GUTIERREZ: Let me give you a couple of the examples, Wolf. So, President Truman, he desegregated the armed forces of the United States after World War II. He said no longer would we have companies and battalions in the armed forces that would segregate Latinos from blacks, from Native Americans, from Asians, from white men. He did that. You know, it took us until 1963, nearly 15 years later, before the law caught up with what President Truman did.

The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order. Freed the slaves. Abraham Lincoln did that. Now did (ph) we have to change the Constitution of the United States to catch up with that? So there have been executive. It's what presidents are able to do, especially when the Congress of the United States refuses to act.

Look, Wolf, I think if you and I were to evaluate honestly the Congress of the United States, we'd come to the conclusion that there are enough senators and enough member of Congress to fix our broken immigration system, and yet we do not do it. And so the president of the United States, looking at the situation, he said to himself, God, there are 5 million American citizen children whose parents are undocumented, who are going to go through a criminal background check, who present no risk to our company, as a matter of fact a great benefit to our country, shouldn't they be allowed the raise those children while the Congress of the United States finally takes action. I get that the president said no. But, you know what I believe? I'm going to share with you what I truly believe. I think the president really wanted to bring Democrats and Republicans together and have a legislative solution. I think that was his response to us.

BLITZER: A quick -- a quick question. A quick question, congressman. This is an executive order. Let's say the Supreme Court says the president was right. He could sign this into executive order and starting in July, August, September, the process begins to unfold. But what happens if there's a Republican president elected in November? That Republican president can unsign that executive order on day one and that would, obviously, reverse all those gains from your respective -- you're aware of that possibility?

GUTIERREZ: Sure. That possibility exists. It is an executive order. But I just want you to think one moment, Wolf. I want you to think of millions of people coming forwards, registering with the government, showing they represent no threat, paying their taxes, having American citizen children that they're raising. I mean who's going to reverse that kind of situation? I don't see it happening.

But listen, that's what elections are for, Bruce. So November -- Wolf. Next November, what's going -- when people walk into the ballot box, one of the critical issues that they're going to have on their mind as they vote for the next president of the United States is, who's going to protect those 4 million people and who's not. I think a lot of people in America want a sensible, just immigration system, Wolf, that's going to protect those moms and dads and let them raise their American citizen children.

BLITZER: Before that happens, though, the U.S. Supreme Court has to make its decision. We'll see what the nine justices decide to do before the end of June.

GUTIERREZ: They will.

BLITZER: All right, Congressman Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, thanks very much for joining us.

GUTIERREZ: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Up next, an unnatural disaster in Michigan as residents now striking back at their leaders over a drinking water emergency. We're going there live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[31:29:05] BLITZER: It's a manmade disaster that could have long lasting negative effects on the people of Flint, Michigan, especially the children. The city changed the source of the water supply back in 2014 in an effort to save some money, but the failure to properly treat the water left residents with brown water filled with iron and lead. The governor has apologized. Critics have called it his Katrina, a fact he doesn't deny.

While President Obama has declared a federal emergency, releasing millions of dollars to help the situation there. And right now we are hearing from the attorneys in Flint, who are detailing new civil lawsuits aimed at state leaders, including the governor. Our justice -- our correspondent Jean Casarez is there in Flint, Michigan.

Jean, first of all, what do we know about the new lawsuits and the others like it?

[13:29:56] JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are brand-new suits that are just being filed now. They are class actions, but they are on the state level versus the federal level because that was a class action suit that was filed recently.