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January 6 Rioters Released From Jail After Sweeping Trump Pardons; Democratic States And Cities Sue Over Trump's Order To End Birthright Citizenship; Trump's Order Threatens Fate Of Afghan Refugees Who Aided U.S. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired January 21, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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


[16:00:07]

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN HOST: Plastic is so out.

The airline hopes this gives customers an easier way to book flights. JetBlue has been searching for ways to broaden its appeal in recent months, including adding new features to its own app and creating airport lounges.

But I want to know, do I need to know the last four digits of JetBlue's phone number to be able to pay on Venmo?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: That's a good question. Hmm.

TAUSCHE: How does this work?

SANCHEZ: We'll get back to you on that.

"THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So whatever, happened to back the blue?

THE LEAD starts right now.

Criticism for President Trump's sweeping pardons for January 6th criminals, including those who violently attacked law enforcement officers. Some Republicans calling the pardons outright wrong, but others are focusing their blame on Joe Biden for his pardons, including of his family.

Plus, new lawsuits already against the new Trump administration from birthright citizenship, to the rights of federal workers. How quickly might Trump lawyers find themselves in court.

And the new president taking action -- action against his own former national security adviser, John Bolton. Bolton continues to face death threats from Iran, but Donald Trump today took away a key security detail.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD.

And the first day of the new Trump administration. I'm Jake Tapper. We start in our politics lead.

President Trump is currently meeting with congressional Republican leaders at the White House right now after attending services earlier today at the National Cathedral and giving the sermon a bad review because the bishop asked for mercy for undocumented immigrants and LGBT children.

On that subject of mercy, we should start our coverage today on the pardons and commutations that President Trump issued for those who attacked the Capitol on January 6th, 2021. So yesterday, just as Capitol police officers were wrapping up their long, arduous day, securing inauguration services, President Trump forgave the very people who violently attacked law enforcement four years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So this is January 6th, and these are the hostages. Approximately 1,500 for a pardon. Full pardon. We have about six commutations in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: President Trump teased that moment, announcing it on a stage at his rally yesterday afternoon where he was surrounded by families who had been affected by the brutal terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th, 2023, families of actual hostages standing with a young woman who had been held hostage herself, Noah Argamani, standing there just over his right shoulder tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, tonight, I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: There is no such thing as J6 hostages. Actual hostages, people kidnapped from their beds, from their communities, ripped from their families arms on October 7th by Hamas were standing on that stage, or their loved ones were. The criminals the president Trump pardoned were not hostages. They were part of the biggest criminal probe in U.S. history, all of it dismantled with the swipe of President Trump's signature black marker.

Let's rewind and listen to President Trump the day after the insurrection of 2021 in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Like all Americans, I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem. To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction. You do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Hmm. President Trump now apparently feels quite differently about these 1,500 criminals.

The Trump transition had promised as recently as yesterday morning, a careful case by case analysis before the president issued any pardons. That, of course, did not happen. And here are some of the people Donald Trump just released onto the streets.

We'll start with Oath Keepers leader Kelly Meggs, seen here marching in formation in military gear, infiltrating the Capitol --freed. Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, whom prosecutors say stockpiled weapons prior to the Capitol attack, freed. Proud Boys member, Dominic Pezzola, his sentence was commuted. Seen here smashing a window with the police riot shield.

So were former Proud Boys leaders Joe Biggs and Ethan Nordean. Biggs, now out of prison, is speaking. In the next video, you're going to see Nordean to the left in the sunglasses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIGGS, PROUD BOYS LEADER: So we just stormed the fucking Capitol, took the motherfucking place back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Those were the commutations.

Here are some of the people who were pardoned. Julian Khater shown here spraying officers in the face, law enforcement officers. Its either chemical spray or bear spray, according to prosecutors. Those he sprayed included, by the way, the late U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick.

Khater later pled guilty to assaulting officers with a dangerous weapon, sentenced to six years in jail, no longer.

Matthew Krol, the person in the red hoodie charging towards law enforcement officers stealing one of their batons, described as one of the most active instigators of violence that day, according to the Justice Department -- also pardoned.

Robert Palmer, a Florida man who attacked police with a fire extinguisher, a wooden plank and a pole, also pardoned.

Two rioters were released from jail last night, brothers Andrew Valentin and Matthew Valentin convicted of felony assault, sentenced to prison just last week, pardoned. Andrew seen here also grabbing a police officer's baton. Both brothers got out of there two and a half year prison sentence.

Remember, President Trump called January 6th, quote, a day of love. But many in his own party still did not see it that way.

Here's his own vice president, J.D. Vance, about a week ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you committed violence on that day, obviously, you shouldn't be pardoned. And there's a little bit of a gray area there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If you committed violence on that day, obviously you shouldn't be pardoned. Obviously. Not obvious to everyone I guess.

CNN has a team covering the reaction to all of this. CNN's Paula Reid is with me, along with CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.

But let's start with Katelyn Polantz outside the D.C. jail, where a number of these January 6th prisoners were behind bars.

Katelyn, what's been the reaction outside the jail? How is this process playing out?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Jake, it is a crowd here full of anticipation and support for the January 6th rioters, people who had held vigil for months and are now awaiting the release one by one from the dozen or so people who are inside these walls at the D.C. jail.

Now, this is a bit different than the Bureau of Prisons, where people like Stewart Rhodes, the head of the Oath Keepers, Enrique Tarrio, the head of the Proud Boys, where they were released. Those people get the pardon from Donald Trump or the sentence commutation, and that presidential clemency means they can leave almost immediately. Those are the releases happening around the country of more than a thousand people convicted and sentenced for crimes on January 6th, both misdemeanors, as well as violent crimes, even seditious conspiracy.

But here at the D.C. jail, there have been just a trickle of people coming out. You mentioned the Valentin brothers. They had just been sentenced on Friday, and a judge sent them to this jail immediately after that sentencing hearing because they had assaulted police. They walked out last night. They would have been transferred to a BOP facility. That's what their situation was.

Then there are others here who are still awaiting some sort of wrap up in court who don't get to be recipients of a full presidential pardon or clemency. Instead, the court system has to dismiss their cases. And I was just speaking to someone working on the legal team of two people that are being held inside this jail, one person awaiting trial, one person awaiting sentencing, and their lawyer doesn't know what's going on yet. What the holdup is.

So far today, I've been here since earlier this morning, and there's only been one person that we saw come out Rachel Powell, a mother from Pennsylvania who took an ice ax and then a battering ram to a window to get people into the Capitol on January 6th. She came out to her family, to these supporters, was greeted with open arms, said fresh air, and then was putting on a Trump hat, a pink hat in the viral photos from her from January 6th. She also wore a pink hat. Now it's a Trump hat, a pink baseball cap. And Rachel Powell was received here by this group that has been praying. They've been singing "God bless America". There's someone on a microphone who's been speaking to them. And every once in a while, people here will start chanting, "let them out or release them". And we're still waiting to see who else comes out today.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan, and, Manu, several Senate Republicans told you and other CNN colleagues that they were not on board with President Trump's sweeping pardons for January 6th rioters, including people who violently attacked police.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this went much further, Jake, than a lot of Republicans believed. In fact, a lot of them believe what J.D. Vance said just days ago that this would be a pardons for nonviolent offenders, not those violent offenders. Many of them did not think a blanket pardon was coming. Well, in fact, it very much did.

We heard some sharper criticism from some senators who voted to convict Donald Trump in the impeachment trial in the aftermath of the January 6th, 2021, attack. One of them, Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana, told me, he said, I'm a big back, the blue guy. He said if they do the crime, they should do the time.

Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican of Alaska, said, I do fear the message that has sent to these great men and women that stood -- women that stood by us, referring to the U.S. Capitol police. Now, that's not the view that has been universally shared. Some Republicans sidestepped the question, including the Senate majority leader, John Thune, who told me he's looking into the future, not the past, despite his own serious concerns that he has said in the past about January 6th.

Others pointed the finger back at Joe Biden, contending that the president, the former president, opened the door for these widespread pardons given the way he handled the pardon process, including pardoning his family in the -- in the final hours of his presidency and other Republicans defended Donald Trump, including Senator Jim Banks, a freshman from Indiana, who told me that this is what -- this is what President Trump campaigned on, that he would pardon these prisoners. He won his -- the -- his election bid, and so, he has essentially the right to do that, especially given his constitutional right to do it.

So, Jake, the reaction has been across the board. But some Republicans, including the ones who have been more critical about Donald Trump over all this, are alarmed about his move.

TAPPER: It's weird how many don't seem to be upset at all about the violent attacks on Capitol police officers there to protect them.

Paula Reid, you're here in studio with me.

It is true that Trump always said that he would pardon January 6th defendants. We didn't know that that would include 1,500 of them. The suggestion was certainly from his supporters that it might be some nonviolent ones, but this includes people who violently attacked the cops.

You've been digging into how this all came to be. Tell us.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Trump and his vice president have said that there would likely be some nuance, but I've been reporting on this process to craft these pardons for months, and it was clear a while back that they were not really going to be able to differentiate between violent and nonviolent offenders because they wanted to do this on day one, and they were unwilling to go through a case by case analysis.

Speed was a real priority for them. And you really do need a case by case assessment to suss this out, because in this, if you're charged with assault, that could mean a broad range of things. For example, you have some of the leaders of these far right groups. One wasn't even in D.C. that day.

Well, is that person a part of the violent offenders, if they're directing violence? There's a lot of nuance here. They really didn't want to wait around in that.

And when I press on that, like, well, you're saying there's going to be nuance. They would point at one time to former President Biden's pardon of his son, Hunter. They would say, well, if he did that, we don't have to worry about crafting this too narrowly.

Now, yesterday when I saw then-President Biden pardoned his entire family, I wondered if that was going to make this slate of pardons even more broad. It does not appear at this point that it had an impact on this, because we knew this is approximately what this was going to look like before Biden announced those pardons.

But again, you don't need to point a finger at somebody else to justify your pardons. The pardon power is absolute, and this is approximately what Trump said he would do.

TAPPER: I get your point that it would take a lot of work, and it would be case by case. That is what Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller said to me yesterday, that it would be a case by case process.

REID: And it just it isn't. They said they'll look at 14 different cases. And those people who received commutations could still get pardons. When you have 14 out of 1,500, that is just not a case by case assessment.

TAPPER: All right. I guess back the blue doesn't mean very much to this group. Thank you so much.

Thanks, Manu and Katelyn.

A former police officer attacked on January 6th, is going to join me with his reaction to the sweeping pardons, including on those who violently attacked police. Plus, the president meeting right now with congressional leaders setting their priority list. With Republicans now officially controlling the White House, the Senate and House of Representatives. We're going to keep you posted on the headlines coming out of that meeting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:17:48]

TAPPER: This hour, President Trump is meeting with the congressional Republican leadership at the White House. These meetings are critical as the president needs their support to enact some of the items on the executive action steamship he's sailing. This comes as were getting lots of reaction to Trump pardoning January 6th defendants.

Let's bring in the panel.

Mike, you're a former Trump White House communications director. Your reaction to the pardons, especially the ones I'm most interested in, is your reactions to the ones of people who violently attacked law enforcement.

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, no, no. And I listened to your piece at the beginning of tonight. So I think there's a couple of things that went through my mind when I was going through this. It is not unusual to me that you had Jason Miller on. You had Vice President Vance last week on Fox News, I think it was, talk about how we're going to go on a case by case basis. And the president decided to make a different to go a different direction.

I'm not surprised by that. I think that's -- we're going to see that over the next four years. I also think what the president's doing here is he's -- he's pushing to see what is, you know, the art of the possible.

One of the things, one of the lessons that he learned from the first administration, Trump 1.0, is that sometimes he did not push as far as he wanted to. And I think this is an example of him pushing as far as he wants to, even though others advisors have said this is going too far.

TAPPER: And is there any repercussion? I don't really see any right now.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: In focus group after focus group in the elections we just come out of, this makes the base -- the Trump's base very happy. We know that. And people last night and the night before have argued with me that this is what America voted for. They voted for him. If they didn't like it, they wouldn't have voted for it.

I push back on that and say that in these focus groups, there was a big bunch of Republicans and independents who voted for Donald Trump, and it had nothing to do with January 6th or pardons. But about they remembered what the economy was like then, what gas and groceries were.

And they would say to me in focus groups, they would say, you know, I don't really like him. I don't like him on Twitter. I don't like him bullying people, but I like what my economy was like then, and that's why I'm going to vote for him. Plus, I think Joe Biden's a little too old.

That was a lot of America, and I'm wondering how those people are going to react to this decision.

TAPPER: Jamie turning away from Trump for one second in his final act before exiting the White House while Trump was about to be sworn in, we learned that President Biden issued preemptive pardons for five members of his own family his sister, his two brothers and two of the spouses of those siblings.

[16:20:11]

Do you think that might have played a role in Donald Trump just deciding to say, what the hell? I'm just going to pardon all 1,500 of these people, even the ones who beat up cops.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't know, but my sense is that Donald Trump was going to do what he wanted to do, and that he had decided to do this with or without the Biden pardons. I do want to say, though, the Biden pardons, in my opinion, do set a terrible precedent because beyond the optics, if one president does it to such a large degree, and I understand that President Biden said, these are extraordinary times. And he was worried about President Trump revenge, retribution.

But if one president does it, it does set the precedent of perhaps President Trump and his family now feel, well, he's done it. And we have a free card now.

TAPPER: Well, and let me ask you, because in December 2020, I asked President-elect Biden, I said, there's talk now of Donald Trump on his way out the door, preemptively pardoning his family members and Rudy Giuliani and others, and then President-elect Joe Biden said he was really worried about the precedent that would set.

ROCHA: This is a direct effect on what I'm going to try to do in the midterms, because there's 14 congressional districts that Trump won that Democratic congressman sit in that are my top targets to make sure that they can get there. So I'll make the ad talking about what Donald Trump did and pardoning these six defenders, folks that beat up cops.

Well, guess what they do? They just spin around and make a TV ad going, he pardoned his whole family. It don't really matter what J6. Not that that's right or wrong or their equivalent. They're not.

But it hurts me when I'm trying, as a Democratic strategist to win a congressional race. This is the real impact of that decision.

DUBKE: Look, at the end of the day, you either believe in the rule of law or you don't. And I -- to your point, when he pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, after he said he wouldn't do it and he politicized as much as anyone else, the DOJ when he did that and he really did preemptive pardons.

And I was going to hope that you played that clip because that's making its rounds in social media of you asking him that question and him saying, no, I wouldn't do that.

ROCHA: But now, Republicans have all branches of our government and they have to govern. They're like the dog who caught the car. Let's watch what they do.

Democrats, I tell you, step back, because there's going to be a lot of news every day on this channel and other channels, and you get to actually draw a contrast on what are you doing or you're not doing. I hope the debates there, because if the debates around the pardons now, that's going to wash clean.

TAPPER: So, Jamie, something else. Kaitlan Collins is reporting that Trump has terminated the security detail of John Bolton, his own former national security adviser, who became a critic of Donald Trump. Trump also did this in his first term. And though Biden restored it, we should note John Bolton is under active threat from the government of Iran, which wants to assassinate him.

Do you think its possible Bolton no longer warrants a security? Or is this just a petty act by someone who really doesn't care about whether or not John Bolton is killed?

GANGEL: I'm going to go with petty act. Look, you don't get protection just willy-nilly. It doesn't go on forever. My understanding is, and there are a number of people who were under threat and are under threat by Iran.

Every six months, there is a review. Some people no longer have needed the security, so they don't have the security. My understanding is that is not the case with John Bolton.

TAPPER: What do you make of that, Mike?

DUBKE: No, I -- if there's security needed and there's a security threat, it should stay. I thought that in the state of the union or the inauguration thing yesterday, that he said there wouldn't be retribution. We're going to do this the right way. Were going to stop taking the federal government and making it turn on its own people. I remember him saying that, and I'd like to see that.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to one and all, making good on a campaign promise today, President Trump's border czar confirmed targeted enforcement operations have begun. How far does that go? Many undocumented immigrants have feared mass deportations. Some answers into what's really going on. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:17]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER POLICY ADVISER: When we go find our priority target, which is a criminal alien, if he's with others in the United States illegally, we're going to take enforcement action against them. We're going to enforce the immigration law. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In our national lead, that's President Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, earlier today telling CNN that the deportation operation promised by candidate Trump has started, now that President Trump is back in the White House. This follows the series of executive orders issued by President Trump last night that declared a national emergency along the U.S. southern border, making it more difficult for people to seek asylum, as well as an effort to end outright birthright citizenship, the idea that you're a citizen if you were born in the United States.

Joining us now, CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.

Priscilla, what are -- what are you hearing about the deportation plans from Tom Homan?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start with Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out targeted enforcement operations on a routine basis. They've been doing it over the last several weeks, and they are doing it today and in the coming days. But there are two differences as to what this administration is going to do compared to the last administration.

So let's start with what Tom Homan just said. He was referring to what they call collateral arrests. What does that mean? That means that if they're going to go after someone that they are targeting, but they come across other undocumented immigrants in the process -- well, they too can be taken in to detention. So he is not ruling out that while they are doing these operations, if they come across someone else who is undocumented, they will take them in as well.

We are also learning, Jake, just within the last hour, that ICE will also be allowed to operate in and near what are called sensitive areas. Think schools, churches, hospitals. And the directive says that it trusts ice to use, quote, common sense.

Now, that is a departure from longstanding policy which has said to stay away from sensitive areas. Essentially, immigrant advocates have argued that the fear of going to school could affect kids or people who might not seek care at hospitals if they're afraid of arrest by ICE.

[16:30:11]

Now, I've spoken to ice officials who don't believe that this would make a big dent in the numbers for them, but just giving them the authority to do enforcement actions near these places is telling of the way that this operation is coming into shape. Now, if people were looking for big sweeps in cities, we haven't seen that. But that doesn't mean that operations aren't happening -- happening on an hourly and daily basis.

TAPPER: So birthright citizenship, the idea that if you're born in this country, you are a citizen. I thought this had been adjudicated. I thought this was or had already been settled law. Maybe I'm wrong. The administration is now being sued by 24 states and cities led by

Democrats to block this effort. Tell us more.

ALVAREZ: So you're right that the Supreme Court has weighed in on this issue, but what was left unanswered was what happens if your parents are undocumented? And that is the question that many in Trump's orbit have had for a long time and debated when it comes to birthright citizenship. There's one clause in particular the jurisdiction thereof.

Basically, their argument is if you are born on U.S. soil, but one of your parents or both of your parents are not legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens, well, then you shouldn't be able to get U.S. citizenship. Now, you mentioned the lawsuits there. The ACLU also suing.

Now, oftentimes when we talk about legal challenges and the administration, they're looked at as a hurdle, something that is getting in the way of their agenda. It's the opposite here. This was the entire idea.

All of the Trump allies and officials I've spoken with said they want the legal fight. They just wanted to kick it off, because ultimately they want the Supreme Court to rule on this again.

TAPPER: Interesting. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Chad Wolf, former acting secretary of homeland security during President Trump's first administration.

Before we get to the immigration issues, I do want to ask you, you were head of homeland security. President Trump just pardoned roughly 1,500 people, some of whom violently assaulted police officers on January 6th, 2021.

Do you support the pardons? Does releasing these people, including those who physically attacked police, make the homeland more secure?

CHAD WOLF, FORMER ACTING SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Well, thanks for having me. Yes, generally, I'm supportive of those pardons. I think it's important to remember, a lot of those individuals have been prosecuted now for four years and have been prosecuted in a way that folks that, you know, burned down a lot of cities in the summer of 2020 haven't been prosecuted.

So I think the -- the issue at heart here is the -- is the different types of enforcement, sorry, the application of justice in this case. And I think that's what President Trump, at least on the campaign trail, talked a lot about, fearing that those folks were targeted while other criminals perhaps were not.

TAPPER: So just -- just to underline this, I just want to make sure I'm hearing this right. You're saying that people who physically attacked police officers on January 6th, 2021, it is -- it is now -- the homeland is safer now that they're out and free. WOLF: Well, if you want to talk about homeland security, let's talk

about the threats that came across that border. Let's talk about the threats that are in the United States today.

TAPPER: I'm going to get to that in a second.

WOLF: You're asking me about January 6th.

TAPPER: Well, I want to get to that, but I just this -- this just happened. I didn't pardon the 1500 people. I just want to make sure you think the country is safer off because these people are now free, the country is better off, and the homeland is safer. That's all.

WOLF: Look, look, Jake. I am very, very clear, I don't like to see any violence done to any law enforcement officers ever. But what you're asking me is -- particularly about the prosecutions of January 6th.

And I would say that, yes, the homeland is safer. These are not career terrorists and criminals. These are individuals that did a certain action on January 6th. The president has the authority -- has decided that they have either served their time or they have -- they have been prosecuted to the extent that they need to be. And he has pardoned them.

TAPPER: Okay, lets move on. Today, 24 Democratic-led states and cities filed a lawsuit challenging this executive action signed by Trump to revoke birthright citizenship for children born here in the United States to parents who don't have legal status. You just heard Priscilla lay -- lay out the case there. In their complaint, they argue, quote, the president has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute, nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth, unquote.

What's your take?

WOLF: Well, I think Priscilla did a good job laying it out. Look, I think the Trump administration has a different view on this, particularly as it relates to individuals that came here illegally, and the children subject thereof.

And so, I think what you're seeing by the Trump administration is I do think they want this settled in a court of law, which is obviously where it's headed. But this idea that the Fourth Amendment, that there are no limits on it, and the fact that you can have individuals come here illegally and take advantage of this, I think that's what they're questioning. That's why they issued the executive order and ultimately, the Supreme Court will rule on this.

TAPPER: Yeah. Yesterday, President Trump declared a national border emergency and ordered the U.S. military to, quote, seal the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of the United States, unquote.

[16:35:07]

What specifically does that mean that the U.S. military can do and will do under this order?

WOLF: Yeah, it's a good question. Look, it frees up a lot of DOD resources. We saw this during the first Trump administration where we used resources to build a border wall I think -- but there are other ways in which the Department of Defense can help, whether it's assets, whether, again, it's resources or it's their technology that they're able to use.

Now, I think the unanswered question is what other actions and specific roles will they take along that border? Historically, we have not used DOD resources to apprehend migrants. We allow Border Patrol officers to do that. And DOD, particularly National Guard, do support roles.

We'll see if the Trump team wants to change that or not.

TAPPER: What's your response to the mayor of Denver, Mike Johnston, who says his city will work with ice when it comes to detaining violent criminals? But that's where collaboration with the Trump administration on deportations will stop.

WOLF: Well, I would hope that they would work with them on all criminals, whether they're violent or not. I think you want to remove all criminals from your -- from your communities.

And so, I think it's a -- it's a step in the right direction. It's probably better than what we heard the mayor saying several months ago. I think it's the right move.

But I think you want to -- you want to -- you want to work with ICE to remove all criminals from your community, whether they're violent, whether they're serious, whatever they might be. I think it's a good idea to work with law enforcement and remove all of them.

TAPPER: Chad Wolf, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate it.

Coming up, more reaction to President Trump's executive order, mass pardons for January 6th defendants, including those convicted of violently attacking law enforcement.

A former police officer who was there that day defending the Capitol will join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:00]

TAPPER: In our politics lead, January 6th convicted rioters now pardoned as a result of President Trump, including those convicted of violently assaulting police and destroying property during the Capitol attack.

Let's bring in former Officer Michael Fanone, a former metropolitan police department police officer who defended the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Michael, your reaction to these sweeping pardons of January 6th

rioters, including those who attacked police, including yourself.

MICHAEL FANONE, FORMER DC METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICER: I mean, it's outrageous but not surprising. I mean, if you rewind to the beginning of Donald Trump's candidacy for the office of the president of the United States, which he announced in Waco, Texas, the scene of a violent confrontation between, and members of the American extremist movement and law enforcement in which law enforcement officers lost their lives. He's been promising these pardons since day one.

And so the American people should be well aware or should have been well aware that this was coming, and they ultimately own this -- this decision and these pardons.

TAPPER: Do you fear that any of these freed criminals might now attempt retribution?

FANONE: I don't fear it, but I anticipate it. I expect that -- that individuals who were pardoned by the president and others who were emboldened by the presidential pardons of these violent criminals, will eventually attack me or members of my family physically.

TAPPER: Yeah. You've previously mentioned how you and your family received threats. Have you had to seek any protective orders or anything?

FANONE: So, today, I went to the Prince William County courthouse in Virginia, near where I live, to seek protective orders against the individuals, five of whom pled guilty to assaulting me, who were pardoned by Donald Trump and released from prison last night and this morning.

It's a process. I don't know if ill be able to obtain those protective orders, because there is a timeliness factor. And obviously, this assault occurred four years ago. But I feel it's, you know, my responsibility to do everything that I can to protect my family and myself.

TAPPER: What is your message to the congressional lawmakers who either support these pardons or immediately change the subject to the Biden family pardons or whatever?

FANONE: I don't have anything to say to them. I mean, you know, if there's one thing that I've learned over the past four years, Jake, it's that politicians are going to politic. I mean, if it wasn't such an immediate threat to me and my family, it would be amusing to watch these guys dance around the reality of the fact that Donald Trump pardoned violent criminals who viciously assaulted police officers, myself included, for simply doing their job on January 6th.

I mean, I heard your earlier guest who said that the homeland is now safer that these individuals have been released. I would ask him to take a moment and reflect on the absolute ridiculousness of that statement, and, you know -- but, you know, again, politicians are going to politic. And at the end of the day, the American people do not care.

[16:45:02]

They voted for Donald Trump. Many chose not to vote, which was the moral equivalent of allowing Donald Trump to hold the office, and so here we are.

TAPPER: Have you spoken with any of the other officers who endured what you went through or who were injured on January 6th about these pardons?

FANONE: Yeah, I really don't talk to very many police officers these days, Jake, but I did reach out to a close friend of mine who's still on the job with DC police and, I mean, unfortunately, his response was, was not really what I wanted to hear. It was that most officers are indifferent to these pardons and -- and they're more concerned with the extra long hours that they've had to work in relation to the inaugural balls, as well as, you know, tending to the January 6th insurrectionists who are being released from D.C. jail.

So, yeah, I -- indifference all around.

TAPPER: Well, we're not indifferent here.

Former MPD Officer Michael Fanone, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate your time.

FANONE: Thank you.

TAPPER: Another Trump executive order immediately impacts hundreds of Afghan refugees. In many cases, these are people who helped U.S. troops in Afghanistan and were promised help resettling here in the U.S., promised it by the United States.

So what happens to them? We're going to talk about that next.

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[16:50:22]

TAPPER: In our world lead, one of the many executive orders President Trump signed yesterday is the suspension of the U.S. refugee resettlement program, leaving thousands of refugees worldwide who had been vetted in limbo. This includes at least 2,000 Afghans who helped the United States in the 20-year war and who had already been approved for resettlement in the United States after that chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Anne Richard joins us now. She's a senior adviser at the nonprofit Afghan Evac and former assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration in the Obama administration.

Anne, thanks for joining us.

So some of these refugees are in danger, right? I mean, because one presumes they helped the United States. The Taliban is in charge. The Taliban might be searching for them.

ANNE RICHARD, SENIOR ADVISER, #AFGHANEVAC: Absolutely. These are people who are themselves or are family of people who've served with, alongside American military in Afghanistan, or worked for the embassy or development agencies, or spoke up on behalf of human rights.

And so, these are the good guys who've lost out to the Taliban. And the Taliban is very clear that they want to get them. They're threatening them, and their lives are at risk.

TAPPER: Have you reached out at all to Michael waltz, who is the president -- President Trump's national security advisor. He's a green beret, and he has spoken about the need to get Afghan partners out of Afghanistan. Has he -- has he taken your calls? Has he been open minded to hearing about this?

RICHARD: We have had great success on both sides of the aisle in Congress. We had excellent entre into the Biden administration. And so, we would like very much to establish contact with Trump officials and get their agreement to put a pause on or make an exception for the Afghans who -- to whom, for whom we owe so much.

TAPPER: Yeah.

RICHARD: And to make sure that they're allowed to continue to come in despite the plans to stop the resettlement of refugees.

TAPPER: And some of those waiting to leave, have family members here in the United States who have been waiting for them to come over via this resettlement plan. So what happens to them now?

RICHARD: We're very concerned about all the people who were told to just wait patiently in line and we would get to them. We, the U.S. government and the charities that work alongside the U.S. to bring them in.

The good part is that there are a lot of communities across the U.S. that want to take in Afghans who worked alongside our veterans, now veterans. There are a lot of communities that understand that refugees make great future Americans. And so we're -- we're hopeful that an exception or a carve-out can be made for -- for this group especially.

TAPPER: Have you talked to any of the ones in Afghanistan? What are you and your group hearing from them?

RICHARD: Oh, we're in constant contact with people in Afghanistan who are very, very worried, and, of course, their relatives here in the U.S. are frantic because they don't want them to miss the opportunity to rejoin the rest of the family in the United States. Some of the people who were slotted to come on upcoming flights include unaccompanied minors. So children who were, through no fault of their own, separated from their families, and, you know.

Other close family members and Afghans do have large families. They're very family-centric and so, they do -- they are alarmed right now on both sides of the world that they might end up separated for good. TAPPER: What's your message? And you feel -- feel free to look at the

camera and say, what's your message to President Trump about why you want him to make a carve out for these groups? Go ahead and just tell him.

RICHARD: I would say that I know President Trump is pushing a strong national security message, and that these are people who worked hand in hand with Americans on behalf of U.S. national security priorities. And so these are folks we owe it to, to bring to safety, anything that can be done to do that sooner, swifter. These are -- these are not people who, who, who are threatening Americans. They are, in fact, on the side of Americans.

TAPPER: Anne Richard, thank you so much. Please stay in touch and please send any people who are affected by this directly to here. We'd love to tell their stories and see if --

RICHARD: Thank you very much.

TAPPER: You know, I think -- I think former Congressman Waltz has been very active in this and hopefully he's listening.

RICHARD: This doesn't have to be a partisan issue.

TAPPER: Right. Exactly.

Anne Richard, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

On his first full day in office, President Trump is meeting with the Republican congressional leadership. What's next for the Republican agenda?

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House.

[16:55:02]

We're going to check in with her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, it has been a busy afternoon at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue northwest for President Donald Trump's first official full day of his second term. He met with Republican leaders of both the House and Senate. The lawmakers, who will be responsible for getting his agenda across the finish line. What we're hearing from inside that meeting, and about the $500 billion announcement Trump is about to make.

Also, among his first moves as President Trump goes after his former national security advisor, John Bolton, stripping both Bolton's security clearance and his security detail despite Iran's attempt to kill him. Ambassador Bolton will join us live to react.

And hostage families are making a renewed plea to the new administration and meeting with both Trump and his top officials as they fight to bring home their loved ones brutally kidnapped by Hamas more than 470 days ago, the family members of one of those American hostages is here to share their message.

But let's start with Trump's today, his first full day in office.