Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Secretary of State Marco Rubio Speaks to Staffers; Immigration Crackdown; President Trump Pardons January 6 Rioters Who Assaulted Police Officers. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 21, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Deja vu, his first full day in office again.

After an Inauguration Day packed with executive orders, President Donald Trump is not slowing down. How he's looking to put his agenda into action in short order.

And his Cabinet is coming into focus. This hour, we could hear from the first official member of his Cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a critical post with decisions to be made about conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN HOST: And a controversial move that could have dire repercussions for global health. Trump pulls the U.S. out of the World Health Organization again. We will look at how that could impact us all.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. I'm Boris Sanchez, alongside Kayla Tausche.

Kayla, great to have you.

TAUSCHE: Thank you for having me. It's going to be a fun afternoon.

SANCHEZ: It will be. It's going to be a busy afternoon as well here in Washington, as President Donald Trump kicks off his first full day in office.

Next hour, the new president will meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Leader John Thune at the White House, as they discuss next steps of his sweeping agenda.

TAUSCHE: It comes after Trump signed a flurry of executive orders on Inauguration Day, including pardons for roughly 1,500 January 6 rioters, some who violently assaulted police officers. He also gave commutations for members of far right extremist groups, some of whom were convicted of seditious conspiracy.

Trump also signing a slew of actions on immigration, effectively shutting down the southern border to asylum seekers and also bringing major changes to birthright citizenship.

CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins us now.

Jeff, what are we expecting this afternoon from the president as he settles into his first full day in office?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, day two may be more interesting and difficult in really setting the road toward governing than day one.

And he is going to have the first meeting with Republican leadership. Yesterday was a day of pomp and circumstance. He was around the House speaker and the Senate majority leader all day long. But they really did not discuss, we're told, the actual legacy issues here that the president's trying to achieve.

And that, of course, is his big legislative package. And the question is, it going to be one big bill, separate bills? Of course, he wants to extend his tax cuts from his first administration. A lot of the immigration work he's talking about requires legislation. So it's more than just executive order.

So, last night, he flexed the muscle of the presidency, the power of the presidency. You could see the look on his eye when he walked into the Oval Office again. But it's the actual bills he will sign, if any, that actually will determine his success and the level of it of his presidency.

TAUSCHE: There's already some disagreement. I mean, he's called for this one big, beautiful bill.

ZELENY: Right.

TAUSCHE: Senate Majority Leader John Thune told an energy conference last week he still supports breaking it up into two. So we will see if they have any agreements when they come out of today's meeting.

ZELENY: Without a doubt, and this is the beginning of many. There's no doubt. And my guess is that this is also sort of a metaphor for the forward-looking aspect of his presidency versus the backward-looking aspect.

I mean, we're looking at the executive orders there he signed. A lot of them were sort of backward-looking, score-settling, reversing the Biden administration once. That's what all presidents do. Biden did it for Trump. We all remember that. But what he can do going forward, and that's where this meeting starts today, so a lot of anticipation from Republicans.

It's his party, and the burden is on them to try and govern.

TAUSCHE: We will see that meeting happen next hour. Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

ZELENY: You bet. TAUSCHE: Meanwhile, the leaders of two extremist groups convicted for

their roles in the January 6 Capitol riot walked out of prison free men today, thanks to sweeping pardons and commutations by President Trump.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, was released from a Maryland prison where he was serving an 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and other felony charges. You see the video here.

And Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman, who was serving a 22-year sentence, was set free from prison in Louisiana.

TAUSCHE: They are just two of the more than 1,500 people charged in the Capitol attack who've now been granted clemency by Trump. More than 140 police officers were injured during the seven-hour siege.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us from the D.C. jail, where the first two prisoners were released overnight.

Katelyn, what's the situation there now, and how will this play out in the coming hours and days?

[13:05:03]

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Katelyn, Boris, this group behind me, these are supporters of the January 6 rioters, and they are here waiting in anticipation for the release of more of the people who are detained in this jail.

Now, you mentioned Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers, released from a federal prison in Maryland. That's because he was already sentenced and he was already doing his time. He had been sentenced to 18 years in prison, and he is now having his sentence commuted. So he's being released.

Others, like Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, he was fully pardoned. He had been serving a 22-year sentence in a federal prison. But here at the jail, it's a little bit different. The people here are not, for the most part, sentenced already. Many of them are awaiting or were awaiting more proceedings in the courthouse which is not too far away from here or they were awaiting their sentencing or awaiting being transferred out.

And so the collection of people here that are being released, they're going to be received by people in this city that have been keeping vigil as supporters for them for several months now. I have heard so far that there is a member of Congress here, a Republican from Arizona, here with this crowd.

This group behind me, they have been singing "God Bless America" in their circle together. There haven't been others that we have seen en masse coming out of the jail so far this morning, but it is expected that people will be released as the system processes them.

So Trump pardons more than 1,000 people. He commuted the sentences of people already in prisons who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, 14 people, including Stewart Rhodes. And then there are other people that the Justice Department is working furiously right now to tell the federal court in D.C., dismiss their cases.

I was just over there a few moments ago and ran into the judge who presided over the Oath Keeper's case, asked him if he had a comment. He said, no, not at all. When he speaks, he speaks from the bench. And these judges did sentence many of these January 6 rioters quite harshly, given the crimes against the United States that they were convicted by juries, by judges for things like violence against the police, as well as seditious conspiracy that Donald Trump is now pardoning them for -- back to you.

TAUSCHE: Katelyn Polantz in D.C.

Katelyn, thank you.

Let's bring in Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI and a CNN law enforcement analyst.

Andrew, some members of the president's own party have expressed some unease about this action. Senator James Lankford said that anyone who attacks a police officer should have to pay a price for that. North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis said that Trump's blanket pardons raise a legitimate safety concern on Capitol Hill.

What concerns do you have?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think those concerns that you mentioned are -- I share those.

I think, at its foundation, this action sends some really very troubling messages. I mean, predominantly, it sends a very clear message to anyone in this country who is inclined to use violence for political purposes that, if they do so in a way that they believe is consistent with what President Trump wants or the things that he believes, that they will not be held responsible.

And that is a very dangerous thing to send out, message to send out to the community of extremists in this country who are inclined to resort to violence to resolve political grievances. I think -- on a smaller scale, I think it sends a very, very loud message to militia groups and extremist groups.

When you have Enrique Tarrio and Stewart Rhodes walking out of prison today, this is an affirmation or it's a -- it's a recognition that maybe they were right all along, that they're no longer going to be held responsible, that the president of the United States believes they were hostages, unfairly convicted.

We, of course, know that none of that is true, right? We know what happened on January 6. We all saw it. It's been preserved for the record. These people were convicted by juries of their peers, not by some nameless bureaucrats in government.

Nevertheless, I think it's a very, very challenging message that this sends out to some small parts of our community.

TAUSCHE: So, if there is a member of the Proud Boys or the Oath Keepers that is watching this go down, I mean, do you believe that they're emboldened, not only the defendants who were pardoned here, but others who were perhaps not charged and not convicted?

Do you see more political violence or intimidation happening? And if you're the FBI, what is their role now to monitor all of that activity?

MCCABE: Well, they're absolutely -- Kayla, they're absolutely emboldened, and we know this because some of them were marching in D.C. last night, saying they're taking back the streets and they did nothing wrong. So that's exactly what I'm talking about here.

[13:10:00]

That's the terrible message that we're sending to those communities,. And they're basically free to think now, we were right. It's OK to resolve our political grievances with violence. And, of course, that's a terribly dangerous message to send in this community.

If you're a member of the FBI, first and foremost, you're trying to pick yourself up and dust yourself off today and put your head around the idea that four years working on the largest investigation in the FBI's history has just been obliterated with the stroke of a pen, that over 1,000 people, right, 1,500, 1,600 people have been convicted as a part of the holding folks accountable for attacking the Capitol, all of that work and the time spent doing it is essentially for nothing.

And now they have to start thinking about the next threat, because that's what the FBI does. They're constantly thinking over the horizon strategically, trying to understand, where does the next threat come from?

But they have to think differently about how groups, particular groups on the political spectrum who align themselves with the president, do they get treated differently now as we go forward? I think that's a legitimate question for folks in the FBI to be really mulling over today.

SANCHEZ: On that point, Andy, this was the largest criminal probe in U.S. history. And it's not easy, it's not a small task to prove seditious conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt.

So I wonder if you think that this might discourage future prosecutions of folks who are seeking to use violence to political means.

MCCABE: I don't think it will or should discourage prosecutors from bringing hard cases like seditious conspiracy. These were not easy things to do, not easy things to prove, but yet they were able to do it because of the exquisite and uncontroverted evidence they had in their hands.

And they should go forward with cases like this any time they have that sort of evidence. What's going to undermine them is the thought that maybe these cases can't be brought against people who align themselves with Donald Trump's political agenda.

That is a very different calculation, not one, to my experience, that's ever happened in this country before, this idea that some people will be given a pass because of their political beliefs, not because of the sufficiency of the evidence you have to bring that prosecution.

So, yes, a very challenging day at DOJ and the FBI.

SANCHEZ: Andrew McCabe, appreciate you sharing your perspective. Thanks for joining.

MCCABE: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Right now, cities across the U.S. are bracing for a flood of immigration crackdowns, including the possibility of mass deportation.

TAUSCHE: Here with us now is CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, along with CNN's Valeria Leon, who is live near the border in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Priscilla, first to you.

Just moments ago, CNN interviewed Trump's border czar, Tom Homan. He told CNN that the targeted enforcement operations are beginning today. What do they look like?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, they look like what we might expect and what may have happened last week with some differences, and I will explain those.

So, first of all, these targeted enforcement operations that Tom Homan was referring to is going after public safety and national security threats. Well, there was similar guidance under the Biden administration, but the difference now is that, by eliminating those priorities, which is what President Trump did yesterday in an executive order, it takes out some of the discretion.

So it gives them more authority to go after who they say they are targeting. The other difference that Tom described is that if they go after a criminal and they arrest that criminal, but they are surrounded with someone else who is undocumented or more than one person, they too can be swept up. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS HOMAN, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BORDER CZAR: When we find him, he may be with others, others that don't have a criminal conviction in the country legally. They will be arrested too, because we're not going to start -- and this is the difference between the last administration and this administration.

ICE is going to enforce the immigration law. There's nothing in the INA, Immigration Nationality Act, says you got to be convicted of a serious crime in order to be removed from this country. So there's going to be more collateral arrests in sanctuary cities because they forced us to go into the community and find the guy we're looking for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, that term collateral arrests, it was also used during the Obama administration, when Tom Homan was at Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

So we have seen something like this before. But there are two unanswered questions, which is, how exactly do these look? How big are they, these sweeps that they have been talking about beyond their targeted enforcement operations, and where?

There are Democratic-led cities who are concerned because they have been called out by President Trump and Tom Homan. The Denver mayor is among them. He was telling me that they have been practicing with tabletop exercises to try to game out how to respond to these operations.

The second question too is, where is the money? Where are they going to get the resources to do these big sweeps? Because, right now, ICE is underfunded. It has been underfunded. So one of the big questions for them moving forward is, how exactly can they bolster their resources to try to come through on this mass deportation pledge?

[13:15:10]

SANCHEZ: We'll imagine that comes up with Trump as he meets with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill today.

Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much.

We want to get you a view from the border now with Valeria Leon.

Valeria, how are folks there reacting, people who have been trying to enter the country, the United States, I should say? Are they still trying to find a way in?

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, with a lot of frustration.

Right now, I'm standing at a local office, Mexican office, where the migrants with canceled CBP-1 appointments were brought by the Mexican authorities, and this after showing up at the international port and this border city of Ciudad Juarez. They were brought here.

And, in this moment, they are receiving some food, hot soup, some canned tuna. And also they are receiving information the available shelters that they -- that are in this border town of Ciudad Juarez, where they can stay. Many migrants' spirits were crushed after they discovered that the CBP-1 application was canceled.

And with that, they have been left without the electronic resource to seek asylum in the U.S. Now the dreams of thousands of migrants are stuck on the U.S.-Mexico border. And this morning, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said that this

situation is not that different from years before. This is what the president said this morning:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The decree on the southern border emergency zone that he signed yesterday is very similar. It's practically the same to the decree that he signed during his first term in 2019. This is the declaration of a national emergency with respect to the southern border of the United States on February 20, 2019.

If you compare the two decrees, there are differences, but it is very similar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEON: As part of the strategy of welcoming deported Mexicans, the federal government has set up 25 temporary shelters along the border for them, but also border towns are working around the clock and hoping that their infrastructure can accommodate the thousands of migrants that would arrive here on the Mexico-U.S. border if Trump carries out his plans for mass deportations -- back to you.

SANCHEZ: Valeria Leon from Ciudad Juarez in Mexico, thank you so much for that update.

Happening now: once a Republican rival, now the nation's top diplomats. Newly sworn in Secretary of State Marco Rubio just spoke from the State Department. We're following the latest on this critical role.

TAUSCHE: Plus, snow falling on Bourbon Street? A once-in-a-generation storm across the South, parts of Texas and Louisiana under their first ever blizzard warnings.

Details ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:22:37]

TAUSCHE: The nation's first Latino secretary of state, Marco Rubio, just finished speaking moments ago to the staffers he will now lead.

Rubio is visiting Foggy Bottom today after being sworn in this morning. He's President Trump's first Cabinet pick to make it through the Senate confirmation process with a vote of 99-0.

SANCHEZ: Yes, the Senate confirmed the former Florida senator last night in a nearly unanimous vote.

CNN chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt joins us.

Alex, what did secretary Rubio have to say? ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this

is a bit of a tradition.

A couple days ago, we saw Secretary Blinken leaving amid applause, and, today, we saw Secretary Rubio coming in to great applause. The staff at the State Department crowds into that big lobby on C Street, and we heard both a lighthearted, but also a time serious speech from Secretary Rubio. He was very flattering of the diplomatic corps that was out in front of him.

He talked about the need to be bolder and faster. He said that he wants the State Department to be really at the center of these foreign policy discussions, saying that there have been times when the State Department has often been relegated to a secondary position in comparison to other agencies that are faster and bolder.

He says he wants the smartest ideas that President Trump can implement. Here's a little bit of what he had to say to the State Department staff there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: This is an extraordinary honor and a privilege to serve in this role, to be here, frankly, to oversee the greatest, the most effective, the most talented, the most experienced diplomatic corps in the history of the world, resides in this building.

(CHEERING)

RUBIO: In our republic, the voters decide the course of our nation, both domestically and abroad, and they have elected Donald J. Trump as our president when it comes to foreign policy on a very clear mission.

And that mission is to ensure that our foreign policy is centered on one thing, and that is the advancement of our national interests.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: And the way that Secretary Rubio has been defining the advancement of the national interests is through what he calls three main questions. Does it make the U.S. stronger? Does it make America safer? And does it make us more prosperous?

Now, guys, he was speaking to a fairly jittery crowd there, uncertain of what is to come. He did say that there were changes afoot. He said they would not be punitive or spiteful or damaging. But I have to say, our colleague Jenny Hansler has reported from the State Department that more than a dozen top-level senior career diplomats have been asked to step down.

[13:25:07]

She spoke with a senior veteran former diplomat who was worried that this could be the beginning of a purge, but Secretary Rubio making no apologies for it, saying that the State Department has to change to address the issues that are coming down the road in the future.

SANCHEZ: Alex Marquardt, thank you so much for that update from the State Department. Appreciate it.

Still ahead: For the first time ever, parts of Louisiana are facing a blizzard warning. These are live pictures from New Orleans. We will have the latest in the forecast track, as another round of extreme winter weather hits the South.

Plus: The mayor of Los Angeles is warning that everyone needs to be on high alert, as those strong Santa Ana winds could ramp up the wildfire threat once more.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We're back in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)