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Jan. 6 Rioters being Released from Jail After Sweeping Trump Pardons; Trump Meets with GOP Congressional Leadership; Asylum Seekers React to Trump's Immigration Orders. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 21, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Full Speed Ahead: President Donald Trump moving with lightning speed on his key priorities, ignoring criticism and putting his stamp on the office just one day after he formally returned to the White House.

Plus, tariffs, they may be a beautiful word to Donald Trump, but economists worry his plans could end up damaging the global economy, while Americans wait to see if it'll lower the inflation that was top of mind for so many voters.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN HOST: And a dangerous cold snap hits much of the U.S. How this once-in-a-generation storm could bring snow to places like Florida and Louisiana.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL. Thank you so much for sharing your afternoon with us. I'm Boris Sanchez alongside Kayla Tausche who's in for Brianna Keilar today.

Kayla, great to have you.

TAUSCHE: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Any minute now, President Trump is expected to meet with Republican leaders from the House and Senate at the White House, discussing next steps to enact his aggressive legislative agenda.

TAUSCHE: It comes as the new president is already putting Republican lawmakers on the spot on Capitol Hill after he pardoned January 6th rioters convicted of assaulting police officers. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live at the White House. CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill. Jeff, let's start with you. What are you hearing about this Oval Office meeting that's ongoing?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Kayla, there is a lot to talk about between President Trump and the Republican leaders of Congress. Yes, they have the Republican majority, but that does not guarantee legislative success. And you said "lightning action" there in the lead-in, that is unlikely to apply to the legislative work. The legislative process, as we all well know, does not move at a lightning pace, but they do need a strategy, and that's what this meeting is designed to discuss.

Is there going to be a one bill strategy? That is what the House prefers. And the President has said he prefers as well one big, beautiful bill as he likes to say or a two-tier strategy that the Senate would prefer, the budget being on one side and then priorities like immigration and national defense on the other. We will see. But these are the beginning of the conversations here.

It's not clear that they are yet underway, actually, which that would mean that they are behind schedule. That also is not unusual here. The President has a lot on his plate, a lot he wants to get done. But this is the beginning of this really long, painstaking relationship here with the new Speaker, the Senate Majority Leader, as well as the President.

And don't forget, government funding runs out in about 52 days or so. So, add that on top of all of it. But look, this is the opening gambit, if you will. Republicans, of course, earned the majority. Now, we'll see how they govern.

TAUSCHE: Jeff, keep us posted as that meeting does get underway. Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thank you.

On Capitol Hill, Lauren, what are you hearing from Republicans? You know, they've been talking about Trump's pardons for the supporters who assaulted police officers. And I know you've been asking many members about their reaction.

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kayla. I mean, this today really thrust a lot of Republican senators back into where they were in 2017, where every day they were sort of asked about another decision by Donald Trump. Obviously, his signing of hundreds of executive actions last night led to a lot of questions on Capitol Hill about what it means moving forward.

But so many Republicans had, prior to this moment and prior to the announcement of these extensive pardons, argued that they believe Donald Trump would be very careful about each and every case that he was reviewing. What happened instead is that some of those who were charged with violent crimes on January 6 either faced commutations or pardons. And I think that that is the concern from some of the Senate Republicans that I talked to.

You know, a lot of them were very careful about going up against Donald Trump. Many of them argued just blanketly that presidential pardon power has a lot of leeway, and they were not going to weigh in on whether or not they agreed or disagreed.

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But some, like Sen. Thom Tillis, who I talked to, argued that he does believe Trump's decision really does raise some security questions on Capitol Hill and does send some message to Capitol Hill police officers who protect this building and lawmakers in it every single day. Here's another Republican senator I talked to, Sen. James Lankford. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): I think if you attack a police officer, that's a very serious issue and they should pay a price for that. I am incredibly grateful for Capitol Police officers. They're here doing our security, just like the President has Secret Service, and they do an incredible job.

I think we need to continue to be able to say we are a party of law and order, and that is incredibly important to be able to protect those folks who are protecting us every single day.

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FOX: And Republicans are just 24 hours into having the White House, the House and the United States Senate, and they would much rather be talking about their policy agenda moving forward. Jeff alluded to this, but there are still a lot of questions about what is going to come out of that Oval Office meeting that may begin shortly. But one of the key questions: Are they going with a one-bill or two-bill strategy? That just depicts the kinds of challenges ahead.

If they can't decide on that simple first step, what does that foretell about their ability to agree on massive tax cuts moving forward, as well as border provisions? Kayla, Boris?

TAUSCHE: One of the reasons why Trump wants this to be in one package, because it reduces the margin for error. But we shall see, Lauren Fox.

Lauren, thank you.

SANCHEZ: So, because of the blanket pardons from President Trump, the leaders of two extremist groups convicted for their roles in the January 6th Capitol riot today are free men. Stewart Rhodes, the head of the Oath Keepers, was released from a Maryland prison where he was serving an 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy and some other felony charges.

TAUSCHE: And Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman, was set free from a Louisiana prison where he was serving a 22-year sentence for similar crimes. They are just two of the roughly 1,500 people charged in the Capitol attack who have now been granted clemency by Trump. More than 140 police officers were injured during that seven- hour siege. CNN's Katelyn Polantz joins us now from the Washington, D.C. jail, where the first two prisoners were released overnight.

Katelyn, it looks like there's a crowd gathering there. Where do things stand with the others?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Kayla, Boris, it's a crowd because it wasn't just two men released overnight. There's at least been one other person released from the D.C. jail who was awaiting resentencing. This woman in the pink hat, that's Rachel Powell, a mother from Pennsylvania who was convicted and sentenced to several months in prison, more than a year, for having an ice axe, trying to get inside a window of the Capitol building, and then using a large cardboard tube as a battering ram.

Then, she's been held in this facility for some time because she was awaiting to be resentenced after the Supreme Court cut away some of her charges. But what's happening here now is she's talking to her supporters - January 6 riot supporters, supporters of Donald Trump, and her family. They were here to receive her.

She came out of the jail. They surrounded her with hugs. They had clothing for her, including that pink hat. Now, she wore a different pink hat during the Capitol riot when those images of her became quite a viral sensation. And she spoke about what it was like inside this jail, that there's a community of people here outside the jail that have been very supportive of the people held here, a couple dozen, if that, inside here as they awaited more proceedings in D.C.'s federal court.

These are not the people that were already in the Bureau of Prisons system. Those people like Stewart Rhodes or Enrique Tarrio, you mentioned, those people were already doing their time in other facilities across the country and are being released today. But now at the D.C. jail, we're waiting to see others who will be or very likely will be released today or even in the coming hours and minutes.

These groups, many of the people here, they're singing; some are singing "God Bless America." Some are speaking on microphones about Jesus, about Trump, about January 6th. And they are gathering around, talking, waiting to receive other people. There even was a member of Congress here earlier, a Republican from Arizona and they are all quite pleased to see this saga come to the end, at least for the people that Donald Trump has pardoned.

More than a thousand people charged with misdemeanors who went into the Capitol and filmed things, as well as people charged with violent crimes - even seditious conspiracy.

TAUSCHE: Katelyn, we know that you will bring us these developments as they continue on site at the D.C. jail, as those who were pardoned are now being released. We appreciate it, Katelyn Polantz.

We're also following the impact of President Trump's executive orders on immigration. The White House Border Czar, Tom Homan, telling CNN this afternoon ICE will arrest anyone caught in the country illegally in what he describes as targeted enforcement operations.

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TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: 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 him. We're going to force immigration law.

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SANCHEZ: Trump's immigration crackdown also includes declaring a national emergency at the southern border, initiating a process to end birthright citizenship and ending the CBP One app, which had given migrants a pathway for entering the U.S. legally. CNN's Valeria Leon is live near the border at Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Valeria, what kind of reaction are you seeing there?

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of frustration here. This is the local Mexican office where the migrants with canceled CBP One appointments were brought by Mexican authorities. And this after showing up at the international port where they were rejected by U.S. officials, then the Mexican government brought them here. And at this moment, they are receiving some information. Some of them also received food, hot soup, tuna, candies and also information about the available shelters here at this border town of Ciudad Juarez where the migrants can stay for the next days or weeks.

And migrants' spirits were crushed after they discovered that the CBP One app was canceled and they have been left without the electronic resource to seek asylum in the U.S. Now, dreams of thousands of migrants are stuck on the U.S.-Mexico border. And I had the opportunity to talk to some of them this morning, and this is part of what they told me.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language) They canceled my appointment for the 21st and they canceled it while I was already in Juarez. I arrived here two days before the appointment, I bought my paperwork to be there at the indicated time and out of nowhere I can't get through and they don't tell you anything there and one is stuck here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's wait and see what they say. Let's see if they let people pass. You just need to see and have faith.

(INAUDIBLE) welcoming deported Mexicans, the federal government has - so the federal government has set up 25 temporary shelters along the Mexico-U.S. border. This is to receive Mexican deportees in the next weeks or even months. They don't actually know the exact moment where they - neither the exact number of how many deportees are going to be here in the next weeks on the Mexico-U.S. border.

But border towns are working round the clock and hoping that their infrastructure can accommodate the thousands that would arrive here if Trump carries out his plans of mass deportations.

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

Still to come, Congressional leaders are at the White House meeting with President Trump and hashing out his agenda right now. We're going to discuss how much he's going to be able to accomplish in his first 100 days.

Plus, the extent of his executive orders with Republican congresswoman, Nicole Malliotakis, next.

TAUSCHE: Plus, as a candidate, he promised to end Russia's war in Ukraine within 24 hours of taking office. Now, as president, Trump says Russia could be facing, quote, "big trouble" if Putin doesn't make a deal.

And later, this is what a park near downtown Houston looks like after a once-in-a-generation winter storm. Historic amounts of snow are falling in Florida, Louisiana and Texas. That and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: At any moment, House and Senate Republican leaders will meet with President Trump at the White House, and it'll be their first official meeting since Trump took office. Republicans are hoping to hammer out more details on exactly how they're expected to accomplish the President's ambitious legislative agenda. But there is a question as to how much he'll be able to get done in his first 100 days with some of his executive orders already facing legal challenges and political pushback.

Here with us now to discuss, Republican congresswoman, Nicole Malliotakis, of New York. She's the assistant whip for the House Republican Congress - conference, I should say.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for being with us. Starting on immigration, Trump's border czar, Tom Homan, spoke with Dana Bash earlier today. I know you had spoken with him a few weeks ago. What can you tell us about how this mass deportation process is going to play out and who specifically will be targeted and when?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Yes. Well, it should really beginning this week. Tom Homan made it very clear that they are focused on the dangerous criminals. He wants to rid our cities and our country of people who are members of the drug cartels, sex traffickers, gang members, criminals who have been wreaking havoc in cities like mine. We've seen thousands of arrests in New York City alone of individuals that were let in by the Biden administration.

And so, those individuals are the ones that they're focused on and will target. New York City sanctuary law does prohibit cooperation, which makes it difficult. And it puts those law enforcement agents at great risk. But the city law does allow for them to cooperate when it comes to violent offenders and sex offenders.

And Mayor Adams has indicated that he will do that. And that's very important because it'll protect the public. It'll protect our police officers and certainly those ICE agents who have to go in there and find these individuals if the city does not cooperate.

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SANCHEZ: What's your understanding of how the administration is going to approach those sanctuary cities who do not cooperate?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, look, they're going to try to do everything they can to get these cities to cooperate. And it's very disturbing that Chicago has already indicated that they won't help. I mean, if they're going to be focusing on people who are committing crimes in our city, people who have been arrested and then are being released because of laws like we have in New York, the bail law that allows people that even assaulted police officers to be released back onto the streets, that is very disturbing.

And I think the public would like to see these Democrat-run cities and states actually cooperate when it comes to these criminals. Why are they protecting people wreaking havoc in our city? It's wrong. And even here in Washington, we saw a great bill passed last week with overwhelmingly bipartisan support, the Laken Riley Act ...

SANCHEZ: Sure.

MALLIOTAKIS: ... which would allow for individuals to be detained and deported who commit crimes. But then you have my attorney general in New York, Tish James, saying that's a terrible law and it should not be signed.

So, for some reason, some of these left-wing members who represent states and cities like mine are not having common sense when it comes to making our cities safe and getting rid of those people who have really caused a lot of damage, committing crimes in our communities.

SANCHEZ: Understood. Congresswoman, I'm curious to get your perspective on Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship, in part because you are the daughter of immigrant parents. Do you think the United States should end birthright citizenship?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, I think that's - first of all, there's a legal precedent here. But when you go back to the - I think it was in 1898 - when it was challenged in the Supreme Court, that was when the parents were citizens. So I think there's maybe a difference here if your parents are a - are U.S. citizens or if they are at least here legally and they have legal status.

What I think President Trump is focused on are the people who are here illegally. And I think that could make a difference because something like that has never been heard before in the U.S. Supreme Court. So, of course, we see that there are legal challenges already, that was expected. And we'll see how this plays out.

And it'll be very interesting to see, because, again, the precedent that was set that people are pointing to was regarding parents who were citizens or at least legal - had legal status here rather. And having children, they do deserve the birthright citizenship.

SANCHEZ: Would you be comfortable deporting children that have never lived anywhere else in the world because their parents brought them here, not within their control, and they grew up here - essentially dreamers, right? People that have established their lives here, that may have, you know, put down roots here, that have jobs, that have contributed to society, that have not broken the law. Would you be comfortable deporting them because they don't have birthright citizenship? MALLIOTAKIS: Well, we're not - I don't think we're talking about retroactively taking away people's birthright citizenship. If they were born here and they had the birthright citizenship at the time. They are indeed U.S. citizens. He's talking about new individuals who may be given birthright citizenship.

Now, with regards to the DACA recipients is, I think, what you're focused on is we'll have to see how that plays out, because in the past, President Trump had been open in providing a pathway to citizenship for individuals who did grow up here and spent many years here, were educated here and this is the only country that they know.

So I think that's still up for discussion about how that may work its way into this entire border security and immigration policy of the Trump administration. I think people may actually be surprised to see what happens here, because in the past, he has alluded to wanting to provide some type of merit-based or service-based pathway to citizenship for those young people.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I do want to pivot to ask about Trump's pardons for January 6th rioters. About four years ago, after being moved to a secure location by Capitol Police, you tweeted in part, quote, "Everyone who is responsible for this violence and lawlessness must stop. This is absolutely unacceptable and un-American." Do you think President Trump did the right thing by pardoning rioters who assaulted police officers?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, I do have an issue with those who assaulted police officers. And I think that those do need to serve the time. That is unacceptable. I've always sided with our police officers in saying that any assault or cop killers should never - the cop killers should never be released. In fact, I very much disagree with what President Biden has done with actually commuting the sentences of multiple cop killers and people who killed FBI agents and service members as well.

So, it's not right in either - whether it was the Democrats or the Republicans that do it. I will say that, some of those who protested did serve already nearly four years of sentences.

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And I think that, you know, he - again, each president has the prerogative to be able to pardon those individuals. I may not always agree with all of it. I think some of those protesters or some who were just walking through the Capitol were treated very unfairly. But the people who assaulted our police officers do need to, you know, pay the consequence for that.

SANCHEZ: I do wonder what your message would be to those Capitol Hill police officers who were injured and assaulted, defending fellow Republicans who now are defending these pardons.

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, look, I can only speak for myself and certainly I stand with our Capitol Police and all our law enforcement. I'm very proud to be one of the few individuals here in Congress that actually in the past has received the endorsement of the Capitol Police Union. And we have to support our law enforcement. We need to hold those who injure them and kill them accountable.

And sadly, I mean, this is something that we see happening in governments all across the country. My state, the parole board has released dozens of cop killers. That is unacceptable. And so we have to also point that out when it occurs here at the local and state level.

SANCHEZ: Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, we have to leave the conversation there. Thanks so much for the time.

MALLIOTAKIS: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: So President Trump is stirring up potential trade wars with threats of tariffs. We're going to tell you what that could mean for Americans who are fed up with the cost of living.

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