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Migrant Deportation Flights Begin; Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-NM) is Interviewed about Birthright Citizenship and Deportations; Trump Visits North Carolina and California; Zeb Smathers is Interviewed about Flood-Ravaged North Carolina. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 24, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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


[09:00:00]

BRIAN CULLEY, CEO, LINEAGE CELL THERAPEUTICS: To demonstrate the safety. But the data which we collected and the conversations that we had with the surgeons really encouraged us that there was some improvement that was somewhat unexpected.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Improvements for patients like Jake, that now allow him to live his life, drive and work.

JAKE JAVIER, SPINAL CORD INJURY PATIENT: I ended up getting some return here in my right hand. So, I'm able to wiggle this index finger just a little bit, which doesn't look like much, and there's not a lot of strength behind it, but it actually proves to be very functional for me because it kind of gives me a little bit more dexterity and the ability to kind of open my hand here and - and grab even small objects like this.

GUPTA: How big a deal was the advocacy of Christopher Reeve in all this?

CULLEY: Christopher Reeve is synonymous with this condition. And that's really important. Having someone who is connected as an individual to a condition can really help attract attention and interest in the space.

JAVIER: I knew I would one day get to a point where I felt like I was living a, you know, very fulfilled lifestyle, traveling the world and going to school. Moved down to San Diego. And after getting my masters in North Carolina and I'm engaged, I have a wonderful fiance who's very supportive.

GUPTA (voice over): Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What a wonderful story. Wonderful science. And I have to tell you, this documentary is amazing. "Super/man: The Christopher Reeve Story" airs Sunday, February 2nd, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, the immigration crackdown has begun. We are seeing the first deportation flights using military aircraft. The White House using it as a photo op, showing migrants being shipped back to Guatemala from Texas. And more troops are on the way to the border.

And then, moments from now, President Donald Trump is expected to leave the White House and go coast to coast, traveling to North Carolina and California, to survey the damage from two natural disasters. But he's already slamming FEMA for its response and threatening to withhold federal aid from a place that is still burning.

And, two giant pandas making their American debut. Live pictures for John Berman only of these two fuzzy favorites. Will he be wearing the panda suit to receive them? We don't know. But we will find out.

I'm Sara Sidner, with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, breaking just a few moments ago, we learned that deportations using U.S. military aircraft are officially underway. The White House press secretary posted photos this morning. The first group left on flights bound for Guatemala from Fort Bliss in El Paso. That's according to a homeland security official. We're standing by to see the president leave the White House any moment now. He is departing to visit disaster zones in North Carolina and California. We are standing by to see if he comments on these new flights.

Let's get right to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, who is with us now.

And, Priscilla, this is a different process. This is not something we've seen with the U.S. military aircraft before.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. That is what's different in this. This is the use of military aircraft for these repatriation flights. Of course, all of this kicked off with President Trump's executive order declaring a national emergency at the U.S. southern border. What that did was unlock these resources for the Department of Homeland Security to use from the Pentagon.

So, this week, the Pentagon had announced that they were going to send military aircraft to both El Paso and to San Diego. The images that we are seeing this morning, posted by the White House press secretary, is in El Paso. So, you see that image there. You see that the migrants are handcuffed. This way, the way they're lined up and boarding the flight, that is pretty typical. That is what you would see if you were seeing, for example, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation flight. But what is striking here, of course, is the military aircraft that they are boarding.

Now, a homeland security official tells me that these are 75 to 80 migrants from Guatemala. They are recent border crossers. That means that they were in border patrol custody and now are being repatriated back to Guatemala. Now, the aircraft is just part of a bigger mission. Of course, the

Pentagon also announcing this week that they are sending additional troops to the U.S. southern border.

Now, we have had troops assisting U.S. border patrol before.

[09:05:01]

In fact, there were already some on the ground. This is augmenting that to help, for example, with operational readiness, to help with air operations, as well as lend intelligence specialists to assess threats and migrant flows. So, all of this packaged together is part of the president's immigration crackdown, specifically on the U.S. southern border.

But, John, a reminder that crossings at the U.S. southern border are low. They have plummeted over recent months. There are just between 1,100 to 1,300 people crossing a day. That is far less than when we were at 4,000, 6,000, even up to 12,000 in recent years. So, numbers are lower, but these flights right now are focused on repatriating those who crossed recently and who were already in Border Patrol custody.

John.

BERMAN: All right, a lot of new information there and something we will watch over the coming minutes and hours.

Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much for that.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A federal judge has blocked President Trump's executive order, moving to try and end birthright citizenship. The judge telling a Justice Department attorney in this decision, saying, "I've been on the bench for over four decades. I can't remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order."

The president was asked about this afterward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Obviously, we'll appeal it. They put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess, right? And there's no surprises with that judge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is Democratic congressman from New Mexico, Gabe Vasquez.

Thanks so much for coming in, Congressman.

A judge blocking this order that Donald Trump, obviously, making very clear they are going to be appealing. And this will continue its way through the courts. You've called the move by the president egregious. What do you think the impact will be if he - if he succeeds?

REP. GABE VASQUEZ (D-NM): Thank you, Kate. It's great to be on today.

Well, look, I don't think the president is going to succeed. I've said this before, but the president can't rewrite the Constitution or eliminate an amendment with the stroke of a pen. That is simply not a power that he has. And I have confidence in the courts that they're going to make the right decision as this moves up the chain to block not just terrible policy, but also bad politics. I think most Americans agree that the Constitution, which I swore to uphold, is something that is sacred to this country.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you also about the new reporting coming from our Priscilla Alvarez, who was just talking to John. The White House putting out photos this morning of deportation flights that are now underway and saying and showing something that is new, that they are now using military aircraft, Pentagon assets, to deport migrants back to their country of origin.

Here are some of the photos we're showing our viewers right now put out by the White House press secretary.

What's your reaction to that?

VASQUEZ: Well, look, I represent 180 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. I've been down on the ground on the front lines with both the National Guard, Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, and I can tell you that their focus should really be on interdicting drugs, such as fentanyl, that come into this country. That's why I introduced a bipartisan bill called the Stop Fentanyl Act. This was actually causing harm to Americans. And the majority of these drugs are being trafficked through our ports of entry. I would say that that would be a better use of federal resources in terms of the things that are actually causing harm to the majority of Americans. And I think the president had said in the past that he's going to target violent felons for deportation under his purview. And executive orders that he's issued, this is just the opposite. Federal resources, right now, should be focused on those violent felons, criminals and all other folks who should be targeted. I think we can all agree as Americans that those folks should be out of our communities and our neighborhoods, but this is the wrong-headed approach to using federal resources that doesn't help improve the quality of life as Americans, which is also what the president should be focused on.

BOLDUAN: Donald Trump ran on aggressively cracking down on illegal immigration, and he won on this being one of the big issues he ran on. We saw that in all - in - you know, throughout the campaign. If what he's doing so far fits into the category of promise made, promise kept, what do you do with that, Congressman?

VASQUEZ: Well, look, we cannot talk about immigration without talking about the economy. And it's so critically important that the American public understands the contributions of immigrants to this country. So, again, if we start to see mass deportations of folks like farm workers who help us secure our nation's food security, who help lower the cost of goods from production all the way to the grocery store, when we start seeing that dreamers don't get a fair shot at becoming American citizens, and when families are torn apart, I think the American public is going to realize that this is the wrongheaded approach.

And although he made a promise to crack down on illegal immigration, it's going to have profound impacts on our economy should his plans be carried out to fruition in a way that we suspect it might with mass deportation orders that we've already seen.

[09:10:13]

And even worse, we just saw ICE put a statement out just yesterday saying that American citizens are going to be caught up in the crossfire of the mass deportation force, including with an incident that happened in New Jersey yesterday. So, this is going to violate the fundamental constitutional rights of not just immigrants who are caught up in this process, some who have legal status, some who don't, but also everyday American citizens. And so I'm terribly worried about the type of profiling that we're going to see in this country.

BOLDUAN: You represent one of the most Latino districts in the nation. This - in this election, just, you know, looking back a hot second. In this - this election, Donald Trump made more inroads with Latino voters, 40 - winning 46 percent of the Latino vote this time, which is a significant jump from last - from the 2020 election. And the Latino vote - the Latino support he had then.

What have you learned from that? What have you heard from your constituents? What's the message?

VASQUEZ: Well, sure. Well, look, I'll start by saying, I am a proud Mexican American that represents one of the largest border districts in the country. And I was able to win in a Trump district because I treated Latinos the same as I treated any other group of voters. The issues that really matter to them were the rising cost of goods, the inability to be able to purchase a home, not being able to afford car insurance, not being able to send their kids to after school programs. These are the issues that are impacting and affecting all Americans.

And so, I didn't separate those issues as either Latino issues or other issues. And that was really important for me.

So, folks in my district, especially the Hispanic community, have the confidence that I'm going to focus on the solutions here in Congress, which I did during my first term, including a package, of bipartisan immigration and border security bills that target the cartels, target the human smugglers, target the coyotes. At the same time, also helping to improve and support international trade at our ports of entry and creating jobs along the border. I think that was a big key to me not losing the Latino vote as we saw around the country.

BOLDUAN: We'll see if that - if the lessons you have, the message you have heard from your constituents, if that is also - filters through the rest of the Democratic Party going forward.

Gabe Vasquez, thanks so much. Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

At any moment, President Trump will be leaving the White House, heading to disaster zones on both the east and west coast. And we just learned this morning he invited a lawmaker that he's been insulting for years to join him. Will that California lawmaker show up?

And while many companies are scaling back their DEI programs, one popular retailer and its shareholders are embracing DEI. Those stories ahead.

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[09:17:05]

SIDNER: All right, we're giving you a live look at the White House because any moment now President Trump will leave for his first trip of his second term. The president traveling to North Carolina first and California after to see the devastation left behind from hurricanes and wildfires.

Trump will go first to Asheville, still reeling from Hurricane Helene, and then west to Los Angeles, where wildfires are still burning at this hour. Trump has threatened to withhold federal aid to California.

I spoke earlier with the mayor of Pasadena, who is urging him to put politics aside.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR VICTOR GORDO (D), PASADENA, CALIFORNIA: I'm calling on all sides, including President Trump, to set politics aside. This is not a time to engage in political gamesmanship, to hold hostage entire communities or even threatened communities with withholding desperately needed aid at a time that they need it most.

SIDNER: Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene, who is at the White House awaiting the president's first trip in his - of his second term.

Are you expecting to hear, when he goes out to these different places, him use some of that vitriolic language, or is this going to be a - sort of more of a compassionate response as he is going to be meeting with victims?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right. So, when I talked to some White House officials about this, one of them told me that they really want to keep the attention and the focus on the communities impacted by these devastating disasters that have really wrecked their communities, both in North Carolina, but also, of course, in California, that is still reeling from these wildfires.

Now, I do want to note that we did just hear Marine One take off from the South Lawn. So, Donald Trump is on his way now to reach his - to reach Air Force One and begin his path to North Carolina. But I want to just, as well, walk you through some of his direct

schedule today, because he has a couple things going on in each of these states that he's visiting.

So, at 11:00 a.m. he's going to be receiving a briefing on Hurricane Helene. At 12:00 he's planning to meet with the families affected by the hurricane. And then he'll go to North - or, excuse me, go to Los Angeles, where at 3:30 he's going to be taking a neighborhood tour of the Pacific Palisades. And then at 4:00 p.m., attend a fire emergency briefing.

Now, one thing to keep in mind is who is going to be with him. We know that First Lady Melania Trump is expected to accompany him to all of these events, as well as a series of lawmakers in both parties. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have been invited to attend some of the briefings in both North Carolina and California.

One person, though, that I did not see on the list that the White House shared in California is the governor, Gavin Newsom. Someone, of course, that Donald Trump has really gone head-to-head with and have been very, you know, very critical in his condemnation of how the governor has handled the wildfires out in California.

[09:20:02]

We actually heard Newsom this week say that he planned and hoped to meet with Donald Trump during that visit, and that he planned to greet him on the tarmac. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him. And - and we're making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him.

I certainly plan on being there at the tarmac and - and look forward to continuing to work, not just with him, the administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Sara, another thing I'm keeping an eye on, not just whether or not Donald Trump continues to be very critical and what his rhetoric will be like today. But also, he has talked about wanting to make some changes to FEMA. He said earlier this week that perhaps he believes that the government should be giving money directly to the states and having them deal with them rather than it going through FEMA. So, we'll stay tuned to see whether or not he addresses that, either in North Carolina or in California.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, we are looking live at Joint Base Andrews, where the president, as you said, he's just lifted off and we're expecting to see him there in just a bit as he gets this trip underway.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, and as we await to see if President Trump speaks when he gets to Joint Base Andrews, with us now is Zeb Smathers. He's the mayor of Canton, North Carolina, just west of Asheville. It was hit hard by Hurricane Helene.

Mayor, it's great to see you again and get an update just, first of all, on the recovery efforts in your town.

MAYOR ZEB SMATHERS (D), CANTON, NORTH CAROLINA: Well, we're making progress in Canton, just like every community in west North Carolina. We're still here. Our people are continuing to show grit and grace across the region. Over 30 counties. The amount of help and prayers from across the nation, both in politically, from, you know, from California to the Carolinas, you know, you see people having our backs. But at the end of the day, you know, the grit and grace of people that have lost so much, their homes, their businesses, their loved ones, they're finding a way. These are tough times. But west North Carolina, we just simply have tougher people.

BERMAN: Now, I know it's not clear yet whether or not you will actually get to meet with President Trump or see him in person, but what would your message to him be?

SMATHERS: Well, first off, we're honored to have the president in west North Carolina. You know, opportunities like this. One fear we have in this region is that we're going to be left behind. And these people, their setbacks, their successes, they're just as important as anywhere else in this country. And so, I think to have the president here and to tell our story is important so people don't forget about us.

But again, I think - I hope the president, you know, steps back and sees this as an American success story. We have a long way to go, but this doesn't fit in political boxes. You have Democrats and Republicans, independents, different religions. No one's checking voter I.D. cards. What you're seeing is the best of North Carolina and the best of America. People that are coming together and getting results done.

And so, there's a time for politics. Obviously, the president, as any politician, you know, has a time and place for that. But I think what he'll see today, when he meets with these families, is a region fighting its way back. Challenges lie ahead. But again, if you give the people of the mountains the resources and the respect they deserve, we're going to find a way.

BERMAN: And we've been showing a lot of pictures of some of the destruction and the recovery efforts, some of which you've provided yourself. It's just a reminder of how bad things were there. And it is good to hear that you're making progress.

You've got some frustrations with FEMA. What are they?

SMATHERS: Well, I mean, again, we've seen FEMA step up. I think it's been a better result this time than what Canton and Haywood County worked through in 2021 when Tropical Storm Fred hit us.

But again, it's - it's communication, especially with housing. You know, I've seen, obviously, you know, Governor Josh Stein, who will meet the president on the tarmac today, step up and work with housing, especially private roads and bridges.

But again, we're hearing that frustration. And these people that are in hotels sometimes, you know, hours away from their home, finding a very efficient way to get them back on their property with trailers, cut through the regulations, cut through the red tape and find a way. I think, you know, when you're in local government, you start at yes until you have to say no. And so, the inability to communicate, having people getting ready to get thrown out of their hotels in an hour and then finding out you could be extended. I think Washington and Governor Stein have done a good job extending that now for months.

People need that stability. You know, again, as I've said time and time again, other than the words I love you, the most important word in the English language is home. And these people want to stay home. They want to rebuild. And cutting through that red tape, having FEMA as a partner.

But also, in fairness to FEMA, it's not their job to do everything.

BERMAN: Right.

SMATHERS: We've seen so many community members, churches step up. It's a joint effort. I think FEMA has done some things well. There are some things that FEMA still needs to do. And so we'll continue to work with our federal partners, Democrats and Republicans, FEMA, whatever it takes, again, to give these people the respect and resources.

[09:25:06]

BERMAN: And again, we're looking at live pictures from Joint Base Andrews as President Trump arrives there to depart on this journey.

Mayor Zeb Smathers, thank you for being with us. It's a long road back, as you say, but it is nice to know that you have made some steps on that road.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, we're going to keep an eye on that, what you saw at Joint Base Andrews.

We're also watching this, the pandas. They're back at the National Zoo, and they're ready for their public debut. Panda diplomacy at its finest and on display. And David Culver is there.

Hey, David.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, I feel like this is a capstone to just a huge week here in Washington. And I promise you, the pandas are actually here. But it's freezing cold and I think they've gone inside for a little snack. I'm going to take you inside just after this.

We'll see you.

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