Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Immigration Crackdown; Mudslide Fears in California; Interview With Asheville, North Carolina, Mayor Esther Manheimer; Trump Visits North Carolina and California. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 24, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:01]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Thank you so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS today.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: On the first presidential trip of his second term, Donald Trump seeing the devastation firsthand, the president visiting North Carolina and California, two disasters both where Trump slammed the response by Democrats. He's on the ground in North Carolina right now. We will bring you the very latest from this trip.

And his immigration crackdown ramps up. Now armed service members are preparing for a second wave deployment to the southern border, as the White House shares a photo of people in handcuffs being led onto a military plane for deportation.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: And with just one week left in Dry January, in case you were counting, it turns out more Americans may opt to stay on the wagon for even longer. A closer look at the new data and the changing conversation around alcohol.

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

SANCHEZ: So, right now, President Donald Trump is on the ground in Western North Carolina.

He's touring the damage from Hurricane Helene and meeting with affected families before heading to another major disaster zone, wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles.

Earlier, while holding a briefing with local officials, Trump laid out some of his plan to overhaul or even get rid of FEMA altogether and leave disaster recovery to the states. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I will also be signing an executive order to begin the process of fundamentally reforming and overhauling FEMA or maybe getting rid of FEMA. I think, frankly, FEMA is not good. I think when you have a problem

like this, I think you want to go, and whether it's a Democrat or Republican governor, you want to use your state to fix it and not waste time calling FEMA.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: President Trump also laid out some of his demands for California before it receives federal aid. We will have more on that in a moment.

But let's get the CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny, who's live on the ground in Asheville, North Carolina, for us.

Jeff, what more do we know about the president's visit there and what he's hoping to accomplish?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, President Trump is clearly using his first trip outside the White House on a coast-to-coast mission.

From here in North Carolina, he will end the day in Las Vegas, actually, before stopping in Las Vegas on both sides of the country, making clear that he wants to change how disasters are funded and managed in this country.

Of course, he -- before going to California, which is still a much more recent disaster, he said he wanted to visit a red state, North Carolina. Today is four months to the day since Hurricane Helene began its rampage across the South.

And here in Western North Carolina, as you can see behind me, this is just one glimpse of so many of the sites we see as we drive around. And residents, of course, have been enduring this for four months. But the president is using this as an opportunity to essentially raise just another piece of his effort to change how the federal government works.

One piece of Project 2025, which, of course, was a blueprint that some conservatives used during the campaign, was to effectively get rid of FEMA, the disaster agency. Well, the president is hearing from some people, but also seeing signs along the roadway.

There was a sign that greeted that said: "FEMA helped me."

So, of course, this is actually a blue part of an otherwise red part of Western North Carolina here in Buncombe County here in Asheville.

But, Boris, politics aside, people are not asking what the voter registration is if you're a Republican or a Democrat. People were hit equally here, but President Trump is using his first visit here to make clear that he wants to streamline some funding, even as it's clear that so much more needs to be done here.

He will be traveling from here in North Carolina to Los Angeles later. He will be meeting with officials there, of course, later today, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, live for us in Asheville.

Thank you so much, Jeff -- Erica.

HILL: Well, for more of the ongoing recovery efforts in Western North Carolina, we're joined now by the mayor of Asheville, Esther Manheimer, who joins us now.

So, Madam Mayor, as I understand it, you did not have the opportunity to meet with the president today, but if you had been able to speak with him, what would your message be at this point in the recovery efforts?

ESTHER MANHEIMER, MAYOR OF ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: Thank you for having me on today.

What I would like to tell the president, what I believe our governor said to the president, he was able to meet him on the tarmac today out at the airport, is, thank you for making Western North Carolina's recovery your number one stop, your first leave from Washington and making sure our recovery is a priority.

[13:05:02]

That's really, really important to us and reassuring as we continue to recover from this disaster.

HILL: Do you think this visit by President Trump will in any way impact the amount of aid coming your way or even the speed of that aid? He has said he wants to speed things up for North Carolina.

MANHEIMER: Yes, well, let me just say this.

I'm the co-chair of the Western North Carolina Recovery Committee that Governor Josh Stein has created. And we are watching this carefully. I have made a couple of trips now up to Washington to talk to folks in Congress, looking ahead to additional funding that we are going to need.

The governor today reiterated the need for an additional $20 billion to help North Carolina recover. I think what the president wants and what he says is obviously very important to the Congress and the Congress will make a priority.

So, yes, I think it matters that the president is making this a priority. I think what he asks for will make a difference in terms of what we get from Congress and how fast we get it.

HILL: One of the things that the president is also floating is getting rid of FEMA. And he reiterated that again multiple times today on the ground there in North Carolina. He says that states can handle a disaster.

Could you on both a local and a state level handle these recovery efforts without FEMA? MANHEIMER: No, I'm afraid we cannot.

Now that I have lived through an experience like this -- and I hope all of your listeners out there don't ever have to do this, but I know many of them have -- you can see what an enormous operation it is to set up a system to help individuals recover from a disaster, to help each individual be able to make claims for the damage to their home, their loss of income, to help businesses recover from a disaster, to help our city clean up the debris that's been left from a disaster like this, which we're seeing right now in the fires.

I mean, that is all being tasked by FEMA. In some cases, they have the Army Corps of Engineers here, but it's all under the umbrella of FEMA. So if you were to instantly make that go away, I think it would be devastating for individuals, for businesses, for cities, for counties, and for the state of North Carolina.

And you would have to be very thoughtful in terms of how you did that. And I would urge the president not to make any rash decisions around reconstructing FEMA right now, as we're in the middle of recovering from this disaster.

HILL: He also said today while he was on the ground that he felt that North Carolina had been, and I'm quoting him here, very fairly -- very unfairly treated.

Do you agree?

MANHEIMER: You know, I'm not sure I understand that remark.

I feel like we got all the attention we were due and that we needed. What I will say is, this storm was very unique. From what I have heard from people who have experienced natural disasters in the United States, this one was extremely unique. It isolated a lot of communities. Roads washed out. Bridges washed out. All communications were lost.

So it was very chaotic in the beginning. And I think it took a while for the federal government, for the state, for all of us to figure out -- get our footing and figure out how to help people and respond to it adequately.

But I don't know if it was fair or unfair. This is the only disaster I have experienced. But I'm grateful for the time and attention of all those members of Congress that have traveled here who have firsthand seen this damage. And now for the president's, I believe it's the second or third visit to this area, we're really hopeful that this attention will translate into a speedy recovery for our region.

HILL: Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer, we appreciate your time today. Thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: As we mentioned, President Trump heads later today to tour fire damage in Southern California, where firefighters have been working seemingly nonstop for weeks battling flames, and they're now grappling with more wildfires scorching Los Angeles County. The latest large fire is the huge -- Hughes Fire, which has burned

more than 10,000 acres, forcing about 31,000 people to evacuate. Rain is forecast for this weekend, which may sound like a welcome relief, but keep in mind, with those burn scars come the danger of mudslides.

Joining us now is CNN's Julia Vargas Jones from one of the hardest-hit areas in Altadena.

Julia, what are officials saying about the potential for rain?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's such a paradox, Boris, because L.A. is the driest that it's been in four years, and yet this rain has a lot of people here in Los Angeles County on edge. Officials are saying, prepare for this.

[13:10:01]

And they are preparing in so many ways, 250,000 bags of sand being distributed and placed around the city to brace for all of this water coming.

You know, Altadena and the Palisades as well are very hilly areas, behind me, the San Gabriel Mountains. We have seen this morning so much heavy equipment machinery heading up this way as the Los Angeles -- the California Department of Water Resources are building these debris dams as well to kind of try to contain everything that might be coming down this mountain and into these communities, Boris.

Remember, we're still in clean up effort time. There's so much toxic debris here. That is something that authorities are fearing. They're saying, if you are in these flood areas, do not be home if you don't have to be. Turn off your electricity.

Turn off your gas if you know how to do that and just be ready, because if this rain hits these burn areas badly, Boris, it could be as deadly as the fires that we saw over the last few weeks.

SANCHEZ: And, Julia, the governor, Gavin Newsom, signed a pair of bills allocating some $2.5 billion in recovery funding. What more can we expect as the governor potentially meets with Donald Trump later today?

VARGAS JONES: Well, we do know that the governor said he plans to go greet Donald Trump, the president, as he lands here in Los Angeles later this afternoon.

He did say that there was not a lot of communication coming from the White House for this visit, but that he was -- quote -- "quite happy" that the -- that to be on the tarmac and to thank the president, welcome him to make sure that they have all the resources that they need; $2.5 billion you mentioned there, Boris, that is just one part, a small part of what this state will need to recover.

And then Trump making some interesting remarks earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I want two things. I want voter I.D. for the people of California. They all want it. Right now, you have no -- you don't have voter I.D. People want to have voter identification. You want to have proof of citizenship. Ideally, you have one-day voting, but I just want voter I.D. as a start, and I want the water to be released, and they're going to get a lot of help from the U.S.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS JONES: And, Boris, that is in relation to or perhaps hinting at what we heard of conditions being attached to funding from the federal government to recover Southern California.

Look, the water claims, the governor has said that is not -- there's no reality to that, there's no truth to those claims that there was not enough water. It has to do with something that Trump has said before, that there is water in Northern California that should be coming to Southern California.

We will really have to see how these two, the governor and Trump, lead this relationship going forward. We know they have worked together in the past before through disasters here in California and Trump's first Trump -- Trump's first term -- excuse me -- but this will be a test for both of them in this relationship, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it'll be interesting to see how these two bitter rivals interact on the tarmac.

Julia Vargas Jones from Altadena, California, thank you so much.

Still to come this hour: The White House says deportations of undocumented migrants have begun, and the government is now using military aircraft to deport them. But it won't be ICE handling all the arrests. President Trump has also given the green light for other agencies, like the FBI and DEA, to get involved.

Also ahead: The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready for talks with Trump, but they're waiting for Washington to make a move.

And, later, a panda party today after the National Zoo just introduced these two furballs to the country.

You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:18:38]

SANCHEZ: President Trump's long-promised crackdown on immigration is kicking into high gear.

The White House says that deportation flights have begun, sharing these images of dozens of migrants lined up in handcuff as they board a repatriation flight to Guatemala. HILL: The Trump administration also directing more federal agencies to investigate and arrest people suspected of entering the U.S. illegally.

Those agencies include the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals Service, and the federal Bureau of Prisons.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joining us now with more on these developments.

So we're five days in. He had said he was going to act quickly on immigration. He now is. Talk to us a little bit more about what we're seeing in these pictures.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sure.

So, the pictures you're referring to are what the White House press secretary put out today, which is migrants boarding a military aircraft. So, as you look at the images, you will see that the migrants are handcuffed.

The way that they're handcuffed and lined up is actually pretty standard with how we would see migrants lining up for a deportation flight conducted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. What is striking in this image is that it's military aircraft.

So why military aircraft? Well, earlier in the week, the president signed an executive order to clear a national emergency at the U.S. southern border. That meant that he could use Pentagon resources along the U.S. southern border. And this is an example of that, the Pentagon telling us earlier in the week they were sending aircraft to El Paso and also to San Diego.

Now, I have obtained more details about this flight that includes, for example, 75 to 80 migrants who were boarded on this flight to Guatemala. So they're Guatemalans. They had recently crossed the border. That means they were in Border Patrol custody and therefore more easily removed.

[13:20:07]

In addition to this, of course, there are troops that are heading to the U.S. southern border. That is in addition to those who are already there. It is not unusual for the U.S. to use troops in the military to assist with the mission along the border.

But this is a numbers game. This is putting more resources behind helping the Border Patrol with operational readiness, in addition, of course, to this military aircraft, which is, again, striking when you look at those images and see those planes being used now for migrants who are being sent back to their origin country.

SANCHEZ: Striking indeed.

Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much for that update. Let's dig deeper on this with Joshua Skule. He's -- excuse me --

Joshua Skule. He's a 21-year veteran of the FBI who retired as the bureau's executive assistant director for intelligence. He's now the president of the national security services firm Bow Wave LLC.

Joshua, thank you so much for being with us.

I want to get your reaction to the use of military aircraft to carry out these deportations. Priscilla just explained how unusual it is. Is it the case that resources are so strained to carry out these deportations that the government has to resort to using these military aircraft?

JOSHUA SKULE, PRESIDENT, BOW WAVE LLC: Well, I would say this is not something that's new, Boris.

We have seen cooperation across the federal government in law enforcement missions with terrorists being brought back from overseas to judicial hearings or being removed from the United States and heading to their country of origin.

So, in this regard, when you're -- when you have a massive amount of people and you need to move quickly and resources are strained, the military is a quick reaction to that and allows for collaboration.

SANCHEZ: I also want to get your thoughts on these agencies, the FBI, DEA, ATF, being authorized to help identify and apprehend undocumented migrants. What does that look like in a practical sense?

SKULE: Well, I saw the memo from the Department of Justice and the direction they're providing to the U.S. attorneys across the United States.

What this allows for is -- hopefully is better communication amongst those federal agencies. The DEA and the FBI have a lot of drug task forces. They have the Safe Streets task forces. You have the Joint Terrorism Task Forces, for which, when you're finding criminals and you're looking to remove them from society to stop preying on society, this is yet another tool in the tool bag.

So with the spirit of this, hopefully, what, is happening is you're removing those criminals and getting them into ICE custody and getting them out of our country.

SANCHEZ: Does that authorization in any way reshape or slow down the main focus of those agencies?

SKULE: I didn't see anything in that memo where it reprioritized what was already national security threats or public corruption or fentanyl. I didn't see any of that in that memo. I think time will tell, but I think those missions for those organizations is critically important.

So I think this is something that's been added to it, not supplanted another priority. SANCHEZ: I want to ask you about New Jersey, because there was an

incident there where Newark's mayor claims that ICE, as he describes it, raided a local business without producing a warrant. He's claiming that this is a Fourth Amendment violation. We will see how that's adjudicated, but I do wonder what your read is and whether you see similar issues arising as these operations become more common.

SKULE: I don't know if that's going to be a Fourth Amendment violation. Obviously, if there was a criminal inside that establishment, they have reason to believe he is in there, they have established he's in there, they can go in and arrest him.

But exigent circumstances, without additional details, it's impossible to know. I don't see that a law enforcement agency such as ICE or any of the others is going to willfully violate the Fourth Amendment, forgo judicial proceedings to get warrants. They do not have the authorization to do that. And it puts those agents in jeopardy as well.

SANCHEZ: Joshua Skule, great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining us.

SKULE: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Coming up: President Trump issuing another round of pardons, this time to anti-abortion activists, just as the March for Life rally is getting under way in Washington. We have details for you in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:29:15]

HILL: You are looking at live pictures out of Washington. You see Vice President Vance there.

He is addressing demonstrators in the nation's capital for the annual March for Life. It's one of the country's largest anti-abortion rallies. Again, as I noted, he's speaking now. President Trump also addressed the crowd.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joining us now live from that rally.

So, Sunlen, there was also a message, as I noted, from President Trump. What did he say?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Erica. It was a videotape message from the president, and certainly significant, and his message not lost on many of the activists out here today, the fact that you have a message from President Trump to this group.

You also are hearing, as you can see behind me, from Vice President J.D. Vance, the fact that he is making his first in-person appearance since becoming vice president to this March for Life in support of the anti-abortion movement. You also have a large roster of Republicans.