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Interview with Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) About Immigration; Trump Arrives Soon to Visit Fire-Damaged Areas; Suspect Wants DNA Evidence Tossed in Idaho Murder Case; Giant Pandas Make Their Debut at DC's National Zoo. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired January 24, 2025 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Maybe they exist but I haven't met them. Who doesn't think that we shouldn't round up violent criminals and get them off of our streets and out our communities. I will always support that.
What I won't tolerate and support is the arbitrary round up of children and families. These are people that own businesses. These are people that go to school with my children. They pay taxes. They want to build lives. They want to -- they want to be a part of our community, not pushed out of our community. That's where comprehensive immigration reform comes in. Not these, you know, mass deportations that are going to unfairly target folks.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Denver is not in your district, but it is a nearby sanctuary city that has been the target, as Aurora was, of Republicans who argue that immigration has overrun communities in this country. Do you imagine that local officials, whether in Aurora or Denver, might be impacted by the Trump administration moving the DOJ to potentially prosecute or go after those who don't comply with federal orders?
CROW: Well, listen, I actually represent portions of Denver, so I'm familiar with this issue. And, you know, we have been on the receiving end of a lot of immigrants and refugees in Colorado because our system is so badly broken and many of our services have been overwhelmed as a result of that, which is actually an illustration of the larger broken system that requires a bipartisan response from Congress, not these arbitrary efforts by the incoming Trump administration.
But what we have to do and people throw around the term sanctuary city all the time. Here's the thrust behind these prohibitions between having local law enforcement not collaborate with federal law enforcement. You know, there are crimes that occur in our -- our community. There are -- there are constant public safety issues that occur in every community, every city in America.
But what we want to be able to do is we want people to be able to feel safe calling their local sheriffs' deputies, calling their local police officers and asking for help if there's domestic violence, if there's crime on their streets, if crime on their block. We don't want to erode that trust, right? And that's what these efforts say, is that we're going to draw a line between local law enforcement and federal law enforcement so that no matter who you are in your community, you can pick up the phone and call 911 if there's a problem, and people will show up and address the crime. That will keep everybody safer.
SANCHEZ: So just to clarify, are you concerned that local officials are going to be targeted by the Trump administration?
CROW: Well, sure I am. I mean, that's what the Trump administration has said. I -- I have learned to take Donald Trump and his minions at their word. And they have said repeatedly that they are going to target local officials. They have apparently directed the Department of Justice to look into how that would happen. But, you know, we have lawyers of our own, and we're not going to shy away. We're not going to operate out of fear, right? I am not a fearful person. I'm somebody that's here to serve and here to protect the vulnerable and here to protect my community. And I'm never going to stop doing that.
SANCHEZ: Congressman Jason Crow, very much appreciate you coming on and appreciate your perspective. Thanks for joining us.
CROW: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, President Trump on his way to fire-ravaged Los Angeles as he is threatening to withhold disaster aid from that state unless they change voter ID laws and the way they manage their water. We're live in the devastated community of Altadena in just moments.
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[14:37:45]
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: President Trump is now on his way to Southern California to see some of the areas damaged by the raging wildfires there. Los Angeles, meantime, is really still coming to grips with the scope of this disaster. Further complicating matters, rain is in the forecast for the weekend. The concern there, flooding and mudslides.
CNN's Julia Vargas Jones joining us now from Altadena, California, which of course is one of the hardest hit areas. Julia, do we know exactly which areas the president will see when he arrives in Southern California?
JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we are expecting that he will do an aerial tour, Erica, of parts of Los Angeles affected. And what he might see is something like this. We're seeing a lot of these red tags around the homes saying, do not enter or occupy. This is an old billboard, I believe, that has fallen down.
This, I think, we have to understand the magnitude of this disaster. And what the president might see is something like this. Like entire neighborhoods destroyed by this fire. Apartment buildings. And of course, you mentioned these potential rains. The mountains just behind us here. That is why this fire came so quickly down the hill. And why there is this concern over the rain bringing down so much of the debris, that toxic debris, Erica, that could be so harmful for people's health and resident's health.
Of course, no one is allowed to be here yet, but authorities are preparing for this rain as if it is a second wave of this disaster. They're distributing about 250,000 sandbags around the city and telling people to take this very seriously. If the rains hit these areas as hard as they're predicted to, they could be as deadly as these fires.
Of course, this while President Trump is arriving this afternoon, and Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, just saying that he will be going to greet the president despite their political rivalries. That he's happy that -- or glad that the president is here and accepted his invitation to come and see the extent of this disaster.
[14:40:00]
Important also, as the president mentioned earlier today to reporters that he is imposing conditions on the kind of federal aid that will come to aid the restoration, the rebuilding, really, of Southern California. One of them, voter ID laws. And the second one is the way that the city and the state -- sorry -- manage water.
This has to do with something that Trump has said before that Gavin Newsom's efforts to save a specific species of fish in parts of California led to water shortages here in Los Angeles while firefighters have been trying to fight these fires. But we have heard from experts that these two things were not related, that -- that there was no cause to that water shortage, that had anything to do with that, Erica. But this will be a test to see if Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat and a political rival of Donald Trump, can work with the president as we move through these disasters.
HILL: It will be interesting to see what those exchanges are. And ultimately what we hear from the president. He had a lot to say, of course, in North Carolina earlier today. I would expect we'll hear a lot from him in California later this afternoon as well.
Julia, appreciate it. Thank you.
Just ahead here, could this change the entire case? Bryan Kohberger in court, where he is attempting to get DNA evidence that could tie him to the murders of four University of Idaho students. He's trying to get that evidence tossed.
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SANCHEZ: We're following the second day of a hearing in the case of the four University of Idaho students murdered in 2022. The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, is asking for key evidence to be thrown out, including the very evidence that allegedly ties him to the murder weapon and puts him inside the victims' home. CNN's Jean Casarez has been following this case. Jean, why does the defense say that this evidence should be tossed?
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And it's the DNA evidence on the knife sheath. They are saying that there were no warrants during every step of the testing of that DNA. And because of that, it violates his Fourth Amendment right, it is not allowable in the trial, and it needs to be suppressed so the jury never hears it. This is the pivotal evidence, just like you said, Boris, for the prosecution in this case.
Now, if you remember when law enforcement first arrived at that home and they found four victims, multiple stab wounds, they also found a knife sheath, a tan leather knife sheath under the bodies of one of the victims. There was no knife. They have never found the murder weapon that we know of, but they found a knife sheath.
They tested it. They found unknown male DNA on the -- on the metal button of that knife sheath. They did preliminary testing. State officials did. They got a profile. They put it through CODIS. Didn't find anything. And then the FBI got involved.
And CNN reported early on, we are hearing in this hearing, they took that DNA profile to the public database and perform genetic genealogy to find any familial relationships that included some of that DNA. According to this hearing, the FBI then went to Idaho and said, you need to look at a Bryan Kohberger. The defense is saying, we stake claim to that DNA. Fourth Amendment right, constitution was violated, but the prosecution is saying this is a routine criminal investigation.
Let's listen to the prosecutors for the Moscow, Idaho students murder case.
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JEFF NYE, PROSECUTOR: We are talking about not just a crime scene, not just a murder scene. We're talking about a murder scene in a house to which he has asserted no connection whatsoever. Four victims to which he has asserted no connection whatsoever. We're not just talking about his DNA happened to be found in, you know, a dresser drawer or something. It was found on a knife sheath where four people we're killed by a knife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CASAREZ: And the judge is pushing back, saying this was unknown DNA at that time. How can you assert a right to a privacy? Boris.
SANCHEZ: That is a really strong point. Jean Casarez, thanks so much for that update.
Next, as Trumps immigration crackdown ramps up, one state is considering bounties to track down and deport undocumented migrants. We're going to speak to one of the prosecutors in the state who is backing this idea. That story next.
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[14:52:50]
HILL: How about a little more panda for your Friday? Yes? Great. You're in luck. That's exactly what we have for you.
Bao Li and Qing Bao, of course, are the three-year-old pandas who are making their public debut today at the Smithsonian National Zoo here in Washington, D.C. And maybe you have some questions about our new friends. We had questions, too, so we called in zoologist, Jarod Miller, to answer some of those for us.
So Jarod, great to have you with us. So the pandas actually arrived here a while back. They've been in quarantine. Why did they have to be quarantined after their trip as they're -- as they're being transitioned?
JAROD MILLER, ZOOLOGIST: Well good afternoon, Erica. And yes, quarantine is actually a very standard. And actually, it's a very important process whenever new animals come from one facility to another and the zoological -- within zoological parks, especially pandas that are coming from across the other side of the world, quarantine is very important. You want to make sure that the animals are obviously acclimated and healthy and have some time to settle into their new surroundings. Plus, you can test the animals and also observe them for, you know, at least 30 to 60 days, if not longer, to make sure that they're not harboring a disease that might affect any of the other animals that currently live at the zoo.
HILL: They seem to be doing pretty well. They look very happy there in the snow with the bamboo.
MILLER: Yes.
HILL: This is all part of -- we talked a lot about panda diplomacy, but this program, right, the pandas are going to be here for at least 10 years. There's also a big research component to this. What will they -- what will people at the zoo be watching for over the next several years with these pandas?
MILLER: You know, the primary point and again, National Zoo is the first zoo to have pandas back. And it started the panda diplomacy back in 1972. So it's exciting that these long relationships and this panda diplomacy has been carrying on, because it really has helped pandas as a species.
Pandas are a very charismatic, very iconic animal, especially when you think of wildlife conservation. I mean, most people, when they think of endangered species or conserving wild animals, they think of the panda. So it's amazing that all this research is going to be, you know, obviously studying their behavior and some of their breeding and -- and other aspects of their -- of their just general care and husbandry.
[14:55:01] But you know what? That is what has helped pandas pretty much come back from the brink of extinction. They're considered more of a vulnerable species now rather than an endangered species. And a lot of that, you know, we attribute a lot of that to the work that's being done in China, but also here in the United States and other parts of the world.
The zoological community has really brought this animal not only back from becoming an endangered species, but also put this animal in -- in the worldwide consciousness that we need to protect all wildlife. And the panda is definitely one of those animals that or one of those top animals that reminds everyone that we share this planet.
HILL: So for folks who are not in D.C., the panda cam is back, which makes a lot of people very happy. I'm curious, how often is that something that you would check just to check up on these pandas and see how they're doing?
MILLER: I'll tell you what, Erica. You know, I love pandas. And you know, I would probably check it every day. And I know people that definitely love following animals and different zoo cams. But now that the panda cam is up, I'm sure people will be glued to it. At least check it once a day, twice a day. But you know, pandas do different things, all throughout the day and night, so it might be kind of fun. And -- and you know, it's always fun to watch that cam because panda is not only the adorable animals, but they certainly are goofy. And you never know what a panda is going to do or what kind of trouble they're going to get into in their new exhibit.
HILL: A little surprise awaits you every time. Jarod Miller, good to have you. Thanks.
MILLER: Thank you, Erica.
HILL: Well, CNN was given exclusive access to Bao Li and Qing Bao's journey, and you can see much of that on an all-new episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper this Sunday. It airs at 8:00 p.m. "Operation Panda." Be sure to tune in for all that behind-the-scenes footage.
Up next here, President Trump says he is now considering getting rid of FEMA altogether after touring damage from Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.
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