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Trump's Immigration Crackdown Continues; Trump Signs New Military Executive Orders. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 27, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:54]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: New orders. President Trump looking to reshape the military using his sharpie, this as the person set to lead this wave of change, Pete Hegseth, arrives at the Pentagon for his first day as defense secretary.

Plus: immigration sweeps and deportation flights, President Trump's crackdown and full swing, as federal agents conduct operations from coast to coast. We will have the latest on those and the fear it's building in these communities.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And a DeepSeek freak-out, how a little-known Chinese start-up is sparking chaos on Wall Street, rattling the foundation of artificial intelligence.

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

KEILAR: Today, President Trump is expected to sign more executive orders to fulfill his vow to overhaul the military.

CNN has learned that the president is set to ban transgender service members, wipe out the military's diversity programs, and reinstate service members with back pay and benefits who were discharged for refusing to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

In the meantime, the Trump administration's immigration crackdown is well under way. ICE says that it arrested nearly 1,000 people across the country on Sunday alone. And Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he is sending another 400 National Guard troops to the southern border to support Border Patrol agents. And there are more deportation flights that are expected to arrive in Latin American countries today.

This is video from earlier in the day, passengers arriving in Guatemala after a deportation flight from the U.S.

Let's go to CNN's Alayna Treene, who's live from the White House.

Alayna, what more do we know about Trump's expected executive orders involving the military?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. Well I'm going to walk you through them again. So we know that Donald Trump is set to sign at least four executive

orders today related to the military, three of which are really designed to reshaping their operations on a day-to-day basis. As you mentioned, Brianna, this first would ban transgender service members from serving in the military. Another would reinstate those who were previously discharged for refusing to be vaccinated for the COVID-19 disease.

And then the third would really gut all of the DEI programs within the military. Now, I am told, according to one of these White House officials, that Pete Hegseth, who was just sworn in over the weekend as Donald Trump's new secretary of defense, he is going to have broad power in how he implements this, specifically the transgender military ban.

And I know one big question is, will that relate to currently serving transgender service members in the United States armed forces? That is still unclear. I was told that is a decision that will be left up to the Pentagon.

But just to talk more about that ban specifically, because it is one of the most significant, we know that, back in 2017, during Donald Trump's first term in office, he had signed a ban on transgender service members from serving in the military. That is something that Joe Biden very quickly after he came into office repealed and revoked.

Now we are seeing Donald Trump try to reimplement it. But, again, it is very unclear exactly what it is going to look like this time around. As for the order that would reinstate some of those members who were discharged for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine, we know that actually, in 2023, the Defense Department rescinded that and allowed those members to come back and rejoin the military.

However, I am told that this order is different, in the sense that it would give those members a back pay, as well as reinstate them to their prior rank. Now, the other one is on DEI programs. We know that they are trying to get rid of those across the military.

But I do want to talk about this fourth order that's a little bit different. So, essentially, this fourth order that we learned that Donald Trump is expected to sign is about creating what they're calling a -- quote -- "next generation missile defense shield for the United States."

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The White House is trying to characterize this as an Iron Dome for America, trying to refer to what we know as the Israeli defense missile system that has really been used to intercept missiles from Gaza over the last several years.

I want to read for you to some of what this incoming or this expected order will say. This is according to a fact sheet I obtained from the White House.

It says -- quote -- "The executive order directs implementation of a next generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles and other next generation aerial attacks."

It went on to call such potential attacks a catastrophic threat. Now, just to talk about that catastrophic threat quote for a second, none of these weapons have actually been launched in the United States or during modern U.S. warfare -- in modern years, I should say.

We also know that the United States has a current system in place to intercept some of these types of missiles, but this is something Donald Trump had promised he wanted to do on the campaign trail. Now we're going to see him sign something that would begin the process of building it -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Alayna Treene live for us at the White House, thank you.

CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand is live for us now from the Pentagon.

And, Natasha, walk us through exactly what each of these executive orders covers. This is pretty sweeping.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Brianna, as Alayna pointed out there, it really is -- remains to be seen just what it's going to look like once these orders are actually implemented, because, while these executive orders do ask the Department of Defense to implement these policies, they have not yet figured out exactly what they're going to look like.

And it could take quite some time for them to do so. But, for now, the information that we're getting on the possible ban of transgender service members, it really goes even further than Trump's 2017 order, saying that it can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics.

That's from a White House fact sheet that was obtained by Alayna earlier today. And that is really indicating that service members who are transitioning or in the process of transitioning are incapable of serving, something, of course, that is bound to be disputed by LGBTQ rights groups, as well as, of course, currently serving transgender members of the military.

So, it is unclear exactly what this is going to look like in terms of those currently serving. Are they going to be excepted from this executive order? Again, unclear.

Now in terms of the abolition of these DEI programs across the military, that is something that Pete Hegseth has tweeted about over the weekend. He said that DOD does not equal DEI., he wrote in Twitter, kind of handwritten, to really underscore his point there. And that is really wading into the culture wars yet again here, insisting that the department get rid of all of its programs relating to diversity, equity and inclusion. And it's caused so much confusion over the last week or so, just in

terms of how all of the different services in the military are supposed to carry that out, that the Air Force actually went as far as to remove coursework from its basic training courses that included video of the Tuskegee Airmen.

That prompted a lot of outrage, but the Air Force is saying, look, we are just trying to figure out here what courses are -- actually include DEI that is now prohibited. And so, as part of that, they had to take down this coursework. They had to scrub it. They had to make sure that nothing was actually violating these orders and these instructions from the White House.

And they ultimately put the Tuskegee Airmen videos back up. And then the last thing, of course, is the reinstatement of service members who were discharged under the COVID vaccine mandate. Look, again, it's unclear how this is going to be different from the 2023 policy under President Biden that allowed service members to get back into the military, even if they did not get the COVID vaccine.

It seems as though they will now get back pay, they will now be able to retain their full rank if they want to rejoin. But that's a big if because we're told that so far really under 100 of those service members have actually chosen to rejoin the military, even despite the repeal of that COVID vaccine mandate, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, maybe a bunch of back pay and benefits might incentivize them. We will see how that goes.

Natasha Bertrand, live for us from the Pentagon, thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Let's expand the conversation now with CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, great, as always, to see you.

I want to get your reaction to these executive orders, beginning with the one reinstating some of these service members who refused to get the COVID vaccine. You heard Natasha there outlining some of the differences between this one and the action taken by President Biden. Is it a substantial difference?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, it is, absolutely.

If you are one of those individuals who's coming back in and you want back pay and your rank restored to you, that is a huge deal, because if you don't have your rank restored to you, you start at a much lesser position in your unit when you go back. You also basically have your past record erased when it comes to being, in essence, now once again a new member of your unit.

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So, from that standpoint, it's a big deal. And, certainly, the back pay part is financially huge for them. SANCHEZ: I wonder about the one essentially banning transgender

service members from the U.S. armed forces. Something like 14,000 currently serve in the U.S. military. As Natasha pointed out, unclear exactly what their status might be moving forward.

But in terms of transition treatment, which the administration is pointing to as being -- quote -- "not conducive for deployment or other readiness requirements," I mean, if someone is willing to serve their country and die for it, why not allow them to serve?

LEIGHTON: Well, that is actually the fundamental question, Boris.

So when you look at the kinds of issues that transition surgery, for example, would bring about, there are certainly readiness concerns during the period when a person undergoes that surgery and probably in the immediate postoperative phase of that. So there are readiness concerns, but there are also readiness concerns, readiness impacts, one should say, with service members who are pregnant and who give birth.

And we have learned in the military to work through all of those issues. And the same kind of thing could be done for transgender soldiers, sailors, airmen, Guardians and Marines.

So that's the kind of thing that becomes -- it depends on how they want to implement things. But if you have transgender service members, there's a physical component to their readiness. But the fact of the matter is, the military is more of a cerebral brain nowadays than a physical game, especially in certain disciplines, like the intelligence field, communications, areas like that.

So, absolutely true for specialties like the infantry and for pilots and specialties like that, but different story for cyber warriors and intelligence professionals and others of that type.

SANCHEZ: Such an important point.

I do also want to get your thoughts on this ban over DEI in the military.Obviously, as someone who served in the Air Force, I think you were listening intently when Natasha was talking about some of that overcorrection, removing this lesson about the Tuskegee Airmen from the curriculum and then reimplementing it.

What does all this mean for the character of the armed services?

LEIGHTON: Yes, I think it is a fundamental question, because, on the one hand, a lot of members of the military are just kind of conservative by nature, just in terms of, they're patriotic, they come in and they want to serve the country.

But they have to also remember that our history is based on having people from all backgrounds come and serve in the military. The military is an organization that has attracted a lot of minority recruits, a lot of female recruits and in some cases transgender recruits. And that is a situation that draws upon the richness of our culture.

And you don't want to eliminate that, especially when you get into a situation where you go into a combat zone where you don't know the culture, except for a very few people in your unit or in your service.

And we found that issue many times during the '90s and during the 2000s, where, when we had the attacks, for example, in 9/11, there were very few people who had language skills for Afghanistan, for example. And when you have few language skills, you end up with a problem where you don't understand the culture that you're getting into.

So the greater the diversity for things like that, the better off you are certainly from a preparedness, readiness standpoint and certainly from an intelligence standpoint as well.

SANCHEZ: Sure.

Colonel, before we let you go, I want to get your thoughts on this Iron Dome for America idea. Is it good from a tactical standpoint to have that sort of thing in place?

LEIGHTON: So we have to keep several things in mind. There are vulnerabilities to the Israeli Iron Dome.

And the reason we provided a lot of support during the Biden administration for the two attacks that Iran launched against Israel is because of those vulnerabilities not only in the Iron Dome, but in other aspects of the Israeli air and missile defense system, like David's Sling and those kinds of elements there.

Iron Dome is actually based on both Israeli and U.S. technology. So to call it Iron Dome is kind of going back. I understand what they're trying to do. The problem that you have is providing an impermeable shield for a country as big as the United States.

It's hard enough for a country as small as Israel. It's really almost impossible to do that for the United States. So, in essence, what you have to do from a technical standpoint is concentrate on protecting key target areas, such as big cities, missile areas, military installations, things like that.

And in order to do that, you have to have a system that's flexible enough. It's absolutely essential that we protect against things like hypersonic missiles, which this executive order does. But the fact of the matter is, the Missile Defense Agency has been working on those kinds of defenses already.

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So this may speed up that process, but it is really, in fact, nothing new.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate the analysis. Thanks so much for joining us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

The immigration crackdown is in full swing, nearly 1,000 arrests in one day. And now President Trump is claiming victory after Colombia agrees to accept more deportation flights.

Plus, we're keeping a close eye on markets after a little-known Chinese start-up company sent stocks plummeting. We will break down why.

And returning to Northern Gaza, tens of thousands of Palestinians bracing for what awaits them months after being driven out by war.

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

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KEILAR: President Trump's plans for a nationwide immigration crackdown are playing out, federal agencies intensifying deportation efforts over the weekend. There were nearly 1,000 arrests on Sunday alone.

Each Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office has been directed to fulfill a quota of 75 arrests per day according to two sources. That far exceeds the average pace of arrests set by the Biden administration, which was just over 300 per day.

Immigration czar Tom Homan denies that arrest quotas have been imposed on ICE officers. Well, now there are many families that are facing the cold hard, reality of these mandates. They have had loved ones arrested and that includes those who have spent decades in the U.S., like this woman's father in the Chicago area.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YELITZA MARQUINA, FATHER ARRESTED BY ICE: They opened the door because they thought maybe one of us were in trouble or something or something happened to us.

And they didn't they would have been ICE. I'm already heartbroken myself. And I can't really imagine little kids whose families are breaking apart because of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: With us now is the former acting Director for ICE John Sandweg.

John, what's your reaction as you're watching these immigration raids happening? How do you see these going?

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING ICE DIRECTOR: Well, I think, Brianna, it's the tip of the iceberg, in a sense.

Right now, I think what the agency is doing is focusing on very similar operations to what they conducted during the Obama administration, during the first Trump administration, during the Biden administration. And that is scrubbing the records, court records, jail records, probation and parole records, looking for anyone who might have a nexus to the criminal justice system and is also deportable, but that somehow ICE missed.

What they then do is, they build target lists. The teams are going out in the streets, knocking on the doors. Now, there are some differences. The first difference is that the Trump administration has lowered the threshold. During the Biden administration, you had to be convicted of what was termed a serious crime. And you needed to be convicted of that crime to be a target of these types of operations.

The Trump administration is taking anyone who's had a brush with the law, whether they have been convicted or not, and then, secondly, getting rid of that serious crime limitation, so individuals who might have been booked on a traffic offense.

And then the second issue is what are called collaterals. When they go into a House, you often don't just find the target. You find a family living there or a group home. These ICE agents in these operations will run the identities of everybody in the house, taking into custody anybody, regardless of whether they have a connection crime or not, who's undocumented.

KEILAR: Yes, that's a very good explainer.

So ICE says they arrested nearly 1,000 people on Sunday alone. During the Biden administration, ICE averaged a little more than 300 a day, a third of what ICE is doing now. Is that level of enforcement sustainable for these federal agencies?

SANDWEG: I think it's going to be very interesting to see how this develops.

What is not sustainable are those target lists I discussed. You just don't find that many criminals in the United States. They're going to exhaust those people with a nexus to criminal justice system very quickly.

It's also slightly more tedious work, as I explained previously. It takes a lot of agent time to go out there and find people who are criminals, because they're just more difficult to find typically than are the regular people.

So, as you see this pressure coming down, whether there's a quota or not, but as pressures get being put on the field offices, you just reduce their standards even more. And there really is an inverse relationship in immigration enforcement.

The higher quality from a public safety perspective is slower and results in a lower quantity. And you just can't have both. So what I'm very interested in seeing is, in the next few weeks, as these target lists get exhausted, as they just run out of this easy pickings in the criminal -- of the people connected to the criminal justice system, what operational tactics are they going to utilize to feed the machinery that the Trump administration has built?

KEILAR: We are seeing some local law enforcement get involved, kind of teaming up here in these arrests, and some that are not. It's really kind of ad hoc, though.

How are you viewing that aspect of these raids?

SANDWEG: Again, I think that's the beginning of it.

I think, right now, there may be some local law enforcement participating, probably primarily for political purposes. ICE doesn't need the assistance of them, especially not with these other federal agencies involved.

Certainly, in larger cities like Chicago, where you have sanctuary policies, you won't see any state law enforcement cooperating in any way. But I do think we're entering an environment where, in order to sustain a mass deportation effort, you need to feed a large number of arrests.

There are 7,000 ERO ICE officers dedicated to immigration enforcement. Obviously, they have supplemented this by directing the federal agencies to get involved and deputizing them as immigration.

But I think we're going to be in an environment very quickly where a large number of state local agencies sign on these 287(g) agreements, agreements where they can be deputized as federal immigration officers as well, something we saw a lot of in the Bush administration and we eliminated during the Obama administration due to concerns about how effective they were and civil rights concerns with how they did the immigration enforcement.

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But I do think we're headed very quickly to an environment where you're going to have a lot of sheriff's offices and some local police departments getting in the game, making immigration-only arrests, not necessarily criminal arrests with an immigration component.

KEILAR: What do you think this achieves? Do you think that it deters people who may be thinking about entering the U.S.?

SANDWEG: I think there's a deterrent effect, especially at the border, and I think the calling of the military and those things are going to deter people from crossing.

But I do think that there's a larger intent behind some of these things that we're seeing. I think by eliminating the sensitive locations memo and authorizing -- creating a perception that they're going to be raids at schools and churches -- first of all, I don't expect ICE to do a lot of that. It is -- no good comes out of those types of operations. You get heavily criticized, and you're not -- you don't find many

criminals or gang members in schools or churches. There might be the one-off case where somebody seeks shelter there, but those are very rare.

I guess the point, though, is, I do think there's a larger goal of deterrence being sent across the country. And I think behind a lot of this is this idea of self-deportation, put pressure on immigrant communities, create a climate that ICE is around the corner, that the government's resources might be bigger than they are, in order to induce people to leave the country on their own.

And I certainly think that's part of the messaging that's going on here.

KEILAR: John Sandweg, thank you so much for your insights. We do appreciate it.

SANDWEG: Thank you.

Coming up: how an unknown Chinese start-up company is sending shockwaves through us stock markets and has the Nasdaq plunging.

We will talk about why next.

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