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Trump Expected to Reshape Military With New Executive Orders; Trump Expected to Sign Order Banning Transgender Service Members; Trump Admin Launches Immigration Crackdown in Chicago. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 27, 2025 - 14:00   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: Another day, another round of executive orders. Any minute, President Trump is expected to sign several more that could reshape our nation's military and create America's very own Iron Dome.

Plus, immigration raids and arrests are striking fear in communities across the country, causing some people to call out of work to keep their kids home from school. But despite these increasing shows of force, officials in some communities say they haven't seen a significant increase in deportations.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And some people attend Super Bowl parties for the game, Boris. Others are just there for the food, Brianna. But how much will it cost you? We're following these stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN News Central.

SANCHEZ: Migrant communities face fear and uncertainty as federal agents carry out President Trump's long promised mass deportation plans. ICE says it's arrested nearly 1,000 people nationwide during immigration enforcement operations over the weekend that targeted cities from Los Angeles to Chicago to Atlanta. Sources tell CNN that ICE field offices have been told to meet a quota of 75 arrests per day as the new administration launches its crackdown. Border czar Tom Homan, however, denies that any such quotas exist.

Meantime, we're keeping an eye on the White House, where we're hearing that President Trump is expected to sign a new wave of executive orders today, this time to overhaul the U.S. Military. Let's take you now live at the White House with CNN's Alayna Treene, who's following all of these developments for us. Alayna, walk us through what these new executive orders cover.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. Well, Boris, I'm told that Donald Trump is expected to sign at least four executive orders relating to the United States military, three of which are really aimed at targeting the culture of the U.S. Armed forces as well as the type of people who serve. So one of the orders would be reinstating a transgender military ban that we know Donald Trump had first imposed during his first-term back in 2017. Another would be reinstating service members who were initially discharged for not having the COVID-19 vaccine or not, or refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, I should say. And then the third one is really aimed at gutting diversity, equity and inclusion programs from throughout the entire U.S. Military. So those are the ones that focus, like I said, on some of the more cultural issues within the military.

I am told that Pete Hegseth, who was just sworn in over the weekend as the new Defense Secretary, is going to have broad powers on how those are implemented. But now I want to talk to you, Boris, about that fourth executive order. And this is one that the White House, according to a fact sheet on this executive order that we obtained, they said it would create a, quote, next generation missile defense shield for the United States.

They're really dubbing this new process as what Donald Trump is calling the Iron Dome for America. That's referring to what we know Israel has as its missile defense system that's really geared toward shooting down missiles from Gaza. Now, I want to read for you a quote from that fact sheet from the White House.

They say, quote, "The executive order directs the implementation of a next generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles and other next generation aerial attacks." The statement goes on to say, calling such potential attacks, or it calls such potential attacks a catastrophic threat.

Now, just to talk about, you know, them referring to these different missiles as a catastrophic threat, we should be clear that we haven't seen any of these types of weapons used on U.S. territory in modern warfare. That's one thing to keep in mind.

We also want to keep in mind that the United States actually helped fund the creation of the Iron Dome in Israel. And then the other thing to keep in mind as well is that the military also currently has the capability to deploy a layered air defense system that's really geared towards shooting down some of these types of missiles as well.

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So we have to see more on what this order will do. But this is something Donald Trump talked about on the campaign trail and wants to implement moving forward. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene live for us at the White House, thank you so much.

I want to take you now to the Pentagon with CNN National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand. Natasha, what are you hearing about how DOD plans to act on these executive orders?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's really an open question, Boris. As Alayna said there, Secretary of Defense Hegseth will now have broad remit in determining how exactly to implement these policies. And he spoke a little bit to reporters earlier today when he arrived at the Pentagon, but he really did not explain how he would go about implementing these policies.

Instead, focusing on things like him saying that he wants to increase the lethality of our war fighters and how he thinks about when he is determining policy and how he is thinking about leading the military, the individuals and the service members at the different military bases across the country. Here's a little bit of what he said.

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PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Every moment that I'm here, I'm thinking about the guys and gals in Guam, in Germany, in Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, on missile defense sites and aircraft carriers. Our job is lethality and readiness and war fighting. We're going to hold people accountable. I know the Chairman agrees with that.

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BERTRAND: Notably there, he used the old names for the U.S. Military bases, Fort Bragg and Fort Benning, which have since been changed by law from Confederate names to their current names now. But ultimately, what Pete Hegseth will have to decide here, particularly when it comes to the transgender ban, that ban on service members, transgender service members from serving in the military, is the scope of it?

Is that going to include people already serving? There are over 14,000 transgender service members currently in the military, about 0.7% of the entire military. And is it going to include any exceptions? Back in 2017 when President Trump first implemented this, Jim Mattis, then the secretary of defense, he did include some very notable exceptions. And then on the other things like gutting DEI programs, clearly a very high priority for Pete Hegseth, he tweeted about it over the weekend saying DOD does not equal DEI.

And finally, that reinstatement of service members who were kicked out of the military because they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Again, what is that going to look like? Are they going to have to join the military again to get that back pay and their full rank reinstated? For how long are they going to have to sign up to serve in the military in order to get that back pay? Where is the U.S. Military going to get the money to give them that back pay? All things that have to be really figured out here and hammered out in the next months and maybe even up to a year. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yeah. We'll see how the administration approaches those open questions. Natasha Bertrand live for us at the Pentagon, thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Let's talk about this now with Laila Ireland. She is a retired army veteran who served as a human intelligence collector and a combat medic, and she a member of SPARTA Pride, which is a community of transgender military service members and veterans like herself. Laila, thanks so much for being with us. What is your reaction to this?

LAILA IRELAND, TRANSGENDER RETIRED ARMY VETERAN: Hi, Brianna. Thank you so much for having me. You know, I think it's really important to highlight that transgender service members, thousands of the individuals, are currently serving in the military, many in specialized positions requiring years of training and expertise.

Placing them would result in significant operational gaps, weakening the effectiveness of our armed forces and our national security. So it's really interesting to hear our new Secretary of Defense say that we're not capable or worthy of that service.

KEILAR: And I do want to note someone like yourself where so much -- so many resources were invested in your training or your husband, who is trans and an active duty service member. The first Trump military trans ban actually had a lot of exceptions. Your husband was still able to serve. I wonder what you're looking for in the fine print on this one to see how it could affect him, how it could affect others?

IRELAND: You know, currently, we don't know what that looks like, right? And I think what we want is to be able to still have that opportunity to serve. But again, transgender Americans like myself and my husband have been serving openly for the last 10 years, almost the last 10 years, and they've been serving with courage, honor, and effectiveness. So I think that's something that we need to look at or that the new leadership needs to look at and incorporate that if we're looking at the security of our nation and service to keeping our people safe.

KEILAR: And the White House does -- I think you kind of, in a way, referenced it, they're citing a fact sheet that says it can take several months for someone to complete treatments after transition surgery and that during this time, they're not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements, they need ongoing medical care.

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What do you say to that?

IRELAND: You know, transgender service members are fully deployable even during transition. And these service members are currently deployed around the world, including in some of the most austere environments where you can find Americans serving. Trans people are fully capable and fully deployable throughout the transition.

For those who do get the surgery, it's not even -- it's not different from knee or shoulder surgery commonly undergone by other service members during downtime. So after transition, transgender service members are capable, effective, and lethal, like every qualified service member.

We talk about being war fighters. You know, we're commanders, we're drill sergeants, pilots, submariners, Special Forces, Doctors, and Marines. There are several thousands of us that are members of SPARTA and organizations that helps connect our trans service members. And we have a plethora, a wide range of service to look at and consider.

KEILAR: And as you mentioned, there are thousands of trans service members. There's actually estimated to be 14,000 in the military as of 2018. We should mention not all of them transition while in the military, but many of them do. As you and your husband did. You both served honorably in combat zones repeatedly. Can you tell us a little bit about how service members navigate that transition while they're serving? Because you and your husband had very, very different experiences?

IRELAND: Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think what it boils down to is the support of great command and leadership. And when you are able to provide a space where we value and we show that value of our members of the team, it allows them to really bring their full selves to the fight.

And by doing away with that, we violate our integrity on a daily basis because we can't bring our full selves to the fight. So if you're not having service members serving their authenticity and serve and bring their full selves to that fight, we are not effective as we would like to be.

KEILAR: And when you talk about losing that expertise of this many service members, especially at a time where we hear time and again the military is trying its best to recruit people. What are your concerns about what that could mean? Just to lose people potentially very quickly from service.

IRELAND: Yeah, you know, I think replacing transgender troops would cost billions and create an unnecessary talent gap. With 73% of transgender personnel being senior enlisted leaders with extensive experience, immediately replacing that personnel or these personnel will cost billions and require up to 20 years to regain that experience. So they are deployed today in units and are combat ready now. So we need to make sure that we're valuing their contribution, their dedication and their livelihoods and being brought to the front line.

KEILAR: What's the conversation like right now in the community? What are the worries as we're awaiting? What is in this CEO?

IRELAND: Yeah, you know, I think that's a fair question to ask right now. What we're ensuring our service members know is that until something solidified, drops and says they no longer can serve, what they're going to continue to do is lace up their boots, put their uniforms on and continue to do the job that they were trained and trusted to do. Yes, there are going to be worries in our community, but as a community, we're going to keep pushing forward.

KEILAR: Laila Ireland, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for your service and thank you so much for all that you do as a military spouse. We appreciate it.

IRELAND: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And still to come, Chicago feeling the brunt of President Trump's immigration crackdown. Not only did his border chief visit the city, but TV crews were given access to film raids as they were happening. We'll talk to a Chicago official about growing fears in the immigrant community.

Plus, long awaited rain moving into Southern California. But those storms are now threatening to add to the devastation. The latest on mudslides and much more coming up on CNN News Central.

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KEILAR: As federal authorities carry out immigration crackdowns across the country, perhaps no city has felt the full impact of those operations quite like Chicago. A hotline set up for tips about ICE activity in the city has been ringing off the hook since Sunday, when the Trump administration's immigration campaign started. White House border czar Tom Homan and acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove were in Chicago to oversee the operations.

Homan calling the enforcement blitz a game changer. The result? Sending shockwaves through the Windy City as immigrants grow fearful of what these raids will mean for their families. One nonprofit telling CNN, some people are avoiding work. They're even avoiding school, fearing that they'll be caught in the raids.

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JULIE CONTRERAS, PASTOR, UNITED GIVING HOPE: I had a four year old crying, fearing deportation. That is not making America great again.

MAN #1: I opened the curtain and saw that it said police. When I saw the agents get out, they had the building surrounded. So they entered. They went up and started knocking on the doors really loudly.

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My children started crying.

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KEILAR: With us now is Nell Salzman. She's a reporter from the Chicago Tribune who specializes in immigration. Nell, thank you so much for being with us. I know you are very busy reporting on this story. Tell us what you're hearing from people in the community.

NELL SALZMAN, REPORTER CHICAGO TRIBUNE: There's a lot of fear right now in the community. People are scared to walk outside. I just got off the phone with one woman who works downtown. She cleans houses. She said, I don't know if I can walk outside. I don't know if I can take the bus.

So there's definitely this fear. And people are -- immigration attorneys here are telling me that their phones are ringing off the hook. The messaging -- Homan's messaging being here in Chicago has certainly sent shockwaves through the immigrant communities here.

KEILAR: And part of the issue is there is a focus, yes, on people who have some kind of criminal conduct, but the standard for that has also been lessened, right? So there's a broader population that is affected, and it's also people who may be in their home who have not had any kind of brush with the law. Tell us how people are processing that. SALZMAN: There are a lot of immigration groups that are working tirelessly on the ground to disseminate information. The mayor's office, being a sanctuary city, has decided to really uphold that sanctuary promise and hold, you know, know your rights workshops. And so a lot of communities here are preparing for the potential of being addressed by ICE officials. The people are telling their neighbors to call a hotline.

Yesterday, I spoke to a neighbor who saw ICE officials approach a house, and then the woman knew to turn them away because she knew that they didn't have a criminal warrant to arrest anyone in that house. So the people on the ground here, advocates, are working to make sure people know their rights, and those who see any incident happen to call this hotline.

KEILAR: What have you learned about why the Trump administration chose to focus on Chicago?

SALZMAN: I just got off the phone with an attorney before this call, and he told me that the spike in numbers on Sunday in Chicago was likely part of Trump's effort to deliver a visual for his promises of mass deportations. But it's unclear, you know, how long these federal immigration crackdown efforts can be sustained.

He told me that part of what they want to do is to create a lot of chaos and uncertainty to drive this climate of fear. But everyone who I talk to says it would take a lot for these efforts to be sustained. It would take a lot of resources.

KEILAR: Are city and state officials planning to challenge any of these enforcement operations?

SALZMAN: It's unclear. So we, you know, we have had interviews with the mayor and city officials here in Chicago. I know that this is an issue of, you know, great contention regarding the Department justice officials reports from earlier this week prosecuting state and local officials. But the message in Chicago is clear. The mayor and the governor are not backing down from their sanctuary promises and they're doing everything they can to host knowing your rights presentations and make sure people know what to do if they're addressed by ICE.

KEILAR: Nell Salzman, thank you so much for your reporting and for joining us to tell us what's happening there on the ground. We appreciate it.

SALZMAN: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. I'm in my car onto the next reporting assignment.

KEILAR: Yeah, we have no doubt. That's why I referenced you were busy. I know that you were certainly covering many different angles of this story. Nell, thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Let's hear from a city official now. We're joined by Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez. He represents Ward 25 on the Chicago City Council. Sir, thanks so much for being with us. Talk to us about how you have seen and heard your constituents being impacted by the enforcement actions over this weekend.

BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ, CHICAGO ALDERMAN: Thank you for Boris, for the invitation. And we've seen a really long week for many Chicagoans. This week has felt like an eternity given the weight of the federal government coming not to help Chicagoans feel safer, but to create panic and chaos, as we heard from the reporter.

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We've seen Secret Service coming to target schools. The panic that is to bring the immigration czar, so called, with Dr. Phil, even in creating this as some sort of reality show playing with the real fear of students, children, families who are terrified by the misinformation, by the threats of mass deportation. Now, they're saying that this is a targeted surgical procedure, quote, unquote.

But the fear that we see by students, by children, by families, by our neighbors, it is uncalled for, the unconscionable decision of targeting not only schools, churches. We saw the targeted of one of our churches in our community by some MAGA fanatics coming, harassing our pastor, one of the local pastors. We see also trying to target hospitals. It's unconscionable, the fear that it's creating, this is not making anyone safe is actually declined.

Hurting our businesses, hurting our city. And it's unconscionable that we see this from the White House, a President that should be called on actually addressing inflation, addressing so many of the issues on the ground. It is unconscionable that they are scapegoating and targeting immigrant communities and creating serious harm in our city.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you, Byron, about what happened with those Secret Service agents at the school. It seems that there was some confusion there that according to federal officials, they were investigating some kind of threat. They were not actually part of an immigration enforcement action, it's the understanding. How do you think these sorts of efforts might actually impact students though?

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Well, we're hearing from children. We heard from one of the testimonies that are afraid --

SANCHEZ: It looks like we're having some technical issues with Byron signal there, but we hope to have the alderman back soon to continue the discussion. A lot of things we didn't get to - actually, there we go. Alderman, you're back with us?

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Yes, my apologies. So like I said, the fear of students that are afraid for their parents attending to school to come into school, students missing school, the terror and the panic that this is said in our schools that are sacred grounds. We're still unclear what the Secret Service was doing. One source said that was looking for an 11-year-old, which it is unconscionable targeting with schools, churches, hospitals, people missing, even parents missing doctor's appointments. These are our neighbors. This is a city that is being targeted because we are a century city and that I'm glad that they are now, not only -- or attorney General, but immigration organizations that are filing lawsuits at the federal level to challenge such atrocities against children, against families, people who are vulnerable and the harm, the economic and psychological trauma that is creating in our city.

SANCHEZ: I just want to point out, again, it's still unclear exactly what happened with the Secret Service at that school. It's not clear that it was an enforcement action. Nevertheless, I do want to ask you about who exactly is being targeted because the administration has vowed to go after violent actors. And Tom Homan has made clear that if they are found with other people that may be undocumented, whether violent actors or not, they are also going to be processed for deportation. Do you have a sense of who exactly federal agents are targeting?

SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Look, I mean by the amount of resources, federal resources that are being deployed in our city, it is still unclear why they're criminalizing our immigrant community. They have gone from saying that they were mass deportations in our city to now they say that there's a focus groups to now really erratic behavior going to schools. It is unclear what the Secret Service was doing looking for an 11-year-old, as you said. So it is unclear what is the goal.

What we do know is that these are expensive federal resources. We have cities like LA who are in dire need to address the climate change. We have cities like ours who need some help to address poverty, inequality. And it's unclear what is the goal here.

But what we know is that in the first week in office, President Trump, just like dictators, not as presidents do, have gone after inspector generals have gone after DEI, they have gone now after the trans people in the military. This is nothing that is keeping us safe. It is going after working people. We are warning that with these dictatorial moves that now scapegoating immigrants, innocent people. It is unclear what is the goal.

But I tell you, the terror, the fear, the panic, it is harming our businesses, it's harming our city and it's uncalled for, unconscionable that so many resources that are needed in municipalities like LA are being deployed to create terror and panic instead of creating safety for trans people, for black and brown residents who are terrified. It is uncalled for. And we calling -- and we welcome not only the leadership of the governor, JB Pritzker or mayor and our --