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Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez Discusses "Border Czar" Tom Homan Calling Chicago Immigration Efforts A "Game-Changer"; Storm Dumps Rain, Triggers Mudslides In Fire-Ravaged L.A. County; Holocaust Survivor Shares His Story with Younger Generation; Super Bowl Favs Chicken Wings, Avocados And Beer Will Cost More. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired January 27, 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]
BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ, CHICAGO ALDERMAN: -- black and brown residents who are terrified. It is uncalled for.
And we are calling -- and we welcome not only the leadership of the governor, J.B. Pritzker, our mayor and our attorney general to challenge this in court. We got to protect our cities from the dictator in Chief.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Alderman, quickly, from the supporters of these crackdowns, you hear the argument that these folks, even those who are not violent actors, these folks who are undocumented, are not law abiding because they broke the law to get into the country.
I wonder how you respond to that, that even if they are productive members of the community, they still broke the law and should be prosecuted?
SIGCHO-LOPEZ: look, we have 500,000 residents in our -- in our city. This is not only, even though the Trump administration trying to make this an attack on our Mexican community and our immigrant community from Latin America -- we have Polish residents. We have Haitian residents. We have a wide range of diverse -- we have Asian residents.
I mean, the weaponization of -- of this is not new under, when he was president the first time, he weaponized the Covid 19 virus, calling it a China virus. And I was nearly destroyed -- or Chinatown community that I'm proud that I had represented.
It is clear that his goal is to create fear and to distract from the real issues in our country. I tell you that what we're seeing from the federal authorities, going to schools, going to going to churches, going to hospitals, it is, again, not something that we're seeing from any Democratic president. We've seen this in the worst dictators in the country.
I tell you that right now, I think what is important for people to know is that our efforts or know your rights on the ground have worked. We continue to see, you know, a crackdown on -- on, again, on a school. We're seeing the -- the erratic behavior. We don't know what they're looking for. But the dehumanization, the
criminalization of immigrants, I think, is a larger narrative that must be met with real solutions to the crisis at the border, real solutions for actually international cooperation.
This requires to think together to help cities like ours. We are a diverse city. We're one of the most diverse cities in the country. We're proud to carry the legacy of Martin Luther King or Marsha Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. We are proud to be a diverse city.
And is uncalled for and unconscionable that we see federal agents targeting our city, without any particular reason that we can see, other than criminalizing immigrant residents.
SANCHEZ: Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, we have to leave the conversation there. Thank you so much for your time and perspective.
SIGCHO-LOPEZ: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: After weeks of devastating wildfires, southern California now faces warnings about mudslides and toxic ash. Reports from the area when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:37:14]
SANCHEZ: After months on the dry side, some much-needed rain finally replaced those catastrophic winds in fire-ravaged southern California.
The rainfall helped cool conditions that amplified multiple deadly wildfires, but it brought another unwelcome visitor, dangerous mudslides.
Burn areas are now rife with sliding dirt and debris that have shut down at least one school district, closed major roadways and triggered hazardous driving conditions.
CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam gives us a closer look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It has finally rained in southern California, bringing relief to much of the residents there.
But unfortunately, it comes with a whole host of other problems, especially when we have this volatile of a ground, this dry, scorched landscape from the recent wildfires.
And that combines with the precipitation falling from the sky and it can cause mudslides and debris flows, just like this one in Topanga Canyon.
Now, going forward, the rain has really widely come to an end, but not before producing some of the most rain that Los Angeles has experienced in just about nine months. That's incredible. We even topped the one-inch mark in a few different locations, just
north and west of the Palisades Fire.
Here's a radar estimate of rainfall total. You can see the Hurst Fire, the Eaton Fire. And there's the Palisades near the coastal regions.
More widely speaking, you can see the precipitation that has moved through the area here over the past couple of days. Unfortunately, it has left these debris flows that you can see on this particular roadway in Los Angeles County.
There's also some other risks associated with this recent rainfall as well. Remember, the contaminants left over from the wildfires is now being absorbed by this water. And it has to flow somewhere and eventually makes its way to the beaches.
So authorities there are advising people to stay out of the ocean water for the next foreseeable future because of that risk of bacteria and other contaminants from the recent fires.
The rain coming to an end right now. We don't expect any significant additional precipitation. There could be a few light showers into this evening. You can see we have still quite a significant deficit.
But Sunday, we certainly work towards improving that. We saw over 0.6 inches of rainfall at the LAX region.
So additional rainfall to come, not much, but we'll certainly take what we can get, just not too much too quick.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right Derek, thank you.
And now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour.
A new player in artificial intelligence rattling tech stocks in a major way right now. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 both down sharply thanks to a stunning rollout from Chinese A.I. company DeepSeek.
It's a 1-year-old startup that presented a ChatGPT-like A.I. model that can nearly match the capabilities of it's far more famous rivals. That includes OpenAI's GPT-4, Meta's Llama and Google's Gemini, both at a -- I should say, but -- but at a fraction of the cost.
[14:40:02]
DeepSeek says that it spent just $5.5 million training it's new A.I. model, compared with the hundreds of millions, if not billions, that American companies spend on their A.I. technologies.
That's even more shocking considering the U.S. has worked for years to restrict the supply of higher power A.I. chips to China. Also today, Kia America is recalling more than 80,000 vehicles. The
automaker says it's because floor wiring beneath the front passenger seat can become damaged and prevent airbags and seat belts from deploying properly.
The recall covers Niro E.V. Plug-in Hybrid and hybrid models that were built from 2023 to 2025. I hope I said that right.
And after nearly half a century, officials have found a suspect in the killing of Dawn Momohara, a 16-year-old whose body was found inside of her high school in Honolulu back in 1977.
Police say she was partially clothed with an orange cloth tightly wrapped around her neck. And at the time, police released sketches of the suspect.
But it wasn't until last week that former schoolmate, Gideon Castro, was arrested at a nursing home in Utah. Police say DNA testing, not available at the time, helped identify the 66 year old. He's now charged with second-degree murder.
And next, as the world marks 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, CNN sits down with a Holocaust survivor who, after facing a lifetime of unanswered questions, is now sharing his remarkable story with future generations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACKIE YOUNG, HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR: I'd like to think that they have opened their eyes a bit to what can happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:46:06]
SANCHEZ: Around the world today, somber ceremonies are taking place, marking international Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
You're looking here at the liberation ceremony at the museum on the site of the Auschwitz death camp.
KEILAR: Six million Jews were killed there -- were killed during the Holocaust. Survivors are scheduled to speak at many of today's commemorative events.
CNN's Isa Soares spoke with a Holocaust survivor who gives his testimonies at school to teach the younger generation about the horrors of World War II.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YOUNG: What I'm about to tell you now I had absolutely no knowledge of myself. ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the last 13 years, Jackie Young has been taking teenagers beyond the history books.
YOUNG: The war has been on already two -- over two years.
SOARES: Educating them about the Holocaust by retelling his harrowing story as a baby sent to a Nazi concentration camp.
YOUNG: How and why I survived two years, eight months, as a 9-month- old baby, I still do not know.
SOARES: It was 1945 when Jackie arrived in the U.K. on a British Royal Air Force plane. His adoptive parents never told Jackie he was a Holocaust survivor, keeping his early life secret for years.
YOUNG: Any little piece of the puzzle of my past would be than welcome.
SOARES: It's a puzzle that he is yet to complete. But with each piece, a moment of clarity for 83-year-old Jackie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE STUDENT: What is something you haven't found out yet but you'd like to?
SOARES: And an awakening of the minds for this younger generation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT: How did the whole process change your identity and the way you see the world today?
YOUNG: It's what I call cathartic.
SOARES: With each passing year, some fear this generation could be the last to hear from Holocaust survivors. Their testimonies consigned to footnotes in history books.
SOARES (on camera): Given, what we heard from Jackie and the lessons from history and what is playing out in the world right now, how does his story shape all of you who are the future?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT: I feel that it really highlights the importance and the need to stand up to, you know, prejudice and stand up for those who are vulnerable.
And I feel that it's -- it reminds us of the importance of teaching and educating younger generations to really combat prejudice and promote peace.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE STUDENT: I agree. And that kind of story kind of leaves you wondering, what about the other children that had this same story? What happened to them? Do they know what happened? Do they not know?
SOARES (voice-over): Jackie says he has found peace that the puzzle of his life may never be complete.
YOUNG: I'm visioning myself to the fact that the pieces are smaller by the day.
SOARES (on camera): The reception you get from the teenagers, many of them study this, which, as I heard today, is quite -- it's quite another story hearing it directly from someone who lived it and breathed it.
What do you think they take away from it?
YOUNG: I'd like to think that they have opened their eyes a bit to what can happen with humanity. I mean, we've got no other gaining (ph) on this world.
SOARES (voice-over): Life lessons from a Holocaust survivor whose story of trauma and resilience will hopefully reverberate beyond these school walls.
[14:49:48]
Isa Soares, CNN, north London, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: A segment on something we're experts on.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: It's happening. It's happening.
KEILAR: Right? Snacks --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: -- for games.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Super Bowl party.
KEILAR: Yes. The Kansas City Chiefs --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- yes, the spread, that's right -- the Philadelphia Eagles, they are set for a rematch in New Orleans. Deja vu here.
Now that we know who's facing off in Super Bowl LIX, let's focus on what really matters -- planning that menu.
SANCHEZ: Indeed. And while grocery prices have gone up, food and drinks for 10 people, including chips, guacamole, beer and, of course, chicken wings, it will be about the same as last year because prices have just been seesawing.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now.
Vanessa, what can we expect to spend on a game day spread, sans eggs? Because we know eggs, the cost of eggs is just like insane right now.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I haven't heard that eggs are super popular in a Super Bowl party, but --
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: -- deviled eggs.
YURKEVICH: All right, all right, I'll give you that, deviled eggs.
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: But that's not really on the menu for this report.
[14:55:02]
For this report it's about $139 for a party of 10 if you're shopping at the grocery store. So that's up about $0.10 from last year. That's not too terrible.
However, guys, if you're trying to be healthy this year at your Super Bowl party, that's where it's going to cost you.
Avocados up 11.5 percent. Also, you have peppers, carrots and cherry tomatoes up this year. You have chicken wings up 7.2 percent. Beer and wine up 2 percent.
But the reason veggies are so expensive this year is because they've seen a little bit of tough growing conditions. So weather has dampened supply.
At the same time, there's more demand because you have a lot of folks who are trying to be healthy this year because they're on weight-loss -- weight-loss drugs. That's what this report from Wells Fargo says.
So more people wanting veggies, that's pushing the demand up on an already weaker supply.
The cost savings that you might see this year, frozen pizza down about 3.7 percent. Shrimp down about 4 percent if you want to get fancy.
Tortilla chips down 1.4 percent. And that's helpful if you're pairing that with the guacamole. That will bring your overall chips and guac costs just down a little bit.
SANCHEZ: I'm concerned about the guacamole.
KEILAR: It's a good fat, but not when you eat a bowl of it, I will say.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Its good anyway.
Vanessa Yurkevich, try the eggs at the -- at the Super Bowl party. Maybe some scrambled eggs --
YURKEVICH: All right, all right.
SANCHEZ: -- for the Super Bowl.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Vanessa Yurkevich --
KEILAR: That sounds terrible.
SANCHEZ: -- thank you so much.
Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, President Trump is about to sign several new executive orders that could reshape the nation's military and create an Iron Dome over the United States. We'll discuss next.
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