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Senator Wyden Says Medicaid Portal is Down in All 50 States; White House Attempts to Clarify Freeze on Federal Aid; DHS Secy Noem Laying Out Immigration Strategy to Staff. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 28, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:03]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do begin with breaking news. The fallout from the federal aid freeze, a pair of Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, say that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states. These are payment portals following the pause.

It's a pause the White House said would take effect at 5 PM Eastern and it could impact millions of people across the country. In a memo, the acting director for the Office of Management and Budget writes this: "This temporary pause will provide the administration time to review agency programs and determine the best uses of the funding for those programs consistent with the law and the President's priorities"

And while the memo does not specify which projects will be impacted, it does not say that it will not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits, nor does it include assistance provided directly to individuals. Some assurances, though, we did just get from the White House Press Secretary about some of those.

Still, the uncertainty here, it's causing a lot of turmoil for some organizations that rely on federal support. Meals on Wheels, for one, which is known so well, serves more than 2 million senior citizens. A spokesperson for Meals on Wheels says that this is creating chaos, which unfortunately means seniors will panic, not knowing where their next meals will come from.

Then there is Head Start. That's early education. It's health and family support to low-income families. That could be forced to shut down some of its programs as early as tomorrow.

Head Start, just for your understanding, it serves so many people, nearly 800,000 low-income children from birth to age five and their families. And then there are other programs, like rental assistance. That helps seniors, veterans, working families keep the roofs over their heads.

And the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities found that more than 8.6 million people in cities and suburbs, along with 1.5 million in rural areas and small towns are relying on that rental assistance. Also, CNN is learning the pause could halt local health programs for things like disease surveillance, water safety, restaurant inspections and also substance abuse.

The National Council of Nonprofits says that this freeze is a potential five-alarm fire that could be devastating and cost lives. Boris?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Meantime, the White House attempted to clear up some of the confusion about what will be impacted by that freeze in financial aid when Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt faced reporters during her first official briefing of President Trump's second term. The memo says the pause will not affect Social Security or Medicare benefits, but it doesn't address Medicaid. Here's how Leavitt responded when she was asked about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't clear to me whether you were saying that no Medicaid would be cut off. Obviously, a lot of this goes to states before it goes to individuals and so forth, so are you guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cut-off because of the pause?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'll check back on that and get back to you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's take you to the White House now with CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, I do want to point out that Leavitt just posted moments ago on social media saying, quote, "the White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage. We've confirmed no payments have been affected. They are still being processed and sent." She says, "We expect the portal will be back online shortly." There is the post.

Notable, though, that the White House is trying to clarify this with about two hours before these changes take effect.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So Boris, that encapsulates really the confusion that has reigned not just across Washington here, but indeed across all federal agencies, state agencies, because of that memo last night from the Office of Management and Budget.

Now, the reality here is there is some confusion. Watching that press briefing, it was very clear. The Press Secretary said direct individual payments would not be affected. But then she said she wasn't sure about Medicaid. The White House came back and said Medicaid funding is not impacted.

However, you saw there from the states that those state portals are down. So, there is a likelihood that this will sort of work itself out. But the bigger picture here is the - what is affected. And this was a sweeping order that the Office of Management and Budget impacted to review and put a pause on all of those programs and it's unclear exactly which ones will be unfrozen.

So Medicaid, it seems like, will not be affected by this. But there are a host of other programs, of course, across the government that will.

[15:04:59]

And the bigger point on all this is the President is again trying to flex his presidential powers here. Congress is saying that it passed these laws, it funded these programs. So, you can just see a fight coming on this, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Jeff, Leavitt also defended Trump's immigration crackdown. And the administration's vow to specifically target undocumented immigrants with criminal records. That was an interesting exchange.

ZELENY: It certainly was. I mean, this has been, of course, at the center of the President's whole reason for running for office. He's been talking about immigration for the better part of a decade. He's been watching, we're told, these enforcement and these raids happening over the weekend. But the question is, would there just be a focus on dangerous criminals or not. And this is what the White House Press Secretary said to that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of the 3,500 arrests ICE has made so far since President Trump came back into office, can you just tell us the numbers, how many have a criminal record versus those who are just in the country illegally?

LEAVITT: All of them because they illegally broke our nation's laws and therefore they are criminals as far as this administration goes. I know the last administration didn't see it that way. So, it's a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal, but that's exactly what they are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the underlying question, of course, is, is there a crime that these migrants have already been accused of in addition to being here illegally? And the White House clearly making it clear that that is not necessary. But that is not necessarily what was expected talking about these immigration raids and things.

So, Boris, as this continues over the coming weeks and months, we will see what the fallout from all of these policies are. We will see what the fallout from these immigration policies are, but we should say this is - none of this should be a surprise. This is what President Trump campaigned on. And now day by day, sometimes hour by hour, we are seeing the fallout from all of that here. So, but a very interesting first press briefing today from Karoline Leavitt. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, and I also want to let our viewers know that the newly minted Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, it's her first day on the job officially. And she's speaking to staffers literally right now about these immigration crackdowns. We're going to turn some of that sound for you as we get it.

Jeff Zeleny live from the White House. Thank you so much. Brianna?

KEILAR: Joining us now is the President and CEO for the National Council of Nonprofits, Diane Yentel.

And Diane, you along with several nonprofit groups just sued the Trump administration over this freeze. Tell us more about the suit.

DIANE YENTEL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL COUNCIL OF NONPROFITS: Yes, we did. Thank you.

And we are suing to stop this order because it could have catastrophic consequences for people and communities throughout the country. This order that would halt federal spending on a multitude of programs would impact programs like housing assistance for veterans or food assistance, food for infants, women, and children. Disaster assistance would be impacted.

So, the very communities that President Trump just visited in North Carolina, impacted by Hurricane Helene, and then the people of California who lost so much to the wildfires, those same people that he just visited promising relief would have the very funds that they need to recover and rebuild halted. And we're talking about potentially shuttering domestic violence shelters, homeless shelters, pausing childcare assistance.

So, the pain and the harm from this order would be broad and deep, and it would be felt in communities across the country, from red states to blue states, from rural to suburban to urban communities alike.

KEILAR: So, we just watched the White House press briefing. Tell us, as you were listening to the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, what clarification maybe did inform you and what actually did not help ensure that a lot of those things you just described won't actually go into effect?

YENTEL: I would say there's very little clarification from that press conference or from the Q&A to Congress. And by the way, a question- and-answer fact sheet to Congress doesn't hold the same weight as a directive from OMB to federal agencies.

And what I heard in the press conference and what I see in that Q&A is parsing of words. I hear the Press Secretary saying that they're not going to halt direct assistance to Americans, right? But who defines what direct assistance to Americans is?

I would define homeless shelters, providing beds for people to sleep in on a cold night, direct assistance to Americans or I would consider a head start program, early childhood education to be direct assistance to Americans.

[15:10:10] But these are the very programs and the very program providers who as of this morning, and in some cases last night, aren't able to access the federal portals that they've always used to get the funding that they need to provide those services.

So, along with the directive that was sent to federal agencies yesterday evening, OMB also sent sort of a questionnaire that covered 2,600 programs across the federal government asking for federal agencies within a week or so to provide justifications essentially for these programs.

So, the harm, again, could be very, very broad. And it's worth remembering, too, that all of the funding for these programs was passed on a bipartisan basis by Congress. So, the executive branch is really out overstepping its authority in trying now to say that funding somehow doesn't align with its priorities.

KEILAR: Yes. They insist - she was asked about that today, they insist they are not, but huge questions as you raise that they may be. Diane Yentel, thank you so much for being with us.

YENTEL: Thank you.

KEILAR: Next, the nation's new Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, addressing staffers for the first time about the future of the department. We'll have her remarks coming here shortly. We're monitoring them. These come hours after she joined ICE enforcement operations in New York overnight. Her message is ahead.

Plus, Oklahoma's Board of Education voting to require parents to prove their citizenship when enrolling their children in school. I'll talk to the state's top education official about the move next.

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[15:16:24]

SANCHEZ: Right now, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is addressing her new staff for the first time and outlining her vision for the department. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Today, I'm hoping all of us will be a beacon of freedom, of light and of hope that when people look at us, they don't just see people who are there in a time of crisis or conflict, but we're also people that bring a smile to people's faces and remind them what America is about. You're on the front lines many times, but you're also sometimes the last ones in to help pick up the pieces. And you see people on their very worst days. But that is a presence that you can bring that will bring them comfort and stability in a time when their whole world seems to be shaken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is Juliette Kayyem. She served as Assistant Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security.

Juliette, thanks so much for being with us.

If you're a career DHS employee, what are you listening for from Secretary Noem today?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I'm hearing from a lot of them. There's so much confusion right now about what the department can do. So, the irony is she's out there. She's giving a pep talk, which is what new secretaries should do about how meaningful they are in people's lives when disaster hits, what they do for the safety and security of America from cyber to the border to the Coast Guard. But huge swathes of the department are not doing anything right now.

So, I think looking at what the decision was about the OMB directive to just give some details to things I'm hearing from people and what I know from the department, a big question about FEMA funds. And even though the President was in North Carolina and California last Friday saying that they would have - help the disbursement of those funds comes through grants. Don't go to individuals, they go to state and local, so those are held up.

Police departments are recipients of the major Homeland Security grant that goes to state and locals to support police departments and everything from counterterrorism to fentanyl protection to public health. So, all - so it's just like - it's just weird, I mean, to be told, you know, what you do is important and then this sort of side swipe from last night, I think there'll be clarifications by the White House as they figure out, to be honest, sort of what did they actually mean or intend or is this just for the fight and this will be over in two days and we'll go through this cycle again. Meanwhile, you know, the Homeland Security continues.

SANCHEZ: That is such an important point. I am curious about the way that the administration is trying to publicize some of its efforts when it comes to this immigration crackdown. This morning, Secretary Noem posted photos and videos on X from an operation in the Bronx. You see her there wearing a police and an ice vest. We also saw Dr. Phil in an apparent ride along with agents in Chicago.

What do you make of these operations seemingly being made for TV, made to be publicized?

KAYYEM: Yes. So, one of the challenges in the weeks and months and years ahead is going to be what in fact is happening as compared to what the administration wants to tell us is happening. There's shifts in immigration policy, in particular, something like CBP One, the app that they brought down that will now just make asylum seekers more confused, not less, right?

[15:20:02]

And that - but what the Trump administration inherited was shock of all shocks, the numbers are there, which is a much quieter border than what they sold. And so, they're going to have to do much what we would call performative enforcement actions. That is bringing Dr. Phil, televising it, bringing Noem who looks like she's going into combat in New York City.

This is part of the performative nature of their immigration policy. It's up to us, to the media and analysts to drill down on what in fact - why are - why is this happening? The numbers are, at least from the first week, are the same as they were under Biden. All administrations do enforcement actions.

So, part of this is the performative nature of it and going after people that were also gone after in the Biden administration and - but what we're also hearing, of course, is this over-inclusiveness of these immigration actions. When you tell ICE they need to deport, they are going to find people that do not look like Kristi Noem or even the Trump family.

And so, we are already starting to hear of racial profiling of Americans, including Puerto Ricans who are Americans. This is lawsuits. I mean, that's all it's going to be. And the administration and the U.S. government, and therefore the federal taxpayer is going to have to pay probably for these false and, you know, sort of racially motivated arrests.

It's not - I'm not - I'm just being descriptive here. It's not a good way to use government resources for a serious problem, which is of course, immigration, border controls and border enforcement. But this is what the administration will do in terms of this performative aspects of it. Dr. Phil is just the best, easiest and somewhat, like, absurd example to have a talk show host follow along on immigration raids, which presumably we've been told they're dangerous. Not sure you want to put him in that.

SANCHEZ: Juliette Kayyem, appreciate you sharing your perspective. Thanks for joining us.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Brianna?

KEILAR: We are following a developing story out of Oklahoma where schools could soon have some new rules. The state's board of education voting unanimously today to require families to prove their immigration status when enrolling students. Under the proposal, school districts must then record the number of students with undocumented parents and pass that information along to the state. Officials say the immigration status of students will not impact their ability to attend schools. The rule still needs approval from state lawmakers.

Joining us now is Oklahoma's superintendent of public instruction, Ryan Walters.

Superintendent, would you be seeking information about the immigration status of parents or the immigration status of children?

RYAN WALTERS, OKLAHOMA STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION: Well, look all of the above, because what we're trying to do is ensure that we have the information to properly educate Oklahoma kids. We're going to put Oklahoma kids first, and we've seen an influx of illegal immigration into our state. We've got to know where that population is, where the migrants are and to make sure that we're allocating resources and personnel appropriately, so we're looking to gather that information in order to best do that.

KEILAR: So, you did an interview with a station in your state, and when you spoke about gathering this information, at no point did you say that it was for allocating educational resources. Your rationale for turning over information was solely focused on enforcement around illegal information. I want to play what you said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WALTERS: Look, we will not allow schools to be sanctuary schools anymore. We will turn over information to the Trump administration so that they can make decisions on where illegal immigrants are, how big the problem is. So, we have already announced that we're going to do those things. President Trump is doing that nationwide, so we're happy to work with him on that. And look, we're going to make sure that his policies are enforced.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: You also wouldn't rule out raids in schools. So, which is it, educational resources or enforcement of immigration policies?

WALTERS: Oh, it's absolutely both. I've been crystal clear on that. President Trump won a clear mandate, and he is fulfilling his campaign promises very quickly by deporting illegal immigrants. And part of that is he said schools are no longer going to be sanctuaries. We're not going to allow sanctuary schools here in Oklahoma. He's going to get that information so he can make the decisions on how to deport families together. And that's something that's very important as we move forward.

And of course, you've got to have information to educate kids, which again is one of our top priorities here. So, you got to be able to do both things at the same time.

KEILAR: So, I mean, talk about the information that you'd be willing to hand over then, because if you're talking about allocation of resources, it's not about individual information. Would you be willing to hand over people's identities or just the number of undocumented parents broken down by school district?

[15:25:03]

WALTERS: Well, let me be clear. Yes, I'll give President Trump whatever he needs to carry out his agenda. It is a law to not work with law enforcement. That would be a felony. Of course we're going to work with ICE. Of course we're going to work with President Trump. He's got a mandate. He is moving quicker than any other president in history to fulfill that mandate, that promise to the American people. We will work with law enforcement. We will work with ICE to ensure that President Trump is able to carry out his mandate. KEILAR: But you don't have to ask for this information of parents, just to be clear. You do now because you're passing a rule. But after you turn over information to the Trump administration, what are they going to do with it?

WALTERS: Well, look, that's President Trump's decision, not mine. But we stand at the ready to help him fulfill his campaign promise. And reality is we've seen, hey, the left-wing media lost their mind about separation of family. I know a lot of that was embellished years ago, but it's so important for the Trump administration to have the data, where are the families? Where are they located? And when they're making these decisions, I know that they want to keep the families intact. This helps them understand where the families are, where the kids are and so they can continue to fulfill that.

But look, we got to put Oklahoma and American citizens first, their kids. We've got to make sure resources are allocated appropriately. And look, we've had a record amounts of fentanyl in all our schools. We literally had a migrant arrested on domestic terrorism charges last year in one of our schools. We've got to make sure this information is readily available for law enforcement. And we applaud President Trump for the tremendous job he's doing in bringing law and order back to this country.

KEILAR: So, undoubtedly, there will be parents who are undocumented with kids who are American citizens, Oklahomans. How do you make that distinction? Look, that's where you gather the information. And again, how things are enforced is going to be up to the Trump administration. We stand by ready to do that. But gathering information is so crucial here.

You saw a 1982 Supreme Court decision, Plyler, which is a ridiculous Supreme Court decision. But what we've seen is it's straddled states with dealing with illegal immigration. You've seen the Biden and Harris administration, their own ICE director admitted they knew this was a major problem. They should have done more to address it. That's why we've sued them for $474 million. That's the low-ball estimate of how much it's cost our state to educate illegal immigrant children. We've got to move forward with solutions. It starts with understanding the scope of the problem, getting information around the problem. That's what we're trying to do. And we applaud the Trump administration for working so quickly to enforce law and order back in our states, back in our schools.

And look, we answer to the taxpayers of Oklahoma, and they deserve to know how many illegal immigrants are in their schools.

KEILAR: Would you help facilitate the removal of students from schools? Actually, in the schools, in the process - the process being in the schools, if that's what the Trump administration wants? Would you help facilitate the removal of parents as they're dropping off or picking up their children at school, if that's what the Trump administration wants?

WALTERS: Well, we stand by ready to work with the Trump administration. Listen, we're talking about folks that crossed into the country illegally, many of them have committed crimes in the country, and we've seen Trump administration identifying those individuals. So, yes, we will turn over criminals in our schools to work with law enforcement. And it is absurd that any state, any city official, any school official would say otherwise.

They should be working with law enforcement to enforce our law, to protect American citizens and that starts with the (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: I want to talk about Oklahoma and I do want to play - I want to talk about Oklahoma and I want to talk about what you have made clear, which is that raids are within the realm of possibility. Here's what you said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you're not completely ruling out a raid on an Oklahoma school?

WALTERS: No, if that's what President Trump sees fit as there's illegal immigrant population there that needs to have enforcement to remove them from the schools, absolutely. We will work with him to make sure that he's able to carry that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Do you think that would be traumatic for students in schools? And I'm talking about all students.

WALTERS: Well, what my big concern is, is what illegal immigration has done to our education system. It has caused mass chaos. We aren't able to get the resources and the teachers and the kids ...

KEILAR: Can you answer my question, please, Superintendent?

WALTERS: ... as necessary?

KEILAR: Do you think it would be traumatic ...

WALTERS: Absolutely, I think ...

KEILAR: ... for students to witness a raid in their school and students forcibly removed from their school? Do you think that would be traumatic?

WALTERS: I think what would be traumatic is if you didn't give Trump - President Trump the information necessary to keep families together. So, what you would prefer is to just support the parents and have the kids have no idea what happened to their parents. What we're going to do is provide the information ...

KEILAR: That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking you ...

WALTERS: ... so families can stay together.

KEILAR: ... that's not at all what I'm asking. Superintendent, I'm asking you, if you had a raid on a school and you were forcibly removing students from schools, if you think that would be traumatic for other students in the school?=

[15:30:00]

WALTERS: I support President Trump's decisions on how to enforce immigration policy.

KEILAR: That's not what I asked.

WALTERS: You are asking me a question, a hypothetical, when we're ...