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Rubio Issues Humanitarian Waiver For Freeze On U.S. Foreign Aid; Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) On White House Freeze On Federal Aid Unleashing Confusion And Worry; ICE Raids Intensify With Nearly 1,000 Arrests Tuesday. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 29, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:25]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: More breaking news coming in overnight. A judge pumping the brakes on President Trump's federal aid freeze. The judge's reason why -- well this judge, like many Americans, is confused and wants to give the Trump administration time to clarify the scope and scale of what would be a giant shift.

Confusion also though remains around a wide-ranging pause on almost all foreign aid put into place last week, which pushed the Secretary of State Marco Rubio to clarify and possibly backtrack a bit on that move.

CNN's Jennifer Hansler has much more on this from Washington. This has to do with a waiver and what is being called lifesaving humanitarian assistance. What's going on here, Jennifer?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT REPORTER: Well Kate, this broadens out the scope of what is exempted under this freeze to include lifesaving humanitarian assistance like water, like shelter, and like medicine. And it's notable that this even had to be issued because under that initial freeze there were only carveouts for emergency food and for military aid for Israel and Egypt.

And Kate, humanitarian officials were warning that this could have lifesaving -- or life-killing consequences. That it could actually result in people dying.

They were saying that because of the freeze, as well as the immediate stop work orders, they didn't know what they were able to do. One official said they had to stop providing shelter and water to people in Gaza. Another official said that even though they had vaccines in stock they were not allowed to distribute them, or it was unclear if they were allowed to distribute them under this freeze.

Now, they said they have sought answers from the U.S. government about how to implement the freeze and what sort of carveouts they could expect, and they have gotten few to no answers from the State Department, from the USAID, and from the government writ large. And they have just warned about just the devastating, devastating

consequences here, Kate. They said not only could this impact people's lives it could also cause a number of humanitarian organizations to have to shutter. And even with this waiver being issued it's unclear how quickly and what exact programs it covers. A number of officials said they have yet to officially receive the waiver so the suspension on these sorts of programs has continued.

And Kate, I just want to underscore how wide-ranging this category of foreign assistance really is. A lot of people think of it as just, you know, emergency medicine, emergency services, but it goes beyond that. At the State Department it covers things like training partners how to counter illicit drugs and human trafficking. It goes to training partners on how to combat terrorism.

And officials are warning that with these freezes in place it actually goes against everything that the Trump administration has said is a priority. They say it does not make American safer; it makes them less safe and less prosperous, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much for your reporting and keeping track of this. It's good to see you -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning on the domestic front, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the White House move to pause this federal funding. Still, there is huge confusion over which programs will be hit if and when it does all go into effect.

This was the governor of Illinois.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER, (D) ILLINOIS: They assured us that they were doing nothing to take away individual assistance from the most vulnerable people in our state. But they refused to say that they would restore LIHEAP (the low income housing energy assistance program), payments to support the unemployment system, and Meals on Wheels. These are programs that hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans depend on -- children, seniors, veterans, working parents.

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[07:35:05]

BERMAN: And that's really just a small taste of what could be affected here.

CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich has been looking into all of this. So what are we talking about?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, we're talking about so many programs -- so many programs that are already critically underfunded and are so critical to so many millions of Americans.

Meals on Wheels, as you heard the governor mention there -- this serves more than two million seniors. Meals are brought to their homes to feed them. There's a socialization aspect to this and there's a wellness check aspect to this.

We heard from the CEO of Meals on Wheels last night on Richard Quest's show. Listen to what he (sic) said this impact is going to have on his organization and millions of Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLIE HOLLANDER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MEALS ON WHEELS AMERICA: We had a growing waiting list across the country even before the memo came out from OMB suggesting that there would be a pause because funding for Meals on Wheels programs has never kept pace with the need -- with the growth in the senior population -- or with inflation. And as you know, we're very dependent on food and fuel for Meals on Wheels. So taking the air out of our tires, so to speak, has been something that's actually been happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: And she is just one of dozens of CEOs we're hearing from on just how critical this funding is to their programs.

Also a big component of this is housing. This is going to affect housing for so many Americans. There is rental assistance that comes from the federal government that helps low-income Americans cover all their rents. There's also public housing that's for disabled Americans and seniors. They get essentially credits from the federal government to cover the cost of their rent.

Also, we're talking about basic heating for Americans -- for low- income Americans. These services come from funding from the federal government.

Also a big component of this is health centers. They could be impacted under Title X -- 1.7 million Americans rely on health centers for family planning. And for many of them this is their only health provider.

So this federal funding, if it is not designated for these health centers under Title X -- this would include impacts to cancer screenings, to contraception, to family planning, to basic reproductive health.

So there's a lot of confusion about what this would impact, but according to these organizations they are going to start seeing these impacts and it's going to impact millions of Americans.

BERMAN: A lot of the confusion is causing paralysis. There is a head start program, The New York Times reports yesterday, in Michigan that just couldn't open its door because it didn't know what to do. It didn't know if it would have the money to do it.

Vanessa, thank you so much for helping us understand what's at stake here.

YURKEVICH: You're welcome.

BERMAN: This morning House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has called for an emergency meeting of House Democrats in response to all of this.

In a letter to his colleagues he wrote in part, "We will convene an emergency meeting of the House Democratic Caucus. At the meeting we will discuss a comprehensive three-pronged counteroffensive anchored in: (1) an appropriations strategy; (2) a litigation strategy; and (3) a communications strategy."

With us now is Congressman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania. Thank you so much for being with us.

What is it you think you need to do as a Democrat this morning.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA) (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning, John. Good to be with you.

And your reporting just began to touch the surface of the chaos and confusion that has been sown by this administration just nine days in through this memo about a freeze of government funds.

Here in my county, for example, our county commissioners put out a memo yesterday showing that they are uncertain about federal funding that has already been appropriated, by the way.

This is illegal what this memo does -- what the administration is trying to do to pause this funding that has already been appropriated, past the legislature, and signed into law by the president. What they are doing is sowing confusion.

And what I have to do and what my colleagues are telling me they are doing is literally answering the phone of our constituents because they are fearful. They're worried. Will their seniors be able to remain in their housing? Will their Medicaid funding continue, whether it's for children around SNAP, nutrition, education, head start? For seniors living in nursing homes that are supported by Medicaid like my in-laws were for many years.

This is sowing such confusion. Our phones rang yesterday like never before. And what we are trying to do and what we as our caucus -- Democrats in the House will do is to assure the American people that what the president has done through this memorandum is unlawful and try to reassure them that the funding will not be interrupted. But really --

BERMAN: Oh --

DEAN: -- we call upon the president to reverse course.

BERMAN: This emergency meeting called by the minority leader -- what do you expect to come from that? What tangible action items?

[07:40:00] DEAN: Well, I do like the way that it was laid out in terms of the three-pronged approach. This all will have to be litigated. And we have to be really clear that what this administration has done is not legal.

Folks voted for this president in order to say please, help us get the support that we need from government. You see what the government is doing under this administration. It is trying to sow chaos so that people don't have faith in government so that they can actually continue in power.

So what Democrats will do is just shine a bright light on the unlawful nature of this and the other orders -- executive orders of the president, and hope to restore some sort of calm -- some sort of faith in what has already happened.

I'm newly a member of the Appropriations Committee. We are headed into budgetary reconciliation. We have serious work to do. And those who are sowing this kind of confusion don't seem to understand that this is hurting the American people -- the very people who supported them.

BERMAN: One of the challenges you face is that President Trump since he's come back into office has tried to do so much in so many ways with executive actions or proclamations.

How do you prioritize what you address? What do you think are the most important things that he's done to counter?

DEAN: I think what we do is we prioritize those who are most vulnerable who will be harmed by this. And I don't know a single constituent of mine who will not be in some way impacted or harmed, whether it's around housing or infrastructure, education, nutrition. It just is so bar sweeping.

But I think our job is really to shine the light of truth on what this administration is doing.

Take a look at day one of this administration. The pardon of the January 6 defendants -- the criminals who attacked our Capitol. Who tried to interfere and did interfere for a time with the peaceful transfer of power. Who beat police officers.

We have to just shine the light of truth on what that is. What that was, was President Trump pardoning himself. Pardons are usually about empathy, and compassion, and mercy. That's not what this is. What the president is doing lacks any kind of compassion, mercy, or lawfulness.

So what Democrats are tasked with doing -- and I will say -- John, I can say we are doing it in a very unified fashion and a minority that is just two or three votes, as you know, to a very fractious Republican caucus. We will continue to shine the light of truth on what is lawful and what is not lawful.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Madeleine Dean coming to us from Montgomery County in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania this morning. Thanks so much for being with us -- Kate. BOLDUAN: The Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says that the Trump administration is working now to recruit more personnel to help with the arrest and deportation operations that they want to conduct and continue to conduct against undocumented immigrants from coast to coast. ICE is now reporting it made nearly 1,000 arrests in raids just Tuesday.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has the very latest.

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PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller telling CNN on Tuesday that he expects interior arrests of undocumented immigrants to ramp up in the days and weeks to come. When asked about quotas set for ICE field offices of least 75 arrests per day, Stephen Miller saying that was "the floor; not a ceiling." Take a listen.

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: So first of all, the numbers you cited are a floor and not a ceiling. And very importantly, they're a floor. The goal is to arrest at least that many but hopefully, many more. And the Department of Justice is going to be closely involved in providing the manpower to help achieve those objectives as laid out in the president's executive order.

Yes, ICE is absolutely prioritizing terrorists, public safety threats, and national security threats.

ALVAREZ: Now that would suggest a dramatic uptick of arrests of undocumented immigrants in the days and weeks to come.

Now, Stephen Miller maintaining that they are prioritizing those arrests, but anecdotes have already been surfacing of some undocumented immigrants who appear not to have criminal records who were also swept up over the course of these enforcement operations. Of course, Trump officials have said tat they are targeting public safety and national security threats but have left on the table that others could be picked up along the way.

Now, the Democratic Mayors Association is pushing back. In a letter, the president of the Democratic Mayors Association telling mayors the following. That "The first days of this administration have been tumultuous" and has called the raids "a charade."

[07:45:00]

And this as Democratic mayors across the country continue to brace for additional enforcement operations in their cities as they also grapple with fear in the immigrant community.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

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BOLDUAN: Priscilla, thank you so much for that report. Coming up for us, two people are dead and dozens more are sick as one of the largest tuberculosis outbreaks in decades in Kansas continues to spread.

And CNN goes inside a Texas retreat being built and newly -- for newly released and pardoned January 6 rioters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD HAZARD, PARDONED FOR CRIMES COMMITTED ON JANUARY 6: I got my rights back, you know. I was able to go in a gun shop the other day right when I got back to Texas and check out some firearms and what not, you know, without feeling like I was doing -- without doing something against the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[07:51:15]

BERMAN: All right. This morning 76ers star Tyrese Maxey -- he's got a new shirt, and he had a huge game scoring 43 points in the 76ers big win over the Los Angeles Lakers. More surprisingly, the Philadelphia 76ers have actually won a few games in a row.

Let's get right to CNN sports anchor Coy Wire. I'm not even being facetious. They just haven't been very good this season.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: You being facetious -- never.

L.A. -- they were rolling, John. They had won six of their last seven. But the NBA Most Improved Player from last season, Tyrese Maxey -- he's been rolling too averaging more than 30 points his last 10 games.

The Super Bowl bound Eagles in the house. Darius Slay, A.J. Brown, Jahan Dotson, DeVonta Smith all there to see LeBron in the City of Brotherly Love. And they were treated to vintage LeBron.

The 40-year-old machine going off with 31 points. But Maxey was on a mission dropping a game high 43 in a 118-104 win for Philly.

Now John, he says that he and LeBron worked out together in the offseason at 6:00 a.m. And after he showed up earlier than LeBron a few times, LeBron started showing up at 5:00 a.m.

Here was Maxey on working up the nerve to ask LeBron for his jersey.

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TYRESE MAXEY, GUARD, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS: I told him after the game -- I said, "Look man, I waited five years to ask for a jersey. I know I've known you for a while, but I think I'm going to go ahead and get it this year." And he was like "All right, cool." But he's like a big brother to me, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right, to college hoops. Number eight Tennessee hosting 12th ranked Kentucky in a seismic showdown. And John, watch this. Under seven to go, Kentucky's Otega Oweh drives home the dunk then hits the floor hard, but he is tough and shakes it off. Game on.

Koby Brea, a perfect three for three from beyond the arc, scoring a team high 18.

And here's Tennessee's chance with 10 seconds to go. Jordan Gainey's three is off, so Kentucky hands Tennessee their first home loss of the season 78-73.

And check out this moment after the game, John. A young Vols fan looks at Kentucky's Koby Brea like why'd you do that to my team, man? But a high five and a photo makes everything better.

All right. Finally, stop what you're doing and watch this. Avalanche winger Artturi Lehkonen lost his footing but that didn't stop him from slotting home this pass from Nathan MacKinnon from the seat of his pants. That would tie the game at one. The Islanders go on to win 5-2.

But my goodness, John, that awesome effort, focus, and finish from Lehkonen is simply outstanding.

There's more NHL on TNT tonight. The Flyers and the Devils face off at 7:00 followed by the Penguins and the Utah Hockey Club. Coverage starts at 6:30 Eastern on our sister channel TNT and streaming on Max.

John, sometimes life knocks us down. We fall down. But sports teaches us hey, just get back up, keep swinging, and shoot your shot, man. Sometimes good things will happen.

BERMAN: Alternatively, you can just do some of your best work sitting down -- not that we would know here, Kate Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: I was dying to say that. I was trying to guess where you were going to go. Well played. Well played. Also --

BERMAN: I mean, he sits down and scores.

BOLDUAN: Can we just be -- look, I'm sure -- hockey is the one where I never -- I don't follow.

BERMAN: It's the one on the ice.

BOLDUAN: It's the one on the ice, but I don't follow. But can we just chalk this one up to luck? Like, I know Coy you're saying it's a like skill and dee, dee, dee, dee, dee, and they're all very good at what they do, but that was lucky.

WIRE: I don't know. You might hear differently from Lehkonen. He probably practices stuff like that. But it's just incredible what they're able to do. We're watching this in slow motion and it's impressive. And that stuff happens in the blink of an eye. These guys are incredible. BOLDUAN: He'd come up to me and I'd be, like, yeah, OK, you're right. You're amazing.

BERMAN: I'm going with the guy who scored the goal to win the game.

BOLDUAN: OK, fine. OK, fine. I mean, what do I know? I don't -- obviously nothing. OK, moving on?

BERMAN: I'm going to go.

BOLDUAN: OK.

[07:55:00]

Stunning video capturing the moment one of the country's most advanced fighter jets spirals out of control bursting into flames on impact. Thankfully, that parachute that you saw -- we'll replay again. That parachute you saw is the F-35's pilot. He is -- they are OK. This happened yesterday afternoon at Eielson Air -- Eielson Air Base near Fairbanks, Alaska. Officials say they are investigating what caused the crash as it came in for a landing.

This morning we are also learning Leonardo DaVinci's masterpiece "Mona Lisa" will get its own room in the Louvre. The announcement is so big that it was made by the French President Emmanual Macron himself. It's part of a massive renovation and expansion project of the Louvre -- already the world's largest museum if you are wondering.

It sounds like though this couldn't come soon enough. There have been a lot of problems with just how it's falling apart basically. Reports of water leaks and temperature control issues that understandably can threaten these priceless pieces of art and artifacts.

On his first day in office, President Donald Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of nearly all of January 6 defendants -- some of them convicted of violently attacking police officers at the Capitol. We know that happened. And now we've learned a woman in Texas is working to turn her home into a retreat for pardon offenders.

Here's Donie O'Sullivan's report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNY CUDD, BUILDING RETREAT FOR JANUARY 6 PARDONED OFFENDERS: We're frantically working to get them done. I already have J-sixers living on our property.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): This is Jenny Cudd. She's opening her home here in the Texas countryside to pardoned January sixers.

O'SULLIVAN: So you are building basically small homes.

CUDD: Yes. So they're about 300 square feet --

O'SULLIVAN: Right. CUDD: -- and we'll ultimately build five of them. There's not very many people that get a second chance at life.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): For Cudd, this is very personal. She was sentenced to two months' probation for entering the Capitol on January 6.

CUDD: We did break down the -- Nancy Pelosi's office door.

I had death threats for two years. Um, I had over a thousand one-star reviews on my business.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Cudd has raised more than $50,000 for the project.

CUDD: The J6 Road Home Project is a comprehensive healing program. So we already have in place a national telehealth network, and then we have jobs lined up all over Texas that are just waiting for these guys to get here.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): One of the pardoned January 6 convicts arrived while we were there.

CUDD: That's you? Oh, it is!

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Don Hazard was part of the Patriot Boys of North Texas militia.

CUDD: I'm glad to meet you.

HAZARD: You, too.

CUDD: Welcome.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): He was sentenced to almost five years in prison for his role in January 6.

HAZARD: Make sure you get my face and everything on your news channel.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Among the charges was assaulting police.

HAZARD: I want the enemy to know exactly who is coming after them.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): Until Trump's pardon, Hazard had been in federal custody for more than three years.

HAZARD: Man, it's nice out here. I like it.

CUDD: So it'll have -- the bathroom will be back there, and this will be like a little kitchenette and a bedroom.

HAZARD: Nice. Man, I love that smell of fresh lumber.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): After his release he drove here to Texas.

O'SULLIVAN: Yeah, you're a free man now.

HAZARD: Total freedom. Total freedom. I mean, I got my rights back, you know. I was able to go in a gun shop the other day right when I got back to Texas and check out some firearms and whatnot, you know, without feeling like I was doing -- without doing something against the law. I'm interested in starting a business and something successful.

O'SULLIVAN: Do you regret January 6 at all? Do you wish you didn't go?

HAZARD: The only regrets that I have at all about what I did was I just got outsmarted by the left. It was a total setup. It was a trap, and we walked right into it. We did exactly what they wanted us to do.

O'SULLIVAN (voiceover): The January 6 attack was not a setup but many of the January 6 convicts that I've spoken to say they believe it was. And because they think they were set up they don't have remorse or regret for what they did on that day.

O'SULLIVAN: So you pled guilty, right?

HAZARD: I did, but, I mean, I was blackmailed into it. I resisted arrested, you know. They charged me with an assault charge carrying up to 20 years. It's way, way overkill.

O'SULLIVAN: You had, I think, pushed a police officer who was then knocked unconscious.

HAZARD: That's not really what happened. I tried to go up some stairs, OK? They caught me. They pretty much beat me up as far as I could tell and then shoved me back down the stairs.

I don't think any of us were fairly charged. None of us got a fair shake in court. Federal judges, prosecutors -- I think they're all guilty of treason.

O'SULLIVAN: Do you think there should be retribution?

HAZARD: Most definitely I think so.