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20 Attorneys General Call on Legal Community to Resist Trump Orders; Gaza Nears Famine as Israel's Aid Blockade Nears Third Month; Safety Group: Kids and Teens Under 18 Shouldn't Use AI Companion Apps. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 30, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Democratic attorneys general are banding together against President Trump's executive orders aimed at the legal community.

Twenty state AGs have signed an open letter saying in part, quote, We write to express support for law firms that have fought back against President Trump's unconstitutional attempts to target law firms for advocacy the Trump administration disfavors and to express our profound disappointment that several of the country's largest firms have capitulated in the face of these dangerous attacks on the rule of law.

Joining us now is the attorney general of Connecticut, William Tong. He is one of the AGs who signed this open letter. Attorney general, thank you so much for being with us.

Why do you think these firms have been targeted by the administration?

WILLIAM TONG, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you, Boris. To bring them to heel, I guess. Look, there's too much capitulation, too much surrender, too much appeasement in this country right now and too much bending of the knee.

And I just have to say, Boris, I've been an American for 51 years. I became the first American citizen in my family by right of my birth on American soil. I have never been on my knees and I never will.

SANCHEZ: Why do you think it's important to back these law firms on behalf of the people of your state?

TONG: Because, well, you shouldn't feel bad for big international law firms. Of course, they make a ton of money. But by going after these law firms, it endangers -- the president is endangering right to counsel and right to justice.

If you can punish somebody, a lawyer, for representing a particular client or bringing a particular set of claims because you don't like them, then you can punish anybody for that. And so you and I, when we might need a lawyer, when we might need to go into court, when maybe someone isn't on our side, speaking as an Asian American and thinking of all those Japanese Americans who were interned by the federal government, 125,000 American citizens in concentration camps on American soil.

If I were one of them and I needed a lawyer and I were disfavored, marginalized in society, this would mean I probably couldn't get a lawyer and couldn't get into court and couldn't get justice and couldn't protect myself and my family.

SANCHEZ: After a judge partially blocked Trump's EO targeting specifically the Jenner and Block law firm, Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that that decision infringed on executive policy and free speech. She said that agencies could still decide whether they wanted to avoid working with that firm. What's your response?

TONG: Yes, that's extraordinarily dangerous for the attorney general of the United States and a former state attorney general to say. She's essentially saying that the federal government doesn't have to follow court orders. She is pouring fuel, gasoline on this fire that's raging, this constitutional crisis that's raging right now.

We're not on the precipice of a constitutional crisis. We're in one. And so she's saying, like the vice president has said, like the president has said, we don't have to listen to the courts. And that is dead wrong.

[15:35:02]

For 222 years, it has been a bedrock foundation of our nation that judges have the right and the prerogative and the role. Right. It's their responsibility to say what the law is.

And I suggest that that that they don't have that right and that they can't say that someone is doing something unlawful and stop them is not only un-American, it's dangerous.

SANCHEZ: I want to get a better understanding of your view of the capitulation that some of these firms you claim have made to the administration, because these firms, businesses in large part are predicated on security clearances that the administration can grant or take away. So if their business model is at risk, ultimately, did they really have a choice?

TONG: You know, I think their business model is at risk anyway. And, you know, if you capitulate now law students at the best law schools in the country, that's what these law firms live off of. That's their -- that's their that's their bread and butter. Right. That's the blood coursing through their veins. Young lawyers from elite law schools.

And if I'm at a top law school in this country and I'm looking at one of these firms that capitulated, you know, why would I go there? What I can go to any number of firms that haven't.

So if the defense is he was going to destroy my firm. Well, you probably destroyed it anyway. Particularly because, you know, I should also mention that that lawyers have for for all of our nation's history been, you know, the check and the balance. We're the ones who can bring cases and hold the government accountable. This is about checks and balances and being a check on this president. They know that and they know to the extent they've capitulated that they're weakening it.

SANCHEZ: There was a statement from Willkie Farr & Gallagher who reached a deal with the administration in which they say, quote, The substance of this agreement is consistent with our firm's longstanding practices.

It sounds like you don't buy it.

TONG: Yes, their longstanding practice to bow down to a king and capitulate to a president? Is there longstanding practice to sell out clients? Is there longstanding practice to betray their oath? I mean, I know Willkie Farr & Gallagher, you know, the the former second gentleman is there. The former governor of New York, Mario Cuomo, was there a great firm with a great reputation. They must do tons of pro bono work.

So they know better than anybody else that this endangers not just not just their clients, but all clients. And the ability of somebody, somebody who doesn't have access to power and money to get a lawyer when there's nobody on their side and have access to the courts and to fight for themselves and for justice.

SANCHEZ: Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

TONG: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Ahead, Gaza at the brink of a famine after a months long total blockade by Israel. We'll take you live with the region next.

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The people of Gaza are edging closer to an all-out famine. The enclave is about to endure a third month of Israel's total blockade on humanitarian aid. No food, no supplies, no goods have entered Gaza under Israel's order, meant to pressure Hamas to release hostages taken during the October 7th attack.

The United Nations says that last month 3,700 children in Gaza were diagnosed with acute malnutrition, which is an 82 percent jump from February.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv. He's tracking the situation. Jeremy, this is the longest blockade that Israel has ever enforced on Gaza. Any sign when it will be lifted?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: No indication right now that Israeli officials intend to lift that blockade as it hits the two-month mark later this week. Two months during which Israel hasn't allowed anything to enter Gaza. No food, no medical supplies, no humanitarian aid, no commercial goods. Nothing has gotten into Gaza as Israel says it is seeking to pressure Hamas into releasing the 59 hostages who remain inside of Gaza. But the result is very clear. It is these scenes of absolute and growing desperation inside the Gaza Strip, whether you go to soup kitchens where you see people clamoring for what will be for many of them their only meal of the day.

And those soup kitchens are beginning to shut down. The World Food Program this week announcing that all of its warehouses are now completely empty of the food stocks that they had. And that means that the 47 soup kitchens that they've been supporting will shut down any day now.

The bakeries they were supporting already shut down at the beginning of the month of April. What little food is left in Gaza's markets, the prices for those items are soaring. A bag of flour, for example, several people told us now costs 100 U.S. dollars.

And then you look at the malnutrition cases that we are seeing. We don't have the statistics for the month of April yet, but in March, 3,700 children were diagnosed with acute malnutrition, which was an 82 percent jump.

[15:45:02]

These are the telltale signs that an area is heading towards very likely famine. And that does appear to be the direction in which things are headed, unless something dramatic changes and Israel decides to allow aid in.

While we've seen European allies of Israel, like France, Germany, the United Kingdom, pressuring Israel to open the crossings and allow aid in, that's not what we're seeing from the Trump administration right now, which is not only silent and not pressuring Israel, but is actually providing the kind of diplomatic cover and the support for these actions that Israel is taking.

Mike Huckabee, the new U.S. ambassador to Israel, just last week said that in response to calls for the crossings to open, he said, let's put the pressure where it belongs, and he said that it belongs on Hamas. He said if the hostages are released, then he hopes that humanitarian aid will enter Gaza.

But we know, of course, that there are some children in Gaza, the most vulnerable, those who already have preexisting conditions, like 5- year-old Usama al-Raqab, who do not have the time to wait. Usama al- Raqab has lost 8 pounds in just the last month. He weighs just 20 pounds. He is skin and bones. His mother is pleading with the world to do something to get food into Gaza -- Brianna, Boris.

KEILAR: Jeremy Diamond, live for us from Tel Aviv, thank you for that report.

Coming up, a warning for parents about the risks of some artificial intelligence apps. Why a watchdog now says kids and teens should not use them. [15:50:00]

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SANCHEZ: There's a new warning out about the dangers of using artificial intelligence. The watchdog group Common Sense Media says that kids and teens under 18 should not use AI companion apps that create chatbots. After testing three apps, Character.AI, Replika, and Nomi, the group says the systems, quote, Easily produce harmful responses including sexual misconduct, stereotypes, and dangerous advice that, if followed, could have life-threatening or deadly real- world impact for teens.

Nomi and Replika say their platforms are strictly for adults, while Character.AI says that it's recently implemented some youth safety measures.

Let's get the latest from Laurie Segall. She's the CEO of Mostly Human Media. Lauri, great to see you as always. What sticks out to you about this warning?

LAURIE SEGALL, CEO, MOSTLY HUMAN MEDIA: You know, I think what sticks out to me is that it was inevitable, right? We looked back in October at some of the dangers of the rise of what I call like empathetic artificial intelligence. So it's these AI companion bots that appear as though they're empathetic.

They're always on. They're always listening. They're highly personalized. And in many ways, that can be pretty incredible for folks who are feeling lonely, who want to rely on some of these types of chatbots for companionship.

But when we're looking at this through the lens of teenagers, we spoke to a mom who had lost her son because he ended his life after developing an incredibly unhealthy relationship with an AI companion that didn't have the right guardrails in place when he was talking about his mental health issues.

And so I think maybe what sticks out about this, Boris, is the fact that, you know, I am so happy folks are talking about this, but the fact that this is just, it is an inevitability.

And one of the things I think as a parent we should talk about is we know what to talk about now. We have a playbook when it comes to social media, but there is a new playbook for our children when it comes to the rise of artificial intelligence, specifically these AI companions.

SANCHEZ: And about those safety guardrails, how are these companies addressing these issues? Walk us through some of the changes that they've implemented.

SEGALL: Right. When we did the investigation, specifically speaking to Character.AI, which is almost this AI role-playing platform where people can have conversations with different characters. What happens when we were, you know, testing ideation of self-harm or saying I want to harm myself with a therapy chatbot, it would say, oh, I'm a real therapist. It wouldn't identify itself as artificial intelligence.

Well, that has since changed since me and many other reporters have flagged this to the company. And it also gives some kind of response of, you know, get offline or talk to the National Suicide Hotline. So we've seen those types of changes.

I think the question is, is it, you know, is it enough and how young is too young? Because as you were saying before, some of these companies, there's an 18 plus limit, right? You have to be over 18 to even interact with these types of chatbots.

But for Character.AI specifically, you can still be a 13-year-old and go onto these platforms. Now, they have said, you know, for parents, they say that you can receive a weekly e-mail report, seeing who your child is talking with, what kind of characters, how long they're spending. I think something that actually stuck out to me when we were doing this report is actually went into Reddit, right?

And there are all these forums of young people talking about being addicted to these chatbots and saying, oh, I think it's actually real, even though it's not real. And back before when we were doing this report, Character.AI had a tagline that was AI that's meant to feel alive. And so the question we started asking is, well, what happens when AI does feel alive? And can young people actually decipher perception of reality and real?

SANCHEZ: Laurie Segall, very much appreciate the update on this report. Thank you so much.

And if you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, you are not alone. Please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline just dial 988.

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

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SANCHEZ: Parents go to great lengths and pull out all sorts of tricks to get babies to eat, but the zookeepers at the Bronx Zoo are taking it to an entirely new level.

KEILAR: They're using elaborate hand puppets to feed a baby king vulture. Kind of cute there, though. That is a human hand in there. It's so funny. Zookeepers are trying to prevent that little guy from getting used to interacting with humans. Not to parent shame here, but the zoo says that some vultures can be kind of neglectful parents, which is why they need to step in.

This is the first king vulture to be hatched at the zoo since the 1990s. That's cute.

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SANCHEZ: It is kind of cute. I have two notes.

One, it looks like they're eating glizzies. Just cut up hot dogs, which is nice.

KEILAR: Yes, delicious.

SANCHEZ: Secondly, are the zookeepers prepared to offer that little vulture therapy, given how weird that puppet looks? It looks a little bit odd.

KEILAR: You know, everyone thinks their mother is beautiful, so if he thinks that's his mom, it's just no problem, right?

SANCHEZ: Poor little guy. I got a guy. We'll connect.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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