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CNN International: Trump To Have First Oval Office Interview With Sean Hannity; Trump Says He'll Apply New Sanctions And Tariffs If Russia Doesn't End Ukraine War; Trump Pardons Founder Of Silk Road, A Dark Web Marketplace. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 22, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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


[11:00:00]

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RAHEL SOLOMON, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning or good evening, depending on where you're watching. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

And ahead on CNN Newsroom, shakeups and firings across the federal government, as Donald Trump carries out an overhaul. We are live in Washington with the latest here. Plus, sweeping pardons for January 6 defendants. Now President Trump facing backlash from some in his own party for the day one decision. And I'll speak to the Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown on joining the lawsuit against the Trump administration to protect birthright citizenship.

Well, after just two days in office, President Donald Trump's message is already clear. His plans for a second term not only include policy changes, but a complete reshaping of the U.S. government. Following the tsunami of executive actions he signed Monday, the White House announced Tuesday that employees in any diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility offices have been put on paid administrative leave. The intention is to do away with the positions altogether.

Also, as promised, President Trump is shaking up the Justice Department. Multiple sources tell CNN that top prosecutors there have been sidelined. We've learned that at least 20 career officials have been reassigned.

Mr. Trump also unveiling an initial $100 billion investment in AI infrastructure, which could potentially be worth up to $500 billion over the next four years.

And the President is also warning that more tariffs could be coming next week, this time against China. Mr. Trump threatening to unleash a wave of higher taxes on imports from America's second biggest trading partner.

And the President due to sit down with Sean Hannity of Fox News for his first Oval Office interview since returning to the White House.

Let's get to our Kevin Liptak, who is at the White House for us. So, Kevin, talk to us a little bit more about what we know about Trump's first Oval Office interview with Sean Hannity of Fox News, likely a very warm reception. What can we expect?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. Sean Hannity has acted as something of an informal campaign advisor to President Trump. And so, I don't think it's necessarily a surprise that the White House has gone to him for Trump's first interview as President. This will be a friendly setting.

And what we've already seen from the President so far is this attempt to really kind of produce a presidency for television. We've seen him twice over the last two days, really engage in these lengthy, almost hour-long sessions with reporters, first in the Oval Office, and then just yesterday, in the Roosevelt Room. Not everything he has said is newsworthy. It has been sort of discursive in a lot of ways. But, this is a President that very much likes to be on camera, in front of reporters, in front of the American people, talking about some of his initiatives.

And when he sits down with Hannity, I think what you'll hear him talk about are these attempts to fulfill the promises that he made on the campaign trail, whether it comes to immigration and those extensive orders closing down the border, really taking a hardline on immigration that he signed on his first day in office, to these attempts to roll back diversity initiatives in the federal government that you were just talking about. Both of these things were promises that President Trump made on the campaign trail, and now he is very much demonstrating his willingness to use executive power to try and shape the federal workforce, try and shape federal policy, as he works to execute on these vows he made as a candidate, Rahel.

SOLOMON: And Kevin, I do want to get back to some of his domestic priorities in just a moment. But first, let me get to a new reporting that Trump is now saying that he will apply new sanctions and tariffs if Russia doesn't end Ukraine's war. What are you hearing? What are you learning?

LIPTAK: Yeah, and this is interesting, the timing of all this, because remember, Rahel, President Trump promised to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office. Of course, that deadline has come and gone. It was an implausible promise from the get go, but certainly, what you're seeing here is President Trump facing pressure to at least come up with a plan to try and end this conflict. And so, just a few moments ago, on social media, the President says that if President Putin doesn't end the conflict immediately, he would be applying these new punishments. He calls them tariffs. You could call them sanctions. Obviously, the Biden administration had already applied an enormous amount of sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

[11:05:00]

What we have also heard from the President over the last two days, since he entered office, is this rare criticism of Putin for his handling of the conflict. He has said that Putin has destroyed Russia through its invasion, that Russia has lost hundreds of thousands of troops in this conflict. What we haven't necessarily heard are the contours of how this conflict would end. So, you've heard from Trump administration officials that it would require concessions on both sides, but there are a lot of unanswered questions about how this would come about. What Trump has said is that he wants to have a discussion with Putin about how this conflict would end. He said that discussion could happen very soon.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Just to add, he also said on his social media platform, I'm not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and have always had a very good relationship with President Putin. But, he also said, let's get this war which never would have started if I were President over with.

Kevin, let me turn back to some of the domestic priorities that clearly have shaped in the last 24 hours. There have been, to say the least, a lot of shake-ups, whether it's the dismantling of the federal DEI offices, whether it's the senior career officials being removed from the DoJ, but also really eyebrow raising the parting of the founder of Silk Road. What more can you sort of share with us there?

LIPTAK: Yeah, and it was interesting that pardon occurring last night. We saw this morning that Elon Musk, the close advisor to Donald Trump, the head of X and Tesla, said he was actually inside the Oval Office as Trump was signing this pardon. And it just goes to show how willing President Trump will be to use that pardon authority. We obviously saw him execute that blanket pardon for the January 6 rioters almost immediately upon taking office. He issued this pardon yesterday for the founder of Silk Road, which had been accused when it was at trial, of this black market, of all sorts of sort of nefarious products. President Trump taking that step yesterday.

He had obviously been under pressure from some of his allies to extend this clemency, and I think it just goes to show that in this new Trump administration that he will sort of not think twice about using this most powerful of executive authorities. Remember, it's a constitutional prerogative of the President to issue these pardons. There is almost no recourse for people who are opposed to them. You've already seen on Capitol Hill, Republicans struggling to defend the January 6 pardons, and I think that will be certainly a theme of this presidency going forward.

SOLOMON: Kevin Liptak reporting live from the White House for us. Kevin, thank you.

And as more January 6 detainees are released from jail today, there are new details about how President Trump decided to grant the mass pardons. A Trump insider tells Axios that the decision was last minute and that Trump used an expletive and said released them all. Trump was asked about some of those pardons on Tuesday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER ALEXANDER, NBC NEWS CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Among those who pardoned, D.J. Rodriguez, he drove a stun gun into the neck of a D.C. police officer who was abducted by the mob that day. He later confessed on video to the FBI and pleaded guilty for his crimes. Why does he deserve a pardon? DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, I don't know.

Was it a pardon? Because we're looking at commutes, and we're looking at pardons.

ALEXANDER: Yes, it was pardons.

TRUMP: OK. Well, we'll take a look at everything. At least the cases that we looked at, these were people that actually love our country. So, we thought a part would be appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And among those released from prison, Enrique Tarrio, the former leader of the Proud Boys. He had been serving a 22-year sentence for seditious conspiracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF ENRIQUE TARRIO, FORMER LEADER OF THE PROUD BOYS: I'm happy that the President is focusing not on retribution and focusing on success. But I will tell you that I'm not going to play by those rules. The people who did this, they need to feel the heat. They need to be put behind bars, and they need to be prosecuted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's get to CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Katelyn Polantz, who joins us now. Katelyn, just describe for us what has been happening in the last day and a half or so since Trump signed the pardon order, and you have had a front seat as some of these folks have left prison.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, Rahel. In the Bureau of Prisons facilities across the country, so people who were sentenced for their crimes, doing their time, they've all been released at this point if they were still behind bars. Some of them had already finished serving their time. Those are the pardoned recipients, more than 1,000 people that Donald Trump pardoned related to crimes they were convicted of, related to January 6, 2021 in the Capitol riot.

But, I'm here at the D.C. jail, where the situation is a little bit different. The people in detention here are largely awaiting further proceedings at the D.C. court, or have some other reason why they're here in a local facility and not in the Bureau of Prisons. So, yesterday, Donald Trump, with his pardon pronouncement, he also told his Justice Department, dismiss the cases that were pending not were yet concluded in the court system, and that's what the Justice Department was doing yesterday in a flurry of court filings.

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But, not all of those cases have been closed and signed off on by the judges that oversee these cases as they're pending. And so, we've watched this crowd come and go over the past two days in quite cold weather. There has been a lot of people being vigilant here, people waiting to see who will be released. There were a couple of rioters that were released. There were a few Monday night, and then there were some Tuesday, throughout the day, that were released an hour or two after their cases were dismissed and closed.

But, there are perhaps another handful of people still in detention here, as those cases move through the system in the courts to their very likely conclusion, Rahel. Right now, when they are being received here, though, there are supporters who are receiving them with open arms. There is prayers. There is songs, occasionally. The crowd is less than it was here yesterday, but there are still supporters of January 6 rioters as well as other protesters here.

SOLOMON: Yeah. And Katelyn, as you've reported outside of the jail, I mean, you've been able to witness some of these sort of reunifications, or some of these folks being reunited with their family or their supporters, and we've been hearing from some of these January 6 defendants. What have they been saying?

POLANTZ: I mean, a lot of them are talking about getting their life back. Rachel Powell, a mother from Pennsylvania, who used an ice axe to break a window into the Capitol and then used a large cardboard tube to break it down and get rioters into the Capitol Building on January 6, she was released from this jail in the afternoon yesterday, and people surrounded her with hugs. They brought her clothing, and she spoke about how she wanted to get back to her children, see how they're doing, get back to her life, figure out how she is going to live again, make money, where she will live, things like that.

Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, the former leader of the Oath Keepers, he arrived here yesterday evening as well. He was someone that was -- had his sentence commuted. So, he was released from a Bureau of Prisons facility in Maryland, serving just a little bit of his 18-year sentence for seditious conspiracy. When he got here yesterday, he was saying things like, I might be hanging up my spurs. He also was receiving hugs.

There was another person released last night, Jake Lang. He was a man during the Capitol riot that wore a gas mask and had a baseball bat, swinging it at the police line in one of the most violent areas around the Capitol Building on January 6, the Lower West terrace. Here is Jake Lang as he emerged from the D.C. jail last night, just after his case was dismissed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB LANG, RELEASED JANUARY 6 DEFENDANT: This institutional nightmare, this weaponization, these institutions that have crumbled, are now being restored. Faith and trust and hope are back in America. We are back, baby. We are back, baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: He says, we're back. Now, Jake Lang was someone who was waiting to go to trial, another person, just to show you how these cases were in all different positions in the system. It's not just those 1,000 or so people whose rioter -- who were pardoned by Donald Trump. There were also the 14 who had their sentence commuted, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, and then separately, Rahel, about 300 people with pending criminal proceedings, not all of them in detention and being released, some of them just waiting for a judge now to sign off on the dismissal of their cases.

SOLOMON: All right. Katelyn Polantz reporting live for us there in Washington. Katelyn, thank you.

And Donald Trump's mass pardons leave some Republicans in a difficult spot, as they navigate whether to distance themselves from the President's decision. Many Republican senators had expressed the hope that the pardons would be directed to only non-violent offenders who entered the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Now, moments ago, House Speaker Mike Johnson spoke on Trump's slew of executive actions. Let's take a listen together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): The President has the pardon and commutation authority. It's his decision. And I think what the -- what was made clear all along is that peaceful protests and people who engage in that should never be punished. There was a weaponization of the Justice Department. There was a weaponization of the events the following -- the prosecutions that happened after January 6. It was a terrible time and a terrible chapter in America's history. The President's made his decision. I don't second guess those. And yes, it's kind of my ethos, my worldview. We believe in redemption. We believe in second chances. If you could -- you would argue that those people didn't pay a heavy penalty having been incarcerated and all of that, that's up to you.

But, the President has made a decision. We move forward. There are better days ahead of us. That's what we're excited about. We're not looking backwards. We're looking forwards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. And joining us now from Washington, D.C. is Juliegrace Brufke of The Daily Beast.

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Juliegrace, it's great to see you again. Let me just start there, and I was that was our Manu Raju --

JULIEGRACE BRUFKE, SR. WASHINGTON REPORTER, THE DAILY BEAST: Good to see you.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Good to have you. I think that was our Manu Raju who asked Speaker Johnson that question. But, I think it really speaks to at least for some. Look, some Republican lawmakers have said we support the President's decision, but others, you see them sort of trying to contort themselves into the proper response in a way that perhaps doesn't divide themselves too much for Trump -- from Trump, but still have to sort of address this. Speak to me about what you're seeing. BRUFKE: Absolutely. So, Speaker Johnson's comments, I mean, they were a sharp contrast from the statement he put out right after January 6, 2021, where he said that violent criminals should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And so, it's definitely kind of softened his messaging there following the pardons, which -- I mean, we've kind of seen on the Senate side, some of the moderate senators, some big names, including Mitch McConnell, Susan Collins, that have been -- that condemned the actions a little more. But, Republicans have also kind of put a focus on Biden's pardons at the same time, saying that they aren't happy how that's been handled either. So, that's kind of -- it's kind of been split messaging within the party.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Juliegrace, let me actually ask you about the first question that Speaker Johnson was asked about there, and it was about the budget bill, the reconciliation bill. I thought it was interesting. Speaker Johnson sort of brushed off the question and said, look, these are very healthy debates. These are very healthy discussions, but things are moving along right along. But, he also didn't give much specifics. What did you hear? And does it appear like it's just -- it's going as well, or as simple as perhaps Speaker Johnson made it seem there?

BRUFKE: So, they're in early talks. I spoke to a number of lawmakers that were at the meetings at the White House yesterday, and there is definitely still kind of some disagreement between the House and the Senate over a one bill, two-bill strategy. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, after the meeting, said they kind of came to a consensus on one bill, which (inaudible) disappointed and don't know if that's the best strategy to be able to get major things that have been hard to pass individually in the past, including border and extending these tax cuts, especially with these slim majorities.

So, they've got a lot of work to do, and they're looking at a slim timeline, with Johnson saying that he'd like to kind of get the instructions to be able to move forward with the massive bill by the end of February. So, these talks are going to continue. House Republicans are supposed to meet here to discuss some of the paths forward that they're weighing there at 03:00 p.m. So, more to come.

SOLOMON: Yeah. What about on the conditioning disaster aid relief in California for increasing the debt limit? I mean, where are we there?

BRUFKE: Well, they're still definitely weighing their options, and Democrats have been very adamant that they feel that disaster relief should not be tacked on to anything as a condition, and given the gravity of the situation that Congress should move swiftly to be able to kind of put together, assess how much California is going to need for that and move forward. So, I think there is definitely going to be some pushback there, and probably also from some of the moderate Republicans in those states -- in that state, I should say.

SOLOMON: Yeah. We'll leave it here. But, Juliegrace Brufke, we appreciate you being with us there from Washington. Thank you.

BRUFKE: Thanks so much. SOLOMON: OK. All right. And still to come, just after the start of a

ceasefire in Gaza, Israel launches one of the biggest military operations in the West Bank in months, targeting the town of Jenin. Plus, two powerhouse nations are shoring up ties, as Donald Trump's second term gets underway. We'll take a look at the growing alliance between China and Russia, straight ahead.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. The Palestinian Authority is calling on the new Trump administration to help stop what it calls Israeli crimes in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces launched one of the biggest military operations in the West Bank in months just after a Gaza ceasefire took hold. At least 10 Palestinians have been killed. Israel's defense minister says that they are targeting terrorists using lessons from the Gaza war. The Palestinian foreign ministry says that Israel has also sealed off entrances to other towns and refugee camps across the West Bank, calling it part of an Israeli plan to gradually annexe the territory. Far-right Israeli minister Bezalel Smotrich, who oversees large parts of Israeli policy in the West Bank, says that the operation is for the protection of settlements and settlers.

Meantime, U.S. President Trump's envoy who helped broker the Gaza ceasefire will soon get a firsthand look at how the truce is holding. Steve Witkoff says that he will join an inspection team on the ground. He says that implementing the ceasefire may be harder than striking the deal itself.

And CNN's Bianna Golodryga is in Tel Aviv. She spoke a short time ago with my colleague Eleni Giokos about the deadly operation underway in the West Bank.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR/SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, we're already seeing images of armored trucks and bulldozers in the occupied West Bank as well, as this operation enters day two of what the Israeli Defense Forces says could be a multi-day, even longer operation. The Defense Minister Katz saying today that it could even expand everywhere beyond just Jenin in what they view as preventing the spread of militancy in the occupied West Bank. And this, one could look at the scale of this operation and go back to August and the last time we've seen an operation this size conducted in the West Bank by the IDF.

It is notable that Palestinian Authority security had actually been fighting over the past month with local militants in the occupied West Bank. They have since withdrawn their forces. And the reporting that we are getting now on the ground there from local doctors, suggesting that the hospital is under siege there, the IDF responding to that claim, saying that they have been protecting individuals in that hospital. 10 have been reported killed over the last two days of this operation. And the IDF is saying this is from lessons learned from October 7th to prevent the spread of what they see is more violence in the region.

And it comes, as we note, that we are now three days into a very fragile ceasefire hostage deal now between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. We're expecting the next transfer of Israeli hostages, four women are expected to be transferred to the IDF this Saturday, and there is a lot of concern about what we're seeing transpire in the occupied West Bank, whether that will have any impact on the continuity and the status of the ceasefire, as we're seeing Hamas now responding to this operation by calling for mobilization in the occupied West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And Donald Trump's campaign promise to stop the war in Ukraine on day one of his new term has come and gone, but the U.S. President now says that it's likely that he could put new sanctions on Vladimir Putin as added pressure.

As our Fred Pleitgen reports, the Russian leader is now shoring up ties with China, pledging a united front in the face of a new world order.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Just hours after President Donald Trump's inauguration, Kremlin-controlled TV already poking fun at the new U.S. leader and Trump's pledge to end the war in Ukraine on day one. In the U.S., they call the expression "stop the war in 24 hours" a

bright example of Trump's hyperbole, the host says, But, Trump himself says he intends to keep his promise, and that his meeting with Putin is soon ahead.

The tone on state TV, very different than before the inauguration, like in December when Trump had criticized the Biden administration's decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied ATACMS missiles to fire into Russia. More absolutely sensational news, the anchor said then. Donald Trump condemned the use of ATACMS for attacks on the territory of Russia.

[11:25:00]

Shortly after taking office, President Trump, who claims to have good relations with Putin, appeared surprisingly critical of the Russian leader.

TRUMP: Zelenskyy wants to make a deal. I don't know if Putin does. He might not. I don't know. He should make a deal. I think he is destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia is going to be in big trouble.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): But Putin, unfazed, showing whom he considers to be his most important ally and friend, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, even after Xi took the rare step of calling Trump shortly before the inauguration. Xi and Putin now making clear in a virtual summit, China and Russia will stand together no matter what Trump does. These connections are self-sufficient and independent of domestic political factors and the current global situation, Putin said. This year, I am ready, together with you, to elevate Chinese-Russian relations to a new level, Xi added, to counter external uncertainties by preserving stability and resilience of Chinese-Russian relations.

As Ukraine continues to lose ground in many sectors of the vast frontline, Ukraine's President, speaking at the Davos Economic Forum, appeared concerned about whether Kyiv's allies can achieve what Ukraine would consider, a just peace. If there are weak guarantees, uncertainty, only words, then you will only get words from Russia, and they will come back with war again.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And still ahead, new reporting on the U.S. military ordering thousands of troops to the southern border with Mexico. We'll be live at the Pentagon for the very latest. Plus, several state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit over President Trump's executive order on birthright citizenship. Coming up, we will speak to Washington's Attorney General Nick Brown about the lawsuit.

We'll be right back.

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. You're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York.

And just into CNN, the U.S. military is ordering thousands of troops to the border with Mexico. The move comes just two days after President Trump signed an executive order mandating that the military step up efforts there. We're going to have much more from the Pentagon on this in just a moment. But, as we understand, they are not authorized to perform any law enforcement role. We'll obviously get back to this just as soon as we get our reporter up for you.

[11:30:00]

And here are some of the international headlines we're watching for you today.

Hundreds of same-sex couples are expected to tie the knot across Thailand on Thursday. That's when a marriage equality bill passed by Parliament last year officially takes effect. This follows more than a decade of efforts by LGBTQ+ activists. Thailand is the first country in Southeast Asia to recognize marriage equality.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has denied ordering military commanders to drag lawmakers out of Parliament and arrest them during his short-lived attempt to impose martial law last month. President Yoon spoke Tuesday during a Constitutional Court hearing of his impeachment trial. Yoon has been held in detention since last week under a separate criminal probe on charges of leading an insurrection.

Search teams and emergency workers remain on the scene of a ski resort in northwestern Turkey. That's where an early morning fire killed at least 76 people on Tuesday. Reuters reports that at least 20 of the victims were just children. Turkey observing now an official day of mourning.

And a suspect has been arrested following a knife attack in Germany that left two people dead, including a toddler. Police say that a 41- year-old man and a two-year-old boy were killed and two others were seriously hurt. The stabbing adds to a string of violent attacks in the country that have raised concerns over security and also stirred up tensions over migration ahead of parliamentary elections next month.

Prince Harry is claiming a monumental victory after a long legal battle against Rupert Murdoch's group of tabloids. In an unexpected turn, the Duke of Sussex chose to settle the case before the trial even began. Prince Harry accused News Group Newspapers, or NGN, of illegally obtaining information on his family. His lawyer said that the tabloid has offered a full and unequivocal apology and will pay substantial damages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SHERBORNE, PRINCE HARRY'S LAWYER: Today, the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed, and today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's turn back to Washington and President Trump's immigration policies. You may remember that on Monday, President Trump signed an executive order targeting the end of birthright citizenship in the U.S. The 14th Amendment gives a constitutional right of citizenship to almost all children born in the U.S. Well, now the attorneys general from 22 states are suing to stop Trump's executive order.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB BONTA, CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: I have one message for President Trump. I'll see you in court. It violates our U.S. Constitution. The President has overstepped his authority by a mile, and we will hold him accountable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And one of those attorneys general joins me now. Nick Brown is the Attorney General in the state of Washington. Attorney General, great to have you this morning. Thank you.

NICK BROWN, WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

SOLOMON: So, I listened to your press conference yesterday, I believe it was, and you said that there are two key arguments to this case, one, that it's unconstitutional and that it also violates a separate immigration law. Lay out your theory for us.

BROWN: Well, as you said in the intro, the 14th Amendment, for the entirety of our existence as a country, has guaranteed the right to citizenship for people born in this country. And so, the claims in our complaint are very straightforward, that it violates the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, and then it violates a separate provision of immigration law established in 1940. But, this law has been not only a foundational principle in our country, it has been upheld by the Supreme Court, and I think the vast majority of legal scholars and academics who have looked at this issue make this a sort of plainly and obviously illegal action by the President.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I mean, to your point, many legal scholars do agree that it's settled law, but there are also some that question whether there is a question about interpretation here, and that there is very little case law on this. There is a 1898 case, a U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark. Attorney General, how worried are you that an interpretation by the federal courts today, maybe even the Supreme Court, may not interpret this law the way it has been so far?

BROWN: Well, we feel really confident in our case. It is well established in our brief, the legal precedent for this argument, and we feel very confident that the district court, Appellate Court and the Supreme Court will agree with this. You do bring up that there is a sort of fringe legal argument that this is not the case, that the 14th Amendment should be interpreted differently, but that is not backed by any legal decision of any merit. And given the strength of our case and the case that it will be brought across the country, we feel very confident that no matter which court hears this, will be upheld.

SOLOMON: Yeah. The case that I just cited there was a six to two decision, and it hinged on the precise meaning of "subject to the jurisdiction thereof".

[11:35:00]

Do you believe that that's going to be the same legal question here?

BROWN: Well, that's certainly going to be the argument for the defendants in this case that that provision changes the entire history of the 14th Amendment, but I don't think it's going to hold much weight. And I also think it's important that people recognize that the reason for this provision was following the Supreme Court's disastrous and infamous decision in the Dred Scott decision. And so, in the wake of that decision, the Supreme Court made clear, and Congress has always affirmed that, that people have rights when they're born in America, and the President or no other individual can simply deny your right to be a citizen. You deny your right to be an American with a stroke of a pen. That's not the way our country works. That's not the way our law works, and we feel really confident that that'll be upheld in the courts.

SOLOMON: How are you preparing for this challenge in court? I believe your predecessor in the current governor of Washington, Bob Ferguson, sued the Trump administration some 99 times. How helpful is it to have that resource as governor, and how do you plan on using that as you prepare for this litigation?

BROWN: Well, Governor Ferguson deserves a lot of credit for a tremendous amount of work over the past year, and I feel very fortunate to have inherited a really high functioning office. And over the past year, Washington State and states across the country have been preparing for a myriad of possibilities and potential actions by the incoming Trump administration. And so, a change to birthright citizenship was certainly on our list.

And as you know, Washington State was heavily engaged in the first Trump administration in challenging illegal and unjust actions, and we will do that again here if we need to. It's certainly not my hope to be suing the President or taking these sorts of actions, but if it violates the law and it harms people in my state, we will not shy away from taking these sorts of litigation steps.

SOLOMON: Yeah. Just really quickly, I spoke with an immigration expert yesterday, and when I asked him to describe just the slate of executive actions we've seen on immigration so far, he said, look, they're coming in much more organized. They, being the Trump administration, are coming in much more organized than they did the first Trump term. And my question was, well, do you believe that that means state and local governments, state jurisdictions, immigration groups, are also being as organized as how they plan to respond? Would you agree? I mean, how long have you been preparing for what a Trump second term might look like?

BROWN: Well, as I said, states across the country have been preparing for this work for over the year. I was just sworn in as the Attorney General of Washington a week ago today. So, on my sixth day in office, we brought a case against the United States and the President. So, it's an unusual way to start your term in office. But, there has been a tremendous amount of work by the men and women in this office, researching the legal claims that were possible, researching Project 2025, analyzing the assertions made by President Trump on the campaign trail. So, there is a lot of work that's led up today, and we'll continue to look at each executive order closely and determine whether or not litigation is appropriate.

And there is lots of things that the President will do that we don't like, that will be plainly illegal, and we're not going to sue simply for the sake of suing.

SOLOMON: OK. We appreciate the time today. That's Attorney General Nick Brown. Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you very much.

SOLOMON: All right. We're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.

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[11:40:00]

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SOLOMON: Well, as we mentioned earlier, the U.S. military is ordering thousands of troops to the border with Mexico. The move comes just two days after President Trump signed an executive order mandating that the military step up efforts there.

We want to get to Natasha Bertrand, who I just understand is now not available, but we will get to her in just a moment.

In the meantime, we also know that the Trump administration is moving to impose steep tariffs on goods from China, Canada and Mexico. While the President claims that foreign exporters pay the tariffs, the move could also raise prices for American consumers.

CNN's David Culver explains and explores how businesses in other countries are responding to the economic uncertainty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we assemble everything.

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is where we assemble everything. We're getting a firsthand look at what some are calling an Industrial China Town.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything we make were produced here, is going to end up in a major frenching store in the U.S.

CULVER (on camera): We're in Mexico. This is an hour outside Monterrey, Mexico, about 160 miles from the U.S. southern border.

CULVER (voice-over): This region, Mexico's so-called industrial capital, ideal for companies like China's Kuka Home furnishing looking to reach U.S. customers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We, as American consumers, want everything immediately. So, OK, let's open up shop in Mexico.

CULVER (voice-over): While Kuka Home says their move was motivated by shorter supply chains, a surge of other Chinese companies flooded Mexico to dodge hefty tariffs President Trump levied during his first term.

CESAR SANTOS, PRESIDENT, HOFUSAN INDUSTRIAL PARK: Well, actually, that helped us, because when they put tariffs there in China, then those companies came to us.

CULVER (on camera): And are they still here?

SANTOS: Yes, of course. They're growing.

CULVER (on camera): The question is going to be, what happens if tariffs are applied to Mexico? That's something President Trump has suggested he might do. CULVER (voice-over): Threatening to hit the U.S.'s southern neighbor and largest trading partner with a 25 percent tariff on exports to the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the 25 percent tariff on Mexico puts me out of business, simply puts me out of business.

CULVER (voice-over): And that, in turn, would leave many here out of work.

CULVER (on camera): If you look around me, you can see at this factory in particular, the vast majority of people who work here are from Mexico. For now, he is comfortable staying here in Mexico because he has a job. He has opportunity. You don't have that. He said, you have to look for other ways to sustain your family. And he goes for some. That means migrating to places like the U.S.

CULVER (voice-over): The uncertainty of the Trump tariff threat has Kuka Home pausing expansion plans here, and leaves other Chinese companies questioning their next move.

CULVER (on camera): This is your Spanish language books.

ZHANG JIANQIU, ENGINEER: Yes.

CULVER (voice-over): Chinese to Spanish.

Zhang Jianqiu is in Mexico scouting future opportunities for his Chinese employer.

CULVER (on camera): With a 25 percent tariff, is it feasible?

JIANQIU: I think most Chinese companies, they're waiting, they're watching, and then they'll be making the final decision.

CULVER (voice-over): Some Chinese companies, though, are full steam ahead with expanding their footprint to be within reach of their U.S. customers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is called the Hofusan Industrial Park.

CULVER (voice-over): Inside Hofusan --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Basically, 100 percent of the companies are Chinese companies here.

CULVER (voice-over): -- some 40 companies making home appliances, auto parts, light bulbs, medical supplies, you name it, all destined for the U.S. Here are the lines between what's Mexican and what's Chinese, quickly become blurred.

CULVER (on camera): You have street signs.

SANTOS: Yeah.

CULVER (on camera): You can see the Chinese flag there. SANTOS: The Chinese flag, yes. This is a restaurant. It's a very nice Chinese restaurant.

CULVER (on camera): Chinese restaurant.

SANTOS: Chinese restaurant. Yes.

CULVER (on camera): As I look at the name, your name --

SANTOS: Yeah.

CULVER (on camera): -- is mixed into this.

SANTOS: Yes. It's Holley, Futong, and Santos.

CULVER (on camera): These two shareholders, Holley --

SANTOS: They're Chinese.

CULVER (voice-over): Hofusan is expanding rapidly, with plans to eventually cover some 2,000 acres. But, that's not been enough for the demand.

RAMIRO GONZALEZ, DEVELOPER: This area is just next to Monterey. It's called Fores (ph).

CULVER (voice-over): Developer Ramiro Gonzalez is now building another so-called industrial Chinatown.

CULVER (on camera): You've got your name in Spanish and then Chinese.

GONZALEZ: Yes. I'm really happy because the Chinese people call me Talon. Talon means big dragon.

[11:45:00]

Basically, this is a multi-tenant building.

CULVER (voice-over): But, if Trump's proposed tariffs on Mexico make the U.S. market too expensive, some Chinese companies are confident that they've still got other options.

SANTOS: We can sell to Europe. We can sell to Latin America, even Mexico. Mexico is a big market too.

CULVER (voice-over): Yet, despite the potential loss Trump's tariffs might cause him, Cesar Santos believes widening cartel violence is a bigger threat to business here in Mexico, so much so that he has given up prime real estate to have a police presence nearby.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

SANTOS: We donate that area adjacent to the property.

CULVER (voice-over): It's a big part of why he actually supports the man behind the tariffs. SANTOS: He is Trump.

CULVER (voice-over): President Trump.

SANTOS: Actually, I like him for all the issues we have on terms of all the criminal gangs and everything like that, the drugs. So, we need the help of people like him to stop that.

CULVER: And it was that last point there that we actually made note of while we were traveling through that region, and that is, despite the potential negative impact on the economy down there in Monterrey, Mexico, many of the folks we came across are actually supporters of President Trump. The engineer from China, he says he looks up to President Trump as a businessman.

And then you heard Cesar Santos there say that he actually is looking to President Trump for national security, Mexico's national security, hoping to eradicate the cartel violence that has penetrated much of that country. Cesar Santos was even here in Washington to attend the inauguration this week.

David Culver, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And after the presence of major tech leaders at President Trump's inauguration, three more appeared at the White House on Tuesday to announce a major new AI company. OpenAI, SoftBank and Oracle say that they plan to invest up to $500 billion into Stargate.

CNN's Clare Duffy explains what the new venture means.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: This is three major technology firms that are now teaming up to start a new company called Stargate that will be dedicated to building AI infrastructure in the United States, things like data centers, but also potentially the chips and water and electricity resources that are needed to power these data centers. These companies, Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank say they plan to invest $100 billion on this project to start, with the plan of investing as much as $500 billion over the next four years. They say their first data center is already under construction in Texas.

And look, AI leaders, especially OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, have really been ringing the alarm that the United States needs to invest more in AI infrastructure to keep up the pace of development, and crucially, to stay ahead of China in the AI arms race, because, of course, artificial intelligence is going to have serious implications for the economy and military technology. Altman said yesterday, I think this will be the most important project of our era. Trump also said that Stargate is expected to create 100,000 U.S. jobs. Of course, we expect that those jobs will probably be created more in the construction phase, because once you have a data center up and running, that doesn't require a whole lot of human workers. And of course, it could take some time to get to that 100,000 number. I also think it's interesting that we saw Trump on Monday rolling back

a Biden executive order related to managing AI safety risks. And so, we're starting maybe to see some of the benefit for these tech CEOs of cozying up to Trump, where he is supportive of their building, but he is also removing some of the guardrails for this industry.

Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: And still ahead, parts of the U.S., southern U.S., were covered in record snowfall. Still ahead, a look at what some officials are calling a once-in-a-generation winter storm that hit the region. We'll be right back.

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[11:50:00]

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SOLOMON: Welcome back. New fires to tell you about in Southern California, where firefighters continue to battle for containment of the Los Angeles fires, which killed 27 people. You're looking at pictures of the Clay Fire, which broke out Tuesday in Riverside County. That's to the east of Los Angeles. It is 40 percent contained. The Lilac Fire in northern San Diego County broke out early Tuesday morning. This fire is now 90 percent contained. A Red Flag warning, which is a high wind warning, remains in effect through Thursday. More than 10 million people have been impacted by these warnings.

And several states in the southern U.S. are now dealing with what officials are calling a once-in-a-generation winter storm that dumped snow across the region on Tuesday. Take a look at this drone flying over a neighborhood in New Orleans. You can just about make the houses, but you can't really see what are streets, what are sidewalks. That's because of all of the record snowfall. We know that at least 10 people have been killed due to freezing temperatures and traffic accidents on the slick roads. Some airports have even been closed due to the storm, and authorities are warning people not to drive until conditions improve. The frigid temperatures are preventing the snow from melting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPTAIN GREYSON WILSON, HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT: Essentially, they're going to be driving on an ice rink. So, the message is clear from us that please stay off the roadways. Stay off the overpasses. By driving on those roadways, you're not only putting yourself at risk, you're putting first responders at risk that have to go out there and other people that are unfortunately on the roadway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: All right. Let's bring in CNN Meteorologist Elisa Raffa, who joins us now from the Weather Center. Elisa, just talk to us a little bit about what's the latest. I mean, especially you think about Atlanta, a lot of folks there may not be accustomed or prepared for this type of snow and this type of weather.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. A lot of these cities that got snow don't have salt trucks or snow plows. I mean, this hasn't happened in decades. These people will likely never see this happen again. I mean, you're looking at a welcome to Florida sign with snow piled up on top of palm trees. Just unthinkable the snow that some of these areas got. We're talking about Bourbon Street, still an ice skating rink. Snow in New Orleans this morning piled up along the streets here. People were skiing down Bourbon Street yesterday in all of that snow.

New Orleans got eight inches of snow officially at the airport. That triples the previous record, setting a record for the all-time snowiest day in modern history. The previous record was set in 1963. So, again, in once in a lifetime. Look at some of these totals. 10 and a half inches in Lafayette, Louisiana, Pensacola, more than seven inches. Mobile, Alabama, seven and a half inches. In Florida, Milton, Florida, we got 8.8 inches of snow there for that city on the Panhandle. That doubles the previous record for snowiest day, not just for that city, but the entire state of Florida. That previous record, again, was four inches, set back in 1954.

How did this happen? How did these coastal cities get that snow? Well, we had that Arctic air in place. We had a rare Arctic outbreak with temperatures tumbling 30 degrees below average for a lot of these coastal places. So, when that storm developed, it already had the cold air in place. It was also able to tap into warm, above normal ocean temperatures. That fuels more moisture into the storm. This is the type of recipe that we get for a stronger and wetter hurricanes. But, with the Arctic air in place, it wound up dumping unprecedented amounts of snow.

Now we have that cold air that's going to let that snow really settle in. 29 degrees right now in Atlanta. It's 28 in New Orleans. Only 34 degrees in Houston. Tack on that wind chill. We're still feeling wind chill values in the teens from New Orleans to Montgomery. It feels like 21 degrees in Jacksonville. You've got wind chills way below zero in Chicago, Detroit. It feels like minus 16 in Detroit right now.

Remember the signs of hypothermia? We've unfortunately had some fatalities because of the cold, confusion, shivering, difficulty, speaking, sleepiness, stiff muscles, all are signs of cold and sickness. You should seek help if you start to feel any of these symptoms.

[11:55:00]

We will start to find temperatures get above freezing. We're talking about 40s in New Orleans by Thursday and Friday. So, some melting in the afternoon, but that's still way below their average. That's in the 60s. Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I guess any warm-up is appreciated, a minor thawing, if we can call it that. Elisa Raffa, thank you.

And before we go, one more thing. Friendly rivalries have emerged as rare snowfall blankets parts of the southern U.S. in white. In Houston, a snowball fight broke out between the fire and the police departments. Emergency responders taking to the snow to battle it out in between calls. And further east in Louisiana, prayers in the St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church were paused as these nuns and a priest take advantage of the unexpected snow day to enjoy some light- hearted fun. Well, there is that silver lining that comes with the cold weather.

Well, we know your time is money. So, thank you for spending some time with me today. I'm Rahel Solomon live in New York. Stick with CNN. One World is coming up next.

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