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CNN International: White House Pauses All Federal Grants And Loans; Justice Dept. Fires Officials Who Investigated Trump; Trump: Chinese AI "A Wake-Up Call" To Silicon Valley. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 28, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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


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ERICA HILL, HOST, "CNN NEWSROOM": Welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm Erica Hill in New York.

Just ahead here on CNN Newsroom, trillions of dollars in federal funds halted as the White House pauses all federal grants and loans. The impact itself sweeping, but is this move even legal? We've the latest from Washington. Plus, President Trump signing four new executive orders that could reshape the U.S. military as we know it. We'll take a closer look. And --

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HILL: -- those are the scenes there, as thousands of civilians are now fleeing the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as Rwanda-backed rebels claim to have taken control.

Unprecedented, breathtaking, potentially illegal, just a few of the words being used by Democrats and watchdogs to describe a new directive from the Trump administration halting all federal grants and loans. That goes into effect at 05:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, just six hours away. The temporary pause would freeze trillions of federal dollars. The scope of the impact, well, it is widespread in the U.S. and frankly, abroad. Under the plan, virtually all foreign aid would also come to a stop. Experts are warning that means an immediate stop for disaster aid and food assistance programs. Officials say the pause will give the administration time to review spending.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer slamming the move, pointing out that the funding itself was approved by Congress and that it's not optional. It's the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): He has a lot of really bad decisions for which the American people will rebel, and politically is going to be very unpopular. But, this is the worst of the worst, the worst of the worst.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: Phil Mattingly joining us now with more from Washington. It is

certainly going to keep you busy for a little while, my friend. So, Phil, walk us through the scope of this, what it could mean and just how widespread this impact is.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF U.S. DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Erica, I think what's fascinating about this moment, we've seen it throughout the course of the first week of this administration, but particularly in this memo that arrived 05:00 p.m. last night in the inboxes of agency program administrators, they were not expecting it. Most of them couldn't figure out what exactly it meant. In fact, some of them are still scrambling right now to understand the true scope of things.

But, what you said, Erica, unprecedented, breathtaking and illegal, yes, that's attributable to Democrats. No question about it. I think Trump officials would acknowledge all of those three things as well. Unprecedented, they know the scale in terms of applying to every single federal grant and loan program that isn't Social Security, Medicare or constructed by individual payments, direct individual payments, is unprecedented. Breathtaking, just because the executive branch doesn't technically, at least, usually, have this authority based on law. Congress controls the purse. The executive branch administers, and lawmakers have signed off on this funding. It just needs to be administered.

In terms of illegal, and I think this is an important point here, Donald Trump ran on challenging the legality of a President's ability to withhold funding appropriated by Congress. This appears to be the first move and what Trump officials and Trump's top advisors have long planned to try and launch a legal fight that ends up in the Supreme Court, where they think they can overturn the longstanding Impoundment Act that bans presidents from being able to hold back funding like this.

Now, in terms of what this means going forward, when I say federal officials were scrambling last night and were scrambling this morning, I genuinely mean it. The speed of the turnaround of this pause really caught everybody off guard. They knew, particularly the incoming Office of Management and Budget Director, Russ Vought, had plans like this. They did not know they would be launched, because Vought hasn't even been confirmed yet. So, what actually happens next is going to be the big question.

I do know, Erica, we're sent a copy of a follow-up instructions manual that was sent to agencies this morning from OMB that basically had a list of questions that they need to answer, program by program across those agencies before the deadline, as part of their review, questions that dealt with, does this funding touch on immigration? Does this funding touch on abortion? Does it touch on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives? Does it touch on foreign aid, basically trying to give a roadmap of what they may try and cancel or try and withhold in the future?

As for everything else, though, while the review is going on, the intent right now, according to people familiar with the plan, is it's frozen with limited exceptions, exceptions that, Erica, have not been listed out for anyone yet, leading to a lot of confusion and very, very real uncertainty for programs like Head Start for grant and aid programs for housing, for low income families.

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It could turn off as soon as 05:00 p.m. today.

HILL: Yeah, heating assistance, meals for seniors. I mean, you name it. The impact is potentially broad. And again, as you point out, nobody really knows. I do find it interesting that they mentioned the Green New Deal there, which, of course, is not actually a thing.

Phil, appreciate it, as always, my friend. Thank you.

Also with us to discuss this hour, Bobby Kogan, who is the Senior Director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress, a nonpartisan policy group, and you have some experience with the Office of Management and Budget. As we talk about this, as Phil was pointing out, there is some question as to whether these moves could ultimately be a push to get the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, something a lot of folks may not be familiar with, but to get that in front of the Supreme Court, because potentially then, that could strip some of the power away from Congress when it comes to the power of the purse. Is that what you see as the road map?

BOBBY KOGAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF FEDERAL BUDGET POLICY, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Hey. Thanks so much for having me on. Yes, this will prompt immediate lawsuits. There are tons of payments that are set to go out on February 1st. And so, any state government, any agency that is supposed to get that will have standing to sue. They will sue, and this will set up an eventual court case on the Impoundment Control Act.

HILL: As Phil laid out, one of the biggest issues here for so many of these impacted state, local, tribal governments as well as different organizations, is they didn't get much detail. There are so many questions here. Based on what limited information we have from this initial memo, does this appear to be legal to you?

KOGAN: No. This is illegal. It's in violation of not only the authorizing statute and appropriation statutes, but also Section 1013 of the Impoundment Control Act. I'll just say, they did release further guidance kind of earlier today that kind of does go through program by program. So, we're starting to go through that now. But, regardless, they didn't transmit a special message, which is one of the requirements, and this is for policy reasons, and you're not allowed to defer for policy reasons. There are three acceptable reasons, and this doesn't hit any of them.

HILL: And that to me -- and I'm glad you brought that up, because that stood out to me as well, right? So, the initial memo here talked about things need to basically be in line with presidential priorities. And as you point out, you cannot defer funding. You can't ask Congress to stop funding if this is about a policy issue, if it is a policy reason. Is there any way you could get around that? KOGAN: I think they would have a hard time arguing that it's for one of the non-policy reasons, given their statements. There are three -- in the Impoundment Control Act, there are three acceptable reasons to pause, one of which is like greater efficiency. I think they would have a hard time arguing in a believable manner, given what they've already said. Just to say, there are paths to legally pausing things. They just didn't take the legal path. They took the illegal path, and we're setting up a fight.

HILL: Based on your time and your experience in OMB, I mean, how do you imagine folks are scrambling today to try to make sense of this?

KOGAN: Yeah. I mean, I'm sure all -- the agencies are supposed to submit their -- submit stuff in kind of keeping with this. I'm sure every single program examiner and budget officer has -- is struggling to keep pace. But, really, to your point, this just shows uncertainty, right? Like lots of folks don't know whether they're -- whether the aid that they rely on will be there February 1s Head Start facilities, there are every -- they go on an annual basis, but it's kind of on a rolling schedule. So, there will be a whole bunch of Head Start facilities that just don't get money February 1st, and then you don't know whether your kid is at a facility that's going to shut down or not, right? Like, this is kind of not only harm for individuals, but also uncertainty for anyone who relies on the federal government.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it is sweeping, to put it mildly.

Bobby, really appreciate the perspective. Thank you.

Well, Justice Department officials who worked on criminal investigations of Mr. Trump are now facing retaliation. CNN is told, more than a dozen Justice Department officials have been fired. Acting Attorney General James McHenry says the officials cannot be trusted to, quote, "faithfully implement Trump's agenda". The firings come as the administration is taking concrete steps to now investigate prosecutors who oversaw the criminal cases against January 6 defendants. On Monday, the President again accused the Justice Department of being, in his view, weaponized against him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I was investigated more than any human being in history. Scarface was not investigated as much as your President was investigated, and it turned out to be a positive thing for me. Can you believe it? It turned out to be -- we got a lot of votes.

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I think we got a lot of votes because they saw it was weaponization. It was a fight against a political opponent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In terms of weaponization, take a listen to this as well. A database which detailed the vast array of criminal charges and successful convictions of January 6 rioters, that entire database has now been removed from the Justice Department's website.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is tracking these major changes.

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KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really a stunning afternoon at the Department of Justice, where the people put in place by Donald Trump to lead his U.S. Attorney's Office and the entirety of the Justice Department, the acting Attorney General, carrying out on that promise of retribution toward people who were working on criminal cases related to the 2020 election and against Trump specifically.

So, the main thing that happened, the acting Attorney General fired more than a dozen people who had been back in the department just doing their jobs as career prosecutors, line attorneys. They were the people that worked on the special counsel investigations from Jack Smith. These were not political appointees, though. These were people who had long been with the department, not just as part of Smith's team, but had worked on the type of criminal cases that always were part of the Department of Justice's bread and butter. Those people were back in their home offices after Smith closed shop and they were fired yesterday.

The memo from acting Attorney General James McHenry, it said, "You played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump. I do not believe that the leadership of the Department can trust you to assist in implementing the President's agenda faithfully." This announcement to those people came just after the announcement by the D.C. U.S. Attorney. So, that is the interim person in charge of the office that prosecuted the 1,500 or so Capitol rioter cases since that took place on January 6 of 2021.

That interim U.S. Attorney, Ed Martin, he announced that there was going to be a special project, an investigation into the work of dozens of line prosecutors in charging the people in the Capitol riot who initially were charged with a felony obstruction count that the Supreme Court later tossed out. That investigation, which appears to be an investigation of the investigators, the people that were doing those cases on a daily basis, it's asking for documents by this Friday. So, it is unclear how far of a reach that will go, as Ed Martin tries to push forward some sort of investigation into what happened there.

But, this is two things that happened on Monday in the Trump administration that are so extremely out of the ordinary for any President and any leadership of the Justice Department to take on upon themselves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: All right. Katelyn, thank you for that.

Well, a Chinese company's surprise success with artificial intelligence really putting some global tech companies on notice. The tech startup DeepSeek was only founded in 2023 on January 20th. The company unveiled its R1 model which it says can nearly match the capabilities of American rivals, including Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT. And the impact of that felt on Wall Street. The U.S. stock market taking a big hit on the news. Donald Trump says it should be a warning to Silicon Valley tech companies that they need to be more aggressive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The release of DeepSeek AI from a Chinese company should be a wake-up call for our industries that we need to be laser-focused on competing to win, because we have the greatest scientists in the world. Even Chinese leadership told me that. They said, you have the most brilliant scientists in the world, in Seattle and various places, but Silicon Valley, they said, there is nobody like those people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Anna Stewart is following these developments for us, joining us now from London. So, Anna, the sell-off, I was in an event last night, people are a little stressed out about it. Was that sell-off actually overblown on Monday?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, a trillion dollars wiped off the stock market all because a Chinese AI company appears to have made a much cheaper and very good version of a ChatGPT, essentially of some of the U.S. rivals. Was it overblown? Was it sort of sell now, think later, and everyone kind of jumped on the bandwagon? Possibly. If you check in with U.S. markets right now, you will see they have all opened ever so slightly higher. Actually, the NASDAQ currently, I believe, up around one percent. So, that is clearly an end to the sell-off for now.

There are big questions here as to what the innovations of this Chinese company actually mean around the world. But also, I think people are maybe a bit more skeptical today. This is a company that says it was able to make an AI model for $5.6 million. To put that into context, ChatGPT-4, which is one of the OpenAI ones, they spent $100 million to develop that, and there is a huge difference particularly with Nvidia chips.

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DeepSeek says it only needed 2,000. We're talking tens of thousands for a GPT model. The question is, of course, is that correct? Was this Chinese company truly able to make this model with so few high tech chips? Was it able to get round those curbs from the U.S.? And there is a little skepticism. We actually had a quote from Art Hogan, who is a market strategist, who said China is claiming it has come up with a silver bullet, but it could be like the guy in high school who says he has a girlfriend but she is just at a different school. Lot of skepticism in the market. So, perhaps we're seeing that reflected in the markets too today, Erica.

HILL: The girlfriend at a different school, who may not exist. So -- but, overall, Anna, as we look at this, and as you laid out, right, the differences there, how much of a concern, right, day after the sell-off, how much of a concern is DeepSeek for some of these bigger U.S. AI companies?

STEWART: I mean, this was hugely embarrassing. I mean, a global embarrassment, frankly, to see so much money being wiped off the market valuations of these big companies. We are now getting the reaction from some of those companies. For instance, we had a reaction from Sam Altman from OpenAI, who essentially said that this just shows that there is competition in the market. This is a good thing, a rising tide floats all boats. Similar from Nvidia. Nvidia came out with a statement essentially saying, this is good news. The world is going to need more semiconductor chip. So, a lot of these companies are turning this around to their advantage.

It is an embarrassment for the new U.S. administration, which, of course, recently announced a half trillion dollar private sector multi-party initiative to create more data centers to make sure they stay ahead of China. The question now is, are they still ahead of China, or is actually China able to innovate its way around all of those curbs that were imposed, and did those curbs imposed by both President Biden, President Trump, actually enable a company like this to innovate, pushed it into it?

HILL: Good questions, all of them. Anna Stewart, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still to come here, a rebel group claiming to have taken over now an airport in a key city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We're going to bring it up to speed in a live report. Plus, after months of moving from place to place to escape deadly bombings, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians now returning home or to what's left of home in northern Gaza.

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HILL: Rebels have taken over the airport in the city of Goma, the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. That's according to Reuters. Fighting between the Rwandan-backed M23 group and Congolese troops has forced thousands of panicked civilians to flee the city. The rebels claimed to have captured Goma on Monday. Meantime, in Kinshasa, Congo's capital, several embassies have now been attacked, protesters targeting both the French and U.S. embassies, among others.

Joining us now from London with more, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz, as we're watching all of these developments sort of fast and furious as they're coming in, Salma.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Really dramatic scenes that you just played out there in Goma, and very important to remind our viewers that this is a city of two million people, two million people whose lives now hang in the balance.

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This all began a few weeks ago when this rebel group M23 began advancing on the capital. It was a lightning, fast offensive. It sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing. At least 12 peacekeepers, rather, have been killed in the fighting. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Civilians wounded again in this fighting, flowing into those medical centers where doctors say they're struggling to cope. And the tensions, the anger have actually spread to Kinshasa, the capital of the DRC, where we saw protesters today outside of Western embassies, including the American Embassy, setting tires on fire, creating fires around these embassies, angry, they say, these protesters, because what they see as Western intervention in Africa's affairs.

So, why is all of this happening? Why is this taking place? Well, the answer may actually lie in your phone. The eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Goma is located, is rich in minerals, rich in resources that are used to build the components inside electronic devices like our telephones, and M23, again, this rebel group, which is now claiming control of Goma, stands accused of illegally mining these minerals and giving them to their backers. So, who backs this group? Rwanda. The neighboring country to DRC on the border of Goma is accused of funding this fight by M23. This is an accusation that Rwanda denies, but the UN has found Rwanda to be benefiting, again, from the illegal mining of the very things inside your phone.

And there is one sign of hope, one glimmer of hope here, and that is that Kenya has brought the warring parties to a negotiating table that's set to take place tomorrow. All international actors are appealing for calm and reminding these warring factions that the lives of so many hang in the balance here, Erica.

HILL: Yeah. Really appreciate the update. Salma, thank you.

Well, here in the U.S., Donald Trump doubling down on a suggestion that critics say amounts to a call for ethnic cleansing. Last night, the U.S. President elaborated on his proposal to just clean out Gaza and send Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. Mr. Trump says Gaza has been hell for so many years, and that Palestinians may be, in his words, a lot more comfortable in a safer area. He says he spoke with Egypt's President about the plan. Egypt, though, denies a call took place. Trump also says that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to meet with him, in the words of Trump, very soon. Sources tell CNN, Benjamin Netanyahu could actually visit the White House as soon as next week.

Israel, meantime, offering an update on the hostages who are due to be released from Gaza in the first phase of this ceasefire deal with Hamas. A government spokesman says that, according to a list from Hamas, eight of those hostages are dead, saying that they were killed by Hamas. Hamas, however, has not commented on how they died. Thus far, seven hostages have been released, all of them women. Three more are expected to return to Israel. On Thursday, Israel is expected to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners during the first phase of the truce.

Officials in Gaza, meantime, say that more than 300,000 displaced Palestinians have now returned to the northern part of the enclave since Israel reopened a key road, but they are coming home to mass destruction, schools, hospitals, markets, not to mention homes, of course, destroyed. Access to basic services like water and power is extremely limited. As CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports, many still are overjoyed, saying

there is frankly nowhere else they'd rather be.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The masses of people trekking up Gaza's coastal road are not being forced to flee. They're returning home. The Palestinian people are going back to their homes, this man shouts, announcing his joy to anyone who will listen. It's a great happiness. We feel like we can fly.

After being displaced for months on end, tens of thousands of Palestinians are finally returning to northern Gaza, shielded by the guarantees of a six-week ceasefire. This river of humanity flows for miles and miles, underscoring the magnitude of the last 15 months of war. For many, like Eyad Al Masri, their journey began in southern Gaza, taking down their tents they hope forever. I'm taking these four bags and going back to my house, Eyad says. I don't know if it is still standing or not, but I'm going back to Beit Hanoun.

People quickly crowd around a few busses heading north, babies and belongings hoisted with urgency.

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Others carry what they can, taking their chances on foot. Trudging through this uneven coastal road, young and old alike are determined to push past fatigue and return home. For the first of many, that moment came shortly after 07:00 a.m., crossing an abandoned Israeli checkpoint where mass Hamas militants now stand watch. Israel agreed to open the road to northern Gaza only after resolving a two-day dispute with Hamas over the fate of an Israeli hostage Arbel Yehud. Hamas now set to release her alongside the captive Israeli soldier Agam Berger, and a third hostage on Thursday.

Back in Gaza, this is what most are returning to, bombed out buildings and heaps of rubble now line the streets. Even amid the destruction, there is joy, as family members separated by war reunite. Thank God, Mohtaz (ph) says, as he kisses his mother and embraces his daughter he hasn't seen them in 10 months. Amid the reunions, there are also tears as people set foot on the land they call home once again. I'm crying right now out of happiness, this man says. I don't want anything except to enter my homeland.

The enormity of the destruction in Gaza prompting President Trump to call for moving Palestinians out of Gaza.

VOICE OF TRUMP: I'd like Egypt to take people and I'd like Jordan to take people. I can -- you're talking about probably a million and a half people and we just clean out that whole thing.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Among those who camped out for days near the checkpoint to northern Gaza, waiting for it to open, Trump's idea is quickly rejected. We say to Trump, no, and a million in one knows. We will stay here. We will stay in Gaza, he says, even if it is a pile of rubble. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, a closer look at President Trump's new executive orders that aim to reshape the U.S. military. We'll hear from the Secretary of Defense just ahead. Plus, the near- suicidal tactics being used by North Korea's troops fighting in Russia's war against Ukraine, a report from the battlefield is up next.

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HILL: Welcome back. Just about half past the hour now, you're watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill joining you from New York.

President Donald Trump signing four new executive orders which could reshape the U.S. military as we know it.

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Those directives include banning transgender service members, gutting the military's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs, and reinstating with back pay members who were discharged for refusing a COVID-19 vaccine. The President claiming all of these actions will, in his view, increase military recruitment.

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TRUMP: I think we're going to have a lot of people that join. We were having a hard time recruiting people because they were -- looking at these people that they were supposed to be their leaders, they weren't happy. They didn't like people that fall going upstairs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Those orders came down on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's first day of leading the Pentagon.

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PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: This is happening quickly, and as the Secretary of Defense, it's an honor to salute smartly, as I did as a junior officer and now as the Secretary of Defense, to ensure these orders are complied with rapidly and quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Hegseth, of course, has been a vocal critic of diversity programs in the military, expressing his issue with them on a podcast ahead of his confirmation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: The dumbest phrase on planet Earth in the military is our diversity is our strength. The integration of the military racially was a huge success, but now we're pushing boundaries and lots of different levels that are different than that, because men and women are different, because being transgendered in the military causes complications and differences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now, Military Analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Always good to see you, Colonel. As we look at all of this, also just a point of clarification when it comes to reinstating the ability to reinstate military members who would refuse the COVID- 19 vaccine, it's important to note that they were actually allowed to rejoin starting in 2023, thanks to an order that was signed under the National Defense Authorization Act, which required that change. This may go a little bit further. When we look at where things stand here, what do you make of these initial orders and what it says about the direction of the U.S. military?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, & U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Yeah. Good morning, Erica. It's great to be with you as well. There are several factors here, I think, that are quite interesting from a personnel perspective. First of all, on the COVID-19 reinstatement, there is going to be, I think, a bit of a problem with bringing these people back, because, quite frankly, they disobeyed a direct and lawful order when they refused the COVID-19 vaccine. So, there are a lot of reasons for people to refuse the vaccine, none of them scientifically grounded. And that's, I think, part of -- that's definitely an issue.

And as far as the transgender piece is concerned, they talk about the idea that they frown on diversity. Well, there have been transgender members of the armed forces that have served for a number of years now. There have been no real reported incidents of there being any issues in terms of readiness, or their readiness to be combat proficient, and that is another aspect here.

So, what we're seeing in total, I think, is an effort to bring a political agenda into the military. So, instead of combating the so- called woke aspects of the military that people like President Trump and now Defense Secretary Hegseth see, we're looking at a situation where they could bring not only more divisiveness into the ranks, but also they are ending up politicizing the way in which the military is run, and that is going to be a significant issue.

HILL: To your point, we have heard from Secretary Hegseth. We heard in his confirmation hearings, his statement certainly, and then in response to some of the questions. His goal is a more lethal U.S. military. Is there anything that, from your time in service and even from being in contact with folks after you retired, that in any way would make a transgender person less lethal or less able to do the job simply because they are transgender?

LEIGHTON: Simply because they are transgender, no, because there are -- they're basically -- once they've undergone their treatments and had whatever surgery was required, that is something that doesn't impact lethality at all once they've recovered. During the recovery phases, there may be an issue, but that's true for anybody who has an injury in the military. Wounded people, wounded service members don't go back to the front lines after they're wounded if the wounds are serious enough. And so, readiness is always an issue with any kind of person, but transgender, specifically, there is no difference in lethality between a transgender service member and somebody who is not transgender.

HILL: We've been hearing from a number of transgender advocates, many of them veterans, who have spoken with my colleagues here at CNN, just in terms of their thoughts on these directives and what it means for the military overall. I want to play some of what Laila Ireland had to say.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAILA IRELAND, MILITARY VETERAN: It's really important to highlight that transgender service members, thousands of us, the individuals have -- are currently serving in the military, many in specialized positions requiring years of training and expertise, placing them would result in significant operational gaps, weakening the effectiveness of our armed forces and our national security. So, it's really interesting to hear our new Secretary of Defense say that we're not capable or worthy of that service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: It is important to take into account experience and training of all members of the military.

LEIGHTON: Absolutely, and Laila has made an excellent point here, because warfare has become a much more cerebral enterprise. It's not just infantry forces in contact with each other or pilots flying dangerous missions. All of that is still true and will continue to be true. But, what is also a key element of the military is the fact that it's an intelligence-based organization. It relies on communications. It relies on specializations, including logistics and firefighting and a number of others, and these specializations require people to be ready and competent within those specialties.

For example, after 9/11, we had a shortage of Pashto and Dari linguist languages of Afghanistan, and we had to find people that had that -- those kinds of experiences, and that kind of knowledge, and that required not only time, but also a ramp up in training. And there are similar challenges that we're going to be faced with, should we have to go to combat in other location around the world. So, any type of specialization, like a language specialization, a cultural specialization, and a technical specialization, all of those are critically important.

We talk a lot about artificial intelligence now, especially with the advent of the Chinese developing the latest enterprise there, and that is going to require a lot of technical expertise that is lethal in its own way, but it's going to require talent and basically the ability to have an intelligent approach to combat that has all kinds of different phases to it. And if you don't have that approach to combat, you're not going to win the wars of the future.

HILL: Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how this others plays that. I will note one other transgender U.S. Army veteran telling my colleague John Berman this morning, it would be nice to have -- be part of the conversation that she would actually really enjoy to talk -- to speak with the President, rather than just being spoken about.

I do want to ask you before I let you go. There is also -- there was also this executive order signed to create an Iron Dome for America. Just real quickly, is that something -- I mean, Israel and the U.S., we hear Iron Dome. We think of Israel geographically. It's very different when we're talking about the U.S. versus Israel, obviously. Is this something that the U.S. needs?

LEIGHTON: Well, it's going to be really difficult, Erica, to implement something exactly like that because of the geography, the fact we're a much, much larger country than Israel. And keep in mind that the Iron Dome is only one component of the Israeli missile defense system. There are two other components. The Iron Dome is a short-range system. The others are medium and long-range systems, and that kind of ironclad protection that is purported to be what the Iron Dome does was actually augmented by the U.S. using Aegis and other capabilities. That's the kind of thing that we have to keep in mind as we develop the missile defense systems of the future. The Iron Dome is not the panacea that some make it out to be.

HILL: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate your insight and your expertise. Thank you.

LEIGHTON: You bet.

HILL: All right. Let's get you up to speed at some other international headlines we're following today.

Denmark says it will now spend more than $2 billion to step up its military presence in the Arctic, following remarks by Donald Trump. The Danish Defense Ministry says the money will go toward military training as well as new Arctic naval vessels and long-range drones to improve surveillance and to maintain sovereignty in the region. That announcement, of course, coming after President Trump had expressed renewed interest in controlling Greenland, which, a reminder, is a semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Serbia's Prime Minister is no more, resigning on Tuesday, becoming the most senior official to step down amid weeks of massive anti- government demonstrations. The protests began after the canopy of a railway station collapsed on November 1st, killing 15 people. Many viewed that disaster as another instance of government corruption.

Afghanistan launching a polio vaccination drive across 16 of its provinces on Monday, as the country grapples at the same time with the worsening food crisis. The head of the World Food Programme in Afghanistan says the agency can only feed about half of the millions of Afghans who are in need, noting that many people at this point are just living on bread and tea. Cuts in international aid in recent years have played a role as well as, of course, that impending freeze to U.S. funding.

[11:40:00]

Russian troops unleashing a barrage of strikes across Ukraine overnight, leaving at least eight people wounded. In Kharkiv, crews are working now to put out the flames after one attack lit a private business on fire. Officials say at least two people were wounded when debris fell from a Russian drone used during that strike. And in the Black Sea port of Odessa, officials say a Russian drone attack left at least four people wounded and damaged a number of buildings.

Meantime, CNN has gained rare insight into the battlefield tactics of North Korean troops now fighting for Russia in its war against Ukraine. Kyiv's Special Forces say the troops from Pyongyang will fight to the death rather than surrender.

CNN's Mick Paton Walsh filed this report. I do want to warn you, some of the images are disturbing.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first images on the ground of the capture of North Korean troops by Ukraine. The soldier is injured, can hardly walk, but they spirit him away. Russian shelling intensifies to prevent capture, a wild prize pulled through their wires here from brutal fighting in Russia's Kursk region against a radicalized, near- suicidal enemy, but one who'd never seen drones in war before. The Special Operations Forces who fought them told us --

"POKEMAN", GROUP COMMANDER, UKRAINIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES (Interpreted): They are all young, fresh and hardy. But they're only prepared for the realities of the Eighties war. Despite all attempts to call them to surrender, they continue to fight.

WALSH (voice-over): There is unique challenge here. Ukraine wants to take captives, but the North Koreans seem to prefer to die. They shoot one here in caution. In the distressing images that follow, they pull one injured Korean's leg, then realize he has a grenade he detonates under his chin. His last words were to scream North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's name, South Korean officials say.

WALSH (on camera): It's nothing but five maybe.

WALSH (voice-over): We meet the Ukrainians who show us the faked Russian military papers he was carrying, suggesting he was from Russia's Far East and his military radio codes, another paper, handwritten pledges of brainwashed courage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): The hammer of death to the unknown and the puppet trash is not far off. We wield the powerful force that make them tremble in fear.

WALSH (on camera): These notes from a soldier killed, really a snapshot of the mindset inside the hermit kingdom, declarations of loyalty, even tactics on how to fight Ukrainian drones, and also the suggestion that their presence here is about helping North Korea prepare for war. It's a remarkable insight, but also a reminder of how this biggest land war in Europe since the 40s is becoming more global.

WALSH (voice-over): But also a glimpse of the fear they live under, how they inform on each other, notes from an officer writing a critique of his fellow soldiers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Interpreted): He engaged in an unimaginably disgraceful act by stealing supplies. [Another soldier] failed to uphold the Supreme Commander's dignity and placed his personal interests above all.

WALSH (voice-over): Ukrainians film themselves taking DNA samples from the dead, which they say proved these were Korean. Ukraine says up to a third of the 12,000 here are already dead or injured, and more are coming.

Amur shows us the newish AK-12 rifle and backpack Russia gave the North Koreans. They are overladen with ammo, he says. But, sometimes no body armor or warm clothes and minimal water.

"AMUR", COMPANY COMMANDER, UKRAINIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES (Interpreted): We have seen cases when fighters from North Korea ran without body armour. They often don't wear helmets, which we find strange as well. They're very maneuverable. They run and move very quickly. They're hard to catch, especially with a drone.

WALSH (voice-over): This thermal drone video shows that speed of attack, below, as seven Ukrainians in a trench facing 130 North Koreans above who race at them and then try to flank them. Many died here, but they seem to be learning.

"BANDIT", BATTALION COMMANDER, UKRAINIAN SPECIAL OPERATIONS FORCES (Interpreted): They have a plan of what to do if they are attacked by a drone. It's one person that takes the hit. Two or three people stand on the side and shoot directly. It is worth noting that they shoot quite well. This suggests that they were trained.

WALSH (voice-over): Ready to die, everybody checked for grenades, but not ready for this modern warfare.

[11:45:00]

On a training mission, many won't survive for a future war, not even glimpsed yet.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Sumy, Ukraine.

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HILL: There is fear and uncertainty in many immigrant communities across the United States. Over the last two days, more than 2,000 arrests have been made. The Trump administration is carrying through the campaign pledge to deport undocumented immigrants -- undocumented migrants, rather. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office (ICE) says nearly 1,200 people were arrested on Monday. The man behind this, Donald Trump's border czar, who says his goal is to arrest as many, in his words, public safety and national security threats as possible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: We're sending a message, is not OK to be in this country illegally. It is not OK to enter this country illegally. This is a crime and there is going to be consequences. There is no safe haven for public safety threats and national security threats. People say, well, are we really go into a high school? Well, people need to look at the MS-13 members and Tren de Aragua members who entered this country, a majority in between the ages of 15 and 17. Many are attending our schools and they're selling drugs in the schools, and they're doing strong armed robberies of other students.

So, we will not go into schools or hospitals, as a matter of practice. But, if it's a significant public safety threat or a significant homeland security threat, there is no safe haven. We'll go where need to go to take them off the street.

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HILL: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem actually joined federal law enforcement agents in New York City for an immigration crackdown early this morning. Noem posting photos, which she says show agents taking a man into custody. She says that man was in the country illegally, writing on her post, he was a, quote, 'criminal alien", and going on to say, these are her words, "dirt bags like this will continue to be removed from our streets". Other law enforcement partners, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, were also a part of that operation. With the Trump administration promising the strongest crackdown on undocumented immigrants in U.S. history, critics say so far, what they're really doing is focusing more on fear and propaganda.

Here is CNN's Ed Lavandera with more.

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Trump administration is celebrating images of immigration officers fanning out across the country, arresting undocumented migrants. The President's supporters call it a new day in controlling the U.S. southern border.

REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): I think what I've seen in the first week has been very positive as far as deporting people that deserve to be deported. These convicted criminal aliens need to go home.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, or ICE, says in the last five days it has arrested an average of 710 people a day who will face deportation. In Colorado, the Drug Enforcement Administration says nearly 50 people suspected of being undocumented gang members were taken into custody Sunday. ICE officials say they carried out enhanced targeted operations in Chicago, searching for criminal immigrants

[11:50:00]

In Georgia, cameras recorded ICE agents arresting a Honduran man in his 50s at his home. The man's family says he is a construction worker with no criminal record other than a ticket for driving without a license. While Trump administration is touting its deportation efforts, critics say not much has really changed in Trump's first week from the Biden era. In fiscal year 2023, the Biden administration deported about 390 people a day, according to ICE data. That jumped to 743 a day in 2024

REP. VERONICA ESCOBAR (D-TX): What the Trump administration is doing right now is performative, a form of propaganda so that he can tell his base, look, I'm doing exactly what I told you I was going to do.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The Trump administration is also boosting the military presence along the southern border. More than 1,500 troops have been brought in and will be deployed along various points on the border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is also bringing in 400 additional National Guard soldiers to work alongside Border Patrol agents.

HOMAN: They're down there to create a secure border and knock that border down, and DoD has helped the administrations before, but not at this level. So, it's a force multiplier, and it's sending a strong signal to the world, our border is closed.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Tom Homan is the Trump administration's border czar, and he is vowing more arrests to come, which is triggering a sense of fear among immigrant communities across the country, especially among farm workers.

TERESA ROMERO, PRESIDENT, UNITED FARM WORKERS: Right now, farm workers not even opening their doors to anybody who knock on their doors because they afraid that it's going to be somebody who is going to take you, who is going to separate you from the family. So, this is the words that I personally have seen in many years.

LAVANDERA (on camera): There have been some operational changes here on the ground along the U.S. southern border. Military aircraft are now being used to carry out deportations, repatriating undocumented immigrants back to their home countries, as well as more cooperation, interagency cooperation, in terms of being able to arrest undocumented immigrants around the country. So, we have seen those changes. But, the question is, just how long will this be sustainable?

Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: It's important to note too, data reviewed by CNN doesn't show a significant connection between immigration and crime, but we will continue to follow this and to bring you all those latest developments.

Stay with us. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: We've been talking a lot about DeepSeek, that company that says its R1 model could compete now with American AI rivals like Google's Gemini or OpenAI's ChatGPT. Well, there is that. And then there is one that maybe cannot compete quite as well. Perhaps you've heard of Lucie. Well, Lucie maybe a little bit of a fail. It's a French language artificial intelligence chatbot. It's now been taken offline after giving some interesting answers to some basic questions. Lucie said there is, by the way, such a thing as cow's eggs, saying that edible eggs produced by cows that was a, quote, "a healthy and nutritious food". Of course, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that there is no such thing as a cow egg that you can eat. Lucie also incorrectly said the answer to this mathematical equation was 17, instead of 25, and also noted that the square root of goat is one.

Lucie's developers say that it remains an academic research project in its early stages, and that it was released prematurely.

[11:55:00]

You don't say.

Before we leave you, one more thing. He may be facing resistance around the world, but Google giving President Trump what he wants, the company posting on X, Google Maps will, in fact, change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, but just for users in the U.S., and says it will now list Denali as Mount McKinley. The company is defending its action, saying it has a long-standing practice of listing names which have been updated in official government sources. President Trump, you may recall, unilaterally declared the changes in one of his executive actions on Inauguration Day.

Thanks so much for spending part of your day with me. I'm Erica Hill in New York. Stay tuned. One World is up next right here on CNN.

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