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Hospital Source: At Least 14 Dead in Crowd Crush in India; Judge Pauses Trump's Federal Aid Freeze Amid Confusion; Chinese Social Media Celebrates Success of DeepSeek; Scholz: Musk's Support for Far- Right is Disgusting; New York Immigrants Fight Fears of Trump's Deportations. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired January 29, 2025 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Either Donald Trump gets political control over this government or we let bureaucrats autopilot federal spending.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not one damn person thought this through to the Trump administration. We'll see in court.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bobby himself is a predator. His views on vaccines are dangerous. Bobby is addicted to attention and power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please help us. I'm not vindictive. I just want an answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Christina Macfarlane.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, a warm welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and around the world. I'm Max Foster.
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christina Macfarlane. It's Wednesday, January 29th. We'll get to those stories in just a moment, but we begin this hour with a massive crowd crush in India at the world's largest religious gathering.
FOSTER: An official at a local hospital says at least 14 people were killed, several others being treated for injuries. Organizers believe the crowd crush began after a control barrier broke in the early hours of Wednesday morning in Uttar Pradesh states. Reuters and local media report witnesses seeing several dead bodies near the riverbank where the incident occurred.
MACFARLANE: Personal belongings discarded in the moment now cover the ground. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expresses condolences to the victims on social media and called the incident extremely sad. He says he is in touch with state officials.
FOSTER: We're looking at live pictures from the festival where about 400 million Hindu devotees are expected to gather over six weeks. Officials say extra safety measures have been put in place for the event.
MACFARLANE: CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is following developments from Hong Kong and spoke earlier with our Lynda Kinkade.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what we know, a deadly crowd crush has taken lives. India's Maha Kumbh Mela, this is the largest religious festival in the world. The situation is still very fluid.
At this moment, we understand at least 14 people were killed. That's according to a local hospital. And local authorities say that this crush, it took place after a barrier broke.
And I want to show you video from Reuters in which you see the immediate aftermath of the disaster. Devotees are climbing over the fence, some even through the fencing to escape the throngs of people. And also emergency responders, they shortly later on arrived at the scene and there were scenes of ambulances just racing through, getting through the huge crowds to reach the injured and to take them to hospital.
Now pilgrims there on site, they've been speaking to media and they say that the crowd crush happened early, early on Wednesday. It happened about 1:30 a.m. local time. They describe harrowing scenes of chaos.
I want you to listen to this crowd crush survivor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Suddenly there was a huge crowd and we got stuck somehow. People started pushing aggressively and we fell.
STOUT: Now this took place as about 100 million Hindu devotees were expected to visit the site on Wednesday and take a dip, this holy dip into the sacred waters in Uttar Pradesh state in India. This is according to local media.
Now this is a gathering that is so massive. You can see it from space and there are these images that have been taken from space by an astronaut. This is Don Pettit from the International Space Station, which he shared on social media. You can see the Kumbh Mela underway.
Now Wednesday, this day is one of the most significant days of this massive festival. This is the day when devotees come to bathe at the rivers, at the confluence of the rivers. Now after the crowd crush took place, again 1:30 a.m. local time according to witnesses, security has been stepped up. We heard from the state chief. He says that the situation is quote under control. But despite this deadly crowd crush, as you can see on your screen, this video was taken after the incident.
Millions of devotees are still thronging the area. You know, video that we have from the scene there, drone video as well, shows massive crowds still there, still gathering near the river. So the threat very much remains after the sacred day turned deadly.
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FOSTER: Donald Trump's plan to freeze all federal aid has run into its first challenge, with a U.S. district judge temporarily blocking part of the order while she considers a lawsuit brought by several non- profit groups.
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The ruling came just minutes before the freeze was set to go into effect on Tuesday, potentially impacting thousands of federal programs and trillions of dollars in grants and loans.
MACFARLANE: The original order reads, quote, Federal agencies must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance.
Now speaking with CNN on Tuesday, the president's deputy chief of staff for policy explained what motivated the Trump administration to pursue the freeze.
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STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: There were some bureaucrats in the government who tried to push out money, billions of dollars, for wicked and pernicious purposes that had to be frozen. A guidance memo was written. OMB guidance memos are by their nature complicated to read because this involves the federal budget.
The choice here is simple. It is very simple, and I want to state it clearly. Either Donald Trump gets political control over this government and ends the waste, abuse, and fraud on the American people, or we let bureaucrats autopilot federal spending.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: While some lawmakers in Washington are expressing their disapproval over the move, fearful of how an interruption of aid could affect many Americans.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope it's short-lived because there's real people that depend on these grants.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: This is cruelty. This is lawlessness. This is a heist done on a national scale.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): This is what a king does. This is not how a democracy works. One man does not decide how taxpayers' money is spent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen anything quite like this in American history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a constitutional crisis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: CNN's Jeff Zeleny now has more reporting from the White House.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Another test of presidential authority and power is underway here in just the second week of the new Trump administration. The Trump administration put all federal programs on pause, some $3 trillion in a variety of spending. It really set a chaos and confusion across the Capitol here and indeed throughout the country.
But a federal judge ruled on Tuesday night that he would pause that order temporarily to have all parties make their case here at issue is federal spending. And the Trump administration is arguing that all federal programs will be under a review. They say they will not affect people individually, not Social Security, not Medicare, not Medicaid.
But that was unclear on Tuesday as confusion set in across the government over which programs were actually paused. What else? Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt said this.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump administration. Individual assistance that includes Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.
ZELENY: But that deadline of Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. passed as the federal judge stepped in and temporarily blocked the pause on these spending programs. So now what is most likely to happen is a constitutional challenge between the White House and indeed the Congress over which entity controls the spending. The president believes that spending should be in his purview.
Congress has already authorized all of these programs. So at issue here, of course, are controversial programs have already been addressed in the president's executive orders, immigration, diversity, equity and inclusion and foreign aid as well. So now next week, there will be a big discussion on can the funding go forward on these bills?
But what this actually is yet another example is of the president's executive authority really flexing that executive muscle here. And Congress is crying foul. Democrats really the first time in this new Trump administration rallying around one another and pushing back.
They now believe that they have an issue on which to fight the president. We shall see. The bottom line, this could go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, Minnesota governor and former Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz shared his thoughts as on the matter as well. He had a simple message for the Trump administration.
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TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: I know you have a lot of questions. I have a lot of questions because not one damn person thought this through.
This is not Trump stakes. This is the state of Minnesota and its people's lives. These are children in there expecting to come here, parents expecting to put them there. So my words on this are going to be simple to the Trump administration.
We'll see in court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, U.S. tech stocks have bounced back after a major sell off over the new AI model from the Chinese company DeepSeek. A chipmaker Nvidia gained nearly nine percent after losing about $600 million in market value the day before.
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MACFARLANE: DeepSeek shocked the tech world on Monday with its R1 model, which offers similar results to AI assistants like ChatGPT. The company claims it operates at a fraction of the cost and with less powerful chips.
A number of tech analysts say they want to see more proof that DeepSeek actually lives up to the hype. And there are also questions about the restrictions on the app from the Chinese government.
FOSTER: Our CNN's Ivan Watson has more from Hong Kong.
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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebration erupts across Chinese social media at the surprise success of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. The launch of DeepSeek's latest AI chatbot triggered a selloff in American tech stocks while the app surged to the top of the Apple App Store, beating out higher profile AI competitors like ChatGPT and Google Gemini.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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.
WATSON: I've just installed DeepSeek on my phone. I'm going to ask it a question. How much did it cost to develop DeepSeek?
As an AI assistant, I don't have access to internal company information. For more details about DeepSeek, please visit the official website.
WATSON (voice-over): The company claims it costs just $5.6 million to develop this model, a fraction of the investment spent by much bigger American rivals. DeepSeek's founder is Liang Wenfeng, a 40-year-old CEO who emerged from relative obscurity last week when he was invited to address the second most powerful man in the Chinese government. Liang studied information and electronic engineering at China's prestigious Zhejiang University. He founded the hedge fund High-Flyer Quant in 2015, aimed at using mathematics and AI for quantitative investment.
Less than two years ago, he launched the AI company DeepSeek, employing young homegrown talent. Liang described DeepSeek as an accidental disruptor in this interview last week, adding: There's a gap of one or two years between Chinese AI and the United States. But the real gap is the difference between originality and imitation. If this does not change, China will always be a follower.
ZACH KASS, FORMER HEAD OF GO-TO-MARKET, OPENAI: The success of open source models, wherever they come from, in this case, China, is great because it actually means that better technology will be available to more people at lower costs.
WATSON (voice-over) But it's when you ask DeepSeek about China that you see glaring limitations.
WATSON: I'm asking DeepSeek, has Chinese leader Xi Jinping ever made a mistake?
I am sorry, I cannot answer that question. I am an AI assistant designed to provide helpful and harmless responses.
ISAAC STONE FISH, CEO, STRATEGY RISKS: DeepSeek as the leader in AI would be catastrophic, but it would also be incredibly dangerous for free speech and free thought globally.
WATSON (voice-over): DeepSeek appears to have revolutionized the AI space race and opened many unanswered questions about the company and its founder.
Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Well, CNN has reached out to DeepSeek for comment. We haven't heard that just yet.
MACFARLANE: Germany's chancellor is firing back against controversial comments from billionaire Elon Musk. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO told a far-right rally over the weekend that Germany should move on from its past guilts over the Holocaust.
FOSTER: He's also regularly posted his support for the party and called the German chancellor an incompetent fool. Olaf Scholz responded in an interview with CNN's Fred Pleitgen.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Openly advocating for the AfD, he has said that Germany needs to get over its historic guilt for the Holocaust and he's attacked you personally. Are you going to raise this with Donald Trump?
OLAF SCHOLZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: I disagree completely with Elon Musk and what he's doing. What is new is that he is intervening in favor of right-wing politicians all over Europe. And this is really disgusting.
And I'm absolutely critical about what Elon Musk said about the history of Germany. This is the week where we are remembering the freeing of the last people in the concentration camp of Auschwitz. And I'm absolutely clear there is a responsibility of Germany that will continue to be a responsibility.
We are very happy about the United States that freed our country and helped us to become a democracy again.
[04:15:00]
And this is why I'm so angry about Elon Musk intervening for the far right and Elon Musk also not acting adequate to this killing of so many Jews and other people in Europe done by Germans in the past.
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MACFARLANE: Elon Musk comments aren't just unpopular with European leaders. CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten has been looking at the billionaire's favorability among Americans as well.
FOSTER: In 2016 Musk had a favorability rating of plus 29 points just before the 2024 election that had fallen to negative three. Right now it's down to negative 13 and that can't be seen as good news in the Trump White House.
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HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER (voice-over): Donald Trump is a more popular guy than Elon Musk is. That's the bottom line. Again you look at that net favorable rating you see Donald Trump hanging right around that zero mark. You see Elon Musk there with a minus 13. If anything Musk is pulling Trump down.
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FOSTER: U.S. envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today and they're expected to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal. That is according to an Israeli official.
MACFARLANE: Well meanwhile, Israel announced it will cease all cooperation with the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees beginning Thursday. The head of the U.N.'s agency slammed Israel's decision and warned of the ban's ramifications.
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PHILIPPE LAZZARINI, UNRWA COMMISSIONER-GENERAL: In two days our operation in the occupied Palestinian territory will be crippled as legislation passed by the Israeli Knesset takes effect. At stake is the fate of millions of Palestinians, the ceasefire and the prospect for a political solution that brings lasting peace and security.
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FOSTER: Well Israel's parliament voted to ban the agency from Israel and bar all communication a year after the October 7th Hamas attack. The U.N. says there's no alternative to the agency which serves as a critical lifeline to Palestinians in the region and that it would be Israel's responsibility to replace its services -- a claim Israel rejects.
Now the doomsday clock is ticking closer to midnight. 89 seconds to be exact the closest the world has ever been to a symbolic point of mankind's annihilation. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists created the clock in 1947 during the Cold War tensions over World War II to warn about how close humanity is to destroying our planet.
MACFARLANE: Goodness me. They take into account political tensions, climate change, advances in science, regulations on technology and the lack of progress in those areas that led them to move the clock forward another second on Tuesday.
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DANIEL HOLZ, BULLETIN SCIENCE AND SECURITY BOARD CHAIR: In setting the clock closer to midnight we send a stark signal. Every second of delay in reversing course increases the probability of global disaster.
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MACFARLANE: The group says the U.S., China and Russia have the main responsibility to turn back the clock and urges international dialogue.
FOSTER: Coming up, whilst we're still here, the Trump administration is carrying out mass deportations. How it's impacting undocumented immigrants in the U.S. -- that's just ahead.
MACFARLANE: Plus, as violence intensifies in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, embassies are now being attacked in the nation's capital. Why hope remains for a diplomatic resolution.
FOSTER: And later, a passenger plane catches fire before taking off from South Korea. Details on the investigation and how everyone on board escaped.
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FOSTER: The Trump administration clamping down on the arrest and deportation of undocumented immigrants in the U.S.
MACFARLANE: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE officials say they arrested 969 people on Tuesday. ICE field officers have been ordered to at least 75 -- make at least 75 arrests a day. A top White House official tells CNN that figure is expected to be the bare minimum.
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STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: They're a floor. The goal is to arrest at least that many but hopefully many more.
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MACFARLANE: Well two Colombian Air Force planes brought dozens of their citizens back to Bogota on Tuesday following a huge diplomatic spat between Colombia's president and U.S. President Donald Trump.
FOSTER: In a video message on social media Colombia's foreign minister says not one of the passengers was a criminal. He added that the flights were carrying 201 migrants including 21 children and two pregnant women.
Undocumented immigrants in New York are worried as they try to follow their daily routines despite the chaos of deportation.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino spoke to some of them.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fear and uncertainty in New York City's immigrant community as federal law enforcement agencies launch immigration enforcement operations expected to last several days.
SARAHI MARQUEZ, DACA RECIPIENT: I feel scared, I feel nervous, I feel anxious.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Sarahi Marquez, a DACA recipient, was brought to the United States by her parents when she was six years old. She has degrees in psychology and biology and helps run the family restaurant here on Staten Island. For the past two weeks, workers have become increasingly panicked.
MARQUEZ: We work long days, we're just trying to make a better place and I wanted to speak out and not let fear intimidate me.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Since Trump signed his executive orders, Marquez has instructed her workers to memorize her phone number.
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Some are arranging transportation to and from work to avoid walking on the street.
MARQUEZ: It feels like we're hunted down and I say to myself, what more can I do to prove myself?
TOM HOMAN, ACTING DIRECTOR, U.S. IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: We're sending a message, it's not OK to be in this country illegally, it's not OK to enter this country illegally, it's a crime and there's going to be consequences.
PAZMINO (voice-over): More than 200 federal law enforcement officers fanned out across the city on Tuesday. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem joined early morning enforcement operations.
Fear is also spreading across the city's migrant shelters. Parents declined to speak on camera, but some told us they've kept their children from school in recent days, out of fear ICE could show up at school or that they will be picked up in any operations. Others told us they have no choice.
Genesis Romero says she takes her daughter to school so she can go to work. She feels some comfort thanks to her temporary protected status after fleeing Venezuela, but she worries some bad apples will ruin the American dream of many.
It's selfish, she says, of President Trump's directive. We're here to work and provide for our families and the future of our children, she says.
PAZMINO: Now today's ICE operation here in New York City resulted in at least 24 arrests, including the arrest of a well-known Tren de Aragua gang leader wanted for violent offenses here and in Colorado.
Now many of the migrants I spoke to today told me that they agree people like him should be arrested and deported, but they worry that this administration will not differ between criminals and people trying to make an honest living.
Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Still to come, more on the Trump administration's move to pause federal financial aid. How groups dependent on those funds are faring given these uncertain outcomes.
MACFARLANE: Plus, Robert F Kennedy Jr's cousin Caroline makes a rare personal plea against making him the top U.S. health official. We'll have those details after the break.
