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Judge Blocks Donald Trump's Bid To End Birthright Citizenship; Today: Senate Vote On Hegseth For Defense Secretary; Injured Djokovic Booed Off Court At Australian Open. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired January 24, 2025 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:30:42]
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:30 a.m. on the East Coast. It's 2:30 out in Las Vegas where they're probably still partying hard. We, of course, are drinking our coffee here.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.
One of President Trump's first executive orders dealing with birthright citizenship rejected by a federal judge. He signed the order just hours after taking the Oath of Office. The order instructs federal agencies to withhold citizenship documents to babies that are born to parents on U.S. soil if the parents are either unlawfully in the United States or in situations where the mother is only temporarily in the U.S.
Twenty-four Democratic-led states and cities filing lawsuits over the order and on Thursday a federal judge in Seattle sided with them. The judge saying in court, "This is a blatantly unconstitutional order. I have difficulty understanding how a member of the Bar would state unequivocally that this is a constitutional order. It just boggles my mind."
Washington's attorney general spoke after the hearing.
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NICK BROWN, WASHINGTON STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is step one. But to hear the judge from the bench say that in his 40 years as a judge he has never seen something so blatantly unconstitutional sets the tone for the seriousness of this effort.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: But the president seems unmoved by the early defeat for one of his signature policy ideas.
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REPORTER: Mr. President, a U.S. judge temporarily blocked the birthright citizenship order. Do you have any reaction to -- DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. Obviously, we'll appeal it. They've put it before a certain judge in Seattle, I guess, right, and there's no surprises with that judge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Worth noting the judge making the ruling in that case was appointed by Ronald Reagan more than 40 years ago.
Joining us now to discuss, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson. Joey, good morning to you. Always nice to see you.
Is this really just about President Trump wanting to challenge birthright citizenship at the Supreme Court? They had to know that this is how this was going to play out.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, Kasie, good morning to you.
You could make the argument that certainly it was political in nature. We know where he stands on immigration. We know where he stands as it relates to the entirety of that issue and his party stands.
But this is about the law. And more than the law it's about the Constitution. What's the difference? A law is a statute. It's something that Congress gets together -- they convene and ultimately, it's passed and placed into law. As this is an Immigration and Nationality Act, right?
However, the Constitution is something our founding fathers put together and in that Constitution is an amendment, it specifically says that if you are born in the United States or subject to the jurisdiction thereof you have birthright citizenship.
Furthermore, Kasie, there's a Supreme Court case going back 150 years or so which upholds the fact that involved the two Chinese people who were in the United States who were not citizens. Their son was deemed and determined to be a citizen.
So there's a lot of precedent here. It could be politics. But then again, listen, the Supreme Court does have a supermajority of six conservatives justices to three and it will end up there. Let's see how they interpret it and whether they overturn yet another far- reaching and certainly enshrined in the Constitution. Just really something that's such a product and really relating to the nature of who we are as an institution and a country.
HUNT: So Joey, can I ask you -- I mean, if you're a family -- if you're a woman who is currently pregnant with a baby and you don't have status here in the U.S. but you are here, or you're on one of these temporary visas that's also named in this order, do you have to worry that your child will not be a U.S. citizen?
JACKSON: Well, I think it depends on who your husband is, right, or who your -- the father of the child is. And certainly in the event that the father of the child in that instance that you describe Kasie does not have a connection to the United States with respect to citizenship -- a green card or a proper status -- then you have a significant issue.
And I think that's one of the reasons why the court in Seattle and the judge -- appointed by Reagan, as you noted -- on the bench more than 40 years ago made the ruling that he did. Certainly, there will be more to come.
[05:35:00]
And as the president did note it will go up to other courts. It'll be challenged in the Ninth Circuit, which is the appeals court for the West, and then ultimately the Supreme Court.
And so this is really something that is going to challenge institutions. It's going to challenge our democracy. And it's really going to give an indication of whether this court is wedded to interpreting the Constitution or wedded it to doing the bidding of the president who is in office at this time.
HUNT: All right, Joey Jackson for us this morning. Joey, thanks very much for being with us. Have a good weekend, my friend, OK?
JACKSON: Thanks, Kasie. You, too.
HUNT: All right.
Today senators will vote on Pete Hegseth's nomination to be Secretary of Defense, but not all Republicans are on board. Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins joining Democrats saying that they will vote against his nomination.
Senator Murkowski telling CNN this. "I evaluated not only what was out there publicly but everything that has been out there, his responses in hearings, all of what was in front of us, and I came to the conclusion he lacks that strength of character and good judgment that in all departments we need to have, but most particularly in the Department of Defense."
Senator Susan Collins also voicing her opposition to Hegseth by saying in part this. "I'm not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed." His earlier comments suggested he thinks women shouldn't be able to serve in combat.
He's also faced several allegations, including sexual assault, that he denies. He still, though, seems to have the support of enough Republicans to be confirmed.
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SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I have tried to and continue to track down before his confirmation vote any sort of lead with people that would speak to me. And they all had one thing in common up to this point and none of them could provide me with firsthand corroborated testimony. I'm not going to cave to pressure. I'm going to vote for his confirmation. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: As for President Trump, he says he's not worried about today's vote.
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REPORTER: Mr. President, Senators Collins and Murkowski have now said they will vote against Pete Hegseth. Are you worried about his confirmation, and your reaction?
TRUMP: No, and no surprises there. It's too bad. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Joining us now is Stef Kight. She's politics reporter for Axios. Stef, good morning. Nice to see you.
STEF KIGHT, POLITICS REPORTER, AXIOS: Good morning.
HUNT: So Tillis, of course, there -- one of the key potential votes here on Pete Hegseth's nomination just because they need four if they're going to block -- you know, four Republicans would have to vote against Pete Hegseth if they were going to block his nomination. We heard Collins and Murkowski say that they're not going to do it, but they're not enough by themselves.
KIGHT: Yeah.
HUNT: Is he on the fast track?
KIGHT: It looks like he has -- he will have the votes today to be confirmed. Of course, we're looking at the procedural vote yesterday. And one of the key players that people were watching, and I was watching very closely was Mitch McConnell, of course -- whether he was also going to join with Collins and Murkowski. And the fact that he at least was willing to vote to move forward with this nomination seems indicative there's not going to be enough votes against Hegseth to really block his confirmation.
So we're expecting, you know, a very late-night vote tonight to get him confirmed in that position despite all of the allegations and scandal that he's been through over the past several weeks. And we do expect Democrats though to make this as hard as possible. They're going to drag out this process as long as possible to show how opposed they are to this nomination.
HUNT: Stef, in the late days of this -- hours of this fight for Hegseth to be confirmed there was an affidavit that went to the committee from a former sister-in-law of Pete Hegseth and a new statement from his second ex-wife talking about his drinking.
What impact did the appearance of that into the debate have among senators?
KIGHT: It came up quite a lot. We know that even in one-on-one meetings Hegseth often had to answer questions from senators about that issue in particular. Just knowing the fact that being the Secretary of Defense means you are on call 24/7, you need to be sober- minded. It's a very serious position. And so there were many Republican senators who had questions and concerns about that. It came up in the hearing.
And it's also cited as part of the reasons why Collins and Murkowski decided they could not vote for him. It was one of many reasons that they cited.
But most Republicans feel like they got the answers they needed. Hegseth, of course, has promised to stay sober -- to not drink if he gets confirmed to this position -- and that seemed to convince at least some of the key Republicans.
HUNT: Yeah. Murkowski, in particular -- her statement really focused on character and what she thinks about character. She's also had -- she had a statement related to Donald Trump renaming Mount McKinley -- renaming Denali as Mount McKinley.
She's shown a willingness to buck Donald Trump. What's letting her do that?
KIGHT: Absolutely. I mean, both Collins and Murkowski have, for a long time now, been the voices willing to push back against Donald Trump. Even in the first term they are now two of only three senators still currently in the Senate who voted to convict Trump of impeachment, right? So this -- going in to this we knew they were going to be key players in this Congress.
[05:40:00]
And Murkowski, in particular, has shown that she is not only willing to vote differently, she's also willing to speak out. For example, the issue of renaming Denali to Mount McKinley which is, of course, in her state. It's something she feels very strongly about. I've asked her about it, and she intends to continue talking to the president about that decision.
HUNT: All right, Stef Kight for us this morning. Stef, thanks very much for your time. I appreciate it.
KIGHT: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here on CNN THIS MORNING why Democrats are determined to work with President Trump after constantly criticizing him for the last eight years.
Plus, a beatdown in L.A. The Lakers crushing the Celtics. CNN sports up next.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SETH MEYERS, HOST, NBC "LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS": Guys, this is only day four of the Trump presidency -- day four. It's so confusing because Trump's been in our lives for a decade but now we're starting all over again. It's like when you go see a new Marvel movie and you're trying to remember everything that's already happened. It's like, OK, wait -- so old Captain America is gone, and the angry one is president. And there's a new -- there's a new Dr. Strange and that guy got blipped.
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HUNT: With President Trump back in the White House, this time backed by a Republican majority in both houses of Congress, Democrats now left looking for a new way to approach a president who has now been the dominant figure in American politics for nearly a decade.
In the days following Trump's first inauguration eight years ago the streets of D.C. were packed with scenes like this one. Protesters telling Democrats in Congress to resist Donald Trump's agenda. Now Democrats say they've gotten a different message.
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REP. TOM SUOZZI (D-NY): There's thing you have to resist on, but the people want us to work together to try and solve problems. And we've tried all the stuff of just tearing him down as much as we can and it didn't work -- he won.
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HUNT: And with President Joe Biden officially gone as the Democratic Party's leader the former Obama aides behind the podcast "Pod Save America" are arguing that whoever takes the helm next needs to be a fit for the 21st century.
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JON LOVETT, CO-HOST, "POD SAVE AMERICA": How about somebody that can -- that -- a Democrat that's doing two-hour press conferences. That's going everywhere. That can -- that can mix it up with everyone. That can go on Joe Rogan. That seems like a good hang. And, like --
JON FAVREAU, CO-HOST, "POD SAVE AMERICA": Who doesn't talk like a press release.
LOVETT: And doesn't --
FAVREAU: Everyone already -- everyone's putting their statements out on social media. Write your own posts. Do some press conferences. Sit and talk to people. Go on podcasts.
LOVETT: Yeah.
FAVREAU: Don't talk like you're just like reading your pollster's memo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: And joining us now to discuss is Democratic strategist and media consultant Matt Arnold. Matt, good morning. Thank you so much for being here.
MATT ARNOLD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, MEDIA CONSULTANT: Oh, thanks for having me.
HUNT: There's no one else I'd rather talk to about this because you really focus in on some of these races in places where Democrats have really been out in the wilderness. They're some of the hardest races to run and the hardest races to win. And so you really understand the cross pressures that Democrats here in this town have.
I'm not sure the "Pod Save America" hosts are necessarily going to be speaking to that group of voters and that audience.
But what do you think -- what do you see in this first week of Trump's presidency about what Democrats can and should be doing as they try to come back to power in some form in Washington?
ARNOLD: Kasie, the thing that is the broad principle, the governing idea of Democratic policies of the Democratic Party across all of our stuff and talking about climate change, to choice, to worker protections, it is all that every American gets to live with dignity. Nobody should have to live in fear. And when Democrats run on that -- when we say we are the people who have your back Democrats win elections.
So when we have the opportunity, that's what we do. We say we're here to make sure that you've got good jobs, good schools, and wages.
HUNT: Right, but people didn't buy that this time.
ARNOLD: No. You know, the ultimate failure I think of 2024 is that folks just didn't want the product. They did not trust the brand.
HUNT: So how much of that had to do with the cultural issues that are coming up now. You know -- I mean, the president -- President Trump has gone after diversity, equity, and inclusion. Some Democrats I've talked to have said we've been "too woke" in how we talk about things. And then there's obviously the issue of immigration.
ARNOLD: You know, I think the immigration -- specifically talking about the Laken Riley vote, when you look at the list of Democrats who voted for that bill you were looking at folks who have had hard elections, you were looking at folks who are going to have hard re- elections, and a lot of elected officials who imagine themselves as future governors and future senators.
I think a lot of folks voted for Laken Riley not necessarily out of some ideological position -- some grand idea about how to steer the party, but because they were looking to avoid attack ads.
HUNT: Well, it's a recognition of the reality of the political landscape, no? ARNOLD: Sure. I -- you know, 50 percent of people say that immigration is one of their most important issues when they voted for president. And a lot of those votes came from border states -- came from places where Donald Trump had won.
HUNT: Um-hum.
Matt, I want to show you something. One of the big questions, of course, is who is going to lead the Democratic Party out of the wilderness. Because there was a time during the Bush administration where the country -- it seemed like what's the matter with Kansas. The country was never going to go blue again. Then obviously we had the Iraq War, but we also had Barack Obama, right?
ARNOLD: Right.
HUNT: Joe Biden is leaving. There's no heir apparent.
This is what James Carville had to say about Biden recently. The words are kind of tough. Let's watch.
[05:50:00]
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JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: What he's done to himself is no one wants to hear from this guy anymore, OK? Just go to your condo in Rehoboth and stay there. And that's not because we're bad people or we're mean people. It was all his doing. This kind of petty back and forth -- "Oh, I would have beat Trump." It doesn't work (PH). No one (bleep) believes that at all.
You had a noble career. Your last act was terrible. Just get out of the way. The party is moving on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Is Carville right?
ARNOLD: I love Joe Biden. Joe Biden has been a great president. It is a career that anybody would be envious of. So it is hard for me to say -- hard for me to stomach that maybe this has not been the best exit.
But I was in Atlanta the night that we had the debate with Donald Trump and nobody in that room felt like we were in a good spot as a party. Nobody felt like we were in a good spot for that election.
HUNT: All right, Matt Arnold. I really appreciate your time this morning. I hope you'll come back.
ARNOLD: Of course. Thank you, ma'am.
HUNT: See you soon.
All right, time now for sports. Twenty-four-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic got booed off the court at the Australian Open after pulling out with an injury.
Andy Scholes has this morning's CNN sports update. Andy, good morning.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.
Shame on the fans in Australia who booed Novak Djokovic. You know, he was two wins away from a 25th Grand Slam title. If he retired from that match it was for good reason, but that didn't stop some of those fans from voicing their displeasure.
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AUSTRALIAN OPEN FANS: Booing Novak Djokovic.
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SCHOLES: Yeah. So Djokovic retired after losing the marathon first set to Alexander Zverev. It took almost an hour and a half that first set. Djokovic -- he gave the thumbs up to some of the crowd that was booing him as he left. And Zverev then stood up for Djokovic.
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ALEXANDER ZVEREV, WORLD #2 MEN'S TENNIS PLAYER: Please, guys, don't boo a player when he goes out with an injury. You've got to understand Novak Djokovic is somebody that has given this sport for the past 20 years absolutely everything of his life. And he has won this tournament with an abdominal tear. He has won this tournament with a hamstring tear. If he cannot continue a tennis match it really means that he cannot continue a tennis match.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC, 10-TIME AUSTRALIAN OPEN WINNER: I knew even if I won the first set that it's going to be a huge uphill battle for me to stay physically fit enough to stay with him in the rallies for another God know what -- two, three, four hours. I don't -- I don't think I have that unfortunately today in the tank.
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SCHOLES: All right. Now, Djokovic's buddy Nikola Jokic had himself a night in the NBA. Check this out at the end of the third quarter. Jokic -- a full-court shot at the buzzer, and it goes in. Fans in Denver were just loving that. Jokic, 35 points, 22 rebounds, and 17 assists in this one -- the second player ever with those kind of numbers joining Wilt Chamberlain.
The Nuggets beat the Kings 132-123.
The Lakers and Celtics, meanwhile, renewing their rivalry in L.A. and this one was all Lakers. End of the first quarter, watch LeBron here drive to the basket for the one-handed slam. LeBron, 24 points and 14 rebounds. The Lakers hand the Celtics their worst loss of the season 117-96.
NBA All-Star starters were announced last night on "INSIDE THE NBA." LeBron -- he will be starting in his record extending 21st straight All-Star game. And joining him on the West squad Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, SGA, and Nikola Jokic. The East starters are going to be Giannis, Jayson Tatum, Donovan Mitchell, and the Knicks' Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.
A reminder: This year the All-Stars will be drafted into three separate teams. They, alongside the winner from the rookie sophomore game, will then play a mini tournament in lieu of the traditional All- Star Game.
All right. Finally, Ichiro Suzuki had a tongue-in-cheek message for the voter who prevented him from becoming just the second player ever unanimously voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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ICHIRO SUZUKI, BASEBALL HALL OF FAME, CLASS OF 2025: There's one writer that I wasn't able to get a vote from. I would like to invite him over to our -- to my house and we'll have a drink together, and we'll have a good chat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: Oh, Kasie, those baseball writers. They're all about traditions. But, I mean, I would love to -- you know, I assume maybe we'll find out at some point who that one writer was that didn't vote for Ichiro.
HUNT: I'm dying to know, honestly.
Andy Scholes --
SCHOLES: All right.
HUNT: -- thank you very much. Have a great weekend, my friend.
SCHOLES: You, too.
HUNT: All right. Up ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING Donald Trump doubling down on DOGE making it part of the government. We're going to talk to the top Democrat on the House subcommittee on DOGE, Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury.
Plus, President Trump makes good on a campaign promise ordering the release of more JFK assassination files.
[05:55:00]
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TRUMP: We are going to make public remaining records relating to the assassinations of President John K. Kennedy, his brother Robert Kennedy, as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It's all going to be released, Uncle Sam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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HUNT: It's Friday, January 24. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --
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BROWN: You are an American citizen if you were born on American soil, period. Nothing that the president can do would change that.
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HUNT: The first test. A judge blocks the Trump administration's birthright citizenship order. The president promising to appeal.
Plus --
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TRUMP: If you don't make your product in America then very simply you will have to pay a tariff.
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