Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
Trump Administration Intensifies Immigration Raids Across the U.S.; President Trump Getting Pushback After He Suggests "Cleaning Out the Whole Thing" By Moving Palestinians to Neighboring Countries; Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles Meet Again in Super Bowl LIX. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired January 27, 2025 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
KASIE HUNT, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING: It's Monday, January, 27th, right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JAY ROBERT PRITZKER (D-IL): They're going after people who are law abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Raids ramping up. The immigration crackdown in full swing. Nearly a 1,000 arrests in one day. And President Trump claiming victory after Colombia agrees to accept more deportation flights. Plus --
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we just clean out that whole thing.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HUNT: Rebuilding Gaza? President Trump getting pushback after he suggests, quote, "cleaning out the whole thing" and proposes to move Palestinians to neighboring countries. And Super Bowl rematch. The big game now set. The Eagles and the Chiefs meet again for the championship. I am here on the east coast.
A live look at my city of brotherly love, which is, of course lit up in green for our Eagles. Going back to the Super Bowl. Got to love it. Good morning everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us. I guess you probably don't love it if you're from New York or somewhere else.
But anyway, let's get to the news. The Trump administration's crackdown on undocumented migrants expanding nationwide over the weekend, resulting in hundreds of arrests. Border czar Tom Homan oversaw the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations as they unfolded in Chicago on Sunday. He told CNN, the arrests included a, quote, "all of government
approach with agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and Drug Enforcement Agencies supporting ICE across the country. Trump administration officials say they are targeting public safety threats, but Homan tells "ABC News", they are ready to go further.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION BORDER CZAR: If you're in the country illegally, you're on the table because it's not OK to, you know, violate laws of this country. You've got to remember, every time you enter this country illegally, you violated a crime under Title 8, United States code 1325. It's a crime. So, if you're in the country illegally, you got a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Beyond Chicago, reports of ICE arrests in places like the suburbs of Atlanta, where a 53-year-old undocumented migrant from Honduras was arrested at his home. He lives there with his wife and four children. His family telling CNN that he doesn't have a criminal record apart from a traffic ticket, and that he worked in construction.
In Colorado, DEA agents arresting nearly 50 undocumented migrants who say -- who they say are connected to Venezuelan gangs and to drug trafficking. In total, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement reporting 956 arrests on Sunday alone. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker tells CNN, he believes the scope of the raids seemed to be going beyond just public safety threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRITZKER: Well, let me start by being clear that when we're talking about violent criminals who have been convicted and who are undocumented, we don't want them in our state. We want them out of the country. What they're also doing, though, and it's quite disturbing, is they're going after people who are law-abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here, who may have been here for a decade or two decades.
And they're often our neighbors and our friends. These are not people who are causing problems in our country. And what we need is a path to citizenship for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Joining me now -- joining us now to discuss, Kevin Frey; Washington correspondent for "Spectrum News New York 1". Kevin, good morning.
KEVIN FREY, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, SPECTRUM NEWS NY1: Good morning, Kasie.
HUNT: Nice to see you. So, this is clearly a situation where the Trump administration, President Trump want Americans to see what they are --
FREY: Yes --
HUNT: Doing as they undertake carrying out what was -- let's be honest, a campaign promise from --
FREY: Yes --
HUNT: Donald Trump. One of the things we're reporting here at CNN THIS MORNING is that many of these officials conducting these raids have been told to basically dress for the cameras, right?
FREY: Yes --
HUNT: So, here's the reporting. "Multiple federal agents assisting U.S. immigration officials with raids directed by the Trump administration have been told to ensure their clothing clearly depicts their respective agency in case they're filmed by members of the media."
Sources tell CNN, "while it's common safety practice for agents conducting arrests to wear insignia, clearly identifying agents on the perimeter of operations conducted across the nation have been specifically instructed by their leadership to wear raid jackets to generate possible media attention", sources said.
[05:05:00]
So, how do you understand how this is different from what had previously been going on under the Biden administration?
FREY: Right, so, I mean, perhaps the clearest cut-case as to -- or the earliest example of kind of the playing to the camera aspect of all of this was when they utilized those military planes to try to send some of these migrants back to South America, rather than just a regular civilian passenger sort of airline that are typically used.
And so, if anything, it fits into this larger dynamic that Trump is certainly central to, which is straight out of central casting, looking for members of his cabinet that look good on TV, playing to the camera when it comes to his own experiences in reality television. The man knows how to operate. He knows how to operate within this media ecosystem, playing to the "New York Post" sort of headlines. And this is kind of the latest example of that.
HUNT: Yes, let's look at -- talk a little bit more too about one of the things that we learned last week was that they were going to lift the guidance around --
FREY: Yes --
HUNT: Essentially leaving Churches and schools as sanctuary places, places where ICE did not go in and conduct raids. Tom Homan, the border czar, was asked about doing raids, particularly in schools, over the weekend. Let's watch what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What criminals are hiding in schools --
HOMAN: It all gets --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Middle schools, elementary schools. You're going to go into those?
HOMAN: How many MS-13 members are at age 14 to 17? Many of them. So, look, if it's a national security threat, public safety threat. And what you need to understand is a case-by-case. Name another agency, another law enforcement agency that has those type of requirements that they can't walk into a school or a doctor's office or a medical campus.
No other agencies held to those standards. These are well-trained officers with a lot of discretion. And when it comes to the sense of location, they're still going to be supervised review.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: And we have reports here, too, at CNN that in one Atlanta suburb, there was an undocumented man attending Church who actually was pulled out of the Church during the service.
FREY: Yes, I mean, this is the one dynamic that the Trump administration is now going to have to kind of walk this fine line on because one, Trump clearly wants to play up for the cameras and be able to show that he's fulfilling his campaign promise. But at some point, it turns to the public could read this as being over the top, insensitive and quite frankly, terrifying, depending on how some of these scenes, extractions, arrests, et cetera, play out.
You've seen Democrats on the Hill, for instance, really hone in on this sensitive locations concern, basically saying and arguing that it plays on and ultimately at the end of the day, makes really fear being the dominating issue at play here. Not so much enforcement, but making people afraid.
HUNT: Yes, well, and I should note, our reporting is not that they went into the Church, but rather that --
FREY: Yes --
HUNT: They came to it, and he was inside at the service and he did come out when they went -- when they went and asked for him by name. But still it does. It speaks to this fear question. The other piece of this, of course, is money, Lindsey Graham --
FREY: Yes --
HUNT: On a Sunday show over the weekend, Senator Graham saying, you know what? We can't do everything we've promised we're going to do if we don't fund it. What is the latest on those negotiations in Congress? FREY: It's still very much -- we'll see. I mean, look, it's not even
clear what exactly approach they have landed on because is it the one big beautiful bill? Is it the two-bill approach? Is it going to be taxes and immigration and everything else all combined? Are they going to splinter it off? You talk to either chamber, they have different ideas of all of this.
And part of it is because the margins are so incredibly thin on Capitol Hill that if there is one or two Republicans in the House, for example, they can veto the whole thing and make the whole thing explode. Then you throw in the idea of -- do they try to attach fire aid or, for example, lifting the debt ceiling into this soup of legislative mishegoss?
And it's not clear exactly how this is going to land. There's clearly an intention to do something in the next couple of months, because they're going to need finances to back up what they're doing, but it's not --
HUNT: Yes --
FREY: Clear how they're going to get there.
HUNT: I think that might be the first use of the word 'mishegoss' on this show. So, congrats to you for that. Kevin Frey, thank you, I appreciate it. All right, coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump's proposal for the future of Gaza, sending Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. Why that idea is getting pushed back. Plus, several people injured after a car rams into a crowd in Philly as Eagles fans were celebrating their team heading to the Super Bowl.
Plus, a slew of independent Inspectors General terminated. Did the President break the law with the late-night finding -- firing?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The law says he's supposed to --
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Thirty days --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Give 30 days-notice --
GRAHAM: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn't do that. Do you think --
GRAHAM: No, he did --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He violated the law?
GRAHAM: Well, technically, yes, but he has the authority to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:10:00] HUNT: President Trump has a plan for the future of Gaza? Build new
housing and uproot more than a million Palestinians by moving them to neighboring countries.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: And we just clean out that whole thing instead. You know, it's over the centuries, it's had many conflicts, that site. And I don't know, it's -- something has to happen. But it's literally a demolition site right now. Almost everything is demolished.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HUNT: Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he asked Jordan's King Abdullah to take in more Palestinians. He wants Egypt to do the same. The suggestion was rejected Sunday by Egypt and by Jordan, both countries emphasizing that the only way forward is a Palestinian state.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of displaced Gaza residents began returning to their homes overnight following a 48-hour delay that was caused by a hostage release dispute between Israel and Hamas.
[05:15:00]
Max Foster joins us live now from London with more. Max, good morning to you. There's a reason this hasn't been done already. This is an incredibly politically-difficult thing for these -- Middle East, for Egypt, for Jordan. Jordan already has a significant Palestinian population and it's a small country. More could potentially be destabilizing. What is your view of what President Trump said here because it is clear already in the week here that he is willing to threaten quite a bit and those threats seem to move the needle in certain cases. Will it move the needle in this case?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not wrong about it being a demolition site. Northern Gaza is complete mess. But if we show you these live images, these are coming in from Gaza. People returning from being displaced from northern Gaza, heading back to northern Gaza to -- as Donald Trump describes, a demolition site.
But it also speaks to the fact that this is their homeland, and that's how much they want to go home. And what Donald Trump is talking about is, you know, taking them out of their homeland into other countries, which is not something they want as is demonstrated here. So, the first challenge is convincing them to move or we're talking about forcible movement, which is something that's going to be deeply unpopular across the entire Arab world because they identify with this land whatever the bigger arguments are here.
And of course, you pointed out the key problem here that even if he -- you know, even if he did convince them to leave, where are they going to go? Donald Trump is talking about Egypt and Jordan, and they both flatly said no. So, this is not a goer at the moment. But as you described, you know, he's done what he's done with Colombia recently, and he's got what he wanted.
You know, he's got a negotiating position, of course, with Egypt and Jordan as well, both key allies of America. Does he decide to use that to force these people to go and live there? The cost will be immense. And you know, the bigger question, will they be allowed back in? Because when Donald Trump was asked about this, he was asked, is it temporary or permanent? He said it could be either.
HUNT: Well, and Max, we also know that Trump has talked about -- I mean, that live shot, you can see, it is a beautiful part of the world. You can understand why people in Gaza are so -- I mean, why anyone would be attached to their homeland, of course. But Donald Trump has talked about this in much more -- I mean, he's looked at this and talked about it in financial terms. Let's remember what he said. This was actually on October 7th, 2024. Watch.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: It could be better than Monaco, it has the best location in the Middle East, the best water, the best everything -- it's got -- it is the best. I've said it for years. You know, when -- I've been there and it's rough. It's a rough place -- before this, you know, before all of the attacks and before --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right --
TRUMP: Back-and-forth what's happened over the last couple of years. And I said, wow, look at this. They never took advantage of it. You know, as a developer, it could be the most beautiful place, the weather, the water, the whole thing, the climate, it could be so beautiful. It could be the best thing in the Middle East.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HUNT: So, I think we should be clear, Max, as well, they had to clean up, he's not -- Donald Trump has not been to Gaza. He has been to Israel. But the terms in which he speaks of it are financial.
FOSTER: Yes, he sees it as a development opportunity if you take exactly what he's got there. And it's true, they've got the coast and a lot of people won't realize there were wealthy areas of Gaza as there were in other parts of the Middle East before this war. And yes, you can totally see that it's development opportunity. But when you're currently suffering from a famine, it's not really top of your list.
HUNT: It's just -- right. Human beings that we're seeing here, remarkable to get -- to see them return to their homes here after so much time and so much destruction. Max Foster, thanks very much, I appreciate it. And still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, after devastating wildfires in southern California, a new threat is building as rain storms move in. Plus, a late-night firing spree. President Trump removing federal watchdogs across the government.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00] HUNT: All right, 23 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning
roundup. After weeks of intense fires, southern California now dealing with a new threat, flooding and mudslides. Much needed rain did help with the fire-fight, but triggered debris flows, causing mountain- sides to crumble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA DERDERLAN, SPOKESPERSON, PASADENA, CALIFORNIA : There's nothing left holding the soil in place, so, even one drop of rain will come down seven times faster than it typically would have prior to this fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The weather system expected to move through Los -- the Los Angeles area this morning along with rain, it is bringing snow to the southern California mountains. At least, three people injured after a vehicle plowed into a crowd of celebrating Eagles fans last night in north Philadelphia. Their injuries are not life-threatening. The driver is in custody.
Police say the crash does not appear to be intentional. Happening this morning, world leaders gathering in Poland to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany's Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Attendees include French President Emmanuel Macron and Britain's King Charles. Every living survivor from Auschwitz liberation has also been invited.
[05:25:00]
Approximately 1.1 million people were murdered at the camp during the holocaust from 1940 through 1945. All right, still coming up after the break, deportation flights to Colombia are back underway after the U.S. and Colombia came to a consensus over migrant flights. Plus, Vice President J.D. Vance managing the fallout from President Donald Trump's decision to pardon January 6th rioters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES DAVID VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The pardon power is not just for people who are angels or people who are perfect. And of course, we love our law enforcement and want people to be peaceful with everybody, but especially with our good cops.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
