Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump Administration And Colombia Reach Agreement On Migrant Flights; Navajo Officials: 15 Indigenous People Questioned Since Wednesday; Super Bowl LIX: Chiefs Vs. Eagles. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 27, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:30:10]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:29 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at New York City. Sadly, we cannot see the Empire State Building in this shot, which was lit up in green and white last night for my Eagles. The building had to apologize to New Yorkers. My husband is a New Yorker who can't stand Philly's sports team, so I'm quite enjoying this in my household this morning.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Breaking overnight, Colombia agreeing to accept repatriated migrants after a brief faceoff with the Trump administration. Early yesterday two U.S. military planes carrying deported migrants were blocked by the South American country.

In response, President Donald Trump announced this. "An emergency 25 percent tariff on imports, a travel ban for Colombian citizens, and a revocation for visas for Colombian officials in the U.S.," among other things.

The order prompting retaliatory tariffs from Colombia's president. But late last night the White House announcing the two governments had come to an agreement. Colombia's foreign minister confirming shortly thereafter that U.S. deportation flights will resume.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUIS GILBERTO MURILLO, COLOMBIA FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): The Colombian government reports that we have overcome the impasse with the government of the United States. The government of Colombia, under the director of President Gustavo Petro, has the presidential plane ready to facilitate the return of the compatriots who are to arrive in the country, in the morning, on deportation flights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Joining us now, Axios senior contributor Margaret Talev. Margaret, good morning. MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR DEMOCRACY, JOURNALISM AND CITIZENSHIP, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

HUNT: Nice to see you.

TALEV: Thank you.

HUNT: So what do you see this as? Is it Donald Trump's tariff -- using tariffs as threats actually working?

TALEV: I mean, the new Trump administration is certainly treating this as a victory and it appears to be -- on the surface it certainly looks like Colombia blinked and sort of said OK, we don't want all the pain that those tariffs would bring.

A couple of questions though is why, and how is this actually going to play out with other countries? If this shows that the Trump administration can sort of use fear of economic pain to enforce its will with countries in the hemisphere and perhaps countries in other continents, then that gives it some momentum right out of the gate to use tariffs as a tool.

But the question is how -- if they don't get every country to blink, at what point will pain come to American consumers? Had the situation with Colombia, coffee would get more expensive, flowers would get more expensive. It would cause real economic pain in Colombia.

And then I think another question is how is China going to react to all of this?

So it certainly looks in the case of Colombia there were some optical considerations too that the president just did not want to see Colombians shackled like criminals or coming off of military planes. Didn't want it to be used as a photo op in U.S. foreign policy.

But the reality is this impasse didn't take long to break, and the reason why is because the Colombians feared real economic pain.

HUNT: So you mentioned he potential costs to Americans of tariffs like this going into effect.

TALEV: True.

HUNT: Coffee, flowers -- things that we get from that area.

I mean, one of the things we've seen -- obviously, the Trump administration on this blitz, right, on so many of the particularly cultural promises the president made. DEI initiatives in the federal government. Of course, immigration was a central campaign promise as well. We're seeing that.

But we are seeing less on the biggest -- the thing that Americans told us in our CNN polling anyway was their most important issue, and that was the economy and inflation.

Lindsey Graham was asked about this on CNN over the weekend because the price of eggs is currently astronomical. Let's watch what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR, "STATE OF THE UNION": People are now paying $7.00 for a dozen eggs. It's a record level -- 37 percent higher than a year ago.

Are his priorities in the right place now?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I was pretty involved in the last campaign. For every time he talked about eggs, he talked about illegal immigration a thousand times. I think he's trying to fulfill his promise to regain control of an out-of-control illegal immigration system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Margaret, how do you think President Trump is balancing these two imperatives? There does not seem to be as much focus on the economy and inflation. And what impact does that have on his popularity?

TALEV: He's clearly prioritizing immigration and border-related actions and visuals in his first week as president. It's only been a week. It feels like six months. I'm just ballparking it, but it's been a week.

But the political difference is that border controls and immigration were a core issue for the Republican base and a big issue for some people in the middle and on the left. The economy -- and by the economy I mean inflation and the price of goods, the price of rent, interest rates -- those things were the top issue across party lines not just for the Republican base, for all Republicans, for the political center, for Independents, and for Democrats

[05:35:18]

But one of the challenges is it's actually really hard to reduce prices or to tell grocery stores how much to charge for stuff.

There are many Americans that if you poll them in focus groups -- and we've seen this in our Axios focus groups and my focus groups with Syracuse University -- there are actually a lot of Americans that think a president can just, like, tell stores how much to charge for stuff. And then there are many other Americans who say we don't actually think the president can do that. The second group is correct.

So I think it is easier to show pictures of people being deported. By the way, there were 124 deportation flights -- repatriations back to Colombia last year in President Biden's final year. So it's not like they just invented deporting people to Colombia. But they weren't done this way, but it was the same effect. So we'll see how much the deportation numbers change.

But I think with the price of goods it's harder to do it. It's harder to sustain it and it is ultimately what more Americans really want for relief in their lives.

HUNT: Yeah.

All right, Margaret Talev. Thanks very much for being with us this morning. I appreciate it.

TALEV: My pleasure.

HUNT: All right, let's turn now to this.

Vice President J.D. Vance standing by President Trump's decision to pardon January 6 convicts who assaulted police officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, (R) 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. That's a separate issue from what Merrick Garland's Department of Justice did. We rectified wrong, and I stand by it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That is a big shift in J.D. Vance's stance. Just two weeks ago he said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: If you committed violence on that day obviously you shouldn't be pardoned, and there's a little bit of a gray area there. But we're very much committed to seeing the equal administration of law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The vice president was also asked whether he counseled the president on his decision to issue the blanket pardons. He dodged that question.

CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson joins us live now. Joey, good morning.

What do you make of J.D. Vance's defense there?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR (via Webex by Cisco): Kasie, good morning to you.

The answer is not much. He also -- that is, the vice president -- followed that up by indicating that the January 6 rioters were denied due process. I'm not sure exactly what he's talking about. Obviously, there's a political imperative, right? He was inconsistent -- that is, the vice president -- with his boss. And so now he has to backpedal and somehow justify intellectually the messaging that it was OK, right, just to pardon everyone.

He talked about the denial of due process. What are you talking about? Due process is notice and an opportunity to be heard. In any prosecution the prosecutor indicates what the charges are to those being charged and then you have the right to defend yourself.

In this case that is actually what occurred. No one was denied due process. Everyone was given an opportunity to have a lawyer either that you choose yourself or that's appointed to you. And at the end of the day a number -- that is, 1,000-plus -- pled guilty. No denial of due process there.

You indicate, right, to the judge yes, I understand what I'm pleading to. Yes, I'm guilty. Yes, I take accountability. Where's the denial?

And then with respect to a trial, there's a trial. You have an attorney. The prosecutor prosecutes and the jury makes a decision.

And so I think if we're going to speak about this, we can't reinvent history. We have to embrace and acknowledge exactly what happened and just say it was a political decision, and this is what you opted to do. But stop trying to justify it on bogus grounds.

HUNT: Joey, I want to ask you also about another story we've been following because, of course, this is again the beginning of week two of the Trump administration, but it is head-spinning to try to keep up with it all.

President Trump fired a number of inspectors general across the U.S. government. Was that legal, in your view?

JACKSON: No, it was not. I mean -- well, let's take it this way, right?

Number one, obviously, the president is the commander in chief and it's your prerogative to have employed with the federal government or any entity thereof who you want.

However, there are specific notice provisions that Congress set when you have watchdog groups and agencies, entities, or people overseeing things. And that notice provision provides for you to a) give 30 days' notice to Congress, and b) give a justification as to why it is that you felt appropriate to do so. That wasn't done.

And so if you're going to do things -- again, do them. You're the commander in chief. Just do them in accordance with the law, in accordance with specific guidelines, and in accordance with the rules and regulations. Don't do things just because you feel like doing them. That's unlawful.

[05:40:08]

HUNT: All right, Joey Jackson for us this morning. Sir, always grateful to have you. Thanks for being here.

JACKSON: Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: All right. Straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING President Trump moving aggressively on immigration. Why our next guest says inheriting a relatively calm border was politically inconvenient?

Plus, Super Bowl LIX is set and it's a rematch of Super Bowl LVII. That's next in sports.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:45:00]

HUNT: Welcome back.

President Donald Trump spent his first week back in office making good on his campaign promises with a heavy focus on a sweeping immigration crackdown.

And new overnight, at least 15 indigenous people in Arizona and New Mexico have reported being stopped, questioned, or detained by federal officials since Wednesday. Navajo Nation officials saying that those stopped were asked to provide proof of citizenship.

These reports causing panic within the tribal communities in both states and the ramped up detentions already drawing criticism from Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): We're seeing a kind of chaos in which in contradiction of the president's commitment that he was going to start focused on violent criminals, they're just detaining anyone. They're going into workplaces and anyone who looks like they should be detained is getting detained without, it seems, rhyme or reason. That doesn't make sense. I think it's inhumane.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: My next guest argues that President Trump benefits from chaos. She writes this. "Trump's political interest lies in exploiting the border, not effectively managing it."

She uses the Trump administration's move to end the CBP One app as an example. That app allowed migrants who were seeking asylum to make appointments at legal points of entry.

Juliette Kayyem writes this. "Ending CBP One conveniently helps lay the groundwork for more aggressive policies. The voters who sent Trump back to the White House may have been appalled by past chaos. For Trump's anti-immigration offensive, order is a bigger problem."

Joining us now, Juliette Kayyem who is also a CNN national security analyst. Juliette, good morning.

So obviously we have two questions here, right? We have the border itself. People trying to come into the country who aren't already here. Then we have people who live here already -- have crossed the border.

I actually want to start there before we circle back to your piece and, particularly, what we're learning from Navajo Nation officials. Because while we know that the Trump team wants this to be actively seen by the media to the point that we're reporting here that there is guidance to these law enforcement officials to wear camera-ready uniforms so that they can generate more media attention.

They also are clearly doing things like in the case of this Navajo Nation. I mean, talk about people who are American citizens, right, getting swept up on this.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY, HARVARD PROFESSOR (via Webex by Cisco): Yes. This is called the interior enforcement part of, sort of, Trump's agenda -- the mass deportations. Interior enforcement is -- has to be regulated by law and by practice by ICE.

What seems to have happened now is this just sort of go out and get people. So what does that mean? It means people who don't look like essentially white Americans.

And so what you're seeing is these broad sweeps. People then say, "No, no, no -- I'm an American." In one case we have reporting that someone said, "I'm a Puerto Rican" and the ICE agent didn't know that person -- the Puerto Ricans are, in fact, Americans. And lots of mistakes are being made. These are overbroad and they're sweeping in people who are brown, Black, native American until they can prove otherwise.

This is an -- this is unregulated immigration enforcement. This is the free for all that Donald Trump complained about during his campaign. There will be lots of lawsuits. There will be lots of actions against ICE agents.

But right now what Trump wants is essentially what one might call reality TV immigration enforcement. We know, for example, in Chicago, Dr. Phil, the reality TV star or the talk show host was present and taking pictures during them.

This is -- this is the performative aspect of immigration enforcement and the impact is, of course, on Americans that don't look like the Trump family essentially.

HUNT: Juliette, in the piece you talk about not interior enforcement but rather the border itself -- how that is managed.

We do know that Donald Trump has surged troops to the border or at least ordered them there.

Explain a little bit about what you're arguing in this new Atlantic piece.

KAYYEM: So, Donald Trump inherited, despite all the politics -- which I just look at the numbers, right? Donald Trump inherited what we would call a relatively peaceful border. I'm not pretending like there were zero border crossings. But there were about 46,000 illegal crossings in October before he won at least the presidency.

He -- Donald Trump has more immigration crossings than President Obama. And President Biden was doing better than President Trump in his last months of office as president. Biden began to hunker down a little bit more seriously about asylum relief. [05:50:00]

CBP One was a way to do that. It was a regulated process. People had to sign up before they came to the United States. They had to present themselves to a formal point of entry. They just couldn't show up anywhere at the border, which had been the previous rule. And it regulated the number of people that could get through.

It was working. It actually was started by the Trump administration. But because it was working, Donald Trump and -- stopped it. I mean, essentially, now we have no formalized asylum process and so people will just present themselves anywhere and then you begin the legal process. It's a huge burden on our courts and a huge burden on our immigration officials.

But it is -- it is the kind of chaos -- the kind of lack of regulation that benefits Donald Trump's performative aspects of immigration enforcement, which I think we -- I think we just have to pierce the numbers and see that a lot of this is performative. His numbers are no better or worse this first week than they were for President Biden.

HUNT: All right, Juliette Kayyem for us this morning. Juliette, always grateful to have you. Thanks very much for being on the show.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

HUNT: All right, time now for sports. Super Bowl LIX is set. The Chiefs trying for a three-peat. They take on my high-flying Eagles.

Coy Wire has this morning's CNN sports update. They flew high, indeed, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Is it just the monitor or are you wearing Eagles green this morning?

HUNT: I -- you know, I should --

WIRE: Uh-huh.

HUNT: It's not -- you know what, let's call it that.

WIRE: Do your thing, girl. Congrats. We'll get to your Eagles in a second.

First, the AFC Championship marked the latest chapter in the rivalry between the Chiefs and the Bills. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen -- they're becoming like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. The fourth time they've met in the last five playoffs and once again it was a heavyweight fight.

Mahomes-Allen going toe-to-toe again but some key plays in the fourth made all the difference. Fourth down, Bills up one, and Josh Allen is going to do the quarterback sneak, but does he make it? That line is where he needed to get to. Officials said he didn't. Replays didn't provide a definitive view so the ruling stands. Five plays later Patrick Mahomes scrambles and cashes in on one of his two rushing touchdowns after the turnover on downs. The Chiefs are up. The Bills respond though marching 70 yards. Allen hitting Curtis Sameul for the touchdown, tying it at 29. Bills fans are feeling it.

The Chiefs would kick a field goal to take the lead, but Josh Allen has plenty of time to work. Two timeouts, two minutes to go, three timeouts left, but right there -- that Dalton Kincaid pass -- he just couldn't bring it in.

And the Chiefs hang on. Their quest for an unprecedented three-peat continues. A 32-29 win. It's their fifth Super Bowl appearance in the last six seasons.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MAHOMES, QUARTERBACK, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: I'm just so proud of my teammates and how they responded. That was a great football team and I'm just -- I'm just at a loss of words. I mean, I'm excited for New Orleans.

TRAVIS KELCE, TIGHT END, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: Never satisfied, baby. When you play in front of Arrowhead Stadium like this every single AFC championship -- you kidding me? Kansas City!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Oh, Taylor Swift's going back to the Super Bowl.

The Eagles are headed back to the Super Bowl for a rematch with those Chiefs from two seasons ago. And Kasie Hunt's Philly has the best offensive line, the best running back in the league, and it showed.

Saquon Barkley, 60 yards to the house on the Eagles' first drive of the game. One of his three rushing touchdowns. Quarterback Jalen Hurts, three rushing touchdowns as well -- tush push. Hurts and Barkley are the first duo in playoff history to each have three rushing touchdowns in a game.

Philly wins decisively and Kasie Hunt goes wild after a 55-23 win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAQUON BARKLEY, RUNNING BACK, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: It's just amazing, man. It's amazing we're here -- the Super Bowl. But the goal wasn't just getting there. The goal is to win. And we're going to celebrate and enjoy this and get right back to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Well, Saquon, you were absolutely right about the celebration -- party time. Check out the scene in the locker room just after the game. Now it's time to get down to business.

But was this Super Bowl rematch predetermined, Kasie? The Super Bowl logo conspiracy has reared its ugly head again. The colors of the logo, red and green. That makes three of the last four Super Bowl logos matching the teams playing in it, including the one for these teams two seasons ago. Some say seasons are scripted with predetermined outcomes. The league says hey, these logos are created, like, two years in advance.

So --

HUNT: I learn something new every day. I had no idea there was a Super Bowl logo conspiracy, but I'll take it.

How about Saquon Barkley? I could watch those highlights over and over again all morning, Coy.

WIRE: My gosh, he's just like a 230-pound bowling ball covered in baby oil. You cannot stop him.

HUNT: You really can't.

And hey, man, I'm sorry about your Bills. They've had such a great series of seasons, you know? It's really almost their time. And I mean, the QB matchup in that first game was incredible.

WIRE: Incredible.

HUNT: So --

WIRE: I'm dreading going home today because my 6-year-old Wrenn was cheering for Taylor Swift's boyfriend's team to beat Daddy's team. So yeah, it's going to be a long day for me.

HUNT: Yeah. You know, you and the rest of America I think are in that -- are in that boat. Lots of little -- lots of little girls -- kids watching football.

[05:55:03]

Anyway, I'll be excited to see her go back but sadly, I will not be rooting for her Chiefs.

Coy, thank you.

WIRE: You got it.

HUNT: I appreciate it.

All right. In our next hour here on CNN THIS MORNING over a dozen federal watchdogs fired. President Trump defying the law to do so. I'll be joined live by one of these inspectors general to discuss.

Plus, confirming the cabinet. This week some of President Trump's most controversial picks facing Senate grilling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON, CAST MEMBER PORTRAYING DONALD TRUMP, NBC "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": I also have to ensure that all of my cabinet positions are filled. We're filling my cabinet with some of the best people. They're all very good except for most of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

HUNT: It's Monday, January 27. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.