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Cities Across U.S. Prepare For Possible Mass Deportations; Trump Pardons Nearly All Charged With January 6 U.S. Capitol Riot; Trump Threatens 25 Percent Tariffs on Mexico and Canada; Israel's Top General Quits Over Hamas Security Breach; South Korean President Yoon Attends Impeachment Hearing; Trump Vows to Take Back Panama Canal; Trump Launches Effort to End Birthright Citizenship; Trump Begins Harsh Crackdown on Immigration; Americans Brace for Freezing Temperatures. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired January 21, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to our second hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos in Abu Dhabi.

Mass deportations are set to begin in the United States as president Trump dashes the hopes of thousands of migrants making their way to the southern

border.

Granting sweeping clemency with the stroke of a pen, the U.S. president pardons nearly all of the January 6th rioters.

And what the second Trump presidency means for the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal and the Middle East at large. We'll be live in Tel Aviv.

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GIOKOS: Welcome to the show.

Donald Trump is set to sign another slew of executive orders on the first full day of his second term in office. The U.S. president wasted no time in

signing dozens of orders just after his inauguration Monday.

Among the most notable, his move to pardon or commute sentences of virtually all the January 6th rioters. He also focused on immigration,

signing an order declaring a national emergency at the border with Mexico.

The president intends to start mass deportations of illegal immigrants, while saying that he will allow immigration if done through legal channels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm fine with legal immigration, I like it. We need people and I'm absolutely fine with it. We want to have it. We need

it because we're going to have a lot of companies coming in to avoid tariffs.

You know if you don't want tariffs, all you have to do is build your plant in the U.S. So we're going to have a lot of workers coming in. But we have

to have legal immigration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, Mr. Trump's so-called border czar says, expect the crackdown on illegal immigration to start immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, TRUMP BORDER CZAR: So the interior enforcement operation starts tomorrow. ICE agents, they're going to lose the handcuffs they've had to

put on them by the Biden administration. People find out real soon what we're going to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, the president also shut down an app that allowed migrants to apply to enter the U.S. legally as asylum seekers. Whitney Wild is in

Chicago, a city where ICE -- U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit is expected to launch a major crackdown.

Whitney, good to see you.

What does this crackdown entail?

What does it mean in reality?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the major question here. We've reached out to ICE today to find out if any of those actions were

executed within the city. We are still waiting to find out more about that.

But what it means on the ground is that people are making adjustments to their day to day life to avoid the possibility of being picked up by ICE.

And what that means, according to local officials here, is that people are moving around. They are concerned that ICE may have their address there.

Again, they're shifting their housing to try to avoid being picked up by ICE. The major concern here is that ICE will execute, of course will

execute actions on violent criminals. That is something that local officials say readily that they welcome, because you cannot keep violent

criminals in your society. So they welcome that. They encourage that.

However, the concern is this that these actions will capture people who otherwise do not have a criminal record. And that is what is instilling so

much fear. For example, people are concerned about sending their kids to school, right?

The leaders here in Chicago have sent out guidance to Chicago public schools. They've also sent out documents to families to say what their

policies are. And really what's going on the ground here in terms of ensuring that local officials understand what they have to do, is making

sure they understand that, as a sanctuary city, they are not permitted to assist ICE's immigration enforcement and removal operations.

However, they are also told in very plain language if ICE is executing a criminal action, they cannot interfere with that. Here's what local

officials told us about what is going on at this very moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JESUS "CHUY" GARCIA (D-IL): There's a lot of fear. There's great concern. People are having to decide whether to go out on the street,

whether to go to work tomorrow. They've got to face up to whether they should take their children to school.

And just genuine concerns that president Trump wants to carry through on his promise to engage in the largest mass removal of immigrants from this

country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ANDRE VASQUEZ, ALDERPERSON, CHICAGO CITY COUNCIL: You know clearly we're all concerned about what's going to happen next. But we are kind of

mobilizing more than we did the last time it occurred.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: So what mobilization looks like is going around and letting migrants know through, you know, through social media, through one on one

interactions, what their rights are. And so that is, at this point, officials say, pretty much all they can do as we wait to find out what

these ICE enforcement actions are going to look like, Eleni.

GIOKOS: Yes, we wait to see, Whitney. Thank you so much, Whitney Wild for us.

Well, as we mentioned just now, Donald Trump has kept his promise to the January 6th insurrectionists. On Monday, nearly 1,300 people received

pardons or had their sentences commuted, including some who were convicted of assaulting police and destroying property.

The leader of the far right Proud Boys, who was guilty and found guilty of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison, was freed with a

full pardon. His sentence was one of the longest to come out of the insurgency prosecutions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: So this is January 6th. And these are the hostages, approximately 1,500, for a pardon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TRUMP: Full pardon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Full pardon and commutations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Full pardon.

TRUMP: We have about six commutations in there where we're doing further research. Maybe it'll stay that way or it'll go to a full pardon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: CNN's Katelyn Polantz is outside the jail in Washington with more.

Katelyn, good to have you on.

What have you seen happening today?

What more can we expect after these pardons?

Because many people are going to be released from jail.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The pardons and commutations, so people not getting a full pardon but having their

sentences essentially end, that they have served their time, they will be released.

The people who are pardoned, that are in jail or in federal prisons around the country, they will be released.

I'm here outside of the D.C. jail, where, this morning, there are several supporters of the January 6th rioters. One of the people who was actually

convicted and served his time in prison is here as well, a recipient of the pardons.

They are all standing, waiting to see who will be released this morning. So far here at the jail, we believe there is about a -- there's maybe a

handful of people in this facility, a local holding facility, as people await further proceedings in D.C. and their cases to be dismissed.

What we are seeing, though, so far, is only two people in this jail have been released overnight. Those two brothers who were convicted and

sentenced just on Friday for assault of police at the Capitol riot.

One man who tried to tear a baton outside out of a policeman's hand at the Capitol riot and another person who threw a chair at the police line. Those

were the men that were sentenced to prison. They were here in this facility and overnight they got out. We are waiting to see who else emerges from

this facility this morning.

But around the country, those notable names of people being released include Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers. His sentence is

commuted, so he remains a felon who loses his rights to own firearms, for instance.

But he is getting out of jail decades before he was supposed to. He had been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison.

Enrique Tarrio, the leader of the Proud Boys, as you mentioned, he received a full pardon, released from prison well before he finished his 22 years in

prison serving time.

And I just want to note, we did get a statement from the family of Brian Sicknick, the officer who died after being sprayed with pepper spray. The

men were convicted of that crime of hitting him with pepper spray.

That family said that "there are no words that adequately describe the pain of losing Brian and the suffering" they've endured every day since, never

to end.

The pardons are intended, to quote Trump, "end a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated on the American people" and to begin the process

of national reconciliation.

But this family, they say, "It is up to the American people to decide whether this purpose will be achieved, involving far more serious questions

than how our family feels about the death of a son and brother and the undoing of the justice that was previously determined by the courts'

sentencing of Brian's assailants.

"We hope that the truth of what happened that tragic day will survive, irrespective of partisan political objectives" -- Eleni.

[10:10:05]

GIOKOS: Yes, and we're also hearing that the Department of Justice is going to have to look at dismissing pending January 6th cases as well.

What have we heard on that front?

POLANTZ: Right. That's already happening. And I'm seeing the updates in court come across rapid fire this morning. What's happening there is that

there are people who were in the middle of trial or waiting to go to trial or waiting to see what would happen with their case or even waiting to be

sentenced.

The Justice Department is going to court and asking those cases to be dismissed immediately.

Actually, there was a father and son who were in the middle of their trial for Capitol riot charges. The jury was selected last week. Overnight, the

Justice Department filed that they would like to dismiss their case.

This is the same form going to every judge in all of these cases. And it says, dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning, don't ever bring it back.

GIOKOS: Yes. Right. Katelyn Polantz, good to have you with us. Thank you so much.

I want to now bring in CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer.

Good to have you with us, Julian. I'm sure you heard Katelyn's reporting there and what we can expect. I want you to give me a sense, your reaction,

because you've written a lot about this, the full pardons for the January 6th offenders and the ramifications it, frankly, has for the justice system

in the United States.

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it has two effects. One is it obviously sends a signal to supporters of president Trump that he will

protect them in whatever capacity he can, should they be carrying out things in his name.

The second is it's a culmination of a process that's been going on for several years, where now president Trump essentially rewrote what happened

on January 6th, first rhetorically talking about it as if it was a tourist visit.

And now this is a culmination because he is freeing those who were responsible for the attack on Congress. And so I think it has big

implications. And it leads to a further erosion of the separation between law and order and partisan politics at the highest level.

GIOKOS: Yes, I mean, this is one of the biggest stories to come out of the many executive orders that he signed in the very first few hours after his

inauguration.

And another big thing is, of course, a big eye on immigration. He's declared a state of emergency at the southern border. We've just heard

about a potential crackdown coming through in Chicago. We don't know what that's going to look like but it's all about implementation at this point.

How do you think this is going to play out, I guess, in the next few weeks?

Because we've already seen many appointments for migrants being canceled, the app being shut down completely.

ZELIZER: Well, I do think there will be legal challenges to some of what he's trying to do.

There will inevitably be both implementation problems, as there always are, and backlash as people see what this means in practice rather than on the

campaign trail, when they see neighbors, friends and family and workers subject to this kind of deportation.

But we shouldn't take lightly the impact it's going to have. And I think that's why people are reacting with fear. He is doing what he said he was

going to do.

And even with the challenges, even with the problems, it is very possible this will have dramatic effect on the removal of people from the United

States in the next few weeks, let alone in the next few months.

GIOKOS: You know, he's shaking things up not only domestically but also on the international front.

What is your assessment of, I guess, the many promises he made during his campaign?

Also the threats and a lot of that coming to fruition now and whether you believe this is going to put America into what he calls the golden age.

ZELIZER: Well, whether it's the golden age remains to be seen. I think many people are dubious that that's what this will amount to.

But it's a combination we're seeing of his America first agenda, which is, from the first term, of removing U.S. involvement in many key areas and

trying to diminish the role of the U.S. and military conflict with an expansionist vision that is now pretty new in terms of what he's talking

about.

Whether it's taking back the Panama Canal or trying to purchase Greenland or other means, it's this kind of remaking of the American agenda. And I

don't know if it will be considered a golden age.

But if he follows through on this, it will be remaking much of the accord that has existed since World War II in terms of the U.S.' role in the world

and could have long term ramifications.

[10:15:06]

GIOKOS: So I mean, it's interesting you say that foreign policy shaken up in a very big way, 90 day pause in developmental aid, exiting the WHO,

getting out of the Paris agreement once again.

Is this asserting the U.S. strength on a global stage?

Or do you believe that it might ostracize the United States in some way or even further polarize the world?

ZELIZER: Well, he believes it's an assertion of U.S. strength that the United States won't be obligated to fulfill different kinds of agreements,

whether it's a climate agreement, as was the case with Paris, or military agreements and security agreements.

But his critics will say that actually weakens the United States. The point of these alliances, to make the U.S. stronger by engaging it with allies,

by creating mutual interests between the United States and other countries that endure.

And the effect of withdrawal, the effect of removal, other than kind of sporadic expansionist goals, is to leave the United States weaker without

as many other countries feeling a connection to it as they have for many years.

So I think that's the battle that we're having. That's the debate that we're going to be having as he makes these moves, which started on day one.

GIOKOS: Julian Zelizer, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for your insights, sir. Much appreciated.

Well, still to come on CNN, pessimism from the new U.S. president over the ceasefire in Gaza, just a couple of days after he claimed credit for making

it happen. Hear about what he's saying right now.

And the president of Panama has a message for Donald Trump. And it isn't congratulations. That's all ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military killed at least seven Palestinians Tuesday, as prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced

the start of a large scale military operation in Jenin. The offensive comes on the third day of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza.

U.S. president Donald Trump, meantime, says he's not confident the ceasefire will hold, despite claiming credit for brokering the deal. Here's

what he told reporters Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm not confident. That's not our war. It's their war. But I'm not confident. But I think they're very weakened on the other side.

QUESTION: Do you support --

TRUMP: Gaza, boy, I looked at a picture of Gaza. Gaza is like a massive demolition site. That place is -- it's really -- it's got to be rebuilt in

a different way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Meantime, Israel's military chief of staff is resigning over the failure to prevent Hamas' October 7th attack.

In a letter released by the military a short time ago, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi wrote, "Under my command, the IDF failed in its mission to

protect the citizens of Israel."

[10:20:06]

It's the highest profile departure of an Israeli official linked to October 7th. CNN's senior global affairs analyst and anchor Bianna Golodryga is in

Tel Aviv, joining us now live.

Bianna, really good to have you on. Today, on day three of the truce. Netanyahu has announced this large military operation in occupied West

Bank.

What is the goal here?

How could it impact the ceasefire and hostage release deal?

And interesting to note, this comes just a day after the Trump inauguration.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, the timing is very interesting, no doubt. Let me read you the statement from the prime

minister's office earlier this morning.

"Under the directive of the security cabinet, the IDF and Shin Bet, Israeli police have launched a large scale military operation to eradicate

terrorism in Jenin" -- that they call the Iron Wall.

"This is another step toward achieving our goal of strengthening Judea and security in Judea and Samaria. We are acting systematically and resolutely

against the Iranian axis wherever it extends its reach."

Now the timing of this, as we just mentioned, is notable, given that it's just day three of this very fragile and tentative truce now and cease-fire.

And it also comes as there is increased pressure on the prime minister following the resignation of Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far right members of

his coalition.

It was notable to see the finance minister quickly applaud this move just moments after the statement of this operation from prime minister

Netanyahu. Now there had been skirmishes over the course of the last month or so between PA, the Palestinian Authority officers there and their police

force and members of Hamas as well.

So many analysts I've spoken to here say that this deal, this operation has been in the works and at least planned out and on the table for several

weeks.

But as you noted, the timing here, the day after the inauguration of Donald Trump and so much concern now about whether any unrest in the West Bank can

do anything to derail this, the fragile ceasefire deal underway in Gaza.

And it comes just hours, we should note, after president Trump then overturned former President Biden's executive order that enabled him to

sanctions devil (ph) -- that enabled him to sanction several far-right extremist settlers for inciting riots in the West Bank as well. So a lot

developing.

GIOKOS: I want to talk about Halevi and his resignation. He has been under pressure over failures on October 7th. Netanyahu has declined to take

responsibility for those failures.

Is Halevi right to take the fall?

GOLODRYGA: That's not a question for me, necessarily, to answer or decide upon. It is among the Israeli population to decide that factor.

Clearly, following the devastation of October 7th and the failure of the military here, there had been many calls, resounding calls for those

responsible, those in government, those in charge of the military, to take responsibility.

We saw the recent resignation and firing, actually, of former defense minister Gallant. He also took responsibility for October 7th.

What's notable is that we have yet to see any responsibility taken by the prime minister himself or other members of his cabinet, including those far

right members who applauded the news today of the resignation of Herzl Halevi.

Looking at the calendar, he's set to resign on March 6th. That would be just at the tail end or right after the implementation of phase one of this

deal. And we have seen a growing schism between the defense establishment and the prime minister and those in his cabinet as well.

The defense establishment under Herzl Halevi had been arguing for months now that the situation was ripe for a deal. And it only came about now with

Donald Trump here in office.

GIOKOS: All right, Bianna Golodryga for us in Tel Aviv. Really good to have you on the ground. And thank you so much for your insights.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): Well, let's get you up to speed on some of the stories that are on our radar right now.

A huge hotel fire before daybreak at a ski resort in Turkiye has killed at least 66 people. Officials say another 51 people were injured. Fire crews

are still trying to put out the blaze and it is believed that the fire started in the hotel restaurant.

South Korea's detained president Yoon Suk-yeol attended a constitutional court hearing for his impeachment trial today. The trial may give the

president a chance to argue his case and answer questions over his short lived bid to impose martial law back in December.

Yoon told the court today he is committed to a free democracy in South Korea.

[10:25:05]

"Be a strong global player."

That's the Ukrainian president's message to Europe at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Speaking a short time ago, Volodymyr Zelenskyy urging all

European countries to be united and unified and self-sufficient.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Europe must establish itself as a strong global player, as an indispensable player. Let's not forget, there

is no ocean separating European countries from Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, his comments come during president Trump's first full day back in the Oval Office. Mr. Trump says he wants the Ukraine war over,

quote, "as quickly as possible." CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv, where he's been listening to President Zelenskyy's address.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ukraine on the edges of Europe, part of the continent, clearly. But its aspirations

to join the E.U. so much part of what we've seen as the underlying causes for some of the conflict here.

But a startling reminder to the European elite in front of him, of the irrelevance, frankly, that Europe risks if it doesn't embrace the

challenges of defense, of a fast changing world.

Referring to how the TikTok algorithm, owned by a Chinese company, is now more powerful at times than some governments are on that particular

continent, saying, indeed, too, that while the U.S. is an indispensable ally for Europe, does anyone in the U.S. worry that Europe will stop

becoming the United States' ally?

Trying, I think, to needle at the slipping relevance, frankly, of many European powers and their reluctance, it seems, to spend more on defense.

I think it's clear from listening to this that he's certainly heard the comments of president Donald Trump in the White House later last night, his

time, about how there is an ocean separating the United States from the conflict in Ukraine.

He made a reference to how there is no ocean separating Europe from Russia at all and also mimicking the demand for 5 percent expenditure on European

defense that we heard from Trump just a matter of hours ago.

Essentially, I think, trying to take the side of this new White House and pushing their European allies to remind themselves to be cognizant of the

fact that the crisis happening here, the war being fought here in Ukraine, is a direct threat to European security, an immediate one in a way that it

is not to the United States.

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GIOKOS: Well, Panama's president, meanwhile, is dismissing Donald Trump's pledge to take back the Panama Canal. The canal was built by the U.S. but

has been controlled by Panama since 1999. Jose Raul Molino is also rejecting claims the U.S. president made about the canal in his

inauguration speech on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have been treated very badly from this foolish gift that should have never been made. And Panama's promise to us has been broken. The

purpose of our deal and the spirit of our treaty has been totally violated.

China is operating the Panama Canal. And we didn't give it to China, we gave it to Panama. And we're taking it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Well, I want to bring in CNN's Patrick Oppmann.

Patrick, you know, we've been talking about this for the last few weeks. You know there are two main statements that president Trump is talking

about, that U.S. vessels are being overcharged and, secondly, that China controls the canal.

Those, if those two issues are debunked, does Panama feel that it could potentially keep control despite Trump's threats that are clearly

increasing in momentum?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, of course, the treaty that was signed in 1977 between Jimmy Carter, then President Jimmy Carter and

Panamanian leaders, puts the control of the Panama Canal back in Panama's hands.

That's just international law. It's not clear if Trump is trying to argue that the United States is able to intervene militarily to keep the Panama

Canal open. Of course, the Panama Canal is open. There's record number of ships going through the Panama Canal last several years.

And while you're correct, the U.S. built the Panama Canal, the Panamanian people actually expanded the canal after it was returned to them. And

that's where the majority of the traffic goes through, these new locks that Panama financed and built themselves.

So when you talk to Panamanian officials, as I have been over the last several weeks, they point out that the rates are similar to the Suez Canal

transit rates and that they have needed to raise rates, although not significantly, to cover, you know things like the El Nino droughts last

year that brought down those transits significantly.

And, of course, to maintain the Panama Canal costs a tremendous amount of money.

[10:30:00]

This idea that China operates the canal is just something they dismiss. And most people who understand how the Panama Canal works dismiss out of hand.

And yes, there is a company, there's a Hong Kong company that has operated in Panama for about nearly 30 years. It operates two ports.

And there is concern about Chinese influence, not only in Panama but the rest of Central America and Latin America, as they've increased

investments, trying to essentially buy influence.

But no one will be able to prove that the Chinese somehow secretly operate the Panama Canal, because you just go to the Panama Canal and you will see,

actually, when the ships come in, Panamanian pilots are the ones who have to go aboard and operate those ships.

So very clearly, this is not something that's going to stand up to any kind of argument. And it probably doesn't make any difference to someone like

Donald Trump, because this is something he made front and center during his inaugural speech yesterday.

This is a priority of his administration. Whether the legality is there or not, he wants to retake control of the Panama Canal. And for a country like

Panama, which has no military, that is very concerning.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. I mean, in the treaty as well, it said neutrality must be maintained. And no surprise there that that Donald Trump is pointing

toward China. We'll see how this plays out. Patrick Oppmann, I believe we're going to be talking about this for some time to come. Thank you, sir.

All right. Still coming up, we're following president Donald Trump's fight to end birthright citizenship in the United States and the legal hurdles he

faces to get rid of this constitutional right. We'll be right back.

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GIOKOS: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos.

Now U.S. president Donald Trump has a busy day ahead of him as he embarks on his second term. The White House says Mr. Trump will make a massive

infrastructure announcement in the coming hours but would not elaborate on the details.

Now next hour, he heads to an interfaith service at the Washington National Cathedral, along with vice president JD Vance. He'll also meet today with

House and Senate Republican leaders at the White House.

Then it's back to signing an avalanche of executive orders he promised to enact over the first few days of his new presidency. One of the executive

orders the president signed on Monday was a move to end birthright citizenship in the United States, a right guaranteed by the U.S.

Constitution.

The order was framed to deny U.S. citizenship if a child is born to parents who are unlawfully present in the United States or when the mother is

temporarily in the U.S. and the father is a non-citizen.

[10:35:04]

A coalition of civil and immigration rights groups is suing the Trump administration over that order and it is expected to be a lengthy legal

fight. CNN's Harry Enten joining us now from New York with all the numbers,

Harry, you've been looking at the data and polling on how Americans and political parties stand on the birthright citizenship issue.

What have you discovered?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, look, there are a lot of policies that Donald Trump is going to push during his second term that are

popular. This ain't one of them. This ain't one of them. It's quite an unpopular policy. And we can see this in the polling right here.

All right. End birthright citizenship for children born to immigrants illegally here, look at this. Only about a third of the country supports

it. Only 35 percent in an average of all polling. Clear, a clear majority, 53 percent oppose it. You rarely can get such a large majority in this

country that is so polarized along political lines to agree on an issue.

But on this one, the overwhelming majority oppose it. And I will note that I looked at every single poll on the subject. And in every single poll, a

majority opposed it. That's why the average reflects this.

This isn't just one poll. It's across a ton of polls. But it's not just in the here and now. We can look at this issue historically, because Donald

Trump is not the first guy to push this. It was pushed by Republicans back in the early 2010s. So we can see this here.

All right. Support ending birthright citizenship. You go back to 2011. Look at that. It was 35 percent. You jump forward to 2015, right when Donald

Trump was getting his first presidential bid going. You could see it was 31 percent.

You look now at the average of polls, it's 35 percent. The bottom line is support for this issue has not changed. It has been consistent. Only about

one third of the country support the idea of ending birthright citizenship for children born to immigrants here illegally.

But it's not just in the here and now. It's not just across time. It is also when you look within political parties, because you might expect that

Donald Trump's political base, Republicans, would be overwhelmingly in support of this measure to support ending birthright citizenship.

But what do we see here?

We only see 56 percent of Republicans agree. Now that is a majority. That is a majority. But keep in mind that Donald Trump's approval rating among

Republican voters is closer to, say, 90-95 percent in even some polls.

And so when you see only 56 percent of Republicans supporting it, you get the idea that there is a large chunk of the Republican base, 35-40 percent,

who do not support this, despite supporting Donald Trump.

And then, perhaps not surprisingly, you can also see here only 21 percent of Democrats, only 19 percent of independents support this. This issue is

one that divides the Republican base, unites Democrats and independents against Donald Trump.

If he continues pushing issues like this, he will deal with a very short honeymoon period, which, of course, he might be used to, given he had a

very short honeymoon period in 2017. He'd be far better off going after other issues than this particular one if he wants to continue the

popularity that he's been able to drum up over the last few months.

GIOKOS: Harry, fascinating set of data there. Thank you so much for sharing that. Putting things into context for us, Harry Enten.

I want to bring in David Schultz. He's a professor at Hamline University and expert in U.S. constitutional law.

David, really good to have you with us. We've just seen some of the data and the polling from our reporter there. And it seems that support for

getting rid of birthright citizenship is, is sort of average, around 35 percent, 2011, 2015 and 2025.

But it's not the question of whether people support this. It's whether president Trump can actually get this done.

Is it actually doable?

PROF. DAVID SCHULTZ, HAMLINE UNIVERSITY: It's unlikely that it's doable, that the birthright citizenship is a product of constitutional law. It's in

the Constitution, the 14th Amendment and it's been around since the 1860s.

Birthright citizenship became one of the major clauses to address and overturn slavery in the United States. And it overturned one of the most

notorious decisions, perhaps the worst decision in U.S. Supreme Court history.

It has a very long history, a very long tradition. The courts have consistently upheld it. And so it would be incredibly unlikely that the

current Supreme Court, under current doctrine, would overturn it.

The only way that he could overturn, we can envision at this point, birthright citizenship would be with another constitutional amendment. And

amending the Constitution is so difficult. Again, very unlikely at this point.

But having said that, he's made this argument, he's issued this executive order. It's going to be fought out in the courts. It's going to drag out

for a while. But again, given existing constitutional law, the order is unconstitutional.

GIOKOS: Yes. So I mean, putting constitutional law aside.

[10:40:00]

And you clearly see the numbers from polling that it is not very popular. Yes, about 56 percent of Republicans are for this.

But again, as Harry Enten was describing, if you look at popularity of Donald Trump, it's sitting at around 96 percent. Harry Enten is of the view

that this isn't something he should be pursuing.

Do you believe that he should drop this?

SCHULTZ: It would make sense for -- if he wants to actually pass it, it would make sense for him to drop it. Think about yesterday in his inaugural

speech, where he talked about wanting to be a unifier, that the division in America was over.

Clearly, this is a type of policy that's going to divide both the party as well as America. So if he wants to be able to move other things on to his

agenda, this could very well be a stumbling block to other, let's say, immigration reform or other policy reform.

GIOKOS: On that -- and we know that there's been a state of emergency declared at the southern border -- U.S. immigration system currently has a

backlog of 3.7 million court cases and that would take four years to work through at the current pace. And that's according to Axios.

What is the U.S. benefit?

Would the U.S. benefit a lot more from getting more judges in place and legal infrastructure than sending more troops to the U.S. border?

Because if this is something they want to do, they've got to think about implementation.

SCHULTZ: Right. There's two different issues here.

The first issue is can he actually send troops to the border?

And what's called the Posse Comitatus Act, which dates back to 1878, which bars the use of military forces for the purposes of policing. So first off,

use of military forces for this may be illegal.

But second, you hit on a really important point here, an important point about implementation that, for all of these cases that he's going to now

say, for example, we're going to try to send you back or we're going to deny asylum or deny whatever it is, they're going to all be challenged in

court.

And you're going to need a lot more judges. And this is going to be the tension, the whole tension in the Trump administration we saw in Trump's

first term and now second term here.

On the one hand, he wants to move a policy agenda.

On the other hand, he wants to disable the government. You can't do both. To be able to do the type of immigration work that he wants to be able to

do, it's going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars and need a infrastructure, including a legal infrastructure, the likes of which we've

never seen in this country.

This is the basic contradiction yet again, in his administration, between these sort of two, move agenda versus disabled government approaches.

GIOKOS: David Schultz, great to have you with us. Thank you so much for your time and your insights.

All right. So moving on now.

And what role will the tech industry play under president Trump?

Major tech leaders were front and center at the president's inauguration. Brian Stelter will be here to tell us what it means for the next four

years. Stay with CNN.

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GIOKOS: One of the most notable sights at president Trump's inauguration was the presence of major tech leaders. Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff

Bezos and Sundar Pichai were in attendance. Notably, some were seated in front of many of Mr. Trump's cabinet picks.

The close relationship between the new president and the tech industry is raising questions about the role they'll be playing during his term.

Joining us now for more, we've got CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. He's in New York for us.

Let's not forget Elon Musk, who was very excited to be there as well.

Brian, really good to have you with us. I'm going to quote Stephen Collinson, who wrote a fantastic piece, by the way, on cnn.com.

And one of his headlines was, "The tech bros are in the House." And it was really a good way to describe this.

Yes, in many ways, these, you know these tech moguls are really important for disseminating information. And they have they carry a lot of weight.

What influence are they going to have on Donald Trump?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That is the giant question that I have, because yesterday in some ways was an inauguration of the oligarchs.

You know Trump talked about this being a new golden age. He also said it's a new gilded age by having these tech CEOs front and center.

Why were they there?

What were they doing?

Well, for I think people like Apple's Tim Cook and for Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, this is the price you pay as a business leader in the Trump

era. You need to show up because you need to stay off Trump's enemies list.

I mean, look, during the campaign, Trump was clear about his distaste for Zuckerberg, talking about putting Zuckerberg in prison if he ever broke a

law in the future.

Zuckerberg has been trying for weeks now, actually months at this point, to cozy up to Trump. And it's been working. And in some ways, the inauguration

was a culmination of this tech industry embrace of Trump.

But where it goes from here, you know I have all sorts of questions. For example, Trump declared the Gulf of Mexico to be the Gulf of America.

That's something that is not internationally recognized.

But will Apple and Google Maps start to change the name of the of the body of water on their apps?

So far they haven't but Apple and Google haven't commented on what they're going to do. Those are the kinds of practical questions now that are going

to be happening going forward.

GIOKOS: Yes, that's a really good point because this is the thing.

I mean, if they are so close to the president of the United States and they do hold a lot of influence of what people see and read and they have the

power to change things on these platforms, what does it ultimately mean?

And, of course, the very big U-turn for TikTok, which we mustn't forget, it was Donald Trump who wanted to get rid of TikTok many years ago and changed

his mind now.

STELTER: And then, TikTok gave Trump an early PR victory by crediting him with keeping the platform online in the U.S., the man who wanted to ban it

then presented as the savior of the app.

Now on April 5th, that 75 day extension will expire and TikTok might again go dark in the United States. Trump has until early April to try to strike

a deal with the Chinese government. Maybe he'll use his ally, Elon Musk, to do that. That's one of the questions.

Another question is what you just said about the control of information.

Will Trump pressure his new tech friends to quash dissent, to try to tamp down on dissent about his government decisions?

Look, the president's about to undertake a harsh crackdown on immigration. You were just talking about this.

If there are protests, if there are criticisms, right, if there's if there's a social media uprising against the new president, will these tech

companies be in a position to possibly quash that dissent?

That's an open question right now. We haven't seen signs of that happening yet but we know these companies have that kind of power and it's been used

in the past.

So those are kind of the kind of things I'm watching. And then there's one really practical business question here. Right now the U.S. government is

suing Mark Zuckerberg's Meta, suing Google. These big antitrust battles are going on.

Is Trump going to make those go away?

Is he going to go easy on these big tech companies?

They are the most powerful companies in the world. And they suddenly have this transactional ally in the White House.

But if we know one thing about Donald Trump, it's that it is transactional. He's going to want something in return, maybe many things in return. And

that's why watching figures like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk is going to be critical in the months ahead.

GIOKOS: Absolutely. And let me tell you, I'm so glad that you're looking over all these issues. I almost forgot about the legal worries faced by

these tech companies. Brian Stelter, great to have you all over the story for us.

STELTER: Thanks.

GIOKOS: All right. Still to come, what's being called a once in a generation winter storm is hitting parts of the United States' South. This

is Houston. This includes the first ever blizzard warning for parts of Texas and Louisiana. Details are on the way.

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[10:50:00]

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GIOKOS: About 40 million people in the southern United States are under winter weather alerts right now. This is what the city of Houston woke up

to this morning.

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GIOKOS (voice-over): A rare sight for Texans with temperatures plunging below freezing. Forecasters are warning of several inches of snow in states

that are not used to a deep freeze. Governors in Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have already declared states of emergency.

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[10:55:00]

GIOKOS: All right. And peculiar news because it could be good or bad news, depending on what happens on the price of champagne. Now champagne sales

have gone flat and the makers say people around the world just aren't in the mood to celebrate.

Champagne shipments from France fell last year by nearly 10 percent. It is the second straight year that sales have dropped. The Champagne Trade

Association says people are partying less than usual, blaming a combination of inflation, wars and political uncertainty.

Now what I need to investigate is whether champagne prices have actually dropped, because that might be a signal to go and buy.

All right, well, that's it for CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Eleni Giokos stay with CNN. "NEWSROOM" with Rahel Solomon is up next.

END