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Isa Soares Tonight
WH to Speak on Deadly Midair Collision; All 67 on Board Two Aircrafts Presumed Dead; FAA Closes Helicopter Routes Near Reagan National Airport; White House Holds News Briefing; Germany Reject Oppositions Migration Law Draft. Aired 1-2p ET
Aired January 31, 2025 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and a warm welcome. I'm Isa Soares.
Tonight, do not adjust your watches, we are starting an hour earlier because any moment now, we are expecting to hear from White House Press
Secretary Karoline Leavitt, as you can see there, as major questions remain after Wednesday's deadly midair collision near Washington. As soon as that
gets underway there in the White House, we will bring it to you.
Let me bring you up to date with what you know -- what we know so far about that collision. All 67 people on board the two aircraft are presumed dead.
And we'll take you, of course, to that press conference in just a moment.
The federal officials have closed the airspace, they've done so in the last, what, two hours or so around Reagan National Airport to helicopter
traffic. This as recovery crews in the Potomac battle bad weather, mud, as well as near zero visibility and incredibly cold, cold waters there as
well. The black boxes from the passenger plane have been recovered and investigators hope they will shed more light on how the crash happened.
On Thursday, if you remember, President Trump baselessly claimed that Democrats and Federal Diversity Initiative should, in part, take the blame
for this tragic collision. He also said today, on his Truth Social platform, the army helicopter was flying too high.
Our Arlette Saenz joins me now with more details. And, Arlette, apologies if I have to interrupt as we wait to hear -- take -- go to the White House
for this press briefing. Just bring us up to date on where we are in the investigation. Because there's plenty of moving parts at this hour.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there really are. This investigation remains incredibly fluid. It is still at this point being led
by the NTSB, which has said that they hope to produce a preliminary report within 30 days, but acknowledge that the investigation, the totality of it,
could extend for another year.
Now, one key piece that has happened in the last 24 hours is that investigators, recovery teams have been able to recover the black boxes
belonging to that American Airlines passenger jets. These will be critical as they will include flight data and voice recordings providing and
painting a picture, perhaps, of what some of those final moments were like as that passenger jet collided with that Army Black Hawk helicopter.
Now, earlier today, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that they had not yet recovered the black box belonging to that helicopter. So, that is
another key piece of evidence that the NTSB will need as they conduct this investigation to determine what exactly led to this collision.
SAENZ: And, Arlette, we have heard also, and I mentioned at the top of the show, that we've heard in the last few hours that the FAA has indefinitely,
right, shut down helicopter routes. What more can you tell us about these routes and the decision to do this?
SAENZ: Yes, this is a very significant action by the Federal Aviation Administration, an official telling our colleague Pete Muntean earlier
today that they are now shutting down that very exact low altitude helicopter corridor that was used on Wednesday night by that Army Black
Hawk helicopter.
Now, this is a route known as Route 4, and it is a specialized corridor located, if you're familiar with Washington, D.C. at all, just east to
Reagan National Airport. It is used by local law enforcement, medevac, military, and government planes. It is just north of the Wilson Bridge,
which connects Virginia and D.C. And the FAA said that they are also shutting down another corridor known as Route 1. That is just below the Key
Bridge, which connects Georgetown with Roslyn, Virginia.
This is important as they are trying to determine how exactly this collision occurred and also trying to prevent one from happening again.
Now, overnight, the New York Times reported that the helicopter actually was flying a bit off of the planned path. And New York Times has sources
that said that it was flying above 200 feet. That corridor that has now been shut down had a ceiling, a limit that aircraft was not supposed to fly
above 200 feet. So, that is a major question right now that investigators are trying to look into what the altitude of that helicopter was, why it
might have been off of the projected and approved path that had been set before.
Of course, it also comes as there's a lot of concerns about congestion around this airport. You've heard that from Democratic lawmakers in
Virginia who have pushed back about adding additional flights to Reagan National already, one of the country's biggest airports.
[13:05:00]
And so, the decision to shut down this corridor will give the officials, investigators more time to determine what happened here and try to prevent
another incident like this from happening again.
SOARES: And I'll add, you normally cover the White House for us. So, you know, put your White House hat on for just a moment because, of course, as
we wait for this press conference, which actually is just about to start, I'm going to interject. Let's just go to the White House press.
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Good to see all of you. Happy Friday. It's great to be back with you.
I want to provide an update on President Trump's actions in the wake of the catastrophic air collision that tragically claimed the lives of 67 people
at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night.
Everyone in this White House continues to mourn the victims and keep their friends and families in our thoughts and prayers during this unimaginable
time.
First, within moments of the collision, the president and his newly appointed team were in immediate communication. The president was briefed
on Wednesday evening following the crash, again on Thursday morning, and he has continued to receive updates as recovery efforts continue on the
ground.
The president, as you know, took time to address the nation yesterday afternoon. To deliver accountability, President Trump swiftly signed a
memorandum directing an immediate assessment of the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure the federal government is maintaining the highest
personnel and policy aviation safety standards.
The memorandum directs the secretary of transportation and the FAA administrator to immediately review all hiring decisions and changes to
safety protocols made during the prior four years and to take all necessary corrective actions to achieve uncompromised aviation safety.
The review will include a comprehensive assessment and reversal of any deterioration in hiring standards and aviation safety standards and
protocols during the previous administration. Aviation safety was addressed by President Trump before this tragic collision even took place.
On his second day in office, the president signed a memorandum to immediately stop Biden DEI hiring programs and return to nondiscriminatory,
merit-based hiring. And in 2018, during President Trump's first term, the Department of Transportation announced it would put an end, at that time,
to use the biological questionnaire that was Obama administration, which punished skilled applicants.
President Trump has long led on the issue of aviation safety, and he will continue to do so. He will continue to deliver on the promises he made to
the American people at record speed.
The Senate has already confirmed eight of President Trump's exceptional cabinet nominees, including most recently, Transportation Secretary Sean
Duffy, as you of course know, EPA Secretary Lee Zeldin, and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who is scheduled to be sworn in later today. We
expect the Senate to continue quickly confirming the remainder of President Trump's well qualified nominees in the days ahead.
Earlier this week in the East Room, the president proudly signed the Laken Riley Act into law, surrounded by Laken's loving parents and sister. This
common sense, bipartisan law mandates the federal detention of illegal aliens who are accused of theft, burglary, assaulting a law enforcement
officer, and any crime that causes death or serious bodily injury, like the animal who murdered Laken Riley in cold blood.
This was the first piece of legislation President Trump proudly signed as the 47th president of the United States, and it will guarantee that Laken
did not die in vain. As Laken's mother, Allyson, tearfully said during the signing event, President Trump said he would secure our borders, and that
he would never forget about Laken, and he hasn't. He's a man of his word, and we trust that he will fight for the American people. Those are the
words of Laken's mother, and we will never forget them.
So, to help lock up even more criminal, illegal aliens, President Trump signed a memorandum this week to detain them at Guantanamo Bay. This action
will expand the Migrant Operations Center at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay to full capacity to provide critical extra detention space for high
priority criminal illegals.
Our brave ICE agents continue to arrest more and more of these types of individuals every day in communities across our country.
And I have more updates for you. On January 27, 2025, ICE Chicago arrested a citizen of Guatemala who has been convicted of solicitation to meet a
child, disturbing, and sentenced to 24 months' probation. On January 28, 2025, ICE Atlanta arrested a citizen of South Korea who has been convicted
of nine counts of possession or control of material depicting minors in sexually explicit conduct.
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On January 28th, ICE New York arrested a Mexican national previously charged by the State of New York for attempted murder and possession of a
weapon and assault. And on January 28th, ICE Philly arrested a citizen of Mexico who has been convicted of possession of child pornography. Our
message is simple, if you are a criminal, illegal alien, you will be arrested and deported.
On another important matter, the nation's report card was released this week, and the news is not good. It showed that U.S. students had record low
reading comprehension scores last year. It's National School Choice Week, and in part of the president's commitment to education, he just left a
roundtable in the Roosevelt Room focused on this issue with leaders from across the country.
The national report card showed that 70 percent of 8th graders were below proficient in reading and 40 percent of 4th graders did not even meet the
basic reading levels. This is completely unacceptable to the president and he continues to take aggressive actions to address this education problem
in our country. He signed an executive order this week prohibiting federal funding of the indoctrination of our children, including radical gender
ideology and critical race theory in the classroom.
The president believes American education should focus on cultivating patriotic citizens who are ready for the workforce. And this action will
help get schools back on track and defend fundamental parental rights in education. The president also signed a school choice executive order
expanding educational freedom and opportunity for families.
And in lighter news, but in exciting news, after announcing our briefing room changes on Wednesday, this White House has received more than 10,000
submissions from individuals across the country who are eager to join all of you. We might have to make this room a little bit bigger to do that. Who
want to participate in our new media seat at a future briefing.
So, in this seat today, we have the Ruthless Podcast. They humbly started by entertaining small audiences on Capitol Hill. But after four years, this
program has become one of the most influential podcasts in America. They previously reached number one on the charts and earned over 25 million
downloads as they deliver political news with a humorous touch.
The hosts are Josh Holmes, Michael Duncan, Comfortably Smug, and the man joining us today, John Ashbrook. So, with that, I will take your questions.
John, please kick us off.
JOHN ASHBROOK, RUTHLESS PODCAST: Thank you very much. You know, Karoline, in your first briefing, the media went after this administration for
reporting illegal immigrants they claimed were not criminals.
LEAVITT: That's right.
ASHBROOK: The question is, do you think they're out of touch with Americans demanding action on our border crisis?
LEAVITT: The media out of touch? I think that media certainly is out of touch, and I think that's proven by a number of things, John. Number one,
there was a New York Times poll that was released prior to President Trump's inauguration by the New York Times, which of course is a legacy
media outlet, that showed that 83 percent of Americans support deporting the individuals that you mentioned, illegal immigrant criminals, especially
those who have committed heinous crimes in the interior of our country.
And I received a very, actually, interesting statistic on this front from ICE this week, 97 percent of the deportations that this administration has
made thus far are of individuals who had a removal order from the previous administration but were never removed from the interior of our country.
So, this shows that the previous administration was actually defying our laws, and all this administration is doing is simply following the laws,
the immigration laws of this great country. Thanks for the question, John. Anything else?
ASHBROOK: No, that's it.
LEAVITT: OK. Great. Peter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Karoline. If President Trump is telling us that air traffic control towers are staffed with unqualified controllers, these
DEI hires who never should have been brought on, then it's not safe to fly commercially, is it?
LEAVITT: The president was asked to answer this yesterday, and he believes that it is still indeed safe, and Americans should feel safe traveling our
skies. With that said, two things can be true at the same time. And we certainly have seen the deterioration of federal hiring standards at the
Federal Aviation Administration. And the president wants to increase those standards. He wants pilots in this country who have the great
responsibility of flying American citizens by the tens of millions every single day to be chosen for that position based on their merit and their
skills. And so, the administration will continue to prioritize this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was the air traffic controller in the DCA tower on Wednesday night hired or not fired at some point because of his or her
race?
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LEAVITT: That investigation is ongoing. And so, when we have updates on the exact individuals who were involved in the collision, including the air
traffic controller, also the pilots of the helicopter and others, we will confirm those. I don't want to confirm names from this podium today. We're
not in a position to do that.
But I will say the president has still rightfully pointed out that there has been problems with the aviation industry over the past several years.
And this started under Barack Obama in 2014.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And when the president says, on Truth Social, the Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200-
foot limit, that's not really too complicated to understand, is it? Is he suggesting a helicopter malfunction, or a crew error, or a crew doing this
intentionally?
LEAVITT: No, the president is simply stating what he said in that Truth Social post, which is that the helicopter was flying higher than it should
have been, which is one of the reasons that led to this collision, and the other reasons for that are still being investigated, and I will let that
investigation play out. Kelly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of our colleagues have obtained a memo from the Defense Intelligence Agency that talks about not holding any activities or
programming related to Black History Month to be in line with the president's views on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Does the president
plan to have a proclamation about Black History Month in his first term, each of the four years of his term, he did so and called on those in
government to have programming activities and celebrations? Is he going to do that this year?
LEAVITT: Yes, the president looks forward to signing a proclamation celebrating Black History Month. I actually spoke with our great staff
secretary. It's in the works of being approved and it's going to be ready for the president's signature to signify the beginning of that tomorrow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If an agency is calling off those kinds of activities in an attempt to be in alignment with the president's views on DEI and
other things, should they adjust that now and have those programs and make those celebrations however they see fit in the office?
LEAVITT: The president is leading here at the White House, and I'll leave it to the proclamation that he will sign very soon. Mary, great to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks for having us. So, I wanted to follow up on the gender executive orders that you mentioned. First of all, we know that
President Trump has taken a bunch of steps to protect children from irreversible transgender procedures. Is he interested in backing
congressional legislation on this point? And does the Trump administration have interest in investigating doctors who perform these irreversible
procedures on kids, such as a double mastectomy on a minor girl?
LEAVITT: Well, the president has already taken a very strong stance on this issue this week with the signing of his executive order -- a few
executive orders in this space. First, he made it the official policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes, male and female, and
we have directed all federal agencies to comply with that policy.
As for congressional legislation to support the president's agenda in this space and certainly ending the mutilation of young children, the chemical
castration of young children, which is a barbaric practice that the vast majority of Americans do not support for young minor children, certainly,
the president would support Congress' efforts as he has already made that very clear this week. Jennifer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Rick Grinnell's trip to Venezuela to meet with Nicolas Maduro, is there anything you can share on timing on that, what his
agenda is, what the mission of that trip is?
LEAVITT: Yes. So, I can confirm that Rick Grinnell is in Venezuela today. I can confirm that Rick Grinnell is going to Venezuela -- or is in
Venezuela with a very two immediate directives from the president of the United States.
Number one, Rick Grinnell has been instructed to identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights of Tren de Aragua members Venezuelan
nationals who have broken our nation's laws will land in Venezuela. As I said at this podium a few days ago, we expect every nation on this planet
to cooperate with the repatriation of our citizens. And so, Rick Grinnell is in Venezuela to ensure that can continue.
And number two, Rick Grinnell is in Venezuela to ensure that all U.S. detainees in Venezuela are returned home. That's his mission. And I will
provide a readout after this trip.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Bob Menendez, can you tell us if anyone has approached the White House or the president about a pardon or a
commutation?
LEAVITT: I have not been part of those discussions. If they have, I am not sure if they have, but I won't speculate on potential pardons that may or
may not happen. To my awareness, the answer is no. Justin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Friends at Reuters are reporting that the president has made a decision on the Canada-Mexico tariffs, but that they won't actually
be implemented until March 1st. I was wondering if you could confirm that and talk through some of the president's thinking there.
LEAVITT: I saw that report, and it is false. I was just with the president in the Oval Office and I can confirm that tomorrow, the February 1st
deadline that President Trump Put into place at a statement several weeks ago continues the president will be implementing tomorrow a 25 percent
tariffs on Mexico, 25 percent tariffs on Canada, and a 10 percent tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to
distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans. These are promises made and promises kept by the president.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president yesterday said that last night he was planning to discuss whether an exemption would be made on oil imports. Do
you have any information on what decision he made there, or will there be exemptions at all offered under this?
LEAVITT: I don't have an update or readout for you on the exemptions, but those tariffs will be for public consumption in about 24 hours tomorrow.
So, you can read them then. Steven Nelson (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, Karoline. I have three questions, if that's alright. I'd like to ask you about press freedom, and then about
two economic matters.
LEAVITT: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On press freedom, on Tuesday, you announced plans to roll back the more restrictive press badge policy with Biden and White
House. But there's a different anti-press freedom policy I wanted to ask about. The Biden White House adopted a mysterious prescreening process
where journalists allowed into large event spaces that in the pre-pandemic base, first Trump term, were open to all journalists on campus. This
effectively limited the diversity of reporters present and blocked the asking questions that large segments of the American public wanted
answered.
As press secretary, can commit to abolishing this mysterious pre-screening process?
LEAVITT: There were a lot of mysterious processes that my team and I have had to unravel over the past two weeks that were implemented by the
previous White House, and in particular, the previous press shop here. And so, I can commit to a greater access and transparency, which I believe we
already have by ensuring that the 440 journalists whose credentials were revoked will be reinstalled. They will get their credentials if they wish
to. We've also, of course, opened up a new seat to new media.
And as far as open press events here at the White House, if we tell you it's open press, it's open press.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, just to confirm, this prescreening thing is something you're going to work to undo to the maximum extent possible?
LEAVITT: When we say something is open press, it will mean it's open press.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Economic matters, if I can just ask them both at once for you.
LEAVITT: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In New York City, Governor Hochul's congestion pricing went into effect this month. Vehicles that drive through parts of Manhattan
have to pay a $9 toll. President Trump has made clear his opposition. He said that it's, quote, "the most progressive tax known to womankind." Will
the administration be trying to block this?
And the second question is, millions and -- maybe tens of millions of Americans who voted for President Trump were excited about his plans to do
away with taxes on tips, overtime, Social Security benefits. But there's uncertainty about the timing of this. So, can you clarify for them when
this is going to happen? And does President Trump want this to be in the first -- all three of those in the first batch of legislation early this
year?
LEAVITT: Well, to answer your question in one swoop, I will say that President Trump is committed to lowering taxes for Americans and cutting
taxes for Americans. As for congestion pricing in New York, I do know that the president spoke with Governor Hochul about that. I don't have any, you
know, actions, so to speak, to read out for you on that issue today.
Number two, when it comes to no taxes on tips and Social Security, the president has made it very clear to our allies on Capitol Hill that is a
critical piece of this reconciliation package, and he expects that his tax cuts from 2017, which put a lot more money back into the American people's
pockets, those must be implemented. And no tax on tips, the president is intent on delivering on that promise, and he will get it done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And over time also is a part of reconciliation?
LEAVITT: Yes. Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks, Karoline. Can you guarantee that those tariffs won't increase prices for Americans, including at the gas pump and
the grocery store?
LEAVITT: I think Americans who are concerned about increased prices should look at what President Trump did in his first term. He effectively
implemented tariffs, and the average inflation rate during the first Trump administration was 1.9 percent. In fact, when President Trump left office,
it was 1.4 percent.
So, President Trump is going to do everything he possibly can to cut the inflation crisis that the previous administration imposed on the American
people, and he will continue to effectively utilize tariffs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If those tariffs do increase prices for Americans, will the administration reverse them?
LEAVITT: That's a hypothetical question. And the president is intent on ensuring that he effectively implements tariffs while cutting inflation and
cost for the American people. And, you know, the media has this way of just looking at everything in a microscope rather than looking at the whole of
government economic approach that this president is taking.
He will effectively implement tariffs. He's also, as I just answered from Steven's question, committed to taxing cuts. He's also clearly committed,
as evidenced by his executive orders, to unleashing the might of our energy industry, which we know will eventually drive down inflation and all the
other economic measures that this president has made will have a Trump incoming economic boom, just like we saw in our first term.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And has the White House found any --
LEAVITT: Fox Business, please.
[13:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Thanks. Thanks, Karoline.
LEAVITT: You're welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said today that if the U.S. imposes tariffs, he will respond and he will not
relent until the tariffs are removed. Are we seeing the start of a trade war with Canada?
LEAVITT: I don't think so. I think the president is going to implement those tariffs tomorrow and he will respond to Mr. Trudeau's comments in due
time, I am sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What type of things have to happen? What does the administration need to see in order to avoid those tariffs?
LEAVITT: Well, the tariffs are incoming tomorrow on Canada. And the reason for that is because both Canada and Mexico have allowed an unprecedented
invasion of illegal fentanyl that is killing American citizens and also illegal immigrants into our country.
In fact, I have more language for you right here. Canada, Mexico, and China, which as I mentioned, President Trump will implement at 10 percent
China, have all enabled illegal drugs to pour into America. The amount of fentanyl that has been seized at the southern border in the last two years
alone has the potential to kill tens of millions of Americans.
And so, the president is intent on doing this, and I think Justin Trudeau would be wise to talk to President Trump directly before pushing outlandish
comments like that to the media.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I may, one more question.
LEAVITT: Yes, Lindsey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to go back to the plane crash for one -- let me go back to the plane crash for just one second.
LEAVITT: You're interrupting your colleague, but sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you called on me.
LEAVITT: I called on Lindsey.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Just a quick question. The president this morning said the Black Hawk helicopter was
flying too high. I'm wondering if he's basing that on what he learned from investigators, and if you could offer a little bit more of a window into
how he is keeping abreast of this investigation.
LEAVITT: Sure.
ZELENY: Is the NTSB briefing him separately? Is he meeting in the Situation Room? You just sort of offer a window into that.
LEAVITT: Yes, the president based that statement on truth, because it is truth and it's fact, and it was relayed to him by the authorities who are
overseeing the investigation into this horrific plane collision. And the president, as I said in my opening remarks, continues to be briefed on the
collision by everybody across his cabinet, the secretary of transportation, the secretary of defense, the NTSB, who the commissioner there was in the
Oval Office with him yesterday. Lindsey. Lindsey, go ahead. Lindsey, go ahead. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In recent days, the CIA actually revealed that they do also believe that COVID-19 was from a lab leak in Wuhan, China. How is
the president planning on responding to this additional intel from the CIA and will it impact how he responds to them with tariffs?
LEAVITT: Yes, kudos to John Ratcliffe for revealing that truth and that fact to the American people. Many years too late, the Biden administration
had a chance to let the American people know the truth about that, and for some reason they chose not to.
I also would just like to point out that several years ago when I was working in this press shop and President Trump would take to this podium to
brief the American people on COVID-19, he suggested that COVID very well may have came from a lab in Wuhan, China. And many members in this very
room mocked him for that, said he was spewing conspiracy theories. He was not. We now know that to be the confirmable truth. It took many years for
it to come out, but the president was right in this instance again. Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Karoline, thank you. I wanted to ask about Secretary Rubio's trips to Panama first.
LEAVITT: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did the conversations look like with President Trump on that? The president of Panama says it is, quote, "impossible to
negotiate over the canal." So, what are you expecting from this visit?
LEAVITT: So, I have not been present for Secretary Rubio's conversations with President Trump about the Panama Canal. I have been present for
President Trump's own thoughts on the Panama Canal, and you've all seen them as well in his public statements that he has shown. He believes it's
unacceptable that the canal is essentially run by the Chinese Communist Party.
If you look at both ends of the canal, massive Chinese Communist Party linked companies run the canal. That's unfair to the American people, many
of whom lost their lives many years ago building this canal. The American taxpayers are paying millions of dollars for the canal, and the president
believes it's in our national interest as a nation for Secretary Rubio to go there and begin these discussions, and that's exactly why he's doing
that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline?
LEAVITT: Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, Karoline. Is the United States in the process of pulling out of Syria militarily, because president wanted to
do that in his first term as well and he had a lot of pushbacks from the Pentagon and Congress? And based on what he said yesterday, is he
considering doing that in a short time?
LEAVITT: The president was asked and answered this question yesterday and he, as the commander in chief of the United States military, reserves the
right to review troop deployments overseas at any point in time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a topic right now?
LEAVITT: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Two questions. So, we now know that the staffing was not normal at the air traffic tower. And so, with the
government freezing the hiring of new federal workers and offering (INAUDIBLE), are you not afraid that more incidents of different kind could
happen with less staffing in different agencies?
[13:30:00]
LEAVITT: Well, the president is intent on ensuring that we are increasing staffing at these agencies, and that's why he signed a very strong
executive order on his second day in office immediately terminating DEI hiring practices at the FAA. He also, following the tragic crash, as you
all know, in the Oval Office yesterday, signed a memorandum directing an immediate of the FAA to ensure the federal government is maintaining the
highest personnel and aviation safety standards.
And I would also just say there's a cultural piece to this as well. If you are an American who has spent many years studying aviation and you, you
know, graduate from school and you're an air traffic controller based on skill and merit and then you apply for a job and you are forced to fill out
a biographical questionnaire asking you the color of your skin and asking you where you're from and details that aren't relevant at all to the job
description, I think that deteriorates the morale of people in this industry.
And if you talk to people in this industry, they'll tell you that. In fact, many of them filed a lawsuit against the FAA a couple of years ago under
Joe Biden's administration because they were denied positions because of this DEI hiring practice that was putting identity politics over merit and
skills. That's unacceptable.
And I think just to put a fine point on this, because this is the third or fourth question I've answered on this subject. When you are flying on an
airplane with your loved ones, which every one of us in this room has, do you pray that your plane lands safely and gets you to your destination, or
do you pray that the pilot has a certain skin color? I think we all know the answer to that question, and as President Trump said yesterday, it's
common sense. Rob Crilley (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'd just like to follow up on that last question, actually. Has there been any sort of assurance from the FAA that they will
immediately improve staffing levels, given the reports of not normal staffing levels on Wednesday?
LEAVITT: Oh, absolutely. You had Secretary Duffy here yesterday at the White House at this podium saying that he is on it. And we can all trust
that he definitely will be. John Decker (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Karoline. Thanks a lot Karoline. You called on me, right?
LEAVITT: Yes, I did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
LEAVITT: As long as your name's still John Decker (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is. Absolutely. Thank you. You know, the president's meeting today with the founder and CEO of NVIDIA, what is that meeting
concerning and who sought that meeting?
LEAVITT: I don't have details on this. It's a private meeting. It will take place --
SOARES: You've been listening there to the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. It's the second press conference, of course, in this new
administration. A wide-ranging press conference that you heard there that we're going to leave for the time being. Everything talking about aviation
safety, of course, that midair -- that deadly midair collision there in Washington that left 67 people on board dead.
She talked about aviation safety, DEI programs, ICE raids as well, saying if you're a criminal, illegal alien, you will be arrested and deported. She
talked about the hearings that we've seen this week. We've had Kash Patel, Tusli Gabbard, Robert FK Jr. She talked about the indoctrination of
children. We'll get to that in just a moment.
And then, she talked as well about tariffs, tariffs on Canada, tariffs on China, as well as tariffs on Mexico. 25 percent for Canada and Mexico, that
will start as of tomorrow, implemented as of tomorrow. 10 percent for China. Plenty for us to dissect there whilst we'll leave that.
We have Arlette Saenz who joins us for more. And, Arlette, let me start off on the aviation safety because, yet again, we have heard this White House
doubling down on the -- really the policies, DEI policies that we heard from President Trump.
SAENZ: Yes, we really have, Isa. And President Trump came out to that White House press briefing podium yesterday and said that he believes that
part of the reason that this collision happened was due to the policies in place by Democrats in the previous administration, as well as diversity,
equity, and inclusion hiring practices. But he's making those claims without any evidence that they played any type of role in this disaster.
Last night, he signed that memorandum that is now directing a review of the previous four years of policy regarding the FAA Department of
Transportation, saying he wants to see whether there was any damage that has been done. He also wants to take a look specifically at those DEI
hiring practices. This is something that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt today, once again, really doubled down on, saying that
these are things that need to be examined.
Though, so far, there really has been no proof of these baseless claims that the president has been making that DEI policies played any role in
this incident on Wednesday night.
SOARES: Yes, and talking about -- when we heard from Karoline Leavitt saying identity politics being put over merit and skill. She also was asked
a couple of times about what we heard from President Trump yesterday that the helicopter -- I think he said on social media that the helicopter was
flying higher than it ought to be. She was then pressed on this, how does he know?
[13:35:00]
And it's from our own, Jeff Zeleny, and she seemed to give us more information that this fact, she said, had been relayed to him. But yes, we
haven't heard from FAA or NTSB on this.
SAENZ: No, that's right. There has been no federal entity who has publicly said that this was the case. There was that reporting in the New York Times
over the last about 12 hours that had said that they were told by sources that this army helicopter was flying above the 200 feet altitude limit that
is set for helicopters in that route.
Then this morning, you heard from President Trump via Truth Social saying that the helicopter was flying way too high, was way above that 200-foot
limit, but he didn't cite any specifics of where he got that information. Karoline Levitt there told our colleague Jeff Zeleny that this is based in
fact, and this is based on the information that's been relayed to him by the authorities looking into this. But we have yet to hear from the FAA,
NTSB, Department of Transportation publicly that this was actually the case. So, those are still a lot of details that I think need to be made
public to the American people at this point.
Now, it also comes, as we're hearing, that the FAA has taken the significant step to shut down that low altitude helicopter corridor that
was being used by that helicopter on Wednesday night. This is a helicopter route that is just east of Reagan National Airport, north of the Wilson
Bridge. And so, this is a step that the FAA is taking as the NTSB continues their investigation to figure out what happened, but also trying to ensure
that there isn't another incident like this in the future.
There have been other close calls at Reagan National Airport, which has one of the busiest runways in the country. Just one night before the fatal
collision that occurred Wednesday evening, there was another passenger jet that was coming into Reagan National, and the pilot said he had to abort
his initial landing because he had seen -- there was a helicopter in view within their space.
So, these are all major concerns for the investigation, for federal officials as they continue to try to figure out what has happened, trying
to prevent this from occurring again. But again, the president has said that these helicopters flying too high, we just have yet to hear that
information publicly from the FAA or any other authorities who are investigating this matter.
SOARES: What we do hear very clearly today, and really is the breaking news that we've had in the last few minutes from Karoline Leavitt, is that
the president, President Trump, will move forward with these tariffs on Canada, on Mexico, 25 percent as of tomorrow and 10 percent on China.
SAENZ: Yes, this is something that President Trump has been planning for quite some time. He talked about this on the campaign trail, wanting to
raise tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as China. And he had set this February 1st deadline. There had been questions about whether that was
actually going to move forward, and it now appears that it does.
Now, there are still, I think, a lot of details that need to be ironed out here. But of course, it raises a lot of questions about how this will
impact U.S. relations between two of the United States' traditionally closest allies, Mexico and Canada. You have seen Trump in this back and
forth with the leaders from each country. And then, there's the big question of China going forward as well.
But this is a campaign promise that President Trump has made. Now, we have to see what it is actually like in practice and how it will affect
relations, how it will affect the economy and also whether this could erupt into some type of trade war between the U.S. and any of these countries.
SOARES: Yes, especially because we heard today that Canada said it would response, we will see what would that -- what the impact will be on that.
Arlette, a lot for us to get through. Appreciate you staying with us. Thanks very much, Arlette.
Let me go to our Larry Sabato, who is being very patiently waiting and listening. Larry, great to see director of the Center for Politics at the
University of Virginia.
So, Larry, what did -- what stood out to you? I mean, for me, we're going to leave the tariff is just a moment. But first, again, we had press
secretary doubling down, again, on this DEI reason without any unsubstantiated, I should say, that this may have led to this horrible,
horrific collision.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: That's exactly right. This is a propaganda show. Now, it is for all press
secretaries, but this one is clearly going to achieve new heights. I don't think there's any question about that. Whatever. President Trump has said,
essentially her answer is going to be, President Trump is the greatest thing since cream cheese and sliced bread. And that's obvious to all of
you. And if you disagree, please leave, or let me turn to the new person from alternative media in this seat over here to ask a very friendly
question.
[13:40:00]
OK. That's -- as I say, all presidents do that, all press secretaries do that to a certain degree. But this was just pure propaganda and always
coming back to the same themes, the unproven charge that DEI had absolutely anything to do with this horrific crash.
You know, it's amazing. We've had centuries of existence now, and when terrible tragedies occur, presidents in the past have done their best to
comfort the families and help them with the grieving process. Well, no, there's another agenda here. It's to stress whatever it is that Donald
Trump has on his mind and at the top of his policy agenda, and that's what he's chosen to do. And I think it's going to wear thin pretty quickly.
SOARES: And on that note, I mean, I heard Democratic Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut say today, it's kind of incredible that a president of the
United States can say that. What he's saying is that the only people who are competent to run anything in this country are white men. How did those
words and the fact that it's been repeated, doubling down every single day for the past couple of days, with unfounded, completely unfounded, as you
say, how does that sitting across the aisle, even with Republicans here, and indeed with Americans, us over here, we're scratching our heads?
SABATO: Well, Republicans, of course, even if they know it's nonsense will, of course, in public agree with Trump. So, you're never going to get
anything contradictory from them. And then, this is all about the base. It still is. The election's over, but it's still about the base.
So, the MAGA base, the Make America Great Again base that has propelled Trump into the presidency twice what's it consists of? Overwhelmingly, it
is white. Yes, he got more votes than he ever has before from Hispanics and blacks, other people of color, but it's still a small percentage of his
vote.
His vote is overwhelmingly white. It is disproportionately male. It is disproportionately blue collar or working class. And they eat this stuff
up.
SOARES: Let's get to some of the facts that we heard today, what we know for sure, and that is that President Trump is going to move forward with
these tariffs on Canada, on Mexico, as of tomorrow, 25 percent for both those countries and 10 percent on China. We know that Mexico and Canada say
they would retaliate. How do you see this playing out here?
SABATO: Well, I want to see whether he puts a date certain on it. You know, he can announce it tomorrow, but it can go into effect later, you
know, more period for bluffing and negotiating and all the rest, and there's nothing wrong with that necessarily. But if this actually happens,
I mean, if we actually have these substantial tariffs on Canada and Mexico, given the fact that they're such substantial trading partners of the U.S.
and they apply tariffs as well, which of course they will do, it's going to drive prices up.
Apparently, there are some advisers to President Trump who think that the world is made of rainbows and everything will be great and prices will be
lowered by tariffs, well, the vast majority of economists say otherwise. We'll find out who's right. But if inflation goes up again and the price of
eggs, let's say, already skyrocketing, continues to skyrocket, and the price of gas goes up and all kinds of other things, I think it will have
political consequences, adverse consequences for Donald Trump.
SOARES: Yes, indeed, especially when we heard from the Fed this week, clearly watching and waiting and seeing what the impact of these policies
are and how that has any sort of inflationary pressures, that is critical. So, much for us to get through. Unfortunately, we're running out of time.
Larry, appreciate you staying with us and listening to that press conference and breaking it all down for us as always. Thank you, Larry.
SABATO: Enjoyed it. Thanks so much.
SOARES: Thank you very much. We are going to take a short break. We're back on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:45:00]
SOARES: Germany's parliament has rejected a draft law on tightening immigration policy. The bill was put forward by Friedrich Merz, the leader
of the opposition CDU Conservatives, with the support of the far-right. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Merz for working with the
far-right, a long held political taboo. Our Fred Pleitgen has the very latest for you from Berlin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a pretty big blow for German conservative political hopeful Friedrich Merz as a
motion that he tabled in German parliament seeking to severely restrict migration into this country was rejected by German parliament after what
was a long and very controversial debate in the Bundestag.
Now, Friedrich Merz made an impassioned plea for other parties to vote in favor of his motion, saying that in the end, all of these were common sense
measures that other parties could support.
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION (through translator): Are you serious that in view of the fact that groups of parents are now coming
together all over Germany, of children who have been victimized by asylum seekers, of the most serious criminal offenses, are you serious that we
cannot make a decision on this today in the center of the German Bundestag? You can't be serious.
PLEITGEN: In the end, however, that was not enough to convince, especially Merz's political rivals in German parliament. First and foremost, of
course, the Social Democrats around German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, but of course, the Green Party, which is in a coalition with Scholz as well.
Now, on the face of it, the measures that were promoted by Merz don't appear to be very controversial and certainly are things that other
political parties have talked about in the past as well. One of them is making it a goal of German migration policy to curb migration into Germany
rather than to manage migration, which is the wording now.
It also wants to give more authority to the German Federal Police to stop illegal border crossings into Germany. And it also wants to make sure that
asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected are not allowed to bring further family members into Germany as well. All of this has become a big-
ticket issue here in this country after a string of attacks by mostly rejected asylum seekers, often leading to the deaths of German citizens.
And the Green Party and the Social Democrats had said that they do want to tighten restrictions and allow fewer people into the country, but the big
issue for them was that votes from the right-wing Alternative for Germany, AfD, were necessary to push the measure through. In fact, the parliamentary
whip of the Social Democrats said that Merz was doing a deal with the devil.
ROLF MUTZENICH, CHAIRMAN, BUNDESTAG'S SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY GROUP (through translator): It's not too late, this sin will forever be with
you. But the door to hell, yes, I am saying the door to hell, we can still close together. You must put the firewall up again. Put up the firewall
again.
PLEITGEN: All of this, of course, is a big issue and a controversial issue here in the society as well, with polls indicating that a majority of
Germans do want tighter restrictions on migration into this country. At the same time, though, there were also protests against these measures in front
of the headquarters of the Conservative Party.
[13:50:00]
The one party that says it came out a winner in all of this is the alternative for Germany, the right-wing party, which says that they were
the ones who remained strong in all of this.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And our thanks to Fred Pleitgen for that report. We are going to take a short break. We'll be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Back now to our top story and what we are learning this hour surrounding Wednesday's midair collision over the Potomac River in
Washington D.C.
CNN has obtained two videos of the moment of impact, which some viewers may find disturbing. Let me show you first the first video. And you can see the
Black Hawk helicopter and the American Airlines jet flying towards each other. A bright explosion erupts, you can see there, and both aircraft spin
out of control and splash into the river below.
This second video I'm about to show you shows the helicopter moving along the river with the plane on its final approach the runway. Then the
collision and explosions, you can see, sending both aircraft into the river, killing 67 people. Crews have returned to the river to recover the
last 14 bodies still missing.
But look at the conditions. It's, you know, almost 2:00 in the afternoon. It's incredibly hard to see. Very, very cold. The conditions are incredibly
hard. Let's get the very latest. Oren Liebermann joins us from the Pentagon.
And, Oren, I just want to pick up from what we heard from Karoline Leavitt, White House press secretary, asked again about the comments that we heard
from President Trump on Truth Social, where he said that the Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. What are you hearing?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, to answer that question definitively would be to assign a probable cause to this midair collision.
And frankly, the investigators simply aren't there yet. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said elevation was an issue, but he didn't say anything
about, first, who was too high or too low and second, exactly where. All of that is part of the ongoing investigation.
CNN is also looking at, that as we are also looking at the publicly available flight tracking data to see what we can glean from that. So,
we're working on that, and of course, Isa, will keep you updated. That is one of many things investigators will look at, and that's because of how
busy the airspace is.
Of course, this is an area where hundreds, if not thousands of commercial jets have flown this approach. Black Hawk helicopters have done the same
over and over again. And this is a question of who was out of position and why. That's all part of the investigation.
[13:55:00]
The White House, of course, doubling down on Trump's comments, but the investigation simply isn't at that point yet.
Meanwhile, we've learned the identity of two of the soldiers who were on board that helicopter. First, the instructor pilot, Chief Warrant Officer
Andrew Eaves. He had a thousand hours. The Pentagon has said this was an annual evaluation flight. So, he would have been issuing that evaluation,
carrying out that evaluation of the co-pilot who we've learned has 500 hours. And we've also learned the identity of the crew chief who was on
board that flight, that is Ryan O'Hara. It was, we've learned, a three- person crew that was carrying out this night flight.
We're waiting for the Pentagon to officially identify if they decide to the third crew member as we learn more about, again, what unfolded and as the
investigation continues. The Pentagon has, of course, put forward its aviation teams as well as a team of experts from the Aviation Safety Center
to help in any way they can.
Meanwhile the 12th Aviation Battalion, which is the unit to which the Black Hawk helicopter belonged, they have taken an operational pause.
SOARES: Yes, and we have heard also in the last few hours, the FAA has indefinitely shut down the helicopter routes, right? Just -- we've got
roughly 30 seconds here, Oren, what more can you tell us?
LIEBERMANN: Not surprising in terms of a precautionary move. The question, of course, is do they remain closed? And I'll make a very quick analogy
here. We saw this happen years ago after there was a crash on the East River up in New York City. The FAA turned that into restricted airspace.
So, it's not surprising we're now seeing the regulatory fallout from this.
SOARES: Thanks very much, Oren. Appreciate it breaking it all down for us. A very, very busy news hour. Thank you very much for your company. Do stay
right here. CNN -- stay with CNN. Amanpour is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:00:00]
END