plus. >> we're concentrating. >> on the worst first. >> immigration transformation. a flurry of executive orders from the west wing today. new policies will be tested in court. and later. >> is it that important for china to be spying on young people? >> brushing aside concerns president trump downplaying the threat of tiktok after giving the app a reprieve. and this. >> it's a. >> completely different beast, a fast moving fire. a new blaze in southern california exploding in size. calmer conditions could help crews get the upper hand. all right. it is 6 a.m. here on the east coast. a live look at the washington monument on this thursday morning. still chilly here in d.c. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with

>> they were treated like the worst criminals in history. and you know what they were there for? they were protesting the vote because they knew the election was rigged and they were protesting the vote. and that you should be allowed to protest a vote. most of the people were absolutely innocent. >> some of the rioters may get more than just a pardon. two sources telling cnn the trump administration is considering inviting some of the convicts who received pardons to the white house for a meeting with the president. and now federal judges overseeing some of the january 6th cases, making it clear they disagree with trump's characterization of that day in an order granting the justice department's request to close an alleged rioters ongoing case. judge tanya chutkan, who presided over trumps election subversion case, writing that the dismissal, quote, cannot whitewash the blood, feces and terror that the mob left in its wake and

it cannot repair the jagged breach in america's sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power. judge chutkan later adding, quote, the historical record established by those proceedings must stand unmoved by political winds as a testament and as a warning. end quote. the tone from those who saw their cases dismissed, their sentences commuted, or their convictions pardoned. strikingly different. >> we stood up against a stolen election. we will be vindicated in the pages of history as patriots and freedom fighters. it is no longer the age where we have to hide in america. we are back. the patriots. we don't have to crawl in the back corners of facebook and instagram being censored. we've got x, we've got trump, we've got musk. we've got the dream team. we're back. >> we've got trump, we've got musk. we're back. that was edward jacob lang. he faced numerous charges for his alleged actions on january 6th, including assaulting police officers with a baseball bat

and a riot shield. president trump granted him a full pardon. the sudden release of a wave of people convicted of or charged with violent felonies, leading the justice department to notify officers who testified against their attackers. at january 6th trials. aquilino gonell, a former staff sergeant with the capitol police, he posted these screengrabs to social media, writing quote each email and call log is a different rioter who assaulted me. president trump's mass pardons also bringing renewed anguish for law enforcement officials who were injured defending the capitol on that day. >> are now. >> that's dc metropolitan police officer daniel hodges. rioters pinned him against a door, ripping off his gas mask as they assaulted him, resulting in a concussion. >> i was beaten, crushed,

kicked, punched, surrounded someone reached underneath my visor, tried to gouge out my eye, and all these people. were just pardoned by donald trump. who says that they were the real victims, that they were the patriots. i don't understand. >> joining us now to discuss michael warren, senior editor for the dispatch, molly ball, senior political correspondent for the wall street journal. kendra barkoff, former press secretary for joe biden when he was vice president, and matt gorman, former senior adviser to tim scott's presidential campaign. welcome to all of you. mike warren watching. it is so hard to watch that, to watch that police officer who was trying to defend the lives of everybody inside that building that day. talk about what has happened to him. he's obviously not the only one. he was standing there with other members of various police forces who all converged to talk about this michael fanone,

another dc metro police officer, has said he feels betrayed by his country. this is again a republican president who did this and that. that sort of contrast, and a president who is claiming that he is in favor of law and order. >> yeah. and look, i think there is still a residual sense that this ought to be sort of politically difficult for somebody to issue these pardons. and in fact, just last week, jd vance, the incoming vice president, said, of course, obviously, i think was the word he used violent criminals, people who are convicted of violent crimes will not be pardoned. well, that's just been swept aside. and i think it's just a reminder that that pardon power that the president has is absolute. there's no there's no debating it. and it really matters who the president is, who is issuing those pardons. by the way, this this reporting that cnn has that he's considering bringing some of these defendants and convicted

criminals to the white house. sounds to me like somebody within the administration trying to get a bad idea out there so that it's eventually killed. i would be very surprised to see those those folks coming to the white house on monday. but i don't know. you never know. >> why would they want to drag this out? molly. >> i would not be surprised. i mean, i think what we have seen is that donald trump's determination to rewrite the history of what happened on january 6th is continuing. and in some ways complete. you know, he believes that he has a mandate to do this. and it's certainly something he talked about over and over in the campaign. now, a lot of even republicans are quite uncomfortable with this and uncomfortable with, you know, having stewart rhodes walking around buildings in the capitol yesterday. but this is, again, something that that trump feels he was elected to do. and it's and one of his top priorities. >> so one of matt, one of the things that that donald trump

did do on the campaign trail repeatedly was play an anthem. and i just want to kind of bring it back into the conversation, because to molly's point, this is something he promised over and over and over again, and he's now making good at it on it. let's watch that. >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated january 6th hostages. >> there are more than one khalil al-hayya. >> one nation. under god. >> so that, of course, from march of 2024. and he talked a little bit about this in the interview with hannity last night. last night. let's watch that. >> this was a political hoax. and you know what? those people and i'm not saying in every single case, but there was a lot of patriotism with those people. you know, they did a recording and, you know, they asked me if i do the voiceover and i did. it was the number

one selling song, number one on billboard, number one on everything, on everything for so long, people get it. they wanted to see those people. >> the people. >> so matt gorman, clearly there are some people that wanted to see that, but it doesn't seem like the majority of americans would want this. >> no, look, i don't i don't to molly's point and mike's point, elongating this sort of thing i don't think is very helpful. i think it was very clear that he wanted to do this. he didn't hide the ball on this like you saw with some of biden's pardons. he was very clear, like you knew this was going to happen within the first week at the latest, elongating this, i don't think is helpful. at the same time, i don't think there is a political price to be paid by the pardons itself. we'll see if this bleeds into a multi-week story, whether that happens. but i think one of the consistent themes is both republicans, those in the party that want to defend this or i think on the left that really want to push january 6th a major electoral issue. it hasn't found salience. and we'll see if that changes. it hasn't so far, and there's no

evidence to see that it's going to change so far. but again, to the point, if this becomes in two weeks of the trump presidency, we'll see. >> i do think this is a political loser of an issue for donald trump overall. you saw in the interview last night with hannity, donald trump was talking about january 6th. hannity tried to change the subject to talk about the economy. that's why people voted for donald trump to begin with, was to, you know, lower gas prices, lower prices of eggs and milk. hannity tried to change the subject multiple times to talk about the economy, and trump kept bringing it back around to january 6th. so i think trump, as long as he wants to keep, you know, talking about january 6th, it's going to completely screw up. exactly why people, in theory, voted for him as president. >> i will say, molly, like we've there's a ton to talk about donald trump, you know, put out an absolute avalanche of executive orders, these pardons, these policy things. prices don't seem to be one of the things that i mean, we're even having

a conversation about here because you can't really find it. >> well, i mean, he even said on on inauguration day that he wasn't as interested in the economy as he was in immigration. and i think that's when this becomes politically damaging. is it would be one thing if this was pull off the band-aid and move on. but he's not moving on. he's relitigating it over and over and over again, and he's obsessed with it. and you see this with the republicans on the hill as well, on the one hand, saying, let's not live in the past. and then appointing a new committee to reinvestigate all of this stuff. so do they want to move on or don't they? and i think if people do start to get the impression that, yes, he was elected to lower the price of groceries and housing, but instead he's focused on making sure that people who assaulted police are let out of jail. that's when it starts to become, i think, a political problem. >> and the clock is ticking as well. i mean, you can hear from even trump allies, people like steve bannon are are very eager to get things going on the trump agenda on capitol hill and those midterm elections of

2026, we don't know how they're going to turn out. democrats could win. republicans could maintain control. but the clock is ticking on trying to get anything done. the longer that he's sort of consumed by the retribution stuff, which again, he he said he was going to do it when he was elected. so it shouldn't be a surprise to us. but donald trump is somebody who a lot of voters sort of pour their own idea of what they want donald trump to be. there are a loud, large number of voters who wanted the retribution, but a lot of voters were voting on the economy. a lot of voters were voting on sort of cultural issues. they didn't really have to do with january 6th. um, the clock is ticking on donald trump's presidency, and he doesn't have another term to run for. so he's got to get stuff done. >> yeah. kendra, one of the reasons it seems like democrats may be so demoralized is that the fact that all of this happened on january 6th and trump still was reelected with no longer over 50%, but a plurality won, won the popular vote. um, how

do you think for democrats, should they be leaving this in the past from a political perspective? or is this something in the midterm elections? are we going to see ads about how, you know, donald trump freed coppieters? >> look, i think we saw that there was a big single voter issue this election. people wanted lower prices across the board. and so i think democrats need to focus on making sure that those things happen. and i don't think we should relitigate the past. i don't think we should be talking about these issues, because i do think when donald trump is talking about it, he's not talking about anything else. and so i do think to your point, the midterms are coming up. two years is not that far away from now. they should be talking about the economy. >> all right. we have a lot more to talk about today. but i do just want to take one moment as we wrap up this conversation to think about the police officers who on that day were violently assaulted. their

lives were changed forever. they were defending other people. and this for them. they describe it as an incredible blow. so let's as we go to break, just just watch officer hodges one more time. >> i was beaten. crushed, kicked, punched, surrounded. someone reached underneath my visor, tried to gouge out my eye, and all these people. were just pardoned by donald trump, who says that they were the real victims, that they were the patriots. i don't understand. >> do you want a ding to your credit? i don't want a ding. so when i needed a new credit card, i went to experian. see these cards with no ding. decline. your credit won't take a ding if you're declined, so you can apply with confidence. get the experian out. >> we are living with afib and

over half a million of us have left blood thinners behind for life. we've cut our stroke risk and said goodbye to our bleeding worry with the watchman implant watchman. it's one time for a lifetime. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. how? it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. hotel trivago. >> action hero. >> necessary was that necessary? >> no. neither is a blown weekend with paycom. employees do their own payroll so you can fix problems before they become problems. get paycom and make the unnecessary. unnecessary. >> your loved ones are getting older and they need your support. care.com is here to help. it's an easy way to find background checked senior caregivers in your area and some peace of mind. see why millions of families have trusted care. go to care.com now. >> i told myself i was okay

with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. >> with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms, but just okay isn't okay. >> and i was done settling. >> if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling as fast as two weeks for some, and even at the three year mark, many people felt this relief. rinvoq can stop joint damage and in psa can leave skin clear or almost clear. >> rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections before treatment. test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots some fatal cancers including lymphoma and skin. serious allergic reactions, gi tears, death, heart attack and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events infection hep b or c smoked are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. >> done settling. >> ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. >> and take back what's yours. >> if you have high blood pressure or diabetes and get a

cough, cold or flu. safe tussin is specially formulated for you. powerful, safe and effective cough, cold and flu relief that's formulated so it won't raise your blood pressure or impact your blood sugar. play it safe with safe tussin. >> and the furniture business. things move fast. ziprecruiter helps us hire qualified candidates who can keep up. we needed a project manager yesterday. we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build our dream team and they did it fast. is that too fast for you? >> four out of five employers who post on

for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half vs. t-mobile, verizon, and at&t for your first year. plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us. shipstation.com to start your free trial today. >> this show is all completely fake. >> we don't get fooled. >> and everyone knows what's going on. what the. except then. >> what have we done? >> the joe schmo show all new tuesdays at nine on tbs. set your dvr now.

>> no court. and this country has never interpreted the birthright citizenship clause to mean what the president seeks it to mean, and what he's trying to do. >> that was attorney general rob bonta of california, one of the two dozen states and cities who are suing the administration over president donald trump's move to end birthright citizenship in the u.s. this morning, a federal judge in seattle will hear arguments challenging the order. it is one of multiple lawsuits attempting to stop president trump from enacting one of his signature immigration plans. it's a constitutional question that could end up before the u.s. supreme court. it is, of course, been less than a week since president trump returned to the oval office. he's already issued sweeping immigration plans. he was asked about that in his first oval office interview with fox news yesterday. >> who would ask for open borders with people pouring in, some of whom? i won't get into it, but you can look at them and you can say, could be

trouble, could be trouble. there are people coming in. >> there are people with gang tattoos on. >> there are people coming in with tattoos all over their face. their entire face is covered with tattoos. >> but identifies. >> typically, you know, he's not going to be the head of the local bank. >> kendra barkoff i will say this is something people in the in the country, especially when they talk about criminals, people favor deporting them, right? by overwhelming majorities, an ap poll showed 8,083% support deporting undocumented immigrants with a violent criminal conviction, 69% support deporting legal status. immigrants with a violent criminal conviction. and do you see a world where some of what the president is doing here oversteps in a way that is going to be politically problematic for him? or is it democrats who are in a tough spot here needing to perhaps readjust how they've talked about this issue? >> look, i think it's really interesting that in 2024,

february of 2024, trump tanked the bipartisan immigration bill because he wanted it as a talking point. he sees the political nature of what this is. i think we can all up here agree that our our immigration system is broken. but doing it in a piecemeal approach and doing it in the way that they're trying to do it with ios here and with bills there, i just don't think it's going to accomplish the greater good of what the larger problem is. there are real problems with our immigration system and with some of these folks, you know, committing crimes. but the piecemeal approach i just don't think is going to is going to be the way to do it. >> it's certainly going to get covered, though, matt, in a way that, you know, people are going to perceive that donald trump is is tackling this problem. >> yeah. he is. i mean, look, the overton window on this has shifted dramatically in just the last two years, right? like this isn't 2013 anymore where you're going to have a gang of eight come together and do this thing that's over the course of ten years. and there's legal statute? no, i mean, i think the biden years really personified with the problem with the border, that drastic

action needed to be taken. and you're doing it, i think i think democrats make a mistake when they try and portray kind of these actions as if it's seal team six kicking in the door to saint patrick's cathedral and handcuffing 80 year old grandmothers. it sets the expectation bar so high. and when you have the first kind of ice raids coming out of boston, that clearly these are not 80 year old grandmothers in wheelchairs here, it really i think it sets expectations way off from reality. >> but i do think that this is a donald trump pr stunt in the way that he did these e.o.s. i don't think that he is doing these for the purposes that is going to really make a difference. >> well, i think the question is how far are they going to go? right? i mean, they did 300 on the first day, and at that rate, it will only take 98 years to get to all 11 million. i did the math right. so and that's basically the pace that the biden administration was on. so is this sort of a big show. and they're focusing on the least controversial deportees, the violent criminals, or are they going to? to matt's point, actually try to get the entire

undocumented population, which is likely to be much less popular. are they going to try to pursue this, you know, birthright citizenship thing and start kicking newborn babies out of the country who previously would have had legal status? that's probably going to be a lot less popular. so i think with a lot of the promises donald trump has made, the question is how far is he going to go and will the public stay on his side if he goes all the way? >> yeah, i'm sort of i look at all of these different immigration pieces separately, and i do agree a lot of the ios, the 14th amendment stuff, it's it's press release, it's glorified press release. he can't just do that. of course, we're seeing the legal challenges which we should have expected. i do think the the raids, the increased number of officials who were able to process this, these deportations, it's going to be popular. it's what he was elected to do. i think donald trump has a good ear and a good sense for when things might go too far. um, tom homan has

already essentially said he's not really interested in going into churches and schools. i think if that is at the point where the donald trump immigration, uh, you know, policy is donald trump is going to be able, i think, to recognize that might be a little bit too far and pull back. i think i feel like it's going to be less than promised, but exactly what americans actually kind of want in immigration enforcement. >> all right. coming up next here on cnn this morning, fire and ice, the weather extremes, two new fires burning in california, the east coast, waiting for warmer temperatures. plus, elon musk putting a damper on president trump's big a.i. plan. >> cnn is central today at 7:00 eastern. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. >> i didn't even know how i was going to buy food for my kids. >> i picked up the phone and

called national debt relief. they were my savior. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> now that i'm out of debt, i feel free. i feel powerful. >> i'm doing the things i want to do. singing in a chorus. i'm traveling with my husband. >> i'm thriving. our family is thriving. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. >> what's up? you seem kind of sluggish today. >> things aren't really moving. >> you could use some metamucil metamucil. >> psyllium fiber helps keep your digestive system moving so you can feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil keeps you moving and try the two week challenge@metamucil.com. >> to avoid digital threats. just turn on nordvpn. improve your protection against trackers, malicious websites, and malware ridden downloads. get the deal now! >> socks, underwear and t-shirts are the most requested items in homeless shelters. bombas was founded to help, so one purchased equals one donated with 140 million

donations and counting. visit bombas. com and get 20% off your first order. >> what's this? >> my new pony. and i love him. >> yeah. no, no, no. thank you. >> i ran the numbers on quicken. it's totally in my budget. bad. mr. sparkles. >> someone's birthday money investments. >> quicken tracks all my income and spending and even built me a personalized budget so it's easier to save more. >> this is amazing. >> i know it is. yeah. >> do more with your money. i save. >> up to 50% today. >> a lot of money. >> here you go. >> is there any way to get a better price on this? >> have you checked single. >> care? before i pick up my prescription? i always check the single care price. >> it's quick, easy and totally free to use. >> single care can literally beat my insurance co-pay. >> go to single care.com and start saving today. >> your florida. >> life is calling and we have the answer. valencia in florida by g l homes premium 55 plus living in five prime florida locations. gorgeous new homes

from the mid three hundreds to 2 million world class resort style living 24 over seven huge clubhouses on site dining, pickleball and more. effortless, low maintenance living. valencia your florida life is calling experience more at valencia, florida.com. >> we needed a project manager yesterday. we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best you bring a lot back

to civilian life. leadership skills. technical ability. and a drive to serve in new ways. syracuse university's d'aniello institute for veterans and military families has empowered more than 200,000 veterans to serve their communities and their careers. from professional certifications, to job training, to help navigating programs and services, we give veterans access to support from anywhere in the world. from top notch doctors. now, no matter where you go, we've got your eyes covered. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you returns february 15th on cnn. closed captioning is brought to you by uqora. help maintain a healthy urinary tract with uqora. >> i've been having utis for ten years. at uqora, we make uti relief products. we also make proactive urinary tract health products. uqora is a life saver. try it today at uqora. com. >> all right. welcome back. we've got extreme weather conditions from coast to coast in the southeast. all that melting ice and snow could

refreeze leading to dangerous road conditions. it is still very cold in the south and in california, with two new fires prompting evacuations. the latest fire started just hours after crews started getting the hughes fire at least a little bit contained. let's get to our meteorologist, allison chinchar, with more on this. allison, good morning. >> and good morning. >> yes, the fire that you can see behind me from this highway off in the distance here. this is the one that is just northwest of downtown los angeles near sherman oaks, california. again, as you mentioned, we have several fires that we are keeping an eye on right now, five in total, and they range various portions of southern california some a little bit with higher containment than others. the red flag warning is in effect not just for today, but this continues into early friday morning. some of these gusts up around 55 to 65mph on the northern side and a little bit farther south, could gust as high as 70mph. now, again, the concern here is just how dry it has been in this area. 260

consecutive days, with less than a 10th of an inch of rain. it's the longest stretch they've had in los angeles on record. now there is a bit of good news, and that is, there is finally a chance of some rain in the forecast that would begin this weekend and continue through the early portion of next week. the concern here is all of those areas that have been on fire. the burn scar areas, those often could lead to mudslide potential. when you get very heavy rain. so something to keep an eye on. elsewhere across the u.s., the big story here is just the bitter cold right now, well below freezing even far south atlanta, charleston, jacksonville, florida, new orleans all looking at those current temperatures below the freezing mark. and it's expected to continue to stay cold, especially in the mornings here over the next several days. so even this morning, you've still got all of these areas dealing with those extreme cold advisories. but there is light at the end of the tunnel. casey, a lot of these places will warm up by the weekend. >> okay. we could use a little bit of that here in washington. allison chinchar thanks very much for that. all right. still ahead here on cnn this morning,

the trump administration asking federal workers to snitch on their coworkers in a rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. we are joined by birmingham mayor randall woodfin to discuss the rapid changes being rolled out by the new president. plus, billionaire beef elon musk openly trashing one of president trump's tech policies. >> super man the christopher reeve story. february 2nd on cnn. >> you founded your kayak company because you love the ocean, not spreadsheets you need to hire. >> i need indeed. >> indeed you do. our matching platform lets you spend less time searching and more time connecting with candidates. visit indeed.com slash hire. >> feeling backed up and bloated. good thing metamucil fiber plus probiotics gummies work harder for your digestive system with fiber to help promote gut health, and probiotics to help relieve occasional bloating so you can feel your best. metamucil fiber plus probiotics gummies.

>> let's start the bidding at $5 million. >> robinhood gold members get a 3% ira match, while the wealthy hoard their perks. our retirement contributions are boosted by 3% now, with robinhood gold. >> no matter. >> what kind of teeth you. >> gotta brush or you'll be electric cleans better with one simple touch. oral-b's dentist inspired round brush head hugs him, cleans him, and gets in between him for 100%. cleaner teeth. your perfect clean starts with oral-b. >> all right, we're coming. >> mom, look. >> you. >> mom, look! mom, look! moo moo moo moo look, mom! mom! mom! mom look what i got. >> the best way to make family memories in the caribbean is at a place founded by a family from the caribbean. >> i love that my daughter

still needs me, but sometimes i can't help due to burning and dabbing pain in my hands. so i use nervive. >> nervive clinical. >> dose of aila reduces. >> nerve discomfort in as little as seven days. >> now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. >> kate made. >> progress with her mental health. >> but her medication caused unintentional movements. >> in her face, hands and feet called tardive dyskinesia or td, so her doctor prescribed osteo xr, a once daily extended release td treatment for adults with a standard. austedo xr significantly reduced kate's td movements. some people saw a response as early as two weeks, with osteo xr, kate can stay on her mental health meds. >> oh hi buddy. >> austedo xr can cause depression, suicidal thoughts or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, or have suicidal thoughts. don't take if you have liver problems. are taking reserpine, tetrabenazine or valbenazine. austedo xr may cause irregular or fast heartbeat or abnormal movements. seek help for fever,

stiff muscles, problems thinking or sweating. common side effects include you go with a. stereo. >> ask your doctor for austedo xr. >> i said no, it's for. >> sounds like you need to vaporize that sore throat. vapocool drops. it's sore throat relief with a rush of vicks vapors. >> vapocool. >> whoa. >> vaporize sore throat pain. >> with vicks vapocool drops. >> what if you. >> could. tackle your dog's itching. >> soft stools. >> and low energy? millions of pet parents are raving about doctor marty nature's blend. such a huge. >> difference in your health. more energy, more playful. no more pooping issues. >> i'm doctor marty. >> i've been a veterinarian for more than 50 years. the dangerous ingredients added to impacting your dog's lifespan. that's why i formulated nature's blend. >> now you can feed your dog. >> wholesome cuts of real meat, vegetables and fruit with no artificial preservatives or fillers. >> try doctor marty. >> risk free. >> go to doctor marty pets.com.

>> slash tv. >> are you one. >> of the millions of americans who suffer from an upset stomach after a big meal? try pepto-bismol. unlike some products, pepto coats and soothes your digestive system to provide fast five symptom relief, stock up on pepto today. >> that's $225 for the $5 for t night. how it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. hotel trivago. >> whoa. >> how'd you get your teeth so white? >> you got to use the right toothpaste, doctor. >> see? >> not all toothpaste. >> whiten the. >> same crest. >> 3-d white removes 100% more stains for a noticeably whiter smile. >> you personal best. >> crest nba. >> on. >> tnt reveals the all star starters. so here we go. >> ladies and gentlemen. >> then rivals week continues with two can't miss matchups. heat box celtics lakers coverage begins tonight at seven. presented by

state farm on tnt. >> all right. welcome back. a new escalation in president trump's efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in the federal government. >> our country is going to be based on merit again, which. >> after ordering an end to all dei initiatives across federal agencies, the administration is now warning workers they have ten days to report colleagues who are trying to conceal dei programs. if workers don't comply, they will face, quote, adverse consequences, according to an email sent to multiple agencies and reviewed by cnn. the president's allies say the initiatives are part of the administration's plans to cut government bureaucracy. >> they're already rules. >> on the books. you cannot discriminate against a minority or someone that's too old. these laws are written in. you cannot discriminate. so we believe the dei is just an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy. >> all right. joining us now is

mayor randall woodfin of birmingham, alabama. his new book, son of birmingham a memoir, is out now. mr. mayor, thanks for joining us, casey. >> good morning. thanks for allowing me to have some time with you. >> so let's start with what the president has done here. what impact will this stripping of dei offices from the federal government ultimately have? >> listen, the unfortunate part of this conversation of stripping dei americans are witnessing the alabama vacation of federal government. we've seen in alabama, legislators create laws to get rid of dei. and the governor signed into law that removing dei from colleges and universities and other aspects throughout the state. and so we've seen this dance. and the unfortunate part is other americans have witnessed this at the national level. that being the case, we all know those who benefit the most from dei are veterans as

well as white women. and so dei has always gone well beyond african americans and other minorities. when you say you don't want to have programs that support veterans, when you say you don't want to have programs to support women. et cetera. what are you really saying? what message and who are you trying to communicate with? and so it's beyond frustrating and disappointing. it just goes to show you that 47 told us what he would do, and he's doing it. >> sir, do you think there are any areas where dei programs have gone too far? >> i do not believe that's the case. look, we've made the words diversity. we've made the words equity. we, as in others, have made those words inclusion. bad words. inclusion is not a bad thing. there is no such thing as going too far as it relates to being inclusive. there's no such thing as going too far as it relates to

equity. this is america. equity is the right thing to do. there's no such thing as diversity being bad. america is a very diverse place. i think diversity, equity and inclusion has been weaponized for some to use to say it's taken away from others, but what it's really doing is making sure we're intentional, whether it's at the federal level, state level, colleges and universities level, corporate america level, that there's parity. and we've been talking about this for quite some time. and so no, there's no such thing as going too far. when we talk about equity and inclusion. >> sir, another topic at the forefront of president trump's initial week here in office is immigration. and they have promised to step up deportations. and there has been some pushback from local officials, especially in blue states and cities, about cooperating with ice for mass

deportations. will the city of birmingham cooperate with ice officials as they step up raids? if they step up raids in the city, especially in schools and in churches? >> casey, again, i can tell you the unfortunate part about this, and you may hear me keep repeating myself that the united states of america is witnessing the alabama vacation of the federal government. again. we've been here before in the state of alabama with the with the house bill literally over a decade ago in 2010. and that brought in sweeping legislation to target our hispanic community throughout the state of alabama. and what we witnessed across the state is that many community members, partners, et cetera. stood up, stood tall with those who were here legally. i think the conversation around illegal immigrants there can be an actual healthy debate. i think

all americans agree that those that are here illegal and those who are here illegally and have committed crime should be deported. that's not up for debate. i think what is up for debate is when you consider the impact of those who are here, who were born here, and you have an executive order that says that can no longer happen as it relates to being american citizens. what are we saying for our school systems? what are we saying for our employers, et cetera.? and so the city of birmingham will continue to work with organizations like the hispanic interest coalition of alabama to make sure that the city of birmingham is on the right side of supporting families, supporting families who need assistance, et cetera.. >> still, you declined to sign a measure that would have made birmingham a sanctuary city by law. so, again, will birmingham cooperate with federal authorities who are doing

deportations in your city? >> so birmingham has always been a welcoming city, casey. and i think this conversation about what will the city of birmingham do or not do is a very interesting question because we we we have a party that holds himself out as law and order, and then we've just seen what they've done with the these massive pardons for those who committed treasonous acts, not just. >> against i mean, what are you saying to your police forces, your, your local cops? if ice comes to town, what should they do? >> i think our police force is literally focused on the public safety of our citizens. we're focused on gun violence. we're focused on the things that we deem necessary to keep citizens safe. we also have a priority to hire more officers. and so we're already short officers, if that makes any sense. so our key, our key priority is making sure that we are actually policing our streets. our priority is making sure that we

can tackle gun violence. and when you think about it, there's this there's this conversation in one hand about ice and immigration, and then we're not paying attention to the fact that a city like birmingham, facing gun violence at a at a fortunate high rate, they've just gotten rid of the office of gun violence prevention at the white house. and so, you know, we have our priorities in the city of birmingham. our priorities are to keep people safe. our priorities are to focus on gun violence and decrease gun violence. our our priority is to focus on innovative and creative ways to improve quality of life for the citizens of birmingham, all these flurries of executive orders, we have not seen the price of eggs go down yet. and so what's the real focus? and the focus should be on the american people and making sure people are safe, making sure we improve quality of life. we haven't seen that in the last 48 hours. >> all right. mayor randall woodfin, thanks very much for spending some time with us this morning. you can pick up a copy

of his new book, son of birmingham, out now. all right. coming up next here on cnn this morning, downplaying the national security risk, president donald trump continues to embrace tiktok now asking, quote, is it that important for china to be spying on young people? plus, at odds, elon musk becoming a vocal critic of the president's new deal on a.i. investment, questioning whether it's valid. >> the american. >> people should take president. >> trump and those ceos words for it. these investments are coming to our great country every weekday. >> major developments overnight. >> we're bringing you the. >> news. the whole week all. >> leads up to this. >> the stories at the center of your day. >> wildfires burning. >> across the west. >> now cnn news central. next. >> and the furniture business. things move fast. ziprecruiter helps us hire qualified candidates who can keep up. we needed a project manager. yesterday we posted a job on ziprecruiter and had our guy on site in five days. he was

qualified in every way. ziprecruiter finds the best candidates for all our jobs. they helped us build our dream team and they did it fast. is that too fast for you? >> four out of five employers who post on ziprecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. try it for free at ziprecruiter.com. slash higher. >> if you have high blood pressure or diabetes and get a cough, cold or flu. safe tossing is specially formulated for you. powerful, safe and effective cough, cold and flu relief that's formulated so it won't raise your blood pressure or impact your blood sugar. play it safe with safe tossing. >> i told myself i was okay with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms. >> with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms, but just okay isn't okay. >> and i was done settling. >> if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling as fast as two weeks for some, and even at the three year mark, many people felt this relief. rinvoq can stop joint damage and in psa

can leave skin clear or almost clear. >> rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections before treatment. test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots. some fatal cancers including lymphoma and skin. serious allergic reactions, gi tears, death, heart attack and stroke occurred cv event risk increases in age 50 plus with a heart disease risk factor. tell your doctor if you've had these events. infection hep b or c smoked are pregnant or planning. don't take if allergic or have an infection. >> ask your rheumatologist for rinvoq. >> and take back what's yours. >> your florida life is calling and we have the answer. valencia in florida by gl homes premium 55 plus living in five prime florida locations. gorgeous new homes from the mid 300 seconds to 2 million world class resort style living 24 over seven huge clubhouses on site dining, pickleball and more effortless, low maintenance living. valencia your florida life is calling experience more at valencia,

florida.com. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. >> i didn't even know how i was going to buy food for my kids. >> i picked. >> up the phone and called national debt relief. they were my savior. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> now that i'm out of debt, i feel free. i feel powerful. >> i'm doing the things i want to do. singing in a chorus. >> i'm traveling with my

time, lowers bills and. >> helps you find and cancel. >> sneaky subscriptions. >> sign me up. stay on track with your finances and download rocket money today. >> closed captioning brought to you by book.com. >> if you or a. >> loved. >> one have mesothelioma, we'll send you a. >> free book to answer questions you may have. call now and we'll come to you. >> 808 two one 4000. >> president donald trump's newly announced a.i. infrastructure project overshadowed really by a billionaire brawl. after announcing that the white house will work with the ceos of openai, softbank and oracle to

pour up to $500 billion into a.i. investments, trump's own ally and the head of doge, elon musk, cast doubt on the idea. he posted, quote, they don't actually have the money. sam altman of openai replied directly. he says this quote, i realize what is great for the country isn't always what's optimal for your companies, but in your new role, i hope you'll mostly put america the flag first. musk's public contradiction around trump's initiatives reportedly causing a stir among the president's allies. that's reporting from politico. the conservative radio host erick erickson made this comparison i think someone who actually is a friend of. >> elon musk's needs to do an intervention because i think he's becoming icarus. icarus flew so high and so close to the sun. the wax began to melt, the feathers begin to drop off, and he plummeted to the earth. donald trump doesn't like people to be more exposed than him, and he's headed that way. he needs to be careful. if he wants to have a real impact. he

needs to stay behind the scenes and not in the spotlight. >> all right. our panel is back. mike warren, look, everyone in washington seems to be taking bets on how long this bromance is going to last. now, the difference between anyone else who might try to outshine donald trump in whatever way is, is the money, right? elon musk is the richest person in the world and funded his tons of his campaign and alienating him has downsides for trump. that said, this is a little embarrassing for trump. >> yeah, it's a little embarrassing, but so what? like every day, there's going to be an embarrassing thing for donald trump. he keeps moving. and i think actually that is a big reason why he and elon musk are going to be pretty tight for a while. there's actually a lot of people going after elon musk, trump allies, people. i mean, everybody from steve bannon. i mean, you heard erick erickson talking about these dangers that probably endears musk to trump or trump to musk. however, that works in

a way where they see themselves as kindred spirits. you know, everybody's going after musk. everybody's coming after trump. i think it's going to last for a while. the question for me is how much is musk going to be interested in this? and i'm very interested in how much in terms of transparency, how much in terms of access to, you know, top secret information musk is able to get from this position. if he strikes out, you might see him saying, this was very interesting, but i'm i'm moving. >> federal government money to go to mars, which is something that he has, you know, devoted his entire life to. molly ball, mike mentioned steve bannon. so this was the latest set of attacks from steve bannon. he says quote, i've never seen action like this in my life. trump's one time chief strategist said he called on the white house chief of staff susie wiles, to sit him, ellen, down and sort it out immediately. there is something fundamentally wrong here about the structure in his understanding of the structure. this is not silicon valley. this is not tech bros. or is it? >> well we'll see. i mean, i

think it depends if for now elon's just popping off, right? he's just saying things on social media. he's sort of a critic, but he's going to have an office in the white house. he has an office in the white house. so what is he going to actually try to do? right? and i think the infighting is going to come when he starts trying to actually push whatever initiatives he's going to actually push for, whether they're things that advantage his companies or whether they're just things that he believes in ideologically. but other parts of the maga movement do not. as we saw with the h-1b debate that played out before the inauguration. so once elon has things he's actually trying to do, and there are others in trump's orbit who disagree with those things, that's when the real clash is going to come. for now, it's just a twitter fight. >> i mean, to be fair, bannon was the one who said he was going to try and get elon kind of knocked out before the inauguration. didn't really go well. and look, the context of this is it's far deeper than purely the trump stuff, right. so elon was on the board of openai. they had some strong disagreements about the future of all of this. and then elon

founded x a.i., which is obviously a competitor to openai, and where we get kind of like a lot of the a.i. stuff around x and things like that. so this is far beyond politics, i will say. and the tech bro blood feud goes kind of deep. >> and these guys have known and worked with each other for like decades. >> now, right? a long time. there is a lot of history there. and so that's why also it's not something that is suddenly a critique of the policy itself or sky gate or whatever that is. it is something that is personal and goes back decades. >> i was going to say. >> it was a it's a measuring. it's a competition. >> what kind of measuring the. >> size of exactly? i. >> to to our, our great president barack obama i think did this gesture. and you know. >> just what americans voted for. >> yeah. >> silicon valley fight that not. >> that. >> silicon valley fight. you know, here in dc. yeah. >> okay. with that. it is 51 minutes past the hour. here's your morning roundup. >> i'm going

to release them immediately. upon getting we're going to see the information. we're looking at it right now. >> president donald trump repeating his vow to immediately release the fbi files on john f kennedy's assassination. he is also planning to declassify rfk and martin luther king jr. assassination files. seven san antonio police officers were shot last night while responding to a call about a suicide in progress. the suspect was found dead after a long standoff. none of the officer's injuries are believed to be life threatening, according to authorities. the shooter, who has not been identified, was arrested last weekend on assault and dwi charges and was out on bond. a new fire has erupted in the sherman oaks neighborhood of los angeles overnight, with an evacuation warning issued for people living there. thousands had already been told to leave north of l.a. because of the huge fire, which developed wednesday. so far, crews have that fire about 14% contained. oscar

nominations will be announced this morning after they were delayed earlier this month because of those wildfires in l.a. fans hoping wicked will get some nods. conclave also expected to be in the running today, along with a complete unknown. the bob dylan story the show goes on on march 2nd. all right, let's turn now to the ongoing effort to save tiktok. >> tiktok. i'm on a private jet right now, about to put in my official offer for this platform. i might become your guys's new ceo. i wish i could say more about the offer i'm putting in, but i can't for now. just know it's going to be crazy. >> that's youtube star mrbeast, the latest big name, big name offering to buy tiktok from its chinese parent company, bytedance. a bytedance board member said yesterday the company is in fact in active discussions about a deal that would allow the popular app to continue operating in the u.s., adding that an agreement could be reached as soon as the end of the week. in his first oval office interview, president

trump defended his decision to delay the ban, dismissing security concerns. >> those that say they know say it's a spying app for the communist chinese. >> so. but you can say that about everything made in china. look, we have our telephones made in china for the most part. we have so many things made in china. so why don't they mention that? you know. >> let me get. >> to the interesting thing with tiktok, though, is you're dealing with a lot of young people, so. >> they love it. >> is it that important for china to be spying on young people, on young kids watching crazy videos? >> so mcgorman, this is a switch for president trump, who of course, in 2020 signed an executive order to try to ban tiktok because he was listening to the national security community that said that this is a problem, this is a national security threat to the united states. now he's saying it's not what's true. >> i mean, you're seeing very suddenly both parties switching on this very quickly as biden tried to undo it before he left office. the fact is, i don't believe that bytedance will sell this because it's not a rational market actor. it's

owned by the ccp. so mrbeast can all the private jets he wants. he can make all the offers he wants. they're not going to sell because to them, the data spying on americans is far more important than, you know, doing a deal with some random, you know, massive youtube star. and so the fact is, i don't know. see, i don't see how they get out of this the way it is, because you're not dealing with a market actor that wants money. >> by the way, trump says that he doesn't understand why people should be concerned, but republicans in congress and not just republicans, democrats in congress. this past. >> week, 80% of. >> congress exactly thinks that it's a problem. i do think that we could see the first real big divide between the republican congress and donald trump on this. i think they're going to do it in their own way to be a little gingerly about it. they don't want to upset this new president too much. but republicans in congress feel very strongly about this, and i think they're going to push back and try to find a way to get him to reverse this or to to to stop the executive order. and there's a good

political reason for him to do that. as we said, bipartisan, 80% of congress voted for it. >> well, and molly ball, the bottom line here is that, i mean, this is a law, right? i mean, like, can trump just flout a law that says if this is not sold in 90 days, it cannot operate here? >> i think that's a big question. not only is it a law that passed on a bipartisan, overwhelming basis, but it was upheld by the supreme court unanimously. and there is not a clause in the law that says the president could just cancel it. so and i think to matt's point, there has not been a lot of evidence to date that they actually want to sell the app and relinquish control for the chinese government. so, you know, this is going to be this is going to be a real problem if he wants to continue down this road, both for how he is able to get his way against the other two branches of government, and also for just the the underlying issue, which let's not forget, you know, although tiktok is popular, the tiktok ban is also popular. a majority of americans supported it, at least when it happened.

now, maybe that's changed now that trump has switched and a lot of these members are afraid of their constituents. i mean, some crazy teenager actually tried to burn down a congressional office over the tiktok ban. a republican. >> congressional office, i think, in wisconsin. >> yeah. so there is a level of fear that their constituents are so crazy because because tiktok makes people crazy. >> i was not quite, you know, intellectually i understood. i saw people are addicted to it. then this ban went into effect. and even, i mean, i'm a little bit older. i'm like outside of the tiktok demo, but i have some friends my age. i was stunned by the sheer like, panic and sadness that people were displaying over this when it when it disappeared for a day. >> just go on instagram. that's like the tiktok for for elder millennials. >> well, this is where i was seeing this content. to be clear, as someone. >> who's not actually. >> on. >> tiktok. >> i was consuming it on instagram. >> i think this talks to the the larger point about social media, more broadly speaking, and the addictive nature of it. and i think that's part of the reason why you are seeing all of these big ceos coming to dc

to suck up to donald trump to begin with. you saw mark zuckerberg in his gold chains and his i don't even know what's going on with him coming to dc and sitting in the front row of his inauguration. you're seeing that this is the power of these social media platforms, and it's dangerous. it's dangerous for children. it's dangerous for the addiction of it. people have committed suicide over it. it's a bigger problem than it is a problem on the spying issue. but it's a big problem even in. >> the influence, too. i mean, for, for for trump to say, i don't know who cares about the spying. i mean, if they're able to influence our children directly, that is a big it's a big deal. all right. i will leave you with this. with the cold snap forcing much of the country indoors, you might be feeling what is called the winter blues, not totally dissimilar to jack nicholson's character in the stanley kubrick classic the shining deer, don't fret. you're not alone. it turns out even fish

get lonely during these dark months of winter. at least one fish in particular did a sunfish in a japanese aquarium suddenly seemed to become unwell. when the aquarium closed in december 2024 for renovations, there were no more visitors. so what did the staff do? they put up cardboard cutouts of people donned in aquarium uniforms and, according to the aquarium quote, on the next day, the fish was in good health again. so if you are feeling these effects of these cold winter months indoors, just remember there's nothing like a tank buddy. >> if there's anything you need, just ask your auntie deb. that's me. >> just keep swimming as they say. thanks to our panel. thanks to all of you for joining us, i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now.