drew. he was so close i would have given it to him. >> absolutely. >> i don't know. i'm not. you know, i'm not a stickler for the jeopardy rules, but. >> why is it. >> that. >> every time chuck is looking at me, like. >> now, you know. >> those are the rules? >> i mean, isn't that a facial? >> how much money was on the line? like, if he was going to win a new house, i'd be like, no, ain't no way. >> the good news is, it wasn't that much. >> it also proves my point that if you went to harvard, you got to jam in that you went to harvard in every possible way. that's a harvard affliction you guys. >> all have that. this was about that was a humble brag that you were on jeopardy! >> yeah, i know. i like it. >> i'm doing. >> the. >> same thing. >> everybody except for vance. >> thank you. >> very much, everyone. thank you so much. and thank you for watching newsnight. cnn's coverage continues next tonight on 360, despite new allegations against him, pete hegseth is now just one senate vote away from becoming defense secretary. >> also tonight, the president eliminates secret service protection for his former top officials, even though it appears the security threat remains. the question is why we're keeping them honest. and

later, cnn's clarissa ward returns to syria with the mother of missing journalist austin tice, who vanished there 12.5 years ago and hasn't been heard from since. good evening. thanks for joining us. tonight, it's looking almost certain that by tomorrow night, former fox weekend morning host pete hegseth will be running the defense department, despite opposition from democrats as well as republican senators susan collins and lisa murkowski. republicans managed to end debate and move the nomination to a final vote tomorrow. this, of course, follows months of allegations of sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and questions about his lack of experience running large organizations. just today, cnn learned that he told the senate armed services committee that he paid $50,000 as part of a confidentiality agreement to a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her back in 2017. that's according to documents obtained by cnn. he's publicly denied the allegations, calling it a, quote, nuisance claim. cnn's manu raju joins us now with more from capitol hill. so what's been the reaction to this revelation about the payment to his accuser? >> well, it's actually not.

>> a whole lot. >> in fact, this was baked in in a lot of ways, particularly for the republican supporters of pete hegseth. they knew that he had reached an undisclosed financial settlement with his accuser. he had contended that this was a false claim, and he said that he had reached this agreement because he did not want it to go public, because he argued that it would have hurt his career at fox news if it did. and he also argued that he was not charged with all of it. and that argument really carried a lot of water with most republicans. and the fact that we have reported now that this is a $50,000 settlement and something that is obviously a substantial amount of money with his accuser, doesn't seem to have been generated much reaction. this came out in the aftermath of that critical vote that happened this afternoon. to advance this nomination. but the the hegseth attorney, tim parlatore, told us that the reason why they settled for this much, anderson, is because he said it would cost more to fight this in court than it would to be settled with the accuser.

>> as you said, he wasn't charged with anything. is it clear why this didn't become public until now? >> it's not clear. you know, anderson, a lot of these correspondence with the committee happens privately. these are a written q&a that we obtained with my colleague pamela brown, and i obtained from our sources. and they don't release these this information publicly. we did in the aftermath of this vote today. now, one of the things that democrats have been saying is that republicans are rushing. they believe this nomination to go forward because they're concerned that more allegations like this could come ahead. one thing that democrats point to was the decision by the chairman of the senate armed services committee earlier this week to have a vote in the committee to advance this nomination without following the committee rules, to provide one week's notice before that vote. the committee, the republicans, waived those rules, put the nomination before their committee, advance it to the floor, and they want to get

this done asap. and democrats believe it's because they want to do this before any opposition arises. any new allegations emerge. i asked that to the chairman of the armed services committee, roger wicker. i said, why are you pushing this forward? does this have anything to do with trying to shield him from new allegations? he denied that was the case. simply said, it's critical to fill this very important post, anderson. >> all right. manu raju. thank you. this moment might not have come to be hegseth choice generated controversy from the beginning, and initially at least brought pushback from senators in both parties. but the president stood by him, as you know, in his senate testimony, seemed to bring republicans back on board. he repeatedly called the sexual misconduct and drinking allegations against him, quote, anonymous smears. joining us is journalist and lift our voices co-founder gretchen carlson, also cnn political commentators ashley allison and brad todd. um, gretchen, i mean, how problematic is this payment in your mind? the payment to the payment of $50,000. >> um. >> you know, look, it can go both ways. i mean, people can argue that you do this because you want to get rid of it,

right? that's kind of the old school argument. you can also argue that you do it because it's real. so i don't know if we'll ever know. what i do know is that apparently the fbi never even went to speak to this woman during the investigation. so people have to understand that this was not even though it was under the biden administration. it wasn't the biden administration leading the fbi as to how this investigation should happen. this was obviously run by the trump transition team, and it's very similar to the kavanaugh fbi investigation, where, you know, certain things are uncovered and certain things are not. and i think that we saw that at play now, because now we're seeing other statements come out from the fbi. supposedly they talked to his second ex-wife just recently after he had already testified before the armed services committee, which seems odd. so, you know, you have to wonder how much investigation was actually done. >> and nationally, i mean, if republicans in the senate are not willing to challenge the president on hegseth you i mean,

do you think there'd be any challenge for tulsi gabbard or kash patel? >> i don't know, i think that there may be one of his cabinet members that don't get through, and i don't think it probably will be anyone in the national security or with the fbi of kash patel. it might be rfk. his hearing, i don't think, has even been scheduled yet, because they think of some concerns, not just from republicans, but democrats. but i mean, sadly, this isn't surprising. this is the republican party. now. they are they they believe that the president has this mandate. and they though that vote for pete hegseth or kash patel or tulsi gabbard jabbar will then have to be responsible if more stuff comes out later or they inappropriately hold those positions because more may come out even after they're confirmed. and then what do we do? do we do we require that they step down? would senators say that? i didn't know until my vote was wrong? we'll see. but right now, i think they probably all have a good chance of getting through. >> brett, do you think there are republican senators who have concerns about pete hegseth, whether it's past things or his

ability just to to run the organization and are voting, would vote for him because it's what president trump wants. >> well. >> i think some senators came into his nomination with questions and maybe serious questions, but pete hegseth has done more to meet with senators and sometimes meet and meat and meet to answer all their questions. and i think you see a situation now where most republican senators are quite comfortable. they think he's going to be a disrupter at the pentagon. you know, nobody is prepared to run the pentagon. i mean, maybe in the united states senate. dave mccormick or rick scott, two guys have run very large corporations. maybe we might say they've run something big enough to do it. but most people who get this job have never run anything that large. and that's because the pentagon is so large. but republicans are looking for a disrupter in this secretary. and i think that's what they like about pete hegseth. >> but most people have run something. i mean, hegseth was involved with two veterans organizations, and

obviously there there have been, you know, a lot of stories about, uh, why he is no longer involved with those those organizations. >> that's right. and i think senators have had i from what i understand, most senators questions have been focused on what he would do as secretary and what his plans are. and i think that that is the clarity most republicans have sought. you know, it's pretty typical for a president to get most votes from his own party. if you look back to joe biden's cabinet nominees, i think he had one person, joe manchin, oppose one nominee. so this level of support that we're seeing from republicans for donald trump is actually the norm. it's not unusual at all. and i think pete hegseth is going to be confirmed tomorrow. >> yeah. >> i'm not sure we've seen the same amount of allegations against people, though, with other nominations. i mean, look, the tide has completely changed. back when john tower was trying to get through 30 years ago, it was alleged he had an alcohol problem and he was swiftly out of the running. >> according there's reporting now that a source familiar with the statement that pete hegseth

ex-wife gave the fbi claims, she told authorities, quote, he drinks more often than he doesn't. end quote. he's denied he has a drinking. >> and why is that just being brought to light now, after the armed services committee vote? look, times have changed, and i just want to make sure that i'm clear that all senators voted unanimously for two laws that i helped champion in 2022 about bringing voices forward for sexual misconduct. and it's almost as if, when trump says that these people are absolutely fine, people don't want to be primaried out. that's what this is about. conviction has left the table other than if your name is lisa murkowski and susan collins. >> yeah, i want to play you, actually, what some of the. >> republican senators you're asking. >> actually, let me just ask to. ashley, i want to play with some of what republican senators told manu raju today. >> he said. >> he. >> wouldn't drink at all. >> if this comes with that, i'm fine with it. but it hasn't been proven in any that he was drinking while he was fox for ten years, maybe at a party or something like that. uh, you

name me, you probably can't name a handful of your friends that hasn't drank at a party or whatever. >> it may be. >> just excessive drinking, not just. >> yeah, well, i agree with that. and, well, at the end of the day, what's his sex drinking for? for anybody. uh, to me, i. 1 or 2 is way too much for me. so let's just look at the qualifications and the things that that should be looked at here. and again, if he can't do the job, he'll be gone anyway. and that's, that's what president trump's proven that mr. hegseth. >> has said he made mistakes in the past. and i dare say we've all made mistakes in the past. but he's learned from those. >> you know the logic well, you can't do the job. he'll he'll get fired. does that sit well with you? >> that's a hell of a risk to take for the person who's running our military. i think a couple of things. one, republicans just act like he is the only person that they could nominate. they could have moved beyond this, similar to matt gaetz, and found somebody else,

that it's the totality of the circumstances. it's the accusations around sexual assault. it's the things he's have said about women serving in the military, or maybe even being allowed to vote. it's the potential that he is an excessive drinker. pick your poison, almost of which one might be too much. and the thing about the drinking is you never know when this country is going to be under attack. you have to be vigilant. if you're leading our military and you can't just have a couple sometimes if you're at a party and you may be at a party more nights in a week than not. >> brad, i want to give you the final thought. >> but, you know, hold on a second. hold on a second. lloyd austin, the current secretary of defense under joe biden, disappeared without telling congress or the white house that he was going. >> to go and was criticized. >> for it and be off duty. so ashley is right, but but ashley's point is correct. you have to be on duty at all times. i think pete hegseth has worked hard to go answer these questions. and, you know, roger wicker, the chairman of the committee, says that he thinks these allegations don't pass scrutiny. roger wicker is a sober, square individual. i trust roger wicker, and i think most republican senators are going

to, too. >> all right, brad todd, gretchen carlson, ashley allison, thanks very much. coming up next, what president trump has now ended secret service protection for two of his former top officials. the question tonight, did he do it because they've spoken up against him or for other reasons keeping them honest. later you'll meet a remarkable woman and mom still searching for answers and her missing son. austin tice 12.5 years since he disappeared in syria. >> i still. >> love. >> to surf, snowboard and of course, skate. so i take magnesium to support my muscle and bone health. kunal's high absorption magnesium glycinate helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. kunal, the brand i trust. >> they are trying to shut down this legal loophole to get 100 milligram generic viagra or 20mg generic cialis delivered to your door for just $0.87 in less than two minutes. do this first, scan the qr code to go to get friday plans. com then you select if you need

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send info kit.com. >> physicians mutual, physicians mutual. >> cnn this. >> morning with. >> kasie hunt today at 5:00 eastern. >> keeping them honest a matter of protection and a question of retribution. now, in the space of two days, the new president signed executive orders ending secret service protection for three former officials. former secretary of state mike pompeo, his former top aide brian hook, and former national security advisor john bolton. now, the president this week also fired hook from a prestigious think tank position. all three served in the first trump administration. and while it's not clear to us immediately what his beef may be with hook, the president has repeatedly attacked bolton and pompeo after they offered criticism of him. here's what the president said when asked about revoking pompeo and hook's protection. >> do you want to have a large detail of people guarding people for the rest of their lives? i mean, there's risks to everything. >> well, certainly the cost of

protection are high. millions of dollars a year sometimes. and there are limits about how long it can last. but in this case, many of those risks stem largely from actions their former boss took killing a top iranian general five years ago, which to this day he considers one of his proudest accomplishments. >> last night at my direction, the united states military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number one terrorist anywhere in the world, qassim soleimani. soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on american diplomats and military personnel. but we caught him in the act and terminated him. >> now confronting iran in that and other ways throughout the first trump administration made hook. and mike pompeo and john bolton targets. it also made president trump a target after he lost the election as well, which we reported on a number of times. you'll remember then candidate trump sought his own added protection toward the end

of the campaign. the headline there reads trump requests military aircraft and vehicles amid iran threat a threat. the president was warned still exists, according to the new york times. maggie haberman, citing four sources familiar with the matter. that warning, maggie writes, came from the outgoing administration, which john bolton credited yesterday. talking to cnn's jake tapper. >> you know, when president biden recognizing the threat against me and several other current and former u.s. government officials authorized secret service to to restore protection, which i had had when i was national security advisor. i'm sure he probably wasn't the happiest man in the world because of the criticisms that i've made of him. on his his foreign policy. but he did it because it's simply not permissible to allow a rogue state like the terrorist in iran to threaten americans. >> bolton seems to be suggesting there in praising the biden administration's decision to protect him, despite him being a

critic of then-president biden, is that president trump is doing the opposite, that he's doing it for payback. but it's not so cut and dry. while the biden administration continued secret service protection for bolton, hook and pompeo, they did end protection in 2023 for another former trump national security advisor, robert o'brien. and they never really explained why. wall street journal investigated and got no comment from the secret service, according to the journal. senator mike lee, who took up robert o'brien's case trying to get his protection reinstated, says he was told the decision was based on, quote, a wide variety of circumstances, which the journal went on to list as human resources. budgetary limitations and the nature of the threat. but it's unclear why the threat would have been different for him and not the others. in the case of president trump, however, he's made a number of statements that indicate he's annoyed by bolton, and pompeo has noted he's repeatedly attacked both men. and interestingly, in his public comments about his decision to stop their security protection, he's not given any indication that the danger from iran has actually gone away. more now from cnn's chief washington correspondent and anchor of the source. kaitlan collins. is this about

resources? does the president essentially seem to be suggesting, or is it personal? >> when you talk to white house officials, they're not even saying or fronting that this is about resources or any kind of budgetary issues. instead, it's very clear what is motivating this. and i've been talking to a lot of people who work for trump now and who worked for trump in the first term about this decision. and they say it's very clearly driven by his animus toward mike pompeo and john bolton, which has been very clear. i mean, we saw trump last week. i believe it was saying that anyone who ever worked for bolton or pompeo, among a list of others that he also hired, would not be coming into this administration. and so it's very clearly to do with their criticism. but it's not even just someone like bolton, who was a very outspoken critic of donald trump, did not vote for him in the 2024 election. mike pompeo is not at that level. he actually is pretty praiseworthy of trump, and a lot of the moves that he's made when he's on fox news and speaking in other situations, he was critical when trump had was indicted and

facing those charges in the classified documents case. but regardless, the point and the bigger point that bolton is making, when we first reported that he had been he had been stripped of his security on tuesday, within hours of trump taking office, was he's been a critic of both of theirs, and he certainly has been heavily critical of president biden. but it was president trump, both when he was in office the last time and this time that has decided to take this decision. and these are two different security details. i should note it was secret service that was protecting john bolton. it was state department detail that was protecting mike pompeo because of a very real threat made against both of them. >> and it's not an abstract threat. i mean, the president himself has been the target of iranian plots, according to a federal law enforcement. is anyone in the white house concerned about something happening? i mean, anyone you've heard from concerned about bolton or pompeo or hook? >> certainly a lot of people who are no longer in trump's orbit have been raising this question. one of if a u.s. former top official is assassinated on u.s.

soil by a foreign power, what position does that put trump in? what position does that put the united states in? they've been raising that question because these are threats as a reminder that are facing john bolton and mike pompeo for the hard line stance they took on iran while they were working for donald trump, his first time in office, and for the strike against qasem soleimani, the top iranian commander that they killed while trump was in office. trump himself has faced threats from iran and had to get increased security over the summer amid his assassination attempts, also because they were getting briefings about just how serious the threat against trump and his family was by iran. and then the other point that someone made to me today, anderson, that i thought was was really astute was if you're mike waltz or your pete hegseth or your marco rubio and you're going into these top positions for donald trump and could potentially anger him, because certainly when mike pompeo went in last time and john bolton in the last time, they did not think their relationships would end up the way that they did with trump. how do you view this? >> well, clearly, this sends a

message to anybody about speaking out against trump. if you've worked for him, worked in his orbit, if you are in a national security, i mean, it's it's a it can't help but have a chilling effect on anybody willing willingness to speak out. caitlin. appreciate it. we'll see you at the nine for the source. caitlin is going to be speaking to former national security adviser john bolton next hour. joining us now is two cnn analyst, former deputy director of national intelligence beth sandor and former secret service agent jonathan wackrow. um, jonathan, i mean, in the face of this, what is what does this read to you? >> well, this is a clear signal of the president that he's in control. and he took this direct action because he can. it's well within his power and his authority to remove secret service protection or state department protection at any moment in time. >> obviously, we're not privy to the intelligence, but the former president, when he was former president, was briefed on the threat from iran. i mean, it was. >> the same threat. this is the same threat. this is the same group of people that were all involved in the decision to

launch that attack that took the life of commander soleimani and iran the iranian threat. you persist today. it has not diminished one bit. it is out there. so what has been accomplished here is that the president has put ambassador bolton and pompeo at significant risk. and what worries me the most is does this now empower iranian proxies or iran to launch an attack here, knowing that we are divided? right. you have the president who is subject to this threat, surrounded by the secret service, but other people who are part of that decision now are left vulnerable. >> beth, is there a real danger? i mean, do you think it could embolden iran's iranian proxies here? >> i do. >> but i also. >> want to get back to this point that you made, anderson, about president biden taking. >> away former national security. adviser robert o'brien's detail. >> and that doesn't. >> make. >> sense to me either.

>> right. >> so. >> right. >> so, so there's a lot. >> of inconsistencies here. and as caitlin mentioned, or you did that, you know, secret service does some dod does some protection. state department does some protection. et cetera. and there doesn't seem to be a standard here. to me, the standard should be threat leads to protection for former government officials. because what happens if this kind of assassination takes place now? right now i think that iran wants to negotiate with us. so maybe president trump is thinking, ah, the threat is lower now, but iran does not forget. maybe they'll try harder to hide their hand, but they're never going to end this fatwa. >> and jonathan, just to be clear, the whatever threat assessment is made by, whether it's the secret service or diplomatic security with the state department or any other agency, it's the president's final decision. >> it's the president's final decision. but let's talk about

the consequence of that decision. right. as beth was saying, it really puts these individuals at risk. but there's an order of consequence here where they no longer have protection. so any type of attack against bolton or pompeo, it could include their family, it could include their associates, it could include the general public. we don't know the nature or location or type of attack that could be launched against them. so we're not talking about just putting one person at risk. we're talking about potentially putting multiple people at risk. an entire area at risk just because we potentially have emboldened iran or their proxies to launch an attack. >> and, beth, i mean, charles kupperman, who served as deputy national security advisor under bolton, said that president trump's decision could have a chilling effect on national security professionals who are currently working for him. he basically says concern about their own security after leaving the white house could negatively impact their work. and as we've talked about with caitlin, certainly it would impact their willingness to criticize the president. >> it's all bad. it's all bad,

anderson. right. i mean, the entire thing about just dealing with these life and death. this is life and death situations here. professionals generally. i have to say, i've never really thought about these things as i have been involved in them or watched others make decisions about these things, and i don't think people generally are thinking about themselves. they're trying to do the right thing. but you certainly don't want to create a situation where people are having these questions. what happens when i'm done with my job? is my family going to be at risk? will i have to be in hiding for the rest of my life? that is not a good situation to put national security professionals or anyone in. and i just think that what we need now is probably for congress or somebody to step in here and have let's have a, a system that's based on threat and response. >> well, i keep thinking about just for the family of these people. how scary it must be. suddenly you've had, you know, round the clock protection told

there's a threat. and then all of a sudden one day they say, look, we got to go. i'm sorry. >> look at the story that bolton has said. you know, he got the word at 12, 1201 that your protection is going. think about no time to even prepare, even to get private security, to bring others in. it really puts, you know, there's again, there's an order of consequence to this action. >> yeah. jonathan walker appreciate it. beth sanner as well. coming up next, the desperate search for her son. the mom of american journalist austin tice goes back to syria for any clues into his disappearance with our clarissa ward. more than 12 years after he vanished. we'll talk to clarissa ahead. and later, what president trump said after a federal judge put a temporary block on his executive order to end birthright citizenship. >> this part changed my life. >> superman. >> crazy. >> just that simple. >> little thing. >> over the horse. >> chris wanted to change the world. >> people are literally. >> walking because of.

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by law.com today. >> now a mother's search for her missing son. a long journey that has now taken her to syria's capital. she's the mother of missing american journalist austin tice, who vanished near damascus in 2012. i want to show you the last known video of him recorded in august of that year. a blindfold over his eyes. the u.s. believes he was abducted by the regime of then syrian president bashar al-assad. but they never acknowledged it. the regime. and now, after the stunning fall of assad's government last month, tice's whereabouts are still unknown. his mother is hoping the new syrian government can help her find her son. more now from our clarissa ward. >> reporter this. >> is the. >> story of the lengths a mother will go to to find her son. it's the story of so many syrian mothers and one american. for 12.5 years, deborah tice has not stopped looking for u.s. journalist austin tice. taken at a regime checkpoint in syria in 2012. he has been missing ever

since. one of many thousands who disappeared in the prisons of syrian dictator bashar al-assad. six weeks after assad's ouster. deborah is now going back to damascus, joined by the head of hostage aid worldwide, nizar zakka, who is coordinating the search. >> almost ten years. >> since when was the last time, which. >> was the last time i was here was. >> in 2015. in may. >> wow. >> at the hotel in damascus, a group of journalists eagerly await her arrival. but for now, there are more questions than answers. >> it's hard for me to think about how. how what is my way forward here? you know? austin has been held by the syrian government. all this time who who is holding him now? where is he? how? what is

the approach? i mean, it's like it's first grade again. >> and where where do you think he is? what do you know? what can you share? >> i feel like he is still in syria, and i do think it's most likely he's in a safe house. >> are you saying that based on what you feel or what you know. >> there's some of each. there's some of each. >> faith has played a vital role in deborah's journey. first thing sunday morning, she heads to saint anthony's church, the place she came to pray on an almost daily basis. when she first visited damascus in 2014 and ended up staying three and a half months trying to gain austin's release. prayers are needed by so many here dotted around the city, fliers with photos of those who disappeared under the assad regime, leaving

devastated families desperately looking for answers. for deborah and nizar, the prisons where they believe austin was detained hold important clues they visit al-khatib prison, where nazar's team has discovered some graffiti that the tice family is convinced was written by austin. deborah has been stealing herself for this moment for weeks and is intent on seeing it for herself. >> okay. >> take a minute, take a minute, take a minute. okay. >> take a minute. >> okay. okay. you want to hold that for me? okay. i'm going to take this. >> hold the light for you. yes. >> yes, yes, yes. >> i'll hold the light for you. okay. okay, i'll go in first. okay it's very small in here.

okay. okay. so here. >> the tice family asked us not to show the graffiti itself out of respect for their privacy. >> i'm going to stay in here for a minute, okay? okay. i just want to be in here for a minute. just for a minute? >> sure. >> i hardly even know what to say about that experience. it was beyond anything i could have imagined. these pictures don't even begin to tell you how. unbelievably, unbelievably horrible, awful, terrible nightmare they are. >> at a press conference the next day, deborah talks about

her experience visiting the prisons. >> for all the mothers whose sons were disappeared in these dungeons. our hearts are joined. for all those looking now for answers about their family members. i am here with you in solidarity. we share. >> unlike those syrian mothers, deborah and nazar were able to meet with syria's new leader, ahmed al-sharaa, who offered support and confidence. >> he believes. >> like all of. >> us. >> that austin is alive and he's going to be joined with. >> his mom. >> and we promised him that when he's back, we're going to come visit shara again with austin. >> a lot of people will think after the fall of the assad regime, after the prisons were opened, more than a month later, the fact that austin doesn't turn up hasn't turned up is not a good sign. and there are many people who assume that he was likely killed. how do you know? or do you know with conviction

that he is alive? >> we have enough information collected that austin is alive and is in a safe house, is controlled somehow by the regime. everybody, we are receiving this information from the highest sources, confirming what? what we believe in. so we don't see any reason, any reason to to think differently. in fact, we didn't have one thing, no, ever. nobody provided one single evidence that austin is not alive. >> it's monday afternoon, the day of the inauguration of president donald j. trump. have you been in contact with the trump administration? do you feel optimistic? >> oh, i feel hugely optimistic. and one of the main things is that his people reached out to me. i mean, they are in. they are ready. they want to go with it. they want austin home.

>> looking out at the city as the sun starts to fade, deborah's hopes are high. >> you remember the feeling of the baby almost due. you know, that kind of thing of just waiting. you know, when are we going to be together again? i have very much that kind of feeling. >> do you feel when you look around that you're closer to him? >> yes. i feel like i'm closer to him. i feel like he knows that i'm here. all right. >> the next morning, it's time to leave. but deborah is certain she will be back and soon. >> i. >> i mean, it's just extraordinary what she must be going through. has the trump administration said anything publicly about the search for tice? >> so they haven't said anything publicly yet, anderson. but given that it's only thursday and the presidency began on monday, that's not necessarily surprising. we know that president trump was very actively engaged with trying to

get austin released during his previous presidency. we did hear last week from now former secretary of state antony blinken, who said that they didn't have any updates on tice's whereabouts, but that there were people searching throughout syria, that no stone was being left unturned. but i think it's fair to say at this stage, the most encouraging bit of news that debbie tice took away from her trip to damascus was this meeting with syria's new leader, ahmed al-sharaa. that meeting lasted about two hours, which is significantly longer than most of the sort of more formal meetings would would be. and they felt really convinced that al-sharaa was definitely believing that austin was alive, was confident that he would be able to facilitate him being reunited with his family. but certainly now, i would say, anderson, that there's an expectation that they really need to hear something in the next couple of weeks. i mean,

that is the timeline, particularly that nazar is looking at in terms of being able to feel more confident about where austin is and their ability to get him home to his mother, his siblings and his dad. >> austin just seems like a. >> world. >> a world of shadows. and it's hard to know what's what's real and what's accurate. it's just must be just awful for her. clarissa. appreciate it. coming up next, what a judge said today after he put a temporary hold on president trump's bid to end birthright citizenship and how the president responded. we'll talk it over with retired federal judge johnny jones. also tonight, the latest on the massive wildfire northwest of los angeles. we were covering it last night, the urgent effort to contain it. what we know about a new fire now also in southern california. >> welcome back. >> have i got news for you returns february 15th on cnn. >> hi, grandma. i played baseball today. >> oh. >> that's great. >> what position. >> did.

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challenge from several democratic led states and cities. a federal judge temporarily blocked the measure. the president promised to appeal. the justice department went further, saying they will, quote, vigorously defend the president's order, adding that it, quote, correctly interprets the 14th amendment. that will be up to the courts. perhaps even the supreme court to decide. as for the simple text of it, it reads all persons born or naturalized in the united states and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the united states and of the state wherein they reside. want to get perspective now, though? joining us, former federal judge johnnie jones. the third. judge jones, what do you make of the judge blocking the attempt to end birthright citizenship? it is unusual for a judge to call something blatantly unconstitutional. >> well. >> it's kind of judge speak. i would say, anderson, for you got to be kidding me, or you're wasting my time. it certainly happens. but it happens in a case where the judge is incredulous about the arguments that are being made in front of

him, and that's this is a battle tested judge. corner is somebody who's been on the bench for four decades. been there, done that. and you can you can bet that he felt that, that this was an easy case to decide. >> i mean, at the core of this is the trump administration's argument that a clause in the 14th amendment that refers to children who are born to parents, subject to the jurisdiction thereof, that's the phrasing subject to the jurisdiction thereof, meaning the united states excludes undocumented immigrants. i'm wondering what you make of that argument. so. >> yeah, so, you know, born in the united states is not in question, right? so that part of the clause is fine. that's that's an unmistakable fact. so you go to the jurisdiction portion of it. and this is really an executive order by presidential fiat that says, you know, you're not subject to the jurisdiction of the united states. and, you know, anderson, i got thinking about this, and i

sentenced hundreds of folks who were illegal. reentrance to the united states, who were, in effect, illegal aliens. they had the right to counsel. they had the right, the right to remain silent. they had a lot of constitutional rights that had been applied to them. and i query, you know, when the united states marshals were taking these defendants out of court after i sentenced them to prison and they had their due process rights, it might have amazed them to say. and by the way, you know, you're not subject to the jurisdiction of the united states. i think it's just a complete reach. >> we mentioned that president trump today said he'll appeal the ruling. we've reported the president's advisers anticipated it is going to face legal challenges. they're already looking ahead to eventually the supreme court. how do you i mean, is there any way to predict how that would play out, given the nature of the court? >> well, you know, for the justice department lawyers, this is like the charge of the light brigade. this is a real tough order, you know, to go into court and get your head handed

to you. >> for those who aren't familiar with the charge of the light brigade, which i am, because i actually love that movie, that was not a great charge for for the the folks on. >> it was not. it was not. and metaphorically, you know, this this guy went down today in the in the judge's courtroom. exactly right. by historical reference. so, you know, we don't know where it's going to go. and it's interesting, you know, the supreme court may take it, they may not take it. they may be satisfied with a lower court decision that. essentially upholds the the injunction against it. you know, if the supreme court is comprised of a lot of sort of originalists, what's more original than, you know, the 14th amendment in clear language that was verified by subsequent court cases, including the wong case. i really don't think the language is subject to question.

you'd have to take it to the supreme court and have them upset the 14th amendment interpretation and existing precedent. i don't know, anderson. i think that's a tough go. >> all right, judge johnny jones, appreciate it. thank you. next, the latest from southern california where new wildfire is burning and hard questions about being asked about the emergency warning system in a community where 17 people died. we'll have more on that ahead. >> ocd is more. >> than what you see on tv and in the movies. it comes with unrelenting, intrusive images, thoughts and urges. if you have ocd and need help, you. >> can. >> get better with specialized treatment. go to nocd. >> com to learn more. they are trying to shut down this legal loophole to get 100 milligram generic viagra or 20mg generic cialis delivered to your door for just $0.87 in less than two minutes. do this. first, scan the qr code to go to get friday. plans.com. then you select if you need

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diego county. they're calling this the border fire. since it's not far from the border with mexico. at least 228 acres have burned so far. zero containment on that tonight. crews still working on the hughes fire northwest of los angeles. that's now 36% contained. cnn's natasha chen joins us now from near that fire. we were showing pictures from earlier on this fire. natasha, i just want to be clear. is there any active flames from this fire, or is it what we saw in the days after what went on in l.a. county last week or so ago, that the fires essentially smoldering underground, and that's why it's not fully contained. >> well. >> anderson, from. where we're standing, we have not seen any active flames. all day. >> and a battalion chief tells. >> us this is. a very good indicator. >> they actually got some good control over this fire overnight because the wind conditions were very favorable. and all the resources that we saw come into town for the palisades and eaton fire, they're still here. so they were able to quickly

maneuver to this one and attack it from the get go. now, tens of thousands of people have evacuated from warnings and orders, and a lot of people are paying very close attention now to those alerts on their phones all over the metro area, just as we are hearing from altadena residents from the eaton fire that some residents on the west side of town say they didn't get any evacuation notices until their actual streets were on fire. a glow in the distance seen from mark douglas's home in altadena. >> where we live. there was never a thought in. >> anyone's mind. >> that fire wouldn't would get to that neighborhood. >> this was the start of the eaton fire and this is how it ended for douglas and countless others. his home was one of more than 9000 structures destroyed by the ferocious blaze. even as the flames drew near, douglas says he received no evacuation warning. his only guide. pure

instinct. >> we're on our. >> own, essentially. >> i think. self-preservation kicked in. >> and we said we have to think on our own because nobody's going to be here to tell us what to do and tell us when to get out and how to get out. >> he wasn't alone. as the fire tore down the mountain launched by fierce santa ana winds, there was a clear divide in who was alerted and who was not. reports the l.a. times. those east of north lake avenue received evacuation warnings and orders. those west of the avenue did not. until 3:25 a.m., the times reports. based on its review of archived warnings that night. by that time, the fires were already consuming the neighborhood. the grim result? all 17 deaths from the eaton fire occurred west of lake. the coroner says. >> you would almost think that this lake boulevard was some sort of impenetrable wall, you know, because it was like this street, everything, you know, west of

it. they weren't, you know, evacuating or warning. >> now public officials are calling for a full investigation of the alert system countywide. >> there must be a thorough examination of the life saving emergency notification actions that took place throughout the wildfire events. earlier this. >> month. the joint information center, representing multiple agencies responding to the fires, acknowledged to cnn that a comprehensive third party evaluation is needed, but adds that wireless emergency alerts are only one of several means of notifying and evacuating residents, and that doorknocks and patrols with loudspeakers driving up and down streets are also used by authorities. >> i don't want to throw. rocks at. >> anybody. >> and i'm sure they did the best that they could. they were overwhelmed to. >> vester pittman is among those who made up his own mind to get out. the pastor is feeling blessed, yet blunt about what could have been his family's fate. >> we'll be barbecued by now. we will be. we'll be victims. uh, if we had waited.

>> what more are you learning about the warnings well, anderson, i followed up with the joint information center, and they confirmed with me that that protocol of in person door knocks and warning people over loudspeakers. >> they said that was done in the eaton fire. now, whether they did that specifically on the west side of altadena will have to wait until that full review comes out for those kinds of details. i can tell you anecdotally, though, the people we interviewed said they do not remember that happening on their specific streets. anderson. >> wow. it's just incredible. and natasha chen thank you. that's it. we actually have some pictures. i want to show you the san diego fire that we talked about. this is closer to the border. um, not at this point. a huge fire, but obviously of concern. uh, this is along the california border, at least 228 acres destroyed. last night. we saw that fire grow very fast. further up,