priscilla alvarez holmes library. and i want to turn now to an eyewitness who was on bourbon street early this morning when this attack happened. ian parsons is 18 years old, was out celebrating the new year. he joins me now. zion, just take us into that moment. i can't imagine being there. i'm so sorry you had to to to witness this, to be a part of this horror. what did you see? >> um. >> so sitting near the the bar desires uh, all i saw was a ford f-150 going towards me. >> and my friends. >> so one of the women who died, a young woman named kyra. >> diplo um. and it was. terrifying. you know, um, just being out there, we did as well. >> and, um. >> um. i'm sorry. i'm sorry. >> no, it's it's fine. >> it was just like a like a movie. >> that's the only way i can explain it. like a like a movie. truly throwing people left and right and they were. they were bodies and blood and all the trash. um all the all the bodies. >> i. you were with friends. you said you were with friends. was were your friends okay? are you okay

let's go to priscilla alvarez, who is joining us as well. of course, noem is going to play a role if confirmed, in implementing some of donald trump's policies. but you've got some new reporting on some of what donald trump's plans are. just hours after he's being sworn in. what can you tell us? >> yeah, certainly the interesting dynamic in this incoming administration will be that in addition to the homeland security secretary, there is also the border czar, tom homan, who president-elect donald trump had selected, who's going to be at the white house and will largely be leading on immigration. but the department of homeland security, of course, is charged with implementing a lot of this immigration agenda with which sources have described to me will include three different buckets. for example, interior enforcement that is going to start pretty quickly after trump is sworn in. that could be ice sweeps in metropolitan areas like denver and chicago. and sources tell me the plan is still to target criminals. but of course, if there are other

priscilla alvarez is here with us. , quite the turn of events here, priscilla. >> yes, this has been a clash that has played out publicly for all to see between these two world leaders that otherwise would be close allies. so a trump administration official telling me that now columbia is sending two government planes to pick up migrants who were originally scheduled to go on those u.s. military flights. now, the u.s. military flights has added a new wrinkle to all of this, because this was part of president donald trump's national emergency declaration, essentially using military assets to repatriate migrants, among other efforts. now, columbia has taken a lot of deportation flights on civilian aircraft. but what the colombian president appeared to take issue with was the fact that they were returning on military aircraft. now, i will tell you, pamela, i reviewed documents that showed that colombian officials had okayed migrants being returned on military military flights. so this sudden post by the colombian president

priscilla alvarez, cnn, washington. >> all right. priscilla alvarez, thank you very much. joining me now is cnn military analyst, retired air force colonel cedric leighton. colonel, good to see you. let's start with pete hegseth. as you know, there have been so many questions and concerns from lawmakers about his character and obviously his experience or lack thereof. he's a veteran of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. he spent about 20 years as an army national guard officer. he's a fox. former fox news host. are you confident, colonel, that the department of defense will be in good, secure hands under his leadership? >> good morning. amara. no. i'm not. and you know, i hate to say this, but this is a person who has absolutely no experience at the highest levels of government, and that's, you know, a telling factor, because not only does he have to run the department, and of course, he'll have a lot of assistance from his deputy secretary of defense and the different service secretaries, as well as the uniformed military. but he also has to advocate effectively for the de

we begin the hour with cnn's priscilla alvarez. priscilla, are these raids still happening this morning? it sounds like this is ramping up as the days go on. >> i'm told by sources that this is going to be a multi-day operation that is going to happen across the united states. they're calling this enhanced enforcement operations. what does that mean? well, this is going to be multiple agencies, not only ice, but also justice department agencies who were given immigration authority last week. that includes, for example, dea, atf, the u.s. marshals. they are all coming together to what the trump officials are calling force multipliers. i spoke to white house border czar tom homan last night, and he told me that this was a, quote, game changer and that the focus in chicago and again, it wasn't just enforcement action in chicago, but that's where he was on the ground was a, quote, criminal operation. so again, what we are seeing that is different in this scenario is that there are so many agencies that are coming together for this opera

joining us now, cnn's priscilla alvarez. priscilla, what are what are you hearing about the deportation plans from tom homan? >> well, let's start with immigration and customs enforcement carries out targeted enforcement operations on a routine basis. they've been doing it over the last several weeks, and they are doing it today and in the coming days. but there are two differences as to what this administration is going to do compared to the last administration. so let's start with what tom homan just said. he was referring to what they call collateral arrests. what does that mean? that means that if they're going to go after someone that they are targeting, but they come across other undocumented immigrants in the process, well, they too can be taken in to detention. so he is not ruling out that while they are doing these operations, if they come across someone else who is undocumented, they will take them in as well. we are also learning, jake, just within the last hour, that ice will also be allowed to operate in and near

let's bring in cnn's priscilla alvarez. priscilla, you have been covering all of this. tell us about what we've seen so far on the immigration front and what we can expect. >> well, what we've seen so far is that. on the ground along the u.s. southern border, what i'm talking about there is that border app. the reason it was important is because it allowed migrants to essentially queue up. they would schedule their appointments to come to a legal port of entry, to try to make a claim for asylum. well, that option is off the table now. and when you compare that with asylum restrictions. asylum is essentially effectively shut down on the u.s. southern border. so this small turning off made a massive change for the lives of many of those who are waiting along the u.s. southern border. now you tick through some of the other ones, as did elena, for example, the national emergency declaration familiar to what they did in the first term, essentially shoring up the pentagon resources along the u.s. southern border. some other big moves, though, that were resurfacing ideas from

here now, cnn white house correspondent priscilla alvarez. and, priscilla, you have new reporting on what trump's day one immigration agenda might look like. what are you learning? >> well, it's going to include a series of executive actions on this signature issue for the president elect. and they really fall into three different buckets. interior enforcement. that's what we're thinking about. ice sweeps, particularly in major metropolitan areas. the reason being that we know that many of these areas have had to grapple with an influx of migrants in recent years. think denver, chicago, then two, they want to focus on the border. now, we should note here that the border numbers have dropped pretty dramatically over the last several months. but all the same, they want to clamp down further by invoking that national emergency declaration that might sound familiar to viewers, because they did it the first time around, too, but this is a way for them to shore up pentagon resources along the u.s. southern border, and also add asylum restrictions. a

priscilla alvarez, cnn, washington. >> u.s. president-elect donald trump released a statement.t read in part, quote, our hearts are with all the innocent victims and their loved ones, including the brave officers of the new orleans police department. the trump administration will fully support the city of new orleans as they investigate and recover from this act of pure evil. now, earlier, cnn's brianna keilar spoke with retired u.s. army general russel honorÉ. he's a louisiana native and oversaw relief efforts after hurricane katrina hit new orleans in 2005. he said he fears u.s. law enforcement is not sufficiently prepared for terrorist attacks like the one on wednesday. >> i do have concerns because on any given day, a determined terrorist can attack a soft target. you know, brianna, when i woke up this morning at five and i saw killing in the french quarter, i thought it was another mass shooting, which jane can attribute to. every now and then, somebody will come down at a major event and a street crime. somebody will get an automatic weapon and shoot a bunch of people. th

priscilla alvarez, thank you very much. more breaking news. a look at the plans to crack down on cities resisting the trump administration's new immigration orders. the breaking news on the new memo from the department of justice, the trump department of justice. that's next. >> i'm hanako montgomery in tokyo, and this is cnn. >> one a next level clean swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean with listerine. feel the. whoa! >> i'm barbara and i'm from saint joseph, michigan. i'm a retired school librarian, and i'm also a library board trustee. a mother of two and a grandmother of two. about five years ago, i was working full time. i had an awful lot of things to take care of. i needed all the help i could get. i saw tommercials for prevagen. i started taking it and it helped. i was better able to take care of all those little details. people say to me, barbara, you don't miss a beat. >> prevagen. at stores everywhere without

cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us now with the latest. priscilla, let's start with what you're learning about more troops heading to the u.s. border. >> well. >> the key there is. >> the. more so the pentagon. >> has. >> assisted along the u.s. >> southern border for years. >> but now we're expecting them to step up their presence on the heels of president trump's executive order. >> earlier this week. >> so what does that look like? well, sources tell me that they can assist in multiple ways. they can help with readiness, operational readiness. >> assisting border patrol. >> with that so that they can also. be on the front lines, which is where they and. >> the president. >> have said he wants them to be relinquishing immigration and customs enforcement, which has been helping a lot on the u.s. southern border, and letting them go back to the interior and focus on arrests, then to helping with intelligence. so the watching flows and threats and also air support. so augmenting those air operations. so a lot of this is just putting more of

cnn's priscilla alvarez with us this morning with the latest on this. priscilla, what are you hearing? >> well, john, this was certainly the first major. international clash over immigration. as you mentioned, president trump, trump threatening tariffs. >> after colombia abruptly said that they wouldn't take back flights with repatriated colombians. so how did this all unfold? well, over the weekend, the u.s. had planned two military flights to colombia. now they had taken off and according to documents i reviewed, colombia had authorized those flights. but then the colombian president said in a post on x that he would not take those flights. he would block them. and he talked about making sure that migrants are not treated as criminals. now, the context there is that colombia has taken migrants back on civilian aircraft. he seemed to be implying that he was taking issue with this being two military aircraft. now, of course, earlier guatemala had taken back similar flights. now, this public clash resulted in the president slapping an emergency 25% tariff

priscilla alvarez, thank you very much for that. kate. >> a federal judge has blocked president trump's executive order moving to try and end birthright citizenship. the judge telling a justice department attorney in this decision, saying, i've been on the bench for over four decades. i can't remember another case where the question presented was as clear as this one is. this is a blatantly unconstitutional order. the president was asked about this afterward. >> obviously, we'll appeal it. they put it before a certain judge in seattle, i guess, right. and there's no surprises with that judge. >> joining us right now is democratic congressman from new mexico, gabe vasquez. thank you so much for coming in. congressman, a judge blocking this order, um, that donald trump obviously making very clear they are going to be appealing and this will continue its way through the courts. you've called the move by the president egregious. what do you think the impact will be if he if he succeeds? >> thank you kate, it's great. >> to be on today.

let's begin with cnn's priscilla alvarez, who has the latest on the crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the united states. priscilla ice says an immigration enforcement blitz by multiple federal agencies this weekend resulted in nearly 1000 arrests. put that number into perspective for us. and what do we know about the people who were targeted? >> well, jake, sources tell me that this is a multi-day operation that is happening across the country. what they are calling those expanded or rather enhanced operations. now, the number you're referring to, nearly 1000 arrests. just yesterday across the country. now, when you compare that to the last fiscal year, it was around 300 arrests a day. so you can see that it is indeed a ramp up from where arrests have been. now the question is, is it sustainable, given the fact that the department of homeland security has always historically had a limited resources? but the strategy here by the trump administration is to bolster their ops with multiple federal agencies, including justice department agencies, who now have immigration authority. that

priscilla alvarez joins me now with more on that on what appears to be, priscilla, a very significant personnel shake-up when it comes to what we are looking at and the very people who deal with these issues. what can you tell us? >> yeah, kaitlan, president trump had released a series of executive actions on immigration today. it was actually the action happening very quietly and behind the scenes that may have had some of the biggest impact, at least now in the near term. one of them, what you just mentioned, it is the end of cbp-1. that's a border app that essentially allows migrants to come to a legal port of entry and schedule appointments. there are about 1,450 appointments a day. so over a thousand migrants were disappointed today when after waiting in line to have this appointment had it abruptly canceled. pair that with the fact that there is already restrictions along the u.s. southern border, and we're in this extraordinary place where asylum is essentially shut off at the u.s. southern border, which is unprecedented. now in addition to that, as you mentioned, i'm being tol

. >> here with us now is cnn's priscilla alvarez, along with cnn's valeria leon, who is live near the border in ciudad juarez, mexico. priscilla, first to you just moments ago, cnn interviewed trump's border czar, tom homan. he told cnn that targeted enforcement operations are beginning today. what do they look like? >> well, so far they look like what we might expect and what may have happened last week with some differences. and i'll explain those. so first of all, these targeted enforcement operations that tom homan was referring to is going after public safety and national security threats. well, there was similar guidance under the biden administration. but the difference now is that by eliminating those priorities, which is what president trump did yesterday in an executive order, it takes out some of the discretion. so it gives them more authority to go after who they say they are targeting. the other difference that tom described is that if they go after a criminal and they arrest that criminal, but they are surrounded with someone else who is undocumented or more than one per

astead herndon with the new york times, cnn's phil mattingly, and cnn's priscilla alvarez. phil mattingly, your takeaways. >> i think the the things that really stood out to me were top line, we know what the president wants to do. he's telegraphed not just his first term, but also throughout the time on his campaign trail. if we've learned anything over the course of the first 72 hours, priscilla knows this better than anyone. being our immigration expert. he's doing what he said he was going to do. so when it comes to economics, when it comes to kind of how he wants the u.s. to be on the global stage when it comes to economics, he's telling big businesses and foreign countries, you put your companies here, i'll give you the lowest tax rate i can possibly negotiate with republicans and democrats on capitol hill. if you don't, that's totally up to you. but you're going to get tariffs and you're going to get tariffs across everything. and if you want to know how jittery, uncertain and tea leaf reading the markets are right now, i had a trader for a fund a lot of money a fund

priscilla alvarez, thanks so much for that update. let's dig deeper on this with joshua school. he's. excuse me, joshua school. he's a 21 year veteran of the fbi who retired as the bureau's executive assistant director for intelligence. he's now the president of the national security services firm bow wave, llc. joshua, thank you so much for being with us. i want to get your reaction to the use of military aircraft to carry out these deportations. priscilla just explained how unusual it is. it is it the case that resources are so strained to carry out these deportations that the government has to resort to using these military aircraft? >> well. >> i would say this is not. >> something. >> that's new. >> for us. >> we have seen cooperation across the federal government and law enforcement missions. you know, with terrorists being brought back from overseas to judicial hearings or being removed from the united states and heading to their country of origin. so in this regard, when you're when you're when you have a massive amount of people and you need to move quickly and resource

cnn's priscilla alvarez has more. >> white house deputy chief of staff stephen miller telling cnn on tuesday that he expects interior arrests of undocumented immigrants to ramp up in the days and weeks to come. when asked about quotas set for ice field offices of at least 75 arrests per day, stephen miller saying that that was, quote, the floor, not a ceiling. take a listen. >> so first of all, the numbers you cited are a floor, not a ceiling. very importantly, they're a floor. the goal is to arrest at least that many, but hopefully many more. and the department of justice is going to be closely involved in providing the manpower to help achieve those objectives, as laid out in the president's executive order. yes, ice. ice is absolutely prioritizing terrorists, public safety threats and national security threats. >> now, that would suggest a dramatic uptick of arrests of undocumented immigrants in the days and weeks to come. now, stephen miller, maintaining that they are prioritizing those arrests. but anecdotes have already been surfacing of some undocumented immigrants who appear

we have more now on the president's response with cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarez. we're also joined on the president elect's response to the tragedy with cnn national correspondent kristen holmes. priscilla, what did the president have to say? >> well, the president briefly spoke to reporters earlier today, and he said that his reaction was, quote, one of anger and frustration. and that reaction came after he had also released a statement. i'm going to read part of that statement to you. he said, quote, i am grateful for the brave and swift response of local law enforcement in preventing even greater death and injury. goes on to say that there is no justification for violence of any kind, and we will not tolerate any attack on any of our nation's communities. now, as you just mentioned, he has been working the phones. he has been talking to senior officials, being briefed by senior officials over the course of the day. that includes the dhs, with the nsc, with the fbi. he is now currently at camp david. that was always going to be a stop. on his way back to the whit

priscilla alvarez, thank you so much.deportations take place across the united states, one mississippi lawmaker is proposing a bounty hunter program to find people who are living in the country unlawfully. his plan calls for paying $1,000 to those who provide formatn that helps lead to the successful deportation of undocumented immigrants. with us now is desoto county, mississippi, district attorney matthew barton, who introduced this legislation. sir, thanks so much for being with us. if you could walk us through how you envision this program working out, who exactly is apprehending these alleged undocumented migrants and who gets the $1,000? yeah. so think. >> of it basically like a. >> crime stoppers program where people can. >> send in tips or information, and. >> that information would need to come in through the department of. >> public safety in mississippi, or local law enforcement. once that information is vetted and corroborated and deemed useful, then it can be, you know, passed along to ice. and if, um, if ice

kaitlan collins, priscilla alvarez, thanks to both of you. have a good weekend and don't, of course, miss out on caitlin's show. it's called the source. it airs every weeknight at 9 p.m., and tonight, she's going to be live, just as the senate is voting on trump's nominee for secretary of defense. pete hegseth. we still don't know if he's going to be confirmed or not. today, president trump said he might get rid of fema, the federal agency that handles disaster response. but what would that mean for the communities? the president is visiting today? those decimated by hurricanes in north carolina and fires in california. we'll ask the most recent head of fema in just moments. >> super man, the christopher reeve story, february 2nd on cnn. >> your florida. >> life is. >> calling, and we have the answer. valencia in florida by gio 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

priscilla alvarez, our white house reporter. she's done extensive reporting on what trump's going to do on day one. a lot of executive orders, mass deportations, sanctuary city raids, all these things happening. do you think that that how does this play out with kristi noem? i mean, as kristi noem is going to be head of the dhs, it doesn't appear that this is going to end any other way when it comes to congressional approval. >> no, i think she is going to be approved. but i think there are two people who really are going to be running the immigration issue. obviously, donald trump is the president, but he has ceded that portfolio to stephen miller. you'll remember that from the first administration. he has only accrued more power. and this is an issue that is very close to his ideology. this is an issue that he has really had a lot of control, and he micromanages it, and he'll be the face behind the curtain and in front of the curtain will be tom homan, as we mentioned. so i think kristi noem, i'm not saying she's going to cede

cnn's priscilla alvarez is joining us right now. iscilla, update our viewers on these dramatic developments. >> well, this is certainly. >> a crackdown by the trump. >> administration on the us-mexico border with a show of force by using pentagon resources. now, this falls into two different buckets. one, the troops that are going to be there and then the assets that will be used. so let's start with the first 1500 additional troops headed to the us-mexico border. that is in addition to the around 2200 troops that are already there, which is part of the point here. of course, pentagon resources have been used along the u.s. southern border before to assist border authorities with the work there. now, as far as what they're going to be doing, well, that includes, for example, operational readiness, helping with air assets, also helping with intelligence gathering when it comes to threats and the flow of migrants, and assisting in command and control. they are not doing law enforcement when they are along the u.s. southern border, but

cnn's priscilla alvarez. and the washington post, isaac arnsdorf. good morning to you all. it is another busy morning. the first weekend of donald trump's second term. um, so trump said that the firing of these inspectors general, whose job is to investigate corruption, fraud and abuse in the government, they do these intense reports. they're supposed to be independent. he said that's all standard practice. well, it's actually not. ronald reagan did do that in 1981. he removed all 15 confirmed and acting inspector generals. but then he got a considerable blowback. and then he reappointed several of those to those positions. and then since then, between 2000 and 2020, there's been only one instance of a president removing an inspector general. none of them did that when they were coming into office. and on top of that, there's a requirement that he has to notify congress within 30 days of doing it. and he did not do that. what do you make of this and the significance of donald trump's move? >> well, i think it shows us that looking at the history of modern presidents is not

. >> with us now is cnn's priscilla alvarez. and priscilla, you have some really good new reporting about what trump is planning to start with from day one on immigration. >> yeah, and all of these executive actions, they fall in three buckets. so the first is interior enforcement. of course, we've heard the president elect talk about this on the campaign trail multiple times with his mass deportation pledge. well, what this looks like is ice sweeps in some of these major metropolitan areas, areas that have experienced an influx of migrants over recent years, for example, chicago and denver, and ones that the incoming border czar, tom homan, has verbally sparred with publicly, especially calling out those sanctuary cities, those cities that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement authorities. so essentially making a show of that and being quite pointed by directing sweeps in these areas. now, the other part of this is the border. you mentioned it there. the border is relatively quiet right now. the numbers are very

priscilla alvarez is with us now. priscilla, what else is biden saying tonight? >> brianna?>> president biden acknowledged in his brief remarks this evening that the situation is still, quote, very fluid and the investigation is still in its preliminary stage. but before diving into some of the details of the investigation that have been made public over the course of the day, he also took a moment to acknowledge the families of the victims, saying, quote, the nation grieves with you. and also thanking first responders as well as those within his administration who kept him updated over the course of the day. now, as far as what he shared about the investigation, he said much of what we had learned, for example, that the suspect had served in the u.s. military that hours before the attack had posted on social media, media that he had been inspired by i.s.i.s. and that an i.s.i.s. flag was found on his vehicle. but the president, also recognizing that there are still questions that need to be answered. >> the law enforcement and intelligence community are continuing to look f

cnn's priscilla alvarez is tracking all of these developments. cilla, what's happening today as these executive actions go into effect? >> well, dana, sources tell me that they are still poring over these executive orders in the various departments that will have to implement these parts of trump's immigration agenda. but we are already seeing some actions come out of all of this. for example, let's start with birthright citizenship. of course, that was an executive order that seeks to end it. it cannot be done unilaterally, unilaterally, but rather kicks off the process. now, there's already been legal challenges on that. aclu filing last night, only hours after that executive order was released. and that is the point. sources have been telling me that the part of the strategizing here is the legal fight, and hoping that this lands before the supreme court in due time. now, another one is essentially shutting off asylum at the us-mexico border. there was already restrictions in place, but an option that migrants had was applying through a border

i want to go straight to priscilla alvarez, who has all this reporting for us. cilla, what more can you tell us tonight about who's involved in these raids? >> well, the trump administration. >> is looking for more manpower. this is what they call force multiplier, essentially a concession that immigration and customs enforcement has very limited resources and agents. so they are looking toward other federal agencies to bolster that. so this week, the department of homeland security putting out a memo extending immigration authorities to agencies like dea and atf, allowing them to carry out immigration enforcement. but in another remarkable memo, the acting homeland security secretary invoking a sweeping legal authority to also enlist the aid of state and local law enforcement. now, it's not unusual for local law enforcement to assist ice. there are programs set up to do exactly that so that they can help one another in any given area. but the way that this is written suggests that the administration wants everyone's help in all 50 states, and it is citing a, quo

cnn white house correspondent priscilla alvarez is here to talk about this. priscilla, what are we learning about these flights? and we should note just we were just showing this a few moments ago. those images were tweeted out or posted by the white house press secretary. so this is coming from the white house. >> that's right. this is part of their show of force. after the president signed his executive order declaring a national emergency at the u.s. southern border. now, if we can bring the photos up again, because i do want to point out what's different here, it is the use of military aircraft that marks a difference from the way this was handled before. now the you see there a line of migrants. they are arrested as they or rather they are handcuffed as they are boarding the plane. that part of this is actually quite typical when it comes to immigration and customs enforcement and the way that they would board one of their deportation flights. but again, what is notable in this image is of that military aircraft. now i am getting some details from a homel

let's go to priscilla alvarez. now, who follows this immigration policy so closely? priscilla, i'm going to kind of let you take it away. but certainly the top notes here, the guantanamo bay news that he's ordering that to be prepared to house migrants. and also some of the statistics he was giving, as boris mentioned specifically, that there have been 15 times the amount of ice arrests just are not correct. >> well, of course, this has been a signature issue for president trump. and he took this moment to take that victory lap as he was signing this first bill on immigration. and in the course of those remarks, he made news about the use of the of guantanamo bay to hold migrants. now, just for some context, here at guantanamo bay does have a migrant operation center. that has been the case for years. typically, it has been used when migrants are intercepted at sea by coast guard. so in the caribbean to temporarily hold them and repatriate them. now, over the years, including under the biden administration, it was reviewed again because of concerns of multiple surges.

let's get to cnn white house correspondent priscilla alvarez for the very latest on this, priscilla. what is the status this morning? >> well, this was certainly the first major international clash over immigration, john, and as you mentioned, resulted in that threat from president donald trump of tariffs that has now been pulled back after a last minute deal was cut. now, all of this unfolded over the weekend when colombia abruptly said that it wouldn't take two flights coming in with with migrants from colombia. now, the issue that the colombian president was taking was that they were coming on military aircraft. of course, the u.s. and colombia have a bilateral agreement to send back repatriated migrants, but it was the aircraft that was of issue. however, john, i am told by sources as well as reviewed documents that showed that colombia had accepted those flights, approved of them before they took off from the united states. so you can see how all of this quickly spiraled into this feud between the u.s. and colombia. now, it played out publicly, with president trump saying that h

let's get right to cnn's priscilla alvarez for the details on this. what are you learning, priscilla? >> well, earlier. >> this week, the pentagon had said that they were going to send military aircraft to el paso and to san diego. the purpose was to repatriate migrants who were in border patrol custody. in other words, those who had recently crossed. >> the border. >> well, yesterday that began. homeland security official telling me that on thursday afternoon. there you see the image. they did send a flight to guatemala. these, i'm told, are about 75 to 80 guatemalans. i want to point out here. you see that they are handcuffed. this the way that they are lined up in handcuffs is in line with the way that immigration and customs enforcement would board a deportation flight. but what is striking here, of course, and what is. notable is the military aircraft. that is what is different about this photo. and again, this is part of the trump administration's plans to use pentagon resources and pentagon assets to deport migrants back to their origin country.

cnn's priscilla alvarez joins us. iscilla, do we know anything about the specific units being deployed to the border? >> we're still waiting for units, but we have numbers. so as you mentioned, 1500 deployed. now we are hearing from sources that they could deploy up to 10,000 active duty troops. so this is really about manpower. they are trying to shore up as much personnel along the u.s. border to release border patrol agents to be on the front lines, which we have heard multiple times, both from the agents but also from president trump. now, as far as what they do when they get there, this is mostly helping behind the scenes operational readiness. intel analysts, who can assess the flows of migrants and any threats. also augmenting air operations and air assets so they are not doing law enforcement work so much as that they are helping border patrol behind the scenes so that border patrol can get out and do the apprehending as they are meant to do. now, the big question we have, though, because this is what the natio

i want to go to cnn's priscilla alvarez. she's joining us right now. what are we bracing for, priscilla? yeah. >> well, if the white house putting out an email shortly ago saying that president biden is expected to speak soon, the latest guidance says 630. of course, we are just past 630 now, but we are expecting to hear from the president soon. of course, earlier in the day, he told reporters that he was going to deliver remarks on the incident in new orleans later in the day. we have been waiting over the course of the day for him to do so, and we're now getting the advisory that he indeed will be speaking. now, of course, wolf, the president is at camp david. earlier today, he had traveled from wilmington, delaware, where he had spent new year's eve to now camp david, where he will be delivering this address now over the course of the day. the white house has said that the president has had multiple calls with senior officials across the government getting briefed and also speaking with state and local officials on this attack in new orleans. so now

cnn's priscilla alvarez is on the leading edge of all of this reporting. priscilla, give us kind of the top line view. and if you could put it in the context of what we saw during the biden administration. he its immigration enforcement blitz, which is means that they essentially brought on more federal agencies, especially justice department agencies, to bolster their ice teams as they went across the country looking for their targets. this was especially true in chicago. you see a photo there of white house border czar tom homan, who was on the ground for that. now, ice later reported that there were about 956 arrests yesterday. if you look at the numbers during the biden administration in the last year, well, they were around 300 arrests. so this is certainly an increase from where we have been. though, of course, there is a question of sustainability here. all the same, though, officials i have been speaking with say that this is part of their plan moving forward. this is what they're calling those enhanced operations by having all of these agencies ass

cnn's priscilla alvarez has much more on this for us. she's joining us now. good morning. priscilla. >> good morning kate. this is really a show of force by the trump administration along the u.s. southern border. it's going to be in addition to that, was with those 1500 and perhaps more to follow. so what are they going to do? well, they're going. >> to be focused on operational readiness, on augmenting air operations, on providing. intelligence support. >> when it comes to assessing. threats and the flow of migrants. >> a lot of work. >> that can be. done and. >> is often done. >> behind the scenes. >> but in addition to all of that, they are also. >> sending military aircraft. >> today to san diego and to el paso to repatriate those who are already in border patrol custody. that would mean. those recent border crossers who can be. >> quickly repatriated to. >> their origin countries. so they will be using military. >> aircraft to. >> do that. now, the border is. relatively quiet. >> i'm told. >> that there are just between 1100. >> to. >> 1300. crossings a day that is fa

cnn's priscilla alvarez is in washington tracking all of it. i named a few. i did not name all. priscilla, that is for sure. what are you learning this morning? >> well, certainly, kate and even the small moves are the ones that had some of the biggest impact, at least in the initial hours of the trump administration. that move that i'm referring to, there being the closing down of a border app known as cbp one, it was important because it provided migrants a legal pathway to come into the united states and seek asylum. those appointments were scheduled out over days, have been over the last several years under the biden administration. but then suddenly, at the stroke of noon, those appointments were canceled. so that was a small move that had a vast effect along the u.s. southern border. in addition to all of these executive actions that we're still parsing through some of the details, but all the sources i've spoken with are really stunned by the scale and scope of these executive actions, including, for example, one that suspends refugee admissions for a period of time. remem

cnn's priscilla alvarez. and cnn's jeff zeleny. priscilla, i want to start with you. you focus on immigration. you cover the border as well. better, i think, than anybody else out there. um, the president elect's attempts to tie this to the border. is there anything you see that actually makes that connection real here? well, the short answer is no. >> but if you look at where he gets his media from, then it starts to tie it all together because there had been an erroneous report by fox that there had been a connection to the border. this was in the very early hours when everyone was trying to understand who this suspect was. and there has been an ongoing narrative among republicans about suspected terrorists crossing the us-mexico border. there is truth to those numbers rising, although a suspected terrorist is not necessarily mean they are terrorists so much as they may raise flags and may require additional screening by authorities along the u.s. mexico border. so that has been pervasive over the last several years and has been linked to the biden administration an

cnn's priscilla alvarez is with us now with some of her reporting on this. we also have cnn chief national affairs correspondent jeff zeleny. let's start with you, priscilla, because you're learning a lot about trump's day one plans on immigration. >> yeah. and the 30 to 60 day or 30 to 100 day drumbeat that that source was telling me about. it gives you a sense that it's going to take time for them to ramp up when it comes to the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants. but all the same, they are preparing all of these executive actions to make an aggressive push on immigration. just within hours of the president elect being sworn in. and it falls really in three buckets interior enforcement, ice sweeps, and major metropolitan areas, areas where they know that immigrants have gone to reside. and making a point about those sanctuary jurisdictions, those are those that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and ones that the incoming borders are tom homan has often criticized. now, the other bucket here is the border. the border is

cnn's priscilla alvarez has much more on this reporting. she is on capitol hill, where the focus is going to shift very quickly in just a couple of hours. priscilla, what are you learning? >> well, kate, the executive actions that have been described to me by sources would amount to a dramatic shift in immigration policy and would be followed with an immigration crackdown in metropolitan areas. >> of course, immigration and customs enforcement does arrest and detain immigrants on a near-daily basis, but this would be an emphasis on that, especially in those sanctuary jurisdictions, areas that tom homan the incoming border czar, has criticized multiple times. they limit their cooperation with federal immigration enforcement authorities. now, some of these cities that have been told that i have been told could be targeted include, for example, denver, chicago, two areas, of course, that have seen an influx of migrants over recent years. now, another emphasis for the incoming officials are also going to be those jurisdictions that do cooperate

we're going to bring in cnn's priscilla alvarez with phil mattingly and jeff zeleny. priscilla, for years, miller has been the president's top adviser on immigration. what did you make of what you just heard? >> i hear there's a lot of pressure. >> coming from. >> the white house for. >> immigration officers. >> to. >> execute on the. >> president's plan, and that was abundantly clear when he said that the floor is 75 arrests per day for each of these field offices, not the ceiling. so that means that they really do want to ramp up arrests in a big way, because so far, under the biden administration was about 300 arrests per day. if you're doing 75 arrests per day for all of these field offices, you're looking at well into the 1000 to 2000. >> yeah, it's almost, almost 2000 a day. and they said, that's a floor. >> across the country, which is to say, jake, that yes, there are public safety and national security threats, but i have been covering this for a long time. and the more pressure that you put on these offices, the more likely that others are going to be caught

now, our priscilla alvarez reporting moments ago that these this move by colombia's president actually caught the trump administration by surprise. they believed that they had clearance from colombia's government to bring these two plane fulls of people back to the country, and they were surprised to have the colombian president say that these planes were not allowed to enter the country. and now we are seeing this early attempt by donald trump to make good on his threats to use tariffs to wield other countries in the direction that he wants them to. >> fred. and then, steve, some of the things that are imported from or exported from colombia into the u.s. involve, like vegetable fats and oils, some soaps, salts, things like that. so consequently, things coming from that country might cost a little bit more in the coming days or months here in the u.s. as a result of this 25% tariffs. so let's talk about something else. because, you know, this week, three more of trump's cabinet picks will be facing a grilling on capitol hill. what is at stake with these three confirmation hearings? >>

cnn's priscilla alvarez explains who could be affected. >> the executive actions being prepared by president-electonald trump's team on immigration would amount to a dramatic shift in immigration policy and will affect immigrants nationwide, and likely those around the world. now they fall into three buckets. interior enforcement. so that includes, for example, ice sweeps in major metropolitan areas like denver and chicago and those sanctuary cities. those are jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement and areas that the incoming borders are tom homan has often criticized. now, sources tell me that they still plan on focusing on public safety and national security threats. in the course of these sweeps. but if there are others who are encountered who are also undocumented, they too could be arrested. now, the second bucket here is the border. now trump is poised to inherit a relatively quiet u.s. southern border. the numbers are low, but they do plan to double down on enforcement and shore up pentagon resources to help agents on the ground. and the third bucket is le

cnn's priscilla alvarez is tracking this one for us. what is the white house saying about this now, this morning? >> well, they're essentially saying that these tariff threats are held in reserve. they're have the right to impose them. should colombia not follow through on this agreement, but to step back here, colombia has over recent weeks, months, years accepted deportation flights. the difference, however, was that they were on civilian aircraft, not military aircraft. now, i have been told by sources that colombia had approved of the two military flights carrying colombian nationals back to the country over the weekend, but it was the colombian president's post on x that brought that to an abrupt halt, surprising the trump administration as well as officials within his own government. and what he seemed to imply was that he took issue with the military aircraft being used instead of the civilian aircraft, which has generally been the way that it has gone. now, as you mentioned, of course, a last minute deal was struck. so tariffs a