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Trump Fires Inspectors General From Over A Dozen Federal Agencies; Undocumented Immigrants Fear Going Out Amid Crackdown; Drinking Habits And Your Health; Deportations Have Begun On Military Aircraft At The Southern Border; Emotional Scenes As Israel Hostages Reunite With Their Families; Putin Dismisses Trump's Threat Of New Sanctions; Elon Musk Appears Virtually At German Far-Right Campaign Event. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 25, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're part of a diplomatic and scientific cooperation with China that's been around for more than 50 years since the first pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing- Hsing, arrived at the National Zoo in 1972, a conservation pact that's brought the pandas back from the endangered list.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are still in trouble but it is a success story.

TODD: And a wildly popular story. Zoo officials tell us 95 percent of the two million visitors this zoo gets every year come to see the pandas, like three-month-old Erin Marz Thompson dressed for the occasion.

SEAN MARZ, ZOO VISITOR: It's really great that she's going to get to grow up with them in her backyard.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Brian Todd, thanks so much. Just a lot of cuteness all the way around.

And tomorrow on "THE WHOLE STORY," an exclusive look at the worldwide effort to save pandas as a new pair make their home in the U.S. Watch at 8:00 p.m. only on CNN.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York. We are following the latest details about the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. The Trump administration saying this week it has begun deporting illegal immigrants on U.S. Military aircrafts. The White House press secretary sharing images last night of migrants lined up, handcuffed and boarding a military aircraft.

Hundreds of National Guard and military troops have been deployed to Imperial Beach Border Patrol station in California. That's near the border with Mexico.

CNN's Ed Lavandera, also near the Mexico border, but in Texas, he's in El Paso.

Ed, tell us more of what you're seeing there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in El Paso, along the U.S. southern border, the number of crossings of migrants has already been dropping dramatically, even toward the end of the Biden administration. But the scene here is starting to also change in many different ways along the U.S. southern border now that we are at the end of the first week of President Donald Trump's first week back in office.

The president is now authorizing and allowing immigration arrests to take place around what is known as safe areas like churches and schools anywhere in the country. We've also seen the administration touting the use of military aircraft to deport migrants back to their home countries. In fact, several flights have been taking Guatemalan nationals back to Guatemala. We have seen that those military aircraft have been brought to El Paso and to San Diego.

Deportation flights for proper context here have gone on for years, but the use of military aircraft is unique and different. So that is expected to continue as well. But we should also put into proper context the number of deportations that have happened this week, as much as the Trump administration is touting those numbers, it is kind of in line with what we have seen over the last couple of years during the Biden administration.

That's where we are at now. This could change dramatically in the weeks and months ahead, of course, but so far, really, it's the tactics that it seems to be kind of changing. And what we're seeing here along the U.S. southern border. And it's coming at a time when the number of migrant crossings have already been dropping rather dramatically as well.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, El Paso, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Ed, thank you.

Meantime, four Israeli soldiers held captive in Gaza for 15 months are in stable condition, according to the hospital where they are now beginning their long road to recovery. Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag were all released by Hamas today. This marks the second round of releases in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage agreement. Another 26 hostages are expected to be released in phase one of this deal, and CNN's Jeremy Diamond filed this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Flanked by armed Hamas militants, this is the surreal moment four Israeli soldiers emerged from 477 days of captivity. But before they are freed, one final moment of Hamas propaganda, smiling and waving as a crowd of hundreds whistles and cheers.

Their first taste of freedom looks more like this. A rush of emotions as they embrace their parents for the first time on Israeli soil.

Hamas militants had taken them hostage 15 months earlier at the Nahal Oz military base near the Gaza border, where the four women served as field observers monitoring militant activity in Gaza. Their warnings to commanders about Hamas preparations for an attack ignored.

In one of the most searing images of October 7th, one of the soldiers, Naama Levy, is seen being taken into Gaza, her pants stained with blood. Now she is reunited with her family. In Israel, an entire country welcomed them back.

And that sound you hear behind me are hundreds of Israelis who are welcoming those four female Israeli soldiers just freed from Hamas captivity, who have now arrived at this hospital here, where they're about to be reunited with their families and begin their long journey to recovery.

[19:05:12]

(Voice-over): For the family of Agam Berger, the last remaining female Israeli soldier in Hamas captivity, mixed emotions.

On the one hand, we feel great joy, her grandfather tells me. But on the other hand, there's also some disappointment. She was supposed to be among those released. Still, he says today has given him hope she will be next.

The four captive soldiers were exchanged for 200 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, including 121 who had been sentenced to life in prison, three of whom were arrested for orchestrating deadly bombings that targeted Israeli civilians.

In Gaza, hundreds of displaced Palestinians gathered at the gates to northern Gaza. They were meant to be allowed to return north today based on the ceasefire agreement. For hours, they desperately waited on Al-Rashid Street, carrying all their belongings, ready to finally return home.

I've been here since 6:00 a.m., Yusra says. I missed the north and the soil of northern Gaza. My house is gone, but I will live in a tent if I have to. The most important thing is to return north.

I'm counting the time, not just in seconds, but in milliseconds, this woman says. We left the north with tears of sorrow. And we will return with tears of joy.

That joy soon turned to disappointment. The Israeli government said it would not allow civilians to return to northern Gaza as planned, claiming Hamas violated the agreement by not releasing a civilian female hostage due to be released.

Instead of returning home hundreds ran in panic amid a hail of gunfire. Israeli soldiers firing what appeared to be warning shots towards the crowd. But as the sun set, many here remain undeterred, camping out by the checkpoint, waiting for their chance to return home. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Joining us now is the former deputy National Security adviser to President Trump, Victoria Coates. She's also the author of "The Battle for the Jewish State: How Israel and America Can Win."

Victoria, thanks so much for joining us tonight.

VICTORIA COATES, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Of course, Jessica. Good to be with you.

DEAN: I want to start first where my colleague Jeremy Diamond left off in the Middle East with this ceasefire and hostage deal that is now in progress. Of course, President Trump is now in office and this ceasefire deal is in phase one of three phases. I know that his team has expressed to families that they are committed to getting all three phases completed. But now that he is in the White House, it is his to get over the finish line.

How do you think he guides it and keeps it on track to be to completion?

COATES: I think he's sending a lot of very good signals to Hamas about the seriousness of the American position, particularly on the hostage issue. You know, he issued his first statement on this in early December after he was reelected, while he was still president-elect, saying there would be hell to pay, demanding Hamas start to let the hostages go. That was a really quite radical shift in rhetoric about the hostages.

And I think that's what sort of started moving us towards the scenes we've seen over the last 10 days. Hopefully we'll have some more of some of these poor people coming home. Because, I mean, Jessica, I mean, 477 days in this appalling conditions as captives, innocent captives in this war. I mean, the window was closing. It was time to bring them home. And so I think a lot of credit both to the Biden team that worked with the Trump team and the Trump team that was the catalyst behind this motion to finally get some of these poor people home.

DEAN: I know, it's unconscionable that they've been held captive this long, and that some of them still are not home tonight. We know that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is working to set up a meeting with President Trump in the coming weeks. We also know that his government, Netanyahu's government, that the far-right part of it has threatened to leave the government if they go through with all of this.

So there are a lot of pieces at play. How do you see us as we look ahead to what comes next in all of this? How do you anticipate it plays out?

COATES: Well, the fact of the matter is that both Israel and the United States are liberal democracies. And so there are political pressures on both leaders from all sorts of angles. And it's not unusual for -- Prime Minister, rather, Netanyahu to come to the United States. He does this traditionally in February. That happened in 2017, the first year of the Trump administration so that's fairly standard practice. It's a good time just kind of reset the relationship. Have all the teams meet each other.

[19:10:03]

When you have those relationships that are personal and very close, it leads to a much, much more seamless kind of interaction between allies. And so I think I think it's a good idea for the Prime Minister to come, and hopefully they can kind of chart next steps because one of the key things about this sort of ceasefire deal in Gaza is if it holds, it potentially could lead to additional normalization deals between Israel and Arab neighbors. First and foremost, Saudi Arabia. So there's a bigger strategic picture here.

DEAN: Right. And I know that the Trump administration also very focused on that as well. They did lift this Biden era hold on heavy bomb deliveries to Israel. I'm curious how significant you think that is. I know it was a move that was anticipated.

COATES: It's a very strong, again, signal to Hamas that that the United States is not going to stand by. They're not going to try to restrict Israel's movements. They're not going to withhold resupply. And in this case, they're providing them with much more significant weapons.

Now my understanding is this is the sort of thing you wouldn't necessarily use against Gaza but potentially in another action so I think there might be some signaling going on to Iran as well, that that the United States is very serious about maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, and they're going to try to do that through peace through strength.

DEAN: And the State Department announcing it's freezing nearly all foreign aid. The funding accounts for kind of a very little of our overall budget. But what -- do you agree with that decision to put that freeze on foreign aid at this moment?

COATES: I think it's useful to get a full review of all of these programs. And quite frankly, our foreign aid programs have really been adrift in recent years. They haven't been oriented towards U.S. national security objectives. They have in many ways been counter to the desires of the host nations, which I know sounds counterintuitive, but there have been some initiatives that have alienated the host nations.

And so I think a thorough review is warranted. My understanding is it's quite brief. As you said, these are not massive amounts of dollars, but certainly letting the incoming team get a handle on everything that's happened, given President Trump's overall kind of menu this week of saying this is not going to be business as usual, we're going to take a look at all of this, all of these expenditures, and make sure we're doing them in a way that best serves the American people. I think it makes some sense. DEAN: And I also want to ask you about this news we're getting from

the CIA, returning now to China. But for the first time, the CIA is saying it's possible that the COVID-19 virus originated from an accidental lab leak in China. And for years, the agency had said it didn't have enough information to reach that conclusion. And now it's saying it has low confidence in this judgment. But this is the low confidence judgment they're making.

What do you think of that? And do you -- you know, where do we go from here?

COATES: No, I think this is a very important step by incoming Director John Ratcliffe. And Director Ratcliffe actually served for more than a year at the Heritage Foundation as the co-chair of our bipartisan commission to investigate the origins of the virus leak for COVID-19 and the bipartisan commission. And I stress that. I mean, it might come as a surprise to some of your viewers that we do do bipartisan things at the Heritage Foundation, but we do.

And this commission made up of Republicans and Democrats came to the conclusion that it was a lab leak. So I think Director Ratcliffe is bringing that information with him as he enters the CIA. He is asking his analysts to look at this again. And I think it's so important going forward, given the significance of the threat to the United States by Communist China, that we get to the bottom of this and make sure that we understand what it is, and we can hold China accountable for it. I think he should be applauded for that.

DEAN: All right. Victoria Coates, thanks for your time. We really appreciate it.

COATES: Thank you.

DEAN: Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have appeared rather friendly over the years. But with Trump back in office and the war in Ukraine still raging, their relationship is evolving, taking a new form as they both use a variety of tactics to get what they want from the other.

[19:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Russian president Vladimir Putin says he's ready to meet with President Trump to talk about the war in Ukraine. This comes just a day after Trump warned of new tariffs and sanctions on Moscow. But the Russian leader dismissed those threats, calling Trump, quote, "smart and pragmatic." The Russian president also said if Trump had been in power the, quote, "crisis in Ukraine" would never have happened.

This is how Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): He wants to manipulate the desire of the president of the United States of America to achieve peace. I am confident that no Russian manipulation will succeed anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Joining us now to talk more about this, an expert on Russia, CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty.

[19:20:05]

It's so great to have you here, Jill. First, let's just start with what President Zelenskyy was saying there. Is Putin using manipulation tactics on Trump?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well. I think definitely. I mean, that is part of the playbook as a former KGB agent. But in a broader way, with Putin, there is always a subtext. So on the other hand, you know, all these threats that are coming or came a few days ago from President Trump, Putin essentially is saying, oh, you know, we have a great relationship. Business like relations. President Putin would -- President Trump would never do anything to hurt his economy, et cetera.

And then you have the spokesperson for Putin essentially saying, you know, there's nothing new here. President Trump likes sanctions. But sanctions aren't going to work because our president has been putting up with that for a very long time, et cetera. But I think, you know, the ultimate game for Putin is he wants to be back on the world stage as a leader who is on the level of President Trump.

So he, you know, that is what he's looking for. That's the most important thing. And obviously, you know, Ukraine is very, very important to Putin in a way that a lot of other issues are not. But the super important thing is to be at the table and to be a deal-maker and a decider.

DEAN: And you've described solving the war in Ukraine as devilishly complicated, especially now that North Korea is involved. Tell us more about how you -- how you're thinking about that. Explain why that is.

DOUGHERTY: Well, I mean, President Trump has said he wants to solve it very quickly, maybe now 100 days from now. But, you know, if you look at this issue right now, it's almost like a puzzle. You have a huge war in the middle of Europe, which is completely just, you know, pulled apart a lot of the relationships previously. So NATO has grown. Russia is more truculent, et cetera.

Then you have the fact that North Korean troops, 10,000 of them are fighting and dying in Ukraine right now for Russia. So North Korea, nuclear power, by the way, as we know, is engaged. Then you have China. China is engaged in a way of, let's say, helping Russia to avoid sanctions. So, I mean, you can see kind of the complications of all of this right now, not to mention nuclear arms agreements, et cetera.

So I think, you know, to get the details, what does President Trump think he's going to do to really come to some conclusion? And I think what he's done is simply said, I don't want this anymore. Take it off the table and let my guys figure it out.

DEAN: Yes. And so to that end, not that you have a crystal ball, but what might that look like in the coming month or so?

DOUGHERTY: Well, yes, it is complicated. But I think, you know, if you look at Zelenskyy because you can see him in the middle, you know, he wants probably some agreement ultimately. But what kind of an agreement? And he sees Trump coming in, you know, making moves, not always clear where he's going. So I think best case for Zelenskyy, for Ukraine, would be war comes to an end.

There is some sort of long term stable security structure in place to protect Ukraine. And that would probably obviously mean NATO membership, which is very controversial, et cetera. The worst case, I think, for Zelenskyy would be Trump stops the aid, especially military aid. Then Zelenskyy is forced into some type of agreement. He has to give up territory. That's kind of already out there as a possibility.

But no NATO membership as Putin wants. That would be a very big deal. And then the worst thing, I think, for Ukraine would be if Russia succeeds in taking over Ukraine. And now obviously militarily would be a dire consequence, but it could also be undermining Ukraine, taking it over in a sense politically and emasculating it so that it doesn't know it cannot become part of the West as it wants to.

So -- and then I'm sure you could put a list for Trump for Putin as well. But that's certainly, you know, some of the --

DEAN: You're right. It's complicated. Yes. Jill Dougherty, thank you as always. We really appreciate it.

DOUGHERTY: Sure.

[19:25:00]

DEAN: Elon Musk again getting into politics, this time in Germany ahead of a crucial election there. And it's prompting debate about his growing influence in European politics. Today, he appeared remotely at a campaign event for the far-right party AFD. He told a crowd of several thousand, quote, "Children should not be guilty of the sins of their parents, let alone their great grandparents, in an apparent reference to Germany's Nazi past.

This just days after he made that gesture that some said seemed like a Nazi salute or Nazi like salute.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The far- right Alternative for Germany, AfD, kicked off its election campaign here in the eastern German town of Halle/Saale, with a flurry of speeches, including by the party leader, Alice Weidel. And they're hoping to get their campaign supercharged with the help of U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who did make a surprise appearance here at the party conference via video link, where he said that he continues to support the AfD. He called for less migration in Germany. He also called for Germany to close its borders and to do more for German citizens. Things that we've heard from Elon Musk in the past.

Now, the head of the AfD, Alice Weidel, she thanked Elon Musk for his support. Of course, the two are known to be quite close. They have done a video link with one another before. She also wished Donald Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, all the best. And one of the things that we can see is that many of the positions of the Trump administration are also positions that the AfD has as well.

For instance, they say they want to close Germany's borders. They say they want to deport more people from Germany as well. Now, we know that other politicians in Germany, including from the German government, have called what Elon Musk is doing by supporting the AfD meddling in the German election process. A lot of them have vowed not to work with the AfD. However, the AfD itself right now is riding high in the polls and after the election coming up in February, could be one of the strongest political forces here in this country.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Halle/Saale, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Shifting longstanding political norms and challenging parts of the Constitution. It has been a busy week, first week in office for President Trump. In his opening salvo of executive actions, is it a preview of the next four years?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:51]

DEAN: President Trump swept back into office with big promises of tackling inflation, but the actions of his first week in office put more of a focus on dismantling traditional government.

CNN political analyst, Ron Brownstein joins us now.

Ron, always good to see you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hello, Jessica.

DEAN: Trump has been focused on a number of things. And frankly, they are -- look, there are things he did talk about and promise things like immigration, eliminating DEI inside the federal government.

But I think if you zoom out, most people at the top of their list are concerned about the cost of living, and we have yet to see a lot of action on how to get that under control.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, I mean, it's been an absolute fire hose the first week, right?

DEAN: Yes. BROWNSTEIN: I mean, you need a cheat sheet just to keep up. I mean, you know, trying to basically excise birthright citizenship from the Constitution with an executive order, as you say; ending DEI in the federal government and in the private sector, repealing a Lyndon Johnson executive order on diversity in the workforce, new issues that he did not talk about on the campaign.

Threatening Denmark, threatening Panama, ending FEMA, eliminating FEMA, leaving states on their own to deal with natural disasters, threatening to prosecute state and local officials who resist him on immigration.

I mean, there's a tremendous amount of action on a lot of fronts. And he can argue what he's talking about on energy ultimately will have an effect on the economy. But, you know, one of the most revealing moments of the whole week was his interview with Sean Hannity.

And toward the end of that interview, Hannity was asking him about -- he was talking about one of his various grievances. And Hannity asked, okay, let's talk about the economy. And the president said, the economy is going to be fine. I'm here and then went back to the grievance and I think that is kind of the questions I have kind of these first weeks of the first days and it feels like weeks and maybe weeks of the administration.

Is he focusing -- is he sending the message that he is focused on the issue that got him elected above all, or is he focused on his own long list of grievances and priorities?

DEAN: Yes, and you know, the other thing I wanted to ask you about just -- we also heard -- we were reporting earlier in the show about these inspectors general, over a dozen agencies fired late last night, the law is that they need -- he needs to give 30 days' notice to Congress.

And I just -- I am starting to you know, what we are really seeing play out in real time is how willing are Republicans on the Hill going to be to check him? And he's clearly trying to see exactly how much he can he can do.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, and even more importantly will be will be the courts, I think, you know.

DEAN: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: The fact that Pete Hegseth got confirmed, even though three Republicans voted against him, you look at kind of the allegations against him and the evidence. I mean, is it possible that anybody would have been promoted a rank in the Army with those allegations?

And, you know, 50 Republican senators are willing to put him in charge of the entire military, and I think that gives you a sense of how little restraint there is going to be.

Maybe someone else might get more, you know, get the fourth vote -- Tulsi Gabbard or RFK, Jr., but by and large, the Congress is not going to be a meaningful constraint on him. Even when Democrats had the House in 2019 and 2020, they couldn't really be much of a constraint on him.

[19:35:24]

In many ways, you know, and this is structural, since so much of trumps presidency is going to be about executive action, executive orders, regulatory decisions, pushing at the norms on the limits of the way presidents exercise power.

The real issue is going to be John Roberts and those other five Republican appointed justices. How far will they let him go in, obviously, contravening the meaning of statutes or in the case of the 14th Amendment, potentially the Constitution itself with birthright citizenship.

DEAN: Right, and birthright citizenship is a big one, right? And it seems as if they knew this was going to end up in court. That was kind of the whole point.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, not only -- and I think, you know, the birthright citizenship executive order to me is equivalent to the courts as the RFK, Hegseth, Gabbard, Gaetz nominations were to Congress. It really is an attempt to see how far they will let him go, because the language of the 14th Amendment is so clear, the arguments that that it should not apply to the children of undocumented immigrants are pretty threadbare. There's direct Supreme Court precedent.

He is really testing whether this court, as it did in the Dobbs decision, is willing to, you know, overturn long standing precedent in order to advance a conservative goal.

It might be a bridge too far, but I think that is going to be the critical fulcrum here, because, you know, other than reconciliation, the one big bill that will have spending cuts and tax cuts and confirming judges and justices, there isn't that much that he needs Congress to do. He needs them to give more money on his deportation agenda, maybe.

But by and large, there isn't that much that's going to get 60 votes in the Senate. And so the real focus of the Trump presidency, you saw this very clearly in the first week, is going to be unilateral executive action.

And there the arbiter is not going to be Congress, it's not going to be Democrats in Congress, it's going to be the courts and particularly the Supreme Court.

DEAN: And we will watch it all play out. Ron Brownstein, thanks so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Still ahead, new details on how President Trump is already putting his aggressive plans for tackling immigration into place. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:18]

DEAN: There is mounting fear and uncertainty among immigrant communities as Trump's deportation plans begin to take shape, especially in places like Chicago.

CNN's Whitney Wild has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With President Trump moving swiftly to deport undocumented immigrants across the country --

WILD (on camera): What does this space mean to you? What does this room mean to you?

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE speaking in foreign language.)

WILD (voice over): "Relief is one aspect of it. I feel calm because I'm sheltered."

This bedroom is part home, part hiding place for this woman whose name we are withholding because she fears deportation.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

WILD (voice over): "A lot of helplessness because I'm nervous," she says. "I'm anxious. I'm afraid of losing this trip I took across the Darien. I'm afraid of losing those dreams of having something in my country because I'm 50 years old," she says.

She has been in the US for more than a year. She hoped to make some money here and then go back to Venezuela, where her two children and mother stayed.

She had planned to find a job this week, but was too afraid to leave this apartment.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

WILD (voice over): "I put on makeup today because I had a job interview, and it was really like putting on a mask, because I'm really devastated," she says.

Fear is spreading as the Trump administration makes clear that cities like Chicago, a sanctuary city, are major targets for enforcement. Here, local ordinances generally bar officials from helping Immigration and Customs officials unless there is a criminal warrant.

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: If they're in the United States illegally, they're going to be arrested, too. So sanctuary cities going to get exactly what they don't want, more agents in the communities, more people arrested, more collaterals arrested. So, that's a game they want to play, game on.

WILD (voice over): Now, the Department of Justice is threatening to prosecute local and state officials who obstruct, resist or fail to enforce immigration law. The impact of stepped up immigration actions could be massive, according to leaders here, particularly for businesses who regularly use migrant labor here in heavily Hispanic Little Village, normally busy streets are slow.

JENNIFER AGUILAR, LITTLE VILLAGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Ever since the word got out over the weekend. We have seen and heard from our small businesses that foot traffic and that the amount of people that are seeing is just going down drastically.

WILD (voice over): It's a real fear that is impacting an entire community.

SAM TOLA, ILLINOIS RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: We're a very independent restaurant community, not a chain restaurant. So we could see some of our independent restaurants closing.

WILD (voice over): With so much uncertain, this woman can only hope to still fulfill her dream.

(UNIDENTIFIED MALE speaking in foreign language.)

WILD: "I came here for something," she says. "I came to fight. I came to get ahead and I haven't done anything. I don't want to feel like a failure."

Whitney Wild, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:45:10]

DEAN: All right, Whitney, thank you for that. Coming up, millions of American adults drink alcohol. But new numbers show our public views on booze and our health are shifting.

That story ahead in CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:59]

DEAN: The debate around alcohol and its impact on our health continues to brew.

A new CNN poll finds half of American adults say even moderate drinking is unhealthy. CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard has more.

[19:50:12]

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: A new CNN poll finds that half of US adults surveyed say that moderate drinking is bad for your health. Now that proportion of adults, it's more than double the share who held those views just two decades ago in 2005. What we're seeing is that women and adults younger than 45 are more likely than men and older adults to hold that view.

So we are seeing this shift in younger generations when it comes to attitudes and public opinions around alcohol consumption. And a very small share of adults, just eight percent, say that drinking in moderation can be good for your health. That is a third of the share that held those views in 2005.

Now, these findings come after the US Surgeon General recently issued an advisory saying there is a direct link between alcohol and cancer, and he called for updated health warning labels to be placed on alcoholic beverages.

Meanwhile, the federal government's current dietary guidelines say that men should limit their daily alcohol intake to two drinks or less. Women should limit their intake to one drink or less.

But this is up for review this year, and while the latest science supports the concerns around alcohol, there are two recent government reports that suggest potential benefits may exist alongside the risks.

So, some experts say that the formal dietary recommendations could take a more nuanced approach. But again, we will have to wait to see what any potential updates to the guidance may look like this year. Back to you.

DEAN: Wow. We'll see.

Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much.

Still ahead, the man, the myth, the mamba. CNN's new documentary on the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant is just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:43]

DEAN: A new CNN original documentary takes you inside the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant. CNN's Bill Weir has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: Ladies and gentlemen, the next man I'm going to introduce has it all. Youthfulness, talent, got lots of money, about to get married. Come on up, Kobe.

BILL WEIR, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Long before the five NBA title parades, the MVP award and Olympic Gold.

KOBE BRYANT, AMERICAN PROFESSIONAL BASKETBALL PLAYER: USA is back on top. This is what it is all about.

WEIR (voice over): Los Angeles fell in love with this kid at first sight. His dad, Jellybean Bryant, was an NBA first rounder and journeyman pro who played and coached around the world. So, on courts from Italy to Philly, the prodigy dribbled and dreamed of being better than dad and everyone else.

BRYANT: I was in the airport on my way up here and people would come up to me and say, hey, do you play basketball? And I said, yes, you know, I play basketball. And they said, well, what team do you play for? I'm used to saying Lower Merion High School. So I'm there, I'm like, well, I play for Lower Merion High -- no, you know what? I'm a Los Angeles Lakers.

WEIR (on camera): And this sports crazed town embraced that kid like a member of the family, like few other athletes ever. I was a sports anchor in LA the night Kobe proposed to Vanessa and every station in town sent traffic helicopters over their house with live coverage to mark the momentous occasion.

We had no idea how he would evolve as a family man, as a player, and how Vanessa would end up as a fierce defender of his legacy.

WEIR (voice over): In 2003, when he was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old desk clerk at a Colorado resort, he insisted it was consensual and his wife's very public support helped keep the public very much on his side.

BRYANT: I'm innocent. I didn't force her to do anything against her will. Disgusted at myself for making a mistake of adultery.

WEIR (voice over): His defense team and the media tore into his accuser's personal life. There were multiple death threats, and when she was no longer willing to testify, the case was dropped and Kobe would apologize to her in writing.

But he would also harness his pent up anger and drive into a new alter ego he called "Black Mamba", a snake so deadly it strikes fear at first sight.

SCOOP JACKSON, SPORTS JOURNALIST: The next month, he did 81, we came back with that. He won his first championship without Shaq once he became the Mamba. He won his second championship without Shaq, once he became the Mamba. He finally won an MVP, once he became the Mamba.

WEIR (voice over): But off the court, Kobe would shed Black Mamba and transform into a girl dad doting over his four daughters with obvious, infectious love right to the end.

JACKIE MACMULLAN, SPORTSWRITER AND NBA COLUMNIST: Kobe Bryant did not invent girl dad. He just perfected it. It just felt like the future was limitless for him.

Then in a heartbeat, it all stops in the most horrific way imaginable.

WEIR (on camera): It's been five years since a helicopter accident took him, his daughter, Gianna and seven others. We remember the lives lost and the legacy of Kobe, a name forever in the debate over all- time greats.

Bill Weir, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: "Kobe: The Making of a Legend" airs tonight at 9:00 PM Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean, I'm going to see you again tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern.

"Real Time" with Bill Maher starts now. Have a great evening.

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