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Trump Issues Emergency Tariffs Against Colombia; Trump Admin Launches Immigration Enforcement Blitz In Chicago; Chicago Migrant Rights Groups Sue Trump Admin To Block ICE Enforcement; Senate Confirmation Hearings For More Trump Cabinet Nominees; Trump Wants Gaza To Be Cleaned Out; Fire-Scorched Parts Of L.A. County Brace For Rains, Mudslides; ADHD Patients Have Shorter Life Expectancy. Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired January 26, 2025 - 16:00   ET

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

[15:59:49]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We continue to follow our breaking news on Trump making good on his tariff threats. Just a short time ago, the president announced he is issuing sizable tariffs on all goods from Colombia. That would include coffees, vegetable oils and fresh cut flowers. The retaliatory move came after two U.S. Military deportation flights were not allowed to land in Colombia.

CNN's Steve Contorno joining us now from Florida.

Steve, what more are you learning about this?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, Donald Trump's administration was somewhat caught off guard by this move from Colombia's president. They thought that they had clearance from the country for these two planes to land, according to reporting from our own Priscila Alvarez, and they were surprised when the Colombian president suddenly announced that these planes carrying these undocumented individuals would not be welcomed into the country.

But while they may have been caught off guard, it did not stop them from reacting swiftly. Donald Trump, moments after this news came out, posted on Truth Social, his own retaliation, including his plans for a response. He said, quote, "The socialist president Gustavo Petro, who is already very unpopular amongst his people, saying his denial of these flights has jeopardized the national security and public safety of the United States," and then laid out his plan, which includes a 25 percent emergency tariff on goods coming from Colombia into the United States.

And he says that within a week that could go up to 50 percent if Colombia does not take steps to get back into the U.S.'s good graces. Also there would be a travel ban on certain Colombian government officials and visa sanctions on certain party members and their families. So Donald Trump, acting swiftly using the tariffs that he has threatened to wield as sort of a cudgel over foreign countries. We are seeing that now actually enacted with these tariffs that he's

putting in place and the impact of it could be felt here in the U.S. almost immediately -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Steve Contorno, thank you so much.

Let me also bring in now Rafael Romo.

So what are you learning about these flights? We heard from Steve there who says the Trump administration thought they had clearance. But then they didn't?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In the best case, it seems to be a bit of miscommunication there. But it can get much worse. And it really all started overnight when Colombian President Gustavo Petro blocked two U.S. deportation flights, according to a flight tracker. The U.S. Military flights bound for Colombia were turned back later. On Sunday, President Petro made his decision public, announcing on X that, quote, "The U.S. cannot treat Colombian migrants as criminals."

I deny, he said, the entry of American planes carrying Colombian migrants into our territory. The United States must establish a protocol for the dignified treatment of migrants before we receive them.

That was only the beginning, Fred, because later President Petro threatened Americans living in Colombia, saying that those living in his country illegally should contact the Colombian immigration service to, quote, "regularize their status." Regularize is a euphemism often used in Latin America instead of saying legalize. Is he going to deport them? We don't know yet. And yet another tweet published earlier this afternoon, President Petro said that he's offering his presidential plane to help repatriate Colombians deported from the United States.

Colombia is one of at least two countries in the western hemisphere that are blocking deportation flights. It is not a surprise that Venezuela is doing so, since its relations with the U.S. have been frosty for years. and now we're hearing from Brazilian nationals deported from the United States who say they were mistreated on the flight back home.

Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFERSON MAIA, DEPORTED TO BRAZIL (through translator): They attacked the kids. I sat there until I reached my limit. I couldn't take it anymore. People fainted. I asked to leave and he choked me. He pulled my handcuffs. I couldn't stay because I was handcuffed on my feet and stomach. There was nothing I could do. The security guard's arm started bleeding because he was pulling my chain, squeezing me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Other countries are cooperating with the United States. As we reported Saturday, both Mexico and Guatemala said they will allow U.S. Military flights transporting their citizens back home.

We were talking about earlier what kind of products might be affected. You were mentioning flowers at the beginning. Valentine's Day is coming up. The big one to me, coffee.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

ROMO: A lot of people in this country, we --

WHITFIELD: Colombian coffee.

ROMO: When we have our morning latte, I don't know what's going to happen in the next few months, if this beginning of a trade war goes on.

WHITFIELD: It's all going to potentially cost more.

ROMO: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right. We also have this breaking news out of Chicago. One of the first cities to see President Trump's immigration crackdown in full force. Several federal agencies that now have increased authority launched an operation earlier today and arrested undocumented immigrants. That's how they're categorizing them according to multiple sources.

[16:05:10]

CNN is also just learning that ICE field offices were told to meet a quota of 75 arrests per day as the administration tries to dramatically ramp up apprehensions of people. Tom Homan, the White House border czar, told ABC News today what these mass deportations depend on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: There's no number on it. So my success can be based on what Congress gives us. More money, the better we're going to do. I'm being realistic. We can do what we can with the money we have. We're going to try to be efficient, but with more money we have, the more we can accomplish it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN correspondent Rosa Flores is following the latest from Chicago.

Rosa, what are you learning?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the latest scoop by my colleague Priscilla Alvarez, who learned from a source that field offices, ICE field offices across this country have been asked to meet a 75-day arrest quota. Now, what does that mean? That means that there will be more pressure

on agents to arrest migrants. And I can tell you, it doesn't take a lot of time to realize that ICE under the Biden administration was out there doing its job. All you have to do is go to the ICE Web site, look at the press release tab, I do it all the time because I cover immigration all the time, and you can check the press releases for the time before the President Trump inauguration.

ICE agents were arresting people practically every day. You can see there that there are arrests all over the country in Philadelphia, in Baltimore, in other areas. And so this is going to create a lot of pressure for these ICE agents that are in field offices across the country to meet the quota of 75 arrests per field office per day.

Now, Tom Homan today on ABC News said it himself. At first they are targeting individuals who are national security threats, who are public safety threats. But Homan also said that those numbers are small because, of course, and we've been reporting on this here on CNN, that when it comes to migrants, there are really not a lot of migrants who have committed crimes across this country. Those numbers are small.

And so this is going to be added pressure for these ICE agents to then go into communities and not just focus on individuals who have committed crimes, but individuals who are simply going to work or going to school.

Now, all of this has created a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety in communities, in communities like here in the city of Chicago. I've been in contact with a lot of organizations and contacts and sources here in this city who tell me and who describe the fear as panic and heightened anxiety, because a lot of migrants who live in this community are very fearful now.

Now there's a lot of organizations working alongside these migrants. These are advocacy organizations, civil rights organizations who have been working on a hotline to provide an avenue for communities to report any ICE engagements that have happened in their communities. I've checked with them. They haven't received anything in particular as of now of any particular ICE enforcement, but they have their eyes and ears on this.

And these organizations have been denouncing these ICE enforcements focused here in Chicago. So has the governor of this state. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JB PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: These are not people who are causing problems in our country. And what we need is a path to citizenship for them. We need to secure our border. We need to get rid of the violent criminals. But we also need to protect people, at least the residents of Illinois and all across the nation who are just doing what we hope that immigrants will do.

We're not going to help federal officials just drag them away because somebody pointed at them and said, oh, that person is brown or that person is not from here. Check it out, maybe they're undocumented.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FLORES: And, Fred, just to give you a sense of the fear, I've heard from contacts here in the city of Chicago that some migrants have not left their homes since President Trump took office -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned the fear is palpable. All right. Thank you so much, Rosa Flores.

All right. Immigrant advocacy groups in Chicago have filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration and ICE, saying the deportation raids are a violation of the First Amendment.

CNN national correspondent Gloria Pazmino joining me now with details on that.

Gloria, what exactly are the groups saying?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, Rosa was just mentioning all of these organizations and groups around Chicago and around the state that have been working as many of these cities prepare for this immigration action that we knew the new president had promised.

[16:10:02]

And there's a group of organizations specifically in Chicago that has filed a suit in federal court alleging that these raids and these planned operations by ICE in the city of Chicago, eventually amount to a violation of their First and Fourth Amendment rights. They say that they are being targeted because of Chicago's designation as a sanctuary city, and they point to multiple examples, including pointing to some of the statements that have been made by Tom Homan, the border czar, referencing Chicago and many other sanctuary cities as places where local law enforcement will not help federal law enforcement agencies enforce immigration law.

[16:10:45]

They say that they're being targeted specifically for this issue and that this is an overall effort to target sanctuary cities and the concept of sanctuary city. So they have filed a lawsuit. They are asking for an emergency hearing from the court in order to stop these operations. They say that there are going to be people who are going to be subjected to illegal search and seizure in the course of these operations. And they say that simply being identified as a sanctuary city is not enough reason for these targeted operations -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much.

All right. Coming up, President Trump defends his firing of independent government watchdogs from multiple government agencies. We'll look at the potential consequences, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [10:16:23]

WHITFIELD: All right. President Trump is wrapping up his whirlwind first week on the job now back home in Florida. Tomorrow, he'll be attending the GOP's January retreat at his Doral Golf Course in South Florida, where Republican leaders will be gathering to map out a plan to enact a sweeping agenda in Congress.

Two more of the president's cabinet nominees have been confirmed and sworn into office this weekend. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Pete Hegseth, Trump's new Defense secretary who needed a tiebreaking vote from Vice President JD Vance to get confirmed.

This week three more cabinet picks will be facing a grilling on Capitol Hill. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Tulsi Gabbard, the nominee for the director of National Intelligence, and Kash Patel, Trump's choice to head the FBI.

I'm joined now by Ron Brownstein. He is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic."

Great to see you, Ron. OK. So it took a tiebreaking vote by the vice president, JD Vance, for Hegseth to get confirmed. Do you see any of these three nominees facing kind of similar difficulties in a confirmation vote?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean. I think the three who -- the three Republican senators who voted against Hegseth, Murkowski, Collins and McConnell, are likely to vote, at least, I think against Tulsi Gabbard and maybe RFK Jr. as well. And the question will be whether there is a fourth that will block any of these.

I mean, in many ways, Fred, I think the larger story is all the part of the iceberg that was under the water. The fact that 50 Republican senators were unwilling to, you know, stand in the way of Hegseth even though he faced accusations and evidence that probably would have prevented him from getting promoted if he was serving in any of the military branches that he would, you know, that he now oversee.

So to me, the bigger story is how much room Trump has. But with that narrow majority, I think it is, yes, possible that there could be a fourth vote against either of them, maybe both, but more likely the bigger piece, as I said, Republicans are mostly falling in line.

WHITFIELD: Yes, well, among those three senators who did not vote in support of Hegseth, Senator Mitch McConnell. I mean, he took a page, perhaps, you know, from the late Senator John McCain. McConnell, you know, joining Murkowski and Collins with a thumb's down vote for the now confirmed U.S. Defense secretary. So McConnell did so quietly, apparently. I mean, not even trying to persuade other members of the caucus.

Is this McConnell now focused on his legacy, his conscience, and less about, you know, fealty to party or president? BROWNSTEIN: I think, yes. But I mean, there was a, you know, there was

a great book written years ago about the relationship between Lyndon Johnson and Robert F. Kennedy called "Mutual Contempt." And I think we could, you know, update it. And put -- plug in McConnell and Trump. I mean, this has been true really, you know, since Trump arrived. But what McConnell above all can do is compartmentalize. I mean, you know, there are points where he can break with Trump. But I think on the biggest policy goals of the Republican Party confirming justices, McConnell was the one who, in essence, stole the seat from Obama back in 2016 after Antonin Scalia died, passing the tax cuts.

McConnell will be there, but that doesn't mean he's going to be there always, and certainly I think now that he's leaving office, he is letting his true feelings for Trump be, you know, a little better known. Go back to the period right after January 6th.

[16:20:01]

He excoriated him on the floor, but he blocked him from, you know, really from being convicted by the Senate in a way that paved the road for everything that followed, allowing him to run again. I mean, I think that's -- I think that's pretty much what you're going to get from McConnell.

WHITFIELD: There were a lot of contradictions, though, you know, exhibited at that time.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Now we'll see if it's any different. So, you know, Trump campaigned on the economy, on immigration. And in this first week in that stack of executive orders, you know, pardoning violent J6 rioters, ending birthright citizenship, you know, plus, you know, he professed renaming the Gulf of Mexico and prosecuting local officials who resist ICE. So is this what Americans voted for?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, immigration was an important issue for his voters, but I think even for most of his voters, immigration was second to the economy. I mean, he was hired to do one job above all, is to help people get their cost of living under better control. I mean, that was the critical dynamic in this election. Voters who disagreed with him on other issues, who still held doubts about his character and aspects of his agenda, were willing to vote for him because they thought Biden had mismanaged the economy, and they recalled it being better under Trump.

And as you point out, you know, amid the fire hose of activity in this first week, I mean, openly defying the law in firing inspectors general, seemingly, you know, pushing against the boundary of the law on TikTok, pardoning people who violently assaulted police officers, there have been precious little from Trump about the economy. I mean, the price of eggs literally is, you know, double what it was a few months ago in many parts of the country.

And I don't know how this fight with Colombia will play out and whether these tariffs will ever go into place. But, you know, now you've taken breakfast, you've taken the eggs, and now you may be raising the price of coffee by 25 percent since Colombia is our second largest, you know, source of imports of coffee beans. So like on a lot of different --

WHITFIELD: And the flowers. And the flowers in time for Valentine's Day.

BROWNSTEIN: And the flowers on Valentine's, you know, there has always been a tension. All the economists who looked at Trump's agenda in 2024 said mass deportation and tariffs were more likely to accelerate than tame inflation. Voters kind of look past that because they were dissatisfied with their immediate circumstance. But now, you know, he has to square all of these circles and we'll see if the price of living is not only failing to come down, you know, the cost of living, but actually getting more difficult for people. That is not going to be a happy scenario for Republicans heading into 2026.

WHITFIELD: Do you see that potentially, because so much is happening so fast, that there will be some Republicans compelled to try to draw the line? I mean, Lindsey Graham was asked today, you know, on the IGs, and he says, on the one hand, well, that's a terrible thing. But then again, you know, he can be surrounded by the people that he wants.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Yes. Right. I don't see a big push back from Republicans in Congress. I think, you know, the big -- to me, the biggest message of this first week, if you're looking for a unifying thread through all of this flurry of actions, is that the focus of the Trump presidency is going to be on unilateral executive branch action, executive orders, regulatory actions, and a lot of things he does that presses right up against and maybe beyond the boundaries of the traditional constraints on the arbitrary exercise of presidential power.

And I don't see this Republican Congress really pushing back against him too often, which means that the real arbiter here, the real locus, the fulcrum of how far he can go in this term in terms of redefining the presidency and maybe barreling through restraints that have limited the presidency for over 200 years, is going to be the courts and particularly those six Republican appointed justices on the Supreme Court.

What the country looks like after four years of Trump, I think, is in the hands of John Roberts and his colleagues more than anyone else.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ron Brownstein, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: President Trump floating his plan for a post-war Gaza, in his words, quote, "clean out that whole thing." Reaction from the region, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:28:39]

WHITFIELD: All right. President Trump raising eyebrows this weekend with his comments on Gaza. Speaking to the press on board Air Force One on Saturday, the president said he thought more than a million Palestinians in Gaza could be moved to nearby Arab countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we just clean out that whole thing. It's, you know, it's over the centuries, I've said many, many conflicts, that site. And I don't know, it's, something has to happen. But it's literally a demolition site right now, almost everything is demolished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Jordan coming out today and saying they would not support relocating Palestinians from Gaza. We're also seeing dramatic video now of thousands of people trying to return to northern Gaza. Right now, Israel is stopping their entry because of a dispute with Hamas over the return of a civilian Israeli hostage.

Earlier, I spoke with Arwa Damon. She's the president of International Network for Aid, Relief and Assistance and a former senior CNN international correspondent. I asked her, her reaction to the president's comments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR AID, RELIEF AND ASSISTANCE: One really needs to understand just how terrifying this is for Palestinians to hear. I was chatting shortly there afterwards with a friend of mine, and she was saying, you know, you need to recognize that the only thing that people, especially in Gaza, have to hold on to right now is the land.

[16:30:11]

The only sort of win they have, although you can't really call it a win, is that they still kept the land. And this is why you see those crowds just waiting to be able to move from the south to the north, because if they're going home, even if home is rubble, at least they are still holding on to that. And what this statement by President Trump has done is just send ripples of fear that history is repeating itself.

Many people say that they are terrified that they are going to go through what their grandparents and great grandparents went through back in 1948, the Nakba, the great catastrophe when Palestinians were forcibly displaced during the creation of the state of Israel, only to realize that they weren't ever going to be granted the right of return and were effectively going to become forever refugees.

And these are stories that, you know, are passed down through generations, that, you know, the generation that's alive today would hear but never would really think could happen to them. And now it is happening to them. The fear that is going to be happening to them is something that is so palpable that it is almost paralyzing many of them.

WHITFIELD: I remember hearing from a woman yesterday who is likely in that crowd, making her way to northern Gaza, who said, you know, she knows there will be rubble, but she can't wait to get home just to be there. So, you know, what are people likely to see once they arrive in northern Gaza? And it's going to be a very difficult journey because so much was destroyed. Roads are not, you know, recognizable. They are impassable.

You spent a lot of time there already during this conflict. But what are they likely to see once they arrive?

DAMON: Very little that they actually recognize. And there's a sort of new level of shock that descends on someone when they actually get to what was their neighborhood, what was their street, what was their home. And they aren't able to recognize anything that makes it feel remotely familiar. And this is an emotional, deeply emotional journey that very few have actually gone through up until this point.

I remember when I first went to Gaza City and then further north to Jabalya, just my mouth literally hanging open. I was at a complete loss for words, and I came back to the guest house and my friend said, I've never seen you like this. You've gone sheet white. I have seen that same reaction. I have seen so many who ended up being able to go back to Gaza City, for example, because they work with international organizations.

So they were on humanitarian missions, coming back completely sheet white. And it really sort of forces the emotional barricade that people have had to build up just to be able to keep going and survive every single day to shatter in a million different ways. And when you think about the fact that hundreds of thousands of people are going to near-simultaneously go through that same shock and trauma of really having to confront the depth and breadth of everything that was destroyed, coupled with the fact that, you know, the rebuilding effort is just -- it's almost mind blowing in its enormity.

And then how are they going to survive in the rubble of what was their home with no basic necessities being available? Still enormous challenges when it comes to clean water, sanitation, access to medical care. I mean, nothing that actually created home exists in Gaza anymore, except for what people are going to be able to pull out from underneath the rubble.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Arwa Damon, thank you so much for that.

All right. Coming up, it's a race against time to protect homes in Southern California from mudslides this time. CNN gets a firsthand look with the U.S. National Guard.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:38:56]

WHITFIELD: All right. New details on the aftermath of the Southern California wildfires. Heavy rains moving through the region are leaving communities in the burn scar area at risk for mudslides.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones spent time with the California National Guard in Altadena, California.

And, Julia, how are they helping the community kind of lower their risks, if you can, you know, against these potential mudslides?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, more than 250,000 sandbags distributed across both here and the Palisades area for these residents to place around their homes to prevent any further damage. But what the National Guard is focusing on is the biggest threat here is the water runoff from the San Gabriel Mountains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAPT. GARRETT SAWTELLE, CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD: We're in Altadena, California, and we're entering the Sierra Madre villa debris basin.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): The National Guard deployed to assist first responders just hours after the deadly fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena began in the first week of January.

[16:40:07]

This unit, part of the Guard's Task Force 49, is charged with digging trenches at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. A race against the rain to protect neighborhoods in and around the burn zone.

SAWTELLE: The fire basically causes it to be a lot more susceptible to erosion.

VARGAS JONES: Wow. Oh, I see this now. So this is where the water is going to flow.

SAWTELLE: Yes. So the water will come through there.

VARGAS JONES: Oh, that is deep.

(Voice-over): Their aim to divert water that could trigger dangerous mudslides once rain begins to fall.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have two means of loading. We have our excavators and then behind us we have our loader, the front wheel loader.

VARGAS JONES: Crews digging pits into hillsides to create dams.

SAWTELLE: So this portion will capture the sediment, rocks, vegetation, and then where it opens up the water would flow out.

VARGAS JONES: The whirr and buzz of bulldozers, excavators and other heavy machinery a welcome cacophony to a community still reeling from fatal wildfires.

SAWTELLE: So this was a part of the burn scar. So the fire did come through here.

VARGAS JONES: Burn scars are among the most vulnerable areas for potential mudslides and even flash flooding. This has been the driest start to the rainfall season in Southern California in over four decades. The ground is so dry that if the rain falls too fast, soil won't be able to absorb it.

Lieutenant Colonel James Smith is the commander of this operation.

LT. COL. JAMES SMITH, CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD: If we do get significant rainfall, you're going to see a lot of that material behind us here. It's going to move down into this basin.

VARGAS JONES: His mission, he says, is to do whatever's necessary to avoid even further devastation.

SMITH: You can't imagine the tragedy they've all suffered through. We'll be here however long we need to be in order to help this community recover.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS JONES (on-camera): And, Fred, we have been seeing some rain here in Altadena this morning and early afternoon. A flood watch is in place starting in just a couple of hours that will go for 24 hours into Monday at 4:00 p.m. That's not just for here in Altadena. It's for areas across L.A. County that have those burn scars. Both the Palisades, Eton, Hughes and Bridge Fires and Franklin Fires as well.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, Julia, what are some of the next steps moving forward for people? You know, some who've said that they still haven't seen their properties. Others who, you know, want to get started after having seen their properties damaged. What is next?

VARGAS JONES: Well, it's going to take a little bit longer, Fred, with this rain. They have to wait until this dries out. Look, the National Guard said that they will be here through the end of January and for another couple of weeks assisting in that. They have been the ones setting up the checkpoints around town as well, and helping people understand the risks of going to see their properties.

They still need to get in touch with authorities before doing that, so it could take some time before those folks get back into their homes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.

All right. Coming up, a new study says people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have shorter life expectancies and higher risks of mental health issues. A pediatric professional explains why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:10] WHITFIELD: A new U.K. based study on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, as it's commonly called, shows that people with the disorder have a shorter lifespan than their peers. The study found that they are also at greater risk for mental health problems. People with the disorder tend to have difficulties with things like focusing, organization, remembering, or following instructions, and multitasking.

Joining me right now to discuss is Dr. Max Wiznitzer, professor of pediatrics and neurology at Case Western Reserve University.

Doctor, great to see you.

DR. MAX WIZNITZER, PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS AND NEUROLOGY, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, so you say that takeaway from this study is that ADHD itself is not the cause of shorter life expectancy, but it's the impact of ADHD on how you live, meaning the stresses that come with being ADHD?

WIZNITZER: Well, it's not only the stresses, but it's the impact on things that you do. Take some of the features that are there. The inattention in and of itself can make you maybe not pay -- not stay focused on what you're supposed to do, get easily distracted from taking your medications, or even distracted when you're driving, that your organizational skills are not that good. You might be late for appointments, which includes medical care.

The impulsivity of ADHD can have you take risk taking behaviors, develop bad habits such as substance use, smoking, or excessive alcohol use that you can basically do impulsive actions, including impulsive eating, become obese. The motor overactivity, the hyperactivity that's there if you're not sitting still can put you at risk or just getting into trouble going, being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

So it's not the ADHD itself, it's how it affects your daily living that causes you to develop bad habits.

[16:50:04]

WHITFIELD: Wow. This is a lot. OK, so then why, you know, is this reduction in life expectancy apparently worse for women? That was the finding, right?

WIZNITZER: That we really don't know. That's one of the things they found there. They found that for men it was about six and a half, seven years. And for women it was about eight and a half years shortened life expectancy, but specifically, the reason is not quite clear.

We do know that in women overall that you have more, for instance, things like anxiety. Perhaps that might have an impact that's there. Also because of other things on their plate in terms of the demands of life and what they're supposed to be doing. Perhaps the impact is greater in terms of poor organization and everything else that's there. That is something that actually needs further investigation.

WHITFIELD: I was going to say not from a scientific point of view, but maybe because women customarily do have a lot more to do. There's a lot more to juggle.

WIZNITZER: A lot more on their plate. We'll say it that way.

WHITFIELD: We'll say it. OK. That's fine. It's a fine happy medium. All right. So do you think this study will be helpful with how ADHD is diagnosed?

WIZNITZER: Yes. We have to remember this is not the first time this has been identified. I mean, there have been studies from the United States, from Finland and from other countries that have shown the same thing that basically ADHD has a negative impact on life expectancy. So what this means is, is that we have to be more vigilant in terms of identifying individuals with ADHD. We have to pay more attention to the intervention, to make sure that we have adequate resources for intervention, whether it's the use of medication or for the behavioral strategies.

Medicine may improve your attention span, reduce your impulsivity, but it doesn't teach you the good habits that you need to utilize in order to have a good life span. You need to develop those good habits. And many times you have to practice those. And so therefore we have to make sure all those resources are there.

WHITFIELD: How do you see this as, you know, potentially impacting other issues that may be a consequence of ADHD or, you know, somehow connected to when you're talking about mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, suicide, personality disorders, even?

WIZNITZER: Basically all of those conditions basically lead to the negative effects that we were just talking about. It's the ADHD is the lightest, which means if you treat the ADHD, you can avoid the depression, you can avoid the anxiety, you can avoid the increased suicide rate. That's our hope in that regard. And therefore we need to make sure that the interventions are there.

If I may quickly say there is an ongoing project being done at the present time to develop guidelines for the diagnosis and management of ADHD in the United States. Those are not yet available. Hopefully, with these guidelines that are available, which are being done jointly with APSARD and CHADD, that we can then basically improve the lot of this population. And by improve, not only do we improve their functioning, but we also impact positively on their families and improve productivity in the workplace.

There's lots of positive impact by making sure that ADHD does not control people's lives.

WHITFIELD: Wow. So fascinating and so important.

Dr. Max Wiznitzer, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time and expertise.

WIZNITZER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

All right. Coming up, two giant pandas settle into their new homes at the D.C. national zoo. We'll take you inside their journey from China to the U.S. next.

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[16:58:17]

WHITFIELD: All right, the wait is over. And two giant pandas are finally at the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and right in time for the Lunar New Year on Wednesday.

CNN's David Culver was given exclusive access to follow their journey from China. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think when people think of Chengdu and the pandas, perhaps you think of one panda base, but the reality is it is a massive project, one that spans over several different locations, about five all together.

At this location alone, this base, they have some 80 pandas. Everywhere you look, there's pandas.

I would see video of people like just watching and recording for hours. And I found myself up there, you're mesmerized.

BRANDIE SMITH, DIRECTOR, SMITHSONIAN'S NATIONAL ZOO: When you stand here and you watch giant pandas, we actually release certain hormones that makes you feel joy and it makes you feel closer and more connected to other people.

CULVER: The world could use more pandas I think.

SMITH: It certainly could.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, so cute. It is relaxing to watch them. An all- new episode of "THE WHOLE STORY with Anderson Cooper, "Operation Panda," one whole hour, one whole story airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

All right. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Jessica Dean next.