Anderson Cooper 360

The White House Office of Management and Budget has rescinded a memo on federal aid freeze that sparked nationwide confusion, according to new memo obtained by CNN on Thursday from a Trump administration official. Illinois Democratic Governor JB Pritzker, who Tuesday called the president's freeze "illegal," and "a demonstration of cruelty against people who depend on us” talks to Anderson about the confusion and impact. Plus, Robert F. Kennedy Jr's past statements on vaccines, AIDS and antidepressants were quoted back to him today in a hearing to see if senators believe he is fit to be one of the most powerful health officials in the world. Dr. Craig Spencer, an emergency physician and professor at Brown University's School of Public Health, gives his take on Kennedy's answers today.
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A federal judge has temporarily blocked part of the Trump administration’s plans to freeze trillions of dollars in federal aid money. Confusion began late Monday when an internal White House memo circulated ordering federal agencies to “temporarily pause” federal grants and loans beginning Tuesday evening. Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York talks with Anderson about the move. Plus, a searing letter to senators from former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, warning that her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a “predator” ahead of his high-profile confirmation hearings this week to be President Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services secretary. Arlette Saenz has the details.
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A purge at the Justice Department. More than a dozen officials who worked on the criminal investigations into Donald Trump have been fired, according to sources familiar with the matter. Also, the interim US attorney in Washington, DC, has launched an investigation into prosecutors who brought obstruction charges against some rioters that were ultimately tossed because of a Supreme Court decision last summer. Plus, Elon Musk under fire on Holocaust Remembrance Day for comments he made over the weekend to a far-right German political party about, quote, "too much focus on past guilt." Professor Deborah Lipstadt, the former State Department special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, speaks to Anderson about Musk's comments.
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President Donald Trump is in Los Angeles to see the damage from the areas devastating wildfires, after saying earlier that he would condition aid to California on political demands. Trump also visited hurricane-ravaged North Carolina earlier today, where he threatened to eliminate FEMA. CNN anchor and Chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins joins Anderson, along with CNN’s Nick Watt in L.A. Plus, the Senate vote on Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is tonight, and there's new uncertainty among Republicans if he has the votes he needs.
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Despite opposition from Democrats as well as Republican Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, it is looking almost certain that by tomorrow night that former Fox Weekend Morning host Pete Hegseth will be running the Defense Department. Today, CNN learned that Hegseth told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he paid $50,000 as part of a confidentiality agreement to a woman who alleged he sexually assaulted her back in 2017. Manu Raju has the latest from Capitol Hill. Plus, President Trump has now ended Secret Service protection for two of his former top officials. The question tonight: Did he do it because they've spoken up against him? Two CNN analysts join the program to discuss, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Beth Sanner and former Secret Service Agent Jonathan Wackrow.
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Thousands of Southern California residents are under evacuation orders Wednesday as fire crews battle the out-of-control Hughes Fire near the town of Castaic, a suburb in the foothills and mountains of northern Los Angeles County. Within five hours, the fire grew to more than 8,000 acres, according to officials. Veronica Miracle is on the ground, and Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua joins from the frontlines of firefighting efforts. Plus, the rewriting of the January 6 attack on Capitol Hill reaches a new peak, as a ringleader returns to the scene of the crime and the Trump administration weighs welcoming convicts to the White House. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan shares what he's hearing from some of the most notorious people who were granted clemency by President Trump.
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President Donald Trump defends his blanket pardons of January 6 rioters, even the violent individuals he once suggested would not go free. Donie O'Sullivan, who was outside the Washington, DC jail last night when this all went down, spoke today with some of the pardoned inmates, and New York Democratic Rep. Daniel Goldman joins 360° with his reaction to the President's pardons and defenses. Plus, Ed Lavandera visits the small Texas panhandle city of Cactus, where a sense of fear and uncertainty looms after the President issued new executive orders cracking down on immigration. 
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President Trump signed a batch of executive orders while talking to reporters. One of the orders granted executive clemency pardons and sentence commutations for January 6th rioters. Other orders included declaring an emergency at the southern border and pulling out of the Paris Agreement. 
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President-elect Trump has announced that his inauguration will be moved indoors citing dangerously cold temperatures forecast for Washington, DC, Monday. The inaugural address will be delivered from the Capitol Rotunda for the first time since Ronald Reagan's second term began in 1985. Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe breaks down the security concerns around moving the festivities indoors with only three days' notice, scrapping months of planning. And later, Forbes Magazine investigative reporter Emily Baker-White joins Anderson to discuss the looming ban of TikTok.
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After the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal hits a snag, a look at where the holdup was and the effect it’s having on both the timetable and the hostage families. Plus, as President Biden warns about the United States becoming an oligarchy, we tell you which tech billionaires will be on the dais for Trump’s inaugural. Also, Rudy Giuliani reaches an agreement with the women he defamed to settle the $150 million judgement against him. 
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