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The Lead with Jake Tapper

DHS Says, Agents Involved in Pretti Killing on Administrative Leave; Minneapolis Tension Looms Over National Mayors Meeting in D.C.; Justice Department Leaders Promise More Documents in the Near Term. Trump Fails To Condemn Attack On Rep. Ilhan Omar; Florida State Senator Says Immigration Will Hurt GOP In Midterms; Trump Hangs Picture Of Himself With Putin In White House. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired January 28, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, the two officers involved in that fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, the V.A. ICU nurse, are now on administrative leave as the Trump administration investigates the tragedy from Saturday night. That announcement coming as Democrats on Capitol Hill demand changes into how immigration officers on the ground in Minnesota and elsewhere are able to operate.

Plus, Trump's untethered obsession with proving the fair and free election he lost in 2020 was rigged, which it, wasn't continues. The FBI is now executing a search warrant in an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia. Local officials say this is part of an investigation into the alleged unproven voter fraud allegations by the president in 2020. The man who was Georgia's Republican lieutenant Governor during that election joins me live ahead.

And with thousands of Americans still buried under snow and ice, another winter storm is forming another one, and it could strengthen even to a bomb cyclone. We're going to head to the CNN Weather Center for a look at the latest forecast.

Our Lead tonight, President Trump and his team are still grappling with the crisis of their own making in Minneapolis. Today, a senior Homeland Security official confirmed to CNN that the two officers involved in that deadly shooting of V.A. ICU Nurse Alex Pretti on Saturday have now been forced to take administrative leave.

President Trump kicked off his day with his social media back and forth with the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey. Trump pulling back from his slight shift in tone from earlier, warning the mayor that he is, quote, playing with fire if federal immigration law isn't enforced.

Now, Attorney General Pam Bondi is arriving in Minneapolis, and federal agents have arrested 16 people. Bondi says more arrests are to come.

Let's bring in CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Kaitlan, how does the plan to deescalate the situation seem to be going?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, I think it was always a question of whether or not that was actually going to happen and what that was going to look like. Because, yes, the president suggested as much yesterday and, yes, he has changed his leadership team who is actually on the ground in Minneapolis.

But as you saw, the attorney general is also there also posting the pictures of the people that they had arrested today as they were standing to people from the Department of Homeland Security in those pictures with their backs turned to the cameras, and, obviously, the president's post also going after the Minneapolis mayor, Jacob Frey, after he said he is still not going to cooperate with those federal immigration laws when it comes to the people who are in their city and county jails. And so it is still an open question.

And this also comes, Jake, after yesterday, the president was again criticizing Alex Pretti for carrying a gun during that moment on Saturday, even though he obviously did not brandish the weapon based on the videos we've seen, and he also had a permit to have that weapon on him on Saturday when he was out there in the street.

And so I think in terms of what is actually happening on the ground and what this shift is going to look like remains to be seen. What we do know is the president did not think his administration was getting good coverage in the aftermath of this with the statements that were being made by people, like the Border Patrol chief, Greg Bovino, by the DHS secretary, Kristi Noem, and others. So, that still remains to be seen in terms of whether it's just a messaging shift of how they're talking about this, Jake, or what it looks like actually on the ground.

And I should note this also comes after the Minnesotan congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, was attacked last night at that town hall, and the president was suggesting in the aftermath that it was a staged attack by the congresswoman, that he has obviously frequently criticized, as he did even just on Monday alone.

TAPPER: Kaitlan, the White House is also trying to stave off a potential government shutdown. The Democrats are threatening over this funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. What's the latest there?

COLLINS: Yes. It's a real issue, Jake, because Democrats are saying they have demands of ICE that they want to make before they pass any funding bill, something that had already been a contentious topic here in Washington before Alex Pretti was killed on Saturday by federal agents. And now you've seen Senate Democrats saying they are not going to vote for this, and Senator Schumer is kind of outlining what that's going to look like.

And we've seen comments from Republicans who are saying they want to know what Democrats want here. There could potentially be an agreement, according to John Thune. And the White House has been involved in this. They've been having these talks. They tried to get Democrats to come over here to the White House. But, Jake, whether or not they're actually going to stave off a partial government shutdown by Friday night remains to be seen.

I will tell you, I spoke with Democratic Senator John Fetterman last night. He's someone who voted for Kristi Noem to be the DHS secretary. He thinks Trump should fire her because he was arguing that she's incompetent in that job. But when it comes to this funding fight, he did make the point that when they passed the big beautiful bill earlier last year, Jake, it had tens of billions of dollars in funding for ICE.

[18:05:00]

So, even if the government does shut down, I don't think people should have an expectation that ICE is not going to be able to do what it's doing right now. It'll just be a fight over the priorities, and Democrats say they don't want to vote yes on just carte blanche funding. They want restrictions on that and what that looks like and what it means for what ICE agents can do.

TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much, good to see you.

Don't miss Kaitlan's special edition of the source directly after tonight's CNN town hall. She's going to talk to Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. That starts at 9:30 P.M. Eastern only here on CNN and on the CNN streaming app.

And here to discuss is Democratic Senator Chris Murphy from Connecticut. Senator, thanks for joining us. So, Democratic Leader Schumer just outlined Democratic leadership's demands for changes to ICE. They are tightening use of warrants, ending roving patrols, enforcing a code of conduct, and having ICE agents remove masks and wear body cams.

In your opinion, do those demands go far enough or is that good? Is that sufficient?

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, they certainly don't go as far as I would like, but you know, we're operating in a world where Republicans control the House and the Senate and the White House, so we're trying to make our demands both impactful and reasonable.

I think what we're thinking about are the practices that are offending and shocking Americans and I think one of those is the masked secret police. That should just not be allowed on our city streets. Put body cams on these officers. Take down the masks. Second, the roving patrols, where they're just walking around asking people to show their papers, that's not America. Nobody really wants that. So, end those roving patrols. That's why we would require warrants for arrests, like we normally do in many police operations. And then accountability, just make sure that if there is a crime committed, like this murder, have there been normal, regular accountability, which include a state investigation. So, end the roving patrols, no more masked secret police and accountability, that's not the full list of reforms we need at DHS, but our sense is that's something we can get done in a handful of days, and it's something that probably unites a big cross section of the country.

TAPPER: You just used the term, murder, and I just want to just ask you about that, because, you know, that's a legal term, murder. Is that what you saw in the video of the killing, the shooting of Alex Pretti?

MURPHY: So, you're right, you know, that is a loaded legal term. And I guess that's why we want there to be an impartial public judicial process, this idea that if there is a question of whether murder was committed, that's going to be decided in secret behind closed doors. That's a violation of everything we stand for in America. So, there should be a full public investigation and judicial process, including the State of Minnesota.

I mean, to me and to many Americans, it did look like murder. But I understand there's a set of facts that needs to be collected before you come to that conclusion legally. I just want to be able to see that process. I want my constituents and the people in Minnesota to be able to see that process. I don't want it to be buried inside the Department of Homeland Security.

TAPPER: And to be clear, I'm not taking issue with it. I just -- you know, I know you choose your words carefully.

I want to ask you about this government funding bill, because it seems right now that Senate Democrats are united against the bill continuing as is to fund the Department of Homeland Security. Republicans in the White House say they do not want to make changes and they do not want to separate the DHS funding bill from the wider funding bill. Do you think that we are headed to another shutdown?

MURPHY: I hope not. I mean, we've made it clear that we would pass all of the other bills that would end up having 95 percent of the federal government funded tonight. We'll do it tonight if they're ready. The only fight we're having is over the Department of Homeland Security. And, again, the reforms that we're demanding are not the full list of what we would want in a perfect world. We're offering to have a dialogue about reforms that would make people safer, that would end the terrorizing of an American city.

We may end up in a shutdown. But if we do, that's the Republicans' choice, because we're ready to vote for all the other budgets except for the Department of Homeland Security, and we're ready to have a reasonable negotiation over popular reforms on that budget.

TAPPER: At least two of your Republican colleagues, Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski, are calling on Secretary Kristi Noem to step down after what's happened in Minnesota. Do you agree with them?

MURPHY: I mean, I do, I think she's unqualified and I think it's really unacceptable when the highest leaders in our federal government lie to the American public so brazenly, as she has, between her and Stephen Miller, calling Alex Pretti an assassin, a domestic terrorist. But I also know that this policy is Donald Trump's policy.

You know, sometimes we want to pretend as if somebody else is running America's immigration policy.

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Donald Trump has told exactly what he wants to do. He wants to wage a war on people who aren't white, who have accents, who come from a different place.

And so I think if Kristi Noem leaves, she's just going to be replaced by somebody else who is just as incompetent and likely just as hateful and maybe just as addicted to pathological lying. Yes, she should go, but I just think we need to be realistic that she's probably going to be replaced by somebody who's going to implement the same policy.

TAPPER: So, changing gears, you questioned the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, earlier today, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. You asked Secretary Rubio about the possibility of using the military again in the future if the Venezuelan government doesn't comply with what the U.S. wants them to do. Here's your question and Secretary Rubio's reply.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MURPHY: If, for instance, they refuse to give you access to the oil in the future, if they said, we're just going to keep it for ourselves, would this cause you to consider military action? And do you concede that if you're using military action simply to try to compel cooperation from the government, you absolutely need Congressional authorization for that?

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Look, the president never rules out his options as commander in chief to protect the national interest of the United States. I can tell you right now with full certainty we are not postured to, nor do we intend or expect to have to take any military action in Venezuela at any time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, the Venezuelan military is tasked with protecting the oil infrastructure right now because of the violence. Do you think the Trump administration's plan to get oil companies to invest in Venezuela will work without an American military presence in Venezuela if only for security?

MURPHY: Yes. I guess I don't know the answer to that question. I was really alarmed at his answer because it seems like the answer is simple. You cannot use the American military to just get a foreign government to comply with your demands absent a declaration of war that the American public supports.

Right now, the Venezuelan government is complying with their demands on oil, but they don't seem to be cooperating in any other ways. There's no schedule for elections. The political prisoners are still in jail. Maduro's folks are still in charge of the country. Russia and China are still big players there.

My worry, my belief, frankly, is that all that Trump really cares about is the oil. He's kind of said that over and over again. And as long as his friends in the oil industry are getting rich off of access to the oil, then he's going to let Maduro's people run the country. He's going to let Russia and China still have a stake in that country's future, and he's going to just give up on democracy and releasing the political prisoners.

I think that's the game that Delcy Rodriguez, the brutal dictator of Venezuela believes, that she can play, give Trump access to the oil and still repress dissent and do deals with foreign governments on other issues.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, thanks so much for your time, sir.

MURPHY: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, something we don't see nearly enough of in today's climate, Republicans and Democrats working together. Mayors of both parties meeting in the nation's capital this week for their annual conference where immigration and immigration enforcement is, of course, a major topic. The head of the U.S. Conference of Mayors joins us live in moments.

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TAPPER: And we're back with the National Lead, the Killing of a VA ICU Nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by federal agents on Saturday, and the backlash against the Trump administration's immediate falsehoods about the attack. All of that is weighing heavily over cities nationwide. Here in D.C., mayors are gathering for the Annual Conference of Mayors with the topic of immigration and immigration enforcement on everyone's mind.

Now, joining us now is Mayor David Holt. He's the Republican mayor of Oklahoma City, also the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Thanks so much for being here.

MAYOR DAVID HOLT (R-OKLAHOMA CITY, OK): Absolutely. Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Let me ask you a question just stepping aside from the big story in immigration. What's it like when mayors get together, because, obviously, it's nasty here in D.C. National politics are nasty. And like I used -- I remember an era when like governors would come together and be pretty bipartisan. I don't know that we're in that era anymore. Are mayors that way? How do you all work?

HOLT: Very much so. And I think now we've become, because almost of the contrast with every other level of government, we've become very protective of our bipartisanship. And, yes, I mean, there's 300 mayors here, Republicans, Democrats, independents, and we stand shoulder to shoulder. And it really is easy, I find, to kind of agree on a, so much about housing or immigration enforcement or also obviously the basic city services that we provide.

And when you watch us in a press conference or a meeting, I find people can't tell which ones the Republican and what's the Democrat, because we're really just about getting things done and governance. And I think we operate in a way that people did in this country for 200 years in these types of positions, but we've been able to preserve it at the mayoral level. We're very proud of that.

TAPPER: I thought about it the other day because former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel went to Mississippi to talk about educational reforms and there was like a real bipartisan spirit, like who cares where the ideas come from, what works, works.

HOLT: Yes.

TAPPER: And the conference actually put out a statement as soon as the shooting happened on Saturday. It says in part, quote, deadly confrontations like this erode public trust and law enforcement at every level, putting our own local police officers across the nation at added risk, the nation's mayors call for immediate intervention by national leaders to deescalate the situation in Minnesota. This is not a partisan issue. It's an issue of national concern that demands statesmanship and leadership.

I actually, right after the shooting, heard from a sheriff in a small town that I know, and he was really horrified by the shooting, horrified by what the ICE agents were doing, and really worried about his officer or his deputies because he knew that the public generally just sees law enforcement as law enforcement. Do you have issues with how this operation in Minneapolis has gone?

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HOLT: Well, sure. I mean, a couple different thoughts. One is, first of all, we have enforced immigration laws in this country for over a century, and ICE has been around for two decades. Why is it only in the last year that we have this approach that has roiled the entire country, right? Like we were able to do this for a very long time. Even the first Trump administration was able to do this without you and me having to sit here and talk about it at this level.

So, clearly, they have taken it too far and they need to pivot. But I think the other thing, and I heard one of our mayors today, a Republican mayor from Fresno, California, Jerry Dyer, he used to be a police chief. You know, talk about the tactics he's seen in the news, on television. He's like, we stopped doing that in local police departments 30 years ago.

TAPPER: Right.

HOLT: This is like, we learned not to do these things decades ago. It's like watching a time warp to see the way that they're operating on the ground there with the residents of Minnesota. So, yes, it is very challenging because, yes, we work so hard to build trust in our communities. Everyone well remembers the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd in 2020. And then here we are having to deal with federal law enforcement kind of making all law enforcement look bad.

TAPPER: Yes. And Minneapolis did a lot of work to regain trust in that city after the death of George Floyd, the murder of George Floyd. Mayor Frey, without commenting on his politics or anything like that, he's really -- that's a tough position to be in. And he's meeting with Tom Homan. President Trump said today, if he doesn't enforce federal immigration law, he's playing with fire. Others have pointed out it's not really a police force's -- local police force's job to enforce federal immigration laws. Have you talked to Mayor Frey at all?

HOLT: Yes. Yes, we had a couple zooms with him last week, along with his police chief and the major city chiefs, because we actually put out a joint statement before the one you were just quoting from last week before the horror on Saturday.

Yes, I mean, couple things to unpack about what you just said. First of all, you know, mayors, we come into these offices and we think, you know, above all, we're going to protect our cities, we're going to protect our residents. And, by the way, we've actually got a group of people that carry guns who can help us do that.

But then, you know, the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution intervenes, and then you have folks coming in that they're -- that Mayor Frey's officers can't arrest, Mayor Frey's officers can't engage with. And so it does make this almost impossible situation for mayors. And you see, I think, so he's trying to use rhetoric and passion to get somebody's attention in Washington, really, because that's almost the only influence that is left on this situation.

So, I really -- I respect what, you know, he's had to do and he gets put in an almost impossible situation but, you know, it is something that we all try to work together as mayors to support each other in moments like this. I think he's doing the best he can under almost impossible conditions.

TAPPER: So, more bipartisanship, please. I'd like to see it.

HOLT: You got it. And I want to put a plug. I think you'll enjoy it, and so are your viewers, but this year, 230 mayors have signed something we call the Oklahoma City Declaration, and it's all about bipartisanship. It's all about respecting pluralism and compromise and persuasion instead of violence. And it's the kind of thing that's on display at our meeting this week here in Washington.

TAPPER: God bless, thanks so much. Mayor David Holt from Oklahoma City, I really appreciate it.

HOLT: Thank you.

TAPPER: The Justice Department is now giving an update on when it expects to release the rest of the Epstein files. It's like 99 percent of them are still waiting to be released. That's next.

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TAPPER: In our Law on Justice Lead, yet another promise, the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein related files will be released, quote, in the near term. However, a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton advised two federal judges that the Department of Justice could not provide a specific date for when they will complete their review and then release of the files, which legally they were supposed to have finished, I think, in December.

We're joined by Lisa Phillips now, who's one of the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. Lisa, let's start with the question on my mind, on the minds of so many of our viewers, definitely my staff. How are you doing?

LISA PHILLIPS, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I'm doing okay. I'm hanging in there. I feel like we're making some progress, which feels really good too. Us survivors, we haven't quite gotten to, you know, the nuts and bolts and the nitty-gritty of everything, but we're making some progress. It feels okay.

TAPPER: So, this new letter doesn't give a timeline for when the files will be made available, and they were supposed to have been, by law, available in December. Previous reports have indicated only about 1 percent of the files have been made public so far. Do you see this latest promise of the files being released in the near term as realistic?

PHILLIPS: That's a good question. Well, from a survivor's point of view, what should happen now is actually, to me, pretty clear. It starts with centering victims as the group of people to protect and not the politicians. And survivors have already waited decades for accountability. So, we've been ignored, actively disbelieved, silenced, many had turned to drugs and unaliving themselves to deal with the pain while Epstein was protected by the systems that were supposed to stop him. So, when the DOJ says it can't give a timeline and has only released less than 1 percent of the files, I mean, we think it's a joke.

So, to be clear protecting victims' identities is non-negotiable. And survivors should never be re-exposed or re-traumatized in the name of transparency.

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: Yes, but the --

PHILLIPS: And survivor protections --

TAPPER: Yes. PHILLIPS: Well, survivor protections cannot be used as a blanket excuse to withhold information about enablers, facilitators, or institutional failures.

TAPPER: Well, that's the thing. I mean, I've heard from -- we've talked to a lot of survivors who talk about the fact that it seems that they're removing the names, redacting the names of not just survivors but potential perpetrators. And we're more than a month past the deadline for the release of files as mandated by a law passed by Congress and signed by President Trump. But this letter notes that the Justice Department, quote, cautions that its ongoing processes, including its quality control checks, and document management system preparations, may require additional efforts to ensure the protection of victim identifying information while complying with the broad demands of the act, unquote.

Do you buy that? Do you think that that is what is holding up the release of the files that they are so concerned about protecting survivors?

PHILLIPS: Well, it just needs to be explained a little bit more, like in plain language, what is being reviewed? Why is it taking so long? Who is responsible for past failures? The silence and the vagueness only deepen public mistrust and the (INAUDIBLE).

So, there's also a moral urgency here. It's about whether the government is willing to confront how wealth, power, connections allow the children, teens and young adults to go, you know, unchecked. I mean, that's really what it's about.

TAPPER: Yes.

PHILLIPS: I mean, survivors, we don't really need perfection. We just need honesty, speed, the courage to expose the truth even when it's uncomfortable or embarrassing for them, like we don't care. Try being locked in a room, being forced to massage a man four times your age. You know, that's embarrassing. That's uncomfortable. Like we're done with you being uncomfortable now. And that's what justice looks like from a survivor's perspective. We want to flip it on you, you know?

TAPPER: Well, we're not going to forget you guys. We are going to keep covering this until they release all the files, as mandated by law. Lisa Phillips, great to have you. Thank you so much. Come back soon.

The FBI just executed a search warrant at an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia. A source says it relates to President Trump's baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election. The former Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia is going to join me live to react, next.

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TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead today, the FBI executed a search warrant today at an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia. Now, a source tells CNN that the search is related to President Trump's baseless claims of election fraud in Georgia during the 2020 election. And just to be clear, we've been saying this now for about six years, there's no evidence to support President Trump's claim that the election was against him. A Justice Department review during Trump's first term under President Trump's own Justice Department did not find any evidence to support his allegations of fraud in any way that would have changed the outcome of the election.

There is evidence of an effort by Trump to overturn the election in Georgia in his favor despite the votes not being there, which we know from the now infamous call where Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find him enough votes to win the state.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So, look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have, because we won the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's still just so crazy five years later, just so nuts.

Let's discuss with the former Republican Lieutenant Governor of Georgia during that election, Geoff Duncan, who is now a Democratic candidate running for governor. Thank you so much for joining us.

We just got this new video showing the FBI loading boxes into a truck at the Fulton County elections office at the hub after serving this warrant. What do you make of this?

GEOFF DUNCAN (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it's just another disgusting attempt by Donald Trump and his administration to try and rewrite history, but I think it's important to recognize Donald Trump does not care, has never cared about protecting democracy or due process or following the law or just embracing the facts or even protecting innocent lives at this point with what's playing out in Minnesota. Donald Trump has figured out the cheat code, if he can weaponize the federal government, he can feel like he's getting his way each and every day, and it's wrong. People are losing their lives and their livelihoods. We're losing traction all across the world. We're the laughing stock of even third world countries these days at the way Donald Trump is working.

You know, it's hard to imagine a scenario more than, you know, the Trump administration shows up to kindergarten class in the West Wing every morning with their crayon box, and they literally spent all day trying to rewrite history, and this is another attempt.

TAPPER: The FBI is executing the search warrant as the Justice Department is suing Fulton County officials to force them to hand over records related to the 2020 election, an election that, again, Donald Trump lost fair and square. A judge has not yet ruled in that case. What do you think the Trump DOJ will do with those records if they get them? DUNCAN: Who knows? I don't think they'll give it an honest, fair shake. They haven't, since Donald Trump started within hours of the 2020 election overturning it. I mean, that was the catalyst moment for me to dig in. At the time I was a Republican, a disgusted Republican, embarrassed to even have an R next to my name. But I dug in and stood up. And the attempts that he took and his cast of characters took to try to usurp that election was unbelievable, including, you know, trying to create special sessions.

And, you know, look I think it's an interesting time in Georgia. I think the rest of the country is literally paying attention to Georgia. You mentioned I'm running for governor as a Democrat, we've gotten over 9,000 contributions from all 50 states, small dollar stuff, because I think folks realize Georgia is the front lines of election integrity.

[18:40:02]

It's the frontlines of democracy. Donald Trump wants to try to destroy our elections so he can try to win these elections for him and his cast of characters. We're not going to let it happen. We're going to stay firm as hard as we possibly can throughout this entire election cycle.

TAPPER: Listen to what Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivory just said about this FBI search.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MO IVORY, FULTON COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Fulton County is right now the target, the only county right now fighting over an election that already happened, but it is coming to a place near you. This is the beginning of the chaos of 2026 that is about to ensue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you share that concern about the midterms in November, in which you will potentially be on the ballot?

DUNCAN: Yes. Look, I absolutely am concerned. I mean, Donald Trump will stop at nothing to try to fan the flames of his own vanity and his own ego. And, you know, look, there's nothing -- nothing's out of play these days. I mean, I think that's really what's created the attention, why so many people have gone to duncanforgeorgia.com, because they realize around the country that if we can't get these elections right in Georgia, then what's the good of it, right? Donald Trump will literally stop at nothing to get his way.

TAPPER: Former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, thank you so much. Good to see you again, sir.

Bad news coming for the millions of Americans still cleaning up from the last winter storm because another one is brewing and that one's also bringing frigid temperatures with it. We're going to head to the CNN Weather Center for an updated forecast, next.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our politics lead, instead of denouncing yesterday's attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, President Trump said this to ABC News, quote, "I don't think about her. I think she's a fraud. She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her," unquote.

She, of course, there's no evidence she had herself sprayed. That's kind of a crazy, insensitive, inhuman thing to say.

When asked if the president had seen the video of this man lunge and spray, what a law enforcement source believes is apple cider vinegar at the congresswoman, the president said, quote, "I hope I don't have to bother."

Here now is the panel.

So, Mo, President Trump called for the congresswoman to be thrown out of the country. This is before the attack. And just hours before the attack, he said this in Iowa.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They have to show that they can love our country. They have to be proud. Not like Ilhan Omar. Did you see what -- did you see that wise guy? You know, she's always talking about the Constitution provides me with the following. You know, the Constitution -- she comes from a country that's a disaster. It's probably -- it's considered, I think, the worst. It's not even a country. Okay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Mo, just yesterday on the show, there was a former -- there was a Republican formerly of the band DOJ, faulting Tim Walz for his rhetoric, being responsible for the protesters, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera., et cetera. Does incitement only work when Democrats do it? I mean --

MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Apparently, in the mind of the president, it does. Look, I remember after the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, which most Democratic officials condemned. It rattled -- it rattled the nation. The president, the vice president went out there and said that this type of political violence is an epidemic on the left, primarily.

TAPPER: They didn't say primarily, they said exclusively. Yeah.

ELLEITHEE: That's clearly not the case. We have seen time and time again, and poor Minnesota has gotten more than its fair share in the last year of political violence targeting Democrats and progressives. This isn't a problem on the left. It's not a problem on the right. This is an American problem. This is a disease in our country right now. I would think that our leaders would be trying to do something about

it instead of fanning the flames. Forget what he said before. It's what he said after that really shows just the inhumanity of his viewpoint on all of this.

TAPPER: Yeah, and, Ashley, I know your -- I know your position on this already because you're a good, nice person. But I mean, I just I keep thinking about after Paul Pelosi was attacked by a man with a hammer and like, you know, Don Jr. and others, Trump making jokes about it like, the guys never going to be the same.

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL, GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: Well, one of the things that I looked at, because obviously, let's not forget that the president had an attempted attack as well.

TAPPER: Assassinations, two.

DAVIS: Assassination as well.

TAPPER: And there are two.

DAVIS: Yeah. No, it's horrible. And this is why the rhetoric needs to come down. I'm not saying that. Listen, I understand that the president does it and others do it as well. The Democrats do it as well. And so, we just need to make sure that this is tame.

And obviously, what's happening in Minnesota right now. You guys both know because I've been on both with you both before, how I feel about legal immigration in this country. But it's gotten out of control in Minnesota.

And the rhetoric needs to come down. And so something like that happened last night isn't acceptable for anybody. Whether I agree with her politics or not, it needs to stop.

TAPPER: So, beyond the, you know, right and wrong and just decency, there's also the political ramifications of what's going on in Minnesota. Republican Florida state senator and Latinas for Trump co- founder Ileana Garcia called the shooting death of Alex Pretti, quote, "abhorrent". She also said Republicans are going to lose the midterms because of Trump's harsh immigration enforcement tactic.

She told "The New York Times", quote, I do think that he will lose the midterms because of Stephen Miller. I mean, it goes beyond Stephen Miller. But what do you think about what she had to say?

DAVIS: Well, I thought it's very interesting. You saw the first crack, I think, of this administration with kind of Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller pointing fingers at each other yesterday.

I also think that this is January, and I think about how many issues that we even dealt with this first 30 days or 27 days of this month. So there's going to be a lot more before November. But listen, there needs -- something needs to happen. You see, I'm hoping --and Mo and I were talking about this in the green room with will Homan, like, bring the rhetoric down?

[18:50:06]

I hope so, that's what I'm hoping. And so, I was talking to a bunch of Republican senators today about, you know, the shutdown and, et cetera, et cetera. How do we make sure that the rhetoric is down and that we can continue to serve our country in the right way and not have another government shutdown? But also, make sure that there's checks and balances within ICE or what, you know, Homeland Security.

ELLEITHEE: Generally, I'd agree with you. And generally, I would agree that Lord knows what's -- what voters will remember nine months from now, ten months from now, given the pace of the chaos.

But this one has penetrated a little bit more. This has burned into the psyche, I think, of the American people in a way that most of the controversies haven't, because they have seen video of Americans getting gunned down in cold blood by their own government. And that's not the kind of thing that you bounce back from very easily.

I hope Tom Homan does make a change -- does change the dynamic, on one side of the ledger in Minnesota. But it's got to be more than just the rhetoric. And if we keep seeing incidents of this kind of cruelty and inhumanity on television, I do not see the American people moving on past it.

TAPPER: Yeah. All right. To be continued.

Thanks to both of you. And thanks for cursing us. But I totally forgot that we have -- we have 11 more months of this year.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: In our national lead, hundreds of thousands of Americans remain without power after last weekend's winter storm. And now another winter storm is brewing, with the potential of this one becoming a bomb cyclone.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is in the CNN weather center.

Allison, what's the latest forecast?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right, Jake. One of the key factors with this next system is all that cold air that's already going to be in place. Every single one of these dots you see here on the map represents an area that could potentially break a record low temperature at some point between Friday all the way through Monday, and some of those locations could break multiple records in a row.

We've got that first wave already in place, but that second wave of reinforcing cold air is set to come in this weekend. That means as that low pressure sets up, all of that cold air is already in place, which means there could be some snow, but a lot of it depends on exactly where that low pressure ends up.

Now, one of the weather models has more of a western track, which would mean more snow up and down the eastern seaboard. The other model takes it a little bit farther to the east, which means only a few select areas will end up getting snow. Others will just be stuck with the cold and the very gusty winds, because those could be 40, 50, 60 even as high as 70-mile per hour gusts as the storm slides on by.

This is significant because that alone could end up bringing some trees down and triggering some power outages. Even if you don't end up getting a tremendous amount of snow. Now here's a look at the European model again, takes it a little bit farther off the coast, so you'll notice only those extreme areas right on the coast end up getting the significant snow. The American model, however, is a little bit farther west. And notice how it pushes a little bit farther inland for some of those snowfall totals.

So, while the exact amounts are still up in the air, we do know that several of these areas of the Carolinas and Virginia are likely to get a few inches of snow.

TAPPER: All right. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

The picture now hanging in the White House that some say sends quite a message to the Kremlin as Russia continues to bomb Ukraine. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:15]

TAPPER: In our world lead, international diplomacy is high stakes and failures can be quite consequential.

This is a picture from the infamous Munich Summit of 1938, where British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made a deal with Adolf Hitler that Hitler did not keep.

The Yalta Conference in February 1945 was initially thought to be a huge success, but in retrospect, historians say FDR left Soviet prime minister or Soviet leader Joseph Stalin thinking it was fine for him to occupy Eastern Europe after the war ended.

This photo here is the infamous Vienna Summit of 1961, where even President John F. Kennedy later acknowledged his performance left Soviet Leader Nikita Khrushchev emboldened.

And that all brings us to this image. It's a framed photo of President Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin at the August summit in Anchorage, Alaska. PBS correspondent Elizabeth Landers noticed it hanging in the vestibule connecting the West Wing to the residence.

Now, before the summit, President Trump promised severe consequences if Putin didn't agree to a cease ceasefire at that meeting in Anchorage. And yet, despite welcoming a man identified as an international war criminal by The Hague, to American soil and literally rolling out a red carpet for him, Putin did not agree to a ceasefire at that summit. In fact, just days after the summit, Russia launched a series of massive strikes across Ukraine, killing at least 23 people, including a two-year-old girl.

Earlier this month, Russia launched more than 300 attack drones on Ukraine, crippling the country's energy grid during the winter, leaving hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians without power as temperatures there drop well below freezing. Just yesterday in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, Russian drones struck a civilian train carrying family members to visit soldiers on the front lines, killing at least five people.

So, while all of us continue to hold out hope that President Trump will someday be able to get Putin to stop killing innocent Ukrainians in his war on the people of Ukraine, we wonder if it's a tad premature to frame and hang up that photo. History will ultimately decide whether it belongs on a wall in the White House or along with the other photographs we showed you at the top of this piece.

Don't forget to tune in to CNN's special town hall in Minneapolis tonight. It's called "State of Emergency: Confronting the Crisis in Minnesota". CNN's Anderson Cooper and Sara Sidner will moderate. Look for that in just over an hour, 8:00 eastern here on CNN and on the CNN streaming app.

Until then, please enjoy my good friend Erin Burnett, her show, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.