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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Homan: ICE Working On "Draw Down Plan" In Minneapolis; Accused FBI Impersonator Attempts To Release Luigi Mangione; FBI Executes Search Warrant At Fulton County Elections Office; Fulton County: FBI Seized 700 Boxes Of 2020 Election Material; Sen. Amy Klobuchar Announces Run For Minnesota Governor; Stream New Episodes Wednesdays On The CNN App. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 29, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:38]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: So why did the FBI need to raid a Georgia election office? A lot of people want to know. The Lead starts right now.

Hundreds of 2020 ballot boxes seized by the FBI. But why? And Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was on the ground there. Again, why? Our guest coming up has a theory.

Plus, an attempted jailbreak at the New York facility holding Luigi Mangione, how an alleged FBI impersonator tried to free the accused killer.

But first, a new plan for Trump's immigration crackdown in Minneapolis straight from his border czar, Tom Homan.

Welcome to Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. We start in our National Lead where we are learning more about how the Trump administration's approach to immigration enforcement might actually shift. Today, White House border czar Tom Homan outlined a new plan for operations in Minnesota. This plan, after days of backlash over federal agents shooting and killing protester Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Homan ordered federal immigration authorities to work on an eventual drawdown plan for law enforcement in the city and said the operations will be more targeted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER POLICY ADVISER: Targeted strategic enforcement operations. That's traditionally been the case. And that's where we're going. That's where we're going. Continue to do and improve upon that with a prioritization on public safety threats.

We are not surrendering the president's mission in immigration enforcement. Let's make that clear. Prioritization of criminal ambulance doesn't mean we forget about everybody else. That's just simply ridiculous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The administration is also considering new guidelines for federal immigration officers in Minnesota, including plans to avoid engaging with, quote, agitators. That is according to sources. Now, in terms of the investigation into the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti, federal authorities blocked Minnesota state officials from seeing any evidence or being part of the investigation. But today, state officials say they are hopeful they can reach an agreement with federal law enforcement.

Well, in Minneapolis, CNN's Anderson Cooper spoke with a key witness in the Alex Pretti shooting. Kayla Schultz was in the vehicle closest to the shooting. I will play some of her remarks to Anderson.

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KAYLA SCHULTZ, WITNESS TO ALEX PRETTI SHOOTING: I am scared of speaking out and having this public having my face out there in my name. But if I can muster up 1 percent of the courage that Alex had shown there in order to maybe make some amount of change, I will. They want us again to be afraid of them. They want us to be scared, intimidated into silence.

I can lose my safety, I can lose security. They can take everything away from me, but they can't take my voice. They want us to be intimidated.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: They feed off it.

SCHULTZ: They escalate in every single way if they are not able to use that fear in order to intimidate us into backing down.

COOPER: So if you're not intimidated, they escalate.

SCHULTZ: And that's exactly what happened to Alex. He did not let them intimidate him. In fact, he stood up for two women that they were absolutely brutalizing, and that made them mad that they were not able to intimidate him into tucking his tail and leaving.

COOPER: Your camera is actually the closest camera to that moment of the border patrol guy shoving these women onto the sidewalk. But that is -- it's the closest. And you have the closest vantage point of them being pepper sprayed.

SCHULTZ: One moment there are people being pushed around. There are people being maced right in front of me. The next thing I know, it's gunshots. It's so many gunshots, I couldn't believe it.

[17:05:02]

I really have barely a recollection of the moments immediately after other than just the feeling of absolute horror and also rage that it escalated like this. So they backed up and I was sure he was dead.

COOPER: You're scared, but you're still standing up.

SCHULTZ: Yes. I think it's so important. I -- now is not the time to stay silent in this for anyone at all. It's imperative. Things are going to get a lot worse, I think, not only in my city but around this country as this project expands. And we all need to be courageous. We all need to be a little bit brave and again, do what we can in order to stand up for our rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: You can see much more of Anderson's interview on AC360 tonight at 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Well, here now to discuss is Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont. Senator, really appreciate your time. Just to start with what we saw this morning from Tom Homan, his press conference, the clear tonal shift and messaging shift from the administration over the last couple of days that has led into this morning.

How much faith do you have that there will be an actual policy shift on the ground?

SEN. PETER WELCH (D-VT): None. They are committed to this mass roundup. I mean, this is really at the heart of the problem. They -- there's three things in border policy. One is a secure border. We support that. Two is deporting criminals. We support that. But the third agenda, the Stephen Miller agenda, the Kristi Noem agenda, is these roving patrols that the mass roundup, going to schools, going to daycare centers, going to farms, going to construction sites, and then having roving bans that we've seen in Minneapolis.

And also what they saw and what we all saw America saw was the excesses where you have untrained people pulling their gun, two people killed. So, I do not see them talking about changing their policy. I see them reacting to the horror that Americans experienced when they saw those two videos of those two citizens being killed by ICE.

MATTINGLY: Which I think raises some of the concern that I've heard from some of your colleagues about the legislative debate that's currently going on Capitol Hill, which is there is a package of six spending bills. One of them is a homeland security bill. Democrats have made clear they will not vote for the package of six spending bills as long as the DHS bill is in there. And they want to negotiate on restrictions that they can place or governors that they can place on some of the policy actions the Trump administration has taken.

Part of that would be you need a continuing resolution, kind of keep levels flat for a period of time. There's been a talk about two weeks, three weeks, six weeks. Where do you stand on that?

WELCH: Well, first of all, let me explain what it is. We should separate out the Homeland Security bill so that all of us are accountable. That's number one. Number two, we should have a debate on these policies. There is no restrictions and no constraints, especially with Noem turning a blind eye to what's going on and blaming the victim.

So my view is it should be separated. We can have government proceed and stay open. There were five bills that were negotiated on a bipartisan basis. Let them be passed. Then we have a debate on Homeland Security. We should have as short of an extension as possible because all of us know that we should be standing up and debating on things that are going to protect American citizens from the abuse of authority by the Kristi Noem ICE operation.

MATTINGLY: House Democrats are talking about moving forward or trying to move forward on impeachment of Secretary Noem. Is that something you want them to do? You'd like to come over to the Senate?

WELCH: You know, honestly, I think Noem should resign. You know, she's lost the confidence of law enforcement. She's lost the confidence in the American people. And I think she should step up and acknowledge that what she did was really wrong and she has not provided the training.

And then I think the cruelest thing was when these two people were shot. A 37-year-old mother of three, a 37-year-old ICU nurse. She said they were domestic terrorists. You know, every law enforcement person I speak to in Vermont is horrified about what they're witnessing and the lack of accountability.

So the right thing is for her to resign. I would support impeachment. We don't have the votes for that. But I think Noem should resign on.

MATTINGLY: The policy debate that seems to be forthcoming in large part because the White House was willing to accede to Democrats saying, you got to strip the DHS piece out. We need to talk about restrictions, as you're laying out in a less procedural manner than I did, which I appreciate as a former Capitol Hill reporter. Sometimes I have bad habits.

[17:10:00]

But I got to admit I'm surprised that they were willing to have conversations about taking apart a six bill package about taking out the one bill that they -- I think policy wise care about more than any other. Are you surprised?

WELCH: There's two -- yes, I was, frankly. But there's two things. Number one, the Democrats stood very firm. We just aren't going tolerate this. Number two, it's very clear the people of the country of America were shocked. I mean we saw, all of us saw those videos and those shootings were completely without merit.

And so I think the president has very good political antenna in the combination of democratic unity and the reaction of the American people at the horror. This is not what they signed up for. The American people do want a secure border. They do want criminals to be deported. But they don't want these mass roundups and they don't want these lawless tactics by ICE where they are in mask, they are heavily armed and they are not accountable like the law enforcement agencies in all of our states and in all of our communities. So the president I think has figured that out.

MATTINGLY: It's been an extraordinary couple of days there. You guys appear to be on the precipice of a very serious and significant debate on DHS policies. The policies that you've been detailing will be fascinating to watch going forward. Senator, thanks so much.

WELCH: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Really appreciate it.

WELCH: Thank you very much.

MATTINGLY: Look ahead here on The Lead. In the wake of all the turmoil in Minnesota, Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar is launching a bid to become the state's governor. Is she the right person for the moment? But first, one man's alleged attempt to break suspected killer Luigi Mangione out of jail. It is a bizarre story. A barbecue fork, pizza cutter type blade all found in his backpack. That's next.

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MATTINGLY: In our Law and Justice Lead a very bizarre turn of events in the Luigi Mangione saga. A Minnesota man tried to spring Mangione from a Manhattan jail last night by impersonating an FBI agent. That's according to law enforcement sources. Mangione is in jail awaiting charges -- awaiting trial on charges he killed the CEO of UnitedHealthcare back in 2024.

I want to get straight to CNN's Kara Scannell in New York. Kara, honestly, the headline is only the start of the bazaar. It just gets more so as you go into what we've seen in the court documents. What have we learned here?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Phil, so what we learned is that this man, a 36-year-old from Minnesota, had gone to the federal detention center where Mangione is being held in Brooklyn, New York. He told the prison officials there that he was an FBI agent and he had papers signed by a judge for Mangione's release.

And what happened next is the prison for his credentials. And the man didn't give him an FBI badge, but he showed them his driver's license and he also told them that he had weapons. Those are some of the weapons that the bureau of prison officials recovered when they searched his bag. That's a pizza cutter and a barbecue style fork that he had on him.

The officials there then called the FBI. They came and they arrested this man for impersonating an FBI agent. He's expected to be in court this afternoon. You know, it's not clear what connection, if anyone, any he has to Mangione. But this case has brought a lot of people out of the woodwork. Some pro for him, some against him. And you see kind of see these odd things play out.

But this man had come to New York for work and he ended up not getting the job he wanted working at a pizza shop. And now we kind of see that tie in with the weapon there, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, in the list of odd things that have played out, this is definitely very high up there, I think at this point in time. You know, Kara, there's been some movement in Mangione's case this week, I believe. Where does it all stand?

SCANNELL: Phil, there is a key decision in this case that is expected by tomorrow, where the judge overseeing the federal case is expected to decide whether it can go forward as a potential death penalty case or whether she will rule that the Justice Department can't pursue that. So that is a huge decision that will have a great impact on how this plays forward.

You know, as of now, the judge has set the trial for Mangione on these federal charges beginning in September. If she throws out the potential death penalty charge, then it will go to a jury in October. If the death penalty is on the table, the trial will start next January.

But even this week, the Manhattan district attorney's office, which brought state charges against Mangione, are now asking the judge in that case to set their trial date for July to get ahead of the federal case. Nothing has been decided on that yet, but certainly some key developments are expected in the next 24 hours. Phil.

MATTINGLY: Kara Scannell, always appreciate your friend. Thanks so much.

Well, up ahead, that FBI operation at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing ballots and more from the 2020 election. Why would the feds want material from that far back? And why on earth was the director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard there? We're going to try and tackle some of those questions. Up next.

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ROBB PITTS (D) FULTON COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN: And the President himself to stay the hell out of Fulton County. I meant it then and I mean it today.

SHERRI ALLEN, REGISTRATION AND ELECTION BOARD CHAIRWOMAN: We hope that you all will continue to be vigilant and to not be subject to misinformation that may come out because as the chairman said, we don't know how the information will be used.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Two Georgia election officials there slamming the Trump administration over what they're calling yesterday's surprise FBI raid on Fulton County's main election facility. Now, you can see trucks filled with materials, agencies, some 700 boxes of ballots and material from the 2020 election. Well, joining us now to try and figure some of this out, at least is

CNN's John King and former FBI Deputy Director Andy McCabe. John, just to start with you, because were actually talking during the break, you and I, when this all started was when you were handing off to me, the benchwarmer guy who came in late night on the first night of the election as this all started to play out. We're still here.

The Justice Department is allegedly investigating. There have been many investigations and audits. What should people know about this?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the first thing they should know is simply this is the big lie that will not let die. This is the map of the 2020 election. It was a very complicated election because of COVID, because of all the mail in ballots, because of the different ways different states, as is their right, decided the order to count their votes.

There is zero evidence. There have been lawsuits and recounts and lawsuits and recounts. Zero evidence of any major fraud that would have flipped any state. Any state. This is the final map. Joe Biden won the election, period.

Now let's just go. Georgia is where this raid was in Fulton County. This is the end. Remember the infamous Trump phone call to Brad Raffensperger, the Republican Secretary of State, Republican, Republican governor. Again, remember these things, right? He wanted can you find me 11,000 votes? That's the end.

But let's go back in time to remember how this played out. This is when the first votes came in Georgia, 7:16 p.m. and the very early votes, when you know how to do this, Phil. Because you do this too. You say this, you know, these are votes. We love votes. We love counting. Too early to conclude anything. Joe Biden was ahead early on.

So then we move forward just a little bit. And yes, an hour later, a little less than an hour later, Donald Trump took the early lead in Georgia, right?

[17:25:00]

He goes up by about 7,200 votes there and he's ahead. So then you move through the night a little bit more. This is when I hand off to you. Tuesday turns to Wednesday. We've counted the votes up till midnight on an election. We know this is a close election anyway. And we also know it's complicated election because again, all those mail in ballots, the people who stood in line and voted early with the masks on. And then the election day vote, Donald Trump is ahead.

And look at that, 372,000 votes. This is why he won't let it go. As Tuesday went to Wednesday, he was ahead by 372,000 votes. But I just want to show you this is Fulton County. This is what the big raid is about. Now, this is by far Georgia's most populous county. The number one of the counties. Hardly any votes in still, if you know the size of the city, right? So look at the margin. Joe Biden's getting 72 percent of the vote, but that's a very small total of the votes there. So we come back out again. This is Wednesday. So we move forward. This is 24 hours later. The count continues. Donald Trump is still ahead. But look, it went way down, right? Why? Because they are counting votes, period. That's the only reason it went down. They are counting votes.

And you see these blue cities, they're populous. That's where the votes are coming in. So this is 12:00 a.m. as we go Wednesday into Thursday. So we're moving forward. I'm sorry, I'm going slow here. But I want you to watch this play out now. It's 24 hours later, Thursday into Friday.

Trump's lead has shrunk some more. He's still ahead, but we're going on 49 to 49. We're essentially tied here. This is Thursday into Friday and then here we go. You were on the air when this happened, just before 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning. As they continue to count the votes. That's all they're doing is counting votes, legally cast ballots. Joe Biden pulls ahead.

I just want to stop and pause in here again. You're seeing the vote count going up here, right. Again, Atlanta and the suburbs, Fulton County, that's the largest county in the state. They were simply counting votes. And I want to all say this as they were counting votes. Remember, number one, there have been all these lawsuits in the room. When they count votes, there are Democratic lawyers, Republican lawyers, Trump campaign lawyers, Biden campaign lawyers. Everyone's watching this play out.

If anything happens in the room, they can raise their hand and say what's going on. That didn't happen because they were all watching a fair and legal vote count. In Fulton County, yes, those are Democrats, but also in all these red counties, the same thing was happening there.

So 4:47 a.m. Then you come through 12:00 a.m., Biden's taken the lead. And then here, another important point Saturday morning, we call the election because Biden won Pennsylvania. We had not called Georgia yet. Biden was president anyway, right? Here we are here. That's November 7th. It was not for almost a week, six days later, when we finally called Georgia in Biden's favor at that point, it was 14,152.

And Phil, you know how the process works. Some ballots are challenged. They continue to count final ballots. And that was it in the end, 11,779. Joe Biden won Georgia in 2020.

MATTINGLY: And make a really important point, Republican governor, Republican Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling, who I feel like talked to us pretty much on an hourly basis, also a Republican as well. And yet we're back in here.

And Andrew McCabe, one of the oddest moments about this raid, and there are many, as John was just laying out the history here, is the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was on the ground. Why would she need to be there? ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Phil, that is

just one of the many questions we have without answers right now. But in short, she has no reason to be there. If you look at the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which created the position of the Director of National Intelligence in the way that we now know it, the DNI, as we call them, has no operational role, not intelligence and certainly not in domestic law enforcement.

So there is no legitimate reason why Tulsi Gabbard should have been there. Would she have seen any intelligence if produced from this search? Eventually, certainly. But she has no role in executing a search warrant.

MATTINGLY: From your experience, you know, the Justice Department says all these boxes were taken to an FBI records complex in Virginia. What would happen? I understand none of this has precedent, but in a normal type of investigation, where this was the location where things were being held, what happens now? What would investigators be looking for?

MCCABE: So one of the things they -- one of the capacities they have in the records division is the ability to take massive amounts of paper records and to put them through very sophisticated high speed scanners. I would guess this is my best guess. They are probably going to do that with things like these paper ballots to maybe ease the ability to create a data set of that information so that agents and analysts are not dealing with the paper.

So that's one -- possibly one step in the process. But we're going to have to really watch this very closely as we go.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, we certainly will. Andrew McCabe, John King, thanks to you both. The election week that will really never end. Well, my next guest has a theory on why the FBI showed up at this election office near Atlanta and says the whole operation should have the entire country on edge. We'll hear out, next.

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MATTINGLY: We're back with breaking news in our Politics Lead, President Trump, is right now in the Oval Office signing an executive order that launches a new initiative to combat drug addiction. We're going to continue to monitor this and see whether he takes questions from reporters.

But back to the Law and Justice Lead, and that's surprise, FBI raid in Fulton County, Georgia. You can see, again, the loading trucks there, Wednesday, ready to haul away boxes of ballots, ballots from the 2020 election, collected for who knows what. I want to bring in someone who was at the elections office when this all went down, Fulton County Commissioner Mo Ivery.

We should note she's running to be commissioned chairwoman. Really appreciate your time. Just to start, this raid almost six years after the 2020 election. You have a very strong take about what the feds were looking for here. What is it? MO IVORY, FULTON COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Yes, I mean, listen, we all know that this is a strategy that is starting. It actually started many months ago when we had certain cases come into Fulton County. Two cases, a state and a federal case, looking for these documents to just relitigate something that has already been resolved many years ago.

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This is a six-year-old obsession of our presidents that -- of our president that is now only leading to what he plans to do, which is to sow chaos and create a crisis that doesn't exist in Fulton County so that the 2026 elections can be disrupted. I mean, it's very clear to me what this is all about, and we can see the strategy working its way all the way to May 19th through our primaries and into November during the general election.

MATTINGLY: Did you -- were you ever told or did you ever hear a stated reason as to why the boxes had to be taken yesterday?

IVORY: No, well, it was a criminal warrant. Both of the cases that are currently in Georgia, the state cases about getting these documents, the federal cases about getting these documents. And we were just told now the warrant was a criminal warrant.

So this is really just a way for them to circumvent waiting on the adjudication of the two cases. The first case was said to -- is coming up on February 9th, which they were going to -- the judge was going to decide whether or not the -- to allow the process to move forward to unseal the documents and the procedure for doing that, which would have been monitored, which would have included copying something that the state election board did not want to finance to the tune of about $500,000.

So in order to circumvent having to pay to copy the documents, to have to actually go through a legal process, they just put a criminal warrant in place to come and seize the original ballots from 2020, which everybody should be concerned about.

MATTINGLY: I want to play a notable revelation about the raid we heard today from the Fulton County elections chair, Sherri Allen. Take a listen.

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SHERRI ALLEN, REGISTRATION AND ELECTIONS BOARD CHAIRWOMAN: No voting machines were taken, but I can't tell you exactly what was taken. We do know, like I said, we had the 700 boxes, but I do know other documents were looked into too, that we did not believe had anything to do with 2020.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: You know, to that point, I think that dovetails right into what you seem to be pointing to, that this is about more than the 2020 election. IVORY: Oh yes, this is, you know, really nothing can happen with the 2020 election. So pretending that this is about, you know, he lost the 2020 election, it can't be, you know, gotten back. I mean, it's just foolish to continue talking about it as if it's about the 2020 election. It's about 2026 midterms.

It's about disrupting the elections, militarizing our process of elections, making people afraid to go to the polls. This is what the strategy is. Get these documents, look at them, and create a story that there has been a criminal offense here, that there's been fraud, that there are, you know, people who voted that shouldn't have voted in order to make people believe that Fulton County cannot run accurate, fair, transparent elections.

And we all know that we can. We have not ever had a problem running elections. I mean, if we had a problem running elections, why is he not looking for the 2024 ballots? He would want all ballots, right, if we were doing something wrong. But he's only interested in the ballots of 2020 when he lost. And of course, what might happen in 2026 is why he's so concerned.

MATTINGLY: Well, Ivory, really appreciate your time. Certainly something we're going to be keeping a very close eye on. Thanks so much.

IVORY: Thank you.

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MATTINGLY: We'll talk more about that FBI operation in Georgia, plus the turmoil in Minnesota. It's quickly become a flashpoint in the state's race for governor. The key Democrat launching her bid.

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MATTINGLY: In our Politics Lead, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota officially launched her bid to be the state's next governor.

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SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): I'm running for everyone who wants more affordable health care for every student, farmer, dreamer and builder. And I'm running for every Minnesotan who wants Ice and its abusive tactics out of the state we love.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now Klobuchar also promised to unify the state after Trump's immigration crackdown. The Democrat is looking to pivot after nearly two decades in the U.S. Senate and after Minnesota's current governor, Tim Walz, ended his own reelection bid as the state is under scrutiny in fraud investigations. I want to bring the panel to talk about this.

Yemisi, just to start with you, do you think Klobuchar, who's very well known in town, obviously ran for president as well, is the right Democrat to lead that state right now?

YEMISI EGBEWOLE, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF & ADVISER, BIDEN WH PRESS OFFICE: A 100 percent. I'm not saying that because I used to work for her in 2020.

MATTINGLY: I was waiting to see if I was going to have to come in after the fact.

EGBEWOLE: Just at the top, former and proud Amy Klobuchar staffer. And I know she's the right person for the job. And Minnesotans have also approved her as the person for the job to lead them statewide. From the time that she was AG all the way up through the Senate. She's known in the Senate as one of the most bipartisan. She's won awards for it.

I mean, at a time when there is such great division in this country, but really focusing on Minnesota. She is the right person to cut through the noise, to work across the aisle and get things back to some semblance of peace and community in Minnesota.

MATTINGLY: Yes, someone who genuinely works bipartisan and with a level of pragmatism, I think, in the upper chamber that you don't often see these days.

Shermichael, yesterday, current governor Tim Walz said he'd never run for an elected office again. The decision, of course, to end his campaign, it shocked a lot of folks when he was taking that heat for the handling of the alleged child care fraud, I want you to listen to how Klobuchar addressed that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KLOBUCHAR: I don't like fraud or waste in government. That's why I went after crime as county attorney. I will make sure the people who steal taxpayer money go to jail and root out the fraud by changing the way state government works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:12]

MATTINGLY: I mean, I think a pretty agreeable stance.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, of course.

MATTINGLY: But this is an issue in Minnesota. It's a big without any question at all. You can look at the cases up and down the last couple of years related to this issue. What do you think of that message?

SINGLETON: Well, first of all, I'll say that I think Tim Walz has just completely just dropped the ball on this. And his responses, in my opinion, are just unsatisfactory, which is why I think he's decided not to run again. That said, I went and looked at Senator Klobuchar's record when she was a prosecutor. Very, very tough prosecutor. And I don't know if you recall, Phil, when she was running for president, some issues came up because of her time as a prosecutor. So this is a no-nonsense person.

I've had the pleasure of meeting the senator a couple of times. A lot of respect for her. She's well regarded on the Republican side in the Senate. She is someone who believes in legislating, and I think she's going to do a tremendous job as an executive. Look, we have our differences, but I have a tremendous amount of respect and appreciation for political leaders who do care about getting something done. We may not agree on everything, but just come to the table showing that you're trying to accomplish something.

I think she's going to get a lot of support, even from some of the conservative Republicans in the state legislature. In her state, I think we'll try to find avenues to work with her in her cabinet. So I wish her the best of luck.

MATTINGLY: I want to swing back, and not just because it was surreal, standing at the Magic Wall with John King six years later, doing the same thing we were doing six years ago in the same state. But this issue, I don't know if people noticed, but last week in Davos, the President out of the blue said something like, people will soon be prosecuted for what they did. Again, falsely claiming the 2020 election was rigged, and it seemed like a very outlier line.

And then today, Trump posted this, "Trump won big, crooked election." Of course, yesterday, there was an FBI raid in Fulton County. There's a midterm, there's a huge election, midterm election coming up here.

EGBEWOLE: Yes.

MATTINGLY: How does this impact things?

EGBEWOLE: I mean, I'm going to say this as somebody from Georgia, I cannot believe the President is centering himself at a time when Republicans in Georgia desperately need him. There's a tight race happening at the governor's level. Of course, we know that Senator Jon Ossoff is running again. He's highly favored. I mean, this is the time to really lean in and support the Republican Party.

But here's the division again. President Trump cares about President Trump and his legacy. And part of that legacy is in his belief that he won that election fairly. But the Republican Party has to exist and move on beyond him. And this is one of those trying times where Republicans have to acknowledge that the leader, the person they have at the top of the ticket does not care what the party looks like a year from now, two years from now when he's done.

MATTINGLY: Let's read on the Gabbard appearance.

SINGLETON: I was a bit surprised by that. I mean, I thought it was odd considering her position. That said, when I think about the President's record, we had tremendous victories in 2024. Obviously, he won. And I think a lot of Republicans in some very tight races are going to want the President's endorsement. Some places are going to want the President to turn out for them.

Some places may say, hey, we need a degree of separation because maybe it's a purple district. It's a toss up. I think the White House is going to be understanding of that. But if you listen to Susie Wiles, she's going to have the president out there running like he's running for reelection again himself. And in some places, I think that's going to be favorable. Some places we got to avoid.

That said, I probably wouldn't focus so much on this field. What I'm looking at right now is some of the enthusiasm gaps that we're seeing among Republicans and Democratic voters. I'm looking at where independents are and some of their frustration. We got to make sure that those guys turn out for us versus our opponents on the other side, talking about the economy, talking about the successes with immigration. I think those are the things that are going to move the needle.

MATTINGLY: But I think that's actually a really interesting point that I want to follow up on, because the risk here is compounding those issues that already exist in a state where, like, if you're at the NRC right now, you're watching all this play out and banging your head against a wall. Jon Ossoff has a ton of money and yet is in Georgia, therefore makes him beatable just by the makeup of the state.

SINGLETON: Yes.

MATTINGLY: What are you doing if you're at the NRC?

SINGLETON: Well, you have a very, very popular governor. Governor Kemp, who I know very well, has done a tremendous job, has high approvals, not only among Republicans, independents, and even some Democrats who voted for him. And so I think that's someone that if I were, again, in the political shop at the White House, I'm calling Governor Kemp, what do we need to do with the President's pack to support you and the folks on the ground there to try to win that Senate race, but also help all of our other lower ballot candidates? I think it's a winnable seat, but we got to make sure our focus is on the right thing and not on the past.

MATTINGLY: I was trying to figure out where in the kumbaya versus all- out war state Trump and Kemp are right now. I feel like there's still kumbaya'd from the last kumbaya. I'm not totally sure.

SINGLETON: But I will say, we all know Trump likes to win.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

SINGLETON: And so my thing is, Mr. President, we know that there have been some disagreements between you and the governor, but how about this? Add a big victory by winning back that seat to your legacy. I think Trump would love that.

MATTINGLY: Same question to you if you're DSCC right now.

EGBEWOLE: You're excited, and you might be calling Marjorie Taylor Greene to get a little talking point as well.

[17:50:03]

SINGLETON: Come on.

MATTINGLY: Marjorie Taylor Greene starts showing up at DS events. And she also -- my head will explode. I don't have the capacity.

EGBEWOLE: Please call her.

SINGLETON: That would actually help on the Republican side.

MATTINGLY: Shermichael, Yemisi, appreciate you guys very much as always, my friends. Thanks.

Well, this programming note, two new features soon on CNN's new All Access app. Next, we'll preview a popular visual podcast coming soon. Also soon on the app, a new edition of Have I Got News For You. This week's episode will feature comedian Nimesh Patel and political commentator Tara Setmayer. Look for that first, Saturday night, 9:00 Eastern on CNN. Then on the CNN app. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: We're back with Jake Tapper's conversation with the voices behind a new podcast on CNN's All Access app. Here's Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our Pop Culture Lead, you've seen them on stage and screen, and now they're coming to your living room.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:55:02]

MANDY PATINKIN, HOST, "DON'T LISTEN TO US" PODCAST": I had a scene in "Elmo in Grouchland" with just Elmo and me. And I felt I was off in that scene. And I felt I wasn't focused. And I wasn't listening and responding the way I wished to be with Elmo. And we finished it. And I went to the trailer.

I was ready to kill myself. I just thought I failed Elmo. And I seriously, I'm not kidding you, I called my therapist to talk to my therapist about the fact that I let Elmo down and I can't let it go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's just a taste of "Don't Listen to Us," the newest advice show podcast hosted by legendary performers and partners, Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody. They invite you into their home to laugh, to cry, and to hopefully walk away a little wiser. And here to discuss are the hosts, Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody.

So great to have you guys on. You're both advice skeptics, you say, but so that --

PATINKIN: Yes, no, no, the idea that we might leave you a little wiser, just erase that, edit that out, OK?

TAPPER: But if you're advice skeptics, you are doing an advice podcast. So how did that happen? KATHRYN GRODY, HOST, "DON'T LISTEN TO US" PODCAST": Oh my God, how did that happen?

PATINKIN: They asked me, they called me. I'd worked with one of the producers, Debbie Pacheco before. She wanted to do something with Kathryn and me when the social media got, you know, successful. And I said only, Debbie, don't take offense to this, I said only if our son Gideon is involved because Gideon is the magic sauce. So she and her partner, Katrina Onstad said, fine, Gideon and her got together. So the three of them, Gideon, Debbie, and Katrina do all the stuff. Kathryn and I know nothing. We sit down. We have no idea where it's going. And it's a free for all.

GRODY: Maybe that's the appeal is that with all the predictability that you can find and sort of things to sell, we're not predictable. Maybe we make being elders a little less scary because it shows that you can be idiosyncratic and your odd selves forever, you know? And you don't have to stop.

PATINKIN: Well, that's the intellectual answer. I don't have a clue why people are interested in listening to us. It's just a wonder to me. I really, I actually feel sorry for people because I just don't know what's gotten into them.

TAPPER: Well, I think I can diagnose it. I can explain it. It's because you're charming and it seems very authentic. I do wonder, what is it like working with each other? I've been married for 20 years this year, very happily so, but I also know marriage is work. And now you're in addition to marriage being work, work is work. So what's that like?

PATINKIN: You know, look, it's all because of Gideon, our youngest son. He started during the pandemic, you know, filming us, but he was filming us before saying family archives, family archives. And then it took off in the way it did. People asked to do this. And the magic, the true magic sauce is we feel safe. We feel safe with each other. We feel safe with Gideon.

And as you well know, Jake, it's -- there's the magic of editing. We can say the stupidest thing, anything to get us canceled and Gideon can cut it out and throw it in the garbage or just put it out there. So, you know, we just feel safe and we love each other, all of us as a family. And as Gideon said, you know, guys, you only have to do this as long as you're having fun. If you stop having fun, we can stop. And that's our rule.

GRODY: I don't know. I think people need community. They need to connect with each other. They need some practice at being human in a very inhuman time.

PATINKIN: But this is really foreign to us. We don't know what we're doing or how to do this at all. And what's been interesting as we go along, we've had some really interesting conversations. We don't have famous people. You know, we just had one person that was kind of famous, but only that one person. We just have normal people, many friends or people from the normal walk of life. And that's what it is. That's all it is. We're just talking to people. We goof around, we say we fight, we do whatever we want, and it just keeps going. We agreed to do 40 of them initially, and we're almost finished with the first 40. And we've had fun. We've had some really interesting, some very moving conversations with people. Incredibly, just surprises that I had no idea that it would -- that we'd connect to people in ways that would really affect us and be grateful for what our son, you know, gave us.

TAPPER: So you're having fun, and we're having fun watching and listening to you. "Don't Listen to Us" is available to listen to right now on the CNN app or at cnn.com/watch. Mandy Patinkin and Kathryn Grody, thanks so much for being here. Don't be a stranger. Come back soon.

[18:00:01]

PATINKIN: Thanks a lot.

GRODY: We're glad you're sharing us. Thanks, Jake.

MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. This hour --