Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Threatens Insurrection Act; Trump's Recent Poll Numbers; Lake Effect Snow Brings Dangerous Conditions. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 15, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: So, previously, anybody could tag Grok and say, hey, at Grok, can you take the clothes off of this image of a person, whether they consented to it or not. And as you noted, in some cases, this included people who were very obviously minors. At one point X made it you had to be a paid subscriber to do that. Now they've changed it. But now, if you go into the private chat with Grok, it will still remove the clothing of images for you.

Now, there was a global outcry. Malaysia and Indonesia banned Grok completely. Several countries are investigating, including the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom said that they welcomed these changes, but that they're still investigating.

And here in the United States, as you noted, the California attorney general saying that they are launching a formal investigation. They say in part, "this material, which depicts women and children in nude and sexually explicit situations, has been used to harass people across the internet." And they "urged xAI to take immediate action to ensure this goes no further.

What's really interesting is, as X is putting in these changes, harsher guardrails, Elon Musk, who had defended the ability of his A.I. chatbot to put people in bikinis, he was, you know, posting images of himself, of other politicians, of Bill Gates in bikinis. He, last night, denied that his A.I. created anything illegal. He said, in part, he's not aware of any naked underage images generated by Grok, and said Grok wouldn't comply with an illegal request.

However, it's not so much about the nude images. Any non-consensual, intimate imagery of somebody that is created and posted, including of adults and of children, is illegal under the Take It Down Act that was passed and signed last year by Donald Trump.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: There is a lot to this, and there's a lot of people very, very concerned and upset about what it is that you can do with your own image, your own body, and how they can manipulate it. We will see what happens. It sounds like the company, him, and he's sort of going up against his own people. Is that --

GOLD: Yes. Yes. So, I have reporting that in the weeks leading up to this controversy, there was a meeting at xAI. And according to a source with knowledge of the situation, Elon Musk pushed back on the guardrails that Grok had for its image generation specifically. And right around this time, a lot of safety people at xAI left, including the head of product safety. These are the exact types of people that would have prevented this from happening.

SIDNER: Wow. Hadas Gold, thank you so much for your reporting.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Opening bell ringing on Wall Street moments ago. Take a look at where markets are starting off the morning in the green. Stocks fell yesterday for a second day in a row. But this morning, investors are focused on two critical earnings reports from big banks. Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley both topping expectations. Investors also watching oil stocks now after President Trump has pulled back on threats of military action in Iran, at least for now, amid all the protests there. We're keeping an eye on all of it for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:37:21]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, President Trump threatening to use the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, where protesters clashed with police overnight after a new shooting involving a federal agent. Homeland Security says this agent was ambushed and acted in self-defense. The president wrote, "if Minnesota's politicians don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the patriots of ICE, I will institute the Insurrection Act."

With us now, Republican strategist Doug Heye and CNN political commentator Maria Cardona.

So, Doug, the Insurrection Act, is this the way for the president to turn the opinion polls around on immigration? He's underwater now. Well, underwater on this key issue. And ICE is also. Will the Insurrection Act help that?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I don't think so. But that sort of, John, misses the point to me. You know, Donald Trump knows where his numbers are. Look, he would love to be at 55 percent approval or 100 percent approval, obviously if everything's big and bold and beautiful. But Donald Trump, we use this term lame duck. And I don't think it really applies to Donald Trump, even though he is technically in a lame duck status.

Donald Trump doesn't live in a lame duck world. He lives in a YOLO world. And what's important to him isn't where his numbers are, but what he can do and the levers of control and power that he has. So, where he can use them, he does so.

What the polls say after the fact, or even during the fact, is really a secondary matter to him. It's, what can he do and how much power does he have? And we see him use this all the time. BERMAN: To what extent, Maria, do you think that these are the

pictures that the White House wants, that they are sort of baiting protesters in Minneapolis into this? Because last night there was violence on certainly the vehicles of ICE. There were -- there was destruction. There was, according to Homeland Security, this federal officer who was attacked and acted in self-defense.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: John, I think that Doug brings up a good point, which is, I don't necessarily think Donald Trump cares about that. And, in fact, he might like those kinds of pictures because he is so power hungry. But I bet you that the politically savvy people, perhaps Susie Wiles, understands that for Republicans who have to be on the ballot in 2026, this is political kryptonite.

And so, Donald Trump might not care. He might be a lame duck, and it might even be because of that that he is trying to prove that he does have all this power and trying to use the imperial presidency as much as he can before he runs out of power and before he loses Republicans in Congress.

[09:40:00]

But Republicans should now be looking at this to say, this is going to be the end of my political career if I don't get a freaking backbone and stand up to this power-hungry violence that's going on, on the streets. ICE agents acting rogue and in a criminal manner, attacking and shooting American citizens.

So, that's where I think that the political thought should be is with these Republicans who now are going to be on the ballot going into the 2026 midterm elections and seeing these poll numbers are horrible for Republicans, for ICE, and now the immigration issue, which used to be something that was a strength for Republicans and Donald Trump, and it no longer is.

BERMAN: Well, look, we'll see. We'll see what happens with the polls. We'll see where opinions go in regards to Minnesota, because the atmosphere can change very, very quickly there.

I want to ask about something else where Americans consistently say that prices in the economy are still the thing that concerns them most. The secretary of agriculture, Brooke Rollins, was speaking about the new food guidelines that were put out by the government, and she talked about how affordable a healthy meal would be.

Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: I think the question you're asking, and it's a really important one, is while we're asking Americans to reconsider what they're eating, are we actually asking Americans, especially those who are living on the margins, are we asking them to spend more on their diet? And the answer to that is, no. We've run over 1,000 simulations. It can cost around $3 a meal for a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, you know, a corn tortilla and one other thing. And so, there is a way to do this that actually will save the average American consumer money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, this has been pretty ridiculed by some on the left, Doug. Chasten Buttigieg wrote, "private jets and tax breaks for them and their rich friends, and one piece of broccoli and a tortilla for you."

What do you think about the messaging here, Doug?

HEYE: Well, so I have a roast chicken on my agenda for the weekend. A classic Jacques Pepin recipe. John, I'll send you pictures and all of that after I do it. It is an affordable option.

But look, I go back to something that John Boehner would say all the time in meetings when he was speaker. And people would -- people would ask Boehner, your poll numbers aren't great. People don't know who you are, and that's a problem. And he would respond, if people know who the speaker of the House is, that's a problem. If you're talking about the secretary of agriculture, whether it's Brooke Rollins or one of my favorite humans ever, Ann Veneman, it's probably not for a great reason. And I think this highlights it.

Look, she's talking about affordability. And to use Maria's term, kryptonite is a popular thing to talk about. There's good kryptonite and there's bad kryptonite. I would much rather have this administration talking about affordability, whether they do it in a -- in a great way or a not great way like this, then things that are off topic. Voters are very clear, they want politicians, Republican and Democrat, to talk about affordability and what things cost. And if they're doing that, they're at least on the right topic. And this administration is on the wrong topic. So often I'll give them credit for being on the right topic here, even if they're not doing it in maybe the smartest way ever.

BERMAN: Maria, quick response.

CARDONA: Yes, that's the point, they're on the wrong side, perhaps, of the right topic because, what are we living in now, John, Oliver Twist? I mean this is ridiculous, especially while she even says a thousand simulations. Clearly, this is a group of people that has never had to live on a budget, doesn't understand what it's like going to the supermarket and living on SNAP. And so, again, I think this is going to be political kryptonite in a bad way for Republicans if they don't stand up to this ridiculousness.

BERMAN: I do like broccoli, even one piece.

Doug Heye, Maria Cardona, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, still ahead, a 30 car pileup on a snowy Indiana interstate. We are tracking a fast-moving snowstorm. Look at the devastation it's already caused. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:48:29]

BERMAN: All right, just 15 days into January and there have been a lot of things that have happened over the last two weeks and a lot of new polls just out about how Americans feel about all of them.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

So, a lot of polls, but kind of not a lot of differences.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: No, not a lot of differences. Look across the board. Just look at Donald Trump's net approval rating. Negative, negative, negative, negative. Negative 14, negative 16, negative 17 and negative 19 according to AP-NORC with no real change in the aggregate from where we were last month. Trump is underwater like the New Jersey Jets.

BERMAN: How long has he been underwater?

ENTEN: How long has he been underwater? It shouldn't be so much of a surprise that there really has been no change up here. Why is it should not be a surprise? Because just take a look at the days that Trump has been underwater. We are talking about every single day in my aggregate of polls since March 12th of 2025 in terms of days in a row. We are talking about 310 days in a row that Donald Trump's net approval rating has been in the negative. And that is why, of course, I bring back the New Jersey Jets.

BERMAN: That's a long, long time.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: What issues -- I was -- I was going to make a Jets joke, but there are --

ENTEN: Well, go ahead.

BERMAN: There are too many and not enough time.

ENTEN: I know, it's so easy.

BERMAN: Look, which issues really is the president doing well, well on?

ENTEN: Yes, what issues is President Trump doing well on? None of them really. He's doing poorly on all of them.

What are we talking about here? Well, we spoke about immigration last hour. He's at a negative 11 points there. Of course had been a strength for him.

[09:50:01] Foreign policy, minus 14 points. The economy, the reason that Donald Trump really got elected to a second term was to fix the economy. He's at 16 points underwater there. Trade and tariffs, such a big part of his second term agenda, negative 18 points there. And we really haven't spoke about the Epstein case in a while, but 38 points underwater there. Negative, negative, negative, negative and negative on immigration.

BERMAN: You know, with the Epstein case so low, that very first sentence you said there they might like, we haven't spoken about the Epstein case in a while with all these other things --

ENTEN: Perhaps the only --

BERMAN: With all these other things going on, it hasn't received a lot of focus.

ENTEN: Perhaps the only good news for him.

BERMAN: All right, the economy clearly the most important issue to the American people. A lot of questions about how President Trump is handling that. One person is key to that. That's Fed Chair Jerome Powell. What do people think? What do the betting markets think about if Powell will last until his term expires?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, Donald Trump wants to get Jay Powell out as the Fed chair. But just take a look here. The chance that that happens before May, just eight percent at this point according to the prediction markets. So, again, it's just universally, at this point, bad news for Donald Trump across the board. He can't get the guy out that he wants to. And on the economy, immigration, foreign policy, the Epstein case, trade and tariffs, negative, negative, negative. And basically every single poll and by double digits. You can make that New Jersey Jets joke now if you want.

BERMAN: I'm not going to do it. Never punch down.

Harry Enten, thank you very much for that.

A lot of news. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:55:55]

SIDNER: Oh, it started with a bad day for some Indiana drivers. They were trapped in a 30-car pileup. Police say blinding snow caused hazardous conditions at the time of the crash. And there are multiple systems now threatening more snow, impacting potentially millions of people.

Joining me now, meteorologist Allison Chinchar. What are you seeing out there? What a mess.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you take a look at this video and it's understandable why there were so many traffic concerns. This is video from overnight last night from South Bend, Indiana. You can see the snow coming down. But more importantly, also very gusty winds. So, it's picking up that snow. It's blowing it all around and reducing the visibility even more.

But this isn't the only place that has seen snow. In fact, a lot of these areas around the Great Lakes region are dealing with the snow. And, unfortunately, the Great Lakes kind of enhancing some of that snow for a few of these areas. So, all of that purple you see there on the screen indicates where we are getting some of that snow. Down there, and a little bit farther south where you see the pink, that is some snow squalls. So, now you're talking incredibly heavy snow coming down in a very short period of time.

And a lot of this is because that front has now moved through and temperatures have fallen. Well, really more like dropped in a lot of places. Look at some of these, 42 in Boston, but it is only 17, that's what it feels like right now, in Atlanta. When you take into account not only the temperature but also the wind. Very gusty winds out there.

So, all of these places that are going to get the snow today, it's also going to be blowing around, which, again, in turn makes it very difficult to drive in.

For the most part today we get that next round that comes through the Midwest. That's going to continue to slide through even into the evening hours for places like Minneapolis, Green Bay, into Chicago. By the time we get to tomorrow, you start to see more of it over the Great Lakes and spreading into portions of the Northeast as we go through the rest of the day on Friday.

So, here's a look at your totals. Again, some areas will see some pretty impressive totals, especially along the Great Lakes and also into those higher elevations. But these are very fast moving systems. And so it doesn't really give these storms a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of snow. So, for most areas here, you're looking at maybe about three to six inches at absolute most before this is finally all said and done.

SIDNER: Forty-five in Boston, feels like 17 in Atlanta. The world is upside down. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: And thank you all for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up --

BERMAN: Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)