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Federal Agents Deploy Tear Gas on Protesters in Minneapolis; CNN Poll Shows Majority Say First Year of Trump's Second Term a Failure; Court Resumes Tuesday in Double Murder Trial of Brendan Banfield. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired January 16, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news, police and protesters facing off in a full night of unrest in Minneapolis. President Trump threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act, and new details are now coming out about key moments surrounding the fatal shooting of Renee Good.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking just a few minutes ago, new polling on President Trump's first year, almost three out of five people call it a failure with most saying he's focused on the wrong things, that he's making, the things that they do care about worse.

And the woman who inspired a nation shoveling in defiance right after a drone attack.

Sara is out today. I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: Let's get to that breaking news overnight, new clashes in Minneapolis over President Trump's immigration crackdown and the president's threats that if it doesn't stop, he's sending U.S. troops into the city.

CNN Crews were on the scene of those clashes last night, federal agents firing tear gas outside of federal building in an effort to disperse protestors. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: We're starting to throw the -- those -- hold on. Let me just come back here. As you can see, basically now they're just deploying tear gas because what's been happening --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: you're hearing his voice of Shimon Prokupecz, who's he and his team caught in the middle of it. ICE had been using that location as a staging ground operations.

The new unrest coming, as we mentioned, President Trump says he could, would, will invoke the Insurrection Act, the centuries old law that would allow the deployment of American troops to Minnesota. This comes also there are new details coming out about Renee Good and her final moments after she was fatally shot by an ICE agent, the catalyst that really supercharged these protests.

An incident report from the Minneapolis Fire Department says that Good was found with up to four gunshot wounds. Two to her right chest, one in her left arm, and a possible gunshot to the left side of her head.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is live in Minneapolis this morning. Julia, you've also been in it and seen it as well. What's the latest?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that is not pleasant. Absolutely, Kate. Look, this morning is much quieter here. It's a normal morning in Minneapolis. But what we have been seeing now for two days in a row is an escalation of those tensions, that frustration that people have been showing outside of that federal building, why? They are saying, look this is unacceptable. This is not working for Minneapolis.

We spoke to various people saying that they just want ICE out of Minneapolis, and Minnesota. And in these protests showing that discontent, showing their frustration, and at times getting very angry. We saw some agents from those protests, some protesters agitating, making police then respond. And that's when we have those flare-ups. That's when we see projectiles, tear gas pepper bombs, whatever it is thrown at those protests.

But I will say, Kate, it has been mostly been peaceful. We have been also hearing people in those protests, reminding others to stay peaceful, reminding others that escalating does not lead to anything, and that is what has been said by the authorities here in Minneapolis. The mayor, Jacob Frey, again, saying, reiterating his message for protestors to stay peaceful, the governor also saying for protesters to stay peaceful, that this -- it will just play into the hand of the administration.

But one thing that I thought was interesting yesterday, talking to protesters and asking them what they thought of the idea of the Insurrection Act being invoked here in Minneapolis, was just that they said, you know, they couldn't even fathom and what that would do for the escalation of tensions on the ground over here.

But, look, all of this, of course, comes -- has that -- that the underlying, a sense of grief of this community as well. It is not just about anger. They are voicing what they say is a concern for their fellow citizens, their fellow Minnesotans, their fellow residents of Minneapolis, that they say they're trying to protect, Kate.

[07:05:06]

So, it is not just anger. There is also that grief, the memory of Renee Good very present here as well.

BOLDUAN: Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for your reporting for you and your team for being on the ground there. John? BERMAN: All right. Breaking this morning, a brand new CNN poll shows the majority of Americans believe President Trump's first year back in office is a failure. Just 39 percent of Americans approve of how he's handling the job. And with just ten months to go until the midterm elections, the economy is the top issue for most Americans, and most Americans think he's making it worse.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House this morning. There's really nothing good here in this poll for the president, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. On every issue that this poll tested with CNN's new poll, John, the president is underwater. And I do think that 39 percent number, that figure of his overall approval rating, is, of course, cause for concern.

And I'd remind you that these bad numbers that we're seeing are so different from just a year ago when, really, President Trump, he was obviously then just about to come into office, had some of the highest approval ratings and the highest figures we had seen in these kind of polls back then.

And the big difference for that, really, if you dig into the numbers here, is because of his handling of the economy. Just to break it down for you if you look at some of the main issues in this, they rate him at 31 -- excuse me, the economy is 39 percent is the approval rating he's getting on this. If you look at current economic conditions, only 31 percent of those polled said that they believe that the economy, the current economic conditions, are good right now, 69 percent saying that they are poor.

When it goes specifically to the economic impact that Trump himself and the president has had on the economy overall, 55 percent say that he has worsened conditions. 32 percent say he has improved conditions. 13 percent say that he has had no effect.

This is obviously one of those issues, of course, that is what is so concerning to Republicans at large, but mainly to the people in that building behind me who have been telling him, you need to focus better your rhetoric better. We need to be doing more trips on this issue of the economy and specifically the high cost of living in the country. This is the issue that they believe could really endanger Republicans and the party when you look into the mid -- ahead to the midterms.

And there is one number, I should say as well, that particularly for those Republicans on Capitol Hill and lawmakers across the country, that is the most concerning to them. That is going to be the one thing that really rattles them is this one number, 29 percent. That is Trump's approval rating with independence in this political poll. That is far lower, of course, than what we saw again at this time last year, independents being a big part of why he had won the election in 2024.

There is one glimmer of hope, though. You said, you know, I will say in every issue he's pretty underwater. But one glimmer of hope is that his party, Republicans, are still very much unified behind Donald Trump. Among them, Trump's approval rating remains very high at roughly at nearly nine in ten Republicans saying that they support President Trump in what he is doing. So, again, a glimmer of hope there.

And I do want to just -- you know, I want to bring you back to an issue though that has been very interesting this week because one of the things in this polling was talking about the situation in Venezuela, 42 percent actually of Americans saying that they, you know, think he handled that well. It comes as we know that Maria Corina Machado was here at the Venezuela opposition leader here at the White House yesterday. One of the big questions was whether or not she was actually going to give the president her Nobel Peace Prize, something Trump is, of course, very much coveted for several years now.

She did end up doing that. She presented him the president in the White House, said with the Nobel Peace Prize. And a source familiar with that meeting between these two, when she left that prize with him, the president had posted about it saying that it was a great honor and that she had presented him with the prize and he said it was such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect.

I do want to say we did see a quick response from the Nobel Peace Prize Committee online. They posted a medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot. John?

BERMAN: It just speaks so much about how people perceive you need to act to get the president's approval.

Alayna Treene at the White House this morning, great reporting. Thank you very much.

All right, the man charged with the elaborate murder of his wife admitted affair with the au pair, who already pleaded guilty, testimony that he installed triple glazed windows to muffle his wife screaming.

And mortgage rates dropped to the lowest level in three years. What this means if you want to buy a home.

And breaking overnight, proof we can have good things. Just days away from her 80th birthday, a brand new song from Dolly Parton.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Today will be really wrapping up and ending the dramatic first week in the double murder trial of a Virginia man accused of carrying out an elaborate plot to kill his wife. Jurors got a look at the gun allegedly used in the crime they heard from multiple experts, including a crime scene detective, even a window salesman. Prosecutors argue that Brendan Banfield, he was having an affair with the family's au pair, and she was actually brought to testify against him earlier this week.

Tracking all of this is CNN's Jean Casarez who's here with us now. Jean, what's the latest here? What -- how are we rounding out this week?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: CSI Virginia is how we're rounding out this week. It was all forensics yesterday. And the whole question is, did Brendan Banfield murder his wife? Is Juliana, the au pair, to be believed? Is she credible? Does her story match the forensics?

Well, they showed a video of McDonald's, and it was Brendan Banfield on the morning of when his wife and Joseph Ryan were killed.

[07:15:07]

And Juliana had testified that the plan was that he would not go to work, but he would go to McDonald's and he would just stay there for a while, wait for a call from Juliana to say somebody has just broken into the home, because that was Joseph Ryan, the escort that was coming to the home. And that's what we saw yesterday. We saw that and we saw phone calls to Juliana.

Next, they went into the kitchen. Juliana had testified that Brendan had said, take my wife, Christine's cell phone, put it in the drawer in the kitchen so she can't call 911 at all when this all unfolds. Lo and behold, in the kitchen, there was the phone.

However, the knife, the murder weapon, there was blood on it. Forensics was done. Brendan Banfield, who prosecutors say, stabbed his wife in the neck multiple times, his DNA was not on it at all. Christine Banfield's DNA was on it and also Joseph Ryan, who had come to the house as the escort, his DNA, was on it.

But then you get to the bedroom. It was eight months after all of this happened. No one had been arrested and they went to execute a search warrant in the home. They went into the bedroom and let's hear what they found.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN FORTNER, FAIRFAX COUNTY POLICE DEPARTMENT: They had gotten new flooring, new bedroom furniture and pictures that had once featured Brendan and Christine had been taken down and replaced with Brendan and Juliana together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, showing you Commonwealth's 97, is this the primary bedroom?

FORTNER: This is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In October of 2023, right months after the murders?

FORTNER: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: And if you look carefully, there's two pictures there. There's the brand new couple on the nightstand and then on the fireplace over there. However, back to forensics, there was Christine Banfield's blood on the jacket of Brendan Banfield's, found also on some droplets on the pants. However, when police arrived at the scene, he was bending over trying to aid and assist and help his wife who was on the floor at that point. So, that can go both ways.

BOLDUAN: Very interesting, week one rounding out, really dramatic, very -- in all -- every detail, all the more troubling what's coming out here.

Jean, thank you so much. And don't forget, Jean is following all of this on cnn.com. You can check it out on cnn.com all access and follow every twist and turn because there is a lot.

Ahead for us, medical groups are fighting back after the Trump administration dramatically changes what vaccines and how many are recommended for children across the country. What they're trying to do now to stop this latest overhaul of public health in America by the new HHS.

And pretty incredible video, a Russian airstrike, really just feet from a woman in Ukraine, she is okay. Wait until you see what happens next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: So, breaking this morning, the team that just won back-to- back World Series and already has the highest payroll in baseball just backed up the trunk -- trump -- truck, I should say, and dumped a ton of money for the biggest free agent on the market. You can see how it has me rattled.

CNN's Andy Scholes is here. You know, Andy, this reminds me in 2004 when the Yankees traded for A-Rod, Peter Gammon said to me, he said it was like The Beatles getting Elvis. And that's what this feels like.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I mean, Berman, this is just ridiculous, ridiculous. I mean, I'm now fully on board that baseball needs a salary cap, and there's a real good chance that there's going to be a lockout after this season because the Dodgers just signed everyone. I mean, they gave Kyle Tucker $240 million for four years and that $60 million a year, breaks the record for annual value beating out Juan Soto.

Now, according to Spot Rack, after luxury taxes are factored in, the Dodgers are now projected to have a $575 million payroll. That's $200 million more than the Mets who have the second highest and nearly six times that of the lowest spending team, the Miami Marlins.

But, hey, congrats to the former Astros legend Tucker, who joins a lineup with Shohei Ohtani Freddie Freeman and Mookie Bets. The Dodgers, the overwhelming favorites to win their third straight World Series. All right, elsewhere, President Trump hosting the back-to-back champion Florida Panthers at the White House yesterday. The whole team dressed like President Trump, wearing a blue suit with a red tie. Now, the Panthers then presented the president with a custom 47 jersey, two championship rings and a golden hockey stick. Florida's going to play the Capitals tomorrow night. There in the city.

The NFL divisional round of the playoffs, it will also kick off tomorrow. The Broncos host Josh Allen and the Bills. That's 4:30 Eastern, followed by the rubber match between the Seahawks and 49ers at eight. Sunday, you got Drake Maye and the Patriots going up against the Texans' incredible defense at 3:00. The night game is Rams at Bears, and it is going to be one of the coldest games in Soldier Field history for that one. Temperature's going to be in the teens. Windshield will be below zero.

Now the Rams, they practice in 70 degrees, sunny weather in L.A. So, what is Head Coach Sean McVay doing to get the team ready?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCVAY, L.A. RAMS HEAD COACH: What we're going to do is we're going to get the biggest cold plunge ever and everybody's going to see if we can sit in that thing for three hours, okay? They obviously have had a little bit more experience, but we're not going to allow that to be an excuse. And so I think you do have to have a feel. But I think the way that our guys play, I think it suits us well in any sort of conditions.

MATTHEW STAFFORD, L.A. RAMS QUARTERBACK: There's something to it, right, that feels right. When football's outdoors, you're playing it late in the year. It's cold.

[]07:25:00[

It means a lot. So, I'm embracing it. I know our team is as well, looking forward to the opportunity. I know it's going to be a great crowd there. And it'll be a lot of fun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes, I certainly applaud all of the Bears fans that will be in attendance for that one. I really hope they bundle up and no one tries to do the whole shirtless thing, Berman.

But, hey, we got my Texans against your Patriots on Sunday. How are you feeling?

BERMAN: I feel okay. I mean, I kind of wish that the Houston Texans did have the best defense like in like 20 years. But, hey, I think any one of these eight teams can win. I think they're all a little bit flawed, fun to watch, but a little bit flawed. I think any one of the eight teams left can win the Super Bowl.

SCHOLES: Yes, it's certainly an interesting year with no Mahomes and the Chiefs. BERMAN: I think anyone can win, but I'm hoping the Patriots win and, you know, if there is justice in the world, that's what will happen.

Andy Scholes great to see you.

SCHOLES: I disagree.

BERMAN: Thank you very much.

All right, good news for the newly wealthy Kyle Tucker as he looks to buy a house in Los Angeles, mortgage rates just hit their lowest mark in three years.

Armed robbers swarm a Pokemon store, brandishing guns, smashing cases, and they walk away with more than a hundred thousand dollars in goods.

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