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Tensions High in Minneapolis; New Poll on Trump's First Year; Trump Holds Off on Strikes against Iran; David Sanger is Interviewed about Iran. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 16, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Seeing some flurries fly in places like Florida, south Georgia, maybe into areas of South Carolina as that system moves from the gulf over into the Atlantic, as it crosses over.

Now, one thing to note is what we don't know is how far north some of that snow is going to get. We could even see some additional snow showers on Sunday in places like the mid-Atlantic as that storm continues to slide up the East Coast.

In the end, though, it's still just going to be very cold. So, what moisture we do get for a lot of these places is going to be in the form of snow, especially off to the north, where you could be looking at widespread totals of three to six inches, but there could be some areas that could pick up as much as eight to 10 total.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, all right. Looking forward to that. Feels like three in Chicago, but smells like teen spirit.

Allison Chinchar, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much.

And a brand-new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: New clashes overnight on the streets of Minnesota. New details about the death of Renee Good, shot by an ICE agent.

Plus, a majority of Americans calling the first year of President Trump's second term a failure. Warning signs ahead for Republicans. The new CNN polling just out.

And the moment a police chase ends with a dog being launched through a windshield, all on video. Thankfully, the dog is OK.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight, new clashes breaking out in Minneapolis over the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. The president is now warning, if this does not stop, he will send in U.S. troops. CNN crews, they were on the scenes in the middle of it as tensions erupted. Federal agents firing tear gas outside a federal building to disperse the protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: They'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)

BERMAN: That is CNN's Shimon Prokupecz you're hearing there. ICE has been using this location as a staging ground for operations.

Now, President Trump has threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, a rarely used law that would allow the deployment, he says, of troops to Minnesota.

We're also learning new details about the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent in Minneapolis last week. An incident report from the city's fire department says Good was found with up to four gunshot wounds, two to her right chest, one in her left forearm, and a possible gunshot to the left side of her head.

Let's get right to CNN's Julia Vargas Jones, live in Minneapolis this morning.

Give us a sense of the latest there, Julia.

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it feels like a normal winter morning in Minneapolis right now. I think the question many residents of the city are asking is, what does de-escalation look like at this point?

You know, we saw for a second night that kind of clashes with federal agents and protesters. You know, we were out there for many hours yesterday, and we see the rhythm of these protests. It's a flare up and then there's some calm. A flare up and some calm.

Part of that calm, I would venture to say, is due to some protesters walking through those crowds and reminding others of a message that has been said by Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey, as well as the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, to please remain calm. That is a very united message that we have been hearing from local and state officials here. The mayor saying, basically, do not play into the administration's hands by escalating tensions.

But we did see some escalations at times during these protests. Bottles thrown at those federal agents. Someone spitting onto a federal agent or their car. So, there has been some inflammation.

The general population, on the other hand, people that we have spoken to saying, I don't even know what it would look like to have that Insurrection Act invoked in the city that already has a surge of thousands of federal agents. What it would look like if more -- even more agents come to Minneapolis. Now, what we are looking forward to today, we're expecting perhaps

more protests outside that federal facility. And tomorrow, John, now we know an anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, pro-ICE protest announced. And now a counter-protest as well.

So, again, we are seeing a pattern of escalation and not necessarily de-escalation, both locally and at a national level.

BERMAN: Certainly a lot of activity perhaps this weekend.

Julia Vargas Jones, great to have you there. Thank you very much.

With us now is Darius Reeves, former field office director of ICE enforcement and removal operations.

Great to see you this morning. We appreciate you being here.

We see these clashes on the streets overnight with federal agents of different sorts and protesters.

[09:05:06]

To what extent are these agents trained for this activity?

DARIUS REEVES, FORMER FIELD OFFICE DIRECTOR, ICE ENFORCEMENT AND REMOVAL OPERATIONS: Well, enforcement -- immigration enforcement pursuant to Title Eight, U.S. -- of the United States code, they have the authority to enforce immigration laws. And we need to make a very clear distinction of the entities that are in place out there. I want -- you know, that needs to be understood.

ICE consists of two law enforcement components, enforcement and removal operations and homeland security investigations. Customs and Border Protection consist of two law enforcement entities, the Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations. So, training is extremely -- it's different levels of training for the various components that are -- that are out there. I can only speak to enforcement and removal operations. We are not training crowd control. We are not trained in community policing. Enforcement removal operations is a very professional, finessed, methodical operation, especially when it comes to targeted operation and very specific operations.

So, it's -- I -- you know, I can't speak to the type or level of training that Border Patrol may have for that matter because, you know, their mandates, they operate in a -- in a very different terrain and very different jurisdictions outside of the, you know, beyond 100 miles -- from the border up to 100 miles.

So, yes, this is a, you know, this is -- it's troubling to see this unfold. Once again, I -- you know, I'm disturbed by the rhetoric from both sides, clearly. And it's just -- it's just rather unfortunate. You know, targeted operation. And that's the one great thing about enforcement removal operations. You know, coming up the ranks, we were known as the silent service. But now that seems to have gone to the wayside, extremely so. BERMAN: Based on -- based on what you're seeing, on the pictures on

the ground here, the president is suggesting he might invoke the Insurrection Act, which would let him send in the military to Minneapolis. What difference would that make? How would that affect the situation?

REEVES: I think that it's -- and I don't know, because I'm not part of the conversations that are being had at the White House or the DHS level. It clearly will add more boots on the ground, if you will. Clearly add an element of containment. It's -- this is very serious. I -- you know, it's just -- the tensions that are -- have boiled over, and in my view, and it's unfortunate that clearly, unless this is resolved in a -- in a -- in a amenable (ph) way, that there will be more incidents, more people hurt.

BERMAN: Darius -- well, let's hope that we do not see more people hurt.

Darius Reeves, appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And breaking news this morning, coming out in new CNN polling, showing that Americans generally have a negative view on nearly every aspect of President Trump's first year back in office. His approval rating now at 39 percent. In fact, the majority of Americans, 58 percent, call the first year of his second term a failure.

The economy is the big factor in all of this. Sixty-nine percent calling the current economic conditions poor. Big messages coming to the White House on this and Republicans on Capitol Hill.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House taking a look, diving into these numbers.

And I am curious what the White House view of it is today.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, these are going to be some numbers for concern. And that's part of why I think, you know, your point about the economy is so important to these numbers and part of why that has been kind of a through line in a lot of the conversations that are happening in that building behind me, Kate, about what the president needs to be focusing on, particularly as they look ahead to the midterm elections in November.

Thirty-nine percent is a low approval rating. And especially when you take into the context of this, which is that about a year ago Trump was actually getting some of the best numbers of his political career.

[09:10:01]

And part of the reason, again, for this low overall approval rating is because of the economy. I want to go back to some of the numbers that you referenced. Only 31

percent of those polled said that they believe the current economic conditions in the country are good. Fifty-five percent say when asked specifically about the president's impact on the economy, 55 percent say that he has worsened economic conditions. All of that, I think, again, just adding more weight to the argument that he really needs to find a way to improve on this issue of affordability and the high cost of living in the United States.

Now, one number that also, just in this broader talk about what people are going to be looking at as they gear up for the midterm elections, is going to be Republicans on Capitol Hill, those who are on the ballot in November. The number that's going to be very concerning for them is that 29 percent figure. Twenty-nine percent of independents. That is the approval rating that independents currently have for the president. Remember, independents were crucial to his return to the White House in the 2024 election.

One glimmer of hope, though, through all of this is where Republicans are. You can see that number at 87 percent of Republicans still very much united behind the president. So that is, you know, kind of a silver lining to some of these pretty troubling polling numbers.

Now, this is a bit of a turn, Kate, but I do also want to focus on one of the other issues that is, of course, consuming the Trump presidency right now, which is these issues of foreign affairs. Actually, if you look at the overall numbers here, 39 percent of Americans approve of the president's handling of foreign affairs. That brings me to that issue that we saw yesterday playing out, because this was a remarkable scene in the Oval Office. Trump welcomed the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, to the White House yesterday. Big question was whether or not his opinion of her and whether she could actually successfully lead the people of Venezuela would be changed by this meeting.

One thing she did to potentially try and sway him was bring and present him with the Nobel Peace Prize that she won, of course, in 2025. I should note, obviously, this is something that the president has long coveted. He said he was honored to have been presented with it. We were told by a White House official that Machado had left the Nobel Peace Prize with the president. But to be clear, and we've heard the committee weigh in on this now since then, they say that the rules say that this prize cannot be shared or transferred. And they actually posted, Kate, on social media saying that, "a medal can change owners, but the title of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate cannot."

BOLDUAN: You have that, and also coming from the White House there's no, at least publicly, no stated change in position from the president on the opposition leader even after this.

Thank you so much, Alayna. Appreciate your reporting.

We are also learning new information about a U.S. carrier strike group now headed toward the Middle East. This after President Trump hit pause, if you will, on making a decision on potential military action in Iran. Snow has triggered a dangerous 30-car pileup in New York. And that

dangerous winter weather causing it is not over.

Plus, "YAAAS" and "QUEEN," the new, and you get to be the judge if improved, candy hearts coming your way this Valentine's Day.

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[09:17:48]

BERMAN: All right, developing this morning, sources tell CNN the U.S. military is moving a carrier strike group to the Middle East. The group is led by the USS Lincoln and is accompanied by ships armed with dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles. This morning we're learning just how close President Trump came to ordering military strikes on Iran. A source tells CNN, as the regime cracked down on the protests there, the president was disturbed at the potential executions and nearly called for a limited military operation Tuesday from the Situation Room.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is on the border between Iraq and Iran this morning with the very latest.

Ben, give us a sense of what you're seeing here.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, we're on the border. The crossing point into Iran is just a couple kilometers from here. It's a Friday, the weekend, so there doesn't seem to be much cross-border traffic. But life in this area seems to be going on pretty much as normal.

But earlier today we spoke to an individual who fled Iran two days ago because he was being pursued by the authorities, because he has participated in a series of rounds of demonstrations against the regime in Iran, including this latest one. So, he was fearing for his life. And he was telling us that even though there is a blackout on the internet, on telecommunications, that the protests are indeed still going on. Perhaps not at the same pace as before. And he told us that he was coming from a southern suburb of Tehran where he saw government forces shooting people -- at demonstrators at a major intersection. That's just one instance where he saw people being shot.

He also, interestingly, told us that among those security forces putting down the demonstrations, there were individuals speaking Arabic. And, of course, our colleagues in Paris have been reporting that, according to French intelligence, that some members of the militias in Iraq have been brought into Iran to participate in the suppression of those demonstrations.

Now, apparently everybody in Iran has heard the message, perhaps not directly but indirectly, that President Trump says that help is on the way.

[09:20:09]

There's a certain amount of skepticism because many are skeptical about the ability of the United States, with a few airstrikes, to actually change the basic reality on the ground, that this is a regime that's been in power for 47 years and is not going to give up power easily, and is certainly willing to put down these demonstrations because these demonstrations, these protests are really an existential threat to this increasingly very unpopular regime.

John.

BERMAN: I suspect we will be getting more direct testimony from people who have been seeing and living through these protests as these days develop.

Ben Wedeman, great to have you there. Thank you so much for your report.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is CNN political and national security analyst and "New York Times" White House and national security correspondent David Sanger.

It's great to see you. Thanks for coming in.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Great to be with you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about -- I mean Ben's right over the border and he was talking about the message being received amongst the -- throughout the country of Iran, that help is on the way coming from President Trump. But what are you actually hearing and sensing on what the -- what the president is considering and what is the deciding factor in whether or not to greenlight a military operation.

SANGER: I think there are two major things that are going on. First, the news that they're trying to move a carrier group back in reveals how exposed the U.S. felt this week, which is they could have done these strikes, but if the Iranians came back with missile attacks on Israel, on American bases and so forth, there was very little around to go intercept it. Remember, back in June, during the significant battles with Israel and then the U.S. strike on the nuclear sites, the U.S. had full carrier groups there. It was able to intercept most of the missiles between the U.S. and the Israelis. That carrier group is now off of Venezuela.

BOLDUAN: Right.

SANGER: And so that's the first step.

The second is, the president has never made clear, I think publicly and even among some of his aides, what his objective here is. Is it to stop the killings? Well, in that case, as Ben just said, bombing a few sites isn't likely to do much. Is it to bring about regime change? Well, then how do you control what follows? And so, we don't really understand the president's objectives here.

BOLDUAN: That's so interesting and important to kind of frame it that way because we do know also that President Trump has talked to Benjamin Netanyahu, who they suggested to Barak Ravid, they requested a pause to get their -- themselves ready for any possible retaliation.

SANGER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I also saw reporting, I think it was in "The New York Times," that Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt all have been asking Trump, the Trump administration, to not attack Iran. Which leads to the question, like, if the -- if Donald Trump, the United States, doesn't have sign off, join, you know, buy in from anyone in the region, why would he do it?

SANGER: Well, that's right. I mean, part of the difficulty that this White House faces is, the United States has the world's biggest hammer. And it doesn't mean that that's what's the right tool for every problem that you face. So, in this particular case, dropping Starlink units so that the protesters can communicate with each other, get organized, might be wildly more valuable than bombing a few IRGC bases or other strikes. And yet, because the president has been successful in the Iran strike in June --

BOLDUAN: Right.

SANGER: You know, his mind naturally turns to that. That strike in June, Kate, was so different. You had three fixed sites. The idea was, bury the uranium so that the Iranians --

BOLDUAN: They had somewhat of a clear objective there, right?

SANGER: They had a very clear objective. And they could do it in a night. It's a very different thing than supporting protesters.

BOLDUAN: What are you watching for next now, David, in the -- I mean it seems like it's hours or days. Like it is -- the protests aren't stopping.

SANGER: Right.

BOLDUAN: The killings aren't stopping. The crackdown isn't. Like, what are you watching for?

SANGER: So, there is a pause right now it looks like in some of the protests. But the rot in the regime seems worse. The protests seem more frequent. The kind of people who are coming out on the streets seem more diverse. It's now the middle class, the shopkeepers, people with economic complaints, of which there are many.

The supreme leader isn't getting any younger.

BOLDUAN: Very true.

SANGER: He's 86, ailing. So, at some point there's going to be a change at the top. The question is, does the regime itself crack? And when the president says help is on the way, does he mean help to create a democracy? Because what happened in Venezuela just recently was taking out the top, but keeping the rest of the structure. [09:25:07]

BOLDUAN: Right. Yes, again, what is the objective of helping --

SANGER: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Help coming on the way?

We were -- off set we were talking a little bit about Greenland. And we know that there's a bipartisan group of lawmakers that are headed to Denmark right now to kind of show their support to the NATO ally and also try to make the case that the president does not need -- can't and shouldn't try to take Greenland.

It was also a big part of your hour's long Oval Office interview with the president last week that made so many headlines.

SANGER: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What do you think of kind of where this is evolving to?

SANGER: Well, one of the interesting things that came out of the interview was that when I asked the president, why does he need to own this? I mean, we have a treaty that goes back to 1951 that would allow the U.S. to build -- reopen the 15 or 16 different military bases that we had there and we closed ourselves, right. He said, you know, psychologically, I just need to own it.

And I realized, sitting there, this is the New York real estate developer who knows the difference between owning and leasing and believes that he will have much more purchase on what happens to the territory. But that said, the reasons he has offered, which is patrolling because of the Chinese and Russians coming over the polar cap, getting ready for Golden Dome, the missile defense system, he can do all of that from the bases that he could legally reopen tomorrow if the U.S. just wanted to go write the check. So, the question is, what are we getting for this battle that we don't already have?

BOLDUAN: A great question.

It's great to see you, David.

SANGER: Great to see you. Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for coming in. I really appreciate it.

Coming up for us, some very scary dash cam video. A dog launched through a car's windshield at the end of a high speed car chase. Incredibly, the dog is OK. What happened all around it? We will tell you, coming up.

Plus, are you afraid of heights? If so, this is not for you. One daredevil's quest to climb one of the tallest buildings in the world, of course live on TV.

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