Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Mitch Landrieu is Interviewed about Minneapolis Protests; Trump and the Economy Numbers; Harry Styles Announces Album. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 16, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:31:48]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning, we just learned 12 people were arrested in protests overnight in Minnesota. DHS says the agitators, as they call them, assaulted law enforcement. Our CNN team on the ground was on the ground as federal officers used tear gas and percussion grenades. Tensions flared, and they have been as President Trump is threatening to use the Insurrection Act to deploy U.S. troops there.

With us now is the former mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu.

Mayor, it's always great to see you.

Without looking backwards, right, looking at right now, today, if you were running Minneapolis, and you've run a major American city, what would you do to bring the tensions down?

MITCH LANDRIEU (D), FORMER NEW ORLEANS MAYOR: Well, first of all, it's very hard to bring the tensions down when the president is sending a 3,000 person force into your city and calling all of your citizens, whether they're doing the right thing or the wrong thing, domestic terrorists. That's very, very hard to do. It really is incumbent upon the president of the United States to start acting correctly in this regard.

Remember, the police department in -- there only has 600 people. And those men and women, their jobs are to protect the citizens in that city and to work on rape and robbery and all of the other challenges. When you have them pulled apart, when you have them protecting ICE, and when you -- when you call people who are protesting and exercising their constitutional rights, agitators and domestic terrorists, it raises the level really, really high. So, the impetus is on the president to kind of calm this thing down.

Incidentally, just in your past report with David Sanger, all of our allies in the Mideast are asking us to slow down on Iran. NATO allies are asking us to slow down on Greenland. All of the people in the United States asking us to slow down. And the president just seems intent on ramping things up. And that's a shame.

BERMAN: So, what if he doesn't slow down in Minneapolis? What options does that leave the mayor and the governor there?

LANDRIEU: Well, the president has indicated through himself and Stephen Miller and J.D. Vance that power is the coin of the realm. That is a huge mistake. That is only going to end up with more people getting hurt. And that is really, really unfortunate. I think he thinks that nobody can stop him. And, you know, the fact of the matter is, right now, he may be right.

It is illegal to invoke the Insurrection Act in this circumstance. It would be wrong to do that. But the president has indicated that the only thing that limits his power is his own, quote/unquote, "morality," or his sense of what is right and wrong, which we know is very vapid at the moment. So, it's just really sad because it's really clear the American people think the president has completely lost his focus. They want him concentrating on the economy and the cost. They don't want him tearing down ballrooms, invading countries, you know, engaging in these kinds of acts in American cities. And I think they think he lost his way. And the American people have been very clear about that.

BERMAN: We may see what the courts have to say about the legality of the president using the Insurrection Act in this case. There may be some judges, Brett Kavanaugh among them, who thinks that it is legal.

LANDRIEU: Maybe.

BERMAN: But I do want to move on to something else here.

David Plouffe, who --

LANDRIEU: Maybe. But, John, let me just make this point (INAUDIBLE). Just because something is legal doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. And that is really something that gets lost in this about good judgment.

[09:35:01]

If I were the mayor of that city right now, I would do everything I can to communicate to the president, along with Governor Walz, that, listen, if you want to go after the bad guys, we're happy to work with you. But if you want to continue to really just kind of put a foot on everybody's throat, raise the temperature in a tinderbox, that's the wrong thing to do. And we would encourage him to stop as soon as he possibly can.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about a different subject here that you're uniquely qualified to speak about. David Plouffe, who ran President Obama's first campaign and was a big player in the campaign for Kamala Harris -- oh, you're smiling. You've clearly read the op-ed that he wrote in "The New York Times" where he basically said, Democrats are in big trouble unless they change in big ways.

One of the things he says is that Democrats need to run everywhere, including in red states, of which Louisiana is one. So, how do you do that?

LANDRIEU: I -- no, I think that's right. I read the article. I thought it was on target.

You know, one of the things that sometimes parties do when they're winning is they forget to go back and tell everybody, thank you for voting for us, and what can we do to continue to get your vote? As you know, I've been working on a working class project for the last year and I've been to 21 different states talking to working class folks. You have to go see people and you have to talk to them. You have to ask them what it is that they want, and you want to deliver. This is why it's very clear that President Trump is -- really has lost his way, because what they're telling us, that the Republicans and Democrats are telling all elected officials, stay focused on the economy. I can't breathe right now. My health care costs have gone up. My housing costs have gone up. My electricity has gone up. My food's going up. My rent's gone up. And my job opportunities are going down. That is where the American people want us focused.

And, of course, Democrats, and Republicans, by the way, whoever wants this free advice, if you want to vote, you got to go where the votes are and you have to go ask the people for your help. If you don't go see them, they're going to say, hey, you didn't come see me, you didn't talk to me, you didn't ask me and you didn't listen to me. And that's a real problem. So, I'm in big agreement.

You know, I'm from Louisiana, a red state. I won statewide twice. You have to go everywhere and you have to talk to everybody and you have to have a plan. And Democrats are going to have to do that as well. But right now, as you know, John, the president basically has the Supreme Court, he's got the presidency, he's got the Senate, and he's got the speaker of the House in his pocket. So, the American people are counting on him to do the job that he said he was going to do. But right now they think that he has betrayed them and that he's off course, lost focus and they want him focused back on them, not on everybody else.

BERMAN: Mitch Landrieu, former mayor of New Orleans, always great to speak with you. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. Have a good weekend.

All right, Val Kilmer will always be the Iceman, but now Chicago has put up a new statue made of ice, appropriately, for their very own.

And, "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally." Not just the motto of CNN NEWS CENTRAL, but a new album making waves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:32]

BERMAN: All right, this new CNN poll this morning finds that more voters think that President Trump's term has been a failure than any other president on record at this point in a second term. So, why? What's behind those numbers? One man knows the answer. CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here.

The big answer is, is the economy. But there's really more nuance to it. HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, it really is the economy in

terms of the big answer here. And what we're talking about is, Trump is making history in all the wrong ways when it comes to the economy. And you can see it right here.

All right, net approval, economy, one year in a term two, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm. Go all the way down to the bottom, Donald John Trump, minus 19 points. His net approval rating on the economy. It is the lowest on record one year in a term two. Lower than George W. Bush. Lower than Barack Obama. Lower to Ronald Reagan at plus 17 points. And just on a completely different planet than Bill Clinton was at this point in to term number two, one year in, a plus 35 points.

At this point, Donald Trump on the economy, minus 19 points. Of course, the key reason he got re-elected. And at this point, he is way, way, way underwater. And that, I think, is a big reason why the majority of folks view term two, year one, is a failure for the man from New York.

BERMAN: You know, our poll found that Americans think on the economy the president is making things worse. There are other polls which really dig into some of the specifics there, too.

ENTEN: Yes, that's exactly right. So, this is a broad look at the economy, right? You see Donald Trump way underwater at minus 19 points.

But look at this. Look at this trend. Recreating jobs. Trump has hurt or helped. You know, you go back in 2024, people looking back at his term one. The plurality, 47 percent, said, yes, he helped, compared to just 26 percent, who said he hurt it. Now it's a total flip flop. Look at this. The plurality, 43 percent, say that Donald Trump has actually hurt, actually hurting creating jobs. Just 26 percent say help. This 43 percent in terms of hurt is actually lower than Joe Biden was at the end of his presidency in terms of creating jobs. So, Trump, not just worse than himself, but worse than Joe Biden was on, of course, an issue that, you know, really goes to the hearts and minds of Americans.

BERMAN: And it's not just jobs either.

ENTEN: No, it's not just jobs, right? So, jobs is one thing, but it's the cost of living. We just keep going back to this over and over and over again, John Berman. You know, you heard Mitch Landrieu talk about in the interview as well that you did in the last block.

[09:45:03]

And just take a look here, re: the cost of living, Trump has hurt or helped? In 2024, looking back on term one, it was split, 40 percent hurt, 40 percent help. It ain't split no more, baby. It ain't split no more. I mean just look at this, 57 percent say hurt, 19 percent say help. Just 43 percent of Republicans now say help. This is more of a flip flop, more of a shift than Anakin Skywalker going over to the dark side in "Star Wars" number three. My goodness gracious.

John, you liked that one.

BERMAN: I did. I mean, he ultimately came back, as we -- as we all know.

ENTEN: He did come back.

BERMAN: On that subject --

ENTEN: Yes. See.

BERMAN: On that subject, so, inflation, I mean this is really interesting, right? I mean there's a 40-point gap there on improving the cost of living.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Inflation has been basically stubborn here. But when you ask the prediction markets, or look at the prediction markets, which way do they think it's going?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know, you look at this. This has just been -- all the polling numbers are really bad for Trump. The one thing I think could really turn it around is if the cost of living actually became easier for the American public, right?

So, looking forward to January. OK, chance January CPI, you know, Consumer Price Index year over year is below December's 2.7 percent. The Kalshi prediction market says there's an 88 percent chance that it is below. So, maybe there is some help on the horizon. And Donald Trump very desperately needs the help at this point because, again, when it comes to the cost of living, when 57 percent say Trump has hurt, that is a road to nowhere, or it's a road to Republican disaster in the midterm elections.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much. May the force be with you.

ENTEN: May the force be with the Buffalo Bills as well.

BERMAN: A lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:51:18]

BOLDUAN: The legendary free climber Alex Honnold is now about to climb one of the tallest buildings in the world, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, in a live Netflix broadcast. No ropes, no parachute, no safety nets. Here's Alex explaining why he's doing it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX HONNOLD: It's been a lifelong dream of mine to climb a skyscraper. So, I'm going to be free soloing Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world. No ropes. No gear. Just me and the building.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Honnold is most well-known, of course, for his rock climbing feats. He was the subject of the 2018 Oscar winning documentary "Free Solo." He was the first person to ever free solo El Capitan. Free soloing is the form of rock climbing where the climber is without any ropes or any protective gear. He's now set to try to make history again. The entire climb will be broadcast live on Netflix January 23rd.

And there is some scary video just in showing the moment a police chase in Washington state ended in a crash that sent a dog through the front windshield. The dog is apparently OK. It somehow landed on its feet and then took off. Police found another small dog hiding behind the driver's seat, actually. There were two people in the car. The driver was taken into custody and faces charges, including -- oh, goodness -- facing charges including drunk driving.

A new attraction is coming to downtown Chicago. It is causing quite a stir, all because of the Chicago Bears big NFL wildcard win over the Packers. It's this ice sculpture honoring the "Iceman." That's apparently the nickname of the Bears quarterback, Caleb Williams. And fans are loving it. The Bears face the Rams Sunday.

So, those Valentine's classics, the candy hearts, they're getting an update, guys. Your options no longer just include, oh, boring "SWEETIE" or "XOXO" or "BE MINE." The company behind the sweets just gave them an update. A gen z update. And now you can give and get things like "QUEEN" and "YAAS" and a winky face emoji. I'm told they also have a different crunchy texture with new tangy flavors.

John.

BERMAN: Did you ever get those like left at your desk in like -- in like junior high --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Where they -- you know, people would leave the candies at your desk on Valentine's Day?

BOLDUAN: And I would get very excited.

BERMAN: Yes. I mean, I got a lot. Just saying.

BOLDUAN: I'll be waiting, J.B.

BERMAN: Just saying.

BOLDUAN: I'll be waiting.

BERMAN: There were a lot left on my desk.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Oh, sure. Uh-huh.

BERMAN: All right, new music is on the way from Harry Styles. A new 12 track album in March titled "Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally," which is now the official motto of CNN NEWS CENTRAL. His last album, "Harry's House," was a big success. It picked up three Grammys, including album of the year.

With us now is CNN's Lisa Respers France.

We think this is the best album title maybe that we've ever seen, Lisa?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yes, I'm definitely taking it as life advice. I'm here for it. Harry Styles has the Harrys in a tizzy this morning. This is probably the worst kept secret ever, though, John, because he's been teasing this. If you signed up for -- to get a WhatsApp for him, you got to hear him sing, you know, that "We Belong Together." He was saying, see you soon. So, people have been expecting this.

And with the success of "Harry's House," as you mentioned, which won the coveted album of the year in 2023, people have been wanting new music from him. And also this will be his first new music since the very unfortunate passing of his One Direction band member, bandmate, Liam Payne back in 2024 when he had that tragic accident when he fell and lost his life.

And so, people want to see, you know, what this music is going to be about. And they just really love Harry Styles. I've been referring to him as the male minnie Taylor Swift, because his fan base is that locked in and they are really locked in.

[09:55:02]

They want this new music. They want him to go on tour and they want it now, even though we have to wait until March 6th.

BERMAN: But the guy, like, he's pretty busy, right? All he does is act. He runs marathons. The guys, like, everywhere.

FRANCE: Yes. He is everywhere. And he's beaten his own time. You know, he's running in the Tokyo marathon. He's running in the Berlin marathon. He's acting in movies. But he still finds time to make music. And his fans are eternally grateful for this because four years is a really long time to wait for Harry Styles, apparently.

BERMAN: Well, Lisa Respers France, the wait is almost over. No one likes an overachiever, but we'll cut Harry some slack in this case.

FRANCE: Yes, we will.

BERMAN: Thank you so much for being with us.

FRANCE: Thank you, John.

BOLDUAN: I love Lisa. Apparently four years is just too long to wait.

BERMAN: It is. And I just want to give a special thank you to Kate Bolduan this morning who --

BOLDUAN: Why?

BERMAN: I had a contact lens floating in my brain --

BOLDUAN: Oh, my God.

BERMAN: This morning at about, like, you know, 4:30. Kate Bolduan saved my life, told me how to get the contact out.

BOLDUAN: Falling asleep in college a bunch of times with contacts in your eyes make you an expert on something.

BERMAN: Now I know. News you can use. News you can use.

Thank you all for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.

BOLDUAN: You're so funny.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)