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Smith to Testify on Capitol Hill; Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) is Interviewed about the Smith Testimony; The Path of a Major Winter Storm; Kaohly Her is Interviewed about ICE Crackdowns in Minnesota. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired January 22, 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]

DR. JANNA R. GEWIRTZ O'BRIEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT, MINNESOTA CHAPTER OF American ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: New heinous crime against children and their families. And they are -- the families we're seeing are fearful and they're rightfully fearful of our federal government right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Janna Gewirtz O'Brien, I do thank you for taking the time to speak to us. I can hear the emotion in your voice and the fear that you have for not only your patients, but the staff as well. Thank you. We do appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news this hour, Jack Smith testifying publicly for the first time about his investigations into Donald Trump. It's about to get underway. We're going to take you to Capitol Hill.

And Vice President J.D. Vance is headed to Minneapolis amid a new constitutional question being raised, can ICE enter homes without a judge's warrant? The internal memo that's raising this new alarm now.

And the monster winter storm that is coming. Forecasters are calling it one of the most extreme in years. In its path, at least 125 million people across 24 states.

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are standing by to see former special counsel Jack Smith testify in public for the first time before the House Judiciary Committee. Smith's legal team says they're prepared for House members to engage in, quote, "political theater," and that Smith is, quote, "not afraid" of President Trump.

He did testify behind closed doors for eight hours in December. This morning, "Politico" has a first look at Smith's prepared remarks, directly addressing the two indictments that he brought against Donald Trump. He will tell lawmakers, reportedly, quote, "President Trump was charged because the evidence established that he willfully broke the very laws that he took an oath to uphold. Let's get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz in Washington for a sense of

what we're going to see very shortly down there.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: John, it's a big day and a big moment always when a special counsel has come to the Capitol Hill to testify before cameras. This is the first time we will see Smith on camera testifying under oath about his investigation, the sort of thing that other special counsels in the past have done. Mueller, for instance, had done this as well. And there was a lot of political blowback from it.

But, John, this is a very different thing because it was a very different case. The first time in American history a president, or former president, has been charged with a crime. By Smith, Donald Trump was charged in two separate cases, indicted, and those cases ultimately were dismissed for various reasons.

There's going to be a lot of tension around Jack Smith on Capitol Hill today. That's one thing we very much know. He has to be careful about what he says. He's going to be scrutinized very much. There could be accusations of perjury later on. There could be accusations of obstruction later on. So, Smith has been preparing with a team of lawyers for this public testimony.

We also know that Donald Trump wants to see him prosecuted. And according to his legal team yesterday, in preparation for this, Jack Smith is not afraid of Donald Trump. He wants to speak publicly about his special counsel office's work during the Biden administration and bringing those cases against Trump.

The other thing we know that creates tension here is that there is a court order at this time blocking Smith from testifying about what he found about Trump in the classified documents case related to taking boxes to Mar-a-Lago after the first Trump presidency and alleged obstruction of justice. That order is something that Donald Trump has wanted, and he's already advocated this week to keep everything under lock there.

There is a lot that Jack Smith could still say, though. And so we're going to be very -- watching very closely, both about the classified documents case, about January 6th, and anything else Jack Smith has to say about his investigation and President Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Yes, it will be fascinating to see. It will be interesting to see what questions are asked and how much time is actually even given to Jack Smith to answer them. That sometimes is a little bit of an issue up on Capitol Hill.

Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for being with us.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now to talk about this is Democratic congressman from Tennessee, Steve Cohen. He serves on the House Judiciary Committee.

Congressman, thanks for being here.

What are you going to be asking today?

REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): Well, we're going to mostly just let Jack Smith talk. Have some questions about what might be not known by the public that he had as part of his evidence that showed that the president was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. There -- maybe asked a few other questions, but mostly we want Jack Smith to talk.

I sat in on part of the closed deposition, and Jack Smith is brilliant.

[09:05:00]

And he was well prepared. And he just put circles -- went circles around the folks asked him questions. He had an answer and an appropriate answer for everything. He is a -- really a master of the courtroom and a master of the law.

BOLDUAN: Speaking about what could be coming with a CNN legal analyst, Elliot Williams, just a short time ago, and he said, well, it's important for any -- for this to be said in public. He did say, though, this is going to be, at the end of the day, a re-litigation of both the 2020 election results and the 2023 investigations into Donald Trump, which the two political parties have very different views on. In another round of testimony his take is, isn't going to change those views.

So, what is actually going to come of this do you believe or hope?

COHEN: I think -- I think there may be some changes. Now, the Democrats, we are going to let Jack Smith talk. And have some questions, but just going to let him talk. As far as people that think it's going to be theater, it might be theater on the other side. The Republicans will try to catch him in some type of a misstatement for the purposes of the Justice Department, which has been weaponized, to try to find a way to take him into court. They don't need to have much of a way because they've had cases where they tried to bring against Comey and against Libby (ph), I think is her name, the attorney general -- the district attorney general in New York state.

BOLDUAN: Tish James.

COHEN: But the -- Tish James, that were the grand jury has refused to indict. And that's almost never happens. That's the whole ham sandwich argument. You can -- you can get somebody to indict a ham sandwich. Well, the ham must have been rotten. And the ham is rotten. There's something that smells rotten in Denmark.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you -- well, let me ask you a couple things about that. I'm also tracking how Democrats are or are planning to potentially wage a fight against DHS funding from Capitol Hill over Trump's ICE operations. "Axios" is reporting that Leader Jeffries told you all in a closed door meeting yesterday he opposes a bill to fund DHS. Raja Krishnamorthi was on with me earlier this week, and he says that he seems to be in a similar place. He wants to abolish Trump's ICE as it is today. Do you want to abolish ICE as it is today?

COHEN: Ex -- I'll -- I'll -- yes, I do. ICE has gone beyond the pale in what they've done on the streets and hiding their identities, wearing the masks, not having their names on a badge, or having a badge where they can be identified, and just grabbing people and violating the law. They didn't have the right to go into the car of Ms. Good. They cannot do anything except enforce the immigration laws or stop some type of impediment of immigration laws. None of that was happening. So, they've gone way beyond their powers, and they are basically a Revolutionary Guard on our streets.

When you just -- your previous story about the hospital conditions being upset because of ICE, there's churches being upset, you name it, there are lots of problems. ICE is on the rocks and ICE ought to be neat.

BOLDUAN: The -- let me -- you mentioned Denmark. The president is wrapping up his time in Davos. He announced a framework of a future deal with regard to Greenland following his push to own and acquire Greenland. He did say that he is not going to use military force. That does seem to be off the table.

Could you see the end result of this, again details are thin, but after all of the hyperbolic language, that this could be a good thing for U.S. national security?

COHEN: Well, we had a -- we have a treaty with Denmark from 1951 that allows us to put the bases in Denmark. And we've had bases. We've removed bases. We've still got Pituffik. And I've been to Pituffik. It's a -- it's a -- it's -- there's not much in Denmark. There's not much around our base there. It's a space base. But we've always had the authority to take -- have defense spaces there. If he wants to have his gold dome there, which makes sense that it would be, and NATO agrees -- now, Denmark's not bound by it, but the NATO commissioner general apparently decided they'd work on that and get it done, that's OK. But he's apparently concerned about Russia shooting missiles at us, ballistic missiles, over the Arctic Ocean. Why isn't he concerned about Russia shooting missiles in Kyiv? He's -- his -- it doesn't make sense. But now that he's kind of -- he pulled back. He retreated in Davos. So now I guess this is the ninth war that he's stopped and made peace, even though he created the war, which should give him like a demerit, but he did end it. So, he's -- he's now ended nine wars.

BOLDUAN: Well, we do know that, with regard to the war in Ukraine, the president just left a meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. And his envoy is headed to Moscow I believe tomorrow for another round of negotiations. No breakthroughs yet, but they do say that the meeting was good.

Congressman, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you coming in.

Again, he will be one of the --

COHEN: You're welcome. Thank you for having me.

[09:10:01]

BOLDUAN: Thank you. He's one of the members who will be questioning Jack Smith as that hearing is set to begin at the top of this hour.

Sara

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Kate.

We are live here in Minneapolis, outside the federal building, where slowly but surely there are more and more protesters showing up at these absolutely frigid temperatures.

We are here in part because the vice president, J.D. Vance, is coming to town. He's expected to speak with ICE agents, who he's been very supportive of. But he is also expected to do a roundtable with local leaders and some members of the community. Who those members and leaders are, we have not yet been told but you expect to see a lot of emotion there at that roundtable or outside of where all of this happens.

We're also here to speak with the residents, some of whom say that they feel like their city is under siege by ICE. And some of these new tactics that ICE is using, we are now seeing the details of an internal memo that was leaked by a whistleblower that shows that ICE is now telling its agents that it can go into homes forcibly without a warrant, which is something that the former acting ICE director has said is antithesis to the way in which they have practiced their jobs for decades.

We also have heard of what is happening to U.S. citizens here as well at the hands of ICE. One of whom there is video showing him outside of his home being detained in his underwear were ICE picks him up, detains him for some time, and then eventually drops him back off upon learning that he was a U.S. citizen, with no apology. And so you're hearing stories like that, of ICE going into buildings, going into businesses that have been complimentary of the protests or who have spoken out against ICE. And those businesses saying they are being harassed by ICE.

And then you are seeing this appeals court giving ICE permission to act aggressively, as it has in the past, before a federal judge put a stop to that, saying that they can no longer use gas, for example, or chemical munitions against protesters. ICE now unleashed from that.

And we saw the result of that. We saw that acting -- or, sorry, the head of the operation, Mr. Bovino, throwing a canister of tear gas, C.S. gas, against protesters here after warning them and after they got too close according to him. You're seeing that play out now.

There is a lot of fear and consternation that is certainly happening among residents, those who are immigrants in particular, but also among those who live here and call this home. We've also been hearing from the medical community, hearing from a doctor just moments ago who said that ICE is basically stalking her clinic and other hospitals looking to detain people and, in some cases, going into hospitals and not letting the subjects who are injured speak for themselves. Though DHS is saying that it is not doing that.

So, there is a lot, a lot of fear and trepidation here in Minneapolis as the vice president is heading here.

We also heard from Senator Richard Blumenthal, who has been investigating what has been happening here on the ground. And here is what he said about this new ICE policy that gives ICE some very strong powers that many are saying violate the Fourth Amendment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Americans should be terrified that this secret ICE policy authorizes agents to break down doors and ransack through their homes, arresting or detaining people without a judicial warrant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, you are hearing that there. He says that ICE does need to be hemmed in, and he's hoping that his Republican colleagues will see it the way that he and other Democrats see it.

We are on standby waiting to see what happens today as the temperatures plummet. We know that there is an action on Friday expected. And that action actually is one of non-action, telling people, don't go to your jobs, don't go to your schools, don't do anything in protest of what is happening with ICE here. We will see what the vice president has to say and how he is responded to here on the ground.

Kate and John.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, Sara, thank you so much.

Still ahead for us, a major storm threatening nearly half of the United States with ice, snow and dangerously cold temperatures, as Sara was talking about. The latest forecast on what's shaping up to be one of the most powerful winter storms you've seen in years.

[09:15:01]

And legendary Genesis frontman Phil Collins gives a rare update on his health struggles and why he now needs around the clock care.

Plus, a star football player is now at the center of a legal battle with his own university. Why Duke is suing its star quarterback.

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[09:20:01]

BERMAN: All right, happening now, one of the worst winter storms in years heading east in a major way. One hundred and twenty-five million people at least in the path, and officials are sounding serious warnings.

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KEN GRAHAM, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Look, in the 31 years working for NOAA, there's only a handful of times that I can remember watches and warnings stretching 2,000 miles, right? And, you know, you look at that and half the country's population is going to see some sort of winter weather impact. So, you think about travel, you think of the dangers outside. This, like you were saying, this is a triple impact.

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BERMAN: Yes, there could be crippling ice, feet of snow in some places. There were already blizzard conditions in Minnesota. You're looking at them right there.

Let's get to CNN's Allison Chinchar for the latest forecast for this kind of monster storm.

Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, again, when you talk about it, just as you said, the amount of people impacted, look at these. These alerts stretch all the way from New Mexico up to New York. And we still don't have some of the alerts in place across New England, but we expect those to come out here in the next 24 hours as we get closer to the timeline for their impacts.

You also have the extreme cold. Look at all of these areas that are going to be dealing with, again, not just typical January temperatures, but temperatures ten, 15, even 20 degrees below what they normally would be. Plus you also have some winds.

Look at some of these wind chills. Friday morning, minus 50 in Duluth, minus 38 in Marquette, 40 below in Green Bay. Even 28 below is what it's going to feel like in Chicago Friday morning. That combination of those incredibly cold temperatures, but also the wind.

And Saturday morning, again, not much better. But the key thing is that cold air that's up north is going to start to spread south. And that's what's going to allow some of these southern locations that don't normally get snow and ice to actually be able to get significant amounts of snow and ice.

So, late Friday you start to see that changeover across portions of Oklahoma, northern Texas and into Kansas. By Saturday morning, you notice a lot more pink and purple on the map. A lot more of that rain changing over into winter precipitation as the system itself slides off to the east.

By Sunday morning, now you're starting to see more of the impacts build for places in the mid-Atlantic, the Carolinas, down through Georgia even. Again, you're starting to see a lot of this accumulate at this point now too. And for some areas, yes, the snow is going to accumulate to extreme amounts. Look at this, this dark pink color, that's where you could be looking at 12 to 18 inches of snow. This deep purple color in here, 18 to 24 inches. You're talking up to two feet of snow.

And then on the flip side, slightly farther south of that, where you don't have all the cold air in place, you've got a little bit of warm air intruding into it, you're going to have mostly ice. And you could have some spots that pick up three quarters, maybe even an inch of ice, which could lead to widespread power outages.

BERMAN: Yes, I'm just looking at all those population centers that could see, you know, three quarters of an inch of ice. You know, Charlotte, Nashville, Little Rock, all the way to Dallas, and then maybe two feet of snow in Washington, D.C. A lot of people need to be paying attention.

Allison Chinchar, thank you very much for all of that.

The new memo that allows ICE agents to enter homes without a criminal warrant. This as Vice President Vance heads to Minnesota amid the rising tensions there.

And then rescue missions underway after campers buried in horrific mudslides.

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[09:27:37]

SIDNER: All right, we are live here in Minneapolis, outside of the federal building, which has been more fortified. You're seeing those large fences that have appeared here.

Now there are protesters who are coming out. The temperature is absolutely frigid, which will likely have an effect on what happens in the coming days. It is negative 19 degree windchill right now, about five degrees.

But what we are seeing and hearing is a lot of fear in this town. Some residents in their neighborhoods, including some doctors, saying that there is fear and trepidation. They feel that their city is under siege by ICE actions.

I want to bring in now the mayor of Saint Paul, Kaohly Her, who is joining us now this morning.

I do want to first talk to you about what we are learning about this internal memo that is now being circulated in ICE that was leaked, that says that ICE can now forcibly enter homes without a warrant or only using the very specific administrative warrant, something that they have not done in times past in the history of ICE. What do you make of that?

MAYOR KAOHLY HER (D), ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA: I mean, we've already been seeing that play out, whether there was a memo or not. I mean at least now there's evidence of instructions being given, whether it is lawful or not. It's the directive coming from the highest up. And we've seen that happen time after time, doors getting broken down and people forcibly taken out. It's disappointing, but I'm not surprised. SIDNER: Can you give me a sense of what you are hearing from

residents? We have been seeing videos, for example, of a man who was taken out in his underwear in the frigid cold temperatures by ICE, detained, and as it turned out he was an American citizen who was apparently driven around for a while and then brought back with no apology. What kind of stories are you hearing from residents, and what is the feeling in your city at this point in time and in your neighborhoods?

HER: Well, of course, I mean, we -- you know, the -- there's a great deal of fear and confusion and anxiety. I mean, I've been in multiple immigrant communities, you know, southeast Asian, our east African, our Latin A communities. I mean people are fearful. They're -- they have anxiety. They are afraid. And rightfully so.

[09:30:00]

I mean this incident that we saw of the east sider who was dragged out of his house, that is not an isolated incident. We are hearing account after account of.