Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Smith Testifies before Committee; Tom Dupree is Interviewed about the Smith Testimony; Northeast Snow Drought. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 22, 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]

MAYOR KAOHLY HER (D), ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA: 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 other people experiencing the same things.

Just this morning, someone very close to me told me that his partner saw somebody get taken from right in front of where he works. And, you know, I think that there is, rightfully so, people are afraid because we are under siege right now. We have law enforcement -- we have DHI -- D -- Department of Homeland Security agents that outnumber our own police force by three to one. I mean I don't know how anybody could be in that situation and not be afraid.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, more than 2,000 agents on the ground. Whereas, you know, the police force is around -- somewhere around 700 or so, as you well mentioned.

I do want to let you, if you will indulge me, listen to Dr. O'Brien. She is a pediatrician. And here is what she says is happening around her clinic and at hospitals when it comes to ICE actions and patients.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Can you explain to me what it is that you are seeing and experiencing and what it is you are hearing from other doctors as you are hearing from DHS that they are denying that they are doing some of the things that have -- they have been accused of?

DR. JANNA R. GEWIRTZ O'BRIEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT, MINNESOTA CHAPTER OF AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Absolutely. Well, I'm a pediatrician in the heart of Minneapolis, and we are seeing -- we are seeing ICE in our hospitals and around our clinics. And this has been going on for weeks and we continue to fight against it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: You are part of the twin cities, Minneapolis, obviously, the -- your twin, if you will. Is the same thing happening in Saint Paul? Are you hearing reports of ICE going into hospitals? Of ICE sort of, as she put it, stalking people, stalking around some of these clinics and making people afraid to even get medical treatment?

HER: Sara, I would say that it's not even just stalking and being around the hospital. It was very clear that there is alarm. So, Senator Alice Mann (ph) and Senator Matt Klein held a press conference. And from accounts that they're hearing from health care providers that, you know, ICE are -- agents are not even allowing examinations from injuries that is caused while someone is in custody of ICE, and that the injuries that they are seeing is not consistent with the accounts that the agents are giving the health care providers. And so, this is something that we are seeing that has caused enough alarm that our own state legislators, who happen to also be doctors, are sounding the alarm, and we should listen to them.

SIDNER: I just have one last question. What is your message? If you could look Vance -- Vice President J.D. Vance, who is coming here to Minneapolis, if you could look him in the eye, what would you say to him this morning?

HER: I would say to him that there has been enough talk and enough rhetoric. That if you're here to convene and have conversations with people, it is time to go out and actually see the damage and the harm that you've caused, that go into communities. Look at our establishments, our restaurants, our grocery stores, and see that there -- how there's no customers there, how business is down 60 to 70 percent, and how businesses are going to have to shutter their doors and close. That to see how families are living in fear with blinds drawn, that they are unable to leave their homes to get their basic needs met. Like, start -- start using your eyes and stop with your mouth and your ears, because right now we need to see what is happening on the ground so that we can bring some humanity to what it is that they are doing to us here.

SIDNER: Saint Paul Mayor Her, thank you for joining us. Do appreciate it.

John and Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, former special counsel Jack Smith is heading to Capitol Hill in really the coming minutes, face to face with lawmakers to testify publicly for the first time about his investigations into Donald Trump. What is shaping up to be a wild day in Congress, we'll take you to Capitol Hill.

And former Genesis frontman Phil Collins talking about his health battle. We have that update for you ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:33]

BOLDUAN: All right, to Capitol Hill. This is the image from The Hill moments ago. As you see, former special counsel Jack Smith walking through the hallways about to head into the House Judiciary Committee hearing room where he is about to -- he is prepared for a showdown. He is going to be testifying to -- in public for the very first time. These are live pictures from inside the hearing room right now. As you can see, they're about to get going.

He's going to be testifying in public for the very first time about his investigations into Donald Trump. And it's really about to get underway.

We now have obtained a preview of his prepared remarks. Jack Smith is expected to say this in part. Let me read this. He writes to the committee, "I want to be clear, I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat. No one should be above the law in our country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did."

Smith's legal team also saying that as they're heading in today, they are prepared for House members to engage in political theater.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on The Hill, about to watch it all get underway.

Lauren, we just had Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen, who's on the committee, on.

[09:40:02]

He says he just wants to hear Jack Smith talk. What are you hearing about this?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's exactly the strategy that Democrats are walking into this high-profile hearing with this morning. Their goal is to really get out of the way and let Jack Smith lay out the facts and findings of his case as he investigated it. Their belief is that this is going to turn out well for them and remind the American public of what exactly Jack Smith was investigating in both the classified document case and also the January 6th case when it came to the sitting United States president.

Obviously, so much has unfolded over the first year of Trump's presidency that for a lot of voters that might be in the rearview mirror, which is why some Democrats were also a little bit surprised that Jim Jordan, the chairman of this committee, wanted Jack Smith to come testify in public.

But that brings you to the other side of the dais. Republicans, this morning, are going to be looking specifically to try and triangulate Jack Smith and everything he told them in a closed door deposition and everything he's saying in public today. They're going to make sure there's no daylight between what he said then and what he's saying this morning. But also, Republicans understand that this is a moment for them to prove to the president that they are on his side. It's not clear if President Trump is going to be watching this morning, but you can bet that Republicans are going to be very careful in using this moment to show the president that they are loyal to him, that they are attacking someone who went after the president, and they are going to make no bones about that this morning in the hearing as this all gets started in just a few minutes.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: In just a few minutes. And I'll take just a few seconds to also say it is great to have you back after being away for some very, very important work. Thank you so much, Lauren.

John.

BERMAN: I second that sentiment.

BOLDUAN: Exactly.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Tom Dupree, former deputy assistant attorney general.

Great to see you, Counselor.

Prosecutors are used to asking questions. What's it like for them and what are the risks when they're in the hot seat and they're getting asked the questions?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, it definitely is a bit of table turning here. You're absolutely right, that prosecutors are far more comfortable when they're the ones asking the tough cross-examination questions, rather than being on the receiving end. And for today, Jack Smith is walking a tightrope. On one hand, this is his opportunity to tell the public what underlay his investigative decisions, why he decided to prosecute President Trump, the evidence he and his team collected.

On the other hand, he's running a major risk that if there is, in fact, a contradiction, either to his prior testimony or if he says things that people in Congress deem to be incorrect or false or misleading, there's the very real possibility that people will say, look, you gave a false statement to Congress and go after him on that basis. So, he is going to be walking a tightrope from the minute he takes that stand at 10:00 a.m. this morning.

BERMAN: It's a bit of a constrained tightrope to mix metaphors there because Jack Smith notes that Judge Aileen Cannon from Florida, the federal judge in Florida, has an order restricting discussion, basically, of the Mar-a-Lago documents case, of his findings in that case. What does that mean in terms of what he can or can't say about that?

DUPREE: Sure. It means that he is going to be severely restricted and what specifically he can say about his Mar-a-Lago classified documents investigation. Keep in mind that he is not similarly constrained with regard to his January 6th investigation. So, my guess is that we'll probably have today a more robust, a more searching session on questions on the January 6th investigation. And I think when it comes to the Mar-a-Lago investigation, it wouldn't surprise me if one of the refrains we hear today from Jack Smith is, look, I'd love to talk about it, but I simply can't under that court order. BERMAN: So, as Elie Honig has pointed out to us, you know, Jack Smith,

in a way, is under investigation right now by the Justice Department. How will that impact his testimony today?

DUPREE: Well, I think it just underscores the stakes. And look, Jack Smith is very aware of the importance of his testimony today and his need to be precise and truthful and forthcoming at all times. Certainly, a prosecutor knows well the dangers of inadvertently saying something that later gets turned against you and used as the basis for perjury or a false statement claim. So, I think the fact that the Justice Department has been saying, look, they're investigating him. They're already looking at documents and records of investigation. I think that just underscores the task that he faces today to be truthful and careful and precise in every word he says.

BERMAN: If you look at the reporting from the behind closed doors testimony he gave, this guy chooses his language very, very carefully. I mean the words were very precise, as you say, and I imagine that's what we'll see now.

[09:45:03]

What's the likelihood you think that we'll learn any new facts today in the testimony?

DUPREE: My guess is we're not going to get any bombshells. We may get a little bit more detail on particular facts or particular pieces of evidence, but I don't think today is the stage for some big reveal of some big, powerful piece of evidence that Smith hasn't previously disclosed.

I will say that I was actually pleasantly surprised by his prior testimony, the deposition testimony he gave behind closed doors. From my perspective, it was surprisingly substantive. The exchanges were surprisingly respectful. But, of course, all of that may change today now that the cameras are there and this session is being conducted in the public spotlight.

BERMAN: It's a lot different when it's on TV. It always is.

Tom Dupree, we appreciate your insight on all of this. Thank you.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So, it is really starting to look like a supercharged winter storm. And it's going to hit a lot of states and face a lot of people. Brutal cold temperatures, the threat of an inch plus of ice and also heavy snow. One of the most widespread winter storms in years is in the forecast for more than half the country. We have details and the timing of it, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:47]

BERMAN: All right, there are serious warnings about this major winter storm heading east, affecting 125 million people, maybe more, with forecasts of a foot and a half of snow possible in major northeastern cities like New York, Philadelphia and Washington.

So, let's put that in some historical perspective. With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

Good to see you, sir.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Nice to see you.

BERMAN: We getting a foot and a half of snow in New York or Philadelphia or Washington, how rare is that?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, one of the things that's been so interesting to me as a guy who went to weather camp, as a kid who actually loves the snow, is there really has not been a lot of snow recently in the northeast, especially in January. I mean, take a look of this, years with ten -- more than ten inches of snow in January since 2017, just two in Washington, D.C., just two in New York City, and just one in Philadelphia. We have been snow starved for the most part in the major metropolitan areas that line the I-95 from Washington, D.C., up to New York City. I'm hoping it turns around a little bit.

BERMAN: And to be clear, this is for the entire month.

ENTEN: This --

BERMAN: We're talking about getting more than this in a single day. What's this January been like?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, it's not just that the last few years we've been snow starved. Take a look. Snow this month. Inches of snow so far this January. In Washington, D.C., a very sad 0.1 inches of snow. In New York City, in central Park, 2.5 inches of snow. I should note, in some of the suburbs, it's been more than that. I was out in the suburbs of -- in New Jersey and there's plenty more than that. And in Philadelphia, at 1.9 inches. So, nowhere close yet to ten inches of snow in either Philadelphia, New York City or in Washington, D.C. Less than three inches so far this month in all of them.

BERMAN: So, the meteorologists are telling us we could get more than ten inches of snow. That's what they say. What are the betters saying?

ENTEN: OK, what do the prediction markets say? OK, so we see the 1.9, the 2.5 and the 0.1. So, what is the chance for the month of January we get more than ten inches of snow in these cities.

All right, what are we talking about? In Philadelphia we're talking about chance of over ten inches of snow this month, 89 percent. New York City, 84 percent. Washington, D.C., which, of course, has the least amount of snow so far so you're not building up from that base, 74 percent.

So, look, from this storm, the rest of the month, we are thinking that we are going to build considerably from where we are right now. Look, it's not a done deal yet for sure. This is why these are not 100

percent. But the idea of the chance of over ten inches of snow this month, look, much higher than they would be based upon what you see so far.

BERMAN: We're talking about how big this storm is. This is the impact on the northeast. But it could hit, in some ways, places like Dallas as well. So, what are the bets there?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know what, we're talking about the northeast. Look, you can hear my accent. I'm a northeast guy. But this storm is huge. It is huge. And this gives you, chance that Dallas gets greater than 0.5 inches of snow/sleet this month. Look, 80 percent, 80 percent. And keep in mind, zero inches have fallen so far. So, this is a storm that's really going to stretch all the way down from the south, southern part of the United States, all the way to the northeast, and it's going to have major impacts.

BERMAN: All right, we're going to keep our eye on this, obviously, throughout the next few days.

Harry, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: We got a lot of news. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:58:27]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news. Blockbuster testimony. In moments we expect to hear from Jack Smith, the man who once oversaw two federal cases against President Trump.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Both were eventually dropped. But today we could learn brand new details about what those investigations actually turned up. And Smith's legal team says he's not afraid.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer, with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BLITZER: And we begin this hour with the breaking news. Just moments from now, the former special counsel, Jack Smith, will testify in an open hearing up on Capitol Hill. And we will carry those remarks live.

This is Smith arriving just a few minutes ago. He has long drawn the fury and the insults of President Trump after securing, not one, but two criminal indictments against him while with the Biden Justice Department.

BROWN: They involve Trump's alleged role in trying to overturn the 2020 election and charges that he mishandled classified material. Smith had actually asked to testify publicly to challenge Republican accusations that the federal prosecutions were politically motivated. This will be the first open testimony about Smith's work. And again, you'll hear it here live.

BLITZER: That's coming up in just a few minutes.

I want to go live right now to our chief White House -- chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, up on Capitol Hill.

Manu, what are you expecting to learn specifically from today's very important hearing?

[10:00:03]

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is going to be a fiery hearing we expect before this House Judiciary Committee. One of the most partisan committees on.