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NYT: Trump Meets With Noem Amid Backlash Over Pretti Shooting; CIA Moves To Establish Venezuela Foothold Following Maduro Capture; TikTok Users Claim Censorship Over ICE Videos, App Blames Outage. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 27, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:33:15]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New developments live here in Minneapolis. One, there is another call for an economic boycott that we are expecting to happen this week. We are also seeing the huge pushback from local residents and protesters here who want ICE to leave -- all of them. Not some of them, not a few of them, but all of them, including the commander-at-large who we now know the Trump administration is sending out of this town. Greg Bovino will no longer be here at some point. It could possibly, sources telling The New York Times, be in the next day or so.

New overnight there has been an interview or a discussion between Donald Trump and some of his cabinet members, including Kristi Noem, in the Oval Office, according to The New York Times. The meeting, of course, coming on the heels of the president announcing that he is changing the leadership structure here, taking out commander in charge Greg Bovino and putting in border czar Tom Homan.

Now, at the same time, we are hearing from the FBI director talking about going after and investigating a Signal chat between those residents here who have been protesting ICE, while there is a larger investigation going on -- the federal investigation of the shooting of Alex Pretti at the hands of border patrol agents and the state, separately, doing its investigation of that same shooting. The two not cooperating. The Feds saying they will not cooperate with the state in an unprecedented move.

[07:35:00]

Let's go now to Betsy Klein who is at the White House. What more are we learning about this meeting between President Trump and DHS Secretary Noem?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well Sara, it comes as there has been a significant shift in the tone from this White House and a leadership shakeup.

In the immediate aftermath of the law enforcement -- federal law enforcement killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis over the weekend, we heard from senior officials that -- including Stephen Miller, the president's architect of his immigration policies, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, border patrol commander Greg Bovino -- suggesting that Pretti was a domestic terrorist. That he wanted to massacre, in their words, law enforcement. That message was amplified across multiple social media channels, including the official White House account.

And we saw some pushback, including from many people that are traditionally allies of this White House. Internally, there were some administration officials who were left deeply frustrated about how Bovino and Noem handled that fallout. And President Trump closely tracking television coverage of this incident. He was unhappy about how his administration was coming across.

So we learned that Bovino and some of his agents are expected to leave Minneapolis today, sidelining the man who has effectively been the face of this operation. And now that President Trump is going to be dispatching border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis -- Homan is someone with significant experience who is expected to work very closely with state and local leaders. Bovino's access to his social media accounts was suspended, according to a source familiar.

And President Trump also spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz along with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey yesterday. By all accounts those conversations were described as productive. Frey planning to meet with Homan today.

But listen to how Walz talked about that discussion.

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GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: And the atrocities we're seeing -- and I -- look, I think Donald Trump understands it too -- that horrific scene that played out on Saturday morning. You could tell there was no professionalism to that. You could tell that this seemed personal for some reason -- that running across and pushing people. And then I hope that we finally maybe broke the fever. The explanation from Kristi Noem was so far off that I think maybe this is what broke it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now what hasn't changed is the continued blame shifting to Democrats by White House messengers. We heard from Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, yesterday describing what she said was deliberate and hostile resistance by Minnesota Democrats.

Now we've also learned, according to The New York Times that President Trump met in the Oval Office with Sec. Kristi Noem and other officials for nearly two hours yesterday evening. Noem's job for now, they report, is safe, Sara.

SIDNER: Betsy Klein live for us reporting from the White House giving you an idea of the movements that -- and the change in tone from President Trump. Also hearing from the governor here after their discussion. Thank you so much for your reporting for us from the White House. Back to you, John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much.

I mean, honestly, there really has been a complete political shift, but where does that leave the legal questions and the investigations going forward?

With us now is CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Counselor, great to see you. So all day yesterday we heard from Todd Blanche first and then others we are conducting an investigation --

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Right.

BERMAN: -- into the shooting of -- killing of Alex Pretti -- we. But the "we" here, insofar as we can tell, is Homeland Security --

HONIG: Right.

BERMAN: -- not the FBI or Justice Department as the lead.

Why is that significant?

HONIG: So there are a lot of red flags here that I -- that I want to make sure people understand. Ordinarily, when you have a fatal use of force by a police officer the federal investigation is run by the FBI, which is over in the Justice Department, along with prosecutors at the Justice Department from the civil rights division, from the public integrity division. You loop in the state as well.

But DHS -- and this is irregularity number one. DHS does not usually run these investigations. They don't have the expertise in these investigations. Irregularity number two, it's an in-house investigation. The officers who they're investigating are part of DHS.

Irregularity number three, they've shut out the locals. Ordinarily the locals would be involved. Irregularity number four, the FBI apparently, according to reporting in The Wall Street Journal, is playing only a secondary role here. And irregularity number five, there's apparently no known DOJ prosecutorial involvement.

Compounding all of this you have an investigation being run out of DHS where leadership -- Kristi Noem has already made public conclusory and false statements about what happened on the street.

[07:40:00]

So yes, this enables the administration to say, "We are investigating." But the "we" who is investigating here suggests to me that this is not a criminal investigation and this is not an ordinary investigation.

BERMAN: First of all, I'm really impressed you kept track of all five or six irregularities there. And again, insofar as we can tell, this is the type of investigation to see if these officials who killed Alex Pretti were following internal work procedures.

HONIG: Right. It's what I -- it appears to be what I would describe as an administrative investigation -- the kind that would ordinarily be done. Was he following procedures? Does he need to be disciplined? Does the officer need to have the gun taken away? Does the officer need to be retrained?

But again, no DOJ involvement. No prosecutorial involvement.

And think to the -- back to the Renee Good shooting a couple of weeks ago, right? It was just a few days after that that Deputy AG Todd Blanche came out and said no, there is no cause for us to even investigate a potential criminal case here.

By the way, that is an incorrect assessment of this. You are supposed to open a criminal investigation and get the facts if it's anywhere close to a potential crime and then make your decision.

But Todd Blanche, days after the Renee Good shooting, said we're not even opening an investigation at DOJ, and it appears the same is happening here. Yes, it's an investigation. It appears to be administrative; not criminal.

BERMAN: Who has got the phone? Who has got the phone --

HONIG: Oh, exactly.

BERMAN: -- that Alex Pretti was filming with? And how important is that evidence?

HONIG: This is part of the problem here. You have DHS investigating. Apparently, there is some effort by the state in Minnesota to investigate.

Who has the phone? I echo you, right? That's a key piece of evidence. Who has the bodycam footage? Who has the ballistics? Who has the shell casings? Who has the vehicle in the Renee Good case?

All of this is -- the chain of command is completely a mess here. You have competing investigations seeking out the same evidence. We don't even know -- we could have witnesses talking to one side but not the other. In both the Good and Pretti cases, the way these investigations have been adlibbed is going to become a serious problem and it's going to lead to real doubts about the outcome.

BERMAN: And look, without declaring innocence or guilt, we don't even know what questions they're asking. We don't know what they're investigating here. Is this being investigated as who was responsible for the death of a man? We just don't know the answers to that.

HONIG: Exactly.

BERMAN: Elie Honig, great to see you. HONIG: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: There's also new reporting exclusive to CNN. The U.S. plans for Venezuela and what it has to do with the CIA now.

And heart-stopping video. A baby falls out of a moving car in the middle of traffic. Now the mother is facing charges.

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[07:47:00]

BERMAN: Exclusive new CNN reporting this morning. More than three weeks after the U.S. ousted Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela sources tell CNN the CIA is quietly working to establish a permanent U.S. presence there. Venezuela's acting president just delivered a tough message to President Trump saying she has had "enough" of Washington's orders.

CNN's Zach Cohen in Washington with this new reporting on what the CIA is doing, Zach.

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, John, those tough words from acting President Delcy Rodriguez are unlikely to impact the CIA's plans to establish a foothold inside Venezuela where sources tell me that they are preparing to act really as the tip of the spear as far as exerting U.S. influence over the country following the capture of former president Nicolas Maduro.

Now, sources described ongoing planning discussions between the CIA and the State Department, really focused on long-term and short-term goals for the U.S. as far as what comes next following that dramatic operation to capture Maduro. In the short term, it does look like the CIA will take a leading role even if the State Department ultimately will be the forward-facing diplomatic presence inside the country.

Donald Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela. But for now it may require U.S. officials to operate out of a CIA annex in the short term as the -- as the security situation there remains unstable and during this political transition that's ongoing.

Now the CIA is also going to be responsible for briefing Venezuelan officials on concerns related to foreign adversaries, like Iran, Russia, China. That's something that CIA Director John Ratciffe really made a point of emphasis during his recent trip to Venezuela. He was the first Trump administration official to visit the country following the capture of Maduro. He said that Venezuela will no longer be a safe haven for U.S. adversaries. And so the CIA really will be on the ground there to reinforce that message.

But ultimately, I'm also told that even as these planning discussions are ongoing that the White House has not really communicated a clear objective for what it wants the CIA and State Department to accomplish inside Venezuela now that the operation to capture Maduro is over. Ultimately, we're going to have to wait and see what that looks like. But very clear that the agency will play a leading role.

BERMAN: Yeah, no doubt about that at this point. Very interesting to see the reaction within Venezuela if that continues.

Thanks so much, Zach -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joining us now for more on this is retired Admiral James Stavridis, a CNN senior military analyst and the former NATO supreme allied commander. He previously led U.S. Southern Command overseeing military operations in Latin America. In short, he knows a lot about what we're talking about here.

The CIA quietly working here, Admiral, to establish this permanent U.S. presence on the ground. What does that mean for the U.S.? What does that look like?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, PARTNER, THE CARYLE GROUP, AUTHOR, "THE ADMIRAL'S BOOKSHELF", FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. Let me start just with chops to Zach. This is good reporting and it clicks with what I know of the region and what I know of how CIA would approach this.

[07:50:00]

Second, well done to the CIA generally. If you kind of look at what the CIA has been doing not just in Venezuela but in Iran in advance of the strikes and their work in the Middle East, they're firing on all cylinders from what I can see here.

So what does this all mean? Go back and watch the movie "Casablanca" from World War II. This is kind of a Caracas is going to turn into this city where there's a lot of competition. The CIA will certainly be there. The Russians will be there. The Chinese will be there. The Cubans have been there for decades. It's going to be quite a competitive environment, shall we say, for the agency. I'd bet on our folks.

They're quite good. And I think, Kate, how this will work initially, the CIA will kind of base out of Bogota next door. Venezuela will be the forward point. But I suspect the station chief to use their vernacular for Caracas is going to be based initially out of our embassy in Bogota and next door.

Final thought -- the U.S. does need to open an embassy in Caracas just as quickly as we can for this reason alone.

BOLDUAN: Um, so interesting.

I want to also -- you -- I want to ask you also about Iran and what's still percolating there as you kind of had mentioned.

President Trump did a new interview with Axios and talking about this yesterday. And the way that -- what he said is that -- his words were the situation in Iran is in flux because he is saying he sent this "big armada" to the region. But he thinks that Tehran genuinely wants to cut a deal after weeks of these protests and the brutal crackdown the Iranian regime is now in the midst of.

Let me read you the quote from Trump. "They want to make a deal. I know so. They called on numerous occasions. They want to talk."

A deal on what? And what does that have to do with the red lines that he's set over these protests and telling them keep protesting -- help is on the way?

STAVRIDIS: Yeah, that's exactly the right question. And I think, Kate, that inside Iran there is going to be a mixed reaction, shall we say on the part of the opposition -- the dissidents -- those who have been risking their lives. One minute it's don't worry, help is on the way. It's a red line, as you point out. You kill another protester and we're going to take action.

You're showing pictures now of the Abraham Lincoln, a carrier I embarked in for a year. She's now off the coast.

So President Trump has a lot of options to use force here kinetically with cyber communications -- all of that but his instincts, as always, are negotiate -- find a deal. Nothing wrong with that other than the fact that this is the most rotten, theocratic regime. They're hardliners. These are not people like they are in Caracas who may be willing to cut a deal or Pyongyang, North Korea. These are hardline believers in what they're doing.

So while I certainly hope the president can come to a negotiation -- perhaps something that makes them forswear nuclear weapons and above all, stop killing protesters.

I'm -- I have a lot of skepticism about whether that can land. I'm glad that can land. I'm glad that carrier is on station.

BOLDUAN: Well, and as you said, you know this better than anybody. What does having the aircraft carrier kind of in the area of responsibility, as it's known -- what does that mean the United States is now capable of?

STAVRIDIS: Well, that carrier is, of course, U.S. sovereign territory. The five acres of its flight deck we fly on and off whenever we want. Eighty combat aircraft. And you can move it right up to the coast.

But right alongside that carrier, Kate, potentially are long-range strategic bombers from the island of Diego Garcia south in the Indian Ocean. That was the strike force that really went after the Iranian nuclear program. And our Air Force comrades are flying F-35 Lightning, the most advanced fifth-generation fighter in the world out of Doha, Qatar.

There is a lot of support across the region for that carrier. Taken together, it gives the president a lot of military capability and options.

BOLDUAN: It almost feels like that might be an understatement of a lot. Five acres of a flight deck is just mind-blowing.

Admiral, it's great to see you. Thank you so much -- John.

[07:55:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning a California mother is under arrest after this video appears to show a baby falling out of her car. The woman was driving an SUV through an intersection when the passenger door opened and a 19-month-old child tumbled out into the street. Police say witnesses came forward to report the incident. The woman was taken into custody on suspicion of child abuse. The baby was treated for injuries, but everyone should know the baby is doing OK.

A former Canadian Olympic snowboarder pleaded not guilty to running an international drug smuggling ring. Prosecutors allege Ryan Wedding moved as much as 60 tons of cocaine between Colombia and Mexico, Canada, and Southern California. Wedding was arrested last week in Mexico. A trial date set for March 24.

And new this morning the most dramatic hotel check-in of all time. In Dubia, five wingsuit flyers soared full speed right around the world's tallest hotel with the lead diver, as you can see, going right through the keyhole, which is kind of the signature architectural feature of this hotel. Went through that hole at 125 miles per hour.

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NICHOLAS SCALABRINO, PROFESSIONAL SKYDIVER: It was cool. It was flying through the glass. You know, having the reflection was like flying through a narcissistic funhouse. So it was great for us.

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BERMAN: They spent years getting ready for this with at least 40 to 50 practice jumps.

BOLDUAN: You hear that, J.B. -- a narcissistic funhouse? It's like --

BERMAN: I mean -- yeah, if it were sweeps, I would do it. It would depend. I would do it for the ratings.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, yeah, it totally feels worth it -- 100 percent. Um, there you go. J.B. flying through or not.

Here we go. Let's go to this now. TikTok pushing back now against complaints from users. Over the weekend a wave of people claim that their videos critical of ICE and the Trump administration were being censored. This is happening just as -- just as the TikTok deal -- changing hands of who controls TikTok's U.S. assets too effect last week. TikTok blames a power outage at a data center for the glitches, but a growing number of users in the U.S. -- they aren't buying it, it appears.

And now California's Gov. Gavin Newsom says he's launching an investigation into it.

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter has much more on this. So first, Brian, what is happening here? BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yeah. TikTok's new American business is off to a really inauspicious start, and the app is on the fritz. It's been on the fritz for days with users reporting different sorts of problems. And as you said, TikTok is blaming this on a data center outage, but some users just are not buying it.

The context here is key. Last week TikTok's U.S. entity changed hands. This was a result of a long gestating deal between TikTok and the Trump administration trying to resolve concerns over national security.

The new TikTok U.S. business is controlled by American investors who are allied and aligned with President Trump. These are figures like Larry Ellison, the Oracle billionaire, and Michael Dell. These are figures who are now controlling TikTok's U.S. entity.

And there are lots of questions about whether this joint venture is going to put the thumb on the scale to benefit President Trump. To benefit the MAGA right in some of the same ways that Elon Musk moved Twitter to the right when he renamed it X and took off some content moderation a couple of years ago.

So there have been these swirling questions for a few days and then come the glitches. You had users all across TikTok saying their videos seemed to be censored in some way.

Here is Meg Stalter -- not Stelter, Stalter -- one of the breakout stars from "HACKS." She wrote that she was deleting her TikTok account because she tried to post a video criticizing the news our of Minnesota, criticizing the federal government's actions, and she felt she was being censored.

But again, TikTok says that's not actually what's happening. Here's a post from the company overnight saying, "We are working to resolve a major infrastructure issue triggered by a power outage at one of our data center partner sites. While the network has been recovered, the outage is causing a cascading systems failure that we're working to resolve."

So in other words, TikTok says yes, there are problems. Your view counts aren't showing up. Your videos might not be showing up. But don't worry -- we're not censoring you. We're not putting our thumb on the scale. We're just having technical issues.

And this meltdown -- you know, it's raising a lot of questions, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And we mentioned Gavin Newsom, governor of California -- chief kind of poke the bear --

STELTER: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- of President Trump and a potential 2028 Democratic trying to run for president -- for the Democratic nomination in 2028. What's he saying?

STELTER: Yeah. I think what we see here are some Democratic politicians seizing on the public's suspicions. Some of the public concern about TikTok becoming a political tool.

Here's what Newsom said overnight. "It's time to investigate. I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content."

Again, he's just -- he's reacting to the questions. He's not claiming to have answers but he's taking advantage of the questions that are out there.

And we've seen these concerns from other Democratic politicians as well. Here is Sen. Chris Murphy over the weekend saying on X, "I know it's hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now but this [one involving TikTok] is at the top of the list."

So I think we're going to continue to hear this from Democratic lawmakers concerned about a Trump ally.