Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

U.S. Plan For Venezuela?; Threats Against Members of Congress Surging; Federal Reserve Expected to Keep Interest Rates Steady; Ilhan Omar Attacked. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 28, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: That is the first lady, Melania Trump, in New York this morning to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

It's her latest stop to promote her new documentary film, "Melania." The film followed her in the days leading up to for husband's second inauguration last year, and it will officially premiere tomorrow night at the Kennedy Center.

Thank you for joining INSIDE POLITICS today.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Renewed tensions in Minneapolis, as President Trump tells the city's mayor he's -- quote -- "playing with fire" if he doesn't help enforce federal immigration law, this after Trump previously suggested the White House was going to de-escalate the situation in Minnesota.

Also today, a big decision facing the Fed, whether to cut interest rates, even at the risk of making inflation worse. We're going to look at what's at stake and how it might impact your wallet.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the Hill defending White House actions in Venezuela and spelling out what comes next in that country.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We begin this afternoon with new developments in Minnesota and an attempted assault against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, a frequent target of President Trump.

Today in Minneapolis, the man is facing charges after Omar was sprayed with an unknown substance. There's video of what happened last night. In response, the congresswoman saying she will not be intimidated. After the attack, though, the president called her a fraud, claiming that she was -- quote -- "probably having herself sprayed."

KEILAR: Meantime, the Trump administration is still doing damage control after the shooting death of Alex Pretti. Officials now say some of the initial statements they put out that

were false came from federal agents who were on the ground. Major questions still remain, including what is on the agents' body cameras. And CNN is now learning that the agents involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave.

That is a new line that we are getting there, placed on administrative leave.

We have CNN's Jeff Zeleny with us.

First, though, Shimon Prokupecz is live in Minneapolis.

Shimon, some new developments there.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, SENIOR CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So, certainly, the investigation here, who is exactly investigating, what is exactly being investigated, that's a big question right now.

Who is going to get that accountability for Alex Pretti family, for the community here, for everything that they have been through? That is a major part of this. We learned new information last night from the Customs and Border Patrol Office of Professional Responsibility.

They are doing an internal investigation, light on details, but significant in what we learned. The question now, though, is, because the Department of Homeland Security has given Homeland Security Investigations, HSI, this investigation, it's not something HSI normally does.

So a lot of questions are being raised over exactly who is running this investigation. So that's one part of it. Certainly, here on the streets of Minneapolis, there is still federal law enforcement. There are still immigration officers out and about doing what they have been doing.

But it does appear that, at least for now, there has been some de- escalation. And part of that Is because we're not seeing Gregory Bovino here running around with his caravan of troops, which was causing all this escalation.

So for now, at least, it appears, while we know that there are still immigration officers here doing what they do, it does appear that there has been some de-escalation. But it's not going to be enough for this community because they at this point want all of these federal officers out of here.

And the other thing is, this is much -- there are laws here that are going to prohibit the things that the president wants, like the cooperation of local law enforcement with immigration detainment and operations.

I spoke to the police chief here, Brian O'Hara, just the other day, and we talked about it. And he said: We are limited by law, by the rules of this city, what we can do.

So they don't exactly know how they're going to overcome the demands from the president.

SANCHEZ: Shimon Prokupecz in Minneapolis, please stand by for us.

We have some news just into CNN. We were talking about the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall just a moment ago. Just into CNN right now, police believe the substance that was sprayed at her by this 55-year-old man was apparently apple cider vinegar. Again, you see the video there.

Omar responding by saying that she will not be intimidated. You see the man being tackled there. He has since been arrested and is facing criminal charges.

[13:05:10]

We have Jeff Zeleny with us.

Jeff, obviously, this just a pattern of tension and frustration and violence in Minnesota, one that has led to calls for the administration to get rid of DHS Chief Kristi Noem. The president so far has been resistant to that.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: He has been resistant.

I mean, we have seen a major rhetorical shift from the White House. There's no doubt about it. The president yesterday when he was traveling to Iowa talked about needing to do a de-escalate. He talked about how Minnesota was essentially a problem for him in the midterm elections possibly.

But the question that is still an open one, as Shimon was saying there. Yes, there's a rhetorical shift, but is there a policy shift? And that is something that -- the public relations crisis that is very real and the political crisis is very real for the White House. It's unclear if there's a policy component to that.

Are they going to send the troops out? It does not look like they are at this moment. But in terms of Kristi Noem, so interesting here, because, in the first term as we covered Donald Trump back in 2016, '17, '18, '19, as you well remember, he fired people all the time. Cabinet members were gone. White House chiefs of staff were gone.

Not in this term. He has not so far dismissed anyone. So, even though he has been slightly displeased with the -- some of the optics and the performance here, there are no signs at all that Kristi Noem is on the chopping block, even though some Republican senators and certainly many Democratic senators have said that she should go.

KEILAR: Let's talk about Stephen Miller because, his rhetoric has changed a lot. He's been under fire for that. He initially was talking about Pretti as a would-be assassin.

And now he is saying that the White House had provided clear guidance to DHS that the extra personnel that had been sent to Minnesota for force protection should be used for conducting fugitive operations to create a physical barrier between the arrest teams and the disrupters. And he's talking about how they may not have been following that protocol.

What's with this shift?

ZELENY: I mean, that was a major shift, because Stephen Miller is someone who has stood on the North Lawn of the White House essentially telling ICE officers that they have total immunity to basically do whatever they want to carry out this policy.

Him doing this shift yesterday is the biggest recognition that he knows that President Trump is not pleased with the optics of this, so, again, trying to point the blame to the officers on the ground. So much for having their back in this respect.

But in the early hours, when it was unclear what was happening, it was unclear what video was coming out, he did not wait at all to call Mr. Pretti a would-be assassin. Even before we knew Alex Pretti's name, even before that was really locked into our consciousness, Stephen Miller didn't wait.

Now he is effectively changing his tune. But, again, this is to deal with the public relations crisis, the political crisis of the White House. Are there any policy changes coming out of Stephen Miller's office? That is very much an open question, because this policy is all his.

This mass sweep of immigrants, undocumented immigrants, is his doing here. So what was a strength for the White House, immigration, is now a huge political liability, so we will see how they work through this. But, again, it's important, I think, to focus on the rhetorical shifts, which we have seen, but are there going to be any policy shifts?

KEILAR: Yes, really throwing CBP under the bus.

ZELENY: Yes.

KEILAR: "The initial statement from DHS was based on reports from CBP on the ground."

He did, though, go on social media not long after that and try to kind of shore up his support for agents there on the ground.

ZELENY: He says he supports ICE agents.

But the reality is, even in that internal CBP report, it does not once say that he was brandishing a gun. And that's what Kristi Noem said. That's what Stephen Miller said.

KEILAR: That is a very important note.

Jeff Zeleny thank you so much.

ZELENY: You're welcome. KEILAR: It's also a pivotal day in Washington, where, at the top of

the next hour, the Fed is going to announce its first interest rate decision of the new year.

The Central Bank cut rates three times late last year, and that helped lower borrowing costs on everything from credit cards to car loans.

SANCHEZ: Of course, today's decision comes at a time of unprecedented political pressure. Remember, earlier this month, the Trump Justice Department launched a criminal investigation into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over a renovation project at Fed headquarters.

We have got CNN's Matt Egan at the Federal Reserve awaiting this decision.

Matt, what is the expectation?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Boris and Brianna, I would be shocked if the Fed cuts rates today. The market is only pricing in about a 3 percent chance of a quarter-point cut today, 97 percent chance that the Fed pauses and keeps rates right where they are after those three straight cuts last year.

In fact, some Fed watchers and economists, they tell me that the Fed may not cut interest rates again before Jerome Powell's term as chair of the Fed expires in May.

Now, of course, this is exactly the opposite of what the White House wants. President Trump has been pounding the table for deep interest rate cuts, cuts that would speed up the economy and make it cheaper for the government to borrow.

[13:10:04]

But economists tell me that it actually makes a lot of sense for the Fed to pause right now. That's for two reasons. One, the unemployment rate appears to have stabilized. And that does take some of the pressure off the Fed from feeling like it needs to come to the rescue of the job market.

But the other part here is inflation. Inflation, it's not nearly as bad as some feared, but it's also stuck well above that 2 percent that the Fed considers healthy. So the Fed is likely to say that they want some more time to see how the economy responds to the interest rate cuts they have already done last year.

Of course, all this comes at a pivotal time in the Fed's 112-year history. We are seeing Fed independence, the idea that the Fed should be free to make decisions without interference from politicians, Fed independence, it's being tested in real time by the White House and at the Supreme Court.

This is the first time that we're hearing from Jerome Powell since he made that extraordinary video statement earlier this month where he revealed the Justice Department is investigating him and the Fed. And Powell, he really struck a defiant tone in that statement. He made clear he doesn't think this is really about his testimony over controversial building renovations here at the Fed.

He said it's really part of this broader campaign by the White House to pressure them to lower interest rates. But if this plays out as expected and the Fed keeps rates steady, it would show that Fed officials are not caving to the pressure from the White House -- back to you guys.

KEILAR: All right, Matt Egan, we will be watching. Thank you so much.

And still to come: On the heels of the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, U.S. Capitol Police now reporting a dangerous surge in threats against members of Congress. We will have details on that.

Plus, serious concerns from doctors and women's rights groups about the Department of Veterans Affairs' new abortion policy.

SANCHEZ: And, later, public health officials in South Carolina scrambling to contain a record-breaking measles outbreak.

That and much more coming your way next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:33]

SANCHEZ: As police are investigating the attack last night on Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the U.S. Capitol Police is revealing a dangerous surge in threats against members of Congress.

In its annual report, the agency says threats against lawmakers increased for a third straight year. Nearly 15,000 cases were investigated in 2025, almost a 58 percent jump from the previous year.

KEILAR: And Capitol Police said in a statement -- quote -- "People continue to have a false sense of anonymity online, which has resulted in more investigations during the past several years. Decreasing violent political rhetoric is one of the best ways to decrease the number of threats across the country."

Let's talk about this now with former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

Andy, why do you think that we're seeing this nearly 60 percent spike in one year?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I think it's what you just referred to in that quote from the Capitol Police.

The rhetoric in this country around politics gets more toxic, more confrontational, more aggressive every single day. What was remarkable two, three, four years ago now is just commonplace. And so, look, we have another example of it today.

So, when the president of the United States goes out and calls two sitting senators losers, that has an effect on his -- the people who support him, the people who follow him, who read all of his posts and believe and act upon the things that he says.

Could that lead to threats against those two senators? It certainly could, but the cumulative effect of this sort of rhetoric is what gets us to the point where citizens feel like they are empowered to now actually threaten and take action against public figures. And that is particularly dangerous.

SANCHEZ: And how do you view what Capitol Police describe as this false sense of anonymity that people have online as exacerbating the situation?

MCCABE: Yes, so there is -- I think that's another great kind of point that they have made there, people think -- there's that kind of keyboard courage, right?

People get irate about something they see on the news and they jump on the keyboard and they figure, through the Internet, I can say whatever I want, just like I do on social media, just like I do 100 times a day, and they fire off some aggressive threatening comment to a public official.

Well, those things, you can be found from doing that, like, unless you're particularly careful and adept at covering your tracks in a cybersecurity sort of way. The Capitol Police looks into all these threats. They have to. They can't take a chance that one out of 1,000 is actually a real thing and that somebody might be in danger.

So, yes, so these are -- these all spark investigations, and many of those investigations can wind up right on the front door of the person who in a fit of pique fired off some intemperate language towards a public official.

KEILAR: You also have politicians, Andy, who are modeling certain kinds of rhetoric.

And, I mean, look, there's freedom of speech. There is room for criticism in this country. There should be criticism. Where is that line? And how should politicians be viewing their responsibility to not cross it?

MCCABE: You know, this is really not that hard to navigate.

For decades, centuries, really, in this country, we have had -- we have had strong political beliefs by politicians and citizens alike. And -- but people moderated the things that they said in public. So you can have -- mount your most complete and vigorous argument against a policy.

[13:20:20]

But then, when you start to vilify the person who supports that policy, that's -- you have crossed the line and turning something that's free and productive political discourse and turned it into targeting an individual, othering an individual, reducing their -- the perception of their decency and their ability to live a free and unharmed life. And that's the kind of rhetoric that people, particularly people who

are -- who are prone to be extreme in their beliefs or who are unstable or who are drawn to violence for whatever reason, that's when you go from policy discussions to, like, somebody's actually getting targeted or their family is, or someone's going to show up on their front door and put everybody at risk.

So it's not hard. You just have to use common sense and some decency and comportment.

SANCHEZ: That seems tough to do for a lot of folks these days.

Andy, before we go, we don't know yet at this point specifically what motivated this 55-year-old man to launch this attack against Congresswoman Ilhan Omar yesterday. Investigators are still working to piece all that together.

But we did get one detail in the last few minutes that I wanted to ask you about and get your thoughts on. Apparently, it was apple cider vinegar that was sprayed at her. What does that tell you about what this person was attempting to achieve?

MCCABE: You know, it's a really mixed bag, Boris. It's hard to say because we don't have much information about his background or what motivated him. He certainly hasn't made any statements to that effect. But, I mean, it's clearly not a substance that is going to cause great injury.

So it may have been an effort to kind of -- it may be -- and we're speculating here -- that he just wanted to scare her, he wanted to terrorize her, for whatever reason, to force her to be more restrained in her own comments, to maybe get her to kind of keep her mouth shut, and not stand up there in front of her supporters in the way that she was doing, but he wanted to do it in a way that would not lead to more serious charges that likely would have happened had he used a viable weapon of some sort.

So it looks like a little bit of a mixed bag on the part of this offender. So we just need to learn more from what they what they learn about him.

SANCHEZ: And, to that point, as you were speaking, Andy, CNN confirmed that Capitol Police are now weighing possible federal charges in this attack on Ilhan Omar. We will see where that investigation leads.

Andrew McCabe, thanks so much for the time.

MCCABE: Thanks.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead on CNN: What is the plan for Venezuela? Secretary of State Marco Rubio grilled on Capitol Hill about the operation that ousted Nicolas Maduro. And the White House has kind of detailed what they're envisioning for the country moving forward.

KEILAR: Also, Senate Republicans weigh whether to side with Democrats on withholding Homeland Security funding. At stake is a possible government shutdown just days away.

We will have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:28:01]

KEILAR: Secretary of State Marco Rubio just wrapped up testifying in public for the first time since American forces captured Nicolas Maduro from his Venezuelan compound 25 days ago.

The secretary defending not informing congressional leaders about the operation. He outlined the administration's plans for Venezuela moving forward, while also touching on Greenland and Iran.

SANCHEZ: In Rubio's written statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he also said that the Trump administration is -- quote -- "prepared to use force to ensure maximum cooperation if other methods fail in Venezuela."

Rubio also faced questions about what exactly the U.S. is doing with the country's oil.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Right. So, it's been reported that the oil sold for $500 million, that $300 million went to Venezuelan government. What happened to the other $200 million?

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: It's still sitting in the account, is my understanding at this time.

SHAHEEN: The account in Qatar?

RUBIO: Well, the account, yes, but that will ultimately be trans -- that's a short-term account. Ultimately, it will be a U.S. Treasury- blocked account in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN national security correspondent Kylie Atwood has the latest.

And, Kylie, the secretary spoke at length about auditing how this oil money is used.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they don't have an auditing system that's set up yet. He said that that's in the works. We will listen to that in a minute.

But, importantly, this is the first time he's really putting meat on the bones in terms of how this mechanism that the U.S. is setting up for controlling Venezuela's oil is actually going to work when it comes to putting those revenues to use, saying that the Venezuelan interim government is going to have to come to the United States with budget requests that then the United States will sign off on, and that those payments will then go towards paying government payroll

So, effectively, paying teachers, paying sanitation workers, paying police in the country. He also said that the office -- that the interim government has committed to buying from the United States medicine and equipment. So we will have to watch and see what those purchases look like.

But here's what he said about that question of auditing, Boris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAHEEN: And will it also be audited?

RUBIO: Correct.

Well, the audit will be on the expenditures. At the front end, we will tell them, this is what the money can be spent on. Again, I'm not talking about all the other revenues the Venezuelan government may have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)