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Interview with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY): Looking for Bold, Transformative Changes to DHS; Interview with Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN): Democrats Demand ICE Changes Amid Government Shutdown Fight; FBI Seizes 700 Boxes of Ballots in Fulton County, Georgia Fraud Investigation; Elon Musk Betting Tesla's Future on Humanoid Robots. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 29, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening now, senators on Capitol Hill say they're on the brink of striking a deal to avoid another partial government shutdown. Right now, though, there is one final sticking point.

CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill and is with us now on this. All right, Lauren, Democrats are refusing to fund DHS without some significant reforms on ICE and immigration enforcement. Where do things stand right now?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, and just behind me, actually, Leader Jeffrey, the Democratic leader in the House, is just wrapping up an interview. And, obviously, we want to ask him exactly what the state of play is. Leader Jeffrey, do you have a second for CNN? Thank you.

Basically, right now, one of the sticking points is how long is this short-term CR going to be for the Department of Homeland Security? Your Democratic colleagues in the Senate say two weeks or less.

Are you with them on that? And why is that so critical in this moment?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Well, we'll have to evaluate the totality of the package that emerges from the Senate. I think the most important thing right now is to separate out the five bills that are bipartisan to avoid those departments, which are critical, from shutting down. That includes protecting the health, the safety, and the well-being of the American people.

At the same period of time, we've got to see if progress is really being made that's meaningful in dramatically reforming the way in which the Department of Homeland Security conducts itself. And if there's no agreement in the immediate term, what is the path to getting to an agreement that's bold and transformative?

FOX: Are you happy with what Senate Democrats put forward yesterday as their list of potential proposals for reforms for DHS? Is that robust enough for Democrats in the House?

JEFFRIES: Well, the overarching objectives that Senate Democrats are trying to achieve, we share.

[15:35:00]

We've got to make sure that DHS conducts itself like every other law enforcement agency in the country, that the masks come off, that there are body cameras, that there are judicial warrants required before ICE can storm homes or rip people violently out of their cars. That's all unacceptable behavior.

There should be an explicit prohibition on the detention and deportation of American citizens. That's common sense. So, the overarching themes of what Senate Democrats are trying to achieve, we all share, but we'll evaluate the particulars when they come together.

FOX: Have you talked to the Speaker of the House on when or if the House is going to come back before Monday?

JEFFRIES: I talked to Speaker Johnson yesterday as it relates to the substance of the issues that we're dealing with in terms of timing. That's going to be his decision.

FOX: What did Speaker Johnson tell you about the substance of those issues?

JEFFRIES: Well, you know, to date, we've agreed to disagree strongly, but there's some indication that the Trump administration recognizes that they've got to change course. We'll see whether our colleagues in the House Republican Conference share that view.

FOX: Thank you so much for your time.

JEFFRIES: Thank you.

FOX: Appreciate it. And you heard there from Leader Jeffries that he is in communication with the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, right now. It's really unclear, Brianna, even if the Senate can move forward with some package in an expedited fashion, if they're going to be able to hit that deadline by tomorrow at midnight. Of course, any changes they make to this bill mean the House of Representatives has to come back to Washington. They're currently on recess, and there's really not a clear path right now for finishing all of that up before tomorrow at midnight.

So even if the Senate can get some kind of negotiation through, the reality is there could be sort of a short-term lapse in DHS funding through the weekend into Monday. That all is very much unclear at this point.

KEILAR: Lauren Fox, thank you for that interview and for the very latest there from Capitol Hill -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Let's get some perspective from the other chamber now. Joining us is Democratic Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota. Senator, thank you so much for being with us.

The final sticking point here in the government funding negotiations is how long to extend DHS funding to give lawmakers time to cut a deal on ICE practices. You're arguing that this should be days, not the six weeks the administration wants. You heard Leader Jeffries there saying that this is essentially awaiting whatever comes out of the Senate and an evaluation of the agreement that's in place.

Why specifically are you seeking just days in this extension and not weeks?

SEN. TINA SMITH (D-MN): Well, so first, the most important thing is it seems that the Republicans and the president have come to understand that the only path forward is to break the Department of Homeland Security bill away from the other five bills that have broad bipartisan support. The next thing is to come to an agreement on these basic common sense fixes that will at least stop the worst of the abuses that we're seeing in Minnesota and around the country. So, in my mind, it should be days and not weeks for a few reasons.

One, there is real harm that is unfolding in Minnesota as we speak. Nothing has changed on the ground, even though President Trump has sent Homan to Minnesota. Second of all, I have seen these negotiations unfold in the Senate before, and in my experience, longer does not mean better.

Longer often means that things drag on, that nothing really changes, and you get bogged down. So I think momentum is on the side of getting real improvements to how Homeland Security is operating, and we should seize that momentum.

SANCHEZ: There is also the question of enforceability, Senator, because, as we just heard there from Leader Jeffries, he's in agreement with things like federal agents being prohibited from wearing masks, from having the requirement of having judicial warrants before some of these detentions are made, prohibiting unlimited detentions, as well as agents wearing body cameras. We already had in place rules regarding body cameras, for example, and yet we saw federal agents chafe against those rules, and it wasn't until there was court action that that was actually changed. I wonder, even if some of these things are put into place, what faith you have that the agents on the ground in places like Minneapolis will actually follow these rules.

SMITH: Yes, well, I mean, you raise a really important point. So the first is, of course, Homeland Security and these agents on the ground have lost all trust, not only in Minnesota, but I think around the country. I still continue to believe that if you put the full force of Congress and the president signs into law new restraints, new restrictions that would basically require these agents to stop roaming the streets of American cities with no accountability, that that's going to have some impact.

But, you know, the other thing you raise, which is really important, is that the courts are standing up and saying that the actions that ICE is taking in Minnesota is completely illegal. And, in fact, just yesterday saying you need to bring back to Minnesota those folks that you illegally detained and shipped off to Texas. So this has got to be a combined effort, not just one solution to this massive problem and emergency that is unfolding in Minnesota.

[15:40:00]

SANCHEZ: On some of the comments made by Borders Czar Tom Homan this morning, you told our Manu Raju that he was conciliatory, but that you wanted more details. As he says, the administration is working on this drawdown plan of removing federal troops from Minnesota. How many ICE or CBP agents do you think should remain in your state?

SMITH: Well, I want ICE out of Minnesota. It is so clear to me that their presence on the streets of my state is making -- are making people less safe, not more safe. And it's really important for Americans and Minnesotans to understand that Minnesota law enforcement and our prison system, our county jails cooperate with federal officials all the time.

If we have somebody who is in the country illegally and they have committed a crime, it is standard practice to hold that -- to hand that individual over to federal immigration authorities when they are released from prison. But what is happening in Minnesota is completely separate from that. And so we want to have a good working relationship with federal law enforcement.

We historically have, but the damage that's been done to that relationship by these ICE agents arresting and detaining even U.S. citizens for no cause has really done a great damage to that relationship.

SANCHEZ: The picture that you're painting of this cooperation between local officials and federal ones, very different from what we've heard from Tom Homan, supporters of the crackdown. They say that, for example, the separation ordinance in Minneapolis is partly to blame for all of this because state and local officials could have done more to cooperate with the feds to take down criminals. Do you think the local approach could have been different?

SMITH: I have no criticism at all of the local approach. And I would just point out a few things that I think are super important here. One is that when these ICE agents go into communities and are conducting these raids, these random dragnet raids, they do not communicate at all with local law enforcement.

So it's only -- the police departments only find out about what's happening when somebody dials 911 because they see something terrible happening on the street. And then I would just also add that it is not the job of Minneapolis police departments to do immigration enforcement. The job of Minneapolis police department is to crack down on crime, prevent crime, keep people safe in the city.

And I think, you know, at best, the idea that we would be using our law enforcement to do the job of immigration enforcement just, I mean, that doesn't make any sense at all to us.

SANCHEZ: Are you in favor, Senator, of abolishing ICE?

SMITH: I think that what we need to do is to start over with ICE. I think that, of course, we need customs and border enforcement, but this agency has become so corrupted. We need to tear it down to the studs, and we need to start over.

And, you know, this agency has been in place for about 22 years. There is clearly something that has gone terribly awry with it. It is awash in funding.

It is categorically denying people's civil rights and constitutional rights. And I think it should be torn down to the studs, and we need to start over.

SANCHEZ: And lastly, Senator, before we go, your fellow Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar jumped in the race for governor. Are you endorsing her?

SMITH: Absolutely. I strongly support Senator Klobuchar. She is doing what I think is absolutely best for the state of Minnesota, and there is nobody in political life who knows Minnesota better than Senator Klobuchar.

I think she'll be an outstanding governor.

SANCHEZ: Senator Tina Smith, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate you sharing your perspective.

SMITH: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead, we have new details surrounding an FBI raid at an election office in Fulton County, Georgia. We'll be right back.

[15:45:00]

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KEILAR: Fulton County, Georgia officials say they will stand their ground by any means necessary against what they call an attempt by the Trump administration to undermine the upcoming midterm elections. Yesterday, the FBI raided the county's elections operations hub outside Atlanta. Local officials say they seized 700 boxes containing voter ballots from the 2020 election.

The raid is part of a DOJ investigation into alleged voter fraud.

SANCHEZ: An FBI spokesperson on scene told CNN the materials would be taken to the department's Central Records Complex in Virginia. County officials say they are ready to fight and will not back down.

Let's discuss legal strategy and the fight Fulton County is facing with former federal prosecutor Berit Berger. Barrett, thanks so much for being with us. What's your reaction to this, and what recourse do local officials have?

BERIT BERGER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, my first reaction is this really does seem like an escalation in the administration's efforts to prove a claim that President Trump has made for years that the 2020 election is rigged. Their efforts started with civil suits. They had sued Fulton County to give them these ballots, to give them other records, and they hadn't had much luck.

They hadn't gotten the records. The Fulton County officials were fighting them in court. And so now you have them proceeding with a criminal action, getting a federal magistrate judge to sign a search warrant authorizing them to seize these ballots.

This is a real escalation and really follows this through line of the president's message that this, you know, election was rigged and following on statements that he had made just last week, promising that people were going to be prosecuted for those efforts.

So as to the second part of your question, what recourse does Fulton County have? I mean, they can certainly challenge the legitimacy of the search warrant in court. They could go back to the magistrate judge and say, you know, we think the bases by which they got the search warrant are improper. But that's a pretty high hurdle to clear at this point.

KEILAR: I'm so glad you mentioned that, that DOJ has sued Fulton County officials to try to force them to hand over the records from the 2020 election because the judge hasn't ruled in that case yet.

[15:50:00]

And I wonder, do you see this as sort of this action as sort of an end run around that civil suit? Would it be more normal for them to let that play out?

BERGER: Well, the civil suit will probably be put on hold right now because the federal government has gotten what they wanted. I mean, look, to some extent, it seems to me that this was a way of getting what they wanted faster. A search warrant is certainly a quicker, more expeditious route to getting the information you wanted than a civil suit where a judge could sit on that motion, you know, for months.

The real issue, though, is there had to be something to convince this magistrate judge that there was probable cause that a crime had occurred and that there would be evidence of this crime in the location. It probably has to be some sort of new evidence because, as we know, this issue has been reviewed. I mean, we have former AG Bill Barr, who came out in 2020 and said there were no irregularities.

There was no issue. This issue has been audited. We've had intelligence agencies look into this, and no one has found anything.

So there must have been some sort of new evidence, new information that they were able to put before this magistrate judge to convince her that there was probable cause.

SANCHEZ: It was notable that Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, was on the scene. What did you make of that?

BERGER: It is notice -- it is notable. Usually non law enforcement personnel are not involved in the execution of a search warrant. I mean, this is an FBI action.

FBI were the ones leading it. So seeing the director of national intelligence there is surprising. It's not a figure that usually is associated with a law enforcement search like this.

Similarly, you know, to the extent that she does have a legitimate interest in preserving the integrity of our elections, one would imagine that that has to do more with elections happening in the future or in the present time, as opposed to past incidents looking back in 2020. But I'm not really sure why she was there or what we can actually read into her presence.

KEILAR: All right, Berit Berger, thank you so much for your insight. Appreciate it.

Still ahead, Elon Musk is betting the Tesla's future won't depend on cars. We're going to explain why the auto company is staking its future on something completely different.

[15:55:00]

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SANCHEZ: So Elon Musk's new business venture looks more like a character from a sci fi movie. The billionaire says that he's steering Tesla away from cars to focus on this humanoid robots. Musk first revealed this project back in 2021.

He now says his optimist robots can sort objects, dance, even serve popcorn.

KEILAR: I've seen this movie. It was called Mitchell's versus the machines. It was pretty good.

Didn't didn't go according to plan. I will say that. So Musk is predicting the company's humanoid robots could eventually generate $10 trillion of revenue.

We have CNN's Hadas Gold joining us now. Hadas, Musk says the robot will be available for sale by the end of the year. So how does this shift affect the Tesla vehicles?

And can we avoid like a robot apocalypse?

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gosh, that's a really great question. I mean, for some time, Musk has claimed that we should stop thinking about Tesla as a car company, even though most of what it does lately is make and sell cars. And he wants people to think of Tesla as an AI and robotics company. But now what he's announced last night on Tesla's earnings call is the first time we're really seeing that come into reality. Because he announced that Tesla is actually discontinuing two of its models, the Model X and the Model S, turning that factory space in California into an optimist, into this humanoid robot factory, where he says that factory will eventually make one million of these robots per year. I should note right now, we don't know exactly how many optimist

robots they're putting together every year, but it's more likely in the thousands, nowhere close to the millions. Now, Elon Musk has really grand futuristic visions for what optimists will eventually do.

He says that it will work in a factory. It will clean your house. He's even said that robots like these will eventually perform surgery.

He's even said that these robots are the key to eliminating poverty and making work optional. He also says it will eventually make up about 80 percent of Tesla's value. So completely flipping the head of Tesla as a car company to Tesla as a robot company.

Now, as you noted, he has said it will be up for sale at the end of next year. But Elon Musk in history has made a lot of grand pronouncements about timelines that still have not come to fruition. He said we would be at Mars by now. That hasn't happened.

And not everyone believes in Musk's utopian vision for what the humanoid robotics industry will look like. I've spoken to a raft of experts who say humanoid robots are immensely complicated. They have something like 50 individual motors. And there's a lot of competition in this space.

One expert I spoke to said it's harder to get a robot to tie a shoe than to send a rocket to space.

But one thing that we should keep in mind is that actually these robots are a key part of Elon Musk's massive $1 trillion pay package that Tesla shareholders approved last year. If one of the requirements to get to that $1 trillion mark is that he needs to produce one million of these robots within the next 10 years -- Guys.

KEILAR: All right. Hadas, thank you so much for that. I will say those kind of scare me a little bit.

SANCHEZ: Not creepy at all.

KEILAR: Those robots. No, I don't. I mean, if it would help me do laundry or tie little shoes. Yes, I'm about it. But you said it's not going to do that. So unfortunately.

We're also tracking probably the most important story of the day, which is a koala named Kevin, who was rescued from raging wildfires in the Australian state of Victoria. Record temperatures, fueling blazes in the country. And then farmers saw the little guy.

They saw Kevin struggling and they hurried him to safety.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we're fortunate that he's OK. After he was fed and hydrated, a vet gave the OK for him to return to the wild, unhurt, heading back home. You see him there taking in the breeze.

[16:00:00] Local authorities warn that thousands of native animals are at risk as fires continue to burn in the area. Hopefully they get them all under control. You see Kevin there headed for a koala party late in the night. Have a good time.

Thanks so much for joining us. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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