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Trump's Obsession with 2020 Election; Former CNN Anchor Taken into Custody; Brian Boitano is Interviewed about Vonn's Fall. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 30, 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]

MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, "AXIOS": May need to reset its actions.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Jackie Kucinich, Margaret Talev, thank you both so much for being with us this morning with so much going on.

President Trump has weighed in after the FBI raided a Georgia elections hub and seized hundreds of boxes of ballots.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Just a short time ago, the county commissioner for Fulton County, Georgia, told me they are going to challenge the FBI's seizure of the ballots from that county from the 2020 election. President Trump continues to claim the election he lost there was stolen.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here.

[09:35:02]

So, President Trump lost in Georgia, lost the 2020 election, which is still the case. What do the voters say about that election at this point?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You know, sometimes a title slide just says it all. Trump's obsession, obsession with an election that was over five years ago that he lost and then he won in 2024. He just can't let it go. But the American people do not believe Donald Trump on this one.

How did Biden win in 2020? Fair and square or voter fraud? Fair and square, of course, is the key, correct answer here. No real proof of voter fraud. You go back to 2020 after that election, what you see, you see three in five Americans say that Biden won fair and square. Despite years of Trump making the argument that it was voter fraud, by 2024, look at that, it was that same three in five Americans. They, simply put, did not move. Donald Trump has made the case, and the American people do not buy the case that Donald Trump has been making, no matter how obsessive he is about it.

BERMAN: What about Republicans?

ENTEN: OK. So, you know, if you go to the Republican base, this is where you get a very interesting sort of breakdown, right? OK. Say -- GOP who say that Biden's 2020 win was illegitimate. And I want you to break it down by 2024 primary choice, OK? Ninety percent of those who backed Donald Trump in that primary believe that Biden's win was illegitimate. It actually supercharged. It's supercharged Donald Trump's ability to re-win the Republican nomination in 2024. But if you look at the others, those who are backing other candidates, it was just 47 percent, right?

Now, of course, the majority of Republicans voted for Donald Trump. And what you see is 69 percent of Republicans, in fact, believe that Biden's win was illegitimate. But there is this break within the Republican base. It is something that, in fact, unites Democrats, not something that unites Republicans, the question of Biden's 2020 win.

BERMAN: You see the 70 percent number, Harry, and you're like, oh, that's a lot of Republicans. Actually, 70 is a bad number for Donald Trump within the Republican Party.

ENTEN: It's a bad number.

BERMAN: He does much better with -- on most other issues with them.

ENTEN: His approval is about 90 percent right now, and he only gets 70 percent or a little bit less there in poll after poll.

BERMAN: All right, right now we're talking about Georgia. What do people in Georgia, where this is actually taking place, think about this?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, this, I think, again is so important, John, which is, this is not a winner for Republicans. It's not a winner. And you go to Georgia, you know, you go to the last midterm election, right? 2022, Georgia voters say Biden's win was legit or illegitimate, 58 percent. Again, you're getting that three in five, right, who say that the win was legitimate. Democrats are begging, begging for the 2026 election to be about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

And more than that, John, when we look ahead, we look ahead to the 2026 election. We were talking about this in the break, right? This is a surprising number. Chance to win the 2026 Georgia Senate race. Jon Ossoff, the Democrats, 80 percent chance according to the prediction markets. Republicans just a 20 percent chance.

Every moment that Donald Trump talks about the 2020 election is a chance for Jon Ossoff to boost his probability of winning. He would absolutely love for Donald Trump to continue on with his diatribe, his obsession, one that the American people do not believe and Georgia voters don't believe either.

BERMAN: An interesting perspective on that.

Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: There is a lot of news breaking this morning. A lot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:39]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news this morning, two journalists, including former CNN anchor Don Lemon, taken into custody by federal agents in connection, the Justice Department says, with this protest by dozens of anti-ICE protesters inside a church in Saint Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month. Lemon says he was not part of the group. He was there as an independent journalist covering the protests. The attorney general, Pam Bondi, she put out a statement on Twitter moments ago. "At my direction early this morning, federal agents arrested Don Lemon, Trahern Jean Crews, Georgia Fort, and Jamael Lydell Lundy, in connection with the coordinate attack on Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota."

CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, is with us now.

Brian, I understand you're getting some new information.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, that's right. Look, Bondi calls it an attack. The protesters say it was First Amendment protected right to protest, and what these journalists have said was their right to report. This is going to be a serious clash in the courts given the First Amendment stakes here.

We've heard from Don Lemon's attorney this morning, and also from Georgia Fort, the other journalist who says she was arrested. She started filming on Facebook Live when the federal agents showed up and she said, quote, "federal agents are at my door arresting me for filming the church protest."

We're also hearing from press freedom groups condemning these arrests. Here's what Seth Stern, chief of advocacy of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, says, quote, "these arrests under bogus legal theories for obviously constitutionally protected reporting are clear warning shots aimed at other journalists. The unmistakable message is that journalists must tread cautiously because the government is looking for any way to target them." Seth Stern saying here, "the answer to this outrageous attack is not fear, it's not self-censorship. It's an even stronger commitment to journalism, the truth and the First Amendment."

We've also heard from the Committee to Protect Journalists, which usually advocates for journalists who are in jail in other countries, who are endangered in autocratic regimes. Here's what the Committee to Protect Journalists says this morning. They say the arrest of Don Lemon should, quote, "alarm all Americans. Instead of addressing the role of federal immigration agents and the killings of two American citizens, the administration is devoting its resources to arresting journalists. As an international organization, we know that the treatment of journalists is an indicator of the condition of a country's democracy. And right now, the United States is doing poorly."

So, we're hearing a lot from press freedom groups this morning. So far we have not heard the specific charges against Fort or Lemon.

BERMAN: Obviously, that will be very, very important. Much more to come.

[09:45:02]

I will just point out, again, the first words from that tweet from Attorney General Pam Bondi, very telling. "At my direction" from the attorney general of the United States.

Brian, thank you so much. Much more on this ahead.

Also, one of the world's fastest women arrested for speeding. Sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson's brush with the law.

And Lindsey Vonn, this morning, just crashed in her final downhill race before the Winter Olympics. What this now means for her attempted comeback.

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BERMAN: New this morning, how long you live likely has more to do with your genetics than lifestyle habits. That's according to a major new study. Researchers say that while 55 percent of your lifespan is baked into your genes, the remaining 45 percent up in the air.

[09:50:05]

They add, if you're genetically predisposed to live to 80, healthy habits alone may not get you to 100.

Olympic gold medalist Sha'Carri Richardson arrested and charged with speeding in Florida. Authorities say Richardson was driving more than 100 miles per hour while, quote, "dangerously tailgating" and traveling across lanes of travel to pass other motorists. She was arrested last July for allegedly assaulting her boyfriend at the Seattle Airport.

Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles may be a step closer to reclaiming her bronze medal from the 2024 Paris games. Switzerland's supreme court granted her appeal of the decision stripping her of the floor exercise medal. It was awarded to a Romanian gymnast because a lower court ruled Chiles coach failed to appeal her score within the allotted time.

So, new this morning, just a few hours ago, skier Lindsey Vonn injured in her final downhill race before the Winter Olympics, which begin next week. She crashed, you can see there. She limped to a medical tent, then was airlifted to a hospital. Of course, she has been engaged in what is really one of the great comebacks in Olympic history. With us now, Brian Boitano, Olympic gold medal figure skater and host

of the new Olympics podcast with Christine Brennan, also an old friend of mine.

Great to see you again, Brian. Thanks so much for coming on.

You know, one gold medalist watching another gold medalist, Lindsey Vonn, fall like that, you know, just weeks before the Olympics, what went through your head?

BRIAN BOITANO, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST FIGURE SKATER: It's really tough. I mean, I know because I tried to make a comeback as well six years after I won gold. And she's been doing so well. I mean, her story is so impressive.

I had talked to her a little bit about her partial knee replacement that she had. It was in her right knee. And she was feeling so good and so healthy. And it's just been -- it's been a great roller coaster for her. It's been just going in such a great direction. And now to have this, you know, it's -- it'll be important that she's not injured. That this was just a moment that happened and then she can pursue the Olympics.

BERMAN: Yes, we're waiting for an update. And her first race wouldn't be for two weeks. So we're all just hoping that the air lift off the mountain and that the little limp that, you know, she'll get over it. It was all just precautionary. But it's just impossible to know.

You mentioned, you know, you won the gold in '88 in Calgary. And then basically made a comeback or an attempted comeback -- well, you did in 1994 in Lillihamer. Well, you came in sixth, which is pretty good, right?

BOITANO: Yes. Yes.

BERMAN: But how hard is it to sort of be away from that competition and then get back in it at that level?

BOITANO: For her to come back is so extraordinary because what happens is you take this break -- and, actually, I was still competing as a professional, but it's still not like the high intensity of going into the Olympics and representing your country in the Olympics. The pressure of an Olympic event is so intense that you take a break for those six years, and you sort of don't forget what the feeling was like, but you sort of ease into the new life that you have. And so, when you come back into the Olympics, the pressure is intense and the stress on your body and all the training, especially for her at, you know, 41 years old, it's just amazing what she's been able to do and such an inspirational story.

BERMAN: What's it like if you are a little injured to compete knowing that the body's not perfect?

BOITANO: You know, it's tough because I actually did have an injury in '94 when I was competing that I didn't want to talk about because I was in a judged sport and I didn't want them to be looking for the injury.

For her, it's just, you know, I was thinking about that when I was seeing her fall today, that it sometimes gets in your head. I mean, she's a very aggressive skier, and she's so confident in what she's doing, and she has so much time and experience behind her, I don't think it could overtake her. But there's definitely a little sliver of something that gets into your head. And you remember that fall. And it's going to be the last time that she's on a slope before the Olympics.

BERMAN: You've got a great new podcast with Christine Brennan leading up to the Olympics in just a couple weeks. I was at the 2006 Olympic games with both of you in Turin covering them, which was a highlight of my life.

BOITANO: Yes.

BERMAN: But I have to admit, there's been so much news going on that I haven't been as focused on the figure skating competition as I normally am headed in. What are the big story lines you're following on the podcast?

BOITANO: Wow, John, we have probably the most talented Olympic team in history of figure skating. We have three world champions from last year going into the Olympics. We have never had that as Americans. Ice dance, ladies and men. So, Ilia Malinin, who is the quad god, is setting technical -- the technical bar in figure skating so high. It's higher than we've ever seen in our sport. He does everything that I did as a triple in the Olympics, he does as a quadruple.

[09:55:05]

All six different triple jumps that I did, he does as a quadruple. He is probably the most favorite person to win a gold medal in the history of figure skating.

We also have two, Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu. Alysa Liu, world champion from last year. They both have a great chance for Olympic medals. And then Chock and Bates, our ice dance team, they could be the second Olympic gold medalists since Meryl Davis and Charlie White.

So, we have just a stacked, incredible team. And even the people underneath them are great. We have a great men's team, great, great women. It's just, you know, we're stacked.

BERMAN: Getting me excited. Sounds great. And I know I will be listening to your podcast with Christine Brennan leading up to and through the Olympic games to understand what I'm looking at so I can tell the difference between an axle and a salchow.

Brian Boitano, great to see you, as always. Thank you so much.

And thank you all for joining us. It has been a busy morning. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" up next.

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