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CDC Vaccine Advisory Committee Meeting Canceled For Next Week; Interview with Tom Homan, White House Border Czar: Trump Administration To Use Homan's ICE Playbook in Minnesota Nationwide; Police Still Searching Ex-Prince Andrew's Former Home In Berkshire. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 20, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Going to come next from them, where do you think this is going as this committee was -- all of these members on this committee have been handpicked by the Health and Human Services Secretary?

DR. RICHARD BESSER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION: Yes, you know, I heard an interview with the head of the committee, Dr. Milhoan, and his perspective is that vaccines should all be about personal choice. And yes, you know, parents have a role to play and have the final decision as to whether a child gets a vaccine. But it's the responsibility of the CDC to make recommendations.

I'd look to the CDC when I was a practicing pediatrician to tell me what's the best thing that I should be doing for my patients. What I'm saying now is you can no longer look to the CDC for this information. You have to look to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

I'm a member of that organization and other medical societies who are looking at the evidence, putting it forward. But what I think the long game is, is that this committee wants there to no longer be vaccine requirements for children going to school. And as a parent, as a member of a community, to me, that's absolutely frightening, because I wouldn't want to send my child to a classroom where they might be sitting next to children who are unvaccinated and potentially get a disease that is preventable.

You know, they're children for whom the vaccine doesn't provide protection. No vaccine's 100 percent. They're children with medical conditions where the vaccine doesn't work, where they can't get it.

And part of being in a community is doing things for each other as well as for ourselves. And that, I think, is the long game. Instilling fear and mistrust in vaccines.

They say they're all about safety and not about effectiveness as well. Vaccines go through so many trials to look at safety, and it's important that people have that information. But parents need to know why vaccines are being given and how it can protect their families.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Richard Besser, thank you for coming in this morning. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A shift coming in the administration's immigration policy. One insider tells CNN no more Bovino bull spit, but he didn't say spit. That show is shut down, he says.

The biggest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East in decades. With so many assets there, is the president destined to use them? New reporting on when and if he might take action.

And new searches at a residence connected to the former Prince Andrew, he has been released from custody. What happens for him next?

I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We have some new CNN reporting this morning on what's coming next in President Trump's immigration crackdown following the controversial operation in Minnesota that led to massive protests there, thousands of arrests, and the shooting deaths of two U.S. citizens. Current and former Homeland Security officials tell CNN that the administration plans to take Border Czar Tom Homan's playbook in Minneapolis nationwide by doubling down on targeted immigration enforcement. That marks a change, a significant departure from the swarm of highly visible and aggressive tactics used by top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino, who was sidelined after President Trump dispatched Homan to Minneapolis.

Homan has now declared an end to the immigration enforcement surge there. And Trump Border Czar Tom Homan is joining me right now. Thank you so much for being here, sir. Let's start with this.

Look, I have spoken to and been in Minneapolis for a very long time through this surge. I've spoken to the mayor. I've spoken to many, many community members and community leaders, and you have called this a great success.

That is not how they see it. Why do you say that it was a great success, what happened and what is happening in Minneapolis?

TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: I never expected the politicians to call it a great success, to give President Trump a win. But bottom line, the streets of Minneapolis, the streets of Minnesota are safe because we are working with an unprecedented number of sheriffs in the state that will call us before they release a public safety threat to the street. That's safer for the community, safer for the agents, safer for the alien.

We have great relationships with the state, the honor detainers for anybody out of the state prison system. And even in Minneapolis, Mayor Frey, we won't agree on much, but Minneapolis PD was actually responding after I met with the mayor to take down the illegal roadblocks put up by agitators. And all the law enforcement, every chief of police I met, every sheriff I met promised to respond to public safety issues when ICE is out to do an operation, they get surrounded by agitators and things get out of control. [08:05:00]

They all committed to responding. And after I met with them, that's exactly what they did. And they continue to do.

SIDNER: All right, let me ask you about the status of the drawdown in Minneapolis. Where are we? How many officers have left? How many are still there? And how long will they stay?

HOMAN: You know, I haven't seen the numbers. They were probably down, you know, 2,000. My plan is get back to the regular footprint, which is 150.

SIDNER: When will that happen?

HOMAN: But with a couple of caveats, number one, we do have a small team of security forces to back up ICE agents in case things get out of hand. And if law enforcement continues to respond like they've committed to, then we'll pull that small force out. But the investigators that are there for the fraud investigations, they'll remain until the investigations are over.

But as far as the immigration surge, it's over. And we should be back to regular footprint within a week.

SIDNER: All right, two ICE agents said under oath that they were attacked with a shovel and broom by Venezuelan immigrants as they tried to detain one of them. And that is why they opened fire and shot one of them in the leg.

One of the immigrants said he was shot after he closed the door as he was trying to go into a home. But now we have a statement from Todd Lyons saying a joint review by ICE and the Department of Justice of video evidence has revealed in sworn testimony provided by two separate officers appears to have made untruthful statements. What should happen to agents if they lie about what they have done under oath?

HOMAN: Well, first of all, they'd be investigated by Internal Affairs and held accountable for anything they did outside of policy. But I talked to the U.S. attorney personally on this. They're being investigated and they may be charged with a crime if the evidence shows that they lied under oath and made up this whole incident.

They'll be held accountable. I know the U.S. attorney. I talked to U.S. attorney and they're all over this.

SIDNER: You think they should be fired and charged with a crime if indeed they lie?

HOMAN: If they committed a crime, then they need to be held accountable.

SIDNER: So then I have to ask you, in November 2025, a federal judge found that U.S. Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino, quote, "Admitted that he lied during a deposition about being hit in the head with a rock before deploying tear gas at protesters in the Chicago area." Should Greg Bovino be fired or charged for lying?

HOMAN: Look, if a judge declared he lied under oath, he needs to be investigated. That's up to CBP. What people need to understand, CBP and ICE do not report to you.

They report to Kristi Noem, and she'll hold these officers responsible.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about Border Patrol agents. There were Border Patrol agents who shot and killed Alex Pretti. We all watched the video.

DHS secretary Kristi Noem said she was -- he was brandishing a gun and called him a domestic terrorist. Petti was not brandishing a gun, and the gun was on his hip and was taken by Border Patrol officers on video and he was shot and killed after that. Does your agency, does the entire agency have a lying problem?

HOMAN: Well look, I'm not going to comment on the investigation itself. I said from day one in any of these shootings that I will not comment on them until the investigation is finished by the FBI, Internal Affairs. That's the way it should be.

We shouldn't prejudge it. And look, I don't know what information the secretary had when she made those statements. I can tell you I didn't make those statements. I would never, you know, I don't want to influence the investigation.

I have an opinion, but I won't share my opinion because I want a thorough investigation and if people violated the law, if people violate a policy, again, they need to be held accountable.

SIDNER: Including Greg Bovino, do you know if there is an investigation into his lying in a deposition according to a judge?

HOMAN: Well that'd be a question for the secretary. I don't know.

SIDNER: Do you think there should be?

HOMAN: I think if anybody acts outside of policy, then the Internal Affairs opens the investigation. That's the way we handle it. And look, 99 percent of these men and women out there putting their lives on the line do the right thing. If anybody acts out of line, they need to be held accountable because it causes just more hate, more rhetoric.

So we need to hold people accountable, absolutely.

SIDNER: I do want to lastly ask you. I just happened to have been in Minneapolis just a day ago and I sat down with a 16-year-old girl who is an American citizen and she was accused by ICE agents of bumping into their car as she left high school to go pick up medicine for her grandmother. She was never ticketed and she was never charged but she was detained and sent to Whipple, an ICE detention center. Why is an American citizen being arrested and taken to an ICE detention center?

She's an American.

HOMAN: Look, I don't know the specifics of this case. This is the first I've heard of it. But look, are U.S. citizens briefly detained in question? If there's reasonable suspicion, there's an issue? Yes, that happens all the time.

SIDNER: But if it's a traffic accident, shouldn't they just be getting a ticket? I mean, I don't understand how an American citizen should be in the immigration system.

HOMAN: Well, we don't issue tickets but again, I'm unfamiliar with that incident. This is the first I'm hearing about it. If you follow me after this interview, we'll look into it.

[08:10:00]

I'm just not familiar with that incident.

SIDNER: Great. Thank you for saying that you'll look into it. I do want to ask you about something that we heard from our reporters, Omar Jimenez, that there is this website that was put out by the Department of Homeland Security and it calls people the worst of the worst immigrants that have been arrested and there's pictures of them.

They are now admitting that it was filled with errors. Why are these kinds of mistakes being made? Is it that there's chaos and it needs to be brought in control or something else?

HOMAN: I'm not familiar. Again, I'm not aware of any errors. I mean, again --

SIDNER: I mean, they admitted there were errors.

HOMAN: Who did?

SIDNER: The Department of Homeland Security.

HOMAN: OK, well, then at least they're saying they've made errors. Look, this is a huge operation. We have over 10 million illegal aliens across the border in Biden administration. That's why we're out there.

We got to remember, why are we even here? Why are thousands of agents out there? Because we got to deal with the repercussions of the last four years of millions of illegal aliens that weren't properly vetted, many criminals, many terrorists released in this country.

So we got a lot of agents on the street. When you have thousands of arrests every week, mistakes will be made. When I first got to Minneapolis, things weren't perfect.

I made changes. And I think the Minneapolitans in Minnesota are better for it. The streets are safer.

The vast majority of men and women are doing the right thing out there every day. And they're making this country safe again, keeping President Trump's promise of making America safe again and having a mass deportation. It is not OK to be in this country illegally.

It is not OK to enter this country illegally. It's a crime. And there are millions of people standing in line that want to be a part of the greatest nation on earth, taking their tests, paying their fees, doing their background investigations.

They're sitting in the backseat while millions of people cheated the system and came out front.

SIDNER: I do want to just ask you. You used the word that things were not perfect. In speaking to an officer and speaking to some officials and speaking to people on the ground, they said it was hell to try to deal with this surge that was chaotic. It seemed like it was all over the place, that it was unplanned, that it was undisciplined, that it wasn't following the law.

What do you say to them?

HOMAN: I went there. I made immediate changes. There were several chains of command.

SIDNER: I mean, it sounds like you're agreeing that it was a mess before you got there.

HOMAN: I made changes. I created a unified chain of commands. Everybody's reporting up to one chain.

I wanted to make sure it was targeted enforcement operation. I don't think it was happening in all instances. But I think the most important thing I did, I talked to the mayor.

I talked to the governor. I talked to the attorney general. We can't fix things talking in the echo chamber.

We got to talk to the other side, and that's how we fix things. That's how we got the unprecedented cooperation. That's why the state of Minnesota, I think, is safer today, because law enforcement is working with law enforcement.

I never asked them to be immigration officers. I'm just asking them to give us the public safety threats and the safety and security of a jail rather than to release them to the street. When they release them to the street, one agent can arrest one bad guy in a jail.

When you release them, now we've got to send a whole team out to find them for officer safety reasons. So we've got six guys now out there. And because of the agitation, because of threats against ICE, now we've got to send a security team to back them up.

So now you've got a dozen guys to arrest one person. That's not a good look. So letting us have access to these jails was a game changer, and it's going to keep everybody safer, the officer, the community, and the alien.

SIDNER: Borders are Tom Homan. I thank you for coming in.

HOMAN: Thank you.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: British police still searching for one of former Prince Andrews -- are still searching one of the former Prince Andrews' former homes. What's next in the investigation after this high-profile arrest of a senior member of the British royal family? Much more to come here.

And hundreds of thousands of acres burned as wildfires tear through Oklahoma. Kansas, Texas also under threat. Nearly 1.5 million people are facing fire weather watches right now.

Plus one woman's mission to honor veterans who dropped out of school to serve their country. How she's helping them now earn their high school diplomas.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, who was until last year Britain's Prince Andrew, is no longer in police custody. Just that statement in and of itself remains extraordinary. Today, police, though, are still searching one of his former homes, and he remains under investigation on, as they describe it, suspicion of misconduct in public office. So far, no charges have been filed against him.

But let's get to London. Salma Abdelaziz is standing by outside Buckingham Palace. Salma, what is the latest here, and what is the reaction as this has kind of really started to settle in?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. We're looking at the day after, and there really was a moment, Kate, yesterday, when it seemed like we might see a man, former Prince Andrew, born into privilege, spending his night in a prison cell. Of course, that is not what transpired.

But instead, we have this now notorious image of him. And I know you have that image for our to show when snapped by a journalist as he was leaving the police station. You can see that that picture right now is just splashed all over the front pages of every single newspaper.

Every bit of it has been dissected. Tabloids describing that look in his eyes as terrified and shell-shocked. The ashen look of his skin.

And of course, the way he's crouching in the back of that car, indicating that he was trying to hide from those cameras. There's always a sense, and I think this is a universal sentiment, that those in positions of power, those in positions of privilege, live on a different universe than the rest of us.

[08:20:00]

And that is exactly what has fascinated and captivated this nation, because even the brother of the King can be arrested on the morning of his birthday by plainclothes police officers and taken to a police station. And that's the sentiment you also heard echoed in King Charles' statement to the public shortly after his brother's arrest, essentially saying the law will be upheld.

Now, what's taking place today? We understand that the police continued their search of his former residence. That would be in Windsor, the Royal Lodge. They're continuing to dig there.

So the image that we're seeing here is very much of a police force that is building a case, that is building out this investigation. As you mentioned, he has not yet been charged. But the reaction to all of this goes far beyond the U.K., of course, to the United States. Across the Atlantic, where there is this growing sense, Kate, that Britain is doing something about the Epstein files.

You hear that also echoed in the voices of survivors. And I want you to listen to a relative of Virginia Giuffre, of course, one of the most prominent and outspoken survivors of Epstein's crimes, explaining that. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA ROBERTS, SISTER-IN-LAW OF VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: I am hopeful. He did say that he wants the full law to be upheld, which is such a stark contrast to what we're seeing from our own president, from our own head of the Department of Justice, Pam Bondi. Where is the accountability here?

And so I would hope that they start to take note at what's going on in other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: And while Andrew's woes continue, it is the monarchy also that is in the spotlight. This is perhaps the greatest crisis they have faced since the death of Diana.

BOLDUAN: Salma, thank you so much for all your reporting on this. Appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, the largest U.S. military buildup in the Middle East in decades. But just how close is the president to attacking Iran? We've got new reporting ahead.

And NASA reveals their investigation -- the results of their investigation into the spacecraft that kept two astronauts stuck in space for months, why they are calling this a type A mishap.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: So this morning, we're learning that a key CDC vaccine advisory committee that was set to meet next week to reconsider vaccine guidelines, they will not meet. This meeting was postponed. We don't know why. And there was no new date set. A spokesperson said further information will be shared as available. With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten. So the subject of vaccines and the CDC and how much people trust the CDC, where do things stand on that front?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, R.F.K. Jr. and the CDC have absolutely destroyed their reputation when it comes to vaccines. What are we talking about here? OK, trust CDC for vaccine information during the Biden administration.

Look at that. It was 63 percent, a majority. Yes.

Then 59 percent by April of 2025, 57, 50 by September. And now look at this. Less than 50 percent of Americans, just 47 percent of Americans trust the CDC for goodness sake.

When it comes to vaccine information, the majority do not trust the CDC. And what you're seeing, in fact, is a majority of states are not actually following or at least some of the CDC's child vaccine schedule. My goodness gracious.

It takes a lifetime to build a reputation. And apparently it takes only a year to destroy it.

BERMAN: One thing I will note, I imagine if you go back, it was even higher. This is actually after the post pandemic drop. This is a new drop.

ENTEN: This is a new low. And it has all happened under R.F.K. Jr.

BERMAN: So it's after the pandemic drop. So how do people feel about vaccines and the CDC by party?

ENTEN: OK, so I think this is really important on what is going on here. OK, which is not surprisingly, not surprisingly. Look at this.

Democrats have seen a tremendous drop under this CDC, right. You go from 88 percent in 2023 to just 55 percent now.

But here's what is so important. It's not just that the Democrats have dropped. It's that despite a Republican administration, Republicans have not seen much of a rise in their trust in the CDC for vaccine information was 40 percent under the Biden CDC.

And now it's just 43 percent. So what you've seen is you've given all that Democratic trust and built in no real new Republicans who are trusting the CDC. It is a massive shift in public opinion and one that is really hurt the CDC's credibility under our case.

BERMAN: So another way of looking at this, if you kind of reverse the perspective here, who do people trust on vaccines?

ENTEN: Who do people trust on vaccines? They trust Democrats on vaccines. That's who they trust on vaccines.

Democrats would absolutely love pretty, pretty pleased with a cherry on top for this midterm to be about vaccines. Party trusted more on vaccines. Look at this.

Among all voters, it's plus 16 plus 16 points among all voters, according to the latest Fox News poll. Look at this among independents. Look, hello, a 32 point advantage, a 32 point advantage to which party is more trusted on vaccines.

They don't trust Republicans. They don't trust the CDC. Who they do trust is Democrats.

And that is a massive problem for Republicans. If R.F.K. Jr. is out in the public coming into this midterm election.

BERMAN: You do a week of just covering independents.

ENTEN: I know.

BERMAN: Because on almost every issue, the numbers are looking more and more like this at this point. Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Harold getting very, --

ENTEN: Jonathan.

SIDNER: -- official. Wow.

ENTEN: I don't know what a long for Sara would be.

BERMAN: Sara.

ENTEN: It's just Sara.

SIDNER: That's what?

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: Sounds like an attorney's firm. Sarold, Harold.

ENTEN: Sarold, Harold and Berman.

SIDNER: All right. Up next, we are going to stop trying to be attorneys because clearly that didn't happen. We're standing by for a new report, though, on the economy.