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1500 Troops On Standby For Possible Deployment To Minnesota; E.U. Ambassadors Hold Emergency Meeting On Trump Tariff Threat; Latest Poll On First Year Of Trump's Second Term; Trump Net Approval Dips Amid Immigration Protests; Polls show Trump's Immigration Agenda Increasingly Unpopular; Iranian President: Any Aggression Toward the Supreme Leader Would Be Seen As "All-Out War"; Indiana Hoosiers And Miami Hurricanes To Play For It All. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 18, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Current get in price for the worst seats is $3,000.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brian Abel in Washington. Jessica Dean has the day off.

We begin in Minneapolis, where hundreds of troops could soon be deployed amid the intensifying anti-ICE protests. A source within the Trump administration telling CNN that the Pentagon has put 1500 active-duty soldiers on alert for possible deployment.

Here's how Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey reacted this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: We've got many mechanisms to achieve safety and the best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents and in this case, military. This is -- well, it's ridiculous, but we will not be intimidated by the actions of this federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: The state's governor, Tim Walz, announced he's mobilizing the Minnesota National Guard to have them ready to support state police if needed. The latest round of demonstrations comes more than a week after an ICE agent killed 37-year-old Renee Good.

Julia Vargas Jones joins us now live from Minneapolis.

And, Julia, what have you been able to see throughout the day?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brian, we are right now over just the past 40 minutes or so seen winds increasing here in Minneapolis, and the temperatures are already low around 13 degrees. It's going down to about minus five tonight. And over the course of the past 45 minutes or so, we've just seen this crowd thinning, which perhaps is a good thing as we have seen tensions escalated every night over the past three or four days where these demonstrations have been taking place.

Now, again, the number of officers here from the sheriff's department, from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department has also increased a lot. Just yesterday and today, we're seeing a number of vehicles. They have been mostly just directing traffic and keeping people off of this main road, which has been a point of contention between protesters and federal agents. We have also talked about the restrictions put on by federal judge on the use of pepper spray and tear gas by federal agents.

Those do not apply to these, the sheriff's deputies that are present here. So it will be a test to see how this situation develops over the next few hours. As you know, you can see the type of people who are in this protest is quite different from what we've seen over the day with kids and dogs and people of all ages. It's definitely turning into a different type of scene, and we'll be keeping an eye on this to see how it develops -- Brian.

ABEL: All right. Julia Vargas Jones for us on the ground there in Minneapolis. Julia, thank you. Stay warm and stay safe.

We are joined now by former NATO Supreme Allied commander, General Wesley Clark.

And General, thank you for your time tonight. The Pentagon ordering active-duty soldiers to prepare for possible deployments. Would you consider this unusual?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: It's unusual in the current day, but we did this a lot during the late 1960s and early 1970s. There were a lot of demonstrations. There were protests. There were problems in the cities. So we did in those days deploy active forces, Washington, Baltimore, Detroit, places like that during the late 1960s.

ABEL: OK. And General, what do these preparations look like if you're sending active-duty soldiers into an American city? Would they be armed? What type of equipment would they be bringing? Are those questions likely being actively discussed still?

CLARK: Well, they would have to be trained for this and they would have to be equipped. So they would -- should be equipped with the kinds of shields that you see so that the rocks can't be thrown against them. They should have facial shields as well. They should have gas masks with them. And of course, they'll be in heavy winter clothing.

Will they be armed? Yes. I mean, soldiers always should be armed. Should they have bullets loaded and ready to shoot? I should hope not. So we've had a tragedy. The Kent State episode of 1970 is well known where armed soldiers, these were National Guardsmen, fired into a crowd of demonstrators, killing four students up there. It was a real tragedy. It was unnecessary. And this is a, you know, precautionary preparation by the United States Army in case they get called.

Now, Governor Walz apparently has mobilized his own National Guard. So presumably this is just a precautionary and standby. But the army is always going to be trying to be prepared for whatever contingencies it may be called upon.

ABEL: And I do understand, General, that this question I'm about to ask you is hypothetical.

[19:05:02]

But at this moment at least, if the Minnesota governor deploys the National Guard and the Pentagon deploys these troops from Alaska, how do those ingredients mix on the ground in Minneapolis?

CLARK: Probably the National Guard would be federalized so they'd all be under the control of the U.S. government. That's the normal way it would be done.

ABEL: OK. General Wesley Clark, really appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

CLARK: Thank you, Brian.

ABEL: Another major story we are following tonight, European leaders pushing back against President Trump's latest tariff threat against countries that object to Trump's Greenland goals. Both the head of NATO and the British prime minister spoke with President Trump about the Danish territory, while ambassadors from the European Union came to Brussels today for an emergency meeting.

Also, the president of the European Council says he will convene a meeting in the coming days about the rising tensions over Greenland.

CNN's senior White House reporter Betsy Klein is joining us tonight from West Palm Beach.

And Betsy, have we heard from the Trump administration about this today?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Trump administration's message on this today is essentially that Europe is going to have to come around on this. President Trump for years has been saying that the U.S. needs to have control of Greenland for what he says is national security purposes to counter the rising threat of China, of Russia in the Arctic region.

That, of course, has prompted significant pushback from Greenland, from Denmark which controls Greenland, as well as from key European leaders. The president escalating those threats over the weekend, as he announced in a post to social media that the U.S. planned to put 10 percent tariffs on key European countries on February 1st unless a deal for the U.S. to control Greenland was reached.

He also said in that post that that tariff rate would escalate to 25 percent by June 1st if there was not a deal. That has been met with resounding condemnation from European leaders. They say that this poses an existential threat to the transatlantic alliance. We heard from French President Emmanuel Macron, who called this unacceptable. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it is completely wrong.

All of that leading to an emergency meeting of key European officials in Brussels, where they discussed a path forward and how they would respond to the U.S. on this. President Trump, meanwhile, has been working the phones. We know that he spoke with Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She, in a statement, has called this move an error, as well as NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

We have not yet gotten a readout from the White House side of those calls, but it seems for now that the European pushback has done very little to quell the president's position on this.

I want you to listen to comments from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS "MEET THE PRESS": What is the national emergency that justifies these new slate of tariffs?

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency that it is a strategic decision by the president. This is a geopolitical decision. And he is able to use the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war. So why wouldn't, why wouldn't we do that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: And just days from now, President Trump is heading to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum. White House officials have said that the president is going to unveil an affordable home buying program. Of course, this conflict threatens to overshadow that message -- Brian.

ABEL: Senior White House reporter Betsy Klein for us in Florida. Betsy, thank you.

Still ahead, new CNN polling shows Democrats are very motivated to vote in the midterm elections, but don't appear to be very happy with their leaders in Congress. More on that just ahead. Our political panel weighs in. Plus, the death toll in Iran rises significantly from the brutal crackdown on protesters.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ABEL: Tuesday will mark one year since Donald Trump's return to office, and largely, Americans aren't giving it a positive review. According to a recent CNN poll, 58 percent are calling Trump's last year a failure and saying he's focused on the wrong priorities. That isn't good news for Trump or Republicans ahead of critical midterm elections later this year, which historically tend to favor the party out of power.

And a new CNN poll out today shows Democrats with a five-point edge on the generic ballot. That jumps to a 16-point advantage among those who say they're deeply motivated to vote. But when it comes to the Democratic leaders in Congress approval stands at just 28 percent.

We are joined now by Scott Jennings and Julie Roginsky.

Scott, you are a CNN senior political commentator and former senior adviser to Mitch McConnell. And Julie, a Democratic strategist and co- founder of Lift Our Voices. Great to have both of you with me tonight for the panel.

Julie, first to you. What do Democrats need to take away from these numbers? Do party leaders need to change their message?

JULIA ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, I mean, look, this is a ground up operation here. The Democrats are running, I think not -- there's not anybody on earth, maybe, except for the people in Washington who are happy with the way Democrats are messaging this election or anything in general in Washington today.

[19:15:10]

But you do have an incredibly motivated Democratic base and also undecided voters, independent voters, who are just saying enough is enough. We are going to vote Democrat because we're completely dissatisfied with the way Republicans are running both the White House and Congress.

And so that behooves Democrats to pay attention to and also behooves Democrats in Washington to pay attention to, because that's how you message. You don't message by playing nice with Donald Trump and thinking that compromise is now a dirty word in the Democratic firmament.

ABEL: And, Scott, to you, President Trump isn't on the ballot, but he still does loom pretty large over the midterms. His approval among independents has dropped to just 29 percent. Is this cause for concern, in your view?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, the issue of him not being on the ballot is the actual tactical concern, because when he's on the ballot a lot of people turn out and they vote for him. And when he's not on the ballot or he's not involved in a race, there's a lot of people that won't engage in it. This has been a Republican problem since he came onto the scene.

He's highly motivating for some, and they don't really love to vote in other elections. He's also highly motivating for Democrats, as you just pointed out. And so given that the two parties have to some degree flipped constituencies in terms of reliability, you could see why Democrats have good reason to have some optimism about the midterms. On the other hand, if you look at some of the other polling that's out

today, the "Wall Street Journal" polling, border security, immigration, economy, inflation, foreign policy, Russia, tariffs, having the right priorities, voters in that survey gave Republicans anywhere from a two to a 28 point advantage. So there are some issues where Republicans could feel some room to run. But the tactical issue remains.

How do you get Donald Trump's core, core, core supporters to engage in election in which he's not on the ballot? There's really only one messenger that can do it, and it's him.

ABEL: And Julie, to you again, can Democrats win the dissatisfied independent voters that we saw there in that poll and actually get them to turn out on election day?

ROGINSKY: Yes. Look, the American people are pissed off. There's no other way to put it. And we know who's in charge, right? I mean, you break it, you own it. Right now the Republicans have broken this country, and they own it by virtue of the fact that they control everything. So from that perspective, you know who to blame. And so when people are unhappy about what they're seeing at the grocery store, when people are unhappy about seeing their neighbors pulled over because they happen to have a Spanish accent, when they're unhappy about seeing moms shot to death by ICE agents, they think that this president has overstepped.

When they see this president talking about potentially invading a NATO ally, they're not so happy. And so we're only year one. Look, we have 10 months to go of this chaos. And I think by the time November rolls around, the chaos is going to be so pervasive that you're going to have not just Democrats highly motivated to vote, but even some Republicans are going to say, you know what? We need to send a message to this president, he needs to rein it in.

ABEL: Scott, I think I saw a little bit of a reaction there at the start when Julie was saying, you break it, you bought it. What are your thoughts on that?

JENNINGS: Well, the broken economy certainly goes back to the Biden years. We had inflation go up to the moon. It's now come way down, GDP is up. And if you talk to the president's advisers, you talk to the Treasury secretary, they firmly believe that the tax cuts, the regulatory reforms and the other economic deals that they made in year one are going to pay off in year two. I mean, ultimately, there's a lot of issues we're going to talk about.

And by the way, Republicans are still far more trusted on border security and immigration and enforcement, but economy and how people are feeling about the trajectory of their own life in terms of the economy, this is going to matter a lot. The president's people, his economic people have a lot of optimism that what they've done already is going to pay off in year two. And I think you're going to see the Republicans in Congress go to another budget reconciliation process.

They've already started, and they'll probably do additional energy reform, probably some more targeted tax reform, probably some more targeted health care reform. So they're going to put together an agenda on which to run. We'll see how the voters feel come this fall. I don't think there's any chaos out there, really, unless you go to a blue state where they don't want to enforce immigration laws. Other than that, I think a lot of people are feeling some optimism about what the new year could bring.

ABEL: Well, I do want to talk a little bit more about that, Scott, because, you know, you mentioned the economy, but there's also been a lot of focus on foreign issues. Domestically, is Trump doing enough to speak to and address the cost of living issues because just 39 percent approve of his handling of the economy? Is this message getting through to him?

JENNINGS: Yes. Not yet, because you can see it in the polling that people are unhappy about cost of living. Now, a lot of this is a hangover from what he inherited. And there's no doubt that inflation is down from what he inherited from Joe Biden. And so ultimately, what you have to do is grow your way out of this. And they got great numbers on growth in the fourth quarter. So you're seeing growth. You're seeing inflation come down. The price of eggs is down 95 percent I think over the last 10 months.

[19:20:03]

The price of gas in a lot of places is $2 or less a gallon. So you see some green shoots in that. But, you know, look, he is the messenger. He is the leader of the country, and he's the leader of the Republican Party. And so I think what you're going to have to see is him out on the trail, very focused on the positive things that are happening in the country. And of course when you're the president, you can't ignore national security, you can't ignore foreign affairs, you can't ignore certain things.

But obviously, most voters in November are going to be looking at the trajectory of their economic reality and decide whether they think they're on the right track or not. I think they're going to have something to run on here. But, you know, we're a long way from next November.

ABEL: And, Julie, I know that you want to respond to some of that. Stay with us. We barely scratched the surface here. We do need to get a quick break in, so we'll have much more of our conversation right after that short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:11]

ABEL: The ongoing fallout between Minnesota protesters and federal agents is changing how Americans view the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

CNN's Harry Enten joins us now to run the numbers.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Brian. Look, Trump's deportation program has been in the news a lot recently with all the events going on in the state of Minnesota, and it has not been good politically for Donald Trump. Indeed, his administration's deportation program has become considerably less popular over the course of Donald Trump's presidency, his second presidency.

What are we talking about here? Well, let's just take a look at a simple metric, right? Trump administration's program on immigrant deportation, this is according to the CBS News-YouGov surveys. Take a look. Back in February of 2025, it was way above water. Look at this. It was at plus 18 points. Two thumbs up. Very popular indeed. But come over to this side of the screen. It's gone underwater.

Now we're talking about eight points underwater. That is an over 25 point switcheroo in the negative direction for the Trump administration's deportation program. When you dig into the numbers a little bit more, what do you see? You see among independents the deportation program has gone from plus 18 points on net approval to negative 20 points. That is what is driving this result. That is independents turning against Donald Trump's immigration deportation program.

Now, why is it? Why is it that independents and the general electorate at large is turning against the Trump administration's deportation program? Well, one of the key reasons why is this. Take a look here. The Trump administration, who are they prioritizing on deporting? Is it dangerous criminals or others, those who are not deemed to be dangerous criminals? Well, back in June, what you see is, take a look, 53 percent said, yes, the Trump administration is prioritizing deportation of dangerous criminals, compared to just 47 percent who said others.

Come over to this side of the screen. The numbers have flipped entirely. It's the inverse. Now, just 44 percent of Americans say that the Trump administration's deportation program is prioritizing deporting those dangerous criminals compared to others, which now takes the lion's share, has gone from 47 percent to 56 percent. So it's not much of a surprise, right, that all of a sudden, the Trump immigration deportation program, which was once seen quite positively, is now negative because the American people think that the Trump administration has lost its way.

It's no longer prioritizing deporting dangerous criminals. In fact, it's prioritizing deporting other folks. A lot of the folks who are protesting in Minneapolis would certainly agree with that. But it's more than that. It's more than that. It's not just that the focus is on deporting not dangerous criminals at this point, but it is also that perhaps there's just too much focus on deportation overall because we can see it right here.

Take a look here. The Trump administration, it's too focused on deporting immigrants here illegally. Too focus. Back in February of 2025, only 43 percent, only 43 percent of Americans said that the Trump administration was too focused on this issue, too focused on it. Come now, look at this. The majority of Americans now believe that the Trump administration is too focused, is too focused on deporting immigrants who are here illegally. That includes 60 percent of independents. And of course, that means

that the Trump administration, in their minds, has taken their eye off the ball. They're not focusing enough on the all-important issue of the economy, which, of course, was the key reason that Donald Trump got elected to a second term was to focus on the economy. If you look at the CBS News-YouGov polls over and over and over again, what you see is that the Trump administration, in the minds of the Americans, are not focused enough on lowering prices.

And now they believe that they're too focused on deporting immigrants who are here illegally. And that is a big reason why this deportation program, in the minds of the Americans, has gone south, and why the net approval rating on that has gone all the way from plus 18 at the beginning of the Trump administration, now down to minus eight points. Again, an over 25 point switcheroo in the wrong direction.

Brian, back to you.

ABEL: A seven-point swing. Harry Enten, thank you.

My panel is back with us now to talk about all this, Scott Jennings and Julie Roginsky.

And Scott, first to you. We just saw Harry lay out the numbers there showing the Trump administration's immigration crackdown is losing support among the American people. And yet he's ramping up the rhetoric when it comes to Minneapolis, at least. Is the party with him on this still?

JENNINGS: The Republicans? Yes. I mean, Republicans are getting everything they voted for. And by the way, in the "Wall Street Journal" poll today, they asked voters, who do you trust in Congress, which party to handle border security and immigration by a 28-point margin, Republicans on border security by an 11 point margin Republicans on immigration.

ABEL: But is that the same as saying focusing too much or focusing the right amount?

JENNINGS: Look, I don't even know how to interpret that. I hope Democrats listen to Harry, though. I hope they get Harry and get his memo and get his video and play it in every Democrat campaign office. And they run an election this year entirely focused on reopening the border and letting the border immigration, illegal immigration crisis in this country proliferate the way we had it the last four years. If they listen to him, that's what they'll do. And I think Republicans would be just fine with that.

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ABEL: Okay and, Julie, we do have this funding deadline that's fast approaching and some Democrats seem to be ceasing on the numbers that we just showed there. Some Democrats in congress talking about freezing ice funding.

Senator Ruben Gallego this morning told our Jake Tapper he wouldn't vote for anything that adds more money or doesn't constrain ICE. Is that a fight Democrats should be picking right now?

JULIE ROGINSKY, CO-FOUNDER, LIFT OUR VOICES: Well, look, the fight that Democrats picked before, the fight that Democrats continue to pick, unlike what Scott thinks they're talking about, is actually about affordability. And I don't know where Scott's shopping, but if you go down to Hellertown, Pennsylvania, where I happen to be right now, heading over to Giant, I'll tell you right now the price of everything, for the most part, is way up and people can't afford it.

People can't afford their health care anymore because the Obamacare subsidies have expired. And all the times that Republicans have promised us for the last 20 years, they're going to repeal and replace Obamacare, well, where is that replacement?

People are literally not able to afford their health care anymore. They're not able to afford to eat anymore and what they're watching is this President dumping a ton of money into trying to throw anybody out of this country who has any reason to be here with any kind of Latino accent, people who have committed no crimes, people who are here and came through the process through asylum.

JENNINGS: That's a lie.

ROGINSKY: No, Scott, the lie is what you're talking about, where you think they're coming after criminals. You think --

JENNINGS: You're saying people with accents are being thrown out of the country. That is a complete lie and you know it. I mean just admit it, that's a total lie.

ROGINSKY: Excuse me, people with accents, really, I'll show -- how about we show a clip that every media outlet has been showing over the last 24 hours of people being pushed.

JENNINGS: Unbelievable.

ROGINSKY: Sorry, people being pulled out of line and saying, you have a Mexican accent, so we're going to arrest you. That is happening over and over and over again.

JENNINGS: How about a clip of the protesters invading church services in Minneapolis this morning, attacking a pastor. You like that clip? How about a clip of the Venezuelan nationals smacking around an immigration agent with shovels? You like that clip? You want to play that one?

ABEL: We have seen clips that show kind of outliers. Julie, stop, hold up for a second.

ROGINSKY: -- people all the time, you lie, and then you don't want to talk about the issues that everybody wants to talk about, which is people just lost the trust --

JENNINGS: I never lie.

ROGINSKY: You never lie, you never lie. I can come up with 20 reasons right now.

JENNINGS: Never.

ABEL: Hold on for just a second, guys, because I do want to focus on the immigration policies a bit more.

Scott, I do want to ask you this. There's a Trump administration source that is telling CNN that The Pentagon has ordered 1,500 active- duty soldiers to prepare for possible deployment to Minnesota.

Do you think the President is going to follow through with this? Is this bluster? Because you also have Minnesota's governor saying that the National Guard is now mobilized.

So, if you already have one set of soldiers ready to assist, why would we need two battalions from Alaska?

JENNINGS: Well, what you're referencing is the possibility that the President would invoke the Insurrection Act, which he has publicly said he might do if Minnesota and Minneapolis continue in a state of disorder. And honestly, I think he would be well within his rights to do it. The President has broad latitude to invoke this. It's been done many times by many presidents. I mean, you have a governor and a mayor in Minnesota and in Minneapolis who are telling people to do things they shouldn't be doing.

You had an angry band of protesters invade a church service this morning and accused the pastor of the church of being an ICE agent. You've got Venezuelan nationals beating ICE agents with shovels in the street. You have people being mobilized essentially by the local politicians to fight against something that's very mundane, the enforcement of federal immigration law.

So, the President will have to decide how long he wants to let this state be in a state of disorder. But if he wants to invoke the Insurrection Act, that would obviously mean sending in the military. So, it makes sense to be prepared to do that, although obviously, the President hasn't made that decision yet.

ABEL: And Julie, I do want to get the last word to you. I was in Minnesota. I was in Minneapolis last week, and what I saw there, to some extent, were residents that are maybe acting a bit differently than any of the other cities that ICE has focused their immigration enforcement efforts on. Is that kind of what we're seeing here and what's bringing more troops more attention to the city is just the fact that the residents are standing up to this ICE enforcement in a different way than what we've seen before?

ROGINSKY: Yes. You know, if you listen to Scott and you listen to all this rhetoric coming out of the Republican Party, these are the same people that defended opening fire hoses on protesters in the 60s on the Selma Bridge. I mean, these are people who consistently, consistently --

JENNINGS: I think those were Democrats, Julie. Those are Democrats. Those were Democrats in the 60s. ROGINSKY: Actually Scott, people like you, people like you have exactly that kind of behavior.

JENNINGS: But thank you for reminding everybody that Democrats were against Civil Rights.

ROGINSKY: How about this, Scott -- well, how about this Scott, why don't you let me finish and stop interrupting? Because clearly, whenever anybody criticizes your point against you just --

JENNINGS: You're the one that brought up Democrats, I agree with you. Democrats shouldn't have been -- shouldn't have been against Civil Rights.

ROGINSKY: No, Scott, I brought up the fact that you're the person -- well, there you go. How about this, Scott? Why don't you continue talking and I'll just sit here and listen to you, go ahead.

ABEL: All right, you know what guys, I think we all have each other's X handles where we can continue this conversation back and forth on social media. I do appreciate you both joining me tonight, Scott Jennings and Julie Roginsky, thank you.

ROGINSKY: Stop lying, Scott. Thanks.

JENNINGS: Thanks.

ABEL: After the break, Iran warns of an all-out war if there's any aggression towards the Supreme Leader.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:39:55]

ABEL: Tonight, Iran's President is pushing back against renewed calls from President Trump for regime change, saying any aggression directed at the country's Supreme Leader would be seen as all-out war.

A U.S.-based rights group, reports at least 3,900 protesters were killed in anti-regime protests over the last two weeks. A brutal crackdown from Iranian government forces appear to have subdued those protests, for now.

[19:40:19]

We are joined now by contributor at "The Atlantic," Arash Azizi, and Arash, you're the author of "What Iranians Want: Women, Life, Freedom" about the 2022 protests.

The protests now were much broader than those of a few years ago, Arash, and the region has shifted with the October 7th Hamas attacks and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Is the regime in a weaker position now, or does this crackdown show their resilience? ARASH AZIZI, CONTRIBUTOR, "THE ATLANTIC": It's an incredibly weaker position. It has lost the Assad regime in Syria, which was its most important ally. It has lost a lot of its regional allies, its regional militias that it supported. They're much weaker now. Its position is much weaker in Lebanon. I would argue even in Iraq, in Yemen, it doesn't even have quite the same sway its sort of rivals in the region, not just Israel, but Arab countries have sort of banded together more strongly. So, you know, it's incredibly weaker and domestically, it also finds itself a lot weaker.

It faces U.S. sanctions, three more years of a Trump presidency that, you know, it's clear, it's not going to be easy, right, for it. And it's unable to really solve the people's problems in Iran. It's unable to really do the basics of running an economy. So, it's an incredibly weaker position than it was a couple of years ago.

ABEL: Okay. Iran's Judiciary today appeared to suggest some protesters could still face the death penalty, despite Trump's earlier claim that the executions have stopped. What kind of response are you expecting from the regime in the wake of these protests?

AZIZI: First of all, we have to remember the regime has already committed the biggest crimes it has arguably throughout its history, but certainly since the 1980s. It has killed thousands of people on the streets of Iran is something that we shouldn't forget. You know, we are a bit numb to regime's brutalities because it has, you know, done some of so many of them has killed thousands of protesters before its killed hundreds of its opponents abroad, has executed hundreds of people in the last couple of years, but this is really a new scale.

And the fact that the Judiciary might very well continue the same trend and try to execute some of the more than 3,000 people, at least, that have been arrested in the last few days, it's quite concerning.

It can change, by the way. Public pressure on the regime and diplomatic pressure, but countries that have diplomatic relations with it, that is European countries, which they can do it directly, but also lean on the countries in the global south, countries like Brazil, countries like South Africa, in certain cases, perhaps even China and Russia, you know, if it's possible for those countries that have close relations with them, at least on particular cases, if they can put pressure on Iran that that can make a difference.

ABEL: Arash, what about U.S. pressure? Because President Trump has previously suggested executions of protesters is a red line for him in Iran. So how, if at all, do you believe the U.S. should respond if executions do resume?

AZIZI: I mean, President Trump has made a lot of promises in the last couple of weeks. It's a fact of life that dozens of Iranian protesters who were killed went on the street after President Trump has assured them.

I spoke to people who were on the streets of Tehran, and when President Trump, I believe it was on January 1st that first assured them that he will support them. They went out in the streets thinking the strongest man in the world is behind them somehow. I mean, he repeated those promises, you know, in the in the last two weeks, he repeated them on five or six occasions, I believe.

So, you know, this is something that should weigh on him and he should indeed use everything that he can to pressure the regime to not carry out the executions. He now also has said, of course, that the regime's leadership should change.

So regardless of what I think or what I want, it's clear that many Iranians, look to him to do something about that.

ABEL: All right, Arash Azizi, thank you for your insight, appreciate your time.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:48:58]

ABEL: Tomorrow night, the Indiana Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes will face off in the college football playoff national championship, and all eyes will be on the team's quarterbacks.

Carson Beck, on a mission to win another national championship, this time with Miami. And if you're confused, that's because he played for two championship teams at Georgia. But the Hurricanes have not won it all in a quarter century.

Meanwhile, Heisman Trophy winner, Fernando Mendoza is looking to lead Indiana to its first ever Football National Championship.

The game will be played at the Canes home stadium, making it the home team against a hometown player. Why? Because Hoosiers' Q.B. Mendoza is from Miami, along with his backup quarterback that also just so happens to be his brother, Alberto.

My next guest also had that rare experience of being brothers, playing on the same team, ESPN college football analyst and NFL vet Sam Acho, and Emmy winning host of the "Speakeasy" talk show, and former NFL player, Emmanuel Acho. Thank you both for being with us.

So, in college, you guys played together at the University of Texas. What was it like? What was it like to play with a sibling?

[19:50:10]

SAMUEL ACHO, ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST: Well, it was great.

EMMANUEL ACHO, FORMER NFL PLAYER: We played together in college. I was in high school --

S. ACHO: And as you can see, as brothers we're going together once again. I'm the older brother, so I would try and take a little bit of rain. It was such a great experience to be able to have time together in high school and college to compete against each other in the NFL, and even play in a national championship game.

ABEL: So, there was a reason why I did not say which brother to answer first. I just want to see how you guys are all going to play it out.

E. ACHO: You know, younger brother always getting silenced. Its fine, it's fine. No, honestly, I don't know how many brothers can say that they at least have experienced what Fernando and Alberto are going through. Obviously not the Heisman winning aspect of it all, but Sam and I both did play at Texas, both did play in a national championship game. Unfortunately, we weren't able to come through victorious.

But beyond the moment on the football field, there's a memory that transcends the football field, which is a memory that last a lifetime.

ABEL: And Sam, I do want to ask you, how does playing together affect the home life for the family?

S. ACHO: Well, there's nothing better than playing together. We think about those moments that Emmanuel mentioned, but I go back to the memories of playing against each other in a game that we called floor football when we were little kids back in Dallas, Texas, or playing outside, throwing the baseball around. These different memories that lasted a lifetime, they didn't culminate in a national championship appearance, they actually continued as we went on to go and work and play in the NFL against each other, and now were both in the media.

So, it's not just those moments, it's the memories for me, and we get a chance to still talk and text and joke about some of the moments and the memories that we had together.

ABEL: When's the last time you all threw football back and forth?

E. ACHO: That's a great question, man, because we both played defense. We weren't really playing toss. We were more so playing tackle. But I will say, like, I think it's more special for everybody outside of the two brothers. The two brothers are so focused on just winning the game, they don't actually get to fully sit and soak in the moment. But for their parents, for their loved ones, for their siblings, I don't think there's anything more special than what were about to witness tomorrow night.

ABEL: Okay, so I do quickly want to ask you guys what was, you know, what was it like -- were there any special moments that stood out to you guys that we may see experienced by these two brothers tomorrow?

S. ACHO: There was one moment I'll go to, going back to, not just my time with Emmanuel, but even Fernando and Alberto Mendoza. It was in the Alabama game and quarterback Fernando Mendoza got injured in the game, and all of a sudden, his younger brother, the backup quarterback, goes in for a play and lets his team get ready for the next play.

I remember moments where Emmanuel and I were on the field together, and I remember maybe missing a tackle when we both played defense, but I'd still hear the announcer say tackle made by Acho. So, I knew that my brother had my back. And so, those moments for me, I think are going to resonate the most, even when it comes to the Mendozas, because you know you have your brother's back.

ABEL: And the fair-weather fans may not have understood why the name on the back of the jersey didn't change. I do have to ask each of you. Let's talk the Hoosiers and Hurricanes big game tomorrow. Which team are you taking, Emmanuel?

E. ACHO: I'm taking Indiana, in large part because Fernando Mendoza is having a season that really is going to transcend college football history. He's already won the Heisman. He's a consensus number one overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

He's a veteran, he's poised, he's a leader. And if you're watching your very first college football game tomorrow in the championship game, just watch how he commands his team and he commands his huddle, all leaders can look up to Fernando Mendoza.

ABEL: Samuel?

S. ACHO: And even more so than just what you see with the leadership, it's just the -- it's the accuracy. Fernando Mendoza in the playoffs has more touchdowns than he has and completions thrown. So, eight touchdowns in these two games in the playoffs, only five incomplete passes.

So, he's very precise as a thrower. He's a leader. You know, I'm actually in Miami right now. And so, Miami fans are probably not happy with me. I'll be at the game tomorrow. I cannot wait to watch what this Indiana Hoosiers team does. I think Indiana is going to win as well.

ABEL: I'll make sure to take some of that heat away from you, because I'm a B1-G guy myself, so I'll say I'm going for Indiana as well tomorrow night.

Samuel, Emmanuel Acho, appreciate both of you guys. Thank you all so much for being with us.

We'll be right back.

S. ACHO: Thank you so much.

E. ACHO: Of course.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:59:00]

ABEL: Here's a look at five stories we will be tracking this week.

Monday, honors the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In an interview with CNN, the iconic Civil Rights activist's daughter, Bernice King, says her father's commitment to nonviolence is especially important in today's political climate. Also, on Tuesday, we will learn the newest members of baseball's Hall of Fame. The two players expected to have the best chance are former outfielder Carlos Beltran and Andrew Jones, who is a great center fielder mostly with the Atlanta Braves.

Then on Wednesday, Brown University students will be back on campus for the first time since December's mass shooting. Two students were killed and nine others injured. The semester brings new security measures put in place to better protect students on campus.

Also, Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether or not President Trump has the power to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and former Special Counsel Jack Smith will testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.

In December, Smith was privately deposed over his criminal investigation into Donald Trump for his role in an effort to overturn the 2020 Presidential election results.

Thank you so much for joining me tonight. I'm Brian Abel. Stay with CNN. "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins, starts right now.

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