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DOJ Releases over 3 Million Files from Epstein Investigation; U.S. Enters Partial Shutdown as Funding Lapses; Bomb Cyclone to Bring Snow, Strong Winds to Eastern U.S.; Kyiv Gets a Break as Russia Pauses Strikes until Sunday; Don Lemon Vows to Fight Charges Related to Covering Minnesota Church Protest; Kevin Warsh Picked to Chair Federal Reserve; Iran Ready for "Fair and Just" Nuclear Talks; Lindsey Vonn Vows Olympic Dream not over after Crash. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired January 31, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
The Justice Department releases a giant batch of Epstein files weeks past the deadline. And survivors and lawmakers are raising concerns again.
Protesters demand ICE out of their cities across the U.S. We'll have details on the pushback against the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown.
And parts of the U.S. are dealing with another winter storm this weekend; this one, called a bomb cyclone. We'll have the forecast coming up.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: More than 3 million documents from the Epstein investigation have finally been released by the Justice Department, more than a month after the deadline set by Congress. Like prior batches, much of the information is blacked out.
The DOJ says the document dumped fulfills its obligations under the transparency law passed last year
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: We complied with the statute. We complied with the act and there is no -- we did not protect President Trump. We didn't protect or not protect anybody.
I mean, I think that we -- that there's a hunger or a thirst for information that I do not think will be satisfied by the review of these documents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: But some Epstein survivors are calling the release outrageous. They say the DOJ's botched redaction process exposed some victims' names or identifying information while hiding descriptions of crimes and perpetrators.
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DANIELLE BENSKY, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: It's a rabbit hole. And I think that, you know, we just have very little faith in the DOJ at this point to continue to do the right thing. It is just a trove of victims' information.
And so what are we protecting?
Is the point for me and for so many other survivors because, at this point, we are hearing that this is it but we have, what, half of the files that they know that they have.
So if you're not protecting survivors, then what?
Who are you protecting?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The documents contain references to many powerful figures, including president Donald Trump. Now while he hasn't been charged with any crime related to Epstein, the files include details of a complaint from a woman who accused him of raping her when she was 13 years old.
Now that anonymous accuser previously launched lawsuits against Trump but dropped them. The president has long denied any wrongdoing.
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TRUMP: We have nothing to do with Epstein. The Democrats do. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. You just keep going on the Epstein files. And what the Epstein is, is a Democrat hoax.
QUESTION: If there's nothing incriminating in the files, why not?
TRUMP: Quiet. Quiet, piggy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: We have more now from CNN chief legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid in Washington.
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PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: One of the documents that is getting a lot of attention from this release is a list of accusations against President Trump. Now it appears the FBI compiled this list last summer and it includes,
again, allegations, some of which that have come from unverified tips. Some of this includes second-hand information that came in through a tipline. Here's the FBI followed through on some of these tips but not -- at least one was found to be not credible.
This is all the kind of information that prosecutors and investigators collect when they are looking at whether charges should be filed and this is also the reason that they don't just take unverified information or evidence gathered in a case and release it to the public.
The Justice Department has a longstanding policy of not releasing details, especially in cases where charges are not brought. And, of course, President Trump has long denied any wrongdoing related to Epstein.
But there are now a lot of questions about why the FBI compiled this list of allegations.
And even though this release is part of a larger effort to tamp down criticism and questions about a lack of transparency, this particular document is likely to prompt more questions, both for the Justice Department and also the White House -- Paula Reid, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's senior legal analyst and former assistant U.S. attorney Elie Honig weighed in on the document release. And he said that of all the information he's reviewed so far, the file that stands out most for him contains a draft of a criminal indictment from Florida in the mid-2000s.
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BRUNHUBER: Here he is.
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ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: There is a draft indictment in these 3 million pages, about 55-56 pages, from the Southern District of Florida. Sometimes it's not dated precisely in the mid 2000s. That would have charged Jeffrey Epstein with serious federal crimes plus three other coconspirators. Their names are redacted.
And to me, that's the document that's most interesting to me. Here's a snippet from it, because it points up the key question, which is why was Jeffrey Epstein given such a sweetheart deal back in 2007 by the U.S. attorney's office?
And secondarily, how could it be that, still to this day, the only two people ever charged have been Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell?
How about all the other people who helped them run this operation?
We still don't have those answers. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And two lawmakers want to see the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files. Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Thomas Massie have requested to review the unredacted files.
In a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Justice, they specifically want to review Epstein's email accounts, victim interview statements and key documents related to the 2007 investigation.
The U.S. deputy attorney general has said lawmakers could make appointments to review unredacted documents.
The U.S. government is now partially shut down but the disruption isn't expected to last long or have a major impact. The Senate approved a funding deal just hours before Friday's deadline. The House is expected to vote on it on Monday. Now the main sticking point has been funding for the Department of Homeland Security
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Senate Democrats will not support a DHS bill unless it reins in ICE and ends the violence. Some may have thought they could ignore us, confident the news cycle would change and the public outrage would fade. Those people were wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: The spending package funds three-quarters of government agencies through the end of September, except Homeland Security. It includes just two weeks of DHS funding.
Democrats are hoping to use that time to push for changes in how ICE operates following the fatal shootings in Minnesota. But some Republicans doubt they will be able to reach a compromise before that funding expires again
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SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): This is not about a budget. This is about the fact that the karen wing of the Democratic Party is in control and they want to defund ICE.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Can we find compromise?
I don't know. I don't know if it's possible for them to abandon the idea that ICE is the root of all evil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Well, depending on how long this government shutdown lasts, travelers could face delays at airports. Many federal workers could miss paychecks and people could have trouble obtaining certain federal loans or buy homes or operate small businesses.
On the other hand, Immigration and Border Patrol and Defense activities likely won't be affected and neither will the Internal Revenue Service or the National Park Service. Social Security payments will also continue without interruption.
Protests swept across the U.S. on Friday from coast to coast. Massive crowds of people marched, chanted and carried signs. Students walked out of schools and businesses closed their doors.
The nationwide demonstrations are demanding an end to the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Now this is what it looked like in Minneapolis, the epicenter of the federal actions in recent weeks. Thousands marched, spurred in part by the killings of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in the city earlier this month.
And this was the scene in Los Angeles on Friday. Police and federal officers clashed with protesters outside a federal building. At least two people were arrested. A protest outside L.A. city hall earlier on Friday remained peaceful. But as the day went on, tensions outside the federal building escalated. CNN's Veronica Miracle was there.
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VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These protesters were able to get onto the property. There was a skirmish line of police officers of Department of Homeland Security officers.
They were in a bit of a line and the protesters overtook them and were able to basically push them further and further back all the way to the loading dock, where they essentially cornered all of them and pushed them back inside.
There was, you know, a bit of a skirmish. There were some pepper spray, people were throwing bottles but ultimately these protesters have overtaken this property, which I have never seen before.
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BRUNHUBER: As we mentioned, Democrats are using the government shutdown to push for ICE reform. CNN's senior political analyst Ron Brownstein says they may have an advantage, given the recent protests and killings.
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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: I think, you know, as we've talked about before, the mechanism of using government shutdown to try to get what you want has mostly frustrated, almost entirely frustrated the people who have used it.
[05:10:00] I mean, it's very hard to get a president to do something he doesn't want to do through the threat or the actual implementation of a government shutdown.
The question is, what does Trump want to do at this point?
Because what Democrats have going for them is this really rather remarkable change over the last year. I mean, immigration was certainly one of the issues, probably the second issue behind inflation, that drove Trump's return to the White House.
But as one of the Republican senators lamented this week, the party has turned what has been a strength into a liability. There's still a lot of support in the U.S. for the steps Trump has taken to regain control of the border.
But polling is unequivocal that somewhere around 60 percent of Americans now consistently say they believe ICE has gone too far. People do not believe either of these killings were justified.
And so when Democrats are pressing for reform to ICE, they are on a very, you know, they are on very strong ground. And Trump may be more leery than it would have looked a few weeks ago, certainly before these killings, about drawing a firm line in the sand and simply trying to stonewall.
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BRUNHUBER: Millions of people in the southeastern U.S. are waking up to another weekend of severe winter weather. A winter storm that's quickly gaining strength is set to hit the region with massive snow, damaging winds and dangerous coastal flooding.
Soon, a storm known as a bomb cyclone will begin with snow and hurricane force winds, possibly whipping up blizzard conditions along the coast of Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia before moving north to coastal New England and eastern Massachusetts later in the weekend.
Parts of the Carolinas could see up to 10 inches or 25 centimeters of snow and that's more than a year's worth of snow in one day.
Joining us now is AccuWeather reporter Bill Wadell in State College, Pennsylvania.
Thanks so much for being here with us. Gosh, just I can feel the cold coming through the TV set here. Take me through what the conditions are not just there but across the States, as I mentioned, are going to be like as the storm starts to take shape.
BILL WADELL, PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, ACCUWEATHER: Good morning to you, Kim. Yes. This is really some remarkable cold that we're dealing with across the United States. A balmy 7 degrees here in State College, Pennsylvania. At least it's up from 1 degree when I hit the road this morning.
We're right outside Beaver Stadium at Penn State. They're actually going to be making history today with the first outdoor ice hockey game ever to happen here inside the football stadium. So the temps are going to be in the teens when that game starts this afternoon, Penn State against Michigan.
But these cold weather warnings, they stretch from Texas and Oklahoma down to Florida. Then all the way up the Eastern Corridor of the United States through here in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, through New York City, all the way to Maine.
But our big concern this morning, there are still more than 150,000 homes and businesses in Tennessee, in Mississippi and Louisiana, a lot of people still without power and still without heat. They're going on days five and six in the dark after last weekend's big winter storm.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, it's just unbelievable. You know these, what we were talking about, blizzards. I mean, the wind gusts possibly reaching hurricane force. I mean, we saw some, you know, what was it, 85 deaths attributed to the last winter storm.
I mean, how dangerous is this combination of heavy snow, the cold and these kinds of winds?
WADELL: This is a dangerous and prolonged stretch. We know that the grid is being strained in some areas. A lot of people are going to be dealing with very high power bills when they open up their mail or email.
But yes, the big concern is this life-threatening cold. Hundreds of thousands of people again right now, without power and heat, going on nearly a week. So you have the concerns of hypothermia at night.
I have personally heard of friends and extended family members down in the South dealing with burst pipes when they lose that heat in their homes, so they're dealing with water damage. That's very difficult to turn off. Very costly impacts from the storm. This past storm, I should say, last weekend, and the cold.
AccuWeather experts estimate the total damage and economic loss from last weekend's storm -- all of the travel shutdowns, all of the impacts -- at $105 billion to $115 billion.
And again, when we're dealing with these extended power outages in parts of the South, people will turn to emergency heating options, those generators. And then we have the concerns with carbon monoxide poisoning.
So this is a prolonged and extreme event here for millions of people across the United States with the cold. They're going to be feeling it one way or another, right?
Whether they step outside, whether they're dealing with those much higher energy bills that we're going to be expecting over the next few weeks, and then the travel shutdown this past weekend, thousands of flights that were canceled.
[05:15:00] So again, this bomb cyclone and the potential blizzard conditions we are talking about, it's going to be impacting a much smaller area on the East Coast. That storm is really going to pack a punch when it rapidly intensifies starting later today.
And I should mark this, this cold is so remarkable. We have the potential on the map of Gulf effect flurries in parts of Florida and the Tampa Bay area tonight. You know that -- those freezing temperatures are extending down into parts of central and south Florida this weekend.
So we have those big concerns of potential frost and freeze damage to citrus and other crops across Florida. It's impacting a lot of people, hundreds of millions of people across the country.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. That's right. And you guys in Pennsylvania are used to cold weather, at least when you talk about. You know, Raleigh, Charlotte, I mean, Florida, as you mentioned here in Atlanta, we're not used to this. Right.
Just looking big picture at what's been going on. And we've had these back to back historic winter storms and cold, these brutal arctic blasts.
I mean, is there something unusual going on with the weather pattern this winter?
WADELL: You know, we've seen these amplified patterns but this is not a surprise. Our team of AccuWeather, long-range meteorologists, I mean, they've been texting me. I'm in close contact with them. They predicted this back in the fall when AccuWeather put out their long range forecast.
Talking about a very high potential of these very long and widespread cold snaps. You know, we issued back in the fall, people needed to be prepared for higher heating bills. So this is not a surprise but just the extent of this.
How many people, how far deep the cold is reaching?
Yes, the impacts are very, very widespread. And potentially once we get through this weekend and once we see, you know, how bad the freeze damages to some of the crops, how many more burst pipes we're going to be dealing with, that's when we're going to get a clearer look at the true economic impact over the next two weeks.
It is very costly and I will say, I was based in Texas back in 2021 during the winter storm and deep freeze. I was out covering that storm. I came home and had burst pipes in my house. The water damage was so bad I personally had to move out.
So you know, a lot of people are so concerned with extreme weather, with hurricanes and wildfires but extreme winter weather is no joke. We have life-threatening conditions for those people without heat, without power. And again, those burst pipes in southern states, they can create huge issues in a matter of minutes. BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right, a huge financial cost. And, you know, a
human cost as well, as you mentioned. Listen, I want you to stay warm. And everybody in the path of this storm, please do stay safe. Bill Wadell in Pennsylvania, really appreciate that. Thank you so much.
WADELL: Thanks for having us.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Still ahead, serious new concerns about First Amendment rights under the Trump administration. We'll look at why two journalists covering the protests against ICE were arrested and the reaction to the charges coming up later this hour. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo say more than 200 people are dead after several mines collapsed. Officials say heavy rain caused a landslide in North Kivu province in the east of the country on Wednesday. Many of the victims' bodies haven't yet been recovered.
The collapse took place at a coltan mine. Coltan is a black metallic ore that contains the rare metal tantalum, a key component in the production of smartphones, computers and aircraft engines.
The site has been controlled by the M23 rebel forces since they seized control of the mine in a nearby town in May of 2024. Fighting has persisted in eastern Congo despite a deal between the Congolese and Rwanda governments brokered by the U.S. and also opens up access to critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.
Twelve people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in recent hours, despite a shaky ceasefire being in place. That's according to the Palestinian health officials, who say the incidents happened in Gaza City and southern Gaza.
The victims included six children as well as seven members of the same family, who were living in a tent after being displaced. Israel's military still carries out strikes in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire. CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.
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BRUNHUBER: In the coming hours, Russia's envoy is set to meet with U.S. negotiators in Miami. That's from a source who spoke with CNN. But the subject of those talks still isn't clear.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the separate trilateral talks set for Sunday in Abu Dhabi could be delayed or moved to a different location. He blamed the U.S. tensions with Iran for that. Meanwhile, Ukraine's capital didn't take any fire overnight into
Friday. That's after Russia agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv until Sunday following a request from president Trump.
But temperatures are expected to drop as low as -22 Celsius or -8 Fahrenheit in the coming days while many residents are without power or heat and many people are sheltering in emergency heating centers.
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ANDRII UDOVYK, RAILWAY WORKER (through translator): We came to help the city of Kyiv. We are restoring water supply, heating networks. In short, we are doing auxiliary work on heating communications.
TETIANA SYDOROVA, RETIREE (through translator): The situation is terrible, horrific. It was impossible to imagine that such a thing could happen in the 21st century.
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BRUNHUBER: Salma Abdelaziz is monitoring all these developments for us and she joins us from London.
So let's go back to the peace talks.
What more can you tell us about that?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So first of all, let me just go through the truce because I think it's important to indicate where we are with that in order to explain how it may or may not help those peace talks that appear to be delayed for now.
We do know, of course, that there is a cessation of hostilities in place but it is extremely limited in both scope, geography and time. President Trump made the surprise announcement in the White House on Thursday.
It was only confirmed by the Kremlin a day later that they had agreed to what they call a personal request, not necessarily a ceasefire. And then the Russian government went on to provide no further details.
So we don't exactly know when it starts. We don't exactly know when it ends. We know it's supposed to be about a week and it is supposed to keep Russia from hitting Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
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But it is playing out on the ground that that seems to only be taking place in Kyiv. And it means that Russia is carrying out other attacks across the country that are making civilian life extremely difficult. I want you to take a listen to how president Zelenskyy laid it out.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The American side spoke about refraining from strikes on energy infrastructure for one week and the countdown began last night.
How this proceeds depends, of course, on our partners, primarily the United States. Ukraine is ready to mirror this restraint. And today we did not strike Russian energy facilities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: So you hear there the attempt to reciprocate, to return in exchange that same -- that same rule that is right now being followed by the Russian military, which is to not strike energy infrastructure, at least in Kyiv.
This is a positive sign, even if it is so limited in scope, Kim, because it shows that de-escalation efforts have worked, even if in a limited capacity, ahead of further negotiations.
Where do those negotiations stand?
Well, there was supposed to be trilateral talks between Russia, the U.S. and Ukraine, of course, on Sunday in Abu Dhabi. We have heard from president Zelenskyy that those may be delayed or the location may be moved because of America's focus on Iran right now.
But there but there are actually talks taking place today in Miami between the Russian special envoy and U.S. officials. Now the subject of those talks had originally been scheduled to be about the economy. But you can expect that potentially, of course, that larger issues may come up.
What's outstanding in these peace talks?
While secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the one table still remaining -- one issue, rather, still remaining on the table, is the territorial claim of Donetsk. But Russian officials have poured cold water on that, said there's still a lot more work to do and a lot more topics to work through. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate those updates. Salma Abdelaziz, thanks so much.
President Trump is defending the White House's immigration crackdown after the second deadly shooting in Minnesota. Coming up, the claims the president's now making against the man shot and killed by Border Patrol agents. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories. The U.S. Justice Department has released more than 3 million files
from its investigation into the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. The heavily redacted documents contain multiple references to a host of powerful figures, including president Donald Trump, who hasn't been charged with any crime.
The U.S. government is partially shut down but it isn't expected to have a big impact or last long after the Senate approved a major spending deal hours before the deadline. The House is expected to vote on the package on Monday.
Protests against the Trump administration's immigration enforcement efforts swept across the U.S. on Friday, from Washington state to New England. They marched, chanted and carried signs. Students walked out of schools and businesses closed their doors.
The protests were spurred in part by the killing of two U.S. citizens by federal agents in Minnesota.
BRUNHUBER: Former CNN anchor turned independent journalist Don Lemon is vowing to fight federal charges brought against him related to a protest at a -- at a Minnesota church. Lemon was released from custody after appearing in federal court in Los Angeles on Friday.
Lemon, who often shares his opinions on stories with his followers, says he won't be silenced. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, JOURNALIST: The First Amendment of the Constitution protects that work for me and for countless other journalists who do what I do. I stand with all of them and I will not be silenced. I look forward to my day in court.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Lemon and independent journalist, Georgia Fort, were live streaming as dozens of anti-ICE protesters interrupted a church service in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this month.
Federal prosecutors allege the journalists participated in a, quote, "takeover style attack" of the church and intimidated people there. Journalism groups say the Trump administration is trying to chill press freedom with the charges.
U.S. Attorney general Pam Bondi says federal agents at her direction arrested Lemon, Fort and two others on Friday in connection with the church protest. CNN's Brian Stelter has more on the First Amendment issues in the case.
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BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Hey there. Yes, this is shaping up to be a major First Amendment battle in the U.S., now that journalist Don Lemon and Georgia Fort have both been charged by the federal government in connection with that church disruption back on January 18th.
Both Lemon and Fort say they were there only as journalists, bearing witness, filming the protests by anti-ICE demonstrators so that everybody else could see what happened inside the church.
But there's been tremendous pressure coming from the Right, from president Trump's base, to take action, particularly against Lemon, who has been an adversary or an antagonist of Trump for many years now.
Throughout the day on Friday, after these arrests happened, we heard from press freedom groups and civil rights organizations, who denounced the government's actions. Pen America, for example, said it's part of a growing pattern of government overreach that threatens press freedom.
And Amnesty International said, quote, "Arresting journalists for their reporting is a clear example of an authoritarian practice."
Both Lemon and Fort were released later in the day on Friday, after initial court appearances. And lawyers for both have vowed they will vigorously fight these charges.
And the actual charges may have to do with conspiring to violate someone's constitutional rights and violating what's known as the Face Act, which prohibits the use of force or threats to intentionally interfere with someone who is expressing their First Amendment right to practice religion.
After all, the First Amendment does protect the right to report but also the right to freely worship. Now the burden of proof is on the government and legal experts say these will be hard cases for the government to win.
But the Trump administration was under a lot of pressure to do something after Lemon's videos of the church protest went viral, again, back on January 18th and into the day on the 19th.
I noticed all across social media, especially on X, where there are lots of right-wing pro-Trump voices, there were loud calls for Lemon to be arrested. And the DOJ was sensing that pressure and then vowing to do something.
There was an initial attempt to charge Lemon and a judge rejected it in Minnesota. And CNN pointed that out in a statement about the former CNN anchor's arrest. Let me read part of it.
Quote, "The Department of Justice already failed twice to get an arrest warrant for Don and several other journalists in Minnesota. A chief judge of the Minnesota federal district court found there was, quote, 'no evidence' that there was any criminal behavior involved in their work.
"The First Amendment in the United States protects journalists who bear witness to news and events as they unfold.
[05:35:00]
"Ensuring they can report freely in the public interest and the DOJ's attempts to violate those rights is unacceptable."
So that statement from CNN on Friday. Many First Amendment organizations, free expression groups also coming out, condemning these arrests, saying this could have a chilling effect on reporting in the United States.
But I also saw many journalists saying they will not be deterred. They will continue to report on protests, of course, following the law, but reporting on protests and other news involving the Trump administration -- Brian Stelter, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: The Justice Department has launched a civil rights investigation into the killing of Alex Pretti. Pretti, an intensive care nurse, was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis last weekend.
U.S. deputy attorney general Todd Blanche says the probe is standard and will focus on whether officers violated the law in shooting Pretti. Customs and Border Protection are also conducting an internal review on the officers involved. Protesters have gathered daily across parts of the Twin Cities following the shooting.
President Trump is speaking out in support of his administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota. The president praised Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem and border czar Tom Homan. CNN's Kristen Holmes reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As protesters have continued to gather in Minneapolis and across the country, President Trump and his administration are sending mixed messages about what the future is of these immigration crackdown in that state, as well as what their view of the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti is.
Now president Trump had largely remained out of the conversation when it came to Pretti. At first, he had privately expressed support for the agent but quickly turned to demanding a full investigation.
However, late Thursday night, early Friday morning, president Trump took to Truth Social to lash out at Pretti over a recently emerged video.
He said this in a Truth Social post, "Agitator and perhaps insurrectionist, Alex Pretti's stock has gone way down with the just released video of him screaming and spitting in the face of a very calm and under control ICE officer and then crazily kicking in a new and very expensive government vehicle.
"So hard and violent, in fact, that the taillight broke off in pieces." This is, of course, in reference to that video we have seen that
surfaced this week of an earlier interaction that Pretti had with ICE agents, in which he did yell at these agents. We have not seen what happened before and after that video clip.
But when it comes to bringing the temperature down, obviously president Trump wading there into Pretti but also kind of seeming to go against what his own border czar, Tom Homan, had said on the ground in Minneapolis, when he said that they were going to draw down on federal law enforcement in that state.
Here's what president Trump said when he was asked about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you be pulling back immigration enforcement agents out in Minnesota?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We will keep our country safe. We'll do whatever we can to keep our country safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now just a reminder here, Homan was brought in again to turn that temperature down and to try and figure out a path forward in Minnesota. Right now, of course, it is unclear what any of this means when it comes to the way the administration plans to move ahead -- Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: President Trump has ended months of speculation by announcing Kevin Warsh as his pick to lead the Federal Reserve. A 55- year old economist, Warsh is a longtime Trump ally who was appointed to the Fed at 35, the youngest person ever to serve on its board of governors. He would need to be confirmed by the Senate.
Current chair Jerome Powell's term ends on May 15th. Powell has consistently been lambasted by Donald Trump for keeping interest rates higher than the president wanted.
According to his statements, Warsh now favors lower rates after being considered an inflation hawk. Now big question is whether Warsh will be strong enough to set rates based on the economy and not on politics or Donald Trump's demands.
I talked to Ryan Patel at Claremont Graduate University about the importance for the Federal Reserve to be perceived as independent. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN PATEL, GLOBAL BUSINESS EXECUTIVE: Kim, it matters. It matters today. Even today, even with his name coming out, the market reacted, right. The dollar -- the dollar went up because of that expectation. Even gold and silver went the opposite way, not because it was more about, you know, the hedging. That's what it occurred.
So the independence would be really clear here because you can't, you know, the last six months to eight months of what we saw, the back- and-forth between the Fed and president Trump, I think that's not healthy. That doesn't get us to where we need to get to. The numbers will push that.
And I think that's what he needs to do. So I think, for the current market situation, you know, the -- you mentioned uncertainty. But really the expectations, to take the clarity, is really important. What policy needs to be, at least identify that, explain it.
So then other banks around the world can place off of that.
[05:40:00]
And I think that would be a roadmap to success.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. president weighs potential military action in Iran over its nuclear program.
But does military pressure make Tehran more likely to push for a nuclear weapon?
We'll talk to an expert when we come back. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is putting Iran on notice over its upcoming military drills in the Strait of Hormuz. The statement is urging Iran not to interfere with maritime traffic in the key trade route. It says any unprofessional behavior could lead to escalation.
But the warning comes as the U.S. is ramping up its own military buildup in the Middle East after president Trump threatened potential strikes if Tehran doesn't agree to a new nuclear deal.
Trump said Friday he communicated directly with Tehran about a deadline for such a deal but he didn't say if he actually set any timelines. Iran's foreign minister, who was in Turkiye on Friday, says if negotiations are fair and just, Tehran is willing to talk.
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ABBAS ARAGHCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to reenter the nuclear negotiations. The Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought nuclear weapons and such weapons have no place in our security calculations.
We have always been and still are ready to build confidence regarding the peaceful nature of our nuclear program.
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BRUNHUBER: For more analysis, we're joined from London by Darya Dolzikova. She's a senior research fellow for proliferation and nuclear policy at the Royal United Services Institute.
Thank you so much for being here with us. I appreciate it. So we heard president Trump say he's been talking to Tehran about a deal. Iran saying they're ready to talk.
I mean, is there any real opening here or is this all just posturing?
DARYA DOLZIKOVA, SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE: Well, I mean, the Iranians have been saying that they're ready to talk for quite some time. The Americans have been pushing for negotiations for quite some time.
But the fundamentals haven't changed. The two sides are on completely different pages with their expectations of what they would want from the negotiations.
[05:45:00]
The Americans continue saying that they want no enrichment and Iran, going further, that they don't want any nuclear weapons in Iran. The Iranians continue refusing to let the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the facilities that the agency needs to access.
So both sides keep saying that they're ready for negotiations. But like I said, they continue to be on completely separate pages.
BRUNHUBER: Well, that doesn't bode well, I guess. So last time there was a deadline for talks, that was back in June. It ended with strikes on Iran's nuclear site.
So from Tehran's point of view, you know, would they trust that this time is going to be any different?
DOLZIKOVA: I mean, based on, the history, as precisely as you pointed out I don't see why they would expect it to be any different. And I expect that's what precisely what Trump wants.
He's trying to say that, you know, we've done it once, we'll do it again. So you better come to the negotiating table.
Now as I said, the two parties still remain on completely different pages. So that would need to be resolved on kind of what the key issues that are still outstanding would need to be resolved.
But more to the point around, you know, does military pressure actually convince the Iranians to come to the table?
I mean, I would certainly think that, you know, if the Trump administration feels that the first round of military attacks hasn't worked, the idea that a second round will change much to me is not particularly convincing.
And I mean, I can also understand the Iranians not particularly wanting to sit down, with, you know, the metaphorical or literal gun pointed to their heads.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, exactly. Let me talk, I guess, about that first round of attacks.
We're, what, seven months out from those strikes?
I mean, what do we actually know about how much Iran's been able to rebuild since then?
DOLZIKOVA: So not a massive amount, actually. It's still not entirely clear the full extent of the damage. We have a slightly better sense than perhaps we did in the first few days.
But the key issue is that the International Atomic Energy Agency continues to not have any access to key Iranian facilities that they need to have visibility of, to get a sense of what state the program is in. So at the moment, we're kind of relying on what we can gauge from satellite imagery, which really isn't much.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. OK. So dialing down, I guess, on one of those questions, I guess you wouldn't know the answer, based on what you just said.
But one of the questions is whether Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium survived.
I mean, if even if we don't know, how much does that uncertainty matter, do you think?
DOLZIKOVA: Yes. So one of the key outstanding questions is what happened to the 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium?
That's still not been located. And I mean, you landed on precisely a key concern. It's possible that intelligence communities in Israel, in the United States, might have a sense of that -- where that material is. So perhaps they might be able to target it if they know where it is.
But really, getting a hold of that material and understanding where it is, first and foremost, and what state it's in is really critical for any counter-proliferation efforts, whether that be military strikes or diplomacy.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, there's an argument that the -- those strikes, I mean, may have actually pushed Iran closer to deciding it needs a nuclear weapon for its own protection.
Do you do you think that's a real risk?
Do you put stock in that?
DOLZIKOVA: Yes, I think that is a real risk. You know, the program can only be set back in terms of military -- the use of military force to a certain degree. Right. So the program, you can set back the physical aspects of the program to a certain degree.
But the latent knowledge is still there. So it's a matter of, you know, how long it might take Iran to rebuild, if they decided to do that. But that's the key question.
Will they decide to rebuild?
Will they decide to push the program forward and will they decide?
And we had this question back after the strikes in the summer.
But if there are additional attacks on whether it be Iran's nuclear program or Iran's military facilities, especially Iran's leadership, there's a key question around, what conclusions will Iran draw from that?
And I think it's very likely that a conclusion might be that, you know, they see that a nuclear weapon is really the only deterrent that will work. Having said that, having a nuclear weapon is not having a nuclear deterrent. They would need to develop at least a small nuclear arsenal.
That takes time. That takes a lot of effort. That would get most likely, almost certainly picked up by the Israelis and by the Americans. So they would have a really far way to go, actually, to cross, to bridge that gap, if you will. And they'd be in a really vulnerable position if they ever did decide to move toward weaponization.
BRUNHUBER: Sounds as though we're miles and miles away from defusing any of these tensions.
[05:50:00]
Darya Dolzikova, thank you so much for speaking with us. Appreciate it
DOLZIKOVA: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll be right back with more here on CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Top U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn insists her Olympic dream isn't over after she crashed out of her final downhill race a week before the Winter Games in Italy. She was airlifted to a hospital late on Friday with an injured left knee, the third skier to crash on the course in Switzerland.
CNN's Patrick Snell has what's next for the ski legend's comeback. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, later in the day on Friday came some encouraging news concerning Lindsey Vonn, considering what the update from her via social media might have been.
The American is a remarkable athlete. Never doubt for one minute her extraordinary will to win. Her immense resilience and never quit attitude that served her so well over the years.
Just a reset for our viewers. Lindsey is making her return to the Winter Games for the first time since 2018. She's 41 years of age now and, on Friday in Switzerland, this was her last tuneup event in the downhill before the games officially start next week.
And here's why her fans all over the world can at least have some hope. Vonn posting on Instagram on Friday saying she injured her left knee, adding, "I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams.
"This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics but if there's one thing I know how to do, it's a comeback. My Olympic dream is not over. Thank you for all the love and support. I will give more information when I have it."
Well, this is how it all unfolded on Friday.
Vonn losing control when landing on a jump and then sliding into the safety net. She eventually got up after receiving medical attention, paying particular attention to her left knee. Vonn then skiing slowly to the finish line, stopping a couple of times on the way down and limping into a tent afterwards for medical attention.
She would then be airlifted off the mountain to go to hospital. The race was later canceled because three of the first six races crashed amid really poor visibility there in Crans-Montana.
Vonn retired from the sport in 2019 but returned just over a year ago to make one more run at the Olympics, where she's won one gold medal and two bronze over the years. The American recently spoke to CNN about how excited she was to make her Olympic return in Italy.
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LINDSEY VONN, OLYMPIC SKIER: I feel actually younger and rejuvenated. You know, I think this crazy adventure has just given me more life and more excitement. And it's just a crazy opportunity when you're given, you know, a second chance at something.
It changes your mindset. So I don't feel older, I feel blessed. I know it's cheesy to say but I feel blessed that I have this opportunity. And that's given me a renewed sense of energy and excitement.
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SNELL: We're tracking the very latest on this story. But for now at least, these words again from Lindsey herself, "My Olympic dream is not over."
And with that, it's right back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: All right, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers in North America, "CNN THIS MORNING" is next. For the rest of the world. It's "AFRICAN VOICES."
