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Dangerous Weather Threatens Much of the U.S.; DHS Memo on Warrants; Craig Loya is Interviewed about the Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Legal questions today.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, sure.

CORNISH: So, thank you for being here.

WILLIAMS: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: But the book is called "Five Bullets: The Story of Bernie Goetz, New York's Explosive '80s and the Subway Vigilante Trial that Divided the Nation." It's out now.

And straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, you've got customs enforcement officers who have expanded powers. There's a new memo that allows agents to enter homes without a judicial warrant. This came out via whistleblower. And we're going to talk about why legal experts are sounding the alarm.

Plus, a powerful winter storm is set to stretch from the Plains to the East Coast. It actually now has FEMA rethinking its planned layoffs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:35:31]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some locations could see winter weather like they haven't seen in years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Much of the country now prepares for a potentially historic winter storm. The latest track and the biggest concerns just ahead.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's 35 minutes past the hour. Here is what's happening right now.

The first meeting between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine now underway. It's the first known meeting between all three countries since Russia invaded Ukraine back in 2022. President Zelenskyy announced the talks after meeting with President Trump earlier this week. An official said that, quote, "territory is the only unresolved issue."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a -- an armada. We have a massive -- we have a massive fleet heading in that direction. And maybe we won't have to use it. We'll see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, President Trump says a U.S. naval armada is headed towards Iran. Last week, CNN confirmed that the USS Abraham Lincoln was heading to the Middle East region. The Lincoln can carry a mix of 90 planes and helicopters. The president tells reporters overnight the, quote, "big flotilla" is headed toward Iran as a show of strength.

And the deal on TikTok is done. The app has now established a majority American-owned joint venture to run its U.S. business. It comes just one day before President Trump's deadline for the apps American assets to be spun off from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

Back now to this breaking news. A menacing winter storm develops across the U.S. FEMA is making an abrupt u-turn. The agency is no longer laying off hundreds of disaster workers, at least for now. In an email obtained by CNN, staff were told that FEMA would, quote, cease offboarding. Two sources tell CNN, the winter storm was a significant factor in the decision.

The sprawling storm could impact more than half of the U.S. By Monday, the system is expected to have dropped a foot or more of snow and a destructive amount of ice. So far, flights already impacted. Delta has canceled some flights out of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and said it would be bringing in experts from cold weather hubs to help with deicing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICKY SMITH, GENERAL MANAGER, HARTSFIELD-JACKSON ATLANTA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Our snow team, we don't get a lot of opportunities to engage in a snow event. And so we're doing a lot of preparation. We have new equipment that will make us more efficient in that effort. And so our team has been doing round the clock training.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar continues to track the storm from Atlanta.

What's the latest?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. So, the latest is really just trying to get -- pinpoint a lot of the timelines for some of these areas of when we're going to see that changeover into snow and ice. So, here's a look at what we can expect. The purple color means these

areas are just going to get snow. Green is only rain. But this kind of pinkish color here in the middle, this is where folks are going to get kind of a little bit of a mix of everything. So, let's break that down.

So, for our areas in the southern plains, here you'll notice by Friday night we start to see that changeover into snow and ice across portions of Oklahoma and into Texas. By the time we roll into Saturday, now it's starting to spread into Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee and Mississippi. There will be a little bit of a break at some point during the day Saturday for some of these areas before that back edge of the system begins to push the last round of snow and ice into a lot of these areas.

And then for those folks, by the time we get to Sunday morning, most of it is really starting to wrap back up. You're looking at -- in some of these spots maybe half an inch to an inch of ice total accumulation. Farther north, where it's just going to be snow, you're looking at significant totals of at least a foot where you see that darker pink color. And that purple could be looking at 18 to 24 inches.

So now let's shift farther east and kind of take a look at some of these southeastern and mid-Atlantic cities. Now, for the most part, most of these areas really don't start to see that precip move in until early Saturday. Especially the farther east, it's really not until Saturday night, especially for the Carolinas and even into portions of Georgia.

Then we start to get into Sunday, and that's where the bulk of the moisture really starts to come in. But also notice too, you start to get a little bit more green in the mix, meaning that it's going to get warm enough to see that transition back over to rain before it goes back again into winter precipitation once we get into Sunday evening and the temperatures start to drop back.

So, a lot of a little bit of everything really for some of these cities, especially places like Nashville, Charlotte, you're going to be seeing a little bit of a mix of maybe some rain, some snow, maybe some ice. Again, a lot of -- a lot of it all mixed in.

[06:40:04]

Here's a look at those ice totals. You'll see some of these spots, a half an inch up to one inch total of ice. You really have to go much farther north to pick up some of those significant snowfall totals.

CORNISH: OK, CNN's Allison Chinchar. We'll be checking back with you today.

Now, I want to turn to something else, the whistle-blower complaint now coming to light, revealing that a Department of Homeland Security memo reportedly would allow ICE agents to forcibly enter a home with just an administrative warrant, not a judicial warrant. And that would allow them to arrest an individual who has a final removal order. Now, the ICE agents must have a reasonable belief that the individual

lives in the home and, quote, "knock and announce themselves first." This memo states, quote, "should the alien refuse admittance, ICE officers and agents should use only the necessary and reasonable amount of force to enter the alien's residence."

Senator Richard Blumenthal says the memo actually goes far beyond that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): Americans should be terrified that this secret ICE policy authorizes agents to break down doors and ransack through their homes, arresting or detaining people without a judicial warrant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Vice President J.D. Vance says the allegation that this violates the Fourth Amendment is an overreaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, our understanding is that you can enforce the immigration laws of the country under an administrative order, if you have an administrative warrant. That's what we think. That's our understanding of the law. That's our best faith attempt to understand the law. Again, this is something courts will weigh in on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The group chat is back.

We brought Elliot back because I -- you were formerly an ICE attorney. So, you do know the difference here.

WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: Now, my layman's interpretation is --

WILLIAMS: Sure.

CORNISH: Administrative warrant is, we, ourselves, issue a warrant to go in there because we want to get you out of the country.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: A judicial warrant is when you actually go to a judge and say, this person may have committed a crime. Can we go in there? Is that the difference?

WILLIAMS: But I would go even further. Not even, can we go in there. An administrative warrant says, this person is unlawfully present in the United States. We can apprehend him or her and remove them from the country. But it says nothing about the use of force to enter a home.

A judicial warrant could, you know, it's like, you know, a warrant to search somebody's home or a warrant to break the door down or whatever else says that, in order to enter someone's property forcibly, a judge is saying that you can do it.

Now, typically, under the Fourth Amendment you need a warrant or some emergency to go in and damage someone's property or break in with force. Case in point, there's a -- there's a kilo of crack and a bunch of handguns in a house and you know that they're going to get flushed down the toilet if you don't break the door down. That's the circumstance in which you would not have a judicial warrant.

This is an enormous litigation risk that that ICE is taking on people. People are going to sue.

CORNISH: Do you think that's why J.D. Vance ended with, and (ph) I think the courts will decide.

WILLIAMS: Oh, the courts are going to --

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You think?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: I felt like the Yale Law degree jumped out --

WILLIAMS: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: And said -- what did you think of how he handled that? I mean, he didn't say, no, this is definitely legal. He also walked back his thing about immunity of ICE enforcement officers.

WILLIAMS: Yes. Just real, real, real quick, because then you're going to go to Rob.

The one thing I would say is that they -- rolling it out only, I believe, in jurisdictions with conservative courts. The places that they tried it, like in Texas or whatever else. It's not a nationwide policy, at least according to what the reporting has said so far. But again --

CORNISH: Ah, OK, so that's another reason to go to Rob because you made the comment earlier that we're not seeing the same thing in places like Texas. They are doing stuff in places where they know they have political purchase or influence.

ROB BLUEY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, "THE DAILY SIGNAL": Yes. And I think some of the political messaging around this is -- is actually -- this is an area where I think the administration, by coming out early on in 2025 and saying we are going to focus on the worst of the worst and the criminal illegal aliens, they've done themselves now a disservice because President Trump said that he would carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history. You're not going to achieve those numbers by just going after the worst of the worst, right, Elliot? I mean -- WILLIAMS: It's not possible.

CORNISH: Does it put in context for you the family who didn't open the door to get the five-year-old? There's been --

BLUEY: As we were talking about earlier, yes.

CORNISH: I ask because the administration has been saying they abandoned that kid.

CARDONA: Yes.

CORNISH: But what we're hearing on social media and now through this documentation is that everyone is aware that ICE thinks it can kick down your door with its administrative warrant.

BLUEY: You're going to have a situation, like we were talking about earlier with the five-year-old, where you could have a -- certainly images, videos that do not necessarily lend itself very favorably to the image of ICE. I agree with your point on that, Audie.

CARDONA: This -- this is going to become a gosh darn s show around the country, especially in places where this memo apparently is now going to -- going to be enforced.

[06:45:03]

Because what you're seeing around the country is advocates are telling communities, you don't need to open the door for ICE unless they can show you a judicial warrant. I mean that is the advice that advocates are giving to people who -- where ICE is knocking on their doors and trying to demand for people to come out. People are saying, no, you don't need to open the door for ICE. You don't need to do this because -- if they don't have a warrant.

CORNISH: But have you guys been seeing in the videos online, you'll hear someone at ICE being like, we got a warrant.

NOEL KING, CO-HOST AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "TODAY, EXPLAINED" PODCAST: Yes. And people are like --

CORNISH: Oh.

KING: I don't -- I -- yes. Yes.

CORNISH: Like now -- now I'm raising questions about that.

KING: So much of the language -- I mean you played this tape earlier. It's like if the ICE agent believes this is the right thing to do.

WILLIAMS: Right.

KING: If the ICE agent believes the person is the home. The problem is, if people don't trust the ICE agents, if they're like --

CARDONA: And they don't. KING: You guys are here to do me harm.

CARDONA: Yes.

KING: I don't know. I mean, you said it's a litigation risk. Like, who knows what's going through --

(CROSS TALK)

WILLIAMS: And part of it -- part of the interesting thing in all of this is that ICE's argument is that, well, all these activist groups are telling people they don't have to let us in. Hey, I'm sorry, that's the Fourth Amendment. Like, if -- you know, that's just -- it's one of those things that, if you want to change it changed, amend the Constitution. But, yes, people are telling you -- are giving guidance.

CORNISH: We're putting up the Constitution for you folks because we feel like this is a time that is straight for -- when a reminder is a good idea.

CARDONA: Yes. Yes.

WILLIAMS: And it's -- and it's -- yes, people are frustrating law enforcement efforts. They are.

CARDONA: Absolutely. It's their right.

WILLIAMS: But they can't under the law.

CARDONA: Exactly.

WILLIAMS: Right. It's a tension. Yes.

CARDONA: And I also think another piece that is really politically fraught for the administration is what you said, Rob, that they -- like 93 percent of the people that they're going after have no criminal record whatsoever. It is the dads. It's the kids now. It's people with disabilities. They -- they retain -- they detained a mom whose son was about to die of cancer, and they begged them to please let her say goodbye to her son. They didn't let her say goodbye to her son. Her son died.

CORNISH: Yes.

CARDONA: And so, these are the things where people are saying, do we really need to do that? Back in the Obama administration, they had what's called prosecutorial discretion, where you actually could look at these cases like a human being and say, do we really need to do this this way?

CORNISH: Can I let Rob answer your thought there?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLUEY: Well, I would say, number one, it is a crime to enter the country illegally. So, so that is the basis for which the administration is --

CORNISH: Yes. And we've heard ICE officers say that. Like, that's the crime.

BLUEY: Sure. And I would say, ultimately, it's going to be a tough situation. We know that Stephen Miller at the White House is focused on a daily basis, on the number of people who are being detained and deported, right? I mean, so this is, I think, going to continue to be an issue for maybe up until the midterm elections.

CORNISH: But can I raise one thing for you?

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: Because I -- this is a legal question.

WILLIAMS: Yes, yes.

CORNISH: You're saying they're -- if you're going after the worst of the worst, you know what you probably would be able to get, a judicial warrant.

CARDONA: Yes, that's right. That's right.

CORNISH: Because you would have gone to a criminal court and said this person committed a crime. If you have an administrative warrant --

CARDONA: Elliot --

CORNISH: Hold on one second.

CARDONA: Yes.

CORNISH: If you have an administrative warrant, you're by definition admitting, it's administrative. It's not the worst of the worst. So, at a certain point, how does this argument fall on deaf ears of the public that is subsumed with not us, but their own social media videos of what's happening on the ground?

CARDONA: And you know that more than half of the people that are here without documentation overstayed their visas. And that is not a criminal offense. Is that correct, Elliot?

CORNISH: Well, yes, let -- no, hold on one second. So, that's what I'm asking. The point about worst of the worst. Does worst of the worst work if you're administrative warrants are getting in through the door?

CARDONA: Correct.

BLUEY: Again, I think politically the administration understood that that was the best path to take in 2025 because they understood the polling you cited earlier would probably not support all of the efforts. I think you now find yourself in a situation where Donald Trump made a promise to voters in the 2024 campaign, and you're trying to come to grips with how exactly to answer that (ph). WILLIAMS: Yes, five seconds, because I know we're -- we're talking about this a lot.

CARDONA: Yes.

WILLIAMS: You know, it's -- to your -- to push back on you a little bit, Maria, they can, under the law, remove the nannies and the dads and all --

CARDONA: Oh, absolutely.

WILLIAMS: And they're empowered to do that.

CARDONA: Right.

WILLIAMS: The problem, and this is what ties into what Rob is saying --

CARDONA: Yes.

WILLIAMS: That's a huge political problem over time.

CARDONA: Exactly.

WILLIAMS: If people start seeing these images, yes, just because you can do something and the law allows it doesn't mean you ought to. I think there's steps (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: OK.

CARDONA: That's why -- prosecutorial discretion.

CORNISH: So, I'm just going to read one last thing. "The Washington Post" editorial board where they make your point. "Trump won the 2024 election on promises to pursue mass deportation. He's within his rights to aggressively enforce the laws." They agree. But they say, "the administration sullies that mandate every time it goes too far, especially when it reaches beyond its legal authority. And the public has already soured on the administration's crackdown. How long will it take before the president notices?"

All right, so you may want to share part of this conversation. You may be having conversations of your own. Know that we are a podcast. So, if you scan this QR code now to find it, you can get CNN THIS MORNING. It's available anywhere you get your podcasts.

Next on CNN THIS MORNING, to the CEO's working with President Trump, California's governor has a gift for you.

[06:50:01]

It's not subtle. They're knee pads.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER: We conduct legal, ethical and moral law enforcement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The administration says they are doing moral law enforcement. We're going to talk about that in the context of this five-year-old who ended up in ICE detention.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a pastor, I'm telling you this, ICE in Minnesota is actually (ph) worse than the cartels in Mexico. In Mexico cartels don't target kids or pregnant womans. And ICE is just not respecting the law.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:55:01]

CORNISH: All right, so we wanted to play that for you. A pastor speaking out about the moment ICE took a five-year-old boy into custody, along with his parent. Now, the pastor tells CNN he spoke to the boy's mother, saying she was terrified during the encounter that she stayed inside the house with her teenage son while her husband and other son were taken away. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino is standing by the actions of the officers on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER: We conduct legal, ethical and moral law enforcement missions here in Minneapolis. So, as far as what you're saying with that particular individual, you'll have to be more specific because I didn't detain a five-year-old.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: The scrutiny of ICE operations, it's coming as the actions of some protesters are now under legal review. Three protesters who took part in a church protest this weekend have now been arrested on federal charges. Erika kirk, Charlie Kirk's widow, talked about the protests last night during a church gathering in California.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIKA KIRK, CHARLIE KIRK'S WIDOW: It was interesting because he asked her the question, do you think these protests are helping? Personally, I do not. I think it's demonic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, this morning I'm joined by Bishop Craig Loya from Minneapolis, who has been calling for mourning and action through faith. Bishop, the reason why I wanted to bring you into this conversation is

we just heard Erika Kirk calling the protests demonic. We heard Bovino talking about the operations being moral. Can you talk about how the language is being used here?

RT. REV. CRAIG LOYA, 10TH BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN MINNESOTA: Yes, I think where I would start is by describing what I am seeing as a faith leader in this moment in Minnesota, because I'm really seeing two very different stories play out. We have clearly a campaign of reckless cruelty that is being carried out by the federal government against its own people in order to intimidate and frighten its own people with very little regard to the constitutional rule of law.

But I'm also seeing, at the same time, something that is much more powerful. I'm seeing communities of faith all across Minnesota, as well as broad coalitions of others, respond with courage and mobilizing for neighborly love. And as a follower of Jesus --

CORNISH: Can I jump in here for a question, because people are also looking at images of a protest in a church, right? People going in and saying, look, the pastor is affiliated with ICE or whatever they believe and interrupting services. Do you think that was the right thing to do?

LOYA: I think part of what you're seeing in that protest speaks to the depth of pain that people are experiencing right now in Minnesota, and the really desperation and longing to end what ICE is doing in our communities and to many of us and our neighbors.

CORNISH: I want to ask you about something else, because we were hearing about -- we're hearing from other faith leaders in the context of this conversation. And one of them was a minister, I think it was in New Hampshire, who was saying that, look, people might have to be martyrs. He was saying, clergy, get your affairs in order because we are going to have to do more. Are you thinking along those lines as well?

LOYA: Well, I would say the fundamental question for anyone who claims to be a follower of Jesus, as I do, is to enter every situation asking the question, what does love require? And often love requires us to put ourselves at risk and to put our bodies and lives on the lines for others. And history is full of examples where that has been what love requires.

So, I would say, there's always a possibility for anyone who's trying to follow Jesus in an authentic way, that love will require us to put our bodies and our lives at risk, to stand with and protect the vulnerable and marginalized.

CORNISH: OK, Bishop Loya, thank you so much for your time. I hope we can check back with you, obviously, as this operation continues in Minnesota.

LOYA: Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: And typically we'd all have group chats, but by law, and because Elliot is, like, he's really tough --

WILLIAMS: Oh, (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: We all just have his book in the group chat. It's called "Five Bullets," and it's very relevant to this moment in which we are all worried about crime and intervention and fear and what it says about where our country is today.

So, Elliot, thanks for being here, as always.

WILLIAMS: Thank you for having me here, as always.

[07:00:01]

CORNISH: You guys, thanks for being here ahead of a storm. Pack your shovels. It's going to be a rough weekend.

KING: Go to the grocery store.

CORNISH: I'm Audie Cornish. We're going to have the updates on the weather and this other news out of Minneapolis. Those headlines are next.