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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Federal Reserve Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged; U.S. Lawmaker: 5-Year-Old Taken By ICE Is "Depressed"; Late Drama As Opening Phase Of UEFA Champions League Tournament Concludes. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired January 29, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:33:00]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to EARLY START. This is your business breakout at 5:32.

And let's take a look at where U.S. stock futures stand ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, and it is a sleepy start to the day. All futures at this point basically trading near the flat line. It was also sort of a sleepy finish to the day yesterday and yesterday's session as well. Not a ton of movement even despite the FOMC meeting.

All right, let's take a look at some of the other business headlines today.

Amazon says that it is laying off another 16,000 employees. It comes after the company cut 14,000 corporate workers back in October. The CEO Andy Jassy has said that he wants Amazon to stay nimble as the company involves in the AI race -- evolves in the AI race. Amazon says that these layoffs are more about efficiency than cost savings.

Amid declining sales and plunging profits, Tesla is pulling the plug on its Model S and Model X cars. The CEO Elon Musk saying that the company will shift focus to building humanoid robots and expanding its self-driving robotaxi service. Tesla's earnings have fallen in nine of the last 10 quarters. Its income last year was just 30 percent of its peak in 2022.

CNN not for sale. That's the company's message after The Wall Street Journal reported that media mogul Barry Diller expressed in buying the network last year. Sources say that he made a number of approaches to Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN's parent company. WBD, which is splitting into two, said that CNN is an incredibly important part of the future of the Discovery Global.

After three straight interest rate cuts the Federal Reserve said Wednesday it's keeping rates where they are for now, but that is not what the president wants.

CNN's Matt Egan explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: The Federal Reserve is not caving to intense pressure from the White House. Fed officials -- they decided to keep interest rates steady despite the president's demands for dramatically lower interest rates. Now this decision was not a shock -- that officials had widely telegraphed the fact that they thought it was time to pause after cutting interest rates three times last year.

[05:35:08]

Now this reflects the fact that the Fed not as concerned about the health of the economy as they had been. Fed officials -- they're noting that the unemployment rate appears to have stabilized. They don't sound quite as concerned about inflation. And Fed officials -- they note that consumer spending has remained resilient.

And during the press conference Fed chair Powell -- he did strike a pretty optimistic tone. He pointed out that growth is expected to pick up and despite all the gloom and doom in surveys consumers continue to shop and spend money.

Now this was the first time we heard from Fed chair Powell since that unprecedented news of the DOJ investigating him and the Fed. And Powell -- he didn't really answer many questions when it comes to that DOJ investigation, but he did answer when I asked him what his advice is to whoever might replace him when his time as chair expires in May. Take a listen.

JEROME POWELL, CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL RESERVE: Stay out of elected politics. Don't get pulled into elected politics. Don't do it. If you want democratic legitimacy, you earn it by your interactions with the -- our elected overseers. And so it's something you need to work hard at, and I have worked hard at it.

EGAN: Now Powell went on to praise the staff of the Fed as highly capable and highly dedicated to their jobs.

And the bottom line on interest rates -- unfortunately for consumers, borrowing costs -- they're not going to go much lower because right now the Fed is on hold. But the good news is the Fed doesn't feel like it needs to come to the rescue of the job market.

Matt Egan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: OK, let's welcome into the conversation Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro research at ING. He joins us this morning from Frankfurt. Carsten, good morning to you.

I want to pick up where my colleague Matt Egan left off -- rates being held where they were. Everyone expected that. But did you also get the sense that the Fed may be done with rate cuts for the foreseeable future at least?

CARSTEN BRZESKI, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ING GERMANY: I think that is their intention if you really listen very closely to what they said yesterday because they feel that the U.S. economy currently is in a very good place. There is no reason to react to any imminent slowdown of growth. There is no reason to tackle a surge in inflation. So the Fed is pretty happy on where they're standing right now and don't see a need for another rate cut. If anything, there might be one last -- at least that is their current intention.

SOLOMON: Yeah. I think Deutsche Bank, this morning, said that they see that rate cut perhaps coming at the September meeting.

Carsten, the press conference wasn't the market mover that we often see when we get, you know, a comment or a surprise, but I would love to play a little game of rapid fire with you on what we learned about the U.S. economy from the Fed's point of view. So let's start with the state of the labor market.

BRZESKI: It's strong, actually, and much better than the Fed itself thought last year when there was a slowdown -- a soft patch in the labor market. So clearly, stronger than expected.

SOLOMON: Good, strong -- OK.

The state of inflation?

BRZESKI: Not as high as feared as a result of tariffs. Still too high for the Fed to really lean back and relax. And the Fed is still a bit concerned that we might see delayed effects from the tariffs that were imposed this last year so there could still be a bit of an uptick in inflation coming in the next month.

SOLOMON: And perhaps still too high for some consumers -- all right.

And then lastly, the state of economic growth.

BRZESKI: I think the Fed will probably repeat that this is red-hot -- what we're seeing in the U.S. economy. But solid to strong, and therefore no reason to give additional firepower by lower interest rates.

SOLOMON: Um-hum.

You know, one thing is -- and he was asked repeatedly -- Powell didn't weigh in too heavily on the political pressure he has been under from Trump. You would sort of expect that. He did, however, have that advice to his successor to stay out of politics.

Carsten, as I said, you're in Germany. What's the reaction been like around the world among economists about just the state of relations right now between the White House and the central bank? What are people saying and what are you hearing?

BRZESKI: Well, I do follow the European central bank here in Frankfurt as well and I think that in Europe and actually in the industrialized world the last decades have shown what the benefits are of a very independent central bank. Namely, the benefit has been. And there's also research showing that the benefit across the world has been that inflation is much lower. So the credibility that an independent central bank has is a very precious good so -- and I think that has always also been one of the -- one of the precious goods in the U.S. so clearly, the reaction should be.

[05:40:00]

And I think the words by Jerome Powell were very wise that the Fed should continue to be independent and to focus on its job. And the job is to achieve in the U.S. full employment and stable prices.

SOLOMON: OK.

Carsten Brzeksi, we appreciate you being here with us this morning. Thank you.

Now to Beijing and a meeting between the leaders of Britain and China. Keir Starmer is the first British prime minister to visit in eight years. He says that it is vital for the two countries to build a more sophisticated relationship.

Starmer is eager to reset relations with the world's second-largest economy and reduce the U.K.'s reliance on the increasingly unpredictable U.S. President Xi Jinping says that China is willing to develop a long-term strategic partnership with Britain for the benefit of both countries and the world.

Well, after the break, more on the U.S. immigration crackdown. We have new details on the 5-year-old boy who was detained with his father and sent to an ICE facility in Texas. We'll be right back.

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[05:45:35]

SOLOMON: Welcome back. I'm Rahel Solomon. And here are some of the stories we are watching for you this morning.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is standing by the city's sanctuary policies amid a federal crackdown on immigration. In a CNN town hall he again urged federal agents to leave the city in the wake of the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. President Trump accused Frey of playing with fire by insisting local police will not play a role in enforcing federal immigration laws.

U.S. lawmakers have until Friday to agree on a package to fund the federal government, or the U.S. government will shut down. Democrats are threatening to withhold their votes if a bill providing funding for the Department of Homeland Security isn't separated from the other bills. They're demanding changes to ICE policies after the recent event in Minneapolis.

And President Trump is demanding that Iran agree to a deal to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons. If not, he says that the next U.S. strike will be far worse than the one last year. Tehran says that talks with the U.S. must be genuine and that any military aggression would be met with a powerful response. A Democratic lawmaker from Texas has called on President Trump and his adviser Stephen Miller to visit the immigration detention facility in Dilley, Texas. That's where a 5-year-old is being held. Liam Ramos and his father were detained by ICE last week and since then Dilley has seen fresh protests calling for Liam's release.

Congressman Joaquin Castro met with Liam and his father. CNN's Ed Lavandera has that report and how the congressman is describing the poor conditions inside the facility.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JOAQUIN CASTRO (D-TX): You can see from the picture that I posted that he was lying in his father's arms. His father said that Liam has been very depressed since he's been at Dilley. That he hasn't been eating well. I was concerned with -- you see how he appears in that photo -- with his energy. He seemed lethargic.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Congressman Joaquin Castro met with 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Adrian during a visit inside the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. For more than three hours the congressman said he met not only with Liam's family but also with hundreds of other detainees.

Castro said Liam has been asking about his family and his classmates back in Minnesota.

CASTRO: He said that he misses his classmates and his family and wants to be back at school. And he keeps asking about that hat and that backpack that are in the picture. I think they took that from him.

LAVANDERA (voiceover): Liam and his father were taken into ICE custody last week in suburban Minneapolis amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in the state, sparking anti-ICE anger within the community and across the country.

The Department of Homeland Security says Liam's father was in the country illegally and that agents only took the 5-year-old boy after his father asked that he stay with him. An attorney for the family disputes that, saying Adrian Coenjo Ramos hadn't committed any crimes and was following "all of the established protocols for seeking asylum in the U.S."

Outside the facility in Dilley, Texas hundreds of protesters clashed with Texas State Police demanding Liam and his father and other families be released immediately.

While federal officials claim the families inside are cared for, an attorney who says he represents a family there says the conditions are "worse than people think."

ERIC LEE, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: The water is putrid. They have to mix baby formula with water that nobody wants to even smell. The food has bugs in it. The food has dirt in it. LAVANDERA: After spending more than three hours in this family

detention facility in Dilley, Texas, Congressman Joaquin Castro says these families should be released. He says he met a 2-month-old baby who has spent days inside the facility already.

And after emerging from his visit there, the congressman went on to call for the disbandment of ICE as well as the impeachment of Department of Homeland Sec. Kristi Noem.

Ed Lavandera, CNN, San Antonio, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Bruce Springsteen is honoring Alex Pretti and Renee Good with a new protest song. The singer-songwriter says that he was moved by the killings of the Minneapolis residents at the hands of federal immigration officials. He wrote, recorded, and released the song in a matter of days.

Here's a small part of "Streets of Minneapolis."

[05:50:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Streets of Minneapolis."

Then we heard the gunshots And Alex Pretti lay in the snow dead Their claim was self-defense, sir Just don't believe your eyes

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Springsteen, who has won nearly two dozen Grammy Awards during his career, has previously spoken out against the Trump administration. He says that the song is dedicated to all Minneapolis residents.

TikTok star and nonprofit founder Shirley Raines, who became widely known for her work caring for homeless people, has died -- and that's according to her organization who put out the comment on Wednesday. Raines was 58. The cause of her death has not been released.

Known as "Miss Shirley" Raines had more than five million TikTok followers and was well-known to people in homeless communities in California and Nevada who regularly lined up for her handouts of food and other essentials. She was named CNN Hero of the Year in 2021.

We'll be right back.

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[05:55:20]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

The U.S. Coast Guard helped get an Australian cruise ship out of an icy situation. The Coast Guard says that it deployed a cutter ship called the Polar Star to help break the cruise ship free from ice near Antarctica. The Polar Star boasts up to 75,000 horsepower according to the Coast Guard and is called the branch's most powerful ship. Still, it needed two passes to free the cruise ship, which is now back in open water.

R&B star Chris Brown appeared in a London court on Wednesday. It was a brief hearing before his assault trial starts in October. Brown is accused of attacking a music producer with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023. He denies the charges. The 36-year-old was granted bail in May after paying nearly $7 million. He then started his Breezy Bowl XX tour which ended in October.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday. She was there promoting her upcoming documentary "Melania." It chronicles 20 days around the Trumps' return to the White House last year. "Melania" is set to premiere at the Kennedy Center on Thursday and will be in theaters on Friday.

All right, now to a little sports. The opening round of the UEFA Champions League has drawn to a close in dramatic fashion, and we now know which clubs have secured their spots in the knockouts.

World Sport's Don Riddell recaps all of the action.

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DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: The Champions League had us all on the edge of our seats today. Eighteen games all happening at exactly the same time as the league phase concluded. And when the dust had settled, we knew the top eight teams who would go to the knockout round directly, the 16 teams who will now head to a playoff, and the 12 teams who are now out of the tournament.

And we had some pretty insane drama -- Real Madrid against Benfica. Benfica winning 3-2 but they needed one more goal to survive in the tournament and it was their goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin who provided it with the very last act of the game in the 98th minute. What a goal, what a moment.

And their manager Jose Mourinho who, of course, used to be the Real Madrid manager, absolutely loved it. Benfica sneaking into the playoffs.

Meanwhile, Sporting Lisbon's 95th minute goal against Athletic Club was hugely consequential. Athletic needed a win to make it into playoffs. They had a late corner, and the sporting keeper got the ball, launching a rapid counterattack. Sporting thought they might have blown their chance to win it, but the ball then fell to Alisson Santos. And with a couple of terrific touches -- and bang -- game over.

In that moment Santos sent his club directly into the knockout round and with that pushed Real Madrid out of the top eight. So Madrid will now have to go through the playoffs.

The Italian champions Napoli had to beat Chelsea, otherwise they were out. And despite leading the Blues 2-1, Napoli ended up with nothing. Just after the hour mark, Joao Pedro leveled the scores at two all with a brilliant goal. He scored again with eight minutes to go, effectively ending Napoli's campaign in Europe this season.

And a 3-2 win for Chelsea propels them straight into the knockout round along with four other Premier League teams, one of whom is Arsenal. Now the Gunners had already secured their place in the knockout round. They qualified in style (PH). Viktor Gyokeres getting the party started as early as the second minute in this game.

Kai Havertz -- he's only just got back into the team after almost a year out injured. He made that opening goal. Then in the 16th minute he scored himself to make it 2-1.

And Garbriel Martinelli has really enjoyed scoring in Europe this season. This is his sixth goal against six different teams. Three-two the final score.

Arsenal have dominated the group stage. They are the only perfect team with eight wins out of eight.

So a reminder. The top eight go straight into the knockout stage. Five of them are from England, as we say -- Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea, and Manchester City. They'll all be glad they don't have to worry about the playoff stage. Joining them in the next round will be Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Sporting Lisbon. UEFA will make the draw for the playoff round on Friday and those ties will get underway in three weeks' time.

That was an amazing night of football. Back to you.

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SOLOMON: A big thanks to Don Riddell there. Don, thank you.

And thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Rahel Solomon live this morning in New York, but I will see you again tomorrow. In the meantime don't go anywhere because "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right about now.