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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: DHS: Officers Involved in Pretti Shooting Placed on Leave; Homan in "Precarious" Negotiations with Minnesota Officials; Trump: "Time is Running Out" For Iran to Make a Deal; Death Toll in Protests Rises in Iran; Ilhan Omar Attacked in Minneapolis; Meta, Microsoft and Tesla All Report Latest Results; FBI Agents Search Election Office in Georgia's Fulton County; Tourism Industry Concerns About Proposed ESTA Changes; UEFA Champion's League. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired January 28, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton in New York in for
Jim Sciutto. We're watching "The Brief."
Ahead this hour, two officers involved in the shooting death of Alex Pretti have been put on administrative leave. Donald Trump warns Iran that time is
running out to make a nuclear deal as the U.S. builds up military strength in the region. And 18 Champions League games take place at the same time.
Let's find out who's going through the next round. We will have those results.
But we do begin with the latest developments in Minnesota. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says officers involved in the fatal
shooting of Alex Pretti have been placed on administrative leave. Meantime, the Trump administration is again ramping up the rhetoric. Vice President
J.D. Vance is accusing Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey of instructing local police not to help federal agents. And President Trump says Frey is playing
with fire if Minneapolis doesn't enforce federal immigration law.
Kevin Liptak is with me. Kevin, as this rhetoric has heated up throughout the day, I am wondering, is there any indication that this will lead to any
real change on the ground? Now, we know the Trump administration is taking some flak for all of this, even from Republicans. And yet, as you know, the
people from Minnesota just want to know if the tactics on the ground are going to change.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That seems to be, I think, the desire. And it's included inside the White House. You know, the
president wouldn't have sent Tom Homan, who is his borders are, who he said this week would sort of supplant the leadership that had been on the ground
in Minneapolis if he didn't want to see some sort of alteration in how things were going on the ground there.
And it is true. Tom Homan had taken a different view of how these immigration enforcement operations should be carried out. He had advocated
much more targeted operations, going specifically after criminals, people with criminal records, people who had a history of violence, as opposed to
what we had been seeing, which was these wide sweeps of entire neighborhoods essentially looking for any undocumented migrant to round up
and deport.
And so that, I think, had been the desire. I think right now it might be too early to tell whether those changes are being put into effect. We have
not, for example, seen waves of officers leaving Minneapolis. And we have seen already scenes that seem somewhat similar to what we've seen
previously. For example, yesterday we saw ICE agents show up at the Ecuadorian consulate there in Minneapolis, which drew outrage from the
Ecuadorian government.
So, I think right now it might be too early to say whether this change in tactic is coming. What we can say is that there have been attempts, at
least on the part of Tom Homan, to try and turn down some of the temperature when it comes to leaders in that city. So, he had meetings with
the governor, Tim Walz, with the mayor, Jacob Frey. All sides of it came out of those meetings at least saying that they were productive. You know,
Tom Homan saying that, yes, they will always have disagreements with those elected officials about how some of this is carried out, but that they were
at least talking and at least heading in the direction that they wanted to be heading.
Now, we should say that was before President Trump came out today and warned Jacob Frey that he was playing with fire. J.D. Vance, as you
mentioned, also coming out against that mayor. So, it seems like it was a pivot from the pivot in a lot of ways in terms of taking down the
temperature. But at least for now, it does seem as if the will, at least on the part of the White House, is to turn to the tactics that would dictate a
much more narrow operation on the ground there.
NEWTON: Yes, which is certainly what people, not just in Minnesota, but across the United States, many have been looking for. Kevin Liptak for us.
Appreciate it.
Now, join us for a CNN Town Hall Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern as Minnesota reels from two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and
Renee Good, by federal immigration agents. Officials, local leaders, and of course, Mayor Jacob Frey, take questions from Minnesotans and discuss a
path forward. Anderson Cooper and Sara Sidner are moderating that town hall. You don't want to miss it.
[18:05:00]
Now, President Trump says time's running out for a nuclear deal with Iran as a massive U.S. armada heads towards the country. The president adding
that a new attack would be far worse than the last. Iran says its forces have their fingers on the trigger and will immediately and powerfully
respond to any aggression. But it says it would welcome what it calls a fair and equitable nuclear deal.
Mr. Trump has repeatedly threatened military intervention over Iran's deadly crackdown on protesters. A U.S.-based human rights group estimates
more than 5,800 people have been killed since nationwide demonstrations began last month. CNN cannot independently confirm that.
And internet blackouts continue to limit efforts to verify those numbers. Now, through all this, CNN's Frederik Pleitgen is reporting from Tehran
this week, operating only with the government's permission, we should add. Now, he sat down with Iran's Speaker of the Parliament to speak about the
protests, President Trump's threats, and much more. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOHAMMAD BAGHER GHALIBAF, SPEAKER OF IRAN'S PARLIAMENT (through translator): How can we, given all these actions and reactions again,
trust President Trump?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Are you still willing to negotiate with the Trump administration?
GHALIBAF (through translator): If there's genuine talk to reach a deal within the framework of international regulations, then yes. But that's not
the kind of talk the U.S. president is after. He just wants to impose his will on others. He ripped up the JCPOA and threw it in the bin. Two days
before the new round of talks, he torpedoed the talks by giving the green light to Israel to attack Iran.
In my opinion, if Trump is really honest and telling the truth and seeking peace and wants to have the Nobel Peace Prize, he needs to go towards a
real peace, and his first action must be to get free of the warmongers and those seeking Iran's submission.
PLEITGEN: The United States says it's building up these forces because it's reacting to the mass killing of protesters during the recent protests
that happened here in Iran by Iranian security forces. What's your response to that?
GHALIBAF (through translator): This behavior, as I described, was a scheme that was designed entirely out of the country in order to try and carry out
a terrorist pseudo-coup. These crimes need to be prosecuted and will be pursued inside the country, and legal procedures will take place. We will
never back down from seeking revenge for the blood and pursuing different aspects of this crime.
PLEITGEN: President Trump has threatened massive force if no agreement is reached. What do you think that that would mean for Iran, and what would
that mean for the region?
GHALIBAF (through translator): Maybe Mr. Trump can start a war, but he doesn't have control over the end. Thousands of American soldiers who have
been deployed from several thousands of kilometers from home are definitely going to be harmed, which is not a good thing. The Iranian nation
throughout history has shown that it would never submit to foreigners.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Thanks to Fred Pleitgen in there. Trita Parsi is an executive vice president at the Quincy Institute Responsible -- for Responsible
Statecraft, and he joins me now. Good to see you again, Trita, as we again are wondering what will unfold.
TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VP, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Good to see you.
NEWTON: Yes, what will unfold with Iran, right? You just heard the speaker of Iran's parliament there, obviously claiming that President Trump is more
intent on imposing his will than actually getting to any kind of a peace agreement. What do you think is happening here? And I am wondering if you
believe a U.S. strike in Iran is inevitable.
PARSI: It certainly is not inevitable, but it is very likely mindful of the mobilization that has taken place and the approach that both of these
countries are taking vis-a-vis each other. I think both of them are committing a significant mistake if their actual end game is to get to a
deal. From the U.S. side, Trump is throwing out maximalist red lines, almost designed to get the Iranians to reject them.
And from the Iranian side, I think that you're making a huge mistake by not talking to Trump directly. If they talk to Trump directly, I think there is
a likelihood that the picture can change. Certainly, it is the most effective way to be able to de-escalate the situation. But as things are
right now, with neither side budging on this, if this situation continues, then I think, yes, the risk of war will continue to increase.
NEWTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio's comments about the future of Iran projected some kind of uncertainty, I will say. There is a lot of
uncertainty on what the end game might be here. Do you believe the administration has a plan here? Because remember, a lot of this is done in
coordination with Israel.
[18:10:00]
PARSI: Yes, I think the Israelis have been pushing the United States to go to war with Iran for quite some time, particularly after the Israelis
started the war in June and did not end up achieving any of their key objectives that they had. But whether Trump is going along just with the
Israeli plan or whether he has his own calculations, again, cannot be completely investigated until the two sides talk to each other directly and
with Trump directly.
I think the Iranians are trying to figure out what Trump's real red lines are, but they can't unless they talk to him. So, I think there's a
significant likelihood that there can be a rather sharp de-escalation as long as that direct communication takes place. And so far, the Iranians
have refused to agree to that. It is difficult to see where this impasse will end.
NEWTON: I mean, I'll note that in your recent analysis, you lay out three different ways the U.S. and Israel could potentially attack Iran. You're
saying limited strikes, a regime decapitation strategy, or support of an Israeli attack on Iran. You say all of these options are more likely to
lead to war than to what many are looking for, which is a collapse of the regime. Which path at this hour looks most likely to you?
PARSI: I think at this hour, depending on what Trump does next, if he still thinks that he can do a small attack and get the Iranians to only
respond in a symbolic way, almost choreographed, similar to what we've seen in the past, I think the messaging from the Iranian side has been very
clear. They're not going to play along with that any longer. If there is any form of attack, they're going to treat that as a full-scale declaration
of war.
This is part of the reason why Trump, I believe, backed off about two weeks ago when he was on the verge of attacking and ended up not doing so.
Instead, he's moving all of his military assets to the region. And whether he's doing that with the intent of trying that same play again and see if
the Iranians this time around will accept that the U.S. will attack them without them really responding, or whether he's actually amassing them
because he really wants to go to war, again, remains to be seen. But I think the initial step by the U.S. will determine what the Iranian response
will be. And there's going to be a lot of room for miscalculation there, particularly if they are not talking to each other directly.
NEWTON: And, Trita, I don't have a lot of time left, but you just said the word, right? Miscalculation. How dangerous an inflection point are we at
here?
PARSI: Oh, tremendously dangerous. I mean, there's a reason why a lot of countries, almost all countries in the region, with the exception of one or
two, have been weighing in with the White House, requesting that it doesn't attack because they're all terrified of the destabilization that will
happen in the region, the refugee flows, the secessionist movements that may emerge on the border areas of Iran that will be a headache for a lot of
neighboring countries, Turkey, Iraq, Pakistan.
So, the region is really very much against this. And the question is if both Iran and the United States will listen and find a way to de-escalate.
NEWTON: Yes, all very good points. Trita, again, good to see you, and we'll continue to follow this closely. Appreciate it.
PARSI: Thank you so much for having me.
NEWTON: Now, still ahead for us, a torrent of tech earnings. Microsoft, Tesla, and Meta are out with closely watched results. There are some
surprises there. We'll tell you what happened after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
NEWTON: A 55-year-old man has been booked on third degree assault after an attack on Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, which was caught on camera.
Take a look.
Unsettling moments there, the Democratic Congresswoman was holding a town hall meeting when she was sprayed with liquid, which forensic examiners
believed to have been apple cider vinegar. Now she was not hurt. CNN's Sara Sidner asked her if she was OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I feel OK. I feel that it is important for people, whether they are in elected office or not, to allow these people to
intimidate us, to make us not fight for our constituents and for the country we love. And as I said, you know, I've survived war and I'm
definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think they can throw at me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, we should note, while both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill condemned the attack, President Trump did not. On ABC News, he
called Congresswoman Omar a fraud and said, quote, "She probably had herself sprayed."
Joining me now is Minneapolis Councilmember Latricia Vetaw, who was -- who says some of the substance came into contact with her, as well as State
Senator Bobby Joe Champion. I am glad to see you. Thank you for joining us.
And I am glad, obviously, that everybody in that room is safe, because it did look like a very terrifying moment. You don't know what anyone's coming
at the congresswoman with at that point in time. Can you just tell us what the mood was in the room after this happened?
LATRISHA VETAW, MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCILMEMBER: It was scary. I mean, the smell was horrendous. It was actually terrifying to be sitting right next
to the congresswoman and see the spray coming in our direction and then to smell the smell. You know, I think right away for me, I'm saying to her,
she needs to get checked out. I don't know what it is. Is it acid? Is it some airborne substance? I was just terrified. It was terrifying.
NEWTON: And I can see why. Just looking at the video is kind of chilling. And I know people will say, well, it was apparently vinegar. That doesn't
matter at that moment in time. I'm sure it unsettled many in the room. You know, this incident of a lawmaker is just one of close to 15,000
investigated statements, actions that are directed towards members of Congress, their families, their staff. We've heard about this for so long
now. It's gotten so much worse.
Just this past year, one report by Capitol Police says there was a 58 percent increase from 2024 to 2025. Yet we just heard the president, right?
He accuses Ilhan Omar of probably doing it to herself. What do you make of all this?
VETAW: I mean, the fear was real in that room, right? No matter what anyone says, there's over 100 people in the room. Everyone's scared. We
don't know what's exactly happening. You don't know if that's the only person that's planning this attack. It was real fear in that room.
NEWTON: Yes, absolutely. And we can see that from the video and some of the pictures we're showing. I want to get to what's going on on the ground.
OK. We've had this swap out of Mr. Bovino, he's out. Mr. Homan's in. Do you believe this is real de-escalation? And are you seeing any of that in your
community?
VETAW: So, on Monday, you know, when Bovino was out and we heard that some of the ICE agents were going to be leaving, the temperament did feel like
we were moving in a place of having some relief and things were going to get better. And I haven't had a chance because this incident happened last
night to speak with the mayor to talk about his conversation with Homan and, you know, the borders are. And so, I need to check back in to see how
the mayor is feeling. I know today I was getting some calls of ICE being in the area that I represent.
[18:20:00]
It did, though, I felt hopeful on Monday. It felt like it was getting better because of this incident. I really haven't had a chance to check in
and know what the temperature is right now in Minneapolis, out on the streets with folks.
NEWTON: You know, some Republicans on Capitol Hill have spoken out about this. Do you believe that they can affect change, really warning the
president that this is not a good look and that the tactics have to change?
VETAW: Absolutely. This -- we need bipartisan support. This is not about what party you belong to. There's fear in all of our communities. You know,
one of the things I've been saying to people is we talk about it being in Minneapolis, but it's throughout our state. And people in this state voted
for the president. And so, you know, I think it's going to take Republican lawmakers and Democrats. It's going to take all of us to end this.
NEWTON: When we talk about ending it, though, many people, you know, have said, look, in other jurisdictions across the United States, local
authorities do cooperate much more. Can you see that give and take coming together with local officials and federal officials as they try to do what
they say will be more targeted apprehensions by ICE?
VETAW: I think that looks different for every community. For us, you know, we know that we're outnumbered with our law enforcement in the Twin Cities
metro area to the number of agents that are here. So, we don't have the resources in Minneapolis for our police to be out with ICE. But I think
what we want to know in Minneapolis is who are the bad people you're looking for? We've been told over and over again that there's some terrible
criminals in our communities, and we want them out as well.
So, I think for us, we're really focused on who are you looking for, where are they at, and how are you going to get them out and make sure that
everyone is still safe in this community?
NEWTON: Do you want the attention from Minnesota to just dissipate, or do you think the attention right now is a good thing for the community? I will
add that Democrats are, you know, planning to withhold votes now, perhaps suspending this new spending bill leading to a government shutdown. Do you
believe it should come, that what's going on in Minnesota should come to that kind of showdown in D.C.?
VETAW: I think like what's happening in Minnesota can happen anywhere. And so, because we've somehow been made the state and in Minneapolis the city,
kind of the poster children of everything that goes wrong with this, it's going to take Minneapolis to figure out outcomes, along with lawmakers all
over the country to figure this out so it doesn't happen to other people in the same way it has in Minnesota.
NEWTON: Ms. Vetaw, we will leave it there as we continue to watch what happens in your community. And as I said, I know it was innocuous
substance, but I'm glad everyone in that room is safe. LaTrisha Vetaw, thank you so much.
VETAW: Thank you so much.
NEWTON: Now, in today's Business Breakout, U.S. stocks finishing Wednesday's session a little changed after the Federal Reserve kept
interest rates unchanged as expected during its first policy meeting of the year.
Now, the Fed statement says the U.S. economy has been growing at a solid pace and the unemployment rate appears to be stabilizing. Now, that's a
more positive outlook we should note than in previous statements, and it explains why the Fed sees no reason to lower rates again. Fed Chair Jay
Powell says things seem to be looking up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME POWELL, CHAIR, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE: The outlook for economic activity has improved, clearly improved since the last meeting, and that
should matter for labor demand and for employment over time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, Powell passed on questions about his being the target of a Justice Department probe, but he did explain why he attended a Supreme
Court hearing on the case involving Fed Governor Lisa Cook. Now, the White House says it should be able to fire Cook over accusations of mortgage
fraud. Powell believes differently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POWELL: I would say that that case is perhaps the most important legal case in the Fed's 113-year history. And as I thought about it, I thought it
might be hard to explain why I didn't attend. In addition, Paul Volcker went to a Supreme Court case famously in, I guess, 1985 or so. So, it's
precedented, and I thought it was an appropriate thing, and I did it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: In the currency markets today, the dollar bounced from a nearly four-year low after the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said the U.S.
still does have a strong dollar policy. Remember, President Trump said Tuesday he has no problem with a weaker dollar. And gold continued its
blistering run, hitting a fresh record, more than $5,400 an ounce.
Now, it has been a few busy hours, even minutes here for tech investors. Microsoft, Meta, Tesla, all out with closely watched results. Wall Street
giving a thumbs down to Microsoft. Its shares are down more than 6 percent, and after hours trading on slowing growth for that cloud revenue.
[18:25:00]
Meta shares are rallying after upping its revenue forecast. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram says, A.I. spending will only accelerate
this year, and yet you see the stock there, up to $135 billion in capital expenditures.
Tesla is really making headlines, though, advancing in afterhours trading, even though its revenue fell last year for the first time ever. CEO Elon
Musk told investors the company will discontinue production of two EV models and build robots at those plants instead.
Lance Ulanoff joins me. He is the editor at the -- editor-at-large at TechRadar. I want to thank you for joining us because we've had some big
headlines, right? We want to begin with Tesla. I mean, discontinuing the models S and X, well, we'll build robots instead. Tesla also says it will
invest $2 billion in CEO Elon Musk's A.I. company xAI. What do you make of all this?
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR-AT-LARGE-TECHRADAR: Well, I mean, look, the X and the S model, you know, the original, the OG, the Model S, people aren't
really buying that. What they're buying from Tesla is the Model 3 and the Model Y, which was updated last year. But even with those updates, you
know, Tesla's seen a huge drop off in deliveries of these electric trucks, electric cars over the last year. Not a great year for that sector of it,
although, you know, people are still buying those things.
But, you know, the big news is obviously they're going to make a million robots a year, Optimus 3 robots, these humanoid robots that they've been
updating very quickly, and they can do so because they're using A.I. to train them. So, that helps them move more quickly. But it's unproven if
anybody wants these things. They say they're going to be everywhere. And Elon Musk is promising sort of an age of abundance where everybody's making
a lot of money and has excellent health care.
And part of that seems to be because of all these robots he's promising and the robotaxis, which, by the way, is his other big focus. They're going to
probably make, ultimately, they want to make more robotaxis than all the other electric cars that they make.
NEWTON: Yes. And I think investors are still hanging on to that growth. I mean, Tesla says production plans for its cyber cab and robotaxis and semi-
trucks are on track for this year. Can they deliver on that? I mean, obviously, investors believe so. Do you?
ULANOFF: You know, I think they can make the cars. But in the case of the robotaxis or cybertaxis or whatever we're calling them, they have some
really big hurdles. And one of them is regulatory hurdles. As even Elon Musk admitted in the call, they have to go to almost like a really local
level to get the laws in place to allow driverless and no tracking car behind them. No one's following behind cars, just running around, you know,
picking people up. So, to be across the entire nation, that's going to be a really difficult thing.
And in the meantime, while they're trying to build that business, they're trying to shore up the EV business, which, by the way, BYD in China has
really knocked them down. That was one of the growth areas, and it's not a growth area for them right now. So, they have multiple problems in the EV
space that I don't think are going to be solved over this year.
NEWTON: Yes, and a lot of consumers were still looking for that affordable EV, which never really came to fruition and likely won't. I do want to talk
about Meta before I let you go. The best stock performer in after-hours today, the A.I. spending is just eye-watering.
But what are investors focused on there? I mean, is it this underlying strength, especially in ad revenue still with both Facebook and Instagram?
ULANOFF: Yes. Still. You know, that's the remarkable thing. You know, while Microsoft makes its money through the cloud, Meta is making its money
through advertising. And, you know, it is also selling hardware. It's selling A.I.-powered glasses, that hardware, but that's like $900-some
million compared to the billions of dollars that are coming from advertising revenue. And I think that that's what pleases investors, that
they still see that strength, and it continues and continues to grow.
Because one of the concerns is, are people losing interest in social media? Well, not based on ad revenue, they're not. They seem to be still fully
engaged with it, even though, you know, there's 3.5 billion people on these platforms, but they don't seem to be growing that much quarter over
quarter.
NEWTON: Lance, I really want to thank you. It's been a busy couple of hours here. We really needed to catch up on some of those earnings. Thanks
so much. Appreciate it.
ULANOFF: Pleasure.
NEWTON: Now, checking some of today's other business headlines. Amazon announced Wednesday that it's laying off 16,000 corporate workers on top of
the 14,000 job cuts the company announced late year. The tech giant says the action is needed to reduce bureaucracy and help the company compete in
the A.I. race.
Starbucks shares fell Wednesday despite posting its first quarter of U.S. sales growth in nearly two years. The company also posted better-than-
expected Q4 sales overall. Its earnings, however, missed estimates. Starbucks is in the middle of executing its turnaround strategy, which
includes simplifying its menu.
[18:30:00]
In a disappointing economic forecast from Europe's largest economy, the German government lowering its growth outlook for both this year and next.
It sees GDP growth at just 1 percent this year. It posted weak growth last year as well. The German finance minister says this country needs to pick
up the pace of investment to jumpstart its economy.
OK. Straight ahead for us, the FBI searches an elections office in Georgia as part of an investigation into the 2020 election. We'll discuss why this
move is so shocking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: And welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Paula Newton. Here are the international headlines we're watching today.
The federal agents involved in the shooting death of Alex Pretti have been placed on administrative leave. Department of Homeland Security report says
that two officers fired their guns during that fatal encounter in Minneapolis.
Threats and warnings are escalating between Iran and the United States as President Donald Trump weighs military action. He says a massive armada is
heading to Iran, larger than the one he sent to Venezuela. Mr. Trump says time is running out for Tehran to negotiate a nuclear deal, threatening a
new attack on Iran that he says would be far worse than the last.
A court has sentenced South Korea's former first lady to 20 months in jail. Kim Keon-he, the wife of ousted ex-president Moon Seok-yool, was found
guilty of accepting bribes from unification church officials in return for political favors. She was found guilty on charges of stock price
manipulation and conspiring with her husband to receive free public opinion polls.
A new twist in President Trump's ongoing and unproven claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The FBI says it carried out a warrant at an
Elections Office near Atlanta, Georgia. The bureau tells CNN its investigation is ongoing.
Now, during the president's first term, the Justice Department failed to find evidence supporting his claims of widespread fraud. Fulton County
Commissioner Mo Ivory calls the investigation a scare tactic ahead of midterm elections.
[18:35:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MO IVORY, FULTON COUNTY COMMISSIONER: This is not just about Fulton County. Fulton County is right now the target, the only county right now
fighting over an election that already happened. But it is coming to a place near you. This is the beginning of the chaos of 2026 that is about to
ensue. So, if we are starting this early in January, you can only imagine what is going to happen in October.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Michael Moore is a former U.S. attorney for Georgia's Middle District and a partner with Moore Hall in Atlanta. Good to see you. And we
are wondering, right, where's the legal threshold here for the search warrant? Do you believe they may have had more evidence? I mean, as we
stated, there was no proof that there was any election fraud when this was first investigated.
MICHAEL MOORE, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA AND PARTNER, MOORE HALL: Yes. Well, I'm glad to be with you. I think this has
nothing to do about election fraud, frankly. And let me kind of start back at the legal standing, what they would need.
You'll remember that there have been at least three audits of Fulton County voting, which turned up nothing. And there was actually an investigation
done by the Trump administration during the first administration, his DOJ. And in fact, that turned up nothing.
What's changed now is that you have a DOJ who's willing to be used as a tool by the president to affect both his policies, but also, you know, his
threats and prosecutions against his political enemies. So, this, to me, seems like nothing more than an effort to both intimidate voters in the
upcoming elections, but also to divert attention likely away from other things that he is not willing to talk about, including the struggling
economy and the Epstein files as he just continues to push off.
I mean, if you think about it, these agents who've been out there picking up ballot boxes in Fulton County could have been going through the
paperwork that's necessary for them to release the Epstein case. And they've just not done that.
Here, a judge would sign a search warrant if in fact there was one, but they -- you know, that's a pretty low bar to get that. So, this really, to
me, has nothing at all to do about any real belief that there was fraud in the Georgia election.
NEWTON: So, the DOJ argues it needs these records to access compliance to -- sorry, pardon me, to assess compliance with voter registration laws. But
I am wondering, you just kind of alluded to it there, that you're saying the bar is quite low to be able to get this in any state, but why now and
why this? And, you know, people will ask, where is the proof that this is politically driven?
MOORE: Well, and one question they should ask is when has this administration given a rip about civil rights and voter registration? I
mean, this would be a new one if this administration is caring about people being able to vote. They've done everything they can to make it more
difficult for people to vote, frankly.
The bar really, as it relates to a search warrant, is simply that a law enforcement official would state to a judge that they felt like there was
some evidence there that they needed information about as they're investigating a crime. And that's a really low bar. And you have to
remember as well that this case has already been filed. The DOJ has already sued Fulton County to get these records, and it's in the breast of the
federal court right now to be ruled upon. In addition, there's a Superior Court judge who had placed these ballots under seal.
And so, whether or not it's even lawful for them to be in there at this point to take these, given that the one court's looking at it and another
court's already dealt with the ballot issue is something that I'm sure will be litigated in the days to come.
But again, if this was seriously about a belief that there had been some fraud, then I think that you would have seen those issues being answered up
front. This is not about that. This is just more of the same diversion and more of an effort to make it appear as if Trump's sending in the FBI to
scare voters off in future elections. So, you know, it's theatrics more than it is really a search for the truth or search for justice.
He's done that. I mean, heck, his DOJ looked at it and they found nothing. the secretary of state's looked at it. A Republican, for crying out loud,
has said there was no voter fraud in Georgia. A Republican governor has said that. But that apparently wasn't enough. And he didn't believe his
attorney general, who was a Republican at the time, who said there was no voter fraud to turn the election. But instead, he's decided now that he's
got an attorney general that he can dance around like a puppet to come in and do these kinds of acts. And that's a shame, but that's frankly all
right.
NEWTON: Yes. We'll wait to see, you know, the next legal shoe to drop on this. But you do make a good point. It was Republicans that stood up in
Georgia to say that there was no evidence of any of this. Former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore for us. Thanks so much.
[18:40:00]
Now, after the break, the Trump administration's proposed new rules requiring visitors to hand over social media history. There are some eye-
watering estimates as well about lost revenue as tourists think again about trips to the United States. We'll have that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: And welcome back. The U.S. tourism industry is seriously concerned about the effect of proposed changes for travelers applying online for
ESTAs for short visits to the United States. Now, the visa waiver applicants would be required to provide their recent social media history,
phone numbers, and email addresses, and over personal information about their family members.
A report by the World Travel and Tourism Council suggests 34 percent of international travelers would be less likely to visit the United States if
these changes were introduced, costing billions of dollars in lost revenue and 150,000 jobs. Now, a little earlier, I spoke with WTTC CEO, Gloria
Guevara.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA GUEVARA, CEO, WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURISM COUNCIL: As we know, the travel and tourism is very important for the U.S. The U.S. is the largest
economy in travel and tourism in the world. They're very concerned about jobs and, of course, they want to retain that competitive advantage.
We understand that this policy will put the U.S. in a very competitive disadvantage. And as you mentioned, according to the research that we have
done, 157,000 jobs can be lost. That's an average of three months of new jobs that the country has been reporting. And that's a huge impact because
these are small and medium enterprises. This is, of course, jobs in our sector. And 15.7 billion jobs can be lost -- dollars can be lost.
Now, we believe the administration cares about jobs, cares about the importance of the economy. And asking for social media to ESTA travelers,
that will create a lot of issues and will discourage travelers to go to the U.S.
NEWTON: You say that they understand the impact this will have, though, but do you see them changing this policy? And I think a lot of people are
wondering operationally, what does this look like? Can they possibly check every phone?
GUEVARA: It's going to be very complicated. We won't believe that this policy is a good policy. We understand that security is the top priority,
but there are other ways to check on passengers and travelers that they travel to the U.S.
[18:45:00]
We also need to understand that extra travelers, the travelers that they are targeting, are travelers from Europe, from Japan, from Korea, from
Australia, and those travelers usually are lower-risk travelers. So, there are several factors that they have to consider, but we believe that if they
look at the data and the job losses for Americans, because these are Americans that are going to be impacted, 157,000 might be impacted, I think
this is significant.
And that's why we are sharing our research, we're sharing what we have done, and hopefully, the policymakers, especially the decisionmakers, they
will decide not to implement this policy that will impact the economy in the U.S.
NEWTON: We've seen certain sectors of the economy, the tourism economy in the United States, specifically affected. I mean, I just point to one, Las
Vegas, that has been losing a lot of business there. How vulnerable are those markets, and what are you seeing in terms of a trip that most people
didn't ever consider not taking, right? People went to Vegas, they went to take in the shows, went to do a little gambling, have some food, and yet
from Las Vegas, they are reporting significant declines in traffic.
GUEVARA: Unfortunately, last year was the best year for travel and tourism globally. In every single country, because we measure 185 countries around
the world, every single country, we saw an increase in international spend. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the U.S. We were seeing a decrease
of $19 billion. And why is that? Because we are seeing a decrease, for instance, of travelers coming from Canada, from Europe, and from some
markets.
However, domestic is doing good. Domestic is growing, and domestic is very important for the U.S. economy. But again, the spend from international
travelers is significant. In the case of Las Vegas that you mentioned, 15 or 20 percent of their income is from international travelers, and domestic
also is important. But we need to be careful here, because if we continue with this trajectory where we see no growth in travel and tourism in
several years, unfortunately, the U.S. is going to be not number one, but number two globally in our sector.
So, we're concerned. We're worried. But of course, we know also that with the right policies in place and the right promotion and the right support,
we can recover and be again in a competitive position.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, if you don't want to visit the United States, there's plenty to do in the Australian island State of Tasmania. Maybe a canoe around
Cradle Mountain, a walkabout around Wineglass Bay, or just bask in the bustling city of Hobart. But when a tour company used A.I. to write a blog
about attractions to visit, it offered up the hot springs in Weldborough as a tranquil, peaceful escape. Problem is, there are no hot springs there.
A.I., it seems, made the whole thing up.
A local hotel owner was left confused when tourists started asking her about it. Now, she said she told them all, look, if you find these hot
springs, the beers are on me. The tour company says it is now reviewing all of its A.I. produced content, which they say came from a third party. Yes,
you better do that. Moral of this story, don't believe everything you read, especially not when A.I. is involved.
OK. Coming up for us in brief, which teams are going straight to the knockout stage? We'll have all the highlights from today's Champions League
matches.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
NEWTON: In Chile, a first-of-its-kind adventure is making waves, literally. A company is aging wine in underwater cellars and inviting
tourist divers to retrieve the bottles. CNN's Rafael Romo has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The catch of the day on this small island off the coast of Chile isn't tuna, marlin or even
Chilean seabass; it's wine. Divers store the bottles in cages installed in the seabed around Northern Chile's Locos Island. It's part of an underwater
aging program that's been developed by entrepreneurs linked to a local diving shop.
ALEJANDRO SOZA, GENERAL DIRECTOR, ODC BUCEO (through translator): This project was born out of two passions. One is love for scuba diving and
above all, at the same time, the willingness to try new things and what we knew about how wine underwater evolves.
ROMO (voiceover): The bottles are submerged around 10 to 20 meters, or 33 to 66 feet deep, then left to age for eight to 12 months. The process works
in part because the water mimics a traditional wine cellar with reduced light and a stable year-round temperature.
LUANA BALBINE, SOMMELIER (through translator): You can feel the tannins are silkier, softer. The body -- you feel a more elegant body -- a wine. You
can feel that evolution from being aged underwater.
ROMO (voiceover): Underwater aging has been around for decades but it's still a relatively uncommon method in Chile, a country well known for its
wine industry. And the project's partners are hoping that novelty could help turn their underwater wine experience into a tourist attraction for
the year.
Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now to the UEFA Champions League. It's the final day of the league phase with all 36 teams playing simultaneously. The top eight now move
straight into the round of 16, most of them English clubs. Others are entering the playoffs. Don Riddell is here with our highlights. A lot of
action there.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: The Champions League had us all on the edge of our seats today. 18 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 the playoffs.
They had a late corner. 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 trial, 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. Victor 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.
[18:55:00]
And Gabriel Martinelli has really enjoyed scoring in Europe this season. This is his sixth goal against six different teams, three to 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 that 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.
NEWTON: It really does seem like it. Don Riddell, thank you. And I want to thank you for your company. I'm Paula Newton in New York. You've been
watching "The Brief." Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
END
