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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: Trump, Netanyahu Hold Talks on Iran; HRANA Reports 6,400 Plus Protesters Killed; Exclusive: Life Inside Iran; Shouting Matches Erupts at Bondi's Congressional Hearing; Grand Jury Declines to Indict Democrats Who Urged U.S. Service Members to Disobey Illegal Orders; Canadian Police Identify Suspect in Deadly Mass Shooting; El Paso Airspace Closure; Family Reaction to Jimmy Lai's Sentencing. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired February 11, 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]
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and
you're watching "The Brief."
Just ahead this hour, President Trump says he will continue down the diplomatic route on Iran after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu here in Washington. An exclusive interview offering a rare glimpse at the recent protests and crackdown inside Iran. A photographer
who witnessed deadly street battles tells me exactly what she saw. And the U.S. reopens airspace over El Paso, Texas after an unprecedented closure
apparently triggered by Pentagon tests of a laser weapon for drones. That story and plenty more coming up.
We begin here in Washington, D.C., where President Trump met with the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. Top of mind, once again, Iran. The two
leaders discussed the ongoing nuclear talks. Trump posted afterward on social media saying, quote, "there was nothing definitive reached other
than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated."
The Trump-Netanyahu meeting comes as Iran's leaders mark the anniversary of the revolution that brought them into power. In 1979, massive protests
turned into an uprising that ended the U.S.-backed monarchy. Now, almost 50 years later, the Ayatollah-led order is clinging to power, launching a
deadly crackdown on protesters calling for the end of this regime. Iran's president is apologizing for the crackdown, saying the government was
finally ready to listen. Earlier, Iranian authorities had blamed the unrest on so-called terrorists.
Those demonstrations began in December, fueled by a cratering economy. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has acknowledged that thousands of
Iranians have been killed in those protests. However, he did not take responsibility or blame those on his own forces. Instead, he blamed
President Trump, who he says encouraged the unrest by promising military support. One U.S.-based human rights organization places the death toll at
more than 6,400. CNN cannot independently verify the exact number of dead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Photojournalist Yalda Moaiery has witnessed the arrest in Iran herself, documenting protests and funerals of those killed with her camera.
Moaiery has also had to grapple with the country's digital blackout, which impacted our own interview with her. On top of all of this, she says
authorities raided her apartment last week and confiscated her gear. I began our interview by asking Moaiery about her personal safety.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: So, first, Yalda, tell me about your safety now. I know the authorities raided your home. Do you fear you'll be arrested?
YALDA MOAIERY, IRANIAN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Yes, of course. The day that they attacked my flat, I was sleeping, and it was very early in the morning. I
don't know why, but I was really shocked. They took all of my equipment, all of all the photos that I have taken in these 25 years as a
photojournalist. And I'm not feeling safe at all. I'm very nervous.
SCIUTTO: Tell me about what you witnessed during the protests. What did you see and hear?
MOAIERY: The crowd that I have -- that I saw was the -- I've never seen such a crowd in these 25 years that I'm working as a photojournalist. It
was incredible. A huge number of people, hundreds of thousands of people were on the street. And groups of people, like family members, all family
members, even the children, the babies, the elderly, everyone were there.
[18:05:00]
People started to chant these slogans, people tore down the traffic signs, and they wanted to lock the streets. The drivers supported them by honking.
They started to shoot a lot of tear gases and sound bomb and it was a lot, I think it was one tear gas for every person. I couldn't really believe it.
And the people went back again. People started to set fire on a police car and people set fire to the buildings that was belonging to the government
or the regime or some iconic places like the religious places.
SCIUTTO: Did you see security forces shoot protesters as well?
MOAIERY: There was a building that was belonging to Basij militia. And people started to set fire on a car just in front of the building. And they
suddenly started to shoot from the roof of the building. A lot of snipers were on the top of the building, on top of the roofs.
SCIUTTO: You had a family member a relative who died in the protests as well.
MOAIERY: They shoot him, and they killed him. And it took like one week that they could find his body because, as you know, there were a lot of
bodies that nobody knows where are them exactly.
SCIUTTO: And that was the funeral, the picture -- pictures of the funeral you shared with us?
MOAIERY: This is something that happened to my family too. I mean. this is very close. I don't know any people, any family who do not have any person
-- I mean, among the people who have died. And all of us are mourners right now.
SCIUTTO: Yes. What photos that you took do you most want to share with the world?
MOAIERY: The photo of the girl who is standing in front of the police car and she is showing victory. She's happy. This feeling of the people. Then
they could get something or they could get an achievement.
SCIUTTO: The people you talk to now there and yourself, what are your feelings now? Is all the hope gone the hope of that moment?
MOAIERY: Terrible. One of the saddest times in our history. I'm 44 years old. I never experienced such a feeling in my life. I've never been such a
hopeless person in my life. And all the people that I'm talking to them, people in the streets people -- I mean, my friends, everyone. People are so
hopeless, so sad. And this is the main question that they are asking each other when we are -- I mean, get together. The main question is, what can
we do? What we have to do.
SCIUTTO: The president of Iran publicly apologized today. He said that he was ashamed. What's your reaction to hearing that apology?
MOAIERY: Nothing. He's not important. He's just -- I mean, you know, in all of these protests, you couldn't hear any slogans against him because
people know that he is nothing, he cannot do anything. And nobody is going to make him responsible.
SCIUTTO: Well, Yalda I hope you stay safe. Please tell us what happens next. Because I know you have real fear now that you could be arrested at
any time.
MOAIERY: I am not important at all, also have young people, people who were the age of my children, they died. Why should they scare?
SCIUTTO: Well, you're very brave. And we appreciate you speaking to us. Thank you so much. And please be safe.
MOAIERY: Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Well as those protesters in Iran continued to suffer visiting the U.S. today the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with discussions
about what may happen next in Iran. President Trump has pledged to press ahead with negotiations despite Netanyahu warning last week that Tehran,
quote, "cannot be trusted." In addition to Iran the U.S. and Israeli leaders discussed Gaza and the broader Middle Middle East.
Joining me now is Daniel Benaim former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs. Good to have you.
DANIEL BENAIM, FORMER U.S. DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE AND DISTINGUISHED DIPLOMATIC FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Good to be here.
SCIUTTO: So, first as you listen to Yalda there, where do these protesters stand now? Were those protests a lost cause in effect?
[18:10:00]
BENAIM: You know, I think that was as pure and powerful an expression of the aspirations of the Iranian people as you're going to hear. The problem
is that the protesters, as brave and remarkable as they are, are up against a government that is really willing to kill to stay in power and has as
many as a million forces.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BENAIM: And I'm sad to say that our president called Iranians into the street and asked them to seize state institutions without having a plan to
deal with the predictable aftermath of that, which was that they would be killed in the streets in the way that you described.
SCIUTTO: So, where does that leave negotiations now that the president, as you heard us say there, has said, listen, nothing definitive yet, I'm still
going down the negotiation path? Is that a worthwhile path? I mean, can the U.S. reach a deal with this regime that just carried out this awful
crackdown?
BENAIM: Well, I think President Trump has three pretty bad choices. Having taken that moment when the world was inspired by these protesters to tweet
that they should go into the streets, he can basically follow through and use force. The problem with that is that there's no clear way to connect
ends and means and to say that if you use force, you're going to help people like Yalda or you're going to meaningfully change the situation on
the ground.
The second thing he can do is diplomacy, which requires him to cut a deal with the very people who killed people in the streets. And that deal is
probably not going to happen at the point of a gunboat if it's going to be as big and ambitious as President Trump would like it to be, including
things beyond nuclear issues. And the third is to do nothing and look foolish.
So, there really are a series of tough choices. And I think Netanyahu came to town and was trying to advocate among those choices to basically say,
don't cut a nuclear-only deal, which has been his position for a long time. And then if you do decide to strike, as you may well have to, and Trump
signaled its diplomacy or war in a pretty significant way, then I would imagine that the second part of his message was make sure to go after the
ballistic missiles, which are Iran's last remaining real deterrent threat and which have meaningfully reconstituted since that war that Israel and
Iran fought last June.
SCIUTTO: There's a lot of reporting, including CNN's, that President Trump does not want a protracted war and that that concern was one thing that
held him off from striking in the midst of the protests. Is there such a thing as a clean and quick military operation by the U.S., perhaps with
Israel that is short and sweet? I hate to use that phrasing, but they would fit the president's desires?
BENAIM: Well, I think part of what's happened is after you saw the seizure of Maduro in Venezuela and the sort of single night of U.S. bombing to deal
with this nuclear program, the president, I think, is kind of inflamed with this idea of these sort of limited military actions.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
BENAIM: The problem is there's only so much you can really do from the sky. You're talking about a country of 90 million people with maybe a
million security forces, and you can do damage from the sky, but you can't create a new political reality that way, so there are things that they
could do that would be symbolic and probably where they could manage the escalation, but I would have a real question about what those things
actually achieve.
SCIUTTO: There was some daylight between the U.S. and Israel prior to the previous U.S. strikes on Iran, and of course Israel had done the majority
of those strikes, and yet they came together and they were in lockstep. Do you see this daylight fitting at some point that the U.S. and Israel end up
on the same page?
BENAIM: You know, it's always a question as to what's real here. The optics of this meeting were totally strange. This was a two-and-a-half-hour
meeting. Sometimes these meetings seem to happen exclusively in front of the press. This one, there was no press spray and just a tweet and a
statement from the two leaders that were indeed fairly different, so it would suggest that there was daylight, but I never want to jump to
conclusions because I think we saw during the bombing of Iran over the summer that there may have been more coordination than we realized. So, it
sure looks like daylight, but I have a degree of humility about what's going on behind the scenes.
SCIUTTO: Reasonable skepticism. Daniel Benaim, thanks so much for joining me again.
BENAIM: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Now, to a fiery hearing on Capitol Hill. The U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi issuing testimony before the House Judiciary Committee,
which then erupted into shouting matches with lawmakers, listened to her exchange with Congressman Jamie Raskin, a former constitutional law
professor and top Democrat on that committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): You can let her filibuster all day long, but not on our watch. Not on our time. No way. And I told you about that, Attorney
General, before you started.
PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: You don't tell me anything.
RASKIN: Yes. Oh, I did tell you because we saw what you did in the Senate.
BONDI: You're not even a lawyer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: There were worse ones than that. Lawmakers focused heavily on the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files from, we should note,
Democrats and Republicans, the attorney general said this to the Epstein survivors.
[18:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BONDI: I am deeply sorry for what any victim, any victim has been through, especially as a result of that monster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Paula Reid has the details of that contentious hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BONDI: This guy has Trump derangement syndrome.
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In her first appearance before House lawmakers, Attorney General Pam Bondi played
to an audience of one.
BONDI: He is the most transparent president in the nation's history. And none of them, none of them asked Merrick Garland over the last four years
one word about Jeffrey Epstein. How ironic is that? You know why?
REID (voice-over): Lawmakers repeatedly pressed her on the Department of Justice's handling of the Epstein files and the impact on survivors.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Will you turn to them now and apologize for what your Department of Justice has put them through with the absolutely
unacceptable release of the Epstein files and their information?
BLACKWELL: Congresswoman, you sat before -- Merrick Garland sat in this chair twice.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Attorney General Bondi --
BONDI: No. Can I finish my answer?
JAYAPAL: No, I'm going to reclaim my time because I asked you a specific question that I would like you to answer, which is, will you turn to the
survivors?
REID (voice-over): Republican Thomas Massie grilled her on redaction mistakes that he says exposed survivors and protected perpetrators.
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): These are the documents that we need that you're holding on to and over redacting because they have the names of the
men who are implicated. How do we know? Because the survivors gave testimony to the FBI.
REID (voice-over): But Bondi came armed with personalized insults for any lawmaker that pressed her on an issue she did not want to discuss.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): And I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started.
BONDI: You don't tell me anything.
RASKIN: Yes. Oh, I did tell you because we saw what you did in the Senate.
BONDI: You're not even a lawyer.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
REID (voice-over): And the hearing swiftly devolved into a series of shouting matches.
BONDI: I want to answer the question.
REP. JERRY NADLER (D-NY): No, you're doing to answer the question the way I asked it.
BONDI: Your theatrics are ridiculous. Chairman Jordan, I'm not going to get gutter with these people. If they could maintain their composer. This
isn't a circus, this is a hearing.
REID (voice-over): Most Republicans used their time to pivot back to Bondi's preferred topics, immigration and violent crime.
REP. SCOTT FITZGERALD (R-WI): Overwhelmingly elected President Trump, securing our border and enforcing our immigration laws.
REID (voice-over): Bondi was also pressed on how she has used the traditionally independent agency to pursue the president's political
adversaries.
RASKIN: Trump orders up prosecutions like pizza and you deliver every time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Paula Reid for that story. We also have an update on the U.S. Justice Department's case attempted against six Democratic
lawmakers. A federal grand jury has declined to indict them for posting this video urging service members to disobey any illegal orders they might
receive. This rare rejection from a grand jury rebukes the Trump administration's efforts to paint those lawmakers as dangerously and
criminally undermining the president's authority.
Still ahead, a strong January jobs report after a dismal 2025 for job seekers. We're going to have economist Paul Krugman to give his take, not
just on those jobs numbers but the broader economy and trade.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, a mostly lower day on Wall Street, stocks fell amid concerns that today's stronger-than-expected
jobs report might lead to fewer Fed rate cuts this year. Today's report showed the U.S. added some 130,000 jobs last month. That's the strongest
month of job gains in more than a year due to, in particular, robust hiring in the health care sector. The unemployment rate ticked lower to 4.3
percent. However, there was bad news as well. Newly revised numbers show that last year's job market was much weaker than originally thought. A mere
180,000 jobs created in the entire calendar year of 2025.
Speaking of jobs, shares of U.S. financial services firms fell for a second day on A.I. disruption fears. A newly released A.I. tax planner could
impact businesses and lead the layoffs. We're seeing a lot of that. Trade uncertainty also front and center. E.U. leaders meet Thursday to discuss
how to become less dependent on the U.S. economically amid President Trump's ongoing trade war and military threats.
Joining me now, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman. Paul, good to have you on. Thanks so much for taking the time.
PAUL KRUGMAN, NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING ECONOMIST: Glad to be on.
SCIUTTO: So, the monthly number was good, close to double what economists had predicted, but 2025 just looks awful. Right down from 584,000 jobs to
180,000 jobs. What does this show you? I mean, does it show that the job market has bottomed out?
KRUGMAN: No. I mean, monthly numbers are extremely noisy. In fact, if you read the BLS report, it's -- you know, 130,000 is the central estimate, but
it actually says that the 90 percent confidence range is from 7,700 to 250,000, right?
SCIUTTO: Wow.
KRUGMAN: This is not a -- we know this, that this just lost sampling error and there's all kinds of other things. So, the real range is bigger than
that. So, monthly numbers, you know, people like me who have spent years and years saying, don't obsess about the monthly numbers. The year-over-
year change is really pretty bad. If we take the first year of the second Trump administration, it's -- you know, it's way down. It's 360,000 jobs
from January to January.
It's -- and it's 90 -- 95 percent of the monthly job gain was healthcare and social services. More than 100 percent of the one-year job gains, such
as it was, was healthcare and social services. So, this does not look like a cyclically strong economy. This is, you know, something, exactly the
things that are not the focus of policy are continuing to grow, but the rest of it is really pretty bad.
SCIUTTO: How about the broader economy? Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, likes to say that we're at the beginning of a big pick up here.
You hear that from a lot of Trump administration officials. They say tax cuts are going to kick in. A.I. growth is going to -- is going to have a
broader economic effect. Do you see any hard indicators that they're right about that?
KRUGMAN: No. I mean, what we do see is that Bessent seems to imagine, he says construction employment is booming and it's actually not at all. So,
we really are not seeing a lot of business investment aside from data centers. And the data centers, one of the things that people are not
noticing is that the -- overwhelmingly the chips, the computer equipment and so on is imported. So, it doesn't actually boost the U.S. economy.
So, you know, maybe never -- you know, business cycle forecasts are basically wrong almost half the time. But there's nothing in there aside
for sheer faith that surely, we've cut taxes that must be doing great stuff. You don't see it at all in the data.
[18:25:00]
SCIUTTO: How about the costs of tariffs? Because it feels like the last year, everyone's been trying to calculate exactly what the costs are to
economic growth, exactly how much individual Americans are paying increased prices for things and also how it's factoring into business decision
making. Is it clear to you yet what the tariffs impact is?
KRUGMAN: Well, the pricing side, you know, people exaggerate the actual increase in tariff rates is something like 10 percentage points on imports,
which are about 11 percent of GDP. So, what you would have expected is something like a, you know, 1 percent or a little bit more additional on
consumer prices relative to what would otherwise have happened.
And that's actually what micro microdata-based estimates, big data based estimates of what's been happening to consumer prices show, you know,
there's lots of other stuff going on. But if you were predicting an inflation apocalypse, you weren't really looking at the numbers. The
numbers say there should be some significant but not overwhelming increase in prices. And that's kind of what we're seeing in the data.
In terms of the economy as a whole, again, if you were saying this is going to cause a severe recession, that was never something that the actual
models would have predicted. It was more kind of a gut feeling and people's guts were wrong if that's what they felt.
What we do see, and I do think this is a tariff related, is this weird frozen labor market. Not a lot of layoffs, but very little hiring.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
KRUGMAN: And so, you know, it's been OK if you have a job. But if you're looking for a job, if you've lost your job or you're a young person
starting out, long-term unemployment is very high. The time it takes to find a job is very, very long. And that's presumably uncertainty. Nobody
knows. I mean, we don't know if the Supreme Court's going to throw out 70 percent of the tariffs. We don't know, you know, what Trump has been
recently speculated that he might want to cancel the North American free trade agreement. So, I think that uncertainty is really weighing on
business.
SCIUTTO: You're now predicting a divorce, as it were, between the U.S. and major trading partners. And listen, we hear them saying it out loud, right?
I mean, we hear Canadian leaders, we hear European leaders saying we have to find growth elsewhere. And you're seeing that in some of the deals that
they're making with India, China, et cetera.
Are we seeing an impact of that yet on the U.S.? I imagine your view is that over time, that's going to impact U.S. trade and economic growth.
KRUGMAN: Yes, you see some of it, but not a whole lot. And the truth is that, first of all, you know, long-term trading relationships takes, in
some cases, decades to really build them. So, to expect everything to turn on a dime is unrealistic.
And a lot of the U.S. tariffs are on things that we're just not going to produce in the U.S. We're going to -- you know, we're not going to start
producing clothing in the United States again, unless tariffs go to several hundred percent.
SCIUTTO: Correct.
KRUGMAN: So, you're seeing only modest changes in trade. Actually, a lot of what's going on is reshuffling. Our imports from China have fallen, but
our imports from other places have gone up. So -- and as for the rest, you know, it's going to -- it is really hard, especially, by the way, it's
interesting that Canada is most forthright in saying we need to sever those ties, which is really difficult because Canada is right there. I mean, it's
like the markets, Canada is closer to the United States than it is to itself. So, this is going to take a while. But the world has really doesn't
trust the United States. And that's going to really -- it's going to affect us over time.
SCIUTTO: No question. I hear that in an economic context. I hear it in a national security context as well. Paul Krugman, good to have you on.
Thanks so much for joining.
KRUGMAN: Thanks so much.
SCIUTTO: Checking some of today's other business headlines, McDonald's reported stronger than expected earnings after the closing bell today. The
fast-food giant says it is winning back customers with its lower priced meals. It says sales are picking up across global markets too.
Consumer products giant Kraft Heinz is pausing plans to split in two. The company announced last year that it would separate its condiment brands
from its struggling grocery brands. But sales have weakened further and a spinoff has become less appealing to investors.
Heineken is announcing sweeping job cuts due to weaker sales of beer. The brewing giant says it will cut as many as 6,000 jobs globally. That's
almost 7 percent of its workforce. It is also lowering its profit outlook for the year. Stay with us. Much more news after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto and here are the international headlines we're watching today.
U.S. President Donald Trump called Wednesday's White House meeting with Israel's prime minister, quote, "very good." Trump says he told Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he will continue pursuing diplomacy with Iran. He added that if a deal with Iran cannot be done, quote, "We'll just
have to see what the outcome will be."
Emergency officials in eastern Ukraine say a Russian drone strike killed three toddlers and their father. The attack also wounded the children's
mother, who's pregnant. The family had just arrived in town seeking a safer place to live. The town's mayor called the attack, quote, "A crime that is
beyond human comprehension."
TMZ says it has received a letter from a person saying they know who kidnapped Nancy Guthrie. The letter asked for one bitcoin in return for
identifying that person. The New York Post reports that a black glove was found near Guthrie's home. It's not clear if it belongs to the same person.
You see there in the doorbell camera footage released by the FBI.
Police say they've identified the suspect in one of Canada's deadliest mass shootings. The alleged shooter opened fire at a school in a remote mountain
town on Tuesday, killing at least six people. The suspect's mother and stepbrother were found shot dead at their home. Prime Minister Mark Carney
told families who are grieving they are not alone. Our Paula Newton has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER DWAYNE MCDONALD, ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE: Upon arrival, there was active gunfire, and as officers approached the school,
rounds were fired in their direction.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, new details about a deadly mass shooting in a small, tight-knit community in Tumbler Ridge,
Canada. Mobile phone messages warned of an active shooter describing the suspect as a woman wearing a dress with brown hair.
DARIAN QUIST, STUDENT, TUMBLER RIDGE SECONDARY SCHOOL: The alarm went off that I've never heard before, and our principal goes throughout the halls
and she's saying, people, close your doors, lockdown, stuff like that. I didn't -- I think, I thought it was a secure and hold and something like
that at first. So -- but once things started circulating, we realized how serious it really was.
NEWTON (voice-over): The town's high school was in lockdown, students barricading themselves in classrooms, local journalists conveying the
terror now rippling through the small town.
[18:35:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I talked to a concerned parent who's here waiting. He got a call from his son who is sheltering in place in the gym, and he's
just waiting to hear from his other kid and is quite rightly nervous.
NEWTON (voice-over): Authorities say police arrived within minutes but found six victims already dead at the school, at least 27 injured. The
suspect, identified as 18-year-old Jesse Van Rootselaar, was also found dead in the school of a self-inflicted injury. Two other victims,
Rootselaar's mother and a sibling, were found dead at a nearby home. Police say a long gun and a modified handgun were used, and disclosed that
authorities were called to the suspect's home several times for mental health emergencies and firearms offenses, and they are no closer to
settling on a motive.
MCDONALD: There's been much speculation within the community regarding the relationship between the shooter and some of the victims. All of that
remains part of the active and ongoing investigation.
NEWTON (voice-over): Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, visibly shaken and teary-eyed, expressing the profound grief now felt right across the
country.
MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: It's obviously a very difficult day for the nation. This morning, parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers in
Tumbler Ridge will wake up without someone they love. The nation mourns with you. Canada stands by you.
NEWTON (voice-over): Authorities are now surging resources to the area, including investigative support. Local leaders describe the community as
stricken as Canada enters a full week of official mourning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Paula Newton for the story. Well, the airspace over El Paso, Texas, near the U.S. border with Mexico, is now open again. This
after the FAA ordered its sudden closure late Tuesday. Multiple sources tell CNN that a Pentagon plan to use a counter-drone laser without
coordinating with the FAA led to that shutdown. The Trump administration has claimed a Mexican cartel drone had crossed into U.S. airspace.
Joining me now is transportation analyst Mary Schiavo. And, Mary, first of all, that difference of explanation here is concerning, is it not? Because
you want the FAA to have accurate information and for flyers to know exactly what happened here for their own safety.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Oh, absolutely. And a little coordination with the airport, with the local officials, with the airlines.
I mean, that would have gone a long way. And I just have to believe in the back of my mind that it really wasn't intended to be 10 days to take out
Mexican drones. 10 hours would have made more sense. We didn't shut down for 10 days even after September 11, 2001. So, I think there was
miscommunication all the way around.
But unfortunately -- and you know, no one was harmed and then the airport opened up. But this is going to continue happening because the numbers of
drones -- and I doubt it was just one, the numbers are just astounding coming over the border.
SCIUTTO: And listen, we've seen drones shut down airports in Europe and European governments point blame at Russia for carrying out a shadow or a
hybrid war. What is the response, right? Because I'm aware just from covering the military that some of the counter drone measures do involve
directed energy weapons, which are kind of like lasers, although not like, as you know, stuff you see in "Star Wars." I mean, how do airports then
protect themselves? And then how is the how is the countermeasure not worse than the threat itself, right, if you're shutting down an airport in
circumstances like this?
SCHIAVO: That's the best point of all this fiasco last night and this morning with the airport, because there are many measures being tested. You
know, there's geofencing, which is electronically just keeping them out of your airport area. There's jamming where you literally jam the signals and
then the drone either lands or goes home. If they have a go home program. There's electric countermeasures and there are companies that provide
those.
For example, in Israel, there are companies that provide them and they use spoofing to confuse the drone or take over the drone, really, and then have
it land in an area that's secure. And then, of course, there's the lasers or high energy forces, which are thought to be most promising and used by
the military.
And, you know, they've had so many other ideas capture nets. I mean, that's not going to work because the numbers we're talking about. There's one
study that said in six months, something like 27,000 came over the southern border and they counted another 60,000 on the Mexico side that didn't cross
over. So, this is a problem. We've got the Olympics coming up. I mean, this is going to be a problem. We'll see it more.
SCIUTTO: No question. And a lot of copycats, as always. Mary Schiavo, thanks so much for walking us through it.
[18:40:00]
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Coming up on "The Brief," the daughter of pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai reacting to Hong Kong's prison sentence of 20 years for
her father. My conversation with Claire Lai coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": A Hong Kong court sentenced Jimmy Lai, the founder of pro-democracy newspaper The Apple Daily, to 20 years in
prison this week. The government arrested him back in August 2020 under a national security law imposed by Beijing, accusing him of colluding with
foreigners.
I spoke to his daughter, Claire Lai, and began the interview by asking for her reaction to the court's sentencing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLAIR LAI, DAUGHTER OF JIMMY LAI: I think on the one hand, part of me, there was half of me that was hopeful. And there was the other half that
was, you know, I knew the rule of law was pretty dead in Hong Kong for a long time. And I was a bit angry about why we had to wait for due process
when we already knew the result. And then when it came, there was a bit of heartbreak.
But I think last time I said, you know, our father taught us to sort of take any setback with a certain degree of chair and just to try to look
ahead. And I think now, the sentence is in, I hope that a political or diplomatic solution can be reached to secure my father's freedom.
SCIUTTO: You said last time we spoke that if this sentence, the sentence of 20 years was carried out, that he might die in prison. Do you still have
that fear?
LAI: Absolutely. I mean, my father is 78. The average life expectancy of a male in Hong Kong is 83. That is, he is five years away from that. I mean,
he doesn't have 10 years, let alone 20. And he suffers from a litany of health issues like his heart, diabetes, you know, and so on. So, you know,
if this sentence is carried out, this is absolutely a death sentence.
SCIUTTO: When prosecutors claimed in the courtroom that his condition, despite those diseases, diabetes, et cetera, was stable, there was an
audible laugh in the courtroom.
[18:45:00]
LAI: There was. I think it came from our family. And, you know, because actually looking at the details of what they said, they said, I mean, they
don't deny at all that he has those health issues. They claim that it's being properly managed. But there is a litany of objective evidence that
prison in general is very, very, a very poor environment for managing health issues, especially prisons in Hong Kong. I mean, especially people
with diabetes and especially people who are kept in solitary as my father is.
SCIUTTO: You said that your father wrote you a letter recently and had some words of encouragement for you.
LAI: He did. So, I think -- you know, I'm sort of the warrior in the family. So, in a lot of the times my father through his letters, he ends
them with the prayer. And that's his way of comforting me. And in the recent one, he -- you know, he told me -- he ended it with, you know,
saying, you know, our Lord is all seeing and all knowing. And he knows what is good for us more than we do. And he said that he was in our Lord's
hands. Absolutely.
And he was -- you know, there was such -- you could feel such a sense of relief in knowing that. And it gave me such a great deal of comfort. And --
yes.
SCIUTTO: It does seem that his faith and your faith has been really key in getting through this.
LAI: Absolutely. I mean, it's -- you know, I've had a pretty easy life prior to these five years. And, you know, my father, he's in prison and
that -- most days, you know, we get to visit for maybe 24 hours a year prior to me leaving Hong Kong. So, most days the only thing that sustains
him is our good Lord. And, you know, our blessed mother has looked after him and our good Lord has as well. And we are just so extremely grateful
and so extremely blessed that sometimes I don't know how people without the faith do it. Yes.
SCIUTTO: You mentioned you hope for a political solution. And, of course, President Trump planning to meet President Xi in April in Beijing. Do you
hope that President Trump might ask for Jimmy Lai's freedom?
LAI: So, we are extremely grateful to President Trump and his administration. President Trump himself has mentioned my father a number of
times. And during the last APEC summit in Korea, it was it's confirmed that it was confirmed through multiple media outlets that he did bring my father
up. And I think in the press conference -- in the press briefing, he -- the Daily Wire asked about my father as well. And they confirmed that it was
important, the issue of my father was important to this administration. The State Department also issued a very strong statement.
So, you know, I'm not the next in foreign policy, but I do hope that this remains front and center for the president and his administration. And we
are extremely grateful for all the support they have shown.
SCIUTTO: Well, we do hope that you and your family get good news soon. Thank you so much for joining the program again.
LAI: Thank you so much for having me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: In response to our interview, the Hong Kong government said the following, quote, "The Correctional Services Department has been ensuring
that custodial enforcement for persons in custody, including Lai Chee-ying, that's Jimmy Lai's Chinese name, is safe, humane, appropriate and healthy
in accordance with the law." It adds that, quote, "The Hong Kong SAR government will continue to uphold its constitutional duty and steadfastly
safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interest will protecting the lawful rights and interests of Hong Kong residents and other
people in Hong Kong."
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also provided us with a statement which read in part, quote, "Jimmy Lai is the principal mastermind and perpetrator
behind the series of major anti-China and destabilizing Hong Kong incidents. What he has done has seriously trampled on the rule of law and
social order, seriously undermined Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and seriously challenged the bottom line of the 'One Country, Two Systems'
principle." End of statement.
At the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, a surprise silver and gold duo topped the podium in the women's moguls. And a new king of Alpine ski racing is
crowned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
SCIUTTO: Six Republicans in the House joined with Democrats voting to repeal the president's tariffs on Canada. It is a vote that Republican
leaders fought hard to avoid. President Trump wrote this on Truth Social around the time of the vote, quote, "Any Republican in the House or Senate
that votes against tariffs will seriously suffer the consequences come election time."
We should note the resolution now heads to the Senate, where it is unlikely to have enough votes to overcome an expected veto from the president.
However, it is yet another example that President Trump's trade war has quietly rattled even some of his staunchest loyalists.
Well, you can now add Swiss skier Franjo van Allmen to the pantheon of Winter Olympics legends. The 24-year-old announced himself at the Milan
Cortina Games with his victory in the Super-G. He wasn't done. Don Riddell is going to explain. I mean, what a run for him.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Absolutely. Take a bow, Franjo van Allmen, who has put on a masterclass at these games. The Swiss skier has been
making his Olympic debut in Borneo, and he has made history as well. As you say, Jim, the 24-year-old took gold in the Super-G on Wednesday, adding to
the two other gold medals he won in the downhill and the team combined. Van Allmen is now the first Alpine skier to win three gold medals in the same
Olympics since 1968 and only the third overall to do it. And I think it's fair to say he's struggling to find the words to describe it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANJO VAN ALLMEN, THREE GOLD MEDALS AT MILAN CORTINA 2026 (through translator): At the moment, it's still hard to say because I'm really
trying to realize what's actually happened or is happening in the last few days. So, yes, I can say looking back on my first Olympic Games, I think
I'm looking back on perfect races for me. Everything just came together a bit. And I can also say that maybe the luck of these games was a bit on my
side.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: You make your own luck, though. It was a terrific day for the American women in the moguls as the freestyle skier, Elizabeth Lemley, took
gold, joined alongside her on the podium by Jaelin Kauf, who also took a silver medal at the last Olympics in Beijing.
We got a new Olympic record in the speed skating as the USA's Jordan Stolz took gold in the 1,000 meters. The 21-year-old was already the world record
holder, and he ended a long period of Dutch dominance at the Games. Stolz is the first American man to win this event since 2010 in Vancouver, Jim.
SCIUTTO: American Chloe Kim, she's looking to make some snowboarding history?
RIDDELL: Yes. You know, it's really hard to believe that Kim is still only in her mid-20s because remember, she burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old
at the PyeongChang Olympics, making history then as the youngest woman ever to win gold in the halfpipe. She defended her title in Beijing four years
later, and now she's trying to make history again as the first snowboarder, male or female, to win gold in three consecutive games. And I'd say so far,
so good. She topped the qualifying session at Livigno Snow Park and will go for gold again on Thursday. She's been reflecting on how her Olympic
journey has changed her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHLOE KIM, TWO-TIME OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: As I've gotten older, I've started to learn more about myself and kind of what my boundaries are and
what I'm capable of doing. Maybe, like, sometimes I need to learn when to back off. And I think taking a lot of time off has been really important
for me and my mental well-being.
[18:55:00]
It's been a really beautiful journey to learn more about myself and kind of discover who I am as a 25-year-old now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: And before I hand it back to you, Jim, a quick mention of the men's ice hockey competition, which is now underway, and is significant,
the first time that NHL players have been at the Games since 2014 in Sochi, in 2018, and again in 2022, disputes over costs for travel, insurance,
accommodation, and also squabbles about scheduling meant that the league's players stayed home. It remains to be seen how much of a difference the NHL
players will make. The Italian team doesn't have any NHL players. Sweden's team is packed with them. But it was too, too late in the second period
when they met on Wednesday. But Sweden had too much in the end. Ultimately, they won that game 5-2. But it is great to have all of the best hockey
players back in the Olympics.
SCIUTTO: Don Riddell, thanks so much. Don't forget curling.
RIDDELL: Oh, no. Love it.
SCIUTTO: Thanks so much, all of you. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
