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Five-Year-Old Liam Ramos, His Dad Back in Minneapolis After ICE Detention; Deputy A.G. Signals No New Charges Related to Epstein; Trump Closing Kennedy Center for Two Years Amid Backlash, Cancelations. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired February 02, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A judge's rebuke. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father are back in Minnesota, but it's the judges wording ordering their release from ICE custody that's grabbing headlines. Why the judge is calling out a lust for unbridled power and what's what that now means next for the little boy.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the new contradictions revealed in the Epstein files and the new questions raised by the declaration from the Justice Department that they found nothing new to prosecute.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And ahead of his Super Bowl halftime show, Bad Bunny takes album of the year at the Grammys, the Puerto Rican superstar using his speech to call out ICE and calling Americans to fight with love.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father are back home in Minnesota, but their fight is not over, and their future in the United States is still very much not clear. A federal judge this weekend ordered that Ramos and his dad be released from a federal detention facility in Texas, a week after photos of Liam, which we, of course, remember, who could forget wearing his bunny hat wearing a Spider-Man backpack, images of him being led off by federal agents, and all of that sparked national outcry.

Well, now, in a brutal opinion, a federal judge called Liam's detention a result of an ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children. This morning, the Justice Department is pushing back and signaling they may appeal this ruling.

But also this morning, there's new details now out about the two federal agents who shot and killed Alex Pretti. ProPublica is now reporting that its reporters have viewed government records showing that both agents who shot Pretti are from South Texas and have worked for Customs and Border Protection for years.

CNN's Whitney Wild has the very latest for us. She's joining us right now. Whitney, good morning.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Kate. We are learning more about the backgrounds of the two agents who, according to ProPublica, shot and killed Alex Pretti. What we know is that one of them is a Border Patrol agent who joined that agency in 2018. The other is a Customs and Border Protection officer who joined that agency in 2014 and is a member of their special response team. That's basically the federal version of SWAT team. As you said, both of them are from South Texas.

DHS would not confirm the identities to ProPublica, saying that their agents are facing an enormous increase in threats and saying that doxing contributes to potentially extremely dangerous situations, not just for the agents, but for their families.

Over the weekend, Kristi Noem answered more questions. Here's more from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reflecting on the situation in Minnesota.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I would say that we can always do better and we learn from every situation that we're in. We see a very organized, well-funded campaign of violent protests against our law enforcement officers. And so we're going to continue to get as much information as soon as possible, to give a strategy to protect people, protect our federal buildings like the president laid out yesterday and we're going to make sure that the American people are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Further, Kate, as you mentioned, DOJ now saying that they might appeal the order from the judge, that scathing order that sent Liam and his father back to Minnesota. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche saying on ABC this week that, to the extent that we need to appeal that judge's decision, I promise we will. And when he was pressed on compliance with the law, Blanche said that he didn't have a comment specifically on what the judge said yesterday, but added that, generally speaking, they are complying with the law every single day. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Whitney, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

[07:05:00]

John?

BERMAN: All right. It was music's biggest night, the 68th annual Grammy Awards and the award for joke that most enraged President Trump went to host Trevor Noah. Right after song of the year was announced, Noah said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TREVOR NOAH, HOST, GRAMMY AWARDS: That is a Grammy that every artist wants almost as much as Trump wants Greenland, which makes sense. I mean, because Epstein's island is gone. He needs a new one to hang out with Bill Clinton. So, oh, I told you it's my last year. What are you going to do about it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, the president apparently didn't like that. He responded overnight, posting, I can't speak for Bill, but I have never been to Epstein Island nor anywhere close. And then he threatened to sue Trevor Noah for defamation for plenty of dollars.

Now, the Justice Department released more than 3 million pages of files from the Epstein investigation. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche signaled none of it will lead to any additional charges for anyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: There's a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be of taken by Mr. Epstein or were people around him, but that doesn't allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody. And that's what's important for the American people, and the victims want to be made whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: With us now is CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. Counselor, good to see you. I guess there are two separate questions from a political and legal standpoint, but to you, from a legal standpoint, how surprising is it that the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, basically declared nothing more for us to investigate or prosecute here?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, John, we're getting decidedly mixed signals from the top of DOJ. Yesterday, Todd Blanche, in his interview with Dana Bash, said there is no ongoing investigation criminally into others around Jeffrey Epstein. He said, yes, we're doing other important sex trafficking work, other important work to combat abuse of children, but no ongoing criminal investigation.

Okay. However, two and a half months ago, in mid-November, the president posted on Truth Social that he demands a criminal investigation of Bill Clinton and other Democrats, and Pam Bondi responded same day, November 14th, that she would open a criminal investigation, that she had specifically assigned it to the Southern District of New York. And I quote, the Department of Justice will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people.

So, two and a half months ago, we have the A.G. saying unequivocally, we are taking an ongoing investigation of this matter, and then yesterday we have Todd Blanche saying, no, we're not. So I think there's a real lack of clarity there as to whether anyone is actually being investigated criminally on this.

BERMAN: In terms of the documents that have not yet been released, one of the reasons cited by Blanche, the Department of Justice, is deliberative process privilege. What is that? And in your area of legal expertise, is that a thing that should cause the withholding of these documents?

HONIG: So, the deliberative process privilege is a concept. Todd Blanche is not just making it up. It does ordinarily apply, and it basically says that internal DOJ communications and strategy memos and discussions about how to move forward with the case, those are privileged. Those don't have to come forward. The problem, however, is that the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the law that is governing all this Section 7 specifically overrides that. Section 7 of the law basically says, DOJ must release all internal communications and emails and memos about decisions whether to investigate or prosecute any person.

So, I think, ultimately, Blanche is wrong to say the deliberate process privilege applies here. We've heard members of Congress say they may challenge that and that's really important, John, because I think the most important documents that are missing out of this production are those internal documents. Why did DOJ decide to give Jeffrey Epstein a softball deal back in 2007? Why has nobody else been prosecuted? That's the only real way we're going to find out.

BERMAN: All right. Elli Honig, great to see you this morning, thank you so much for your expertise on this matter. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. We'll be talking to a victim of Jeffrey Epstein just in a bit here.

Also, why President Trump is closing the Kennedy Center down for two years. What members of the Kennedy family are saying this morning about that.

Plus, snow piling up in North Pole Carolina -- I mean, North Carolina, after a bomb cyclone tears through and the frigid temperatures might just be sticking around.

And a critical dress rehearsal today for NASA's Artemis 2, as the crew prepares for its mission around the moon. Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: So, this happened overnight. President Trump announcing the Kennedy Center, one of the nation's preeminent venues for culture and the arts, will close its doors for the next two years, starting on July 4th. The president said the center will undergo a massive renovation, citing what he called the building's, quote, tired, broken, and dilapidated state as a key reason. Something he didn't mention though is the massive backlash and wave of cancelations by artists and performers recently. In the past couple of months, Trump's name was added to the complex about John F. Kennedy's name above it, and he was named chair by his handpicked Kennedy Center board.

CNN's Brian Stelter is with me now. Yes, I mean, two years of renovations. He's called this place everything but nice.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes.

SIDNER: And here we are.

STELTER: I would call this decision shocking, but not surprising. Yes, this was a shock overnight. The arts, entertainment worlds not necessarily seeing this coming, but it's not surprising because the Kennedy Center has been bleeding financially and facing the severe backlash over the Trumping makeover that the president has been leading.

[07:15:03]

He installed himself at the Kennedy Center, put his friends in charge of the place, and there have been performers pulling out now over a year. We've been talking about this for a year. And it became even more dramatic after his friends on the board voted to put his name on the building. After that naming decision, the Trump Kennedy Center was announced back in December, we saw another wave of artists pulling out from the planned performances.

And just last week, the acclaimed composer, Philip Glass, said he didn't want to participate anymore. He was going to debut an incredible new symphony there in June. He said, look, my values don't align with the Kennedy Center's values anymore. And that is what we've heard from many artists.

Now, the Kennedy Center leaders say, yes, these are just leftists being intolerant. They don't want to perform for all Americans for their petty political reasons. But I think what we've heard from a wide array of artists, even from the national opera, a lot of different groups saying, this is not the right venue for us right now. People don't want to buy tickets at the Kennedy Center right now. And, ultimately, this is about the financials.

Now, we'll see what Trump's construction plans are. There's a lot left to be determined. He says the financing's already in place. Maybe he has corporate donors willing to underwrite this the same way he is doing that with the East Wing and the ballroom at the White House. A lot of questions, but so far it seems we can point to the dramatic decline in attendance and the lack of performers as the main reason why this is happening. Sara?

SIDNER: Yes, that'll do it. Nobody's performing. Nobody's coming. Then why is it open? And a lot of people say, speaking of petty, putting your name on a memorial to another president who was shot and killed is quite the thing.

What is the Kennedy family saying about all of this? STELTER: Yes. It was striking to see some of those reactions overnight, people like Maria Shriver and Jack Schlossberg. Here's what Schlossberg wrote on X. He said, Trump can take the Kennedy Center for himself. He can change the name, shut the doors, and demolish the building. He can try to kill JFK. But JFK is kept alive by us, now rising up to remove Donald Trump, bring him to justice and restore the freedoms generations have fought for. So, one member of the family, of course, he's running for Congress as a Democrat in New York. So, this is also a campaign issue for Jack Schlossberg.

But a wide variety of condemnations overnight, not just Democrats, some Republicans as well, saying this seems like a situation where Trump is embarrassed or disappointed by what's going on. He's just going to turn off the lights for two years and undergo a construction project. But if we know one thing about President Trump, he loves a big construction project. He has one right now at the White House. Now, he might have another down at the Kennedy Center.

SIDNER: Yes. There's one more thing. A lot of people talking about the Melania documentary that premiered this weekend. How did it do?

STELTER: Yes. This is all about how you decide to measure success. If you measure success based on a typical documentary, the Melania movie is a huge success. It made $7 million over the weekend, and most documentaries open to make $1 million, $2 million if they're lucky. However, this is not a typical documentary. Amazon paid 40 million for the rights, $35 million in marketing.

So, if you measure it against the amount of marketing that was spent on this movie, then it has underperformed. You know, Amazon has spent tens of millions of dollars and it's not going to recoup its money through the theatrical release.

So, this is all in the eye of the beholder with Trump calling it a blockbuster, MAGA supporters going out in droves in Texas and California and other Republican strongholds to see the movie. Meanwhile, lots of empty seats, lots of empty theaters in big blue cities. So, it's another example of the red blue divide. But if you judge it based on a normal documentary, this thing was a hit. If you judge it based on a Trump and Amazon film, then maybe not so much.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, $75 million with the marketing and the cost of the rights for the film is quite a lot of money.

You never see that with other documentaries. They are much, much less expensive. Yes, that's a good way to put it. Woo.

It is so good to see you, Brian Stelter, thank you so much for your reporting this morning on all those details. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, we're standing by for possibly a very big morning in the double murder trial of the man accused of crafting an elaborate scheme with the family's au pair to kill his wife. What the jury is now considering as they head into deliberations today.

Plus, hockey, but make it 1776. Why the Bruins went full revolutionary war before puck drop in Tampa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Outdoor hockey in Florida. How does that sound? Well, it's happening. NHL Stadium Series heads to Tampa and Carolyn Manno is here with much more on this. What is happening?

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, good morning. Well, Sunday's NHL Stadium Series at Raymond James Stadium was an epic showdown. See, just like you like to do. I mean, they had a record-breaking start. They had an outdoor goalie fight. They had an incredible comeback. You could not want anything else based on how the players entered the game. You knew that we were in for something epic.

Massive nod here to the city of Tampa and the upcoming Super Bowl, the Bruins arriving as 18th century colonial patriots, ten out of ten, no notes here, all the way down to the shoe buckles.

BOLDUAN: And they didn't even lose a bet to have to do that.

MANNO: And then the lightning leaning into the history of the stadium's NFL 10 arriving in full 1970s, Tampa Bay Buccaneers' creamsicle uniforms complete with the classic orange jerseys and the white pants, so, so good.

Tampa's Brandon Hagel scoring just 11 seconds into this game, the fastest goal to start an outdoor game in NHL history, but the Bruin then stormed back with five unanswered goals to take a 5-1 lead midway through this second period of this game. So, with Boston up 5-2, both goal tenders dropping the gloves at center ice, the first ever goalie fight in NHL outdoor game history.

[07:25:04]

And that moment really shifted the game's momentum because then the Lightning clawed back with four straight goals, including three power play tallies in six minutes to tie the game in the third period. And after a scoreless overtime, it was Jake Guentzel scoring the only goal in a shootout to secure the 6-5 win for Tampa Bay in front of 64,617 fans who absolutely got their money's worth, 65,000 people watching on.

Elsewhere, the Knicks beat the Lakers 112 to 100 last night to extend their winning streak to six games in what could have been the final appearance of LeBron James's career at Madison Square Garden. Just before tipoff King James announced as the All-Star reserve for this year's game in L.A. The selection extending his record-breaking streak to 22 consecutive all-star selections. That is a feat that no player in NBA history other than him has ever achieved.

And the wait is over for Super Bowl 60. The business trip of a lifetime has officially landed in the Bay Area. The AFC Champion Patriots arriving on Sunday. They're going to spend the week practicing at Stanford University in Palo Alto before they look to reclaim their dynasty at Levi's Stadium. And then the Seahawks team playing arriving shortly after that, they are ready to settle an 11- year-old score. In this historic rematch, both teams are going to participate in tonight's opening night festivities to kick off the media blitz that comes with this week. We'll look forward to Roger Goodell's press conference, as we always do.

BOLDUAN: As always do.

MANNO: Yes, as we always do, but it's here. Super Bowl 60 is here. And I know Berman is probably squealing somewhere. He's so excited that the Patriots are back.

BOLDUAN: He's right there. And Sara's got some backup right over the shoulder.

SIDNER: I'm saying you should go. I don't -- there's no reason. The tickets are cheap because no one cares about what? No.

BERMAN: If CNN wants to send me, I can report on this objectively.

SIDNER: All right, we're working on it.

BERMAN: I promise no one.

BOLDUAN: And that's -- yes. This is when -- this is where Berman's the most objective of all objectives.

BERMAN: I'm available. That's all I'm saying.

Happening now, Punxsutawney Phil weighing in on the winter forecast. So, how does it line up with the record breaking storms we are seeing?

And special election shock, why senior Republicans, including Ron DeSantis say, could signal big problems for the Republicans this midterm.

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[07:30:00]