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Special Election Blues for the GOP; Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) is Interviewed about Democrats Win in Elections; Affidavit in Tepe Murder Reveals Stalking; Luke Thompson is Interviewed about "Bridgerton" Season Four. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 02, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:33:16]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: One of the most iconic cultural centers in the country will close its doors for the next two years starting on the Fourth of July. President Trump is announcing that, overnight, the Kennedy Center will undergo massive renovations to fix what he calls its dilapidated state.

Now, something he did not mention, the massive backlash and the wave of cancellations by artists and performers recently in the past couple of months. Trump's name was added to the complex above John F. Kennedy's name. And he was named chair by his friends who were now on the Kennedy Center board, which most and must approve the renovations.

All right, this morning, the partial government shutdown is forcing the FAA to furlough about 10,000 employees. That is according to the agency's shutdown contingency plan. But tens of thousands of other workers, like air traffic controllers, will stay on the job because they are deemed necessary to keep the skies safe. The shutdown is expected to last through at least tomorrow when the House votes on a spending package.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning there are Republicans across the country who are nervous. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis put this on Twitter. He said, "special elections are quirky and not necessarily predictable re: a general election. That said, a swing of this magnitude is not something that can be dismissed. Republicans should be clear-eyed about the political environment heading into the midterms."

What is he talking about? What has him and other Republicans so worried?

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here.

And this is all about a special election for a Texas state senate seat around Fort Worth.

[08:35:04]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. That's exactly right. Texas Nine. Texas Nine. Because what happened in Texas Nine, it didn't just swing to the left, it took a rocket ship to the left. My goodness gracious. The Texas Nine senate district election margins. This was a district that Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024. The Democratic candidate in the special election on Saturday, hello, won it by 14 points. That's an over 30-point shift to the left. Any Republican, unlike Ron DeSantis, who doesn't take this seriously, they should realize that this is very perilous. They ignore this result at their own peril. Ron DeSantis is right to say, hey, special elections can be quirky, but this ain't no quirk.

BERMAN: Congressman Pete Sessions from Texas basically told me, he said, no Democrat should ever win in north Texas like this. Although he also said, ah, there was an ice storm. Thirty-one points, that's not an ice storm.

ENTEN: No, that ain't no ice storm. If you ignore this, you're going to ice yourself out of a majority come the midterms.

BERMAN: All right, when we look at these special elections, and this is something you and I talk about a lot and look at very closely in between the federal elections, what can they tell us?

ENTEN: OK, so, you know, you see this 31 point shift to the left, right? If this were just one election, that would be one thing. But it's the slew of special elections that together paint a picture. And it's a picture that Democrats should love, and a picture that Republicans should be really worried about. Because what are we talking about here? OK, the average 2025-2026 special election, Democrats are doing, get this, 12 points better. Twelve points better than Kamala Harris did in 2024. And you know that was a state special election that happened in Texas on Saturday. If you look at the federal special elections, this 12 points is actually north of 15 points on average.

I was looking back through the history books. This looks a whole heck of a lot like what we saw during the 2017-2018 cycle, where you saw these Democrats outperforming how Hillary Clinton did in 2016. And what did it forecast? It forecasts a net gain of 40 seats for Democrats. And I remember back in Pennsylvania, remember there was that southwest -- and that was a congressional special election seat --

BERMAN: Yes.

ENTEN: But that was one in which the Democratic candidate was able to actually win in a deeply red Republican district. And that, of course, foretold big Democratic gains come 2018.

BERMAN: Foretells how? I mean how frequently do these special elections foretell what happens in the midterms?

ENTEN: OK. So, you see this 12 point overperformance. You see this 31 point overperformance. But that don't mean nothing if it ain't forecastable to the midterm elections.

So, what are we looking at here? Well, take a look at special elections, since all the way back in the 2005-2006 cycle, five out of five times the party that outperforms in the special elections goes on to win the U.S. House of Representatives. And this, of course, all paints a picture, right, Texas Nine, the special elections, the history of special elections in which Democrats look like they're in the catbird seat to take back the U.S. House come 2026 November.

BERMAN: Which is why Ron DeSantis and others are nervous this morning.

ENTEN: They should be.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Harry, will you put your first slide back up as I bring in the Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington to talk more about this.

Thank you so much, gentlemen.

Congressman, thank you so much for being here.

That -- what Harry and John were just talking about, this 31-point shift in a special election in a state senate seat in Texas. You see that and you think what?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): I think Republicans are in trouble. And we've got a real opportunity in the elections coming up this year. It becomes very clear, Donald Trump's policies are doing great damage to this country. And the Republican Party is going along with every single one of them. Whether you're talking about health care cuts, the tariffs, ICE terrorizing the people of Minneapolis and across the country. The president, you know, gosh, doing things like, you know, shutting down the Kennedy Center and tearing down the White House, acting more like a monarch than a democratically elected president. All of that has made Trump incredibly unpopular, number one.

Number two, people have rallied all across this country, millions of people have showed up to protest these policies. And also, don't look now, but the Democratic Party actually is messaging fairly effectively. Our leadership, you know, during the government shutdown, I think focused on health care, focused on what Trump was doing in a very effective way. Now the elections are a long way away. We got a lot of work to do. But certainly right now the Republican Party is in deep trouble.

BOLDUAN: And for some context here, you have been one who has been a vocal Democrat, speaking out to say that Democrats need to get their message straight ever since the 2024 election. You came on shortly after that to lay out your prescription for -- basically Democrats need to get their act together. So, context around your commentary here.

SMITH: Yes.

[08:40:01]

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you this.

SMITH: Yes.

BOLDUAN: You're the top Democrat on Armed Services. A big focus now when it comes to the president's military threat against Iran over the ongoing crackdown against protesters across the country, the big focus now has shifted for the president. He says that Iran is, quote/unquote, seriously talking with the United States. He's talking about striking a new nuclear deal. But at the same time, one of his top allies in the Congress, Lindsey Graham, said -- had this take on Sunday, "the people are demanding an end to the oppression they have suffered during the ayatollah's reign, not a better nuclear deal." Lindsey Graham very much wants to see regime change. Is Lindsey Graham right?

SMITH: I don't think so. No. And, look, this is a very dangerous situation. And you correctly outlined the two issues that are at play here.

One, we don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. Two, were deeply concerned about the Iranian regime, even beyond the nuclear weapon. They have been a destabilizing force in, gosh, a half dozen countries in the region for a long time. They are brutally oppressing their people, and they are a terrible regime.

But the lesson that we should have learned from Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya is that regime change is never as easy as it looks. And that's the problem. And what I want people to remember is that as they looked at Iraq and Afghanistan and said, my gosh, how could we possibly get into that, it is incredibly enticing to look at a brutal regime like the Taliban, like Saddam Hussein, Moammar Gadhafi, and now the ayatollah, and say, that's terrible, can't we just change it? Well, you can't just change it. It is incredibly complicated and dangerous. What comes next? How will the regime react? That's the big concern right now and why we're moving so many assets to the region.

Iran still has missiles. If we attack them in some way, we have bases, we have allies in the region who would be vulnerable to that. So, I am deeply worried that President Trump is going to take a much more aggressive stance, well, frankly, than he said he was going to do during the campaign and drag us into another endless foreign war.

BOLDUAN: What do you think of the argument that when the president sets a red line, which he's set a red line first that if you -- if you kill protesters, I'm coming in. Then, if you execute protesters, I'm going to strike. He sets a red line and then does -- and says, keep protesting, help is on the way. And then it's perceived as then he doesn't act. Some argue that that's emboldening the regime in place now and only hurting U.S. interests.

What do you say to that? SMITH: Yes, well -- President Trump tends to react without a great

deal of in-depth thinking. Let me just put it that way. He says what's on his mind. He leaps quickly from one thought to the next without necessarily a consistent policy. And, yes, it does create challenges and problems and does embolden adversaries in that way. And I think President Trump also, after Venezuela and everything else that he has done that the Republican Party has simply allowed him to do, is feeling emboldened. He feels like he can do whatever he wants to do without any check or balance on that.

So, he says those things. I think when he says them he means them. Now, in this particular case, I think military leaders and others said, if you do that, here are the consequences. Consequences that I outlined a moment ago. And that's what caused him to step back.

And don't get me wrong, I do not like the Iranian regime. They are oppressive to their people, and the world would be a better place if the Iranian people had a different leadership. But that's a whole different thing than saying the U.S. military is somehow in the position to force that outcome. That that, again, is the lesson we need to learn from some of the other efforts that we tried in a very similar vein.

BOLDUAN: Very important week ahead as we -- as we hear that Steve Witkoff could be possibly meeting with some senior Iranian officials this week in Turkey over all of this.

Congressman, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate your time.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

Mini horse on the lam. How Oreo, that's his name, is doing after being caught horsing around close to midnight. Buddy, get back in the pen.

All right, and "Bridgerton" is back again. And we're sitting down with Benedict Bridgerton himself. Luke Thompson joins CNN NEWS CENTRAL, next.

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[08:48:52]

SIDNER: This morning we have some chilling new details in the case of an Ohio dentist and his wife murdered in their home back in December. Newly unsealed court documents reveal that the suspect, Michael McKee, allegedly stalked his ex-wife's home for weeks before the murder -- murders. Investigators say they found surveillance video of McKee scouting the area around Spencer and Monique Tepe's Columbus home while they were out of town.

Now, the documents also reveal an alleged history of abuse in Michael and Monique's marriage. She filed for divorce back in 2017. According to the affidavit one witness told police Monique had shared that McKee had strangled her and that he, quote, "told Monique he could kill her at any time and that she will always be his wife."

Here now, CNN legal analyst Joey Jackson.

Whoa, that is quite a bit of evidence there.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

SIDNER: How will that be used?

JACKSON: Yes, Sara, good morning to you.

Very compelling as we begin to learn more. It will be used to establish his guilt.

Now, remember what he's charged with. He's charged with aggravated murder. That is really indicative of premeditation.

[08:50:01]

And it's not only premeditation, as in minutes before, seconds before I decided to do it. It also is evidence of planning. So, when you get information like this, it goes to that very issue, right?

And they've got even more than that, OK. Remember what they have. They have him in an alley right around the time of the murder. They have him under surveillance even prior, three weeks prior, as you noted, right, stalking out the house. They have this history of abuse that they noted. They have her telling friends and family members that he did say that he could kill her at any time, and that there was this history of abuse. They've got information, Sara, concerning strangulation and unwanted, you know, sexual contact between the two, meaning it was forced.

And so there's a bevy of information that they will use, prosecutors, to establish that this was aggravated, premeditated murder and that he, in fact, is guilty, in addition to the fact that they tracked the car. The car that he was in that they noted was at the scene at that specific time. They tracked it back to where he was at the hospital. They have him not working on the day of this specific, you know, murder.

SIDNER: Yes.

JACKSON: All allegations at this point. But it's piling up to suggest that there's a problem.

Last thing, right, they have ballistic analysis. They recovered a number of weapons from him. And ballistic analysis attaches at least one of the guns that he had to that specific homicide. So, a lot of information here.

SIDNER: How do you defend, how is his defense attorney going to go forward with this? And do you see the possibility of a plea agreement here?

JACKSON: So, a lot of compelling evidence, right. And all of it will be challenged. Remember, this is just the beginning.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: As we begin to have this information revealed. Was the search proper? Was it not? Should this evidence be admitted? Should it not be admitted? The recent outcries to family members in terms of, hey, he was going to do this to me, should that be admissible or will it not be admissible? And so, before trial begins, Sara, there's a lot of challenging information. There's a lot of challenges in pretrial hearings to what comes before a jury and what does not. In terms of a plea, at the end of the day, you want to try to enter into any negotiation that would be good for your client. And it depends what's on the table. Remember what he's facing, life in prison without parole.

SIDNER: Yes.

JACKSON: Anything better than that is, you know, pretty effective from a defense perspective.

SIDNER: I mean a jury in this will hear about the two children that were left in the house. Their parents dead.

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: And all of these bits of evidence. But the -- but the judge has to agree to let all of the evidence that we are now seeing from prosecutors in.

JACKSON: Yes.

SIDNER: And that's where things get a little sticky.

JACKSON: Exactly. And that's so important to mention, Sara, because this is information that we now have available based on the unsealing of it.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: It doesn't mean because we're learning about this that all of it would be admissible, meaning in front of a jury. So, prior to and getting to that point, there will be information exchanged, there will be hearings conducted. And once you know what the judge is going to rule, you have a better sense of what you need to do to navigate the case on your client's behalf.

SIDNER: Joey Jackson, it is always a pleasure, even on this cold Monday morning.

JACKSON: The pleasures is mine, Sara. Thank you.

SIDNER: Appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, new police body camera video shows New York police officers saving a two year old boy who was choking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's breathing. He's breathing. It's OK. It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's all good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The NYPD says this is actually the second baby that one officer has saved. Last December his neighbor's one year old daughter was reportedly in similar distress, and he was able to revive her. That's a good guy to know.

So, it was a minefield for Cher at the Grammy's overnight. After winning a Lifetime Achievement Award, she was supposed to present Record of the Year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHER, MUSICIAN: And the Grammy goes to -- oh, they told me it was going to be on a prompter. Oh, the Grammy goes to Luther Vandross. Oh, Kendrick -- no, Kendrick Lamar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Yes. See, the thing is, Luther Vandross, the legendary Luther Vandross, passed away like 20 years ago. The legendary, God rest his soul. The song itself is called "Luther," named after the late R&B singer. It samples Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn's 1982 duet "If This World Were Mine."

All right, miniature horse on the lam. A 911 caller spotted the horse named Oreo wandering a little too close to the road.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where'd you come from? Hi, baby. Come here. Hi. What a beautiful baby you are. Good, baby. It's OK. Shh, it's OK. Come here, baby. Hi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: I mean we saw a donkey on the loose last week. I've got to say, maybe there's a problem in the whole equine world of escapees. Now, they were able to walk Oreo back home after a quick photo op.

[08:55:01]

Kate.

BOLDUAN: "Bridgerton" is back. And if you aren't caught up, as it became famously said in the show, you must make haste because season four is streaming now. The hit Netflix series has returned with a fairy tale inspired season, focusing this time on the second Bridgerton son, Benedict, who refuses to settle down. That is until, perhaps, maybe, he's awestruck by a masked and mysterious lady in silver.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Behind the cover of a mosque, anything can happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We must find the owner of this glove.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You sound as if you have been made a new man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What if he's looking for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He does not want to find me. He wants to find the lady of the silver gown. And she is not real.

Mr. Bridgerton.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we know one another?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a little imagination, the impossible seems possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, that is a good build. Benedict Bridgerton himself, also known as Luke Thompson, is here with us.

LUKE THOMPSON, PLAYS BENEDICT BRIDGERTON IN NETFLIX'S "BRIDGERTON": Nice to see you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you for being here.

THOMPSON: Thank you. Thanks very much.

BOLDUAN: Congratulations on this huge moment.

So, season four --

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I feel like I've grown up with this. Benedict is having a moment, the way "The New York Times" -- I love "The New York Times" headline on this, "the fan favorite finally takes the spotlight."

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What's it feel like?

THOMPSON: It feels amazing. As I say, it has -- it's been a long, you know, I've had a lot of time with this character. So, to put him suddenly in the middle is really exciting. BOLDUAN: There's always -- there's the phrase, like always a

bridesmaid, never the bride.

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: And now you're having it.

THOMPSON: Yes. Well, that's funny, because I think as a character, he's also -- prefers being on the sidelines. Like, I think it's actually quite a challenge to pop in at the center of his life and see what -- what happens.

BOLDUAN: Give us a little taste.

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: How does that develop? What did you -- as -- when -- what -- what did you feel as an actor in this -- so engrossed in this character and how much development we'll see over this season?

THOMPSON: Well, I think like as an actor, like you want like -- to be in a show like this that, you know, so many -- there are so many shows that, you know, our attention is pulled everywhere.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

THOMPSON: But to be in a show that commands that level of attention, I don't mean adulation, I really mean just attention, it's amazing. Because as an actor you're like, oh, I get like that many people to go and see me, you know, do my thing. And as I say, the storyline really does put Benedict through the blender a little bit, which is good because we've seen the very sort of customer facing side of Benedict so far.

BOLDUAN: Customer facing side.

THOMPSON: And now it's like we're going to, you know, pull him open a bit.

BOLDUAN: We're going to tear it open and get -- and dig deep.

THOMPSON: Exactly. Yes.

BOLDUAN: You described -- this is the first time, which almost is shocking to me that really the show is delving deeply into kind of the upstairs, downstairs dynamics --

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: That we have -- you know, we know so well from culture and from that period of time. You described it as almost -- as kind of Shakespearean. Talk about that.

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What that -- what that's going to look like. THOMPSON: Well, I think -- when I say that, I think it's that

Shakespeare sort of always been obsessed with like fantasy and reality. And I think that the romance genre often, you know, people watching it, they're like, yes, it doesn't happen like that in real life, you know, that thing.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

THOMPSON: But what's lovely I think about this story is that it does. It brings in the real world by bringing the downstairs world into Bridgerton, which we haven't maybe seen before as much. You know, you get that it's all about the conflict of, you know, that honeymoon period of falling in love when it's all very exciting, and then the real world comes in, and then it's how you actually build something durable that lasts and really commit to something.

BOLDUAN: And being faced with tough choices.

THOMPSON: Exactly. Yes.

BOLDUAN: And the need to actually make a -- make a choice.

THOMPSON: Exactly, make a choice. Yes.

BOLDUAN: Broadly speaking, was there a moment for you when you realized -- you talked about it? Like knowing that there's so much attention on it. But was there a moment when you realized, like, oh my gosh, this is -- this show is a thing?

THOMPSON: I had an amazing moment. So, the premiere was in France and I was brought up there. And we had a moment where we actually surprised some fans who just watched episode one. And it was a three- tier cinema. And the reaction there. And, I mean, when I left France when I was 18, I never in a million years thought I'd be in something that would command that level of enthusiasm. And also, you know, all over the world, like, it was --

BOLDUAN: Totally.

THOMPSON: I was there in, you know, the country I essentially grew up in. And, yes, it was -- it was amazing. It was very, very exciting. Yes.

BOLDUAN: What -- what happens in a show that makes it a hit? I find always a, you know, just as a journalist and a watcher is always a fascinating thing.

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's different for every show in any moment. But for Bridgerton the question's not just like what makes it a hit, but what has made it a hit for now going into its fourth season. What do you think is the secret sauce for why it's endured?

THOMPSON: I think it spins so many plates.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

THOMPSON: I think like it's a period drama. I think it's a -- and it's funny even like doing this world tour about it because you see how different countries and different cultures pick up on different elements of it.

BOLDUAN: Oh, that's so --

THOMPSON: So, obviously, like the, you know, the Brazilian fans are all into like the Telenovela aspect of it. We're doing a stop in Romania and, obviously, you know, famous for its folklore and fairy tales. Like, you've got everything. You've got a bit of fairy tale. A bit of period drama. But it's also modern and it wants to be modern and it wants to talk about the human heart now, rather than feel like a museum piece.

[09:00:03]

BOLDUAN: The ability to kind of blend those two things is part of definitely the magic.

THOMPSON: Yes.

BOLDUAN: OK, real quick, I know you -- obviously we all