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Rep. James Walkinshaw (D-VA) On Trump's Call On Republicans To "Nationalize" Future Elections; Fulton County Chairman Slams FBI's Seizure Of 2020 Ballots; Top U.S. And Iranian Officials Plan Rare Meeting In Turkey Friday. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 03, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:15]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, President Trump says Republicans should take over the voting in 15 states to nationalize the vote. The Constitution explicitly gives the power to establish the times, places, and manner of holding elections to the states.

Just days ago the FBI seized ballots from 2020 in Fulton County, Georgia. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was there, reportedly calling the president and putting him on the phone with agents who performed the search.

With us now is Congressman James Walkinshaw, a Democrat from Virginia.

Congressman, when you hear the president say he wants Republicans to take over the votes in 15 states what do you hear in that?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA) (via Webex by Cisco): I hear desperate Donald. I mean, this is desperate Donald Trump right now. He knows he is on track to lose the midterm elections in a historic fashion because his policies have failed and he hasn't delivered on the promises he made in the campaign. And he's doing everything in his power to try to tilt the playing field.

We've seen that with the mid-decade redistricting he's pushed Republican states to do. We saw that in Minnesota where at the -- at gunpoint the secretary of Homeland Security told Minnesota officials they need to turn over their voter rolls. And we now -- we see this with this call to "nationalize" the elections, which is not constitutional and not legal, and it's not going to happen.

BERMAN: You are on the House Oversight Committee obviously, which has been a key player in getting the Epstein files released and getting parts of it on your own.

The Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said after the release that they had on Friday he didn't expect any new prosecutions from that, and he elaborated on that in an interview overnight. Listen to what he said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is not a crime to party with Mr. Epstein. And so as horrible as it -- it's not a crime to email with Mr. Epstein. And some of these men may have done horrible things and if we have evidence that allows us to prosecute them you better believe we will. But it's also the kind of thing that the American people need to understand that it isn't a crime to party with Mr. Epstein.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How satisfied are you with that explanation?

WALKINSHAW: Uh, I'm outraged by that explanation. I think it shows what we've seen throughout the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files, which is a callous disregard for the survivors -- the victims of Epstein's horrific crimes.

And look, we need to get the full truth. And survivors have said that there were others involved and there were others who knew about it. The idea that with this sprawling yearslong child sex trafficking endeavor that Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell were engaged in that no one else was involved or no one else knew about it, I think doesn't pass the laugh test.

And we're going to continue our investigation. Oversight Democrats are going to continue our investigation and push and push and push until we get all of the facts and complete transparency that the survivors and the American people deserve.

BERMAN: Um, overnight, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed to testify. Agreed for a deposition before the House Oversight Committee, retreating on sort of their reluctance to do so.

How significant of a move is that? Are you supportive of that?

WALKINSHAW: I am supportive of that. And look, my position and Oversight Committee Democrats' position has been that we want to talk to anybody who has information that can advance our investigation. We don't care whether they're Republicans, Democrats, Independents. It doesn't matter. We want to talk to anybody.

[07:35:00]

And President Clinton should come in and talk, and it sounds like he's agreed to do that, and I think that's a positive step.

There still seems to be some question as to whether chairman Comer and the Republicans will take yes for an answer. They seem to be focused on pursuing a criminal route and more interested in prosecuting the Clintons than getting the information from the Clintons. Our focus is getting information from anyone who might have it.

BERMAN: How did you vote when it came before House Oversight on whether to hold the Clintons in contempt when they were not agreeing to testify?

WALKINSHAW: I voted to hold the Clintons on civil contempt, which would have levied fines against them if they didn't come before the committee. I voted against criminal contempt because I didn't feel that criminal contempt would advance our investigation.

If the House moves forward with criminal contempt it will be tied up in court for potentially years. There won't be an interview with President Clinton, and our investigation doesn't move forward. Civil contempt would have accomplished that, although we now have accomplished it with the Clintons agreeing to the terms that chairman Comer has laid out.

BERMAN: It seems like it was the criminal contempt vote that did pass with some Democratic votes that did end up working.

Wouldn't you agree that whatever happened actually worked in this case?

WALKINSHAW: Well look, I think the process had been working. The Clintons were engaged in a negotiation and a dialogue with chairman Comer about the terms. When and where they would sit down and conduct an interview. They were willing to do that. They made several offers to do that.

They submitted sworn statements under penalty of perjury. They answered questions in writing. So yeah, I think -- I think the process has been working.

My concern is that there seems to be more of an interest on the Republican side in creating a spectacle around it and having a lot of cameras present and having a kind of circus atmosphere.

BERMAN: Um-hum.

WALKINSHAW: I don't care about any of that. I just want to get to the truth and get the facts.

BERMAN: Congressman James Walkinshaw from Virginia. Thanks for your time this morning -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Speaking out now, former CNN anchor and now independent journalist Don Lemon sat down with Jimmy Kimmel last night giving his first interview since his stunning arrest and release last week.

Lemon appeared on Kimmel -- the fact that he appeared on Kimmel was noteworthy. Jimmy Kimmel and his show you'll remember was briefly suspended last year after pressure from the Trump administration.

Lemon -- Don defended his coverage and his reporting around the anti- ICE protest at a Minnesota church with Jimmy Kimmel -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, INDEPENDENT JOURNALIST: Well listen, obviously I'm in the middle of this and I can't say a lot. There's a lot that I cannot say. But what I will say is that I'm not a protester. I went there to do --

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, ABC "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": Right.

LEMON: I went there to do -- to be a journalist. I went there to chronicle and document and record what was happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter has much more. And Don did have a lot to say. What -- tell us more.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yeah, and Lemon suggested this was part of a show of force by the federal government. He says that his attorney who he had retained as soon as the DOJ started to threaten to arrest him -- he says his attorney reached out and offered to do this quietly. You know, to do this in a very orderly manner. But instead, at least a dozen federal agents showed up to the Beverly Hills Hotel where Lemon was staying in the week -- in the days before the Grammy Awards. Now, in fact, CNN's reporting indicates about two dozen agents were involved in this arrest.

Here's how Lemon described that arrest and why it was a show of force by the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: They took me outside. FBI guys were out there. I mean, it was a -- it had to be maybe a dozen people, which is a waste, Jimmy, of resources.

KIMMEL: Sure.

LEMON: Because I told them weeks before, maybe once or twice, that we would -- you know, I think my attorney tried to contact them once, maybe twice, that I could just go in. They want that. They want to embarrass you. They want to --

KIMMEL: Right.

LEMON: -- intimidate you. They want to instill fear. And so that's why they did it that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: It's interesting hearing Lemon say that because Attorney General Pam Bondi was on Fox News last night again deriding Lemon as well as the protesters who entered that church on January 18, saying they violated a federal law, and they will be held accountable. Very much putting on a show for the MAGA media cameras and insisting that this is being taken very seriously by the federal government.

But for every reaction there's a counterreaction. Lemon described being credited and thanked, and being cheered at the Grammy Awards and elsewhere.

And last night independent journalist Georgia Fort, the other journalist who was arrested last week -- she said she's received a big influx of donations to her website. Lots of people supporting her for her legal fund given that she has to face these charges now, but also because they want to support her daily journalism on the ground in Minnesota.

[07:40:05]

As for Lemon, he'll be in Minneapolis next week. He faces an arraignment and his lawyer says he will plead not guilty -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. And it's one thing for the attorney general and even the deputy attorney general to say what they are saying on -- before television cameras, and it will be another thing entirely to be proving it in court -- the charges that they've brought.

It's good to see you, Brian.

STELTER: That's right.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

The father now convicted of killing his wife and another man in a plot cooked up with the family au pair will face the rest of his life behind bars. A jury found Brendan Banfield guilty of plotting the deaths in an elaborate scheme to start a new life with the au pair. Banfield appeared emotionless as the verdict was read Monday in court. Sentencing is set for May 8.

The au pair pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified against Banfield last week. She faces up to 10 years in prison but could get as little as time served.

All right. Also breaking this morning the Paris prosecutor's office says its cybercrimes unit is carrying out a search of the French offices of Elon Musk's social media platform X. The raid is part of an investigation opened in January of last year. The prosecutor says the investigation, which was focused on the suspected abuse of algorithms, has broadened to include "Grok's sexualized deepfakes."

Last week the European Commission launched an investigation into X's artificial intelligence chatbot after growing concerns about its ability to generate sexually explicit images. Both Musk and former X chief executive Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for hearings in April. X employees will also be questioned as witnesses -- John.

BERMAN: Mission delayed. Testing failures set back NASA's new attempt to get to the moon. They haven't been back there in more than 50 years, so how much longer will it now take?

And a masked stowaway. What happened to the American raccoon that fled all the way to Belarus? What was he running from?

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[07:46:35]

BOLDUAN: President Trump is taking his false claims about the 2020 election result and kicking it up a notch it seems now. Now, ahead of the midterms, he's calling on Republicans to nationalize voting. To take over the voting in more than a dozen states, he says. Essentially saying that he wants to throw out the Constitution and the powers explicitly given to states by the Constitution when it comes to our elections.

Add to that now what happened last week. The FBI searching an election office in Fulton County, Georgia -- you're seeing video of it here -- seizing 2020 ballots.

I want to play for you what the president said about all of that to podcaster Dan Bongino, who was until about a month ago Trump's former deputy FBI director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have states that I won that show I didn't win. Now you're going to see something in Georgia where they were able to get, with a court order, the ballots. You're going to see some interesting things come out. But, you know, like the 2020 election, I won that election by so much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Robb Pitts. He's the chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. It's a position he also held during the 2020 election. Thank you so much for coming in.

The president now saying that he's -- you're going to see something --

ROBB PITTS, CHAIRMAN, FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS: Thank you for having me.

BOLDUAN: You're going to see something in Georgia. You're going to see some interesting things come out in Georgia.

What's your reaction to that?

PITTS: Well, that's what I was afraid of last week when I heard that Tulsi Gabbard had come to Fulton County, Georgia for an FBI raid. It made no sense to me given how full her plate is. So at that moment -- I didn't see her personally, but I heard that she was on the scene. I knew at that moment that something bigger than just the FBI confiscating boxes of 2020 election material was going on.

And what I thought at that time that this must be about the 2020 elections but more importantly, about the 2026 and 2028 elections. We felt all along here that there -- that there was going to be a move to take over elections in Fulton County, Georgia, and I think that that's what's at play now.

BOLDUAN: You wrote a -- you wrote about this kind of laying out what happened last week, and with a clear message. You wrote, "I said it in 2020 and I'm saying it again now. Stay the hell out of Fulton County." That is your message.

What, though, would a state takeover now --

PITTS: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- of Fulton County elections -- what would it mean?

PITTS: Well, I think it was so much the -- here in Fulton County it would discourage people from voting. It would -- I think they would control how we run elections. It would probably reduce the number of early voting precincts that we have and the things that we do here to encourage voting.

But listen, I'm no constitutional scholar but I do know that the states control elections, not Congress, not the White House, and clearly, not the president. So the -- he's treating the Constitution as if it's a suggestion, and it's not. It's the law.

And further, I will say that this is -- this whole issue with a raid was more about a distraction to what's really going on. Something sinister is going on and I think this is really more about power on his part than it is about policy. His power and not policy.

[07:50:05]

But what I will say to him and others here, even -- I was at our capitol yesterday trying to -- just making sure that there was nothing going on in our state legislature on the Republican side that I was not aware of because that's where it's going to start here.

So I would say to other states and counties who find themselves in a situation like ours to be vigilant because this is real. I was told that I was a target and still am a target of this investigation. I've done nothing wrong.

Fulton County has done nothing wrong. Our elections were open, they were fair, and they were transparent then. And I said what you quoted and I'll say it again. We, in Fulton County -- we run fair elections. Every legal vote is counted. And I said then leave us alone. We know what we're doing.

BOLDUAN: And you also wrote -- and something I took particular note of is you also wrote this. "Since 2020, they [Fulton County] have run 17 separate elections without complaints. Of particular note, they conducted a near perfect presidential --

PITTS: That's correct.

BOLDUAN: -- election in 2024. When Donald Trump won the state of Georgia that year, none of the conspiracy theorists and troublemakers had anything negative to say." Which is an important thing to point out.

What you're getting at is you think that the real motivation here is political. But you also say that you think something sinister is going on. What do you think -- tell me more of what you think that is. PITTS: That's the taking over of the elections in Fulton County, Georgia.

You'll recall -- go back to 2020. President Biden carried Georgia. Remember the telephone call with the president and our Secretary of State? I need 11,000 -- I think 11,780. Find me 11,780 votes. That's my concern now.

When they took those ballots last week -- those 700 boxes of ballots -- when they left our elections hub, I have no idea where those ballots are. I don't know who has those ballots. I don't know what they're doing with them. I can use my imagination and just guess what they're doing with them, but we do not know.

As long as those ballots and other items pertaining to the 2020 elections were in our control, I could assure the world but more importantly, the people of Fulton County, that those ballots were safe and secure. Where they are now, I can no longer guarantee that. It's up -- who knows what they're doing. We can only use our imaginations.

I've not heard from the FBI. I've not heard from Ms. Gabbard. I've not heard from anyone. So I have no idea about what's going on.

But I can tell you this. We are vigilant and we're going to fight this with everything that we have because we have nothing -- absolutely nothing to hide. Our elections -- once again, they were open, they were fair, and they were transparent, and every legal vote was counted.

And I've been involved in many, many elections throughout my political career and I can tell you one thing. There's no such thing as a perfect election. There's always a possibility of mechanical failure. There's always a possibility of --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

PITTS: -- human error.

But in our case, those 17 elections since 2020 all ran successfully. And the 2020 elections, they've been audited, they've been reviewed, and they've been looked at A-Z. We come up clean in every instance, even a hand count.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

PITTS: So why the fixation on 2020. Again, I think it's just a distraction.

BOLDUAN: Robb Pitts of Fulton County. Thank you very much for coming in, sir -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

A gas explosion at a mental health care facility in New Hampshire Monday sparked a huge fire. Authorities say there were approximately 40 people inside that facility at the time. Thankfully, everyone was evacuated and accounted for. But three firefighters ended up suffering injuries and were taken to the hospital. Officials are looking into the cause. They're thinking it might be that a gas line was damaged by falling ice.

All right. Kelly Clarkson is ending her popular award-winning daytime TV show after seven seasons. Clarkson said it was just a difficult decision for her, but she made it because she wanted to prioritize her children. She has two children with her now-ex-husband Brando Blackstock who died in August. The show is really fun. It's known for its daily Kellyoke segments, interviews, and impromptu singalongs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Kelly Clarkson doing singalong on her show.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: There are people who go on the show you didn't even know they could sing. And then -- well, and then she just gets jiggy with it. Like it was very cool. Oh my God, I'm so old.

[07:55:00]

Anyway, Clarkson won four Emmys for Best Daytime Talk Show and four for Best Host. New episodes will air through the fall, but you can still see her on television once that's done and in person. Clarkson is a coach on the new season of "THE VOICE" and is returning to her Las Vegas residency this summer.

All right, how did this little stinker travel from America to Belarus? This raccoon -- you see him there just comfy -- just hanging out -- was a stowaway who ended up on a 4,600 mile journey. Customs officials found the raccoon inside a car while unpacking a shipping container. They named it Senya and said it developed a healthy appetite for eggs, crabsticks, and grapes. Sounds good.

Its quarantine period ends today. Customs will decide whether to release it into the forest or give it to the zoo, or I would suggest perhaps sending it to my home because I will love it and pet him and call him George -- John.

BERMAN: I hope he's not rabid for your sake. All right, Sara. Thank you very much.

SIDNER: I don't have it. I'm the one he needs to worry about.

BERMAN: Call him George but if he foams at the mouth it's going to end badly for you.

All right. New this morning top U.S. and Iranian officials are planning an incredibly rare face-to-face meeting this week. Iran has tentatively agreed to resume nuclear talks, and this will be the first direct negotiations since the Trump administration bombed three of Iran's nuclear sites last summer. Iran's top diplomat is expected to meet with U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Friday. President Trump has sent an armada -- what he calls an armada toward

Iran and threatened new strikes on the country if they do not accept is demands.

With us now, retired Army Brig. Gen. Steve Anderson, and former national security official under President George W. Bush, Michael Allen.

General, let me just start with you. Negotiate over what exactly?

BRIG. GEN. STEVE ANDERSON, U.S. ARMY (RET.) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, thanks for having me, John.

And yeah, the negotiations will probably center on the nuclear capability of Iran and how they can completely shut that thing down. I mean, you know, Operation Midnight Hammer was very successful back in June, but did it completely obliterate the program? Probably not.

They also want to stand down their ability to fire missiles. And, of course, they want to continue the war that they've conducted really the last -- in 2025, it was a really bad year for the Iranian regime. I mean, you look at all the internal arrests. The senior leaders that were taken down. The 12-day war with Iran. The loss of proxies in Syria and Hezbollah, and Hamas, and whatnot.

So the United States is operating -- essentially negotiating from a position of power and this is a really good thing. And so this is now the time to capitalize on their weakness and to get assurances that their nuclear capability has been completely shut down.

BERMAN: But Michael, in return for what? What incentive does Iran have to negotiate here?

MICHAEL ALLEN, FORMER MAJORITY STAFF DIRECTOR, HOUSE INTEL COMMITTEE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BEACON GLOBAL STRATEGIES, FORMER NATIONAL SEC. OFFICIAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I think essentially, the president has put the prestige of the United States on the line, and he's indicated that he wants and that we're locked and loaded to bomb at the very least regime targets across Iran.

As we set the theater for military action, I think the president is trying to get the best diplomatic deal he can. The leverage -- the or else is the aircraft carriers, the F-35s, and all the ordinants that we would drop across Iran. So I think the president is engaging in diplomacy with a series of maximalist aims.

It'll be quite something if the Iranians were, for example, to give up and forswear their ability to enrich uranium or do anything on their ballistic missile program or their terrorist proxies.

So I still thing we're headed for military action, but I think they're going to give diplomacy a try.

BERMAN: And Michael, just one more to you here. The Wall Street Journal essentially makes the case that even if Iran were to give up or were to make compromises on its nuclear program, if the regime survives it is a win for the Iranian regime and a loss for the thousands -- hundreds of thousands of protesters who were on the streets over the last few months.

ALLEN: I think so. So it's been curious to see the goalpost moved if you will in recent days. It seemed like we were going to hit regime targets for purpose of expressing solidarity with the protesters. But the president's move it, I think -- I guess to things that more tangible. Things that he can measure to see what he can get out of them. Because, of course, the Iranians are not going to step down or otherwise figure out ways to reform the economy or reform their regime.

So maybe the president is saying here's what I can get tangibly out of the Iranians since I have so much firepower in the region and let me try to get that.

BERMAN: And General, I understand we've got about 45 seconds left. Can these negotiations or could the United States affect regime change if it wanted to?

ANDERSON: I think they probably can -- I mean, if you look at what happened the last two -- before Midnight Hammer. We conducted negotiations and they didn't go well. And, you know, the operation took place shortly thereafter.

I think in this case the same situation. You know, we've got incredible military capability in the region. We've shown our ability to launch attacks against the Iranians.