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Iran Warns Protesters as Outrage Reaches Third Week; Malaysia, Indonesia Blocks Grok A.I. Over Deep Fakes; "One Battle After Another" Wins Big at the Golden Globes. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 12, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

Iran's regime has a warning for protesters as Donald Trump weighs potential military options.

An investigation into the U.S. Federal Reserve Chair, what Jerome Powell has to say about the claims against him.

Plus, several countries are taking action against Elon Musk's AI chatbot over the creation of explicit deep fakes. We have a live report on the fallout.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

Well, as Tehran intensifies its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters, state media is reporting that large crowds are gathering in several cities in support of the country's clerical regime.

This comes as the U.S. President says Iranian leaders have called him to negotiate. In recent days, Donald Trump has threatened to, quote, "get involved if the regime kills protesters." But he says Iran appears to be open to dialogue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They called yesterday. Iran called to negotiate yesterday. The leaders of Iran called, they want to negotiate.

I think they're tired of being beat up by the United States. Iran wants to negotiate this. We may meet with them, I mean, it's a meeting is being set up.

But we may have to act because of what's happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(VIDEO PLAYING)

CHURCH: This comes as Iran enters its third straight week of anti- government protests. One U.S.-based human rights group says at least 483 protesters have been killed in the past 15 days of unrest, more than 10,000 people have been reported arrested since protests broke out. And Iran's government has cut off Internet access since Thursday.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is tracking the story from Abu Dhabi. She joins us now live. So, Paula, what is the latest on these deadly protests in Iran? And what more are you learning about President Trump saying that Iran is willing to negotiate?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, at the same time as you are seeing protesters continuing to come onto the street and risk their lives, we are also now seeing the pro-regime elements being called out onto the streets. This was an organized protest.

But we are seeing significant numbers in the streets of Tehran that show that the regime still does have some support within the country and can certainly call on that when it wants to. You see in the crowds people holding up images of the supreme leader, holding up copies of the Quran, also waving Islamic Republic flags. So it is a reminder that there is an element in Iran that still does support the regime.

But we are seeing on the streets that protesters are continuing to come out despite the fact that the death toll is rising, despite the fact that we are seeing more brutal tactics being used by security forces against them. And of course, that death toll rising, it has to be pointed out as well, others fear that the actual death toll is far higher, this is just what can be confirmed with that internet blackout as well.

Now there is some disturbing footage we would like to show. Some viewers will find this upsetting, but this is a forensic medical center in Tehran and it just shows the number of people that are losing their lives over these protests.

Now what we see in this footage is that there is a monitor which is showing a number of deceased people with a crowd watching to see if they can identify their loved ones that they do not see. There are also images of black body bags on the sidewalk just outside of the building itself and you can hear the screams of anguish as some people discover that their loved ones are among those that have been killed.

[03:05:06]

So it is a desperate situation for protesters who are continuing to come out. The anger, the frustration against the regime really playing out very clearly. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi. Many thanks for that live report. Iran's parliament speaker is warning that his country will retaliate against any U.S. military action. The hardline official says Tehran will treat U.S. military and commercial bases as targets if Washington were to intervene militarily during the unrest in Iran.

Well, joining me now from London is Jasmine El-Gamal, a former Pentagon Middle East adviser and the current host of "The View From Here" podcast. I appreciate you talking with us.

JASMINE EL-GAMAL, FORMER PENTAGON MIDDLE EAST ADVISER, AND HOST OF "THE VIEW FROM HERE PODCAST": Good to see you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So according to a U.S.-based watchdog group, more than 500 anti-government protesters have been killed in the past 15 days in a violent crackdown by Iran's hardline regime. And in response, U.S. President Donald Trump is considering attacking the country either militarily or by other means.

What discussions are likely being held at the State and Defense Departments right now? And how do you expect the Trump administration to respond in the end? And what's your response to Trump saying that Iran is ready to negotiate?

EL-GAMAL: Well, all good questions, Rosemary, and obviously a very fast moving and complicated situation on all sides. I was at the Pentagon in 2009 when the protests were happening back then, and President Obama was having similar kinds of discussions, asking similar kinds of questions regarding the extent of U.S. involvement and what was decided back then was to not get directly involved, not interfere, have this be something that was resolved within Iran. Of course, there were critics of that decision, but by and large, I was speaking to a former colleague of mine last night and recalling those discussions.

And he said that when he was discussing options with Iranian analysts and experts at the time that there was a general consensus that U.S. involvement would make America a factor in something that was, in an issue that was an Iranian issue, and that that could cause more harm than good.

Now, of course, this situation is different. You have a different President. You see the protests becoming larger and larger, you see the violence and the use of force by the regime expanding, we've seen numbers.

And, of course, it's very difficult to get information from outside Iran, from inside Iran right now, but the numbers are anywhere from a few hundred to over 2000. So at this point, President Trump has boxed himself in somewhat by saying that he would take action if protesters were killed. Well, we have reached that point, and so President Trump will have to take some kind of action.

As you said, though, he has stated that he is willing to negotiate, that he is open to hearing what the Iranian regime has to say. We also saw that the Omani foreign minister was in Iran, and that gives us a sense of how likely it is that negotiations are on the table. Oman has often been an intermediary between the U.S. and Iran.

And, of course, the discussions are going to be focusing very much on the pros and cons of each option and whether any option would cause more harm, particularly to Iranians who are out protesting on the street right now than good.

CHURCH: And what would be the likely consequences and ramifications if the Trump administration decides to attack Iran militarily? Sounds like you think they've taken that off the table and they're negotiating, but what would be the consequences if that were a path that they chose?

EL-GAMAL: Well, I'll tell you something. I do think that nothing is really off the table when it comes to President Trump. I mean, if you'll remember, Rosemary, last year, Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran as the Iranians and the Americans were in the middle of negotiations over the nuclear program.

So I don't think that, given Donald Trump's proclivity to surprising everyone, that we should be comfortable taking any option off the table. That said, we have to think about what impact a military strike could have. Oftentimes when the U.S. intervenes militarily into a foreign conflict, it has a bit of a rallying-around-the-flag effect, which would be unhelpful.

It could actually undermine the message of the protesters in Iran, leading to accusations that they're working with the Americans or the Israelis.

[03:10:07]

It could result in retaliation by the Iranian regime, which has said that they would retaliate against U.S. and Israeli assets. Although they certainly are no match for the U.S., they could still cause some damage. And, of course, any kind of military action always has the potential to lead to uncontrolled escalation, which, again, centering the Iranians in the streets right now, you would not want to do anything to put them in further danger.

So if we look closely at what President Trump seems to want and seems to go for when he's thinking about U.S. actions, he does not like mess, he does not like instability, he does not like uncertainty. So he's likely to be asking his team what options are available on the table for him to send a strong message to the Iranian regime that their actions against the protesters and writ large are unacceptable without actually causing the situation to become more unstable and more harmful to the Iranians out on the streets right now.

CHURCH: And would a smarter course of action be to provide internet services to protesters since the regime cut off all access in recent days? And would cyber attacks make better sense than U.S. military force if they're looking at options here?

EL-GAMAL: Right, exactly. Those are certainly options on the table. And one of the biggest impediments to getting information about what's happening right now is that lack of connectivity. So you know they're going to be looking at options to address that. You remember when President Trump was talking about the attack, the operation in Venezuela, he said, we went in, everything went dark, and we went in and we grabbed Maduro. So the U.S. certainly has those capabilities.

And obviously, as we saw in Venezuela, is not afraid to use them. So I think we'll learn a lot more tomorrow after the meeting President Trump has with his team.

You're going to have different perspectives coming from his team. Certainly there are more hawkish elements of his national security team who are going to be pressing him to take more aggressive military action.

But there are also people on his team who are going to be cautioning him, reminding him that his agenda was not to get involved in military confrontations abroad. And he is going to have to balance that out and decide what is in the best interests of the U.S. and what is going to be helpful to people protesting in Iran against this extremely repressive regime.

What can be a way forward that removes some of the instruments of oppression on the Iranian people without necessarily causing a huge amount of instability that would not only pull the U.S. in, but pull many regional actors in as well. I don't think that's a scenario that anybody wants to deal with. So we'll be weighing those options very closely tomorrow.

CHURCH: Jasmine El-Gamal, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.

EL-GAMAL: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: And back here in the United States in Los Angeles, no serious injuries after the driver of a large truck drove through a crowd of people rallying in support of the protesters in Iran. It happened on Sunday in the city's Westwood neighborhood. A warning, some may find the following video disturbing.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

The writing you see on the side of the truck reads, "No Shah, No Regime, USA: Don't Repeat 1953, No Mullah." Law enforcement has confirmed the driver has been detained and the FBI says it's working with them to determine a motive. CNN has reached out to the LAPD for more information.

The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell. It's over the Fed's $2.5 billion renovation of its Washington, D.C. headquarters. A Justice Department spokesperson wouldn't comment specifically on the investigation, but they told CNN the attorney general wants to, quote, "prioritize investigating any abuse of taxpayer dollars."

Powell testified before Congress in June, saying the renovation involved various agencies and that the costs had changed over time. He says this investigation is the latest pressure tactic in an ongoing struggle with the White House.

[03:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.

This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions, or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Earlier, CNN spoke with Ryan Patel, a senior fellow at Claremont Graduate University's Drucker School of Management. He notes the Federal Reserve is caught between serving the interests of the American people or choosing the President's interests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN PATEL, SR. FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT - CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Were at the crossroads, right? The Fed has to do based on the numbers. That's what they have its own, you know, review over this. There's no other branches making an influence on them on base where the data and the information that they are looking at.

So what I mean by that is as of where we sit today, where the argument is pressure is coming on, do you need to increase the interest rate as fast as possible. That's what President Trump and his administration is saying. And the Fed's responsibility is to the people to ensure that we do not go back into a recession or don't move down so quickly. And their data is showing not to do that yet.

So overall, in the long term, I think at the end of 2026, right, major houses, including Goldman Sachs, they're near to be the interest rate to be 3 percent to 3.25 in a couple cuts priced across the year. That only occurs should inflation curb unemployment stays where it needs to be based on what the Fed believes it is best for the U.S. economy. And so that's where this issue becomes on who's seeing what data and how they're being pushed to decide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The deadly ICE shooting of Renee Good has sparked widespread protests across the U.S. Still to come, an update on the dueling narratives from the Trump administration in Minnesota, officials about the incident.

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[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Anti-ICE protesters are demanding that federal immigration officers be removed from their communities. There was yet another wave of demonstrations across the U.S. Sunday in response to the killing of Minneapolis woman Renee Good. In New York, protesters flooded the streets to voice their concern about threats to public safety.

Despite the backlash, the Department of Homeland Security announced hundreds more customs and border patrol officers are being sent to Minneapolis. The DHS secretary says it's to ensure the safety of ice and border patrol agents operating in the city. In an interview with CNN, Kristi Noem defended her domestic terrorism comments made just hours after Renee Good was killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I had just been in Minneapolis and had been with those officers, had seen what they were facing on the streets every day, and had talked to their supervisors as soon as the incident happened and had gotten the facts and seen videos before I ever went to talk at that press conference.

If you look at what the definition of domestic terrorism is, it completely fits the situation on the ground. This individual, as you saw in the video that we released just 48 hours after this incident, showed that this officer was hit by her vehicle. She weaponized it and he defended his life and those colleagues around him and the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Joining me live to discuss the latest political unrest dividing U.S. officials is Richard Johnson. He is a senior lecturer in U.S. politics at the Queen Mary University of London. Good to have you with us.

RICHARD JOHNSON, SR. LECTURER IN U.S. POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Good morning.

CHURCH: So in the wake of the recent fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis by an ice agent, protests are growing and intensifying across the country, creating divisions within the Democratic Party about how to respond. So how politically difficult is this issue for the party and what do most voters want to see happen as they prepare to vote in the midterms later this year?

JOHNSON: Look, there's clearly a lot of anger on the ground, particularly from people who would be natural Democratic voters, people on the left of center of American politics. And in some respects, their anger is broadly shared. But some of the demands that are being made at the protests, both in terms of abolishing ICE or ending deportations, is not as widely shared.

Fewer than one in five Americans believe that no illegal immigrants in the United States should be deported. So in other words, large majorities of Americans believe that some people who are in the United States illegally, not necessarily all people, but some people who are in the United States illegally should be deported. And this puts Democratic elected officials in a bit of a bind because they do want to show their solidarity with victims in their own communities, with their activists.

But at the same time, they're mindful that this may not be -- some of these demands may not be very helpful, for example, in winning the currently Republican held House seats that they need to pick up if they want to win a majority in the House. And ditto and even a higher mountain decline in winning those key swing states to win the Senate in November.

CHURCH: All right. So let's turn now to another political issue, the pushback President Trump has been receiving from five Republicans in the Senate voting with Democrats to advance a resolution to force the President to cease hostile operations against Venezuela if Congress doesn't give explicit authorization in the coming 90 days. So how likely is it that this will pass in the House? And where do you see it going from there?

JOHNSON: Well the Constitution is clear that Congress has the authority to declare war, but the President is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. And so this creates what we call a first mover advantage for the U.S. President, where the president can command troops into conflict zones and they follow the chain of command quite rightly.

But this then means, well, what does Congress do if they've not actually authorized the President to give this command? And back in 1973, Congress passed the War Powers Act over the veto of President Nixon to say that if you do this without our prior consent, then you have to withdraw the troops in 90 days unless we give you further consent to keep those forces in harm's way.

[03:24:58]

And what Congress or what the Senate has done so far as a result of these five Republican defectors is to state explicitly that they view the United States' presence in Venezuela as falling under the terms of the War Powers Act, and therefore saying that President Trump must cease hostilities against Venezuela within 90 days unless the president gets explicit authorization under the War Powers Act. This may pass the House.

You may see a sufficient number of Republicans defect to the Democrats and you get a majority in the House. But unlike 1973, this is not a veto-proof majority. So this is going to eventually end up on the president's desk, The President will veto it.

And it is, in effect, it's putting political pressure on the President, but it's unlikely to pass. And the president is unlikely to face some kind of legal sanction in the courts, because back in 2000, in a case called Campbell v. Clinton, the Supreme Court said the War Powers Act is a political question, It's a non-justiciable question.

So this ultimately is about putting political pressure on the president. But in terms of its legal weight, it's going to be limited.

CHURCH: Richard Johnson, many thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.

JOHNSON:: Thank you.

CHURCH: Just ahead, Donald Trump's push to acquire Greenland. The U.S. president says he must act before Russia or China. The reaction from Beijing in a live report just ahead.

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[03:30:11]

CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

Iran's hardline regime is intensifying its violent crackdown on anti- government protesters. The country is entering a third straight week of demonstrations against the regime. A U.S.-based watchdog group says at least 483 protesters have been killed in the past 15 days.

The deadly ICE shooting of Minneapolis woman Renee Good has sparked massive anti-iCE protests in the U.S. over the weekend. Demonstrators assembled near the ICE headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Sunday and in other major cities including New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles to express their outrage.

President Trump is ramping up pressure on Cuba, telling the country via Truth Social to make a deal before it's too late and warning it won't receive any more money from Venezuela's oil industry. Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel pushed back, posting on X that the island is sovereign and rejecting claims it traded security services for Venezuelan oil.

Well U.S. President Donald Trump is doubling down on his push to acquire Greenland, the self-governing territory of Denmark. It's not the first time the U.S. has tried to peaceably acquire Greenland.

It happened before, most notably twice in the 20th century. Those attempts did not come to fruition. But this time, the President says Russia or China will take it if the U.S. does not.

CNN's Mike Valerio is following developments and joins us now from Beijing. Good to see you, Mike.

So it's not just Greenland and parts of Latin America that are on alert, of course. President Trump is also threatening force against Iran. So what is China saying about that within the past hour?

MIKE VALERIO: That's right, Rosemary. You know, new comments just coming in within the past couple of minutes from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs up the street from us that it in so many words is vehemently opposed to new U.S. involvement in Iran, especially if it comes down to, again, the potential of new American military involvement in Iran.

And why we're hearing these comments from China is really, Rosemary, because Beijing is trying to position itself as the center of an alternate world order. Think of a counterweight to American and Western leadership. And when we're thinking about Iran,

Iran is such an integral part of that equation.

We look no further than the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is a block of Central Asian nations that are aligned with Russia and China in the realm of security, economic, political matters as a way of trying to get all of these nations closer to be closer aligned with Russia and China. Hugely important member Iran is of that block because it's a huge oil producer. And at the end of the day, really, China, the message that we're getting, does not want to see its friends fall, be it the regimes in Iran, Venezuela, Cuba.

They're all somewhat, I stress somewhat, in the same bucket because they're being dealt with by the United States in terms of these forceful positions of power when the Trump administration wants to deal with these regimes. So when we're talking about Venezuela, much the same language from China opposing unilateral American intervention. Also strong comments from the president, President Trump, over the past couple of days saying that he wants China out of Venezuela, especially when it has to do with oil.

China is saying it expects its oil contracts will be protected by international law. That finally brings us to Greenland. Let's listen to the president talking about that front.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Look, if we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will. And I'm not letting that happen. If we don't take Greenland, Russia or China will take Greenland.

And I am not going to let that happen.

Yes, sure. I'd love to make a deal with them.

It's easier. But one way or the other, we're going to have Greenland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIO: So I think that China certainly rejects that assertion. And a key point here, Rosemary, the White House recently, or actually back even until last year, has said that Chinese ships, from their point of view, are circling around Greenland.

Our CNN military analysts say that is certainly not true, most of China's naval power is in this part of the world, the South China Sea. So a lot more for China to say on all of these fronts in the next few days, Rosemary. [03:35:03]

CHURCH: All right, our thanks to Mike Valerio, who brings that live report from Beijing. I appreciate it.

Still to come, two countries are now the first to block Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, over sexually explicit deepfake images. We will have the latest in the live report next.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

Malaysia and Indonesia are blocking Grok after days of uproar over the A.I. chatbot's ability to create explicit images. Grok has been widely criticized for generating images that digitally undress people, including children. Last week, Elon Musk's A.I. company limited one way users could access the feature to paying subscribers only. But there are other ways for users to keep accessing the feature.

So let's get more now from CNN's Hanako Montgomery. She joins me live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Hanako. So what is the latest on the fallout from action being taken by some countries against Elon Musk's AI chatbot?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, as you mentioned, both Indonesia and Malaysia have moved to temporarily ban Grok, given its ability to generate these deepfakes of women and minors. Now, they are the first two countries to actually ban the platform over this feature.

Now, in a statement on Saturday, the Indonesian government said, quote, "the government views non-consensual sexual deepfake practices as a serious violation of human rights, human dignity and the security of citizens in the digital space."

Now, a day later, Malaysia followed with another statement, which went a step further, saying, quote, "this action follows repeated misuse of Grok to generate obscene, sexually explicit, indecent, grossly offensive and non-consensual manipulated images, including content involving women and minors, despite prior regulatory engagement and formal notices issued to X Corp and X A.I. LLC."

[03:40:07]

Now, these two countries do have a track record, Rosemary, of banning online and tech platforms over what they say is sexually explicit content, obscene content. But their concerns are echoed by officials from the U.S., the U.K., India and the E.U. over what you've just described, which is digital undressing.

Now, this is a practice of using A.I. to digitally, quote, undress individuals and create really explicit content, which, of course, can be very harmful and concerning for victims, especially given that it's very difficult to remove those images once they do exist on these online platforms. Now, Elon Musk hasn't directly responded to this government crackdown,

but previously he has called the U.K.'s criticism of X, quote, "really an effort to suppress free speech."

Now, in response to this growing alarm over digital undressing, Rosemary, X has temporarily moved Grok's ability to generate these A.I. images behind a paywall, which is limiting some use of the platform. But there is, of course, an ongoing issue here, Rosemary, which is the fact that it still exists on X.

And this is also a temporary solution, really, as they're still trying to find a solution that works to really limit this type of content from being generated and, of course, widely spread on the Internet. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Hanako Montgomery in Hong Kong. Many thanks for that report. I appreciate it.

I want to thank you for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. For those of you watching overseas, "World Sport" is next. And if you're watching here in the United States, we'll bring you more of today's top stories after a short break, stick around.

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[03:45:01]

CHURCH: Fire crews in Argentina are battling wildfires near a popular tourist destination close to the Andes. Local residents have joined efforts to help get these fires under control. They've burned more than 5500 hectares, or nearly 14,000 acres, as of Friday, according to the regional governor.

A frightening yet stunning sight in Hawaii. Kilauea, one of the world's most active volcanoes, began erupting yet again on Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey says occasional eruptions have been happening on Kilauea for over a year now, geologists say each eruption typically lasts less than 12 hours and they're separated by pauses that can stretch beyond two weeks.

Well parts of western U.S. are experiencing a snow drought. It means winter storms and cold temperatures that normally bring snow just haven't shown up as expected. It's impacting ski tourism and could spell trouble for the region's water supplies.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: One of the biggest reasons for that lack of snow is the fact that we just haven't had many systems move through much of the West. And that's also leading to drought conditions for many of these states. You see a lot of the yellow, orange and even red color here on the map indicating some of these regions that are in severe or even extreme drought conditions, especially across states like Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Another factor has been how warm these locations have been, meaning

the few systems that do come into this area have produced mostly rain as opposed to snow. All of these red dots here you see on the map indicate the warmest winter temperatures to date. So meaning from December 1st until now, they have had their warmest winter so far on record and there's a lot of the red dots on the map.

Now, this doesn't mean there's been no snow at all. We have snow. It's just not quite where it should be for this time of year, you can see we have snow across the Rockies, the Cascades, the Olympics and definitely down in through the Sierra Mountain Range.

Again, the totals just aren't quite as high as you would normally see this period of winter. When you look ahead to the forecast, there's not really much way of good news, especially if you are a snow lover.

Looking at the forecast for the next couple of weeks, you can see most of the West is expecting below average precipitation, not just snow, but also rain. Here's a look at the map just through the next few days. And you can see the only systems we really have are focused more of the eastern half of the country as opposed to the West.

The bigger concern here is that a lot of these Western states rely on the snowpack in the spring as it melts to flow down into a lot of the rivers, creeks and streams, especially the Colorado to provide essential drinking water for a lot of these communities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: New government data paints a bleak picture when it comes to employment during the first year of President Trump's second term. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the U.S. economy added just 584,000 jobs in 2025.

Aside from recession years, that is the weakest annual job growth since 2003. Economists say about 85 percent of those jobs were added in the first four months of the year.

Well, to make matters worse for the president, a new poll finds nearly 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Donald Trump's performance in office so far. CNN's Harry Enten is here to break down the numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Look, a lot has been happening over the first few weeks. In fact, we're not even two weeks into 2026.

And I think there are a lot of people wondering, has this had any impact on the President standing amongst the American public? And the short answer is, nah, not really.

No, you know, just take a look here at the CBS News YouGov poll. Trump's net approval rating in December, they had him at negative 18 points, way underwater.

Look where he is now. The same 18 points underwater. If you look at my own aggregate of polling, it's a little bit higher than this, but still very negative.

The President way underwater. This poll conducted at the beginning part of the prior week January 5th through the 7th. So not capturing all the events that's been going on, but there's just been so much happening.

Yet, I really don't think a lot of it will actually matter. Why is that when it comes to President Trump's net approval rating?

And that is because it has been negative for so long. It's been negative for so long.

Look at this Trump's negative net approval rating every day since March 12th of 2025. If you want to put that in terms of numbers of days, we're talking about 305 days in a row in which Donald Trump has been swimming with the fishes when it comes to his negative net approval rating.

My goodness gracious off to the worst start of a second term in the polling era. That's really what we're talking about.

[03:50:02]

Now one of course the events that may have changed his negative net approval rating or perhaps risen his approval rating might have been the events in Venezuela and the first numbers we have on that give you an indication of why it really hasn't shifted his approval ratings the events of course taking out of Nicolas Maduro.

Well, take a look here the net approval rating of the U.S. military removing Maduro. Not that bad, considerably higher than Trump's net approval rating at minus four points. We're talking about 48 percent of the American public approving that operation according to CBS News YouGov.

But take a look here at Trump's handling of Venezuela, considerably lower at negative 14 points, 10 points below the net approval rating of the U.S. military removing Maduro. So the American public far more liking the removing of Maduro than they like Trump's actions when it comes to Venezuela.

But it's more than that, right? Because again, we've had so much going on during these first less than two weeks of this year. And I don't want us to lose sight of the issue that is most important in the minds of the American public. And that is, it's the economy, you know, James Carville used to say, it's the economy stupid, I say it's the economy smarty.

And take a look here, Trump's net approval rating on the economy, according to CBS News YouGov.

You know, this was the reason why Donald Trump got elected to a second term. And even as late as February of 2025. Last year, he was still on the plus side of the ledger at plus two points on his net approval rating. But look at where he is now negative 22 points, 22 points below water.

Look, I know something about American politics, I may not know everything, but I know enough to know that when you're 22 points below water on the economy, which right now is the most important issue, some form of the economy, whether it be the economy, jobs, inflations, what have you, you're 22 points below water, it ain't going to turn out to be too hot to trot.

And that is why Donald Trump remains underwater when it comes to his overall net approval rating, something that hasn't changed during the new year.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The defending Super Bowl champions are out of the NFL playoffs, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles in a dramatic wildcard matchup on Sunday. This trick play from Jawan Jennings to Christian McCaffrey gave the Niners the lead in an action packed fourth quarter that saw three lead changes. The Niners topped the Eagles 23-19.

Well, over in the AFC, the New England Patriots dominated the Los Angeles Chargers to advance to the next round. Both sides struggled to generate much offense with this pass from Drake May to Hunter Henry, the only touchdown of the game. Patriots win 16-3.

And the Buffalo Bills rallied to beat the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags took the lead late in the fourth quarter on this toss from Trevor Lawrence to Travis Etienne, but the Bills and their star quarterback, Josh Allen, would not be denied. Allen ran in for a score with just over a minute to go to put the Bills on top 27-24.

Well, the first major Hollywood Awards show of the year just wrapped up a few hours ago. The 83rd Golden Globe Awards celebrated achievements in both film and television, and one film and one series rose above the rest to score the most trophies of the night.

Paul Thomas Anderson's dark action comedy, "One Battle After Another," took home four Golden Globes, winning for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. The film was produced in part by Warner Bros., part of CNN's parent company.

On the T.V. side, it was Netflix's limited series, "Adolescence," that swept its categories, taking home four awards for Best Limited or Anthology Series, Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Limited Series, as well as performances by Supporting Actor and Actress on T.V.. And the first ever Golden Globe for Best Podcast was presented as well, going to "Good Hang with Amy Poehler" for the actress's celebrity interview show.

And earlier, my colleague Polo Sandoval spoke with Sandro Monetti, Editor-in-Chief at the "Hollywood International Film Magazine," about the top awards of the night, and he made a bold prediction about "One Battle After Another." Here's part of their conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDRO MONETTI, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM MAGAZINE": I'm sorry to call this race early, but the Oscar race is over. We already have a clear front runner. It was one trophy after another for the Paul Thomas Anderson movie.

Oscar voting starts in nine hours. And what an advantage in the race this movie has, with all these Golden Globes behind it.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: What about any upsets, though?

MONETTI: Well, I think "Sinners" was expected to do much better than it did. It had six nominations, only won two, and not two of the more glamorous, bigger awards either.

[03:55:09]

And so "Hamlet" picked up a couple as well. But in previous awards seasons, there's usually been one big front runner, and "One Battle After Another" has it. So yes, it's crushing the competition.

SANDOVAL: Drama class appears to have paid off for young Owen Cooper, at 16 years old, receiving his award for the television side of things for his performance in "Adolescence." Absolutely incredible.

I'm wondering, and that came out about a year ago, winning break big on Sunday. What do you think that is to be said about how that show kept such an important conversation going?

MONETTI: Well, first of all, we'll see Owen Cooper on the big screen next month, because he stars in "Wuthering Heights" alongside Margot Robbie and Jacob Lordi. So he's going from TV star to movie star. So yeah, he's got a really big future.

What it says is that there is still room for great storytelling because "Adolescence" wasn't just an award winner, it was a ratings grabber. And so it was a real word of mouth hit. One way you had to say, have you seen it? Have you seen it?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: To a very different story now, two giant pandas are making their unbearably cute debut at a Malaysian zoo. Chenxing and Xiaoyue arrived from China in November, now they're settling into their new home for the next 10 years. Zookeepers say the pandas are in good health and ready to have people watch them climb, chew on the highest quality bamboo or just simply do nothing at all.

Sounds good. Thanks for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day.

"Amanpour" is next, then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon starting at 5:00 a.m. in New York, 10:00 a.m. in London.

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