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Government is in Partial Shutdown, U.S. House to Vote on Federal Funding Bill; Rafah Crossing Reopens After Almost Two Years; Kendrick Lamar, Bad Bunny Went Home Big at the Grammys. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 02, 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.

A partial U.S. government shutdown will extend until Tuesday, at least, as Republicans and Democrats hammer out differences over immigration enforcement funding.

A five-year-old boy and his father are back home in Minnesota after a judge orders their release. However, the Department of Justice says this is not the end to that story.

And Iran's leaders say they're confident of a nuclear deal with the United States as U.S. President Donald Trump warns of military action if a nuclear agreement is not reached.

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

CHURCH: Good to have you with us.

Well, it is the start of the week in Washington and first thing on the agenda, work to end the government shutdown. But a vote from the House on a group of bills to fund the federal government is not expected until Tuesday at the earliest.

The deal on the table would fund most of the government through September, except for the Department of Homeland Security, while lawmakers debate potential reforms to federal immigration enforcement. House Speaker Mike Johnson explained the plan to tackle that funding, if all goes according to plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: They're going to separate the Department of Homeland Security bill. Our intention is by Tuesday to fund all agencies of the federal government, except for that one, and then we'll have two weeks of good faith negotiations to figure it out. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: But however brief this shutdown is, federal workers are already feeling its sting. More than 10,000 employees from the Federal Aviation Administration will be furloughed. That also means air traffic controllers will once again be forced to work without pay until the government reopens.

CNN's Camilla DeChalus has more details from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, it looks like this government shutdown could last longer than anticipated, but we are hearing that it could last until this upcoming Tuesday.

Now, at this point in time, we're hearing that House Democrats are not happy that the Senate passed the remaining spending bills that funded different parts of the government because it included a short-term funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. And that really is the issue among Democrats and Republicans.

Democrats feel that that extension should not have been given, especially in light of the recent events in Minneapolis. And now you even have the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries, telling the House Speaker, Mike Johnson, that Democrats will not help Republicans pass the remaining spending bills in order to end this partial government shutdown. And this is now creating a huge problem.

Take a listen to what Jeffries and even Johnson had to say about what is going on right now.

KIRSTEN WELKER, HOST AND MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS": Are you confident that the government will reopen on Monday with Republican votes? Do you have enough Republican support?

JOHNSON: Well, let's say I'm confident that we'll do it at least by Tuesday. We have a logistical challenge of getting everyone in town. And because of the conversation I had with Hakeem Jeffries, I know that we've got to pass a rule and probably do this mostly on our own. I think that's very unfortunate.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS, HOST, "THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOLOUS": Will the House follow the Senate's lead and vote to keep the government open?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Well, it's a meaningful step in the right direction. Certainly, the separation of the five bipartisan bills, which, in our view, promote the health, the safety and the economic well-being of the American people, need to move forward. And we'll meet later on this afternoon as a caucus to discuss what we believe is the best path.

DECHALUS: Now, we're also hearing the House Democrats are going to be talking amongst each other just in the upcoming hours, just really talking about their game plan and how to move forward. But to be clear, this really puts the House Speaker Mike Johnson in a tough position because he was hoping to fast track and move these bills forward in order to end the shutdown. But without Democratic support, he's really going to have to heavily rely on the House Republican lawmakers on the House side to really move these bills forward. But even their support is not guaranteed.

We're hearing from several conservative Republicans that they are unhappy about a lot of the provisions included in the spending packages. And so you really see that this is going to present just another challenge for the House Speaker and his efforts to try to reopen the government. And really, the big picture here is that the longer that this government shutdown lasts, the more disruptions and the more delays we are going to see and how this is going to affect everyone in America just because of what is happening, how this government shutdown is going to continue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:05:05]

CHURCH: The Republican and Democratic negotiations in Washington come amid two big losses for the GOP in the state of Texas this weekend.

First in a state Senate race, Democrat Taylor Rehmet pulled off an upset in a Fort Worth area runoff election, winning by 14 points in a solidly Republican district. It's a district President Trump won handily in 2024. Democrats flipped more than 20 state legislative seats last year.

And Democrat Christian Menefee won a special election runoff for a Texas congressional seat. When sworn in, he will reduce the Republican House majority to just four seats, with three seats still vacant.

Larry Sabato is the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. He is the editor of "A Return to Normalcy? The 2020 Election that (Almost) Broke America."

And he joins us from Charlottesville, Virginia. Good to have you with us.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Larry, a partial government shutdown will continue at least until Tuesday, when the House is expected to vote on the Senate funding bill. Most Democrats want to see reform measures associated with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown before they support any long term funding for DHS. So where do you see this going?

SABATO: The odds are, it appears right now at least, that this will go through on Tuesday, because it more or less is in the interest of both parties. It's more in the interest of the Republican Party, because they've got a big mess on their hands in Minnesota and with ICE.

And of course, they're reluctant Republican House members, certainly, and there are still some reluctant senators. But on the whole, they're better off getting this over with. They have to do it sooner or later.

And Trump has endorsed it. That's the difference this time. The Speaker of the House can simply say to the Republican members, Trump wants this and that's usually good enough for passage.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, Speaker Mike Johnson does say that he's confident Republicans can end this shutdown on Tuesday without any help from the Democrats. How likely is it that he'll have enough GOP support to do that without their help although now we're hearing that some House Democrats will support the government funding bill?

SABATO: I think it's likely that at least some Democrats will, probably in the single digits or very low double digits. And that's enough to supply the additional votes to make up for the Republican defections.

And there are going to be some hardliners who refuse to go along. One way or another, this heart attack House and heart attack Speaker will find a way to get it done. Probably Tuesday before most people notice the government is shut.

CHURCH: Right. And Larry, of course, the shooting and killing of two American citizens is at the center of all of this, as well as the treatment of immigrants, who it turns out are not the worst of the worst, as the Trump administration has claimed it's going after. But instead, we're seeing children and working fathers and mothers getting caught up in the net.

What's going on here exactly? And how is this strategy likely impacting Trump politically?

SABATO: The immigration policy of the Trump administration has finally flipped. To be honest, I thought it would flip earlier than this because there have been so many distressing stories and public relations disasters coming out of what ICE has been doing. But it's taken a while.

It's taken a while because Trump's base has been so solid on this. But there have been some cracks in the Trump base and overwhelmingly Democrats and much more to the point, independents who are now 70-plus percent anti-Trump on immigration and other key issues, including the economy. That has what has really turned this.

And it's turned it against Trump in an election year. It's turned it against Republicans in an election year. And they're further behind than they were just a few months ago in terms of next November's midterm elections.

CHURCH: Right. Let's look a little closer on that, because I also want to get to your thoughts on Democrat Taylor Rehmet flipping a Texas state Senate seat in a special election there, a seat that Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024. What might this signal, particularly with the midterms just nine months away?

SABATO: You never want to assume too much about a single special election, especially when you have 10 months to go before the main part of the voting for the general election.

This fall, however, the reason we're paying more attention to this one than usual is that the swing was so massive. You almost never see a swing of 32 percentage points. Yes, he won by 15, 16 points.

[03:10:01]

Trump had won by 17 just a year ago. This is massive. And it's a heavily-Republican area.

The Republican candidate outspent the Democrat by a mile, which will happen in many cases this coming November. And in addition to that, this is not just a state Senate seat. In Texas, the congressional seats are actually smaller than the state Senate districts.

So you've got a big piece of territory here around Dallas, which is substantially Republican, and it's gone Democratic by a mile. If this doesn't worry Republicans, nothing will. I know it's worrying them because they're not saying, well, there was this special factor and that special factor.

Instead, they're saying, well, we still got 10 months to repair the damage. The problem is, historically, the out-of-power party, the Democrats, who are already leading the Republicans by between 4 and 5 percent in the congressional races overall, normally the out-of-power party goes up another 2, 3, 4 percentage points by the fall elections.

So that would mean a substantial Democratic margin, 7 or 8 points, which would almost certainly overturn the House in the Democratic direction. And it's not impossible the Democrats could win the Senate. I still don't think it's likely, but it's much more possible than it was a few months ago.

CHURCH: Larry Sabato, great to have you with us. I appreciate your political analysis, as always.

SABATO: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Still to come, the latest on the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing in Gaza, and what this could mean for the next phase of the ceasefire deal.

Plus, how Iran is responding to President Trump's threats of military action, and what its officials say about the chances of making a nuclear deal with the U.S.

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[03:15:00]

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CHURCH: After nearly two years, the Rafah crossing, a crucial lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza, is now partially open, that is according to Israeli officials. A trial phase was conducted on Sunday. An Israeli security official says that every day 150 Palestinians will be allowed to leave Gaza by the crossing, which connects it to Egypt, but only 50 will be allowed to enter. But the steep price to cross and the lengthy security processes means few can realistically expect to leave.

The reopening brings to a conclusion the first phase of the U.S.- brokered ceasefire deal. Israel had refused to open the crossing until the return of all of the hostages. The final deceased hostage was returned to Israel last week.

Iranian officials say they are confident they'll be able to strike a nuclear deal with the United States. That optimistic message comes as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to take military action against Iran if it does not agree to negotiate a nuclear deal.

In recent weeks, the U.S. has increased its military presence in the Middle East, that includes the arrival of the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warns that his country will respond in kind to any military attack, and he promises any conflict would turn into a regional war. President Trump responded to those comments on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Why wouldn't he say that? Of course you're going to say that, but we have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there.

Very close, a couple of days, and hopefully we'll make a deal. If we don't make a deal, then we'll find out whether or not he was right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen spoke with Iran's foreign minister in an exclusive interview to get his reaction to the latest comments from the U.S. President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGCHI, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: So I'm not concerned about war. What I'm concerned about is miscalculations. And I think President Trump is wise enough to make a correct decision.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How can a meaningful negotiations process be jump-started right now?

ARAGCHI: We have lost our trust to the United States as a negotiating partner. There are now some intermediators, some friendly countries in the region who are trying to build this confidence. So I see the possibility of another talk if the U.S. negotiation team follows what President Trump said, a fair and equitable deal to ensure that there is no nuclear weapons.

PLEITGEN: So if this confidence is built, you are ready and willing to sit down directly with the American side.

ARAGCHI: No, the question of directly and indirectly is something else. That is the form of negotiation.

PLEITGEN: But that's what they say they want.

ARAGCHI: Yes, but we have to take care of the substance of negotiation. And that is more important.

PLEITGEN: President Trump says that negotiations are already going on. Would you say that these talks that are going on right now are fruitful?

ARAGCHI: So far, yes, fruitful.

PLEITGEN: Things like enrichment, things like ballistic missiles, things like proxy forces in the region. Is that completely out of the question for you or is that something you could at least talk about?

ARAGCHI: President Trump said no nuclear weapons, and we are fully agreed. We fully agree with that.

That could be a very good deal. Of course, in return, we expect sanction lifting. So that deal is possible.

Let's do not talk about impossible things.

PLEITGEN: What do you think the consequences would be if there was a full-on military confrontation between Iran and the United States?

ARAGCHI: If war starts, that would be a disaster. For everybody.

In the previous war, we tried hard to limit the scope of war between Iran and Israel.

[03:20:00]

This time, if it is between Iran and the U.S., since the U.S. bases are spread all over the region, then inevitably many parts of the region would be involved, engaged, and that could be very dangerous. Being prepared does not mean that we want war. We want to prevent a war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Sanam Vakil is the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House. She joins me now from London. I appreciate you being with us.

SANAM VAKIL, DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA PROGRAM, CHATHAM HOUSE: Good morning.

CHURCH: We just heard Iran's top diplomat tell CNN's Fred Pleitgen he is hopeful for negotiations on a nuclear deal, but he said Tehran won't be dictated to and won't negotiate on missiles, even after renewed threats from the U.S. President urging Iran to sign what he called an equitable nuclear deal or face U.S. military strikes. What's your response to where things stand right now between the two nations?

VAKIL: Well, I think tensions are at an all-time high. To quote President Trump, he has mobilized an armada to the Middle East, making it clear that airstrikes designed to destabilize the Islamic Republic and weaken the regime after weeks of protests that were brutally cracked down are imminent. But there is a last-ditch negotiation attempt underway, led by a number of Middle Eastern countries looking to avert what they see as a crisis.

Turkey, Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia are all lobbying the Iranians and trying to work with the United States to shape a deal that would take a military strike off the table and build a pathway for negotiations. What's problematic is that the Iranians are at risk of over- negotiating. They tend to want to keep pressing Donald Trump for more and more details and this is a President that is impatient and can quickly turn on a dime and strike them anyway.

CHURCH: So when Iran's foreign minister says he's confident they can reach a deal with the U.S. on Tehran's nuclear weapons program, what do you think that deal would look like?

VAKIL: I appreciate that he's very confident. The Iranian system is very factionalized, and I hope that his confidence reflects the support of policymakers across the Iranian spectrum, and specifically Iran's supreme leader, who has always held back on that final deal.

Iran is very good at negotiating. It has not been good at concluding an agreement. But what's on the table and what Washington is asking for is a dismantling of Iran's nuclear program.

It's important to remember that last summer President Trump struck at Iran's nuclear facilities and basically buried Iran's nuclear program into the ground. So not only would whatever enrichment remains in Iran have to be removed, but there would have to be inspections of those facilities. And alongside that, the United States is seeking constraints on Iran's ballistic missile program, commitments that Iran will stop destabilizing and supporting actors like Hezbollah and Hamas across the Middle East.

And if Iran concedes on all of these points, there will be gradual and incremental but very important sanctions relief that will be necessary to help the Iranian economy.

CHURCH: So on the other side of this, what do you think the U.S. president plans to do militarily if Iran fails to make a deal or the deal that he's looking for?

VAKIL: Well, I think there are two scenarios there on the table. One would be a real serious rounds of strikes that would target not just Iran's defense and security capabilities, but also try to take out Iran's senior leadership.

That sort of strike and those would certainly elicit an Iranian response. But the U.S. aim there would be to try to promote a change in leadership from within Iran. A second scenario would be to take out Iran's ballistic missile

facilities further and, of course, strike at security elements within the regime without forcing the sort of transformation or the change in regime leadership.

Both are very dangerous for the Iranian people that have been protesting. And it's important to also mention that none of these outcomes are going to produce peaceful transition or democratic transitions. And the Iranian people have just experienced an extraordinarily brutal and unprecedented crackdown.

[03:25:00]

CHURCH: Sanam Vakil, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis on this issue. We appreciate it.

VAKIL: Thank you.

CHURCH: Russia is facing new accusations of targeting civilians in Ukraine following drone strikes on a bus and a maternity ward on Sunday. Six people were injured in the attack on a maternity hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Ukrainian officials say all medical staff and patients, including three women in labor, were able to get to shelters in time.

Just hours later, a Russian drone struck a bus in southeastern Ukraine that was taking workers home from a coal mine. According to Ukraine's largest private energy company, the strike was part of a larger attack on their operations in the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had this to say about the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In the Dnipro region, in Ternivka, of Pavlora district, there was a strike by Russian drones on a regular coach, a coach which was carrying minors.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of dead. My condolences to all relatives and friends. There are wounded too.

Our negotiation team gave a report today. There is already an arrangement to hold a trilateral meeting at an appropriate level. This meeting will take place next week, as planned, on Wednesday and Thursday in the United Arab Emirates, as last time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still to come, Democratic leaders say Republicans can't rely on their votes to reopen the U.S. government, but not every House Democrat agrees. We're on the push to end the government shutdown, just ahead.

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[03:29:57]

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

A partial U.S. government shutdown is expected to last through at least Tuesday. That's when the House is set to vote on legislation to fund most of the government through September. House Speaker Mike Johnson says he believes lawmakers are on the path to an agreement.

The Rafah crossing, a crucial lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza, is now partially open, according to Israeli officials. After nearly two years of closure, Israeli authorities say the crossing will only be open for the limited passage of residents only. The reopening marks the conclusion of the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal.

State media is reporting that the Iranian Supreme Leader is warning that a U.S. attack would spark a regional war. U.S. President Donald Trump responded that if Tehran does not strike a deal, the world would find out whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is right about war. President Trump says that Iran is seriously talking with the U.S. about its nuclear program.

Well, the big sticking point on Capitol Hill about ending the partial government shutdown centers around funding for the Department of Homeland Security. As it stands right now, lawmakers are considering just a two-week extension of funds for DHS while they work on possible reforms to federal immigration enforcement. Many Democrats want to see major changes to how ICE is operating in cities like Minneapolis, where two U.S. citizens have been killed in confrontations with federal agents.

Meantime, five-year-old Liam Ramos and his father Adrian are finally back in Minneapolis after being released from a Texas detention center. Federal officers had taken them into custody from outside their suburban home in Minnesota. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Liam Conejo Ramos and his father Adrian are now back in Minnesota. That's according to Congressman Joaquin Costa, who posted on X that "Yesterday "five-year- old Liam and his dad Adrian were released from Dilley detention center. I picked them up last night and escorted them back to Minnesota this morning.

Liam is now home with his hat and his backpack. Thank you to everyone who demanded freedom for Liam. We won't stop until all children and families are home."

And the congressman then posted a number of photos of the journey of Liam with his dad, the travels, and then Liam at home.

And also a handwritten note where he says, "Liam, welcome home. I know the past two weeks have been very rough, to say the least. No child should have to go through what you endured." Liam's school district also posted a statement saying that they are so

happy that Liam and his father have returned home to be reunified with his mother, brother, and our community.

Now at the same time on Sunday, the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said the government will appeal the decision of this Texas judge, saying that there is a question of whether or not Liam and his family had been going through the legal proceedings of immigration.

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The immigration law, the body of immigration law, is much different than our typical criminal process because of the administrative nature of what we do every day. And so to the extent that we need to appeal that judge's decision, I promise we will.

STEPHANOPOULOS: To clarify, the lawyer for Liam Ramos and his father say they were following the legal process for asylum.

BLANCHE: I mean, I don't know what that means. There's a very meaningful dispute about whether they had properly applied for asylum.

VARGAS JONES: Now an attorney for the family had told CNN that Liam and his family did enter the United States in December 2024 in Texas and immediately applied for asylum. They said that they were following all the established protocols pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for the court hearings, and posed no safety or flight risk, and should never have been detained.

Now in the decision from the judge in West Texas who ordered the release of Liam and his father, the judge went through a scathing review, really a blistering criticism of how the federal government has been conducting its immigration enforcement actions, quoting Thomas Jefferson, quoting the Fourth Amendment, saying, quote, "We the people are hearing echoes of the history of tyranny when the United States was formed," and then saying, quote, "observing human behavior confirms that for some among us the perfidious lust for unbridled power and the imposition of cruelty in its quest know no bounds in our bereft of human decency. And the rule of law be damned."

[03:35:00]

This judge went as far as to include a picture of Liam in the decision and then quoting verses from the Bible. Again, the government now saying that he will be appealing the decision from this judge.

The judge's argument, though, not necessarily that Liam and his father should not be deported if an immigration court does find their application to be insufficient. What this judge was asking for was solely a, quote, "orderly and humane policy."

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, the fallout from the latest Epstein file releases continues, but embarrassing emails and images are unlikely to lead to any prosecutions. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: And welcome back. Let's take a look at your business headlines.

Xi Jinping has a bold new vision for China to raise the yuan to global reserve currency status. His plan includes a, quote, "powerful central bank and other institutions" to make Beijing competitive in the global financial order. Xi's comments come as the U.S. dollar hit a four-year low.

Ukraine says it's tightening controls on Starlink, allowing only authorized terminals to operate within the country. The defense minister says the changes are to prevent Russia from using the system to guide drone attacks and were made in coordination with Elon Musk's SpaceX. Ukraine will require users to register their devices, all unregistered terminals will be shut off.

[03:39:59]

The documentary about U.S. First Lady Melania Trump has so far performed better than expected in theaters. It's on track to earn about $7 million in its opening weekend. Pretty good for a documentary by box office standards, but it's far from a financial winner at this point, considering Amazon spent $75 million to buy and market the film.

U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche says he doesn't expect new charges in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation linked to the latest document drop. Pictures like these have been among millions of documents released over the past few weeks. More than 3 million pages were released on Friday, according to the DOJ.

Some have been withheld based on different legal privileges, according to officials. But despite what the photos appear to show or what the other files contain, the deputy attorney general says none of it meets the threshold for prosecution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: I can't talk about any investigations, but I will say the following, which is that in July, the Department of Justice said that we had reviewed the files, the quote "Epstein files," and there was nothing in there that allowed us to prosecute anybody.

We then released over 3.5 million pieces of paper, which the entire world can look at now and see if we got it wrong. So there's a lot of correspondence, there's a lot of emails, there's a lot of photographs.

There's a lot of horrible photographs that appear to be taken by Mr. Epstein or people around him. But that doesn't allow us necessarily to prosecute somebody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: For our international viewers, "World Sport" is coming up next. And for everyone else, we'll be back in just a moment.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom."

More now on the push to end a partial government shutdown in Washington. In the coming hours, the House Rules Committee will begin consideration of the bills approved by the Senate last week.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says he is confident Republicans can pass the legislation without Democratic support. But he can only afford to lose a handful of Republican votes on Tuesday, when the full House is expected to take up the spending package.

Well, as campaigning ramps up for the U.S. midterm elections this year, some new data is shedding light on how the political landscape could change four years from now. CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten runs the numbers to see what red states and blue states will look like in 2030.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: In politics, we often lose sight of the long term because we're so focused in on the short term. So today, I wanted to take a look at some long term population trends that really should set off a flashing red siren to Democrats nationwide, while bringing a big smile to the faces of Republicans nationwide.

Why do I say that? Because take a look at the big population gainers versus the last census back in 2020.

According to the latest population estimates that take into account the population mid-2025. Look at this, the biggest population growth this decade, all five of the states -- states that Donald John Trump won in 2024: Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and of course, the great state of Arizona where I spent my New Year's Eve. I love those folks out in Prescott, Arizona.

These were the biggest gainers -- the biggest gainers in terms of population compared to the 2020 census.

Now, it's not just a red state boom. This is what we're looking at. We're looking at a red state boom here.

But it is not just a red state boom. We're also looking at what I would dare call a blue state depression. Because who are the people who and where are the people moving from into the red states?

Well, they're blue states.

They're blue states. Take a look here, the lowest domestic net migration this decade, all five of the states -- states that were won by Kamala Harris in 2024. Look at this, California, Harris's home state; New York, where I'm coming from right now, of course; Illinois, New Jersey, and of course, the great Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is a bastion of blue liberalism.

These are the states that folks in the United States are moving away from and into the red states, which is propelling a red state boom.

Now, this is interesting, right, but it could also have major political ramifications. If it holds for 2030, the next census because take a look here.

If in fact, the 2025 population shifts hold for the 2030 census, look at this, look at the house the house seat shifts by state of remember, of course, we apportion the number of house seats, depending on the population in each state. If in fact, the 2025 population shifts holds for 2030 states that Kamala Harris won, they would lose -- they would lose seven seats in the United States House of Representatives, the states that Donald Trump won in 2024. They would gain seven seats.

Now, this isn't just about the House of Representatives, right? It's also about the Electoral College, because the number of electoral votes that each state gets is equal to the number of senators, each state, of course, has to plus the number of house seats that they have.

So what would this mean for the House of Representatives? Well, if you remember back in 2024, right, it was all about we were talking about the blue wall of Kamala Harris could win the baseline democratic states, and then add in the blue wall states of Michigan, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, she would get to 270 electoral votes.

But if all of a sudden, we in fact have applying the 2025 estimates -- the population estimates to the Electoral College, the blue states plus the blue wall of Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin would no longer be enough. Under the current estimates, you get to exactly 270 electoral votes, the minimum needed to win the Electoral College.

If in fact you apply the 2025 estimates, look at that. You only get to 263 electoral votes if you were a Democrat, which would mean a Republican victory. Now, of course, we're still a number of years away from reapportionment, right?

We take the census come 2030.

[03:50:00]

But what we can say so far is, we got a red state boom going on, a blue state depression going on people moving from the blue states to the red states. And if it holds for 2030, well, it would make the Democratic nominee for president's job of winning the Electoral College that much more difficult.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CHURCH: Well, severe cold is enveloping much of the southeastern U.S. as that powerful bomb cyclone moves out to sea. Brutally low temperatures are expected to last for much of the week.

Meanwhile, officials in North Carolina are urging people to just stay home as they work to clean up from the storm, which is blamed for more than 1000 traffic accidents, including two fatalities in the state. CNN meteorologist Derrick Van Dam has more now from Virginia Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Here in Virginia Beach, the snow has come to an end from our bomb cyclone that's exiting out to sea.

Behind it, it's left a fresh layer of snow here in Virginia Beach, not something you really necessarily associate with this area. But it's the light fluffy snow and it got heavier, especially as you moved into the Outer Banks and the coastal plain of the Carolinas. That's where we saw snowfall that exceeded a foot in many locations.

Charlotte saw their fourth highest daily snowfall total on record. There was a lot of wind, but associated with a system creating white out conditions. Even here in Virginia Beach, we experienced that as the storm made its closest approach to the Virginia coastline.

We're still feeling the wind, but the big story about this now is that the cold air that it's drawing down with it is going to lock in these impacts you see here. If there is any snow on the roads, it's going to take some time before it can properly melt. It's likely that it will stay frozen in place here at least for another 24 to 36 hours before some temperature modification comes towards the middle of this week.

So that's something we can look forward to. But just to give you an idea of how cold it has gotten, Orlando, Florida was actually colder than the capital of Greenland on Sunday morning. So was Tallahassee and so is Jacksonville.

Yes, that's incredible. We even had what I like to call novelty snowflakes in the Bay Area as this cold arctic air moved over the relatively warm waters of the gulf and it helped create these ocean effect snow flurries.

So let that sink in snow in Florida and colder than the capital of Greenland. Well, incredible.

I'm CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam in Virginia Beach, back to you.

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CHURCH: All right. Well, the biggest winner of the night was Kendrick Lamar when the 68th Grammy Awards ended just hours ago. The rapper celebrating the success of his song "Luther" featuring SZA off his album GNX. He went into Sunday's ceremony with nine nominations and took home trophies for Record of the Year, Best Rap Album and more.

The award for Best New Artist went to Olivia Dean, whose summertime hit "Man I Need" went viral. It gave the London native her first Billboard Hot 100 hit currently sitting at number two on the charts.

And you might not guess it from his initial reaction, but Bad Bunny won the night's biggest award Album of the Year, no doubt giving him even more drive and energy as he prepares for his highly anticipated halftime show at Sunday's Super Bowl.

Well one Olympic athlete heading to Milan is set to make history on the ice. Laila Edwards will become the first black woman to play for the U.S. Olympic hockey team. She sat down with CNN for an exclusive interview to talk about her love for the game and her hopes to inspire more minorities to follow their dreams.

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LAILA EDWARDS, 2026 U.S. OLYMPIC WOMEN'S HOCKEY TEAM DEFENDER: One of my main focuses is paving the way for future generations. I think I've been gifted that role in that position to have an impact on people and to continue to pave the way for minorities and honestly anyone, but more specifically minorities, because this is not a sport where minorities are seen often. So I think as of now, I'm just doing the best I can to make the game more inclusive.

I've dreamt of competing in the Olympics for about 12 years now. Just watching the U.S. team play Canada in the final just gave me chills and I was like, whoa, this is cool. I want to be a part of that one day.

My dad played hockey when he was younger. So as soon as I could even crawl, he had me in skates. I was about two or three and he was getting me on the ice as often as he could.

Playing boys hockey growing up, I always thought I was gonna go to the NHL where there's only men, but I thought I'll be good enough. I'm going to work hard, but as I grew up and realized I wasn't so much of a possibility, I realized, okay, I want to be with the national team and play with them as often as I can.

Being a Trailblazer has definitely been a privilege. It's been overwhelming at times, but a long time ago I decided to take it and run with it. So do what I can to benefit as many people as I can with it.

[03:55:06]

I could have shied away from it and not, you know, not made it a goal of mine to help others, but that's just not how I'm wired. And as much as this can be intimidating, all the pressure and all the attention, I think I'm very grateful and I have to do what I can to positively use it.

I mean there are times where I didn't see anyone at the highest levels looking like me, so I would have some doubt here and there, but I persevered and I think it's just so important, you know, to have that someone that looks like you. It's just, it literally shows that you can do it too. A little black girl sitting at home and sees me on the T.V. playing at

the Olympics, she's like, wow, you know, Laila did it, I can do it too. Or Laila plays hockey, maybe I can try it out and see how I like it.

Just simple things like that and just to be their representation is really important. As much as I want to embrace, you know, being that role model and being a minority in this game, I also want to just be seen for who I am as a player.

So to be recognized as that after games is refreshing and it makes me feel good that I'm also known for my ability on the ice and my leadership and my athletic ability, anything like that, I think it's comforting.

To make my first Olympics still doesn't feel real yet. It's something I've literally thought about almost every day. I want to represent my country at the highest level, playing the sport I love.

Winning an Olympic medal, it's crazy to even think about. For it to be a possibility, I'm very grateful, but to win one would mean the world and would mean that, you know, I've done something right in this long process. But yes, it would be unbelievable.

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CHURCH: Thank you so much for your company this hour, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "American Pulse" is coming up next, then stay tuned for "Early Start" with Rahel Solomon at 5:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

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