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The Situation Room

Iranian Crackdown; Grocery Prices Rising; ICE Protests Ramp Up. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 14, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

SARAH SALDANA, FORMER ICE DIRECTOR: This is not what the American public expects. And, quite frankly, this is not how policing should be going on.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: I mean, how should they be going on? Because I think a lot of people wonder about the training, particularly when it comes to policing protesters like they are now. I mean, you have seen videos of them going up to protesters who are maybe shouting something out them, right, and asking for their I.D.

What kind of training do they have for that?

SALDANA: They have substantial training in all areas, particularly of constitutional protections and how they're supposed to conduct themselves.

They're -- and it's extensive. My concern is what is happening today in training because there is a very aggressive recruitment strategy going on that refers to trying to entice people to become agents and officers by appealing to their recruitment campaign as a wartime strategy.

So, this is -- this -- the video I'm looking at right now is very -- comports with that. That is, there is just this aggressive anger that appears to be coming from law enforcement. And unless there's a time- out soon, I just don't expect anything good to come out about this.

BROWN: I mean, you see them on the man's head right there, right?

Can you help explain the psychological shift that might occur when someone suits up to do their job, like these ICE officers and sort of this militarized uniform? Is there a risk of dehumanizing people while in that mind-set?

SALDANA: That can be true for any law enforcement officers.

Listen, they're -- law enforcement officers are different from you and me. They have been entrusted with a specific authority, and they are considered by the law to have a special position of trust. So we hold them to a higher standard than we do Joe -- John Q. Citizen.

We expect them to conform to their training and act appropriately. And I just don't see that happening here. Part of the problem is this idea that the community is the enemy. And I see a community that is fearful, that is concerned and has a -- some basis for responding.

I just urge that that be tamped down somewhat. Obviously, demonstrate peacefully, but don't get in the middle of an operation. Don't touch the agents.

BROWN: Yes, I wanted to follow up on that, because it is true attacks against agents have gone up in recent months, right?

And that no doubt would feed into concern on the agents' part, right? So what is your concern to people who are protesting this and potentially crossing the line by interfering in an operation?

SALDANA: Well, that we will have another incident like we did last week.

This is not out of the realm of possibilities. The anger is demonstrative from the part of these agents. And, again, of course, law enforcement has a dangerous endeavor, but the training is supposed to distinguish their responses to slurs and words in order for them to carry out their position of trust.

They're not supposed to react like ordinary human beings would react, because they're fully armed. And it's very, very dangerous to have somebody who does not comport with their training of approaching these matters more objectively than they are, as you saw in the Good incident last week, where the -- even the two initial agents that went to the car did so with tremendous aggressiveness.

That's just not necessary. And these folks need to be reminded of that.

BROWN: Yes. And, unfortunately, we don't even have time to talk about the vetting, because, as you point out, they are heavily armed.

But I really appreciate you coming on, Sarah, to offer your perspective. Thank you.

SALDANA: Sure.

BROWN: Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: And up next: Grocery prices here in the United States are rising at their fastest rate in three years. Other goods are seeing the biggest jumps, as higher costs put the pressure on Americans. What you need to know.

Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:08]

BLITZER: Happening now: Grocery prices here in the United States are seeing their biggest rise in more than three years, with new federal data showing that the average cost of household goods was up 2.7 percent in December compared to the previous year. Prices overall were also up 0.3 percent from November.

Joining us now, CNN business and politics correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich.

Vanessa, walk us through this new data. What else did we learn from this latest report?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, like to look at three key categories to start with. That's food, energy, and shelter.

This is usually what Americans are spending the most money on, the biggest share of this inflation report. What we saw was, in December, food prices were up 0.7 percent. You had energy prices up 0.3 percent. And shelter, which is the biggest share of this entire report -- that's paying your rent every single month -- was up 0.4 percent.

[11:40:03]

But I want to dig into the food category in particular, because this is probably the most amount of spending that Americans are doing regularly at the grocery store or even eating out. Food prices did jump 0.7 percent in the month of December. That's the biggest jump in three years.

However, there are some economists, Wolf, that are questioning that number just because of the data collection that we saw as it relates to the government shutdown. It's been a little wonky. But we can look certainly at the annual rate of inflation for food, up 2.4 percent.

That may sting a little bit, but it's worth noting that it is less than the overall rate of inflation, which, as you mentioned, is 2.7 percent. So what are you feeling at the grocery store? Well, let's look at some of these categories here.

Egg prices, look at that, have fallen more than 20 percent. But, Wolf, they had a long way to fall. Tomatoes prices have fallen 3 percent. And milk, this is something that probably Americans are buying every single week, down 1 percent.

But look at where these prices have increased. This is the last year. We're looking at the year now, chicken up 1.2 percent. And then look at these huge numbers, coffee up nearly 20 percent. And beef, in particular -- this is because of short supply of beef -- that is up more than 15 percent. That is the largest annual increase since June.

And that makes up a lot of the share of why these food prices are rising. Now, as I mentioned, overall, 2.4 percent for food prices on an annual level is not terrible, but it certainly does sting for many Americans when they're more accustomed and more comfortable, Wolf, with a 2 percent rise in food.

Of course, overall inflation, as you mentioned, 2.7 percent. We need to get that a little bit closer to 2 percent. That's the Fed target rate where Americans seem to feel much more comfortable, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Vanessa Yurkevich with all the numbers, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, just ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we're talking with a former Pentagon official, as President Trump considers options for responding to the crackdown on protesters in Iran.

That's coming up.

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[11:45:30]

BLITZER: Breaking news: State Department officials are warning that Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old Iranian protester detained in Iran less than a week ago, may be executed today, this as President Trump is doubling down on his warnings, saying there will be -- quote -- "strong action" if protesters are executed. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will take very strong action if they do such a thing. When they start killing thousands of people, and now you're telling me about hanging, we'll see how that works out for them. It's not going to work out good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And with us now is CNN political and global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh.

Sabrina, thanks very much for joining us.

Iran says Soltani, this young man, may be executed today, today. You just heard President Trump say -- quote -- "strong action," his words, strong action, will be taken if the protesters are killed. What do you expect the U.S. response will be?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, it's unprecedented the type of violence that we're seeing.

And I'm talking about a potential execution of a 26-year-old who was protesting. I mean, we haven't seen something like this before. And, of course, you're seeing some of the imagery of the body bags being lined up sometimes outside hotel parking lots -- I mean hospital parking lots.

I mean, it's absolutely horrific. So I think when the president is talking about potential military action that he could take, there's the kinetic options, which would include strikes on military targets in Iran or senior leaders. And then there's those non-kinetic options that could look like a cyberattack or expanding Internet access through some of the Starlink terminals.

We know some of those Starlink terminals are in Iran, but it's still very hard to get in, and not everyone has access to that. So I think there's different options, but I also think the president's words matter. And Iranians are looking to the president to see, will the U.S. intervene, and what does that look like?

And that could have an adverse effect as well.

BLITZER: A U.S. official tells CNN some personnel, American personnel, at the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East have now been urged to leave as a precaution, citing current tensions in the region with Iran.

The U.S. Navy, as you all know, and I know, I have been there, has a very significant base in Bahrain. Should the Navy start taking any steps towards evacuating troops from there, that base in Bahrain, home of the Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is a significant force?

SINGH: Yes.

Well, I think there's two things here. One, the evacuation of nonessential personnel,that is a step that the U.S. military would take in times like this, because tensions are so high and it is escalating.

I think the larger question here is, is that we don't have a U.S. aircraft carrier in the region. We have I think three or four destroyers there. We maintain over-the-horizon capabilities, which are essentially remote capabilities that we can conduct strikes if we need to.

But we don't have the robust capabilities that we had there during the 12-day war. So the idea that we're going to ask nonessential personnel to leave, that makes complete sense. I think now it's a matter of defending our bases. Do we have the right capabilities in place should we respond to an attack on Iran, whether it's kinetic or non-kinetic?

Iran could respond and hit one of our U.S. bases in the region or potentially our partners and allies in the region. Do we have the capabilities that are needed to defend them? And I don't know that we have that for what we had during that 12-day war.

BLITZER: And when you speak of the 12-day war, you're referring to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities...

SINGH: Yes. Sorry, yes.

BLITZER: ... ballistic missile facilities, and that could be repeated, presumably.

SINGH: That could be repeated.

I mean, the president has basically said he's not taking anything off the table. There are other nuclear sites and facilities that could be hit, but that response back to -- from Iran was significant and did hit one of our biggest air bases at Al Udeid in the region.

We had Patriot defenses there that were actually pulled from other combatant commands to defend that base. We don't have that right now, so I think that's certainly a factor that's going to go into the U.S. Central Command commander of, do we have the necessary equipment in the region to respond if Iran responds to us?

BLITZER: The U.S. has a lot of equipment right now in the Caribbean.

SINGH: Yes.

BLITZER: Would some of those elements be moved to the Persian Gulf area?

SINGH: Well, if you're going to respond to Iran, I think you're looking at the place mat of the world and where all your capabilities are, and that's certainly an assessment that the secretary of defense is going to have to make.

Do you pull capabilities out of the coast of Venezuela and move some to the Middle East? If you are thinking about conducting a kinetic strike on Iran, I certainly would want to make sure that my troops were protected in the region, so that'd be pulling assets from the Caribbean.

[11:50:00]

But they could, like they did before, look at pulling assets from the Indo-Pacific, which is also pretty dangerous and sends a message to China that we're not as well armed there as well.

BLITZER: Maybe they should move that huge aircraft carrier battle group the USS Harry Truman from the Caribbean over to the Persian Gulf.

SINGH: Right.

And the thing, though, is, as you know well, and reporting on your time at the Pentagon, you know these carriers. It takes a lot of time to move them, a lot of resources. And, frankly, it does test the readiness of our U.S. military as you extend their stays in different regions.

So they're going to have to come home at some point. They have been there for a while. And then what does that next rotation look like for the next carrier, either in the Middle East or back in South Command? Remains to be seen.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: And let's not forget the Iranians keep threatening U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf area...

SINGH: Right.

BLITZER: ... and Israelis, for that matter, Israeli positions. They will retaliate if this thing escalates.

SINGH: Yes. BLITZER: So there's a lot of concern right now.

SINGH: There's a lot of concern.

What I will say is, the Iranian regime is probably at its weakest we have ever seen from that 12-day war with the Israeli and U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities. I mean, their proxy groups, Hamas, Lebanese Hezbollah, the Houthis, they are significantly degraded. So this is a very weak moment for the Iranian regime.

And that's why you're seeing these protests, I think, continue to spread. I think we have over 100 cities that are protesting, 30 provinces, including in the supreme leader's hometown of Mashhad. We have never seen protests there before. And now you're seeing them protest there as well.

BLITZER: Sabrina Singh, you know your stuff. Thank you very, very much.

SINGH: Thank you.

BLITZER: We're going to continue our special coverage when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We end this morning with the passing of a civil rights icon, Claudette Colvin.

She died of natural causes in Texas at the age of 86.

BROWN: Back in March 1955, when Colvin was just 15 years old, she refused to give up her seat when police ordered her to move to the back of a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama.

[11:55:02]

She was arrested and charged with violating the city's segregation ordinance and assaulting a police officer. Well, decades later, in 2021, the state finally expunged her record.

Here's how she responded that day when asked why she didn't move -- quote -- "My mind-set was on freedom."

BLITZER: Colvin's arrest came months before a similar incident involving Rosa Parks. And while she wasn't as well-known as Parks, Colvin's contribution to the civil rights movement cannot be overlooked.

We express our deepest, deepest condolences to her loving family. May she rest in peace and may her memory be a blessing.

Thanks very much for joining us this morning.

BROWN: "INSIDE POLITICS" with our friend and colleague Dana Bash starts right after a short break.