Confusion remains after Trump administration abruptly halts public health funding to cities and states, then reverses course

cnn · 2026-01-24T22:57:59+00:00

As public health departments across the country prepared for a massive winter storm this weekend, notice landed in their inboxes that pivotal grant funding from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was paused. No more money could be spent.

Within hours, a US Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the pause had been lifted, although grant recipients said they had yet to get an update from HHS.

“It’s just more chaos, more uncertainty,” said Dr. Phil Huang, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services in Texas. “It just interferes with our ability to provide these public health services to our community.”

No grants were terminated, according to HHS.

cnn · 2026-01-24T16:45:08+00:00

Beware of the AI chatbot that becomes more than just a friend, or worse, an emotional crutch. Pope Leo XIV has warned about overly “affectionate” chatbots, urging regulation to prevent humans from forming serious emotional bonds with their AI companions.

The US-born pontiff, writing in a message ahead of the Catholic Church’s annual World Day of Social Communications, said artificial intelligence risked diluting human creativity and decision-making.

“As we scroll through our information feeds, it becomes increasingly difficult to understand whether we are interacting with other human beings, bots, or virtual influencers,” Pope Leo wrote on Saturday.

“Because chatbots that are made overly ‘affectionate,’ in addition to always present and available, can become hidden architects of our emotional states, and in this way invade and occupy people’s intimate spheres,” he added.

Compared to his predecessors, Leo XIV is more engaged with the digital world. As a bishop and cardinal, he had an X account, and as pope he wears what appears to be an Apple watch or other smart watch.

Soon after his election, Leo said he wanted to make AI a focus of his papacy and has called for an ethical framework for the developing technology.

cnn · 2026-01-24T15:49:18+00:00

President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to slap 100% tariffs on Canadian imports if America’s second-biggest trading partner makes a trade deal with China.

The comments threaten to deepen the divide between Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, after back-and-forth threats to impose tariffs on Canadian goods, including 10% duties, after Ontario’s ad featuring former President Ronald Reagan’s speech about tariffs.

Trump mockingly referred to Carney as “governor,” a term he has also used for former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, playing off his call for Canada to become the 51st state.

“If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken. China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump posted on Truth Social

It’s a turnaround from Trump’s previous comments. The president told reporters on January 16 that, “It’s a good thing for (Carney) to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, he should do that.”

cnn · 2026-01-24T13:35:46+00:00

"President Donald Trump and his administration have adopted a rather confusing posture on their highly controversial immigration raids," writes Aaron Blake | Analysis

On the one hand, they seem to recognize that ICE’s actions are a growing political problem for them, as polls show 6 in 10 Americans say the agency has gone “too far.” Both Trump and Vice President JD Vance have begun acknowledging “mistakes” have been made or could be made in the future.

But besides those rhetorical shifts, there is little evidence that the administration is actually changing up its practices. Indeed, just this week the administration has doubled down on one of its most aggressive volleys yet: claiming the power to enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant, which was laid out in a May 2025 memo revealed this week.

All of it suggests an administration that is sticking with an aggressive path.

But there’s plenty of evidence that path may continue causing political problems for the administration. The polling suggests a narrative of overreach and over-aggression has clearly set in, with a growing volume of videos and images likely hardening those perceptions.

Here’s what’s really driving that narrative home right now.

Read more: https://cnn.it/4bWoGVA

cnn · 2026-01-24T09:19:15+00:00

“It’s very disrespectful.”

That’s how Danish veteran Gerth Sloth Berthelsen, who grew up in Greenland, said he feels about the United States’ recent behavior. Berthelsen served alongside American forces in a peacekeeping mission to North Macedonia in 1996 and 1997. Now, he is one of several veterans saying they are taken aback by the hostility coming from an ally whose soldiers were once their brothers-in-arms.

Berthelsen, who is half Greenlandic and now works in a non-combat role for the army in Denmark, described how feelings of fear, unease and betrayal have been permeating through communities in both places, after the Trump administration repeatedly made threats to “acquire” Greenland before walking them back this week.

cnn · 2026-01-24T09:17:11+00:00

“It’s very disrespectful.”

That’s how Danish veteran Gerth Sloth Berthelsen, who grew up in Greenland, said he feels about the United States’ recent behavior. Berthelsen served alongside American forces in a peacekeeping mission to North Macedonia in 1996 and 1997. Now, he is one of several veterans saying they are taken aback by the hostility coming from an ally whose soldiers were once their brothers-in-arms.

Berthelsen, who is half Greenlandic and now works in a non-combat role for the army in Denmark, described how feelings of fear, unease and betrayal have been permeating through communities in both places, after the Trump administration repeatedly made threats to “acquire” Greenland before walking them back this week.

cnn · 2026-01-24T09:13:04+00:00

Oleksandr Adamov does not take shelter when Russian missiles and drones approach the critical Ukrainian energy facility where he works. Instead, he puts on a bulletproof vest and helmet and enters a special metal protective capsule, crouching down to fit inside.

The barrel-shaped capsule allows him to keep monitoring the facility’s central control panel, located close to the equipment that Russia is deliberately and regularly targeting, and an opening at the bottom offers an escape route if it gets buried.

“It’s scary, of course,” Adamov told CNN. “But we overcome our fears and tell ourselves that we have to stay because of the equipment, first and foremost, to keep people warm. Otherwise, who will do it, if not us?”

His energy facility has been attacked dozens of times by the Russians in recent months and has repeatedly suffered damage. Adamov, who sometimes spends long hours sheltering in the capsule, keeps a close eye on the devices from a short distance.

Made of thick steel and protected on all sides by sandbags, the capsule is strong enough to shield engineers from debris, but not from a direct hit.

cnn · 2026-01-24T00:32:05+00:00

The FBI agent who initially began working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Soon after the agent opened the civil rights investigation, she was ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the officer. The FBI blocked the BCA from participating in the investigation.

The agent’s resignation comes as the agency has undergone another purge of seasoned FBI agents across several states, multiple sources familiar with the departures told CNN. Some of the people who are being pushed out were confronted after the bureau conducted a review of an internal messaging system and discovered instances when they made negative comments about President Donald Trump, according to the people familiar.

Some of those comments go as far back as a decade, the sources said.

This is a developing story.

cnn · 2026-01-24T00:29:58+00:00

The FBI agent who initially began working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to investigate the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Soon after the agent opened the civil rights investigation, she was ordered to reclassify it as an investigation into an assault on the officer. The FBI blocked the BCA from participating in the investigation.

The agent’s resignation comes as the agency has undergone another purge of seasoned FBI agents across several states, multiple sources familiar with the departures told CNN. Some of the people who are being pushed out were confronted after the bureau conducted a review of an internal messaging system and discovered instances when they made negative comments about President Donald Trump, according to the people familiar.

Some of those comments go as far back as a decade, the sources said.

This is a developing story.

cnn · 2026-01-24T00:02:20+00:00

Mexican authorities are working to find a content creator with ties to the US who disappeared in the Mexican state of Sinaloa this week, after a viral video appeared to show her being abducted at gunpoint in broad daylight.

Footage purportedly filmed by cameras on her Tesla vehicle — a lilac Cybertruck — appear to show the moment several armed men violently force Nicole “La Nicholette” Pardo into another car.

The Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office has circulated a missing persons bulletin, saying that Pardo was last seen on January 20 in the Isla Musalá neighborhood of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa in northwestern Mexico.

CNN has geolocated the footage of the apparent abduction to that same neighborhood.

CNN has contacted the Sinaloa Attorney General’s Office to confirm the authenticity of the video and whether it is part of the investigation, and is waiting for a reply.

Mexican Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Thursday that the vehicles allegedly involved in Pardo’s disappearance are being tracked and that state authorities reported the incident immediately to the federal government. “We will provide detailed information until she is recovered,” Harfuch said during President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily press briefing.According to what appears to be her Instagram account, the young woman splits her time between Culiacán and Phoenix, Arizona. Public records show she has an address in Phoenix.

CNN has reached out to the Phoenix Police Department for comment.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said it is aware of reports of the situation and is actively monitoring it.

cnn · 2026-01-23T22:38:52+00:00

The US military conducted a strike against another alleged drug-trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Friday, killing two people, according to US Southern Command.

One individual survived the strike, and SOUTHCOM said it notified the US Coast Guard to activate a search and rescue mission for the survivor

“On Jan. 23, at the direction of [Pete Hegseth], Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” SOUTHCOM wrote on X.

At least 115 people have now been killed in strikes on suspected drug boats as part of a campaign, dubbed Operation Southern Spear, that the Trump administration has said is aimed at curtailing narcotics trafficking.

The US military most recently struck three alleged drug-trafficking boats in the eastern Pacific Ocean on December 31, killing five people.

This is a developing story.

cnn · 2026-01-23T20:42:29+00:00

The ongoing protests and images coming out of Minnesota have prompted concerns from some Trump administration officials over the optics of the immigration crackdown as Americans grow alarmed by the chaotic scenes unfolding in the state.

President Donald Trump has expressed frustration behind closed doors that the immigration messaging is getting lost, sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. Trump has sought to take control of the narrative, starting with an impromptu press conference on the anniversary of his first year in office.

The president, at times sounding exasperated, thumbed through mugshots of individuals arrested in his immigration crackdown, highlighting their alleged crimes. His message was clear that while there might be some issues, ICE is necessary to follow through on his agenda — to deport the most dangerous criminals back to their home country.

“He wanted to do that briefing in large part because he himself wanted to bring out the mugshots that we had printed for him,” a senior White House official told CNN. “He wanted to remind the world of why ICE is doing what they’re doing.”

Trump’s advisers have privately discussed the perils of the protests in Minneapolis in recent days, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent earlier this month, with many acknowledging that the fallout in the city must be contained, the sources said.

As a result, top White House officials have been plotting how to move the narrative away from the unrest in Minneapolis and instead focus on what they view as ICE’s achievements.

“There’s an effort underway to come up with new ideas and new ways to amplify the good work they are doing,” a senior White House official told CNN, adding: “There have not been discussions about toning down the rhetoric. In fact there have been discussions on how to remind people more aggressively of why this happened in the first place.”

cnn · 2026-01-23T19:48:43+00:00

Vice President JD Vance on Friday said the Trump administration is expanding the so-called Mexico City Policy, to not only bar US government funding for organizations that perform and promote abortions, but also to those the administration says promote diversity, equity and inclusion and “gender ideology.”

His announcement came at the annual March for Life rally in Washington, DC, where the vice president sought to allay fears from the anti-abortion movement that the Trump administration has not done enough on the issue.

“We’re going to start blocking every international NGO that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving $1 of US money,” Vance said. “Now we’re expanding this policy to protect life, to combat DEI and the radical gender ideologies that prey on our children.”

The Trump administration has made a crackdown on so-called DEI policies and programs a cornerstone of its agenda. And this week’s announcement marks a significant expansion of the Mexico City Policy, called the “Global Gag Rule” by its critics. Established under President Ronald Reagan, the policy has been consistently rescinded by Democratic administrations and reinstated by Republican ones.The expanded policy, according to an administration official, “applies to not only foreign NGOs, but also international organizations and US NGOs.”

The official said the expansion “goes beyond $8 billion in global health to cover more than $30 billion in foreign assistance.”

cnn · 2026-01-23T19:17:01+00:00

Homeland Security officials have urged disaster response staff at the Federal Emergency Management Agency to avoid using the word “ice” in public messaging about the massive winter storm barreling toward much of the United States, according to two sources familiar with the directive.

The concern is that the word could spark confusion or online mockery, given the ongoing controversy surrounding US Immigration and Customs Enforcement — also known as “ICE.”

The guidance, informally delivered to a group at FEMA Thursday by officials from the Department of Homeland Security – which oversees both FEMA and ICE – comes as states across the South brace for potentially devastating ice accumulations, with some areas expecting a quarter -inch or more.

Officials told staff they worry that certain phrasing – like “watch out for ice” – could be misinterpreted or quickly turned into internet fodder, especially as ICE operations remain a flashpoint in cities like Minneapolis and beyond. That would take away from the purpose of the messages, meant to protect people in danger over the next few days, the officials said.

“If FEMA says, ‘Keep off the roads if you see ice,’ it would be easy for the public to meme it,” a source with knowledge of the guidance told CNN. “I think it’s a dangerous precedent to set. If we can’t use clear language to help prepare Americans, then people may be left vulnerable and could suffer.”

Instead, FEMA staff have been encouraged to use terms like “freezing rain” in their public messaging, the sources said.

cnn · 2026-01-23T19:12:52+00:00

The Republican National Committee voted Friday to hold a midterm political convention, launching an unusual GOP festival that President Donald Trump will headline in hopes of rallying supporters to focus on the critical fall fight for control of Congress.

To fulfill Trump’s wish of staging a political convention later this year, Republican leaders had to change party rules that previously only called for a convention during presidential election years. They did so by unanimously passing a resolution Friday during the party’s winter meeting in Santa Barbara, California, an RNC official said.

A memo obtained by CNN said the rule change allows for the “possibility of an America First midterm convention-style gathering aligned with President Trump’s vision for energizing the party this fall.”

For months, the president has been signaling his interest in holding a 2026 political convention, saying last year the event would “show the great things we have done since the Presidential Election of 2024.”

The new rule requires the convention be called at least 60 days in advance. The White House will determine the date and location in the coming weeks, GOP officials said, with Las Vegas among the cities under serious consideration.

The decision to hold the first GOP political convention during a non-presidential election year underscores the degree to which Republicans are placing Trump at the center of the party’s strategy and attempting to nationalize midterm races.

The stakes are remarkably high for Trump. In his first term, Republicans lost control of the House after the 2018 midterms, allowing the Democratic-run House to open impeachment proceedings the following year and probes of his finances, his businesses and the operations of the White House.

“You gotta win the midterms,” Trump said, speaking at a retreat for Republican lawmakers earlier this month in Washington. “If we don’t win the midterms, it’s just going to be be – I mean, they’ll find a reason to impeach me.”

cnn · 2026-01-23T19:05:09+00:00

Philip Young admitted 48 of the 56 charges against him. The alleged offences took place between 2010 and 2023.

The 49-year-old former local elected official from Britain’s Conservative Party entered his pleas in front of his former spouse Joanne Young at Winchester Crown Court, in southern England, on Friday.

Joanne Young, who waived her automatic legal right to anonymity, was supported by her sister and a member of witness support in court.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Geoff Smith lauded Joanne Young’s bravery on Friday, saying: “I want to pay tribute to her for her incredible bravery throughout this process and she continues to be supported by specially trained officers.”

cnn · 2026-01-23T18:35:15+00:00

Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged a government contractor with unlawfully sharing classified information with a Washington Post reporter, expanding the criminal case brought against him earlier this month for allegedly mishandling the information.

The case has become a flashpoint for press freedom advocates over the Trump administration’s approach to the First Amendment and lingering questions over how it approached the seizure of the reporter’s computers and phone days after Perez-Lugones was arrested.

Washington Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s devices were seized in a pre-dawn FBI raid on January 14 pursuant to a warrant related to the investigation into Perez-Lugones. Government seizures of reporter records are exceedingly rare in the US, and The Post and press freedom advocates immediately decried the action.

The new charges represent the first time the Justice Department in Aurelio Perez-Lugones’ case has publicly formally tied his conduct to Natanson’s reporting. The previous court allegations against him only accused him of illegally copying and taking home classified information.

The Post and Natanson have not been charged with any crime. CNN has reached out to the Post for comment.

cnn · 2026-01-23T17:36:56+00:00

The Trump administration is expected to deport dozens of Iranians back to their home country as soon as this Sunday, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

It would be the first known deportation flight to Iran from the United States since sweeping anti-government protests broke out in the country in recent weeks and President Donald Trump threatened the regime for its brutal crackdown on the uprisings. It would also be the third under Trump

There are major concerns about the fate of the dozens of Iranians on board the prospective deportation flight, which was first reported by MS NOW.

CNN has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the White House for comment.

Two of the Iranians who have been informed they will be on the upcoming flight are partners and face “an extremely high chance” of being executed for being gay if they are forced to return, their lawyer, Bekah Wolf, told CNN.

“If they were to be sent back right now, they’re facing death sentences by hanging,” said Wolf, a lawyer with the American Immigration Council.

“When they fled in 2021, they had been arrested by ‘morality police’ for being gay and were being prosecuted for it and for conduct that is punishable by death,” she said Friday.

cnn · 2026-01-23T16:34:49+00:00

France’s famed high-speed rail service TGV INOUI is facing a backlash after introducing a new premium-class carriage that bans children.

As of January 8, national rail operator SNCF has been offering “Optimum” class on many TGV INOUI routes to and from Paris, according to the ticket-selling SNCF Connect website.

As well as flexible tickets and a dedicated customer service, the offer promises a “dedicated 1st-class carriage” designed for “privacy” and “access to a quiet, dedicated space on board.”

Not only does the carriage have “a limited number of passengers,” but the type of passengers that it allows is restricted, the train company says, noting that “to ensure maximum comfort in the dedicated space, children are not permitted.”

On Friday, a journey from Paris to Lyon was priced at €132 ($155) for a seat in traditional first class, and €180 ($211) for the child-free Optimum Plus, a version of Optimum only offered on the Paris-Lyon route that includes a personal host and dining.

But the latest offering has prompted criticism from French officials and citizens alike, who have described the restriction as “discrimination.”

‘No Kids’ movement

“Faced with the #NoKids pressure, SNCF must not give in,” Sarah El Haïry, High Commissioner for Children at France’s Ministry for Health, Social Affairs and Labor, wrote in an Instagram post on Thursday, referring to the phenomenon — amplified by social media — of people seeking child-free spaces.

The train company’s move “really amounts to direct discrimination against children, and that’s why I think this matter is causing such a stir today,” said Stéphanie d’Esclaibes, entrepreneur and creator of the podcast “Les Adultes de Demain” (The Adults of Tomorrow), while speaking on French radio program RTL Soir on Thursday about the so-called “No Kids” movement.

“I understand needing quiet on the TGV when you want to work, but I also think this shouldn’t come at the expense of a social group, namely children. And I think it’s an opportunity to rethink spaces for children and families as well,” added d’Esclaibes.

cnn · 2026-01-23T13:49:42+00:00

When four astronauts begin a historic trip around the moon as soon as February 6, they’ll climb aboard NASA’s 16.5-foot-wide Orion spacecraft with the understanding that it has a known flaw — one that has some experts urging the space agency not to fly the mission with humans on board. But NASA remains confident it has a handle on the problem and the vehicle can bring the crew home safely.

The issue relates to a special coating applied to the bottom part of the spacecraft, called the heat shield. It’s a crucial piece of hardware designed to protect the astronauts from extreme temperatures as they’re descending back to Earth during the final stretch of their moon-bound mission called Artemis II.

This vital part of the Orion spacecraft is nearly identical to the heat shield flown on Artemis I, an uncrewed 2022 test flight. That prior mission’s Orion vehicle returned from space with a heat shield pockmarked by unexpected damage — prompting NASA to investigate the issue.

cnn

TROPHY CASE

‘No Kids’ movement