On Saturday's The Weekend, MSNOW White House reporter Laura Barron-Lopez asserted that liberal journalist Don Lemon is being prosecuted by the Donald Trump administration because the President doesn't like journalists who present facts and criticize him. The show also tried to tie in race, with co-host Eugene Daniels teasing the story: "Today Trump's immigration crackdown extends to the free press with federal agents arresting two black journalists, including Don Lemon, after documenting a church protest." After beginning the show by discussing the merits of the case, co-host Jackie Alemany turned to Barron-Lopez and posed: "Can you talk about why the White House is so obsessed with Don Lemon in particular?" She and Daniels then added: ALEMANY: I mean, they tweeted yesterday after this episode played out, that when life gives you lemons with the chain emoji and pictures of him. DANIELS: Let's show that. It is very important that people look at what they're telling you -- the chains and then a black man in a picture. That is very important. That tells you a lot about the way that they think about black people in this country. Sorry, go ahead. ALEMANY: Yeah, what is the grudge that the White House is so hung up on? Why did they go through with this and what what was the conversation like on the grounds yesterday? Barron-Lopez asserted: ... there is a pattern with how the White House, how this President treats black people, whether they're journalists or not journalists. There's also, you know, beyond Lemon, I think that this President does have a fixation with reporters, with the press, with media personalities in particular, that he thinks are too critical of him. But it's not just critical of the President -- it's just reporters who report facts, right, who present the facts, who lay out patterns, who call what the President is doing, you know, call a spade a spade. And if you do that as a journalist now with this President, you are called political by this administration and by this President and by this MAGA movement. After recalling President Trump's history of deriding the press as "the enemy of the people," she added: BARRON-LOPEZ: Those are really strong words to describe fellow Americans who have the same rights that he has. And also, you know, our work is one of the closest jobs that's enshrined in the Constitution and -- JONATHAN CAPEHART: The only job. BARRON-LOPEZ: Right, and so, right -- and so because of and yet the President has made very clear that he has wanted to target the press from the beginning. And he has said to other journalists that he likes to discredit the press. Why? So that way the public doesn't believe us. Transcript follows: MS NOW's The Weekend January 31, 2026 7:00 a.m. Eastern EUGENE DANIELS (in opening tease): Good morning. It is Saturday, January 31. Today Trump's immigration crackdown extends to the free press with federal agents arresting two black journalists, including Don Lemon, after documenting a church protest. (...) 7:07 a.m. JACKIE ALEMANY: But, Laura, can you talk about why the White House is so obsessed with Don Lemon in particular? I mean, they tweeted yesterday after this episode played out, that when life gives you lemons with the chain emoji and pictures of him. DANIELS: Let's show that. It is very important that people look at what they're telling you -- the chains and then a black man in a picture. That is very important. That tells you a lot about the way that they think about black people in this country. Sorry, go ahead. ALEMANY: Yeah, what is the grudge that the White House is so hung up on? Why did they go through with this and what what was the conversation like on the grounds yesterday? LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I wasn't at the White House yesterday, but what I will say is that, to Eugene's point, yes, there is a pattern with how the White House, how this President treats black people, whether they're journalists or not journalists. There's also, you know, beyond Lemon, I think that this President does have a fixation with reporters, with the press, with media personalities in particular, that he thinks are too critical of him. But it's not just critical of the President -- it's just reporters who report facts, right, who present the facts, who lay out patterns, who call what the President is doing, you know, call a spade a spade. And if you do that as a journalist now with this President, you are called political by this administration and by this President and by this MAGA movement. And that is the pattern here. It goes all the way back to when he first entered the political scene, which is that the President made very clear that he viewed the press as the enemy of the people. Those are really strong words to describe fellow Americans who have the same rights that he has. And also, you know, our work is one of the closest jobs that's enshrined in the Constitution and -- JONATHAN CAPEHART: The only job. BARRON-LOPEZ: Right, and so, right -- and so because of and yet the President has made very clear that he has wanted to target the press from the beginning. And he has said to other journalists that he likes to discredit the press. Why? So that way the public doesn't believe us. (...) And so -- and other people who have followed the President, be it Marjorie Taylor Greene or other Republicans who have since split from him, say that this movement lies and never apologizes when they get something wrong. So I think when we look at this larger picture around what is happening with the attacks on Don Lemon and Georgia Fort and these prosecutions that are being brought, you have to look at the overall end goal of this administration, which is to discredit the press, the free independent press, and to not -- not present facts and to lie about the facts of different incidents that are happening on the ground when it comes to this administration.

This past Tuesday, CBS Mornings and ABC's Good Morning America interviewed Pennsylvania Democrat Governor Josh Shapiro as part of his book tour and, instead of seriously examining the realities of sanctuary cities and states, the discussions leaned more toward political rhetoric. CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King began their segment by asking Shapiro whether he believed the reassignment of Gregory Bovino and the change in Kristi Noem’s duties were sufficient. Shapiro responded “No… I have not heard the president say just because Bovino is out or Noem is out, we’re going to stop pulling people over because they have an accent.” Kelly O’Grady, co-host of CBS Saturday Morning, chimed in that according to President Trump, he and Governor Tim Walz are “on the same wavelength.” O’Grady wanted to know if Shapiro would approach President Trump “combatively or cooperatively.” Shapiro acknowledged that as “an executive, you’ve got a responsibility to dialogue with those whom you vehemently disagree with.” Despite these levels of sucking up (like here on last Tuesday's 'CBS Mornings'), the Josh Shapiro book tour really hasn't gone....anywhere. (The #AlexPretti case probably didn't help.) pic.twitter.com/TBmlSwWi1Q — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) February 2, 2026 Still not focusing on the consequences of sanctuary jurisdictions, King asked him whether he believed a lack of cooperation with ICE was part of the problem. Shapiro called it a “false pretext.” Then CBS Mornings host Vladimir Duthiers asked him if Secretary Noem should be impeached, and Shapiro responded, “she was wholly unqualified when she got the job.” Before addressing Shapiro’s new book Where We Keep the Light, Duthiers asked if he supports a government shutdown if no agreement is reached in the House. Shapiro answered, “I don’t think a shutdown will be necessary.” King concluded by asking Shapiro how he stays hopeful after his “family was the victim of political violence.” He exclaimed that his family “experienced extraordinary darkness” but then “saw so much goodness in the world and I wanted to write about that.” On Good Morning America, co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos also preferred to talk about the recent events in Minneapolis rather than the realistic effects of sanctuary cities and states. He asked Shapiro if he wanted the “CBP and ICE agents to be removed from all American cities.” Shapiro recalled his time as Pennsylvania’s chief law enforcement officer and criticized ICE and CBP, saying they not only fail to use proper police tactics, but they have also been “stopping people simply because they have an accent or because of the color of their skin.” Stephanopoulos addressed Shapiro’s new book and asked him how the events in Minneapolis challenge his thesis that there is “more that unites us than divides us.” Shapiro responded that he is inspired daily by “people bringing the light in their communities” despite the “darkness” and “challenges” in the world. Shapiro finished reacting to the Minneapolis events by stating: You know, I’m a father of four George, the idea that God forbid a million times over, this type of pain would be inflicted on my family and then the leader of the free world and his side kick would go out and attack my child the way this president did would make it harder for a community to heal, would throw gasoline on the fire. Click "Expand" to view the transcript: CBS Mornings 01/27/2026 7:30 a.m. Eastern GAYLE KING: We’re gonna turn back to the heated debate over the tactics of federal agents after the killing of ICU Nurse Alex Preti in Minneapolis. Some Republicans have now joined Democrats in saying something needs to change here. SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): What I think the administration could do better is - is the tone with which they're describing this. That - that immediately when an incident like this happens they come out guns blazing, that we took out a violent terrorist – hooray. GOVERNOR GREG ABBOT (R-TX): In general, we need to have respect for law enforcement officers in the country. They, being the White House, need to recalibrate on what needs to be done to make sure that that respect is going to be reinstilled. KING: Now, after weeks of protest we have learned that Border Patrol Commander, that's Gregory Bovino, is leaving Minneapolis but the question is, is that enough? We are joined now by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who has been outspoken on this and many other issues. His new book is Where We Keep the Light: Stories from a Life of Service, and we need a lot of light these days. We’ll talk about that with Governor Shapiro. Thank you for joining us. GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): Good morning. KING: We’re gonna talk about the book, but we really do have to start with news today. Gregory Bovino, as you know, has been reassigned. Kristi Noem, we’re told, gets to keep her job but yet her duties will be changing as well. Do you think that’s enough? (....) KELLY O’GRADY: I do want to stay on the piece about tone, right, because we have heard a friend of yours, Governor Tim Walz, and the president, they had a call that the president said, you know, they're on the same wavelength. What is your take on that and sort of taking that tone down a little bit? I mean in your experience is it better to approach the president combatively or cooperatively? SHAPIRO: Look, I always believe in dialogue. I think when you are in these positions of authority, you are an executive, you’ve got a responsibility to dialogue with those whom you vehemently disagree with and I think it’s clear Governor Walz and the president have very serious disagreements. Governor Walz is doing the right thing by his state to engage and I think the tone, to use Cruz's word, is changing but the tactics haven't, the mission hasn't. I will believe this president when he calls off the mission, when ends it, when he sends these federal troops home and out of Minnesota and stops wreaking havoc on our community. KING: But, you know, governor, the Trump administration says that part of the problem in Minneapolis is that the state officials are not cooperating with ICE. Do you think that's the problem? SHAPIRO: No. I- KING: They're not cooperating with ICE. SHAPIRO: I think- KING: If they would just cooperate -- it doesn't happen in any other city in America they're saying. (....) VLADIMIR DUTHIERS: So there's a bill to that end, Governor, to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. It’s got 140 supporters in the House. Should Secretary Noem be impeached? SHAPIRO: She was wholly unqualified when she got the job. Trump should fire her and if Trump doesn't fire her then Congress should act. The thing I'm most focused on right now is whether or not Congress is going to stand up by -- I believe it’s this Friday is their deadline- KING: Yes. SHAPIRO: And stop the funding for this mission in Minnesota and stop funding any missions like this in Maine or anywhere else across the country. Congress needs to step up. It is one thing for Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott and others to begin to show a little bit of spine here in standing up to the president. It is a whole other thing for them to vote to stop funding these kinds of missions. That's the most important vote this week. KING: Are you worried that what’s happening in Minnesota could happen in Pennsylvania? SHAPIRO: Of course. KING: Have you thought about that, prepared for that? SHAPIRO: Of course. KING: Thinking about it, yeah? SHAPIRO: I think all governors are worried about that. We have prepared for that. The injection of federal officials against my will, against the will of a local mayor, we've prepared for it. I think we are prepared to handle it about as best as you can, but make no mistake if the president of the United States wants to wreak havoc on a community with federal troops we can push back, we can try and stop them in a court, we can try and stop them in the community, but, you know, we should all be quite concerned about that. We are as prepared as we can be. DUTHIERS: Can I just ask you before we move on to the book? SHAPIRO: Sure. DUTHIERS: Do you then support a government shutdown if we cannot reach an agreement in the House? SHAPIRO: I don’t - look, I don't think a shutdown will be necessary. It does seem like there is bipartisan consensus that the manner in which this deployment in Minnesota has been carried out is wrong and needs to end. All the Congress needs to do is pull back on the funding and puts the civic language in the bill that says "You can't fund an operation like what is going on in Minnesota." There should be bipartisan consensus for that. KING: Your book Where We Keep the Light, you know, you open with a very pointed story. I will never forget that day. Your family was the victim of political violence. Yet as you sit here today you said you still have light, you still have hope. How? (....) DUTHIERS: It is a fascinating book- KING: It’s a really good read- DUTHIERS: It really is, including how you wrestle with your faith but also how you evolve when you think about certain situations. Thank you very much for joining us. KING: I will see you tonight at the 92nd Street Y because we’re gonna have a Q&A. One of the stories that Josh Shapiro tells it involves him being called to the principal's office- SHAPIRO: Oh, boy- KING: for an incident with a locker. DUTHIERS: Okay. KING: Incident with a locker. DUTHIERS: That's why we want people to read the book. KING: Josh Shapiro? [LAUGHS] KING: To be continued. DUTHIERS: Governor, thank you so much as always. SHAPIRO: Thank you. DUTHIERS : Really great to have you. SHAPIRO: I’ll see you tonight, Gayle. KING: Yes. DUTHIERS: Where We Keep the Light is on sale right now.   Good Morning America 01/27/2026 8:15 a.m. Eastern GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We are joined by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro out with a new book Where We Keep the Lights: Stories from a Life of Service. Governor thank you for joining us this morning. I know you’re stuck there in Pennsylvania because of all the snow, and I want to get to the book but first your reaction to the events in Minneapolis this weekend the shooting of Alex Pretti. GOVERNOR JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): Look, it is just awful and my heart breaks for Alex Pretti, his family, for Renee Good a few weeks before that. Look, a fundamental responsibility for government is to keep people safe and part of the way you keep people safe is by building trust between law enforcement and the community. What Donald Trump and the federal government are doing is eroding that trust, is making people less safe and it is time to terminate this mission. This mission led by CBP and ICE, this mission directed by Trump and Vance and Noem to wreak havoc on a community and we need a full investigation led, I believe, by the state government to determine all of the facts surrounding the killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. Their families deserve that. The community deserves that and we deserve peace and safety in the community at a time where we see the president, the federal government simply gaslighting us, racking up the temperature and making people less safe. STEPHANOPOULOS: What do you mean exactly by “terminate the mission?” You want the CBP and ICE agents to be removed from all American cities? (....) STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you support the effort by Democrats in Congress to block the funding of the Department of Homeland Security until these reforms are in place that could lead to a partial government shutdown? SHAPIRO: You know, I took note of Senator Cortez Masto’s plan. She understands the importance of investing in law enforcement but by withholding the funds for this mission I think she makes the exact right point. The challenge here, the problem here, pardon me George, is the direction that these federal agents are receiving. The direction that is coming all the way from the top from Trump and Vance, and Noem, that is compromised and it needs to be terminated, and I would not continue funding this and giving the president a blank check to wreak havoc and undermine people’s constitutional rights in our cities. STEPHANOPOULOS: One of the core principles you enunciate in your book is that we have more that unites us than divides us. You see what’s happening in Minneapolis.  You see what’s happening in the streets of our country and does it challenge your thesis? (....) STEPHANOPOULOS: And how do public officials like you inspire that kind of light? (....) STEPHANOPOULOS: Governor Shapiro thanks for your time this morning. Where We Keep the Light is out tomorrow.

Margaret Brennan’s interview with Venezuelan leader María Corina Machado on Face the Nation ended with a familiar point of grievance that the Elitist Media have a hard time letting go of: her giving the Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump during her recent White House visit. Watch as Brennan and Machado discuss the handover of the medal and what it represents:  WATCH: Margaret Brennan ends her interview of Venezuelan leader María Corina Machado by asking why she gave her Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump pic.twitter.com/I4H6d9sllT — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 1, 2026 MARGARET BRENNAN: Before I let you go, you know, the last time we spoke, you had made this daring covert escape by land, sea and air from Venezuela to go and receive that Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. You've kept those details private, you said, for safety reasons. But you did say you broke your back. You talked about being lost at sea, that you feared that you might lose your life at one point. After all of that, why did you give your Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, after you'd already dedicated it to him? MARIA CORINA MACHADO: Look, I think this is a matter of justice, and it's a matter of what's in the superior interest of our country. We, the Venezuelan people, are truly grateful for what he has done, and we're confident in what he will do in the – in the days, weeks and months to come. BRENNAN: You believe he supports you? MACHADO: I do, because it is – has – it has to do first and foremost with you, the American people, and how dismantling this criminal structure not only saves millions of Venezuelan lives. It also saves lives in the Americas. And once Venezuela is free, then the Cuban regime will follow. The Nicaraguan regime will follow, even the Iranian regime that has turned Venezuela into its safe haven and satellite only three hours away from Florida. I mean, this has huge consequence for the Western Hemisphere, for United States. So I think this is a win-win situation for investment, for business opportunity, for security reasons, and certainly for migration tensions and crisis. So, Venezuela will be free, and I know I will host you soon in a wonderful country that is very grateful to yours. BRENNAN: Maria Corina Machado, thank you very much for your time today. We'll be right back. The entire interview transpired in this manner, with Brennan trying to drive little wedges between Machado and Trump, and nitpick every aspect of the ongoing transition in Venezuela. In one exchange, Brennan tried to goad Machado into reacting to Trump’s initial assessment of Machado not having access to institutional control, recasting it as a personal slight. Machado refused to take the bait. BRENNAN: But then the president of the United States stood up there and said to the public that, even though you had won that election, you didn't have the public support. And I wonder if you can understand why they made that calculation. MACHADO: I will concentrate in what he told me in a private conversation, looking each other in the eyes. And I – and I truly believe he understands the nature of this regime. They all know that Delcy Rodriguez is a communist that no one can trust. Not even, you know, the people surrounding her right now does. I mean these are individuals that have strong ties with Russia, Iran, China, Cuba. I mean, she is doing what she's doing because United States is putting enough pressure for them to understand that she has no other option. If that – if that pressure were taken away, she would turn around and go back to where loyal – her loyalty is, with these regimes are the enemies of America. So no one is naive here. I think she's doing part of the dirty job of dismantling her own regime and entourage, but that's a – there's a limit to it for what you said before,. You know, people have to be taken account on – of. They have to be involved. That is probably how best to sum up the interview: Machado refused to take the bait.  This is not the sort of gauzy, soft-focus interview that is normally given to a Nobel Prize winner. Then again, this is not a normal Nobel Prize winner. For years, American media treated Latin America as a backwater- never to be covered unless there was a migrant caravan on the way or some weird virus broke out. This is especially true of the Chavista regime in Venezuela, which was ignored by the media, especially through the Obama years when some of the worst and most horrifying abuses occurred. Machado’s Peace Prize exposed that apathy, and the U.S. raid on January 3rd shattered it into a million pieces. A humiliated media now treats the effort to liberate Venezuela as MAGA-coded. This is how you end up with a Nobel Peace Prize winner drawing a passive-aggressive soft-adversarial interview by a network’s Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent. For shame. Click “expand” to view the transcript of the portions of the aforementioned interview that aired on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, February 1st, 2026: MARGARET BRENNAN: Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado is in Washington meeting with lawmakers and Trump officials to urge support for another nationwide election. Her party won the last election, but was blocked by Maduro from taking office. We spoke with Machado and began by asking her whether she thinks the pressure is off the current regime after President Trump said he had no plans for further military action inside the country. (Begin VT) MARIA CORINA MACHADO: I do not think that the pressure is being taken away. Actually, everything Delcy Rodriguez is currently doing is because she's complying with instructions she's getting from the United States, and important steps are being taken. So, I think that the message has been delivered, and, so far, we're seeing the results in the actions taken by the regime and also in the mood and energy that is growing within the Venezuelan population. BRENNAN: Are you or is anyone in your movement in touch with Delcy Rodriguez, who's the acting president of Venezuela now? MACHADO: No, not directly. BRENNAN: No. Why not? MACHADO: Well, we had offered, since we won the election by a landslide, that we were willing to – to agree in the terms of a negotiated transition. They refused. On the contrary, they decided to unleash the – the – the most cruel, brutal repression wave. There are – as you know, there have been thousands of political prisoners, and they had not demonstrated any willingness to – to stop this cruelty, until January 3 arrived and – and happened when it happened. So it sent a clear message to them, and they're starting to realize that things have changed for good. So, eventually, they might understand or – and even very soon, that it is in their best interest to – to accept that the transition is unstoppable. BRENNAN: A transition that you hope involves a democratic election at some point. Did Secretary Rubio give you any kind of timeline for the American plans? MACHADO: What I do have very clear is that the end result is the same, what we want, what the Venezuelan people have voted and struggled and fight for, with huge cost and sacrifice, and what the United States government and President Trump also desires. BRENNAN: But for the people in Venezuela still living under that regime, what has actually changed for them? And do they have the patience to wait for what you're talking about, which is basically just hoping that the Rodriguez government does what Donald Trump tells them to do? MACHADO: Well, it's more than hoping. We're seeing the results, the actions. Are we there yet? Not. And – and I think it's a good point, what you mentioned, patience. How much patience can the Venezuelan people have? Because, I mean, there were over 1,000 political prisoners on January the 1st. Still, there are over 700. Not one military prisoner, political prisoner has been liberated. BRENNAN: Well, President Trump has talked a lot about Venezuela's oil and its natural resources. Do you support the law that was just passed that allows the Venezuelan government to privatize the oil industry? MACHADO: Well, first of all, I do not recognize the National Assembly as a legitimate power. BRENNAN: Yes. MACHADO: It has not been recognized by the Venezuelan people, not even by the American, U.S. – by the U.S. government. BRENNAN: Not legally. But, effectively, they… MACHADO: It – so – so – yes, but whatever comes from that National Assembly has no legality, so – because this is an illegitimate power. So, certainly, these so-called reforms introduce positive signs in terms of what we, the Venezuelan people, want in the future. We don't want socialism. We don't want the state owning every single, you know, facility or production center. We want private property, but that requires rule of law, long-term guarantees for foreign investment, for local investment. But one thing that is the most important of all, in my opinion, you need to have people, talent, specialized, professional, willing to work and develop these enterprises. What happened with the Venezuelan specialized talent? It was forced to flee the country, almost a third of our population. And these are people that are working all around the count – the world. BRENNAN: President Trump just said on camera that United States is going to start peeling back some of these sanctions so that Americans can travel back to Venezuela. He's lifted the air restrictions. MACHADO: Well, I think… BRENNAN: Is it safe to go? MACHADO: I think it is important to take steps. I think these are signals directed to several actors, first and foremost to the regime, saying, this is going to move forward. There is no way back. And – and – and the regime knows that no American citizen or Venezuelan citizen is going to go back to a country that's still under the power of Maduro regime and the cartel. That's not going to happen. But – but these kinds of actions, I think, give the correct… BRENNAN: Yes. MACHADO: … signals, in terms that this is going to move ahead. And I do trust the president in what he has said regarding how much he cares about the Venezuelan people. That's something that I think it was quite significant in our conversation. BRENNAN: If you return to Venezuela now, would you be imprisoned? And has the American government said that they will protect you, they will guarantee your safety? MACHADO: Well, you know, things are changing very fast in Venezuela. If they had captured me before I left, I probably would have been disappeared, or – or worse. Right now, I don't think they would dare to kill me because of the United States' presence and pressure and actions. I don't know how much possibility of moving I would have inside Venezuela. Certainly, they would be very afraid, because the – the regime knows the connection, the intimate connection we have, you know, the Venezuelan people and – and the leadership that won the election, the legitimate government. BRENNAN: But you won that election, along with… MACHADO: Edmundo. BRENNAN: … Edmundo Gonzalez at the top of that ticket. Even the Trump administration recognized it. Secretary Rubio testified that to Congress. But then the president of the United States stood up there and said to the public that, even though you had won that election, you didn't have the public support. And I wonder if you can understand why they made that calculation. MACHADO: I will concentrate in what he told me in a private conversation, looking each other in the eyes. And I – and I truly believe he understands the nature of this regime. They all know that Delcy Rodriguez is a communist that no one can trust. Not even, you know, the people surrounding her right now does. I mean these are individuals that have strong ties with Russia, Iran, China, Cuba. I mean, she is doing what she's doing because United States is putting enough pressure for them to understand that she has no other option. If that – if that pressure were taken away, she would turn around and go back to where loyal – her loyalty is, with these regimes are the enemies of America. So no one is naive here. I think she's doing part of the dirty job of dismantling her own regime and entourage, but that's a – there's a limit to it for what you said before,. You know, people have to be taken account on – of. They have to be involved. BRENNAN: What role would you want in a future Venezuelan government? Because even President Trump says you may have a role in the future. Would you run for president? MACHADO: I will be president when the time comes. But it doesn't matter. That should be decided in elections by the Venezuelan people. I wasn't allowed to run in the last election, as we mentioned before, because Maduro was afraid to running against me. And he thought Edmundo was not a threat, because nobody knew who he was. And in less than three months, we managed to put the whole country supporting him, because this is – this is a matter of freedom. I mean, this is a spiritual fight, an existential fight for Venezuela. Unlike other diasporas, and I want to stress this, our people around the world, here in the United States, want to go back, go back and live in a country where they're safe, but, most of all, where there is a future in freedom and democracy. So if we want those hundreds of thousands and millions of Venezuelans to go back, we need to have a secure and precise timeline through which this transition will advance. BRENNAN: And we don't know when yet… MACHADO: Not yet. BRENNAN: … from the Trump administration. (CROSSTALK) MACHADO: Not yet. But I'm sure there is – and the Secretary of State and many other members of the government, by instructions of the president, a clear willingness to move as fast as possible, within, you know, control and order and understanding the complexity of such a criminal structure, but understanding that the voice of the people is what brings legitimacy to this process. BRENNAN: Before I let you go, you know, the last time we spoke, you had made this daring covert escape by land, sea and air from Venezuela to go and receive that Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. You've kept those details private, you said, for safety reasons. But you did say you broke your back. You talked about being lost at sea, that you feared that you might lose your life at one point. After all of that, why did you give your Nobel Peace Prize to President Trump, after you'd already dedicated it to him? MACHADO: Look, I think this is a matter of justice, and it's a matter of what's in the superior interest of our country. We, the Venezuelan people, are truly grateful for what he has done, and we're confident in what he will do in the – in the days, weeks and months to come. BRENNAN: You believe he supports you? MACHADO: I do, because it is – has – it has to do first and foremost with you, the American people, and how dismantling this criminal structure not only saves millions of Venezuelan lives. It also saves lives in the Americas. And once Venezuela is free, then the Cuban regime will follow. The Nicaraguan regime will follow, even the Iranian regime that has turned Venezuela into its safe haven and satellite only three hours away from Florida. I mean, this has huge consequence for the Western Hemisphere, for United States. So I think this is a win-win situation for investment, for business opportunity, for security reasons, and certainly for migration tensions and crisis. So, Venezuela will be free, and I know I will host you soon in a wonderful country that is very grateful to yours. BRENNAN: Maria Corina Machado, thank you very much for your time today. We'll be right back.  

The Elitist Media circled the wagons in the immediate aftermath of the indictment and arrest of former CNN anchor Don Lemon over the many civil rights violations committed in the protest-swarm of Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota on January 18th. But after the initial swarm of coverage, the Sunday political shows appeared to be hedging on Lemon. CBS’s Face the Nation didn’t address the matter at all. On NBC’s Meet the Press, the issue of Don Lemon was left to the panel discussion (which was truncated in favor of a lengthy interview with Ken Burns). Welker floated the question out in passing, but the panel didn’t bite. Not a single mention of Lemon beyond Welker’s initial question. BITTER LEMON: The sole mention of the indictment and arrest of Don Lemon on NBC's Meet the Press came as part this introductory question to Politico's Jonathan Martin to kick the panel off and was never again addressed or mentioned. pic.twitter.com/1BLDI7miQi — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 1, 2026 KRISTEN WELKER: Welcome. Thank you all for being here. J-Mart, let me start with you. All eyes still on Minneapolis, a lot of developments this week. We learned that 5-year-old boy who had been detained now released. You have former CNN journalist Don Lemon, now an independent journalist, arrested. Add to that, all of the protests. All of it against the backdrop of the midterms. How do you think this plays moving forward in this election cycle? That's it. No one on the panel wanted anything to do with Lemon, and neither did Welker throughout the rest of the show. On ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, the show’s namesake host tried to engage Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on L’affaire Lemon:  WATCH: DAG Todd Blanche catches ABC's George Stephanopoulos omitting the appellate court findings from his question casting doubt on the indictment of Don Lemon GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I also want to ask you about the situation in Minnesota. Just this week Don Lemon was… pic.twitter.com/KghvzREv4t — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 1, 2026 GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: I also want to ask you about the situation in Minnesota. Just this week Don Lemon was arrested. The journalist Don Lemon was arrested along with another independent journalist. And he was- this was despite the fact that a magistrate judge and an appeals court refused to approve the request. And the chief federal district judge Patrick Schultz wrote that there was no evidence that Mr. Lemon engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so. So when do you believe that Mr. Lemon crossed the line from reporting on what was going on to criminal activity? TODD BLANCHE: Conveniently missing from what you just showed, George, is the appellate court and a judge on the appellate court who said just a few days later there was clearly probable cause and it wasn't even a close question. So- and by the way, a grand jury, which is what our system has set up to determine whether probable cause exists, concluded that there was probable cause. That indictment is now public. Everybody in this country can pull it up and read for themselves and see what the grand jury found that Mr. Lemon did.  I am not going to comment on the charges specifically because it's not appropriate. But it's interesting that we talk about the First Amendment right. You have a right of freedom of religion, which is just as important as any other right that we have. And George, I don't know if you've watched the videos or read the indictment about what it's alleged that Mr. Lemon did. But if anybody in this country thinks that that is, quote, ”independent journalism”, I would like to have a conversation with you. Now, he obviously has a very good lawyer, he can raise defenses in court to the extent he wants to. But nobody in this country should feel comfortable storming into a church while it's ongoing and disrupting that church service and thinking that we're just going to stand by and let that happen because there is a statute that does not allow that to happen. It doesn't matter if you happen to have a former CNN journalist. It doesn't matter if you're a writer. It doesn't matter if you think you're peacefully protesting. You are not allowed to do that. STEPHANOPOULOS: So you're confident he's going to be convicted and the case won't be dismissed? BLANCHE: I am not going to speak to conviction. That would be completely inappropriate. He was indicted by a grand jury in Minneapolis and he’ll have his day in court like everybody else. That’s it. Stephanopoulos then moves on to a question on “retribution.” Note that the Stephanopoulos isn’t interested in challenging Blanche on the merits of the prosecution based on facts laid out in the indictment, instead nibbling around the technical questions of going to a grand jury after the magistrate judge refused to find probable cause. And after getting his behind handed to him on those matters, Stephanopoulos weakly closes with an inappropriate question regarding likelihood of conviction. The lengthiest exchange and defense of Don Lemon came via his former network, on CNN's State of the Union. Host Dana Bash and Blanche had the most significant tussle over Lemon: Watch the full exchange on Don Lemon between CNN's Dana Bash and DAG Todd Blanche, a comedy in three acts: 1. Bash tries to delegitimize the indictment citing lower court's finding of no cause against Lemon, gets WRECKED for misrepresenting the appellate court's findings 2.… pic.twitter.com/8dLHFoaDqX — Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) February 1, 2026 DANA BASH: Former CNN anchor Don Lemon and another journalist, Georgia Fort, were arrested on Friday on charges they violated federal law during a tense protest at a Minnesota church. A conservative federal judge, somebody who clerked for Antonin Scalia, already had rejected those warrants and wrote that there is no evidence that those two engaged in any criminal behavior or conspired to do so. Then an appeals court held up that decision. Why did you then bring this case to a grand jury after it already had been rejected by multiple judges? TODD BLANCHE: So, first of all, that appeals court, that's- you’re not right. The appeals court, the- a judge on the appeals court said that there was clearly probable cause and there was absolutely probable cause that a crime had been committed, OK? So- BASH: By journalists? BLANCHE: So it's true that they rejected the mandamus petition, but it -- yes, by Mr. Lemon and others. It's public. And so, yes, you're right. A judge in that court had said there wasn't probable cause. But guess what? Our system doesn't allow judges to make that decision. They can make that decision to get an arrest warrant on a complaint, but only a grand jury can bring forth an indictment. And so that's what we did. We went to a grand jury, which, as you know, are 25 citizens from Minneapolis and around...  BASH: Yes. BLANCHE: ... that decide whether there's probable cause. And that's who returned an indictment. BASH: Mr. Blanche, I want to go- actually, I went through the entire indictment, all 29 alleged overt acts of conspiracy. BLANCHE: Yep. BASH: And there's a lot to ask you about, but I'm just going to pick a few here, OK, starting with Overt Act number 20, which says -- quote -- "Defendant Lemon told his livestream audience about congregants leaving the church and about a young man who Lemon could see was frightened, scared and crying. And Lemon observed that the congregants' reactions were understandable because the experience was traumatic and uncomfortable, which he said was the purpose." Overt Act 21 says -- quote -- "As the operation continued, defendant Lemon acknowledged the nature of it by expressing surprise that the police hadn't yet arrived at the church and admitted knowing that the whole point of the operation was to disrupt." Why wouldn't a jury at trial see this as a journalist observing what is happening, which is protected by the First Amendment? BLANCHE: Well, you conveniently left out multiple allegations in that indictment about what else Mr. Lemon did, including surreptitiously avoiding saying where they were going, being part of the planning, being part of the decisions to make sure the police didn't know this was happening and federal law enforcement didn't know this was happening. There are multiple allegations there. And guess what? He gets to have a lawyer and he gets to have a defense. BASH: Yeah. BLANCHE: And so if he wants to go forward with the defense that, aw, shucks, I was just a journalist, he can do that. But, obviously, as the indictment lays out and what you didn't read on the air, there's a lot of things that Mr. Lemon did that you would never do as a journalist. You would never do that. BASH: Wha-- ok… BLANCHE: Let's be honest. BASH: OK, this is not about me. This is about what happened and this is about kind of the rules of the road. I mean, there are many... (CROSSTALK)  BLANCHE: No, but journalist standards matter. BASH: Wait. Let me finish my question. Let me finish my question and then you have the floor. There are- I can- countless examples of when reporters are embedded with people, with DOD, where we are told not to tell anybody where we're going. There are numerous examples of when we get embargoed information that we can't report from your agency, for example, and that has happened on -- with presidents in both parties, and we withhold reporting it until you say it's time to report it. That's not unusual. And it's not unlike what happened with Don Lemon and Georgia Fort. BLANCHE: Well, listen, I -- you are totally correct that that happens every day and it's happened for decades. But if you watch what Mr. Lemon did, OK -- and I do not want to have a trial right here. It's not fair to him. But I will say that he -- if you watch the publicly available livestreaming that he engaged in, the comments that he made -- I mean, that's what it matters, right? It matters, like, how do we balance the FACE Act, how do we balance freedom of religion, the right of people to worship on a Sunday morning, OK, and the freedom of the press? And it's a balance that we have to engage in. And I agree with you. But my point to you is that I promise you that neither you nor your colleagues can honestly, with a straight face, if you watch everything that he did in the day before with the planning and the day of with what happened, the comments he made while the kids were crying and screaming and racing away, while the parents were looking for their children upstairs... BASH: But he doesn't have a... BLANCHE: ... while they were just trying to -- have a church service. And so... BASH: OK. Bottom-line question for you is, was this really about what you just described, or was it about trying to make an example out of somebody who the president has sparred with? BLANCHE: I don't even know that the president's even ever thought of Don Lemon. I don't know whether that's true or not. But I will tell you, we're not making examples of people. The day after that happened, the attorney general flew to Minneapolis. She was there for three days. What we saw... BASH: OK. BLANCHE: ... there is no scenario under which the American people are comfortable or think that that was right. I'm sorry. So, no, this is not about making an example. It's about justice. BASH: Mr. Blanche, I want to move on. I want to move on. But the White House, on the official Twitter handle, celebrated his arrest with a social media and a chain emoji. And -- so it's pretty clear that they're very well aware in the White House of this. I want to ask about Georgia, because, this week... BLANCHE: No, I didn't say they weren't aware. (CROSSTALK) BLANCHE: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on one second. I didn't say they weren't aware. I didn't say they weren't aware. BASH: And they were celebrating. That was afterwards. (CROSSTALK) BLANCHE: No, no, you said that President Trump had some vendetta or something against Mr. Lemon. I said I don't know whether he even ever thought of Mr. Lemon. I have no idea. (CROSSTALK) BASH: He -- just yesterday, he called him a sleazebag. BLANCHE: I have no idea. You're right there was a tweet that went out. BASH: Just so you know, he called him a sleazebag just yesterday. BLANCHE: After his arrest. After his arrest. (CROSSTALK) BASH: OK. Just -- you said a lot of things before that. And it's mutual. Bash’s exchange was the lengthiest with Blanche among the legacy Sunday shows, and hers was the most extensive defense of her former colleague. And in watching how she fared with Blanche, we see why her colleagues faded back from taking the issue on in a direct manner. The CNN interview is best described as a comedy in three acts.  First, Bash tries to delegitimize the indictment by citing the lower court’s finding of no cause, and tries to misrepresent the appellate court’s findings on cause. Blanche catches her and wrecks her for it. Second, Bash tries to cherrypick the most convenient among the Overt Acts listed in the indictment that best suit her defense of Lemon’s actions as being protected by the First Amendment. Blanche shuts that down by pointing out some of the Overt Acts she omitted- chief among them those moments where Lemon is concealing the location of “Operation Pull Up” and turning the camera off, among many others. Bash then tries to compare these concealment efforts to legitimate embargoes of sensitive information by journalists embedded within government agencies on an operation. Finally, Bash suggested that the indictment is somehow personal, which got laughed out of the room as well. Bash put forth multiple narrative attempts, none of which survived first contact. Beyond cable, there was scant interest in taking up the cause of Don Lemon. We’ll see whether this holds up into the new week or if they take Lemon’s cause up once again.  

The unanimously Trump-bashing PBS pundit show Washington Week with The Atlantic came rushing to the defense of Don Lemon on their Friday night pitch-and-catch. Host Jeffrey Goldberg began: “It's been another semi-hallucinatory week in America. Just yesterday, the former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested for covering a protest inside a church in Minneapolis.” "Arrested for covering a protest" is exactly the DNC talking point of the week. Jeff and his Biden-boosting panel never cared one whit about this concept when Steve Baker of The Blaze was arrested for accompanying January 6 protesters -- in March of 2024, more than three years after the riot. Jeff didn't care when the FBI raided right-wing journalist James O'Keefe in search of the stolen diary of the president's daughter Ashley in 2021. There are other debater points. No conservative journalist ever appears to offer an actual counterpoint to Team Goldberg. The PBS mission is to offer the arguments of only one side. The unity is just so....comfortably undemocratic. Susan Glasser of The New Yorker repeated the DNC line: "One of the things that they're accusing Don Lemon of doing is peppering the pastor with questions. That is called doing journalism. They have explicitly criminalized the act of journalism in their legal filing here." PBS eagerly tweeted out the talking point:  "This is the first time [President Trump] has ordered the arrest of a journalist," said @sbg1. "One of the things that they're accusing Don Lemon of doing is peppering the pastor with questions. That is called doing journalism." pic.twitter.com/h2jVoGIuRh — Washington Week with The Atlantic | PBS (@washingtonweek) January 31, 2026 Goldberg's employee Toluse Olorunnipa attempt to explain why the church-invading tactic was somehow necessary:  OLORUNNIPA: Don Lemon and a couple of other people were going in there filming and broadcasting what was happening. And, yes, you could say that going into a church might be seen as, you know, a little bit over the top or maybe uncouth for some people, but they wanted to show that they were going to go to do things that were different because of the way that this operation with 3,000 people going into a city taking kids away from preschools, separating families, this is something that's really disrupted their community, and so they want to do something different....Obviously, Don Lemon ended up getting arrested for the act of journalism, and that is something that we're watching. GOLDBERG: It does strike me that invading a church during a service is not necessarily a good way to reach the middle of the country. It also strikes me that Don Lemon was there recording, playing a role as a journalist. On 'Washington Week' on PBS, they all said Don Lemon was arrested on "manufactured charges" for "the act of journalism." They have only a tiny sliver of discomfort for leftists ending the right to Sunday worship. That part of the First Amendment? PBS pundits don't really care. pic.twitter.com/IYTfHgtb19 — Tim Graham (@TimJGraham) February 1, 2026 Stephen Hayes of The Dispatch was in full David Brooks Mode, giving PBS exactly the echo it's always seeking:  HAYES: I mean, this is what the president does. He did in his first term. He called journalists the enemy of American people. And he promised throughout his campaign that he would get retribution. I think that's what we're seeing. I don't think he's -- he's sort of guileless about it. It's not really like he's dressing it up much. He said he wanted to get Don Lemon. Two federal judges said, there's not enough evidence, we're not going to do this. Apparently some of the prosecutors who were to have been involved, didn't want to be involved, and they went and got done limited anyway on basically manufactured charges. Trump Haters can never find any "basically manufactured charges" against Trump over the last ten years, like the entire crusade that Trump had colluded with the Russians to get elected in 2016, not to mention many of the other partisan prosecutions.