Jerome Powell, head of the U.S. Federal Reserve, said Sunday (January 11) that the Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation against him for allegedly misleading Congress about a building renovation project at the central bank’s headquarters. The move marks an escalation in President Donald Trump's pressure campaign against the Fed.

A criminal investigation has been launched by the U.S. Justice Department against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, officially over a renovation project at the Fed's headquarters. Powell contends that the investigation is a pretext for political pressure, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded lower interest rates and expressed frustration with the Fed's independent stance.

The probe has heightened tensions between the White House and the central bank, with some Republican lawmakers expressing opposition to the administration's actions. Despite the political turmoil, analysts do not expect the Fed to change its interest rate policy in the near term, and financial markets have remained stable.

Donald Trump versus the Federal Reserve - what you need to know

Good evening. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and US President Donald Trump are at loggerheads once again. The central bank chief said Sunday that the Justice Department had opened the criminal investigation against him for allegedly misleading Congress. While the probe is ostensibly about a project to renovate the Fed's office buildings, Powell says that is just a pretext. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President. The criminal investigation marks a dramatic escalation in tensions between the White House and Fed. But how did things get so bad? Trump's beef with the Fed all goes back to interest rates. He has repeatedly called on the central bank to cut rates faster, saying that would boost the economy. Trump says they should go as low as 1%, a level rarely seen outside times of crisis. He's been frustrated with the Fed's caution, dubbing its boss too late Powell, and at times threatening to fire him. The Fed was designed by Congress to be insulated from political pressure. The seven members of its Board of Governors serve 14-year terms, which ensures that no president can nominate a majority. But Trump has also tried to fire another Fed governor, Lisa Cook, for allegedly filing misleading mortgage documents. Cook has denied wrongdoing and sued to keep her job. A planned renovation of two historic buildings in the Fed's Washington headquarters has run over budget. That's for reasons such as higher than expected costs, design changes, and unforeseen hazardous material contamination. Trump has accused Powell of mismanagement and hinted at fraud without providing evidence. Powell has rejected the charges and defended the need to remove hazardous materials. The DOJ appears to be preparing to indict Powell for lying to Congress. That's over his June testimony to the Senate Banking Committee about the renovation. George Washington University political expert Sarah Binder says it's a deeply unusual move for the Justice Department. Well, it's certainly not normal for U.S. attorney's offices to go after what appear to be the president's critics. In this case, Powell's not a Trump critic per se, but what's unusual here is that we know, as the president keeps saying, he wants lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve. And even though the Fed actually has recently, in several meetings, cut interest rates, that is not good enough for the president and his demands. Trump's move has angered some Republicans. Senator Tom Tillis says he will oppose all future Fed nominees while the probe lasts. He sits on the banking committee that oversees the Fed, where Republicans hold only a slim majority. Still, the president's pressure could succeed. Powell and Cook could be forced out, giving Trump two new seats to fill. But for now, there's little expectation that the Fed will bow to pressure for more rate cuts when it meets at the end of this month. Analysts say a politicized Fed would have less freedom to steer the economy as it sees fit, raising the risk of high inflation and undermining the dollar. But investors aren't panicking yet, with U.S. stocks broadly steady this week. Markets now bet that the Fed will stand firm on rates until after Powell's term ends in May.

The U.S. and Taiwan clinched a trade deal that cuts tariffs on many of the semiconductor powerhouse's exports, directs new investments in the U.S. technology industry and risks infuriating China.

Washington

U.S., Taiwan strike deal on tech tariffs risking China's ire

The United Nations Security Council has held an emergency meeting to discuss the deadly anti-establishment protests in Iran at the request of the United States. President Donald Trump has refused to rule out military action on Iran over the killing of protesters. Tehran has vowed to retaliate if that happens.

Tehran

Iran, U.S. clash at UN over protests as calls grow for restraint

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented President Trump with her real Nobel Peace Prize medallion during her visit to the White House on Thursday.

Machado gives Trump her Nobel Prize medallion at White House meeting

Tensions are soaring in Minneapolis as protesters face off against federal agents. As Matt Gutman reports, it comes after a Venezuelan migrant was shot by an ICE agent after allegedly trying to flee federal officers.

Minneapolis

Tensions flare in Minneapolis after second shooting by ICE agent

Ali Shaath, the Palestinian former government official chosen to administer Gaza under a U.S.-backed deal, has an ambitious plan that includes pushing war debris into the Mediterranean Sea and rebuilding destroyed infrastructure within three years.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

U.S. backs Palestinian civil engineer to administer Gaza

The U.S. has announced the launch of the second phase of President
Donald Trump's peace plan in the Gaza Strip, which will involve moving from a ceasefire to demilitarization.

Jerusalem

Middle East Conflict

Gaza deal's second phase to begin

CBS News met with fighters from an armed and outlawed Iranian opposition group in the mountains of northern Iraq who said the protests in Iran have given them hope. They believe the regime can be toppled "if the people who are demonstrating on the street get international help."

Iranian opposition group says protests give hope to topple regime

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday a "state of emergency" will be declared in the energy sector, after relentless Russian strikes on heat and electricity supplies during freezing winter temperatures.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine: Zelensky declares energy emergency after Russian strikes

Military personnel from several NATO countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Norway headed to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies prepared ⁠for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump over its security as he pushes to acquire the island.

Nuuk

Several European countries and NATO allies send troops to Greenland

Elon Musk's artificial intelligence company xAI said late on Wednesday it imposed restrictions on all users of its Grok AI chatbot that limit image editing after the service produced sexualized images that sparked concerns among global regulators.

California

Musk's xAI curbs Grok image editing after concerns

Protests in the U.S. city of Minneapolis as another person's been shot by an immigration officer.

Protest erupts in Minneapolis after ICE agent shoots man during raid

The United States has completed its first sale of Venezuelan oil, generating around $500 million, a US official said Wednesday, the first major energy transaction since Washington’s dramatic intervention in Venezuela earlier this month.

Venezuela Strikes

United States completes first sale of Venezuelan oil

Denmark says fundamental disagreements remain with the US over the future of Greenland. President Donald Trump has said he wants to take over the territory 'one way or another', arguing anything short of full American control is unacceptable.

Greenland, Denmark say Trump set on ‘conquering’ territory after meet

Republicans in the Senate killed a resolution on Wednesday that would have put limits on President Trump's ability to take action in Venezuela. Vice President JD Vance had to step in to break the 50-50 tie.

Senate Republicans kill war powers effort to limit Trump on Venezuela

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio hosted foreign ministers from Greenland and Denmark as President Donald Trump continues to insist on a U.S. takeover of Greenland.

Vance and Rubio meet with officials from Greenland and Denmark

At least 30 people were killed when a construction crane collapsed onto a moving train in northeastern Thailand, at the site of a planned high-speed rail project intended to eventually link China with much of Southeast Asia.

Sikhio District

At least 30 people killed in Thailand train derailment

Tehran has warned neighbors hosting U.S. troops that it would hit American bases if Washington strikes, a senior Iranian official told Reuters, as Iran seeks to deter Donald Trump's threats to intervene on behalf of protesters.

Iran warns neighbors it could hit U.S. bases if Washington strikes

As Prime Minister Mark Carney heads to China to ease trade tensions, President Donald Trump reiterated that the U.S. doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA. Carney was also urged by Ontario’s premier to not back down on tariffs for Chinese EVs.

Ottawa

Trump says he doesn’t need Canadian goods or the CUSMA

United States President Donald Trump says he has cancelled all meetings with Iranian officials and has told protesters to “take over your institutions” amid Tehran’s crackdown.

Trump cancels Iran meetings, urges protesters to take on institutions

Around 2,000 people including security personnel have been killed in protests in Iran, an Iranian official said, the first time authorities have acknowledged the high death toll from an intense crackdown on two weeks of nationwide unrest.

Iran official says 2,000 killed in nationwide unrest

Former President Bill Clinton is refusing to appear before the House Oversight Committee to testify as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News congressional correspondent Nikole Killion has more.

Bill Clinton skips Epstein deposition on Capitol Hill

Former Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni, who also served as the president of soccer club AC Ajaccio, was shot dead in Corsica on January 11 during his mother’s funeral. He was 71. Alain Orsoni was one of the leaders of the Corsican National Liberation Front (FLNC) in the 1980s. He later founded and led the Movement for Self-Determination (MPA).

Vero

Ex-Corsican nationalist leader Alain Orsoni killed at mother's funeral

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who needs to have a graft conviction overturned to seize her best chance at the French presidency, risks seeing her life's work upended if she loses her appeal. It comes after a French court last year barred her from running for office for five years over a European Parliament fake-jobs scam involving her and other officials from her National Rally party.

Paris

Marine Le Pen's appeal in EU fund embezzlement case opens in Paris

British regulators are investigating X for lewd AI images generated by Grok, the AI arm of Elon Musk's social platform. Michael Goodyear, an associate professor at New York Law School, joins CBS News with more.

London

UK investigating Musk's X over Grok's AI-generated images

As U.S. President Donald Trump weighs a response to Iran's deadly crackdown on nationwide protests, Iranian leaders say they are still keeping communications open with the Americans. But on January 12, large pro-government rallies took place across Iran, and the U.S. was clearly framed as the enemy and instigator of the protests.

Iranian leaders mobilise supporters as U.S. weighs intervention

Last week an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agent shot and killed Renee Good, a Minneapolis mother who was observing a law enforcement action carried out by the agency.

Minnesota

Minnesota sues federal government to prevent further ICE deployment

The demonstrations are the biggest Iran has seen in years. Protests spurred by the Iranian currency collapse have morphed into a larger test of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's rule.

Trump weighs military action against Iran over protest crackdown

President Claudia Sheinbaum has sought to safeguard Mexican sovereignty while cooperating with the US on key issues.

Mexico City

Mexico’s Sheinbaum rejects Trump’s threat of strikes on drug cartels

President Donald Trump said that any country which does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the U.S., as Washington weighs a response to the situation in Iran which is seeing its biggest anti-government protests in years.

Trump says nations trading with Iran will face 25% U.S. tariffs

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says his country is ready for war but also for dialogue, after US President Donald Trump said the US is considering ‘very strong options’ in response to Iran’s crackdown on antigovernment protests.

Breakdown