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Few Americans Satisfied With Amount of Info Released in Epstein Case; 1,500 Federal Troops on Standby for Possible Deployment to Minnesota; DOJ Investigating Protesters Who Disrupted Church Service; Trump, NATO Head Expected to Meet This Week Amid Greenland Threats; Kurds See Victory Edging Closer After Decades of Fighting Iranian Regime. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 19, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: stay quite cold, even in the south, and the snow does remain a concern.

Another system coming through for the middle of the week, and then with the amount of snow that we're going to see pileup, can cause some issues to the north. To the south, Erica, what we're going to be watching, the European forecast model and the GFS both showing -- now, this is going to this weekend. Not saying this is exactly how it's going to play out, but snow, possibly ice for parts of the south. Stay tuned. This could be a very big deal.

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": I mean, January is shaping up to be one heck of a winter already. Chris, appreciate it. Thank you.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump now linking his threats to take over Greenland to his snub for the Nobel Peace Prize. His new extraordinary message to Norway's leader.

Plus, active-duty U.S. soldiers are now on standby, ready to deploy if the president and the Pentagon give the order for them to go into Minneapolis. We'll take you there live ahead.

Plus, files fall out. New polling shows that few Americans are satisfied with how much evidence has been released in the Epstein case, with most believing the government is intentionally holding back information.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

Right now, U.S. troops are on alert to head to Minnesota. The Pentagon has ordered nearly 1,500 soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to Minneapolis to assist President Trump's immigration crackdown. We've also learned the administration is still considering the potential use of the Insurrection Act, though as of now, it remains a last resort. And tensions remain high in the Twin Cities after another weekend of protests.

Today, the Justice Department vowing to press charges after a group of protesters in St. Paul disrupted services at a church where they say an ICE agent serves also as a pastor. Also, CNN learning now, the FBI briefly opened a civil rights investigation into the ICE agent who shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good, but the bureau then switched the probe to focusing on whether the agent was assaulted. CNN's Julia Vargas-Jones joins us now from the Twin Cities.

Julia, please bring us up to speed on these many latest developments.

JULIA VARGAS-JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Danny, we are here just outside that church, the center of that investigation. Now, in the video from the Black Lives Matter of Minnesota, we can see those protesters going in, disrupting service and chanting, ICE out and justice for Renee Good.

Again, the reason for this disruption of the service is because they believe that one of the pastors at this church, David Easterwood, is also an Acting Field Office Director of Enforcement and Removal Operations for ICE here in St. Paul. Now, the Department of Homeland Security is declining to confirm his identity or whether this pastor is indeed the same person who is the ICE agent.

In a statement to CNN, the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary, Tricia McLaughlin, said, quote, "The DHS will never confirm or deny any attempts to dox our law enforcement officers" and claiming that you cannot do so because to preserve the safety of those officers.

We also heard from Attorney General, Pam Bondi last night on X, saying that she spoke to the pastor, though, here in Minnesota, whose church was targeted. And then again, she said that attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians will be met with the full force of federal law, Danny.

But today, Martin Luther King Day here in Minnesota is being celebrated with a slightly calmer demeanor from those protesters. There are some celebrations being planned for later today that we'll be attending. It seems like the temperatures as well as the real temperatures outside is also being dialed down on this protests, at least for now, Danny.

FREEMAN: Julia Vargas-Jones, thank you so much for that update. Really do appreciate it. Erica?

HILL: We are closely following President Trump's escalating threat to control Greenland. Today, a stunning message he sent to Norway's prime minister about the Nobel Peace Prize is entering the fold as President Trump again refuses to rule out using force, telling NBC News earlier in response when asked if that option was on the table, saying simply no comment.

Now, all of this, of course, comes ahead of the president's planned trip to Switzerland this week where he will be face to face with NATO leaders. Davos, of course, happening there this week. CNN's Alayna Treene joining us now from the White House. So, this is quite the exchange between President Trump and another world leader. Talk about pulling back the curtain a little bit. Walk us through this message, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, this is remarkable language that the president used in this message to Norway. I want to read for you some of what he wrote.

[14:05:00]

He said, quote, "Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America." The message that he had sent, and this was over text, went back and forth, kind of just discussing that he believes that the United States has just as much of a right to Greenland as Denmark does.

Look, this is incredibly escalatory language. And the rhetoric that the president has used in really ratcheting this up in recent weeks is definitely, certainly going to be front and center in Davos this week, likely going to make for some awkward exchanges with other NATO nations while he is there. I think the importance of this, I mean, look, him pointing to the Nobel Peace Prize -- just to get this out of the way, this is something that the president, of course, has been very bitter about.

This idea that he believes that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize, was very much disappointed that he did not receive it last year. Of course, he did end up actually having that award presented to him last week by the 2025 winner, the Venezuelan Opposition Leader, Maria Corina Machado. But something that has continued to get under the president's skin, him now using it as a way of him saying, you know, there's no reason I should be pushing for anything other than the peace that he believes is needed at this point in time.

But to go to the broader conversation about Greenland, because I think this is so important, this is something that Trump has coveted now for years. And it actually goes back to his first term. And the reasoning behind the scenes that people in the Trump administration say is because the president personally believes that no one can protect the Arctic region as much as President Trump.

He believes that it is necessary for national security to the United States and also for the United States' missile defense system to try and, you know, use Greenland as a place to knock down potential weapons and nuclear weapons that might be launched through that region. But a lot of it does go back to, as well, in my conversations with Trump officials, they tell me that the president is more emboldened than ever after the successful capture of Venezuelan Leader, Nicolas Maduro earlier this month and the operation there.

A lot of that goes back to how he believes that he should have, the United States should have full influence in the Western Hemisphere, and it's kind of emboldened him to take this more aggressive approach toward Greenland. Of course, we are seeing the potential factors that this has on the NATO alliance overall, and we saw that as well with the president putting tariffs on a number of NATO countries as well this weekend. Erica?

HILL: Yeah, it'll be interesting to see if there is further pushback in that continuing united front from European leaders. Alayna, thank you.

Still ahead here, the threat of execution looming over Iranian prisoners, despite President Trump claiming that they have been stopped, the crime Iranian officials say could carry the death penalty.

Plus, new CNN polling reveals public demand for transparency with the Epstein files. So what's being done to actually trigger that full disclosure? And later, the behind-the-scenes power struggle that prompted "60 Minutes" to finally air its expose in El Salvador's CECOT prison. That and much more ahead right here on "CNN News Central."

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[14:13:00]

FREEMAN: It's now been one month since the Justice Department's congressionally-mandated deadline to release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files. And according to the DOJ's own estimate, the department has released less than 1 percent of the files as of early this month.

Well, a new CNN poll shows only 6 percent of Americans are satisfied with how much the U.S. has released from the files of the convicted pedophile whose death in jail was ruled a suicide. Two-thirds of the people polled say the federal government is intentionally holding back some information about the case that should be released, while just 16 percent say the government is making an effort to release all information possible.

For more on this, we have CNN's Katelyn Polantz joining us now. Katelyn, can you give us any idea why this is all taking so long?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's just so many documents.

FREEMAN: Yeah.

POLANTZ: And the Department of Justice, they've had to keep telling a court in New York, the federal judge who oversaw the case against Ghislaine Maxwell where she was convicted, they keep having to give updates. And they're saying, we have to do this by hand, looking at these documents one by one.

There are millions of files. And as of now, as of late last week, the Justice Department said they have more than 500 lawyers working on it. So they continue to throw resources, additional lawyers, to this work.

We've seen -- or I've obtained and been able to see internal discussions that have gone out where the head of the criminal division, for instance, was pleading with lawyers, let's get it done. The sooner we finish this work, the sooner we're done with this work. But it is just so much, the percentages are very low.

And we're not going to see how much the department has gone through until they release the next batch of files. It's been four weeks since the transparency deadline, also about four weeks since the last time the Department of Justice released a tranche of files from the Epstein files that they have. They say right now they've made substantial progress, but in court they haven't put specific numbers on where they are over the last few days.

[14:15:00]

But it's not a dead issue. This is something where there are two members of Congress who are in this court case as well, are trying to get into this court case, wanting to force the judge to have more oversight of the redaction process, even asking for a third party, an independent monitor, to come in and look at how the Justice Department is doing this work to protect victims and also to move quickly, not to over-redact.

But the Justice Department, they are against that as well. In court on Friday, in a filing that they said, writing to Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who've advocated for transparency in the House, this court asked whether Representatives Khanna and Massie have Article III standing, meaning they can go to court and sue, and whether the court has the authority to rule upon or take action to bring about DOJ's compliance with the Transparency Act.

The answer to both questions, respectfully, is no. Danny?

FREEMAN: Man, so just, again, so many different moving parts, but seemingly we're not closer at the moment to getting more than 1 percent of those documents out.

POLANTZ: We haven't seen them yet, and we're still waiting to see what the next batch holds.

FREEMAN: All right, Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for continuing to stay on this. Really appreciate you.

All right, still to come, Iran now warning that some protesters still face execution. This coming just days after President Trump said he would not strike Iran because the executions had stopped. We'll keep you updated on that story. Plus, look at this massive pileup right here in Michigan.

We'll tell you details on what happened as we're tracking the winter storm that's being blamed for that huge wreck. That and much, much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

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[14:22:20] FREEMAN: I mean, take a look at this. Just incredibly harrowing images. Right now, efforts underway to get stranded motorists off the road after that huge pileup of more than a hundred vehicles on a Michigan highway, amid whiteout conditions. Buses now transporting people to a nearby high school to get them out of the brutal temperatures. At least nine injuries have been reported and the stretch of interstate where it all happened is now closed in both directions.

Now, this is about 24 miles southwest of Grand Rapids. And CNN Meteorologist, Chris Warren is joining me now. Chris, I mean, these pictures, this pileup just goes on and on and on. What can we expect?

WARREN: I can tell you, this is likely what they were experiencing or conditions like this can certainly lead to that, can lead to pileups. You're driving along. You can barely at times, if you're driving fast enough, barely at times see the end of your vehicle, especially when you get into these snow squalls and then trying to stop, if out of nowhere, there's cars that are stopped in the middle of the road, trying to stop on the snow, very difficult. And you can really understand and imagine how that can happen.

So what we're going to be looking at going forward, what we're going to be seeing jumping ahead here to this weekend is that there is the potential that we could end up seeing something in the south. I'll get to that in just a moment. But first this, where more conditions will make driving difficult, if not at times extremely challenging or even impossible.

Winter storm warnings. The disturbances that we see come across the Great Lakes help enhance the lake effects. Now, here comes another one. Boom, just like that. And then behind it, you'll see some more lake enhanced or lake effect snow. They can add up to a foot or more when it's all said and done.

Then there's the cold. About 70 percent of the U.S. population will have temperatures out the door, 32 degrees or colder in the next week or so. And this is what it's going to feel like when you walk outside in Minneapolis.

Temperatures will be feeling like they're below zero for the next couple of days. And then again, Danny, we're going to be looking at what could ultimately be a snow and ice event, not in a good way, this weekend. Details still need to be worked out, but this could end up being a big deal.

FREEMAN: I mean, it's just remarkable seeing places, you know, south as Atlanta and even further south, I mean, getting hit. I hope everyone pays attention to the forecast. Chris Warren, thanks so much. Appreciate you. Erica?

HILL: Turning our attention now to the Middle East. Iranian authorities suggesting over the weekend some anti-government protesters could still be put to death. Now, of course, this comes despite President Trump's claim that executions in Iran have stopped. A spokesperson for Iran's judiciary says some actions committed by protesters, "carry the most severe punishments under Islamic law."

CNN Senior International Correspondent, Ben Wedeman is just across the Iranian border. He's in Erbil, Iraq. So Ben, what more do we know about specifically the fate of some of these Iranian protesters?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, first of all, it's important to stress that the most severe punishment under Islamic law is indeed death. And we know that, according to Iranian state TV, that there have been waves of arrests carried out across Iran.

And the Iranian state TV is describing those who have been arrested as being affiliated with what is being called Israeli terrorist gangs. And therefore, there's a high probability that perhaps once the spotlight is off Iran, that many of these people will indeed face the death penalty.

[14:25:00]

Keep in mind that executions in Iraq is an ordinary thing in terms of it just happens very often. In fact, according to one U.S.-based human rights group that keeps a very close eye on Iran, in 2025, 1,920 people were executed there. That's according to their count. There are larger estimates, in fact.

So execution is a common punishment in Iran. And, therefore, as I said, if President Trump turns his attention elsewhere, and that's very easy to do, then Iran may, in terms of carrying out this sort of punishment, go back to its usual habits. Erica?

HILL: Yeah. Which, of course, there was a lot of concern over. So Ben, you've spent, I know, a fair amount of time with Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. They have been fighting the Iranian regime for years. What more did you learn from them about where things stand in this moment?

WEDEMAN: Well, they're really waiting to see which way things go in terms of, if this is just another brief period of intense protest, as we've seen happens every few years going back decades, or it really does appear that the regime in Tehran is beginning to totter. They say, this is this group, it's called the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran. It's been operating since 1945.

They are the largest Kurdish opposition group, and they have many people inside the country. So they're keeping a very close eye. And they say that if it does appear that the regime is really starting to feel the pressure from the streets, and its weakness does appear to be more so than it has been in quite some time, given, of course, the results of the 12-day war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran last June, in addition to the fact that it's lost many of its allies, either in terms of Bashar al-Assad in Syria or seen Hezbollah in Hamas really severely weakened.

So, they're waiting for that moment when it appears that they can strike and actually have an effect in bringing down the government in Tehran. Erica? HILL: Ben, good to have you on the ground there. Thank you.

Still to come here, Minnesota lawmakers are calling for investigations, demanding answers over ICE agents' conduct during the protests in Minneapolis. This as the Pentagon orders about 1,500 active-duty soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment to that state. That's next.

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