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Trump Speaks at World Economic Forum Amid Push for Greenland; Immigrations Agents Increasingly Using Cellphone Cameras on Duty. Aired 8:00-8:30a ET

Aired January 21, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: ... sign up to something. That's unclear. But so much riding on this next diplomatic move, while ordinary Ukrainians in the capital, many of them freeze.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I mean, in what you present really is blame Ukraine or push Russia to sign on to something. At this point, that is almost literally a jump ball. We will see what comes from Davos. It's great to see you, Nic. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking news this morning. You are looking at the area where the president has just landed there in Davos. This is a major moment on the world stage for President Trump and others.

So we're standing by to hear him speak live at the World Economic Forum there in Davos, Switzerland, which could happen this hour. And the question everyone wants an answer to. What will he say about Greenland?

This visit has already been dominated by his increasingly aggressive push to take the island, which is controlled by NATO ally Denmark. Today, he will face some of the same U.S. allies he's been insulting and threatening with new tariffs for days now. Sources tell CNN top European officials plan to stage a diplomatic intervention with the president in Davos.

The goal, finding some kind of an off ramp to de-escalate the situation. The trip got off to a bumpy start when Air Force One was first had to turn around midair. The White House says the plane simply suffered a minor electrical issue. After a delay of more than two hours, the president changed planes and continued on his way. We have now seen him landing there.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House. What can we expect from the president this morning? I guess that's what everyone is wondering.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that really is the big question today, Sara. And this is going to be a truly historic day, particularly depending on how this speech goes. Now, look, we are told that the speech of the president is going to give is going to be wide-ranging.

It's going to talk about the economy and other issues. But of course, the big question is how he is going to address the elephant in the room, which is Greenland. Now, from my conversations with people in the White House, people who are accompanying, I should add, the president on this trip to Switzerland, they tell me that the president is very serious when it comes to Greenland.

He believes personally that it is vital to national security. But I also know that in some of the conversations around this, particularly that the president has had with some of his top aides, there's not an agreement on how to really achieve that goal. And so today is going to be crucial because, of course, he is going to be addressing many of the NATO allies that are being threatened by this rhetoric that the president is using and this threat of trying to annex Greenland from, as you said, a NATO country, Denmark.

Now, there are a couple of ways I'm looking at this. I think the big thing to watch, really, today in this speech is the type of tone and rhetoric that the president uses. Is he going to continue this maximalist, aggressive posture about, you know, trying to take control of Greenland's through any means necessary, you know, even not ruling off military intervention? Or is he going to use this as a moment, as we've seen the president do many times before, kind of back away from this and try to use all of this as, you know, kind of spin it off as a strategy to force some of these European countries to the table on a new deal? We're really going to have to wait and see what happens.

But, Sara, I do think equally as important to the speech is going to be those conversations that the president after the fact with many of these countries. We're told he's expected to have five bilateral meetings with many European allies. And really, the question is going to be how do they approach him in this? Are they going to try to appease him or are they going to stand firm and trying to stand up to him? All of that we're still waiting to see as it unfolds today.

SIDNER: OK, Alayna Treene, we're looking at live pictures now in Davos with Marine One having landed. We will see what happens, everybody waiting to see what he says. to all of the European leaders that are gathered there -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Needless to say, they are watching and they are waiting nervously. With us now is CNN anchor chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto. Jim, good to see you this morning. I've been struck by what world leaders are saying out loud over the last 24 hours.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney saying that the rules-based order led by America is a pleasant fiction, the bargain no longer works. The Belgian prime minister saying being a happy vassal is one thing, being a miserable slave is something else. You've been speaking to officials, people from all over the world. What are they bracing for this morning? [08:05:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, it's been interesting, John, over the course of the last week, particularly as this Greenland acquisition plan has come to the fore, is that what European officials were telling me in private for months was that they see the world order collapsing. They no longer trust the U.S. as a security partner. They're beginning to doubt America's commitments to its existing alliances, et cetera, they are now saying in public, right?

And that was something they were loathe to do prior because, of course, like so many in dealing with Trump, they were afraid of his reaction. But Greenland seems to be a breaking point for them, and particularly the Danish. I mean, the Danish have said to me, this is a red line. This is not negotiable. We will stand up and we will take the pain, right? We will take the economic pain, and if need be, we will put our troops on the ground in Greenland, as you're now seeing come to be, to make that claim quite clear.

And I think that's the change. And, you know, that realization among Europeans that the old ways are going away, one could argue has been a long time coming, right? Because Trump has been quite public with his different approach to the world for some time. They're waking up to it now and they're adjusting accordingly.

BERMAN: Axios this morning calls this a hinge moment, this speech, which will be delivered just minutes. You know, Kate's been talking about this this morning, saying this is the most important speech perhaps ever delivered at Davos, the most anticipated speech. What are people looking for this morning? And what might the implications be beyond, you know, this Tony town in Switzerland, you know, beyond the Greenland issue?

SCIUTTO: Listen, Trump could surprise us. And to Alayna's point, he may. And there he is as he's walking off the helicopter there at Davos.

He may You know, as he seemed to tease yesterday that perhaps there's some deal that everybody would be happy with. But to date, the rhetoric has been consistent, right, from Trump. His Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessant, who at times, as you know, John, folks have said he's the adult in the room.

He's more conciliatory, et cetera. No, he said, Denmark is irrelevant, right? Quite a thing to hear from your treaty ally. Howard Lutnick gives a talk at dinner last night that was so offensive to Christine Lagarde. She walks out, right?

And the point is that it's not just rhetoric because the rhetoric seems to be the policy, in that when the U.S. says Denmark is irrelevant, they believe Denmark is irrelevant and therefore the U.S. can push them around. And if we want Greenland, we can take it and they're not going to go head-to-head with us. We're just too powerful for them. Which is really the Trump view, not just of the kingdom of Denmark,

but of Europe in general, that they need us too much and we can tell them what to do and it's our right to tell them what to do. So that rhetoric is important because it appears to be the policy. And let's listen to how Trump frames that, because if he is consistent, then, you know, the Mark Carney's of the world are right, that that old order is done, the relationship has changed forever, and they've got to make changes and appear to be making changes in response to them.

BERMAN: Very quickly, what does Vladimir Putin think while he's watching this?

SCIUTTO: Loves it, celebrates it. It's his dream. It's a fever dream, right?

I mean, he has been angling to break or split or weaken the NATO alliance for decades. And now the U.S. is doing it for him, you know, with real consequences. Because there have already been divisions of the alliance over handling Ukraine. And now you have, you know, quite open public split over territorial acquisition, which of course is something Putin's interested in. So he and Xi Jinping, they're popping champagne.

BERMAN: All right, again, we're watching as the president just arrived in Davos. He will be speaking very shortly. Needless to say, the anticipation very high. Jim Sciutto, great to speak with you this morning. Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Also new this morning, federal agencies like ICE not required to use or wear body cameras. They have, however, been using cell phones to record encounters during immigration enforcement, and there's new reporting on why. That's coming up next.

And there's a very dangerous winter storm brewing and concern that the impacts in certain places could be catastrophic. We have the latest forecast coming up for you.

And a second deadly train crash in Spain just days after that crash that killed more than 40 people. The investigation now into what caused this latest crash.

[08:10:00]

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BOLDUAN: So in Minnesota, we have learned that the use of body cameras for federal agents is not required, which is people wondering, why then are ICE agents so often seen using their own cell phone cameras to record encounters? You may remember the agent who fatally shot Renee Goode was seen using his cell phone to film Goode in the moments leading up to her death. This is obtained by CNN.

A former DHS official is now telling CNN that it's a new phenomenon partly driven by the White House push to broadcast their immigration crackdown on social media.

[08:15:00]

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has new reporting on this, and she's joining us now. Priscilla, please tell us what you're learning.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, a CNN team, looked at dozens of videos of what you're describing, which is federal agents out on the streets of Minneapolis using their cell phones. And in looking at it in totality, it provided a very clear picture as to what exactly is unfolding. And it's various things.

For example, they are scanning faces to identify any immigration history an individual may have. They're trying to record these instances for social media, as you just mentioned. A former Homeland Security official discussing that push from the White House to gather more content from these operations and also documenting the actions of officers and also that of protesters.

Now, in reviewing all of these videos, we also identified one of the apps the Department of Homeland Security is using in the course of operations, and that is called Mobile Fortify. It has been developed by the Department of Homeland Security, and it uses U.S. Customs and Border Protection data sets specific to immigration. So a little more about this app, as you see it there.

It allows the officers to scan the faces of the individuals that they are targeting. In those instances, they can pull up identifying information, including immigration history. Now, when I have talked to officials about this, they call this app efficient because prior to this, they had these mobile biometric systems.

So they would essentially do fingerprinting of their targets, but now they're able to scan the face and see if it's the person that they have been seeking and if that is the person who has the immigration history for them to take them into custody. U.S. Customs and Border Protection similarly uses facial recognition technology because as we've seen in these videos, it is both ICE and CBP who is pulling up their phones and scanning faces when they do this.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security in a statement said the following about the app Mobile Fortify, quote, "Its use is governed by established legal authorities and formal privacy oversight, which set strict limits on data access, use, and retention. Mobile Fortify has not been blocked, restricted, or curtailed by the courts or by legal guidance. It is lawfully used nationwide." The Department of Homeland Security also said that they're working to expand the access of body cameras for agents, though it's unclear whether it will be a requirement, because, as you noted, it is not currently one.

But where is the concern? The concern is when they're doing these at- large operations, meaning that they're in the community, they're scanning the faces of multiple people, and that can also include U.S. citizens. Similar technology is used at TSA, for example, but in those instances, passengers have a right to not have their -- not have the facial recognition technology used on them.

So that is where there has been a lot of concern as to whether the indiscriminate use of this is violating rights. There's a claim on that in a lawsuit that's been filed against the Department of Homeland Security. The department, for its part, has been disputing that claim. But it all goes to show, Kate, that these phones are used for a variety of reasons, both for immigration purposes, but also for recording actions and for social media.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating reporting, Priscilla. Thank you so much for bringing it to us -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, you were looking at live pictures where President Trump has just landed moments ago, touching down there in Davos as literally entire world waits to see what he says on the world stage at the Economic Forum, and whether Greenland is one of the items he decides to put out there.

Plus, heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain on the forecast. What we know now about the potentially devastating winter storm that is expected to impact millions of Americans.

[08:20:00]

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BERMAN: All right, any moment now, President Trump will speak before world leaders in Davos. You're looking at live pictures right now of the room where it will all happen. Axios is calling this a hinge moment. Investors are on edge.

Maybe the biggest question this morning, what will the president say about Greenland and his desire to get it? CNN's Nic Robertson is in Greenland once again this morning. Everyone in the world talking about where you're standing this morning, Nic. What's the mood there? What are they looking for?

ROBERTSON: Full of expectation, anticipation. I've spoken to people here today, and they absolutely know this is the moment to watch. They were expecting the prime minister here to be giving a press conference starting about 20 minutes ago, but we're yet to get confirmation of that.

There was a little bit of jitters here as well because the president was delayed getting to Davos. When was he going to speak? But everyone is looking at this as the moment. The prime minister yesterday spoke about perhaps telling the people today that they needed to prepare. That was his plan, to tell them to prepare for the worst.

The people I've been talking to here have been telling me they've been charging up their power banks, buying extra batteries, buying extra water, buying extra food, gasoline, all these sorts of things. That's the level of anticipation and expectation. They are watching President Trump for what he says about Greenland.

And is he going to park that idea of the hard option, the military option here? Is he going to go for something else? But whatever it is, it's very clear people here don't want the United States to be taking over Greenland. And that, in of itself, is such an issue. And they worry about how

that's going to play out in Europe.

[08:25:00]

Right now they're happy because they've got a high level of support and backing from the European countries, you know, Denmark's part of the European Union, part of NATO, so they feel they've got that strong backing. This warship behind me here. That's part of military exercises, Arctic military exercises that are going on.

The French president has spoken about wanting to bigger NATO military exercises up here. The French are already involved in some. All of that's encouraging for people here. But all of it, how they feel, really depends on what the president says today -- John.

BERMAN: Extraordinary anticipation. I had no idea that people were going as far as to talk about stocking up on water and charging their batteries. It's a high level of concern in Greenland this morning as they await this speech. Nic Robertson, great to have you there. Thank you -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is Alan Leventhal. He's the former U.S. ambassador to Denmark in the Biden administration. We're keeping an eye on what now seems to be a dim room, but this is the room where President Trump will be delivering this highly anticipated speech in just moments.

Ambassador, thank you for coming in. The advice as we stand by for the president, the advice from the Treasury Secretary today was essentially, he said, take a breath, wait for Trump, and listen to his argument. Quote, "I think they are going to be persuaded." What are you going to be listening for when the president speaks?

ALAN LEVENTHAL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO DENMARK: Well, I'm very concerned because the Trump administration has been consistent about talking about the potential use of military action in Greenland, and those actions would have severe consequences, economic and foreign policy across the globe. So I am quite concerned about what is taking place.

BOLDUAN: The president yesterday said that when he speaks to them, meaning the people of Greenland, he said, I'm sure they'll be thrilled. Do you think, from all the time you spent in Denmark, do you think there is a chance that that is the case?

LEVENTHAL: The Greenlandic people want to be independent. Polls show that 80 percent of the people in Greenland, an enormous percentage, want to be independent, they do not want to be part of the United States. And what the administration has done in all of this has made Greenland closer to Denmark.

So this is I do not see the Greenlanders changing their view of this. They don't like being intimidated. They are not comfortable. And I do not believe this is a good thing for America. We have we have a great concern about what's going to happen in the

high north. I agree with the administration about that. But we have agreements in place, including one that goes back 75 years to 1951, where we have a base at Pituffik Space Base, less than a thousand miles from the North Pole. We have the ability under that agreement to build more bases in Greenland.

We can do basically whatever we want. And if the administration would like to do more, the Danes would willingly work with us, and so would the Greenlanders. So I don't understand why it's necessary to threaten military action, which would have such egregious consequences to U.S. foreign policy and to NATO.

BOLDUAN: And also, and I don't know if you had a chance to hear it, but hearing from the Canadian prime minister from the stage in Davos and what he said, I mean, it was really a historic rebuke of the United States under President Trump. He said that the world is in the midst of a rupture, not a transition. Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: It seems that every day we're reminded that we live in an era of great power rivalry. That the rules-based order is fading. That the strong can do what they can, and the weak must suffer what they must. The middle powers must act together, because if we're not at the table, we're on the menu.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I mean, Axios is describing this as a hinge moment for the history books. If this continues to ramp up between the United States and allies, the United States and the EU, rather than de-escalate as we wait to hear from the President and what hand he's going to play in this today, what could an ongoing confrontation mean, in your view, for the United States, just taking a look at the U.S. economy.

LEVENTHAL: Well, the largest trading relationship in the world is the EU-US trading relationship. It's $1.6 trillion a year. That means 5 million American jobs are at risk. And who knows how this could get out of control in terms of a rising tariffs across the world and have further impact on U.S. jobs.

When you think about NATO, if the U.S. takes military action in Greenland, how can NATO continue to exist as it is? We're talking about a NATO country invading another NATO country. You have to keep in mind Greenland is part of the NATO umbrella. What does that ...

END