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Brendan Banfield Expected to Testify in His Own Defense; Au Pair Testified Earlier That Defendant Wanted to Get Rid of His Wife; 2,000 Miles of Snow and Ice Threaten Millions of Americans; ICE Official Says Agents Did Not Target Five-year-old Taken Into Custody; Danish PM Says Situation in Greenland is Serious. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 23, 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]

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- that came with her story, saying that we devised a plan. When Christine was upstairs asleep, we would get her computer and we would get her laptop, and we created the FetLife account. We lured this escort to the house, to Christine's bedroom. But all along, we knew we were going to murder him and Christine Banfield, but blame it on him, that this intruder came into the house. And then we would be able to lead our life together.

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Wow. All right, Jean, really appreciate it. Thank you.

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

Snow, ice, and sleet, and a storm that could shut down cities across the country, we are tracking this winter weather. Millions, hundreds of millions of Americans set to be impacted. We have the latest forecast for you moments away.

An ICE official says its agents "did not target a five-year-old who was taken into custody." This despite allegations the child was being used as bait by agents to capture his father. We'll speak with a witness who saw it all unfold. And Denmark's Prime Minister visiting Greenland with a warning, noting the situation in his words is "serious."

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We begin with Breaking News on a brutal winter storm about to slam into half of the country. Right now, the time to prepare is running out with more than 230 million Americans in its path.

Several states could be hit by feet of snow. We're talking some of the highest snow totals in possibly decades for some areas, but it's the ice that could prove catastrophic here. Life-threatening amounts are in danger of knocking out power for millions and crippling travel.

Multiple states of emergency have been declared. Let's go right to Meteorologist, Chris Warren. And Chris, we've got a live look at Dallas up next to you where the rain is already starting.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The rain is already starting. The rain is arriving right now ahead of the cold air, but that cold air is moving in. And as you see, the cloudy skies in Dallas because of the clouds associated with the rain, some heavier rain and eventually as that cold air drops down from the north, this rain will start to freeze on contact to objects whether it's streets, sidewalks, your car, power lines, trees. So this is the beginning of what is potentially going to be a historic storm already, winter storm warning.

So expecting high-impact event here from New Mexico all the way up to New England, and the bitterly cold, not just bitterly, dangerously cold air is with us right now. Current wind chill international falls 36 degrees below zero, 38 below in Duluth. That's what it feels like on your skin.

This cold air getting entrenched after the storm moves out, cold air will be in place. So a lot of people because of the ice will not have power, will not have a way to heat their homes in some extreme cold. Here's the timing. By this evening, we're going to be seeing the changeover from rain to more of an ice situation in southern Oklahoma and then eventually, getting into Dallas after dark tonight and likely before midnight and definitely by tomorrow morning.

The system spreading the pink, the ice, the purple, the snow into the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast by late Saturday into early Sunday. This is Sunday at 10 o'clock. The snow is going to be coming down big time across parts of New Jersey, New York and well inland away from the 95 corridor.

Does look like there could be a quick changeover to rain late on Sunday, could kind of make things a little bit slushy where a lot of snow does fall, and a lot of snow is expected to fall again from Oklahoma where there could be a foot of snow on and off with a foot of snow for more than about 1,500 miles all the way up to New England. Western Mass certainly going to see a whole lot of snow and you're also in that zone around 10 inches, certainly a possibility in New York City and then the ice.

This is where there could be catastrophic damage. So, we're talking power outages possibly for days and again, this happening where there's going to be cold, extreme dangerous cold. This is another way to look at the threat and kind of the widespread areas where there could be some serious impacts here.

The red expecting major impacts and extreme associated with the ice in parts of Mississippi, Tennessee and even into Georgia and South Carolina. So this is going to be a big deal. It's going to last throughout the weekend with lingering effects into next week.

KEILAR: We'll be watching that. Chris Warren, thank you so much for that preview. Erica?

HILL: Turning now to some more of the Breaking News out of Minnesota. Hundreds of businesses expected to be closed today as part of a statewide protest against the Trump administration's sweeping immigration crackdown.

[14:05:00]

Organizers are calling for an economic blackout while also urging people to skip work and even stay home from school. All of this as a huge anti-ICE march and rally is getting ready to kick off downtown.

Immigration officials meantime are pushing back against claims after a five-year-old boy was taken into custody by federal agents. CNN Anchor and Senior National Correspondent, Sara Sidner is in Minneapolis. So Sara, Trump officials are denying that the boy, the five-year-old, was targeted by ICE. What more are we hearing?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the child may not have been targeted by ICE but he was certainly detained by ICE at five-years-old with his mother in the home, hearing her husband scream to her, please do not open the door for fear that she too would get detained, and they had a seven-year-old who was on his way home from school.

So she is in the house terrified, the child and his father outside, the father being detained by ICE, the child also eventually getting detained by ICE. There is a lot of distance between what we are hearing from DHS and what ICE agents did there and what witnesses on the ground said.

First, I want to let you hear from DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin. Here is how she described what happened there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRICIA MCLAUGHLIN, DHS ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS: This little boy was abandoned by his own father. His own father was being approached by ice agents when he darted, ran and abandoned the child. Our law enforcement in these frigid temperatures stayed with the child, tried to bring him into custody with the mother, who actually would not take the child into custody, which is so sad and so horrific.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: It is unfair to say that the child was abandoned. The mother did want her child. She did not want to open the door because she was afraid of being detained by ICE, leaving both of her children without their parents. That is the fear there and what we are hearing from witnesses on the ground, who were there including school officials.

We spoke to a superintendent who said that there was no chance that that child was going to be left alone in the freezing cold as Vice President, J.D. Vance said, and a member of the school board who was there as this was all happening. Here's what she said she saw happen with ICE and this family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY GRANLUND, SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR, COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT: There was ample opportunity to be able to safely hand that child off to adults and mom was there. She saw through the window and dad was yelling, please do not open the door, don't open the door.

SIDNER: Are you accusing ICE of using children as bait?

GRANLUND: Yes, I mean that -- it is very clear from the pictures, from the videos, from first-hand accounts. I was there. This is what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So you heard there from someone on the ground and they do feel like the children, not just this little boy Liam, but Liam Ramos, but also other children they feel are being used as bait to try and flesh out the parents or other family members who they want to detain. ICE pushing back heavily on this, DHS saying that is absolutely not what they are doing.

One thing that is happening here, people are extremely disturbed at the picture of that five-year-old and what that child must have been going through, hearing his father yelling to his mother, knowing his mother was inside distraught, and him standing outside with masked men taking his father in as well as eventually himself.

There are people who are coming out into the streets very frustrated with what is going on. There are people standing out saying we're here to represent some of the immigrants who are refusing to come out of their homes because they are terrified even though they have legal status, terrified of even going to the grocery store, and that is partly what this rally is about.

People here at this rally want ICE to leave the community, not yesterday, not an hour from now, but now. And I think you're going to be hearing that throughout the day at this particular rally. People are marching in the absolutely very, very cold temperatures, potentially deadly temperatures if you're out in it too long.

We're talking about negative 21. That is how low it's going to get today and that's the temperature alone, not just the wind chill. Erica?

HILL: That's an important note. Sara, really appreciate it. It's good to have you there on the ground. Thank you.

So, the woman who witnessed that little boy being taken away by ICE is set to join us a little bit later this hour in the show. She'll walk us through more of what she saw in those moments.

Also ahead here, more questions than answers when it comes to President Trump's so-called framework for a future deal on Greenland. How the president's Arctic ambitions could have a lasting impact on America's relationship with Europe. And a former Olympian on the FBI's Most Wanted list arrested, accused of running a major drug trafficking operation for one of Mexico's most notorious cartels.

[14:10:00] That and much more ahead, right here on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: European Union leaders are presenting a united front today following the upheaval sparked by President Trump at Davos with his threats of taking over Greenland. Denmark's prime minister is in Greenland today, discussing details of this framework of a future deal that Trump and the Head of NATO spoke about in Switzerland.

[14:15:00]

The president of the Europe Union, meantime, is stressing the importance of Europe becoming more united and more independent as Ukraine's president offers this blunt assessment of Europe's current standing on the global stage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: Europe looks lost trying to convince the U.S. president to change. But he will not change. President Trump loves who he is. And he says he loves Europe, but he will not listen to this kind of Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: I'm joined now by Leon Panetta, who of course served as a Secretary of Defense and also Director of the CIA under President Obama. Mr. Secretary, always good to talk to you. I'm curious, based on what we just heard there from President Zelenskyy, what kind of Europe do you think Donald Trump would listen to?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR AND FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Well, that's the question. And it's hard not to look at the present situation and see over 80 years of foreign policy that Republicans and Democrats have joined together, that the United States and our allies have supported, is being turned on its head.

For over 82 years, we worked together. We built alliances. We shared the same values. We stood up for the same principles and it provided stability. And today, what we see is a lot of chaos, a lot of disruption, and a lot of instability. And I'm just not sure how this all turns out.

The hope is that ultimately, we can find a negotiated way to resolve these issues. But I'm afraid that the administration has this attitude that if they don't get their way, they're going to continue to basically threaten others with either tariffs or military action of some sort. I'm afraid we are in that kind of period right now, which is very unpredictable.

HILL: So in terms of that unpredictability, and also you brought up, these threats of tariffs, which we know, I mean, in a lot of ways, the uncertainty stems back to the tariffs from President Trump, but also these threats of military action. A number of different efforts from the president have been linked back to, ultimately, national security for the United States. Do you see any of these actions on the part of President Trump making the United States more secure?

PANETTA: Well, if the president were willing to really work with others, we could develop a common approach to protecting our security. Right now, Greenland is willing to work with us to develop better security. Canada is willing to do that. Others are willing to do that.

And so, there is a way to be able to accomplish this without having to threaten, without having to bully, without having to be disruptive. But the real issue is whether the president wants to embrace that. I mean, I assume he would. The reality is others have to hang tough. China hung very tough on the trade issue. And frankly, they were successful.

Europe was unified and hung together with regards to the issue of Greenland. And the president has backed off. So, the main issue here is going to be whether or not the president continues to challenge these countries or whether he's willing to negotiate.

If he wants to do what's in the interest of our national security, he will negotiate an approach, a common approach to better security.

HILL: Well, certainly interesting. You mentioned China. It's been fascinating to see, too, just the turn that we've seen from Canada in terms of moving far closer, as we know, to China in just the last week. I do just want to get your take on this point, which has come up today. So we have heard so much from President Trump over a number of years about NATO, as you know.

But he is increasingly in the last several days, questioning the commitment of NATO's allies to the United States, also claiming they "stayed a little back from the frontlines in Afghanistan," which we know is not entirely accurate. British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer sharply criticized the president's, in his words, insulting and frankly appalling comments about NATO troops and their involvement in Afghanistan. He also suggested the U.S. president should apologize.

What do you make of those comments from Keir Starmer? And where we're at right now as the president, in many ways, is trying to rewrite the history of the NATO alliance?

[14:20:00]

PANETTA: Well, the president obviously either doesn't understand what happened with NATO or he is just deliberately trying to confuse the situation. I mean, history speaks for itself. I was Secretary of Defense during that period. I worked with NATO, that was working with us in Afghanistan. We had a number of countries that were supporting our effort in Afghanistan. We have always believed that NATO and the NATO alliance were critical to our security.

NATO responded to 9/11, for goodness sakes, and supported our national security. I think the president has to acknowledge that ultimately, NATO has been critical to our security. And when he doesn't, when he criticizes it, when he uses terms that simply are just not true, what he's doing, frankly, is he's hurting his own credibility. That's what worries me in the end. All of this, ultimately, when the president threatens and then backs off time and time again, it hurts the credibility of the United States and, frankly, makes us look weaker.

HILL: Leon Panetta, always appreciate it. Thank you.

PANETTA: Thank you.

HILL: Still ahead here, former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi blasting Democrats for voting to hold Bill and Hillary Clinton in contempt of Congress. Why experts say the Epstein investigation is now putting the party in a bind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:26:11]

KEILAR: The Trump administration is denying allegations that federal agents used a five-year-old boy as bait to capture his father. ICE officials claim the boy's father abandoned him when he saw agents approaching, but school district officials say agents took Liam to the door and directed him to knock in an effort to draw out other members of the family.

The image of the preschooler being detained by ICE sparked outrage in Minneapolis. Border Patrol Chief, Gregory Bovino says agents were caring for the child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BOVINO, BORDER PATROL COMMANDER-AT-LARGE: Here in the U.S. Border Patrol, I will say unequivocally that we are experts in dealing with children. Let me say that again, experts in dealing with children, not because we want to be, but because we have to be.

Over those past four years, hundreds of thousands of children were trafficked across that border. Guess who they came into contact with? Sometimes who was the very first law enforcement agency or American citizen that they saw? U.S. Border Patrol.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I'm joined now by Columbia Heights, Minnesota School Board Chair, Mary Granlund.

And Mary, you witnessed federal agents detaining five-year-old Liam. Tell us what you saw.

GRANLUND: Hi, thank you so much for having me. I was on my way to pick up my own kiddos from school, saw the commotion and pulled over, got out. Saw people that I know, a lot of community members there, and a lot, a lot of agents. I walked up to people screaming, let the child go, let the child go.

And, you know, another adult was in the home, that lives in the home, was there inside. I can take him, I can take him. Another, somebody, I was having my -- I had my badge on my lanyard. And one of my another community member saw me and said, the school is here, they can take him.

We can take him, like we can -- we can take him. And they, you know, by that time, they put him in the car and had driven off.

KEILAR: It's a tricky situation though, right? Just this idea though, that some other adult might take him, right? There's all kinds of issues that are raised by that. Certainly as community members are concerned and want to do what they feel is right by the child, that raises a whole host of issues.

Federal officials say they took the boy with them after the father told officers he wanted the child to remain with him. DHS says the officers, "made multiple attempts" to get the mother inside the house to take custody of her child. Officers even assured her that they would not take her into custody. She refused to accept custody of the other child. That's what they're saying.

Did you see that happen?

GRANLUND: I can't speak to that because that, if that happened, it happened before I got there.

KEILAR: I sensed you kind of choking up as you were talking and you said there were a lot of people watching this.

GRANLUND: Yeah.

KEILAR: This is -- this was tough for you to watch. Tell me about that.

GRANLUND: I mean, it's -- you'd never think of these things happening in the United States and certainly not blocks away from your house. In the community that I've raised my family in and that I've lived in for 20 years, it's heartbreaking. It's absolutely heartbreaking.

And as a parent myself, it's beyond comprehension. Honestly, I don't know what I would do in that situation if that were me. But I do know, I would hope that there were community members who were there trying to support me and my family at that time.