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E.U. Allies Unite Amid Trump's New Tariff Threat; High-Speed Train Crash In Southern Spain Leaves At Least 21 Dead; Pentagon Orders 1,500 Soldiers On Standby For A Possible Deployment To Minnesota; Immigrant Advocacy Group On Patrol In Minneapolis; China's Population Drops For Fourth Year As Fewer Babies Born; Syrian President: Agreement Reached with Kurds to End Fighting; Buddhist Monks on 2,300- mile Walk for Peace; 1,500 Troops on Standby for Possible Deployment to Minnesota; Rumored ICE Facility Sparks Outrage in Small Georgia Town; Indiana, Miami Ready to Clash for CFP Title Monday. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 19, 2026 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, everybody, welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York. Here's what's coming your way in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. European Union leaders, they meet to discuss a plan to protect Greenland as Donald Trump stands firm, not only demanding its takeover, threatening those who oppose it.
China's birth rate drops to a record low. We'll take it live to Beijing and look at how this could impact the world's second largest economy.
And one step at a time in what many would consider an impossible journey, an update on this group of Buddhist monks spreading their message of peace all the way to Washington.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from New York, this is CNN Newsroom with Polo Sandoval.
SANDOVAL: And welcome to the program. Let's begin this hour with U.S. President Donald Trump's latest approach to claiming control of Greenland. His threats to impose tariffs on key European allies who stand in his way. They have sparked a flurry of activity across the continent.
EU ambassadors, they held an emergency meeting on Sunday to formulate a response to this 10 percent tariff that's set to go into effect on February 1st. And on Sunday, the president of the European Commission defended Greenland's sovereignty following calls with multiple allied leaders. She added that Europe will face challenges to its solidarity with steadiness and resolve. And Canada's prime minister also weighing in to reiterate his support for Greenland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: We always will support sovereignty and territorial integrity of countries wherever their geographic location. The future of Greenland. Decisions about the future of Greenland are for Greenland and Denmark to decide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And in the last hour or so, President Trump doubling down on his efforts here, he claims that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security reasons. He posted on social media a short while ago, quote, NATO has been telling Denmark for 20 years that you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland. Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it's time and it will be done.
Again, that message sent out by the president a short while ago. CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein has more on the rhetoric that's been coming out of the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the message from the Trump administration is that Europe is going to have to come around on this. President Trump has been saying for years that he believes the U.S. needs to have control of Greenland for national security purposes. He believes to combat the rising threat from China and from Russia in the Arctic region.
That has been met with significant pushback from Denmark, which controls Greenland, from Greenland itself and Greenlanders, as well as from top European leaders. The president escalating that threat over the weekend as he warned that the U.S. plans to impose a 10 percent tariff on those European countries starting February 1st if a deal is not reached for the U.S. to control Greenland. That rate would escalate all the way to 25 percent by June 1 if a deal isn't reached.
This has been met with resounding condemnation from top European officials who say that they believe that this poses an existential threat to the transatlantic alliance. French President Emmanuel Macron called this unacceptable. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says it's completely wrong. All of this leading to an emergency meeting held Sunday in Brussels where top European officials conferred on what to do.
President Trump, for his part, has been working the phones. He spoke on Sunday with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. She, in a statement, has called this move an error. He also spoke by phone with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. But it seems for now that the European pushback has done very little to change the president's position on any of this. We heard on Sunday morning from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
He said that enhanced security is not possible without Greenland being part of the United States. I want you to listen to a little bit more from how Besant laid out this rationale.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is the national emergency that justifies these new slate of tariffs?
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: The national emergency is avoiding a national emergency that it is a strategic decision by the president.
[01:05:00]
This is a geopolitical decision, and he is able to use the economic might of the U.S. to avoid a hot war. So why wouldn't -- why wouldn't we do that?
KLEIN: Now all of this comes as President Trump is preparing to head to Davos, Switzerland this week to participate in the World Economic Forum. He is also expected to unveil an affordable housing plan. Of course, this conflict threatens to overshadow that message. Betsy Klein, CNN, traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: U.S. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle, they are voicing their thoughts on Trump's latest tariff threats, which with opinions largely split along party lines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): These discussions, they're not helpful because they're pushing allies away from us rather than forging the stronger relationships with allies that we need to.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I think the president rightly understands that this is a strategically important piece of real estate. But Greenland and the Danes have been our allies for a long time now. The president is the consummate dealmaker, and I think he's looking for a deal. Sometimes he believes in strategic ambiguity and talks in terms that get people's attention.
But ultimately, I think there's a deal to be made. And I'm glad that Secretary Rubio and the vice president have been engaging the Danes because this is something we should be able to do in the best interests of both countries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And former Vice President Mike Pence also raising some concerns about the tariff threats, while also expressing support for using Greenland for strategic purposes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I have concerns about using what I think is a questionable constitutional authority, imposing unilateral tariffs on NATO allies to achieve this objective.
What the president is trying to do here, I think, is absolutely in the interest of the United States of America. I would just rather see the president use his persuasive powers and U.S. investment in Greenland to lay a foundation for ultimately achieving that goal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And then, of course, those in the middle of it all, Greenlanders, they are also speaking out about the escalation between the U.S. and Europe, with most firmly against any sort of annexation of their territory.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARS PEDERSEN, PROSECUTOR, GREENLAND RESIDENT: I think it's a little bit silly and a bit sad, really sad situation we're all living in, because that we really need is to be together, stand together, and not fight each other inside, especially NATO.
JENS KJELDSEN, PENSIONER, GREENLAND RESIDENT: It's a bit like a spoiled child turned old. And you think he can -- and he can scare people. He can't scare Greenlanders. We're not scared. We will fight them to the end and we will never give in. And we are so happy we have so good allies.
PERNILLE ANDERSEN, NURSE, GREENLAND RESIDENT: I cannot imagine. I cannot really imagine that he can have Greenland and he can put pressure on, yes, but I hope, really, he wouldn't succeed in it. So. But we don't know. Nobody knows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: The global reaction risks to NATO and territorial ambitions. Let's bring this all together now with some expert analysis and head to New York Times, chief diplomatic correspondent based in Europe, Steven Erlanger. Apologies. Steven, it's wonderful to have you with us.
STEVEN ERLANGER, NEW YORK TIMES CHIEF DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT, EUROPE: Thank you.
SANDOVAL: So, in your opinion and your reporting, does it seem that the world's relative peace is in danger if its most powerful military alliance, of course referring to NATO, ceases to exist?
ERLANGER: Well, I don't think it's going to cease to exist, first of all. But there is this sense that there's someone in the White House who doesn't like his allies, who likes his adversaries, who is beating up on weaker nations, who have been friends in the United States long before the Second World War.
There's this belief in the White House that the United States can do it wants whenever it wants to whomever it wants. I think that's going to end very badly. There is in Europe an increasing sense that there's a madman in the White House who is acting as a spoiled narcissist who thinks there's a lollipop out there to be grabbed. He can build, you know, the United States bigger and who cites some emergency that doesn't exist.
I mean, Scott Besant, the Treasury Secretary, knows nothing about any of this, by the way, and there is no big emergency. And in fact, if there were a security emergency, NATO is a better way of handling it than the United States.
[01:10:02]
United States barely has two working icebreakers. So I just find the whole idea of this unilateral, imperial United States pushing its friends and allies around, it's going to have lasting, lasting consequences. People are losing trust in the United States. They worry that the United States won't be there for them when things really matter.
And Trump keeps talking about the threat from Russia and China, and yet he's favoring Russia in Ukraine, which really matters to the Europeans. And he's talking about abandoning the principles of sovereignty and international law when that's exactly what Russia's doing in Ukraine. And this is why Europeans are so shaken.
SANDOVAL: And Steven, as we explore the different potential scenarios that we could see, what is your sense about the next likely step for European leaders? Do you see one possible off ramp as maybe negotiating with President Trump instead of fighting fire with fire, perhaps with tariffs of their own?
ERLANGER: Well, they would like to negotiate. I mean, Greenland isn't a strategic interest to Europe in the way Ukraine is. But there is potential for a big E.U. pushback. Economically, they can. The U.S., E.U. tariff deal has been frozen now. The E.U. can sharply ramp up tariffs, much as the United States does.
It has a coercion instrument that would really hurt the high tech companies that rely on European business. But this is something nobody really wants. I think this meeting in Davos this week will be very important because Donald Trump will come. He won't be greeted very nicely, which will probably please him, I don't know, but it will be a chance to talk further, to see what he has in mind. I mean, even Trump is talking about a deal, buying it.
But as you hear from the Greenlanders, they are not people living in an apartment building who has a new owner and are going to be thrown out. And that's not the way they see the world and that's not the way Europe sees it either.
So if offending all of your best allies is considered in the national interest of the United States, I'm sure there are people in Washington and even in the White House who think we need to calm the president down.
SANDOVAL: Yes, we'll see if he would listen. Now, if we do see NATO survive, as you point out, and if it continues, do you, however, see perhaps for NATO members, do you think that there's been irreparable damage to their level of trust in the United States because of everything that's happened?
ERLANGER: It's hard to say. I think there has been damage so far. Washington and President Trump have been very clear that the U.S. nuclear guarantee exists. He's very happy that NATO has spent more money on defense. He says he's responsible for it. I think Russia is also responsible for it.
But nonetheless, it's true. I mean, that is something Trump has done. So Trump is kind of invested in NATO. I think he, in general, he likes NATO. The problem is Greenland is too close to North America and it's far away from Denmark.
And, you know, it depends on what his real motivation is. If it's just making the U.S. bigger than there's a psychological issue one has to deal with. If it's really about security, those things can be answered, and we don't really know yet.
And also the Supreme Court may just may tell him that his exercise of tariffs under false emergency powers is not constitutional, that could also happen pretty soon.
SANDOVAL: Right. Yes. We expect a decision from the Supreme Court possibly in the week ahead. I have a few more seconds with you, Steven. Personally, are you at all surprised that President Trump refuses to back down on this?
ERLANGER: Oh, not that he continues to be obsessed with Greenland. What surprises me is why now? I mean, I don't understand the point. Is it to deflect people from inflation? Is it to deflect people from what's going on in Minneapolis and places like that? There is no national security emergency that is driving him right now. So that puzzles me, I have to say. Why now?
SANDOVAL: Yes, economic concerns topping the list for so many voters in a midterm year. Steven Erlanger, as always, we appreciate all your reporting and your insight. Thank you so much.
ERLANGER: Thank you.
SANDOVAL: Of course. Want to get you to a developing story now. At least 21 people are dead after two high speed trains derailed in southern Spain.
[01:15:00]
Authorities say that a train traveling from Malaga to Madrid derailed crossing onto an adjacent track where it caused a second train to derail. According to the train company, about 300 passengers were aboard that first train. Officials say at least 73 people so far have been injured. Emergency crews are on scene right now and some train services in the region have been suspended.
Still to come, it's some good news and perhaps some bad news for China. We'll go live to Beijing for more details on the countries falling birth rate.
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SANDOVAL: Frigid temperatures are not keeping Minnesotans from conducting anti ice protests. Even late into the night demonstrations, they continued through Sunday against the presence of thousands of federal officers who have been conducting immigration raids and arresting people throughout the city of Minneapolis.
Well, now the Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active duty soldiers to prepare for possible deployment to that state. And even though that's just a preparation, it is enough to amp up some of those tensions in the region.
Just days ago, state leaders mobilized the Minnesota National Guard to support local law enforcement and to ensure the ability of Minnesotans to peacefully protest, according to authorities.
[01:20:02]
In a statement, the state's National Guard said that it is staged and ready to respond. And as tensions flare in Minnesota, immigrant advocacy groups in Minneapolis, they are focused on monitoring ICE officers. CNN followed one group out on patrol after they trained to advocate for the legal rights of those being detained by federal authorities.
Now, we should point out that Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier this month, she was not part of one of these groups. Nonetheless, it's an important perspective. Here's CNN's Isabel Rosales with that story.
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ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The phone buzzes and they hit the gas.
RYAN PEREZ, LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZING DIRECTOR, COPAL: OK, I'm getting an alert. Federal activity in Bloomington.
ROSALES (voice-over): ICE has been spotted.
PEREZ: We're heading to a -- it's sounds like it's a business location.
ROSALES (voice-over): These are legal observers with immigrant advocacy group COPAL, part of a network of 5,000 trained civilians who monitor federal immigration enforcement in real time.
PEREZ: Hey, we're observers with COPAL.
ROSALES (voice-over): We spent the day with members of the group as they traveled around Minneapolis, responding to calls about ICE activity. Here, they missed the federal agents by mere moments.
PEREZ: This business was targeted by ICE and they've took some people and --
ROSALES (voice-over): Ryan Perez, a self-described ICE watcher, says he has answered more than 100 of these tips.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back away. ROSALES (voice-over): And that number increases by the day with an influx of federal agents in Minneapolis.
PEREZ: So our observers are trained to walk in and say, I demand to see a warrant. Show me a warrant.
ROSALES: So you're legal observers that are not quiet.
PEREZ: Ours are not quiet. We said, it's your First Amendment right to document, yes? It's also your First Amendment right to be loud.
Continue recording. Focus on the camera.
ROSALES (voice-over): And with their notes and videos, they create a legal record.
ROSALES: What types of people sign up to be observers?
PEREZ: People that look a lot like Renee Good. We have a lot of moms. We have a lot of retirees.
ROSALES (voice-over): In the 24 hours after her death, Perez says the group saw a three-fold increase in the number of people signing up for their constitutional observer program.
PEREZ: To say this, the killing of Renee Good lit a fire under the community would be an understatement.
ROSALES (voice-over): Kateri Heymans is one of them. She's been alarmed by the number of federal agents flooding her hometown.
KATERI HEYMANS, LEGAL OBSERVER, COPAL: Someone put the name of Renee Good here on this fence.
ROSALES (voice-over): And Good's killing inspired Kateri to register as an observer the very next day. This is her first time out on patrol. Some rules, no touching. Stay 8 feet away from agents. Observe. Document. Use your whistle.
PEREZ: And so the whistle keeps people safe because it says this is effectively a war zone.
ROSALES (voice-over): Then another alert.
PEREZ: Have your phone ready? We're three minutes away. So it's good to start having your phone ready.
HEYMANS: Even videos of documenting things can really help people because sometimes people don't know their family is being taken away.
PEREZ: You hear the president saying that observers are obstructing and violating.
ROSALES: Are they?
PEREZ: So our observers, I can only speak for our peaceful and following protocol.
ROSALES (voice-over): Our last stop before sunset brings us to a tense scene outside the Whipple Federal Building, which has become the epicenter for protests.
ROSALES: Whoa, whoa.
PEREZ: We see a bunch of agents with riot gear on the right side here. It looks like they're ready in case of an escalation on the left side of protesters.
We want to document this just like any other law enforcement activity.
ROSALES: So what we're seeing right now is federal agents coming in and driving in unmarked vehicles. And they have detainees in the back. This is the Whipple Building where they're being taken for processing. And anytime we see one of these vehicles rolls in, you can see a rise of emotion with these activists who are yelling and chanting.
ROSALES (voice-over): Around a dozen people ended up being arrested later. DHS claims the activists assaulted law enforcement. Among the shouting crowds and remnants of pepper balls, these legal observers stand out in neon, making sure someone is always watching.
Isabel Rosales, CNN, Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: A look ahead now and in the coming hours. The World Economic Forum. It kicks off in Davos, Switzerland. World leaders including Donald Trump and the top names in business. They are set to meet and discuss major global issues. The list, as you can imagine, it will be long. Among some of those issues, Ukraine, Gaza, Venezuela, among others. Ahead of those talks, climate activists. They marched in Davos on Sunday, slamming the forum and the U.S. President.
Security, as you would expect, is tight. More than 3,000 delegates from more than 130 countries are expected to attend. That includes the largest U.S. delegation ever to attend.
[01:25:05]
China's government is reporting that the country met its economic growth target for 2025. This despite a trade war with the United States. Also, the National Bureau of Statistics revealed China's birth rate hit a new record low. What does this all mean? Let's go straight to Beijing where our correspondent, CNN's Mike Valerio, standing by.
Mike, it's great to see you again. So what does a shrinking population mean for the world' largest economy?
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really about why the second largest economy in the world is going to look like in the decades ahead. And we have these incredibly strong economic numbers, growth on target for the year. But underneath that top line level of GDP growth, the world's largest
trade surplus ever, there are some things to be concerned about. So let's talk about the numbers and get into the human story beneath them. So the top line is GDP growth for 2025, 5 percent. That is on target with what authorities here in Beijing wanted. And that is notable because of the trade war between the United States and China.
Exports really filling that void, growing that 1.2, I should say nearly $1.2 trillion trade surplus, very much showing the strength of China's economy. But then this is the plot twist. The birth rate falling to the lowest on record.
Those are the numbers, 7.92 million babies born last year offset by 11.31 million deaths with an overall population decrease of 3.4 million. Why that matters is because if you think about fewer babies being born, that means slower growth, weaker consumer demand and a shrinking workforce predicted for the decades ahead.
So when you think about China as a giant engine and you see this data, that is less gasoline on the engine, that's less force being applied to the pedal. If we're talking about an electric vehicle for this extended metaphor.
So what Beijing is trying to do to remedy this situation, cash bonuses for some people who are thinking about starting families, simplified marriage registration, tax breaks, housing subsidies, extended maternity leave. However, what we hear, Polo, throughout our reporting when we're on the streets, be it Chongqing, Harbin, Beijing, Shanghai, is that the job climate here for so many people, you know, still is wanting.
People say that there's a lot of job insecurity, high housing costs to live in the great cities throughout this country. Women say that they have so much of the burden when it comes to childcare. And then we'll end on this point.
You know, in our journalism that we put out on CNN.com with my partner in crime here, Simone McCarthy. She interviewed an expert who said that when you have babies, that is like supercharging. Children are super consumers for an economy. And when you don't have those super consumers, you know, that potentially weighs down your domestic economy and you have to be really reliant on exports. But then how long can the export game keep going if your workforce keeps aging and aging?
So this is certainly more reporting that we're going to be working on the top line number super. But this birth rate, the lowest on record, something certainly the authorities are very concerned about here in China, Polo.
SANDOVAL: And that, as you point out, is the plot twist in it all. So check out Mike Valero's piece as well. Simone's thank you so much. Mike Valerio live in Beijing. Also to come here on CNN Newsroom, Syria reaches a deal to end the fighting with Kurdish led forces. What it could mean for the country's oil and gas fields, we'll discuss.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Syria's president says that an agreement has been reached with the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces to end the fighting in the northeast part of the country. The deal could also lead to the integration of Kurdish forces into the Syrian military as CNN's Ben Hunte reports.
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BEN HUNTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A statue of an SDF fighter is toppled in northern Syria. Another victory for the Syrian military and its tribal allies in a lightning advance through territory once controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
But on Sunday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed an agreement to stop the fighting and to revisit a deal to integrate the SDF into the Syrian army. A similar deal struck last year never took hold.
AHMED AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN PRESIDENT: I recommend a complete cease fire at this time, and I also urge our Arab tribes there to remain calm and peaceful and to allow for the gradual implementation of the agreement's provisions until we achieve complete peace in Syria.
HUNTE: The government, now in control of the lion's share of SDF territory, including the key provinces of Raqqa and Deir Ez-Zor, as well as all border crossings and the gas and oil fields in the region. for years, the Kurdish SDF controlled many areas populated by Arab tribes, many of which have joined the fight against them.
The SDF'S power expanded after helping a U.S.-led coalition defeat ISIS' so-called caliphate, which previously ruled the region.
The U.S. envoy to Syria met with both Kurdish leaders and the Syrian government over the weekend, and welcomed the truce, posting on social media that the U.S. quote, "looks forward to the seamless integration of our historic partner in the fight against ISIS with the global coalition's newest member as we press forward in the enduring battle against terrorism."
Much of Syria's oil wealth, now in the hands of the Syrian government, something that hasn't happened in more than a decade.
But there was also an overture to the Kurds. Al-Sharaa issued a decree recognizing the Kurdish language and granting Syrian citizenship to Kurds, who were stripped of it decades ago.
Ben Hunte, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: The United States has completely withdrawn all of its forces from military facilities within Iraq's federal territory. Iraq's defense ministry announcing that the troop withdrawal happened, and that announcement came in on Sunday, noting that the final contingent of U.S. advisers had departed Al-Asad Airbase in the western part of Iraq after more than two decades.
[01:34:47]
SANDOVAL: U.S. troops still remain in the Kurdish region in northern -- I should say northern Iraq. Iraq's central government does not have full control over that region.
Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, they have walked for months across several U.S. states and still have weeks of walking left to go. We'll tell you why a group of monks have become a unifying symbol for good in the southern U.S.
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SANDOVAL: All right. Now, an update to a story that we brought you last weekend. It has to do with a situation that happened just more than two months ago.
A small group of Buddhist monks, they started a pilgrimage. Well, they left their monastery in Texas and they started a 2,300-mile walk for peace to Washington, D.C. Right now, they're in North Carolina, but still they have several more weeks left to go.
CNN's Anderson Cooper tells us how their humble goal has attracted some national attention.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: When 20 monks left their Buddhist temple in Fort Worth, Texas 81 days ago, there was little fanfare. They planned to walk to Washington some 2,300 miles away.
At first, few passersby knew who they were -- this thin line of silent monks, accompanied by their dog, Aloka, picked up as a stray on an earlier walk in India.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.
COOPER: But with each step and each day that passed, word began to spread. It was, they said, a pilgrimage, not about politics but about peace, in their words, to raise awareness of loving kindness and compassion across America and the world.
In Houston, Texas they prayed for police, giving them Buddhist blessing cords, a symbol, the monks said, of a shared prayer for the officers' safety, well-being, and endurance as they serve the community.
Their temple began posting their procession online, often with music accompanying their march. That's when the crowds began to grow.
[01:39:45]
COOPER: Some, who met the monks along their route, were brought to tears. Others offered food and water, and encouraged Aloka, who now has his own Facebook page with more than 600,000 followers.
But the journey has not been easy. Some of the monks walk barefoot.
Just weeks in, their escort vehicle was hit by a truck, and one of the monks, Bhante Dam Phommasan's leg was broken and had to be amputated. He implored the others to continue, and now they say he walks with them in spirit.
This man, Osbaldo Duran, donated a new escort vehicle so the monks could continue on.
OSBALDO DURAN, DONATED VEHICLE TO MONKS: When I saw that, I was like, no, they need some help. We've got to help them. They're walking for us.
COOPER: Now, cities offer them police escorts to ensure their safety, and more and more people want to walk with them.
As they cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, site of an infamous standoff during the struggle for civil rights, they paused to pray and hundreds joined alongside them.
The monks begin their days at dawn and sometimes don't rest until night. This was 70 days into their journey in Arnoldsville, Georgia.
They've crossed six states so far, and with each step and each stop, more are moved, and their message has spread.
This was the scene in Columbia, South Carolina this week, one of their biggest crowds so far.
We may not hear many people speak of compassion and kindness in politics or culture today, but for many, these monks are a sign of hope. Their steps may be silent, but it seems they're being heard loud and clear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seeing people from all walks of life and faiths come together has been deeply moving. There's something profoundly powerful in the simplicity of their act, monks walking for peace.
Instead of worrying about the future, maybe the real question is, what are your plans? Because peace only happens when each of us decides to play our part.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: That was Anderson Cooper reporting.
For our international viewers. WORLDSPORT is next. For those of you watching in North America, I'll join you again after a short break.
[01:41:51]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANDOVAL: Welcome back. Minnesota's leaders, they are pushing back against the Trump
administration after the Pentagon ordered some 1,500 active-duty troops to stand by for a possible deployment to the state. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says that the prospect of that is unacceptable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JACOB FREY, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: This act was clearly designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis. And here's the thing. We're not going to be intimidated.
If the goal here is safety, we've got many mechanisms to achieve safety, and the best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents, and in this case, military in Minneapolis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And tensions, they have remained high in Minnesota after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good. She was a 37-year-old mother of three who was shot and killed by that ICE agent in her car earlier this month.
Protesters are demanding federal immigration agents stop their raids and leave the state.
Earlier, I had a chance to speak to CNN's senior national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem. I asked her what she thought of ICE's mission in Minneapolis could be at this point, and whether it has potentially shifted away strictly from immigration enforcement actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. I mean, there can be no question about it. And here's the crazy thing about what's going on.
Donald Trump is deporting fewer people than Joe Biden did at this stage. And only 5 percent of the people that he is deporting have violent criminal convictions, about less than 40 percent have some sort of criminal conviction.
So this is now something different than effective immigration, you know, deportation, which anyone in Homeland Security is for. This is about the deployment of sort of fake troops.
As we see they're in military garb. They're masked. You know, this deployment to essentially command communities, ask people who they are, ask about accents. Violent, violent interactions with the public.
This is not about immigration anymore. It's not even about sort of law enforcement anymore. It has the feel of a -- of a sort of, you know, terror campaign against the -- against the city, not just against immigrants.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: And a rumored new ICE detention center is causing outrage in a small Georgia town. Some of the residents of Social Circle, Georgia, say that the federal government is considering converting one of the town's warehouses into a massive ICE facility.
Now, this kind of approach, it isn't necessarily new for the Department of Homeland Security. However, this comes amid rising tensions when it comes to immigration enforcement.
As Rafael Romo reports, angry locals say that they do not want ICE in their town.
fap
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARETH FENLEY, SOCIAL CIRCLE RESIDENT: Social Circle is a very sweet, small town in Georgia. It's a very conventional, old-fashioned, lovely little town.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But all that may be about to change in this town of 5,000 located about 45 miles east of Atlanta.
Is this a conversation that is being had?
FENLEY: Oh, yes. People around the town are all talking about it.
ROMO: Many people here like Gareth Fenley are convinced that the federal government wants to convert this warehouse in a detention center for as many as 10,000 immigrants, which would triple the town's population.
FENLEY: I myself am also against having ICE transform industrial warehouses into detention centers. I think that's a really, really bad idea from a human rights perspective.
ROMO: Fenley, a human rights activist, says she organized the protest when she received a tip that people from out of town were going to survey the facility.
David Keener, who's starting his seventh year as mayor of Social Circle, is opposed as well.
MAYOR DAVID KEENER, SOCIAL CIRCLE, GEORGIA: Painful. I don't want that here. This is not the town for that. You know, if I had to sum it up in two words -- go away.
[01:49:49]
ROMO: And so is the town leadership for reasons, they say, that have nothing to do with politics or the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.
ERIC TAYLOR, SOCIAL CIRCLE CITY MANAGER: It has nothing to do with what the political situation is. For us it simply just comes down to the fact that we're a small town of 5,000 people. We have a very limited water and sewer infrastructure. It's too close to elementary school.
ROMO: Social Circle Elementary is located only 4,000 feet from the warehouse.
John Miller, a businessman who owns horse stables across the street from the warehouse, says the entire town is united against this even beyond political differences.
JOHN MILLER, ORGANIZER, ONE CIRCLE COMMUNITY COALITION: Regardless of your ideological bent, most people in Social Circle are about Social Circle first. We're about our lifestyle.
ROMO: CNN asked the Department of Homeland Security about the issue, but so far there has been no reply.
As CNN reported in October, DHS is funneling $10 billion through the Navy to help facilitate the construction of a sprawling network of migrant detention centers across the U.S.
KEENER: I don't know that it's a done deal. You know, we've -- I've actually -- no one has contacted me from ICE nor federal government, nor the property owner. And as of today, we've not received an application for detention center in that location.
ROMO: For Georgia's greatest little town, it's a battle residents say they can't afford to lose.
As we reported in October, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to convert warehouses in other spaces around the country into massive detention facilities and several states, including Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Utah, and here in Georgia.
Additional details about the facilities remain unclear. And local officials in Social Circle told me they believe there might be a nondisclosure agreement between the warehouse's owner and the federal government.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: Parts of the southeastern U.S., they are getting a hefty dose of winter weather. Arctic air -- it swept across much of the eastern half of the country on Sunday, with reports of snow as far south as Alabama, Georgia and yes, even the Florida Panhandle. Freeze warnings there in effect all the way down to parts of Orlando, Florida.
And much of the Sunshine State, it could see temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit early Monday morning. That is so not Florida.
And cities in the northeast, they also got some snow, including Philadelphia. We got plenty of it here in New York, as well as our friends to the north in Boston. Snowfall totals of 3 to 6 inches, that's possible in the hours ahead.
And the Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes, they will be facing off for college football's national championship on Monday night.
Indiana, undefeated and looking for its first ever football national title. Miami has won the national championship five times, with its last title coming about 25 years ago.
CNN's Coy Wire with a preview of the big game.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: This will be known as the year the perennial powerhouses were shocked and has everyone questioning what this new era of NIL money and the transfer portal is becoming.
Miami is a team that's done nothing but fall short of expectations for the last quarter century, and that's understandable because they were at the mountaintop the last time they won the title in 2002. 38 NFL draft picks, probably the greatest college team ever assembled back then.
But head coach Mario Cristobal, who played for the Hurricanes, returned with a no nonsense, no living in the past mentality, and his 'Canes are now exceeding expectations.
100 to 1 underdogs before the playoff field selection. They have shocked the world, becoming the first team ever to play for a title on their home field.
Now some of his players told me his mantra is one and zero. No thinking about the past. The U is here. They're one win away from becoming champions.
Now for Indiana, they've pulled off arguably the greatest turnaround story ever in college football. Coach Curt Cignetti came in just two years ago, took them from the bottom of the barrel with the most losses of any college football program ever to two playoff appearances, an undefeated season playing for their first ever national title.
We asked both teams how they would put into words how huge it would be if they could actually pull off winning this title.
FERNANDO MENDOZA, INDIANA HOOSIERS QUARTERBACK: Yes, it would mean a lot. And I know how much it would mean to people. And I know that the best way to accomplish this goal is to really just focus on the football.
Myself focusing on the job and myself focusing on the present gives the Hoosiers the best chance to win. And I owe it to my teammates, to my coach, and also the Hoosier Nation.
FRANCIS MAUIGOA, MIAMI HURRICANES OFFENSIVE TACKLE: I mean, it will mean a lot, man. I mean, winning the national title, it means, you know, that you're the best.
We all play for each other. We all play for -- because this is a brotherhood, This is a family. And, you know, we just do it for ourselves. We just do it for each other.
WIRE: All right. These coaches are phenomenal.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal won two titles as a Hurricanes player from '89 to '92. The Rock, Dwayne Johnson was his teammate. He was accepted as a Secret Service agent, but realized coaching was his dream.
[01:54:54]
WIRE: He has seen and lived the glory days. He grew up in Miami. He said, it makes him livid seeing how Miami has been ridiculed and stomped on the last 20 years. Seems he's taking it personally. He is on a mission.
Now, Indiana coach Curt Cignetti grew up in locker rooms. Dad, Frank, is in the college football Hall of Fame. While head coach at West Virginia, he hired a young Nick Saban as an assistant.
Nearly 30 years later, Saban returned the favor, hiring Curt Cignetti to his inaugural staff at Alabama in '07. In four years there, Cignetti helped secure some of the top recruiting classes ever. Said he learned more in just one year than he had in 27 as an assistant.
After 27 years, he finally got his chance to become an FBS head coach. JMU turned that program around. Now, at 64, he's instilling his wisdom, principles and lessons in this Indiana team. We asked the Hoosiers players all about their head man, Curt Cignetti.
ROMAN HEMBY, INDIANA HOOSIERS RUNNING BACK: Just his personality and all of the things that he kind of said to me in the recruitment process, it's all come true. You know, he's a man of his word. He's all about winning. He does everything that's possible to win.
D'ANGELO PONDS, INDIANA HOOSIERS CORNERBACK: It's honestly great playing for a legendary coach like that. I feel like he's one of the best in the game. Just to learn from everything he goes by. And his standard that he keeps. And just how it molds you as a man.
I just feel like it's just a blessing just to be in his presence.
WIRE: It's about to be on. The tickets are astronomical prices. Current get-in price for the worst seats is $3,000.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: All right. Thanks to Coy Wire. $3,000.
Venus Williams, she has set a new record at the Australian Open. Williams became the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw on Saturday.
The 45-year-old seven-time major winner played on a wild card entry and lost in the first round. Williams was just 17 years old when she made her Australian Open debut back in 1998.
She entered this Australian Open on a five-match losing streak following the first and only win in her comeback to the tour at Washington last year. And she is still in the doubles competition in Australia.
I want to thank you so much for watching. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.
The news continues with my colleague Ben Hunte as he stands by in Atlanta in just a few moments.
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