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Allies Outraged over Trump's Comments on NATO Troops; Protesters March to Demand ICE out of Minnesota; How Climate Change May Be Fueling Severe Winter Storms; Heavy Snowfall in Afghanistan Kills Dozens, Destroys 300+ Houses; Amsterdam to Ban Electric "Fat Bikes" in Main Park. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired January 24, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello. Wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN NEWSROOM with me, Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, an insult to NATO nations, that's how remarks by U.S. president Donald Trump are being seen by many in the alliance.

Ukraine says a new wave of attacks hit Kyiv overnight, just as trilateral talks to end the fighting are set to resume.

And a potentially historic winter storm is threatening millions in the U.S. We'll look at how they're preparing.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome.

Let's begin with growing outrage from U.S. allies. They're angry about Donald Trump's comments downplaying NATO's role in Afghanistan. The U.S. president claimed on Thursday coalition troops stayed away from the front lines during the 20-year war. Here's how Trump put it.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We've never needed them. We have never really asked anything of them, you know, they'll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan and they did. They stayed a little back, little off the front lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: While the U.S. had the most casualties of any NATO member, about 1,000 troops from NATO members and other countries also died, including more than 450 from the United Kingdom. Trump's comments did not sit well with the British prime minister. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country. There are many also who were injured, some with life changing injuries and so I consider President Trump's remarks to be insulting and frankly appalling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Britain's Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan, issued this statement. "Thousands of lives were changed forever. Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters. Children were left without a parent. Families are left carrying the cost those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect."

The White House has shrugged off the criticism, saying the U.S. has done more for NATO than any other country in the alliance.

The outrage over Donald Trump's comments come as Europe is still simmering over the U.S. president's push to take over Greenland. The prime ministers of Denmark and Greenland met on Friday on the Arctic island to discuss the future of the Danish territory. CNN's Nic Robertson has more from Greenland.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It is strange and peculiar when president Trump is making such a push for Greenland and where he's parked his narrative and where NATO have parked their narrative.

Which seems to be joined up because it was the president Trump-Mark Rutte, secretary general of NATO, meeting that president Trump then came out of and posted that there was an agreement underway.

And the agreement, as we understand it, from the secretary general of NATO, is to ramp up NATO forces in the Arctic. And this is because president Trump has asked for it.

President Trump has played down any cost to the U.S. to get what he wants out of Greenland here. So it is somewhat surprising as the president has focused on -- apparently on NATO support to achieve what he wants in Arctic security around Greenland.

Yet so talks down the contribution of international NATO troops in Afghanistan, where, by the way, Denmark, who's at the center of all of this, lost more per capita than the United States.

I think it belies, obviously, the sacrifice that the British prime minister, that Prince Harry have spoken about. But it also belies an understanding of the war in Afghanistan.

I was with the Italian troops in Herat in the east, with the Lithuanians when they were just joining NATO. And they sent troops to Chaghcharan in the north of Afghanistan, a forlorn place at best. Polish troops are there. Germans in Taloqan. The Canadians around Kandahar, in the south.

There weren't front lines in that way that you think about a front line in Ukraine or you think about a front line in the First World War, Second World War, trench warfare.

No, the Taliban were in the population. The troops were in the population. The roadside bombs were going off when they were driving through towns. There was no front line troops there, were in danger when they left their base. And sometimes in danger inside their bases.

[03:05:00]

I remember being with some British commandos, way up in Helmand, a tiny little village. The only way in and out of there was by helicopter. They were getting mortars in the compound that they were camping in.

Front line doesn't make sense. And the -- and the sacrifice, yes. That came all around. I saw the helicopter spin up at bases to go out and pick up injured troops and bring them back for medical treatment. It was happening on all sides to all troops.

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HUNTE: Russia is set to resume peace talks with Ukraine and the U.S. in the coming hours, just as its war machine unleashed a new barrage of strikes overnight.

Ukraine says Kyiv was attacked with drones and missiles, leaving at least one person dead and four others wounded, while strikes on the second largest city, Kharkiv, damaged a maternity hospital and left at least 11 people wounded.

That came after negotiators began the first trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi, aimed at ending Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has not sent its top negotiating team. That limits what can be discussed and accomplished there. Ahead of day two of the meetings, Ukraine's president said this.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): As for the substance of today's discussions, it is still too early to draw conclusions. We will see how the conversation develops tomorrow and what result it produces.

It is necessary that not only Ukraine has the desire to end this war and achieve full security but that a similar desire somehow emerges in Russia as well.

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HUNTE: As CNN's Kevin Liptak reports, details about the first day of talks are largely kept under wraps.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States on Friday that took place in Abu Dhabi, to try and bring about an end to the Ukraine conflict, ended without any major announcements.

But a White House official did say they were productive and said they would continue into a second day. Now this is the first time that we know of that these three parties have gotten together to negotiate an end to this war.

Until now, it had been discussions essentially between the U.S. and Russia and the U.S. and Ukraine. Bringing them all together into the same city was viewed as progress, incremental progress, to be sure, but still an indication that things could be moving in the right direction.

Remember, it was all the way back in August that president Trump said that he believed the next step would be these trilateral format. That was after he met with Russian president Vladimir Putin. But they hadn't necessarily materialized until now.

Now heading into these discussions, the primary issue that was set to be talked about was this question of territorial concessions. We had heard from American officials that 90 percent of a peace deal was completed. Whether it was security guarantees for Ukraine or financial assistance for that country once the war ends.

But it was this question of what land will have to be ceded that remains an enormous sticking point. We heard that from Steve Witkoff, the president's foreign envoy, saying that this was the one issue that remained outstanding.

And, of course, we have heard that from the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well.

What will happen to the Donbas region, that eastern part of Ukraine, that Russia is demanding but that parts of which Ukraine still holds?

Now how that is all resolved remains unclear. And certainly it doesn't seem as if all sides will come to an agreement as part of these talks in the United Arab Emirates. But certainly seen as a positive sign that they are sitting down and talking about it at all.

Now president Trump, as he was flying back to the United States from Switzerland, didn't sound as if he expected a resolution to this in the near term, saying that he has had good meetings with both sides but that this remains a conflict that he thinks is more difficult to resolve than he had expected.

And I think it was notable that, after Zelenskyy met with president Trump in Davos, that when he emerged, he said that they had discussed, among other things, the need for new air defense systems, for Patriot missile batteries, all indications that Zelenskyy certainly doesn't see this conflict ending anytime soon -- Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House

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HUNTE: To Minnesota now, where sources tell CNN that the FBI agent, originally working with state authorities to investigate the fatal shooting of Renee Good, has resigned. The agent had opened a civil rights investigation but was ordered to reclassify it to assault on an officer.

The county attorney, who oversees Minneapolis, says the agent's resignation suggests the investigation may have been stopped for political reasons.

Meanwhile, protesters are calling for ICE to end its operation in Minnesota. Crowds marched through Minneapolis on Friday, despite extremely cold winter weather, to protest against the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

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Some Minnesota residents are taking action to help their neighbors in need, as tensions are high from the ongoing ICE operation. CNN's Omar Jimenez has more from Minneapolis.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The temperatures around negative 20 degrees right now, even colder with wind chill. Where this food is going is for the most part to people who are too scared to come outside right now because of the increased federal immigration enforcement presence here in Minneapolis.

SERGIO AMEZCUA, SENIOR PASTOR, DHH CHURCH: My assistant, kind of like pastor, a lot of people register. 2,010, 2,000. I'm like, why?

Wow, 2,000 --

JIMENEZ: Sergio Amezcua's Minneapolis church has a predominantly Latino congregation. He says, services don't look like they used to. How many people are we talking?

AMEZCUA: We have around 500 to 600 people in the normal days. Right now we get 100 or 80, if we're lucky.

JIMENEZ: It's a sense of community that's been disrupted and one, he says, has been part of driving down violent crime in the city after spikes in 2021 and 2020.

AMEZCUA: If you look at the police department right now, it looks way different than 2020 they're really working with the people of Minneapolis and that that's making the difference.

JIMENEZ: Whatever the exact formula, Minneapolis has seen results.

Now even though homicide rates are still up in the city compared to pre pandemic levels, according to a recent study by the Council on Criminal Justice, murders and the number of gunshot wound victims both down more than 15 percent compared to 2024 and much lower than the 2021 peak.

And it's similar to nationwide decreases for what's expected to be the third year in a row, according to FBI data.

The Trump administration is already tying the trends to increased immigration enforcement, despite this Minneapolis operation not starting until December of 2025.

JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We're enforcing the immigration laws and getting very violent criminals out of our country. And number two, because we're enforcing our criminal laws --

MARY MORIARTY, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: it has nothing to do with crime going down, because that was already happening.

JIMENEZ: Mary Moriarty is the Chief Prosecutor for Hennepin County, which includes Minneapolis.

Your concern is this dynamic of fear is going to make it harder for you to prosecute cases?

Really?

MORIARTY: Yes, that's already happened. We've had witnesses who are immigrants, who are afraid to come to court because ICE is around this building the courthouse. That means that witnesses that we may need to prosecute a violent crime are not going to be available to us and have not been available to us.

JIMENEZ: The at times chaotic dynamic has even been criticized by police Chiefs in the area.

CHIEF AXEL HENRY, ST. PAUL POLICE: Can we find a way to make sure that we can do these things without scaring the hell out of our community members?

JIMENEZ: And to start the year as Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara announced drops in crime, he worried about the increased presence of federal agents.

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE: The greatest risk to me is that there would be unrest or that there would be a tragedy.

JIMENEZ: The next day, Renee Good was shot and killed during a confrontation with ICE agents. It led to even more agents deployed to Minnesota, more anger, more fear.

AMEZCUA: Sometimes when I get an Amazon package at home, my 12-year- old ran to me, Dad, Dad, Daddy, ICE is here and I'm like, what?

So it was just an Amazon package.

JIMENEZ: He sees that fear as he delivers those meals.

AMEZCUA: I mean, most people need that. They're alone all day looking up in the window. So we get food but we also give them food for their soul and let them know that we're going to get through this.

JIMENEZ: Omar Jimenez, CNN, Minneapolis.

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HUNTE: Millions of Americans are bracing for a potentially historic winter storm, stretching more than 2,000 miles across the U.S. Forecasters are warning of catastrophic impacts from heavy snow and ice that could lead to days without power in some areas.

At least 16 states and Washington, D.C., have now declared a state of emergency and thousands of flights have already been canceled. Parts of the South and Midwest are already seeing snow and ice. Officials are urging people to stay off the roads and stay at home.

Climate change may play a big part in making severe winter storms like this even more likely and more extreme, too. CNN's chief climate correspondent Bill Weir explains.

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BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: It does seem unfair that, on an overheating planet, we still get bitterly cold ice and snow storms like this one here in the continental U.S.

But that is climate change, not necessarily a grand warming-up where days like this go away. But the scientists explain it's also part of a breaking polar vortex. This science is about 10 years old or so.

But the theory is, is that as the Arctic warms four times faster than the rest of planet Earth, the polar vortex is breaking down. This is this band of super high wind at the top of the Earth that typically, historically, in our lifetimes, has kept all that cold air up at the North Pole.

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But as that ice and sea ice melts, affecting those wind patterns, they see it breaking down. And there's wobbles and fingers of cold air now reaching as far south as Texas and Florida, in some cases -- not in this storm but we've seen it in the past.

This is a symptom, some scientists believe, of a climate in breakdown, of the jet stream and the polar vortex being thrown off, affecting not only weather patterns here but as Greenland melts and dumps into the Atlantic Ocean, affecting ocean currents, which also affect weather patterns going forward into the future.

President Trump did not waste this opportunity to float some more climate denial on Truth Social. It's reminiscent to Oklahoma senator Jim Inhofe, who brought a snowball onto the floor of Congress to prove global warming wasn't happening.

But at the end of this storm, the end of this day, 11 of the hottest years on record are the last 11 years. We continue to see record high temperatures shattered year by year. Very hard to find new all-time low cold temperatures in this, the age of climate change, right now.

Now here in New York City, this is also the first major winter storm test for new mayor Zohran Mamdani. Historically, mayors who have failed to plow the streets vowed to be ready for these big blisters (ph) have suffered politically.

He is trying to get out in front of it, vowing to have 2,000 sanitation workers on 12-hour shifts, starting when the storm arrives; 700 salt spreading trucks and 7 million tons of salt, if they should need that much in this particular one.

They're talking a big game about preparation. But in the end, we shall see what the storm brings -- Bill Weir, CNN, New York.

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HUNTE: Bad weather has also disrupted plans for a daring feat in Taiwan. Climber Alex Honnold was all set to scale one of the tallest buildings in the world without ropes. But rainy weather put a damper on those plans, forcing him to postpone the attempt.

Video from his test climb show him as he scales part of the Taipei 101 skyscraper amid an overcast sky. Netflix had planned to stream the event live and Honnold's climb has now been pushed back a day.

Meanwhile, in Argentina, it is scorching hot. Forecasters say above normal temperatures are expected to last through the weekend in Buenos Aires. The heat wave could peak on Monday with maximum temperatures of 36 Celsius or about 96 Fahrenheit.

Meteorologists recommend people stay hydrated, avoid direct exposure to the sun, wear sunscreen, lightweight clothing and hats during the middle of the day.

OK, Amsterdam's famous cycle lanes are booming but a particular kind of high-speed electric bike is now raising concerns. Why the city wants to pump the brakes up ahead. See you in a moment.

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

Extreme weather has turned deadly in Afghanistan. Disaster management officials say heavy snowfall has killed more than 40 people since Thursday. The storms have also destroyed more than 300 houses and blocked highways in eastern and central regions. The north has also gotten heavy snow.

This latest disaster comes as about one-third of people in Afghanistan are suffering acute food insecurity and millions are living in extreme poverty. That's according to the United Nations.

A preliminary report into Sunday's deadly train accident in Spain is offering some of the first clues into what went wrong. Investigators say a fracture in the track's rail may have occurred just before the crash.

But authorities caution that the findings are provisional and that the exact cause is still under investigation; 45 people were killed when a train derailed and collided with another high-speed train traveling in the opposite direction.

People who like traveling with full size toiletries can now overpack to their hearts content if you're flying out of London Heathrow. Britain's biggest airport is easing restrictions on liquids in carry- on bags. CNN's Anna Cooban has the details.

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ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS CORRESPONDENT: Hallelujah. If you're flying from London's Heathrow Airport, you no longer have to fiddle about trying to fit your makeup and teeny-tiny toiletries into plastic bags at security.

That's because the airport, which is one of the world's busiest, just scrapped its rule that only permitted liquids in containers up to 100 milliliters, packed in one transparent one-liter plastic bag in hand luggage.

The move is part of a roughly $1.3 billion tech upgrade, where the airport has introduced new scanners that mean travelers can keep their liquids and electronics inside their cabin bags.

Heathrow said it's the largest airport in the world to fully roll out this scanning technology. The 100-milliliter rule has been in place since 2006, after a failed terrorist plot to blow up several aircraft departing Heathrow.

Now two decades later, Heathrow is allowing passengers to have containers holding up to two liters of liquid in their hand luggage. According to the airport's estimates, getting rid of the old rule will save almost 16 million plastic bags every single year.

But the rules haven't changed everywhere. So if, for example, you're traveling from Heathrow to an airport in the United States, you can bring your 500 milliliter bottle of perfume on the way there but you can't take it back in your hand luggage.

So travelers still need to check the rules when flying from other airports around the world. But Heathrow said at its airport it expects the rule change to make for faster queues, less stress and a smoother start to journeys for millions of travelers -- Anna Cooban, CNN, London.

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HUNTE: Cycling is a way of life in Amsterdam but a new two-wheeled trend is putting that reputation to the test and sparking some heated debate along the way.

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HUNTE (voice-over): The city, known for its bike-friendly culture, says it's going to ban so-called fat bikes in one of its busiest areas.

More than half of Amsterdam's 800,000 residents bicycle in some form daily. And many are now riding electric fat bikes, known for their oversize wheels, heavy frames and battery-powered speed, able to drive up to 40 miles per hour or 60 kilometers per hour.

These electric bikes have stirred local controversy.

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The city now plans to ban fat bikes from their famed Vondelpark, which is known for its walking and biking paths. The city official who proposed the ban says the bikes are becoming increasingly dangerous, with riders often driving over twice the speed limit.

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MELANIE VAN DER HORST, ALDERWOMAN: A lot of younger kids are sitting on fat bikes and a lot of accidents happen. So we see a lot of accidents but also a lot of other people that feel very unsafe going outside because they are just scared for all the fat bikes.

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HUNTE (voice-over): Dutch hospitals reported in October that about half of fat bike accidents involve children aged 12 to 15 and that people injured on fat bikes needed extra medical treatment at rates 70 percent higher than those injured on regular bicycles.

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DR. BARBARA SWARTHOUT-TEN KATE, PHYSICIAN: Yes, we often see people who fell off their bikes with fat bike-related accidents and they're recovering from a concussion or arm fractures, leg fractures. It's quite common nowadays. It's quite frequent.

HUNTE (voice-over): But many fat bike riders disagree with the ban and say they prefer the bulky rides because of their space for passengers and ease of getting around.

SJOERD JONKERS, FAT BIKE RETAILER: I love driving it. My girlfriend is on the back, son in the front, the three of us on one bicycle. So I ditched my car.

HUNTE (voice-over): Supporters also say that in a city known for its tolerance, why not show more tolerance for the fat bike?

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HUNTE: The Olympic flame passed through several historic towns in northern Italy yesterday on its way to the Winter Games opening ceremony. The torch relay passed through Aquileia, one of the main centers of the ancient Roman Empire, before arriving in Trieste with the help of 29 torchbearers.

The flame is now just two weeks away from reaching its final destination in Milan.

And that's all I've got for you. It's been so quick. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I'll see you tomorrow. "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is next. Then there's so much more CNN NEWSROOM in about 30 minutes' time. See you soon.