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Bomb Cyclone Brings Biggest Snow in Years to Southeast U.S.; Judge Orders Release of 5-Year-Old & Father from Texas Facility; Gaza Officials: Over 30 People Killed in Israel Strikes; At Least 200 Dead After Mine Collapse in Eastern Congo. Aired 5-6 am ET

Aired February 01, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:31]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Heavy snowfall, hurricane force, wind gusts, and dangerous travel conditions. We'll have the latest on the strong winter storm slamming the southeast U.S. A judge orders the release of this boy and his father from immigration detention. We'll have details on the case of five-year-old Liam Ramos and the judge's scathing opinion.

And a key border crossing for Gaza residents partially reopens amid the ceasefire. We'll have a live report from Israel with the latest.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM, with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: A winter storm could bring near blizzard conditions to much of the southeastern United States in the coming hours. In North Carolina, the storm has already made for a transportation nightmare. State authorities counted at least 750 highway collisions on Saturday.

Here's the mayor of Greenville urging residents to stay off the roads for the time being.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PJ CONNELLY, MAYOR OF GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA: We want to make sure that people are not on the roads. You know, in eastern North Carolina, we don't have the equipment like other parts of the country that do see substantial amounts of snowfall on a regular basis. So, you know, we want to make sure that people are off there.

You know, our estimations are that if we get eight to 12 inches of snow, it could take us four full days to be able to clear all of our municipal roads.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Now, the storm has brought the biggest snow in years across the region, including as far down as Georgia, which saw more than a foot of snow in some areas and power outages on Saturday. As of now, there are more than 160,000 customers without power in the southern U.S. Travelers, especially those flying in or out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport, could face delays or cancellations. Saturday saw thousands of flight cancellations within, into, or out of the U.S., and there are already more than 1,000 cancellations so far today.

I want to bring in AccuWeather Reporter Bill Wadell as he joins us live from State College, Pennsylvania. Good to see you again. You and I talked yesterday about what you thought would happen. Now, we're here in the thick of it. What and where are the biggest concerns right now?

BILL WADELL, REPORTER, ACCUWEATHER: Yeah, that's right. Good morning, Kim. It's good to be inside joining you as we're keeping a close eye on the radar with that heavy snow, especially off the coast of North Carolina, impacts in South Carolina and Virginia as well.

What really gets interesting with this bomb cyclone is when we turn on the local storm reports over the past 24 hours, you're going to see all of the blue icons with the snow reports. Look how far south we have them down in Florida, in the Tampa Bay area. AccuWeather expert meteorologists, they put out the forecast for the potential of Gulf effect flurries overnight.

That is exactly what happened in this part of Florida. We have that very cold Arctic air blowing over the warmer waters of the Gulf and very similar to what we see at the Great Lakes here in the interior northeast. We're seeing that interaction and a bit of Gulf effect snow down in Florida.

Just flurries, no accumulation. But that just goes to show how impactful this storm is and how far south that deep cold is reaching in the Sunshine State.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, the coastal flooding risk as well as something that we're worrying about. Take us through what you're seeing there.

WADELL: Absolutely. This is a bomb cyclone event. So, we are seeing that rapid intensification with that pressure drop, basically one of the things that we look at. So, more than 24 millibars dropping within 24 hours. What does that mean? As we forecasted, very heavy snow and blizzard like conditions near the coast with those snow totals coming in over the past 24 hours. We're seeing roughly 11 inches of snow in Charlotte.

So, big impacts at the airport, definitely with those blizzard conditions at times. It is tough to reach that official criteria. It's got to happen for several hours. But even when we say blizzard like conditions, that can happen within a matter of minutes. So, that's why we are encouraging people, if you can do not travel because of treacherous conditions. We know that people have been stuck in traffic accidents. They have spun out. They've been stuck in those gridlock. And the last thing we want is people stuck in their cars.

And it's a serious situation in the cold because we're not only dealing with power outages from this storm. We are still dealing with ongoing power outages from last weekend's historic winter storm. There are still more than 100,000 people across states like Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana.

[05:05:02]

They have now reached roughly the one-week mark without power and heat after last weekend's ice storm. Incredibly dangerous when we're talking about sub-freezing temperatures at night. Some people in the hardest hit areas of last weekend's ice storm are being told it could be several more days before the power returns to their neighborhood.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, so uncomfortable and potentially dangerous, as you say. So, let's look forward now. I understand this cold pattern isn't going away anytime soon. I mean, what should people across the eastern U.S. be bracing for over the next couple of days and weeks?

WADELL: Yeah, that's right. We've been speaking with AccuWeather long- range experts. They have been telling us this is really a stubborn pattern. You can see here, this is the map through mid-February. So, we're kind of stuck in that pattern with that very cold Arctic air dipping right down into parts of the southeast. There will be occasional breaks at times.

But overall, over the next two weeks, we are looking at temperatures to be around, on average, 10 to 20 or even 30 degrees below the historical average. So, what does that mean for a lot of people right across this area? You have that increased risk of pipes freezing and bursting, especially in homes that are not well insulated.

And for a lot of people, for hundreds of millions of Americans, even if you haven't felt true disruptions by these winter storms and the bitter cold, you're going to feel it. With your power bill, as people are opening the mail in their email over the next few weeks, we know a lot of people across the eastern half of the country have been dealing with very high-power bills. That trend is expected to continue.

And when it comes to the economic impacts of these back-to-back winter storms and the steep cold, AccuWeather expert meteorologist just issued a new total damage and economic loss preliminary estimate for this winter storm this weekend. That's at 13 billion to 15 billion dollars.

So, we're considering all of the impacts, all of the flights that were canceled, more than 3000 this weekend, especially with the hub in Charlotte impacted. We put on top of that the cleanup costs and then the concerns with agriculture damage potentially to citrus groves down in Florida. Again, when we look at the temperatures in Florida, just remarkable to see how far south the freezing line is. And AccuWeather real field temperature is, of course, 10 to 20 degrees lower than what the actual air temperature is.

So, people are feeling the freeze way down in Florida. And for some of these citrus groves, they haven't seen cold temperatures like this in years, if not decades. And it does take time to see, you know, how much damage there potentially is to the citrus.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, this cold so painful for so many and expensive, as you point out. Bill Wadell, thank you so much for speaking with us. Appreciate it.

WADELL: Thank you for having us.

BRUNHUBER: The partial U.S. federal government shutdown will likely continue until at least Tuesday. The House of Representatives is in recess until Monday. And Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is warning Republicans that can't rely on Democrats to help fast track the Senate approved funding bill.

Listen, this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: We need a full and complete debate. And what I've made clear to House Republicans is that they cannot simply move forward with legislation taking a my way or the highway approach in the absence of House Democrats convening, which we're going to do tomorrow and having a discussion about the appropriate way forward and making sure that in this two week period of time that is contemplated by the continuing resolution that would freeze ice funding for 14 days, that there's a robust ironclad path to bringing about the type of change that the American people are demanding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So, this version of the bill comes after Donald Trump and Republican leaders agreed to Democrats demands to pause a funding increase for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Democrats are asking for broader reforms to immigration and customs enforcement after violent and deadly ICE operations in Minnesota.

Well, as a pair of mixed rulings for the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, a federal judge says the controversial effort in Minneapolis can continue rejecting lawsuits from the city neighboring St. Paul and the state of Minnesota who are seeking to end it.

Judge conceded the operation has had and will likely continue to have what she described as profound and even heartbreaking consequences. But she said the harms were outweighed by the need to enforce immigration law. And another federal judge ruled the Trump administration must release a five-year-old boy and his dad from ICE detention by Tuesday.

Agents seized Liam Conejo Ramos and his dad more than a week ago in Minneapolis, sending them to a federal facility more than twelve hundred miles away. Well, the judge blasted the government for what he called its ignorance of the Declaration of Independence, saying its actions evoked President Thomas Jefferson's warnings of a would-be authoritarian king.

Our Julia Vargas Jones was in an anti-ICE protest in Los Angeles when word broke of the judge's ruling.

[05:10:06]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That judge ordered not only that Liam and his father be released latest by Tuesday, but also that the government file an update with the court to say whether or not that happened by no later than Wednesday.

Now, it's important to note that the government could still appeal. In this case, they had in the past called Liam's father, quote, "illegal alien." And they had actually said that the reason why Liam was sent with his father to the facility in Dilley, Texas, 1300 miles away from his home in Minnesota, is because his father asked them to take his son with him.

Now, there's been a lot of questioning back and forth on this specific matter, because when that photo was taken of Liam with his little backpack and bunny hat being taken into custody with his father, his mother was just inside that house, steps away from him. And so the question was, why didn't she get custody of Liam?

Well, a family friend told CNN that she was terrified and that actually agents had asked Liam to knock on the door to see if anybody was home and that then his mother heeded the advice of some neighbors who said, don't open the door. She was terrified. The family friend told CNN of also then being detained herself. And she's four months pregnant and has a teenage son as well.

Despite all of that, it's the story and that image of Liam with his backpack being taken to a detention facility that is resonating here in Los Angeles. All afternoon on Saturday, we've been seeing signs of Liam or his hat, mentions of his name. Bring Liam home, one protester saying. And then they came for a child with the bunny ears and still people were silent.

Now, I want you to listen to what one of these protesters had to say when I told her that a judge had issued an order for the release of Liam and his father.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Along with all the other judges that have told this administration what they need to do, they do not do any of it. And nobody stops them. Nobody.

And this is just a catastrophe for our country and our democracy.

JONES: We're seeing a lot of abolish I signs here in downtown Los Angeles. Some people are saying we just have to protect children. And it seems like this is a gathering where people are coming together and agreeing on this one particular cause.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: For a second day, demonstrators gathered Saturday across the U.S. demanding ICE agents leave their cities. This was the scene in Minneapolis. Bicyclists braved ice and snow in a memorial ride for Alex Pretti, who was slain by federal agents just over a week ago.

Donald Trump says Iran is conducting serious negotiations with the United States, but he isn't saying whether he's decided to launch a military strike against Iran. The president has warned the U.S. could take military action if Tehran doesn't agree to negotiate a nuclear deal. He made similar threats during Iran's violent crackdown on anti- government protests.

Now, he's avoiding questions about specific military plans. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: I certainly can't tell you that, but we do have very big, powerful ships heading in that direction, as you know. I can't tell you, you know. But I hope -- I hope they negotiate something that's acceptable.

JOURNALIST: Saudi Arabia's defense minister reportedly said that if the U.S. backs off s strike, that will only embolden Tehran. What's your reaction do that sir?

TRUMP: Some people think that, some people don't. If you could make a negotiated deal that would be satisfactory with no nuclear weapons, it's that they should do that. But I don't know that they will, but they are talking to us, seriously talking to us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: So, as talks and threats continue, the U.S. is sending a message by boosting its military presence in the region. That includes moving the Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the northern Arabian Sea to assist any action that Trump might take.

All right, still ahead this hour, what we're learning from the newly released Justice Department files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, why one of the survivors is slamming the DOJ's handling of the case.

Plus, questions are mounting about why the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was at a raid on a Georgia election office. About those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.

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[05:18:31]

BRUNHUBER: Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Britain's former Prince Andrew, faces growing pressure at home to answer questions about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. It follows the latest release of three million documents in the file tied to the convicted sex offender. Among them is a photo that appears to show Mountbatten-Windsor on his hands and knees leaning over an unidentified woman or girl.

Now, it's not clear when or where the images were taken. No captions or context for the photographs were provided with the document release, and neither the photographs nor the email messages suggest any wrongdoing.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is calling on the former prince to testify about his links to Epstein before Congress.

Meanwhile, President Trump says information in the files proves he was the target of a conspiracy between Epstein and author Michael Wolff, who's written several books about him. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Not only does it absolve me, it's the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left, that Wolff was a third-rate writer, was conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to hurt me, politically or otherwise, and that came through loud and clear, so we'll probably sue Wolff for that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sir, did you speak or did you have any knowledge?

TRUMP: And maybe the Epstein estate, I guess, I don't know, but we're going to certainly sue Wolff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN Senior Reporter Marshall Cohen has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: This was by far the biggest drop that we have seen. About 3.5 million pages of material. There were also more than 182,000 images and videos. The Justice Department says that this is the final batch and that they now have fully complied with the transparency law that Congress passed with nearly unanimous support last year, forcing all of these disclosures.

[05:20:16]

So, what did we learn? Well, according to CNN's review, President Donald Trump was mentioned more than 1,000 times in the new documents. Now, remember, we've known for years that Trump was close personal friends with Jeffrey Epstein in the 80s and 90s before Epstein's conviction on state sex crime charges in 2008.

But these documents added a lot of new details. We saw notes, for example, from an FBI interview in 2021 where one of Epstein's victims said that his longtime accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, brought her to a party in New York and, quote, "presented her to Trump" and that Maxwell later made clear that she was, quote, "available." Trump and the woman never did anything together, according to what the woman told the FBI.

There also was a spreadsheet that the FBI put together just last year, which contained uncorroborated and unverified sexual assault allegations against Trump. Now, let me be totally clear that the president has said that he cut ties with Epstein in the mid-2000s and he denies wrongdoing. He has never been accused by law enforcement of any involvement in any of Epstein's crimes.

Other prominent figures also came up in the Epstein files. It really wasn't just Trump. There was a whole wide array of people in there. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, according to some of the e-mails, tried coordinating with Epstein to visit him in the Virgin Islands. Other messages showed that Howard Lutnick, who is now the commerce secretary, planned meetings with Epstein long after he claimed that they had stopped speaking. And there were also new pictures of the former Prince Andrew.

Some of those strange images showed him on all fours, leaning on top of a woman who herself was lying on the floor. All of these men deny wrongdoing and have not been accused by authorities of any crimes.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche admits many Epstein files were redacted or withheld. CNN spoke with one of Epstein's survivors, Jess Michaels, who accused the DOJ of mishandling the investigation and the redaction process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESS MICHAELS, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I think it's really important for people to understand who are not going through the files. So, there's something called a 302, and that is a victim statement. All of us have been looking for our victim statements.

So, because we know what we've said, we know what was revealed. We know what should be in there. So, one of the things that I found in one of the 302s was that in a -- in a victim statement that was seven pages long, four pages looked like this.

So, the name of the survivor is appropriately blacked out. But what this victim shared happened to her is also blacked out. And so, when I hear Todd Blanche say that they have complied, but then he also says there's nothing in there, and if there was, we'd investigate, then there should be no reason why this is blacked out.

I don't know that I -- I trust the Department of Justice to ask anything of them and for them to comply. What I am hoping is that Congress will do something, Congress, hold them in contempt of Congress, that we will have some repercussions for the fact that they broke the law. There's a long list of ways they broke the law, by the way.

You can say whatever you want, but what we're seeing is that this Department of Justice is actually gaslighting the entire country. But they've broken the law, and -- and we need repercussions, and we need a way, we need some kind of mechanism for the truth to really be able to get out there if there's going to be any genuine investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Blanche said Friday that Congress members will be able to look at unredacted files. The architects of the bipartisan law that compelled the files released have already asked to review the unredacted versions.

Several Democratic election officials tell CNN they're preparing for potential federal government intrusion in the midterm elections this fall. That's after seeing how this week the FBI served a search warrant at the election headquarters in Fulton County, Georgia. Agents seized 700 boxes of ballots like these. The source tells CNN the search is related to any effort by the DOJ to look for alleged voter fraud.

President Trump has repeated claims, debunked many times, that the 2020 election was rigged. Trump lost the state of Georgia to Joe Biden in 2020 by nearly 12,000 votes. In the aftermath of the election, Trump focused his attention on Fulton County, whose voter base is largely nonwhite and voted for Biden.

[05:25:04]

In a call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Trump directed him to find enough votes to overturn the election loss.

TRUMP: So, look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have, because we won the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN crews on the ground also observed Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard at the scene. President Trump was asked about her role on Thursday night. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, what was Tulsi Gabbard doing at an election center in Georgia today?

TRUMP: She's working very hard on trying to keep the election safe. And she's done a very good job. And they, as you know, they got into the votes. They signed the judge's order in Georgia. And you're going to see some interesting things happening. They've been trying to get there for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller says we've never seen anything like this before. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: This is way out of the norm. There's nothing to compare it to. Never in the history of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has the Director of National Intelligence shown up in the middle of an FBI criminal investigation at the scene of an investigation during the execution of a court-authorized search warrant.

It's not really what the Director of National Intelligence does. The intelligence community, which the Director of National Intelligence, the DNI, Tulsi Gabbard is the leader of, is supposed to be focused on foreign counterintelligence, threats coming at the United States from outside the United States. The FBI, being dual-hatted here, can work on foreign issues as well as domestic issues.

But the DNI, the CIA, the NSA, all of those agencies are really barred from spying on or collecting or retaining information about U.S. persons, American citizens. So, to have her there on site leading an FBI search warrant was truly unprecedented. And what the congressional committees, the intelligence committees, want to know is how and why and based on what authorities. The DNI has no investigative authorities to carry out investigations or to lead them, so a lot of questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: A crucial gateway for Gaza is partially reopening. After almost two years, Israel will allow passage through the Rafah border crossing. We'll explain who can cross and under what conditions. That's coming up next. Stay with us.

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[05:31:08]

BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Let's check some of today's top stories. A bomb cyclone, winter storm is bringing snow, high winds and extreme cold to the U.S. Southeast. Blizzard conditions are possible through Sunday, with record low temperatures into Monday. More than 160,000 customers are without power as the deep freeze spreads.

The U.S. federal court is ordering immigration officials to release a 5-year-old Minnesota boy and his father taken into ICE custody more than a week ago. In a scathing ruling, the judge blasted the Trump administration and ordered the pair released by Tuesday.

Donald Trump is refusing to provide specifics about a possible military strike on Iran, but he says Iran is, quote, "seriously talking with U.S. negotiators." The U.S. president has threatened military action on Iran if it doesn't agree to nuclear talks and for its violent crackdown on anti-government protests. President Trump says the U.S. has, quote, "some big powerful ships heading in that direction."

Now, for almost two years, Israel is partially reopening Gaza's gateway to the world. Right now, officials are carrying out preliminary work at the Rafah border crossing with Egypt before they allow people to cross. Once those preparations are finished, only pedestrians vetted by Israel will pass. This comes as fighting rages on in Gaza, despite a three-month ceasefire.

Gaza officials say Israeli strikes killed at least 31 people on Saturday. It was the enclave's deadliest day in over two months. Israel says it targeted Hamas and Islamic Jihad for violating the ceasefire.

We will get more now from CNN's Oren Liebermann live in Jerusalem. Oren, I want to go back to the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing. Give us a sense of where things stand right now.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Kim, today is effectively a trial phase of the Rafah crossing, which hasn't been reopened for nearly two years now, largely since Israel took control of that area in May 2024. So, this is a big step and one that's called for under the first phase of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement. But Israel had refused to open the Rafah crossing until all of the living and deceased hostages held in Gaza were returned.

The last deceased hostage was returned just last week. So, now we are at the phase where the Rafah crossing will reopen in a limited fashion. Israel has made clear this is not a full reopening. There is no expectation of humanitarian aid or commercial goods. It is only to a small number of people in both directions. An Israeli security official says 150 Palestinians will be allowed to leave, and only 50 will be allowed to enter.

So, today is a trial phase where Israel's coordinator for government activities in the territories, or COGAT, is essentially working through the process here with the European Union, Egypt, as well as other stakeholders here, to essentially figure out the process here. And then although Israel doesn't say when the crossing will begin to allow pedestrians to move through it, Ali Shaath, the head of the Palestinian technocratic committee that's supposed to run Gaza, says it will be open for pedestrians beginning tomorrow.

So, Kim, we will keep a very close eye on this because, frankly, it's been expected for a long time.

BRUNHUBER: All right. And then, Oren, even though this ceasefire is still presumably in effect, I mean, more people in Gaza are being killed by Israeli strikes. What more can you tell us?

LIEBERMANN: Yesterday was one of the deadliest days in Gaza we have seen in months, frankly. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, more than 30 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza. And that number, according to Gaza's civil defense, includes mostly children and women.

We have seen the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza continue to climb, even since that ceasefire went into effect nearly three months ago. With these latest deaths, it now means, according to the Ministry of Health data, that more than 500 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes since the beginning of the ceasefire in mid-October.

[05:35:06]

Israel says they were targeting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad after they say what they described as eight Hamas terrorists emerged from an underground tunnel in Rafah one day earlier, and Israel targeted that group and then carried out this wave of strikes.

It's also worth noting that just a couple of days ago, the Israeli military reportedly acknowledged to Israeli journalists in a briefing that approximately 70,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war. That's a number that very closely lines up with the total death toll from the Ministry of Health.

Now, Israel and the Israeli military at the beginning of the war had tried to cast doubt on that number, but this, according to the journalists who were briefed here, is an acknowledgment that the number is largely accurate.

In response, an Israeli military spokesperson said the number wasn't official data and only they would release official data, but when we followed up and tried to ask if Israel kept track of how many Palestinians had been killed in Gaza or if they intended to release that number, they refused to respond.

Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right, I appreciate those updates. Oren Liebermann, thanks so much.

Israeli Arabs and Jews joined together to protest against a surge in violent crime in the Arab community. Twenty-seven Israeli Arabs have been killed this year alone, and many people say the police and government have turned a blind eye to the problem for decades.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANAL JABARIN, PROTESTER: We are here to have our loud voice against this government and to bring our voice as Arabs and Jews to have peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. officials aren't sharing many details about Saturday's talks with a Russian envoy in Miami. They called the meeting with Kirill Dmitriev productive and constructive, but nothing beyond that.

Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukraine doesn't expect separate peace talks to resume until next week. Negotiations with the U.S. and Russia were originally set for today in Abu Dhabi.

In Ukraine, Russia's brief pause on strikes on Kyiv is set to expire today. Ukraine endured more power outages Saturday, blamed on problems with power lines to Moldova. Now, that's happening as temperatures are expected to drop as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius or minus 22 Fahrenheit in the coming days. Several mines have collapsed in eastern Congo beneath a devastating

landslide. Still ahead, the rising death toll as officials assess the fallout. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:40:43]

BRUNHUBER: Hundreds flooded the streets in Copenhagen, rallying in support of Danish military veterans. The demonstrations were fueled by Donald Trump's comments that claimed European allies stayed off the front lines in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESPER LARSEN, DANISH VETERAN, SERVED IN AFGHANISTAN: I heard what President Trump said about we were not at the front line and that was so wrong. I was so wrong. I lost a very close friend and colleague of mine, Mads Lerche (ph), and he was a close friend behind the service. So -- so, I was hurt by what Mr. Trump said.

NIELS CHRISTIAN KOEFOED, DANISH LIEUTENANT-COLONEL (RET.), SERVED IN AFGHANISTAN: Behind all these flags there's a guy, there's a soldier, there's a young man. And I lost one guy, not in my mission, but he deployed a second time and he also died. So, I want to honor them. I want to show the Americans that we reacted immediately. We all support them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Trump's comments sparked widespread backlash, including from Britain's Prime Minister Keir Sturmer, who called the U.S. president's remarks insulting and appalling. Trump later praised British troops, but stopped short of apologizing or addressing other European militaries. Denmark lost 44 service members in Afghanistan, the highest per capita death toll among coalition forces.

At least 200 people are known dead after heavy rain triggered a massive landslide that collapsed several miles in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and officials are still counting. The area is controlled by M23 rebels. The mines produce metals the world needs for high-tech products, from phones to aircraft engines.

I want to bring in CNN's Larry Madowo, who's live from Nairobi, Kenya.

Larry, tragedy just on such a huge scale here. What more are we learning about what happened?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that this mine collapse happened on Wednesday, but it's taken some time to get the full extent of the damage and the casualties because of how remote this part is. We also know that heavy rains caused the ground to become fragile, authorities say. And when people were inside, artisanal miners mostly, it gave way and it buried miners, children, market women, all of them victims of this. One official is saying as many as 227 people could have been killed in this accident that happened in Rubaya, in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. I want you to listen to one survivor recounting what happened in the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MINE COLLAPSE SURVIVOR (through translator): I was on the veranda, then we saw the mountain collapse and the earth carry us away. We were rescued. That's why I am here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: This Rubaya mine that produces coltan, which is processed into tantalum and is necessary for everything that's used in mobile phones, electric cars, the Democratic Republic of Congo is directly blaming Rwanda and the M23 Congo River Alliance rebels for the deaths of these people. They say that the Congolese government declared this site a red site, which made it illegal for any mining or marketing activities there. That was early last year, the Congolese government saying that in June, 300 people were killed at this exact same place, and Rwanda and M23 rebels that they support are directly endangering people's lives there for money.

And the Congolese government essentially saying that the international community continues to buy these minerals that are smuggled from the DRC through Rwanda and blaming the international community for essentially being behind the war that continues there.

I want you to read -- I want you to read a statement for you from the Congolese government after this accident. They say this exploitation directly fuels a war economy. This reality is reflected in the statistics, statistical anomalies observed at the regional level. Notably, the increase of more than 200 percent in coltan exports from Rwanda between January and June 2025, unrelated to its known natural reserves, revealing mechanisms of laundering Congolese minerals from areas under armed occupation. And they say these artisanal miners work due to wild and illegal exploitation of Congolese natural resources orchestrated by Rwanda.

Rwanda denies backing the M23 rebels, but the U.N. and other international bodies say it is directly responsible in supporting them. And this tragedy, the Congolese are blaming directly on the Rwandans, Kim.

[05:45:07]

BRUNHUBER: Well, I appreciate that update. Larry Madowo, thanks so much.

Well, athletes from around the world are making their way to Italy ahead of the upcoming Winter Olympics. We'll have the latest on the final preparations? That's coming up. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BRUNHUBER: All right. I want to bring you an update on the latest from Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on X moments ago the next trilateral meetings with the U.S. and Russia will resume February 4th and 5th in Abu Dhabi. They were originally scheduled for today. In Ukraine, Russia's brief pause on strikes on Kyiv is set to expire today. Now that's happening as temperatures are expected to drop as low as minus 30 degrees Celsius or minus 22 Fahrenheit in the coming days.

Well, Serbia's Novak Djokovic is facing off against world number one Carlos Alcaraz as the Australian Open men's title match is underway in Melbourne. Currently, Alcaraz is out front, leading the match two sets to one. If the 38-year-old Djokovic can secure a win today, it would mark a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam victory.

[05:50:00]

Meanwhile, in the women's singles final, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina won her first Australian Open title following a major upset on Saturday. The former Wimbledon champion came out guns blazing against world number one Aryna Sabalenka, establishing control early after claiming the first set. Aryna Sabalenka rallied, finding her groove and securing the second set, but Rybakina would battle back for the win in the third and final set, capturing her second major trophy.

Well, the prelude to Italy's upcoming Winter Olympics is coming to a fiery climax as the world awaits Friday's opening ceremonies. Have a look at this incredible arrival for the Olympic flame. The torchbearer quite literally glided into the Italian village of Livigno by paragliding, and from there, the flame was carried across the famed ski resort before being handed off to fast-moving snowboarders, all set against the backdrop of the stunning Italian Alps. The torch is now on its way to Milan ahead of the Winter Games, which run from February 6 to 22.

And joining me now to discuss the upcoming Winter Games is CNN Sports Analyst Christine Brennan.

Great to talk to you again. Thanks for being here with us, taking advantage of your -- your vast experience on this. I mean, you've covered more than 20 Olympics now. These games will be spread out across northern Italy like no Olympic Games ever before. I mean, what's that going to mean for athletes and fans, journalists trying to get around?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Kim, great to see you. And it will be a very different experience from previous Olympics, where, for example, in Vancouver in 2010, you could be in the city, you could take a shuttle bus an hour, hour and a half up to Whistler, watch the Lindsey Vonn win the downhill, the gold medal back in 2010, and then be back in Vancouver well before dinnertime. That's not happening here.

Everything is spread out. So, there will be, for example, satellite opening ceremonies. The main one will be in Milan on Friday evening at Milan time, as you mentioned. But then there will be in the mountains, there will be various ceremonies. And those athletes basically will stay there. And the athletes in Milan, the figure skaters, the speed skaters, the men's and women's ice hockey players, they're the ones who are going to stay in Milan.

So, it's going to be spread out in a way that no Olympics I've covered, going back to my first Winter Olympics was Calgary in 1988. Then all of them since, Kim, it's going to be a very different experience for those athletes and fans are going to have to make a choice in the mountains or you in the city.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, it's just hard to fathom all of that. So, I want to look at some of the storylines going into these games. Lindsey Vonn, the American ski racer, who's trying to come back at age 41, just crashed dramatically in Switzerland, hurt her knee again. She's saying her Olympic dream isn't over. I mean, do you think she's going to make it?

BRENNAN: Kim, if there is one athlete on Earth who can stick Band-Aids and glue and, you know, get a tendon or a ligament to come together. I'm being a little facetious here, obviously. It's Lindsey Vonn, you know, there's something about her. She's 41. She's had a great season. This comeback is obviously, you know, people don't even follow the Olympics or aren't even in tune yet, but they're coming. They know about Lindsey Vonn. They know her incredible career.

I will tell you this story really quickly that I think illustrates why we haven't yet heard that Lindsey Vonn is out of the Olympics. And it is 2006, the Turin Olympics, just about an hour and a half train ride from Milan. So, 20 years ago, she crashed in an Olympic training run for the downhill. They airlift her off the mountain. That's what they do. You know, they got to get them off the mountain somehow. Went to the hospital. She's out. Everyone's up. That's it. Her name was Lindsey Kildow back then. She's out. No, no way she's going to compete.

She checks herself out of the hospital, works her way to the top of the mountain and finishes eighth in the downhill competition at the Olympic Games. I've never seen anything like that. And that's why there's a chance here for Lindsey Vonn.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, a chance, although, you know, as I know, as an older athlete, you don't bounce back necessarily the same as you do when you're when you're a little younger. Certainly all Americans are -- are hoping that she is able to. What a great story.

A comeback of a different sort, I guess. Now, Maxim Naumov is a -- a 24-year-old American figure skater who lost both his parents a year ago in that awful plane crash. I mean, now he's made the Olympic team. It's just a poignant story, right?

BRENNAN: Oh, I think this is going to be already is one of the most emotional stories of the Olympics, I think probably the most emotional, at least going into the games, there will certainly be many storylines that develop at the Olympics. But yes, Maxim Naumov, 24, as you said, only child. His parents were 1994 World Pairs champions with Russia. So, they're from Russia. They moved to the United States. They have a son. So he is an American.

[05:55:12]

And together, the three of them work their way to try to have him achieve his dream of making the Olympic Games. And that awful midair collision literally a year and two days ago over the Potomac River, his mom and dad were on that plane. They had stayed for two days at the national championships. Max went home, but they stayed to work with young developmental skaters to help the up and comers and 11 skaters and 28 members of the figure skating community were killed in that on that terrible evening.

Max lost both his mom and dad. As you can imagine, Kim, he was, of course, devastated and he really didn't know if he would carry on. And we all thought he might just retire.

And he said, no, my mom and dad wanted me to go for the Olympics. I'm going to go for the Olympics. He went for it. He finished third at the Nationals a few weeks ago. He is on the Olympic team. He will compete in the men's competition in a week or so.

As I said, I mean, I'm getting, you know, goosebumps as I'm thinking about it. What an incredible, the perseverance of this young man and the way he has come. And he had a picture of his mom and dad with a little boy with them that he held up as he got his scores at the Nationals a few weeks ago, the U.S. Nationals. I'm sure he will have those pictures, one picture or another with him at the Olympics, showing how much his mom and dad are still with them.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, just such a compelling story, one of so many that will be told throughout these Winter Olympics. I'm really looking forward to talking with you again, bringing up some of the other ones, the return of NHL players, for example, in hockey, a sport dear to my heart. So, much else going on. We'll catch up with you a little bit later. But we've got to go.

Christine Brennan, thank you so much for speaking with us.

BRENNAN: My pleasure, Kim. Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber for our viewers in North America. CNN THIS MORNING is next. For the rest of the world, it's a Connect the World Special: Rory's return.

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