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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump's Plans On Greenland; Minneapolis On Alert; Mos Epstein Files Unreleased One Month After Deadline. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired January 20, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:05]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We've been listening to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson addressing British parliament. He is the first sitting House speaker to address parliament. He said that this trip had actually been scheduled and fall -- in the fall. It was meant to celebrate America's 250th birthday year.

But obviously the timing of this trip a bit more awkward now as Trump threatens to slap tariffs on the U.K. and other European nations, and questions remain about whether those European nations will slap retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.

A few things from Speaker Johnson's comments there. He said, look, we will face and overcome together the challenges of our present day. We will work through our differences calmly. A strong America is good for the entire world. A strong U.K. is as well.

He said he spoke to Trump yesterday and told him, my mission here in the U.K. is to encourage our friends and to calm the waters. Obviously, it is unclear if those waters have been calmed from his comments, but we will continue to watch and monitor his comments.

In the meantime, more EARLY START starts right now.

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: All right. Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Tuesday, January 20th, 5:00 here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

President Trump is escalating his campaign to annex Greenland. How European leaders are preparing to respond to his plans.

Plus, a tense situation in Minneapolis as the Justice Department opens investigations into demonstrators.

And one month has now passed since the deadline to release all of the Jeffrey Epstein files, but only a small amount have been released. We'll take a look at the fallout.

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: All right. We begin this hour with Donald Trump's upcoming trip to Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is getting underway. In the days ahead, the U.S. president will come face to face with many of the European leaders he's targeting with the new round of tariffs over their support for Greenland's sovereignty.

Despite growing concerns across Europe, the U.S. treasury secretary downplayed those tariffs at a news conference in Davos a short time ago. He claimed that European economic retaliation is a false narrative and that countries should take a deep breath and let things play out.

But President Trump remains adamant about his ambitions to control Greenland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, we have to have it. They have to have this done. They can't protect it.

Denmark, they're wonderful people. And I know the leaders, they're very good people. But they don't even go there. And, you know, because the boat went there 500 years ago and then left, that doesn't give you title to property. So, we'll be talking about it with the various people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Denmark is responding to the pressure by bolstering its military presence across the Arctic island. According to a Danish spokesperson, there will be a substantial increase in the number of troops positioned in Greenland, with deployments already underway. This comes as several NATO allies have conducted joint exercises around the island.

During a phone call with the British prime minister over the weekend, a U.K. official says that President Trump conceded that he may have been given bad information about European troop deployments in Greenland, as E.U. officials weigh potential off ramps from the mounting tensions, many continue to stress the need for dialogue.

Joining us now live from Paris is CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell.

Melissa, give us a sense of what the dialogue appears to be between Trump and Macron. It seems that that relationship is souring.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. First of all, the idea of that meeting tomorrow in Davos, Rahel, of the American president, with a number of those European leaders involved in the defense of Greenland, promises to be pretty frosty when you love to be in a corner of that room, to hear the tone, because in the meantime, there is no suggestion that either side is backing down over the question of the future of Greenland, nor of the question of tariffs and retaliation. Retaliatory tariffs on the part of the Europeans.

Instead, what you've had is this war of words this morning between the French and American presence. Long gone are the days of the bromance, it seems it isn't simply on the question of Greenland and the tariffs and the countermeasures being prepared by Europe, but on the question of the Council for Peace, that you'll remember, President Trump sent invitations out to 60 or so world leaders over the course of the weekend to try and oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, but in a sort of enlarged format that it would see its sort of rival the U.N. in terms of its ability to try and ensure peace in different parts of the world.

We understand that the French president, amongst others, have refused, declined the invitation to join this board of peace and invitation, by the way, also extended to the Russian president. In response to that, you heard the American president threaten the French with 200 percent tariffs on their wines and champagnes. So, no suggestion that these threats of tariffs being used as a tool for international diplomacy is going anywhere, nor indeed that you can expect the European response to be anything other than frosty by the time the leaders meet tomorrow in Davos.

On the question of Greenland, what we're seeing is a reinforcement of troops on the part of the Danes, largely symbolic, but certainly as a strong signal to Washington that Europeans intend to stand firm on the future of the Arctic island. And in terms of those retaliatory tariffs, we'll see European leaders meet here in brussels on Thursday to discuss the transatlantic relationship and its souring nature, even as they consider the weight of their countermeasures.

We understand also that President Macron had extended the American president invitation for a G7 summit here in Paris on Thursday, as well. So ratcheted up have these tensions become in the hope. And that was the message of the sense of the message that Emmanuel Macron sent to the American president overnight, then published by President Trump.

The idea that on Greenland there could be no agreement, but that on a number of other issues, there was the possibility to work together. And that dialogue was essential, even as this tension continues to mount -- Rahel.

SOLOMON: Yeah. House Speaker Mike Johnson emphasizing that a dialogue is possible moving forward. We will see.

Melissa Bell in Paris -- Melissa, thank you.

Now let's turn to the protests in Minnesota. Sources tell CNN that the FBI had briefly opened a civil rights probe into the federal agent who shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis this month. That investigation has now shifted away from the agent, Jonathan Ross, and now focuses on Good herself and her widow. Some inside the Justice Department see that switch as politically motivated. And at least six federal prosecutors in Minnesota have resigned because of it.

Good's killing has sparked public outrage and kicked off days of protests against federal agents conducting immigration raids in Minnesota.

The Justice Department also investigating anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a church service in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on Sunday. The demonstrators say that one of the church leaders is an ICE official. Trump administration officials accused the protesters of violating the civil rights of Christians, but the attorney general for Minnesota says that the protest was a First Amendment activity.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones brings us the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the video of that protest disrupting service in the church, you can hear quite clearly those protesters chanting, "ICE out" and "Justice for Renee Good". The 37- year-old mother of three who was shot by ICE earlier this month.

And we spoke to one of the organizers of that process to understand what was the impetus for going there and why they decided to disrupt that church service.

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG, ATTORNEY AND FOUNDER, RACIAL JUSTICE NETWORK: And so to think about someone claiming to be a pastor, I watched part of a sermon that he gave on Saturday that was online, you know, to see his demeanor, you know, looking calm, looking like he cared. But then on the flip side, being an overseer for these agents that, again, are brutalizing people in our community -- I mean, cutting women out of seat belts in their cars, dragging them out of cars, breaking their car windows, attacking children on school grounds, spraying them with pepper spray. I don't understand how you can reconcile the two.

JONES: She's talking about David Easterwood, an acting field office of director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE in Saint Paul, who is believed to also be a pastor in that church. Now, CNN did reach out to DHS to confirm the identity of this officer. And DHS declined to confirm or deny, they said in a statement to CNN from Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, quote, "DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement officers."

This after the attorney general, Pam Bondi, had posted on X the night before on Sunday night that she had just spoken to the pastor in Minnesota whose church was targeted in attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law.

Now, I want to bring you to outside the Whipple Federal Building. This is where we are right now. It is now the fifth day of protests after on Friday, a federal judge issued an order for those federal agents to stop using chemical agents such as pepper spray and tear gas onto the protesters. That had been for a couple of days straight, clashing with police with federal police, I should say that has since calmed down.

We are also seeing a very heavy presence of the sheriff's department here, but today we're hearing from the federal government that that decision is now being challenged. This after the DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, saying that that decision would have changed nothing in the conduct of these agents.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Still ahead, much of Kyiv is once again cold and in the dark following Russia's latest round of attacks.

[05:10:01]

We'll have those details straight ahead.

Plus, Iran cut off Internet communications during the unrest in the country. Now, it's expected to consider lifting that blackout. We'll have the latest on a live report straight ahead.

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SOLOMON: Parts of Kyiv, Ukraine, thousands are once again without power after Russia's latest bombardment. Ukraine's air force reported a missile and drone attack earlier. CNN team also heard explosions in the city. Mayor says around 5,600 multi-story buildings have no heat and at least one person is injured.

Russia launched a massive attack on Kyiv's energy infrastructure earlier this month, leaving hundreds of thousands of households, businesses and schools without power amid below freezing temperatures.

[05:15:06]

Let's get to CNN's Clare Sebastian following all of this live for us in London.

Clare, let's just start with what the latest is with the Russian attacks. What more do you know?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Rahel, this was the biggest in terms of numbers combined missile and drone attack of the year so far. Obviously, we're only 20 days in, but this was 34 missiles, both cruise missiles and ballistic missiles and 339 long range drones, according to Ukraine's air force.

But I think the key to understanding this is the timing. As you note, because 11 days ago we saw another massive attack on energy infrastructure, specifically affecting mainly the capital, Kyiv. And that was the first time, according to authorities in the city there, that they'd had to switch off the heating for many, many buildings. About 6,000 were affected at the time. That was the first time they'd had to do that, they said in the history of the central heating system.

All of this, of course, coinciding with a very unusual cold snap. It's been below minus ten consistently right now. It's about minus 13 Celsius in Kyiv. That's about eight to nine Fahrenheit for U.S. viewers. So, this happening again 11 or so days later is really important to

understanding the Russian strategy of attrition here because as of yesterday, of those 6,000 buildings originally affected, affected all but 16 had been repaired and given their heating back.

And now 5,600 or so are affected again. And most of those are the same ones that were affected in the first place. So, you can imagine what that does to people's morale and to the efforts of the city to continue to repair. It's not just heating, of course. Water has been affected across the entire left bank of Kyiv. That's a major residential area.

Power has been cut out this morning, according to the biggest private energy company in Ukraine, for about 330,000 customers, about half of those are now back online. But that's heating, that's water, that's power all at the same time.

And this is why we see President Zelenskyy coming out this morning and calling for more pressure on Russia, noting that some of the missiles, he said, that were used in the attack overnight into this morning were made this year, suggesting, he says, that the sanctions need to be stepped up significantly.

SOLOMON: Clare Sebastian for us there in London -- Clare, thank you.

A senior Iranian parliament member says that Iran will decide on lifting its Internet blackout in the coming days. Communications were shut off nearly two weeks ago as nationwide protests were violently put down by security forces. An Iranian official says that Internet service will return when security conditions are appropriate.

Let's get to CNN's Nada Bashir, following these developments for us, also from London.

Nada, what more do we know about a potential lifting of a blackout? What would that look like?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there hasn't been any clear details offered by the Iranian regime and what this will look like when this may play out. What we do know, of course, is that the entire country has been plunged into a near-total communications and Internet blackout for over 12 days now. This has prevented Iranians from being able to access the internet and being able to share anything on social media, and being able to contact loved ones or friends outside of the country, save for a few small moments where we have seen some individuals inside Iran being able to get internet access via Starlink satellite connection, being able to make calls using landline phones, some for just a few seconds.

So, we've only really had a small glimpse into what has been unfolding in Iran inside the country since protests began in last in the end of December. And of course, the regime had previously said that it would consider lifting this Internet blackout once the security situation had been restored and secured in their words, and the fact that we are beginning to hear officials suggesting that we may see this happening soon does indicate that the protests have waned. They have grown smaller.

That is certainly something that we've been hearing from our contacts on the ground, albeit very limited information coming out of the country. But that certainly has been the message that we've been hearing from a number of contacts. And this is, of course, very likely linked to the violent and brutal crackdown carried out by the regime security forces in an attempt to quell these protests.

And, of course, these protests began in late December over the economic crisis that began in Tehran, but very quickly gained momentum and spread to every province of Iran and became focused on so much more, encompassing a huge number of grievances. Many hold towards the Iranian regime and of course, bringing together Iranians from all walks of life, from all backgrounds, to protest against the regime.

But of course, in turn, we have seen that violent and deadly crackdown by security forces. We've heard reports from individuals on the ground of live ammunition being used indiscriminately against protesters. We have heard the distressing accounts from doctors on the ground who have described the overwhelmed situation inside hospitals, including surgeons coming under threat by the security forces.

And of course, one human rights organization based in the United States, tracking these developments inside the country has put the death toll since protests began at nearly 4,000 people, including minors under the age of 18.

[05:20:11]

Thousands more are said to have been detained, and there are growing concerns over the treatment of those that are in detention over their involvement in these protests. We've heard from the head of the judiciary previously who has said that those arrested and detained for their involvement in the protest, they've been described by the regime as rioters. They have been described as taking part in violent and, in their words, terrorist acts.

We've heard that they will be fast tracked for trial and punishment. So, there is still huge concern over the safety, security and condition of those detained. And of course, we are still only now learning more about what is unfolded over the last few days with this internet blackout slowly lifting and more access being gained.

SOLOMON: Nada Bashir for us there in London -- Nada, thank you.

Still to come, it has been one month since the U.S. Department of Justice was ordered to release the Epstein files in full, but that still hasn't happened. Could the DOJ face their own legal issues for missing the deadline?

Plus, searching for answers in Spain after a deadly train crash. Ahead, the latest details on the country's worst railway disaster and more than a decade. We'll be right back.

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[05:25:45]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

CNN polling shows just 6 percent of Americans are satisfied with how many documents have been released from the Epstein files. Congress gave the Justice Department a deadline of December 19th of last year to release everything. But at last check, the DOJ said that they had released less than one percent of their files.

And now some lawmakers want to hold them accountable for the delay.

Our Katelyn Polantz has more details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It's been a month since the transparency act for the Epstein files, and almost a month since the last time the Justice Department released files in that cache of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein and the sex trafficking allegations. This is a situation where the Justice Department, they don't have this finished at this time, or else more documents would have been released.

What we do know, though, comes from recent federal court filings, where the Justice Department has told a judge -- a judge that's overseen victim protection in the case against Epstein's coconspirator Ghislaine Maxwell in the federal district court in New York, the Justice Department says they are making substantial progress and that they are remaining focused on releasing materials under the transparency act promptly. There isn't a set date on the next time that files will be released.

But the Justice Department says not only is this something that they are focusing on, they've devoted more than 500 lawyers to the effort across the Justice Department. That's substantial resources in U.S. attorney's offices in the national security division, in the criminal division, and also the leadership of the Justice Department. They're having daily calls about the Epstein files and getting them released.

So that's the pledge from the Justice Department. But Congress is still not happy. There are two members of Congress, Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, who have both said in court to the same judge that the Justice Department isn't doing what they should be doing regarding redactions, and they are asking the court to bring in a third party to oversee the work that these Justice Department lawyers are doing.

There have been mistakes, they say, and they also believe there have been too many things blacked out or redacted. But the Justice Department, they say, stay out of it. In their latest court filing as well, writing that this court asked whether representatives Khanna and Massie have Article Three standing. That means they could sue in federal court, and whether the court has the authority to rule upon or take action to bring about the Justice Department's compliance with the Transparency Act.

The Justice Department's answer, they say to both questions respectfully, is no. So that's where we stand a stalemate until the next batch of documents are released, and we still appear to be very far away from getting an explanation for all of the redactions in the work that the Justice Department has done on this act. So many days, so many weeks, even after the deadline.

Back to you.

(END VIDOETAPE)

SOLOMON: Katelyn, thank you.

Spain's prime minister is promising to get to the truth behind the cause of a deadly train crash. He's also declared three days of mourning. At least 40 people were killed. Dozens more were hurt after two high speed trains collided Sunday night.

Let's get to CNN's Pau Mosquera, who's been following these developments in Spain for us and joins us live with the latest.

Pau, you speaking and you've spoken with some of those survivors, what are they telling you? What are they saying?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, we had the opportunity to talk to some of the relatives of those that are still disappeared. Just a few minutes ago, I met with a person that is living in Huelva, a few hundred kilometers from where we are right here in Cordoba. She told us that he's waiting to get more information about his husband.

He was on the train that was bound for, well, from Madrid to Huelva. And she doesn't have any information at all. She actually showed to us some despair, was trying to contain the tears that were about to come from her eyes. It is a very difficult situation, actually, for many, many families, and that's why we decided to come here to this point.

What you can see here behind me, Rahel, is the community center located in Cordoba, where over the last night, the authorities have attended around 116 families. They have been offering them psychological support, trying to get for them any information that they have.