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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Growing Concern in DHS Over Response to Shooting; Republicans Call for Pretti Shooting Probe; Backlash After Trump Minimized Role of NATO in Afghanistan; Frustration and Anger in Greenland; China's Top General Ousted. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired January 26, 2026 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Now, of course, the secretary did defend the agent and also spoke of the high tension that these agents are operating under. And on that, these officials agree that that does not absolve, they say, the department in this. And they believe that the secretary and the administration's response so far is doing a disservice to federal law enforcement, with one Homeland Security official telling me, quote, "The department needs a law enforcement leader, not a sycophant."

I'm also told that some Border Patrol agents are also growing unconvinced about the productivity of this operation as they are put in these situations. Clearly, there is fracturing within the Department of Homeland Security over the handling of this incident so far.

Priscilla Alvarez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Minnesota officials are urging federal authorities to work with state investigators in the aftermath of Saturday's shooting. And Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar is calling for a transparent and fair investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): The fact that they are blocking any kind of investigation, which is really fairly routine when horrific things happen like this, local, state, federal have come together in the past, not just in Minnesota, but other places to investigate.

And I just think -- I don't know if they think this is like a Trump cabinet meeting and they can just say things that aren't true and lie and everyone's going to believe it. Everyone can see that video. Everyone can see with any kind of enhancement that he wasn't brandishing a gun. He was brandishing a cell phone and that it was the agents that removed the gun from his back pocket.

So, there is plenty of evidence, of course, for our Criminal Bureau of Apprehension to be able to, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, be able to look at, but they need access to everything. And I hope this happens. It must, because we must have a transparent and fair investigation for the public to have any trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The calls for an inquiry into Alex Pretti's shooting has crossed party lines now. A growing group of GOP lawmakers are calling for an investigation. That includes Nebraska Senator Pete Ricketts, who is calling the shooting a horrifying situation. Ricketts also says he expects, quote, "a prioritized, transparent investigation."

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick wrote on social media that, quote, "Irresponsible rhetoric and a lack of cooperation from Minnesota's politicians are fueling a dangerous situation." But he agreed with others that, quote, "We need a full investigation into the tragedy in Minneapolis."

All right. Next, the icy territory at the center of a diplomatic firestorm. We'll have the latest from Greenland after comments by President Trump put NATO under new strain. See you in a moment.

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[04:35:00]

HUNTE: After talks over the weekend with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Donald Trump is now praising the role U.K. soldiers played in Afghanistan. The U.S. president faced an intense backlash for downplaying the efforts of NATO allies in the country. This follows a highly tense week of diplomacy in which President Trump announced a framework of a future deal on Greenland. That is the Danish territory that the U.S. has set its sights on. Nic Robertson has more from Greenland's capital, Nuuk.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's comments about NATO troops not doing enough on the front line that's angering leaders in Europe comes at exactly the same time he's expecting those same NATO countries to do more to step up defense in the Arctic around here in Greenland. And what NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is saying is that Denmark is playing its part, it's stepping up its contribution as the NATO partners look at a way to reinforce and build NATO security in the Arctic to have longer training missions, a potential sort of tripwire force. So, if there is a threat, they can ramp up troops more.

It comes as well as Denmark is getting ready to engage in high-level talks with the United States about the future of Greenland. Sovereignty is not up for grabs, according to the prime minister. She says that this is a serious situation, but there is a diplomatic and political track that is ongoing. But that is also a work in progress, also unclear. The people here in Greenland feel that they cannot trust the U.S. president at all. They don't believe for a moment that he has given up on his aspirations to have sovereignty of Greenland. Indeed, some of the posts, the social media posts coming from the White House seem to create and further that impression here. For many people right now, it feels that they've sort of woken up or come round from some sort of fever dream. They are back where they were a few weeks ago before President Trump ratcheted up the rhetoric over Greenland. And you get a sense of that frustration with President Trump building here.

Anti-Trump posters have gone up around Nuuk, the capital, depicting President Trump with Jeffrey Epstein saying essentially no to Trump and yes to NATO.

[04:40:00]

So, what President Trump appears to have achieved here is to make the people here more frustrated, more angry, pushing back on his aspirations in Greenland.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Nuke, Greenland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Let's get more on all of this and where things currently stand for NATO. Clare Sebastian is in London for us. Thanks for being with me, Claire. As yet another busy week begins. Things do seem Pretti tense between the U.S. and Europe right now. What more can you tell us?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ben, I think that, yes, that's pretty much the situation right now. I spent a very long night in Brussels last Thursday as European leaders grappled with this new reality and the sense was that while they had headed off the worst when it comes to that threat of tariffs on a number of European countries over their opposition to Trump's Greenland plan, while that was off the table, they really needed to be ready for more turmoil.

And frankly, as Nic pointed out, there has been more turmoil even in the three days since that summit with Trump's comments about NATO allies in Afghanistan, with his threats against Canada over a potential trade deal with China. So, I think we are seeing Europe now really trying to step up with a different approach to the U.S., a more muscular approach, perhaps less of the sort of Trump whispering and placating of Trump that we saw last year.

And when it comes to Greenland, I think they are still on guard for more turmoil there as well. Formal negotiations, as we understand it, between the U.S. and Denmark, including Greenland, have not started yet. And the foreign minister saying that they aren't going to make those meetings public because they want to take the drama out of this.

But meanwhile, we have President Trump saying expect news in two weeks talking about things like the U.S. being able to do whatever it wants under a deal about total access, about this whole Golden Dome plan, a sort of multilayered missile defense shield that the U.S. wants to be in Greenland. All of that is yet to be negotiated. So, I think Europe is, as I said, on extremely high alert and are going to be pushing practically ahead with this more muscular position, including exercises, NATO exercises in Greenland, set to continue. And then on the economic side, efforts to gain greater independence from the United States. We see, for example, today the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, is in India talking about what she says will be the mother of all trade deals with that country. Ben.

HUNTE: OK. Well, we also know that trilateral talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine wrapped on Saturday. Can you tell us where they stand now?

SEBASTIAN: So, look, I think we have to sort of scrape the barrel here a little bit for signs of progress. And it was a step forward that these talks were trilateral. That is the process by which Ukraine thinks they can move forward here. And certainly, they came out of this saying that there was progress. And Zelenskyy now says that the security guarantees deal with the U.S. is 100 percent agreed and just needs to be signed off in Congress and in the Ukrainian parliament. But he has also said a number of times recently that that is hypothetical until the war ends.

And Russia is signaling that it is not backing down from its maximalist stance. The issue of territory remains unsolved. And the more that we hear from Moscow efforts to blame Ukraine for standing in the way of peace talk of the, quote/unquote, "anchorage formula," bear in mind that Russia had equated the original 28-point peace plan back in November, that contained many of their maximalist demands to what was allegedly agreed in Alaska. I think that is a red flag going forward.

And of course, their actions on the ground continue to confirm that on top of that massive attack on energy infrastructure that we saw on Friday night into Saturday, another 130 plus attack drones leveled at Ukraine overnight into this morning. It's an effort to try to break the will of the Ukrainian people to resist. I will say so far, that also hasn't worked. Ben.

HUNTE: OK. Thank you so much. Learned a lot from that. Clare Sebastian in London, appreciate it.

Let's go to China and a major shakeup among leader Xi Jinping's top military brass. Two high ranking generals, including Xi's second in command have been ousted and are now accused of serious violations of discipline and law, including corruption. CNN's Steven Jiang has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Both men belong to the top group that runs the world's biggest standing army and were longtime lieutenants to Xi. But now, a scathing state media editorial accuses them of undermining Xi's ultimate authority in the military. While a Wall Street Journal article says Zhang is suspected of leaking secrets on China's nuclear weapons program to the U.S., as the two men joined dozens of others on the list of disgraced senior officers, all removed by Xi since he took a precedent breaking third term in late 2022.

The public knows very little about the inner workings of the sprawling and opaque Chinese military. While this massive purge has led to speculations about Xi losing his grip on power, some models say this is more about Xi losing patience with his generals as he continues to bend the PLA to his will, demanding absolute loyalty and its ability to fight and win wars if ordered by him.

[04:45:00]

Xi's latest acting has implications far beyond China's borders at a time of ongoing tensions between Beijing and Washington and its allies in the region, especially Taiwan. Some think this news makes a Chinese attack on Taiwan in the near term less likely given the presumed impact on the PLA's operations and morale, but others warn the prospect of a new generation of younger and more aggressive generals taking over the military leadership. Not to mention that cleaning house, especially targeting corruption in weapons procurement, could actually help Xi improve the PLA's combat readiness. But one message clearly reinforced from all of this is that in Xi's China, no one is indispensable.

Steven Jiang, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Desperate search and rescue operations in the Philippines where a ferry carrying more than 350 people has sunk in the south of the country. Officials say the bodies of 15 people have been retrieved with more than 300 passengers rescued. The Coast Guard says the boat apparently encountered technical problems and sank after midnight, though the exact cause is not immediately clear. The ferry sank in good weather. That's according to the Coast Guard commander. He says there have been no signs of overloading.

OK. We now know who will play in this year's Super Bowl. We'll have highlights from Sunday's conference championship games in the NFL just ahead. See you in a moment.

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[04:50:00]

HUNTE: Let's get an update on the winter weather. More than 800,000 Americans are currently without power as a massive winter storm sweeps through much of the US. Dangerous levels of ice have accumulated in the south, down in trees and power lines. In Mississippi, 9 percent of the state has lost power. The governor said there has been catastrophic damage to at least one power distribution line.

Right now, the storm is still dropping snow across the northeast and forecasters say the mid-Atlantic, upper Midwest and northeast won't begin to thaw out from the bitter cold until early February. Check out this view from space of the massive winter storm that is blanketing the U.S. Clouds cover almost the entire country. The system has been spreading large amounts of ice and snow from the southern Rockies all the way to the northeast. The size of the storm grew considerably throughout Sunday, and many areas will see the frigid temperatures stick around for days after the storm is gone.

The stage is now set for Super Bowl LX after Sunday's NFL Conference Championship Games. Let's start in the NFC and a shootout between the L.A. Rams and the Seahawks in Seattle. The Rams kept it closed for much of the game and took the lead late in the first half on this touchdown pass from Matthew Stafford to Kyren Williams but the Seahawks were just too much. Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold throwing three touchdown passes on the day. And the Seahawks hold off the Rams 31 to 27 to reach their first Super Bowl since 2015.

Over in the AFC, the Patriots and Broncos battled in snowy and windy conditions in Denver. Both defenses were dominant but it was New England who came up big late in the game with this interception to maintain a three-point lead. After that, Denver was hoping for one last chance, but New England quarterback Drake Maye sealed the victory with a huge first down run. Patriots win 10 to 7. So, it will be New England taking on Seattle for the Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl LX February 8th in Santa Clara, California.

There has been a global rush for tickets after K-pop superstars BTS announced their worldwide comeback tour. Pre-sale tickets sold out in just minutes and general sale tickets have been just as hard to get. Some fans are going to absolutely wild lengths to see their idols in concert. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one of the hottest tickets in the world, the comeback tour of the K-pop band BTS which these super fans were lucky enough to score.

JOANNA MARIE, BTS FAN FROM PHILIPPINES: I flew all the way to Korea just to book just to book this ticket. So, it was all worth it.

JACKSON (voice-over): For BTS fans, it's been a long wait for their return. Nearly four years since the group announced its hiatus during which all seven members completed their mandatory military service. There were solo projects to fill the void but the full group is officially back with a new album in March followed by a world tour kicking off in South Korea in April. Eager fans pounced on the chance to see the pop sensation again.

CHIARA BABASSUD, BTS FAN FROM FRANCE: I'm really happy I got it. It was kind of unexpected because I got in the waiting line at a very good number. So, it was really fast and I chose a good seat. So, I'm really happy.

JACKSON (voice-over): The tour is expected to include stops in Asia, Europe, North America, South America and Australia and Billboard estimating that the new album and tour could rake in more than a billion dollars for music sales, concerts, licensing and merchandise.

But BTS was already a global sensation. The first Korean act to headline Wembley Stadium in London. They spoke at the United Nations. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a great honor to be invited to the White House.

JACKSON (voice-over): And were even invited to the White House. But a lot has evolved since BTS took its hiatus. Korean culture influences have spread worldwide.

[04:55:00]

Netflix says its animated film K-pop "Demon Hunters" is its most watched film of all time. BTS returns as a group with most of its members now in their 30s and many of their fans are older too. A new chapter for both. A chance for one of the legends of K-pop to show new fans just what put them on top and older fans to once again cheer them on.

XUE SUNYI, BTS FAN FROM SHANGHAI: I hope they can be healthy, happy and baseball all the time and they can stay together forever. I love BTS.

CROWD: We are, BTS.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Polo Sandoval, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: OK. That's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. We appreciate you being with us. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I'll see you next weekend. There's so much more with Early Start with Audie Cornish in Washington just after this break. See you soon.

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