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The Situation Room

Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Federal Reserve Case; President Trump Delivers Address to Global Leaders. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 21, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:30:59]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're continuing to follow all the breaking news, and there's dramatic news going on.

President Trump is in Davos, Switzerland. He told world leaders in a speech just a little while ago that he will not -- repeat -- not use force to acquire Greenland, but reiterated his desire to take over the territory through negotiations.

This morning, the former prime minister of Denmark tells CNN he's deeply concerned about NATO's future. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, FORMER NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: If the United States initiates a military action against Greenland, it would be the end of NATO. I think Putin hopes that Greenland can be the iceberg that sinks NATO.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, let's go live right now to CNN's chief global affairs correspondent, Matthew Chance. He's joining us live from Moscow.

Matthew, has there been any reaction, at least so far, from Russia on Trump's remarks today in Davos?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, nothing, Wolf, specific to the sort of various comments that Trump made.

But I know for a fact that, because it's so theatrical, many Russians, particularly people in the Kremlin and in the Russian ministries, are watching it very closely with a mixture of sort of fascination and horror, really.

I mean, one senior Russian official who was following it told me that the performance was pure America. And I think that talks to the idea that this is on the one hand sort of entertaining for many Russians. Remember, it's been a foreign policy objective for the Kremlin for many years to drive a wedge in the transatlantic alliance between the United States and Europe.

To see that sort of played out in front of them, with them having sort of basically nothing to do with it over the issue of Greenland, has been a source of some kind of interest and glee, if you like, for many people in this country.

But at the same time, there's a flip side. I mean, Venezuela has been attacked, Nicolas Maduro, the president of that country abducted by U.S. military. Iran has been attacked. There are threats against Cuba as well. And these are all Russian allies.

And so, yes there's a certain amount of hand-rubbing about the idea of the Western alliance and NATO under pressure over this issue of Greenland, although it may be an alleviated somewhat by President Trump's insistence that he wouldn't be using for the moment kind of military power to take over the island.

But there's also a sort of sense that the world is much more unpredictable now in a Trump administration. And that could have blowback not just for the Western allies, but for Russia as well -- Wolf.

BLITZER: You know, Matthew, the Kremlin has confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet with top U.S. officials tomorrow. That meeting is expected to include President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

Hold on right now. Trump is now with the Egyptian delegation in Davos. I want to hear what he's saying about the Gaza agreement.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Egypt has been very strong right from the beginning from years ago. So I want to thank you very much.

ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Allow me, Mr. President, at the beginning to extend my thanks and appreciation for you for allowing me this opportunity to happen and to have this meeting with you. And I would like also to congratulate you on a year full of achievements since you came back to office.

[11:35:00]

I would like also to thank you, Mr. President, and congratulate you for all achievements that you have done-on-one of the toughest files in our part of the world. And this is Gaza.

I said it before. I reiterate it now. I reemphasize it before our colleagues and before the media. But for President Trump, we wouldn't have reached an agreement on Gaza.

I really would ask you, Mr. President, to continue paying your attention and care for this file, so that the plan should be implemented fully.

Mr. President, you have announced the second phase of the Gaza plan. This is very important that it comes forward and it takes effect. And on our part, we will be standing there ready to provide everything that we can to make this a success.

As for the Council of Peace, it is our pleasure to be on the Council of Peace...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Board of Peace.

EL-SISI (through translator): We are very happy to be on the Board of Peace, and we are supporting and very happy to be there, backing up every effort that can bring about peace in our part of the world and globally as well.

And I'd like also to thank you, Mr. President, for your support us in an existential issue, and this is the GERD, Grand Renaissance Dam and the River Nile.

And for the record and before the press, I'd like just to remind everybody that your excellency did a lot of effort in this regard in this file in your first term in office. And you almost had a deal. And you have done -- you did everything in your power at the time to get this deal done.

Mr. President, accept our highest appreciation and respect.

TRUMP: Well, thank you very much.

They're talking about the dam that's been built in Ethiopia. It's one of the largest dams in the world, the largest dam in Africa, but it's one of the largest dams anywhere in the world. It was financed by the United States, and it basically blocks the Nile River.

You know, when I think of -- when I think of Egypt, I think about the Nile more than any other place, in all fairness, but it goes through Ethiopia. And a dam was built, a very big one, very, very big one, massive. And it was something that should have been talked about a long time ago, when they were building and financing it.

So I got involved at the end of my first term, and I was going to have a deal. We were going to have -- pretty close to a deal. Then we had a rigged election, and I left. And, of course, Biden didn't do anything about it, because he didn't know -- he didn't know he was alive.

And I come back, and it's become a very, dangerous issue, the dam. And I will see if I can get that back on track. We were all set to make a deal. We were going to do a joint venture of sorts, and it would have been good. I think it would have been good for both.

But it's a dangerous thing. They built a dam where somebody's not getting the water that they are supposed to get and that they have gotten for a million years. And, all of a sudden, the water flow is blocked by a very massive dam. I wouldn't be happy about it. And you have a very strong leader in the

president, and I hear you have a strong leader in Ethiopia too. I don't know him as well as I know you, but he's a strong guy. And I'm going to try bringing the two of you together, see if we can make a deal.

EL-SISI: I appreciate that.

[11:40:00]

TRUMP: I think he understands me, right? I think he understands English better than we do, OK?

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: A lot of these guys that don't understand, they understand it very well.

But I think we will be able to do something about the dam. The dam is a big problem, but we will be able to do something. Most importantly, great leader, great guy, and we're there for each other. We have known each other right from before Hillary. It was before Hillary.

We met during the campaign with Hillary, and we met at a hotel. She was supposed to meet with the president, and I was supposed to meet. I went first, and after he met me, he didn't want to meet her. And I said, I like that guy. But we had a -- we have had -- from that moment on, we had -- that was before the election.

We have always had a great relationship, and it continues stronger than ever. Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Thank you, everybody. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: All right, the president of the United States meeting in Davos, Switzerland, with the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

A lot of praise going on from El-Sisi to Trump, and then Trump to El- Sisi. All right, let's just listen to another minute.

TRUMP: We have major countries, and some need parliamentary approval. But for the most part, everybody wants to be on.

I have a little bit of the opposite problem. People want to be on and we didn't ask them. They want to get on. But we will look at the country. So we're going to have -- it's -- I think it's the greatest board ever formed. And we call it the Board of Peace. That's what it is. It's the Board of Peace.

And it started on Gaza, and I appreciate what you said on Gaza, because it's true. If we weren't involved, there'd be no peace. It's peace -- we have peace in the Middle East now. And you might have Hamas. We have a little flame here and there, but basically that will be taken out. If they don't get rid of the guns, then they will be -- then they will

be very unhappy people. It's going -- we will have no choice. They will be eliminated. They made a deal to get out.

You have Hezbollah in Lebanon. We have to do something there. They're causing a lot of problems. But those are small. We actually have peace in the Middle East. And the president was very instrumental. He really helped us, one of the most. And we have had great help from a number of countries, but Egypt has been great. The president has been great.

And we have peace in the Middle East. It's an amazing thing. Nobody thought we'd ever see that. Now, I would say, if we didn't bomb the Iran nuclear plant, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two months. You would not have peace in the Middle East.

You wouldn't be able to. Nobody would be able to do that. But that's what gave us peace in the Middle East.

Thank you very much, everybody.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: What prompted you to take military off the table for Greenland?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you, press. Thank you, press.

TRUMP: Well, we will see what happens. The military is not on the table. I don't think it will be necessary. I really don't.

QUESTION: OK.

TRUMP: I think people are going to use better judgment and use their best judgment. And I don't think -- that will not be necessary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, guys. Thank you, press. Let's go. Let's go. Thank you. Thank you, press.

BLITZER: All right, you heard President Trump just now reiterating that military force won't be necessary for the U.S. to take control over Greenland. He says it can be done in other ways. He said that earlier in his big speech in Davos.

Now he just repeated that. The military will not necessarily be required to make sure that the U.S. controls Greenland. We will see what happens on that front.

But the gist of that little conversation he had with President El-Sisi of Egypt was the nature of the U.S.-Egyptian relationship, very close relationship right now, and the need for other countries to be supportive of this Board of Peace in Gaza to make sure that the cease- fire agreement is fully implemented.

We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:48:37]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: We just heard President Trump tell the Egyptian president that there's peace in the Middle East.

You heard the Egyptian leader praising Trump for his creation of the Board of Peace, the Trump-created body meant to address the reconstruction of Gaza.

I want to have in General Wesley Clark.

Thank you so much for joining us.

First, just I want to get your reaction to this establishment of the Board of Peace. The countries who have been invited to join includes Russia, China and Belarus. And the leaders who have agreed to join it so far -- I mean, Russia, for example, Vladimir Putin was invited to this. What do you make of it?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's a stretch.

When this started, our expectation was that this was going to be addressing the Gaza cease-fire. And it's been announced that we're going into the second phase of the cease-fire. Hamas has to be disarmed. And this was a good thing.

But as the membership has expanded, it seems that maybe the purpose has expanded a little bit. If it's another way of putting pressure on Vladimir Putin by bringing him in and pressuring him and Lukashenko and separating Putin and Lukashenko, it's -- that could be helpful.

On the other hand, if it brings in someone who is a proven aggressor, makes it more difficult to support Ukraine and get the support that's needed for Ukraine, then it won't be good.

[11:50:05]

And so it's -- right now, it's a work in progress, but it does add one more degree of complexity to this important issue of not only Gaza, but the more important issue really of Ukraine in the future of Europe.

BROWN: Yes.

And, in fact, that's what the NATO -- the NATO secretary-general, Mark Rutte, said, that the main issue for the world is not Greenland; it's Ukraine.

And we have learned that President Trump will be meeting with President Zelenskyy in Davos on Thursday. How significant is that meeting?

CLARK: I think it's another step of President Zelenskyy trying to be the last person in the room who speaks to President Trump and sway him in his direction.

Ukraine's under heavy assault. Russian air attacks have intensified. Ukraine badly needs Western defense, air defense, especially Patriot launchers, Patriot missiles. These are expensive. They have got to be procured. And on the front lines, despite all the creativity and innovation of the Ukrainian forces, they still need artillery, ammunition and small arms, and various armored vehicles.

They're doing a lot on their own. We're learning a lot from it. But they're not able to stand on their own against the might of Russia backed by China and still backed by Iran.

BROWN: I want to turn to Greenland, because President Trump spoke about that, as would be expected, during his speech in Davos in front of the world leaders. How big of a deal is it that Trump took military force off the table today when talking about his desire to acquire Greenland?

CLARK: It's a really big deal for people in uniform and those of us who are retired, because we were just shuddering with the thought that, my goodness, how could this happen? We have had such great relationships with our allies over the years, training, families, exchanges, going to each other's schools, and so forth.

And the fact that we might be put at odds, it was going to be a horrible, horrible experience for us. So I'm glad he's -- personally, I'm glad he's taken it off the table now. Now, it's a matter for the diplomats to figure out how to steer this now.

The problem is, Pamela, that diplomacy, even though it's about national interest, it's still personal. And there's been so much blood spilt over this issue, so many angry statements. And even the threat of military force and the reaction it's brought from the Europeans, it makes any settlement more difficult. Because one side looks like a winner, one side is going to look like a loser.

And so it's going to take some really skillful diplomacy to bring this together, to patch it over, to keep the alliance in place, to somehow placate the president's demands, and at the same time placate Denmark's and Europe's concerns. It's probably the most -- it's the most pressing, most difficult diplomatic challenge, more difficult than bringing peace into the Middle East by far.

And it's something that the United States itself has originated, put all this on the table. So it's going to be incumbent on our diplomats to have the understanding, the sensitivity, the common sense, and the creativity to bring this together in an effective way.

All of us have said that Greenland is an important national security interests, not only for the United States, but for NATO. All of us understand that Russia and China are doing increasing activities, Nordic.

BROWN: Right.

CLARK: But how to pull this together? BROWN: Yes.

CLARK: I believe that for a long time that you needed a joint Arctic command.

How you set that up with some illusion of U.S. ownership, some lease agreement, and so forth, that's the business of diplomacy.

BROWN: OK. General Wesley Clark, thank you so much -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Pamela, we have other breaking news that we're following, the U.S. Supreme Court hearing arguments today in a case that could affect the Federal Reserve's longstanding independence.

The Fed Chair Jerome Powell's attendance at the hearing underscores the huge significance of this case. And it centers around President Trump's attempt to fire Lisa Cook from the Fed's board. And depending on how the court rules, there could be a major shift in the scope of presidential power.

Let's bring in our legal analyst, Carrie Cordero.

Carrie, tell us a little bit more about what these justices are questioning and how it looks.

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, throughout this argument, Wolf, I think what the justices are trying to figure out is, one, should they actually get to more of the merits of the case?

So this hearing overall was not going to get at the decision of whether or not the Fed governor should be removed from her position, but rather whether she should be able to stay in the job while her case proceeds through the courts.

[11:55:04]

And so the justices asked a number of questions both of the solicitor general and of her counsel, Paul Clement, as to how they should be thinking about this. There's a lot of issues that remain in the case, how the courts should interpret the for-cause requirement that a Fed governor be removed, whether or not the D.C. Circuit was correct in finding that the Fed governor has a due process right to her role.

And so the courts are trying to -- the Supreme Court, throughout its hearing, was trying to wrestle with those questions and figure out how extensive they should go in terms of making those decisions or whether they should just say that maybe the Trump administration jumped the gun a little bit in making this emergency request to the Supreme Court, and it should just continue to work through the lower courts.

BROWN: And remind our viewers...

BLITZER: Carrie -- yes, go ahead, Pam.

BROWN: Oh, go ahead, Wolf. BLITZER: No, no, you ask the question.

BROWN: Remind our viewers the implications here, how high the stakes are, why we're paying so much attention to this case.

CORDERO: So it came up a few times, Pamela, that this is such a novel case because a president in the Federal Reserve's history has not fired a governor.

Governors are appointed to statutory terms. The Federal Reserve Act, the statute that governs the Federal Reserve, says that a governor should only remove -- be removed for cause, and yet it has never in the history of the United States been tested in this way.

BLITZER: Even some of the conservative justices, Carrie, correct me if I'm wrong, they seem to be suggesting that maybe the president went too far, but what's your assessment?

CORDERO: Yes, I think there was a question as to whether or not this was just premature altogether, this emergency application that the administration made to the Supreme Court.

Again, her case, Lisa Cook's challenge to her firing by President Trump, was working its way through the lower courts, and they hadn't yet gotten to the merits of whether or not she could be actually removed. As a practical matter, she remains in her position as of this day.

And so the Trump administration was trying to push the Supreme Court in its arguments to actually force her removal before she's actually been able to challenge her removal.

BROWN: Do you think, Carrie, we will get this decision at the very end of the term in June because of the implications here?

CORDERO: It's hard to say. They did take this, the Supreme Court did take this case as an emergency application. And so that tends to indicate that they thought that there was an urgency to it.

But at the same time, some of the questions from the judges, justices, did pertain to whether there's really any harm in her remaining in her position, particularly because the allegation that the Trump administration has made is not that she has done anything improper or illegal while she's been serving as a governor, but instead the conduct that they're alleging pertains to an action that she took, is alleged to have taken prior to becoming a governor.

BROWN: All right, Carrie Cordero, thank you -- Wolf.

CORDERO: Thanks.

BLITZER: And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

Our friend and colleague Dana Bash picks up our special coverage. That's coming up next.