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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: Trump Ramps Up Pressure Campaign to Acquire Greenland; Additional Danish Soldiers Arrive in Greenland; Putin Invited to Join Trump's "Board of Peace"; High-Speed Rail Crash Kills at Least 40 in Spain; Europe "Trade Bazooka"; Protests Disrupts Churchgoers; Valentino Dies Aged 93. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired January 19, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and

you're watching "The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, Donald Trump ramps up the pressure again to acquire Greenland, saying he no longer thinks he needs to think purely of peace.

Spain's Prime Minister vows to find the cause of a deadly high-speed rail accident which claimed the lives of at least 40 people. And Valentino, one

of Italy's most influential fashion designers, has died at the age of 93.

We begin with these images, which we received a short time ago from the Danish military, showing additional troops arriving in Greenland, this

after an astonishing escalation in President Trump's ambitions to take over the Arctic island. In a message to the prime minister of Norway, he said,

quote, "Considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to

think purely of peace. Although it will always be predominant, but now, can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America."

A great deal to unpack here. The president is saying he might think less about peace because Norway did not give him an award. And it's an award

which the Norwegian governor has no role in deciding. The president went on to question Denmark's ownership of the Greenland, saying there were no

written documents, adding, it's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there also.

Today's message followed Trump's other big move on Friday, threatening 10 percent tariffs on eight European countries, rising to 25 percent until an

agreement is reached to give up Greenland to the U.S. All of this causing widespread alarm among top European leaders who are standing unified behind

Denmark.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEIR STARMER, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And so, any decision about the future status of Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland and the

Kingdom of Denmark alone. That right is fundamental and we support it. The use of tariffs against allies is completely wrong. It is not the right way

to resolve differences within an alliance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Strong words there. Well, a U.K. official tells me that President Trump conceded in a phone call with Prime Minister Stammer that he may have

been given bad information about troop deployments from European countries to Greenland. Several European NATO countries said last week that they were

deploying small numbers of military personnel to Greenland to take part in joint exercises with Denmark, drawing Trump's ire. U.K. officials see that

concession from the president as a potential path to de-escalation. We'll see.

In a moment we'll hear from President Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton. First, our international diplomatic editor Nic

Robertson joins me from Nuuk in Greenland. Nic, you know the headlines keep on coming while you're there on the ground. I wonder what reaction you

heard in Greenland to this latest escalation from the U.S. president.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the prime minister today said that the people along with him and other politicians

had spoken with dignity and unity, and he was really referring here to the protests over the weekend against American ownership of Greenland. He also

spoke about that support coming from allies and partners.

And they're very -- there is a strong narrative coming from Europeans. We heard from the French finance minister, the German finance minister, any

number of European officials and leaders that they really don't want to escalate things with the United States. They'd really rather engage with

them.

But the terms of that engagement include respecting the sovereignty, territorial integrity, self-determination of Greenland. And as we've heard

from a number of politicians in Europe, leaders including Keir Starmer, that it is up to the people of Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark only to

decide the future of Greenland.

[18:05:00]

It is possible to see a way in this language, a diplomatic path forward. But where you have, as you say, each day a step up in President Trump's

rhetoric, as there was today, re-visiting issues that he's visited before, saying that Denmark is no longer a part of the European Union, that

Denmark's only added one dog-sled team to their defense, all of that rather points to the United States, President Trump, not engaging around the

sovereignty or respecting the sovereignty issue.

And to your point, more Danish troops arriving here, significant increase in the current presence, both here in Nuuk and about 200 miles at a base

north of here inside the Arctic Circle. We're seeing more troops around town. I think earlier we saw a military helicopter for the first time.

So, Denmark for sure is putting its troops where it says its principles are, that the sovereignty still needs to be respected. And I'm not sure how

that fits in, even with a misunderstanding of NATO troops and a desire to have engagement, not escalation.

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you this, because, as you know, President Trump in yet one more interview today refused to take the possibility of military force

off the table. Do the people of Greenland worry, genuinely worry about that prospect, that this might come to, if not a military confrontation, at

least a military standoff on Greenland?

ROBERTSON: Yes. I mean, I think it does depend who you ask. I spoke to a very well-connected businessman here, a sort of a Mr. Fix-It, has been

involved in all sorts of big projects here in Greenland, the Marine Harbor, telecommunications, and now he's involved in mining. And he feels he sort

of understands the Trump principles of business first. And he's got to -- you know, he knows a lot of officials around the White House, around the

Trump administration and understands them. But even he doesn't believe that the United States is going to end up controlling Greenland at the moment.

He's sort of robust in his view. But then if you speak here with younger people, as we do, they're genuinely worried. We've had a couple of

occasions out here on the streets at night, youngsters coming up, showing us their phones, showing flight tracking data, saying, look, we think this

is a U.S. military flight coming to Greenland. Of course, it wasn't at that time. It was a Danish military flight.

We've talked to young people who said that they've decided to go out and buy a gun for self-defense. We've talked to the gun sales stores here.

They're not seeing a spike in sales. But they are seeing a spike in people buying sort of survival goods, camping gas, camping stoves, gasoline for

cars, stocking up on sort of dehydrated foods that can last a long time. So, yes, there is this genuine fear that things could run out of control,

that people here are sort of bystanders in their own destiny. And for any of us, I think that would be a disconcerting, worrying, troubling time.

SCIUTTO: And among allies, right, that's the thing, not from an adversary, from an ally, a treaty ally. Nic Robertson in Nuuk, thanks so much.

Well, joining me now is someone who advised President Trump, former national security adviser in the first term, John Bolton. He says the

president's message to Norway's prime minister makes clear that Trump has a psychological need to own Greenland. Can you explain, John Bolton, what is

driving this for President Trump? Is it a real estate acquisition, in his view?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think you need a shrink to give you the right explanation. But Trump has dialed

himself up on this issue for his own reasons. He said publicly we need to own Greenland for psychological reasons.

Now, I don't think there's anybody else that I'm aware of in America that psychologically needs to own Greenland. I think this is about Trump.

There's a legitimate U.S. national security interest here, as there is a Danish security interest, as there is a Canadian security interest, as

there is for all of NATO because of Russian and Chinese activity in the Arctic regions as the polar ice cap melts. And there are ways to address

those that don't have anything to do with what Donald Trump is talking about.

SCIUTTO: You, of course, during the first term, advised him, and you were in a lot of meetings where national security threats were discussed. You

read a lot of reports and assessments. Did anyone ever say Greenland is under immediate threat from Russia and/or China, and the U.S. needs to

respond immediately, surging forces there to defend Greenland?

[18:10:00]

BOLTON: No, and the reality is that NATO as a whole has not paid adequate attention to the Arctic. That is a fact and that includes the United

States. I really think the Arctic is the new soft underbelly of the NATO alliance, but the threat is not, as President Trump has said, that there

are Russian and Chinese ships all over Greenland. This is a threat down the road and what we need in Greenland are not tens of thousands of troops

stationed along the coast staring out into snowstorms looking for a Chinese invasion fleet. We need to set up surveillance capabilities, monitoring

capabilities for naval assets in that region.

And not just around Greenland, let's start with Alaska. We need more up there too. We don't have enough American icebreakers just for starters. So,

there's a lot of work to do but it's not because of a Russian threat in the next 90 days, that's for sure.

SCIUTTO: European partners are talking now publicly, they were doing this privately for some time to me, but now they're talking publicly about the

threat to the alliance itself. You told me in my most recent book, and I'm quoting you, to you, but this is a couple years ago, that "NATO will be in

real jeopardy. I think he, Trump, will try to get out" in a second term.

Is Trump possibly attempting to make that a reality now? That is, does he want to break the alliance?

BOLTON: Look, on a good day, Trump is indifferent to NATO. He said again publicly within the past couple of weeks, this may be a choice between

Iceland and, I'm sorry, between Greenland and NATO. I think for some of his advisers, it'd be a twofer, take Greenland and lose NATO. I don't think

Americans fully understand how much damage this Trump rhetoric is doing in our most important alliance. He is actually, in my view, harming American

national security, not enhancing it by the way he's approached the Greenland issue.

SCIUTTO: Europe appears to be digging in. They appear to be sincere in their conviction that this is a red line, giving up sovereign territory to

the U.S. under pressure, both economic, potentially military. Trump, of course, has other leverage up to and including ending all U.S. support for

the -- for Ukraine, but also removing troops from Europe, you know, and these are both things that he has threatened before. Does he have more

leverage against Europe?

BOLTON: Well, I think if Europe approaches it in that kind of fashion, they'll be making a big mistake. You know, the Soviet Union wanted to split

NATO during the Cold War. One reason they lost the Cold War was that they failed, so this will be unpalatable for Europeans to hear, but Donald

Trump's only going to be president for three more years. They should not be complicit in his actions and end up doing what the Kremlin wanted for so

many decades and splitting NATO.

SCIUTTO: But if Trump insists, I mean, you have a rock and a hard place or, you know, a game of chicken here, right? They've set their -- they

don't want to break NATO, Europe, but they've also set as a red line giving up sovereign territory under duress, which is exactly what Trump is

threatening here. How do they avoid breaking the alliance while holding to that red line?

BOLTON: Well, what it looks like they're doing is getting ready for a trade war and people are understandably worried about that. The Supreme

Court may save us from ourselves in the next few days if their tariff decision comes down, but honestly, a trade war puts us right back where we

were in April of last year when Trump announced the Liberation Day tariff program. I thought it was a mistake then. They eventually made a deal with

Europe.

But part of what Trump is doing here is saying not just to Europe, but to the whole world, you can make a deal with me and six, eight, ten months

later, I'm off again. I don't care about the deal. So, there's an economic as well as a politico-military downside here. This is all negative for the

United States. Trump doesn't seem to realize it and perhaps his supporters don't either.

SCIUTTO: Is it a good bet for Europe to say this is only three more years minus a few days of Trump? Is that a good bet? Because Trump could be

followed by an equally MAGA candidate potentially, and by the way, Europeans made that bet after Trump's first term, and yes, Biden said

America is back, but here we are.

BOLTON: Yes. Well, look, it's always a risk. If they want to believe America is always going to go off in this direction, they will help split

the alliance and Trump will not lose any sleep over it. I think even within the Republican Party, I see a lot of increased dissent over this, and I

think if Trump actually used military force against Greenland, there'd be a political earthquake in the United States.

[18:15:00]

SCIUTTO: Well, we'll keep watching closely. Ambassador John Bolton, appreciate you coming on.

BOLTON: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: We are getting new details about President Donald Trump's other foreign policy endeavor, his self-named Board of Peace, the committee which

will oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, but it seems has broader ambitions as well. The Kremlin says that Trump has invited Vladimir Putin to join,

even as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. Israeli officials say Benjamin Netanyahu also on the invite list.

According to U.S. officials, members will need to pay $1 billion to get a permanent seat, adding that all funds will go towards rebuilding Gaza.

Those who do not make that payment will only have a three-year term. The board, we should note, has no representative from the Palestinian

Authority.

For more reaction, let's speak to Mustafa Barghouti. He's the head of the Palestinian National Initiative, a member of parliament, and he joins us

from Rome. Thanks so much for taking the time.

MUSTAFA BARGHOUTI, GENERAL SECRETARY, PALESTINIAN NATIONAL INITIATIVE: Thank you. Good to be with you.

SCIUTTO: So, first, if we can, I want to talk about the vision of this Board of Peace as it relates to the Palestinian people and the next phases

of this planned peace agreement. Is this a viable board or group for deciding the Palestinians' future?

BARGHOUTI: Well, I think there is a lot of lack of clarity here, and it is not clear who's going to be members of this board, who's going to join, who

doesn't want to join. But at the end of the day, one thing has to be clear, that the future of West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and the Palestinian

State should be in the hands of the Palestinian people.

We are talking here about the right of self-determination, something that Palestinians have been denied for more than 100 years. And the whole issue

of the situation in the Middle East will never be resolved unless that issue -- unless Palestinians have their freedom and dignity and self-

determination. So, the biggest issue here is why Palestinians are absent from this board.

And the second big question is, what will this -- how -- what will be the relationship between this board and the newly structured technocratic

executive committee that was formed by Palestinians? In my opinion, those Palestinians from Gaza should be the ones running the situation in Gaza.

And the board has one very specific task. It should be guaranteeing resources to rebuild Gaza, to rebuild the terrible destruction that Israel

has caused, but also to provide financial, maybe supervision or control over how the money that is designed for reconstruction will be used. Apart

from that, running Gaza should be in the hands of the Palestinians. And the situation and the future of Palestinians should be decided by Palestinians.

SCIUTTO: This proposed board of peace appears to borrow the structure and language of the United Nations. One crucial difference, of course, is that

Trump will be the chairman. He selects the members himself, even sets the entry fee, as it were, here. Do you see this as the president's attempt to

build something even beyond monitoring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to even have the ambition, at least, of replacing the U.N.?

BARGHOUTI: Actually, it seems to be so, especially that in every wording about the new board of peace, Gaza is never mentioned. And it is said,

actually, in the description of this board and its work, that it will relate to several other situations, not just to the Palestinian-Israeli

situation.

We have two major obstacles here. First of all, any effort to replace the U.N. means you're killing the whole arrangement that was created after the

Second World War. And you're allowing, actually, the killing of international law, which has happened to a large extent in Gaza when the

genocide was allowed to happen.

But also, the other big question here is the Israeli position. I think the success of the new Palestinian Technocratic Committee, and the success even

of the efforts of this board, will largely depend on how much Mr. Trump and the American administrations are ready to exercise pressure on Netanyahu,

who's trying to obstruct moving into the second stage, and continues, actually, violating the ceasefire. Up to now, we've counted 1,275

violations since October 7th. So, will there be pressure on Netanyahu or not? That's key to the future.

[18:20:00]

SCIUTTO: As you know, the president's envoy, Steve Witkoff, announced somewhat unilaterally it seems last week that we are now moving on to phase

two of the Gaza, please peace plan. Have conditions been met to do so in your view?

BARGHOUTI: Not yet. Again, the obstruction is coming from the side of Israel and specifically in three areas. First, what I mentioned to you,

which is the continuous violation of the ceasefire, which has already taken the lives of almost 500 Palestinians including 152 children. And the injury

of more than 1,200.

The second question -- problem is that Israel up till now, although it was mentioned in the first stage, did not allow the opening of Rafah Crossing,

which would be opened in both directions. That, of course, suffocates, Gaza. And the third problem is that Israel is still not allowing more than

40 percent of what was decided to be humanitarian supplies to Gaza.

We cannot talk -- I mean, this whole new committee that is supposed to run Gaza will never be successful unless it manages to show the people of Gaza

that it is able to provide their needs to the population, and also that it initiates at least the minimum of reconstruction of the basic

infrastructure.

SCIUTTO: Mustafa Barghouti, always good to have you on. Thanks for joining.

BARGHOUTI: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, three days of mourning have begun in Spain after a high- speed rail crash killed at least 40 people this weekend. The accident happened south of Madrid when cars on one train derailed and were hit by

another train moving in the opposite direction. Investigators and emergency crews are now scouring the area, hoping to find clues as to what caused the

disaster. CNN's Pau Mosquera has more from the crash site.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A high-speed train collision in southern Spain, the country's deadest rail disaster in more than a

decade. Dozens were killed and many more injured when two trains collided at speed near the town of Adamuz. Officials say a northbound high-speed

train operated by private rail company, Iryo, was traveling from Malaga to Madrid with 371 passengers on board when its rear three carriages derailed

and slammed into the front of an oncoming state operated train.

The impact violent both trains overturned, sending some carriages, plunging down an embankment according to news agency, EFE. Video verified by CNN

shows passengers scrambling out through windows, others climbing onto the roof to escape. Rescue crews worked through the night in near total

darkness, cutting through twisted metal to reach those still trapped inside.

Survivor Anna was pulled from the wreckage through a shattered window by fellow passengers who had already made it out.

ANNA (through translator): Some people were fine and others were really bad, and we had them in front of us and you could see them dying and you

could do nothing.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): Abdulrahman (ph) said he rushed to the scene after learning of the crash, searching desperately for his sister-in-law, Amir

(ph), who was traveling on one of the trains.

ABDULRAHMAN (PH): They say they don't know anything and there are people who are missing and suffering. We went to the civil guard and they also

don't know anything. They're doing DNA tests to find out where she is, but they don't know anything about her. On top of that, we are here with a

little girl. We are tired and haven't slept.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): Spain's transport minister says the cause of the crash remains unknown. Noting the collision happened on a straight stretch

of recently renovated truck.

OSCAR PUENTE, SPANISH TRANSPORT MINISTER (through translator): The accident is extremely strange. It happened on a straight stretch of track.

All the railway experts who have been here today at this center and those we have been able to consult are extremely surprised by the accident

because, as I say, it is strange. Very strange.

MOSQUERA (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE) officials warned the death toll could rise. Forensic teams work to identify the victims as families. Anxiously

wait, fearing the worst.

Pau Mosquera, CNN, Adamuz, Spain.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Our thanks to Paul Mosquera. Still ahead, Europe's trade bazooka, as it's known. E.U. officials say they could hit the U.S. with powerful

economic penalties if U..S rhetoric over Greenland continues to escalate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, European stocks fell sharply Monday after President Trump's latest tariff threats over

Greenland. Autos and luxury brands were among the hardest hit sectors. Gold and silver also rose to new records. Wall Street was closed Monday for the

Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

European officials say they could hit the U.S. with severe economic penalties if Washington hikes tariffs in the Greenland dispute. The E.U.

has at its disposal so-called an anti-coercion instrument. It's nicknamed the trade bazooka. The slate of tools include hiking taxes on U.S.

services, curbing U.S. investments in the E.U., as well as imposing export controls. The E.U. could also hit the U.S. with billions in retaliatory

tariffs targeting crops, vehicles, planes, and other exports. All this as the U.S. Supreme Court is readying its decision on the legality of many of

President Trump's global tariffs. That decision could come as soon as tomorrow.

Steve Durlauf joins me now. He's an economist and professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. First, if you could

explain to our audience exactly how this trade bazooka, which has never been used before, how it would work.

STEVEN DURLAUF, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO'S HARRIS SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY: Thank you for having me. The bazooka is a set of unique penalties

that have been created when the E.U. feels it's been threatened, as it has been in this case. And so, as you described, it has multiple dimensions to

it, including taxes on services and restrictions on various exports, et cetera.

I think, though, in thinking about that, you want to think about this as simply one more dimension of what Europe can do in response to the behavior

of the United States. And what I mean by that is you have this extraordinary set of anti-coercion penalties. You have the $100 billion in

tariffs that they did not implement, which are their initial response to Liberation Day, and those can be re-implemented. But beyond that, this

question is how do people in Europe respond? Canada reduced its exports to the United States -- purchases from the United States by 3.5 percent. Much

of that was boycotts. You know the stories about wine and alcohol. Travel has gone down, so that would be one example.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

DURLAUF: A second is that Europeans hold trillions of dollars in U.S. assets, and their willingness to hold them could be damaged because of

anger at the United States. And so, beyond what the governments can do is a question of what people will do.

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Is it clear who loses more? I mean, the trouble with trade wars is that everybody loses, right? But is it clear who loses more if the U.S.

and Europe break what was their trade agreement and we enter this new, hotter phase, as it were?

DURLAUF: Well, I don't think one can come up with who's a bigger loser in the sense that the magnitudes of losses are going to be differentiated

across sectors, across, you know, types of workers, et cetera. And so, what I mean by that is that Europe is not going to have the distributional

effects of a trade war that the United States does simply because we're a more unequal country.

I think what I would emphasize is that regardless of the disposition of the current tariff threat and the potential European retaliation, we are

crossing a Rubicon in terms of long-run relationships with Europe. And what I mean by that is that Europe needs a trading partner and wants to have a

reliable partner. And the credibility of the United States has been, in my judgment, damaged for a very long time. And it's not a matter of whether

Trump is in office, but who the successors are.

Now, think about the dimensions of that. European governments have already begun the process of focusing more on European defense contractors. So,

there's massive reductions that are going to occur there in terms of demand for U.S. exports. Consider the way that the international trading community

is reorganizing itself.

You have the European Union-Mercosur agreement. You have China reversing the tariffs on electric vehicles. The list goes on. When you don't have a

reliable partner, and keep in mind, these are countries that we allegedly had comprehensive trade agreements with in the course of Liberation Day and

those negotiations, every Senate has been created to find alternative ways for Europe and the rest of the world to trade.

SCIUTTO: To your point, what is a trade agreement worth exactly? A trade agreement worth with the U.S.? I mean, they had one, and Trump is now

imposing entirely new conditions over Greenland. Who knows what the conditions can be three months or six months or nine months from now? What

does a trade agreement with the U.S. mean today?

DURLAUF: Right now, I think it means nothing. The United States is, because of this erratic policy and set of policies, basically demonstrated

that any agreement that is made can be reversed at the whims of the president. And keep in mind that it's not just a matter of, in this case,

of separating the economics from the international relations side.

NATO, and I will use very harsh language, is a dead letter. Could anybody say Article 5 is currently credible? And so, why do I put that on the

table? And that is that credibility of economic agreements cannot be decomposed from the credibility of our political and security agreements.

And when you have this systematic attack on them, they feed back against each other. And so, I think the United States is really running the risk of

becoming a pariah to its closest allies and friends.

SCIUTTO: Yes, on an island, as it were. Steven Durlauf, thanks so much for joining.

DURLAUF: My pleasure.

SCIUTTO: Checking some of today's other business headlines, there is new evidence that President Trump's tariffs are hitting Americans hard. A study

by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy says that American consumers and importers have absorbed 96 percent of the cost of tariffs so far,

despite the president's insistence that somehow foreign countries would pick up the tab.

Sources tell CNN that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will attend Supreme Court arguments on Wednesday, this in the case of the Fed governor, Lisa Cook.

The Trump administration will argue that it could fire Cook over unproven allegations of mortgage fraud. Powell, we should note, is also now under

investigation by the Trump Justice Department. He has said quite publicly that probe is politically motivated.

New numbers show that China's birth rate has fallen to its lowest level on record. Beijing says the country's population also fell by some 3.4 million

people last year. It's the fourth year in a row the population has contracted. It's a huge challenge for the country's economy, despite new

government incentives for couples to have more children. Remember the one- child policy? Not long ago.

Coming up, more on our top story, President Trump's growing ambitions to take Greenland. Retired U.S. Army general and former NATO Supreme Allied

Commander Wesley Clark will join us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.

An investigation is underway in Spain after its worst rail disaster in more than 10 years. At least 40 people were killed, dozens hurt after a high-

speed train derailed and then crashed into a second oncoming train on Sunday. Officials say rescue teams, including firefighters and a military

unit, worked for hours in the dark trying to free passengers trapped in the twisted wreckage.

Prince Harry's privacy trials playing out in London's High Court. The British royal and six others, including Elton John and the actress

Elizabeth Hurley, are suing the publisher of the Daily Mail. They allege that associated newspapers used unlawful means to gather information about

them. The newspaper is denied wrongdoing.

European countries are standing firm against President Trump's push to acquire Greenland. President Trump has threatened tariffs against some of

the countries until they drop their opposition. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that would be completely wrong to impose those tariffs. A

British official says that President Trump conceded to Starmer that he may have gotten bad information about the announcement of European troop

deployments in Greenland. Some see that as a potential path to de- escalation.

Joining us now is former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, retired four-star U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. Good to have you, sir.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER EUROPE OF NATO: Thank you, Jim. Good to be here.

SCIUTTO: So, first of all, the way European partners are talking, they were saying this privately, now they're saying it publicly, is that this is

a genuine threat to the NATO alliance. In your view, can NATO survive this internal dispute, which does not seem to be ending, and there seem to be

red lines for both sides?

CLARK: You know, NATO's been through crisis after crisis, Jim, starting really in the 1950s. Every few years, there's a crisis, and people say it's

the end of NATO. But it's in both the American interest and the European interest to find a way through this crisis. And the diplomats simply have

to do it.

[18:40:00]

SCIUTTO: But does Trump believe that? Does Trump believe it's in U.S. interests or his interests? Because for years, and you know this going back

to his first term when he threatened to leave NATO, he just doesn't seem to buy that line of argument.

CLARK: No, he doesn't. But the national security strategy is ambivalent on this. On the one hand, the NSS said, you know, we're going to retreat to

our hemisphere and dominate it. But on the other hand, it admits that Europe's our greatest trading and investment partner. We don't want to lose

it. And President Trump has also been somewhat ambivalent on this. We don't know whether he's hyping up the rhetoric as a way to get some concessions

that we don't see.

One thing, though, Jim, is clear that with the Ukraine crisis ongoing, the Europeans understand they can't simply turn their back on the United States

because they need American help to handle Russia in Ukraine. So, it does give President Trump some additional leverage over the Europeans.

SCIUTTO: What is the de-escalation strategy here, though? Because Europeans are saying this is a red line. We will not concede sovereign

territory under duress. And Trump and his advisers now are being clear about it. It's not him alone, right, it's his treasury secretary, it's his

vice president, et cetera, saying, no, he wants it and he's going to get it. What's the path to compromise?

CLARK: I think there has to be some diplomatic artifice in here, some kind of an agreement that maybe President Trump becomes the protector general of

the Arctic. Maybe he gets an award for having brought greater national security attention and focus to the Arctic. Maybe there's an agreement that

the people of Denmark will express their preferences in a plebiscite in 10 years. Maybe there's a joint command announced between the United States

and the Nordic nations to bring security to the Arctic. Some halfway measures, some acknowledgement of the leading role of the United States in

the Western Hemisphere.

And, you know, the diplomats are pretty clever at looking at these things. Some people say, look at the Marshall Islands. There's an association

agreement there. And they can have American citizenship if they want it. They don't have to have it. And so, maybe there's some way that the United

States can say you can be a dual citizen if you want.

But, you know, from the U.S. domestic side, taking over Greenland is like a poison pill. I mean, it is a socialist colony or socialist country soon to

be independent of Denmark. You don't own private property. You don't own real estate. You don't pay for your medical care. You don't pay for your

education. You're there. Everybody works together. It's a lot of family.

And so, if you brought that into the United States, you'd have to deal with all those issues. And they're very difficult issues to deal with. The

United States have a hard time with this politically, just as the United States has had a hard time reconciling statehood for D.C. or statehood for

Puerto Rico.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Those are frozen issues, one might say, literally and figuratively. General Wesley Clark, thanks so much for joining us.

CLARK: Yes, thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, back here in the U.S., chaotic scenes inside a church in Minnesota. Protesters disrupted the service saying that one of the pastors

is an official with ICE. We're going to be live there next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:00]

SCIUTTO: We have multiple developments to report on ice operations in Minnesota, starting with the Department of Justice investigation into a

group of anti-ICE protesters who interrupted a church service. The protesters alleged that one of the church's pastors is a local official

with ICE.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says that agents have arrested now nearly 3,000 undocumented immigrants with criminal records since the local

crackdown began six weeks ago. Many protesters and other groups question those numbers. U.S. officials say the Trump administration is monitoring

the protests and that invoking the Insurrection Act is a last resort option, but one the president has retained. Some 1,500 active-duty soldiers

are preparing for possible deployment to Minnesota, this according to a Trump administration source.

Joining us now from Minneapolis is Julia Vargas Jones. Julia, to begin, can you tell us what we know about this protest inside the church and any CNN

reporting on whether the pastor was indeed connected to ICE?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, Jim, from the video that we saw from inside the church, you can hear the chants of why the

protesters were there, right, ICE out and justice for Renee Good, the mother of three, who was killed on January 7th by those ICE -- in that ICE

shooting.

Now, we spoke to one of the organizers of that protest to understand both the idea behind disrupting that service and what they're hoping to

accomplish, what was their message, really, what that was? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEKIMA LEVY ARMSTRONG, FOUNDER, RACIAL JUSTICE NETWORK: It's unconscionable and unacceptable for someone to claim to serve as a pastor

while also being responsible for a lot of what is happening here in our community. They should seem shocked that one of their pastors is the

director of ICE. That should be the most shocking thing that they should be concerned about, not peaceful demonstrators coming to the church and making

them aware of the duality of David Easterwood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And she is speaking there, Jim, about David Easterwood. He's an acting field office director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE

in St. Paul. Now, I will say we reached out, CNN reached out to DHS to confirm his identity and that he was indeed the pastor at that church. And

the response that we got from Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin was that DHS will never confirm or deny any attempts to dox our

law enforcement officers. And then they pointed us to death threats and different kinds of threats that ICE officers have been suffering in the

past few weeks.

But I want to bring you, Jim, to where we are right now. This is the Whipple Federal Building. It has been the site of protests since the

Venezuelan national was shot in the leg on Wednesday night. I just want to point to you how much emptier this is than in previous nights. We're seeing

maybe here a handful of protesters. It is bitterly cold out here. It's about 2 degrees Fahrenheit. Minus 4 is what it feels like here. Minus 17

Celsius. That, in part, I believe, has led people to leave.

[18:50:00]

But their indignation is still very much palpable. The people that we're speaking to -- we went to an MLK Day rally earlier today, we spoke to other

folks, is quite clear they are very unhappy with ISIS presence here. And it's not just because of the arrests, it's also because of the disruption

that that has caused in their community, the fear that it has instilled just in the manner that these operations are being conducted.

Jim, I spoke to a woman who has a group of parents at her daycare where her daughters go to who are now escorting the daycare workers because they are

Latino or Hispanic and they don't want to lose these people who their children spend so much time with. We've heard, like that story -- many

other stories, Jim, of how life has been disrupted here. And that has been a major drive for people, even if them themselves are not immigrants. It's

about keeping their community fabric together, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes, heard a lot of fear and a lot of sadness there. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much. Coming up next, tributes to a titan of the fashion

industry, the legendary Italian designer Valentino has died at the age of 93.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Many paying tributes now to one of the most famous and influential names in fashion, Valentino, who has died at the age of 93.

Born Valentino Garavani in 1932, the Italian designer's creations were worn by royalty and Hollywood superstars, becoming a favorite of the supermodel

era of the 1990s. Italy's prime minister calls him an eternal symbol of Italian high fashion. Gwyneth Paltrow says his passing feels like the end

of an era. Barbie Nadeau looks back on Valentino's life and legacy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): Born in 1932 in the northern Italian city of Voghera, Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani was

known by his first name only. The designer got his start in Paris hot couture, arriving in Rome in 1959 to start his own line with his business

and romantic partner Giancarlo Giammetti. A rich scarlet shade became his signature Valentino red, a color that came to define his style.

He met Elizabeth Taylor while she was shooting "Cleopatra" in Rome and went on to dress some of the world's most glamorous stars, from Audrey Hepburn

and Joan Collins to Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore one of his couture gowns when she married Aristotle Onassis in 1968.

VALENTINO GARAVANI, ITALIAN FASHION DESIGNER (through translator): I imagined a very young woman, an easy woman, very feminine, glamorous and at

the same time romantic. She wears clothes that she can mix together all the time. It's a solar woman who loves life and who is full of glamour and

femininity.

NADEAU (voice-over): In New York in the 1970s, he was part of an enviable circle of celebrities from Andy Warhol to Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. His

designs were known for their opulence, meticulous detail and luxurious fabrics and his iconic V logo.

[18:55:00]

In the 1990s, his designs were favorites of supermodels like Naomi Campbell and Claudia Schiffer.

CLAUDIA SCHIFFER, SUPERMODEL: I think he just loves women. He loves to dress them. He loves to see them look beautiful and glamorous but always

just really extremely elegant. Valentino is an elegant person himself, so it makes sense.

NADEAU (voice-over): His designs were also an awards show staple. Julia Roberts wore vintage Valentino in 2001 and Cate Blanchett wore sunshine

yellow Valentino in 2005, both winning top acting awards those years. More recently, Anne Hathaway walked the red carpet in a Valentino gown

accompanied by the designer himself.

Valentino sold the company in 1998 but stayed on as designer until his final show in 2008. The designer had reportedly planned to make a

reappearance in Rome in March of 2026 for the launch of the new line. His legacy synonymous with style will live on.

GARAVANI: Now, fashion goes to beautiful things. And I'm very happy. Because in my career I try to make women looking beautiful and I am very

happy that now couture and fashion goes back to beauty.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Back to beauty. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay

with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END