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Iranian Protest In The Face Of Harsh Government Crackdown; ICE Agents Clash With Protesters In Minneapolis; Iran Planning to Execute a 26-Year-Old Protester; Vance, Rubio to Meet With Officials From Denmark, Greenland; Concern in Greenland as Trump Threatens U.S. Takeover; Zelenskyy Says Russian Attacks Spark Power Outages in Kyiv Region; Deadly Landslide in Peru Buries Truck Carrying Family; Copernicus Reports 2025 Was Third Hottest Year on Record; HBO Max Brings "Harry Potter" to More Countries; Olympic Torch Makes Its Way Across Northern Italy. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 14, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:39]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Dead amid the violent crackdown on protesters in Iran and President Trump has issued a new warning as fears grow that more protesters could be executed.

New clashes erupt between protesters and federal agents in Minneapolis as several prosecutors step down amid pressure from the Trump administration.

Plus, new details on a deadly incident in Thailand where a construction crane fell onto a passenger train.

And the Olympic flame reaches the slopes of northern Italy, and its journey is not over yet.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us, and we begin with a deadly crackdown on protests in Iran, a U.S. based human rights group now says more than 2400 protesters have been killed by security forces since late December when antigovernment demonstrations began. The organization says at least 12 of those killed are under the age of 18. CNN cannot independently verify those numbers. The near total internet blackout is making it hard for information to get out of the country, and most Iranians abroad are not being able to contact their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASIM ALIKHANI, CHEF AND OWNER, SOFREH CAFE AND SOFREH RESTAURANT: I have been glued to social media news from outside of Iran, all kinds of sources, but I haven't been able to reach any of my family members or friends, which both in capital and I'm from Isfahan, so, no, I to this day, to this moment, I have no news from my pretty large extended family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The exiled son of Iran's last Shah, is urging the country's security forces to protect the protesters and join them.

And U.S. President Trump is urging Iranians to keep fighting against the regime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting, take over your institutions, if possible, and save the name of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you. You're being very badly abused.

I say save their names, because they'll pay a very big price. Then I've canceled all meetings with the Iranian officials until the senseless killing of protesters stops, and all I say to them is, help is on its way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The U.S. State Department posted on social media that Iranian officials are planning to execute a 26-year-old protester on Wednesday. President Trump says the U.S. will take, "Very strong action" if it does so, he has previously warned that could include military options.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz takes a closer look at how the world is reacting to the unrest in Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: A police crackdown, mass arrests, expedited executions and brute force, that is what Iran's protesters are facing. Hundreds have been killed, say human rights groups with the death toll expected to rise.

But outside of Iran's borders, the movement could threaten to shake up the geopolitical landscape, and it has already drawn the ire of the White House.

So, in what capitals can these defiant demonstrators find allies? Well, the street movement is unlikely to gain the support of leaders across the region, which has mostly been quiet. That's because nearly 15 years ago, the Arab Spring toppled long standing dictatorships, so expect capitals like Riyadh, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, to make quiet appeals for calm and order.

Instability generally makes rulers across this region very nervous. Turkey, which is a lead mediator in the Middle East, has echoed this sentiment. It warned against foreign intervention and called the protests an internal matter.

But one country may see this as a moment of opportunity. Israel, which fought a 12-day war with Iran last year, Prime Minister Netanyahu has openly called for regime change in Iran in the past, and says his government is monitoring developments and will be ready to respond with, "Power" if needed, leading to fears that Israel may yet again strike.

Members of the Iran diaspora from London to L.A. have championed the protest movements already, with demonstrations at several Iranian embassies abroad.

[02:05:07]

Condemnation has also poured in from Europe, which has been swift, with the European Parliament banning all Iranian diplomatic staff and representatives from its premises. The German Chancellor going so far as to say that he believes the world is seeing the last days and weeks of the Islamic Republic.

But the loudest support is coming from the White House. President Trump has slapped a 25 percent tariff on countries that do business with Iran, which could deal a major blow to trading partners, China and India. He is also weighing military action.

President Trump called off all meetings with Iranian officials on his social account, he told Iranians to keep protesting, take over your institutions, he added, help is on its way.

But with body bags already lining the streets of Tehran, some fear, the president's rhetoric can only add fuel to the fire.

Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Gissou Nia is the director of the Atlantic Council Strategic Litigation Project, which works on prevention and accountability for human rights violations worldwide. And she joins me now from Los Angeles. Appreciate you talking with us.

GISSOU NIA, DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC LITIGATION PROJECT, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Thank you for having me on.

CHURCH: So, late Tuesday, President Trump was warning Iran not to execute antigovernment protesters and threaten strong action if it does, and this as he calls on protesters in Iran to keep up their resistance and take over Iranian institutions, adding that, "Help is on its way." What is your understanding of what he's saying here?

NIA: I mean, it's really hard to say. Obviously, President Trump's foreign policy and his statements are mercurial and change, you know, from day to day. But what is really critical here is for the world to understand what has happened, because the estimates that we're getting, and these are conservative estimates according to Iran International and media diaspora station that initially published these numbers.

But they're saying that 12,000 protesters were killed in the space of two to three days, which is an astronomical number. It is unprecedented in any of the nationwide protests that have happened in Iran over the prior decade. Even though those protests saw protesters killed. We've never seen atrocities at this scale.

And the reports, the very limited reports that people are getting from Starlink, from those with Starlink, because there's been a communications blackout in the country for about 150 hours now, the very limited reports that we're getting are indicating that there are military grade weapons being used, that protesters are being shot in the face, in the upper abdomen area, so it's really shoot to kill.

And so, I hope that that's what the international community will focus on right now and try to think about how we transition Iran to a democracy.

CHURCH: Yes, of course, it's difficult to get precise numbers. We're hearing, of course, that more than 2400 protesters have been killed so far in the last 18 days. That's according to a U.S. based student rights group. Those numbers are horrifying, of course.

So, how do you think President Trump will respond if Iran goes ahead with its threat to execute a 26-year-old antigovernment protested today? That's in just a few hours from now.

NIA: Well, President Trump initially posted on Truth Social a few days back that if the Islamic Republic killed any protesters at scale, that he would be, you know, locked and loaded. And now we're seeing that the goal posts have shifted a bit, and he's saying he'll wait to see if anybody is executed.

I think that the truth is that there is some disagreement within his administration about how to move forward, and perhaps some challenges in terms of thinking of how to engage in the region. So, I suspect that it has more to do with internal debates over how to proceed or working with allies in the region, then it really does have to do with any metrics around how many people have to be killed.

So, I think from what I understand, we'll see some developments in the next few days, but I do know that President Trump's statements are part of what galvanized so many protesters to come to the streets and really exercise their rights and their freedom of expression, because I think they have the impression that somebody will step in and stop the regime before it commits more violence. That's my impression of the situation.

CHURCH: Right. And President Trump has said that he's canceled all meetings with Iranian officials until the killing stops, which takes any negotiations off the table. So, how likely is it that the U.S. will attack Iran with military force, and if it does, what would be the consequences of such action?

[02:10:06]

NIA: I think the most important thing is that the reason why we're at the place that we are at today is because the Iranian people made their feelings known about this regime over and over again in successive nationwide protests over the past decade.

And there wasn't a very active plan to help Iranians dislodge this government that they did not want. And there wasn't a lot of listening to the freedom movements in the country, the movements for democracy, the prominent opposition leaders. One of our Nobel Peace Prize laureates is currently in prison. Our Peace Prize Laureate from 2023, somebody who's been a long standing activist in the country.

And so, a lot of those opposition figures never wanted there to be some sort of military intervention in their country, but what they were asking for was the support of the international community in getting rid of this regime and weakening it, in cutting off trade ties, in diplomatically isolating it.

And unfortunately, the reason that we are in the position we're in today is because none of that was effectively carried out with the wishes of what the opposition movements inside the country were saying.

So, I think that we'll have a long road ahead in terms of helping Iran's civil society get to the free, democratic place that they wish to be, and I hope that the global community will support them in that.

CHURCH: Gissou Nia, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

NIA: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: We are following breaking news, a deadly incident in Thailand. Reuters reports at least 22 people were killed after a construction crane collapsed north of Bangkok, hitting a train and causing it to derail.

And we are hearing there are more bodies in the wreckage that rescuers have not yet recovered. Dozens of people were injured. Police say the crane was part of a high-speed rail project and crashed onto a passing train which briefly caught fire. We will, of course, bring you more details as they become available.

Well, source tells CNN Venezuela has freed at least four U.S. political prisoners. It's the latest move by the government of interim president Delcy Rodriguez, which started releasing detainees last week. The Trump administration is demanding that Venezuela release all of its political prisoners. It calls this latest move an important step in the right direction.

A human rights group says, so far, only 56 out of more than 800 detainees have been set free. The mother of one political prisoner is calling on the government to go even further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCIS QUINONES, MOTHER OF DETAINEE (through translator): Let's fight for a new Venezuela, but without political prisoners and without persecuting anyone else. Let's dismantle all those facilities, those prisons where political prisoners are held, and close them forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Tensions are mounting in Minnesota as protests over the death of Renee Good show no sign of letting up. The U.S. Justice Department says there's no basis for a criminal investigation into the ICE agent who fatally shot her. At least six Minnesota prosecutors have now resigned after pressure from the Trump administration to shift the probe to the actions of Renee Good and those around her.

On Tuesday, President Trump warned that a day of reckoning and retribution is coming to Minnesota. In a Truth Social post, he called ICE agents patriots, as hundreds more immigration officers are arriving in Minneapolis. Clashes between federal agents and protesters are escalating across the city, a few blocks away from where Renee Good was killed, another woman in another car was confronted by federal agents on Tuesday.

CNN has reached out in an effort to find out what happened to the woman seen in that video. The Minneapolis police chief explains how his department is trying to manage altercations like this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: We're trying to do everything that we can to try and deescalate situations, deescalate some of the chaos that's happening on the street, and try and encourage everyone in our community to keep people safe. And also encourage federal law enforcement. If you're out here in our community, please perform in the way we expect our law enforcement officers to perform their duties.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:15:21]

CHURCH: CNN's Ryan Young is in Minneapolis with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tensions continue to rise, especially when it comes to the idea of some of these protesters watching the ICE agents and border patrol agents in our neighborhood. Today, we saw how those two things could collide, and it got nasty pretty quickly.

Look at this video, you can see the agents swarming into this neighborhood. You can see the people putting their bodies in the way, flash bangs, pepper balls, and some of the agents were spread on people in that crowd, we saw arrest multiple agents on top of people. Some of the agents were spraying each other.

And you have to consider the fact that in the city right now, there may be more Border Patrol and ICE agents than there are police officers in the city, but people tell us they want to see more action, so they're happy that not only is the state trying to fight back, but they're hoping the local authorities are somehow able to get some of these agents out of the area. Behind us right now, you can see the vigilance here outside the

federal building. And on top of that, there will be a visual a little later on Tuesday night, people still are concerned about the memory of Renee Good.

Ryan young, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A recent poll by Quinnipiac University shows a strong majority of registered voters disapprove of the deadly ICE shooting of Renee Good. 53 percent say the violent action was not justified.

A court hearing is set for Wednesday in the Minnesota lawsuit against the federal government's immigration enforcement. The suit is seeking a court order to halt the statewide immigration crackdown by the DHS.

Well, the latest consumer price index shows U.S. inflation holding steady, but President Trump is telling a different story. His comments from a visit to Michigan are just ahead.

Plus, the president continues to drag Jerome Powell's name through the dirt. What he's saying about the Fed Chair amid a criminal investigation into the central bank chief. Back with that and more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:21:47]

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. U.S. President Donald Trump is teasing plans to bring down health care costs and housing prices. He says he'll announce some this week and others at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland next week.

The president spent Tuesday in Michigan, first at a Ford plant in Dearborn, where he touted his efforts to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Then he spoke to the Detroit Economic Club, where he rattled off a familiar series of false claims, saying inflation has stopped, grocery prices are falling rapidly, and the cost of prescription drugs is coming down by up to 600 percent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And now, after less than 12 months in office, this is the easiest speech to make. I have great people, and all I'm doing is spewing off what the hell we've done.

Right now, I'm feeling pretty good, though, I will say, you're so lucky to be here. Under our administration, growth is exploding, productivity is soaring, investment is booming, incomes are rising, inflation is defeated. America is respected again, like never before.

The results are in, and the Trump economic boom is officially begun.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: The latest government data shows inflation actually rose 2.7 percent in December compared to the year prior, slightly higher than expectations. Housing related inflation sharply rising. Food prices and higher energy costs all contributed to the increase.

And I spoke earlier with CNN Global Economic Analyst Rana Foroohar, and I asked for her take on President Trump's claims of economic and tariff success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, we know that tariffs have had nothing to do with America's economic growth, which has continued, really, against all odds.

You know, Jerome Powell, who is, of course, under threat himself now from Trump, actually said that tariffs are one of the main reasons why inflation was rising. You know, we've got a big issue right now with trying to control inflation while also not toppling the labor market, which is showing signs of slowing.

So, you know, really, it's hard to argue that we're in a boom, we're probably at the tail end of whatever growth is, you know, was left in the system and possibly going into tougher times ahead.

CHURCH: And on Tuesday, specifically on tariffs, again, President Trump said this, and I'm quoting, every prediction the critics made about our tariff policy has failed to materialize. The evidence shows overwhelmingly that the tariffs are not paid by American consumers. So, what's your response to that statement?

FOROOHAR: Well, again, I just don't think that you can argue that. You look at where inflation is now, it's higher than when Trump came in. There are a number of factors in inflationary pressures right now, but tariffs are completely one of them.

It's also possible that we're going to see more chaos. What if the Supreme Court actually says that the President's tariff policy is illegal? You know, that's going to create more turmoil in the markets.

It's really amazing, to be honest, that there hasn't been more trouble yet, but I think that the U.S. is still enjoying this sort of prettiest house on an ugly block phenomenon that it has for many years now. Europe is growing slowly. There's a lot of uncertainty about China and how it's going to handle its own economic woes.

[02:25:11]

And so, you know, investors have not pulled capital out en masse from the U.S. That said, we have seen the dollar weakening. We are seeing gold at record highs, and we are seeing with every Treasury auction a little bit more diversification out of the dollar and into international currencies.

So, I think it's pretty hard to argue that we're in the middle of some kind of boom right now. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And you can see my full interview with Rana Foroohar next hour right here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Well, criticism is growing across Washington over the Justice Department's criminal investigation into the Federal Reserve and Chairman Jerome Powell. Sources tell CNN there's frustration in the White House, with officials blaming Jeannine Pirro, the U.S. Attorney for D.C., claiming she blindsided them by launching the probe in the first place. Some within the Trump administration, including his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have expressed frustration over the move, and multiple Republicans have also voiced concerns, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who says the DOJ better have a smoking gun if they decide to bring charges.

Powell says his office has already received Grand Jury subpoenas, and amid the chaos, President Trump continues to publicly criticize Powell, the man he nominated for Fed Chair during his first term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's been a lousy Fed chairman. He was reappointed by Biden. I was a little surprised at that, because I didn't think he really earned a stretch. He's been too high on interest rates, and I call him too late. He's too late to reduce. He should have reduced them by more.

Despite that, we fought through that. In addition, he heads up a construction situation on a rebuilding of a little building, two little buildings in called the Fed. You know where they are. You've seen them a million times.

I think I could have done that job. I could have fixed them up for 25 million. He's into billions and billions of dollars, and it looks like they won't open for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Still to come, the latest on President Trump's response to the deadly crackdown in Iran and what he's saying about the protesters in their country.

Plus, residents of Greenland say they are worried for their future as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens a takeover. CNN travels to the Danish territory, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:31:58]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Well, there are growing fears over the fate of a detained Iranian protester. According to the U.S. State Department, he may be executed today. A family member says 26-year-old Erfan Soltani is believed to have been detained by plain-clothed police officers and he was not allowed a lawyer or a retrial after being sentenced to death. CNN has not been able to independently confirm these details.

Meanwhile, President Trump has warned Iran against executing protesters, saying the U.S. would take strong action in response. The president held a meeting of key National Security Council members at the White House on Tuesday to discuss Iran and the rising death toll there. CNN's Isobel Yeung spoke with Erfan Soltani's cousin about the protester's fate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISOBEL YEUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It must be incredibly raw for you. You've only just received this message. Your cousin is due to be executed extremely soon. How are you feeling?

SOMAYEH, ERFAN SOLTANI'S FAMILY MEMBER (through translator): I was in so much shock, I cried so much. Now that you see me, I am in complete shock. I keep feeling as if I am in a dream.

YEUNG: Somayeh says that she is living in fear that her family member is about to be executed by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

YEUNG (voice-over): Erfan Soltani is 26-years-old and he's believed to be the first anti-regime protester in this latest uprising to be given the death sentence according to human rights organizations.

YEUNG: What is it that he's been protesting for? What does he want to see happen in Iran?

SOMAYEH (through translator): He has always wanted people to be at least free in the most basic aspects of life. He has always fought for the freedom of Iran, and today we see him standing under the gallows.

YEUNG (voice-over): The protests that Erfan took part in were huge and they turned violent. To date, about 2,000 protesters have been killed according to a U.S.-based rights group, but that figure could be much higher.

YEUNG: The Iranian state media has said that these protesters are rioters. Was Erfan using violence?

SOMAYEH (through translator): Erfan has never resorted to violence. I always witnessed that all the destruction being carried out was done by the regime itself. In order to execute young people, they fabricate accusations against them.

YEUNG: Human rights organizations say that he was arrested on Thursday and that he was given the death sentence just two days later. They said that he wasn't allowed access to a lawyer and that his execution has been expedited without trial. Tehran's prosecutor on Friday said that some protesters could be given the death penalty.

Iranian state media says that rioters have killed dozens of members of the security forces, but we've not been able to contact the Iranian government for comment. Somayeh says that there's just one person who could save Erfan from being killed and that's President Donald Trump, who's threatened military action if protesters continue to be harmed. [02:35:00]

SOMAYEH (through translator): My request is that we need Trump's help by the second. We need Trump's help by every second. People trusted Trump's words and came to the streets. I beg you, please do not let Erfan be executed, please.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: U.S. Vice President, J.D. Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio are set to meet with the foreign ministers from Denmark and Greenland at the White House on Wednesday. The talks are expected to focus on the relationship between all parties. President Trump has repeatedly threatened to take over Greenland, a Danish territory, saying last Friday that if he's unable to make a deal the easy way, then he will have to do it the hard way.

The Danish foreign minister says the face-to-face meeting will allow everyone to look each other in the eye and talk about these things. But on the eve of the talks, Greenland's leader had this blunt message for President Trump at a joint news conference with his Danish counterpart.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS-FREDERIK NIELSEN, GREENLAND'S PRIME MINISTER: Greenland will not be a part of the USA. We choose the Greenland we know today, which is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. Now we are faced with a geopolitical crisis. And if we have to choose between the USA and Denmark here and now, we choose Denmark. We choose NATO. We choose the Kingdom of Denmark, and we choose the E.U.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Greenland's government says it will not accept a takeover by the U.S. under any circumstances. CNN's Nic Robertson traveled to Greenland to find out what people there think of Donald Trump's desire to acquire the territory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): It's 11 a.m., daybreak off the coast of Greenland, the strategic Danish island President Trump wants for American security. 150 miles from the Arctic Circle, it is a winter wonderland of stark, snowy beauty.

ROBERTSON: Out here in these remote fields, it seems impossible to imagine that this tranquil Arctic wilderness could really be at the heart of a geopolitical crisis that has the United States pitted against its NATO allies, potentially threatening to upend decades of global security.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Aaron Jos Vassen (ph), an Inuit, a native Greenlander, is taking a seal hunting. Food from the land and sea is a core Inuit connection with nature, a cultural totem. ROBERTSON: So I know we're waiting for the seal, looking out for the seal. Donald Trump says there's Russian and Chinese ships here. Where are they?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no ship from China or Russia.

ROBERTSON: Donald Trump says that it's not enough just to be friends with Greenland and have a treaty, that he has to own it. What do you say?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm afraid the nature will be destroyed and many animals will disappear.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Greenland is massive, more than 1,600 miles from Arctic tip to Atlantic tail, so wide it straddles several time zones. It is also geographically strategic, sits right between the U.S. and Russia, adjacent to newly thawing polar shipping lanes.

But despite its size, barely 57,000 people live on the ice-shrouded island, most of them, like Aaron (ph), Inuit.

SARA OLSVIG, CHAIR, INUIT CIRCUMPOLAR COUNCIL: We are people of the Arctic. We have specialized skills in surviving and thriving in the Arctic. Inuit have been here in Greenland for 4,500 years at least, maybe longer.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Sarah Olsvig is also Inuit, a former Greenland politician in the Danish parliament, stands up for Inuit rights.

ROBERTSON: But President Trump now says that if he has to own Greenland, that's the only way psychologically that he thinks that the deal will be right.

OLSVIG: If the case is so that he really thinks that Greenland is so important for the U.S., well, then there's something to talk about. And let's solve it through dialog.

ROBERTSON: Is there a dignified dialog right now?

OLSVIG: I think we are far from what we would call a dignified dialog. I think that's obvious. Silence has a significance in our culture.

ROBERTSON: So how do you deal with somebody loud like Donald Trump and be heard?

OLSVIG: Hopefully, there will continue to be a path in a respectful manner for creating stronger bonds of partnerships. But that doesn't mean, you know, that coercion or taking over or annexing.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Inuits are traditionally quiet, but what they say now will be the single biggest factor facing a Trump takeover.

Mia Chemnitz is a successful businesswoman, has been silent until now.

[02:40:00]

ROBERTSON: Does Donald Trump understand Greenland?

MIA CHEMNITZ, FASHION DESIGNER: I'm afraid that he understands everything and that he doesn't care.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): She specializes in Inuit clothing. Her store is doing well with locals and tourists. But she's got orders to fill, so she's taking us to her workshop.

CHEMNITZ: Donald Trump and his government, they know about all the agreements between Denmark and Greenland and the U.S. They know everything. They are very welcome to invest in Greenland. We're always looking for investments. We want to develop. I don't think it's about that.

ROBERTSON: What's it about?

CHEMNITZ: I think it's about land.

ROBERTSON: Donald Trump wants a big country?

CHEMNITZ: I'm afraid so, yeah.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Inside her tiny workshop, she is busy, ready to hire more staff. Items like seal mitts, jackets and trousers making a comeback. Exports possible because the animals are hunted for food, as well as the hides. But Trump's Greenland grab is crimping her business, putting her own expansion plans on hold.

CHEMNITZ: Well, if you don't know which country you're living in, in a month, then, you know.

ROBERTSON: Is that real for you right now?

CHEMNITZ: No, I don't want it to be real. I really try to push that thought down. But that is the worst-case scenario that, you know, in a month I'm American. We don't even have military in Greenland because we don't do war. So, of course, you know, there would be -- I don't know -- you know, we wouldn't be able to resist the American military. No one can resist the American military.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Trump isn't the first president to try to get Greenland. The U.S. tried shortly after buying Alaska from Russia more than 150 years ago, tried again in 1910. And then, after World War II, U.S. President Harry Truman secretly offered Denmark $100 million in gold. This time, Donald Trump seems determined to have it his way.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland. And we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Trump also says he wants Greenland's rare earths and minerals. Deposits are scattered along Greenland's rugged, remote coastline. Under the 1951 Greenland Defense Agreement between the U.S. and Denmark, Trump already has missile bases and sweeping rights to military activity, as well as access to any amount of rare earths and minerals the U.S. desires.

JORGEN HAMMEKEN-HOLM, GREENLAND DEPUTY MINING MINISTER: We have been welcoming the United States for many years. It doesn't seem that the commercial way to do things has been of interest for them.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Jorgen Hammeken-Holm is Greenland's Deputy Minister for Mining Resources, has agreed to talk, but such is his sensitivity around Trump's possible land grab, he is limited about what he can tell me.

ROBERTSON: What happens if the United States does take control of Greenland? What happens to the minerals and resources then?

HAMMEKEN-HOLM: I have no idea.

ROBERTSON: From a sort of a personal perspective, how big a deal for Greenland is what's happening right now?

HAMMEKEN-HOLM: Big. Very big.

ROBERTSON: Have you ever seen anything this big?

HAMMEKEN-HOLM: No.

ROBERTSON: Does it scare you?

HAMMEKEN-HOLM: Absolutely.

ROBERTSON: Why?

HAMMEKEN-HOLM: The unknown situation on what is going on.

ROBERTSON: What does your gut tell you is going to happen?

HAMMEKEN-HOLM: I have no idea. But I have hopes and expect the worst.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): He is not alone. Greenlanders across the country are struggling with Trump's dogma just as much as the deputy minister, trying to wrangle American attitudes against Inuit logic.

ROBERTSON: But he says he's going to do it the easy way or the hard way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: What does the hard way mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he wants to use the military, I think.

ROBERTSON: And what will you do then?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't do something. I can't do something. Just, I'll just say, I give up. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Greenland's options, it seems, in the balance, diplomacy the preference, all else as potentially unforgiving as its Arctic surrounds.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Nuuk Fjord, Greenland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says hundreds of thousands of households in the Kyiv region are without power. This after Russia launched another massive aerial barrage, including hundreds of drones as well as ballistic and cruise missiles.

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The assault on Ukraine's energy infrastructure comes as temperatures in Kyiv remain well below freezing.

Copernicus has released its final climate data for 2025. Just ahead, what the Climate Change Monitoring Service said about last year's hot temperatures.

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CHURCH: People living in Peru's Junin region have been trying to rescue a family trapped in a truck that was buried by a landslide.

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Using heavy machinery, they've been digging through rocks, mud, and debris. The disaster was triggered by heavy rainfall and government officials have now launched a search and recovery operation for the missing.

The European Service that monitors climate change has released its final climate data for last year. And Copernicus says 2025 was the third hottest year on record. CNN's Derek Van Dam takes a closer look.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: New environmental data just dropped from Copernicus, European's earth monitoring services, and it's a shocker. 2025 was the third warmest year on record across the planet. Only marginally cooler than 2023 and cooler than 2024, which we know went down as the hottest year ever recorded on planet Earth.

I want you to take note on this map, the global map here into the Antarctic region. This is an area where we had the warmest annual temperature ever recorded, according to this recent study. And into the Arctic, we had our second warmest annual temperature ever recorded.

What's interesting about this is that the three-year period we're in, from 2023 to 2025, this is the first three-year period where the Earth's temperature averaged above that 1.5 degree Celsius threshold, the ever-important threshold set back in the Paris Climate Accord. And the last 11 years have been the warmest 11 years on record. So, that's really saying something about the trajectory of the temperature of our planet, right? So you look at this map, and you can see some of the pre-industrial references for the, let's say, the 1940s and 1950s, and then the gradual increase in our temperatures. This is an astounding map as well. What you're looking at is where the extremes were the most evident throughout 2025.

So, this map is kind of showing you where the extreme temperature days increased the most. Take note of East Asia, southern portions of Australia, portions of Europe, and into North Africa, as well as North America. These are the temperature days that we've seen on the increase that stress our human body.

They stress the power grid, and they further exacerbate drought. So as we continue to release greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, no doubt we will have these continued emissions with business as usual. We will see the extreme heat stress days increase, but also the global average temperature increase, unfortunately, as well.

Back to you.

CHURCH: Still to come, a frightfully fun time for Harry Potter fans. HBO Max celebrated its European expansion with Dementor drones flying around a Berlin landmark. What we know about the highly anticipated new TV series coming next year.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, if you're afraid of heights, you might not want to watch this. Four professional winter sports athletes have completed an ultimate challenge. It's a 350-meter-long course in the Italian Alps that's just a few meters wide, called Slopestyle on the edge. At an altitude of about 2,000 meters with steep cliffs on either side, there's no room for risky landings.

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FELIX GEORGII, X GAMES WAKEBOARD CHAMPION AND SNOWBOARDER: The main challenges to ride the course here is to be really, really precise, to land perfectly, to not try too crazy things that you are not sure with. You want to do the stuff you know how to do it, land perfectly, and keep going on the rest of the track.

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CHURCH: Good advice. And he says after getting past the nerves, riding the tightrope is the best feeling ever.

Well, the Olympic flame is making its way across northern Italy for this year's Winter Games. About 10,000 torchbearers are taking part in the 63-day journey. The flame set off from Rome more than a month ago and it still has a long road ahead before arriving in Milan for the start of the games on February 6th. HBO is now available in more countries across Europe and to celebrate the expansion, the streaming service brought some Harry Potter-themed thrills to a Berlin landmark. A flock of drones made to look like the haunting dementors of the Wizarding World flew around the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Tuesday. HBO Max is now launched in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. The streaming service, like CNN, is part of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.

A new Harry Potter TV series is set to launch on HBO Max next year. Each season will follow one of the books in the hugely popular series by Author J.K. Rowling.

I want to thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church and we'll be back with more "CNN Newsroom" in just a moment. Do stay with us.

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