Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with Rahel Solomon

U.S. Under Storm Threat; ICE Detains Five-Year-Old; TikTok Seals The Deal. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired January 23, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon. It is Friday, January 23rd, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're dealing with high impact winter weather.

GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R), TEXAS: Don't begin getting prepared tomorrow or think you can get around doing it on Saturday.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESOPNDENT: This five-year-old was taken from the driveway of his Minneapolis-Saint Paul area home as he got back from preschool.

MARC PROKOSCH, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE FAMILY: This family was not eluding ICE in any way.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: A deal just announced will allow TikTok to continue to operate in the U.S.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This comes after years of uncertainty over national security concerns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

SOLOMON: We begin this hour with severe weather. More than half of the U.S. is staring down a menacing winter storm this coming weekend, some areas already feeling the impact. This video is from affiliate WLS out of Chicago. Cars literally froze over after a water main break Thursday morning. Some had icicles hanging from their undercarriage, others had their tires frozen in place.

Meanwhile, governors across the U.S. are warning people to prepare early.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ABBOTT: Bottom line is, is that because the storm is coming in, because we know it's coming in, we have the ability for our fellow Texans to get prepared now. Don't begin getting prepared late tomorrow or think you can get around doing it on Saturday. It's going to be too late.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: And preparations have already begun. In North Carolina, for example, crews have been treating the roads with salt and brine. We still don't know how much snow or ice we may get from this massive storm, but here's CNN meteorologist Chris Warren with the forecast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is a high impact, far reaching, widespread winter storm going from essentially New Mexico to Maine and about 2,000 miles right here. Just in terms of the alerts go. And that's in one direction. You think of how far to the north and the south were dealing with high impact winter weather and the cold air that is in the Arctic is spilling down through Canada and into the U.S., throwing the winds. Next couple of mornings, it's going to feel like its 40 to even 50 degrees below zero. That cold air essentially sets the stage for what's to come.

So, cold air dropping down from the north, an area of low pressure working across the south will mean the combination of the two will produce serious amounts of snowfall and catastrophic amounts of ice. Remember the freezing rain? That's the pink here where you have very cold air at the surface. Temperatures in the teens to around 30 degrees in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Moisture coming up goes up and over that cold air and then rain falls still in the liquid form.

And when it hits something, sidewalks, roads, trees, power lines, it freezes and it accumulates on those power lines and the trees, and they can weigh those branches down, the power lines down. And with that cold air in place, power outages could last for several days. So, very dangerous situation for multiple reasons. With this winter storm and of course with several inches of snow in the northeast and throughout the mid-Atlantic and the mid-south, travel will definitely be impacted on the road and through the air. Here's the amount of snow, potentially a foot of snow on the ground for about 1,500 miles from Oklahoma to New England, with the highest elevations of foot and a half, possibly even more than that.

But it is this ice, this ice that is so dangerous. Dangerous? Just walking out the front door or the extended power outages that can last for days to the south. What we're going to continue to watch over the next couple of days will be this track, because the farther north it goes, the less ice to the south, the farther south it goes. More areas seeing the ice. So, stay tuned. A lot to follow right through the weekend

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Chris Warren, thank you. And if you're planning to fly in the next couple of days, you may want

to reschedule more than 1,300 flights planned for Saturday have already been canceled. Several airlines are also waiving rebooking fees, including Delta, Southwest and United. If you're scheduled to fly, check with your airline before making changes.

To Minneapolis now, where we are learning more about the case of a five-year-old boy who was taken from the driveway of his Minneapolis area home by federal agents.

[05:05:07]

The boy, Liam Conejo Ramos, is being held with his father at an immigration facility in Texas. The family's lawyer says that they came to the U.S. from Ecuador legally presenting themselves to border officials and applying for asylum back in 2024. School district officials say that Ramos is one of four students detained by ICE in the last few weeks. The school boards chair, who witnessed Liam's detention, described the chaotic moments when ICE took the child.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY GRANLUND, SCHOOL BOARD CHAIR, COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PUBLIC SCHOOLS: I heard, what are you doing? Don't take the child, his mom, like there are people here that can take him. There was another adult who lived in the home that was there saying, I will take the child. I will take the child.

Somebody else was yelling. They saw that I was there and said, school is here. They can take the child. You don't have to take them. And there were, there were, there was ample opportunity, to be able to safely hand that child off to adults. And mom, mom was there, she saw out the window and dad was yelling, please do not open the door. Don't open the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: CNN's Omar Jimenez has the latest from Minneapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the center of a lot of attention here in Minneapolis over the course of Thursday has been this five- year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who was taken from the driveway of his Minneapolis Saint Paul area home as he got back from preschool. The image is pretty striking.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security has said that they were targeting this five-year-old's father, that the father fled and that they didn't want to leave this five-year-old without his father. But I want you to take a listen to what an attorney for the family said in response.

MARC PROKOSCH, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE FAMILY: This family was not eluding ice in any way. They were following all the established protocols, pursuing their claim for asylum, showing up for their court hearings and posed no safety, no flight risk, and never should have been detained.

JIMENEZ: Regardless, they are both now being held at an ice facility down in Texas. Now, a lot of this came on a day where Vice President J.D. Vance made his way here to Minneapolis to, as he put it, try to understand some of the tensions they are seeing on the ground here. And I actually asked if this recent surge in federal agents was meant to send any form of political message to local and state leaders here. He said no, but he did say that one of the ways that he believed was best to lower the chaos or lower the amount of chaos, seeing that we've seen here, would come and start from some of those local and state leaders, as he also encouraged people to protest peacefully.

Now, Mayor Jacob Frey in Minneapolis, in response to that, actually agreed with that part, saying yes, that people should be protesting peacefully. But he also went on to criticize the extent of force to which many of these agents are taking out, and members of his community on his streets, and saying that Vice President Vance couldn't possibly understand what's going on here in Minneapolis just by being here for a few hours.

Now, as you might notice, it is especially cold here in Minneapolis. We do expect demonstrations to continue, but just as a point of notice, the high here in Minneapolis over the course of Friday will be into the negatives, as we do expect widespread demonstrations. To what extent we see that we do not know. But the tensions here very much keeping the temperatures high.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Diplomats will try something later today that hasn't been done since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. Negotiators from the U.S., Russia and Ukraine, all three of them will meet for talks to try to close the gaps in the U.S.-led peace plan. The Kremlin confirming hours ago that the trilateral negotiations will be held in the UAE. That's happening after U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow, and after Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump at the world economic forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Officials say that the only unresolved issue is territory. But that's a huge sticking point. Although Trump was still optimistic on his way back from Davos. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What's happened here is there were times when Putin didn't want to make a deal, times when Zelensky didn't want to make a deal. And it was like opposite times. Now I think they both want to make a deal, but we'll find out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Okay. Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks, who is live for us in Abu Dhabi. Paula, these trilateral talks come, as we said after Trump's meeting

with Zelensky in Davos, what can we expect to take place today?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rahel, we've just had some more details coming out from the Kremlin about these meetings as we understand it, the meeting is being held here in Abu Dhabi, will on the Russian side be mostly military representatives.

[05:10:02]

So representatives from the ministry of defense, were hearing from the Ukrainian side as well, military and intelligence representatives.

Now, interestingly, there will also, we understand, be a separate meeting between the U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff and Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin special adviser. This is expected to be looking more at the economic issues.

So, it appears to be a dual track process here in Abu Dhabi at this point. And as you say, it does follow some key meetings in Davos this week as well with the American leader and the Ukrainian leader just meeting together. We did hear from President Zelenskyy talking about being potentially positive that these talks may be moving forward, but also pointing out the obvious that they do very much depend on Russia agreeing.

Let's listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: It's up to them to continue the war or not. But we want to stop this war and that's why I think President Trump can. He really can because he has dialogue with Putin. Not everybody has dialogue. Just even dialogue.

He has dialogue with Putin on the same levels. I think America is much more stronger than Russia. And you can see the result of this war. That's why I think that American army is stronger than Russian army because of our experience with the war, with defending ourselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: So these talks follow the three hours plus meeting between President Putin and Steve Witkoff and also Trump's son in law, Jared Kushner in Moscow. Now, according to a kremlin aide, talking to those, discussions, he said that they were substantive, constructive, extremely frank and confidential. According to that aide, though, Vladimir Putin did tell the U.S. negotiators that any long-term settlement wouldn't be reached without first resolving territorial issues.

Now, we have heard from Steve Witkoff that the negotiations are really down to one issue now, but that is the territorial issues. It is the big one. It is the one where both sides have very definite red lines and there is a fair amount of light between them -- Rachel.

SOLOMON: Yeah, really makes you wonder sort of how far apart they are on that issue. As you point out, Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi.

Paula, thank you.

TikTok once faced a precarious future in the U.S., but it's now increasingly clear that the wildly popular app isn't going anywhere.

The video sharing platform has now established a majority American owned joint venture to run its U.S. business. The arrangement was revealed just one day before President Trump's deadline for the apps American assets to be spun off from Chinese parent company ByteDance.

CNN's Kristie Lu Stout picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: TikTok is officially staying in the United States. The popular Chinese app has sealed a deal for a new majority U.S. joint venture. And U.S. President Donald Trump lauded the deal.

In a post on Truth Social, he thanked his vice president, J.D. Vance, his administration and the Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying this, quote, "I would also like to thank President Xi of China for working with us and ultimately approving the deal. He could have gone the other way, but didn't and is appreciated for his decision," unquote.

This comes after years of uncertainty. It comes after Trump tried to ban the app back in 2020 over national security concerns. And after a law was passed and signed by then President Joe Biden in 2024 that required the U.S. version of TikTok to be spun off from ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company, or face a U.S. ban.

Now, in a statement that was released on Thursday, the new group said this in regards to national security. It said, quote, "The majority American-owned joint venture will operate under defined safeguards that protect national security through comprehensive data protections, algorithm security, content moderation and software assurances for U.S. users."

Now the joint venture plans to retrain TikTok's algorithm on U.S. user data. Now the U.S. tech giant Oracle will oversee storage of Americans' data. So the user experience on the app is not likely to change for Americans but the algorithm which controls what videos are served, that could shift.

Now TikTok is one of China's biggest high tech success stories. It has over 1.5 billion users worldwide. In the U.S., it's used by more than 200 million people. And the core of its success is its A.I.-powered algorithm that keeps users hooked to their smartphones. It's also why TikTok was threatened with a ban in the first place. U.S. lawmakers have been concerned that China could use TikTok to spy or conduct influence operations on Americans.

[05:l5:00]

Now TikTok in the U.S. will still have links to China. Beijing-based ByteDance will still manage the TikTok shop, as well as advertising and marketing.

Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLOMON: Still ahead, President Trump is promising details on his Greenland deal in two weeks. What else? He told reporters about the framework agreement on his flight home from Switzerland.

Plus, it may be hard to imagine now, but first son in law Jared Kushner is promising, 180 beachfront skyscrapers in Gaza. Details on the board of peace straight ahead.

And later, we'll head to Berlin to speak with "The New York Times'" Steven Erlanger about President Trump's quest for a new world order.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:20:07]

SOLOMON: Welcome back.

President Trump is back in Washington after telling reporters on Air Force One that the framework deal on Greenland will let the U.S. do whatever it wants. And there are no details yet. But the president says that more information will be coming in two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a lot of great things in the deal. And don't forget, they're also good for Europe because, you know, when were good, they're good. And if we're not good, that's not very good for them because we hold it all together. We're holding it all together. We're all going to work together. And actually, NATO is going to be involved with us. We're going to be doing in conjunction parts of it in conjunction with data, which is really the way it should be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that there's no written documents outlining the framework deal with NATO. Greenland's prime minister says that its sovereignty is a red line in any agreement with the U.S., residents of the territory's capital are welcoming news of a deal, but with a sense of caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, but you never know what he says next week. That's the problem with him. I think we -- I don't know if we can trust him. You know, Greenland is open for American can use the space.

REPORTER: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So why not use it? I don't know why he wants to own it. Maybe because of the minerals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Leaders of the European Union have wrapped up an emergency meeting in Brussels. They're presenting a calm and united front against President Trump's efforts to take control of Greenland. E.U. leaders are pledging financial and military support for the territory to counter potential Russian and Chinese influence. And they're also praising President Trump's decision not to impose tariffs on countries that oppose his plans.

Let's bring in now, CNN's Anna Cooban live this hour in London.

Anna, gives a sense of what more came from that E.U. emergency meeting.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, Rahel, we've seen this dramatic cooling of tensions over the course of this week. About a week ago, we had this emergency meeting put in the calendar, and that was when the threat of Trump invading Greenland and putting tariffs on eight European countries. That was very much on the table. But now, we've seen this cooling of tensions on the meeting yesterday had a had a more struck, a tone of relief. Quite frankly, we saw the president of the European council, Antonio Costa, talk about the importance of restarting that implementation of that E.U., U.S. trade deal that took so much time to negotiate last year, and also a commitment to double financial support within the next European budget for Greenland, and really stepping up security in the arctic.

But I think the biggest takeaway from all of this is just the kind of fighting talk that the E.U. really put up this week and in a way that we haven't really seen up until this point. We saw the E.U. making it quite clear that it was considering deploying it, so-called anti- coercion instrument. This real retaliatory trade tool that was never designed to be used against an ally like the United States.

And then on the sidelines of this meeting yesterday, we had the former European Council President Charles Michel, tell CNN that he believes that in the decades of this transatlantic relationship, he believes that as we know it, this relationship is dead. And the kind of flattery, flattery, the kind of conciliatory approach, the appeasement, in his words, that the E.U. has adopted with the U.S., has just got the E.U. absolutely nowhere.

So, yes, a lot of relief in Europe, but a lot of wariness, too, about where this transatlantic relationship will go from here.

SOLOMON: Yeah, I thought it was really interesting in this piece, Anna, the residents of Greenland saying relieved, but we don't know what he will say next week. It just really gives you a sense of how uneasy people are still feeling.

Anna Cooban live for us there in London -- Anna, thank you.

U.S. President Donald Trump is sending a mixed message about Iran following a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protesters. He said on Thursday that Iran wants to talk and he's ready to engage it. But later, he added this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, we have a lot of ships going that direction just in case we have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we'll see what happens. It's a big force. We have a big force going toward Iran. I'd rather not see anything happen, but were watching them very closely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOLOMON: Trump has threatened to strike Iran over its crackdown on protesters as the death toll reaches more than 4,600 people. That's according to a U.S. based activist group. Iran has warned any U.S. strike would trigger what it called a devastating retaliation. Meanwhile, Britain says it is sending fighter jets to Qatar amid the rising regional tension.

Jared Kushner is revealing new details of a lavish plan for postwar Gaza. President Trump's son in law told delegates at Davos about his blueprint for a, quote, coastal tourism zone with room for up to 180 skyscrapers.

[05:25:06]

The plan also includes hotels, schools, parks, medical centers, even cities named New Gaza and New Rafah that, he says, could be completed in two to three years. The announcement comes as President Trump is rescinding his invitation to Canada to join the Board of Peace for the reconstruction of Gaza. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney firing back, saying Canada doesn't live because of the United States.

President Trump signed the charter for the Board of Peace on Thursday, but so far, no major European allies have signed on. Many have cited concerns about the inclusion of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And still ahead for us, the fashion world prepares to say goodbye to an industry legend. Coming up, details on the final tribute planned for Italian fashion designer Valentino.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)