Trump Escalates Push To Acquire Greenland

24:47It should be coming in to help the community. I think we may be long past that at this point, but that's the way it really should work. Minnesota's attorney general, for his part, said that the ICE agents in Minneapolis are, quote, reckless and not trained well. In your view, which current tactics that you've seen there have been effective and which ones are not? Well, I haven't tuned into every video there is. I have certainly gotten adrift of how some of these law enforcement officers are responding to situations. it's always important to have a proportionate law enforcement response to any crisis or situation, any time you're involved with either members of the community or somebody you're trying to apprehend.

25:38In this case, we have seen immediate, almost anger expressed by law enforcement. It may be at this point that they are so angry with what they've seen in Minnesota that they're going to respond that way. But I'm thinking just as an example, when I looked at that video of Ms. Good's killing, I noticed that the two gentlemen, the two officers who had left their vehicle first, were very aggressive in their approach to the car. And that just seems to be the order of the day. It is let's run these people over as opposed to let's go about our business, get it done and make the country truly safer, not more threatening.

26:26And as you said, that social contract between law enforcement and the community is so important, right? We have this new reporting coming in that the FBI shifted its probe from doing a civil rights investigation into that ICE officer to the alleged assault of the officer. Do you think there should be a civil rights investigation into this ICE officer? I'm just curious your thoughts on that. Well, of course, if there's a question of that, and I believe that I can't imagine anybody not admitting that there's a question of whether this woman's civil rights were trampled on. I think that it's important, and it should be important to the officer, to the agent, to the agency, to have a fair and balanced investigation.

27:17Because once all the facts come out, perhaps there will be something that we don't know about publicly, but that would explain more of what we saw in the video. So I believe that law enforcement are these officers are different from you and me. They are armed and they have authorities that the typical citizen does not have. They need to be held accountable and they need to respond to these to these claims that there was overreach here. Could both be true, though, that Renee Good's civil rights were violated here? And of course, she's deceased. But that also that ICE officer had a genuine fear for his life.

27:57And that's why he opened fire. I mean, you know, what do you do if both could be true?

28:06It's possible, Pam. It's it's possible. I will not exclude that entirely. But that's why the investigation is so important is because we need to know everything that happened moment by moment. I know what I see on the video, so does your audience, but we need the whole context and we need a full airing out of the facts. Yes, it's possible. I'm very concerned about what I see in the video, though, when you have a woman who's not armed, who's saying that she's not angry with anyone and who has not threatened anybody to end up dead just moments later. That is a compelling case for a thorough investigation.

28:51Sarah Saldana, former ICE director under President Obama, thank you so much. Sure. Well, six major races will be on the ballot in Iowa this year. So how are voters there feeling about President Trump as tomorrow marks his first full year back in office? John King's All Over the Map series is back with those answers up next.

29:15We are back in our politics lead. Tomorrow will mark one year since President Trump began his second term. A recent CNN poll shows a majority of Americans, 58 percent, consider his first year in office a failure. 42 percent call it a success. But what is it that Trump is doing that's driving those numbers? Let's go all over the map with CNN's John King, who recently traveled to Iowa. The Ebersole cattle farm, rural Kellerton. It's good to see you. Calving season before election season. And then they'll calve in a pasture just like this. These are all of our old mama girls. Shannon Ebersole speaks politely but plainly.

29:55There are signs of Trump's Austin. We definitely have choices. We can say calm down. We can say talk nice. Ebersole was a Nikki Haley supporter, but reluctantly backed Trump in the end. Three out of five is her first-year grade. The economy feels a little better, and illegal immigration is way down. But Trump's big Argentina beef bailout didn't feel so America first, nor does talk about somehow taking Greenland. I don't agree with that in any way, shape, or form. So that's not what you voted for? No. Ebersole's take on Washington? Trump picks too many fights. And people in Congress, she says, worry too much about money and power and too little about family farmers or finding compromise.

30:39You're open to voting for a Democrat. Of course. I think that you have to vote for the person that best meets your goals. The 2026 midterm stakes here in Iowa are enormous. The state is picking a new governor, a new United States senator, and all four of its House seats, of course, are on the midterm ballot. Next up, Des Moines and its fast-growing suburbs. There's that saying, Trump was right about everything, and that's kind of how I'm feeling right now. This breakfast conversation, our sixth visit with Betsy Sarkone, dating back to August 2023. Her shift, beyond dramatic. A DeSantis, then a Haley voter, said she would vote for Joe Biden if Trump won the Republican nomination.

31:22But she changed her mind. I think Biden probably changed me more than Trump. I think watching nothing be done, you know, for four years about an open border, And I think that actually pushed me further to the right to want more law and order, to want stricter borders and to want more control over this country. And with us now is John King, along with CNN's Jeff Zeleny. So how prevalent is the mindset of that first woman we heard from in your piece, that fractured support for Trump, whereby one could go Democrat instead of Republican? Absolutely critical dynamic to track between now, January, and to the November election.

31:59Because if these reluctant Trump voters who either voted for Trump all three times but have character questions, or a lot of people who voted for Trump, then voted for Biden, and then came back to Trump when Biden sort of disappeared for them, what do they do? Anecdotally, in our All Over the Map group, we found a little bit in Iowa. We have some in Pennsylvania. We have some in Colorado, all where they're about congressional districts. Look at our new poll. You see it as well. Trump got 94 % of the Republican vote in the election. His approval rating is 87 % among Republicans right now. He got 46 % of independents in the last election.

32:26His approval rating among independents is only 29%. So there are a lot of people out there who voted for Donald Trump who are not happy at the moment. And for Democrats, that's an opportunity. And you were just in Georgia, Jeff, tackling the same issue. What's the mood there in Trump's second term? And I'm wondering, do people understand when you're talking to them about what the U.S. is doing in Venezuela and this rhetoric around Greenland and all of that? I mean, what are they saying to you? Look, they're more focused on their individual lives. I mean, they are the headlines of the day. But one thing that is really clear that was also clear in John's piece, there is a sense of exhaustion.

33:00There's no doubt. Among the true believers, there's not. They love it. But the sense of exhaustion is palpable. But I talked to a farmer in southern Georgia. We had some time on his farm as well. And he said that I thought things would be better. He voted for Trump three times and he might again. But he said, I thought things would be better. The trade policy has been devastating to so many. But cost and affordability is one thing that comes up again and again. So look, the bottom line here is that people are going to vote their own pocketbooks, and things just simply have not gotten better. And the president said, I'm going to lower your energy costs by 50 % in a year.

33:36It hasn't happened. People are aware of that. But at the end of the day, Democrats have a lot of work to do to try and get some of these voters, of course. And there are limitations to what is going to happen in this midterm election year, as we talk about a lot. I mean, the maps have changed. There's not likely to be some massive wave because that's not how these seats are drawn anymore. But there is a sense of exhaustion, I would say, above most other things. And Chan and Ebersole, who you spoke to, you know, you asked her about Greenland. She said, look, I didn't vote for that. Or you had said that.

34:09And she said, yeah, I didn't vote for that. So I wonder what more you heard from folks there in Iowa about President Trump's fixation on foreign affairs at a time when energy prices are not going down, grocery prices aren't going down, and how that's settling in with folks. So she's a cattle rancher, right? And so Trump has this big bailout for Argentinian beef to help the Argentinian leader who he likes. She's like, wait a minute, that's not America first. Greenland, she's like, no how, no way. Not by military force, not by negotiation. No, that's not so America first. And again, that's the idea.

34:41There were a whole lot of people who voted for Donald Trump in the end in 2024. They didn't like Harris. They didn't know the vice president. They were mad at Biden because he disappeared. They didn't really want to vote for Trump again, but he won the nomination. They said, OK, he's going to close the border. He's going to cut my taxes and the economy is going to get better. Jeff makes a key point. Donald Trump said it would get better like that. And it hasn't. Right. So now they see that they've tried to block out. They remember the first term. They don't follow as much social media. They don't watch the news as much because it was not good for their blood pressure.

35:07Liberals say this and Trump voters say this. The first term was not good for their blood pressure. They tried to check out. But he's everywhere again. He's everywhere again. He's doing a lot of things. They're like, fix the border. They don't like to tone what they see in some of these ice raids, but they want the border closed down. They're actually happy with the immigration numbers, but they worry about the tone there. And they're like, what is Greenland? Venezuela is more of a mixed message. A lot of people say Maduro is a bad guy. They're a little worried about what comes next. All right.

35:33Let's turn to a different red state. That would be Louisiana. And that's where Republican Senator Bill Cassidy's path to reelection just got more difficult because on Saturday, President Trump endorsed Republican Congresswoman Julia Letlow, posting this on social media, quote, should she decide to enter this race? Julia Letlow has my complete and total endorsement. Run, Julia, run. Senator Cassidy responded, posting, quote, if Congresswoman Letlow decides to run, I am confident I will win. this all happened, Jeff, for context, after Senate Majority Leader John Thune encouraged the president to support Bill Cassidy.

36:06And it comes after Senator Cassidy worked very hard to get back in Trump's good graces. Quite the dynamic here. No doubt. But he still committed the original sin in Trump's mind, and that was voting to convict him on the impeachment several years ago. So he's never going to be able to get back in his good graces. But it's not the smartest move to to make angry and make it more difficult the lives of Senate Republicans. I mean, the reality is the margins are slim. And just, for example, via health care bill, the president suddenly is pushing a health care bill again. Senator Cassidy, he leads the committee in which that would go through.

36:43So this will be an interesting primary. If it plays out, it looks like she is getting in. There's a February filing deadline. So it's one of the rare examples of Trump actually getting into a primary. He's been much more judicious about weighing in in primaries than in previous years. But this will be a dogfight, there's no doubt, and an unnecessary waste of or spending of a Republican money that could go elsewhere to like Maine, for example, or other actual key states. How are you seeing it, John? Look, the president is often his own worst enemy. There are a lot of Republicans who wish the president would remember.

37:15He's the leader of the Republican Party, right? He views himself as the leader of the Trump party and the mega movement. And sometimes he mixes up with Republican things in a way to Jeff's point that the leadership thinks that hurts our cause. All right. John King, Jeff Salony. Thank you both. You bet. Well, college football's new champion will be crowned in just a few hours. And CNN's Koi Weyer has a preview. Koi. Oh, my goodness, Pamela. It is picking up. We are here at the national championship game between the Miami Hurricanes and the Indiana Hoosiers. We had Fat Joe here. We had Mark Cuban here.

37:47and the ticket prices are astronomical. We'll talk about it coming up after the break.

37:58In our sports lead tonight, Miami versus Indiana. We are less than two hours away from the kickoff of the college football playoff national championship game. The number 10 ranked Hurricanes taking on the number one undefeated Hoosiers. CNN's Coy Wire is at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Koi you are joined by a very special guest. A very special guest a very bald and beautiful guest Fat Joe Miami Hurricanes super fan this place is starting to light up you're helping us shine brighter tonight what do you make of this environment couldn't sleep last night man up all night so excited about the Canes it took what 25 years to get here thank God we home I mean I ain't gonna lie there's a lot of Indiana fans here when I pulled up I was like yo What's going on?

38:46I mean, they came to show up. But the Canes today, I believe in miracles. I believe they said we wouldn't win last week or the week before we won. Are we going to win today? There were 100-1 underdogs ahead of the selection show, ahead of the playoff selection show. But Coach Mario Cristobal has done an incredible job rallying this team. He is a no-nonsense, no-living-in-the-past mentality. He doesn't say the U is back. He says the U is here. Yeah, the U is here. And it's incredible that this is a home game for your Hurricanes. This is where they play their home games, Pamela, the home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins.

39:24But today we will get a lot of those Hurricanes faithful here. How do you see it all playing out against these Indiana Hoosiers? They're undefeated. I can't wait to see Michael Irvin on the sideline. The super fan of all super fans. I think we're going to win today. Call me Delusionoo, call me whatever you want. But, you know, I'm going for the Canes, and I believe they've got a strong possibility of winning. Malachi, the whole crew, I'm excited about these guys right here. It's going to be great. And they're starting to come out right now. Thank you for helping us get started. Hey, lean back and have some fun tonight, right?

39:59Lean back, and we're going all the way up, baby. All the way up. Pamela, it's about to be on. Head coach Kurt Cignetti for the Indiana Hoosiers has his team ready. He says he loves how the media has sensationalized how closely knit they are, how they're hugging on the practice field. But he says he's tired of all that. He says there's no time for warm milk and cookies in war. It's about to be a war out on that field in just a bit, Pamela. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Pamela Brown in for Jake Tapper. And this hour, 1 ,500 active duty troops are on standby for possible deployment to Minneapolis as protests continue over ICE activity in the city.

40:40The sources tell CNN tonight the Trump administration is considering that a last resort. We are on the ground in Minneapolis in just moments. Plus, today marks one month since the Justice Department's deadline to release all of its files about Jeffrey Epstein. But by the DOJ's own estimate, it has released less than 1 % of them. And a new CNN poll out today shows a majority of Americans think the government is purposefully withholding that information. Also, the fight for 2028 entering a new ugly chapter today after excerpts of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's book were released. What Shapiro is claiming about the, quote, offensive questions asked by Kamala Harris's team as they vetted him to be her potential running mate.

41:22And from dramatic overtime wins to a quarterback season ending injury and a coach getting fired today. It's been a crazy few days in the National Football League, to say the least. NFL veteran Dante Stallworth will join me live in studio to break it all down and give us his predictions for the Super Bowl.

41:43The lead tonight, the tense calm in Minneapolis, even though protests against the Trump administration's heavy-handed immigration crackdown bring new threats and finger-poning from top Trump officials. Attorney General Pambani threatened the anti-ICE protesters who disrupted a Sunday service at a church where one of the pastors reportedly is an ICE agent. In a social media post, Bondi wrote, attacks against law enforcement and the intimidation of Christians are being met with the full force of federal law. She blames state leaders, as did Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a post today, claiming more than 10 ,000 criminal illegal aliens have been arrested in Minnesota since the start of the Trump administration.

42:22Since Julia Vargas-Jones is on the ground in Minneapolis, what's the latest there, Julia? Well, Pamela, despite the cold, people continue to gather here outside the Whipple Federal Building. This is a protest that's become almost a Parma protest with people here day and night. Despite truly, truly cold temperatures and the negatives here, most of these people are saying they want ICE out of Minneapolis. They want federal agents to leave their state. Some of those protests now taking a different shape. As you mentioned, that disruption of service in the middle of a church. Now, that has also faced some backlash, not only from the DOJ, but also from people here in Minneapolis.

43:10I spoke with one of the organizers, one of the people who was there and asked why they decided to do that. Take a listen. And so to think about someone claiming to be a pastor. I watched part of a sermon that he gave on Saturday that was online, you know, to see his demeanor, you know, looking calm, looking like he cared. But then on the flip side, being an overseer for these agents that, again, are brutalizing people in our community. I mean, cutting women out of seatbelts in their cars, dragging them out of cars, breaking their car windows, attacking children on school grounds, spraying them with pepper spray.

43:51I don't understand how you can reconcile the two. And they're talking about David Easterwood. He's an acting field office director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE in St. Paul. Now, Pamela, we did reach out to DHS to confirm that that official and the pastor are indeed the same person. And in a response to CNN, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said DHS will never confirm or deny attempts to dox our law enforcement. officers and pointed to those safety concerns that she has for those federal agents. Pamela. All right, Julia Vargas-Jones of Minneapolis, thanks so much.

44:28And we're getting some new details about the Justice Department's decision not to investigate the ICE officer who shot and killed Renee Goode in Minneapolis nearly two weeks ago. I want to bring in CNN's Evan Perez. You've been working your sources and you're learning that there was a shift in terms of the focus of the FBI investigation. Right. Initially, Pamela, the FBI did have a preliminary investigation, a color of law investigation, which is a civil rights investigation into the conduct of the officer and the shooting of Renee Good. But then shortly thereafter, the decision was made inside the Justice Department that this was going to be an investigation of Renee Good's conduct, the conduct of people around her, including that of her widow.

45:10And that's an interesting turn for the department, because, as you know, from covering the department yourself, You know that typically when you have shootings like this, there's at least an investigation to determine whether there was any possible legal violation by the officer who fired the shot. And certainly in this case, the jurisdiction for the state authorities is even broader. And the decision by the department to not only not investigate the conduct of the officer, but to also block the state from being able to access the evidence, for instance, that That has made a huge dramatic shift from what we traditionally see in these types of incidents.

45:49So we heard just a short while ago from the FBI on Twitter or on X, they posted saying that the decision here to make that switch was not made by the FBI, but they also repeated what we've heard over the last few days from Todd Blanche, from Pam Bondi and others, the department, that they believe there's no facts that would support even investigating the conduct of the ICE officer who fired the shots. But you're understanding from talking to sources in the Bureau, I mean, do they believe it's political? Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean, internally it's viewed as political because agents usually, you know, do these types of investigations.

46:28And then if there are no charges to be brought, that is a decision that is made later. At a minimum, you at least investigate to see whether there are any facts that could support any wrongdoing if that indeed is what happened. All right, Evan Perez, thank you so much. Appreciate it. And Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnett joins us now. We were just talking to, I was just talking to Evan Perez, my colleague, about the shift in the FBI probe, and it makes me wonder what's happening on the state level, because as he mentioned, the FBI has blocked state officials, local officials, from getting access to any evidence.

47:06But can you tell us whether there is an actual local investigation going into this ICE officer involved in the Renee Good shooting? Pamela, thanks for having me and happy Martin Luther King Day. There's no independent investigation happening. Our attorney general, I believe also our county attorney, has started to collect information online for folks, but they're cut out of the actual investigation. What are you hearing from your constituents as well as other council members? You know, it's been very disappointing from the start when the state of Minnesota was cut out of the investigation. We know that when you have an independent, thorough investigation with experts that are accustomed to doing these type of investigations.

48:03And especially from our standpoint, to be involved with the federal government like we have in the past to show transparency and accountability. And this really arose the trust that we've built with our community. A social media post today in that a Homeland Security Secretary, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claims that 10 ,000 criminal illegal aliens, this is her words, have been arrested in Minnesota since the start of the Trump administration, including 3 ,000 in the past six weeks. Noam's Post describes some of those arrested as, quote, vicious murderers, rapists, child pedophiles, and incredibly dangerous individuals.

48:41So, I mean, do you think it's a good thing some of those people are out of your community? You know, what I would say is that if that number is correct, it has not been shared with us. We have been firm with the fact that we have no issue with the federal government going after criminals. We have worked with the federal government in collaboration in the past to take criminals off of the streets in Minneapolis and other places. The real issue here is the tactics that are being used by ICE agents on our residents, which really terrorizes them to the point they don't want to come out of their homes.

49:24Do you have any more details about who else has been swept up in the ICE raids? You know, we know from several arrests that's been reported in the media that U.S. citizens have been arrested, taken into custody. It appears that if you have a lawyer, you'll be released. People have been held upwards of 12 hours with no contact with their families and then released. So I don't have an exact number of those who have been arrested and released, but there have been accounts of that happening since the surge of federal agents in the state of Minnesota. Quickly, do you think residents there should be bringing their papers with them?

50:13I encourage residents here to bring identification with them. It appears that they're being stopped unconstitutionally, that they need to be able to provide some identification to de-escalate the situation, because the tactics that are being used by these ICE agents really escalate into a point that it makes it dangerous for our residents and visitors and also for those law enforcement agents. Let me ask you about something else that has happened. The federal government is upset about protesters disrupting a service at a church where the pastor, apparently one of the pastors at that church is an ICE agent.

50:59But what is your message to protesters? And in your mind, what are the limits? You know, we have really asked people to, you know, exercise that First Amendment rights peacefully. We know that ICE agents have gone into schools and hospitals and places of worship. I really personally feel as though places of worship are sacred. I understand the frustration from our citizens, but we continue to ask them just to peacefully protest in public places. And of course, this would be a private property. All right, Minneapolis Community Safety Commissioner Todd Barnett, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for having me.

51:47Well, today marks one month since the Justice Department's deadline to release all of the Epstein files. So why hasn't it happened yet? Plus, a new escalation from President Trump and his quest to take over Greenland. What we're learning about the text message the president sent to the leader of Norway and how European officials are responding tonight.

52:11And we are back with our law and justice lead. It was exactly one month ago today that the Justice Department was required by law to release all the files it has relating to dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Remember that? But by its own admission, revealing that only about 1 % of all Epstein files have been released, the DOJ is breaking the law. Let's bring in CNN's Kara Skinnell. So we know in recent days, Kara, the DOJ has increased the number of lawyers working on this. How's the review going? What's going on here? What's taking so long? Yeah, so the Department of Justice just updated the judge in this case in recent days.

52:46And they said they added 80 attorneys who are reviewing these documents, maybe 2 million or so documents. That comes that brings this total to about 500 lawyers and others who are working on it. Those include prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and other lawyers, some from the Southern District of Florida, the criminal division, the National Security Division, and also FBI analysts who are familiar with reviewing these types of sensitive records. Now, DOJ says that they are currently looking at a batch of documents that are some of the most sensitive in this case. They are some of the statements provided by the victims.

53:20And so they're saying to the judge that that requires additional care. That is about tens of thousands of documents that that includes. They also said that the leadership is conducting calls, sometimes more than once a day, where they are discussing some of these issues. And what they say is causing some of this delay is that there's a duplication of records from different batches that have been collected over the many years that Epstein has been under investigation, as well as his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. And they also are saying that part of this has to do with honoring the victims, the survivors, because more of them are coming forward saying that they want certain records redacted, and that is causing DOJ to be extra careful to make sure that they don't step afoul of that and release victims' names, although, of course, there is skepticism around all of that.

54:09And, as you say, it is 30 days after the law was passed that they were supposed to meet that deadline. And it still remains an open-up question of when they will. AMNA NAWAZ - I mean, will DOJ face any consequence here? Is there a way to enforce the law? AMNA NAWAZ - So, two lawmakers, Ro Khanna, a Democrat, and Thomas Massey, Republican, have written to the judge saying that they want permission to file a brief to ask the judge to impose a special master and an independent overseer to monitor DOJ and see that it is complying. The judge asked the Department of Justice whether they thought these lawmakers had an ability to step into this case, because this actual litigation involves a DOJ investigation.

54:47And DOJ responded, saying this court asked whether Representatives Connett and Massey have Article 3 standing and whether the court has the authority to rule upon or take action to bring about DOJ's compliance with the act. The answer to both questions respectfully is no. Just today, there was a survivor who filed a sworn affidavit saying that she hopes the judge will impose a special master to oversee this, to give the victims some confidence that this review is being done appropriately. The judge has given the lawmakers until tomorrow afternoon to respond, and then we'll see what the judge says.

55:21Pamela? All right, Karis Ganel, thanks so much. Well, many families struggle with the high cost of child care. We're going to tell you about a small business owner who is hoping her daycare centers become a haven for working parents.

55:38And our national lead, child care providers across the country are facing intense pressure and scrutiny. Earlier this month, the Trump administration froze$10 billion in child care and social assistance funding in five Democrat-led states, including Minnesota, New York, California, Colorado, and Illinois. A New York judge issued a temporary restraining order against the Trump administration saying that child care and assistance funding for now could continue. According to the targeted states, the administration has not provided any actual evidence of fraud. I want to bring in Britt Riley, a mother of two, who is the founder of Haven.

56:14It is a first-of-its-kind model that combines child care, a remote office space for parents, and a fitness center. There are three havens in Rhode Island and New Jersey with plans to expand in the Chicago area and hopefully where I am here in Washington, D.C., because I could use it. Britt, thanks for coming on. You've described the U.S. child care system as broken. Tell us more about why you decided to start this. Thank you so much for having me. I so when I had my own kids, I have two. I started looking into child care options and I realized that child care over the past 30, 40 years really hadn't evolved with the needs of the workforce.

56:56And so I definitely lost some sleep over the idea that while the cost of child care is very much so centered around the wages which we pay our teams, which they're so well-deserving of, the least that I could do is hopefully put together a model which adds to the quality of life of families during their first five years. So that's how I came up with the idea for Haven, which it's fully licensed child care as well as workspace and fitness for all the parents. And it's been absolutely fantastic to see it grow over the past seven years. Yeah, tell us more about the demand for it and what you're seeing.

57:39So what we're seeing is that people absolutely are looking for something which fits their lifestyle. They really want to see their kids in high-quality care. and so many more people these days are empowered by remote and flexible work. And so what we're able to offer is that haven where they can drop their kids off. They know that they're okay, that they're good, and then they head upstairs and they can work, they can work out. You oftentimes see a bunch of parents standing in front of a window with a cup of coffee watching their kids play and then they can really be very productive. So this is an answer to, you know, a need that has been, you know, I think building over the past few decades.

58:24And I can't tell you how powerful the feeling of giving people tours through a Haven Club is when they realize the amount of stress that's going to get lifted off their shoulders. Yeah, because there is so much anxiety, right, among families, like military families maybe, that may worry about federal funding, given all the debates over funding, right, and who's going to watch their child while they work. I mean, I've even had the situation where I was working late and the babysitter never showed up and my husband was gone and I was scrambling. I mean, I think we all have our stories as moms who are working, right?

58:56Right. Exactly. And the way that I've always looked at it is child care is it's it's not a, you know, a social problem. It really is economic infrastructure. And these days, the way that you look at child care is if if there were an issue with the electric grid, for example, or funding, then you wouldn't turn it off. You wouldn't turn the whole grid off. And so when I look at child care and the support for child care, what I hope that that, you know, our country is starting to see and I'm seeing it with lots of CEOs and business leaders is their employees actually work better if they know that their kids are cared for.

59:40And so for us, what we try and do is just provide that environment, which helps them. And so it really is economic infrastructure. And the more that it's bolstered, the more it's going to perform and the better families are going to thrive. I just think about those child care workers. It's a tough job. And, you know, they just paid so little overall. Right. When you look at daycare centers across the country, it's just it's so unfortunate. given the need. Exactly. And so that's why it's really imperative that public-private partnerships start to kind of help to bolster the industry because the high cost of childcare really only boils down to childcare providers want to pay their teams as much as they can because the people who take care of our kids are people who were born with this kind of innate calling to take care of other people's babies.

1:00:39And I think that that's as valued to me as a brain surgeon or a frontline worker. I mean, they are doing such critical work during the first five years when 80 % of brain development is taking place. And so the least we can do is put them on that pedestal that they deserve to be on. And I think it's going to be a group effort to be able to start to compensate them in a way which, you know, they really deserve. I could not agree with you more. Britt Riley, thank you so much. And thanks for all of your efforts to help out. That's my pleasure. Thanks for having me. Of course. Well, the extraordinary new message from President Trump to a key NATO ally in his quest to take over Greenland and how it's linked to his fixation with the Nobel Peace Prize.

1:01:24That's next.

1:01:31Topping our world lead in a stunning text message to Norway's Prime Minister, President Trump linked his renewed push for the U.S. to take over Greenland to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize, saying that he blames Norway for the loss and adding he no longer feels obligated to, quote, think purely of peace because of that snub. That message coming in response to a request from Norway to speak about tariffs, Trump says that he will impose on several NATO allies to pressure Denmark into selling Greenland to the U.S. Norway's Prime Minister released this statement responding to President Trump, quote, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump, what is well known.

1:02:07The prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian government. All right, let's discuss this with the former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, retired Air Force General Philip Breedlove, along with the director of the Counterterrorism Program at the Atlantic Council, CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitzes. All right, so I want to go to you first, General Braidlove. There has never before been an attack by one NATO member against another since this alliance was formed in 1949. But given President Trump's repeated refusal here to rule out the use of military force, do you see that as a realistic possibility?

1:02:47Well, thanks for having me on. I don't. I think that this is all negotiations the way that this president talks about in his book in Chapter 6. And I'm very hopeful that this will work out because every security need we need to accomplish can be done through cooperation with NATO, with Denmark, and with Greenland. So where does this go from here, Alex? Because the president and other Trump administration officials are not backing down, even if this is a negotiating tactic. Where do you go from here? You know, it is really clear because we have a treaty with Denmark dating back to 1951 that pretty much allows us to do whatever is necessary for defense, including basing, etc., in Greenland.

1:03:33So what more does the administration want? That part isn't completely clear. The president has made statements that, you know, he feels that he needs to, quote, own the territory, that it needs to be part of the U.S. in some fashion. But what exactly he wants to do beyond what we're already allowed to do by treaty obligation is not clear. I agree with the general's assessment based on the use of military force and this being a negotiating tactic. But it's not being particularly well received in Greenland. The feedback I'm getting from folks on the ground who were there this week is that they actually would rather be independent.

1:04:02They don't want to kind of be caught in between the U.S. and EU members. So we'll see where this goes. But the administration hasn't made that ask clear yet. And General Breedlove, if the U.S., say, were able to secure Greenland, somehow acquire it, but if it came at the cost of losing our NATO allies in the region, would the U.S. actually better off in our ability to secure the Arctic? NATO is the most successful alliance in the history of the world. And I would offer to you that NATO is more important in the next 75 years than it has been in the last 75 years. So we need to get through this with the alliance intact and get the protections that we need through cooperation.

1:04:50Alex, how do you think Vladimir Putin is looking at all of this? Well, I think it plays right into the Kremlin talking points on Ukraine. So for him, he finds this to be helpful. You know, the president, particularly in the letter that you were mentioning earlier on in the opening part of the segment, you know, speaks to the fact, well, some boats landed there and that's the claim. There's no legal paperwork. We had boats landing, too. And it kind of comes across as a message, you know, history lessons on Russia dating back to several hundred years that's concocted for the most part. So it definitely helps play into Kremlin propaganda.

1:05:26So it is not helpful in that regard. And so you understand, General Breedlove, why European allies are so concerned about this, right? Because what would stop Russia from just going beyond Ukraine if the U.S. does this? Well, and this is one of the things that's hard to understand about why we find ourselves where we are. If Russia was to make a big move in Greenland, then Article 5 would be invoked and NATO would, including the United States, take care of that issue. So I just, I'll now say it for the third time. I think that the path ahead, the path to success is through cooperation. What is, Alex, the current Russian and Chinese threat to Greenland?

1:06:13Because that's been part of Trump's justification here that the U.S. needs to own Greenland in order to protect it from these Russian and Chinese threats? Sure. There's been a couple of national security concerns that have sort of been leaked coming out of the administration that has at least been the central focus of some of the discussions. So as we know with warming, there's obviously transit that's now opening with the ice melting in the area. The U.S. has taken that quite seriously. We have now purchased or commissioned additional icebreakers to free up navigation in that area. You know, you also have access to the Arctic Circle from there.

1:06:46And the nation states that are on the border can then claim, you know, underwater minerals and things there. We've obviously heard about rare earth elements. And then there's been comments made as well regarding, you know, intercontinental ballistic missile launches, if you're ever to go to war, would come over the territory. So perhaps that speaks to missile defense, given the president's commitment to his Golden Dome, you know, with missile defense system. So not completely clear, but those are the ones that have been at least leaked out in terms of what's being discussed at the White House.

1:07:12How much do you think, General Breedlove, this is really about the threat from these countries or about President Trump's own sort of imperialist ambitions here to control the Western Hemisphere, which was laid out in that national security document from the administration in the fall? so my colleague hit some really important points for china this is all almost completely about commercial interest the shorter trade route on what is called the northern passage along the top of russia is what it's all about the for russia this is a little more militaristic we haven't talked about the gi uk gap guic gap as we call it which is the body of water between Greenland, Iceland, and UK, where all of the Russian boomers and most sophisticated submarines go in and out of their northern bastion waters into the Atlantic.

1:08:07That is a military concern. Everything that we want to do for missile defense can be done under existing treaties now, so I'm not sure why that is a big point of discussion. We can go to Greenland and do the things we need now under existing agreements to take care of our missile defense concerns. All right, General Philip Breedlove, Alex Plitzes, thank you. Republicans are publicly divided on President Trump's Greenland strategy, with one going as far as saying he would lean toward impeachment if Trump invaded the territory. Our panel weighs in next.

1:08:49and our politics lead as tensions over president trump's ambition to annex greenland continue to escalate here's what speaker mike johnson said to the bbc about how the united states could acquire the arctic island i don't foresee military intervention in greenland it's a small population of people and i i i think diplomatic channels is the way to go and i think the president's appointment of an envoy, you know, recognizes that. So should we not pay attention to the president's threat to use military action? No, we should pay attention to his words. All right, here to discuss this and more is our wonderful panel.

1:09:26All right, so let's jump into it here. This, of course, was a major topic on the Sunday shows. Everyone was asked about it because obviously it's a big deal when the president of the United States says he's going to acquire Greenland and not taking military off the table. Here's some of what we heard from top Republicans. I believe it is overwhelmingly in America's national interest to acquire Greenland. I would just rather see the president use his persuasive powers and U.S. investment in Greenland to lay a foundation for ultimately achieving that goal. I'm hoping that we don't get to a military invasion.

1:10:08I kind of actually don't think we're going to because quietly there is not a Republican that's come up to me and said, oh, yes, I'll back him to the hilt. And, Rena, we've heard from other Republicans like Congressman Don Bacon, who, by the way, is retiring, we should note, who said he would lean toward impeaching Trump if he invades Greenland. How far are Republicans willing to go on this? I think time can only tell on that bit. In this matter, we have heard President Trump joke about Greenland before. It used to be a quirky kind of fixation of his. It's not anymore. It's a reckless power play that has got our allies scared.

1:10:47And it is fracturing some of these really good relationships that I think he could even take some degree of credit for last year. And moreover, I would say it's embarrassing, but not to Donald Trump, because in Donald Trump's schoolyard, the bully always wins. And it's smart Republicans like Tom Tillis and Don Bacon who are warning that this will absolutely torch NATO. And this will also hand a win to Russia when we don't need that. So it's these guys who are saying, let's go further. And they're getting support. Privately, there are whispers that there are so many more Republicans who are aghast that the president continues on when he could, again, take other routes rather than acquisition.

1:11:29It's interesting, though, as the president is focused on these overseas matters, Greenland, Venezuela, imposing tariffs on European allies. There's new polling out from The Wall Street Journal. And it asks who in Congress is best able to handle issues such as the economy. And actually 38 % say Republicans, over 32 % who said Democrats. On inflation and rising prices, the same. 32 % say Democrats, 38 % Republicans. On immigration, 33 % say Democrats in Congress. And 44 % say Republicans in Congress. So Democrats score better than Republicans on health care. But on the other issues, you see Republicans in Congress leading the charge.

1:12:11What do those results tell you? Well, I think there's been a whole slew of polls that have come out in recent days, and they're all trending towards Democrats. So intensity is up on the Democratic side. The generic is up on the Democratic side, significant at levels that were comparable to the last time Democrats took over. Health care has been, as you mentioned, is a solidly Democratic issue. But I think on all of these other pieces, we're seeing more and more. Actually, there was a CNN poll just on Friday that talked about how Trump's economic policies are doing more harm, and more than a majority of Americans believe that.

1:12:49So I think there are some good trend lines for Democrats, and it's a far cry from where Democrats were a year ago. So you see momentum building into the midterms, and I think the most significant part of the polling, recent polling has been more on how intensely Democrats and independents really do want some sort of checks and balances. How do you look at these poll numbers? We know the name of the game is independence, right? And here we are with less than 10 months to go to the midterms. But I think in this sort of time that we'll start to see some people in the parties, both sides, feeling really crunched and saying, we've got to save the moderates, right, on the R side, for example, I think it's really important to understand that this president has an outsized impact like we've never seen in the modern American presidency on the party because the parties tends to fall in line.

1:13:40But on this Greenland issue, which has dominated the headlines, I bring it back up because he's looking outward every time things inward are going poorly. This is how Donald Trump does his business in 2.0 as well. We saw a little bit of it in 1.0, But what I'm saying mainly is that this Greenland grab, it's not a strategy. It is a temper tantrum. And it's a temper tantrum that has got so many Republicans, again, his fellow party members saying not on our watch. And so, you know, what they should be saying to him is we're better than bullying our friends for a frozen trophy. But what I'm also trying to explain to folks is that every time you see Donald Trump try to be a strong man abroad, trying to bully our allies abroad, It is because things at home are hurting, things at home are not changing.

1:14:26When we talk about the price of daily commodities, they haven't come down all that much. We know inflation is cool. But again, daily necessities have not come to a point where we feel it as everyday Americans. Well, I mean, but I mean, OK, focusing on overseas matters. How is that really a distraction when the everyday American is experiencing this? Right. I mean, you can't distract from what you're actually experiencing. I have a very simple answer. It's all about the campaign promises. It's a campaign promise to make other countries pay their fair share, bully Europe, even though they've been our allies.

1:14:56There's a great interdependency there. I just spent last month with the top brass at the EU. They have such admiration for us. They talk about our alliance being so very important, whether it's about trade, whether it's about defense. And I could obviously spend a lot of time talking about numbers. But the reality is, as Donald Trump says, all that's out the window because guess what? Those folks have been leaning on us for too much, for too long. And so with that strongman narrative, he believes he brings some people back into the fold, the independents, who sort of believe, well, hey, maybe him shaking things up will continue in a good way.

1:15:27It's all about the hope, the prayer, the unicorn and rainbow. Well, it feels also like it's a little bit about the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, I think we woke up to those. We know that that's been a factor in foreign policy. So there's that. And I think going back to your point on the preoccupation with world events and in terms of some of these manufactured issues. I mean, Venezuela was one piece where that was very much there was a shared bipartisan support for getting rid of Maduro. But you look at Greenland, this is, I mean, we woke up on Saturday morning to talk about tariffs on our allies and the litmus test for these 10 percent tariffs that will hurt American consumers, no doubt.

1:16:07add to the slew of tariffs that are already intact, was that they were opposing him, Donald Trump's, and the United States of America's acquisition of Greenland. I take your point, but I must say I'm really impressed by the Republicans, the White House rather, their ability to keep messaging well on this and saying that this is about national security and about keeping the Arctic for us for the future. All right, Reena, Arshi, thank you both. Appreciate it. It has been a crazy few days for NFL fans from overtime joy to season-ending heartbreak. NFL vet Dante Stallworth is here to break it all down up next.

1:16:52In our sports lead, after a weekend of wins, losses, and heartbreak in the NFL, now just four teams remain in the run-up to Super Bowl 60. Up next, the NFL Conference Championships. The New England Patriots will take on the Denver Broncos, and the Los Angeles Rams will face against the Seattle Seahawks. Former NFL wide receiver Dante Saulworth joins us now. All right, so before we get into the remaining teams, let's talk about some of the games from over the weekend. What a weekend it was. You had the controversial interception call against the Bills and their overtime loss to the Denver Broncos.

1:17:28Bills quarterback Josh Allen very emotional after the game, telling reporters he felt like he let his teammates down. What do you think? Do you think it was an interception? And what did you make of Allen's response to such a tough loss? Yeah, I'm a little biased. I'm a wide receiver, so I'm definitely going to say it was a catch. I know a lot of friends around the league, whether they played or not, guys that are currently playing, former players, they all think that that was a catch. And the NFL rules have changed over the past few years, and it's been a little inconsistent. So we kind of really don't know what a catch is.

1:17:59And you listen to some of the referees that are explaining this, And it's really difficult to really grasp between what happened here and what happened in other games. People are comparing and contrasting and putting in juxtaposition these two different situations that look the same, but one was called a catch and the other was called an incomplete pass. So it's really hard to tell. But Josh Allen, on the other hand, he's the reason why they even got that far. He hasn't had a lot of help on offense besides Cook, his running back. But, you know, that's the kind of player he is. He puts the onus on himself.

1:18:30I've been in that position before where you know you feel like you let your teammates down it's not a good feeling but all those guys they rally around Josh he's he is the reason why they even got to that point in the first place and then today the Bills announced they're firing the head coach Sean McDermott it's so hard to be a coach right I mean my goodness yeah especially yeah especially today Pamela they the NFL has has has become this kind of rats race to get this new the new Sean McVay the new young talented head coach Ben Johnson actually the guy that's coaching or that's coaching the Chicago Bears this is his first year and they've done they've done a really good job I mean they got all the way to the divisional round when when people thought that they take them a couple of years to do that so coaches are getting fired faster and faster and I think really the the the Ravens John Harbaugh uh the Ravens firing John Harbaugh really kind of set the path for other coaches who have had long tenured at their teams to be fired too yeah so what do you think was it the right call it's difficult it's you know, there are a lot of coaches that are out there and sometimes, you know, Sean's been there for a really long time.

1:19:33I was with Sean in Philadelphia, but I think, you know, sometimes you do need a new face, but he'd been there for a while and had a lot of success. But, you know, I love the Bills. I wish them luck and I hope they do well. All right. So now it's the conference championships. You have New England Patriots versus Denver Broncos. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is out for the season with a broken ankle. His replacement played just one game this year. And then there's the Los Angeles Rams versus the Seattle Seahawks. Which two teams do you think will make it to the Super Bowl and why? The obvious question.

1:20:04Yeah, it's difficult to say the Broncos, they're playing a guy who hasn't thrown a pass in two years. And really almost three years. He played a couple of games in 2023. But it's hard to say that the New England Patriots won't go in there with that defense and that offense and go in there and control the game. I think the Patriots will come out of the AFC. And in the NFC, it's going to be a tough matchup. These two teams are in the same division, the NFC West. They've battled all year to get to this point. I like the Rams. I think the Rams are, you know, they have probably the future MVP in Matt Stafford.

1:20:37He's a great quarterback. And when these games come down to it at the end, Pamela, it usually comes down to the players, to the quarterback that makes the least mistakes and the best plays at the end of the game. All right, Dante Solworth, thank you so much. Great to see you. Thank you. And Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:20:56New cycle making your head spin? The Have I Got News For You crew is here to help with a comic take on the week's headlines. New episodes Saturdays at 9 on CNN and next day on the CNN app.