Trump Touts First-Year Accomplishments In Rambling News Briefing

21 Jan 2026 · 1 h 30 min · 27 chapters

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Podcast Summary: The Lead with Jake Tapper - Episode: Trump Touts First-Year Accomplishments In Rambling News Briefing

Episode Overview In this episode of *The Lead*, Jake Tapper discusses President Trump's lengthy White House news briefing marking his first year in office. The president touches on a wide array of topics including international relations, immigration enforcement, and domestic issues, while also revealing some grievances about media coverage and public perception.

Key Topics Discussed

  1. President Trump's News Briefing
  2. Duration: A rambling briefing lasting nearly two hours.
  3. Content:
  4. Complaints about media portrayal and public relations efforts.
  5. Assertions of accomplishments regarding his administration’s efforts in immigration enforcement.
  6. Remarks on crime in Minnesota and allegations of election fraud.
  7. Discussion on the controversial idea of acquiring Greenland, including potential tariffs on European nations opposing the U.S. stance.
  1. Responses to Trump's Comments
  2. Criticism of Polling: Tapper highlights Trump's low approval ratings and compares his viewpoint to past losses in Minnesota.
  3. International Relations: Concerns about NATO's reaction to Trump's Greenland ambitions. Discussion on his claims regarding NATO's commitment to U.S. defense.
  4. Public Perception of ICE Raids: The president's acknowledgment of possible excesses by ICE agents in their enforcement actions.
  1. Political Reactions
  2. Expert commentary from CNN correspondents on Trump's strategies and implications for future relations with NATO allies.
  3. Analysis of Wall Street's reaction during Trump's briefing, indicating concern about his focus on foreign policy while markets were declining.
  1. Democratic Response
  2. Insights from Democratic leaders about how to counter Trump’s narratives, focusing on affordability and public safety.
  3. The emphasis on how Trump's discussions may alienate moderate voters who prioritize economic stability over controversial foreign policy.
  1. Minnesota’s Political Climate
  2. Reports on the political fallout from the Justice Department's subpoenas of Minnesota officials, with local leaders calling it an intimidation tactic.
  3. Discussion on the impact of ICE operations on local communities, emphasizing that public safety is being compromised.

Key Takeaways

  • Trump's Focus on Greenland: His fixation on acquiring Greenland is portrayed as largely disconnected from pressing domestic issues faced by Americans.
  • Public Image Management: The president's complaints about his public relations efforts indicate a broader struggle within his administration to connect with voter concerns effectively.
  • Democratic Strategies: The importance of framing economic issues and public safety as primary focuses for upcoming elections, while also addressing Trump’s challenges to democratic norms.
  • Community Response: In Minnesota, local leaders and citizens express concern over federal actions perceived as aggressive and politically motivated, highlighting a growing divide between federal and local governance.

Conclusion The episode encapsulates a tumultuous moment in U.S. politics, with Trump navigating his first year in office amidst controversies and challenges both at home and abroad. The responses from political commentators and local leaders reflect a landscape of anxiety over governance, public safety, and the efficacy of political messaging as the country approaches future elections.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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Trump's Rambling News Briefing

1:10 to 7:48

An analysis of President Trump's extensive news briefing and its implications.

“President Trump today marking one full year in office with a marathon, rambling, at times incoherent, possibly unsettling White House news briefing, clocking in about 15 minutes shy of two hours.”

Market Reaction and Political Analysis

7:48 to 13:07

Discussion on the market's response to Trump's statements and the implications of his messaging.

“Let's bring in two of our wise men, CNN's David Chalian and Phil Mattingly.”

Analyzing Trump's News Conference

14:04 to 15:43

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley shares insights on Trump's press conference.

“Let's discuss all this with presidential historian Douglas Brinkley.”

Unpacking Trump's Remarks on Predecessors

15:43 to 16:56

Discussion on Trump's frequent references to President Biden and its implications.

“Do presidents typically talk this much about their predecessor after a full year in office?”

National Archives Celebrates 250 Years

16:57 to 18:47

Exploring the National Archives' initiative to celebrate America's 250th anniversary.

“But once Reagan got shot and recovered from all of that drama.”

DOJ Investigates Minnesota Officials

19:44 to 22:29

Breaking news on the DOJ's investigation into Minnesota's political landscape.

“Justice Department have been served against several officials in Minnesota.”

ICE Operations in Minnesota

22:30 to 24:11

Discussion on ICE's actions in Minnesota and their implications.

“Today we learned about the subpoenas being served to top officials in Minnesota.”

Trump's Greenland Ambitions

25:15 to 28:00

Discussion on Trump's pursuit of Greenland and international reactions.

“We're back with the world-lead President Trump's insistence on grabbing Greenland.”

European Response to Trump's Policies

28:00 to 28:57

Learn about the reactions from European leaders regarding Trump's foreign policy.

“It's as well a shift towards a world without rules.”

Analyzing Trump's First Year in Office

30:01 to 34:26

Discussion on the achievements and failures of Trump's first year.

“One big lesson since the president's return.”
Show all 27 chapters

Critical Moments and Public Reception

34:26 to 36:20

Experts discuss Trump's controversial actions and public perception issues.

“But I'll say something positive that he's done in the last year.”

Justice Department and Epstein Files

37:23 to 42:00

Congressman Ro Khanna discusses the Justice Department's handling of Epstein files.

“Additional restrictions may apply at some locations.”

Critique of Trump's Foreign Policy

42:00 to 42:40

Discussion on President Trump's approach to international relations and its implications.

“The America I believe in engaged in wars of liberation, not wars of conquest.”

Trump's Greenland Controversy

43:30 to 46:00

Analysis of Trump's statements about acquiring Greenland and its impact on global politics.

“And students are set to return to class tomorrow at Brown University after that horrific, deadly shooting tragically cut their last semester short.”

Caitlin Collins Reports from Davos

46:00 to 47:40

Caitlin Collins discusses Trump’s controversies and their impact on world leaders at Davos.

“This is what the president said today about that.”

Congressman John Rose's Insights

47:40 to 53:10

Congressman John Rose shares insights on Trump's Greenland strategy and NATO relations.

“We're looking forward to your coverage from Davos.”

The Tariff Debate and Legislative Action

53:10 to 56:00

Discussion on the implications of Trump's tariffs and the legislative response from Congress.

“So how are leaders in Denmark reacting to President Trump's escalating threats regarding Greenland?”

Congressional Oversight and Greenland

56:00 to 59:20

Discussion on the importance of oversight and the U.S. presence in Greenland amidst geopolitical threats.

“And as you know, there is a threat of the Russians and the Chinese in that part of the world.”

Winter Storm Forecast

59:20 to 1:01:20

Detailed forecast of an impending winter storm affecting the eastern United States with safety advice.

“A major winter storm shaping up and taking aim at the eastern half of these United States.”

Justice Department Subpoenas in Minnesota

1:01:20 to 1:07:40

Examination of the Justice Department's investigation and its implications for local leaders in Minnesota.

“So we're looking at a big and serious potential for winter impacts and long lasting power outages and difficult, if not impossible travel.”

Democrats' Strategy for Midterms

1:07:40 to 1:10:02

Insights from the DNC chair on strategies to regain control in Congress after Trump's first year.

“There is nothing safe from what is happening here in the city of Minneapolis.”

Critique of Trump's First Year

1:10:02 to 1:11:55

A discussion on Trump's failures and unfulfilled promises during his presidency.

“in office has been a failure because he hasn't done anything to actually help them.”

Governor Shapiro's Book Discussion

1:11:56 to 1:13:17

Analysis of Governor Shapiro's book and the implications of his vetting process.

“I do want to get your reaction to, we've seen some excerpts of Governor Josh Shapiro's book.”

Democratic Strategy for November

1:13:18 to 1:15:16

Debate on how Democrats should approach the upcoming elections focusing on affordability.

“DNC Chair Ken Martin, thank you so much, sir.”

Trump's Communication Style

1:15:17 to 1:17:16

Discussion on Trump's messaging issues and how it affects his presidency.

“And one of the things he said, you and I are about the same age, so I don't know how many times you've heard this from other presidents, was the problem is not the presidency.”

Inauguration Speech Analysis

1:17:17 to 1:18:49

Examination of Governor Sherrill's inauguration speech and its political messaging.

“And it's why House Republicans in particular are cutting themselves.”

Mental Fitness Questioning

1:18:50 to 1:20:04

Discussion on the appropriateness of questioning Trump's mental fitness in politics.

“and he is also getting rich off of that.”
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Transcript

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0:00Ready to lead at the highest level? Kelly's online Executive Doctor of Business Administration is built for professionals who think strategically and lead with impact. Apply advanced research directly to your organization while earning a respected doctorate from anywhere with a fast-track option for MBA holders. Tap to learn more about elevating your influence, your credibility, and your career with Kelly's program. Learn more at kelly.iu.edu. Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile, with a message for everyone paying big wireless way too much. Please, for the love of everything good in this world, stop.

0:38With Mint, you can get premium wireless for just$15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying, no judgments, but that's weird. Okay, one judgment. Anyway, give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan, equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only. Then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at MintMobile.com. This is CNN Breaking News. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with breaking news on our world lead. President Trump today marking one full year in office with a marathon, rambling, at times incoherent, possibly unsettling White House news briefing, clocking in about 15 minutes shy of two hours.

1:24for any supporters of his looking for reassurance that the Trump doing wild 1 a.m. social media posts is not the same Trump in the White House. Well, they probably were not reassured. The first hour and change was an entire monologue. The president began by complaining about his public relations, a common complaint of politicians who have horrific poll numbers. Then he started showing off mugshots of people he said were undocumented migrants who'd been apprehended as part of his ramped-up ICE efforts. This all comes amid some reports that the president has privately expressed discomfort over the optics of how some of these ICE raids have been carried out.

2:01The president then talked about crime in Minnesota. We brought Minnesota down, way down, even though everything's a fight, you know, because they want to keep those people that are lying on the floor. They want to keep those people in Minnesota, but they really don't. I don't think the real people of Minnesota, very corrupt place, and the elections are totally corrupt. I feel I won it all three times. He feels, he feels he won it all three times. As Ben Shapiro often says, facts don't care about your feelings. President Trump lost Minnesota all three times. Fair and square, every time. Not really surprising.

2:44Minnesota has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1972. And in fact, Minnesota was the only state that Mondale won in the Reagan landslide of 1984. Anyway, the subject eventually turned to one of the president's least popular ideas, his escalating campaign to take over Greenland by hook or by crook. He has said he will impose new tariffs on European allies who oppose this. And today, when pressed on whether a Supreme Court ruling against his tariffs might derail his strategy, the president said, we'll have to use something else. And remember, the president has still not ruled out military action in Greenland.

3:25How far are you willing to go to acquire Greenland? You'll find out. Oh, boy. So Greenland is, of course, part of Denmark. And Denmark is a founding member of NATO. And despite all our NATO's allies' stark resistance to the president seizing Greenland, Trump insisted that NATO would be very happy with his plans for Greenland. The president then seized an opportunity to take yet another swipe at NATO. The big fear I have with NATO is we spend tremendous amounts of money with NATO. And I know we'll come to their rescue, but I just really do question whether or not they'll come to ours. He questions whether they will come to ours.

4:08the only time NATO Article 5 has been invoked. An attack on one is an attack on all. The only time it's ever been invoked was after the U.S. was attacked on 9-11. And all the other NATO countries agreed to fight the American war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. Now, in between some of Trump's other newsworthy lines, there were plenty of, frankly, bizarre rambling moments, including this one where he dug up the past to complain about Joe Biden. Ended Joe Biden's weaponization of our government and removed his handpicked radical left Marxist prosecutors from the Department of Justice like deranged Jack Sixsmith.

4:51He's a sick son of a bitch. They gave me the worst of the worst. And here I am. How did that happen? Here he is indeed. And on the subject of the weaponization of our government, the U.S. Justice Department right now under Trump is investigating the governor and the attorney general of Minnesota and the mayors of Minneapolis and St. Paul. For what? We don't know. But opposing Trump has a way of landing you in the sights of his Justice Department. Let's begin with CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes. Kristen, help us understand the strategy, if there is any, behind President Trump speaking today at the White House.

5:33Well, Jake, I will say there is a strategy. President Trump has always believed that he is his own best messenger. I will remind you of John Barron, who was President Trump's pseudonym when he called and posed as his own publicist. He always has believed that he is the best messenger when it comes to anything that he is doing. And you heard a lot of frustration from him today. He has seen all of the same poll numbers that we have seen. Just a reminder, it's not just public polling. They have their own internal polling. They know that people are unhappy with President Trump's handling of the economy.

6:02In particular, they are also unhappy overall, but especially when it comes to the economy. And President Trump said multiple times in multiple different ways during this press conference that he was essentially not being promoted enough, that his people were not promoting what they were doing enough, that he didn't have good enough PR, that the message wasn't getting across. He even said that he didn't even want to do this press briefing, but because there was this lack of promotion, that he felt like he had to get out there. And that's why you saw him out here really kind of ticking through this list of accomplishments.

6:34And I will tell you, Jake, from being in the room, it did not seem as though these were prepared remarks in any way. The White House had handed out a huge stack of paper beforehand that said 365 accomplishments in 365 days. And President Trump seemed to be kind of thumbing through it in real time, stopping reading various things from there and then elaborating on them, as you noted, often going off script, talking about elections in Minnesota or fraud or a litany of other things. At one point, he actually said that you could walk with your lover now in Washington, D.C., and you would be safe. And this was just, that was just some of what he talked about.

7:13But it all goes down to one thing. President Trump feels as though his team and the country and the media are not giving him enough credit. And it goes to several other things that he talked about. He specifically mentioned that he felt snubbed by the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. He blamed the Norwegian government, which, of course, we will note the Nobel Peace Prize Committee is a separate and independent entity. But it was just an airing of grievances for an hour and 45 minutes as he wrapped up his first year. All right, Kristen Holmes at the White House, thanks so much. Let's bring in two of our wise men, CNN's David Chalian and Phil Mattingly.

7:52Phil, Wall Street was a notable backdrop today. The markets were low all day, and then they continued to dive, dive, dive when the president spoke about Greenland. Do you think they notice? Do you think they care? So it's not necessarily great when you're a White House and the principal is standing up holding a lengthy press conference in every kind of corner of every single news screen is the markets and they're down over 800 points and they're not going up in any way, shape or form. In fact, only dipping further down as your principal is talking. And I think perhaps on some level, it's a great example of when the president talks about how their problem with the economy and the fact the American people aren't feeling what they've been able to accomplish in the economy is their message.

8:40Maybe he's the messenger that might be a problem here, which is something to consider. The other thing that I think is actually really interesting is the market reaction on this versus what happened when the news of the subpoenas of the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, came out, where there was very limited market reaction, some initially in the beginning. And I actually texted a Wall Street executive at the time. I said, why is the market not reacting more to this? This seems like a pretty significant matter. And he texted me back, one year in, markets have a better idea of what's real and what's...

9:08Let me read that. Oh, what's theater? What's theater? That executive is in Davos. I texted him back today. And I said, what's the difference today? And he said, the markets no longer have a better sense of what's real and what's theater. Trump is going to Davos tomorrow. I said, what do you expect? He just said, buckle up. This is a different moment right now. So they thought, oh, it's just theater. And now they're just like, I don't know what this is. Yes, we're back to kind of April Liberation Day. What on earth is happening right now? We can't read which way this is going. David, unlike young Philip, you and I are old enough to know and have seen and covered president after president after president who thinks the problem is just their PR.

9:45President Trump falling into that long list. Take a listen. I blame ourselves. I think we've done a much better job than we're able to promote. We're not promoting. We're doing a great job and we're sort of letting the promotion take care of itself. I mean, I think one of the issues is that he is his own worst enemy because in addition to whatever he's doing for the economy. He's talking about Greenland. He's talking about election lies. I mean, what do you think? Which is why I think in our most recent poll last week showed that nearly two thirds of the American people believe he's focused on the wrong priorities.

10:23So he's out of when he's out promoting. And to your point, Jake, he's not always promoting the things that the country, the American people are most focused on. I totally concede and agree with your point. Every politician and president we have covered has had this moment. Everyone. Not always in the press briefing room, standing next to their press secretary, complaining about their PR, but nonetheless, that was his main message today. I also thought, Jake, it was pretty intriguing. You noted at the top he was sort of holding up the criminals, illegal migrants, the mugshots from Minnesota. That, to me, was his biggest tell to date that he understands he has a perception problem on this ICE enforcement piece in Minnesota.

11:05Perception and or reality. But that he has a problem that he was trying to address. So, Phil, on NATO, on the subject of NATO, the president's really seemed to contradict himself. At one point, he said NATO will be, quote, very happy about the Greenland deal, which we know that's not true. At the same time, he questioned whether NATO allies would ever come to our defense, which is crazy because of the only time it's ever been invoked. Article five is in our defense. And even earlier, he reposted on Truth Social this crazy post referring to NATO as the enemy within. So, I mean, how's he going to be received in Davos when he comes in face to face with all these NATO leaders?

11:44You asked if White House officials of the president were aware kind of of the market dynamics going to that press conference. You could tell the president was aware of what his reception will be like in Davos when it went into that press conference. I think he mentioned that he was going over there and kind of joked about the fact he's probably not going to be super well received. What's been striking in talking to European diplomats over the course of the last 36 hours is I mentioned kind of the Wall Street concern right now or the unsettled nature of Wall Street officials, many of which are already in Davos.

12:11European officials are treating this as if it's a crisis moment. And what's about to take place in Davos, the meetings the president is going to have, whoever meets with him, the meetings that they'll be having on the sidelines as well, aside from the president. It is that kind of a moment of we need to figure out. I think Mark Carney in Davos today earlier said this isn't a transition. This is a rupture. And I think that's how it's being viewed, how the White House navigates this going forward. Because, and David, you know better than me, but my sense is they don't feel like this has gone astray or off the rails in any way, shape or form.

12:40When it comes to their views on NATO, when it comes to their views of European leaders and their European counterparts, the president's in large part voicing what you hear behind the scenes from many of his senior officials. And they see European leaders not fully standing up, not knowing what to do. And therefore, that is a signal to Donald Trump, keep pressing forward to seize more power, because I'm not facing actual real resistance yet. All right, David Chalian and Phil Manning. I don't feel better. Thank you for that. I appreciate it. My next guest studies the words of presidents for a living and analyzes the potential impact, not just today, but years from now.

13:15What is he taking away from President Trump's first year and this press conference today? That's next.

13:27But look at this. These are all, each line is something that we did. Nobody did that before. And it's big stuff, too. Look, we have the hottest country in the world. One of those achievements is taking away Hunter Biden's Secret Service protection. And that's true. No one's done that before. We're back in the politics lead. President Trump touting what he sees as his 365 biggest accomplishments of his first year in his second term on the one year anniversary of his inauguration with a at times rambling White House news conference filled with myriad of lies and attacks. Conservative radio host Eric Erickson wrote on his substack today, quote, the behavior of the president of the United States towards our European allies in Greenland is beneath the dignity of the presidency and is shameful, unquote.

14:17That was before the news conference. Let's discuss all this with presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. Professor, this was an extraordinary, nearly two-hour-long news conference. As someone who has studied and written about many presidents, what stood out most to you? Well, I think right off the bat, President Trump dismissing all of his PR people and saying they can't do it, only I can. Maybe he's right. But the result was very rambling and disassembling. It didn't have a core to it. It was sort of a themeless pudding. Clearly, he was concerned about what's going on in Minnesota and the public reaction against ICE and the idea of over enforcing in certain locations, but also the Greenland hanging over there.

15:09I mean, it's hard to believe he's going to be going to Davos now with Greenland, the talk of the world, instead of this unity, which is the core of U.S. foreign policy from Harry Truman all the way into first term Biden, which is NATO, NATO, NATO. So I'm not sure where he put points on the board. I don't think it was a great recap of his first year. But it reminds us, Jake, that really the year has been known about Trump being ubiquitous and that his feral belief that his presidential powers are unlimited. Trump repeatedly blamed his predecessor, President Biden, during today's news conference.

15:47Do presidents typically talk this much about their predecessor after a full year in office? I mean, I get in the first few months you say we have to clean up the mess that so-and-so did. I mean, you know, Clinton said it about H.W. Bush. Bush said it about Clinton and on and on. But at this point, he still does it. Is that normal? I think he should drop the Biden beating up immediately. It's been a long year of doing that. You know, FDR would punish Herbert Hoover. It was called the Hoover Dam and he stripped Hoover's name off of it and called it the Boulder Dam. He tripled and forced the idea of any homeless shelter was a Hooverville.

16:30But Joe Biden has prostate cancer. He's been sick. He's been through a lot. a sort of bullying downward at this point. And it's not going to help him in the midterm elections to keep triple and doubling and quadrupling down on Joe Biden. So hopefully Trump and his advisors will put America first, as they claim, and stop working to wedge the country apart. Reagan was a big landslide in 1980. But once Reagan got shot and recovered from all of that drama. The Democrats coalesced enough around him, you know, famously with Tip O 'Neill and others. Trump just seems to want to continue to divide the country.

17:15And, you know, you have to, you know, it's obvious to anybody that's his game plan. Today, the National Archives announced a traveling exhibition celebrating the 250th anniversary of this great country, this great cradle of democracy. Of course, the country is marking this 250th birthday as the Trump administration is shunning many of our traditional allies, our longest ally, France, our special ally, the UK, as the president praises dictators such as Vladimir Putin, who he's inviting to sit on his Gaza Board of Peace. What do you make of all that? Well, first off, this freedom plane is a great idea, I think, from the National Archives, which is to get some of our seminal founding documents out of D.C.

18:03and have them circulate around the country. It's going to begin at the World War I Museum in Kansas City and carry on to places like Atlanta, University of Southern California, L.A., many other places, culminating in the fact that it's America 250. We want to unify this country somehow. It's, I think, the overweening issue along with the affordability ones. And so let's all kind of remember that our country was built to last. It's not about a president or two years, but somehow we've got to kind of rally behind the founders thinking and rally behind the constitution and think more broadly instead of our partisan silos.

18:46And I think the freedom plane, just like the freedom train when we were young, you know, I think it's a good move by the National Archives. Doug Wrinkley, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Breaking news in Minnesota, how the U.S. Justice Department just escalated investigations there, including issuing subpoenas to five top officials in the state. New reporting first on CNN coming up next. starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like shopify they have the tools you need to start and grow your business from designing a website to marketing to selling and beyond shopify can help with everything you need there's a reason millions of companies like mattel heinz and all birds continue to trust and use them with shopify on your side turn your big business idea into sign up for your one dollar per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer.

19:42Breaking news in our national lead. Federal subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department have been served against several officials in Minnesota. That includes Democratic Governor Tim Walz, the Democratic Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry, the Democratic Attorney General, Keith Ellison, and the Democratic Mayor of St. Paul, Khali Hur. Plus, this CNN exclusive, leaders of the Justice Department are now pressing the FBI to investigate campaign contributions to some of these Democrats. This is all part of the DOJ's accusation that state and local leaders are obstructing federal immigration enforcement efforts.

20:19Let's bring in CNN's Shimon Prokopas, who's in Minneapolis, and CNN's Caitlin Polantz here with me in D.C. Caitlin, first to you, tell us what you've uncovered about this probe into campaign contributions, and how does this fit in to the DOJ's wider investigation into these Democrats in Minnesota? It's not exactly the same investigation as far as I'm aware and as far as we were able to tell from the sources we were talking to. But since Renee Good's death in Minneapolis, since things have really erupted between the administration and the state and local officials there, there has been a push from the leadership in Washington of the Justice Department to get the FBI in Minnesota to investigate political contributions, campaign finance violations, potentially, if they're able to find them.

21:06And this is going back to that viral right-wing interest in the public benefits fraud schemes in Minnesota. The theory here is that people who received government money could have been putting it into campaigns. Just so happens those campaigns could very well be Democrats, the Trump administration was publicly opposed to. So when you put that all together, this could be another way of looking at Democrats. It's something the Justice Department wants right now. And it's something the FBI, they've been investigating for years. And they even have said in the past couple of days to Justice Department leadership, we haven't found anything of substantial evidence, but it comes at a really significant time where they're surging prosecutors into Minnesota, where the U.S.

21:51Attorney's Office is facing all kinds of strife. The Attorney General is visiting. And then, of course, that other investigation that we know about today that we were able to confirmed subpoenas going to state and local officials, the governor's office seeking communications related to their response to immigration officials in the state. Just to clarify, when you say that the Justice Department officials say, or the FBI officials say they haven't been able to find anything, they're talking about the campaign contribution issue, not the fraud in Minnesota, which is real. That's right. And yes, and the fraud they have been prosecuting, there's almost 80 defendants there.

22:27That's its own thing. This is about looking at officials who are political leadership and trying to connect them potentially to that scheme. Shimon, on to you now. Today we learned about the subpoenas being served to top officials in Minnesota. And we're also hearing from the man leading ICE enforcement operations in Minneapolis. Yeah, so Greg Bovino today decided that he and the head of ICE here were going to have a press conference. and they took a few questions, but clearly defending their actions here, defending how they've been going about finding people that they want to detain and then deport, defending their actions on the streets of here in Minneapolis, where so many people are afraid to leave their homes, businesses are suffering, restaurants are unable to open, doors are being locked all across the city because of what folks are afraid of here.

23:20But Greg Bovino defended his actions. Here's what he said. Leaders like Tim Waltz or Mayor Fry have relied on heated rhetoric and accusations that distract from the facts. What we do is legal, ethical, and moral. Everything we do every day is legal, ethical, moral, well-grounded in law. And you know, Jake, Bovino loves to say ethically, legal, and moral. But, you know, we're starting to hear from police chiefs here in the state of Minnesota, smaller police departments that are very concerned. Very concerned over what they're hearing from people who live in their communities over civil rights violations.

24:05that they're saying is occurring at the hands of these federal law enforcement officials who are stopping people, who are asking people for identification, to show proof of their citizenship. Local officials here in Minneapolis, even the police chief here, raising questions over the tactics that are being used. But Greg Pavino says they are going to keep going. They're going to keep doing what they're doing. And right now, there's no letting up. They're just going to keep doing what they're doing here, Jake. Shimon Prokofaz and Caitlin Polans, thanks to both of you. Coming up next, the world leaders calling out President Trump and his plans to take over Greenland.

24:40Stay with us.

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25:31How far are you willing to go to acquire Greenland? You'll find out. Over the weekend, President Trump threatened to impose 10 % tariffs starting on February 1st on European nations like France and Denmark and the UK that are opposed to his ambitions to take over Greenland. the president said he would raise that tariff to 25 % if a deal is not reached by June. And if a pending ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court derails that plan, because tariffs are supposed to be given by Congress, not the president, well, the president was also asked about that. What happens to the tariff threat to Greenland if the Supreme Court comes out and rules against you on the tariffs?

Read the full transcript

26:18Well, I have to use something else. Now, before the president's appearance at the White House briefing today, he spent the night posting about Greenland on Truth Social. He included a screenshot of a private text message sent to him from French President Emmanuel Macron that reads in part, My friend, we are totally in line on Syria. We can do great things on Iran. I do not understand what you're doing on Greenland. Let us have a dinner together in Paris together on Thursday before you go back to the U.S. Trump posted another screenshot of a text from NATO Secretary General Marco Ruta, where Ruta wrote, in part, quote, I am committed to finding a way forward on Greenland.

26:54Trump then posted two memes, one showing himself, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President J.D. Vance, planting an American flag in Greenland. Another one of these memes showed European leaders in the Oval Office surrounded by a map that shows Greenland and Canada and Venezuela and Cuba as part of the United States. A reminder, President Trump has still not ruled out military action in his quest to acquire Greenland. And given that, we heard this warning today from the nation's prime minister. It's not likely that there will be a use of military force, but it has not been ruled out yet. This leader from the other side has made it very clear that it is not ruled out.

27:34And therefore, we must, of course, be prepared for everything. This all will likely lead to one heck of a meeting in Davos, where Trump will come face to face with many of the same European leaders. Tomorrow, the president will deliver an address in the morning, which follows this pointed address delivered from French President Emmanuel Macron. It's a time of peace, stability and predictability. It's as well a shift towards a world without rules. where international law is trampled underfoot and where the only law that seems to matter is that of the strongest. More notable reaction from Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is not known for clashing with President Trump, to say the least.

28:25He wrote on X today, quote, appeasement is always a sign of weakness. Europe cannot afford to be weak, neither against its enemies nor ally. Why? Appeasement means no results, only humiliation. European assertiveness and self-confidence have become the need of the moment. Well, the president has succeeded in uniting Europe, uniting them against us. One year back in office, what was President Trump's biggest achievement and biggest failure? We asked a Republican and a Democrat for their take. You might be surprised at their answer. Stay with us.

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29:59Rules and restrictions apply. And our politics lead. 365 days of Trump 2.0. One year anniversary today. One big lesson since the president's return. Expect the unexpected. And we saw that repeatedly over the last year in the Oval Office. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards. cars. You do allow them to take land. No, no, no, no. You do allow them to take land. Nobody can take land. From combative moments with world leaders to viral photo ops from politicians, not seemingly thrilled to share the spotlight. But not all meetings with political rivals have ended in fireworks.

30:41Some ended in praise. We agree on a lot more than I would have thought. I want them to do a great job and will help them do a great job. Here now to discuss two political experts before we get to the highs and lows. What did you make of President Trump's press conference today, his effort to trumpet his own accomplishments? Well, I think he feels defensive about it as much as he says how popular he is all the time. He's aware that the polling is indicating otherwise. It was very interesting that he seemed to diss his entire public relations team saying he's the only person who can make that case.

31:18And he does have some things that he can legitimately tout, like lower gas prices. But a lot of the other things that he said, voters aren't feeling it. It sounded familiar to me. Remember, we were on this program talking about Joe Biden, who had done so much, but he got no credit. And the communications of the Democrats should get better because we were going to build roads and bridges. And unemployment was at an all-time high, all-time low. Stock market at an all-time high. It was the PR department. I would warn my Republican friends that it ain't always the PR people. Well, I have to say also just in defense of his PR people like Caroline Levitt, Stephen Chung, they are vociferous defenders of President Trump.

31:52All those people that do his PR at Fox, they do it every day. Every day. And I don't think it's their fault. I mean, I think as always with Biden or whatever, there's a substance issue also, don't you think? I think that there are some things that voters, most voters are not directly aware of, and they read about it in the paper or watch it on TV. And some things they know directly. They know what is happening with their paychecks, their wallets, their bills. And it's very hard for any PR team or any president to spin them out of that. They know Joe Biden was old and they know this White House is chaos.

32:29Those two things they know. So one of the other things that he's doing is, and I've heard a lot of media reports in the last day, people going and talking to Trump supporters, how they feel. And something, I think it was on NPR this morning, No Trump supporter that this reporter talked to, not one, liked this Greenland thing, which the president talks about a lot. It's not one of the things that they elected him for, but he talks about it a lot. And he's on social media posted about, I mean, this bogus 2020 election claim. And then this image of the flag of the hemisphere, the map of the hemisphere with American flags in Greenland, Canada, Venezuela.

33:05He reposted a thing that said NATO is the real threat, the enemy within. I offered something else, this little video of a woman complaining that Muslims outbreed us. That's a quote, outbreed us. I mean, this is also one of the reasons why I think polls indicate voters don't think he's focusing on their priorities. And there's a reason for that. Voters can kind of understand Venezuela, dictator bad, replace okay, Iran. Okay, kind of understand they've never been a partner of ours. But American voters don't like a bully. And they see Greenland as like this equal arbiter of somebody who's not bothering nobody, don't mess with nobody.

33:41And Trump's like, I'm going to take it, it's mine. The American public understands a bully and they don't like that at all. Where did that come from? Why is he talking about this? I think that is the predominant sentiment from people. It's often my sentiment. Trump is very good at generating news, creating headlines. There's a thousand stories just in the last month. Trump saying something on some new subject. The flip side of that ability is it makes people wonder, is he focusing on what we focus on? That was a problem for Democrats last time. People thought the Democrats were not focused on the issues that they themselves were.

34:16It'll be a problem for Republicans if they think that about them. So let me let me mark this one year by because we've been pretty critical so far because the president keeps bringing up things to criticize. But I'll say something positive that he's done in the last year. You don't have to if you don't want to. But Ramesh, I want to give you an opportunity to. He did stop the war in Gaza. Now, that's not why he was elected, but that's empirically a good thing. I don't know how long this peace plan is going to succeed, but whatever. That's one good thing. I think there are quite a few accomplishments.

34:44And I would say one of the central campaign promises was he was going to stop illegal immigration. And he did, in fact, succeed at that. He has shut down the border to illegal immigration. Now, the flip side of that for him is it's fallen as a public priority because he succeeded. Yeah, and I would agree, surprisingly enough, that he did shut down the border. And, you know, if he would have shut down the border and then sent ICE agents to go get the worst of the worst and not go into the streets terrorizing Latinos because they're Latino, his numbers would be out of this world because the American people can see we're not talking about the border.

35:17The border is shut down. That is a positive. Yeah, I mean, I've heard Republicans in Capitol Hill express concern that President Trump scores a victory and then screws it up after. Does a touchdown in the end zone and the points are taken back. Thanks one and all. Really? Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I was misunderstanding. Let's talk about, okay. So those are the accomplishments. What do you think was the lowest moment of the last year for the president? Well, I think that the pardons of the January 6th rioters, blanket pardons. One year today. Yeah. I think that was, you know, look, January 6th and the entire campaign to overturn the election that preceded it was a disgrace, a constitutional disgrace, and he added to it with that act.

36:02What do you think was the lowest moment this year? I think all of the focus on all this international stuff, I think the American people gave him a shot because he spoke to them about their needs of lower prices and I'll be your vindicts and all the things. America first. The only thing I've seen is American corporations first and not American workers first. All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. The Justice Department is well, well past the deadline to release all of its files as required by law, a law that Trump signed into law himself on dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Is there anything or anyone to hold the Justice Department accountable?

36:36We're going to get into that next.

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37:19Get to Denny's now. Ballot at participating locations for dine-in or denny's.com. Limited time offer. Additional restrictions may apply at some locations. In our Law and Justice League today, it has been one month and one day since the Justice Department was required by law to release all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein with the names of the survivors and victims redacted. By its own admission, the Justice Department has released only about 1 % of the total Epstein files. That's a move that puts the Department of Justice in violation of federal law. On Friday, Manhattan's top federal prosecutors said that the judge in the case lacks the authority to appoint a neutral expert to oversee the public release of the documents.

38:04Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna of California, who has led the charge, along with Thomas Massey in the House, Republican of Kentucky, to have these files released. So, Congressman, you filed the brief looking for you and Massey for the special master to handle these files. You've also been in contact with survivors of Epstein's abuse who are pushing for this. What's your reaction to the Justice Department denying this completely? It's shocking. Look, the Department of Justice didn't just argue that Thomas Massey or I don't have standing. They didn't argue not to have a special master.

38:43They're arguing that the judge doesn't have the authority to enforce the law. It is a disgraceful argument. They're basically saying we don't want to release these files and there's nothing you can do about it. And I believe that Judge Engelmeyer will see through that. I think he's going to consider the statements of two survivors, Haley Robson and Lisa Phillips, who have shown incredible courage. and is going to either have a special master or order the release of documents to comply with the law. So as I understand it, Congressman, the Justice Department is arguing in response that there is no mechanism, there is no way for you and Massey to sue to enforce the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

39:28Is that true? And if so, did you ever discuss when writing the law that there should be some sort of repercussion if they don't follow it built into that law? We did discuss it, and we were told that it would be obstruction of justice if they do not file the Epstein Transparency Act, if they do not comply. Now, it's one thing for them to say we don't have standing to sue. Massey and I don't. We came in as amicus curia, meaning friends of the court. But what they're saying is that the judge himself doesn't have the authority to say they need to comply with the Epstein Transparency Act. And our view and legal counsel has said that those who don't comply are actually obstructing justice and could face prosecution, if not under the Trump administration, a future administration.

40:15So we know in recent days that the Justice Department says that they've increased the number of lawyers working on turning over the files, redacting the names of the survivors, etc. From your perspective, what does that mean? When do you think we will start to see more files? When do you think we'll see all the files? I really don't understand it. It seems like they have a third of the most important attorneys in the U.S. District of New York, the Southern District of New York, working on this, and yet they're not producing the relevant documents. To me, it's not about how many documents they produce.

40:48They're not giving us what the survivors want, which is the statements the survivors have made to the FBI agents, which name the other rich and powerful men who were involved, who engaged in the sex trafficking. They're not releasing the prosecution memos, which show that there were a lot of counts that were not pursued for Epstein and the co-conspirators. And what I don't understand is if the president thinks it's a hoax and if there's nothing there and if they think this is all a conspiracy, just release the files. But they're not releasing the files where the survivors have said the men who abused them are implicated.

41:24They also say that there's been too many redactions, that people who should be named in the files, their names in the files that have been released, the 1%, too many of their names are hidden. You're leading a bipartisan effort to block what you call a reckless move, stopping President Trump from being able to take military action to seize Greenland. You say, Greenland, you say this is about avoiding dumb wars. You say it's about honoring our NATO allies. Do you think Americans should be concerned about the president's rhetoric that he might actually send in the military? They should be saddened by it.

42:01The America I believe in engaged in wars of liberation, not wars of conquest. And for the president of the United States to be threatening European allies with tariffs, threatening NATO and talking about marching in and taking Greenland is against everything this country stands for. We are not Rome. We were not the British colonial empire, which jailed my grandfather. We are a nation that freed the world from Nazism and communism. And President Trump is making a mockery of those American principles. Congressman Ro Khanna, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Trump sends world leaders scrambling as he prepares to board a plane to Davos in just hours.

42:49From NATO to Greenland to Venezuela to Gaza and so much more. CNN's Caitlin Collins is here to break it all down before Air Force One takes off. Plus, a major winter storm brewing, threatening heavy snow and dangerous ice from Texas all the way to the Carolinas. Millions are also going to be hit by a brutal blast of Arctic air, sending temperatures plunging. We're going to head to the CNN Weather Center for the latest forecast. Also, the U.S. Justice Department has now subpoenaed at least five officials in Minnesota as part of its investigation into whether those leaders obstructed ICE operations in their state.

43:22Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, one of the five, calling the move an intimidation tactic. I'm going to be joined live by a member of the Minneapolis City Council ahead. And students are set to return to class tomorrow at Brown University after that horrific, deadly shooting tragically cut their last semester short. CNN went to the campus for a look at some of the new security measures in place.

43:48The lead tonight, President Trump is cranking up the pressure campaign in his quest to grab Greenland, just hours ahead of his departure for the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. How far are you willing to go to acquire Greenland? You'll find out. Trump on the anniversary of the inauguration of his second term speaking to the White House press this afternoon for nearly two hours about a sweeping list of topics. Some of the behavior exhibited in the press conference alarming even his supporters conservative radio host Eric Erickson who has been deriding Trump's quote insane impulse control issues when it comes to the Greenland thing.

44:27calling him, quote, a president who has developed some level of insanity over Greenland and in a pre-bottle to any MAGA critics. Erika Erickson writes, quote, There is no Trump derangement syndrome here except from his most ardent supporters who feel compelled to justify, explain, and defend every single thing Trump does, no matter how crazy, unquote. Across the Atlantic in Davos, Trump's presence is already being felt while world leaders strategize how to defuse the situation. Let's bring in CNN's chief White House correspondent, Caitlin Collins. Caitlin? Jake, I mean, the president has not even arrived in Davos yet, and he is already the center stage of the controversy that is underway there with those European leaders, some of the ones that you just showed there on the screen, who are now dealing with this.

45:09This is the foremost conversation that a lot of these world leaders are not only talking about in their speeches, but also being asked about by reporters. The theme of Davos this year is supposed to be focused on dialogue, Jake, and the spirit of dialogue. And some of the main topics had been expected to be Ukraine, artificial intelligence, climate, geopolitics. And now what the president has been threatening when it comes to Greenland in the last 48 hours or so has really taken center stage, including the threats that the president has made against a lot of U.S.'s, the United States, European allies over tariffs.

45:42If he does not get Greenland in the way that he wants and the way that he's been talking about. And it's caused a lot of tension with these world leaders, many of them scrambling to either try to meet with the president or try to have these conversations with him when it comes to his desire to take over Greenland. But just listen to what he said, Jake, during that lengthy appearance in the briefing room earlier today, not only about why he thinks getting Greenland is important, but also the way he spoke about the French president, for example, after he had invited the president to come to Paris on his way out of Davos and have lunch, an emergency meeting basically with other G7 leaders.

46:16This is what the president said today about that. I think that we will work something out when NATO is going to be very happy and where we're going to be very happy. But we need it for security purposes. We need it for national security and even world security. I like Macron, but but he's not he's not going to be there very much longer, as you know. And I think, you know, I have meetings with the people that are directly involved, not some of the people you're talking about. Now, we do know, Jake, that other European leaders will be there when the president arrives in Davos after he's leaving tonight.

46:51And I'm going with him, Jake, actually. And so one thing I'll be watching for is how these other world leaders respond to this and how they are dealing with it. Because California Governor Gavin Newsom is there. He was criticizing other European leaders for how they have been responding to the president, basically saying that they are capitulating to him and being weak in their responses. We've heard other of these leaders, Canada's prime minister, Ursula von der Leyen, basically saying this is not just about what is happening in this moment with Greenland, that it is fundamentally changing the relationship the United States has with its European allies, with NATO allies, something the president was asked about today.

47:26He said, yes, the United States will live up to Article 5 and defend other countries if they're attacked, but he doesn't think that they'll do the same. And so this is going to be potentially a very tense few days in the Swiss Alps as the president heads there, Jake. All right, Caitlin Collins, thanks so much. We're looking forward to your coverage from Davos. And obviously, tune into Caitlin's show, The Source with Caitlin Collins. With me now here in studio, Republican Congressman John Rose from Tennessee. He's also running in this year's Republican primary in the governor's race in Tennessee.

47:55Good to see you, sir. Thanks for being here. Good to be with you tonight. President Trump, you just heard the clip. He thinks that there's a scenario where NATO will be very happy, but the U.S. will also control Greenland. How do you square that circle? I mean, NATO does not want the United States to take over Greenland. And they constantly point out anything the United States wants to do in Greenland, including set up more military bases, we already have a treaty and the U.S. can do it. Sure. Well, I think the president over the last year and indeed in his first term has proven that he's a master negotiator.

48:26I would dare say the best negotiator we've had as a president in my lifetime. And so I think you have to consider that as you think about what he's saying about Greenland. He obviously raised this issue. It's not a new issue. And I think anyone who studies history knows that the United States has had concerns about Greenland going all the way back to the 19th century. And so I think the president has renewed that because I think he is thinking down the line and understands the threat from Russia and China and the strategic importance of Greenland to defending this country. And so I think you have to view all of this through that prism.

49:05The president's approach to negotiating these things is, if anything, unconventional and provocative. But so often these things lead to good outcomes. I mean, it's an 80-20 issue in the sense that 80 % of the country does not support him on this and 20 % is with him. The Dow, S &P, and NASDAQ, all of them had their worst days since October. Investors are selling off their stocks and bonds, U.S. stocks and bonds, amid concerns about this clash. The polls, as you know, suggest the American people think the president is not focused on the priorities they want him to be focused on, Greenland being one of the things that they're not into.

49:43Why is he so fixated on this? Again, Greenland has made it very clear, like, we have a base there. The U.S. has a base there. In the past 50 years, we've had, I think there was one point we had like 17 different military bases there. They're saying build whatever you want, but you're not going to take over the country. Well, again, I would I'm inclined to give the president considerable deference here because I think he he raised this issue. He create you know, he spawned this issue. What we know is that for more than two decades, you might say since World War Two, the United States has been footing the bill to defend most of the West.

50:19They have been we have been carrying the water for NATO. The president has moved the ball on that in an appreciable way during his first term and now during his one year back in office. The president sees the strategic importance for Greenland, and I think he knows that, you know, when it comes to negotiating, you don't start out asking for less than you want. You start out asking for more, and you work your way toward compromise. The president has done that time and again, and I think we ought to give him some deference here. The president has proven that he can walk and chew gum at the same time.

50:51He has addressed so many of the issues that the country was facing over the last year, bringing the southern border under control, moderating the increase in prices that were coming out of the Biden-inflation of the Biden years, and solving so many of these international crises around the world, bringing about peace. So I think he's earned some wide latitude here. President Trump is expected to speak tomorrow morning, Eastern Time in Davos. He says he has other meetings planned to discuss Greenland with other leaders. What do you want to see from the president tomorrow in Davos? What kind of tone do you want him to take on?

51:28Well, I think it is important to recognize that our NATO allies are our allies. They're our friends, and we want to keep it that way. But I think it's also important for the president to continue to press the issues that he sees important to providing for the future defense of this country and for the West. And so I think the president's going to strike that balance. He said that the U.S. would today, he said the U.S. would honor Article 5 of the NATO treaty. An attack on one is an attack on all. But he doesn't think the other countries would do that for us. I'm sure you know the only time Article 5 has ever been invoked was after 9-11 when all those other countries joined us to fight in Afghanistan.

52:09And I think Denmark, which owns Greenland, had the or one of the highest death rates per capita. Why say something like that when so many Danes and other Europeans have died in Afghanistan because of that invocation? Well, I think the point is, are they capable of coming to their own defense and assisting the U.S. if we had some sort of all-out conflagration? And I think the president has pushed the NATO allies, including Denmark, to invest more in their own defense and to bolster the NATO alliance. And I think that's what he's driving toward here with Greenland. Greenland is critically important to the defense of the United States, obviously by virtue of that, important to the defense of NATO.

52:54And so the president, I think, is pushing the envelope in that direction. He's succeeded in getting NATO allies to invest more in their own defense. That's true. And so I think we ought to give him some latitude here to pursue this negotiation. Republican Congressman John Rose from Tennessee, thanks so much. So how are leaders in Denmark reacting to President Trump's escalating threats regarding Greenland? I'm going to ask my next guest, who just returned to the United States from a bipartisan trip to the Danish capital of Copenhagen. Plus, one year into his second term, have Democrats settled on a strategy or the best one or any for taking on Trump?

53:31and how will they use that strategy if there is one in this year's crucial midterm elections. The chair of the Democratic National Committee is here. That's ahead.

53:43And we're back with more on our world lead President Trump's tariff threats against Europe, part of his crusade to get Greenland as part of the United States. All of it hinges on the U.S. Supreme Court's anticipated ruling on whether his tariffs are legal in the first place. But the president says he's prepared with other options should they rule against him. I mean, we have other alternatives, but what we're doing now is the best, the strongest, the fastest, the easiest, the least complicated.

54:16The House Foreign Affairs Committee, Congressman, good to see you. So you and Senator Peter Welch, Democrat from Vermont, both plan to offer resolutions to end the tariffs. You had a bipartisan presence in Denmark last weekend to show American support for the Danish ownership of Greenland. Do you have bipartisan support to end the tariffs? I think we have two Republicans now. We need one more. And what I'm looking to do is to work right now with some of my Republican colleagues and hopefully to get one or two or three more. because we believe if we get a vote on the floor, that you would get an overwhelming vote of members of the House to vote to end the tariffs.

54:58And that's why Speaker Johnson has prevented us from getting those resolutions on the floor. Do you have a plan in place for if the U.S. Supreme Court rules to uphold President Trump's tariffs and says it's perfectly fine for him to do this? Yeah, I still think that the voices of the American people, which is represented by those of us who are on the House of Representatives, we set and make the laws. And we know that the founding of this country was not to allow one man to be king and to make the determination as to American foreign policy and American issues by himself without Congress. And so thereby, we would need to talk, and I think that in a bipartisan, bicameral way, to make sure that we then create laws that states and makes clear who has this authority.

55:56And the courts then would have to abide by that. But I'm almost sure that the courts should recognize our constitutional authority about tariffs and that the president has made up emergencies that are not emergencies to use it as an excuse to use his tariffs to try to go around Congress. That we cannot stand for. And I hope that my Republican colleagues agree with me on that because it is the institution itself that is at stake for our oversight and other responsibilities that we have given to us by the Constitution of the United States of America. As you know, this idea about the U.S. and Greenland is not entirely new.

56:37And as you know, there is a threat of the Russians and the Chinese in that part of the world. And the United States does need to have a presence. I'm sure you agree. I guess the question I have is, is there anything that Greenland will not let the United States do? I mean, we do have this treaty with them. We have one base right now. We've got up to 17 in the past. Is there anything that we would get out of owning Greenland that we can't get just by asking Greenland? Jake, no. Let me just tell you, coming from Denmark, talking to all governments, including ours, there is actually no credible threat by Russia or China at the moment, you know, just going through all of the intelligence, etc., that says that that region is in danger of being taken over.

57:32That's number one. Number two, when you talk to Greenlanders as well as the Danes, they say, just talk to us. We can work collectively together. You're right. The one base that we have there now is underfunded now. They would allow us to create additional bases. They're ready to work with us. Their message is that Greenland is not for sale, but Greenland, who has been a partner in the Danes with the United States for over 75 years, and our NATO allies, we should be all working collectively together and having the plan to make sure that if in the future China or Russia tries to come into those areas of Greenland, that we will be fortified and ready in a collective manner.

58:19And that's what NATO is all about. It's about us being together as opposed to what we see President doing right now, you know, trying to pull out of NATO. And I think when I say pull out of NATO, you know, troops from Europe and things of that nature, he seems to have weakened and made statements that NATO is not relevant anymore. And he's treating NATO as in the NATO allies with these tariffs and other ways as if they are our enemies, not our allies. And they don't understand that. And that's something that so therefore distrust in America, you know, in America's leadership is what that question.

58:57The largest massive number of individuals demonstrating ever from what I'm told in the streets of Denmark when I was there was them now going against the United States saying MAGA means make America go away. Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks from New York. Thank you, sir. Always good to have you on. Good to be with you, Jake. A major winter storm shaping up and taking aim at the eastern half of these United States. We're going to head to the CNN Weather Center for an updated forecast in just moments.

59:34In our national lead, a major winter storm brewing is likely to blanket half the country later this week. Chris Warren is in the CNN Weather Center for us. Chris, who among us should start stocking up on supplies? We are tracking a high-impact winter event for the south. But before we get to that, here is this. The lake effect snow continues to drop several inches of snow over the next few days, looking at the potential for a foot, maybe even a couple of feet of additional snow, and then a little bit of a break from some of the coldest air to the south. But by this weekend, cold air, that cold air coming down from the Arctic, locking in place in some areas down to about or near the Gulf Coast.

1:00:21That sets the stage for what's to come. Here's the forecast radar. So what the precipitation could look like and where it could be through time. This is 8 o 'clock on Friday. Green is rain. Pink is ice, that freezing rain. And then purple is snow. These colors up here. So this is Friday. Now into Saturday. An ongoing ice event and snow, possibly heavy snow for parts of the Mid-South and eventually even into parts of the Carolinas, coastal areas as well for the snow. But some of the highest impacts, some of the biggest problems will be in the pink. The pink is where from Atlanta to Dallas and areas in between and even beyond could have ice that as that rain falls through the freezing air, freezes on contact to roads.

1:01:11to sidewalks, to power lines, to trees. And with a little bit of wind, we're going to see a lot of problems. Power outages that could last for days with temperature staying below freezing for the same period of time. So we're looking at a big and serious potential for winter impacts and long lasting power outages and difficult, if not impossible travel. Details still need to be worked out. The biggest issues, again, are going to be in the pink. if this does end up staying here. So one thing to watch is going to be, where does the snow and where does the ice line set up? So stay tuned. All right, Chris Warren, thanks so much.

1:01:49Tonight, CNN is learning that the U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed at least five officials in Minnesota, including the governor, Tim Walls, the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry. All seem to be Democrats. I'm going to get a reaction from the member of the Minneapolis City Council in just moments.

1:02:10Our national lead, the Justice Department, is ramping up its investigation into state and local leaders in Minnesota. The agency has now subpoenaed multiple Democrats there in the administration's immigration crackdown. Earlier today, President Trump shuffled through a stack of photographs that he says are of criminals arrested in Minnesota over the last year. Hey, look at this. One after one.

1:02:37Boy, these are rough characters. These are real criminal, illegal aliens that, in many cases, they're murderers. They're drug lords, drug dealers. They're the mentally insane. Minnesota, the crime is incredible. Turning us now, Minneapolis Councilmember Jameson Whiting. Councilmember, what's your response to the president showing these photographs? He's obviously trying to make the argument we are locking up dangerous people. That's why we're in Minnesota. Yeah, I think this country has seen it, right? We have our own two eyes. We have seen families ripped apart. We have seen a mom. We have seen families and children get torn apart for standing up for their country.

1:03:22And that's what we're seeing right here in the city of Minneapolis. These past two weeks, we've seen kind of democracy shred at the seams. It is what we are doing and seeing live on the ground here in the city of Minneapolis. And all of us are standing up against it. I think we heard on your show and use the numbers of DHS Secretary Christine Elm that the large majority, the vast majority of these individuals in ICE custody have zero criminal record. I think that was actually, just to give her credit, I think that was actually Margaret Brennan on CBS. But we have covered that issue as well. Sources at the Justice Department, sources tell us that the Justice Department has subpoenaed at least five Minnesota officials, including your governor, your mayor.

1:04:05Governor Walz just said in a statement, the state of Minnesota will not be drawn into political theater. This Justice Department investigation sparked by calls for accountability in the face of violence, chaos, and the killing of Renee Good does not seek justice. It is a partisan distraction. Minnesotans are more concerned with safety and peace than baseless legal tactics aimed at intimidating public servants. What is your reaction to these new subpoenas? Do you think these officials should cooperate with any investigations? Yeah, Jake, I think what we're seeing is blatant intimidation by the federal government in real time.

1:04:38When you see the federal government in the United States of America politicize and use power against local elected officials in our city, I think every single American across this country should be concerned. President Trump also said this earlier today about ICE agents. Take a listen. And, you know, they're going to make mistakes sometimes. Sometimes ICE is going to be too rough with somebody or, you know, they're dealing with rough people. They're going to make a mistake. Sometimes it can happen. We feel terribly. What was your response to that? Yeah, I think we see we hear an admission of guilt.

1:05:14I think it's exactly what we just heard. I think we hear the president. I think we heard the vice president and others start to understand what we saw with Renee Good, the murder of Renee Good in our city is not OK. I think what we've seen in every single American is probably seen the videos by now. We saw a soccer mom with stuffed animals in her glove compartment murdered in our streets. And I think what we are seeing for all Americans is there is no part of this that is American and what we were promised. Also today, a group of Minnesota physicians held a news conference to condemn ICE for using intimidation tactics in health care facilities.

1:05:47Take a listen. No one deserves to die or suffer because of how they look or how they speak or where they were born. The cycle of fear is claiming lives. Recently, a patient discharged from the hospital missed their follow-up because they were too afraid to leave the home. This is a moment of crisis in this state because of ICE and their presence in our health care settings. This is not making our city safer. It is about harming entire communities, making certain that certain communities feel afraid to go out to get groceries, to go to school, to go to work, and now are afraid to get medical care.

1:06:25What's your reaction? Yeah, I think it's physicians. I think it's lawyers. I think it's teachers. I think it's business owners. I think every single person in this city understands that this is not here for public safety. Right, Jake, we've had the first murder in the city of Minneapolis was perpetrated by federal agents. If this was about safety, ICE would be out of our city. And so I think we are seeing every single individual from every single corner of walk of life in this city start to understand that this is not about safety that we are trying to do something here in our city because it's not okay.

1:06:56I've heard officials in Minneapolis and Minnesota talking about how off-duty police officers are being asked for their papers to prove their citizenship. And all of them, as far as has been shared publicly by these public officials, including Senator Tina Smith, all of them are people of color. Have you heard that too? Yeah, I mean, we're hearing it from MPD here in our city. We're hearing it from Public Works. We've had individuals get stopped that are from people that are plowing our streets to filling potholes. And so we've seen it across the board in our city of people getting harassed, whether you're a law enforcement officer or just somebody walking along the streets.

1:07:40We've had it in schools. We've had it in hospitals. There is nothing safe from what is happening here in the city of Minneapolis. Jameson Whiting, Minneapolis City Council member, thank you so much. Appreciate it. As President Trump marks his first year back in office, how are Democrats planning to try and retake control of Congress this November? I'm going to ask the chair of the Democratic National Committee live in studio next.

1:08:05In our politics lead, today marks one year since President Trump's return to the White House. President Trump reflecting on his first year in an occasionally meandering speech to reporters at the White House early today at the briefing. I think we've done a much better job than we're able to promote. We're not promoting. We have taken a mess and made it really good. It's going to get even better. They created the affordability problem and we are solving it. We have solved a lot of it. Joining us now is the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin. Ken, And what do you think the next step for Democrats should be to win the midterms, at least in the House?

1:08:47Well, to stay focused on what we did last year, which was we had a relentless focus on economic issues, on affordability, right? You know, people talk all the time about how Democrats are poor messengers, right? But what we saw last year across the board in states like Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, California, every state in between that had elections last year, is that our candidates writ large, without exception, were focused on affordability. And that's the key. You know, look, we are now marking one year since Donald Trump was inaugurated. And he made a big promise to the American people that on day one, he was actually going to focus on bringing down the cost and making it easier for people to actually achieve the American dream.

1:09:25I want you to contrast that with today. This week, where you had two Democratic governors who were actually sworn into office, and on their first days, guess what? Abigail Spanberger did in Virginia. She signed executive orders to bring down the cost of child care and to create more housing. What did Mikey Sherrill do on day one? She actually put an executive order in to freeze utility costs in those states. There's two Democrats who were just elected to office who actually are delivering on the promises of affordability. Donald Trump has had a whole year to do that, and he hasn't. And guess what?

1:09:55The American people are not going to forget that. In fact, almost 60 % of Americans, based on your own polling, think his first year in office has been a failure because he hasn't done anything to actually help them. Okay, but I'm sure you've seen other polling that suggests even with President Trump's weaknesses, Republicans still have an advantage when it comes to many issues, including the economy, and that if you guys have a good November, it's more because of what people don't like about Trump, not necessarily that they trust the Democrats, at least not right now, according to polls I've seen.

1:10:26Let me just say this. If you look at that poll that you're referencing, the reality is Donald Trump is underwater on every single issue, including the two that he won on, which was on immigration and the economy. People don't trust Donald Trump to lead on that. And while they may trust Republicans, the reality right now is that the Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump are not delivering in any way, shape or form on the issues that they promised they were going to do. He's focused on crazy things like invading Greenland. He's focused on everything but helping the American people, all while he and his rich buddies have gotten richer.

1:10:59He has made hundreds of millions of in his first year in office. You know what? The American people deserve to make more money. That's the second time I've heard a Democrat use the word crazy today talking about President Trump. The other one was Senator Chris Coons, I think talking to NPR. Is this, are you guys gonna be talking about the president's mental fitness? I'm not talking about his mental fitness. I'm talking about the fact that he made a promise to the Americans and he hasn't delivered at all on any single promise he made to the American people. And meanwhile, in my hometown of Minneapolis, right, we see where his focus is.

1:11:35It's creating chaos and division, dividing communities, sowing, you know, concern throughout the country. His administration has literally murdered people in the streets, and he's done nothing to focus on the issues that Americans are concerned about. So, look, is that crazy? You're absolutely right it's crazy. I'm not talking about his mental health, right? That's a whole other question. But the American people are frustrated by what they're seeing out of this administration. I do want to get your reaction to, we've seen some excerpts of Governor Josh Shapiro's book. It's coming out in a week, I think.

1:12:08And it talks about his unease with some of the questions he was asked when he was being vetted for vice president by Kamala Harris, then vice president Kamala Harris, questions about whether or not he was an Israeli agent, vice president Harris asking him if he would take back some of his criticism of anti-Semitism on campuses with those encampments. I've seen a lot of reaction from House members, Josh Gottheimer, for example, talking about this being anti-Semitic. What was your reaction? Well, you know, I wasn't privy to those conversations, right? I don't know how those conversations went down, who they went down with, right?

1:12:41Obviously, there's an exhaustive process of selecting a vice president. All sorts of questions are answered. And truly, I think most importantly, people are trying to get to know each other. I don't know the context of the conversation, who was asking which questions. I know that all sorts of questions are asked during these processes, as they should be. You know, I'll let others comment on, you know, what happened. I think there were only two people in that room when they talked, and ultimately, I don't know, again, who on her team was asking those questions. But, you know, look, at the end of the day, that's the past.

1:13:13What I'm focused on, Jake, is the next 11 months and making sure Democrats win up and down the ballot. All right. DNC Chair Ken Martin, thank you so much, sir. Good to see you. I hope your wife and kids in Minnesota are doing okay. I know it's rough there right now. My panel's also in studio. They've been listening. Jonah Goldberg. How much of the Democrats' message in November should be focused on affordability versus how much should be focused on Trump, do you think? Well, I think the way to do it, a little bit the way like Ken Martin just did, is to make it about

1:13:45in the context of affordability. You can talk about the crazy things that Donald Trump is doing, but in the context of, look how distracted he is from the issues that concern you. I mean, I think that's sort of the smart play. At the end of the day, though, I think most of the strategy for Democrats is to be on defense and just not get in the way of themselves and let the chaos of Donald Trump's presidency drive things and just be the non-crazy alternative. That is the safest place for Democrats to be. Don't be crazy. Is that an episode? It turns out that's a very high bar going back to the last couple decades.

1:14:21I will say, Trump doesn't help himself. Republicans in Congress want him to talk about affordability. He's not talking about affordability. He's talking about everything else but that. Greenland's going to cost. Greenland's going to cost? It was just a week or so ago that we were taking over Venezuela. And there are all of these problems that the president is focused on, but not here in the United States and not here involving Americans' lives. And I do actually think that it was very, I mean, it was telling in New Jersey, the inauguration speech today of Governor-elect Sherrill or Governor Sherrill was about affordability.

1:14:54One of her first actions was to make sure that she's lowering prices. And so if Congress and if Democrats can continue to talk about affordability and especially health care, because we know that we can win elections on health care, then I think that allowing Trump to just do his crazy thing while we are focused will be a winning strategy. Joe and I assume you watched the president's remarks earlier today, or at least some of them. I got some highlights. You got some highlights. And one of the things he said, you and I are about the same age, so I don't know how many times you've heard this from other presidents, was the problem is not the presidency.

1:15:28The problem is PR. The PR is not good enough. Somebody at the at the when he finally took questions like an hour and 15 minutes into it, a reporter did ask him, like, aren't you making the same mistake that Joe Biden made? Here's how Trump responded. It's a great question because we inherited a terrible, terrible mess. We brought the prices down from when I came into office and from what Biden had way down. We're going to bring them down further. But the job we did is a miracle. One of the reasons I'm doing this today is to explain we inherited a mess and we've made it a beautiful, beautiful picture.

1:16:06I guess he thinks that if he just keeps saying it, voters will start believing it. But it doesn't seem to be true. but also he didn't answer the question. Yeah, and to be fair, he has a lot of experience about saying things and them turning out to work out well for him. Someone made a wish on a monkey paw a while ago. But the point is, look, I think if he had more discipline, there's a way he could have sold his first year in office. The shutting down of the border is a popular, very successful thing. He could be talking about that all the time. He could have been talking about the Venezuela stuff all the time.

1:16:42Be focused. Have message discipline. But it's very much like his speeches. He reads the first few paragraphs. He gets bored. And he starts to weave. And if you give people, we're going to invade Greenland, they're going to talk about invading Greenland, right? If you start calling the person who just got shot in the face a domestic terrorist before any of the facts are in, you're going to make the conversation about that. They have a story to tell. It's just that Trump gets bored with doing things with message discipline. and he throws stuff out there because he wants the attention. And that makes it very difficult to get in a disciplined, serious argument.

1:17:17And it's why House Republicans in particular are cutting themselves. So you talked about Governor Mikey Sherrill of New Jersey. She was inaugurated. I do want to air some of her speech, a little clip, because it's instructive. You said she focused on affordability, and she did. But she also did talk about Trump. That was part of her message in the election. It was also part of her message today. Take a listen. We see a president illegally usurping power, unconstitutionally enacting a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family while everyone else sees their costs go higher. Here, we demand people in public service actually serve the public instead of buying themselves planes and cars and extorting money.

1:18:06So it's like an affordability pivot. Like you can't afford stuff and look how rich Trump's getting, etc. I think you're going to hear more of that. And I think that in CNN's polling that just came out a few days ago, it talked about how they believe that Trump has gone too far when it comes to his powers and what he believes this expansive view of the presidency. There is no check on President Trump. And there is something to be said about how he is benefiting himself. It's both him and his family and his friends are getting rich off the presidency while Americans are seeing higher costs at the grocery store.

1:18:38And so I expect more of this from Democrats. I don't expect them to make every, especially a vulnerable Democrat in a purple state, to be making it all about Donald Trump. But I do expect some of that contrast about you are worse off now because of Donald Trump, and he is also getting rich off of that. That's the tension, right? If Democrats, Donald Trump brings out the Democratic base. But if Democratic politicians attack Trump too much, the fear is it could bring out the Republican base. And so let Trump make Democrats go crazy to get to the polls, but don't get to the point where you're talking about impeachment.

1:19:13Don't get to the point where you're talking about how, you know, he's Hitler and all these kinds of things, because then you activate the other side's base too. What about, you used the word crazy, but you weren't talking about Trump, but what about the Democrats who are questioning President Trump's mental fitness? Do you think that that's a good approach or no? I think less is more on that. I mean, as a pundit, I am perfectly happy to say that he's cuckoo for cocoa buffs about some of this stuff. But I don't think it's because he's lost cognition. I think it's because he is unfettered. He is unbound.

1:19:43He has surrounded himself with people who say every single thing that comes out of his mouth is brilliant. And so there are no restraints on him. And so this is more, you know, the unrestrained, unalloyed id of the president. and he's the same guy he was in his first term. It's just that he doesn't listen to anybody anymore. Yeah, that's right. And also, he's not ready for re-election, so. Interesting. Thanks to both of you. How are students at Brown University in Rhode Island feeling as they return to campus for the very first time since December's deadly shooting? That story's next.

1:20:16In our national lead, it has been just over a month since the deadly school shooting and students at Brown University in Rhode Island are returning to a quiet and more fortified campus. CNN's Lee Waldman traveled to Providence, Rhode Island to find out how students are feeling about being back. In a mix of rain and snow, students at Brown University are moving in for their spring semester. Just being here and seeing all the Providence loves Brown signs up, I think that that's just been very emotional. The memories of last month's shooting, still fresh. We were all lucky that that day we left early.

1:20:53Liam Melvin, a junior physics student, spent most of his time inside of the engineering and physics complex. Now some of those doors will remain locked as the rest of the campus opens to welcome students. I feel raw, definitely. I'd like to see how Brown handles the situation. Senior Emily Hamp was locked down in the library for hours following the shooting. Now her family is helping her move back. I just pray that they can look forward with optimism and happiness, but also reconcile themselves with what they've been through as a class and as a college community. In light of the December 13th shooting, Brown University is implementing safety changes, installing blue light phones with cameras to make emergency calls, increasing police presence and requiring card access, keys or university ID to get inside of buildings.

1:21:44The university came under harsh criticism during the days-long manhunt for the lack of cameras inside of the Barris and Hawley building here where this shooting happened. The interim vice president of public safety says they're installing cameras and bringing in two outside firms to conduct an after-action review and campus safety and security assessment. In its statement last month, the university said safety is built through preparation, transparency, trust and partnership, but would not, however, make anyone in campus leadership available to discuss security, saying they're focused on supporting the campus community and the start of the semester.

1:22:22I think people are excited to get together again, but also kind of terrified of what's to come. Mia Trutta, now a two-time school shooting survivor, feels no amount of security will make an impact without laws to prevent gun violence from happening. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how safe or secure a building, a classroom, a campus is if our entire country has this mass access to weapons of war. Lee Waldman, CNN, Providence, Rhode Island. And our thanks to Lee Waldman for that report. We're just into our sports lead. The Baseball Hall of Fame has added two new members, Carlos Beltran and Andrew Jones.

1:23:01Beltran was a power-hitting center fielder with three Gold Glove awards across a 20-year career. Jones debuted with the Atlanta Braves at the age of 19, and his superhuman defense won him 10 Gold Gloves. He becomes the first Curacao native to enter the Hall of Fame. Both players will be inducted this summer in Cooperstown. Aaron Burnett Upfront starts right now.

1:23:25Thank you.

From the publisher

President Trump sends world leaders scrambling as he speaks on Gaza, Greenland, NATO, Venezuela, and more. Plus, a major winter storm is brewing and is threatening snow and ice from Texas all the way to the Carolinas. 
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