Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

White House Suggests Trump Could Use Military Force To Acquire Greenland; How Political Violence Is Already Shaping New Dem Primary; Judge Postpones Testimony In Trial Of Former Uvalde School Officer. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 07, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump still talking about Greenland and while it's still not for sale, this time it appears people are taking his threat very seriously.

New reporting from The Washington Post says this -- that "U.S. officials in recent days have presented a U.S. move against Greenland as an increasingly concrete possibility in conversations with European counterparts."

Sources also tell CNN that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, though, is downplaying the threat of military action on Greenland when talking to lawmakers this week, instead telling lawmakers that they are considering buying the arctic island. Again, still not for sale. But the White House is not taking U.S. military action off the table and is saying that very specifically.

Now, here is the Danish prime minister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

METTE FREDERIKSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Firstly, I believe that the American president should be taken seriously when he says that he wants Greenland. But I also want to make it clear that if the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops. That is including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is a Danish member of European Parliament, Anders Vistisen. Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you coming on.

Let me ask you first about what we are hearing about Marco Rubio and his role and his message, if you will. Marco Rubio downplaying to lawmakers that the threat of military action, saying that the White House -- the administration is considering buying Greenland. Does that feel reassuring to you at all?

ANDERS VISTISEN, MEMBER, EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT (via Webex by Cisco): No. I think it's a signal that the Danish government has not communicated amply -- clearly to the U.S. administration that the time where powers can buy and sell former colonies -- self-governing territories is long gone. It is not something that is feasible, it is not something that can be done, and it is not something that is realistic in any way or form.

And to be frank, I think we in Denmark are quite fed up with this attitude from the U.S. administration. And the clear message is that it's not for sale, it's not something you can negotiate about, and you're not going to be able to pressure or bully us into submission on this.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And I was going to ask you when you say fed up, I can definitely assume that you are speaking at least very specifically to what we heard coming out of the White House yesterday. When pressed about the idea of military action, Karoline Leavitt said very, very clearly that they are not taking the option of a military intervention option off the table because that is always at the commander in chief's disposal.

What is your reaction to that?

VISTISEN: Denmark and the U.S. have never been to war. We are both founding members of NATO. Denmark have bled. We have had soldiers dying in Iraq and Afghanistan to a higher number per capita than even the U.S. itself.

So to treat a longstanding ally for more than 100 years and NATO allies for more than 70 years with a threat of military options is basically not only ruth, it is beyond belief. And it is really, really damaging towards the transatlantic relationships that have been going on regardless of whether it's been Democratic or Republican presidents in the White House.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. And, Anders, to that point, I mean, I've -- we've heard from, well, the Danish prime minister.

We've heard from -- I mean, I even spoke to John Bolton yesterday, not a wilting flower when it comes to the idea of U.S. military intervention overseas. And he said even that even the talk -- the continued talk by the administration about military action in Greenland or even just the continued talk of the Trump administration taking over Greenland -- he says even the talk of it if it can -- the conversation goes on much longer he thinks the NATO alliance is in grave jeopardy.

Do you even -- do you think -- do you think that even this conversation continuing by the Trump administration threatens NATO? Just the mere talk of it?

VISTISEN: Of course. If you have a defensive alliance together and you continuous threat -- continuously threaten to use military capabilities against your allies, it doesn't really do anything good, does it? And in reality, and I think for us, it's very problematic to hear even though we have been very, very loyal for a very long period of time, that we are hearing this message out of the White House and different advisers to the president coming out with these statements and the president himself.

[07:35:13]

So yes, of course, it doesn't make the alliance very reliable. And in the end, it's going to damage the American influence in the world. It's going to damage the transatlantic relationship and it's going to push Europe in the direction of China, in the direction of other great powers instead of believing in a transatlantic bond that I think should be the premise of how we look at each other between Europe and the U.S.

BOLDUAN: Anders, you famously, last year, publicly -- said very publicly and told Trump to F-off when the taking Greenland rhetoric really began. I'm not asking if you would say the same to him if you could speak to him today but if you had the chance to speak face-to- face to President Trump what would you want to tell him?

VISTISEN: I think the message would have to very clear and very direct. The Danish government has spent way too much time being diplomatic talking about the mining rights that could come into play. Talking about ramping up defense spending in the arctic even though it is the U.S. who have withdrawn militarily from the arctic and from Greenland where they had all the bases that they wanted during the Cold War and have closed down more than 30 of these bases since then.

All of this misinformation coming out of the White House, talking about Russia and Chinese ships that doesn't exist around the island of Greenland. Talking about Denmark in a very -- not even criticizing but often the wrong way.

It just goes to show that the administration have no clue about the factual basis of this matter and are only, I think, grandstanding and posturing because they are doing so bad internally in the U.S. and trying to deflect from a very poor track record of this presidency by making some foreign affairs noise.

But this is going to have long-term effects in how Europe is viewing the trustworthiness of the United States, and it's going to harm any U.S. attempts to get support from European key allies and NATO allies in future endeavors. And in the long run, America is going to stand more isolated, more alone, and with very few friends in the world.

BOLDUAN: Anders Vistisen, thank you so much for coming in -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

A CNN exclusive this morning -- the politics of fear. Bulletproof glass in homes and offices. Lawmakers sitting in restaurants facing the door to scan for threats. Candidates skipping parades and other outdoor events. After a year of political violence, including the assassination of Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, managing the fear of violence is reshaping campaigns ahead of the midterms and could even help shape who runs for president and who doesn't in 2028.

CNN's Isaac Dovere joins me now with his new reporting. Your reporting really tells us something about where we are in this country. What did you learn?

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Sara. I talked to a lot of people who are -- who ran for office last year and who are planning on running this year and who are also looking at presidential runs in 2028. And what they tell me is that this fear is real. It is with them every day. Some of them said to me they didn't even want to talk about it for fear of compromising security. Others teared up talking with me, talking about their families and the threats that they feel that they are under.

And what it is doing is, as you say, already changing how campaigning and how politicking is done. Parades, as you said, for a lot of them are out. Some of them talked to me about having undercover state troopers seeded through crowds to look at what might happen and control anything that might if something goes wrong. This is really, really changing things.

One of the people that I talked to was JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, who said to me that he has a child who plays a sport in another state and he used to go without his state trooper detail to go watch his child play, and now doesn't even do that. He, notably, didn't tell me what the child -- what the child's gender was, what sport, what state. He was really being very circumspect about what he was saying.

As you mention, there are some people who have made decisions, like Mark Kelly, the senator from Arizona, who has been under a lot of scrutiny and threat from what Donald Trump and other members of the administration have done in talking about how he should be possibly hanged for the video that he participated in saying that members of the military shouldn't follow illegal orders.

And he said to me -- remember, this is Mark Kelly, whose wife is Gabby Giffords who was shot in the head at an event herself when she was a congresswoman 15 years ago tomorrow. He said to me that he doesn't sit in restaurants with his face -- when he's not facing the door.

[07:40:05]

He said to me, "I've been shot at a bunch of times." He was in the Navy. "I've had a missile blow up next to my airplane. I flew a rocket ship built by the lowest bidder. I don't get rattled easily, but I am aware."

I should say Pritzker, among others, placed the blame in large part on Donald Trump for raising the rhetoric and making violence part of the conversation in a lot of ways. I talked to the White House about this and they said to me that, of course, in their minds nobody knows political violence better than the president who was the subject of two assassination attempts in 2024, and referred to Pritzker as a slob and batting back the criticism that they got from him.

SIDNER: Um, this kind of rhetoric is the very thing that a lot of people are concerned about.

Isaac Dovere, great reporting from you. And actually, it's really sort of sad to see the way that this is affecting the political climate and politicians in general. Thank you so much. I do appreciate it -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With us now CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers and Republican strategist Melik Abdul.

Gentlemen, just a quick comment from both of you on that report from Isaac and what it tells you, Bakari, that there are candidates making some of their decisions based now on personal safety.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, (D) FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA STATE REPRESENTATIVE (via Webex by Cisco): Of course. I mean, I think that 2016 or 2015, when Donald Trump came down the escalator and kind of tossed out the political norms, I think that the rhetoric ratcheted up. The name calling, et cetera. Just a couple of weeks ago, I believe, he called the entire Somali community "garbage."

That type of rhetoric has no place in our political discourse. The violence that we seen from either side has no place in our political discourse. But let's not forget that just yesterday we celebrated five years since January 6, which has been lied about -- has been misinformation and disinformation. And until we actually have a reckoning with the truth in this country, I don't think that type of political violence will cease, and that's unfortunate.

BERMAN: Melik?

MELIK ABDUL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yeah. I don't think that it has anything to do with the reckoning in the country. Remember, it was Steve Scalise -- he was one of the first members of Congress in recent years -- I think that was back in 2016-15 -- who was attempted -- who was almost assassinated. The same thing happened with Donald Trump.

I condemn, and we should all condemn political violence on both sides of the aisle, but we know that neither side is interested in ratcheting down any of the commentary that leads to the toxic culture that we currently have today. I hold both sides accountable for it even though many of my colleagues on the left would like to excuse some of the actions and language of the Democratic Party -- of Democrats while focusing on Donald Trump.

BERMAN: I mean, this is pretty illustrative I think of part of the issue here when it's the voters who in the long run may be losing here by not getting the best candidates because people are afraid to go speak their minds in public on the stump.

I'm going to shift subjects. I want to talk briefly about Greenland if I can. And Bakari, I'm going to give you a multiple choice question with the issue right now of possible use of military force or how the administration would go about acquiring Greenland. Is it a) you know, a serious topic worthy of attention; b) a shining object that's not health care or the Epstein files; or c) all of the above?

SELLERS: I mean, it's d, honestly. They don't know what the hell they're doing. I mean, the fact is they will figure this thing out as they go. I think yesterday they were thinking about invading Greenland using military force. I think last night they wanted to buy it.

I think definitely anything they can do to keep it off the Epstein -- to keep us off the Epstein files, to keep us off inflation, the cost of living, the everyday concerns of average Americans.

But the best parallel I can give you is Venezuela. People come on this show or this station all the time and they don't even have the talking points down for why we captured Maduro. Some say it's because of migration. Some say because of drugs. Some say because of oil. Some say because of x, y, z. The White House doesn't even have a sound logic or sound reasoning. So Greenland is something else.

But what I will say, though, is Republicans got bamboozled who voted for Donald Trump because I'm not sure who ran on the platform of make Venezuela great again or now make Greenland great again. We ran on -- or they ran on America First and they ran on isolationism. They ran on no more foreign wars, no more regime change, and this is what they're doing.

So, you know, look, I -- you got bamboozled and you have to deal with that. That's what happens when you cast a vote sometimes for a charlatan.

BERMAN: Melik?

ABDUL: Yeah. Well, I wasn't bamboozled at all. And many people, even here in the country and the Republican Party -- even though we have criticisms because, you know, that's what you can do within your own party is criticize your party -- where we may have criticisms of Trump's actions.

What happened in Venezuela, I believe it was the Biden administration who put a $25 million bounty on Maduro's head. So the reason that we went in there is to actually get him out of power.

[07:45:05]

As far as Greenland is concerned, I think this is a lot of bluster from the Trump administration, but it isn't a new idea. I believe that going back to maybe the 19 -- early 19th or something century, the United States has posed this idea -- posed this idea of buying Greenland. So this is something that has happened over and over again -- of course, in the first Trump administration, Trump 1.0, and now in this administration.

If anything, I believe that the United States will still propose some type of financial incentive for Greenland -- in a country of 54,000 -- to actually buy the island. But I don't think that there will be any sort of military action in that area at all. There will be some sort of cooperation agreement and maybe more military establishments on Greenland itself, but I don't think that we have to worry about the United States military invading, essentially, a NATO ally.

BERMAN: So overnight, the administration froze $10 billion in childcare funding to five Democratic-led states. One of them is Minnesota. Leave Minnesota out of this. But four Democratic-led states that are not Minnesota and there are no accusations or evidence about funds being misused there. Ten billion dollars being withheld in childcare and social services funding.

Twenty seconds to each of you. Melik, is this -- is this a worthy endeavor or is this politics here?

ABDUL: Oh, I think it's probably a bit of both here.

But keep in mind, in New York there was an inspector general -- I think there was about $200 million or so in New York alone as far as fraud is concerned -- and Hochul, herself, has acknowledged that -- and the Trump administration is trying to actually recoup some of that money. And that may be around $25 million. I'm sorry, not $200 million.

But this is something that I think the Trump administration really should do because Democrat governors around the country have failed when it comes on the issue of fraud, particularly like in Minnesota.

BERMAN: Bakari?

SELLERS: It's absurd. I mean, I don't have to -- I don't even need 20 seconds. Just imagine if Barack Obama did it. Imagine if Barack Obama froze funding to Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Louisiana. I mean, they would be up here just pitching a fit.

So, I mean, it's patently absurd -- the politics. People are hurting and the White House doesn't care. And they don't really have any talking points or any style (PH) to fix the problem. They're going to continue to divide the country the way they have and hopefully elections will change it in November.

BERMAN: Bakari Sellers, Melik Abdul, good to see both of you. Thank you very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: So the trial of the former Uvalde police officer just started and already there is a fear of a possible mistrial. Why the judge has now ordered jurors to not show up today.

Plus, an engagement -- a huge whoops. He proposed, she said yes -- congrats. So why then did he make this face -- you will see it -- immediately after?

And it's one of the top streaming shows around right now. Ahead, one of the stars of the hit show "HEATED RIVALRY" will be joining us to talk about the show's surprise success.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:52:00] SIDNER: This morning a dramatic turn in the trial of a former Uvalde school police officer accused of abandoning children during the massacre at Robb Elementary. The Texas judge overseeing the trial of Adrian Gonzales told jurors not to show up to court today and canceled today's testimony. Instead, the judge will consider defense claims that the prosecution withheld evidence from them that could potentially result in a mistrial.

Prosecutors charged Gonzales with 29 counts of child endangerment or abandonment, saying he was early to the scene but failed to act on his active shooter training. Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the attack. Gonzales has pleaded not guilty.

Joining me now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson. Good to see you.

Look, the lawyers for the accused are saying that prosecutors basically ambushed them because they didn't disclose this major change that was made on the stand -- the testimony of a key witness -- a teacher who testified that, you know, she admitted that she changed her testimony to what she told investigators just four days after the shooting, saying on the stand that she saw the shooter --

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- and that the shooter had shot towards her and the children.

How strong of a case does the defense have because this was surprise testimony?

JACKSON: It really was. So, Sara, good morning to you. Good to be with you. Happy New Year.

Listen, this is problematic and let's talk about why. Everyone deserves a fair trial no matter what you're accused of no matter whether the public loves you, hates you, not the issue. It's what the jury determines.

And part of that fair trial is the distribution of information. It's called discovery. And when you have something -- it's called a Brady Violation. If there is something that says -- that's favorable to the defense and it's not disclosed, that becomes an issue. We don't have trial by ambush; we have trial where I know what's happening as a defense attorney. The prosecutors put on their case, and you do it fair.

So when you have a witness that gives the indication of one thing when she's interviewed by police and then says another on the stand and you don't have anything to confront her, it's troubling. And yes, it could lead to a mistrial.

However, the judge has a variety of remedies. Like what? That's why they're having a hearing today to determine hey, prosecutors, is this information you knew and didn't disclose? Was this -- you know, how did this come about? And so the judge could tell the jury to disregard the entirety of the

testimony of the witness. Hard to un-ring a rung bell. The judge can say hey, you know what? I'm going to give a curative instruction to the jury saying we're going to disregard portions of the testimony. And by the way, gentlemen and ladies, she said one thing and said another. Or the judge could declare a mistrial. The judge can allow them -- the defense -- to cross-examine.

A lot of remedies here. Not necessarily a mistrial, but there's a lot the judge can do. This is a problem.

SIDNER: Yeah. I wanted to ask you about this just a little bit further because the prosecution itself -- the judge had a meeting with the prosecutors and the -- and the defense outside of the jury being able to listen to it all. And the prosecutor said that she was surprised by the testimony.

[07:55:00]

I mean, what happens here? I mean, this can happen.

JACKSON: Yeah. So it's a question of facts. So to your point, Sara, they put the district attorney on the stand and say hey, what happened, right? And the district attorney is saying well, I'm just as surprised as you.

But the witness said no, no, no -- I disclosed this to you last month. That four days after I said one thing -- nothing about the shooter, nothing about shooting towards the direction -- but then I told you when we met again.

And so that's an issue and it's an issue not only with regard to this trial but it has ethical implications. There's something called the bar, right, that governs our licenses. And if you did something like that, not only does it impact what can happen in this case -- mistrial or the other remedies I spoke about -- but it could impact that district attorney personally.

But we'll see. That's what a hearing is for -- not to jump to any conclusions.

SIDNER: Yeah. We know that he has -- the former officer has pleaded not guilty. We also know that the families of all these children -- the 19 families are just -- must be beside themselves as they're watching all of this play out, hoping to see justice done.

Joey Jackson, thank you so much.

JACKSON: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Do appreciate you -- John.

JACKSON: My pleasure.

BERMAN: This morning new legal action from the incident two years ago when a door plug blew off an Alaskan Airlines flight midair. This morning, according to CNN affiliate KING, its pilot is suing Boeing. Captain Brandon -- is suing Boeing, period. Captain Brandon fisher says Boeing initially put blame on him even though he got everyone to the ground safely.

When passengers filed suit in 2024, Boeing denied liability, saying its products were improperly maintained by other entities. And Captain Fisher's attorney says that pointed the finger at him. He is now asking for at least $10 million in damages.

A West Virginia shelter dog is on the lam. Security video shows Dawson getting out of his kennel and going to the door and then figuring out a way to unlock and open the door. By the way, if this becomes a thing it really upends world order. Dawson then left for the streets of Huntington. The shelter is hoping someone finds Dawson so they can place him in a forever home and probably so he can't teach dogs around the world how to do that.

A critical mistake at one of life's most important moments. While proposing to his girlfriend, a Michigan man dropped the ring. Now this can happen but this time they were on a suspension bridge at a resort and the ring, you know, fell through the bridge dropping 118 feet to the snow below. You can see it on his face right there. They searched for more than two hours initially but could not find it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIELLE JENKINS, FIANCE DROPPED RING DURING PROPOSAL: I didn't even get to see the ring. I just knew it fell and I went uh-oh.

TREVOR VAN CAMP, DROPPED RING DURING PROPOSAL: We kind of gave up and thought it was a lost cause at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, thankfully, what happened was a staffer used a metal detector to keep searching and after numerous false alarms he did find it. I know what you're thinking -- the big question. What did this mean for the proposal after a mishap like this? Anyone having second thoughts. Apparently, no one did. The couple now says they want to return to the resort for the wedding. Maybe not on the bridge, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Definitely on the bridge and that resort employee is MVP and best man of the wedding.

BERMAN: I hear it's good luck if you -- if you drop a ring 118 feet during a wedding proposal and it rains.

BOLDUAN: Exactly. It rains and all of the things. It's going to be fantastic.

BERMAN: It's going to be fine.

BOLDUAN: It's going to be fantastic. Boyne is actually the resort that I grew up skiing at.

BERMAN: Oh. BOLDUAN: Yeah.

BERMAN: Did you drop anything there?

BOLDUAN: I didn't get married there. I was, like, five.

BERMAN: OK.

BOLDUAN: Yeah. OK, let's move on.

The ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is next scheduled to appear in a New York court in March. Until then he is being held in an infamous Brooklyn jail, one that's housed many, many high-profile detainees. A jail that also has its -- the -- a jail that's conditions have been described as barbaric.

CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on what life is like inside.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): From palace luxury to prison hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Venezuelans in New York are ecstatic about this.

GINGRAS (voiceover): Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center, or MDC, is where nearly 1,300 inmates, now including ousted Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, bide their time as they await federal trial in New York.

Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, crypto king Sam Bankman Fried, music stars Sean "Diddy" Combs and R. Kelly are former MDC detainees. Accused murderer Luigi Mangioni is there right now.

Maduro isn't even the first president of a country to be held there. Former leader of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernandez, also stayed at MDC while on trial for drug trafficking charges.

Inside, MDC conditions have been described as barbaric.

SAM MANGEL, FEDERAL PRISON CONSULTANT: It truly is hell. There is very little HVAC. There's very little heating. Every inmate gets one wool blanket, which means they're probably wearing the prison jumpsuit that you saw him in yesterday to sleep as well.