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Deadly Train Crash in Spain; Trump Links Failure to Win Nobel Peace Prize to Greenland Threats; Minnesota Crackdown. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 19, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

TIA MITCHELL, "THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": A diplomatic way to get that vetting done.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST: Yes, but it's pressing on a pain point for the party, specifically around the issue of the Middle East and after October 7.

MITCHELL: Yes.

CORNISH: So, it's still a very fresh wound.

You guys, thank you so much for talking with me this afternoon.

Thank you for joining INSIDE POLITICS.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" is going to be here with the headlines right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Going after Greenland, President Trump refusing to rule out using force to seize the Arctic territory after telling European leaders he no longer feels obliged to think purely of peace.

Plus, CNN now learning the FBI did initially open a civil rights investigation into the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good. But its focus was quickly shifted.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: Plus, we're following reports of a 100 car pileup in Michigan, the area being hit by near blizzard conditions.

We're following these major developing stories and many, many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Right now, 1,500 active duty troops are on standby for possible deployment to Minnesota amid President Trump's crackdown there. Governor Tim Walz has also mobilized the state's National Guard to support local law enforcement.

Now, it's all happening as protests continue over federal agents swarming the Twin Cities, residents getting caught in the chaos meanwhile. Video shows a family with several young children getting trapped in a protest and then tear gassed in their car. The mother says she had to give CPR to her infant child. Now, DHS says law enforcement was not targeting the family, adding

that agents were responding to protests and using crowd control measures.

HILL: Now, all this unfurling as the DOJ is vowing to press charges after protesters in St. Paul disrupted services at a church where they say an ICE official serves as a pastor.

CNN is also learning the FBI briefly opened a civil rights investigation into the ICE agent who shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good. But, importantly here, we're learning the bureau then shifted the probe to focus on whether the agent was assaulted.

CNN's Josh Campbell joins us now.

So, Josh, in terms of this FBI probe that was launched and then I guess pushed aside in some ways or shifted, what more do we know about what was initially being investigated?

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is notable, because, in certain situations, when you have an officer who uses force, particularly deadly force, oftentimes, we will see the Justice Department, the FBI open an investigation to determine whether that person, the officer, had violated someone's civil rights.

That doesn't mean that in every case that an agent or an officer has done something wrong, but they will take a look. But what now we're learning is that that was opened as a civil rights investigation into the use of force, but the thrust of that investigation quickly shifted.

It turned, as you mentioned, into looking whether the agent himself was the victim of some type of assault. And so that really sticks to what we have been hearing from administration officials, who came out very quickly and exonerated that agent, saying that he did what he was supposed to do.

But, again, that is notable to see that shift in the investigative posture itself. Meantime, we continue to see these protests that have occurred. They occurred throughout the weekend there in Minnesota. One final note. As you mentioned there, we're learning that about 1,500 active duty military members have been notified that they're on standby.

That doesn't mean that they will be called up and sent into Minnesota. But that in itself is notable, as we're learning the president's still weighing whether to invoke the Insurrection Act. We're told the White House continues to monitor what's happening there on the ground.

FREEMAN: Josh, before you go, I understand the Minneapolis police chief himself is also speaking out about all the strain that this really has been putting on the department. What can you tell us about that?

CAMPBELL: Yes, obviously, this has gotten very political with politicians in open conflict, the White House and local leaders. But in the middle of all this are the local police department officers

themselves. As you mentioned, the police chief speaking out about what all of this is doing to his department. They're the ones there that they're not engaged in immigration enforcement by policy and law, but they are thrust into the middle of this, where you have at times these heated protests, some of these demonstrations that have at times gotten confrontational.

And we're also hearing that the system's 911 program there in Minneapolis, the police chief says, is overwhelmed due to these recent ICE operations. Have a listen to the chief speaking to CBS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN O'HARA, MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, POLICE CHIEF: Targeted, precise, preplanned operations on violent offenders, that is a good thing. But I'm concerned that people in the administration don't actually understand the reality of what's happening on the street.

[13:05:02]

We're seeing multiple calls of people who have been subjected to tear gas, pepper spray.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We need more water.

O'HARA: At least one case, a person was removed from a vehicle and the car wasn't even placed in park, and it was rolling down the roadway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL: Now, this is notable because we have seen this across the country whenever these immigration enforcement operations have taken place. We frequently heard from local law enforcement, saying, look, this is chaotic. We're the ones who then have to respond and deal with this.

As we have long noted here, the Minneapolis Police Department is relatively small. We're talking about 5,600 officers, compared to the thousands of federal agents who are now in that city engaged in these operations.

And so this is really putting a strain on that department, really testing their view of public safety and what comes next. Of course, no one knows how long these demonstrations will continue to go. No one knows how long these controversial enforcement actions will continue by the Department of Homeland Security.

And, meantime, you have the police there, really caught up in the middle.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Josh, appreciate it. Thank you.

Norway's prime minister confirming a stunning message from President Trump to the prime minister sent over the weekend. In it, Trump directly links his failure to win the Nobel Peace Prize to his push to control Greenland, writing -- quote -- "Dear Jonas," the prime minister, "considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars-plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace."

Mr. Trump then goes on to say: "The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland."

Now, all of this as Trump is still refusing to rule out using force as a way to acquire Greenland, telling NBC News -- quote -- "No comment" when asked if that option was still on the table.

So, roughly 48 hours from now, the president is set to travel to Switzerland for the World Economic Forum in Davos. Eight European allies, of course, are now facing this new threat from Trump, a threat to impose new tariffs if they don't get in line behind his desire to buy or acquire Greenland.

CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, joining us live now from Greenland.

This was a really remarkable exchange between the president and the prime minister, especially because, of course, the prime minister is not on the Nobel Committee, not playing a role there. What's been the reaction on the ground?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's a real sense in Greenland that all of this is happening above the heads of the Greenlandic people, that this is out of their control.

And that's a real frustration. The protests at the weekend, the prime minister was there. He was talking about the importance of the unity of the country, importance that they're all standing together. And his message again today is that not just the country is standing together, but Europe is standing behind, the European partners are standing behind Greenland.

That's very important for people here to know that they have that level of support. So there's a sense they can't do much about this, the very clear message, of course, hands off Greenland. It's not for sale and specifically not to the United States.

But there's a sense of their destiny is being decided without them at the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RASMUS JARLOV, DENMARK PARLIAMENT MEMBER: We agree that we have to increase the presence and the ability to monitor what's going on in the Arctic because of melting ice and new sea lanes. So there is a need for more activity up there. And we're also doing that.

But you shouldn't exaggerate the threat from China and Russia and pretend that they're about to take over Greenland, because that is definitely not the case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Without them at the table, and, as you pointed out, Nic, they have been very clear what they want here, and what they want is to not be taken over by the United States.

ROBERTSON: Very clear on that.

And that, of course, this sort of division that President Trump is able to foment here amongst European allies, we have heard from all those nations who've got NATO troops here that President Trump over the weekend threatened to put tariffs on saying that this was destabilizing, undermining the transatlantic alliance, that this was a sort of a downward spiral.

And you just have to listen to the worlds -- the words, rather, of the Russian sort of economic financial adviser who's on his way to Davos, saying this is sort of music to the ears of the Russians to see NATO essentially, at the hands of the United States, picking itself apart.

This is something that Vladimir Putin would really want to see. And this is something that the United States NATO allies, European partners are saying they just want to de-escalate.

HILL: We see this play out, the shift in what we've heard from President Trump in terms of the reasoning behind this urgency to acquire Greenland, the latest being the snub of the Nobel Peace Prize.

[13:10:02]

But, of course, he's talked about the looming threat from China and Russia, which Denmark is pushing back on. He's talked about minerals. Is there a sense of the urgency in this moment of where it may be coming from?

ROBERTSON: It's certainly not clear to the Greenlanders.

China has gone on the record today saying, don't use the China threats in all of this. This is not part of the equation. So the Chinese are sort ruling out any interest that they have in this for them being part of the threat.

As far as it goes with minerals here, the message has been very clear to the United States, and it has been going back to the 1951 treaty. You're most welcome to come here and explore and export minerals, rare earths from here. I spoke with the deputy minister of mining just a few days ago, and he said, look, even though that door is open, the United States has not been trying to really invest in these resources and assets that are there.

So while President Trump says we want them, they're there and available as much as the United States wants, but it's not -- that opportunity is not being taken at the moment. And you have politicians here in Greenland who are making very clear they don't understand why President Trump is making this an issue right now.

HILL: All right, Nic Robertson, thanks for that. Still ahead here, inside the secret plans to rebuild a bunker beneath

the new White House ballroom.

FREEMAN: Plus, we're on the scene in Spain, where a high-speed train crash has killed dozens of passengers. What caused it?

We'll have that answer and much, much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:05]

HILL: CNN has some interesting new reporting here about a top secret bunker that is now under construction beneath the White House. So the project is part of President Trump's controversial costly makeover of the historic building.

Now a source with knowledge of that renovation tell CNN the new bunker will be replacing a decades-old underground facility that's being dismantled as part of the president's new ballroom construction.

FREEMAN: Now, you might remember the demolition work began in October.

For more on this, we have CNN's Betsy Klein. She's got this reporting.

Betsy, good to see you. Tell us, what are you learning?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Danny, there really has been very little acknowledgement that this project even exists, but it kept coming up in the course of my reporting about President Trump's ballroom expansion.

I just had to know more. So, back in 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the secret construction of a secure underground facility, and he built an extension of the East Wing on top of it.

Now the East Wing once more under construction, those underground facilities have been dismantled, according to sources, and there is still a lot of secrecy about what is going on underground. One source told us that this is going to be reimagined and upgraded with state- of-the-art technology to counter emerging threats.

Now, the White House declined to comment for this story, but we did hear from them in a new court filing just last week. They said that halting underground construction would -- quote -- "endanger national security," and that the reasoning behind that is going to be provided in a classified setting.

But let's talk about what was down there. According to sources who have been underground, you go down a couple of floors from the East Wing, there is a secure bunker. It has beds, water, shelf-stable food, secure communications, and there's a massive vault-style door to get there. Then there is the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, the PEOC.

This is a command-and-control operations center for the president of the United States. Unlike the Situation Room, this is just used for emergency purposes. This started as a World War II bomb shelter, but it got upgraded over the years, continually evolving.

It was used during protests in the Nixon era. On September 11, President Bush and Vice President Cheney were secured down there. They also used it to plan secret trip for President Biden to Ukraine more recently, Danny and Erica.

HILL: So it's obviously the kind of place you would want to be continually updated. I think it raises the question, though, of the cost.

And I guess a two-part question for you, Betsy. So the ballroom is supposed to be paid for with private funds, as we know. But if this renovation was started as a part of that demolition, was this already sort of in the budget, or is this an extra cost that taxpayers are now paying?

KLEIN: No, exactly.

And because there's so much secrecy about this, this project is completely classified, we do not have any details on what specifically is going on down there, but we could know in time. For instance, we got photos of the PEOC for the first time 15 years after 9/11 through a FOIA, a Freedom of Information Act, request.

What we really don't know and what will likely be impossible is knowing how much this is going to cost. And that, again, is because of the classified state-of-the-art technology that is going to go down there. We just don't have visibility, but it will be paid for by the American taxpayer.

Many of this technology, I'm told, is stuff that's just not commercially available yet. So we just aren't going to know how much this costs.

HILL: Interesting, not commercially available. I don't know if that's convenient or not when it comes to getting those answers.

(LAUGHTER)

HILL: But I know that Betsy will not give up until she gets the answer.

So thank you, my friend.

Up next here, we're going to take you live to the scene of that deadly high-speed train collision in Spain, dozens of people dead and a lot of questions about what might have caused it, what we know this hour.

FREEMAN: Plus, we have brand-new details about an astounding text message President Trump sent over the weekend tying his crusade to take over Greenland to his failure to win a Nobel Peace Prize. [13:20:03]

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREEMAN: We're following breaking news this afternoon. At least 39 people are dead and dozens more injured after two high-speed trains collided in Southern Spain.

Right now, rescue workers are digging through twisted wreckage searching for survivors. Now, video of the aftermath shows passengers escaping through the roof of one of the trains and some can be seen climbing out of windows.

[13:25:06]

A passenger inside one of the carriages took this video on your screen right here capturing that chaotic scene just after the crash. Spanish authorities are calling the crash -- quote -- "extremely unusual," noting that it took place on a straight stretch of track that was recently renovated.

For more on this, we have CNN's Pau Mosquera. He's near the crash site in Spain.

Pau, tell us, what are you learning about this investigation?

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, we know that at least 200 officers of the Guardia Civil are still being deployed on the ground zero of this deathful train crash.

We're just four kilometers away from the crash site, and here behind me there is some officers -- there are some officers of the Guardia Civil that are controlling the access to that area. They are blocking and not allowing the passage of any car, because they want the road clear for the emergency services.

Here on this town, Danny, we have been speaking to neighbors. And they have been telling us how they have been helping to the victims, to the people that were saving or were taken from the crash site.

I actually spoke to one neighbor, to Gonzalo, and he told me that used a quad to get as many victims as he could, to get them safe here to Adamuz. In one of those travels that he made to the crash site, he told me that he even got six of the victims at the same time to get them safe in here.

Right now, as I told you, the officers that are being deployed in the crash area are trying to figure out the cause of this dreadful accident. But they are also working on trying to identify the bodies, the remains of those that are still missing, because, so far, there's no official data on how many people are still missing.

But we have seen through the day many different families that have come here to Adamuz to try to get information from the authorities, from the relatives that they are seeking, for to know if they are in a hospital, if they are dead, if they are still under the debris of the different carriages.

There's a lot of people that are still suffering and struggling to get official info. Some of them came here to Adamuz, but other ones decided to go directly to Cordoba, which is 30 kilometers southwest from where we are and where the authorities have set up an official point to give as much information as they have to the families, Danny.

FREEMAN: Such a sad, sad story. And just thinking of all those families with those questions.

Pau Mosquera, thank you so much for that report. Appreciate it.

And this just in: President Trump again refusing to rule out using force to acquire Greenland. Would Republicans stop him, though, or make him pay a price if he did?

That and much more coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)