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Thousands Protest In Greenland And Denmark Against Trump's Threat To Take Greenland; Governor Tim Walz Mobilizes Minnesota National Guard Amid Protests; DOJ Launches Probes Into Governor Walz And Mayor Frey; Tension Rise Between Trump And Iran's Supreme Leader; Voters Split On Trump's First Year Back In Office; Thousands Pay Tribute To Grateful Dead's Bob Weir; Cold Front Could Bring Snow To Parts Of Deep South. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 17, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

JOHN LYNSKEY, AMBASSADOR OF ALUMNI RELATIONS: This is 1986 and 1987 school year.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The connections to the school run even deeper. The Mendoza brothers' dad also played football at Columbus alongside Mario Cristobal.

LYNSKEY: Fernando was an offensive lineman. And there's Mario Cristobal leading the team onto the field.

MARIO CRISTOBAL, UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI HEAD COACH: It's always special when you get to play against with or against guys that you knew or knew growing up.

LYNSKEY: This is Haley's comet.

GINGRAS: Yes.

LYNSKEY: This will never happen again. A Heisman Trophy winner from Columbus High School playing his hometown university, which he was a fan of, coached by two guys who played with his father in high school, and the game is in Miami. Figure that.

GINGRAS: What makes this school so special?

LYNSKEY: It becomes part of your DNA. And I think it is passed on from generation to generation.

GINGRAS: So do you cheer for the person that thanks you in their Heisman speech, or do you cheer for the side where you're friends with the coaches and you coach some of those players?

DAVE DUNN, HEAD COACH, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS HIGH SCHOOL: It's like trying to pick your favorite kid. Yes. It's not an easy question to answer. So I'm just -- I'm there to root both, everybody, both teams on.

GINGRAS: Do you have a shirt that's like split in half? DUNN: No, I don't yet. Someone asked me what color you're wearing, red

or green? I go, I'm wearing blue.

GINGRAS: Come Monday night, this entire football field is going to be transformed into a giant watch party. And whether it be Mendoza and IU or the University of Miami, who comes out on top, this school says it does not matter. It is a win-win situation for them. It's going to be a great game.

In Miami, Brynn Gingras, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York. Jessica Dean is off tonight.

Well, according to an E.U. diplomat, E.U. ambassadors will be holding an emergency meeting tomorrow. This as President Trump escalates his threat to take over Greenland.

Large protests taking place in Greenland and Denmark today, while President Trump says that he will be imposing new tariffs on Denmark and other E.U. allies until a deal is reached to purchase Greenland. Protesters on the island telling Trump directly today that their homeland is not for sale.

And thousands more people were protesting across Denmark today as a U.S. delegation of bipartisan lawmakers are meeting in Copenhagen with leaders from both Denmark and Greenland.

CNN's Betsy Klein joins us now.

And, Betsy, this declaration from the president really blindsiding so many European allies. How are they responding?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, we are hearing a lot of pushback, and we have seen President Trump use tariffs as well as the threat of tariffs as a negotiating tactic. The president taking that tactic now to Greenland. And he has long said that he believes that the U.S. should have control of Greenland for what he says are national security purposes to combat rising threats from China and Russia in the Arctic.

But that has prompted significant pushback from Greenland, from Denmark, which controls the Arctic Island as well as from European countries. And here at home, where a new CNN poll says that 75 percent of Americans oppose President Trump's efforts to control Greenland. But the president escalated this once more today as he issued a two tiered tariff threat that could have massive economic implications and implications for key American trading partners.

The president saying in a post to social media, quote, "Starting on February 1st, 2026, all of the above mentioned countries, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland, will be charged a 10 percent tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st, 2026 the tariff will be increased to 25 percent. This tariff will be due and payable until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland."

But European officials reacting to this in very stark terms, some of them were surprised. And you might recall that earlier this week there was a key meeting in Washington between Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Greenland and Danish officials. One of those top officials, the Danish foreign minister, said in a statement that this was a surprise after what he described as positive conversations in Washington this week.

We also heard from French President Emmanuel Macron. He says that tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer piling on, saying that the president's tariff strategy is, quote, "completely wrong." And a stark warning from European commissioner Ursula von der Leyen. She says that tariffs would undermine Trans-Atlantic relations.

So it's going to be a very closely watched emergency meeting of European officials later Sunday in Brussels. But I also want you to listen to how the Trump administration is talking about this from Mike Waltz, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

[19:05:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I promise you, their lives will be safer, stronger and more prosperous under the umbrella of the United States. And furthermore, if you look at Denmark's defense expenditures, they have zero heavy icebreakers. They really have no navy in the Western Hemisphere to speak of, and they certainly aren't contributing in a meaningful way to the Golden Dome Space or other types of missile defense we have to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, European countries have deployed troops to Greenland in recent days. Those officials say that this is to provide that Arctic security that Trump and other top U.S. officials say is necessary, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Betsy Klein, we should note we're expecting a ruling from the Supreme Court on the legality of these tariffs next week. And we're also expecting to hear from President Trump when he travels to Davos for the World Economic Forum, as well.

Thank you so much. A busy few days ahead.

Well, tension is mounting in Minneapolis tonight as demonstrators in subfreezing temperatures are gathering near the federal building protesting ICE. A CNN field crew observed lines of law enforcement officers in riot gear holding batons, and some people being detained.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is mobilizing the state's National Guard to support the state patrol if needed. This comes after a federal judge ruling yesterday that immigration agents are not allowed to arrest or retaliate against peaceful protesters, or use pepper spray or similar crowd dispersal tools against them.

Julia Vargas Jones joins us now live in Minneapolis.

We've been speaking the last few hours, the evening hours are setting in. Temperatures are freezing and turning even colder, Julia. And more and more people are turning out behind you. What are you seeing?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are seeing more people arriving. Honestly, Bianna, I thought we were done. As the sun went down, we saw really a lot of people exiting this this federal area that doesn't only include this one federal building, there's a bunch of -- it's a complex of buildings over here. We saw a lot of people leaving as the sun went down, but now it seems more people are arriving.

But something different that I want to just show you is that now we have a line of sheriff, Hennepin County sheriff vehicles, basically keeping protesters on this sidewalk. It has been, as I had mentioned before, the main reason for protesters and federal agents to clash. It is part of the reason why earlier today we saw people being detained, why we saw pepper spray or something similar to pepper spray, I should say, being used despite that ruling you mentioned from the federal judge that said that would not -- no longer be an option for these federal law enforcement agents who are here in Minnesota.

Look, the demonstrations have been mostly peaceful, and the number of people is perhaps in the low hundreds. OK. And yet there are some parts of this, of this crowd, as there always are some people who are agitators who are trying to provoke police. You know, we saw people getting really close to these federal law enforcement cars trying to hit them, some of them succeeding in doing that. That's when we start seeing that kind of response.

Now since these sheriff vehicles have parked themselves here that has kind of kept protesters on the sidewalk. It has kind of kept things down a little bit. But earlier we saw some of those tensions, and then we spoke to one person who was detained and explained to us how that happened. We saw it happening in real time. And we weren't sure of what had transpired at that time, but I want you to hear from him what that experience was like and some of the questions that I asked him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Explain to me, I was on the other side. So were you blocking the road? Were you --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No. Sorry. I was actually on the sidewalk right in front of the tennis courts. And the ASAC, the assistant special agent in charge in the DHS building, he reviewed the footage and he mentioned that he -- like the median line, the one that divides the cars on the road, that's the one where you're not allowed to cross as a protester. But he saw clearly that I was right on the sidewalk. So he let me go.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So what was the reason they gave you for your detention?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said something about, well, I didn't hear everything in perfect detail, but they said that they were looking for some people that were spitting at police cars and making threats at officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And I asked him, did you spit at police cars? Did you make threats of officers? And, Bianna, he said, no. Now this sounds to -- seems to corroborate something that we've heard from other people who were arrested that some of the drones that have been flying here are, and some of the security footage is being used to identify these protesters, that this is being very closely observed by these federal officers on the other side of this fence.

[19:10:16]

And then that is why we saw earlier today, if you remember, Bianna, a very deliberate and targeted operation to come and make those detentions, bring those people inside, and then question them. And if they determine that they were not the people they were looking for, then they were released.

Now, again, you mentioned that order from the federal judge. I wonder what this all means for that order if this was or was not a violation or direct violation of that order from the federal judge. And again, as the night falls, we are expecting, more and more for these protests to be agitated. We know that this is what happens as night falls. So far, they have been listening to the calls of those Minnesota and Minneapolis officials who have been asking for protests to remain peaceful, to remain calm.

We've heard a few people walking up and down this protest, reminding other folks that this is supposed to be a peaceful demonstration, reminding folks if you stay on the sidewalk, we can stay protesting. So we hope that the peace, this peaceful situation will continue as night falls and those temperatures drop here in Minneapolis -- Brianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, we hope things remain peaceful as well.

Julia Vargas Jones, thank you.

Well, the rising tensions between protesters and immigration agents comes as sources tell CNN the Justice Department is investigating Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey over alleged obstruction of federal law enforcement. While Walz did not confirm the -- did not confirm the investigation to CNN, in a statement, he accused the federal government of, quote, "weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents."

Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman joins us now for more on this.

Harry, it's good to see you. So you've argued that the reported DOJ theory for subpoenaing the governor and the mayor is weak and that their speech is First Amendment protected. So what is the line legally between what we've heard them say thus far and where anything they say could be viewed as an obstruction to investigation?

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Thanks, Bianna. Good to be here. More or less nothing they say could be used in that fashion with the law that they are investigating requires is that Walz and Frey use threats, obstruction or intimidation, basically to force the citizens of Minnesota to impede federal officials. So the words even the encouragement that they've said can't possibly fit in that box.

Even if it could, there's an extra First Amendment protection unless you are actually threatening imminent harm. So really, the theory, it's not a close call in no way applies here would have to be Walz and Frey, you know, out there screaming at people to go impede federal officers. The problem here is that it's pretty easy to get a subpoena. And if they get a subpoena, they may be able to forage in the files of Walz and Frey.

And that may give rise to just, you know, this is a general political battle that they really are weaponizing the DOJ in favor of, and that's really, I think, what underlies this action. No way any judge would permit the crime to go forward. And I kind of imagine that the crime will not even be charged.

GOLODRYGA: So then I would imagine there are lawyers in the DOJ who know exactly what you've just laid out and agree with you. They know the law just as you've explained to our viewers. So then what's the point of issuing these subpoenas?

LITMAN: I think there are two points, and you're right. And that would have been in a normal era a game stopper. No one does it since there's no possible predicate. But this obviously does two things. First, it has a kind of a muscle pushback, an in terrorem effect. It puts Frey and Walz on the defensive. And then second, Bianna, this point about the subpoena. You need a grand jury sitting to get that piece of paper that says, give me evidence. And even though the underlying crime they're investigating could never come to fruition, it gives them certain investigative powers they wouldn't otherwise have.

That seems like, frankly, a corrupt use of the DOJ prosecutorial machinery. But we're seeing that quite a bit in the last year and especially recent weeks.

GOLODRYGA: So, Mayor Frey, in the early days I think leading up in the hours, right after the shooting death there of Miss Good, when he said that the ICE agents and ICE itself should get the F out of the city, that didn't meet the standards that you just laid out legally?

[19:15:17]

LITMAN: I think that's right. Think about it. Was that threat, force or intimidation of -- it's a conspiracy case, an agreement to use threats, force or intimidation to get Minnesotans to actually impede? You know, that is salty language, of course, but there's nothing unprotected about salty language saying, we don't want you here. This is an invasion, as you know, they've been saying again and again. It's pretty straight up political expression, which makes it even more

problematic. And even if he's incensed, that wouldn't be enough. That doesn't mean he is threatening the people of Minnesota to impede federal officers.

GOLODRYGA: All right. Harry Litman, thanks so much. Thanks for breaking it down for us. We appreciate it.

LITMAN: Thank you, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And still ahead, tensions rise between President Trump and Iran's supreme leader as the U.S. sends military assets to the Middle East. Plus, CNN speaks with voters in one key swing state who backed President Trump about the first year of his second term.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:21:05]

GOLODRYGA: President Trump is pushing for new leadership in Iran following weeks of anti-government protests that have killed thousands of demonstrators. Today, Trump told Politico that Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is a sick man who should run his country properly and stop killing people. At the same time, Khamenei is calling Trump a criminal and accusing him of inciting the country's deadly unrest.

CNN's senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: U.S. President Donald Trump said in an interview published Saturday that, quote, "It's time to look for new leadership in Iran." The comment made to Politico signals a heating up of rhetoric echoed by Iran. Saturday Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the American president on his X account of being behind the recent wave of protests in Iran.

Those protests appear to have been largely put down, although with the internet and telecommunications blackout now almost 10 days old, it's hard to get a clear picture of what is going on inside the country. There's little indication, however, that many inside Iran were either able or willing to respond to the call by Reza Pahlavi, the son of the ousted shah of Iran, for people to take to the streets Saturday following a press conference he held in Washington Friday in which he appealed to President Trump to ramp up military, economic and political pressure on the government in Tehran.

Earlier this week, President Trump vowed on social media to the protesters in Iran that help is on its way. But then backtracked, claiming he had been assured that detained protesters would not be executed. Yet the White House insists that when it comes to Iran, all options are still on the table. The Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is on its way to the Middle East, while other military assets are being deployed to the region. The carrier group is expected to be in place within a week to 10 days.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Erbil in northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Our thanks to Ben Wedeman.

We're joined now by CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel Leighton, it is good to see you. So here we have a ratcheting up of words between President Trump and the supreme leader in Iran just as more assets are approaching the region right now. Now, there are experts that say kinetic response from the United States is not the most effective way of responding to the brutality we've seen over the past few weeks. But if the U.S. were to take military action, what do you think their targets could be?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Bianna. It's great to be with you. One of the things that they could do, of course, is go after the command and control nodes that really serve the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, as well as the Iranian military and the Iranian police. So that would be one aspect.

The other thing that they could do is they could hit the critical infrastructure. Tehran is suffering from a major water shortage right now. That, of course, would also impact the population. So it's a dangerous thing to do. But they could potentially go after the water supply of Tehran. And of course, then there's cyberattacks that could be launched. Iran is not as dependent as we are on the internet. However, it does have a major aspect, there is a major aspect that is dependent on it in terms of the Iranian state and the Iranian economy.

And there could be efforts to exercise some degree of influence by going in and mounting a cyberattack of one type or another.

[19:25:03]

And it really would depend on exactly what type of cyberattack you wanted to launch, whether or not that would, you know, create the kinds of conditions that you would be looking for in a case like this. But pure kinetic action against targets like this where there is this kind of brutality against protesters is very hard to achieve if you don't have actual boots on the ground. And the U.S. administration is, of course, reluctant to put boots on the ground at this point in time.

GOLODRYGA: We recall back over the summer after the 12 Day War between Iran and Israel, where Israel really had control over Iran's airspace for a number of hours, if not days. And then the U.S. joined Israel in its fight in attacking its nuclear program there and bombing the nuclear facilities at Fordow and other sites. But it has been reported that Israel is increasingly concerned about Iran now reconstituting its ballistic missiles program.

Is that something that the U.S. could target as well?

LEIGHTON: Yes, absolutely. And in fact, those concerns are quite valid on the part of the Israelis. And I think some in the U.S. defense establishment actually share those concerns. The Iranians have been able to probably reconstitute somewhere around a third or so of their ballistic missile capability that they had before June of this past year. So that would be a valid target, and it could have a major impact on what the Iranians could do in response to a U.S. -- potential U.S. attack against them.

So that would be a major thing to go after and it could also augment any efforts against their leadership targets or anything like that.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And the president, of course, saying that help is on the way. So whether it's kinetically or whether it's through cyber or restoring internet access, it does appear that we may see something transpire there in the days and weeks to come.

Let me ask you about the president's focus on Greenland because that's only escalated as well. Now issuing new tariff threats on U.S. allies in the E.U. at 10 percent, that can ratchet up to 25 percent in the months to come. And one of the reasons that you're hearing those in the administration support the president's call for the U.S. having control over Greenland is because of a threat to the island from China, from Russia, and suggesting that Denmark and other NATO members don't have the technology and the assets that the U.S. could provide, specifically, ice cutters.

Just talk about your view on the legitimacy of those claims.

LEIGHTON: Yes. So this is a very interesting situation, Bianna, because the real issue here is that because of climate change, the sea lanes in and around that surround Greenland are actually much more open, potentially much more open to traffic from other countries, including countries like Russia and China. So there is a valid security concern there. But both the U.S. and the Danes have a minimum number of military personnel. Both have about 150 each. The U.S. at the Pituffik Space Base, the Danes at various bases throughout the more southern part of the country for the most part.

They also have specialized teams that handle certain specific aspects of the Arctic environment. So the main concern really here is to secure not only those sea lanes of communication, but also potential resources that Greenland might have. And when you look at the way in which this whole thing is unfolding, it really becomes pretty clear that the United States could do a lot of what it wants to do under the existing agreements that it has with Denmark and as part of the NATO alliance.

The exercise that the Danes are planning with the European members of NATO and potentially Canada, that that could be something that the U.S. has actually been invited to join, and it could be something that they could use to further interoperability between the various militaries in the Arctic region, which would actually be a very good thing. But there's absolutely no need for the U.S. to actually physically control Greenland. That in some ways might even be counterproductive because it would

take a lot more resources than what we currently expend on Greenland at the moment.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, you're right to point out a 1951 agreement that gives the U.S. far reaching access to the island, including military bases.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, have a great weekend. Thanks for the time.

LEIGHTON: You bet. You bet, Bianna. Good to be with you.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you.

And coming up for us, swing state voters weigh in on President Trump's first year in office.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:33:58.1]

GOLODRYGA: Tuesday, marks one year since President Trump retook office, and he maintains that the economy is doing great under his leadership. But some of his most loyal supporters don't agree.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny speaks to some voters who backed him in the crucial state of Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)'

FRANZ ROWLAND, GEORGIA FARMER: I don't know who dropped the ball in Washington to allow these prices -- his trade diminished like it has, but somebody dropped the ball. Somebody wasn't looking out for us.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN, CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: On his farm here in Southern Georgia, Franz Rowland is taking stock of the last year and fearful of what's ahead.

ROWLAND: Trump says, you know, be patient. The farmers are going to be better than ever. Well, he better hurry up because we can't we stand this much.

ZELENY (voice over): He voted for President Trump, hoping a stronger economy and better trade deals would follow.

ZELENY (on camera): When you hear politicians and others in Washington saying the economy is doing great, the country has never been better.

ROWLAND: They need to come out here and live in my shoes. The economy may do, may be doing better for some people, but on the farm it ain't doing better.

[19:35:06]

ZELENY (voice over): As the President begins his second year back in office, a majority of Americans call the first year a failure. Here in Georgia, a state critical to this fall's midterm elections, economic concerns are top of mind for Florence Allen.

FLORENCE ALLEN, GEORGIA RESIDENT: My economy is not hot. I'm paying the bills.

ZELENY (on camera): Cost probably across the board have not gone down on many things.

ALLEN: Oh no, my costs have not gone down on anything. Not here at the store and not at home.

ZELENY (voice over): Allen, a Democrat, has owned her toy store for 20 years and tried to navigate a whiplash tariff policy that's impacted much of her inventory.

ZELENY (on camera): When you've heard the President say, we're making all this money on tariffs.

ALLEN: Give it back to me.

ZELENY (on camera): Because tariffs are passed along or you swallow them.

ALLEN: Yes.

ZELENY (on camera): Right.

ALLEN: Yes, so, you know, you've raised my costs. So, I think for most people he's not fooling people with that line.

ZELENY (voice over): Georgia has long stood as a leading barometer for Trump's performance. He won the state in 2016, lost in 2020 and won again in 2024, flipping Baldwin County in Central Georgia for the first time.

JANICE WESTMORELAND, GEORGIA VOTER: He gets A plus from me.

ZELENY (voice over): Janice Westmoreland said she feels more secure with Trump in office, a sentiment reflected in many of our main street conversations.

ZELENY (on camera): Do you like having him back in office?

TONY AGEE, GEORGIA VOTER: I do, I voted for him. I'm tired of the United States getting pushed around.

ELINOR CARRICK, GEORGIA VOTER: Looking at where my 401(k) is, I'm going to give him an A.

ZELENY (on camera): Yes, it's done pretty well.

CARRICK: Yes.

ZELENY (voice over): For Trump, maintaining his coalition of Republicans and Independents will be at the center of the fight for control of Congress as voters weigh his broader actions, including deep cuts made to the government. Vi Le was among the hundreds of workers whose jobs were eliminated at the CDC.

VI LE, FORMER CDC EMPLOYEE: Terminating me and my teams like, that's one thing, but CDC that remains what's happening there now, that is mostly untold. Like that still continues to be really harmful.

ZELENY (voice over): Back on Rowland's farm, the 72-year-old Republican is as disappointed as dismayed.

ZELENY (on camera): Were you expecting things might get a little bit better with Trump back in office?

RAWLAND: I did, yes, I felt I thought by now we would have -- we would have some really good trade. I did think it would be better by now, yes.

ZELENY (on camera): And Rowland's disappointment is very clear there. Again, he does not blame President Trump for all of his economic difficulties, but he did think it would get better. And that is a central challenge facing The White House. Trying to assure Americans that the economy will be getting better.

The President, of course, brags about the health of the economy. That's not what we heard in our conversations in Georgia.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

GOLODRYGA: A lot of frustrated Trump voters out there. Thanks to Jeff Zeleny for that report.

All right. Still ahead, grateful dead fans pay tribute to the late founding member Bob Weir. Ahead, I'll speak with a close friend who has known the legendary guitarist for six decades.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:40]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(DIFFERENT ARTISTS PAY TRIBUTE TO BOB WIER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Thousands turned out in San Francisco today to pay tribute to the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir. Weir was a founding member of the Dead and never seemed to stop touring for six decades. Weir, died January 10th at the age of 78.

I want to bring in Jorma Kaukonen. He's a founding member of Jefferson Airplane and a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer for both The Plain and Hot Tuna. He also had a six decades long friendship with Bob Weir. Thank you so much for taking the time today. I know it must be bittersweet on the one hand, the loss of your friend, which is devastating, but to see so many turn out and pay tribute to him.

What do you want the world to know about Bob Weir?

JORMA KAUKONEN, ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAMER FROM JEFFERSON AIRPLANE AND HOT TUNA: You know, Bob was just such a such a singular human being. I remember he was a teenager when I met him, but he was always that man. He was a gracious soul. A questing soul. I don't think he ever, ever lost those qualities. And he's a man who will be sorely missed.

GOLODRYGA: I want you to hear part of what Joan Baez and Wynonna Judd had to say about him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WYNONNA JUDD, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Wow, I'm not surprised but there you all are. And I'm so glad people are addressing Bob in the first person, because it feels comfortable to do that. Because the sense that he's here is stronger than the sense that he's gone. I got to sing to Robert before he died and I'll always be really grateful for that opportunity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Wynonna is one of the biggest names in country music. Joan was a folk star in the 60s and 70s, where really did seem to reach across a broad spectrum. How unique was that?

KAUKONEN: He was a time of human being. I think, in a lot of ways. I don't think he ever lost that. As I mentioned before, that youthful quest for singularity, and he just seemed to be able to relate to people and also, you know, he's a little bit younger than me.

[19:45:17]

I was just looking at it, looked at him as that amazing young man that just never quit giving.

GOLODRYGA: Well, you're not an old man yourself, so hopefully you have many, many more years ahead of you. And I know you wrote in an emotional tribute piece that you had told weir that his music had grown very long legs, to use your words. What did you mean by that?

KAUKONEN: You know, if you think about where guys like Bob and me and some of our other San Francisco compatriots started out, I'm not sure we could have even envisioned even being here today, much less having our music being so remembered. The Grateful Dead and Bob's writing, it's a worldwide phenomenon. You can't script stuff like that when you're young, it's amazing and I will continue to be so.

GOLODRYGA: And as we were looking there on those paying tribute and those musicians, I see John Mayer playing the guitar. You wouldn't exactly place John Mayer's music alongside that of the Grateful Dead. Yet, he told a gathering in San Francisco today that they did stand together because of Weir. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN MAYER, SINGER-SONGWRITER AND GUITARIST: He thought me among many other things to trust in the moment and I'd like to think I taught him a little bit to rely on a plan.

Bob took a chance on me. He staked his entire reputation on my joining a band with him. He gave me musical community. He gave me this community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: I can see how emotional John was there. Tell us about the Deadhead community and what it really meant to Bob?

KAUKONEN: You know, I don't think there will ever be another community quite like the Deadheads. I'm not even going to use the word fan, because it's much more than that. It's sort of like a shared consciousness that's lasted for a very long time. I'm in the music business, as you know, and I run into a lot of people that are Grateful Dead fans. It surrounds their life in a way that I can't imagine any other artist does.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Jorma, thank you for sharing a bit about your friend with us. Again, so sorry for your personal loss, but look at how much music was made for all of his fans to enjoy for many, many years to come. Thank you.

KAUKONEN: Thanks for giving me the time.

GOLODRYGA: We'll be right back with more.

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[19:52:22]

GOLODRYGA: Well, a weather warning. Thermometers are expected to dip to some dangerously low temperatures in the days ahead. In fact, most of the country is about to get hit with the coldest temperatures so far this season. Even Florida could see some historic lows.

CNN's Allison Chinchar shows us how far this cold snap will spread and how low the temperatures could dip.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, roughly 75 percent of the U.S. population is going to see temperatures at or below freezing at some point over the next several days. And that includes areas deep into some of the southern states. That means as we start to get some moisture that builds back into these areas, it could change over into snow.

So, we're looking at the overnight hours tonight. You can see that next system from the Gulf starting to push a lot more moisture into states like Florida, Alabama and into Georgia. Early on, it's really going to be focused as rain as those temperatures are on the warm side. But as we start to go into early tomorrow morning and those temperatures dip back, yes, you could even start to see some of that change over into some rain snow mix, even at times. Maybe, perhaps all snow for portions of Georgia, South and even North Carolina.

Granted, it's not going to be for long, and this is a very fast-moving system. In fact, it exits entirely out of this area by the time we get to Sunday evening. So not much in the way is expected in terms of snowfall accumulation and any impacts it would likely cause. But those cold temperatures are here to stay. In fact, after that system moves through, temperatures will drop even more, even as far south as Florida.

Take a look at this, Orlando looking at a morning low temperature Monday of only 36 degrees. Even Fort Myers going to see temperatures dropping down into the 30s early Monday morning. That is falling frozen iguana weather for some of these areas in South Florida. But it's going to be even colder across areas of the north as we get the next round of cold air that moves through.

So, you can see all that cold air in place Sunday into Monday. But then that next shot comes in as we head into the latter portion of the week. So, it's going to be kind of a roller coaster for some of these areas.

Take Nashville, for example. Look at this, highs in the 30s the next few days, we do warm up a little bit before that next drop comes as we head into next weekend. And then looking at Cincinnati again. The average high this time of year is 39 degrees. They will spend every single one of the next seven days at or below that high temperature.

GOLODRYGA: Falling frozen iguana weather, that means it's really cold. Our thanks to Allison Chinchar for that report.

Well, history in Virginia as the first woman governor has sworn in, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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[19:59:24]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-VA): A governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to the best of my ability.

SPANBERGER: According to the best of my ability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, help me God.

SPANBERGER: So, help me God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations, Governor.

SPANBERGER: Thank you. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Democrat Abigail Spanberger, making history today as Virginia's first woman governor. Only men have held the top office in the Commonwealth since 1776. Well, that changed today.

In today's swearing in ceremony, Spanberger says, she's honored to have changed that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPANBERGER: The history and the gravity of this moment are not lost on me. I maintain an abiding sense of gratitude to those who work, generation after generation, to ensure women could be among those casting ballots but who could only dream of a day like today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: In keeping up with traditions, Spanberger will now be referred to as Madam Governor or Her Excellency.

Well, thank you so much for joining me this evening, Bianna Golodryga.

Up next, "The Whole Story" with Anderson Cooper, goes inside the raid that ended Nicolas Maduro's Rule. That starts right now.

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