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E.U. Holding Emergency Meeting Over New Trump Tariffs; 1,500 Troops Put On Standby For Possible Deployment To Minnesota; Governor Walz Mobilizes Minnesota National Guard Amid Heated Protests; Georgia Town Unites Against Rumored ICE Facility; Russian Strikes Leave Ukrainians Battling Cold Without Electricity; Eighty Plus Lawsuits Against Roblox Centralized In California Court; Buddhist Monks On 2,300 Plus Mile Walk For Peace; MAHA Movement Fueling Debate Over Hormonal Contraception. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired January 18, 2026 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:36]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Sorry, I need to slow down.

All right. We begin this hour with President Trump ratcheting up his demands for Greenland with threats of a new trade war with Europe. Right now the European Union is holding an emergency meeting of its ambassadors in Brussels. And today's high stakes gathering coming after President Trump announced that he would hit eight E.U. countries with new tariffs of up to 25 percent until a deal is reached for the U.S. to buy Greenland from Denmark.

On Saturday, thousands of people rallied against Trump's hostile takeover threat in Greenland and Denmark.

CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us right now from Greenland.

So, Nic, what more can you tell us about how European nations are responding to Trump's new tariff threats?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, and those nations that are coming under direct fire from President Trump are those nations that contributed troops to the NATO, led by Denmark, military exercises that are going on here in the Arctic, designed to try to figure out a better way of projecting security in this particular region, something that the Danish government has said they believe that's the understanding and desire of the U.S. government.

So there is and has been this real sort of extreme surprise at the way President Trump has responded to this because they thought there was at least some sort of agreement or understanding about what was happening to those countries that have been hit and have responded with a joint statement. That's Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the U.K.

And what they're saying is that President Trump's threat on tariffs undermines the transatlantic security, puts it on a downward spiral. They say they stand behind the people of -- they stand behind Denmark, the people of Greenland, that they're open to discussing with the United States on a basis of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which means the United States not taking control of Greenland.

Where this goes from here, those ambassadors at the E.U. today discussing that, we've heard from the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, backing up what those eight other countries have said and the measures that could be put in place are stopping any movement on U.S.-European Union trade deal. That would mean additional tariffs or that would mean at least tariffs remaining in place on U.S. goods coming into Europe, and the potential for even stricter and harder financial measures from an anti-coercion instrument, an economic instrument the European Union has that it can use.

And that's what the discussion is about. And this really represents right now the biggest breakdown in trust in discussions between the European Union and the United States. And it's all about what's happening here in Greenland.

WHITFIELD: Very tense. And the tensions building even further.

All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

All right. Now back to this country and Minneapolis, where officials are bracing for yet another escalation in the anti-ICE protests that have gripped the city and the nation, for that matter. After dueling demonstrations yesterday, sources say the Pentagon is putting 1500 active duty soldiers on alert for possible deployment to Minnesota. And that comes as the state's governor, Tim Walz, has announced that he is placing the Minnesota National Guard on standby.

More than a week after an ICE agent's killing of 37-year-old Renee Good protesters are out on the streets again today. Officials are warning any military deployment would fuel tensions even further.

CNN's Betsy Klein is near President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, where he is spending the weekend. And CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is on the ground for us there in Minneapolis.

So, Betsy, you first. Could we expect a decision on this troop -- possible troop deployment?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Certainly possible. But what we know right now is that the Pentagon has positioned -- ordered 1500 active duty troops to potentially prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota. What we know is that these are two battalions from Alaska. We don't yet know what types of duties they would be asked to perform. But according to one U.S. defense official, it could be crowd control as well as assisting law enforcement on the ground.

[16:05:05]

And President Trump has expressed openness to the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act in recent days, that is that centuries old law that allows a president to place U.S. troops within the United States. And we heard today from the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, he said that there may come a time when that is needed in Minnesota and that Trump has the full support of the Justice Department.

Now, multiple officials stressed to me and my colleagues that this does not necessarily mean that a deployment is imminent or even guaranteed, just that they are ready if needed. We do know they are monitoring the protests on the ground in Minneapolis and surrounding areas very, very carefully. And they have a range of options for President Trump should he decide to proceed. All of this as the Trump administration has surged federal agents to Minneapolis. That includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, as well as other federal personnel and a small number of FBI agents.

And we are seeing this immigration crackdown, as well as intensifying protests after the death of Renee Good, fatally shot by an ICE agent. Listen to how acting ICE director Todd Lyons described the role that these federal agents are playing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD LYONS, ACTING DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: You hear about the 3,000 federal officers and special agents that deployed to Minneapolis. Majority of those, if not most, are to protect the men and women that are out there trying to make those arrests. And that has definitely changed our tactics, where we would go and have five to six officers on an arrest team. Now you have to go with 10 to 15 just to protect those individuals that are trying to arrest a bad guy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, those comments from Lyons come after a federal judge ruled on Friday that agents cannot deploy certain crowd control measures or arrest peaceful protesters -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Betsy. Let's go to Minnesota now, where we find Julia there. Protesters still there behind you. How is that city bracing for any possible deployment of military troops?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're saying they are unnecessary. They're saying that it's inflammatory even. That's what we're hearing, not only from the protesters here on the ground who are saying not only don't send those troops, get the current 3,000 federal agents who are in Minneapolis right now out of here, Fred.

That is also what the mayor of Minneapolis, the Democratic mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, is saying. He spoke to CNN earlier this morning and said that this would only inflame things further. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: This act was clearly designed to intimidate the people of Minneapolis. And here's the thing. We're not going to be intimidated. If the goal here is safety, we've got many mechanisms to achieve safety, and the best way to get safety is not to have an influx of even more agents. And in this case, military in Minneapolis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, Fred, I do want to just step out of the way here so you can see what's happening right behind me. Of course, the mayor there is talking about federal agents, but we're seeing an increased presence of the sheriff's deputies here outside the federal building. It appears even more protesters arriving. Not deterred by these single-digit temperatures today.

I did speak to a few protesters earlier today who told me that this is their weekend. This is the time that they can be out here or they can take time off work, and so that we can expect even more people to show up over the weekend for these protests despite the cold.

And their main concern, Fred, is not only about their neighbors who might be targeted by ICE, who may be targeted by these federal agents. One woman even told me she's just afraid of being caught in the middle of any of this. And that is why she said she needed to come here today to protest, to make her voice heard. That is what we're hearing from a large number of the protesters who are here, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much there in Minneapolis.

All right. Now to Georgia, where a small town is pushing back after learning it is under consideration for a massive new ICE detention facility. The town is called Social Circle. And this week, a rumor brought them together to keep a warehouse from housing immigrants.

CNN correspondent Rafael Romo is joining me now.

You visited the town. You talked to people, and the majority says they don't want this to happen.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They don't want it at all. And it's such a beautiful, peaceful town. But the residents are on edge because of this. And local people told me that no other issue in recent memory has united this town more than this one.

[16:10:04]

Progressives in the town say a warehouse is not a place to hold human beings like cattle. And conservatives are concerned about public safety and the impact to their already strained water and sewer system. Meanwhile, the town's mayor has a message for ICE -- go away.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARETH FINLEY, SOCIAL CIRCLE RESIDENT: Social Circle is a very sweet small town in Georgia. It's a very conventional, old fashioned, lovely little town.

ROMO (voice-over): But all that may be about to change in this town of 5,000, located about 45 miles east of Atlanta.

Is this a conversation that is being had?

FINLEY: Oh, yes. People around the town are all talking about it.

ROMO (voice-over): Many people here like Gareth Finley are convinced that the federal government wants to convert this warehouse in a detention center for as many as 10,000 immigrants, which would triple the town's population.

FINLEY: I myself am also against having ICE transform industrial warehouses into detention centers. I think that's a really, really bad idea from a human rights perspective.

ROMO (voice-over): Finley, a human rights activist, says she organized the protest when she received a tip that people from out of town were going to survey the facility.

David Keener, who's starting his seventh year as mayor of Social Circle, is opposed as well.

MAYOR DAVID KEENER, SOCIAL CIRCLE, GEORGIA: Painful. I don't want that here. This is not the town for that. You know, if I had to sum it up in two words. Go away.

ROMO (voice-over): And so is the town leadership for reasons, they say, that have nothing to do with politics or the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration.

ERIC TAYLOR, SOCIAL CIRCLE CITY MANAGER: It has nothing to do with what the political situation is. For us it simply just comes down to the fact that we're a small town of 5,000 people. We have a very limited water and sewer infrastructure. It's too close to elementary school.

ROMO (voice-over): Social Circle Elementary is located only 4,000 feet from the warehouse.

John Miller, a businessman who owns horse stables across the street from the warehouse, says the entire town is united against this. Even beyond political differences.

JOHN MILLER, ORGANIZER, ONE CIRCLE COMMUNITY COALITION: Regardless of your ideological bent, most people in Social Circle are about Social Circle first. We're about our lifestyle.

ROMO (voice-over): CNN asked the Department of Homeland Security about the issue, but so far there has been no reply.

As CNN reported in October, DHS is funneling $10 billion through the Navy to help facilitate the construction of a sprawling network of migrant detention centers across the U.S.

KEENER: I don't know that it's a done deal. You know, we've -- I've actually, no one has contacted me from ICE nor federal government, nor the property owner. And as of today, we've not received an application for detention center in that location.

ROMO (voice-over): For Georgia's greatest little town, it's a battle residents say they can't afford to lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO (on-camera): And as we reported in October, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is seeking to convert warehouses in other spaces around the country into massive detention facilities and several states, including Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Utah and here in Georgia. Additional details about the facilities remain unclear. And local officials and social circle told me they believe there might be a nondisclosure agreement between the warehouse's owner and the federal government. So a lot of discussion there, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Wouldn't the mayor ultimately have to be informed about a facility, a new business, anything happening within the city limits? Aren't there certain standards that have to be met?

ROMO: I asked him about that. And he says only if it's done privately because there are some zoning issues that they would have to deal with and the city council would have to address and approve before they can do something like that. But the federal government has some powers that would allow them to do this, even if the town itself doesn't want it.

WHITFIELD: Fascinating. All right. Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right. Millions of Americans in a deep freeze today as Arctic air blasts much of the U.S., sending snow as far as Florida. We'll tell you how long it's expected to last. Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATERYNA SKURYDINA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): It's very difficult mentally, especially since everything that kept you going before is falling apart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: How Ukrainians are fighting to survive the brutal cold there after Russia's repeated attacks on their energy grid. And a long walk for peace, the Buddhist monks on a pilgrimage to Washington to raise awareness about compassion across America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:19:30]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. A brutal Arctic blast is putting millions of Americans in a deep freeze with bone chilling temperatures. And it's also bringing snow to much of the U.S., including in parts of the Deep South.

This is a scene of snow falling in Pensacola, Florida.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking it all.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More than 40 million people are under some type of cold weather alert, and that extends across portions of the Midwest, Northern Plains, and yes, even down across portions of Florida where they have freeze warnings in effect across much of the northern part of the state.

[16:20:06]

Take a look. Jacksonville, morning, low temperature on Monday, expected to drop all the way down to 31 degrees below freezing. For some perspective their normal low would be about 44 degrees. Orlando, Fort Myers, also looking at temperatures close to or below that 40 degree mark. Now this means, especially across South Florida, you could end up having some of those falling frozen iguanas early into the morning on Monday. So be careful with that.

Now farther to the north, also cold temperatures here, but a little bit chillier than we're seeing across Florida. Look at this. Minneapolis. The normal low would be about eight degrees. We are going to be minus eight, minus seven. And then finally getting back closer to normal once we get to Wednesday of this week. Chicago, Saint Louis, also looking at temperatures about 10 to 15 degrees below where they normally would be this time of year.

Now for Washington, D.C., New York, Boston, places like that, Monday morning not too far off from average. Then we start to see the drop on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. So the cold is also coming. It's just going to be slightly more delayed. Now, with all of that cold air in place, it means as the moisture moves through these areas, you're going to see it in the form of snow, especially as this clipper continues to slide down through the day Sunday into the evening hours, transitioning over the Great Lakes and then spreading into areas of the northeast.

It's all going to be in the form of snow. Most of these areas will pick up a few extra inches on top of what they've already had. The real key spot are going to be these areas right here on those eastern flanks of the Great Lakes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Allison Chinchar, thank you.

All right. Meantime, in Ukraine, residents are also battling a brutally cold winter. And Russian strikes are leaving residents without power for long stretches of time when temperatures are plummeting.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's nowhere to hide from the cold in this Kyiv apartment. This is day five without heating for Kateryna Skurydina. Day three without power.

SKURYDINA (through translator): It's very difficult mentally, especially since everything that kept you going before is falling apart. For example, when there is no electricity, sports keeps me going. I go to the gym which runs on battery power. Yesterday, they even canceled the gym.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): She says in a moment of desperation she ordered everything she could to stave off the dark and cold. Power banks, rechargeable candles. They make it cozy, she says. A Ukrainian clay pot hand warmer, even a heated blanket for her cat, ironically named Pushok or fluffy. Still life of survival in Russia's escalating war of attrition.

Kyiv has become hardened to attacks on its energy grid, but a huge wave of strikes late last week combined with a severe cold snap took it into uncharted territory. On the streets, the rumble of ever more generators, the soundtrack to Ukraine's fourth winter at war. No one is spared, not even the repair crews working 24 hours a day to bring power back online.

"We do not even know at home whether there is electricity," says Erasmus (INAUDIBLE), as he works to fix a damaged cable. "We are all living in this situation."

Destruction often outpaces repairs for Ukraine's biggest private energy company.

What happens at DTEK behind the scenes when there's a major attack?

OLEKSIY POVOLOTSKIY, HEAD OF ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE RECOVERY OFFICE, DTEK: Actually, the attack may take just a few minutes, but to recover after the attack, you need months or even years. So we don't have spare time.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): DTEK power plants have been attacked eight times since October, the company says. A recent strike blowing a hole in the roof of this one, letting in the snow.

POVOLOTSKIY: This winter, maybe because the Russians, they are not very progressing on the battlefield, they decided to put Ukraine into the humanitarian crisis.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): It's a fate Kyiv is racing to avoid. Shelters known as invincibility centers have been set up in the capital for people to charge devices and get warmed.

"The lamp hasn't charged for some reason," says Tamara Viktorovna (PH), who's in her 70s. Everyone here learning survival skills.

In another heatless apartment across town, Kateryna Voronina, who's 72 and has trouble walking after hip surgery, is struggling to stay positive.

KATERYNA VORONINA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): It's scary of course. I'm holding on. I'm not complaining at all. But yesterday, after the lights went out, I had what you might call an acute stress reaction. I was crying here all by myself. My friend called me. I couldn't stop.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): She says she regularly scrapes off the ice forming on the inside of her window, and waits. Clare Sebastian, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[16:25:01]

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, one year after devastating wildfires leveled thousands of buildings in Southern California, an electric company is suing Los Angeles County, saying it is partially responsible for the fires. More on that. Plus, how survivors are coping with the destruction as they try to rebuild.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The popular gaming company Roblox is facing mounting legal troubles over safeguarding children on its platform. According to Reuters, nearly 80 lawsuits against Roblox are being centralized before a San Francisco court. The suits filed in various parts of the country alleged the California based company of enabling sexual predators to groom and abuse children.

[16:30:12]

CNN's Hadas Gold reports on the measures Roblox says it is adding to make its platform safer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If you have a child at home, there's a good chance they've played Roblox. The kids build and play user-generated games while chatting with others, paying for special avatars, abilities, and items along the way.

But the open-ended nature of Roblox, as well as its chat functionalities, has led to major questions and lawsuits over child safety.

BECCA DALLAS, SUING ROBLOX AFTER SON'S DEATH: We did everything we thought we did. We did our best. We put the parental controls. We talked to my son about the dangers, don't click any links. He thought he was corresponding with a minor. Little do we know it was a 30- something-year-old man.

GOLD (voice-over): We registered for Roblox as though we were a 10- year-old. Almost immediately, we came across worlds such as active shooter games.

In this spray paint world, marketed to kids five and older, we saw inappropriate language within seconds and messages about dying along with an image of a stick figure in what appeared to be a noose.

Roblox says that while it uses technology to block inappropriate content, those tools work best when paired with parental controls.

Anger over safety issues has led to some of its own users, like 15- year-old Mason Hebden, to call for action. MASON HEBDEN, LAUNCHED A PETITION TO REMOVE ROBLOX'S CEO: The game I've seen inappropriate avatars with body parts. That really shouldn't be in the game.

GOLD (voice-over): After hearing about so many kids' inappropriate experience on the game, he launched a petition calling for accountability from Roblox CEO and co-founder, Dave Baszucki.

The petition has more than 300,000 signatures.

HEBDEN: Since he hasn't done anything at all in the past like multiple years, I feel like there's a -- there needs to be a change with the CES bot.

GOLD (voice-over): Roblox says it welcomes the feedback from the community.

ELIZA JACOBS, ROBLOX SENIOR DIRECTOR PRODUCT POLICY: We have been building safety systems for a long time. And we will continue to build and innovate and improve.

GOLD (voice-over): In addition to its existing parental controls and safety measures, Roblox is rolling out age-gating software that scans the users' face, estimates their age, and will only allow the player to chat with those in their age range.

JACOBS: We will have systems running in the background to detect if there's any kind of anomalous behavior on the account. So if we have any reason to believe that the person that used the facial age estimation system and verified their account is no longer operating that account, we'll introduce additional checks.

GOLD (voice-over): The company is also facing dozens of lawsuits, including by at least four states.

JAMES UTHMEIER, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Today, I'm announcing that my office is filing a lawsuit against Roblox for what we believe are serious failures to protect our kids.

Roblox aggressively markets to young children, but fails to protect them from sexual predators.

GOLD (voice-over): If your child is playing Roblox, experts recommend the following tips. Register your child in the appropriate age range. Set up a parent account, link it to your child's and engage parental controls. Only put approved friends on their chat list. Monitor their activity and keep open the lines of communication.

For Mason's mom, Lena, figuring out how to manage the risks of a game like Roblox is just part of modern parenting.

LENA HEBDEN, MASON'S MOM: There's really only so much a parent can do without fully taking the game away, so we have to make them as prepared as possible.

GOLD (voice-over): Hadas Gold, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Thousands turning out in San Francisco paying tribute to the Grateful Dead's legendary guitarist Bob Weir. Weir passed away last weekend. He was a founding member of the Dead who kept on touring for six decades.

He always wished for the music and the legacy of the Dead to outlast him. Bobby Weir was 78 years old.

And more than two months ago, a small group of Buddhist monks began a pilgrimage. A walk from Texas to Washington both online and on the road. They're bringing people together in ways that we rarely see.

CNN's Anderson Cooper has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): When 20 monks left their Buddhist temple in Fort Worth, Texas, 81 days ago, there was little fanfare. They planned to walk to Washington some 2,300 miles away.

At first, few passersby knew who they were, this thin line of silent monks, accompanied by their dog, Aloka, picked up as a stray on an earlier walk in India.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey.

COOPER (voice-over): But with each step and each day that passed, word began to spread. It was, they said, a pilgrimage, not about politics, but about peace, in their words, to raise awareness of loving kindness and compassion across America and the world.

In Houston, Texas, they prayed for police, giving them Buddhist blessing cords, a symbol, the monks said, of a shared prayer for the officers' safety, well-being, and endurance as they serve the community.

Their temple began posting their procession online, often with music accompanying their march. That's when the crowds began to grow.

Some, who met the monks along their route, were brought to tears. Others offered food and water and encouraged Aloka, who now has his own Facebook page with more than 600,000 followers.

[16:40:04] But the journey has not been easy. Some of the monks walk barefoot.

Just weeks in, their escort vehicle was hit by a truck, and one of the monks, Bhante Dam Phommasan's leg was broken and had to be amputated. He implored the others to continue, and now they say he walks with them in spirit.

This man, Osbaldo Duran, donated a new escort vehicle so the monks could continue on.

OSBALDO DURAN, DONATED VEHICLE TO MONKS: When I saw that, I was like, no, they need some help. We've got to help them. They're walking for us.

COOPER: Now cities offer them police escorts to ensure their safety, and more and more people want to walk with them.

As they cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, site of an infamous standoff during the struggle for civil rights, they paused to pray and hundreds joined alongside them.

The monks begin their days at dawn and sometimes don't rest until night. This was 70 days into their journey in Arnoldsville, Georgia.

They've crossed six states so far, and with each step and each stop, more are moved, and their message has spread.

This was the scene in Columbia, South Carolina this week, one of their biggest crowds so far.

We may not hear many people speak of compassion and kindness in politics or culture today, but for many, these monks are a sign of hope. Their steps may be silent, but it seems they're being heard loud and clear.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seeing people from all walks of life and faiths come together has been deeply moving. There's something profoundly powerful in the simplicity of their act, monks walking for peace.

Instead of worrying about the future, maybe the real question is, what are your plans? Because peace only happens when each of us decides to play our part.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks to Anderson Cooper for bringing us that report and thanks to the monks. The monks hope to arrive in Washington February 12th. And to have a gathering to mark the end of their 2,300 mile pilgrimage.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:45:44] WHITFIELD: All right. Are we ready for some college football tomorrow night? The Indiana Hoosiers and the Miami Hurricanes will face off for college football's national championship. Indiana is undefeated in looking for its first ever football national title. Miami, well it's won the national championship five times. But the last title came 25 years ago.

On Saturday, we got a chance to talk with the high school coaches for the two starting quarterbacks who will be in tomorrow's championship football game.

And both of those high school coaches expressed pride to see their former players reach the title game.

And we talked about how special it will be to see them play for the national title in Florida. Both back in Florida because they both played high school in Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITEFIELD: What has it been like for you to watch your former high school quarterback win the Heisman and now play for the national championship in his backyard?

DAVE DUNN, FERNANDO MENDOZA'S HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL COACH: It's been a great ride to watch the success that Fernando's had this year and have the ability to -- to win the Heisman trophy and, you know, cap an undefeated season and get a chance to play for the national championship in your own backyard. It's -- it's pretty surreal.

WHITFIELD: And then, Bobby, I mean you coached the Miami quarterback Carson back in high school in Jacksonville, you know. And he started his college football career in Georgia where he was part of two national championships, will now attempt to, you know, leave Miami to its first national championship in about 25 years.

And I'm wondering, in high school, did you see that certain something in him and say, oh, he's going far. He's soaring. I mean -- or is this a big surprise to you or not?

BOBBY RAMSAY, CARSON BECK'S HIGH SCHOOL COACH AT JACKSONVILLE MANDARIN: It's definitely not a surprise. You know, he -- he led us to the only state championship in -- in Mandarin high school history and in a Jacksonville in the bigger school classifications.

He's -- he set the state record for -- for passing touchdowns in the state championship game as a junior that year.

And there's certainly was some growth. And even since then, obviously, you're going to have to continue to develop as a person and a player. And -- and he's done that at the next level.

But the -- the -- the traits were certainly they're physically his love of the game. I was fortunate to be able to coach Derrick Henry in high school and that was something similar about the two of them is. And some other guys that have gone on to big things is they love football and the things they go into making themselves the player that they can -- the best player they can become. He had those traits.

So I'm not -- I'm not surprised he's in the situation at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Game time tomorrow at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

All right. So much more straight ahead right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:50:08]

WHITFIELD: All right. There's a backlash growing from inside the Make America Healthy Again movement against hormonal birth controls for women.

CNN's MJ Lee explains passionate arguments from both sides are fueling an escalating debate.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE BOCEK, MOTHER OF TWO: We have just under 11 acres for everything.

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Stephanie Bocek grows vegetables and raises chickens and tick eating guinea fowls to try to keep her family healthy organically.

BOCEK: Look, you have an egg. I really was doing all this stuff before MAHA was even a named thing.

LEE (voice-over): A quintessential MAHA mom, Stephanie, says there's one decision dating back to her college years that she now regrets.

BOCEK: I was at the naval academy and I was prescribed birth control as a solution for like women's health issues.

I ended up having severe side effects that I was unaware were caused by this birth control. I had lost my emotional resiliency towards stressors. I wasn't able to turn in assignments on time. And I would be overwhelmed by them.

[16:55:11]

LEE: And you were sure that these effects were coming from birth control?

BOCEK: It was only in a decade later researching and looking back and realizing, I never suffered from those issues when I wasn't on it.

LEE (voice-over): She's part of a growing wave of women, increasingly skeptical of hormonal birth control. That skepticism has, in part, been fueled by the Trump administration.

Listen to Trump's pick for surgeon general and MAHA influencers raising alarm.

DR. CASEY MEANS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE: But we are prescribing them like candy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But it's completely nonpartisan to say, hey, birth control is poison for women.

LEE: The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says, you know, any suggestion that birth control can affect your libido, sexual attraction can affect future fertility. They will say those things have no basis in clinical data. You don't buy that.

BOCEK: I think in any major medical organization, they have a certain agenda that they want a message that they want to get out.

DR. MARIAM GOMAA, OBGYN AFFILIATED WITH JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE: I have been getting more questions, I would say about hormonal contraceptives.

LEE (voice-over): Dr. Miriam Gomaa, a board certified OBGYN, has noticed the growing questions about hormonal birth control.

LEE: The surgeon general nominee says hormonal birth control presents horrifying health risks for women. Do you hear that and think that's too alarmist?

GOMAA: I absolutely think that's alarmist. You know, it's unfortunate because she's a physician who did not complete residency.

LEE (voice-over): Gomaa says the potential side effects of birth control include breast tenderness, bloating and blood clots, but that it all varies patient to patient.

LEE: There is one woman we spoke with who said she lost her emotional resiliency. She felt overwhelmed by stress. Obviously, you're not her doctor, but can you talk to us about whether those are potential side effects of going on birth control?

GOMAA: There's not necessarily data to suggest that this happens to people overall.

LEE: Yes.

GOMAA: And that's not to say her lived experience is not true. It may be.

LEE (voice-over): She's worried that too much misinformation is going unchecked.

GOMAA: It can lead patients to be dissuaded from seeking treatment for things like PCOS or endometriosis, a lot of which we use hormonal contraceptives for.

LEE: Is hormonal birth control safe?

GOMAA: Yes, it is safe. Is it safe for everyone? Not necessarily.

LEE (voice-over): Dr. Marguerite Duane is a family practitioner who specializes in natural family planning. A professor at a Catholic university who is affiliated with anti-abortion organizations, Duane argues that hormonal birth control's potential side effects are too often ignored.

DR. MARGUERITE DUANE, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: All medications have side effects. I think there are better options that women can choose because hormonal birth control may not be safe for all women.

We can learn to chart the signs of our cycle to monitor our health using fertility awareness based methods.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've helped like a lot of my friends like learn to track their cycle, and they're actually pretty grateful for it.

LEE (voice-over): Research shows hormonal birth control methods can be up to 99 percent effective for preventing pregnancy, while fertility tracking is 77 percent effective.

Tracking fertility cycles isn't new to Rachel Ullman, who's been doing it for more than two decades, not because she considers herself MAHA.

RACHEL ULLMAN, MOTHER OF FOUR: No, I would not consider myself that at all.

LEE (voice-over): But in large part because of her Catholic faith.

ULLMAN: I track the peak that's leading up to that fertile moment when the egg is released.

If you are wanting to achieve pregnancy, we have an acronym DTD, Do the Deed. You want to do the deed, when you're on that bell curve.

LEE: How many children do you have?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have four children.

LEE: You have four children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've all been planned. We plan our date nights around when the DTD can happen.

LEE (voice-over): M.J. Lee, CNN, Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right. Right now in Minnesota, officials are bracing for the possibility of hundreds of military troops soon to be sent to the state as anti-ICE protests intensify after 11 days of increasingly tense demonstrations following an ICE agent's killing of a 37-year-old mother of three.

A source tell CNN, the Pentagon has put 1,500 active duty soldiers on alert for possible deployment.

And the state's governor, Tim Walz, has announced that he is placing the Minnesota National Guard on standby if needed.

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis where most of the protests have been taking place for days now.

And CNN's Betsy Klein is in Florida, where the president is spending the weekend. Julia, you first. What's happening?

JONES: Yes. Fred, it is surprising the number of people that continue to arrive at this protest. And along with them, more and more vehicles from the sheriff's department.