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Will U.S. Intervene in Iran?; ISIS-Inspired Attack Foiled?; Pastor on Crusade For Christian Nationalism. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired January 02, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: A new church quietly opened last summer right here in Washington just three blocks from the nation's capital. The defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and his family have been spotted attending services there.

It's part of a network called the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, and its aim is global Christian dominion under a strict interpretation of the Bible.

In this SITUATION ROOM special report, my colleague and co-anchor Pamela Brown went to Moscow, Idaho, to meet the pastor behind it.

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Christ Church Senior Pastor Doug Wilson makes no apologies for his beliefs on God and country.

DOUG WILSON, SENIOR PASTOR, CHRIST CHURCH: I would like to see the town be a Christian town. I would like to see the state be a Christian state. I would like to see the nation be a Christian nation. I would like to see the world be a Christian world.

BROWN: And now Wilson's controversial views as a Christian nationalist are gaining sway in the nation's center of power with the recent opening of his new church and high-profile parishioners like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

BROWN (on camera): Is planting a church in D.C. part of your mission to try to turn this into a Christian nation?

WILSON: Yes. So, every society is theocratic. The only question is whose. In a secular democracy, it would be demos, the people. In a Christian republic, it'd be Christ.

BROWN: Well, what would you say to someone watching this that say, look, I'm a Muslim;who are you to say your world view is better than mine, that your God is better than mine?

WILSON: Well, if I went to Saudi Arabia, I would fully expect to live under their God's rules.

BROWN: But you said earlier that you want this to be a Christian world.

WILSON: Yes.

BROWN: So, you want to supplant their religion with your Christian...

WILSON: Yes, by peaceful means, by sharing the Gospel. There's a lot of work yet to do. I believe that we are working our little corner of the vineyard.

BROWN (voice-over): Wilson's little corner, a picturesque campus nestled on the outskirts of downtown Moscow, Idaho, is growing by the day with thousands of like-minded Christians.

Parishioners of his church, known as kirkers, own and operate several businesses downtown next to liberal college town stores.

WILSON: If it's true, if it's true ...

BROWN (on camera): Why did he yell boo? Because it's ...

WILSON: Because of me.

BROWN: Because of you.

WILSON: Yes. Well, there you have -- there you go.

BROWN: That's a regular day for you.

WILSON: That's not unusual.

BROWN (voice-over): A big focus of his Christian movement is on a patriarchal society, where men are dominant and women are expected to submit to their husbands.

WILSON: Women are the kind of people that people come out of.

BROWN (on camera): So, you just think they're meant to have babies.

WILSON: Well...

BROWN: That's it? They're just a vessel?

WILSON: No, it doesn't take any talent to simply reproduce biologically. The wife and mother, who is the chief executive of the home, is entrusted with three or four or five eternal souls.

BROWN: I'm here as a working journalist, and I'm a mom of three.

WILSON: Good for you.

BROWN: Is that an issue for you?

WILSON: No. No, it's not automatically an issue. BROWN (voice-over): Josh and Amy Prince, along with their four kids,

moved here from Washington state.

(on camera): Do you see Amy as your equal?

JOSH PRINCE, MEMBER, CHRIST CHURCH: Yes and no. In the sense that we're both saved by grace, we're absolutely on equal footing. But we have very different purposes, God-given.

[11:35:07]

BROWN: But do you see yourself as the head of the household, as the man?

AMY PRINCE, MEMBER, CHRIST CHURCH: He is the head of our household, yes, and I do submit to him.

BROWN: So, like, moving here was ultimately your decision?

A. PRINCE: I was just going to say that. Yes, that's a great example.

J. PRINCE: That's a great example.

BROWN (voice-over): Wilson says in his vision of a Christian society, women as individuals shouldn't be able to vote. His fellow Pastors Jared Longshore and Toby Sumpter agree.

TOBY SUMPTER, SENIOR PASTOR, KING'S CROSS CHURCH: In my ideal society, we would vote as households. And I would ordinarily be the one that would cast the vote, but I would cast the vote having discussed it with my household.

BROWN (on camera): But what if there's -- your wife doesn't want to vote for the same person as you?

SUMPTER: Right. Right. Well, then that's a great opportunity for a good discussion.

BROWN: There are some who have gone so far as to say that they want the 19th Amendment repealed.

JARED LONGSHORE, EXECUTIVE PASTOR, CHRIST CHURCH: I would support that. And I would support it on the basis that the atomization that comes with our current system is not good for humans.

BROWN (voice-over): And Wilson, a veteran himself, is unapologetic about his view that women shouldn't be in certain leadership or combat roles.

(on camera): Looking at the leadership page for Christ Church, it's all men.

WILSON: Right.

BROWN: Do you accept women in leadership roles in the church and government? WILSON: In the church, no.

BROWN: Why?

WILSON: Because the Bible says not to.

JENNIFER BUTLER, FOUNDER, FAITH IN DEMOCRACY: Well, that's not what happens in the Bible. Women do lead all the time.

BROWN (voice-over): Progressive faith leader Reverend Jennifer Butler is concerned about Wilson's growing influence.

BUTLER: He is rapidly gaining in power. He has hundreds of churches established around the country. They actually literally want to take over towns and cities. And they have access to this administration.

BROWN: Wilson is part of a broader Christian nationalist movement making inroads with the Trump administration, with a newly created faith office led by Evangelical Pastor Paula White-Cain, and people seen right outside the White House entrance praying and speaking in tongues.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are standing on the soil of the White House, and we are declaring your word.

(SINGING)

BROWN: And now there's a monthly prayer service at the Pentagon initiated by Hegseth, Wilson's highest-level connection to the administration.

WILSON: It's not organizationally tied to us, but it's the kind of thing we love to see.

BROWN: For his part, Hegseth has publicly praised Wilson.

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Now we're standing on the shoulders of a generation later, the Doug Wilsons and the others.

BROWN: Wilson's influence spans the globe, with more than 150 churches. Lennox Kalifungwa moved to Moscow from Africa.

LENNOX KALIFUNGWA, NEW MEMBER OF CHRIST CHURCH OF ZAMBIA: It's really because I wanted to be a part of a community that was doing something, and especially in building Christian institutions.

BROWN (on camera): Are there other black families in this community?

KALIFUNGWA: Oh, absolutely. There's a few black families.

BROWN (voice-over): Wilson maintains all are welcome to his church, but he's also not shying away from his past controversial statements on race.

(on camera): Do you still believe what you said back in the '90s that there's a mutual affection between master and slave? WILSON: Yes. It depends on the -- on which master, which slave you're

talking about. Slavery was overseen and conducted by fallen human beings. And there were horrendous abuses. And there were also people who owned slaves who were decent human beings and didn't mistreat them. I think that system of chattel slavery was an unbiblical system, and I'm grateful it's gone.

BROWN (voice-over): What he also wants gone, same sex marriage because he thinks homosexuality is a crime.

WILSON: In the late '70s and early '80s sodomy was a felony in all 50 states. That America of that day was not a totalitarian hellhole.

BROWN (on camera): So, you would like America to go back to that?

WILSON: Yes.

BROWN (voice-over): Wilson maintains his ultimate goal is to bring about the second coming of Christ through his work and rejects critics' claims he's trying to make the dystopian world of "The Handmaid's Tale" a reality.

WILSON: I'm not a white nationalist. I'm not a fascist. I'm not a racist. I'm not a misogynist.

BROWN (on camera): How far off do you see a Christian nation, like a full-on Christian theocracy?

WILSON: Oh, 250 years.

BROWN: Two hundred and fifty years?

WILSON: Yes. Honestly, that's -- yes.

BROWN: That's what you see. But you do think it will happen?

WILSON: Yes, I do. We're not going to usher in anything ourselves. We're really genuinely pioneers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And our thanks to Pamela for that.

Report joining us now is Father Edward Beck. He's a Roman Catholic priest and a CNN religion contributor.

Father Beck, thanks so much for joining us.

Does the rise of this Christian nationalism that we just heard Pamela explain surprise you?

REV. EDWARD BECK, CNN RELIGION CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it doesn't surprise me, in the sense that we have people fostering it, right, Wolf?

I mean, two days ago, we had the president of the United States auctioning a portrait of Jesus off at his private club. I mean, you have churches and pastors who support Christian nationalist views who have access to power. So, when you have that, it's not surprising that it would be increasing.

We just heard in Pamela's report that this Pastor Wilson has 150-plus churches globally, a congregation three blocks from the Capitol. And the defense secretary of the United States is a proud member.

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So when you have that kind of power aggregating, it's not surprising to me that it's spreading.

BLITZER: So why do you expect this trend is growing right now, it's growing stronger in the United States?

BECK: Well, I think you have this Christian nationalist language that is shaping debates, debates on immigration, education, civil rights.

You do have some pushback on it, I think. I mean, yesterday, in New York, we had the new mayor, Mayor Mamdani, he took his oath of office on multiple Korans. So, I mean, there are some people saying, no, that's not who we are, that's not who we want to be.

But I think, in a sense, it's spreading because people are buying the message that if you marry religiosity with nationalism or with patriotism, that there's an advantage to it. But I'm not really sure that that's true.

BLITZER: Several members of the Trump administration and government agencies celebrated Christmas by posting religious messages from official government accounts, which prompted some criticism from people who support the separation of church and state.

I'm curious what you make of that.

BECK: Well, look, I have zero problem with officials posting "Merry Christmas," I mean, or sharing their personal faith. That's religious expression and it's protected.

I think the problem is when government officials use their power to privilege one faith tradition over others or to implement religious law as policy. Christmas greetings are fine, but monthly prayer services held at the Pentagon by the secretary of defense, I don't know, I think that may cross a line.

When officials use their government platforms not to just express faith, but to advance specific theological political agenda, like the one we saw in the piece advocating Christian theocracy, I mean, that violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

BLITZER: Father Edward Beck, thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. And I hope 2026 is going to be a happy and a healthy and a productive, peaceful year, not just for you, but for all of us. Thanks so much for joining us.

BECK: Same to you, Wolf. Blessings. BLITZER: All right, I want to get to the breaking news right now. The U.S. Justice Department is sharing new details about what it says was a potential terror attack that was planned for New Year's Eve here in the United States. The plot was apparently foiled. The FBI is giving an update right now. I want to listen in.

RUSS FERGUSON, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR WESTERN DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA: The defendant here is an 18-year-old named Christian Sturdivant. He has been planning this attack for about a year, but he's been planning an attack for far longer than that.

He was planning this attack in support of ISIS, and we have charged him with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, that organization being, of course, ISIS.

Now, this is still very much an active investigation. We had to act quickly here to protect the public, so we are light on details, but we will tell you as much as we can. And Mr. Barnacle will probably tell you more than I will about those charges, but I thought I would give you an overview of what's in the federal complaint and the charges that we charged.

So Mr. Sturdivant started on the Internet. He started reading ISIS material, started going to ISIS Web sites, making TikTok videos, and eventually reached out to what he thought was a member of ISIS, in reality, was an undercover agent with NYPD in New York.

He pledged his allegiance to ISIS with that undercover agent, and he disclosed his plans to -- quote -- "do jihad soon." He then met a second undercover with the FBI who he also thought was an ISIS participant, and he started to be very specific with his plans. He talked with that undercover agent, again, who he thought was ISIS.

He talked about where he was planning to do this attack, which was at a grocery store and a fast-food restaurant in Mint Hill, places that we go every day and don't think that we may be harmed. He talked about what means he would use to kill innocent people. He said he was going to wear a Kevlar vest and attack people with knives and hammers.

And, of course, he talked about when he was going to carry out this attack, which was New Year's Eve, a time when American life is on full display, right? We're all out there in crowds celebrating all that has happened this year, all that is to come that we are so proud of, and that is when he planned his attack to attack that American way of life.

The FBI executed a search warrant at his home, and they found the instrumentalities of the attack. They found hammers and knives hidden under his bed. They found notes where he planned his attack and detailed his attack and plans for how he was going to carry out this attack.

It was a very well-planned, thoughtful attack that he had planned and that was fortunately foiled here. He was preparing for jihad, and innocent people were going to die. And we were very, very fortunate they did not. [11:45:00]

But the fact that, along the way, in this extensive planning of this attack, he encountered not one, but two undercover officers should make the public feel very, very good and very safe, because law enforcement is out there every day, and we know they have a lot...

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue to monitor this news conference. This is Russ Ferguson. He's the United States attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. We're standing by to hear also from the special agent, FBI agent in charge in North Carolina, James Barnacle. He's going to be providing more details on this apparently foiled ISIS attack that was planned for New Year's Eve in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I want to bring in the former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis. He's back with us.

So, Ed, what's your reaction when you hear about this?

ED DAVIS, FORMER BOSTON POLICE COMMISSIONER: Well, another potential tragedy averted, and it speaks to the great coordinated work of various agencies like the NYPD and the FBI and the officials in North Carolina.

U.S. attorney Ferguson spoke about the preparation for this, the instrumentalities that were found during the search warrant. So, this was a real threat. And, in many ways, it's the biggest problem that investigators in this area have, which is a single lone wolf, somebody who's on their own who is not part of a conspiracy that can fall apart or that can be monitored easy.

Thankfully, and unfortunate for him, this guy befriended someone online, and that astute undercover officer at the NYPD was able to turn this over and prevent a tragedy.

BLITZER: Yes, apparently, they were monitoring the social media statements that this individual who has now been arrested was making, and then this undercover agent pretending to be part of ISIS got into a conversation, they got details, and they found hammers and knives underneath his bed that were apparently being used allegedly to go ahead and kill as part of a jihad.

It's very disturbing when you hear about this, especially in the aftermath of what's been going on, not just here in the United States, but around the world, right?

DAVIS: No question. It's an indication that this continues to be a real threat and it needs to be worked on constantly.

But the public doesn't really get to see the great work that's going on behind the scenes day in and day out by the intelligence agencies, by the police departments. People are watching these developments online. There's a lot of coordination that I'm still aware of that occurs that is heartening to know that we're in good hands at this point in time. But they only have to be right once. And that's the problem we have to

deal with.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a huge issue right now. And thank God that ISIS -- alleged ISIS New Year's Eve attack was foiled, very, very important.

Ed Davis, as usual, thanks so much for joining us.

President Trump now says the United States is ready to intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters who are out on the streets protesting in Iran -- his message to Tehran right after the break.

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BLITZER: Happening now: "Locked and loaded," those are President Trump's words after vowing overnight that the United States will intervene if Iran kills peaceful protesters on the streets of Iran.

This week, at least three people have been killed in protests there on the streets of Tehran, the capital. They're demonstrating against the Iranian government and the country's worsening economic situation.

I want to bring in CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's a "New York Times" correspondent and the author of the important book entitled ""New Cold Wars" -- there's the cover -- "China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West.

Iran, as you know, David, is warning that any U.S. intervention would be met with what it calls a regrettable response. What do you make of President Trump's threats right now?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, it was a little strange, Wolf, because, if you think about his own national security strategy and certainly what the MAGA movement has said, what happens inside countries, as they deal with their own people, human rights efforts and so forth, is not particularly the business of the United States.

Think about China, where the president has said the human rights issues are not for U.S. intervention. But, clearly, he's drawn a distinction with Venezuela and now with Iran. I'm not sure what a military intervention would do in this case. It's not like striking the nuclear sites, where you had specific sites to go after and capabilities to get rid of.

In fact, in Iran, given the history from the 1950s, when the U.S. helped stage a major coup there, you could end up unifying people who right now are against their government to instead be against the United States.

BLITZER: Interesting.

I want to turn quickly to the war between Israel and Hamas, still ongoing, as we all know. We're getting new video showing Angelina Jolie visiting the Rafah Border Crossing in Egypt today into Gaza, meeting with Gaza aid workers.

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says Gaza can have a different future this year if Hamas disarms. Do you see that as likely to happen or not?

SANGER: I think this is going to be the much harder part of the agreement to put together, Wolf.

Obviously, the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu were successful in getting back the hostages in 2025, all the living hostages and all but one of the bodies of the deceased. But this next phase, which is disarmament and the creation of a technocratic government to run Gaza, is -- has always been the much harder part.

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And I'm not sure that Hamas is ready really to disarm. And as long as they don't, Prime Minister Netanyahu has an excuse, of course, not to go implement the rest of the agreement, which he was reluctant to sign to begin with.

BLITZER: Any chance the Palestinian Authority on the West Bank could come into Gaza and take charge?

SANGER: Well, I think that was initially the administration's hope. But the creation of this technocratic group within the agreement was sort of a recognition that the Palestinian Authority has been a pretty failed operation in the West Bank and so forth.

And, of course, it was Hamas that threw the Palestinian Authority out of Gaza more than 20 years ago. So that would probably be problematic. And I suspect that the Israelis wouldn't think it would work, and they have said as much. And I suspect the Palestinian Authority is not really ready for it.

BLITZER: David Sanger of "The New York Times," thanks very much.

And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

"INSIDE POLITICS," today with our friend and colleague Phil Mattingly, starts right after this break.