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What We Know with Max Foster

Deadly ICE Shooting Sparks Outrage, Protests In Minneapolis; Vance, Without Evidence, Says woman Killed By ICE "Radicalized"; France's Macron: U.S. "Turning Away" From Some Allies; CNN In Greenland As Concerns Grow Over Trump Threats. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired January 08, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:38]

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Tensions flaring over yesterday's fatal shooting in Minneapolis.

This is WHAT WE KNOW.

Amid a mixture of anger and sadness in Minnesota's Twin Cities, there's an escalating battle between the Trump administration and state officials over

the deadly shooting of a woman by an immigration agent. Federal agents clashed with protesters at times today. At one point, pepper spray was used

to disperse the crowds.

A short time ago, Vice President J.D. Vance, without evidence, called the shooting a tragedy of the making of the far left and blamed the woman who

was killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How did she get there? How did she learn about this? There's an entire network, and frankly, some

of the media are participating in it that is trying to incite violence against our law enforcement officers. It's ridiculous. It's preposterous.

And part of our investigatory work is getting to the bottom of it.

Who's funding it? Who's supporting it? Who's cheerleading it? And of course, if there's illegal activity related to that, we're going to get to

the bottom of that and prosecute it where we can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: State officials say they have now been blocked from investigating the shooting, with the FBI taking control of the case. Minnesota's governor

says federal officials already have their minds made up before the investigation has even taken place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ (D), MINNESOTA: It feels very, very difficult that we will get a fair outcome. And I say that only because people in positions of

power have already passed judgment from the president to the vice president to Kristi Noem, have stood and told you things that are verifiably false,

verifiably inaccurate. They have determined the character of a 37-year-old mom that they didn't even know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: We're learning more about the 37-year-old victim, Renee Nicole Good, is a U.S. citizen. She lived most of her life in Colorado, was a

mother of three, and had just dropped off her 6-year-old son at school moments before she was shot.

Her former neighbor described her as a mom who loved her kids.

CNN's Ryan Young has been following developments from Minnesota and joins us now.

As we learn more about this lady, there seems to be so much more feeling on the ground, Ryan.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, people are really angry. And even just a few minutes ago, I could hear a lady behind me say,

she cannot leave here because she is still shaking with anger. And as I walk you back this direction, Max, the street is actually stained with the

pepper balls they use to disperse the crowd here. We had over a couple hundred people out here a little earlier. They were angry, they were loud.

And then at some point we had the border patrol agents flood out this direction and actually move people off the street.

We're walking this direction, Max, because we want to show you what's currently going on. Small group of protesters still left here. And if you

look in this direction, you can see the phalanx of officers that are still standing guard here. The reason why these gates became so important is that

the protesters want to stop the border patrol agents from being able to leave here, and they definitely came out to stop that action.

Now, let me show you some video that we shot earlier on. Weve been here for over six hours. And this video, you can see the tense exchange between

protesters and border patrol. It got quite physical. We've seen people arrested. We've seen them thrown to the ground. We've seen officers place

their knees on the back of people as they arrested them.

This is all in the name of a woman who was -- oh, here. We go again. Hold on, hold, hold. Look, they're arresting this man right here. They're

fighting the pepper spray. They're pulling his hair.

Look at this right -- it's happening right now while we're live. You can see the amount of force that's being put into the folks that are here.

Dozens of Border Patrol agents on top of these protesters. They're grabbing the loudspeakers and tossing those down to the ground.

And every time they do this, it enrages the crowd. You can hear the whistles being blown. You can hear the screaming, and you can see how

they've set up this. And now, they're using those paintball guns to spread that pepper spray back into the crowd so that people disperse.

This has happened at least four other times, Max, and you never know when it's going to happen. And when it happens, it becomes quick, it becomes

violent, and it happens so very fast, just as we saw that right now while we were live.

[15:05:06]

FOSTER: The very in control, aren't they? They are very reactive. The officials there, I mean, I'm just wondering, what's your vibe from the

protesters as they get more frustrated? Are they getting more support? Are you concerned that it might -- you know, flare up?

YOUNG: So, I'm glad you brought that up. There was a concerted effort to make sure there wasn't any violence from protesters toward Border Patrol.

But what we've seen is now they're coming with absolute power to smash certain individuals when they get in the way. We saw someone throw

themselves in front of a car earlier, but as you can see, they put no less than six or seven agents on top of that guy.

So, as we walk back this direction, you can see the man they arrested. And every now and then they point somebody else out and they'll shoot something

toward them with pepper spray. My photographer who's behind the camera right now, barely can keep his eyes open because of the wave of the pepper

spray that's coming this direction.

I'm sort of used to it by now, because this is the fourth time today that we've been sort of sprayed in this direction. I've had it all over my

jacket, but that's what we've been seeing. And folks are very upset and angry. And again, this is happening here in Minneapolis.

FOSTER: Ryan Young, powerful reporting as ever. Thank you so much.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota attorney general says he's deeply concerned his state is being blocked from investigating this shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: If federal authorities are saying they won't even entertain a joint and inclusive investigation that

is deeply disturbing. And my question is, what are you afraid of? What are you afraid of an independent investigation for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: What we want to know is who should take charge, then in Minneapolis for that shooting investigation?

Joining us now, CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem.

Thank you so much for joining us, Juliette, because we want to figure out who should be in charge of an investigation here. I've heard it from both

sides, actually, that, you know, it's a federal officer, so it should be an FBI investigation. But there are other arguing, others arguing this is a

particularly local issue. So, the local authorities should be leading.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I mean, the law is pretty clear in this that this would be a federal investigation, but that

doesn't normally preclude a state government. A generally you would have concurrent what we would call concurrent charges that would follow both the

federal and the state would go together. There would be an investigation in which there shared information, shared resources. It is run of the mill

because, for example, sometimes you might start a terrorism investigation. The federal government would start it, but maybe they can't make that case,

but they could make, say, a manslaughter or a murder charge in -- as an example.

So, what we're seeing here is a very -- not typical exclusion of, at least according to the attorney general, exclusion of state and local capacity

and investigation, so that they might determine whether there aren't concurrent state charges.

FOSTER: There's so much distrust on the ground, they just feel as if the FBI would have made this just, you know, this judgment before the case has

even started. And a lot of people on the ground are talking about how they're federal agents are behaving, you know, can they be trusted?

KAYYEM: I mean, I hate to say it because you're asking me to, like, condemn, you know, I mean, the question, the fact you have to ask me that

question shows how much even people like me who have tremendous faith in government institutions, are worried about what we've seen the last 24

hours and certainly, in the last couple of in the last couple of months.

The secretary of homeland security came out before the blood was dry to condemn and make ad hominem attacks against the victim, who we now know is

a mother of three and might have very well been near the near that area because of a child's school. And called her a domestic terrorist. It's hard

to know how there can be an investigation by the government, because that narrative was repeated by Donald Trump, the President Trump, but also just

a few hours ago by Vice President Vance in a very, ugly, ugly press, press briefing, accusing her of things that clearly are not true -- accusing the

victim.

So yes, I think -- I think the state has every suspicion about, right, accurate suspicion about the investigation. And that is why, generally, you

would want to concurrent one to make sure that all the information is assessed.

[15:10:03]

I think where we're heading, honestly, is a separate investigation by the state that may bring state charges, which would include a manslaughter or

murder, depending on, on what they find.

FOSTER: I mean, it's the case. It's the idea that they've already said she's guilty. She caused all of this, which undermines a federal

investigation, isn't it? Away from the fact about whether or not there are people in the FBI capable of carrying out an investigation? I'm not

suggesting that they're not. It's just the idea that its already been undermined. So, someone independent should be brought in.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. I mean, Secretary Noem should have said this is a tragedy. Whatever -- whatever explanation for it, it's a tragedy. And

then not said a word. Right.

So, there's going to be an investigation. Instead, now, she's created this narrative really coming from her. And I think that's why a lot of us think

she's just -- she's not -- she's not up to the task of homeland security because of statements like that that really undermine any investigation and

are honestly gratuitous at this, at this stage. There's no -- there's no need to do something like that. It only enrages the street even more, which

is what we're seeing in our reporting, today.

So, there -- the suspicions are real, and I think there's a reason for them. What we may get beneficially, hopefully, is to have the local FBI

special agent in charge in Minnesota, maybe be able to take some of the heat off of this and begin a legitimate investigation. But by excluding the

state, it's really hard to see how that's done.

I want to be clear here to audiences, especially international audiences, the use of force in terms of investigation isn't whether a citizen complied

or not, right? I mean, citizens don't comply in all sorts of arenas. The question about use of force, of whether it was a legitimate use of force,

given and all by the White House's story that she might not have complied. But I think that's debatable.

If -- and that that is a very, very fact-based, video-based determination. But the idea that even if she wasn't complying or maybe she was confused

about what they wanted her to do, that that automatically allows for a murder, essentially is what we saw on air, that's just a wrong reading of

the law. And so, when we hear partisans push that, well, she didn't comply and therefore she should be dead -- I mean, there's good law enforcement.

There's 20 steps to those two moments, and it looks like ICE missed every opportunity to deescalate.

FOSTER: Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much. Such a complex issue.

KAYYEM: Thank you.

FOSTER: The U.S. president quickly blamed the incident on the radical left whilst agreeing with the homeland security secretary's claim that the

shooting was in self-defense. U.S. president -- vice president rather, J.D. Vance, says the woman's death was a tragedy. It was, however, a tragedy of

her own making.

Kristen Holmes joins us from the White House with more on this.

I mean, the White House, all the federal agencies seem to be very clear that the woman is to blame here, but there will be an investigation.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, but that's the question, Max. What kind of investigation if the federal government has

already determined who is at fault and what exactly happened. We saw Vice President Vance come out to the podium today. He stood next to the Press

Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and gave a very impassioned speech about how the whole government stands behind this ICE agent, how they stand behind

their officers in the field.

He said that this was a case of domestic terrorism. He said that this woman was part of a larger liberal radical group. Then when I asked him

specifically if the federal government has already made this determination that she was at fault and that he's not, then what exactly is happening in

this investigation as the ICE agent being investigated at all? He quickly brushed it off, saying, well, DHS is doing an investigation and then moved

on.

But you're hearing again that the whole of federal government says that they stand behind this ICE agent. So, what is there to investigate now?

At the same time, you're seeing an interview in the "Associated Press" with Good's ex-husband, in which he talks about her saying that she was not an

activist, that she was a Christian, that she never he did not know her to ever participate in any kind of protest, that she was only on that street

because she was dropping off their six-year-old or her six-year-old at school.

And to be clear, I don't know the answer to this. This isn't something that I'm saying either way why she was on that street or what she was involved

in. But those are all things that would come out in a thorough investigation.

[15:15:02]

And the question now remains, if the federal government has already determined who is at fault here, then how can an investigation look equally

at all parties? And we still don't really have an answer to that. And we know, of course, we've been reporting that the federal agents on the ground

have blocked some of these state officials from participating in this investigation. That's what the state officials are now saying.

And I do want to just go back to this idea of this woman being a radical, left liberal, part of a larger network. We don't have evidence of that. We

don't have any of our own reporting on that.

And even when the vice president was asked, how was that he knew this and what -- what had given him this idea, he said, well, they'll still be

investigation into all of that. But again, they seem to have determined what they believe happened. So, there are a lot of questions as to what's

going to come out of any kind of investigation now.

FOSTER: Okay, Kristen, thank you.

Moving to some other news now, France's president warning that the global order could be upended as the U.S. intensifies its ambitions for Greenland.

Emmanuel Macron spoke after the White House said President Trump is discussing a range of options to acquire Greenland, potentially including

military force.

President Macron said the U.S. is moving away from some of its closest historical allies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): We live in a world of great power with a real temptation to divide up the world, and I believe

what has happened in recent months or even in recent days has done nothing to change this observation. And so that is the great risk to the

international order in which we live. The United States is an established power, but one that is gradually turning away from some of its allies and

breaking free from the international rules that until recently it was promoting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Nic Robertson is in Greenland's capital, Nuuk, with the reaction from there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Everyone here in Greenland is worried about President Trump's threats for national security

reasons, to take control of Greenland, and they're worried that he could do it by military force. The vast majority of people here, the last polling,

only 6 percent said they wanted the United States to take control. The vast majority of people here do want independence, but eventually not

necessarily right now.

And just speaking to one person after we arrived here, he said to me, President Trump thinks he's a big man, but we don't see him that way. We

think of him as a small person. They like their life here, he tells me. They're worried that it's going to change irreversibly if the United States

takes control.

Danish politicians are worried. Greenland politicians are worried. We know that the foreign minister from Greenland is expecting to meet, along with

the foreign minister of Denmark, expecting to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio next week. The Danish foreign minister asked for that meeting.

He said it's necessary because we need to get nuance into the conversation.

They feel that the United States doesn't understand what Denmark offers, what Greenland has on tap for them already in terms of resources and

potential troop deployments. The foreign minister of Denmark also said that we need to bring the rhetoric down, tone it down.

But the Danish prime minister has used even stronger language and said, look, President Trump takes this area by force, Greenland, then that's the

end of NATO and the European Union is standing lockstep behind Denmark and Greenland right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Coming up, Minnesota officials are calling for ICE to leave before tensions flare even more. We'll look at why those agents were in

Minneapolis prior to the shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:00]

FOSTER: The Department of Homeland Security presenting a united front over Wednesday's shooting in Minnesota. However, privately, many officials have

expressed shock over the government's immediate response before an investigation has taken place. Publicly, the secretary of homeland security

says she believes the agent acted appropriately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: He's an experienced officer that has served a number of years, and we recognize that he acted according

to his training and we have expected all the policies and procedures of review will be exactly that he acted appropriately to protect his life and

the life of his colleagues and fellow law enforcement officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Mark Morales joins us now with more on the response by homeland security.

I've been speaking to other guests, all making the point you know, this woman has been found guilty before she's even been investigated properly.

But there's huge amounts of concern about exactly what happened here and how that's ever going to be clarified.

MARK MORALES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTER: Right, Max, and as we're seeing here, there's very big questions right now as to whether or not that

ICE officer acted appropriately. And it's not just the shooting itself. It's in the moments that happened right before the shooting and even the

moments that happened after the shooting.

That puts things like training and tactics right under the microscope. But from what we've all seen, this really sort of makes the question of under

whose microscope will that be? Now, we'll backtrack a little bit because Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, was in New York City today

and she had support for the officer, saying that he was somebody who had experience within his job and that he had protected the officers in this

situation.

So, as you said that she was in full support of what the -- of what the officers were doing in that situation. But as far as the investigation is

concerned, Minnesota officials have said that they were pulling out because they weren't going to be given access to a lot of the investigative tools

that they needed. They weren't going to be given access to information, key information that they would have been allowed to conduct their

investigation.

And because of this, in response to this, Kristi Noem said that they haven't been cut out, that they don't have any jurisdiction in this

investigation. And as we know, DHS just does an investigation whenever there is a use of force situation as is -- as is in this case.,

FOSTER: And the FBI often takes over these investigations, don't they? So there's some people arguing that the local officials shouldn't be involved

at all.

In terms of the ICE officers we're seeing on the ground there, can you just explain a bit more about their role against law enforcement? You know,

because we're seeing lots of people on the ground, a lot of people are quite confused about who's doing what.

FOSTER: Right. So, you have two different things going on. You have the local law enforcement that's there that does not have much jurisdiction in

terms of, removals for immigration raids.

[15:25:04]

So, most -- more than likely, they've been focused on crowd control. And it's the ICE officers that are coming into these towns that they're the

ones that are coming in for the purposes of these surge, for these surges, so that they come in and that their sole task is to find these people that

are supposed to supposedly in the crosshairs for removals. So, it's not supposed to be depending on the jurisdiction where they work together.

There's only a finite number of scenarios where they might be, and that very much depends on what state you're in or what city you're in, because

it's not the same for every jurisdiction, but what you can very much be assured of is locals are doing crowd control, and it's the ICE that are

doing the removals. But what we see here is that there is an issue when there is a crowd control situation that needs to happen and ICE ends up

acting in that space.

FOSTER: Okay, Mark, thanks for explaining that because there's so much moving on the ground now. Elsewhere, we've seen huge crowds in Iran's

capital tonight as protests against the government seem to be spreading. These are the latest pictures we have from Tehran, where demonstrators

blocked roads and set fires.

These are some of the biggest protests in Iran that we've seen in years. Internet access and phone lines have been cut, so we're not getting a lot

more information. Dozens of protesters have been killed over the past few days, according to one rights group.

Jomana Karadsheh is following these developments.

I mean, this is a country you've reported on for years. What do you make of the level of these protests and how long they've gone on for this time?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, you know, Max, it's always pretty remarkable seeing how brave Iranians are still going out on the

streets and still risking their lives in these protests because, as we have seen in the past in these protests over the years, the Iranian regime does

use very heavy hand in crushing these protests. And that is something we haven't really seen just yet. There has been a crackdown, there have been

casualties in these protests that, as you mentioned, have been gaining momentum, have been spreading, now entering the 12th day and spreading to

areas where we've not seen protests in the past.

And according to activists, at least 45 people, including eight children, have been killed in these protests. More than 2,000 have been detained so

far. But all this has done, max, is that it has pushed more people out on the streets. It seems what was triggered by the state of the economy by

plummeting currency. What started with shopkeepers 12 days ago, taking to the streets has now morphed into anti-regime protests. People calling for

an end to the Islamic Republic. We heard people chanting "Azadi", freedom.

And at the same time, you are seeing also some of these crowds -- incredible images that we are getting out of Tehran tonight. On the streets

in different areas in the capital. People also in some of these instances are also chanting for the former shah of Iran. His exiled son, the Crown

Prince Reza Pahlavi, also called for protests tonight. He called on people to come out on the street.

At least some of these protests appear to be responding to that call from Pahlavi. But again, at the same time, what you are seeing is a population

that is fed up with the situation that they have been living in. Once again, they are out on the streets demanding freedom and end to the Islamic

republic. The big question is, Max, what does the regime do right now as the country is plunged into this communications blackout? We'll have to

wait and see what happens, especially tonight, as you're seeing these protests spreading in the capital.

FOSTER: Just briefly, Jomana, the communications blackouts are typical. Are they, when there is about to be a clampdown.?

KARADSHEH: And this is -- this is, Max, the concern that you hear from a lot of Iranian activists. This is something that we have seen in the past,

back in 2022, with the woman life freedom protests. You pretty much immediately saw this sort of communication blackouts as the government was

trying to stop people from organizing, stopping these protesters from organizing and also the biggest fear you hear from activists is what

happens in the dark. Their fear is that this could bring a crackdown.

But keeping in mind, Max, that the regime is in a tough position this time.

[15:30:03]

They have been threatened by President Trump. They have heard the threat, tonight, it seems, for the third time that the U.S. is ready to intervene.

As he says, if they kill protesters.

And that is something that appears to have emboldened a lot of people and pushed many to, head out to the streets. So we'll have to wait and see what

the regime does in the coming hours and days.

FOSTER: Okay. We'll be watching closely.

Jomana, thank you for joining us.

Still to come, business executives are to meet at the White House to talk about the future of Venezuelan oil.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Returning to the aftermath from Wednesday's deadly ICE shooting, the acting director of ICE tells Fox News they briefly paused operations in

Minneapolis on Wednesday, but now the agency is, quote, back to doing our law enforcement mission. The shooting has put focus on the role of ICE in

cities across the United States.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been operating since 2003. It is part of the Department of Homeland Security, which was set up after the

September 11th attacks.

Under the Trump administration, it's seen a major shift in tactics and priorities. It's directed more resources towards deportations, including

allowing agents to work near sensitive areas like schools and churches. It surged agents into cities like Minneapolis, and it's looked to hire

thousands of new officers, offering up to $50,000 in hiring bonuses and cutting down the training requirement as well.

My next guest is a former assistant chief counsel for ICE. Veronica Cardenas joins us from Newark, New Jersey.

[15:35:01]

Thank you so much for joining us.

There's a lot of tension, it seems, appearing between ICE and other law enforcement agencies. I'm just wondering if you could explain where ICE

recruits from and why we're seeing them dressed up in this type of armor that were seeing in Minneapolis, which you wouldn't expect necessarily from

immigration officers.

VERONICA CARDENAS, FORMER ASSISTANT CHIEF COUNSEL FOR ICE: Right. And thank you for having me. And so, ICE is a law enforcement agency, but they

are very restricted in the types of laws that they can enforce. And those are only immigration laws.

Within ICE, there's also two different agencies. There's enforcement and removal operations, which is solely governing immigration laws. And then

there's homeland security investigations, which actually deal with federal criminal investigations at the district court levels. And this distinction

is important because you're going to get two separate types of candidates for each section.

And so, when they're recruiting, especially now for ICE, were seeing them drop those educational requirements. We're seeing them rush through

physical requirements. And they're also offering a $50,000 bonus for anyone who signs up. And so, that really is going to widen the pool of who wants

to apply for this type of job.

FOSTER: We understand from the White House the officer involved in the shooting yesterday had a lot of experience and had had some quite worrying

experiences in the past. But are many of those ICE officers experienced enough according to what you learned in the force?

CARDENAS: Right. And I think I would say no. And I think the reason for that is because this administration has given ICE a new mission, right? So,

ICE is supposed to just be targeting noncitizens, and those are targeted approaches. They have an investigation, they go in and they arrest the

people involved in that investigation.

Now, because this administration has moved to mass deportation, meaning anyone and everyone who is in the U.S. without status and with some proper

documentation that has now expanded. And so we're -- we're putting an agency that's not used to, or is not supposed to be arresting citizens or

giving orders to U.S. citizens, and now they have to do crowd control and all these things that they're not trained to do.

FOSTER: Yeah. I was going to ask you about that because as we understand it, you know, the person in this vehicle we're looking at was nothing to do

with the immigration crackdown. As in, wasn't a target of the immigration crackdown, but now they're dealing with these protests, as we can see here

and other threats. And that's a completely different area of the work that they would normally be trained in, presumably.

CARDENAS: Exactly. They're not supposed to be, you know, opening doors, putting their hands through the windows because they want this citizen to

comply with whatever request they were giving her.

FOSTER: So are you concerned that having untrained ICE officers in situations they're not meant to -- they're not trained to be in could add

to tensions in places like Minneapolis?

CARDENAS: Yes. And I think that's exactly what we've been seeing. The tension has been growing. And it's only -- it's not only the fact that

they're not trained for this specific circumstance, and they're not trained to be put in these positions that this administration is putting them in.

It's also that this administration is giving them a blanket pass that there is no accountability for their actions.

We've heard J.D. Vance speak today that there's absolute immunity for an ICE officer, and that's just not true. And what concerns me there is that

ICE officers are listening to this. Oh, we have absolute immunity. If we make a mistake, it'll be okay. And that is a very concerning -- that's a

very concerning statement to make in the situation.

FOSTER: Yeah. Veronica Cardenas, really appreciate your insights on this complicated issue. Thank you.

It's the final moments of trade on Wall Street. Stocks are higher. The Dow has rebounded from Wednesday's losses. And it's now back above the 49,000

mark.

This is our business breaking out.

Elon Musk's A.I. company is under fire for failing to stop its chatbot from digitally undressing photos. Regulators in Europe and Asia are

investigating after Grok-generated sexual images of people, including children, at the user's request. CNN's Hadas Gold even reported today that

Grok generated an image of the Minneapolis shooting victim in a state of undress while slumped over her car, sources tell CNN that Musk has pushed

back against guardrails for the chatbot.

Paramount isn't raising its bid for CNN's parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery above $30 a share, at least not yet. On Wednesday, the WB door --

WBD board rejected Paramount's latest hostile takeover attempt, calling it inadequate and overly risky. It says the offer is still not as appealing as

the existing agreement it has with Netflix.

Americans are feeling gloomy about their job prospects. That's according to a new survey from the New York Fed. Respondents say their chances of

finding a job are about 43 percent. That's the lowest since the survey began 13 years ago. The U.S. jobs report for December is released on Friday

morning. U.S. President Donald Trump, scheduled to meet with oil executives at the White House on Friday.

Representatives from Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips are expected to attend, a senior White House official tells CNN. Their meeting comes as

Venezuela's state-owned oil company said Wednesday it's in negotiations with the U.S. for the sale of oil.

Anna Cooban joins us now.

So, if America is going to make money from this oil, it needs U.S. companies to do that. How willing are they to get involved? We haven't even

asked that question.

ANNA COOBAN, CNN BUSINESS & ECONOMICS REPORTER: Well, the promise is really big. You've got the world's largest proven oil reserves, 300 billion

barrels worth. It's also this sort of sticky, heavy crude oil that the U.S. needs to import.

So, the promise, the idea is fantastic economically for these companies, but they're going to need a lot of guarantees, a lot of reassurances, Max.

They want to know that they have security guarantees so that their assets, their people are going to be safe in this environment. They also need to

have some degree of foresight about the political situation.

Remember, some of these companies, ExxonMobil being one of them, had their assets expropriated by the Hugo Chavez regime 20 years ago. They want to

know that something similar isn't going to happen in a few years' time. And also, they need to know that they're going to make a profit. Oil prices are

historically quite low right now, so are they really going to be enticed to be making billions of dollars' worth of investments?

FOSTER: And the infrastructure is a complete mess, and that takes years, potentially decades to build up to the level that they'll be looking for,

doesn't it?

COOBAN: Yes, it will take a number of years to be. I mean, some of these pipelines. Venezuela's state-run oil company has said that they haven't

been updated in about 50 years. So that's half a century worth of, you know, these oil infrastructure, facilities going into disrepair. So, there

are estimates flying around from a number of analysts that you'll be about $10 billion a year to get a lot of these infrastructure facilities up to

scratch.

And so, yeah, these are all companies are going to want to know that the kind of investments they're making will produce the returns.

FOSTER: And they want more than a three-year timeline, which is the timeline of the current presidency.

COOBAN: Exactly. And also, they want to have a sense that the next U.S. administration is also going to be taking the same approach towards

Venezuela. They need that predictability.

FOSTER: So, what have they said so far about getting involved?

COOBAN: Well, these oil companies are you know, there is this big promise and we have sources sort of talking about how they are very wary about

going into it, although they know the kind of economic promise. But, you know, the U.S. has said that they will be, you know, 30 to 50 million

barrels worth on their way to the United States. We saw that a couple of days ago, with the proceeds being controlled by the U.S. and U.S. accounts.

But the U.S. administration has made it very clear that this will also be going to these proceeds will be going towards helping the Venezuelan

people. Only time will tell if that sort of comes to pass.

FOSTER: Okay. Anna, thank you.

Icy territory at the center of fiery discussion, the Trump administration says it's considering all options to take Greenland. After the break, what

that would mean for the global order.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:15]

FOSTER: We will not negotiate at gunpoint. That's the sentiment from a Danish lawmaker who spoke to CNN about the Trump administration's ambition

to acquire Greenland. The U.S. insists the Danish territory is vital for its national security, and it's not ruling out the use of military force to

take it.

A Danish member of the European parliament says the future of NATO is at risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERS VISTISEN, DANISH MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: It's not very trustworthy to make a negotiation if you do it down the barrel of a gun.

So, I don't think there's any sense in negotiating people with people at gunpoint. And this continuous threat of military action is appalling to do

to NATO ally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: What we don't know is how would the U.S. then acquire Greenland if it's not a military takeover?

Joining me now is Mikkel Runge Olesen, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies.

Thank you so much for joining us.

We should probably explain that property rights don't even exist, do they, in Greenland? Just explain that, because I don't think people outside

understand.

MIKKEL RUNGE OLESEN, SENIOR RESEARCHER, DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: So, basically, when if we take a step away from, from the

military option, as you say, and sort of take a look at what would be possible in terms of, of trying to acquire Greenland, by other means, I

would say that the idea of buying Greenland is not resonating very well. Denmark, for starters, don't have the authority to sell Greenland in the

first place. And as for Greenland. Greenland has repeatedly stressed that it's not interested in being bought by the U.S., and it's not interested in

being a part of the U.S.

So, for that reason, that option -- it seems to be fairly unlikely that well, that it will pan out. Naturally, the strategy of the U.S.

administration, to the extent that it has followed this path in trying to acquire Greenland through peaceful means, it has much focused on trying to

convince the Greenlanders to leave the Kingdom of Denmark voluntarily and then instead make an arrangement with the U.S., join the U.S. in some sort

of fashion.

But again, I must stress, it's not something that has traction in Greenland for the moment. It does not seem very likely that this is something that's

going to be possible to do.

FOSTER: I'm just wondering if they could develop that campaign, though, because obviously there's -- you know, there's a closeness to Greenland and

Denmark, but also there's a -- there's always been a bit of a tension as well, hasn't between the two. I'm just wondering if they could get involved

in local democracy and purely convince Greenlanders that they may be better off becoming a territory of the U.S. instead of Greenland.

I mean, there is that potential. It's not a completely outsider idea, is it?

OLESEN: No, no. And what you're mentioning there, I'm sure that that is part of the plan. I'm sure that that we will see or it's very likely that

we will see some of these things happening in the future. It's just that at a very basic level, it's important to understand that, it is true that that

Greenland wants independence from Denmark, but it isn't looking to trade away one dependance with another one.

So, it's basically looking for a true independence. And what I hear from the U.S. side is that the chief wish here is to get control of Greenland.

And there seems to be a fundamental clash between a us striving to get more direct control with Greenland and the Greenlandic population that is

wanting to take much more control of their own destiny and achieving independence across all -- all subject areas, really.

[15:50:13]

FOSTER: Well, you know how determined he is. I just want to read this to you. This is from "The New York Times". It's just published part of an

interview with Donald Trump, where they asked him about whether there are any limits to his global power, you know, Greenland in mind, presumably,

and other countries.

Mr. Trump replied, "There is one thing, my own morality", in terms of limits, "My own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me."

How do you feel about that?

OLESEN: Well, it means that this will be a topic, a challenge for Denmark, in Greenland for the foreseeable future. And bear in mind, there's no one

in Denmark or in Greenland that doubts that the U.S. president is serious about all of this. It's simply that for Donald Trump, to convince the

Greenlandic population that it should be a part of the U.S.

That is a very difficult thing to do because this is not fundamentally what the Greenlandic population wants. It wants independence not to be dependent

on the U.S.

FOSTER: Mikkel Runge Olesen, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

I will be back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FSOTER: A reminder of our top story tonight. Officials in Minnesota say they're being blocked from investigating Wednesday's deadly shooting by a

federal immigration agent. State authorities say they can't investigate the shooting after the FBI refused them access to the case materials and other

evidence.

A short while ago, the U.S. vice president angrily pushed back on suggestions that the agent involved had used excessive force. He said,

there was a claim that the woman who was killed had been brainwashed and radicalized and was part of a left-wing network, including the media. He

didn't provide any evidence for any of those claims.

Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by an immigration officer in Minneapolis, is being remembered as a loving mother. People in the

community gathered to lay flowers near the site where she was shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:11]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This young lady did not deserve to be killed. And we are heartbroken what's taking place in our city here in Minneapolis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I showed up with my friend here who brought the flowers to give flowers to honor her and to honor all of us in struggle and

honor all of us who are resisting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Trump, come to Minnesota. We invite you to come here. Where is the terrorist? Is it here in the United States, in this

government? Or where is it in outside the United States? I think today what happened here is unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: That's WHAT WE KNOW tonight. I'm Max Foster.

Stay with CNN. More after the break.

END

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