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Danish FM Says It is Totally Unacceptable Not to Respect Greenland's Territory; Fundamental Disagreement With U.S. Remains After Meeting; Minnesota AG Requests Temporary Restraining Order Against ICE; First Medical Evacuation From International Space Station Starts; DOJ Tells Document Review Team to Look at 1,000 Pages of Epstein Files Each Day. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired January 14, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

LARS LOKKE RASMUSSEN, DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: -- there's also always a bit of truth in what he's saying.

Not about the dog sleighs. Well, we also have dog sleighs to our special forces. That's the way to, you know -- otherwise, you couldn't come around in the northern part of Greenland. But I must say that, of course, we share to some extent his concerns. There is definitely a new security situation in the Arctic and the High North. All of us, Transatlantic, took the peace dividend years ago, and we have the vision of keeping Arctic as a low-tension region.

That's probably also why U.S. themselves have decided to have a much softer footprint in Greenland. During the Cold War, at some stage, they had 17 different military installations and military bases. Now they only have one. They had like 10,000 personnel in Greenland. Now they have around 200. That's not our decision. That's a U.S. decision. And now, the situation is entirely different. And, of course, we have to -- we have to respond to this.

The big difference is whether that must lead to a situation where U.S. acquires Greenland, and that is absolutely not necessary. I mean, we have the long-lasting diplomatic relation, the longest-lasting diplomatic relation with U.S. that any U.S. ally has -- 225 years in a row. And we have a perfect framework which could be used.

And therefore, to answer your question, even though we wasn't so successful that we -- that we reached a conclusion where our American colleagues said, oh, sorry, it was totally misunderstanding. We give up on our ambitions. There's clearly a disagreement.

We agree that it makes sense to try to sit down on a high level to explore whether there is possibilities to accommodate the concerns of the president while we, at the same time, respect the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark. So this is the work we will start. Whether that is doable, I don't know.

I hope -- and I would like to express that it could take down the temperature. We have now had like 13 months with this ongoing discussions in social media, and this is actually the very first time where we could sit down at a top political level to discuss it. And it was a great opportunity also for Vivian and I to go up against the narrative, because it is not a true narrative that we have Chinese warships all around the place.

According to our intelligence, we haven't had a Chinese warship in Greenland for a decade or so. So from that perspective, it was a very constructive meeting. As I said, frank discussion among equal partners and now, at least we have to give it a try.

Do you want to add anything?

VIVIAN MOTZFELDT, FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER, GREENLAND: No, I think it is very important to say it again that -- how important it is from our side to strengthen our cooperation with United States. But that doesn't mean that we want to be owned by United States. But as allies, how we can strengthen our cooperation, it's all our interest.

RASMUSSEN: Yes, Kip (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, thank you very much.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right, we're hearing there from the Greenlandic and the Danish foreign minister. She said it, they don't want to be owned by the United States. And different opinions, obviously, coming out of this meeting with Vice President, Vance and Secretary of State, Rubio. Let's go to our CNN International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson, who is live in Nuuk, Greenland.

And it was so interesting. You heard the Greenlandic foreign minister speaking to the people of Greenland, knowing that there are a lot of people there, where you are, who are very concerned about what's coming out of this meeting, where things were frank, which is diplo speak for they didn't get along very well, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think people will have listened to this. They will have been heartened that there isn't likely to be, it appears, at least U.S. troops arriving here for a hard takeover, as President Trump had hinted very recently might happen. I think, look, the Danish Foreign Minister here, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, is diplomatically hugely respected, an experienced diplomat who can really get across an articulate and intricate, a troubling, perhaps, to the other side, diplomatic message, but he is also seen as a very tough negotiator as well, somebody who can negotiate and go toe-to-toe, if you will, with J.D. Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

[14:05:15]

He himself said he wanted to have this meeting to bring the temperature down, to look the other side in the eye, to have a conversation. And by his own account, they've had that. But by his own account, they haven't closed the gap. So I think, for people here, the concerns are not going to go away. They can maybe sleep easier tonight, knowing that something isn't immediately around the corner. But the prospect really is going into talks. And Denmark's red line, as he said, and President Trump's aspirations and the 1951 agreement between Denmark and the United States, there's just such a gulf to get back to that middle position.

And Denmark has made it very clear, as clear as President Trump has set out, that he has a view, Denmark has set out that they have a view. And the foreign minister's framing of increasing Danish troop presence here was a very diplomatic framing. But it was done with a clear and strong diplomatic message that whatever was said in that room is really backed up by actions on the ground and will be supported by other NATO members.

KEILAR: Nic Robertson, thank you so much for that report from Nuuk, Greenland. And one week after an ICE agent shot and killed U.S. citizen and mother of three, Renee Good, the city of Minneapolis is still on edge. And today, a judge delayed ruling on the Minnesota attorney general's request for a temporary restraining order against DHS operations.

State officials claim federal law enforcement agents are using excessive force and exhibiting a pattern of illegal conduct.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": CNN conducted an exclusive poll that reveals most Americans surveyed believe that Good's fatal shooting was an inappropriate use of force. About half say the incident reflects bigger problems with ICE's enforcement tactics, and more than half say the agent's actions are making U.S. cities less safe.

Let's go to CNN Senior National Correspondent, Ryan Young, who is on the ground witnessing some of these tense confrontations. What have you seen so far today, Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, a point that we should make here is I've had interactions with other police chiefs across the country just about what we're witnessing. Some are calling because as they train their own officers, they also point out the fact that they see violations of stuff that their officers could never do.

Yesterday, we watched as ICE agents interacting with the public at these protests, sometimes use vulgar language to antagonize them as well. You can see sometimes a lack of training from just how they protect the items that they're given and how they use it. We saw ICE agents yesterday spraying each other with that chemical irritant that they were trying to spread on the crowd.

And at some point, they were using flashbangs so close to each other that a couple ICE agents seem to almost injure themselves. Here at the site where the shooting happened, so many people have still been showing up despite the bone-chilling cold. It's 17 degrees here.

This is probably the smallest crowd we've seen so far throughout the day. But it was just like this yesterday, before that interaction with the ICE agents and the protesters nearby. As we show you some of this video, we saw a lot of older people being involved in this infraction, one man on the ground with 10 agents on top of him.

As we go through this though, you talk to people who are scared about the interaction between ICE agents and the people here on the ground. We also were outside the Whipple Federal Building yesterday when those flashbangs went off in front of protesters and actually injured one of the protesters. Take a listen to what she had to say about being injured by one of those flashbangs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOE, PROTESTER: We have the sway here. Clearly, if they're throwing weapons at us, they're afraid. They don't want us here because we know we have power against them. Personally, I could be hit by flashbangs again, and I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be out here for the coming weeks until ICE is off of our streets and stops terrorizing our neighbors and killing our neighbors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yeah, one of the big conversations that people are having in this neighborhood is they feel like there's an invasion here because of the number of officers used.

When we saw people being pulled out of the car yesterday, that seemed to incite more of the crowd to go toward the ICE agents and bang on their vehicles. That only sharpened the response from those same ICE agents. Now, one of the things I should mention here, what you can see is a different level of technique by the guards who are here.

Some of them seem like they've had a lot of experience, and then some of them seem like they're new to the area. And on top of all that, we know a lot of them come from Southern states just based upon the fact of how they're dressed and how they're dealing with the cold. And you can see all that playing out with the interactions here on the ground.

[14:10:00]

I will say this though, because I've talked to a couple of Minneapolis Police Department police officers, they too are upset because they feel helpless sometimes when the 9-1-1 calls come in. The way they have to handle this after the ICE agents leave is really deteriorating sort of the community interaction with the police department.

And that's something that's been talked about for quite some time, but all this is playing out on the streets where people are very tense and they're hoping the federal government steps in some way to stop all these agents from being here. But we now know more, apparently, are on the way.

KEILAR: Yeah. The Minneapolis police chief says they respond and then they become the targets of the ire. Ryan Young, thank you so much for that report from Minneapolis.

Still to come, a group of astronauts are getting ready to head back here to Earth after a medical issue in space. A retired NASA astronaut will join us to talk about what to expect as they begin their journey. SANCHEZ: Plus, thousands of protesters in Iran may have been killed, many more in danger as the government cracks down on anyone demonstrating against the regime. And a new app going viral called "Are You Dead?" We're going to show you what it does and how it's tapping into a loneliness epidemic when we come back.

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[14:15:50]

SANCHEZ: Just minutes from now, we will witness history. The start of the first medical evacuation from the International Space Station. NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 is returning to Earth more than a month early because one of its astronauts is suffering from a medical issue that came upon the person about a week ago. NASA is not naming the astronaut nor specifying the affliction. The crew's early exit will leave behind a bare-bones staff to man the ISS.

Let's discuss with retired NASA astronaut, Clayton Anderson. He wrote this opinion piece in the Washington Post. "I'm an astronaut. Here's what the ISS emergency reveals. Missions to Mars and the moon will require more advanced medical technology." Sir, thanks so much for being with us.

Obviously, as I noted a moment ago, this is historic and unprecedented. NASA is saying that the crew member's condition is serious but stable. What does that say to you?

CLAYTON ANDERSON, RETIRED NASA ASTRONAUT: That says that they don't really know. Well, they're not going to tell us what's going on, but the crew is able to not have to do anything drastic and immediate to rectify the situation. Perhaps they provided some medication or something like that, but the crew has the ability to bring that person home safely in a standard, leave the station, de-orbit and come home with a splashdown. You can speculate all you want about what the illness might be. Perhaps it's a -- I don't even know. I don't want to go there.

SANCHEZ: Sure. You yourself have gotten sick in space. You had more digestive issues. It wasn't quite as serious as what comes to mind when you think of a medical emergency, right?

ANDERSON: Yeah. Mine was treatable by medication and the use of the toilet for a brief period.

(LAUGH)

ANDERSON: And so, that was easy, right? We have a lot of illnesses on board the Space Station that are easy to take care of. The sniffles, a stuffed head, diarrhea, various things like that, headaches. And that's what the med kit essentially is. It's a bunch of medications that can be taken. There's a few diagnostic tools and things like that. You can intubate, you can do stitches, you can pull a tooth. All very minor stuff.

But this is key to me because they're having to come home. And if you're a six- to nine-month trip to Mars, how do you bring that person home? So whatever that malady is, we have to be prepared for those types of things in the future.

SANCHEZ: That's a really good point, especially as we look deeper and deeper into space travel. I wonder what work they might be leaving behind as we now hear that there's going to be a bare-bones staff on the ISS.

ANDERSON: Yeah. I wouldn't put too much stock in that. The crew of four that's coming home, yes, they do science, they do work there. But the crew that's up there, the three that remain, they're going to be fine. They'll spread the workload out a little bit if they need to.

The American on board, he'll have a lot of help from the ground. I don't think that's a concern at all from my experience, right? I was on board with three astronauts for five months and we handled everything. If we had a busy day, we might slow down the next day. All that's manageable. So, none of that to me presents any problems for the crew on the Station that remains.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, glad to hear that. Now, as we look forward, what specifically do you think NASA needs to address if we're going to get to Mars and something like this has to be dealt with again in the future?

ANDERSON: Well, I think there are some big pictures we need to -- or big questions we need to address. I posted a tweet or an X post that talked about, hey, do we need a doctor on every mission? Do we need a medical facility in the spaceship that's going to take us from point A to point B?

[14:20:00]

The Space Station has no medical facility. It has a board that attaches to the floor or the ceiling or the wall that you can use to do things on, but that's not really a medical facility, nor do we have the tools and the equipment that allows us to deal with more serious medical issues.

For example, if you take this one, what if the person coming home today needed an IV? A, how long would they need that IV? Once you put it in their arm, they can't get in their space suit. Is there a way to go through the space suit to get to that IV? No. And so now, and even then, you have to worry about how much IV fluid you need for that person during the time you start the IV and when they come home.

So there are a lot of questions. We're doing the best we can. NASA is looking into things like this. We wear Apple watches to monitor things. We have some of those tools that can do some minor capabilities on board the ISS, but we have to have a dedicated focus. And of course, that means dedicated funding that go to speeding up what we're looking at for long-term missions to Mars.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, got to get creative with the problem solving if you're trying to accomplish something as big as getting to Mars. Clayton Anderson, we're really grateful that toilet was there when you needed it, man. Thank you so much for joining us.

(LAUGH)

ANDERSON: So was I. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate you, sir. So the Justice Department is struggling to process hundreds of thousands of pages of Epstein files, and now it's bringing in backup to help. We'll explain in just moments.

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[14:26:06]

KEILAR: President Trump appeared to flip someone off as he toured a Michigan Ford plant yesterday, and the moment was caught on video and obtained by TMZ. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pedophile protector.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, TMZ reports the person appeared to yell 'pedophile protector' at the president. The White House has defended the action from Trump as an appropriate response. A 40-year-old line worker, TJ Sabula, told the Washington Post he was the one shouting at the president and that he was referring to the president's handling of matters around the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.

We should note that Trump has never been accused of any crime related to the Epstein investigations. The Justice Department is under pressure as criticism mounts over its release of the Epstein files. We have CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent, Katelyn Polantz here with us now.

What more are you learning about what's happening behind the scenes with DOJ here?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, they are bogged down. What we were able to learn over the past couple days, and I was able to get access to view an email that had gone around to the criminal division lawyers, about more than 200 of them, who had been reviewing Epstein files last week, this week. And the Head of the Criminal Division at the Justice Department, Tysen Duva, who just got into the job in December, he wrote to them with an appeal.

They need to get through more of the documents every day to review them and make them transparent. There are hundreds of lawyers across the Justice Department that have to review two million files or more of the Epstein files to make them public under the congressional law. What Tysen Duva wrote to the lawyers of the Justice Department, it is a grind. While we certainly encourage aggressive overachievers, we need reviewers to hit the 1,000 page mark each day. That's a lot of pages for anyone.

KEILAR: Is that including the redacting?

POLANTZ: That is.

KEILAR: If they go (ph)?

POLANTZ: It would be reviewing, redacting, processing. And then he writes, no one is suggesting this is how we wanted to start the year in terms of our focus. But this is the task at hand. We must complete it. The sooner that we do, the sooner this is over. This is only one part of the Justice Department that is reviewing files. There are also lawyers in the Southern District of New York, in Florida, in the national security section.

And at the same time, there is still scrutiny about how they are doing this work. We have two members of Congress, Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are complaining to a federal judge that somebody should step in from the outside to make sure the Justice Department is handling these redactions appropriately, that they're not blacking out too much, and that they're also not releasing victims' names, potentially.

KEILAR: Yeah. Oh, wow. Just how little they've done compared to how much they have to do is wild. Katelyn Polantz, thank you so much for that reporting. Appreciate it.

An Iranian protester facing execution as leaders there intensify their crackdown on anti-regime protesters. In the meantime, President Trump is promising retaliation if that protester is put to death.

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