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CNN International: Powerful 7.1-Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Tibet, Claims Dozens of Lives; Aftershocks Felt as Far Away as Nepal and Northern India; Carter Will Lie in State Until Thursday When a State Funeral Will Be Held; Trump Claims Biden Making Transition as Difficult as Possible, Says He Will Reverse the Offshore Drilling Ban; Founder of France's National Front Party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Dies at Age 96; Netanyahu Vows to Settle Accounts After Three Israelis Killed; Intense Fighting in Russia's Kursk Region; France Marks 10th Anniversary of Charlie Hebdo Attacks; Trump Revives Talk of U.S. Takeover of Greenland; Trump's Victory Certified, Paving Way for Inauguration; Trump Says January 6 Pardons Coming First Day of Presidency; Two Bodies Found in Wheel Well of JetBlue Plane. Aired 8- 9a ET
Aired January 07, 2025 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACKSON REFFITT, SON OF JANUARY 6TH CONVICT: And all these thousands of people get validated for their actions. And I'm one of those people that they call a traitor. And my dad once said traitors get shot. So that's been ringing in my head for years and years and years.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): In a message from prison, Guy Reffitt said that Jackson has never had anything to worry about from me, and he will never have anything to worry about from me ever.
O'SULLIVAN: If your dad's watching this, what's your message to him?
REFFITT: That I love him and that I hope he gets better. And I hope I get better too. I hope I grow out of this paranoia right now and that --
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AMARA WALKER, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWSROOM": Hi, everyone, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Amara Walker. This is "CNN Newsroom". Just ahead, rescuers in Tibet are racing against time to find survivors of a deadly quake. We will bring you the very latest. Also, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter's casket will make its final journey to Washington later today to lie in state at the Capitol. All the details are coming up. And a controversial figure in French politics has died. We'll look back at the life of -- legacy of Jean-Marie Le Pen.
Search and rescue efforts are underway at this hour in Tibet, where a powerful earthquake has killed at least 95 people. The U.S. Geological Survey says a 7.1 quake struck just after 9:00 a.m. local time, and it was followed by dozens of aftershocks. Authorities say the shaking could be felt as far away as Nepal and Northern India. Social media video from China shows streets filled with rubble as a result.
Marc Stewart is joining us now from Beijing with the very latest. What do we know about this quake? I mean, I understand it struck in a remote area. I'd imagine that's hindering rescue efforts.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No question, Amara. Location is just one of the many challenges. This is a high-altitude area, about 14,000 feet in some places. Even if you are in very good shape, it's very difficult to breathe. And that is one of many reasons why this rescue is so difficult. We have rescue crews who are having to go through boulders, through broken buildings, and put the altitude on top of it, it is a very daunting task.
A lot of resources are being sent by the Chinese Air Force. In fact, we've just learned that a very large military transport plane has been sent, just some of the hardware that's being dispatched to the area, but an indication of just how difficult of a task, this is. In fact, you see video of these crews arriving on the scene, going into action. Weather is also a challenge as it's now night time, the temperature has dropped significantly. No snow on the ground, but very cold temperatures overnight, adding to the difficulties in all of this.
Another sticking point in all of this is going to be infrastructure. Many of these roads, as you've seen, have boulders on them. There's a lot of debris, in addition to buildings that in many parts look like as if they have collapsed. So it's difficult for people to leave the earthquake zone and adds challenge for crews trying to go in to see what is left behind.
You mentioned all of the aftershocks. This is a fact that we just learned that really struck me, 150 aftershocks reported at six o'clock local time and that is just an indication of what these crews are facing, a very long list of challenges. And quite frankly, a lot of these images are just heartbreaking. Earlier, we saw a man on a stretcher and you could just see the despair on that person's face.
Tibet is a very significant part of the world here. It is -- it's seen as a very sacred place, of course, with its origins in Buddhism. We have heard now from the Dalai Lama, in fact, he says that he's saddened by what has happened, he is offering prayers for people who have lost their lives and is offering hopes for a swift recovery for those who are injured. Also hearing from Chinese President Xi Jinping, who earlier today really made it clear that this rescue effort is a national priority, an all-out effort to rescue people from the hurricane -- from the earthquake zone, I should say.
Amara, it is just past nine o'clock in the evening, it is dark and there's certainly a lot of concern what the hours will bring and what will be discovered when the sun starts to rise in the morning, Amara.
WALKER: And of course, earthquakes of this magnitude always come with many aftershocks as you mentioned. And with that, do we expect the death toll to rise even more so in the coming hours and days?
STEWART: Yeah, I mean, I think the thing which has really struck us who have been covering this story throughout the day, when this first happened at around nine o'clock in the morning, the death toll was in the single digits.
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And then within a matter of hours, as crews were able to get closer and closer, the death toll certainly started to rise. So I don't think anyone sadly is ruling out the possibility that more bodies could be found in the rubble overnight, Amara.
WALKER: Absolutely. Marc Stewart following this story for us there in Tibet. Thank you so much. Live for us there in Beijing. And Meteorologist Derek Van Dam takes a look at the weather conditions in the quake zone.
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: When this powerful and deadly earthquake struck just after 9 a.m. local time, what struck me is the shallow nature of this earthquake, only 10 kilometers deep, meaning that there wasn't a lot of ground to absorb the shaking. So the earthquake was certainly felt well away from the epicenter and we do anticipate the aftershocks to continue, especially with this powerful of an earthquake.
In fact, when we look at similar strength earthquakes, magnitude 7.0 or greater, we typically experience at least one magnitude 6.0 or greater aftershock with several dozen 5.0 or less. Now, where the earthquake occurred on the Tibetan Plateau, it is a high-elevation location. So here's the Himalayan Mountains, here's Nepal, India to the south, China to the north. That's the epicenter right there. So just by its true nature of its location, it is a cold part of the world, but it's been particularly cold lately.
Now, in terms of the weather going forward, we don't have any significant weather systems in play for the search and recovery efforts until the weekend. So, we look towards Saturday and Sunday when you start to see some of this impactful weather starting to impact the Himalayas and the surrounding areas that could pick up the winds and complicate that search and rescue effort going forward. So, that's again for the weekend. In the meantime, generally dry conditions anticipated in and around the epicenter.
Here's the closest reporting station. The next three days, you can see temperatures will drop well below the freezing mark overnight, so that also complicates the search and recovery efforts. But you can see by the afternoon, temperatures warm into the single digits to around 10 degrees by Friday afternoon. Back to you.
WALKER: In just a few hours, Jimmy Carter's body will begin its final trip to Washington. Members of the public have been paying their respects to the late president at The Carter Center in Atlanta for the past couple of days. Today, Carter's body will be moved to Washington where he will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. There will be a state funeral on Thursday. Our national political correspondent Eva McKend is at The Carter Center with more. Eva, I know you've been there on the scene, seeing thousands of Georgians coming to say goodbye to the former governor and president. Tell me more about what you've been hearing in terms of tributes and stories from the people.
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Amara, the gates are closed now as you can see, but it has been a remarkable few days listening to people from all across the region, essentially sharing their Jimmy Carter stories and why they felt so compelled to come and pay their respects. Many of those people connected in particular with his faith walk, his faith journey. Take a listen to a little of what we heard.
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ALICE DILBECK, MOURNER: He's a great inspiration and I'm sorry we don't have him in the world. I come from a faith background that he had and a lot of people wear their religion on their sleeve and so that they can put others down and be proud of themselves, and he wasn't that way. He took his religion for what it actually said and what he should actually do. And it's a good time in our country for us to remember somebody like that.
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MCKEND: And Amara, I had the opportunity to go inside and view the casket myself, and I saw people tearing up or holding their hands on their hearts, and it just gives you a sense of how emotional this time period is for his family and for so many Americans who connected with his story.
WALKER: So Eva, what happens next?
MCKEND: So at 11:00 a.m., there's going to be a departure ceremony from here at The Carter Center in the circle of flags. That will primarily be made up of Carter Center employees. Then in the noon hour, the late president and the Carter family will arrive at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. It is there where they will board Special Air Mission 39 to the nation's Capitol. When they arrive at the nation's Capitol, Washington, D.C., they will go to the Navy Memorial. President Carter, of course, served in the United States Navy.
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And then what will take place after is quite symbolic because what will happen is there will be a horse-drawn casket, and it will take the same route that President Carter took decades ago when he was really the first modern president to get out and walk during the inaugural route to be among the people during his inauguration. Well, that casket is going to take the very same route from the Navy Memorial to the United States Capitol before a whole host of ceremonies and tributes in D.C. over the coming days before ultimately, President Carter, his final resting place will be right here in Georgia in his small hometown of Plains. Amara?
WALKER: Back to where it all began. Eva McKend, thank you so much, live for us there outside The Carter Center in Atlanta.
Well, on January 6th, the anniversary of the day Donald Trump's supporters violently attacked the U.S. Capitol, the president-elect blasted Joe Biden for his handling of the transition to the new Trump Administration. Trump complained on his social media platform and in a radio interview that the Biden team are making their transition as difficult as possible.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP: They'll do everything they can to make it as difficult as possible. You know, they talk about a transition. They're always saying, oh no, we want to have a smooth transition from party to party for -- of government. Well, they're making it really difficult. They are throwing everything they can in the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Despite the president-elect's complaints, Trump's own incoming Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles on Monday praised the Biden White House for their help in the transition, saying they have been very helpful and very professional. Steve Contorno is in West Palm Beach tracking all of this for us. Steve, so talk to us about this disconnect here between Susie Wiles and President-elect Trump, and what Trump is referring to here.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Amara, I think two things can be true at once. The transition -- the transferring of power from a previous administration to the next has a lot of logistical attachments to it. There is a lot of procedures and processes, a lot of briefing between the incoming staff and the outgoing staff. And so, I think when Susie Wiles is talking about a smooth transition, I think that is probably what she is referring to, the more logistical aspects of a transition.
Trump's frustrations are more with how the Biden is posturing himself in these final moments as president. We have seen him take a number of steps to burnish his legacy on areas like the oil drilling off the coasts of the Atlantic and Pacific, an area where Donald Trump has been very vigorously promising to open up oil exploration. There has also been suggestion that Biden might protect more federal lands and prevent mineral extraction from those parts of the country. He has also given blanket pardons and commutations to certain non-violent offenders with Trump coming in on a message of being tough on crime.
So, there is potentially a disconnect in what Wiles is saying and what Trump is saying, partially because they are experiencing the transition from very different vantage points. And we are seeing Trump becoming more and more frustrated after a pretty cordial start with Biden. We had -- they had that meeting in the Oval Office. They shook hands. They were complimentary of each other. But now with Joe Biden taking more and more steps and more liberties with the presidency in his final days, Trump is now lashing out and creating some hostilities for these final two weeks before he officially takes office.
WALKER: All right. Steve Contorno in West Palm Beach, Florida for us. Thank you very much, Steve.
Well, the founder of France's far-right party, the National Front, has died at the age of 96. Jean-Marie Le Pen regularly courted controversy, especially with his views on the Holocaust. His daughter is French politician Marine Le Pen. I want to bring in CNN's Melissa Bell now, live from Paris. Melissa, tell us more about Jean-Marie Lap Pen and his legacy in French politics.
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, really what's most remarkable is just how long he lasted in the role he ended up playing. He started really as something of an outlier in French politics, given how radical his views were. Arguably, 30 to 40 years ahead of their time when you consider what the likes of Nigel Farage in the U.K. or Donald Trump of the United States have come to represent.
Jean-Marie Le Pen started putting forward as a young parliamentarian. He was elected to the French Assembly back in the 1950s, ultranationalist anti-immigration views that were incredibly unpopular at their time.
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To give you an idea, this is a French politician who stood in five presidential elections. Going back to that question of his longevity I mentioned a moment ago, the first in 1974, he got 0.75 percent of the vote. Into the 1980s, his views remained extremely controversial. He was very much on the outside of mainstream French politics. And there was, of course, you mentioned it a moment ago, that very controversial aspect to some of his views, racist, anti-Semitic. He had once described and received convictions over his Holocaust denial, describing the gas chambers of World War II as a detail of that war.
Not only had he had convictions, but really these views kept his National Front Party that he'd founded after the death of President de Gaulle in 1972, he founded this party, bringing together the disparate parts of the more extreme parts of the French political system, minority parties that held a vast array of views, pulled them together into the National Front which became this force with which he would take on these presidential elections.
2002, he managed to get to the second round. That was a massive wake up call. But even as we've looked back, his political legacy dead now at 96, after this life really lived on the front stage of French politics, even if initially his political views kept him on the outskirts, his party ended up, especially under the stewardship of his daughter Marine Le Pen, as one of the main political forces here in France.
She, however, has taken distances from him, even banning him, throwing out -- threw him out of the party he'd founded after she took over in 2011. His views were simply too radical. And yet, as we look back at his life, I think what's extraordinary, Amara, is that he managed to put this party with the help of his daughter, Marine Le Pen, really at the forefront of French politics. Much of the poison was taken out by her, the more anti-Semitic, racist elements of the party's narrative. Still, this is a party that he had created, even though it was rebranded by her much later, today, one of the dominant forces here in France, Amara.
WALKER: Then how much of his legacy lives on in his daughter, Marine Le Pen? And if you can talk a little bit about how she has taken the movement her father founded forward.
BELL: Well, she really did take her distances, not just very personally and removing him from the party, but then really in trying to take her distances, saying the far-right National Front rebranded in fact as the National Rally a few years ago, had nothing of those old anti-Semitic elements to it. People had been expelled from the party. The party was about closing borders and ultra-nationalism, but none of the nasty racism and anti-Semitism that her father had so explicitly often represented.
There are those here in France that argue that the party is very much as it was, that a number of its candidates continue to make statements reminiscent of the darker days of the National Front. But what is remarkable is its position when you consider, Amara, this is a party that won the European elections back in June that has prompted all of the political turmoil that we've seen since with our fourth prime minister over the course of 2024, now trying to cobble together a budget that he can get through, all this was born of Emmanuel Macron dissolving the French Parliament in the wake of that shock victory in the European elections by the National -- by Marine Le Pen's rebranded National Rally.
It is an important reminder of just how important this party now is in French politics, and the expectation is, as we look ahead to 2027 and the next presidential race, that it is likely to be one of the main parties hoping to win the presidency. So much of Emmanuel Macron's presidency so far has been devoted to how he and his allies can prevent the far-right, rebranded, but still created as it was all those years ago by Jean-Marie Le Pen, from winning the next French election.
So I think it's an important reminder of just how important the party has become. Another important part of this, and this is something very specific to France, is the sort of soap opera quality that this family has had and it has played out in the imaginations of the French public for decades. It was to embarrass her rising star of a young politician husband, the Jean-Marie Le Pen's first wife pose for Playboy. And that was just the start of the family drama. So much of it made public, not least the dismissal of her own father by Marine Le Pen, still a formidable French -- force in French politics, whose views however controversial, however outrageous, have come to represent something much more powerful electorally than they had when he founded the Party, Amara.
WALKER: Yeah, incredible though -- remarkable as well, the mark he has left on French politics. Melissa Bell, thank you very much. Live for us there in Paris.
All right, still to come. We're going to tell you why the Litani River in Lebanon is so important to keeping the fragile peace between Israel and Lebanon.
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Also ahead, intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Russia's Kursk region. We have new video from the battle zone, coming up.
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WALKER: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to hold a cabinet meeting today, following a deadly shooting in the West Bank. He is vowing to track down those responsible after gunmen attacked two cars and a bus Monday, killing three Israelis and injuring eight others including the bus driver. No one has claimed responsibility, but the militant group, Hamas has praised the attack in the hours that followed the Palestinian News Agency WAFA reported multiple Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians across the West Bank.
In a statement on X, Mr. Netanyahu promised to find the "abhorrent murderers and settle accounts with them and those who aided them." Adding, "no one will get away." More than a month after signing a ceasefire agreement, Lebanon says Israeli forces are withdrawing from a key southern town. The Lebanese military says it has now started to deploy its own forces there, in coordination with the UN interim force in Lebanon which is monitoring the end of hostilities in the region.
The deal that ended the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah calls for the Iran-backed fighters to withdraw from South Lebanon which Israel argues isn't happening fast enough. CNN's Tamara Qiblawi reports on why the Litani River in Lebanon is so significant to the truce.
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TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS WRITER: This is the Litani River. It flows from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, through its rolling hills and into the Mediterranean, just a few kilometers from Israel's northern border. Now, this is also at the heart of a U.S. brokered agreement designed to end the conflict that raged between Israel and Lebanon last fall, and to prevent another one from erupting.
To the south of here, this is where Hezbollah has maintained a robust presence of Iran-backed fighters for more than 40 years, facing off with Israeli forces in and around the Lebanon-Israel border. But all of that is set to change dramatically if the fragile truce between Israel and Lebanon is to be maintained. Hezbollah has agreed to withdraw its forces to the north of this river, creating a de facto buffer zone with Israel.
Hezbollah has about 20 more days to carry out its side of the bargain. Israel says this isn't happening fast enough, that Hezbollah is dragging its feet, and Israel has breached the agreement hundreds of times, mostly near the border, since the end of the war around 40 days ago. Israel is also meant to withdraw from Lebanon under the terms of the deal. Now, Israel is also threatening to pull out of the ceasefire agreement completely and to keep Israeli troops in Lebanon until further notice. It's an incredibly delicate phase that could trigger further violence or a lasting calm, and it could determine whether this river stands at the threshold of Lebanon's past or its future.
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[08:25:00]
WALKER: Our thanks to Tamar Qiblawi for that report. New video verified by CNN, shows intense fighting between Ukrainian and Russia forces in Russia's Kursk region. Footage shared by the Ukrainian army shows armored vehicles and artillery and drone attacks against Russian troops. Ukraine has held ground in the southern Kursk region since its incursion in August. Ukrainian military officials say they have launched counter attacks to prevent Russian forces from pushing them out of the area.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, Ukrainian troops are maintaining a buffer zone and the operation will protect Ukraine's battlefields by diverting Russian forces. Now, Russia claims to have repelled those counter attacks and says, its forces have prevented Ukrainian troops from breaking through to a village in Kursk. CNN is unable to verify battlefield reports.
Well, France is pausing to mark a somber anniversary. Hundreds of people, including French President Emmanuel Macron, gathered for a memorial service to remember the lives lost in a spate of terror attacks 10 years ago. Two gunmen opened fire at the offices of the French satirical news weekly, Charlie Hebdo, this day in 2015, killing 12 people. A third attacker killed a police officer and four others over the next two days. The magazine had angered Islamists by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Still to come, the late U.S. President Jimmy Carter will make his final journey to the nation's Capitol. A look at his life and legacy just ahead. Also, Donald Trump posts about his desire to get control over Greenland and his son is poised to visit the Danish territory. We're going to have a live report next.
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WALKER: America is honoring late President Jimmy Carter, whose body will be returned to Washington today for the last time. Mourners have been paying their respects to the 39th President of the United States while he has been lying in repose at The Carter Center in Atlanta. In the coming hours, Carter's casket will make the journey north to Washington where the public will get to say goodbye as he lies in state in the Capitol Rotunda. His remains will then return to Georgia to be buried on Thursday, alongside his wife of 77 years, Rosalyn.
While Carter only served one term as U.S. president, his achievements while in office reverberate till today.
[08:30:00]
A former policy adviser to the late president highlights his lasting legacy to CNN's Kasie Hunt. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART EIZENSTAT, FORMER CHIEF WHITE HOUSE DOMESTIC POLICY ADVISER, CARTER ADMINISTRATION: The China normalization, the Panama Canal Treaty, and then the real cherry on the cake was the 13 days at Camp David, ironing out the first peace agreement between Israel and its Arab neighbors. And that is a peace agreement, Kasie, that has lasted from 45 years, even through this Gaza war. And those are things that are important. So, what I really hope is that while his post- presidency obviously was spectacular, that we look back and redeem his presidency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: For more, I want to bring in the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato. Larry, good morning. Always get to see you. I've been struck over the last couple of days, talking to so many different people, just how much praise there has been for Jimmy Carter as a human being, as a person and his character. Do you sense this nostalgia for who he was, I guess to be more pronounced today, given that you have a very different person of character, President-elect Donald Trump coming into office?
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Absolutely. The contrast between Jimmy Carter whose simple virtues were appealing even when people disagreed with his policies and Donald Trump who even if you agree with them, sometimes you find it hard to take the way he presents himself. It just couldn't be any more stark. So, there's been a real outpouring of emotion and respect and affection for Jimmy Carter. I wish he could have seen it in his lifetime, but at least it's a comfort to his family, and I think it's going to continue. This is the lasting impression that people will have of Carter. I've had so many young people and students say to me, you know I knew he was president, but I had no idea what he had actually done. It sounds very impressive. It was very impressive.
WALKER: Yeah. And he was, and is so beloved by those in his community in Plains, Georgia and really all around at the state where he served as governor. Like Trump though, President Carter, he came to Washington as an anti-establishment figure, right? I mean, he promised to drain the swamp before Trump started using that mantra. But, the difference is Carter was really committed to these noble objectives, right? I mean, even though he was not able to unify Democrats on the Hill like Trump is able to unify many Republicans on Capitol Hill.
SABATO: You put your finger on it. It's a question of whether the president fits his own party. Back in Carter's day, the Democrats had a large majority in both the House and the Senate, though many of them were conservatives, and they certainly didn't want the swamp drained because they were the swamp. They had been in charge of Congress since the early 1950s.
In Trump's case, he has control, though light control of the House, but he has control of both the Host^ Houses of Congress and they're more than willing to go along with his rhetoric, to say that the federal government needs to be trimmed, if not cut dramatically, and all the rest of what Trump is proposing -- not every proposal, but most proposals. So, it's all a question of the context of the times and the support a president has in the Congress.
WALKER: Carter's national funeral will be on Thursday in our nation's Capitol. And as I understand it, all living presidents are expected to be present. And I mean, are you surprised that President-elect Trump is saying that he will attend, as much as he has mocked Carter, even on the campaign trail recently?
SABATO: Anything Trump does, pro, con or in between is always a mild surprise. But in this case, it benefits Trump. He wants to have a spirit, a honeymoon of some sort, even if it's two days, when he takes over. He wants to try and unify the very divided American Republic. And he got 49.7 percent of the popular vote, that means a slight majority did not vote for him. So this is helpful for his image and they're all very pleasant at funerals. That's what I've seen over many decades. So it is a good image for all of them, and particularly for the incoming president.
WALKER: Larry Sabato, it's always good to talk to you. Thank you so much for your time. And stay with us actually because we're going to come back to you after the break to talk politics. So we'll see you in just a bit, Larry. Thank you. And CNN will have full coverage as Washington prepares to pay tribute to former President Jimmy Carter. Our special coverage begins today at 2:00 p.m. Eastern. That's 7:00 p.m. in London.
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[08:37:15]
WALKER: The U.S. President-elect is talking about Greenland again, saying his son, Donald Trump Jr. will visit the island. Denmark's foreign ministry says a trip is not an official American visit. This, while Trump Sr. posted on social media that he is hearing the people of Greenland are MAGA. This isn't the first time he has pushed for the U.S. to take control of the Danish territory. CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who has made the trip to Greenland before, joining us now from Berlin.
Fred, this obviously is not the first time Trump is talking about buying this vast Arctic territory. We've heard this before in his first term. Tell us more.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that was in August of 2019. I was actually in Greenland when Donald Trump floated the idea of the United States possibly buying Greenland. He likened it to basically a larger real estate deal, of course, also thinking back to the United States acquisition of Alaska as well. But of course, that was quickly rebuffed both by Greenland and also by Denmark as well.
So now, it seems as though Donald Trump, as he's about to take office, revisiting that as well. And in fact, it appears as though just a couple of minutes ago, a Trump airplane touched down at Nuuk Airport -- Nuuk, of course, the capital of Greenland, most probably with Don Jr. on board. So it seems as though Don Jr. really has arrived in Greenland where again, as you point out, the officials there in Greenland saying this is nothing more than a private visit. The Danish foreign ministry -- it is of course a territory of Denmark, saying exactly the same thing.
And of course, from a U.S. perspective, it actually would make a lot of sense to try and have very close ties and possibly even acquisition of Greenland because it is in such a strategic location between North America and Europe. The U.S. also has some very important military assets there as well, like the Thule Air Base and also missile defense radar.
And one of the things that's really been going on in Greenland and other Arctic areas as well, Amara, is that China has been getting more of a footprint in those areas. China trying to make its way into Greenland through mineral deals, first and foremost, not a lot of those have come through. But in general, the United States is very concerned about some of the moves that the Chinese have been making in the Arctic. The Chinese also trying to make a move to get into the Arctic Council, which would give them political influence as well.
Now, of course, the big question in all of this, would Greenlanders actually think about that you just managed -- said that, Donald Trump said on social media that he thinks Greenlanders are MAGA. Certainly, it doesn't appear as though the Danish or the Greenland government see that the same, both of them have said that that place simply is not for sale, Amara.
WALKER: You know, in December, when Trump expressed, reiterated his interest in obtaining Greenland, we heard from Greenland's prime minister saying that the island's not for sale. It never will be. Are we hearing anything more this time around?
[08:40:00]
PLEITGEN: Yep. Yeah, we certainly are. I mean, the Greenland prime minister said that back then. It's been quite interesting with Greenland over the past couple of months that the European Union has made some inroads there, an office there (ph) saying they want closer ties, all of them concerned about possible Chinese influence there as well. But right now, it's not just the Greenlanders who are saying, look, this place is not for sale. You can't just buy Greenland. But the Danes have made another move as well, where on the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland is now featured more prominently, and the King of Denmark has also said that the people of Denmark and Greenland belong together, also talking about the Faroe Islands as well.
But certainly, it does not appear as though Denmark has any inclination to give up that territory. Of course, this is an autonomous territory, and Greenland doesn't have any sort of inclination in that way either. I think one of the things that we do have to point out though is that Denmark and the U.S., of course, are extremely close allies. So in any case, the Danes very much on board with a lot of the agendas that the United States puts forward, Amara.
WALKER: All right. Fred Pleitgen, good to have you as always. Thank you, Fred, live for us there in Berlin.
While Trump's eldest son is traveling to Greenland, the president- elect himself is making plenty of headlines at home. Trump's election win has been certified by Congress, and in two weeks, he will be back in the White House. Joining me again to discuss all of this, the Director for the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato.
Larry, let's first talk about Trump Jr. visiting Greenland. What do you make of this? I mean, does it show that Trump is quite serious about trying to obtain this autonomous Danish territory?
SABATO: Well, he is in the real estate business and there's a lot of coastline to Greenland, and you can just imagine hotels and conference centers and golf courses. But I'm sure that there are also the other considerations that Fred was suggesting. And it makes sense, mineral rights, military rights, and maybe that's the end game that Trump has in mind, getting the opportunity through payment to have a greater military presence there, mineral rights, that makes some sense and it's easy to see how that could develop in that direction. So that may be the objective, but of course, who knows? We'll all find out together.
WALKER: Yeah, we sure will. And we've been doing it together in real time, haven't we, Larry? Let's talk about the significance, what we saw yesterday during the certification, as vice President Kamala Harris presided over the certification of Trump's election victory over her. Obviously, a very important, but probably uncomfortable moment for the vice president. I think what was on a lot of people's minds during this is the fact that the president-elect has promised to pardon the 1,500 plus rioters from January 6th, four years ago, on day one of his presidency.
I want us to listen to what Trump said in December to NBC about this promise. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTEN WELKER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NBC NEWS: You promised to pardon those who had attacked the Capitol on January 6th. Are you still vowing to follow through with that promise?
TRUMP: We're looking at it right now, most likely, yeah.
WELKER: You're going to consider pardoning even those who've pleaded guilty to crimes, including assaulting police officers?
TRUMP: Well, some. We're going to look at individual cases.
WELKER: Everyone?
TRUMP: Yeah.
WELKER: OK.
TRUMP: But I'm going to be acting very quickly. WELKER: Within your first 100 days? First day?
TRUMP: First day.
WELKER: First day.
TRUMP: Yeah. I'm looking first day.
WELKER: To issue these pardons?
TRUMP: These people have been there. How long is it? Three or four years.
WELKER: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALKER: Even if the pardons are given on a case by case basis, Larry, I mean, what would this move even mean, especially for a democracy and the message it sends?
SABATO: Well, it's extremely controversial and I'm sure the Trump staff is reviewing some individual cases because if Trump actually issues a blanket pardon, that's going to include people who attacked directly and tried to kill up to 140 police officers at the Capitol, and also the metropolitan police in D.C. I don't even think the MAGA base will be united around that.
So, I tend in reading between the lines of what Trump said, believe that he will issue some kind of general pardon for those convicted of lesser offenses, who have served some time, but he will not release those guilty of violent crimes against police. But if he does -- if he does, he's going to lose points on his job approval from day one. And of course, it won't just be on day one. Trump is the sort who stops the clock. He literally holds back the hands of time. The first day will turn into weeks and months, probably before it's over.
[08:45:00]
WALKER: This is the first full week of the 119th Congress, and Trump has been pressuring lawmakers to get one big policy bill done ASAP. What is the feasibility of that? And I would imagine he has got a very short timeframe to get things accomplished, especially given this very tiny majority that the Republicans have in the House.
SABATO: Yeah. The House is going to be very difficult. Now, they've got what's called a reconciliation bill. It comes up right in the beginning of Congress. And the advantage for Trump is that you only need a simple majority in the Senate. You usually need 60 votes. In this case, you'd only need 50 or 51 -- 50 a tie being broken by the new vice president. So that makes it a lot easier there.
But the House is going to be a permanent migraine headache for Trump. A margin of a couple of votes, which we just saw in the selection of the speaker, Speaker Mike Johnson had a heck of a time getting re- appointed speaker. So, and that was an easy vote by comparison to a massive bill that includes hundreds of billions of dollars --
WALKER: Yeah.
SABATO: -- and all kinds of programs. So, good luck. Good luck with that.
WALKER: Yeah. That definitely does portend challenging days ahead when you saw the drama breakout for the speaker vote. Larry Sabato, good to see you. Thank you again.
SABATO: Thanks, Amara.
WALKER: Well, Donald Trump will become the next U.S. president in 13 days and it couldn't come soon enough for the more than 1,500 people charged with crimes connected to the January 6th insurrection four years ago. The issue hasn't just split the nation, but also some families. Donie O'Sullivan has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If Trump pardons your dad, what's your biggest fear?
JACKSON REFFITT, SON OF JANUARY 6TH CONVICT: You know, just getting shot in the street. I don't know.
O'SULLIVAN: By your father?
J. REFFITT: By my father, by someone he knows. There's a bunch of people that I don't know and I don't know their intent. So -- you want to help me lift this?
O'SULLIVAN: Sure.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): This is Jackson Reffitt.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you want me to take this end here? Or how do we do this?
J. REFFITT: Yes, please.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): He says he's moving out of his rental home and into hiding for his own safety.
J. REFFITT: Bought a gun because I got so paranoid and moving out because I'm scared.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you know how to fire a gun?
J. REFFITT: Yeah, I've been shooting it.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you have it on you right now?
J. REFFITT: Yeah, I have to wear it around the house kind of often just to get used to how it feels.
O'SULLIVAN: OK.
J. REFFITT: But I'm part of that, like --
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Jackson's dad is Guy Reffitt, who was a member of the Texas Three Percenter militia.
GUY REFFITT, JACKSON REFFITT'S FATHER: And I just kept going, go forward, go forward. I couldn't even see, bro.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): He's serving a more than seven-year sentence for his role in the January 6th Capitol attack. Reffitt was convicted of five felonies, including carrying a firearm on Capitol grounds.
O'SULLIVAN: So you reported your dad to the FBI?
J. REFFITT: Yes.
O'SULLIVAN: That's what got him arrested, basically?
J. REFFITT: More or less, yeah.
O'SULLIVAN: What effect has that had on your family?
J. REFFITT: It's destroyed it.
O'SULLIVAN: Was there a moment where you thought I know my dad has done all this stuff, but I don't want to report him?
J. REFFITT: Yeah, I still feel horrible. Of course. Like, I -- I can't get over it, but I don't regret it.
O'SULLIVAN: When was the last time you spoke to your dad?
J. REFFITT: Five months ago, it was the first time I talked to him and it was just a crying fest for the first 10 minutes, and that was great. And then, I brought up the fact that I'm worried about him getting out and he was almost puzzled, like he was confused as to why I thought that.
O'SULLIVAN: Are you overreacting?
J. REFFITT: No, I get death threats daily, hourly at this point.
NICOLE REFFITT, JACKSON REFFITT'S MOTHER: Unbeknownst to us, it was our 18-year-old son who turned his dad in to the FBI.
CROWD: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did he do it?
N. REFFITT: My son is a declared Democratic socialist.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Jackson's mom, Nicole has become one of the most prominent people campaigning for the release of people serving time for January 6th. Nicole left Texas and moved to Washington, D.C. where she takes part in a nightly vigil out here, outside the city's jail.
O'SULLIVAN: You've been coming here for hundreds of nights.
N. REFFITT: Almost 900.
O'SULLIVAN: Why?
N. REFFITT: You know, after I saw what happened to my husband, I could not sit on my hands at home anymore.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you wish Guy didn't come here on January 6th?
N. REFFITT: No. I'm glad he stood up for something.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Every night, January 6th prisoners from around the country call into the vigil.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Continue holding the line. This thing's almost done.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Including Guy Reffitt who recently called in to wish Nicole a happy birthday.
G. REFFITT: Happy Birthday. Sorry, Nic, I couldn't get you something better than 80 months (ph), but you know (inaudible).
O'SULLIVAN: Are you confident that Trump will let your husband walk free?
N. REFFITT: I feel like Trump is a man of his words.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's the next step for your family?
N. REFFITT: To continue to fight together.
[08:50:00]
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Nicole is sometimes joined in D.C. by her two daughters, Jackson's sisters, who've been caught in the middle of a divided family.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is not shown (ph) on my father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have nothing against Jackson. Jackson is my brother. I love him. I love him no more than I love my father. I love my father. I love my family.
N. REFFITT: From the beginning, the girls and I have received hundreds of mailed death threats. I'm not talking about online things. I'm talking about rape to my daughters, death to my husband, death to me.
O'SULLIVAN: You don't think Jackson has to be afraid of his dad?
N. REFFITT: No.
O'SULLIVAN: Yeah.
N. REFFITT: I think that's been put on the record several times.
O'SULLIVAN: So why is Jackson still afraid?
N. REFFITT: I just think that it's the same thing where people think this red hat on my head is scary and dangerous. It's that same mentality. Jackson comes from a lot of love and there's a lot of love left to be given.
CROWD: And justice for all.
J. REFFITT: I mean, I love my mom, of course. I love her.
O'SULLIVAN: Do you love your dad?
J. REFFITT: Of course, I love my dad. I love my dad, but I can't -- I can't feel safe around him. I hate having to put myself in this situation, to feel some sort of comfort after the election and what's going to happen when my dad gets pardoned, when all these hundreds of people get pardoned, and all these thousands of people get validated for their actions. And I'm one of those people that they call a traitor. And my dad once said traitors get shot. So that's been ringing in my head for years and years and years.
O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): In a message from prison, Guy Reffitt said that Jackson has never had anything to worry about from me, and he will never have anything to worry about from me ever.
O'SULLIVAN: If your dad's watching this, what's your message to him?
J. REFFITT: That I love him and that I hope he gets better. And I hope I get better too. I hope I grow out of this paranoia right now and that I really thought what I did was right. I thought I did what I did to protect him and my family and the people around him, and the people he could have hurt.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALKER: Two bodies have been discovered in the wheel well of a JetBlue plane after a travel from New York City to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The bodies were discovered last night during a post-flight maintenance inspection. CNN's Carlos Suarez is at Fort Lauderdale Airport. Wow, Carlos, what more do we know?
CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Amara. Good morning. So the medical examiner here in Broward County has taken custody of the two bodies, and the Broward Sheriff's Office are the ones that are handling this investigation. As you noted, this JetBlue flight landed here at Fort Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport a little after 11 o'clock last night.
Now, the airline says that sometime after that flight landed, during a post-flight inspection of the aircraft, the bodies were found in the wheel well of this aircraft. Now, the details surrounding just how the victims were able to access this plane are still unclear. We're told that it appears no one on this flight last night even knew what happened out here. This discovery comes just two weeks after a body was found on a United Airlines flight from Chicago to Maui. Now, the details surrounding that incident is still being investigated by federal authorities.
Amara, according to the FAA, this is the most common used method by stowaways, with nearly about 80 percent of folks that try to get onto these planes, using an aircraft's wheel well, dying -- of course, Amara, we're talking about a really small space on this airplane. A lot of folks are either, crushed by the landing gear after it retracts or they run out of oxygen when the flight is at its cruising altitude and of course, the temperatures get quite cold up in the air.
[08:55:00]
Again, the details surrounding this latest incident still being investigated by the Broward Sheriff's Office as well as the FAA. Amara?
WALKER: What an awful story. Carlos Suarez, thank you so much. Live for us there in Fort Lauderdale. And thank you for joining me here on "CNN Newsroom." I'm Amara Walker. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is next.
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