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Large Protests Take Place in Greenland against President Trump's Calls for U.S. Acquisition of Country; Judge Orders that ICE Agents are Not Allowed to Use Teargas and Pepper Spray against Peaceful Protestors; Roughly 75 Percent of U.S. to Experience Temperatures At or Below Freezing in Coming Days; Nurses Go on Strike in New York City as Contract Negotiations Falter; President Trump Calls for New Leadership in Iran as He Halts Potential Military Strikes to Stop Iranian Government from Killing Protestors There; High School Football Coaches of Quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza and Carson Beck Interviewed Ahead of Upcoming College National Football Championship Game; Martin Luther King Jr.'s Daughter Bernice King Interviewed on How Nonviolence Should be Employed in Current Tensions around Immigration Enforcement. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired January 17, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hitting the brakes. President Trump saying he is holding off on U.S. military action against Iran in response to anti-government protests, and moments ago calling for, quote, "new leadership in Iran."

Plus, arctic blast. Millions of Americans are facing bone chilling cold this holiday weekend. The unexpected places plunging into the deep freeze.

And it's win or go home for the titans of college football. Miami and Indiana facing off in Monday's national championship game. I'll speak to the high school coaches of both teams star quarterbacks.

Hello, everyone, and thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You're in the CNN Newsroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: We begin this hour with large protests in Greenland and Denmark as President Trump escalates his threats to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory. He ramped up the pressure on the arctic island today, saying he'll impose new tariffs on Denmark and several other European countries unless a deal is reached to purchase Greenland. Today, a large crowd of people taking to the streets in Greenland,

telling Trump their homeland is not for sale. The same message was heard in protests in several Danish cities earlier today, with thousands taking part. A U.S. delegation of bipartisan U.S. lawmakers is in Copenhagen, meeting with leaders from Denmark and Greenland.

And amid the growing tension, several European nations have sent military personnel to Greenland for joint exercises. We've got team coverage of these developments. We'll go to those protests in Greenland in a moment. But let's begin with Betsy Klein and these new tariffs that President Trump is promising. Betsy, what more can you tell us?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Right, Fredricka. During President Trump's second term, we have seen him use tariffs and specifically the threat of tariffs as a key negotiating tool. And he appears to be doing that right now with Greenland. That is the arctic island that is controlled by Denmark that Trump says the U.S. needs to control for national security purposes to counter threats from both China and Russia, its strategic placement in that arctic region.

This, of course, has spawned major pushback from Greenland, from Denmark, and from other top European allies, with many deploying military personnel to the island this week. And it could have significant economic impacts on those countries as well as top European countries that are key trading partners with the United States.

The president had noted that he could use tariffs on these countries to apply some pressure, but putting names and a number on it today in a post to social media. I want to read to you a little bit of that very lengthy post. He said "Starting on February 1st, 2026, all of the above mentioned countries -- Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland will be charged a 10 percent tariff on any and all goods sent to the United States of America. On June 1st, 2026 the tariff will be increased to 25 percent. This tariff will be due and payable until such time as a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland."

Of course, giving officials just two weeks, just under two weeks until February 1st to find some sort of negotiated agreement to avoid those pricey tariffs. And there were meetings this week with top officials from Greenland, from Denmark, along with Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to try to resolve this. And they agreed to keep talking, but there wasn't any clear resolution reached there. The president has also suggested that the possibility of leaving the NATO alliance remains on the table. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- pull out of NATO if it doesn't help you acquire Greenland, if it doesn't --

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, we're going to see. NATO has been dealing with us on Greenland. We need Greenland for national security very badly. Yes, we're going to -- we're talking NATO. (END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:05:00]

KLEIN: Now, a new CNN poll indicates that this policy push does face stiff headwinds from the American public in addition to those protesters that we are seeing today in Greenland and in Denmark -- 75 percent of Americans in that CNN poll say that they oppose Trumps efforts to take control of Greenland. Many of the president's own supporters are against this move, so clearly, he needs to do more to sell this unpopular policy to the American public, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much.

Let's go now to Greenland, where we find Nic Robertson. So, Nic, tell us about these protests taking place in that country today.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Very popular protests. By, I think, even conservative estimates, there's 20,000 people in this town, and perhaps a third to maybe half of them came out on the streets. And it was a very sort of simple message to the White House -- Greenland is not for sale. Ask anyone on the streets, as we did today, and that was the message.

Dig down a little bit and you get flavors of what else they would like to see. They want -- they would like to see independence in the future for Greenland. But it was it was very much sort of focused around, around families today. The prime minister came along, he told the local broadcaster here in Greenland that he wanted -- that he had been in Denmark and he wanted to come back here. He is doing -- is attending a lot of talks in Denmark, but he wanted to be here, to be part of the part of the protests here. The protests marched all the way through the town and ended up right outside the U.S. consulate.

And there was the prime minister of Greenland on a snowy outcrop of rock right above the U.S. consulate, waving a big Greenland flag, giving a big speech in Greenlandic to the people gathered there. There was somebody else, another politician there who was speaking a bit in English. Again, that very simple, clear message -- Greenland is not for sale. We don't want to be part of the United States.

And I talked to some youngsters there as well, a group of people, young people, they were 20 years old. They told me in their first jobs, and this is their future they're talking about. And they told me how they felt about how many people they'd seen come out today with this message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did not expect so many to be here, but it warms my heart to know that we are all united together to stand by and fight Trump.

ROBERTSON: And what's your message to the president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our message is that Greenland is our country, and we cannot be bought. We are a people, and he should stop whatever he's doing, because we are the people of Greenland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: So what you could hear being shouted in the background there in the local languages, "Greenland! Greenland!" The protests went on for about an hour-and-a-half, and every few minutes people would be chanting "Greenland! Greenland!" The fact that it ended outside the U.S. consulate really part of that message to President Trump.

But people I spoke to, those young people as well, they told me they're genuinely living in fear every night that this could be the last night, that the U.S., U.S. troops could come here. There's a genuine fear about that at the moment.

WHITFIELD: That fear palpable, and the number seen, and the number of people who are turning out for those protests. Nic Robertson, thank you so much.

All right, right now in this country, mounting tensions in Minneapolis after two shootings involving ICE agents. Protests against President Trumps aggressive immigration crackdown in the city are happening again today, but new actions by the Trump administration are threatening to inflame an already tense situation on the ground and across the country.

The U.S. Justice Department has launched criminal probes into top Minnesota Democrats, including Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. A source tells CNN that subpoenas have been issued as part of an investigation into whether the officials obstructed federal immigration enforcement. President Trump's borders czar says rhetoric coming out of Minnesota has helped perpetuate violence against ICE agents.

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TOM HOMAN, WHITE HOUSE BORDER CZAR: There is that percentage of crazy people that just need to be empowered and feel OK, well, if a mayor or a governor or a member of Congress, you know, compares ICE to racists and the secret police and murderers, which is the most recent attack on an ICE officer, they're going to feel emboldened to take illegal action. That's what's happening right there on the ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Meantime, as the president warns, continues to warn the protesters will be dealt with quickly, a federal judge is pushing back, issuing a new ruling barring federal agents from arresting peaceful demonstrations.

[14:10:02]

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is just outside the Whipple federal building in Minneapolis, and I hear a lot of booing behind you. What's going on? JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're hearing a lot of

booing, Fred, because these are -- this is what happens every time we see cars drive by that seem to be going in or outside of the this federal building. This is, of course, a test day after that ruling from a federal judge saying that now federal agents, including ICE and agents from other border and immigration enforcement agencies, cannot use tear gas, pepper spray, pepper balls on peaceful crowds. They also will not be able to stop cars that are not directly impeding their way.

Of course, this is something that we've seen time and again here with agents trying to clear this road, pushing protesters. We saw that yesterday. We saw that the day before. Will that happen today? I think that is the big question, if those judicial actions will actually trickle all the way down to the officers here on the ground.

It's not just that. There's also another layer here in Minneapolis today as we got word of an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant protests taking place downtown on our way here. Our crew witnessed some of those road closures for that. We also witnessed some legal observers to that protest, some people that seem to be opposing ICE going to that same area in downtown Minneapolis. Will tensions escalate because of that? Will police be -- well, we saw that increased police presence already, so they're already in place in case things get out of hand.

But on top of that, we're hearing also from the governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, that the National Guard has been activated. Now, they have not been deployed, but they are ready to act in case that is necessary.

I can't stress enough, Fred, how tense things are and how the threshold from these officers has been so thin to act. We saw a water bottle being hurled at these federal agents in the past few days. That was enough to get agents to come out, push protesters, and pepper spray. So, a, will these new rules, this new ruling, curb those actions? And b, will this protest today make things even more flammable as night falls and we get into the evening here in Minneapolis?

WHITFIELD: We'll keep checking back with you. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much in Minneapolis outside one of the federal buildings there.

All right, still ahead --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REZA PAHLAVI, EXILED IRANIAN OPPOSITION LEADER (through translator): The Islamic republic will fall. Not if, but when.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A figure tied to Iran's past says he wants to lead the country into its future as President Trump calls for new leadership.

Plus -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. BERNICE KING, DAUGHTER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: There's a way to have to enforce a law without stripping people and violating them of their dignity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Bernice King on why her father's words still matter and still challenge us today.

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[14:18:17]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Hundreds of millions of Americans in a deep freeze this weekend. Brutal arctic air is on the move, pushing as far south as Florida. And some southern states could even see snow. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking what to expect and how long this cold sticks around.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, roughly 75 percent of the U.S. population is going to see temperatures at or below freezing at some point over the next several days, and that includes areas deep into some of the southern states. That means as we start to get some moisture that builds back into these areas, it could change over into snow.

So we're looking at the overnight hours tonight. You can see that next system from the Gulf starting to push a lot more moisture into states like Florida, Alabama, and into Georgia. Early on, it's really going to be focused as rain as those temperatures are on the warm side. But as we start to go into early tomorrow morning and those temperatures dip back, yes, you could even start to see some of that change over into some rain-snow mix, even at times, maybe, perhaps all snow for portions of Georgia, south and even North Carolina.

Granted, it's not going to be for long, and this is a very fast-moving system. In fact, it exits entirely out of this area by the time we get to Sunday evening. So not much in the way is expected in terms of snowfall accumulation and any impacts it would likely cause.

But those cold temperatures are here to stay. In fact, after that system moves through, temperatures will drop even more, even as far south as Florida. Take a look at this, Orlando looking at a morning low temperature Monday of only 36 degrees. Even Fort Myers is going to see temperatures dropping down into the 30s early Monday morning. That is falling frozen iguana weather for some of these areas in south Florida.

[14:20:04]

But it's going to be even colder across areas of the north as we get the next round of cold air that moves through. So you can see all that cold air in place Sunday into Monday. But then that next shot comes in as we head into the latter portion of the week. So it's going to be kind of a roller coaster for some of these areas. Take Nashville, for example. Look at this, highs in the 30s the next few days. We do warm up a little bit before that next drop comes as we head into next weekend. And then looking at Cincinnati again, the average high this time of year is 39 degrees. They will spend every single one of the next seven days at or below that high temperature.

WHITFIELD: My goodness. Yes, keep those parkas out and the gloves and the hats. Allison Chinchar, thanks so much.

All right, new today, CNN is learning that some communications are slowly coming back online in Iran, including some international calls and texting. There have been no reports of protests today, but the internet remains largely blacked out across the country. And in a new interview with "Politico," President Donald Trump says it's time for new leadership in Iran. But he also says any U.S. military action against Iran is on hold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did Arab and Israeli officials convince you to not strike Iran?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself. You had yesterday scheduled over 800 hangings. They didn't hang anyone. They canceled the hangings. That had a big impact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: With us now, Trita Parsi. He's the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and author of several books on Iran, including "Losing an Enemy." Great to see you. Trita. So I'm wondering, what do you make of the president's comments that he is holding off on military action against Iran for now?

TRITA PARSI, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, THE QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: Well, I think he's speaking the truth there he is holding it off for now. We're seeing significant troop movements in which a lot of assets are being brought to the region, and almost all U.S. bases in the region are being emptied out. We saw the same pattern back in June when he did strike, but at an even greater scale. And much suggests that what happened a couple of days ago, when Trump was on the precipice of war and then decided not to do it, is a realization that this would actually be much, much tougher than what he initially thought, and as a result, needs much more military assets.

But what we're looking at and what we're moving towards, unless something breaks, is a major military confrontation between the United States and Iran.

WHITFIELD: You also heard the president talk about, you know, the hangings that had been reported that were going to happen. As far as he knows, he says hangings are off. They're not happening. But how does anyone really know what's happening inside the country right now? PARSI: Well, it's been very difficult because, as you mentioned, the

shutdown has been much more effective, I think, than most people thought it could be. So for some hours, for two or three days, it was almost completely blacked out. Information is coming out now. We're getting a better picture of what happened, but also the fact that there aren't any major protests taking place right now.

That does not mean that the protest movement necessarily is over, mindful of the fact that the underlying factors that have made people so angry are still not addressed and still not resolved. So they may very well restart again. But for now, they have calmed down.

WHITFIELD: Are Arab states, neighboring countries concerned about any possibility of U.S. action against Iran?

PARSI: This is a very different situation compared to years ago in which many of these states, particularly on the Arab side, actually would want and even lobbied for the United States to take military action. Now it's a different scenario. They recognize that it will really destabilize the entire region. They recognize that there will be secessionist movements on the border areas of Iran that will potentially try to break free, and this will have repercussions for them.

They also recognize that without a strong central government in Iran, there will be years of instability in Iran. And they don't seem to have confidence that anything the U.S. would do, at a minimum, would lead to a new stable government. Forget about it being democratic or not, but a new stable government. And as a result, many of them, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and others have weighed in with the president and tried to stop him from taking military action. Whether they, again, will succeed in the long run is a different story. The military mobilization will create a momentum of its own.

WHITFIELD: And then real quickly, you said if there were a new, more stable government, do you see that involved in that new stable government would be a Reza Pahlavi, who is the son of the late shah?

PARSI: I find that very unlikely. He has managed to get a growing base of support inside of Iran in the diaspora. But whether that is of a very significant size or not remains to be seen. But more importantly, he has not managed to be able to build a coalition or to get defections from within the security establishment.

[14:25:02]

And that is absolutely essential in order to bring down a government as entrenched as the one that the Iranian is. I mean, the Iranian revolution, this is a revolutionary government that was built around an effort to make sure that no counterrevolution would be able to take place. And just being able to have a support of some segments of society is not going to be sufficient to bring it down. And much of what he has done so far I don't think has been particularly effective in getting these defections from the regime itself.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Trita Parsi, always great to see you. Thank you so much.

PARSI: Thanks so much.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIBNI ADROVER, NEUROSURGICAL ICU NURSE: You punch everybody else outside in the street, you get charged. You get punched as a nurse, your manager is like, what could you have done different to de- escalate the situation?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Thousands of nurses on strike and off the job in New York City. What they're demanding as talks start back up to get some of them back to work.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:21]

WHITFIELD: Happening right now, contract talks have restarted for 15,000 New York City nurses who have been on strike for six days now. These negotiations are with two of the three major hospital systems affected, while talks have stalled with the other one. CNN's Leigh Waldman reports from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A sea of nurses flooded a sidewalk in the Bronx outside of the Montefiore Hospital.

MICHELLE GONZALEZ, NURSE, MONTEFIORE MEDICAL CENTER: We're out here to make sure that there's enough nurses to take care of our patients safely.

WALDMAN: Nearly 15,000 nurses walked out of the job this week as talks between three private hospital systems and the New York State Nurses Association failed to reach a contract agreement, according to the union.

LIBNI ADROVER, NEUROSURGICAL ICU NURSE: Why is this so hard? You know what I mean? Why is it so hard for them to give us a fair contract?

WALDMAN: The NYSNA union is asking to beef up staffing inside of hospitals, to pay nurses more, and to increase security in and around hospitals.

ADROVER: You punch everybody else outside in the street, you get charged. You get punched as a nurse, your manager is like, what could you have done different to de-escalate the situation?

WALDMAN: Meanwhile, the hospital systems at the center of the strike, Montefiore Einstein, Mount Sinai, and New York Presbyterian, maintain the asks by the union are unreasonable. In a statement, New York Presbyterian said, "NYSNA's latest proposal for an approximately 25 percent wage increase would amount to more than $2 billion over the next three years, which is unrealistic." Mount Sinai stated 23 percent of its union nurses showed up to work Wednesday despite the strike. Strikers are skeptical that nurses are crossing the picket line.

GONZALEZ: At the end of the day, Mount Sinai nurses, Montefiore nurses, New York Presbyterian nurses are out on strike for safe staffing, and we are going to fight until we get our contracts.

WALDMAN: This strike comes three years after a three-day long walkout by New York City nurses that resulted in safe staffing wins. But now NYSNA President Nancy Hagans says hospitals have gone back on that deal.

NANCY HAGANS, RN AND PRESIDENT, NYSNA: Those three hospitals decided to roll back, and we're not going back. We want to improve our staffing. We want workers' protection.

GONZALEZ: We want to go back into our homes. Our hospitals are our homes. It's time to start bargaining fairly.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, Leigh Waldman, thank you so much for that report.

All right, coming up next, it's a showdown nobody saw it coming. Indiana and Miami facing off for the college football national championship. Can Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza cap off a Cinderella season, or will quarterback Carson Beck power the Hurricanes to the title? Well, guess what. Both those gentlemen went to high school in Florida, and their high school coaches join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:55]

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk some college football. On Monday night, the Indiana Hoosiers football team will face off with the University of Miami Hurricanes for college football's national championship. The quarterbacks for both teams actually played their high school football in Florida, but Monday's championship game will be the first time they have played one another in a game. And guess what? In Miami.

I'm joined now by the high school coaches for both starting quarterbacks. David Dunn coached Indiana's Heisman winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza in high school at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. And also with me is Bobby Ramsay, who coached Miami Hurricane quarterback Carson Beck at Mandarin High School in Jacksonville, Florida. Great to see both of you.

BOBBY RAMSAY, CARSON BECK'S HIGH SCHOOL COACH AT JACKSONVILLE MANDARIN: Appreciate you having us.

WHITFIELD: And congratulations for having kind of this common thread and celebrating your star high school players.

So Dave, you first. What has it been like for you to watch your former high school quarterback win the Heisman and now play for the national championship in his backyard?

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

WHITFIELD: And so, you know, Mendoza, you know, is one of several former players of yours who will be playing in Monday's big game. So kind of give us a breakdown. Yes, he is, you know, a standout. People are always watching the Heisman winner. But what about all of those players that you have a common, I guess, denominator and interest in?

DUNN: We have five players who played at Columbus playing in the game. And Coach Cristobal, the head coach at Miami and Coach Mirabal, the offensive line coach at Miami, both played at Columbus as well. And a lot of ties run deep. So these guys, you know, played with each other in, in high school, now get to play against each other for a national championship.

[14:40:00]

WHITFIELD: Incredible. And then, Bobby, you coached the Miami quarterback, Carson Beck in high school, in Jacksonville, you know, and he started his college football career in Georgia, where he was part of two national championships, will now attempt to lead Miami to its first national championship in about 25 years. And I'm wondering, in high school, did you see that certain something in him and say, oh, he's going far. He's soaring. I mean, or is this a big surprise to you or not?

RAMSAY: It's definitely not a surprise. You know, he led us to the only state championship in Mandarin High School history, and in Jacksonville, in the bigger school classifications. He set the state record for passing touchdowns in the state championship game as a junior that year. And there certainly was some growth. And even since then, obviously, you're going to have to continue to develop as a person and a player. And he's done that at the next level.

But the traits were certainly there physically. His love of the game, I was fortunate to be able to coach Derrick Henry in high school, and that was something similar about the two of them, and some other guys that have gone on to big things. They love football and the things that go into making themselves the player that they can -- the best player they can become. He had those traits. So I'm not surprised he's in this situation at all.

WHITFIELD: And with the NFL draft right around the corner, too, I wonder, you know, what are you thinking about, Bobby, as it pertains to Carson Beck and his aspirations beyond his college playing, you know, championship? RAMSAY: Yes, I think Carson's a guy that can go have a 10, 12 year,

15 year NFL career. I mean, I believe he's right there in the crop with any other quarterback that's coming out this year as far as who could go where and what kind of career they could have. I certainly think he has a lot of the physical traits that they look for in the NFL. And again, the off field, the intangible piece as far as the love of the game I talked about earlier, but also the cerebral part, the studying, everything that goes into it, I think he's going to be really impressive for a lot of the teams when he gets in those meeting rooms and they go through the evaluation process.

WHITFIELD: I mean, you know, there's a lot of -- there's so much interest in this game for a variety of reasons. And even, you know, the governors of Florida and Indiana have a friendly wager now for the game. Indiana will send pork and sugar cream pie to Florida if Miami wins. Miami will send stone crabs and key lime pie to Indiana if they win. I know I didn't read that right, because the pork and the pie together, that just doesn't sound right. But anyway, I just wonder if you would like to make now a friendly wager here. Dave, you first.

DUNN: I don't know. We can meet halfway at Bucky's up I-95 coach, and we have the winner buy the other one whatever they want at Bucky's.

WHITFIELD: How cute. Everybody loves Bucky's. And Bobby?

RAMSAY: Well, I'll say this, coach. I don't want to bet on anything involving pork and whatever that other thing was. I think either way --

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: I don't know what I said either.

RAMSAY: I feel like -- I feel like if Florida wins, I think DeSantis still loses, because I don't really think that sounds like a very good -- I don't even like stone crab and key lime pie. That sounds a little bit better.

But yes, we could meet halfway, and, yes, sure. We can swap up. If we run into each other at a clinic, maybe one of us buys the other one dinner and we swap some stories.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's fair enough, I love it. Everybody is a winner here.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Well, Dave Dunn, Bobby Ramsay, thank you so much. And I know you are going to be at the edge of your seats in this game. It's so exciting. It's so exciting for so many reasons. So we're all celebrating all these incredible athletes who have made it to this championship are all going to be doing their best. And thanks to you all for supporting these young men along the way.

DUNN: Thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

RAMSAY: Thanks for having us.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:58]

WHITFIELD: All right, this holiday weekend, the nation is paying homage to civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. Across the country, people are recognizing King in a number of ways, from volunteering to reflecting on his commitment to the nonviolent fight for human rights and dignity. The holiday was first celebrated in 1986 after being signed into law by President Ronald Reagan.

I sat down with King's daughter, Bernice King, and spoke with her about her father's legacy and the importance of his teachings today.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: Reverend Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Junior and CEO of the King Center. Welcome to the house that Ted Turner built here in your hometown of Atlanta. Yes. How are you?

REV. BERNICE KING, DAUGHTER OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Thank you so much. Glad to be here. I'm doing good.

WHITFIELD: This weekend would be your dad's 97th birthday. How are you hoping this nation will recognize his legacy, celebrate his birthday, and acknowledge this holiday?

[14:50:00]

KING: Well, I mean, traditionally, people do a lot of acts of service on the King holiday, which I think is a good thing. It's important that we continue to do that.

But I think it's also important that we really lean closer into my father and his teachings. My message is we need to really study Dr. King and his teachings, because there's some things in there that can make us better humans, because right now we need we need to be operating from our better angels, and we need a large force of that at this time, because there's a lot of very dark and evil and mean- spirited and unkind things happening in our nation. It seems like we're losing a bit of our humanity. And I think Dr. King provides a roadmap for how we can learn how to live together as brothers and sisters.

WHITFIELD: What are some of those teachings that you think people need to be reminded of, particularly now?

KING: First and foremost, at the at the core of his nonviolence philosophy and methodology, is this respect for the inherent dignity and worth of every person. Maybe we never had it, but we need to find it, because it's very important that we honor the dignity of every person.

So even if, for instance, an ICE agent has to carry out their role and function, they do it by honoring that person's dignity. There's a way to have to enforce a law without stripping people and violating them of that dignity. The fact that part of bringing about transformation and change is a willingness to not retaliate when things are happening, which is very hard.

They were very disciplined in the movement. The people literally were trained to face people spitting on them, perhaps pulling their hair. They literally went to training sessions. What do you do?

Now personally, you want to respond to defend yourself. But when you're in a movement, when you're trying to get to an outcome of justice, then there's a part of you that has to say, I'm willing for the greater cause to endure this suffering and not retaliate, because we are trying to get to a certain outcome.

WHITFIELD: We saw that, Martin Luther King Jr., in your dad, in John Lewis, in Reverend Andy Yung, I mean, countless others whose approach was nonviolence. But of course, they were met, you know, with personal, physical blows, all in the face of protesting for civil rights and human rights. Yet despite those blows and enduring that kind of physical response, they did succeed in a variety of ways. They were able to promote change and even legislation. So I'm wondering, as you look at the climate today in America, are you concerned or worried that nonviolent protests don't have the leverage that it once did?

KING: I don't think we've learned to properly use it. You know, daddy taught it as creating -- it's creative tension that you use when negotiation fails, when there's no room to sit at a table and work things out and get to, you know, a greater good, to get to a just outcome. When you can't get to that table, or you're at that table and people walk away, or they make promises and they don't fulfill those things, then you have to, you know, increase the pressure on the situation. And that's where all of this direct action comes into play.

And there's a strategy with it. I think what's missing today is there's no strategy. I think there's passion and deep concern about what's happening in our nation. It's very inhumane and unjust things are happening. And we can't just sit back and just let it happen. We do have to respond. We do have to make sure that we shine a light.

But at some point, there have to be plans and strategies thought through. Now, how what outcome do we want to get to? The avenues to getting to change as much more difficult, because back then they had pieces and parts of a federal government who had an opening to the cause, that their conscience was pricked. That's why nonviolence is so important and why you have to maintain it, because what happens is, if you start using any kind of violence, it gives the conscience an excuse to still opt out.

WHITFIELD: Particularly during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, there was an ear.

KING: There was an ear. WHITFIELD: Right. There was an ear for that.

KING: And there was an open door.

WHITFIELD: In Minnesota today, you've got prosecutors who have quit because the Trump White House wants to focus on the woman the ICE agent killed, Renee Good, and her spouse. What are you seeing happening here?

[14:55:03]

KING: Does that really surprise any of us with this current administration? I mean, if I might flip the script, you know, ICE needs to come through our nonviolence training. I think when you have power, you don't have to overexert yourself. So nonviolence training gives you the discipline to carry out whatever it is you're trying to carry out with respect for the individual, the respect that you would want if you were in the same shoes.

WHITFIELD: What does it say about America today? How would you characterize the climate of America?

KING: We've kind of lost our soul. We have lost our soul. And again, in order to regain that soul, I think we need to lean deeply into Dr. King and pull from his blueprint, learn from his ways. I think that's very important.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: More of my conversation with Bernice King in the next hour, reflecting on how her father's legacy laid an important foundation to empower our nation today.

We'll be right back.

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