Return to Transcripts main page

Erin Burnett Outfront

UK Official: Trump Said He May Have Received Bad Info On NATO Troops; DOJ Targets Church Protesters; "Era Of Martyrdom". Aired 7-8p ET

Aired January 19, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:20]

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:

Breaking news: Troops arriving in Greenland. Denmark just posting some new images, as you see here, as Trump's escalation over Greenland is now based in part on, quote, "bad information". We'll explain.

Also breaking this hour, the DOJ's latest target. The agency announcing it's now investigating protesters who disrupted a church service where the pastor appears to be a top ICE official in Minneapolis. The Minnesota attorney general is OUTFRONT.

And, quote, "a new era of martyrdom". That is the message tonight from a New Hampshire bishop. Why he's telling his clergy to get their wills ready and their affairs in order after the shooting of Renee Nicole Good. He's our guest.

Let's go OUTFRONT.

(MUSIC)

BURNETT: And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett, on this Monday.

And OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news troops arriving in Greenland. The Danish military just posting these images that were showing you of troops arriving in Greenland. Looks like already in darkness tonight. And it comes as our Jim Sciutto is now reporting that President Trump said on a call with the British prime minister that he may have been given, quote, "bad information" on why European troops were sent to Greenland. Now, Jim's reporting is, according to a senior British official.

The deployment of troops, though we just showed you those latest images, but they also come from Germany, Sweden, France, Norway, the Netherlands and Finland. A massive NATO statement, all on the heels of Trump's threats, to, quote, have Greenland one way or the other. Trump threatening those countries militarily. They are, of course, all Americas strongest allies, and also specifically threatening the military with hefty tariffs for their military show of force against his taking over Greenland.

So, if Trump was confused as to their motive or what they were saying, he certainly didn't wait to clarify the confusion. He immediately, right, had said he was going to impose 10 percent tariffs on those NATO allies, ramping it up to 25 percent. Now, based on what may be bad information. Or is it a convenient excuse for an off ramp to a situation that is troubling, terrifying and spiraling, escalating?

Because the text messages between the president of the United States and the Norwegian prime minister are unlike anything we've ever seen, frankly, from a president of the United States in any capacity, never mind between him and an ally.

The prime minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Store, texting Trump yesterday afternoon, "Dear Mr. President, Dear Donald, on the contact across the Atlantic -- on Greenland, Gaza, Ukraine -- and your tariff announcement yesterday. You know, our position on these issues, but we believe we should all work to take this down and de-escalate.

So much is happening around us where we need to stand together. We are proposing a call with you later today, with both of us or separately. Give us a hint of what you prefer. Best Alex and Jonas."

Personal, a text, obviously, an attempt at deescalation, a handshaking, trying to move past this. We should all work together. Give us a hint of what you prefer. Best.

Well, a little less than an hour later, Trump responded, and as unfortunately, the whole world is now well aware it was not in kind. He writes, "Dear Jonas, considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace."

He continues to say, "Although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America. Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China.

And why do they have a right of ownership anyway? There are no written documents. It's only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago.

But we had boats landing there also. I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now NATO should do something for the United States. The world is not secure unless we have complete and total control of Greenland. Thank you, President DJT."

And as you can see there, all of the random capitalizations are as he wrote it. We are now learning that that message was then forwarded by the president's national security council. So people went and did this for him to multiple European ambassadors so they could understand this.

Official screed from the president of the United States. Now, officials telling CNN that European diplomats are comparing Trump to Putin. And as for Putin, perhaps he never even dreamed of such an incredible moment.

Just look at how Russia's state television is reacting to Trump pushing the NATO alliance to the brink over Greenland. This was uncovered by journalist Julia Davis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Americans are delivering a catastrophic blow to NATO, to NATO, because one country that is a member of NATO is taking away the territory that rightfully belongs to a country that is also a member of NATO.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this benefits us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Well, I mean that I guess he's stating a fact.

Yet Trump does seem intent on getting Greenland. He is now tying that to not winning the Nobel Peace Prize. I mean, the entire beginning of that text, right, was because I didn't win the Nobel Peace Prize. And that prize, as bizarre as this is, is now something we have to keep talking about because Trump has been obsessed with it.

In fact, if you go all the way back to when former President Obama won it back in 2009, we can find this trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This guy got the Nobel Peace Prize. And every time I look, he's going into another country.

He got the Nobel Peace Prize. Okay, think of it. He got the Nobel Peace Prize.

But Norman got the Nobel Peace Prize.

He said, I have nominated you or respectfully, on behalf of Japan. I am asking them to give you the Nobel Peace Prize. I said, thank you.

I'm going to tell you about the Nobel Peace Prize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: All right. Jim Sciutto begins our coverage OUTFRONT because, Jim, I know you have some brand new reporting here. What are you learning from your sources?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I'm told by a senior U.K. official that during their phone call on Sunday between Trump and the U.K. prime minister, Keir Starmer, that President Trump conceded to Starmer that he may have been given bad information about that increased deployment of European troops to Greenland. What could that bad information be?

Well, the intention of that deployment is to explore security needs for Greenland and perhaps to boost security for Greenland, in part to meet President Trump's demands. Did Trump interpret that deployment as instead a European defense against any U.S. involvement in Greenland? It's hard to know exactly what he misinterpreted there.

I will say this, U.K. officials say that Danish or Danish counterparts briefed the U.S. prior to that European deployment and not only briefed them because, I'm told by a senior Danish official that those deployments were coordinated between Europe and the U.S. through their existing military channels.

That said, the U.K. is seeing that small concession from President Trump to Starmer as at least a potential path to de-escalation. They're looking for hope here, Erin. But one thing that has not changed, I'm told, by U.K. officials, Danish officials and others, is that President Trump has indicated no desire or willingness to move off his demand that the U.S. take Greenland somehow, some way. And that remains a red line for European leaders.

BURNETT: Yeah. I mean, I guess if that's if -- that's what he's saying and that's what they're saying, then where we are, still bumping up against a wall.

All right, Jim, thank you very much, with all that new reporting. And Jim has more reporting coming up at 9:00 p.m. on "THE SOURCE". Don't miss that with Jim.

And a lot to get to with our experts here.

Okay. Seth Jones, let me just start with you, because I know you've had a lot of conversations with European officials here in these past hours. What are they feeling about this?

SETH JONES, FORMER ADVISER TO COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. SPECIAL OPS FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Erin, they're feeling exasperated. I had one senior official who advises a head of state in Europe say that he just -- they just cannot understand that the biggest threat from NATO is not coming now from the Russians, although that is serious. But now from the Americans within NATO, that NATO, which has, has a 1951 pact in place to allow the United States to put space based assets in, air defense assets in to protect the U.S. homeland.

Every, you know, really, the ability to protect U.S. national security assets, U.S. can do that with what is in place right now. So, so just exasperated that there is such a threat to the alliance right now from the U.S. for what most people do not fully understand the rationale, the strategic rationale for the president doing this?

BURNETT: Yeah, it's hard to find anyone who does when you lay it out like that.

I mean, Dan, you're in Davos right now. Investors, CEOs, world leaders are there. Look they're hearing Trump say, okay, we're going to put tariffs on our closest allies of 10 percent. We're going to ramp up to 25 percent, and basically unless -- unless the United States takes over Greenland. I mean, are people genuinely worried about this now?

DAN IVES, GLOBAL HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH, WEDBUSH SECURITIES: Look, I can tell you, Erin, I mean, it's definitely caused some white knuckles here at Davos because the worry in terms of the markets okay. Is this another now we start going down the tariff route. You know, is the bark going to be worse than the bite which I ultimately believe it will be. But at a time that we're talking about U.S. ahead of China for the

first time in 30 years, when it comes to A.I. revolution and tech, this has been the conversation I could tell you in the pavilions at all the events that I've seen today, going into what's going to be this sort of, you know, an old western standoff that were going to see, you know, when obviously when Trump comes here.

BURNETT: All right. So, Alyssa, just, you know, again that that again that that text because -- because I -- you know, I think we all every time I read it, I'm like -- am I really reading this. You know, Dear Jonas, considering your country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped eight wars, plus, I no longer feel an obligation to think poorly of peace.

Okay, you're one of the few people who's, you know, worked for Trump. Youve been in rooms with him. You know how his brain works such that anybody can.

Where does a response like this come from?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think it was interesting that it came almost within an hour of receiving the initial text. I think he wanted to react. He thought about how he was going to.

And I would just underscore one thing on this Nobel prize aspect of it. Submissions were closed in January of 2025. Donald Trump was sworn in at the same time. So many of the things he's highlighting and wants this credit for are things that came later. He wasn't even technically eligible for those considerations.

But this shows a Donald Trump in a very different place in his second term. I think he's concerned about two things, legacy. He feels like despite domestic politics, no one will be able to take it away from him if he gets his Nobel Peace Prize. But he also feels like he was disrespected on the -- in the first term on the world stage.

I don't believe that was the case, but he feels that. He feels like Joe Biden was greeted more welcomely by NATO allies, and he kind of wants to. Yeah, he wants to throw his weight around. And it's once again, its grievance first strategy and what's best for the country, second.

BURNETT: And also, I mean, Max, just what Alyssa said. I'm not even getting into whether it's absurd or not for him to get the Nobel Peace Prize. The fact is, he wasn't eligible. I mean, you know, there was nothing -- none of the things that he's saying he should have won for happened until after the deadline.

Again, putting aside whether all those are a joke, I'm not -- I'm just saying, like, this is just basic reality that seems to be missing.

MAX ROSE (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE; VOTE VETS SENIOR ADVISER: I don't know why we're all surprised here. I remember as a Democrat watching the Trump rallies in 2024 where he said, we're going to take Greenland. And everyone said, Greenland, Greenland, Greenland, right? We all saw that. We were all frightened.

No, that never happened once. He ran on ending forever wars. He ran on not being woke and he ran on affordability.

What we see with an issue like Greenland and all these crazy text messages is an abandonment of his voters. This guy is creating the department of forever war. It is military adventurism like we have never seen.

The reason he's doing it now, I believe, is he seeing he's going to lose the House, he's going to lose the Senate, and the guy is off the edge, off the edge right now.

BURNETT: So -- so, Seth, I mean to that. Okay. There are there are people who agree with Max. And then there are people who say, okay, the United States can come back from this. And, you know, if there's a normal outcome in the midterms and everything will just go back to normal.

I just want to ask you about what's actually happening that cannot be undone. You, I know, believe that Trump's behavior is actually having serious dollars and cents impact on things that will affect this country over a long period of time, right?

JONES: Yeah. Erin, you know, just in talking to some defense executives from U.S. defense companies, they have been told point blank over the last several weeks that a number of major European countries are going to buy European now, next generation weapons systems. That means they are not looking to U.S. companies to do it. They do not trust the U.S. The U.S. is already prohibited certain exports to Ukraine of weapons systems from these European countries.

And we've seen the Canadians change dramatically in the last few days. The Canadian prime minister opening up engagement with China. And that's actually one of the really interesting elements of this. The Europeans had already moved to have these big questions about China as a reliable, country that is even shifted in the last couple of weeks.

So, from a strategic perspective, I think this has cost for American companies. It's likely to raise, you know, raise costs on inflation, and its going to have these strategic effects with both the Russians and the Chinese.

BURNETT: And, Dan Ives, I mean, what we've seen from Canada is actually pretty stunning. I mean, it gets down to the level of visa free travel between Canada and China, right? I mean, it's specific, never mind all the business. And it is being done by one of the most serious world leaders with the most management and economic expertise in the world, right? A deeply serious person in Mark Carney.

IVES: Yeah. And look, and I think what you saw from Carney, the reality is like, look, this is all a game of high stakes poker, and its everything we saw, you know, starting in April, obviously, they took steps back from the cliff. But it all comes down to negotiations and what we're seeing. Look, the last thing the market wants to see is more uncertainty,

especially when it comes to tariffs. And this is going to be a very interesting week here in Davos to see how Trump navigates it when he's here and meets with leaders. But again, get the popcorn out. It's going to be a pretty interesting week.

[19:15:01]

BURNETT: Well, it certainly is. And I will say something just as basic with the markets. We all know what they want. We know that they Trump listens to them, but we also know that no one in the markets right now actually has any idea what the world would be like if NATO fell apart. We're dealing in an unprecedented situation. So to kind of lean on the market as if they're going to have answers is actually not realistic because they don't know either.

And, Alyssa, to that, you know, Trump, you know, handed Putin something else he really wants, which is this Gaza peace board or board of peace, whatever Trump is calling it. You know, you've got, Lukashenko on it, the Belarusian dictator who reports to Putin for -- obviously, and Putin. I mean, listen, is there anything Trump has not given Putin that he -- like I said, that Greenland was something maybe Putin wouldn't have even dreamed of.

GRIFFIN: Right. I mean, it's hard to say. He literally and figuratively rolled out the red carpet for him in Alaska earlier this year. Listen, I think that the relationship with Trump and Russia is very complicated, but right now he is making it so hard for Americans to defend the fact that NATO comes first. That's where our commitments are.

And I just want to underscore, because there was a bipartisan CODEL that traveled to reaffirm our commitment to allowing Greenland to be independent to NATO.

BURNETT: Right. Murkowski and others, right?

GRIFFIN: This is where the Senate needs to step up. This is where members of Congress need to step up, because this could do irreparable damage to the alliance, to our nation, and of course, to markets in the immediate future.

BURNETT: Will they, Max?

ROSE: No, at -- absolutely not. I mean, the story is so clear here that when the Republican Party has a choice between abandoning their voters or abandoning Donald Trump, they always choose to abandon their voters. That's why they ran on ending forever wars, but choose instead to support this military adventurism from Venezuela all the way to Greenland. They only care about Trump.

BURNETT: Seth, the people that you're talking to and, you know, senior leaders in Europe do they expect this to just be the way it is, or do they think that that whatever branch of government, whether it be the Senate and Congress, will do something about it JONES: Well, I think there's hope based on those Greenland discussions

with that bipartisan group of members of congress that, that Republicans in particular in the House and Senate will step up.

I mean, I testified a couple of weeks ago before Senator Wicker, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, and he was already getting exasperated about the Trump administration's steps in Ukraine and the limited backbone against the Russians. I suspect there are going to be a number of members that have these private feelings. I think my question is whether they're going to say something publicly.

BURNETT: Yeah. Well, I mean, this is a bizarre time. Thank you all very much.

And next, we have more breaking news, new images of Renee Nicole Good and her wife, widow Becca, her wife, now her widow, as new reporting reveals, the DOJ opened an initial investigation into the ICE agent who shot and killed good, then quickly changed course. So what happened? The family's attorney is OUTFRONT.

And this bishop is the focus of the top headline on the Drudge Report tonight. How come? He'll answer the questions.

And breaking news, a massive 100-car pileup. Drivers calling the sudden whiteout terrifying. This happening in Michigan today. We'll have the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:22:43]

BURNETT: Breaking news, the Justice Department just opening an investigation into anti-ICE protesters. The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, announcing the civil rights unit is investigating this protest that you see on your screen right now at a church in Saint Paul. Black Lives Matter protesters rushed into the church. They interrupted the service with chants like these.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)

BURNETT: Now, the protesters are very clear. They say they were there because a pastor at the church appears to also be a local ICE official. Now, DHS does not confirm or deny this, but the deputy attorney general already sending this warning to the protesters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's a crime. And so, they will face a jury. If they're -- if they're convicted, they will go to prison. Every single American should be enraged and heartbroken at what happened yesterday in that church.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: The new probe, coming just days after the DOJ launched a criminal investigation into Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

The Pentagon also telling 1,500 American soldiers to prepare for a possible deployment in the American state of Minnesota.

Julia Vargas Jones is OUTFRONT in Minneapolis.

And, Julia, now, the threat of 1,500 American troops, right, troops actually being deployed on American soil in Minneapolis. How tense is it on the ground right now?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very tense, Erin. And the people that we've been speaking to, both at this protest here outside the federal building and in other parts of the city. They've told us that they can't even begin to fathom what it would be like to have those troops on the ground. They say it would only escalate a situation that is already tense.

Now, what they're describing, Erin, is also just a disruption of regular life in Minneapolis. One woman I spoke to said that her kids, the daycare where her kids go to now, there's a coalition of parents who escort the daycare workers in and out every day because they're Hispanic and Latino, and those parents don't want to lose the people that spend most of the day with their kids. Restaurants who are choosing to close because they are in fear for their staff, mostly Latino kitchen staff.

[19:25:00]

So, that has permeated so many different parts of life here in Minneapolis. And that is why so many people have come out now for the 15 frigid temperatures. It is two degrees here in Minneapolis. It feels like minus two Fahrenheit, and people are still out here. Now, granted, this is a much smaller protest.

But one good thing, Erin, that we have been seeing here is that they have been able to remain peaceful. Now, I won't say that this is only because of the actions of the federal officers on the other side of this fence. Theres also a very heavy presence of the Hennepin County sheriff's department here, barricades. It has all been very much controlled. And hopefully this means that they can continue to express their discontent now without violence, without escalating those tensions any further -- Erin.

BURNETT: Julia, thank you very much. On the ground in frigid Minneapolis tonight.

And I want to go OUTFRONT now to the attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison. Central in all of this.

And, Attorney General, I just want to start with that protest at the church in Saint Paul, which is now getting so much coverage. And of course, now the DOJ, you heard Todd Blanche just speaking out moments ago about it, the deputy attorney general.

Do you think the DOJ has any case against any of the protesters there? KEITH ELLISON, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF MINNESOTA: Well, we live in the age

when people like Jerome Powell are under investigation, Tish James, James Comey, Mark Kelly, Elise Slotkin, the list goes on and on.

Under this DOJ wrongdoing has nothing to do with whether they're going to focus or investigate you. So, I wish in a normal time I would say no. I say this is First Amendment activity and time like this.

It's -- it's just really difficult to say, because the one, if one thing is the only one thing is clear. If Trump likes you, you can do no wrong. If he doesn't, he's going to use every weapon he can against you, including our criminal justice system.

BURNETT: I -- and I hear everything you're saying. I'm wondering if you have any frustration that this happened in a church. And, look, I know the protesters say that one of the pastors was an ICE official, and DHS has not confirmed or denied that. Right. So you would think if it weren't true, they would have denied it. But, you know, we don't. We don't know, they haven't said.

But obviously the optics of going into a place of worship are, are not necessarily great. Does it frustrate you that it happened this way?

ELLISON: Look, here's what frustrates me. Over 3,000 ICE agents escalating into our state. A threatened 1,500 active duty military soldiers. That's what frustrates me. This situation is 100 percent because of Operation Metro Surge. This escalation, unjustified, irrational, unconstitutional, is why this is happening.

I urge all people to obey the law, to try to do everything they can to not be provoked. But the reality he's trying to provoke us. And, you know, I wasn't there. I don't know what happened. I can only tell you that the president is causing all of this. If this -- if he deescalated and actually got into a conversation with local officials here, we actually talked about, you know, how to enforce all laws that would change things dramatically. But that's not what we're getting.

We're getting threats. We're getting surges. We're getting massive violations of people's human rights. And as a result of that, some people, are expressing themselves in ways that are out of the normal, you know? And so I'll leave it -- I'll leave it there.

BURNETT: So, I want to give you a chance to respond to something else out of the White House, because Stephen Miller made a stunning claim about police in your state. He said, and I'll quote him, "Only federal officers are upholding the law. Local and state police have been ordered to stand down and surrender."

Are you aware of any such orders?

ELLISON: No. That's just another big lie. That's -- that's -- put that in the same box as Trump won Minnesota three times, is that Haitians in Ohio are eating pets. Put that in -- put that in that box because it's flatly untrue. And it's what I would expect from the individual you mentioned. BURNETT: I want to give you a chance to respond to something else that

was happening, that there's been a lot of, as you've probably seen, posts on social media and there are some horrific videos of people being ripped out of cars that are horrible. Then there's video of ICE saying, you know, that they're taking pedophiles into custody. There are a lot of videos out there.

DHS says that an operation that ICE carried out yesterday was looking for two men specifically that they say are convicted sex offenders. We have their images who are here illegally. They say they were at large and under final orders for removal, one of whom, DHS says was convicted of sexually assaulting a minor so convicted of sexually assaulting a minor in the United States illegally.

[19:30:05]

I am just curious -- do you know if -- do you dispute those facts? And if not, is there any reason why they should still be in Minnesota?

ELLISON: No one in Minnesota has ever said that somebody who commits crimes and is not authorized to be in the United States should remain in the United States. This is a complete and total red herring, Erin, because, I mean, they're basically saying should ICE be able to remove people who have been removed and have committed violent offenses in our country? There's no argument about that.

By the way. Obama deported all those folks and never had to massively abuse the rights of everybody else. So I don't think offering that if it's true, and by the way, I don't have any information to confirm or deny it. I think that offering that is some sort of justification for surging 3,000 ICE agents and massively abusing the rights of Minnesotans, that that can't. That's absurd.

They don't have to -- they don't have to do all the bad things they're doing to get those people. If in fact, that's a real case, which I don't I cannot confirm or deny. And, but I am sure that no law enforcement in Minnesota who if we -- if ICE said these guys are sex offenders and hurt these people, we want to remove them. Nobody's going to say, oh no, we want them here.

No, of course not. We're not really talking about immigration enforcement. We're talking about a dramatic punishment of the state of Minnesota because nobody -- because that's a red herring. It's illegitimate. They know it. We know it. And I'll stop there.

BURNETT: Well, of course, they're not going into other states, Texas or other red states, as I know you've pointed out. And you say there's 2,000 troops --

(CROSSTALK)

ELLISON: There are no sex offenders in Texas or Florida or other states? Of course there are. There's many more people who would be their legitimate targets in those other states. They're not going there. He -- Trump said he's coming here because we refuse to vote for him.

Well, he said we voted for him three times. But officials took his victory away. That's what this is about.

This is vindictive political retribution. He said the word retribution. So when they come up and say, oh, we arrested some guys who actually did something wrong. I'm like, about time.

That -- I mean, because you killed Renee Good. You almost killed a baby with a chemical irritant. You've disrupted neighborhoods, and then you say, oh, well, we got two people we were after. Congratulations. We didn't have to go through all of this to do that.

So I'll leave it right there.

BURNETT: Well, Attorney General, thank you very much. We'll leave it there as well. And thank you so much for your time tonight.

ELLISON: Thank you, ma'am.

BURNETT: All right. Attorney General Ellison there of Minnesota.

And next, Trump's DOJ defending its decision not to investigate the officer who killed Renee Nicole Good.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: We don't just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody or putting his life in danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Family attorney is next.

Plus, one New Hampshire bishop making headlines after telling his clergy to get their wills and affairs together. A warning that has him now receiving death threats. But he's choosing to speak out tonight. He'll be OUTFRONT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:38:07]

BURNETT: Tonight, the FBI briefly opened a civil rights investigation into the ICE agent who fatally shot Renee Good, briefly. Because sources tell CNN that investigation was then quickly shut down and the focus turned to good, her widow, Becca, and whether the agent was assaulted.

Now, that move is a highly unusual departure from DOJ's standard operating procedure, where they would just as a standard right, investigate whether victim's rights were violated. And some inside DOJ see the shift as politically motivated.

Antonio Romanucci is OUTFRONT now. He is the attorney for the family of Renee Good and her widow, Becca Good.

And I appreciate your time tonight, Tony, with this reporting that a civil rights investigation was briefly opened, but then the focus shifted to Renee and Becca Good. What do you think happened here?

ANTONIO ROMANUCCI, ATTORNEY FOR RENEE GOOD'S FAMILY: Well, I think many things happened here. First of all, it was appropriate to open up a civil rights investigation. I've been practicing in this area for years, and any time that there's, you know, use of force or in this case, deadly use of force, there is an investigation to determine if civil rights were violated. That's appropriate.

And so, what we've been hearing that the mantra has been -- you know, we're going to -- we're not going to share evidence. We're not going to let the state investigate leads to a great suspicion that that the government knows something that they don't want us to know and shut down the investigation. And that should be concerning to all of us, because we learn from these investigations.

BURNETT: Well, yes. And that's the civil the civil rights investigation also, of course, we know that there's not an investigation to actually what happened on the part of the agent that they said that that wasn't necessary because as the Homeland Security said, this was an act of domestic terror. So, on that front, have federal officials told you officially or reached out in any way to say that Becca Good, Renee's widow, is formally under investigation?

[19:40:08]

ROMANUCCI: No, we have not heard anything at all. And I would assume that if they're not going to investigate the shooting officer here for any constitutional violations or civil rights violations, that there's no basis for investigating anyone else. So, I would not expect to receive anything, any notice at all of anyone being investigated unless they're investigating the officer. And I would not be surprised at that if they said that they were.

BURNETT: So, one area that investigators are said to be focusing on, at least from our reporting, Tony, you may know more, of course, is Becca Good's possible ties to activist groups. What is your understanding of what that's even referring to? What federal investigators think they might find? Do you have any sense of this?

ROMANUCCI: Yeah, I mean, I think that's really a laughable, you know, proposition right now because the best evidence we have is that they were on a chat group. I mean, a chat group is another place where people can peacefully assemble, except they do it electronically as opposed to in person.

So that is not any sort of, any activity that's nefarious or criminal or unconstitutional. If anything, it's opposite of that. It's lawful, it's legal, it's exercising your First Amendment right. So that that would be absolutely preposterous to think that they were doing anything unlawful.

BURNETT: So I want to play for you what the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has said about why an investigation into Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent, isn't warranted here. Okay. Because in an ordinary case, again, I just want to reiterate, in an ordinary case, no matter what, there would be an investigation into what happened, right? To make sure that protocol was followed.

And if it wasn't, even if it wasn't criminal to see if any rules needed to be changed. Right. It doesn't have to. Just the fact of an investigation does not mean that you're looking to criminally prosecute somebody, right?

It's just what's done. And it's not being done here. And here is why. Here's the deputy attorney general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: The Department of Justice, our civil rights unit. We don't just go out and investigate every time an officer is forced to defend himself against somebody, or putting his life in danger. We never do. We investigate when it's appropriate to investigate. And that is not the case here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What do you say to him, Tony?

ROMANUCCI: Well, first of all, any time I've been involved in a case where an officer does shoot a civilian, whether it's with force or deadly force, the narrative is all is always that the officer was defending him or herself, and then the investigation plays out, and then we find out whether or not that narrative of defense was actually corresponds with that.

So Todd Blanche is telling us that he's determining on his own that that was a defensible act without an investigation. And that is not the way it's done. We need to know, based on the totality of circumstances, not only looking at the video, but also looking at the intent that was there, looking at reasonable police practices.

Jonathan Ross was recording on his own cell phone, and at a certain point he was squarely placed in front of Renee Good's car. Is that reasonable? Well, let's let somebody determine that. Let's send an investigator, get all the facts, and ultimately, a judge or jury determined.

BURNETT: Yes, yes. And I will say with that video and others, Aric Talor and his team at "The New York Times" have done incredible reporting that really throws into question all of all of the narrative here and shows the need for an investigation. I want to ask you one more thing, though, Tony, because you shared with us a picture of Renee and Becca together that we haven't seen before. Just a new picture of them, just on a, you know, a regular day looks like a selfie, that they that they took together.

How is Becca doing now and how is their son?

ROMANUCCI: Well, Becca is -- I mean, she's going through a tremendous amount of grief right now. I mean, it's still something that is very fresh to her. I mean, imagine this life, this precious life of hers being taken away from her so quickly and without having a chance to say goodbye.

Becca wants everybody to remember the legacy that Renee left, and that is one of peace, love, and certainly nonviolence. And she wants to see that happen in Minneapolis. She wants to see the peaceful protest.

So how are they dealing with this? They're dealing with it in a very personal, with a lot of suffering, but they hope to get past it.

BURNETT: Tony, thank you very much for your time tonight.

ROMANUCCI: Thank you. Erin.

BURNETT: And next, I'm going to speak to a New Hampshire bishop who is now receiving death threats after telling his clergy this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP ROBERT HIRSCHFELD, EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: We are now, I believe, entering a time, a new era of martyrdom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:45:05]

BURNETT: And a terrifying situation tonight as a near whiteout causes a 100 car pileup on a major highway. We'll show you where.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Tonight. Prepare for a, quote, "Era of martyrdom". Those words from a bishop in New Hampshire sparking intense interest in some backlash this hour". The leader of the episcopal church in the state telling clergy to, quote, make sure they have their wills written and get their affairs in order, suggestion -- suggesting that Christians may need to, quote, use our bodies to protect the vulnerable following the killing of Renee Good.

Listen for yourself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP ROBERT HIRSCHFELD, EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: We are now, I believe, entering a time, a new era of martyrdom.

[19:50:00]

Renee Good being the last of note of those martyrs. I have told the clergy of the episcopal diocese of New Hampshire that we may be entering into that same witness and I've asked them to get their affairs in order to make sure they have their wills written, because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: OUTFRONT now, Bishop Robert Hirschfeld of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire, who you just saw him in that video.

And, Bishop, I'm grateful for your time tonight when you were -- you know, obviously, we heard what you said there. But when you say clergy should finalize wills and may need to actually physically put their bodies between power and the vulnerable, what made you say this right now?

HIRSCHFELD: After every eucharist that I have celebrated, at the end of it, for the 14 years that I've been bishop in New Hampshire, I have concluded with this blessing. Live without fear. Your creator has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you with a power and a presence that is stronger than death.

That has been my keynote, I think for as long as I've been bishop. In fact, as long as I've been a priest, that the way of the cross is not an easy way. I grew up in a church that was pretty comfortable, middle class, white, fairly privileged I guess would be the word, and it was a sort of theology of pick up your cross and relax. It was it was a theology of comfort.

But then I came to know about the history of the church, the early church, which had a sacrificial spirit, a sacrificial spirit that Martin Luther King, Jr. called us to have from his letter to the Birmingham jail. Tonight is his night when he said, if the church doesn't pick up that same spirit, it's going to lose its authenticity and millions will leave and it will just become an irrelevant social club.

So, it was out of that death defying sense that God, through the cross and the resurrection of Jesus, propels us into service and to alignment with those who are poor, who are weak. It was out of that sense that I -- that I was speaking.

BURNETT: And obviously the reaction, perhaps you, you know, you wouldn't have expected it, but it did. It did happen. It has -- it has gone widespread. Your comments going viral, national attention, of course. As I said, you're on the front of the Drudge Report right now with the with the headline, "Bishop warns clergy prepare for new era of martyrdom."

And I guess, obviously, the focus has come from this perception, you know, that people could have to die for their beliefs, right? I mean, I guess to die to protect the vulnerable. You said it yourself. There was a one Reverend Tom Barton of Faith Episcopal Church. He told NPR. I didn't sign up to be a martyr.

You know, what do you say to those who hear your words? And it makes them afraid or uncertain?

HIRSCHFELD: They should not be afraid. This is the witness of the church. I think what we have is a -- is a -- is a concept, is a collision of different ideas of who God is and what Jesus did. We have this on the one hand, this idea that God is a god of force, of retribution, of vengeance, of control and manipulation, kind of a Zeus god who gets god's will. That Zeus will done by violence and force.

And the other is from scripture, which is from the New Testament. And Paul's letter to the Philippians that says, God has all the freedom and power to do all those things, but god has chosen to enter into the full catastrophe of what it means to be a human being and to suffer death, even death on the cross.

My friend priest who you just quoted, he promised at his baptism that he would uphold the dignity of every human being and that he has already died by virtue of his baptism, where he is shared in the death of Jesus and has, enjoyed in shares in the resurrection of Jesus. So that's what every priest is -- believes in the episcopal church.

Well, maybe to some, to some greater or lesser extent.

[19:55:02]

But that's the tradition of orthodox Christianity, of Roman Catholicism, of Anglicanism. That's what I would say.

BURNETT: Well, and it is fascinating, as you provide the model of. Right, Zeus and sort of the throwing thunderbolt model of being a God.

HIRSCHFELD: Right.

BURNETT: With the god of humility and kindness. The stark contrast that that we are all faced with.

Thank you so very much, bishop. I appreciate your time.

HIRSCHFELD: Thank you so much. Thank you, Erin.

BURNETT: And we have new pictures tonight of a massive pile up. It's a terrifying images. Actually, this is happening in Michigan tonight. We'll show you exactly why this disaster unfolded.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Breaking news out of Michigan, take a look at this video filmed by a drone. Whiteout conditions, sliding semi-trucks, more than 100 cars were involved in this massive pileup on a Michigan interstate. I mean, this is disaster.

The highway was closed for hours and miles in both directions. As you could imagine, by looking at this. About ten people were injured. I think that's miraculous in a sense. Dozens more taken to a local shelter. I mean, it was freezing, raging blizzard, wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour.

Thank you so much for joining us. Stay safe.

"AC360"starts now.