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Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is Interviewed about Greenland and Venezuela; GOP Views on Maduro and Venezuela; U.S. Faces Worst Flu Season in Decades; Nora Neus is Interviewed about her Book about January 6th. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired January 06, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:30:24]

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STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously Greenland should be part of the United States. And so that's a conversation that we're going to have as a country. That's a process we're going to have as a -- as a community of nations.

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: A blunt statement from White House aide Stephen Miller to Jake Tapper. And now a remarkable response from key U.S. allies.

A short time ago, in a joint statement, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Britain and Denmark said in part, quote, "Greenland belongs to its people. It is for Denmark and Greenland and them only to decide on matters concerning Denmark and Greenland."

With us now is Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Senator, that response from all those European leaders came in just a short time ago. What do you think of the fact that they felt the need to speak out so forcefully?

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): Well, Denmark is a part of NATO. And all of the rest of these nations have made it quite clear that they are going to stand by their NATO ally and that Donald Trump and the United States of America, under his control, does not have the right to invade Greenland for their natural resources.

And by the way, I would say the same thing is true in Venezuela. He does not have the right to invade Venezuela in order to gain access to their oil. He talked to the oil companies. He said quite clearly himself, Donald Trump, before the invasion. He said he couldn't trust Congress, but he could trust the oil companies to talk to them before he went into Venezuela.

Well, it's the natural resources of Greenland which Trump is interested in. And he doesn't care what Europe thinks. He doesn't care what the United States Congress thinks. And that's why it's going to be very important to vote on a War Powers Act resolution that Senator Tim Kaine is bringing out to the floor of the Senate on Thursday so that we have a vote in Congress with Republicans on record saying, quite clearly, that there can be no invasion of Greenland or continued military action against Venezuela without explicit permission from the United States constitutionally guaranteed right of the Congress to declare war.

BERMAN: This vote will happen. Votes like it have happened in the past and have not passed. And Tim Kaine has been working on this for his entire Senate career.

Do you think it will -- first of all, even if it passes, it's unlikely that it would become law. But do you think it would fundamentally change -- or how would it fundamentally change this balance of power in Washington where Congress really has handed over almost all foreign policy and war-making powers to the president over generations at this point?

MARKEY: Well, what we have on our hands right now is an opportunity to flush out the Republicans. Make them vote on the issue of whether or not the Constitution gives the power to them, the members of the United States Senate, to determine where we should be putting our military. Then we'll have a clearly divided question here. And it will be very obvious that the Republicans are going to allow Donald Trump to continue to operate under "Godfather" part one rules. He gives countries an offer they can't refuse. And if they do refuse it, he invades. He goes in. He takes their natural resources.

So, this is nothing more than extortion. It's nothing more than an attempt to raid the natural resources of other countries. And that's Venezuela and Greenland, but others as well that he has been talking about. And so, that's the bottom line for the Republicans. Are they going to stand on the side of the Constitution? Are they going to stand on the side of the oil industry and other natural resource- oriented companies in the United States and just allow Donald Trump to use his power in order to enrich them? But it's at the expense of the Constitution and the American people.

BERMAN: It does seem like American popular support for the action in Venezuela has grown since the operation took place. The idea of ousting Maduro. Our Harry Enten took a look at the polling here. And before the U.S. went and got him, there was, you know, it was underwater, 21 percent supported it, 47 percent opposed ousting Maduro. Now, since they went and got him, it's basically even, 37 percent to 38 percent.

[09:35:05]

What does it tell you that more Americans are supportive now of the efforts to rid Maduro than before? MARKEY: Well, I think what it says is the MAGA base is rallying behind

Trump. But the American people are not rallying behind Trump. They're rallying behind the United States Constitution. They're rallying behind the checks and balances that have been built into the Constitution. We're on the 250th anniversary of our country being born in Massachusetts. And it was to ensure that we did not have a dictator, that we did not have a monarch who made those decisions for the American people. That's what is at stake right now. And what he is saying is that, in Venezuela, it's oil above all. It's just more of a continuation of his partnership with the oil industry, who he said that if they gave him $1 billion that he would do their bidding.

And so, yes, he's taking the wind and the solar and the all-electric vehicle tax breaks off of the books for the oil and gas industry. He's invading Venezuela for the oil and gas industry. It's all part of a pay to play, which is what this administration is all about in countries all around the world. And the American people are not going to rally behind that kind of corrupt administration where American lives are put at risk in order to enhance the bottom line of American oil companies.

Chevron stock was up five percent yesterday. Yes, but the American stock around the world in terms of the respect which we're receiving from our allies is down precipitously. That is where we run a great jeopardy as long as Donald Trump has Republican allies in the Senate who are unwilling to stand up to him.

BERMAN: We'll see where public opinion goes in the coming days and weeks.

Senator Ed Markey, from Massachusetts, thank you very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, ahead, what is causing this flu season to be the worst we've seen in a quarter of a century?

And security cameras caught the strangest business break-in that we've seen in some time. Who is the culprit? That dude.

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[09:41:35]

BERMAN: There's been some -- there has been some talk about whether the president's actions in Venezuela would create a rift among his supporters, whether it goes against his long held, quote, "America first" ideology. So, what are we seeing in the polling?

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey, John.

BERMAN: So, Republicans divided about what the president's done in Venezuela? ENTEN: Let me be very clear, there is no rift in the Republican Party. Yes, there are some folks like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massie who are quite skeptical of this. They are very much in the minority.

What are we talking about here? Well, why don't we just talk the GOP on the U.S. military ousting Maduro? Ipsos, 65 percent support, six percent opposed. How about "The Washington Post" poll? Seventy-four percent support. Just 10 percent opposed. If you look among 2024 Trump supporters, we're talking about 80 percent support. The vast, vast majority of Republicans are with Donald Trump on this issue. Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene are very much in the minority. Very few Republicans are with him.

BERMAN: You say they're with him on this issue. Do you even need those words "this issue"?

ENTEN: No, I don't need the words "this issue," because the bottom line is this, Donald Trump has had an iron grip, an iron grip on that Republican base for a long period of time. And it is the same iron grip that he had six months ago.

I know every so often people are trying to say, oh, I spot these little rifts in the Republican base. Oh, oh, you know, they're finally starting to break. They're starting to break from Donald Trump. It ain't happening, at least when it comes to the approval rating. Look at this, 84 percent six months ago, 85 percent now. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to know 85 percent and 84 percent are basically the same number. In fact, 85 percent is one point higher than 84 percent.

BERMAN: Show me iron grip again.

ENTEN: Ahhhhh.

BERMAN: Grip strength is very important for people as they get older.

Now, one of the people that's been central to this operation from the beginning, central to the policy of this entire region, is the secretary of state, Marco Rubio. How has interest in him been affected over the last few days?

ENTEN: Yes, one of the ways you know that the Republican base is with the president on this issue is, look at those who were -- in fact, President Trump has delegated to be at least very much in charge. Just look at this. Google searches for Marco Rubio, up 575 percent from last month. We're talking about the second highest since he ran for president back in 2016.

You know, we spoke about it last hour, how the American people view this at this point as a successful operation, considerably more so than did prior to the operation, backing, in fact, the ousting of Maduro. We now, of course, see as well that that success is being pushed onto Marco Rubio as well.

BERMAN: And so the question is, why is this man smiling? What are the prediction markets saying about his chances to be the next Republican nominee?

ENTEN: Yes, take a look here. I mean, Marco Rubio's chances to be the 2028 presidential GOP nominee. Thirty days ago was eight percent. Look at that, more than doubled, now up to 18 percent. It's him and J.D. Vance in a two-person field at this point. Marco Rubio definitely getting the fruits of the fact, the Venezuelan operation.

BERMAN: Doubled in a week.

All right, Harry Enten, thank you very much for that.

ENTEN: Thank you.

BERMAN: A lot of news. We'll be right back.

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[09:49:10]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Flu season isn't just rough this year, it's the worst the U.S. has seen in decades, with nearly every state reporting either high or very high levels of the illness. The CDC is confirming at least nine children have died so far this flu season, and doctors are warning a new strain may be driving this surge.

CNN's Meg Tirrell is tracking this one, as you always are, thankfully, for us.

What are you seeing?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's really bad out there right now.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

TIRRELL: And this comes after we had a bad flu season last year as well. So, it's kind of unusual to see these two back-to-back bad flu seasons. So, if you look at the map of where activity is highest in the U.S. right now, it's those purple and dark red states that are seeing the most flu activity. But really a majority of jurisdictions right now seeing really high levels. And that metric of the highest in 25 years, that's the number of patients who are going to the doctor with fever, sore throat or cough -- really the symptoms of flu -- that's the highest we've seen since the 1997-98 flu season.

[09:50:07]

So far this season the CDC estimates we've seen 11 million illnesses with flu, 120,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths. And the CDC is saying they're still expecting this flu season, of course, to continue for at least a few weeks.

For the first time in that week ending December 27th, so encompassing a lot of the holiday travel that people were doing --

BOLDUAN: Yes. TIRRELL: The CDC is now classifying the flu season as moderately severe. And you are starting to hear states, including Massachusetts, warning about hospital capacity. And so on -- that's obviously a concern.

We also are starting to see increasing levels of Covid and RSV, although they're much lower than flu right now. Not contributing as much to hospitalizations that we're seeing.

In terms of what you should do if you get the flu. Obviously, the flu shot is the best way to prevent severe disease. And even though we are seeing that new strain known as subclade K, the flu vaccine can still provide protection.

If you do get sick, home tests are now available for the flu. So, the same thing as you do for Covid. And antiviral drugs can also shorten your flu illness, especially if you take it early on in the course of the disease. Also, they can help if you've been exposed by somebody in your household to prevent symptoms of the flu. So, that's really important to know as well.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Scary. Not good news. But there are things, thankfully, because of modern medicine, that can help this season.

TIRRELL: Yes.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it. It's good to see you, Meg.

TIRRELL: You too.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Kate.

On our radar for you, the popular supermarket chain Wegmans is now using facial recognition software and will collect shoppers' biometric data in a small number of stores it says. The grocer says they are scanning customer's faces to identify people who they say have previously been flagged for misconduct. Wegmans says it is using the technology in just a small fraction of their stores where they've determined there's an elevated risk. In a statement, the company said it is one of a multitude of safety measures and they understand concerns about fairness and bias in the technology.

John.

BERMAN: All right, today marks five years since the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, when rioters attempted to stop a joint session of Congress from declaring the winner of the 2020 presidential election. This morning, members of the former January 6th Select Committee will convene a hearing to, quote, set the record straight on the insurrection.

At the same time, members of the far-right Proud Boys are expected to hold a march to the Capitol. They say it will be patriotic and peaceful. With us now is Nora Neus, founder of Longform Lab Media and author of

a brand new book out this week, "24 Hours at the Capitol: An Oral History of the January 6th Insurrection." Norah also happens to be my former producer here at CNN.

So, it's great to see you.

NORA NEUS, AUTHOR, "24 HOURS AT THE CAPITOL": Thank you.

BERMAN: Great work once again with these books that you do.

NEUS: Fun to be on this side of it.

BERMAN: Why did you write this? And what do you think people are going to learn from this?

NEUS: There are so many different narratives about what actually happened on January 6th. Narratives that intentionally have become changed and politically modified and rewritten, really. And so, this book is an attempt to kind of lay out almost a definitive account of exactly what happened from people that were at different parts of this riot. You know, different parts of the crowd, inside the building, outside the building, in law enforcement. At the end of the day, I think this book makes you feel like you were really there experiencing it yourself. And it's horrifying.

BERMAN: And it's so interesting because we keep showing these pictures, which we've become used to, I think, in a way.

NEUS: Yes, completely.

BERMAN: Numb to in some cases. And it's the wide shots, even some of the more close up shots like this. But they don't always paint a full picture of what it was to be like they are witnessing it. And you get those accounts from people that you talk to.

And we have sound -- we should make clear that all of the people you talked to, this is a pure oral history, you have recordings of all of it.

I want to play one piece of sound from someone who was with "National Geographic." Just explain to me where he was.

NEUS: So, he was in the crowd and kind of this quote is when he's cresting up over this hill and kind of sees exactly the melee and the riot that has started to happen.

BERMAN: All right, let's listen.

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LOUIE PALU, FREELANCE PHOTOJOURNALIST: They were within a bigger crowd, like a Trojan horse, you know, because they used the mass. And I thought, oh, I know these guys. Kevlar vests, Kevlar helmets, baseball bats, two by fours, flagpoles that are really masking a club or a weapon of some kind. A lot of the gloves, you'd see them in Afghanistan, where they're gloves with these fiberglass knuckles. You know, just people who came prepared to fight, not to just protest, but prepared to attack.

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BERMAN: And he was in the middle of it and feeling it, which can be different than seeing these big pictures that we see.

NEUS: A lot of these photojournalists are actually war reporters who were only stateside because it was Covid. And so, these are guys who have crazy experience. This specific man has ten years as a war correspondent. And he said he's never really seen anything quite like this.

[09:55:02]

BERMAN: You did not speak to the insurrectionists. Why?

NEUS: Two things. First of all, best practice in combating the rise of fascism and the far right in the U.S. is to not give these guys any more oxygen, is to not let them spread their propaganda. But also, in a very real sense, I didn't need to. They love telling their own story. They have said as much as they're going to say about what happened that day. And there's depositions. There's court documents. I've read thousands of pages of them talking, and their voices are in this book.

BERMAN: Very quickly. There's been some reticence to this book in general as you've been trying to get publicity for it.

NEUS: This is my fourth book, and it's the first time that I've had bookstores, libraries, universities say, we don't want to host you for an event because it's just too sensitive. I've had events canceled. I've had event -- folks cite kind of amorphous (ph) security concerns. That just feels like preemptive censorship.

BERMAN: It's interesting. That does tell you something about where this is right now in our country's history.

Nora, it's great to see you.

NEUS: Good to see you.

BERMAN: Great work, as always. Thank you.

NEUS: Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for doing the work, Nora. It's good to see you again.

SIDNER: All right. And thank you for hanging out with us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.

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