Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Immigration Crackdown in Minnesota; Hearing Marks Five Years Since January 6; Venezuela on Edge. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 06, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Senator Cassidy, a physician, said back in February that Kennedy promised to consult him and would protest vaccine access.

The Justice Department says it has released less than 1 percent of the Epstein files. So far, more than 12,000 documents have been made public, but the DOJ says there are more than two million documents still being reviewed. Congress passed a law requiring the department to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein by December 19 of last year.

Thank you so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Venezuela victory lap. President Trump calls the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro an amazing military feat, but not all lawmakers are convinced there's a plan after his ouster.

Plus: deep divisions five years after January 6. Dueling events today with two very different takes on that deadly day in our nation's capital.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And we haven't seen a flu season this bad in 25 years, cases skyrocketing across the country. It is putting a serious strain on hospitals too. What you need to know to keep your family safe.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: While President Trump celebrates his actions in Venezuela, critics today are calling out what is not being said. Several top Democrats who have sat for briefings say specifics on a concrete plan are not being shared, as President Trump continues to say he's in charge.

In the 72 hours since Nicolas Maduro's capture, President Trump has yet to give a clear timeline for the U.S.' involvement in Venezuela. The U.N. secretary-general saying that he's deeply concerned about what comes next. Human rights groups inside Venezuela reporting media repression and security forces on the streets. CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us at the White House.

Kristen, what's the latest?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, we still have no clear answers.

And all of these various U.S. officials that we're talking to who are going on background, as well as who we're actually hearing from in the public, Stephen Miller was on with Jake Tapper yesterday, President Trump, are all giving different versions of events and a different look at the future of Venezuela and U.S. involvement.

Now, President Trump was speaking to House of Representatives, Republican House of Representatives, during their retreat today at a speech that was billed as being part of the midterms. It was going to focus on midterms. It went on pretty lengthy, an hour and 20 minutes, and he veered to a lot of topics, including Venezuela, where he celebrated that operation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was so complex, 152 airplanes, many, many -- talk about boots on the ground. We had a lot of boots on the ground. But it was amazing.

And think of it. Nobody was killed. And on the other side, a lot of people were killed, unfortunately, I say that, soldiers, Cubans, mostly Cubans, but many, many killed. And they were -- they knew we were coming, and they were protected, and our guys weren't. Our guys were jumping out of helicopters, and they're not protected, and they were. But it was so brilliant.

The electricity for almost the entire country was, boom, turned on. That's when they knew there was a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And, Brianna, one thing to note here. Nobody seems to be arguing with the White House or the administration that this was a successful mission, given what they were doing and what they set out to do.

But the question still remains, what is the U.S. involvement in Venezuela going forward? And what we heard yesterday when it came to Stephen Miller was a number of things. We heard Trump himself say the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela. Specifically, he was in charge of Venezuela.

We heard Miller say the U.S. involvement is an ongoing military operation. Those words matter, because we had heard the administration trying to get away from saying it was a military operation. That's why they said they didn't have to inform Congress.

They also said -- Miller also said they were using control of Venezuelan economy as leverage over this new leadership. As we know, the vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, has now been appointed to acting president. And that the White House has not ruled the future indictments -- ruled out future indictments for Venezuelan officials.

These are just some of what we know. But when we continue to ask what does the day-to-day look like, what is the plan for the oil, you have mentioned the oil, other than just saying companies are going to invest, what's going to drive them to invest in Venezuela, a place where essentially they had a lot of business issues and many of them aren't eager to go back to?

And none of those questions have answers yet.

KEILAR: Kristen Holmes, live for us from the White House, thank you for that update -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Leaders from several top major European powers have been expressing support for Greenland and Denmark today after President Trump said the U.S. needs the Arctic island for national security.

[13:05:03]

A top Trump aide insisting on CNN that the semiautonomous Danish territory should be part of the United States, that no country would stand in the way of that. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: But can you say that military action against Greenland is off the table?

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: What do you mean military action against Greenland? The -- Greenland has a population of 30,000 people, Jake. The real question is, by what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland?

What is the basis of their territorial claim? What is their basis of having Greenland as a colony of Denmark? The United States should have Greenland as part of the United States. There's no need to even think or talk about this in the context that you're asking of a military operation. Nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Denmark's prime minister say Trump's threats should be taken seriously, warning a U.S. seizure of Greenland could have disastrous implications for NATO, saying -- quote -- "If the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops, including NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of World War II."

We're joined now by Frank Kendall, a former Air Force secretary.

Sir, thank you so much for being with us.

I'm curious to get your reaction to Stephen Miller saying that obviously Greenland should be part of the United States. Is it that obvious?

FRANK KENDALL, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE: I'm shocked. I'm shocked by his announcement that essentially the U.S. will operate from a policy of might makes right, that, because we're powerful, we can do whatever we want to.

That's completely at odds with my entire history and career, everything I have ever understood about America. As far as Greenland is concerned, Greenland is part of Denmark. An attack on Greenland would be an attack on Denmark. And we have had a long and close relationship with Denmark.

We have a Space Force base in Greenland at Pituffik that I visited in the north of Greenland. So I see no reason whatsoever for the U.S. to assert suddenly that it should be controlling Greenland. It makes no sense to me.

SANCHEZ: Is there any urgent or immediate security consideration that Denmark has not sufficiently protected Greenland from either Russian or Chinese exposure, let's say?

Is there anything that's stopping the United States right now, the way that things are set up, from bolstering security against adversaries in the Arctic in that area?

KENDALL: I have never heard a suggestion over my entire career in national security that there was any problem with how Greenland was cooperating with the United States and how Denmark was cooperating with the United States.

It's been a great relationship and it's been there for decades. I see no reason why we should suddenly assert that we need to control Greenland. It makes no sense to me.

SANCHEZ: Do you see some kind of more kinetic effort, perhaps more aggressive, let's say, from the United States to go after Greenland as something that could potentially end the NATO alliance or hinder it?

KENDALL: It would be an attack on a member of NATO. And we're all pledged as part of the alliance to defend against any attack on a NATO member.

And if it came from another NATO member, in this case the United States, I think that would still apply. Again, I'm shocked that anybody would even assert such a thing from the United States.

SANCHEZ: To the question of general security, as Trump makes this assertion, this claim that Greenland is teeming with Russian and Chinese ships, is that the case? Is it an area where you have seen interest from Beijing and Moscow?

KENDALL: There's a great deal of interest in the Arctic from these countries, but no specific operation that I'm aware of in Greenland.

Now, again, Greenland and Denmark have cooperated with us fully throughout my entire career. SANCHEZ: You said a moment ago that you had never seen the United

States act that way, in the sense that, in a broad view of the world, the argument that Stephen Miller is making is a very realist one, in the sense that, because we have so much strength, because we have so much power militarily, then therefore what we say goes.

I wonder if you could expand on that, what the implications of that are for the United States.

KENDALL: I will be blunt. This is fundamentally a fascist declaration. Might makes right is what he was saying. We're more powerful and you have to do what we say.

That was the way the world worked until after World War II. And after 60 million-plus casualties and two devastating World Wars, the United States led the effort to create a system in which the rule of law would prevent countries from -- stronger countries from just doing whatever they wanted to weaker countries, to stop wars of aggression.

What Stephen Miller said actually flies in the face of all of that. It flies in the face of everything the U.S. has stood for just throughout my entire life.

SANCHEZ: It notably overlaps with something Vladimir Putin might suggest, no?

KENDALL: It overlaps with something Vladimir Putin might suggest. It overlaps with something Xi Jinping might suggest.

[13:10:01]

What President Trump seems to me to be doing is trying to divide the world in the three spheres of influence, in which the dominant powers in each of those spheres can do whatever they want. That is, again, an abrupt and dramatic departure from the whole history of the United States since World War II.

SANCHEZ: Secretary Frank Kendall, we appreciate your candor. Thanks so much for joining us.

KENDALL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come this afternoon.

Five years after the deadly insurrection in the nation's capital, pardoned rioters are again making their way to the Hill.

Plus, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joining ICE operations on the ground in Minnesota. What we know about this looming immigration crackdown.

And President Trump wants to make Venezuelan oil great again, but is big oil, are American oil companies on board with that dream? It might be an expensive prospect. We will discuss coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:15:19]

KEILAR: Happening now: House Democrats are holding a hearing on Capitol Hill five years after the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol. Members of the former January 6 Select Committee are reexamining their findings, including President Trump's role in inciting violence at the Capitol that day.

Remember, immediately after President Trump took back the White House, he granted sweeping pardons to nearly 1,600 people who were charged in connection with January 6 and freed hundreds of violent criminals from prison.

According to a new report released by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee, at least 33 pardoned rioters have subsequently been accused of new crimes, including child sexual abuse and plotting violence against prominent Democrats.

One of today's witnesses, convicted writer Pamela Hemphill, has since disavowed Trump and rejected his pardon. She explained why.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAMELA HEMPHILL, CONVICTED JANUARY 6 RIOTER: Accepting that pardon would be lying about what happened on January the 6th. I broke the law. To me, taking a pardon would be a slap in the Capitol Police's face.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Meanwhile, a group of pardoned J6 rioters are holding their own event to mark today's anniversary, retracing their steps from five years ago, marching from the Ellipse near the White House to the Capitol.

CNN's Brian Todd is live on scene and joins us now.

Brian, tell us what you're seeing as you're making your way there.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Brianna.

We just started this March a couple of minutes ago. They are trying to recreate, exactly as they can, at least, as close as they can, the route and timing of the march on January 6, 2021. They started that here on the Ellipse just a few minutes ago. That's, of course, where President Trump spoke on January 6, 2021, and encouraged the crowd to march on the Capitol.

They gave some speeches here and now they are again kind of recreating their route up to the Capitol. They plan on going to the Capitol and laying down flowers in honor of Ashli Babbitt. She is the rider who was shot and killed by a U.S. Capitol Police officer on January 6. Ashli Babbitt's mother is here.

A lot of this event is really framed around honoring her memory and they say also the memories of the police officers who were killed, who died as a result of the events on January 6. I'm just trying to get a gauge here of where the crowd is moving so we're moving along with them.

This is really an event, Brianna, staged by and for people who believe they have the upper hand in the narrative now. They believe the script has basically flipped in their favor because many of them have been pardoned by President Trump.

I spoke with Enrique Tarrio -- he's the former leader of the Proud Boys -- a short time ago, and he said they do believe that they do have the upper hand in the narrative and that the country is listening more to their side of things right now.

We did witness a fairly violent confrontation. A counterprotester drowned out some speeches earlier by the Willard Hotel that some of these January 6'ers were giving. She drowned it out with a bullhorn simulating a police siren, then screamed, and then there was a violent confrontation where she was wrestled to the ground.

And one protester grabbed her bullhorn and smashed it. Then we saw Secret Service police officers grab that counterprotester and take her into custody. We were -- we followed up on that. We were told by the Secret Service police and the Park Police that she was detained and questioned and later released.

So that's just kind of an indication of some of the tension surrounding this event here today -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Brian Todd, thank you so much for that look at this march.

Coming up: The Department of Homeland Security is accusing the Hilton Hotel chain of canceling agent room reservations in Minneapolis as an immigration crackdown ramps up there. We will have details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:23:33]

SANCHEZ: The Trump administration's immigration crackdown in Minnesota is escalating, as an additional 2,000 agents from both ICE and U.S. Border Patrol are being deployed in Minneapolis.

KEILAR: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is already there on the ground. And Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who gained notoriety for his tactics in other cities, is expected in the coming days, this surge following Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's stunning announcement yesterday that he will not seek reelection amid an ongoing welfare fraud investigation targeting mostly Somali immigrant communities.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez here with some new reporting.

Priscilla, what can you tell us?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and, of course, this also comes amid the president's inflammatory rhetoric about the Somali community in Minnesota, which is sizable in that state.

Now, what I'm being told is that there are around 2,000 federal agents who are descending into Minnesota. They are coming from all around the country. In fact, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said on FOX that it is -- quote -- "the largest immigration operation" that is taking place right now.

So that gives you a sense of sheer scale here. And what the scale tells us is how much the administration is paying close attention to Minnesota. Now, there are multiple agents here. This is Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

They have two branches. That is enforcement and removal operations, so the people who would typically arrest and deport those undocumented immigrants, but also their investigative arm there because of this ongoing welfare fraud scandal that has ensnared this community.

[13:25:00]

Now, what I'm also told by my sources is, this isn't just focused on Somalis. Of course, many of them are also U.S. citizens. This is also focused on undocumented immigrants in the state. It also goes far beyond Minneapolis and just spreads out across Minnesota.

So, really a large operation taking place here as they intensify this immigration crackdown.

SANCHEZ: You also have some new reporting on this spat between DHS and Hilton, the hotel brand that DHS is accusing of canceling hotel reservations for these agents?

ALVAREZ: Yes.

Now, of course, when agents come in, they have to stay somewhere. And that is where this stemmed from. So, essentially, what occurred here is, when they were making, the agents, making reservations, with their government e-mails, they received an e-mail in return that the Department of Homeland Security posted.

It's partially redacted coming from an @Hilton.com address that it says -- quote -- "We have noticed an influx of gov reservations made today that have been for DHS and we are not allowing any ICE or immigration agents to stay at our property. If you are with DHS or immigration, let us know, as we will have to cancel your reservation."

As you can see there, Department of Homeland Security blasting that out. We also heard from this Lakeview Hilton property, which is independently owned. They said this was not consistent with their policies, but, all the same, the latest development this afternoon is that Hilton is actually taking action to remove the hotel from its system.

In a statement that they provided yesterday, they said that they had -- quote -- "been in direct contact with the hotel, and they have apologized for the actions of their team, which was not in keeping with their policies. They have taken immediate action to resolve this matter and are contacting impacted guests to ensure they are accommodated. Hilton's position is clear. Our properties are open to everyone and we do not tolerate any form of discrimination."

So this all played out over the last 24 hours. And what it ultimately ended up being is that they are taking this independently owned hotel off the books for Hilton properties as they continue to get in touch with the impacted guests who are federal agents.

So, certainly, there's a lot happening in Minnesota on the immigration crackdown front, but this was something that happened as they were making those reservations and as the Department of Homeland Security immediately found -- shined a light on it.

KEILAR: Interesting.

Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much for the update there.

And within hours, he went from living in a presidential palace to becoming one of the most notorious -- to living in one of the most notorious federal detention centers in the U.S.

We will take a look at the facility where Nicolas Maduro is being held.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)