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Corp. For Public Broadcasting Shutting Down After Funding Cuts; Trump Celebrates Maduro's Capture As Dems Demand Venezuela Plan; Venezuela Govt. Orders Arrest Of Anyone Who Supports U.S. Attack; Immigration Crackdown Escalates In Minnesota; 2,000 Fed Agents Headed To Minneapolis In Immigration Crackdown; DOJ: Less Than One Percent of Epstein Files Released Despite Law. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 06, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Meanwhile, I recently spoke with a Democratic Senator who's already talking about how to try to restore funding if and when Democrats regain control of the Congress after the midterms. And there are some on the Hill already brainstorming how to get money to the stations that need it most. So, this battle is far from over, but the corporation shutting down, it is an end of an era for publicly-funded media in the U.S., Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Yes, certainly is.

Brian Stelter, thank you so much. And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: President Trump celebrating the high-risk operation to capture Nicolas Maduro and says the U.S. has the most fearsome military while Caracas remains on edge and security forces patrol the streets there.

Plus, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on the ground in Minneapolis as the administration deploys thousands of federal agents to the area. We'll take you there live with the latest on the looming immigration crackdown.

And they're just getting started. The Justice Department says it has released less than 1 percent of the files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. We're going to show you how many more files they are reviewing and when you can see them.

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

Some 72 hours after U.S. forces captured, ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Trump is celebrating, as uncertainty remains over his next steps. Here's what he told a room of Republicans about the military mission earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States proved once again most powerful, most lethal, most sophisticated and most fearsome. It's a fearsome military on planet Earth. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The victory lap is happening, as top Democrats say the administration lacks a concrete plan moving forward. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, saying a briefing she received failed to provide a, quote, "well-informed diplomatic roadmap, clear timelines, and the right tools to help develop and transition Venezuela."

Let's go live outside the White House now with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

Kristen, more briefings are set on Capitol Hill tomorrow. Do you think officials are going to get answers to their questions?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, everyone is hoping so. It's not just Democrats. There are Republican lawmakers who might not be coming out against the administration, but they are still looking for any kind of answer to the question of what does the U.S. involvement in Venezuela look like moving forward. Right now, we are just getting bits and pieces from various U.S. officials, as well as from members of the administration. We heard Secretary of State Marco Rubio point -- paint this as a broad picture of the U.S. trying to dictate policy.

Yesterday, you heard the Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who has been alongside Rubio, one of the chief architects of this Venezuela plan, talking about how essentially this was a threat situation where they were going to use the military off the coast of Venezuela to continue to threaten Venezuela in order to get them to do what America wants.

But that does not answer the question of, one, what exactly are the demands that America is making? Are they only related to oil at this time? We've been speaking to a number of experts who say there's going to have to be serious infrastructure rebuilding within Venezuela to actually even access the kind of oil that President Trump has been talking about or are there other demands as well?

The other question that no one is answering, when are there going to be or are there going to be or are there going to be elections held? Is there ever going to be a pivot to democracy?

These are things that not only Venezuelans want to know, but also United States citizens want to know. Are we getting into a war with Venezuela? We hear from Stephen Miller and President Trump, they say, no, we're not. But they're also saying that we, the United States, are in control of this country without giving the specifics of what U.S. control of Venezuela actually looks like.

SANCHEZ: And Kristen, there is new reporting on the actual raid that captured Maduro and his wife. Sources say that Trump officials are telling lawmakers that he sustained some injuries as well as his wife, Cilia Flores. They're basically describing a very chaotic scenario, but one in which U.S. forces didn't directly cause those injuries, right?

HOLMES: Yes, essentially what they're saying is that the Maduros or Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, as you said, hit their head while they were trying to flee U.S. forces, that the injuries weren't caused by this operation themselves, but by the forces being there and the Maduro or Flores trying to escape.

We saw them in court. We saw the sketches of them in court. We heard them in court. They had visible injuries. We know that Flores' lawyer had essentially said that she sustained severe injuries, that she wanted to be brought in for another medical analysis. So, it's not that surprising. But of course, here they're trying to lay out that this was not the fault of the actual people on the ground, but instead of those trying to flee law enforcement.

[15:05:07]

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes at the White House, thank you so much for that update. Brianna?

KEILAR: So, what does Congress have to say about all of this? CNN's Manu Raju is on the Hill. Manu, what are lawmakers saying? Are they getting the answers that they want from the Trump administration? Well, remember, most members of Congress have had zero briefings about exactly what happened over the weekend or about the administration's plans or long-term plans when it comes to Venezuela. There was a briefing last night in the aftermath of the attack on Saturday. That briefing was relegated to the topmost leaders in Congress, as well as some of the key members on those committees.

But the Democrats emerged from that closed-door classified briefing unsatisfied. Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, said that he did not get answers about how long this would take, how much it would cost, whether there'd be boots on the ground. The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, told me last night that he does not expect American boots on the ground. He also defended the efforts. So, the response has been along party lines, but there's been still a lot of questions about where exactly this will go.

Now, tomorrow, we expect this to be a very fiery hearing, given there'll be much -- many more members involved in this, including Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, who sits on the Senate Armed Services Committee and has been feuding with the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, over Hegseth's effort to try to -- to demote him from his military rank, given a previous video that he posted calling on military officers not to follow illegal orders.

But Kelly says that that may come up at tomorrow's hearing. And he also is pushing back at the notion, this was a law enforcement operation on Saturday, as the administration contends it did in serving Maduro an arrest warrant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): They talk about how this is a law enforcement operation. But if, in fact, 150 airplanes were used from, you know, multiple services, it feels, you know, less, to me, law enforcement and more like a military operation. Let me make it perfectly clear, this letter or anything that Pete

Hegseth says or does, to me, is in no way going to affect the way I do my job and represent my constituents in the United States Senate. Ain't happening. So, you know, his option, you know, right now is he can continue with this kind of (expletive) or he can go take a hike. That's his options.

And if I have an opportunity to, you know, tell him that tomorrow, maybe I will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last comment referring to that feud that is ongoing with the secretary of defense. So, expect some fireworks potentially in the Senate and House briefings that will take place tomorrow, because a lot of questions persist, particularly among Democrats who say that the administration has been far less than forthcoming about its plans in Venezuela, guys.

KEILAR: And Manu, the Senate's also preparing to vote on a measure that's aimed at limiting the President's war powers in Venezuela. Does that have a realistic chance of going anywhere?

RAJU: Now, it is -- it's going to be a close vote in the United States Senate. It is unlikely to pass the United Senate at this point. There's still several Republican senators who have not said how they will ultimately come down. We -- that would require a simple majority of senators for approval in the 53-47 Senate. At least two have indicated that they are yes votes, including Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who is a Republican, who is pushing this plan. But will they get to the four needed? And then, of course, getting this out of the United States House, a totally different question here.

So, there could be a symbolic rebuke of President Trump, but actually getting it through both chambers of Congress, highly unlikely at this point, guys.

KEILAR: All right, Manu Raju, thank you, live for us from the Hill. Boris?

SANCHEZ: It's a time of great uncertainty for Venezuelans still grappling with the U.S. military operation. Anxiety is building as the newly sworn-in government there is cracking down on dissidents. Let's go live to the capital of Colombia, Bogota, where CNN contributor Stefano Pozzebon is.

It's a country that's also facing threats from the Trump administration. How are things going in Caracas as you see them, Stefano?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Boris -- well, from what we are hearing from our friends and colleagues down in the Venezuelan capital who are still keeping the newsfeed going for us at CNN, well, they're telling us that today is once again a day where the police and other security officers are out onto the streets, holding people questions, asking questions on whether they were perhaps involved into this raid that essentially was so embarrassing for this regime to take with.

Like, listen, the Maduro government represented more than 25 years of trajectory of putting military people in charge of government institutions.

[15:10:04]

There was a very well-known expression that Maduro used to refer to a million times a day, which was a nation united in perfect civilian, military and police union. Well, that military element didn't work out, did it? If the U.S. were able to take Maduro out of his bedroom together with his wife and fly him all the way to New York City without taking a single casualty from the Venezuelan or Cuban forces that were tasked with the order of protecting Maduro.

So, today is the day where the government of the newly installed acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, is presenting herself as the new institution of power in Caracas. For example, today, Rodriguez held a meeting with the high council of food sovereignty, of course, a key area for a nation where 84 percent of the population still live below the poverty line.

But I will also understand from Reuters that officials from the Rodriguez government are already holding discussion with members of the White House entourage in how to beef up the exports of Venezuelan crude oil to the United States, one of the issues that are so close to the heart of the U.S. President Donald Trump.

So, it's a day after the storm where calm is returning from the streets of Caracas. And unfortunately, when it comes to Caracas, calm often means security officers with balaclava questioning regular citizens about their political allegiances. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, important context to keep in mind. Stefano Pozzebon, live for us in Bogota. Thank you so much.

Still to come, the Trump administration stepping up its immigration enforcement efforts in Minnesota as that state reels from allegations of fraud.

Plus, the DOJ giving an update on the release of the Epstein files. The department saying it's still reviewing more than two million documents. When might we see them?

And later, an unofficial hearing and a march to the Capitol while January 6th is being remembered five years later.

That much and more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:12]

KEILAR: Happening right now, a ramped-up immigration crackdown in the state of Minnesota. The Trump administration is deploying an additional 2,000 agents from both ICE and U.S. Border Patrol to Minneapolis and other parts of the Twin Cities. DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is already there supervising arrests. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino, who gained notoriety for his tactics in other cities, is expected in the coming days. CNN Law Enforcement Correspondent Whitney Wild is on the ground in Minneapolis. Tell us what you're seeing there, Whitney.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, what we're seeing, Brianna, is social media video capturing some of these moments where they're seeing what these social media users say are ICE agents operating on the ground. There was one incident in Bloomington, which is a suburb of Minneapolis. There are more social media videos that are starting to surface as we are in the very beginning of this ramped up immigration effort, an effort that the Department of Homeland Security says is going to be their largest deployment so far. This is not the first time ICE agents and other DHS assets have been deployed to Minnesota.

As you know and as we've talked about quite a bit, President Trump has really railed against the Somali-American community here in Minneapolis. It -- it was earlier in December that we saw this other surge of ICE assets to Minneapolis. DHS says in that first round of immigration crackdown, there were 400 arrests. This time, the context is different. This comes after Governor Tim Walz has decided he is not going to seek a third term. This comes amid national allegations that he did not do enough to stem a tide of fraud that has plagued the state for years.

This came after this YouTuber put out a video after Christmas purporting to find fraud at many daycares that set off an enormous media firestorm. And in the last few weeks since that video came out, there has been a hyper focus from the Trump administration on Minnesota. We've seen federal funds to the state frozen as the administration says they have major concerns about fraud. They are not going to allow federal dollars to flow into the state until the state can prove that the federal dollars are being used correctly.

Also going on here right now, Brianna, this was a headline that came out. There were allegations that a -- a Hilton-related property had canceled reservations for DHS agents. Hilton saying that they have major concerns about this property that was independently owned and they are working to remove that property from their system. Looking ahead, Congress is not letting this fraud situation in Minnesota go away.

They expect Minnesota lawmakers on Capitol Hill tomorrow to answer questions about why fraud has been an acute problem here in Minneapolis. Federal prosecutors saying it is a problem that has spanned many years that could reach into the billions. Governor Walz is due on Capitol Hill in February. And so far, Brianna has said that he is happy to attend any questions or any hearings, rather, and answer questions from lawmakers about this.

KEILAR: All right, Whitney Wild, live for us in Minneapolis. Thanks for the latest there.

One percent down, 99 to go. The DOJ says it has released a fraction of the Epstein files, with more than 2 million documents still being reviewed. We have all the details on what is missing ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:48]

SANCHEZ: It's been more than two weeks since the deadline expired for the Justice Department to release the files on the late Jeffrey Epstein. And less than 1 percent of the documents are out, with millions of pages still needing review. That means the nation's top law enforcement agency is not following the law as mandated in the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which passed last November. CNN Senior Reporter Marshall Cohen is here to give us the specifics.

So, Marshall, how many documents are still under review right now and what does that review entail?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Well, that big number is two million, according to the Justice Department. That's what they said yesterday in a new court filing, where they actually provided, for the first time, a lot of new details, hard numbers explaining what's out and what's still under review. So, I'll just break it all down for you, Boris.

Yesterday, DOJ said over 12,000 documents have been posted to their Epstein files library so far and those 12,000 documents comprise 125,000 pages. But if you've been paying attention, you know that nothing has come out in two weeks, since December 23rd.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

[15:25:00]

COHEN: And that's because there are more than two million documents remaining. Justice Department said, though, in that court filing last night, that they believe a lot of those are duplicates. And they do have a huge team that they say is working weekends, holidays, overnights, to get this all out the door. Four-hundred lawyers from DOJ and a hundred FBI agents who specialize in making sure that victims' privacy is protected through redactions. But, Boris, in that court filing yesterday, the Justice Department did acknowledge that some things that the victims believed should be redacted, unfortunately, in their words, unfortunately was not redacted on the first blush.

SANCHEZ: Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pushing for an investigation into what has delayed this and -- and they're trying to get answers to a number of questions, perhaps as well accountability for why they didn't meet the deadline?

COHEN: That's absolutely right. And notably, it's bipartisan. This is in the Senate. It came out just an hour or two ago, a press release from a bunch of Democrats, the usual suspects, but also Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska who has an independent streak, joining with some of her Democratic colleagues to call on the Justice Department Inspector General to do an audit and investigate whether the DOJ complied with the law, which required full disclosure by December 19th.

Obviously, that didn't happen, but the Justice Department has said it was a very, very truncated timeline. Obviously, millions of files to release, they said they only had a month to do it and they insist they are working in good faith to get it done.

Marshall Cohen, thanks so much for the update on that. We'll look forward to what comes next out of DOJ.

Still ahead, while President Trump celebrates the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, questions remain about how the Trump administration plans to run the country and rebuild its oil infrastructure. We're going to discuss that with former CIA Director Leon Panetta next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)