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Private Security Options for Venezuela; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) is Interviewed about Venezuela; Kwame Raoul is Interviewed about Minnesota Protests; Numbers on Trump, ICE and Immigration; Ben Fritz is Interviewed about McConaughey Trademarks. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 15, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:30:22]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening today, President Trump will meet with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado at the White House. The president declined to endorse her following the ouster of Nicolas Maduro, whose vice president was then sworn in instead as acting president. Machado is vying for control of Venezuela's future and Trump's favor. In recent weeks she suggested she would offer her Nobel Peace Prize to him. The meeting comes on the heels of the U.S.' first sale of Venezuelan oil at roughly $500 million. And this morning, we have new exclusive CNN reporting about how Trump is preparing to try and protect the oil and energy assets in Venezuela.

Let's get right to CNN's Kylie Atwood, who has this exclusive reporting for us.

What are you learning how this is going to work when Donald Trump says, I'm in charge of the country and these assets are essentially mine?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. What we've learned is that administration officials are looking to private military contractors, effectively folks who can do this work but not have the mark of the U.S. government on their backs, to stabilize Venezuela, to stabilize and provide protection around the oil assets in Venezuela coming, of course, as the administration has made it very clear that getting up production from oil in Venezuela and also making sure the country is a place that is investable for these energy companies to go in is a priority.

Now, we've learned that these are early discussions, right? No final decisions have been made. We should also say that President Trump has very clearly not counted out the possibility of U.S. troops on the ground. But sources have told my colleagues and I that the administration is not really interested in any long term presence of potential U.S. troops on the ground. And so that's why they are looking at this possibility of private security contractors to effectively fill that void, to make this a country where they can get production of oil up, where they feel that that will actually stabilize the country.

Now, there are many private security contracting companies who are already jostling to get involved in this. This is an opportunity for them. They have experience in past places where they feel can be applied here. And they've reached out to the State Department offices to provide their support. Also to the Department of Defense. We learned that just last week the Department of Defense actually put out a request for information from some of these private contracting companies, effectively asking them about their ability to provide security to potentially U.S. military installations or, obviously, around U.S. interests in Venezuela. So we'll watch and see where this goes.

But I think it's really important to note, Sara, that in the context of this conversation, these -- many of these big contracting companies have experience. If you look back, of course, to the Iraq War, in the Iraq War the U.S. spent more than $138 billion on private security, logistics and reconstruction contractors. So, obviously, this is an opportunity for those contractors and also, of course, for the Trump administration to potentially stabilize the country. We'll have to watch and see how this goes because usually those private security contractors are working in conjunction with the U.S. military.

Sara.

SIDNER: Right. And, you know, we have to also mention, we had the issue with Blackwater in Iraq, one of those private security companies.

There are potential issues that can come up as well. And the government is going to have to kind of deal with that, because even though they're not the military, right, they're still seen as part of the U.S., correct?

ATWOOD: Yes, they are. They're an extension of the U.S., of course. So, when there are death of security contractors, the U.S. government feels that they have to respond to those deaths. We've seen that happen in recent months in Syria, when there were U.S. contractors who were killed there and the Trump administration responded quite forcefully to that.

So, this is a real, you know, a real situation where the U.S. government is still putting risk on the line. However, it's less risk than it would be with U.S. troops on the ground. And that's what's critical here.

I also think, as the administration is talking with these big energy CEOs, these oil companies, and trying to get them to go in, these are also energy companies that have a global presence. And so they already have built in teams that come with security and all of that. So, they would be ramping up their own teams as they consider whether or not to go into the country.

[08:35:01]

But, of course, we have heard from some of those energy companies that right now the country is simply uninvestable because of the situation on the ground.

SIDNER: Yes, a lot of complications that have to be worked through.

Kylie Atwood, thank you so much. Do appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk about what's happening in Venezuela and beyond. Right now joining us is Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee.

Senator, thank you so much for coming in.

We were talking -- there's a lot of focus this morning on what's going to happen at the White House with the Venezuelan opposition leader, Mara Corina Machado, going to the White House to have lunch with President Trump. That's happening there. While in Congress, you just had the war powers resolution fail. It had sought to force President Trump to seek congressional approval for any further U.S. military action in Venezuela. That failed because of lobbying from the White House on Republican senators. Josh Hawley said that he got assurances there would be no troops -- ground troops sent to Venezuela. And if they wanted that to change, they would seek congressional approval.

You clearly do not trust that assurance, but what do you do now then?

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Kate, I don't trust that assurance because it's now known publicly that the Trump administration was preparing and training our military for the mission to go into Venezuela, to kidnap and return to the United States President Maduro of Venezuela. There were 100 Venezuelans killed in this very successful mission that our military carried out well. But on a policy basis, they lied to us in Congress. We had briefings several times where they insisted that they were taking strikes against drug trafficking boats in the southern Caribbean and they were not contemplating regime change.

So, if my colleague, Senator Hawley, got a reassurance that he believes, I think he should just look at the record of the last few months. The Trump administration has said, well, we can't share things like this with our Congress. The Constitution requires it.

The president does have the power to protect us from an imminent threat. If missiles are launched at the United States, or there was a renewed surprise attack like Pearl Harbor. But this was something they planned for months, and they should have consulted Congress.

Trump's threatening all sorts of actions now. He's threatening action against Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Greenland. I think this was a missed opportunity for my Republican colleagues to stand up to President Trump and say, Congress has a role. You cannot ignore us.

BOLDUAN: Well, in terms of -- I mean this is all connected somewhat. Also in terms of trusting someone's word. The president seems to have pushed off military action against Iran for now. He had set a red line first at, he'd go in with military action if protesters were being killed. Then he said he would take action if protesters were executed, possibly a distinction without a difference for those on the ground who have had their loved ones murdered. Do you think the president, when it comes to Iran, has set red lines and already blown through them?

COONS: Yes. And I think it's important for a great nation like the United States to not bluff. Part of what is causing such chaos in our relationships in NATO is his repeated assertion that we're going to take Greenland the easy way or the hard way. That is undermining the strength and the stability of the NATO alliance. Saying to the protesters in Iran, we will take action and strike the regime in Iran if they kill protesters, and then they kill thousands of protesters, and he changes it to, if they execute protesters.

Now, in a positive development, the mullahs, the clerical regime in Iran has delayed the execution of a protester. But thousands have already been killed.

I think one of the things that is really causing huge challenges for us is our president's lack of focus on what Americans care about, costs in health care, in housing, in groceries. And instead, he's picking a different country every week to threaten to attack or to focus on. The Department of Justice still hasn't released more than 1 percent of the Epstein files. President Trump is not focused on solving the war between Russia and Ukraine. In fact, he's blaming the victim, Ukraine. And instead, he's gone on this wild ride around the world threatening to attack and actually attacking quite a few countries. Under President Trump, the United States took military action against seven countries last year. He claims he has solved eight wars. I think he's working hard to start new ones.

BOLDUAN: I need to try to fit in two more things. And on that point, let's stay focused on that. I want to stay focused on Iran.

Lindsey Graham said that he wants to see Trump attack Iran sooner rather than later. The way he put it, when Trump said that help was on the way, Lindsey Graham said that "an attack on the regime is the only help that really matters."

[08:40:00]

Do you think U.S. military action is warranted and will help protect protesters?

COONS: Look, I don't think it will help protesters. I think what we should do in the -- in the meantime is to help make sure that the protesters in Iran have access to the internet, something we have been able to do in the past. We should consult with our regional partners about how we can support a movement towards democracy in Iran. But our regional allies and partners are urging us not to carry out a military strike. They think that will simply strengthen the regime, not weaken it.

BOLDUAN: Now, shifting focus to Greenland. You are leading a bipartisan group of lawmakers to the island in the next couple days.

COONS: Yes.

BOLDUAN: What are you going to do there, especially after you have three governments just left that meeting at the White House yesterday saying that there are still fundamental disagreements on the, we're going to take Greenland sooner one way or another coming from President Trump?

COONS: Well, to be clear, Kate, a bipartisan group of us are going to Denmark. And we will be meeting with senior leaders from the Danish and Greenlandic governments, as well as parliamentarian civil society leaders, business leaders. This is a large delegation of ten members, House and Senate. And our goal is to just thank the Danes for having been good and solid and reliable NATO partners and allies to have a respectful conversation about how we can jointly and constructively address arctic security concerns, how we might be partners in sustainably developing Greenland's resources, but bluntly also to assert that we don't think threats against a trusted NATO ally are constructive or necessary.

BOLDUAN: Senator Chris Coons. Thanks for coming in, Senator.

Sara.

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

And breaking this morning, President Trump now threatening a major escalation in his immigration crackdown in Minneapolis after new protests erupted overnight following another shooting involving a federal agent who says that he was attacked by the person and then ambushed by others. The president posting this, if Minnesota's politicians don't get a handle on protests, quote, "I will institute the Insurrection Act."

The latest unrest comes after a federal judge declined, for now, to grant the state's request to halt ICE operations and that surge there in Minnesota. Illinois filed a similar lawsuit this week. And I am joined now by the state's attorney general, Kwame Raoul.

Thank you so much for being here.

KWAME RAOUL (D), ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL: Good morning.

SIDNER: I do want to just first get your -- get your comments on what you just saw from the president. He is threatening to put in place the Insurrection Act. I know this is not your state, but in Chicago and in Illinois you've had enormous protests against ICE. What do you make of this?

RAOUL: Well, his threats with regards to the Insurrection Act are not new. He's done so before with regards to California, Illinois. And so, you never know what is true -- what is true with regards to the president's threats.

However, he has -- he has carried out some unconstitutional acts consistently over the past year. And so, whatever he does, whether he tries to follow through on that, we are prepared. And I'm sure my colleague, General Ellison in Minnesota, is prepared to respond.

SIDNER: Now to your case against federal immigration actions in Illinois. What is it that you are demanding in your case?

RAOUL: We're demanding that the tactics that are being used by Border Patrol officers, as well as ICE officers, that are unconstitutional, that violate people's rights, that impact our businesses, our schools, our courthouses, those tactics be stopped. We're not requesting that immigration enforcement be stopped. We're requesting that it be done in the appropriate manner.

Enforcement and removal officers have historically done immigration enforcement in both Democrat and Republican administrative -- administrations in a -- in a precise and a strategic and a well- trained manner. These tactics of tear gassing innocent people, including our Chicago police officers, descending on black -- in Black Hawk helicopters on an apartment building and zip-tying children and residents who are citizens, who have done nothing wrong, is un- American and violative of constitutional rights.

SIDNER: And you just mentioned this, you said you're not asking for ICE to get out of the state. You are asking them to stop certain tactics that they've been using.

[08:45:02]

Just yesterday in Minnesota, a federal judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order to stop ICE operations in Minnesota as that case goes through the court. Can you give us some sense of how your case is different? Do you see Minnesota as a case that's actually trying to get ICE to leave the state and your case is not?

RAOUL: Well, there's a more intense situation on the ground in Minnesota right now, right? There's been a surge in Minnesota. And that's why my colleague, A.G. Ellison, went in requesting a temporary restraining order, and we did not. We are prepared to fully litigate this case and engage in discovery and -- and so, facts, while there are similar facts on the ground in Minnesota, in California, in other jurisdictions that have been politically targeted by this administration, there are differences as well with regards to intensity.

One of the things I want to add is, is the notion of Border Patrol being -- engaging in immigration enforcement in the interior. Congress has set out for Border Patrol to do their work on the border. The city of Chicago and the state of Illinois is not on an American border. So, we believe that it's violative for CBP to be engaged in this activity in the -- in the interior. They're not trained to do law enforcement in American cities. And we've seen the results. There have been people who, with no criminal background, shot and killed. Again, we've had the rights of law enforcement officers violated and other innocent people, including children, who have been unconstitutionally detained.

SIDNER: Attorney General Kwame Raoul --

RAOUL: And we have had private residences and businesses violated. SIDNER: Attorney General Kwame Raoul, thank you so much for coming on

and explaining what you expect to happen in the courts, or hope to happen in the courts when it comes to what is happening with ICE enforcement in your state.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We've got some new polling which shows how the American people are reacting to the president's immigration efforts.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

And, boy, has there been clear movement on one of these issues that absolutely helped get Donald Trump elected.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Absolutely helped get -- immigration helped Donald Trump get elected to a second term. It's been something he's been running on since, of course, he first ran for the presidency back in the 2015, 2016 cycle.

And I think there's this idea out there that immigration is a strength for him. It's why he keeps going back to being very aggressive on immigration enforcement. But it is a strength no longer, it's a weakness.

What are we talking about here? Well, take a look here. Trump's net approval rating on immigration. You go back a year ago, he was in the positive at plus eight points. Two thumbs up. You come over to this side of the screen. Hello, look at this drop, way, way down in the basement. Now down to minus 11 points. That's a nearly 20 point switcheroo in the negative direction. The American people have turned on Donald Trump when it comes to immigration enforcement. They do not like what he is doing, simply put.

BERMAN: It's a big 20-point swing there.

What do you see maybe as the tipping point? When did things turn?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, I think Donald Trump may have this idea that I want to be hawkish on immigration. That's what the American people want to see. They want to see that we're really going out there and we're rounding up people who are in the country illegally.

But take a look on this. This, I think, really gives the game away.

How long has Trump had a negative net approval rating on immigration? It has been every day since the Los Angeles ICE protests. Remember, that was the first real sort of fight between those protesters and those folks out there on ICE. That was, of course, back in June of 2025. And we have now had 218 days in a row in which Donald Trump has had a net negative approval rating on immigration.

Again, the American people do not like the way that Donald Trump is enforcing the immigration laws in this country and these quarrels between ICE and these ICE protesters. BERMAN: Yes, may have been the day, this may have been the moment when

the methods came into focus so much, which seems to be what is turning people.

Look how is ICE doing as an institution in the polls?

ENTEN: Yes, ICE, as an institution, is failing in the polls and it is dragging Donald Trump down with them. What are we talking about here? Well, take a look here. ICE's net approval rating. In Trump's first term he was at zero points -- excuse me, ICE was at zero points. You know, not too hot to trot, but not too bad either. It was higher than Donald Trump's overall approval rating.

But now, look at this, 17 points. Negative 17 points. The net approval rating of ICE among independents, it's even lower than that, 31 points underwater. ICE is dragging Trump down. And Trump's immigration approval rating down with them.

BERMAN: Yes, and these are big, big changes on a very important issue to him.

Harry Enten, thank you very much for this.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, Matthew McConaughey taking on A.I.

[08:50:00]

The novel approach that this actor is taking to fighting back.

And an app that asks, are you dead, is getting millions of downloads.

ENTEN: No.

BOLDUAN: Shush, Harry.

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BERMAN: All right, this morning, a group of Buddhist monks walking through Charlotte, North Carolina, as part of their 2,300 mile journey on foot to promote peace. They've been drawing huge crowds with people lining the streets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN MCGOVERN, TRAVELED TO SEE MONKS: We're in a very trying time in the world. And there's a lot of things going on, a lot of conflicts, and we all just need to get along.

CATHERINE CERDA, TRAVELED TO SEE MONKS: We want to tell the world that we still have hope, and we can continue to have hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: It's a pretty appealing message to a whole lot of people. The monks will walk through a total of nine state capitols. They started this walk in Fort Worth, Texas. Their goal is to reach Washington, D.C., next month.

Sara.

[08:55:01]

SIDNER: All right, on our radar for you this morning as well, testimony is set to resume this morning in the murder trial of Brendan Banfield. The Virginia father has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife and another man. Yesterday, the trial's star witness, Banfield's former mistress and live-in au pair, faced cross-examination by the defense. Now, prosecutors say Banfield conspired with her to frame a stranger for his wife's death by using a sexual fetish website to lure him to the house. Now, Banfield's defense sought to paint the former au pair as an unreliable narrator of the alleged plot.

All right, new this morning, whole milk could soon be back in school cafeterias. President Trump signed a bill yesterday allowing schools participating in the national school lunch program to serve whole and two percent milk. The new law, which Congress passed last year, reverses an Obama era rule that required schools to serve fat free or low-fat varieties to combat childhood obesity. The American Heart Association has expressed concerns over whole fat milk in the USDA's recent new regulations. The USDA has pushed whole milk, posting on X this week an image of Trump wearing a milk mustache and standing in front of a glass of milk.

And a quick question, are you dead? That's what the -- the question is on one of the most popular apps in China is asking its users. The app is called Demumu, and he asked people to provide a daily check-in confirming they're, in fact, alive. If you don't check in for 48 hours, you're selected emergency contact receives a notification to go check up on you. It was inspired as a safety measure due to a surge in single living in China. Estimates suggest up to 200 million people could be living by themselves there by 2030.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: I've got a lot of thoughts on that. Like, good idea. And also, psychologically damaging when you have to answer that question every morning.

SIDNER: Yes. What if you just don't feel like it?

BOLDUAN: And also, like, some days I'm like, define dead. Dead inside.

SIDNER: What do you mean by that?

BOLDUAN: Or -- yes.

All right.

SIDNER: I understand that. BOLDUAN: You see me. I see you.

Let's turn to this.

A new take on the growing battle between Hollywood and A.I. Oscar- winning actor Matthew McConaughey is trying to fight the misuse of A.I. in an interesting way, trademarking himself to fight against fake A.I. images and videos and protect his likeness and voice.

"The Wall Street Journal" has this really interesting reporting that he has all -- that Matthew McConaughey has already gotten eight trademark applications approved, including around one of his most famous lines that really helped launch his career from dazed and confused.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, all right, all right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, we crashed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining us right now is a reporter behind this new report, "Wall Street Journal" entertainment reporter Ben Fritz.

Ben, this was -- we read this, and this was kind of like a, huh, this is a new take on how this is going about. What exactly is McConaughey doing and what is he most worried about?

BEN FRITZ, ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY REPORTER, "WSJ": Well, he's doing these very general trademarks of himself, saying things like, of course, his most famous lines and some of the trademarks are just himself looking into a camera, standing, staring into the distance. And the idea from his lawyers, who I spoke to, is that he can have a trademark on himself, just like companies have trademarks on their, you know, slogans and mottos and so on so that he can fight anybody who's creating a video of him without his permission. It's basically a new tool because all the legal rules around this are very murky right now.

BOLDUAN: Very, very murky legislation, non-existent as well, right?

When it comes -- how different is this approach from other efforts to kind of tackle this A.I. conundrum for actors and artists? I mean we've seen, like, Scarlett Johansson, I remember that. We talked a lot about that when that -- when that -- when that came up. Like, how different is McConaughey's approach?

FRITZ: Well, again, I'm not aware of any actors who've done this.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

FRITZ: And what -- and to date actors have been using something called the right of publicity law, which says that you can't use somebody's image or likeness or voice to sell stuff. But what McConaughey's lawyers were pointing out to me is a lot of internet video isn't necessarily selling. You know, you put something on YouTube or TikTok, you might be making some money from ads, but it's not an explicit advertisement, right, go out and buy this. So, those right of publicity laws don't necessarily stop it. And you can't -- and those are only at the state level, not federal. So, this gives them a tool to take somebody to federal court.

But his lawyers admit, this is a -- this is a very novel, legal approach nobody's tested before.

[09:00:02]

So, if they sue and somebody takes them to court, we have to see how a judge rules.

BOLDUAN: This is really interesting. It also comes at a really interesting time. I was