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Protests Erupt in Minneapolis Over Deadly ICE Shooting; New Video Shows ICE Agent's POV in Deadly Minneapolis Shooting; 83rd Golden Globe Kicks Off "Party of the Year"; Trump Escalates Threats to Take Over Greenland; Minneapolis Community Grapples with Trump's Immigration Enforcement; New U.S. Dietary Guidelines Urge Less Sugar, More Protein; Trump Wants U.S. Oil Companies to Rebuild in Venezuela. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired January 10, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: But, Fred, this is just, I want to say it's a daily occurrence because it's swelled and shrunk over the course of -- over the course of these days but this is among the heaviest confrontation we've seen.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, but when you say a daily occurrence, a daily occurrence since that fatal shooting that people would gather there outside the building, what appears to be different is that you have a number of people who represent, you know, the federal law enforcement who've come out almost like a standoff here, you know, face to face.

And I wonder if you can just tell me about the proximity of this federal building to the location of where that fatal shooting took place? Is there any real relevance to, you know, the localities of these gatherings?

JIMENEZ: So, so this particular gathering is miles away from the shooting site. And however, the shooting site has also seen its fair share of protests. There are many different parts of the Minneapolis area where we've seen sort of these flare-ups. This one in particular, as I mentioned, tends to be more confrontational because it ends up being in the face of federal law enforcement. But where you see these cars coming now, last hour that was not the case.

Many of these protesters were actually in the street blocking or at the very least confronting vehicles that were either coming out or into that federal facility. And you see sort of law enforcement officers strategizing. They do seem to be going back at this point. Not sure the exact strategy, but you see them now retreating back. A big law enforcement presence. But again, as they swelled quickly, they seem to be shrinking back but a show of force.

No doubt that these protesters do not seem to be intimidated by. For whatever reason, they are still yelling. They've gotten even louder. And so this just represents, I think, a little bit of the anger that we've seen in various parts of the Minneapolis area over the last few days since the day of the shooting -- Fred. WHITFIELD: And of course, we're not hearing the dialogue from the

federal law enforcement there or any representation from. But just as you described, seeing them shrinking back, I wonder if that is simply representative of an attempt to deescalate what is a very heightened, tenuous moment here.

JIMENEZ: It really is. You know, I think it's hard to know their exact strategy, but depending on jurisdictions, for example, I'll compare what we just saw there with what we saw last night with local law enforcement out in the streets of downtown Minneapolis, where there was not a police presence at all it seemed like for portions of the protest, and then all of a sudden we couldn't really look anywhere without seeing law enforcement at the state, local -- and at the state and local level as well.

So it was a little bit of a similar strategy here. And now you sort of see what has become the, I guess, the standard protection here at this point, federal protective service police sort of guarding this entrance. But prior to this, when these vehicles were coming in and out of this federal facility, there was not any visible security presence, at least to what we're seeing right now.

Now, it does seem that tempers have calmed a little bit, but as soon as they left, you see, people are now getting right back into the street as well. And some of that similar posturing that we saw before federal law enforcement sort of had that show of force. So this is something, again, we've seen flare-ups here come in and out over the course of the day at various portions of entrances to this federal building.

There was one that even a few days ago forced us to have to run because of an agent's -- agents sprinting into the crowd to sort of arrest people. We haven't seen that here, but that's sort of the range of what we've seen. Crowd repellent used at points, pepper balls. And what protesters have done is at the most we've seen is throw snowballs as well. So that's kind of what we've been seeing here as cars sometimes honk in support.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Interesting moment, yet still very tense moment.

Omar Jimenez, we'll check back with you there outside that federal building in the Minneapolis area. Thank you.

All right, meantime, Minnesota officials say the Justice Department is blocking state investigators from participating in a probe into the shooting. The highly unusual move comes as a new video reveals what could be a key piece of evidence in the case, and raises new questions about that split second decision to use deadly force.

Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time, we are seeing the fatal Minneapolis shooting from the ICE officer's point of view, footage taken on his own cell phone. It's a critical angle of many cameras on the street that captured Renee Good's fatal encounter with ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

Using surveillance footage, bystander video and Ross's own phone, CNN synched multiple perspectives of the shooting and mapped this incident in 3D space. Taken together, they show the fullest picture yet of what happened that day.

[15:05:01]

A home surveillance camera captures a moment Renee Good pulls up in a maroon colored Honda SUV. Four minutes before the shooting. Twenty seconds after she arrives, her passenger and wife Becca, wearing a white beanie, gets out of Good's car. Good then parks the SUV perpendicular in the road.

Here's how Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem described what Good did.

KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: ICE officers and agents approached the vehicle of the individual in question who was blocking the officers in with her vehicle and she had been stalking and impeding their work all throughout the day.

LAH (voice-over): Available video doesn't show any possible contact Good may have had with ICE before this confrontation. What this video does show is that for a few minutes, while she is perpendicular to the roadway, several vehicles drive by. Even large SUVs are able to drive around her as she moves back and forth on the street. And that includes this light colored SUV. It slowly drives around Good's car from the rear and stops.

Agent Jonathan Ross is recording video from his cell phone as he crosses in front of Good's car, recording as he sees her up close. She looks calm and you can see both of her hands as she talks to the officer.

RENEE GOOD, FATALLY SHOT BY ICE AGENT: That's fine, dude. I'm not mad at you.

LAH (voice-over): Renee Good's wife Becca, who had been the passenger in the car, approaches. Cell phone cameras on the street start recording as Ross walks around Good's car with Good's wife following.

BECCA GOOD, RENEE GOOD'S WIFE: I say, go get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go ahead.

LAH (voice-over): Renee Good backs her car up as the agent walks around the front of the vehicle. At the same time, on the other side, two more agents approached. One tries to open the door as Good backs up. Good's vehicle starts moving. From Ross's cell phone video, you see Becca, the woman in the white beanie, trying to get into the car again. You also see Renee Good turning the steering wheel to the right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out of the car.

B. GOOD: Drive, baby, drive. LAH (voice-over): She then accelerates. Slowing this down again and

matching the exact time of these two angles. This angle appears to show the vehicle moving close to the agent, but in this angle, he does not appear to be in the path of the vehicle when he fired.

B. GOOD: Shit. Oh, my (EXPLETIVE DELETED) God. What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED)?

LAH (voice-over): Seconds later, Becca Good runs to her wife, followed by the agent who fired his weapon. He briefly looks into the driver's side of the car and then walks away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, call 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame! Shame! Shame!

LAH: What we cannot see in Ross's cell phone video is if the SUV made contact with the agent because the camera angle jerks up to the sky. But DHS says it's still supports the agency's position releasing this statement, quote, "The footage corroborates what DHS has stated all along, that this individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle in an attempt to kill or cause bodily harm to federal law enforcement. The officer was in fear of his own life, the lives of his fellow officers, and acted in self-defense. The American people can watch this video with their own eyes and ears and judge for themselves."

The shooting itself is not visible. You do, though, hear three gunshots.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Kyung Lah.

All right. Still to come, President Trump ramps up pressure on Greenland, warning the U.S. will take control of the territory, quote, "the hard way" if a deal can't be reached, quoting now, "the easy way." The Trump administration flips the food pyramid on its head. A closer look at new U.S. dietary guidelines.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:12:44]

WHITFIELD: All right, it's almost time for Hollywood's party of the year. It will celebrate the best of film and television tomorrow night at the 83rd Golden Globes. Always so much fun. And who is going to make it really, really super fun? Comedian Nikki Glaser. She returns to the host role of this show after last year's debut, and it was a big hit among viewers. I mean, you know, her star is definitely rising.

And for the first time, a podcast will be recognized under the Best Podcast of the Year category. There's a lot of newness and a lot of some of the old, you know, good stuff, like the champagne flowing, and that always makes for a lot of fun, too.

CNN entertainment reporter Lisa France is here with me now.

So walk us through this year's nominations. What do you look forward to with this whole award season?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I just love the celebration of the content because we had so much good TV and movies this year, Fred. So the movie side, they do have this weird thing where the category for comedy and musical doesn't feel like it should be comedy and musical. Some of the stuff.

WHITFIELD: You're right. It's true.

FRANCE: So, you know, you got like --

WHITFIELD: It's weird stuff.

FRANCE: Right. "Marty Supreme," which is Timothee Chalamet's big movie up against "One Battle After Another," which is Leonardo DiCaprio leading an amazing cast. And then over in drama you have like "Frankenstein" versus "Sinners." "Sinners" is considered to be one of the best films of the year. People can't stop talking about it.

WHITFIELD: Isn't it incredible?

FRANCE: Such a great film. And then over on the TV side, when it comes to drama, of course, we had the "White Lotus," which was wacky last season, such good television.

WHITFIELD: It was wacky but really good. Yes, we were hooked.

FRANCE: Hooked, right? Up against like "The Pit," which people fell in love with.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRANCE: Medical drama done right is what my friend called it, right?

WHITFIELD: That's right.

FRANCE: And then when it comes to the comedy, we have our old standards and favorites like "Hacks" and "Abbott Elementary." Right?

WHITFIELD: Oh, I love that.

FRANCE: Against "The Studio," which is, right, "The Studio," which is about Hollywood and Hollywood loves celebrating Hollywood.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that's so good. Now, what about that "Bugonia"? You know, I mean, it's in a wacky kind of category, too.

FRANCE: Yes.

WHITFIELD: But, you know, you do have its up for Best Picture Drama, Best Actor, Jesse Plemons, right, as well as Best Actress, Emma Stone. And, you know, I happen to be in it, too.

FRANCE: Are you?

WHITFIELD: I'm not getting a nod or anything like that, but that's OK. I'm honored to be in it. That's fun.

FRANCE: So it is in the comedy or musical category, and it is interesting because it is as much about alienation as it is about aliens.

[15:15:003]

It's such a really well done black comedy, and we see that with the nominations.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And people like that. They got to be surprised. OK. So, and then of course, one of the most anticipated entertainment moments of this year is going to be Taylor Swift's, you know, marriage, right? I mean, that's going to be something. I mean to, you know, Travis Kelce and this upcoming wedding is going to be spectacular. Only because, I mean, look the dating was spectacular. The engagement spectacular.

FRANCE: Right.

WHITFIELD: So tell me more about this incredible documentary that we're about to see right here on CNN.

FRANCE: Yes. CNN has a great doc about this because much like Taylor Swift moves economies when it comes to her music, she's going to be moving economies when it comes to this wedding.

WHITFIELD: Amazing.

FRANCE: This is our royal wedding. People are -- we can't wait for it because we don't -- we need to know what she's going to be wearing, who's going to be the bridesmaid.

WHITFIELD: Right. The dress. The wedding band. All that.

FRANCE: All of the drama. And we get to --

WHITFIELD: And how public will it be, how public, private, all that.

FRANCE: Right. Right. Because she is always really good at giving her fans exactly what they want. And they are going to want a ton of wedding content.

WHITFIELD: I mean, she is a marketing genius, isn't she?

FRANCE: She is. She is. And we love, love. And just like Taylor, we've been waiting for this for her, for her to have this moment.

WHITFIELD: Yes. She's been singing about it.

FRANCE: She's been singing about it. She's been dreaming about it. And we have an excellent doc about exactly all that.

WHITFIELD: I think we get to see a little clip, shall we?

FRANCE: Shall we?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ESTHER LEE, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, THE KNOT: Because she is considered American royalty, there's a very short list of names that you are able to match her needs. Ralph Lauren is one.

RACHEL TASHJIAN, CNN SENIOR STYLE CORRESPONDENT: She's very invested in mythologizing herself. And Ralph Lauren is a brand and a designer that is all about the mythology of America. However, she also really likes less expected names like Vivienne Westwood.

BETH HELMSTETTER, WEDDING DESIGNER: I actually think her wedding style will emulate how she chooses to project herself in fashion design, which is really approachable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Oh, but wouldn't that be an ode to Ralph Lauren? Wow.

FRANCE: Wouldn't that be something?

WHITFIELD: Iconic American designer?

FRANCE: And she is an American icon.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FRANCE: So I could see it.

WHITFIELD: I could, too. I hadn't thought about that until listening to that. So I'm like, OK, wow.

FRANCE: Just like she is deeply invested, we are deeply invested. The Swifties are on the edge of their seats. I am a newly minted Swiftie. I cannot wait.

WHITFIELD: I am, too.

FRANCE: And it's just -- it's just exciting.

WHITFIELD: It is.

FRANCE: Wedding is just beautiful.

WHITFIELD: And she's so positive and I just, I must say, it's really -- I think it's contagious to see the enthusiasm of those who follow her and that too says so much right about her character, her creation of music, and really her place in performing arts and in culture arts in this country. It's incredible.

FRANCE: And in America we don't have a royal family, so we have celebrities, so we get it however we can get it.

WHITFIELD: Let's take it.

FRANCE: And when it comes to Taylor Swift, she's always going to give it to you.

WHITFIELD: It'll be fun. All right, Lisa, always great to see you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

And the "I do that Taylor and Travis Era" is streaming right now in fact on the CNN app.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:25]

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We're following President Donald Trump's continued threats toward Greenland. He says he is discussing a range of options on how to bring the Danish territory under U.S. control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not, because if we don't do it, Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we're not going to have Russia or China as a neighbor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Nic Robertson traveled to the coast of Greenland and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's hard to imagine this remote, tranquil Arctic wilderness is at the heart of a geopolitical crisis that is pitting the United States against its NATO allies and threatens to upend decades of global security.

People here in Greenland are worried about what President Trump is saying. The latest things that he's saying is he can either have Greenland the easy way or the hard way. And what it is the people of Greenland treasure most. It is the tranquility. It is the closeness to nature. It is their culture here. Their right to go hunting, to go fishing. And they're worried that if the United States takes control of Greenland, all of that changes, plunging this, the world's 12th largest country, a population of only 57,000 people, into uncertainty.

And speaking to someone here just a little earlier, and he said to me, look, what can we do if President Trump wants to take this country by force? We don't have a choice. So people are really concerned at this moment.

Nic Robertson, CNN, on Nuuk Fjord, Greenland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks for that perspective.

I want to discuss this further with Jennifer spence, director of the Arctic Initiative at the Harvard Belfer Center.

Jennifer, great to see you. So help us understand, why would the U.S. be interested in a remote Arctic territory? Yes, we heard the president say, if the U.S. doesn't take it, then China or Russia would. But talk to us about, you know, I guess the value that Trump is seeing here.

JENNIFER SPENCE, DIRECTOR, ARCTIC INITIATIVE, HARVARD BELFER CENTER: Yes, I think, Fredricka, really what we're talking about are there are different sort of narratives that have come out right now. We're hearing the security narrative again, and that's really focusing on this concern about Russia and China. But we've also heard in the past references to natural resources so that it's a mineral rich country. There's natural gas there as well. There's fisheries. So that's been another sort of element of what people are talking about.

[15:25:03]

And then there's the third piece, which is really that people see that there's going to -- as the Arctic warms, there'll be more access and we can expect more ships moving through the area. So this is an economic change. This is a political change. But none of this actually justifies a need to annex the country. So this is where things get a little more fuzzy and a little more complicated.

WHITFIELD: The president of the United States is saying he doesn't care what Greenlanders think, I'm quoting him now, "whether they like it or not," end quote. He is doing something. So while he says doing the easy way means, you know, making a deal, what is the hard way? And what are the options for Greenland slash Denmark.

SPENCE: Well, I think we should all be taking this very seriously. I think what we all will be watching in the next week is the meeting between the kingdom of Denmark and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to see what the tone of those conversations are and what options are being discussed. I think Greenlanders are concerned. I think the kingdom of Denmark is clearly concerned, but I think we should all be concerned.

We've seen Europe respond, making it clear that both the Europe is behind the kingdom of Denmark and Greenland, and NATO statements have also come out in that direction. And so there are significant implications for this kind of approach that could completely transform the way we've seen international diplomacy for quite some time.

WHITFIELD: And while we heard the president, you know, bring Russia into this, Russia is not the table. But how do you think the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is thinking and viewing all this, especially after the U.S. goes in and apprehends Venezuela's President Maduro, Trump saying the U.S. will, you know, run that country, and then President Trump maintaining that he wants to seize or buy Greenland, whether they like it or not? I mean, is Putin seeing all this as hypocrisy or fuel for his own missions?

SPENCE: Well, I mean, frankly, if I were -- if I were Putin right now, I'd be pretty intrigued to be watching what's happening in the Western world and to see that this is actually cracks in the alliance. And so this really plays to his benefit. I think that Russia and China are probably watching this very closely to see how the U.S. and its allies continue to work together.

I think there's a particular irony to the statement made by President Trump that you played because he says he won't be neighbors with Russia. But when you look at a map from the top of the world, Alaska is actually far closer. And so the U.S. and Russia have been neighbors for quite some time.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jennifer Spence, great to have you. Thank you so much.

SPENCE: Thanks very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, after being in the spotlight in recent years, Minneapolis is once again the center of national attention as crowds gather, memorials grow and emotions run high in response to that fatal ICE shooting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:32:33]

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's return now to Minneapolis, where there are new protests over this week's deadly shooting of a woman by a federal immigration agent. There are also protests going on throughout the country this weekend. In fact, last night, police in Minneapolis broke up large protests downtown and detained 29 people. And with tensions high, the Minneapolis school system says it will give families the option of remote learning for their children for the next month.

Amid this latest turmoil, we want to get a better sense of what's going on in the community at all levels. Joining us right now is Reverend Ingrid Rasmussen. She is a lead pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.

And thank you so much for being with us.

Thanks so much, Fredricka. I'm glad to be here.

WHITFIELD: Well, I want to get your reaction and kind of your assessment of how the city and various communities are dealing with this. I also want you to listen to this city council member who represents the area where this week's shooting took place, and he had a lot to say about how the communities have been feeling even prior to the shooting. This is just a sliver of a moment of what was said earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON CHAVEZ, MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: What had descended upon Minneapolis and in this state is not the American dream. It is not what the American dream is about. Our immigrant neighbors are here to work. They're here to provide for their family and to achieve prosperity. Instead, what we are seeing in Minneapolis and across the state is ICE kidnaping our family, following folks driving to work and kidnaping them, following people as they're heading to school or to the daycare, picking up our immigrant neighbors from bus stops while neighbors are struggling to afford groceries.

They're picking them there as well. I've personally been on the streets since this first happened, and I've seen too many ICE agents kidnap our neighbors from their cars. And to that, we're always going to condemn it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: That was a powerful moment from Jason Chavez there. And you can see other representatives of the city who were standing behind him, sometimes wiping away tears themselves or fighting back tears. I mean, this is so -- such a deep, deep emotional experience for so many.

[15:35:06]

So, Reverend, you know, I wonder if you can give us a sense of what you've been feeling from the community, what your response is to what Mr. Chavez was saying, how familiar, you know, is that or has that been to you?

REV. INGRID RASMUSSEN, LEAD PASTOR, HOLLY TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH: Yes. I think like Council Member Chavez, a lot of us have our tender hearts living up in our throats right now. We're experiencing grief and sadness and anger, and we are deeply resolved to resist what we are experiencing play out among federal enforcement in Minneapolis.

I think his description of what is happening among communities, particularly in our area, that we both serve along Lake Street, is an accurate description of what we have been experiencing for months, ever since our first largescale federal raid in June. We have seen workers fearful of going to work, shoppers fearful of going out to buy groceries.

We have seen the community most impacted by these brutal and often fickle and frantic federal policies go into hiding. And so a lot of us have been feeling deep emotions for several months now. And now, with the escalation of numbers in Minneapolis, those feelings are becoming even more surfaced in the community.

WHITFIELD: How have you all been helping each other, holding each other?

RASMUSSEN: Yes, I've been thinking it's been hard to sort of hold on to hope in these last couple of days particularly since the shooting of Renee Nicole Good and other activities on Wednesday that just made it feel as though the city was living on edge. I think I have been drawing on that image that Jesus uses of the mustard seed, that tiny little seed that holds great power to grow into something formidable. And I have been seeing those mustard seeds emerge all over the city in

grocery delivery among neighbors, in churches selling some busses for businesses that can't afford to pay their rent for January, in observers standing two by two on every street corner so that we know who's coming and going from our neighborhoods.

And I see those mustard seeds every night and every day at the protests that are emerging all around this city and this state and this nation.

WHITFIELD: How is this similar, familiar or very different from what Minneapolis, you know, went through five years ago with George Floyd and the universal pain that was felt there beyond, you know, the city limits of Minneapolis, how people came together, vowed to help one another, help in their sense of community, build from it, even only for this to be happening again? So talk to me about what parallels and experience in coping or healing that you see coming.

RASMUSSEN: Yes. Many of us living through this experience also lived through 2020 in Minneapolis. I serve a church that's just a half a block away from the former Third Precinct in Minneapolis, where a lot of activity was centered after the police murder of George Floyd. So a lot of us are having some really powerful trigger experiences with the increase in federal agents in town with the use of helicopters circling above our neighborhoods.

I think because this is not the first large scale communal trauma that we have experienced as a community, we're trying to move through this with the hard earned tools that we have in our pockets from these last five years, and those are tools like strength in community that has become more well developed over the last five years. Resilience among us, integrity. We really want to move through this experience, drawing out the best of who we are as human beings.

And power, we have built power as community in these past five years as well. And I think those experiences are allowing us to tend to one another in generous ways in the midst of so much uncertainty and so much trauma in South Minneapolis right now.

[15:40:06]

WHITFIELD: Last June, you confronted the Minneapolis police chief, right, for working with federal law enforcement during, you know, a raid in your city. The same neighborhood where George Floyd was killed five years ago. What are your feelings today? And what would you say to the police chief today on the heels of just what happened days ago?

RASMUSSEN: Yes, I think what I did say to the police chief on Wednesday was that we -- as we were standing across the line from one another at the site of the shooting was that we need our local enforcement to see the community as human beings. That means that we don't escalate situations, but we try to de-escalate situations. We listen to the community's pain, which is real. We listen to the community's righteous anger, which is real.

And what we are attempting to do is focus on the communities that are most deeply impacted by the situation that we're experiencing. And that's our immigrant communities. Those are our black and brown neighbors who are being picked up from bus stops and being picked up as collateral pickups, even if they aren't the target in these times. And so as a community, we are going to continue to try to move through this with integrity. And I hope that lessons learned from June will allow us to do that with greater ease.

WHITFIELD: Reverend Ingrid Rasmussen, thank you so much.

RASMUSSEN: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Straight ahead, the Trump administration unveils new dietary guidelines, but grocery stores won't look much different. That's because Americans have already been choosing healthier options.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:46:37]

WHITFIELD: All right. The U.S. dietary food pyramid got a bit of a menu change this week after the Department of Health and Human Services released new guidelines. The new model urges Americans to prioritize protein as well as so-called healthy fats, and limit ultra processed foods and sugar. But some experts worry there's too much emphasis on red meat and full fat dairy, which Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. often promotes through his "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

Joining me now is Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor and author of "Safe Food."

Professor, great to see you. So what stands out to you about these guidelines?

MARION NESTLE, AUTHOR, "SAFE FOOD": Well, they're pretty for one thing, and I love the eat real food message. After that, things get much more complicated. What's so interesting about these is that they've switched the pyramid around so that meat is the absolute number one priority. They call it protein, but they're really talking about meat. And they've got whole grains at the bottom. You're not supposed to eat whole grains? That doesn't make much sense at all.

WHITFIELD: What would you rather be seeing here?

NESTLE: Well, I wish that they had emphasized that how important it is to get protein from plant foods, rather than animal foods, but these guidelines are really about turning things on their head, throwing out what was done before, and trying to get everybody to eat real food, which, as I said, I'm totally in favor of. I just wish that everybody could afford it.

WHITFIELD: Right.

NESTLE: I wish that real foods were available in schools. I wish that the government was putting behind these guidelines the kind of money that it's going to take to get people to use them. WHITFIELD: Right, because that's -- oh, yes, sorry to interrupt you,

but yes, that's a real issue. There are a lot of people who want better food choices or fresh foods, but it depends on where they live. Perhaps the grocery stores in their, you know, area or neighborhood are not stocking those things or maybe it's an issue of affordability. So how would you prefer this administration to perhaps address that obstacle for a lot of families?

NESTLE: Well, the new guidelines and the new pyramid are entirely about personal responsibility. And they say so, and I think personal responsibility is great, but if you're trying to eat healthfully in today's food environment, you're fighting an entire food system on your own, and that food system is set up to get you to eat as much as possible of the most profitable foods as often as possible, and pay as much for them as they can get away with charging you.

That's a tough thing for an individual to fight, so I would like to see a little government help with this. I'd like the government to regulate food marketing to kids. They don't want people eating ultra processed food or highly processed foods or whatever they're calling them. How about making it easier not to eat a highly processed foods? How about stopping marketing these things to kids, making sure they're out of schools, and that kids have really healthy food to eat in schools?

[15:50:08]

That's going to take money in policy. I want to see that.

WHITFIELD: It sounds like the heart -- the American Heart Association is in agreement with some of what you've already said. You know, saying that it does commend the emphasis on more produce and whole grains but were concerned about the amount of protein suggested. I mean, what in your view constitutes, you know, a healthy amount of, say, proteins for nutritional needs?

NESTLE: Well, you know, these have been defined, but they don't make any sense because nobody eats protein. You eat foods that contain protein, you know, and that includes meat, dairy, eggs, fish, and lots and lots of different kinds of plant foods. All the grains and beans have that. So it's very hard to talk about because the amounts are different. But most Americans eat twice the amount of protein that they need already.

And the idea that you need to emphasize protein just doesn't make any sense to me. People are already eating tons of it, so I see protein in this as being a euphemism for meat. What they really want to do is get people to eat more meat. I don't know what that's about. I think people would be much healthier if they got their protein from plant sources. But that's just my view of the literature.

WHITFIELD: So do you think now Americans, after seeing, you know, those modifications of this food pyramid, are they more confused than ever or is there some clarity do you see?

NESTLE: I think people just roll their eyes at what happens with nutrition recommendations. And I think that's really sad because healthy diets are so easy that the journalist Michael Pollan can do it in seven words. Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. My recent book, "What to Eat Now," does that in 700 pages.

But these guidelines talk about the eat food part, eat real food, but they don't emphasize balancing calories or the need to emphasize plant sources. These guidelines are about meat and full fat dairy products.

WHITFIELD: All right, Marion Nestle, thank you so much. I enjoy your joy as well as we discuss food and food choices. Appreciate it.

NESTLE: Glad to be here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, what do U.S. oil companies say are the biggest obstacles to doing business in Venezuela? We'll break down the major challenges they shared with the White House.

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[15:57:06]

WHITFIELD: All right. New today, President Trump signed an executive order protecting Venezuelan oil revenue being held in the U.S. That came just hours after the president held a meeting with oil industry executives on investing in Venezuela. At the meeting, the head of ExxonMobil expressed concerns about putting money into Venezuela right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARREN WOODS, EXXONMOBIL CEO: If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela, today, it's uninvestable. And so significant changes have to be made to those commercial frameworks. The legal system, there has to be durable investment protections, and there has to be a change to the hydrocarbon laws in the country.

We're confident that with this administration and President Trump working hand in hand with the Venezuelan government that those changes can be put in place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Brian Todd takes a closer look at Venezuela's wealth of oil and the tremendous amount of resources it will take to retrieve it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Following the dramatic capture of Nicolas Maduro, President Trump put it bluntly. America was taking over the running of an underperforming oil power.

TRUMP: It's been horribly run. The oil is just flowing at a very low level. TODD (voice-over): Why are Venezuela's oil reserves so important to

the U.S.? Analysts say it's not just that Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world, sitting on over 300 billion barrels of crude, but it now has the potential to eventually reclaim its status as one of the world's top oil producers with a type of oil that fits America's needs and capabilities to a tee.

CLAYTON SEIGLE, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Venezuela's particular kind of crude oil, which we call extra heavy, is a perfect match for the sophisticated oil refineries that the U.S. energy companies have invested in and built in the Gulf Coast.

TODD (voice-over): In the hours after Maduro's capture, President Trump made this claim about Venezuela's oil trading history with America.

TRUMP: It was the greatest theft in the history of America. Nobody has ever stolen our property like they have. They took our oil away from us. They took the infrastructure away.

TODD (voice-over): Experts say it's not true that Venezuela stole America's oil. The oil itself, they say, was always Venezuela's. But one analyst says part of Trump's claim is correct that Venezuela did expropriate some of the assets and infrastructure of American oil companies in Venezuela.

SEIGLE: There were two major rounds of expropriations. One of them was in the '70s, and another one was in the early to mid-2000s under Chavez, the former strongman.

TODD (voice-over): It was under Hugo Chavez, analysts say, that Venezuela's status as an oil power began to spiral.

BOB MCNALLY, PRESIDENT, RAPIDAN ENERGY GROUP: A communist dictator came in, nationalized the resources, kicked out most of the U.S. companies, and then invited the Russians and the Chinese to come in. And then he didn't organize and plan and run the wells well, so he ran the system into the ground.