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Early Start with Rahel Solomon
Trump: Venezuela To Turn Over 30-50M Barrels Of Oil To U.S.; U.S. Lawmakers To Get Classified Briefing On Venezuela; Greenland, Denmark Staunchly Opposed To U.S. Takeover; Ukraine's Allies Vow To Provide Security Guarantees. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired January 07, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:36]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Rahel Solomon.
It is Wednesday, January 7th, 5:00 here in New York and straight ahead on EARLY START.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN HOST: The White House says it is now discussing a range of options to acquire Greenland.
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): The idea that he's potentially posing a serious military threat. Nothing would lead to the absolute destruction of NATO, more.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A January 6th anniversary like no other and a political divide over that day deeper than ever.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): We must never, never, never stop fighting for this beautiful democracy.
REPORTER: From palace luxury to prison hell, Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center is where ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, bide their time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Venezuelans in New York are ecstatic about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: We begin this morning with President Trump making a new announcement from the White House on the situation in Venezuela. Trump says that Caracas will be turning over 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the U.S. to be sold at market value. That could bring in as much as $2.75 billion.
President Trump says, with no further explanation, that that money will be used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the U.S. a senior administration official tells CNN that the oil has already been produced and will be shipped to the U.S. for refining.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm also meeting with oil companies. Let's go. You know, you know what that's about. We got a lot of oil to drill, which is going to bring down oil prices even further.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Also today, U.S. lawmakers who have plenty of questions are expected to get a classified briefing on Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi are all expected to take part.
More now from CNN's chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: House and Senate lawmakers still are in the dark over President Trump's plans when it comes to Venezuela, the next steps, how long this will take, how much money it will cost, whether troops will be involved, and also the next phase of what Trump is calling the Donroe Doctrine. Does that mean taking over Greenland? Does that mean going after Cuba? Does that mean going after Colombia?
All big questions for members right now, and that's why the classified briefing that will occur on Wednesday with the full House and Senate will be very revealing. How much information will they give those members at this moment, in the aftermath of Saturday's attack against Venezuela, the arrest of Nicolas Maduro and his wife, and all that President Trump has said in the aftermath of that?
Will the top briefers in the room, Marco Rubio for instance, Pete Hegseth for instance, Pam Bondi, will they detail precisely the next phase? Will they hold the information back?
And will that cause significant pushback, particularly from Democrats, at this critical moment?
Now, there are some Republicans who have raised concerns. Most Republicans are aligning themselves with President Trump, but one of them critics is Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who I caught up with on Tuesday evening, and I asked him about the contention by the Trump administration that this was not a law -- not a military operation.
It was a law enforcement operation, meaning they did not have to get authorization from Congress, and they did not have to get -- give any prior notification of this attack. And if that passes the smell (ph) test, according to him.
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): I mean, they kidnapped president of another country. They claim to have taken over -- Donald Trump does at least -- taken over the operations of the country, and he's going to take over their oil.
I mean, this is -- this is a war. This is the definition of war. These are acts of war, and this is not an arrest. He said we would put America First and there wouldn't be regime change, there wouldn't be interventions, but that's what is happening.
And I find it ironic that today, at the conference, he said we can't lose the majority. If we do, he's going to get impeached. But he's doing the exact things that would cause him to lose the majority. He's causing his base to be disaffected and uninterested in the outcomes of these midterms.
RAJU: But despite Massie's concerns, we're hearing support from the top Republican leaders in the House and the Senate of Donald Trump's actions. And they are not raising any concerns about what Trump is saying about U.S. running the country, the U.S. being in charge of Venezuela, in fact, making very clear that they are on board with what Trump is saying there, but still not being clear about what the next steps are, because they themselves don't have all the answers about what the next government of Venezuela will look like and whether they'll work with the United States and all the rest.
And also, huge questions about whether the president does plan to go ahead with any further escalatory action when it comes to places like Greenland as well. All big questions that still remain on Capitol Hill ahead of these key briefings and as lawmakers come back to Washington demanding some answers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Our thanks to Manu Raju there.
The White House claims that the U.S. needs Greenland for national security and says it's considering a range of options to acquire the island, including possible military action. Greenland has shown zero appetite for becoming part of the U.S., and has requested a meeting with the U.S. secretary of state.
Back in Washington, meantime, bipartisan criticism is coming from both branches of congress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): I think the first few months, people kind of joked about Greenland, but the idea that he's potentially posing a serious military threat, nothing would lead to the absolute destruction of NATO more than American aggressive action against a long-term ally like Denmark.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: All right. Let's get to CNN's Nic Robertson following all of this live for us from London.
Nick, good morning to you.
The Trump administration saying the quiet part out loud. Now, I mean, what -- what would this mean. This sort of military operation in Greenland, buying Greenland for example. But what would this mean for the NATO alliance?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the Danish prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, has been very clear, she said that this would essentially break the alliance. Break that transatlantic security bond that's been so powerful, the biggest sort of military alliance in the world for decades, bringing post-World War II security to Europe and many places around the globe.
So, I think the stakes are really high. And she and Denmark take very seriously what the White House is saying about Greenland, and the language gets ever more serious, whether it's the -- we could buy Greenland or no one's going to put up a fight if we try to take Greenland version of the White House's view of how it could get its hands on Greenland.
You know, when this issue came up last year, I was talking to NATO diplomats about what? What -- what's your response to the United States desire for national security reasons to take Greenland and, and the way that NATO was handling it then was if it wasn't being said in the NATO format around the table by top White House officials to other senior leaders in Europe, then this was not something that the U.S. was actually pushing forward.
Now, of course, it seems we're much closer to that moment. And Melissa -- CNNs Melissa Bell yesterday asked the secretary general of NATO, Mark Rutter, this very question, and he kind of dodged it. And he and he said, look, let's look at the question this way. Denmark spending a lot on security in Greenland. It has security treaties with the United States going back to 1951.
And then he said, and it's in all of our common interests, and this is what we see. Mark Rutter doing a lot is trying to find the commonality. It's in the U.S. interests. It's in NATO's interests, common interests to have security in the in the Arctic, north through Greenland as well.
So, he's sort of trying to look at where there's commonality. But undoubtedly, it's a thorny issue at the coalition of the willing meeting with many European Union leaders yesterday, journalists were asking that question in Paris. It was a meeting about Ukraine, but there was so much discussion about Greenland. And the leaders there wanted to focus on Ukraine. And that issue with U.S. representatives in the room and not talk about Greenland.
It is very thorny, and I don't think, NATO collectively, as a group of leaders, has found a formula way around it yet.
SOLOMON: Yeah, well, they may have to get the messaging together soon as this issue appears to be going nowhere, at least for now. Nic Robertson reporting for us in London. Nic, thank you.
And the Trump administration is freezing $10 billion in funds for social services and childcare in five Democratic-led states. This is according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The freeze is set to impact California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota and New York. The agency alleges that these states are using funding fraudulently,
but have not provided evidence to back that claim. The states' access to these funds is now restricted, and they have to submit justifications and documentation before receiving payments.
And on top of that, the White House now says that it will audit all of Minnesota's Medicaid bills. It's also sending another surge of federal agents to the state. It's part of the continued crackdown on Minnesota's Somali population amid allegations of childcare and welfare fraud.
[05:10:02]
And it's prompted Governor Tim Walz to accuse the Trump administration of waging war against the state.
CNN's Whitney Wild has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Right now, we're seeing social media capturing these moments of ICE agents, according to the social media users operating on the ground. And what we're seeing here, that's different from what we saw in Chicago or New Orleans or Charlotte, is a really more precision approach. And that's basically how ICE operates.
These are specific targets. Their operations, again, are more precise. It is different than some of these sort of bigger boots on the ground, large scale operations that we saw when U.S. Customs and Border Protection came out. However, that could change because as we know, Commander Greg Bovino, who has really led that charge nationwide, is expected in Minneapolis in coming days. So, we may see more of a visible use of force.
So far, what we're seeing is the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, on the ground, taking part in at least some of these operations. But other than that, again, we're really limited to some of these individual social media videos that have emerged in coming days. The context here is that this comes in the aftermath of Governor Tim Walz saying he is not going to seek a third term as governor. This becomes major allegations that he just did not do enough to stem the tide of fraud that has plagued the state of Minnesota for many years.
Federal prosecutors most recently said that another round of indictments related to fraud in this state could total into the billions. And that really puts a finer point on the magnitude of the problem here that Republicans and other critics of Governor Tim Walz have said he has not taken seriously enough.
Moving forward, Minnesota lawmakers are expected on Capitol Hill tomorrow. Governor Tim Walz says that he is happy to answer questions from Congress. He's due on Capitol Hill in February. This is not the first time we have seen this ramped-up immigration effort in Minneapolis. We saw assets deployed to Minneapolis at the beginning of December.
DHS says that latest operation yielded 400 arrests. DHS says this operation on the ground right now is their biggest operation to date.
Whitney Wild, CNN, Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: The trial against a former Uvalde, Texas, school police officer is on hold, at least for now. The judge has canceled today's testimony. This is after the lawyers for Adrian Gonzalez were caught off guard by a witness statement Tuesday. The defense says that the prosecution did not share that information with them, so the judge will now confer with lawyers to find a way forward.
Prosecutors accuse Adrian Gonzalez of failing to act to save children after a gunman stormed Robb Elementary School in 2022. Nineteen children and two teachers were killed in the attack.
Gonzalez has pleaded not guilty to 29 counts of child endangerment or abandonment. He is the first law enforcement member to face trial for the botched response to the massacre. Prosecutors argue that Gonzalez is not responsible for the victims' deaths, but is responsible for not attempting to stop the gunman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL TURNER, SPECIAL PROSECUTOR: We're not asking Adrian Gonzalez to commit suicide. He has been trained to go to the corner of a building and distract, delay and impede the gunman while help is arriving. But Adrian Gonzalez does nothing more than mike his microphone and tell other officers what's going on?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And still to come for us, President Trump rallies Republican lawmakers to discuss the midterm elections, but didn't exactly give them the pep talk that they expected.
Plus, five years ago, rioters chanting "Hang Mike Pence". Now, January 6th, defendants and supporters are singing "God bless the USA" as they mark the anniversary.
And new information on the suspect in the mass shooting at Brown University. What authorities learned from videos he left behind, when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:18:12]
SOLOMON: Welcome back, 5:17 now.
President Trump assembled Republican lawmakers in Washington to discuss the strategy as the U.S. heads toward the midterm elections this year. But instead of a concrete action plan, they mainly heard a list of grievances. The president attacked lawmakers in both major parties during his remarks.
He also claimed he's not getting credit for, quote, the most successful first year of any president in history. Trump did, however, voice his support for House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has faced constant dissension in the GOP ranks during the last year. The president told lawmakers the most important reason in his mind why they must win in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You got to win the midterms because if we don't win the midterms, it's just going to be -- I mean, they'll find a reason to impeach me. I'll get impeached.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Meantime, the top Democrats in the House and Senate are promising that they won't let anyone whitewash the January 6th capitol riot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Let us remember the attack of January 6th is not over. It lives on in the threats to our election workers. It lives on through those who want to take away our right to vote, who want to legalize voter discrimination. We must never, never, never stop fighting for this beautiful democracy, which January 6th showed us is more fragile than we ever imagined.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: CNN's Brian Todd has more on events around Washington, marking the fifth anniversary of the insurrection.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(CROWD SINGING)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A January 6th anniversary like no other. And a political divide over that day deeper than ever.
(CROWD CHANTING)
TODD (voice-over): Dozens of January 6th defendants and their supporters marched toward Capitol Hill to mark the fifth anniversary of the attack on the Capitol.
At the same time, Democrats from the former January 6th Select Committee held a hearing to counter the rewriting of history by the marchers and President Trump.
During the march, we asked convicted rioter Robert Morse about the five police officers who died in connection with January 6th.
ROBERT MORSS, CONVICTED JANUARY 6 RIOTER, PARDONED BY TRUMP: We don't like the fact that people got hurt on January 6th, but the fact remains that the reason why people had to die in the first place was because the Democrats stole the 2020 election.
TODD (voice-over): That claim of election fraud from President Trump and some of his supporters has repeatedly been proven to be false.
(CHANTING)
TODD (voice-over): Some of the pardoned rioters and their supporters demonstrating on the same streets they walked five years ago, this time to honor Ashli Babbitt, the Air Force Veteran and QAnon supporter who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer during the riot as she tried to breach an area near the House floor while lawmakers were evacuating. An investigation found that officer acted lawfully.
Babbitt's mother laid flowers at the foot of the Capitol and addressed the crowd.
MICHELLE "MICKI" WITTHOEFT, ASHLI BABBITT'S MOTHER: As hard as it is for Ashli not to be here, she did die doing something she loved and believed in.
TODD (voice-over): But the fact remains, a violent mob entered the Capitol that day. More than 140 police officers were injured, and hundreds of rioters were convicted of felonies like assault and seditious conspiracy.
During today's march, a scuffle broke out between the group and counter-protesters.
Later, CNN caught up with former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was serving a 22-year prison term for seditious conspiracy before getting pardoned by Trump last year.
TODD: It seems like you want to kind of flip the narrative a little bit from January 6th.
ENRIQUE TARRIO, CONVICTED ON CHARGES RELATED TO JAN. 6, PARDONED BY TRUMP: I think the narrative has been flipped. We saw it -- we saw it. The narrative was flipped on Election Day in 2024, you know, and I think right now, what you're seeing is that both sides of the argument.
TODD (voice-over): The White House also trying to recast the narrative, rolling out a new website today with the baseless claims that the rioters who stormed the Capitol were, quote, "peaceful protesters who were provoked by law enforcement and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi".
On Capitol Hill, the committee and witnesses wanted today to be a painful reminder of President Trump's past and what they believe is his ongoing threat to democracy.
Pamela Hemphill, a convicted rioter who has since disavowed Trump and rejected his pardon, said this.
PAMELA HEMPHILL, CONVICTED JANUARY 6TH RIOTER: I can't sit here while Mr. Trump and others are lying. I also want others who feel like me to know that we must stop the lies.
TODD (voice-over): Pelosi was also there with a sobering reminder.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): How many times did I hear they were going to put a bullet in my F word head?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): The competing narratives over January 6th could last a while longer. The January 6ers who staged this event today say they plan on coming back on this date every year to stage similar events for the foreseeable future.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
SOLOMON: The suspect in December's mass shooting at Brown University confessed to the attack in a series of short videos, according to the Justice Department. Claudio Neves Valente is suspected of carrying out the attack at Brown University before later killing an MIT professor. Valente died by suicide, but authorities recovered the short videos from an electronic device. He reportedly did not offer any motive or apologies for the shootings.
Still ahead, Ukraine's allies are rallying around the war-torn country, offering up a range of security guarantees. Coming up, the latest on the meeting in Paris between the so-called Coalition of the Willing,
Plus, nearly three weeks after the deadline to release all of the Epstein files, hear why the Justice Department says it's not even close to having that done.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:27:56]
SOLOMON: Welcome back.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff says that security protocols for Ukraine are largely finished. The announcement follows a meeting of Ukraine's allies in Paris, where officials from 35 countries vowed to provide security guarantees. The U.K. and France signed an agreement that what deploy forces on the ground and build military hubs in Ukraine, should a ceasefire with Russia take effect. While Ukraine remains the central focus of the meeting, there were also questions over U.S. pressure toward Greenland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: What value do these commitments have on the very day that, at the highest levels of government in Washington, they are talking about seizing the sovereign territory of a fellow NATO member?
STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: The president does not back down from his commitments. He is strong for the country of Ukraine and for a peace deal. And we will be there for the Ukrainians in helping them to get to that final peace. And we're confident we will get there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: Security guarantees for Ukraine would include a continuous ceasefire monitoring system led by the U.S. There is no immediate reaction from Moscow over these developments, but the Kremlin has repeatedly rejected the idea of a foreign peacekeeping force operating inside Ukraine.
Since the U.S. captured of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, President Trump has been warning a long list of countries, including Iran. Nationwide protests there against the cost-of-living crisis are ramping up, and President Trump has warned that Iran will get hit hard by the U.S. if protesters are killed.
CNN's Paula Hancocks has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A female protester is dragged from a street in Tehran. Demonstrators run for cover as gunfire is heard in Malakshahi, a city in Iran's western Ilan province. It is a familiar and brutal response to nationwide protests now in their second week.
The Iranian currency is collapsing, inflation rising and the cost of living becoming hard to bear. Shopkeepers, traders and students on the streets blame government mismanagement. Officials say publicly they are willing to talk.
SANAM VAKIL, CHATHAM HOUSE: The government is trying to be more amenable to dialogue.
