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Authorities Investigating Town Hall Assault Against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN); Now, Secretary of State Rubio to Testify on U.S. Policy in Venezuela; Rubio Says, Iran and Russia Used Venezuela as Base of Operation in West. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired January 28, 2026 - 10:00   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, new threats from President Trump to Iran. Make a nuclear deal or face more firepower from the U.S.

Plus, any moment now, Secretary of State Marco Rubio testifying on Capitol Hill on the Trump administration's actions in Venezuela.

And town hall scare, we're live in Minneapolis after Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was assaulted at a town hall.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. Pamela Brown is on assignment. You're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. Right now, authorities are investigating an assault against Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar at a town hall last night in Minneapolis, where tensions over federal immigration enforcement have exploded. Video shows an audience member rushing toward Omar's podium using what looks like a syringe to spray an unknown liquid on the congresswoman. Watch how it unfolded.

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REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): Kristi Noem must resign or face impeachment.

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BLITZER: Seconds after the incident, the alleged assailant was tackled and immediately arrested. Police say they've charged Anthony Kazmierczak, a 55-year-old resident of Minneapolis, with assault.

Let's go live right now to see you CNN's Sara Sidner. She's on the ground for us in Minneapolis. Sara, you were there in that room when this incident happened, and you spoke with a congresswoman after her town hall actually ended. What did she tell you?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I did, Wolf. We were in the room at the town hall, which by the way, she does once a month here in Minneapolis. We were in North Minneapolis at the Urban League as she started speaking about ICE. And then we saw one of the members of the crowd who was very close near the front row, jump up, used a syringe and push out some sort of liquid from that syringe at the congresswoman.

She then cocked back her arm as if she was going to pounce on him herself. She started to lunge toward him, but by then her security detail had jumped on the man, tackled him to the ground, got him up eventually, and led him out of the venue. She refused to leave the venue. She said that she was not going to be deterred by someone with her community there waiting to hear her words about what has been happening here at the hands of ICE.

And so she continued her town hall with quite a bit of bravery because we are also hearing from staff members they were extremely concerned. It was a scary moment at that time. We still don't know, Wolf, what that substance is that was sprayed out at Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

What we do know is just after he was let out, she also was let out to get some medical attention. And here's what she said to me when I asked her how she was doing.

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SIDNER: Representative Omar, are you okay?

OMAR: You know, I'm going to go figure if I am, but I feel okay. I feel that it is important for people whether they are an elected officer or not, to allow these people to intimidate us, to make us not fight for our constituents and for the country we love. And as I said, you know, I've survived war and I'm definitely going to survive intimidation and whatever these people think they can throw at me because I'm built that way.

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SIDNER: I am built that way. That was her response when all of this happened.

And now I should mention 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak has been arrested and charged with third-degree assault. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Sara Sidner, good work, thank you very, very much. We'll get back to you throughout the day, to be sure.

Right now, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is just starting an important hearing with the secretary of state, Marco Rubio. The chairman of the committee, James Risch of Idaho, is delivering his opening statement. The top Democrat will then make a statement, then Risch will begin with his opening statement, then take questions from the senators.

[10:05:04]

I want to listen into what Senator Risch, the chairman, is saying.

SEN. JAMES RISCH (R-ID): -- and that's only because of the dedication and professionalism of each and every one of our service members as we know much of their work is done in secret. But I do hope these people will receive the accolades that they so rightly deserve.

I also want to acknowledge the leadership of President Trump that he has shown, and also you, Secretary Rubio. It's no easy job keeping drugs and narco-terrorists off our streets and keeping Americans safe. Thank you for extraditing Nicolas Maduro and bringing him to account for his many crimes against the American people.

Let me reiterate a point that I've made many times on the Senate floor. President Trump's actions against narco-terrorists and his capture of Maduro have made America safer. Every American should be thanking Donald Trump and Marco Rubio for what they have done. There are a lot of Americans today who wouldn't be alive if not for your commitment and dedication to stemming the flow of drugs into our country.

The actions in Venezuela were limited in scope, short in duration, and done to protect U.S. interests and citizens. What President Trump has done in Venezuela is the definition of the President's Article 2 constitutional authorities as commander-in-chief, and wholly consistent with what other president's efforts and what they have done and actions they have taken to protect the American people from threats in our own hemisphere.

In fact, President George H.W. Bush authorized similar, but much broader and more extensive military operations to arrest and bring Panama's Manuel Noriega to the United States, to stand trial for drug related charges. In that case, president Bush deployed more than 9,000 troops into Panama for more than a month. At the time, all leaders of the Senate, including Democrats, praised that move.

Unlike in Panama, President Trump authorized a much more limited military action in Venezuela with only about 200 troops inside the country for a couple of hours and a firefight that lasted less than 27 minutes with no loss of life on the United States' side, but significant casualties on the other side. This military action was incredibly brief, targeted and successful.

When bad guys are in the business of flying drugs in the United States, drugs that kill our children, hurt our country, violate U.S. laws, and destabilize our hemisphere, then you'll have to -- they'll have to be held to answer for those actions, and that's what's being done now. Maduro was not recognized as the legitimate leader of Venezuela by President Trump, or even by President Biden or by most of the international community. It is a service to the world that this illegitimate leader is no longer in power.

Now, the United States has a tremendous opportunity before us in Venezuela. Because of the complexity of this operation, there has been some confusion as to how it will be done. I've been impressed by the way you, Secretary Rubio, have explained the plan to me going forward right from the start. It is clear and it's doable. I know you'll lay that out for us here today.

Venezuela's natural resources have frequently been used to bolster the economy of our adversaries, especially China. Through President Trump's actions, we have effectively cut off that supply, giving the United States tremendous leverage.

After our lengthy engagements in the Middle East in years past, many Americans are rightfully concerned about forever wars. I know this administration is laser-focused on avoiding those experiences. With Nicolas Maduro out of power, the United States has the opportunity to better protect America by bringing stability to Venezuela.

The country has a history of democracy, capitalism, and a respect for human rights. It is only during the last two dictatorships that it has lost these attributes that Venezuelan people are not strangers to these concepts and long to have them reinstated. They have you and the President Trump to thank for giving them another chance.

It is all our hope that the Venezuelan people will soon be able to hold free and fair elections for their leaders. To get there, Venezuelan may require U.S. and international oversight to ensure these elections are indeed free and fair, unlike their most recent elections.

Secretary Rubio, thank you for being here today. I look forward to a productive discussion. And with that, I'd like to hear the distinguished ranking members' views on these matters. Senator Shaheen?

SEN. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-NH): Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Welcome back, Secretary Rubio. Thank you for being here. I certainly agree with the chairman in terms of his comments relative to Nicholas Maduro. He was bad for Venezuela, he was bad for the region, and he was bad for the United States.

[10:10:00]

I think the question we have to ask now is, was the raid to arrest him worth the cost? And I also share the chairman's admiration for the military operation that took him out.

But the U.S. naval blockade around Venezuela and the raid have already cost American taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Outside estimates are as high as a billion dollars. And yet the Maduro regime is essentially still in power. All the same people are running the country. Maduro's vice president, now the interim president, has taken no steps to diminish Iran, China, or Russia's considerable influence in Venezuela, one of the reasons that has been given for the mission.

Her cooperation appears tactical and temporary, and not a real shift in Venezuela's alignment. In the process, we've traded one dictator for another. So, it's no wonder that so many of my constituents are asking, why is the president spending so much time focused on Venezuela instead of the cost of living and their kitchen table economic concerns?

Unfortunately, I think this has been a pattern across the administration, losing sight of what actually advances America's interests and delivers results for the American people. Take the elimination of personnel and departments that were critical to our national security, for example. These are cost-effective tools, like Voice of America, that help us advance America's interest globally. And, Mr. Secretary, as you remember, you strongly supported most of these programs when you were on this side of the dais.

The administration says those cuts were about saving money, but the total federal spending last year went up by 4 percent, not down. We spent more, not less. As a result, our adversaries, like China, are expanding their influence and there is broad bipartisan agreement in Congress that China is the central strategic challenge of our time. The president himself has said that as well. But we're cutting foreign aid and diplomacy tools. We're leaving embassies without leadership. We're shutting down counter-disinformation programs. We are driving talent away from the United States while Beijing is actively recruiting them.

And I would just like to point out, this is a picture of the globe. These are countries where China has ambassadors in those countries, all of the red, those are China, places where their diplomats are on the ground, except, of course, for China, which is in blue, and they don't need to put diplomats there. This map, this is where we have diplomats. You can see the red is where we're filled. And look at all of the white where we do not have ambassadors on the ground.

We're even giving China some of our most advanced semiconductors. And after a year of tariffs that were supposed to make us stronger, China has posted the largest trade surplus in history, and American families are paying more at a time when the prices were already too high.

Since the start of the tariff campaign in 2025, U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen by anywhere from 50 to 70,000 jobs, depending on whose estimates you look at. That's a trend that undercuts promises that tariffs would bring factory jobs roaring back. And instead of creating a united front against China, we're pushing our closest allies into their arms. Just look at Canada, whose business with the state of New Hampshire has been really critical. They recently cut a trade deal with China because they no longer view the United States as a reliable partner.

Pushing allies away like that is not strategic competition. It is unilateral disarmament. We see the same gap between rhetoric and reality and how this administration deals with other authoritarian regimes. At a time when Iran is violently cracking down on protests, the U.S. is coming to agreements to deport Iranians in this country back to Iran, people who will face persecution and interrogation by Iranian security forces, and yet President Trump told the Iranian people that help was on the way. But the United States has largely stood on the sidelines as the entire situation has deteriorated.

Americans are right in thinking that the Trump administration is tougher on our allies than on most of our adversaries. I just returned from Denmark, where I met with Danish and Greenlandic leaders. Senator Coons was also on that trip. He led it. What I heard directly is that President Trump's threats to take Greenland have shaken public confidence in the United States to the core, and this from an ally who first recognized the new United States of America in 1792 has fought on our side in both World Wars and in Afghanistan.

[10:15:09]

And I heard from one Danish American woman whose son holds both citizenships and is approaching conscription age that she's worried that her son might one day be forced to choose between the two countries that he loves.

That kind of fear would have been unthinkable 2 years ago or 10 years ago, or 50 years ago. There is no strategic objective in Greenland that cannot be achieved through cooperation. The only thing these threats have accomplished is weakening trust in the United States that trust is the foundation of our alliances. And at a moment when Russia is waging the largest land war in Europe since World War II, we should be strengthening allied unities (ph). Instead, we're undermining it.

European allies are worried about open conflict with the United States. Canadian trading partners are turning toward China instead of the U.S., and the constant threat of new tariffs raising prices and making it impossible for businesses to invest is ever present.

So, from Venezuela to Europe, the United States is spending more, risking more, and achieving less. That does not project strength. It hands our adversaries exactly what they want.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.

RISCH: Thank you, Senator --

BLITZER: All right. We're going to have the secretary's opening statement coming up in just a moment or so. I want to take a quick break. We'll have the secretary's statement. This is going to be a very lively hearing, as you can already tell.

We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: Welcome back. Let's go directly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio's opening statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He's testifying right now on U.S. policy in Venezuela.

RISCH: -- the committee. They'd love to hear what you have to say.

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you. I appreciate it. And I'll be brief in my opening statement so we can leave more time for questions. I've submitted a written statement, but I'm not going to use it. I'm just going to talk to you guys for a few minutes and --

RISCH: All right, here we go. Suspend, you know the drill, off to jail.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a war crime. RISCH: That's a one-year ban from the committee. Anyone who is a persistent violator will be banned for three years. So, you don't know whether the guy falls in that category. It looks like it. I hope that after three years, he'll find a more productive means with (INAUDIBLE).

Secretary Rubio, we have two hearings a week, you know? You seem to have a more robust following than most of our witnesses that come before us, but, anyway --

RUBIO: There'll be a couple more. So, I just -- thank you for stopping the clock. I appreciate it.

So -- and I know there's a lot of other topics you're going to ask me about, so we can talk about those, including the ones that Senator Shaheen just outlined. But let me just talk about Venezuela in particular.

RISCH: Please.

RUBIO: I think we can talk, if you want, I'm sure your questions will be about what happened before and led up to in the operation. I want to focus my comments this morning on what happens now moving forward, because you're going to ask about that going back.

And let me just say this. What is our goal going in? We had in our hemisphere a regime operated by an indicted narco-trafficker that became a base of operation for virtually every competitor, adversary and enemy in the world. It was for Iran. Their primary spot of operation in the Western Hemisphere was Venezuela. For Russia, their primary base of operation in the Western Hemisphere along Cuba and Nicaragua was Venezuela. In the case of China, China was receiving oil at a huge buck, $20 a barrel discount. And it was -- they weren't even paying money for it. It was being used to pay down debt that they were owed. This is the oil of the people of Venezuela, and it was being given to the Chinese as barter at a 20 percent -- at a $20 discount per barrel in some cases.

And so you had basically three of our primary opponents in the world operating from our hemisphere from that spot. It was also a place where you had a narco-trafficking regime that openly cooperated with the FARC and the ELN and other drug trafficking organizations using their national territory. It was an enormous strategic risk for the United States, not halfway around the world, not in another continent, but in the hemisphere in which we all live. And it was having dramatic impacts on us, but also on Colombia and on the Caribbean basin and all sorts of other places. It was an untenable situation and it had to be addressed, and it was addressed.

And now the question becomes what happens moving forward. As I've described to you in previous settings and an individual conversations, we had three objectives here. The final, I'll work it backwards because, the end state here is we want a -- we want to reach a phase of transition where we are left with a friendly, stable, prosperous Venezuela, and democratic, in which all elements of society are represented and free and fair elections. By the way, you can have elections. You can have elections all day. But if the opposition has no access to the media, if opposition candidates are routinely dismissed and unable to be on the -- unable to be on the ballot because of the government, those aren't free and fair elections. That's the end state that we want, free, fair, prosperous, and friendly Venezuela. We're not going to get there in three weeks. It's going to take some time. And so objective number one was stability.

In the aftermath of the removal of Maduro, the concern was what happens in Venezuela? Is there civil war? Do the different factions start going at each other? Are a million people crossing the border into Colombia? All of that has been avoided. And one of the primary ways that it has been avoided is the ability to establish direct, honest, respectful but very direct and honest conversations with the people who today control the elements of that nation, meaning the law enforcement, the government apparatus, et cetera. And one of the tools that's available to us is the fact that we have sanctions on oil.

[10:25:01]

There is oil that is sanctioned that cannot move from Venezuela because of our quarantine.

And so what we did is we entered into an arrangement with them, and the arrangement is this. On the oil that is sanctioned in quarantine, we will allow you to move it to market -- we will allow you to move it to market at market prices, not at the discount China was getting. In return, the funds from that will be deposited into an account that we will have oversight over. And you will spend that money for the benefit of the Venezuelan people.

Why was that important? Venezuela was running out of storage capacity, okay? They were producing oil, they were drilling, or they had nowhere to put it. They had nowhere to move it. And they were facing a fiscal crunch. They needed money in the immediacy to fund the police officer, the sanitation workers, the daily operations of government.

And so we've been able to create a short-term mechanism. This is not going to be the permanent mechanism, but this is a short-term mechanism in which the needs and the Venezuelan people can be met through a process that we've created, where they will submit every month a budget of this is what we need funded. We will provide for them at the front end what that money cannot be used for. And they've been very cooperative in this regard.

In fact, they have pledged to use a substantial amount of those funds to purchase medicine and equipment directly from the United States. In fact, one of the things they need is dilutant (ph) or dilutant, depending how you want to pronounce it. And that basically is the light crude that you need to mix with their heavy crude in order for the oil to be able to be mixed and moved. They're getting -- they used to get 100 percent of that from Russia. They are now getting 100 percent of that from the United States.

So, we're using that short-term mechanism, both to stabilize the country, but also to make sure that the oil proceeds that are currently being generated through the licenses will now begin to issue on the sanctioned oil goes to the benefit of the Venezuelan people, not to fund the system that existed in the past.

The second is a period of recovery. And that is the phase in which you want to see a normalized oil industry. Again, this is -- look, we've got plenty of oil. There's plenty of oil all over the world. Canada produces heavy crude, so it's not like Venezuela's oil is unique in that regard, despite the fact they have the largest known reserves in the world. It's not irreplaceable, but we understand that that is the lifeline. Their natural resources are going to allow Venezuela to be stable and prosperous moving forward.

And so we have created the -- what we hope to do is transition to a mechanism that allows that to be sold in a normal way a normal oil industry, not one dominated by cronies, not one dominated by graft and corruption. To that end, the authorities there deserve some credit. They have passed a new hydrocarbon law that basically eradicates many of the Chavez-era restrictions on private investment in the oil industry. It probably doesn't go far enough to attract sufficient investment, but it's a big step from where they were three weeks ago. So, that's a major change.

We can address some of the other components, but I'll run out of time, but one of parts of the transition phase, or the recovery phase is beginning to create space for different voices inside of Venezuelan politics to have an ability to speak out. Part of that is the release of political prisoners, by some estimates, up to 2,000. They're releasing them. They're releasing them probably slower than I would like them to, but they are releasing them. And, in fact, you're starting to see some of the people being released beginning to speak out and participate in political life in the country. We have a long ways to go.

Look, we can talk in more detail about all of these things. Suffice it to say, I'm not here to claim to you this is going to be easy or simple. I am saying that in three and a half, almost four weeks, we are much further along on this project than we thought we would be given the complexities of it going into it, and I recognize that it won't be easy. I mean, look, at the end day, we are dealing with people over there that have spent most of their lives living in a gangster paradise.

So, it's not going to be like from one day to the next, we're going to have this thing turn around overnight. But I think we're making good and decent progress. It is the best plan and we are certainly better off today in Venezuela than we were four weeks ago. And I think and hope and expect that we'll be better off in three months, in six months and nine months than we would've been had Maduro still been there. So, thank you.

RUBIO: All right. Stay with us. The questioning is about to begin and we're going to continue our special coverage of this important hearing right after a short break.

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