Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Petro Accuses U.S. of Colonialist Ambitions; Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) is Interviewed about Venezuela; Polling on Venezuela and Maduro; Dr. Amesh Adalja is Interviewed about the Vaccine Schedule; John Bolton is Interviewed about Venezuela; Nvidia Lays out 2026 Vision. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 06, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:30:38]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, officials are now saying that Energy Department secretary, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, will be meeting with oil executives this week to discuss Venezuela. Of course, the meetings come as President Trump and his advisers continue to insist the United States is not only taking control of the country, but taking control of Venezuela's massive oil reserves, and that he, the president, expects U.S. oil companies to pour billions of dollars into rebuilding and propping up the country's oil infrastructure. A source within the energy industry tells CNN now that the meeting is expected to be the first of many with Secretary Wright. This source also characterizing the energy secretary's task ahead of persuading these companies to invest as nearly impossible.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, concerns across Venezuela's border. The president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, is accusing the U.S. of having colonial ambitions and has warned that he is willing to, quote, "take up arms" if the U.S. decides to attack his country. He is massing troops, as President Trump has called Petro a sick man and says the idea of military action against him sounds like a, quote, "good idea."

CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward is in Bogota this morning.

Clarissa, what's it like there? What are you hearing?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, it's pretty calm on the surface, but we have seen another salvo from Colombia's president, Gustavo Petro, taking aim at the 1825 Monroe Doctrine, which President Trump has appropriated and renamed the "Donroe Doctrine," saying that that doctrine effectively renders sovereign Latin American countries into colonies. In a post on X, he went on to write that, quote, "that goes completely against international law. It's the same doctrine around living space that Hitler used, and it caused two world wars." Now, one could also argue it's the same logic that President Putin has used with his invasion of Ukraine, that president Xi of China has also used in pushing for Taiwan. But nonetheless, this is the latest in a sort of back and forth between President Trump and President Petro.

Behind the scenes, we are seeing a concerted effort from Colombian officials to try to tamp down the rhetoric. You mentioned that post yesterday where President Petro said, you know, I put my weapons down years ago and vowed never to fight again, but I will pick up arms and fight if there's any U.S. military intervention.

Meanwhile, the defense minister saying, hold on a second. We're not enemies. We need to work together. We have four decades of assisting the U.S. with its counter-narcotics strategy. And the focus right now really needs to be on ensuring for Colombia that that 1,400-mile-long border with Venezuela is secured. There are some 30,000 Colombian troops who have been deployed across that border to ensure that the situation remains calm.

But as we see these little incidents, like last night in Caracas, in Venezuela, some chaotic moments, gunfire, some sort of misunderstanding between different groups of security forces. But it gives you a feel, John, for just how on edge those forces are in Venezuela and just how quickly potentially things can escalate when it is such a fraught and tense situation.

So, Colombia, today, really focused on trying to ensure that that border and its citizens stay secure.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, 14,000 -- you know, 1,400-mile border very much on edge.

Clarissa Ward, great to have you there in Bogota. Thank you very much for that report.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, John.

Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

Look, we have heard from Machado, who is -- Maria Machado, who is the opposition leader, that by and large the United States agrees, and she herself said, you know, her opposition group won by a landslide in the election but Maduro kept hold of power. Does failing to publicly coordinate with Machado risk undercutting a democratic transition do you think?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Well, listen, I think -- and thanks for having me.

[08:35:02]

I think it's critically important that Gonzalez, you know, the opposition, has a seat at the table as what I believe we need to do next is have a proper democratic election. You know, we know that Maduro was illegitimate. He was not properly democratically elected. We, as a country, recognized Gonzalez at the time. And all Maduro did was enrich himself at the expense of his people and obviously further the narco trade, narco terrorist trade.

So, from my perspective, what's really important now is, we run a process that Gonzalez, along Machado, are at the table as part of that process, and that's the best way forward here.

SIDNER: Trump was clear when asked about who was running the country. He said, me, as in Trump is running Venezuela. But here's what Mike Johnson says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): This is not a regime change. This is a demand for change of behavior by a regime.

We have a way of persuasion because their oil exports, as you know, have been seized. And I think that will -- that will bring the country to a new governance in very short order.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Realistically, do you have any confidence that members of the same regime that worked for Maduro, beside Maduro, the vice president, now becoming the president, suddenly become partners in democracy with the United States?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, that's exactly why I said we need to actually move toward elections. And Gonzalez and the minority party should be at the table as we run that process and transition there.

And I agree with what the speaker said, that the goal here is not for the United States, and I think Secretary Rubio made this point as well, the goal is not for the United States to take over governing the country in Venezuela. The goal is to have a transition and to make sure, which is what is critically important, that the corrupt narco- linked regime that's obviously destabilize the region, endangered American security, propped up the country at the expense of (INAUDIBLE) Venezuela, at the at the expense of our country and our citizens as and empowered, both through the oil trade and other means, our top adversaries, China, Russia and Iran. That's got to be stopped. We've got to have a transition. And I think that's what's important right now.

And I think in the end of this, if this is done right, this will be better for our country and for our security in stopping the drug trade and obviously really helping security in the region.

SIDNER: Look, Donald Trump made clear that he is not going to stop at Venezuela. He's warning Colombia. He now says he wants Greenland. He has said that in the past. His national security advisor, Stephen Miller, is making a brazen claim about Greenland now.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: For the United States to secure the Arctic region, to protect and defend NATO and NATO interests, obviously Greenland should be part of the United States. And so that's a conversation that we're going to have as a country. That's a process we're going to have as a -- as a community of nations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: You were not briefed as a member of the intelligence community before what happened in Venezuela. Are you getting any briefing on this? And what is your reaction to what you heard there from Stephen Miller?

GOTTHEIMER: I mean, it's absurd, right? I mean -- and Denmark is a NATO ally. We're not attacking or taking Greenland. That's one thing. We sat down and decided with Denmark, with a NATO -- our NATO ally and had that conversation. But clearly, we haven't had a conversation that Mr. Miller is talking about. So, I think it's ridiculous.

You know, back to the point on Maduro and Venezuela, you know, I've asked for a classified briefing. We're going back today and hopefully get that briefing from -- on the intelligence level and see what's next in Venezuela. How do we make sure that we stabilize the region? And obviously, we've had a very constructive relationship over the years with Colombia. It's been a very -- who -- so, we've got to just tamp down the rhetoric overall and ensure that we continue that constructive relationship that we've had for years.

SIDNER: Congressman Josh Gottheimer, thank you so much. Live for us there from New Jersey. Appreciate it.

GOTTHEIMER: Thank you.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning we're getting some of our first polling about what Americans think about this operation in Venezuela against Maduro since it was completed.

With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

So, what do voters say and how has it changed over the last few days?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, it's been a dramatic change in a direction that I think the president of United States will like. Because what are we looking at here? OK, U.S. military ousting Maduro. Pre-ousting. What you saw was the clear plurality of Americans opposed it 47 percent. Just 21 percent support it.

Come over to this side of the screen. After the ousting, look at that, the support through the roof. Now we're talking about 37 percent. Well within the margin of error right here of the opposition, 38 percent. It turns out Americans like what they deem to be successful foreign policy operations. And in this case, they view the ousting of Maduro, at least up to this point, as a successful one, and therefore the support, way up.

[08:40:01]

BERMAN: Yes. Before, underwater. Now basically even.

What about the idea of putting Maduro on trial here in the United States?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, part of the reason why I think that the success number is way up, and you saw it here, what was it, it was 26 points in favor of opposition, and now within the margin of error, is because they, simply put, don't like Nicolas Maduro. And in fact, they believe that he should be on trial for drug trafficking.

Look at this, 50 percent of Americans favor compared to just 14 percent who oppose. So, there are very few Americans here who oppose it. Even among Democrats, the opposition number is below, get this, just 24 percent. It is below 25 percent.

So, this is something that unites Republicans. It divides Democrats. And at this particular point, support for the operation, way up. And in terms of those who favor the drug trafficking trial for Maduro, that is a clear plurality.

BERMAN: And doesn't really even divide Democrats on the idea of a trial. They all seem to support it by and large. Only 24 percent oppose it for Democrats.

Let's talk about sort of what the lessons here are when it comes to foreign policy action. What have we learned over time?

ENTEN: Yes, what have we learned over time? It turns out that Americans like success. That is what they like in foreign policy. They like success. And it's not just so far in Venezuela. We can go back to those Iran strikes, right, in the middle of last year. And take a look here, net approval for the U.S. airstrikes on those Iran nuclear facilities. In June the net approval rating was minus nine points. But by July it was plus four points. So, I think the two major U.S. operations overseas militarily, those airstrikes on Iran, and so far what we're seeing in Venezuela, both of those, the American people were quite skeptical at first and then came much more round to it, came much more around Donald Trump's point of view once the military took action.

BERMAN: Obviously these things can change, again, depending on conditions inside those countries. But where things stand now, very notable.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: Harold, thank you.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: Kate. BOLDUAN: So, a major shift to the childhood vaccine schedule and one

that's getting a lot of attention. The new plan from the Department of Health and Human Services cuts the total number of vaccines that the department is recommending now for kids from as many as 18 down to 11. That means for most kids they're no longer recommending vaccines at a young age against hepatitis b, hepatitis a, the flu and a handful of others.

President Trump weighed in after this announcement this way, saying this, "effective today, America will no longer require 72 jabs for our beautiful, healthy children. We are moving to a far more reasonable schedule, where all children will only be recommended to receive vaccinations for 11 of the most serious and dangerous diseases."

Joining me right now is Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

It's good to see you again, Doctor. It's been a minute.

I -- well, more -- first, most broadly, your reaction to what is a major shift for kids and families and public health in America.

DR. AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: It's a cataclysmic change in the way that we think about vaccine policy that's independent of the actual decisions they made. Just the fact that this was kind of done by fiat, without any discussion, without any kind of respect for data, just because some people felt that the number of vaccines was too high, not for any specific reason, just they felt it was too high compared to what they wanted it to be. So, I think that is a dangerous precedent, one that RFK Jr. bears responsibility for, and one that he's telegraphed for decades.

BOLDUAN: That was actually a question that I've had. Is there science or is there -- is there -- other than comparing it to Denmark, is there science literature around the number 17 or 18, that that is a significant -- that is a, quote/unquote, high number of vaccines?

ADALJA: No, there is no data. That's just some kind of mystical aversion to that number of 17 or 18. I would -- I wish that maybe it was 25, because there are things I wish we had vaccines for, like hepatitis c or Lyme disease or metapneumovirus or parainfluenza virus. They don't actually look at this from both sides of it. They just look at the number and they get scared. They don't say what is -- what value is the vaccine providing to individual children? Is it protecting them from illness that could result in them having to go to the doctor or miss school or be hospitalized? They don't actually look at that. They just say, this number is too high. We don't like this number. We cherry picked a country that had a lower number and we're going to emulate that country, irrespective of what actual data was behind that vaccine schedule, which is constantly titrated as new vaccines come on board, as epidemiology changes. It's not a static process, and it's based on real data and real value being provided to the individuals being vaccinated.

BOLDUAN: In your view, Doctor, which illness, looking forward, if a large number of children now go unvaccinated against it, which illness are you most concerned about?

ADALJA: In the immediate term you're going to see influenza being the one where you see more children being hospitalized and dying from it, because that's the one that has the shortest lead time.

[08:45:07]

Hepatitis b, it's going to take some time for liver cancer deaths to accrue. And so, you look at that, that third tier of things that they think should be, quote, "shared decision making," influenza is the -- is the canary in the coal mine. Last year there were over 250 children who died of influenza. Almost all of them were unvaccinated. This year, nine children have died. I suspect if less children get vaccinated, we will see more influenza hospitalizations and more influenza deaths next year. That will be the first sign that RFK's plan is succeeding, according to his metrics.

BOLDUAN: The president does note, when he was tweeting about it, that the shots that are now not recommended are not banned. They are still available if parents want their kids to have these vaccines. And the president says that they will still be covered by insurance. Do you think that could lessen the blow of what you fear could happen here?

ADALJA: It certainly will lessen the blow. But what's happened is, there's mass confusion. If you're someone in the general public or a parent, you don't know who to believe. You don't know which recommendations are valid. So, that burden is going to fall on primary care physicians, on pediatricians who now have to spend time trying to navigate this deliberately created mess. And we know anytime there's a barrier to getting someone vaccinated, they don't get vaccinated. Vaccination uptake falls.

So, I do think that the fact that these are still on the market is all -- is -- that's all something that we can be thankful for. But I do believe that these actions are going to cause decreased uptake, which is going to lead to more people sick unnecessarily for nothing just because they're scared of a number.

BOLDUAN: Cataclysmic. That is not the way I would like my children's -- the future for children's public health to be described, that's for sure.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, it's good to see you. I appreciate you coming in.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, watch as firefighters make a dramatic rescue as folks try to escape being scorched in an apartment fire.

And from dancing robot dogs to humanoid robots that can actually build cars. A new wave of A.I. powered robots making their debut at the Consumer Electronics Show. We'll take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:39] BOLDUAN: In her first interview since the U.S. military operation that ousted Nicolas Maduro, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado says that she plans to return to Venezuela as soon as possible.

Now remember, President Trump very clearly has avoided supporting her or the opposition movement really at all in Venezuela since all this played out. Trump declared that she doesn't have the support or respect of the country to lead it. Despite that, Machado spent much of her first interview repeatedly praising President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I do want to say today, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, how grateful we are for his courageous vision and the actions -- historical actions he has taken against this narco terrorist regime, to start dismantling this structure and bringing Maduro to justice, which means that 30 million Venezuelans are now closer to freedom, but also that the United States of America is a safer country nowadays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now to talk more about this is John Bolton, the former national security advisor to Donald Trump in his first term, and also former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Ambassador, thank you for coming in.

Do you think Maria Corina Machado should be the leader of Venezuela? I guess my -- the most -- more importantly, if so, why do you think Donald Trump isn't on board?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think unquestionably she and Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood in for her as the actual opposition candidate for president and from whom the election was stolen, are both really the legitimate government of Venezuela, but also a fundamental plank in the legitimacy of the action that Trump took in removing Maduro from Venezuela when he is not a legitimate head of state, as we believe, when we're acting at the request of the legitimate government. That's perfectly OK under anybody's definition of international law.

And I think the administration is making a big mistake by throwing Machado under the bus, as they did on Saturday, and thinking that they can negotiate with Delcy Rodriguez somehow to have a stable transition. The -- Rodriguez and the other Maduro loyalists are not going to negotiate their own exit from power, at least not for the foreseeable future. It's the opposition in Venezuela that voted overwhelmingly against Maduro that clearly supports Machado and Gonzalez. Those are the people who can help provide stability, not the failed Maduro regime.

BOLDUAN: When you say that -- that this gets to the -- a fundamental plank in the legitimacy of what Donald Trump pulled off, do you think the fact that they are not putting their support behind the opposition movement, that -- I don't know, suggests that they -- the operation is or the motivation for this is in violation of international law?

BOLTON: I think Trump's mind is very confused about this. I don't think he understands anything about what we just talked about.

There's a very interesting story in "The Financial Times" this morning. I've not seen this anywhere else. That Delcy Rodriguez negotiated in Washington last year under a theory that Maduro would go into exile in Cuba and that she would take over the government. I had not seen that before. I don't think they've seen it in Venezuela. That's going to be interesting to see how she explains that to the likes of the defense minister, Vladimir Padrino.

I think the administration's notion they can rely on anybody in the Maduro regime to keep up to any of the promises they make is badly misplaced. And what was clearly a positive, getting rid of Maduro, can turn south very quickly if what is really the rest of the regime keeps itself in power and represses the opposition.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I haven't seen that "Financial Times" reporting. CNN hasn't confirmed that. Obviously, still working around all of the elements of this.

So, we have Stephen Miller. His take -- he was on with Jake Tapper yesterday. His take is very forcefully that the United States owns it all. That we set the terms and conditions. There's an embargo on basically everything in Venezuela. If they want to conduct commerce, they have to get our permission. The United States is running the country.

Senator Angus King was on with me, and he said that his big fear from this operation is that what we're looking at, and the way they're talking about this, is it gives other major powers a green light to do bad things.

[08:55:07]

To Russia, when it comes to eastern Europe. To China, when it comes to Taiwan. The way Senator King put it is, "we're saying a great power can do what they want in their neighborhood and we're not going to worry too much about what that other great power does."

Do you agree?

BOLTON: Well, let me say first with what Miller said. Maybe people don't recall what Colin Powell called the Pottery Barn rule. You break it, you own it. This is saying unmistakably that Trump does want to run Venezuela. I think it's a poisoned chalice. It's going to come back to bite them. But that's their problem.

I think what Senator King said really proves the point I just made a minute ago. There is no comparison between what Russia has done in Ukraine, obviously without the permission of any government, legitimate or illegitimate, Ukraine, or what China might do to invade or blockade Taiwan. Nobody in Taiwan has requested China's aid. Nobody in Ukraine requested Russia's aid. It was the opposition, the legitimate, pro-democratic, electorally successful opposition that asked for our assistance. That is the key distinguishing factor in any of these other scenarios. And when the Trump administration abandons that distinguishing factor, then it leaves itself open to the charge that it's just (INAUDIBLE) aggression.

BOLDUAN: Real quick, since you and I have talked about Greenland so many times before. When Stephen Miller says that Greenland rightfully belongs to the United States and, quote, "nobody's going to fight the United States militarily over the future of Greenland." Do you think Stephen Miller is helping the case?

BOLTON: No, I think that's about as simple minded a statement as you can make. Of course nobody's going to fight us over it, but it doesn't mean we should take territory from a treaty ally. And if we do that or if it -- if, frankly, this conversation goes on much longer, I think the NATO alliance is in grave jeopardy. This is a self-inflicted wound by the Trump administration. It harms American security. It does not enhance it by this kind of talk about Greenland.

BOLDUAN: Ambassador John Bolton, thank you for coming in.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, new video shows fire crews staging a rescue from a burning apartment building in Brooklyn. Seven people were injured, including five residents and two firefighters.

Eight people were injured after a car plowed into the front of a chicken restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina. Officials say the SUV drove in the front windows of the restaurant during dinner. The owner says the restaurant will stay closed until further notice. Police are looking into the cause of the crash.

So, the American Kennel Club is recognizing three new dog breeds. Now, it's important to note, these dogs have been around for a while. The club is just adding them to their roster for the first time. They are the Teddy Roosevelt Terrier, the Basset Fauve de Bretagne and the Russian Bolonka. The Kennel Club now recognizes 205 breeds total. These are the dogs that can participate in their shows, those glorious celebrations of pure breeding and exclusion of mutts. I hope everyone feels good about this.

Sara.

SIDNER: I just want to call them like -- I love, love, love dogs. But mutts most of all, John.. You know this.

All right, new this morning, Nvidia's chips are the backbone of the global A.I. boom. And now the company's CEO is unveiling what's next for the tech that made it the most valuable in the world.

CNN's Lisa Eadicicco is at the annual tech conference, CES, in Las Vegas.

What are you seeing? There's already some wild things that we've been seeing video of. LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: Yes, absolutely. CES,

there's always tons of robots, tons of fancy, flashy new demos. But what we're seeing with Nvidia in particular is some big announcements around its next generation computing platform for A.I. data centers called Vera Rubin. And that platform is going to -- it's already in production, and it's going to be rolling out to the first products in the second half of 2026. And that's really important because this isn't just about Nvidia's future. This is kind of helping steer the direction of where the A.I. industry is going because so many companies rely on Nvidia's chips. All those robots that you see at the convention. Yes, those will probably be in some ways connected to what Nvidia is doing. But it's really about more than that. What Nvidia is doing here is trying to make it so that as A.I. models go from just kind of spitting out answers with ChatGPT and the chatbots that you're used to interacting with, to being able to process more and more information quickly and more efficiently as A.I. models start to do things on your behalf as companies shift to A.I. agents.

SIDNER: Yes, we're watching these robots as well that are freaking me out a little, especially the dog ones. There are some major rollouts from the Consumer Electronics Show. Tell me about these humanoid robots that you're seeing on display.

[09:00:00]

EADICICCO: So, there's a lot of investment happening in humanoid robots right now, Hyundai, LG, these companies always demonstrate these technologies and what they're doing in this space. And I think what we're.