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Wall Street Looks Past Geopolitical Tensions; The Very Tenuous GOP House Majority; Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) is Interviewed about the Shrinking Majority; Gordon Sondland is Interviewed about Seizing a Venezuela-Linked Oil Tanker. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired January 07, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Think this was such a big deal.

The other thing was just kind of insensitive in some ways. The D.A. said, well, I was running a law practice at the time and, you know, she had -- sort of like she had a lot going on. But the fact is that she admitted she had this information, and she admitted that she didn't turn this over. So, we'll see what happens later today.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, these are important moments here in this trial. I know the families are having to go through this all over again.

Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for your reporting there.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, the president's new dire warning to his party, win the midterms or I'll get impeached. A look at the GOP's shrinking House majority and what he's talking about.

And a sheriff's deputy hit in his car when a driver races the wrong way down a freeway.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right, this morning, Wall Street futures, let us take a look, mixed there. Slightly up, the Dow, but everything else down a bit ahead of the opening bell that is going to happen next hour. Investors have largely brushed off global tension and uncertainty, pushing starts to record highs to start this year.

CNN's Matt Egan joins me now.

I mean, is it surprising that there hasn't been any major reaction to the U.S. moves in Venezuela or its threats to Greenland now from the administration?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Sara, I don't think it's totally surprising. Markets are really focused right now on the U.S. economy, right? They're hoping that the economy is going to grow a lot faster because of lower interest rates, higher corporate profits, bigger tax refunds from the president's tax law as well.

[08:35:02]

But look, no doubt the market has started the year with a bang. Look at this. The Dow is up almost 1,400 points. Nearly three percent so far this year. Not bad considering we're only talking about three trading days. In fact, this is the best start to any year for the Dow since 2003. And it's not just the Dow. The S&P 500 continues to march higher and higher, hitting all-time highs yesterday. And the Dow is now within striking distance of 50,000 for the first time ever.

And look, investors, they're clearly not concerned about this increasingly complex geopolitical situation, right? Not just Venezuela. But to your point, you've got Greenland, Cuba, Colombia, Iran as well. There's a lot going on. But instead of focusing on this real-world game of risk we seem to be living through, they're focused on the fundamentals right now of the economy and corporate earnings.

And no surprise, the president has already taken a victory lap for the market, right? He posted on Truth Social yesterday, "the market hit an all-time high." He said, "thank you, Mr. Tariff." And he went on to say that we should "pray that the Supreme Court allows our country to continue its unprecedented march towards unparalleled greatness."

Now, the market rally of recent days has almost nothing to do with tariffs. But the president's post does raise an important point, which is that we do still have this Supreme Court ruling that's out there. And market veteran Ed Yardeni, he told me that the biggest risk in the in the first half of the year is that the bond market throws some sort of a temper tantrum, and that causes bond yields to go up. And one potential catalyst could be a Supreme Court ruling that calls into question the billions of dollars in tariff revenue that the market and Washington has been banking on.

So, look, that's just one risk. There's other out there as well. But right now, Sara, the market is totally focused on all the positives.

SIDNER: Yes. And you can certainly see it reflected in what's happened with the market so far this year.

EGAN: Absolutely.

SIDNER: And we're not that far into the year yet, Matt. We will all be watching, of course. Matt Egan, thank you so much. Do appreciate it.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, looking at futures there. Let's look at the magic wall here. House Speaker Mike Johnson has led a Republican majority, albeit a slim one, since he took on the role. The slim majority is also shrinking. What does the diminishing number of Republicans mean for their ability to push and pass President Trump's agenda? CNN's Harry Enten running the numbers for you.

And, obviously, this all leads up to what does this all mean for the midterms?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes.

BOLDUAN: But first, set the stage. What are the numbers look like right now?

ENTEN: Yes, he had a thin majority. And just getting thinner and thinner and thinner and thinner and thinner. What are we talking about here? Well, on Sunday, he had a seven seat majority. The Republicans had 220. Democrats had 213. Well, in the last 72 hours, he's now down to 218, Democrats at 213. We're talking about just a five seat majority. And what that means is, if three GOP defectors goes with those 213 Democrats, they can sink a bill.

Mike Johnson is walking on the thinnest of the thinnest majorities right now. It is tighter than a New York City subway car is during rush hour.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and, one, I mean some of these Republicans leaving office, and some of these --

ENTEN: Like Marjorie Taylor Greene.

BOLDUAN: And then we just also learned one member of Congress very suddenly passed away yesterday, early yesterday morning.

ENTEN: Passed away, yes.

BOLDUAN: So, very tragically and very sad.

But what -- when you look at these numbers, how unusual, or not, is this historically in terms of the numbers on how slim it is?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, Kate Bolduan, I like going into the spreadsheets. I like going in to the congressional archives. And what do we see? Well, we right now are talking about a five-seat majority. I went back and looked at House majorities as small as the GOP's right now. And Congresses, at this point over the last 100 years, guess what, it's 2026 and that's it. That's it. That is all we're talking about. We're talking about Mike Johnson having a historically small majority to do anything with. And that is why it's been so difficult for him and why some people are saying, you know, oh, my God, he's done such a great job of keeping the GOP together. But going forward, when we're dealing with just a five seat majority, it's going to be even more difficult than it is right now because, right now, the Republicans are dealing with the slimmest of majorities in an historic fashion.

BOLDUAN: What has it mean for actually getting things done?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. So, you know, I said, you know, some people might say, hey, Mike Johnson's able to get anything done. But it turns out they haven't really gotten a whole heck of a lot done. Because just take a look here. What are we talking about? In the Congress in the first year of a president's term, fewest laws passed since at least the 1950s, it's 2025. How about the most discharge House petitions since the 1930s? It's 2025. You get House petition discharges when, in fact, you have a very slim majority. And more than that, that slim majority isn't able to stick together.

Remember, Nancy Pelosi had some thin majority, but this is a more divided Republican Congress. And what that is -- those discharge petitions essentially mean is, hey, we got some Republicans who want to team up with Democrats. And at this point, when we're dealing with an even thinner majority, I wouldn't be surprised if we get more of those discharge petitions to go against Speaker Johnson.

[08:40:06]

BOLDUAN: All right, Harry Enten, thank you, as always.

ENTEN: Thank you, Kate Bolduan.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: With us now is Congressman Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida, who we should note is running for governor there.

Congressman, nice to see you. Happy New Year, even though I know it's too late to say that according to Larry David.

You just heard Harry's report there on these very slim majorities, and some for very unfortunate reasons for Republicans in Congress now. How much more difficult will that make it to govern?

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): Well, I mean, look, it's been thin majorities in this town for quite some time. And so we're just going to manage with the rest of the agenda that needs to be accomplished before the midterm elections.

Health care, we got to make sure that we address that in a meaningful way. It needs to be clear to the American people that the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, whatever you're going to call it, is the cause of premiums rising in the United States. That's the reason. The regulatory framework, the heavy mandates, Washington taking full control, that's caused premiums to rise. We have a responsibility to answer to that.

So, whether it's a five-seat majority or a ten-seat majority, the job remains the same. We need to actually reform the health care system so Americans can afford health care, not just provide subsidies, which might feel good today, but are only going to add to premium increases into the future.

BERMAN: You brought up health care. Hopefully the control room has this sound available because President Trump was speaking to Republican members yesterday on health care and the idea of making some kind of a deal or figuring out a way to get legislation passed. And he talked about the Hyde Amendment, which is something that dates back to the '70s, which basically prohibits the use of federal funding for anything that would deal with abortion.

Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, you have to be a little flexible on Hyde. You know that. You got to be a little flexible. You got to work something. You got to use ingenuity. You got to work. We're all big fans of everything, but you got to be flexible. You have to have flexibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How flexible are you willing to be on Hyde, Congressman?

DONALDS: Well, look, I think the Hyde Amendment needs to be a part of health care negotiations going forward simply because abortion, obviously, is a very divisive topic. Many Americans want to protect life. I would say the majority of Americans want to protect life in the United States. So, if there's going to be health care spending tied to that, we should be making sure that federal dollars are not going to abortion. And that's what the Hyde Amendment does.

So, I want to see it as a part of the package. But the president does make a good point, we are going to have to resolve this health care issue overall. And let's be clear, Democrats have -- on Capitol Hill are talking about subsidies, but they're coming with no solutions to actually fix the system. And the problem is, is that the regulatory framework of the Affordable Care Act has made health care insurance policies completely unaffordable for working families all across America. So, we have a responsibility to fix this. Democrats are not lifting a finger on Capitol Hill coming with any solutions to do that. They just want subsidies. And like I'm trying to communicate to the American people, subsidies will be a temporary fix, but they're not going to -- they're not going to fix the overall system. We have to have real health care markets reforms.

BERMAN: Just to be clear --

DONALDS: The Hyde Amendment is a part of that, but there have to be real reforms.

BERMAN: But -- you say Hyde -- so it doesn't sound like you want to be very flexible on the Hyde Amendment. You want it in and the president says he wants to be flexible.

DONALDS: Well, this is all part of negotiations.

BERMAN: Right.

DONALDS: I truly believe it needs to be in there because Americans who don't believe in abortion shouldn't be funding abortions. That's common sense. I hope you would agree with that, John. BERMAN: Well, I -- what Democrats say about that is they say there are

already measures in place so that federal dollars don't go to funding abortion in -- in the -- in the Affordable Care Act. State dollars still can, but not federal dollars.

Let me ask you about Greenland right now because the White House -- the White House press secretary specifically has said that military use is always an option for the commander in chief when it comes to acquiring Greenland. This is what your Republican colleague Don Bacon said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): This is one of the silliest things I have heard come out of the White House in the last year, and it's unacceptable and I hope other Republicans line up behind me and make it clear to the White House it's wrong

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, this morning, Congressman, are you lining up behind Don Bacon?

DONALDS: No, I'm not lining up behind Don Bacon. Look, Greenland does have strategic importance to the United States. There are also a lot of mineral deposits in Greenland, which could be very helpful to the United States over the long term.

And let's be very clear, China and Russia have been moving around the globe trying to dominate rare earth material deposits and other critical mineral deposits for the betterment of their nations. Those countries are not our friends. The American people clearly understand that. And so, it is in the nation's interest to try to find areas like Greenland and others, where we can secure some of these deposits for America's growth and for the growth of our allies as well. That's common sense.

I think the path the president chooses to take is something that is reserved to the commander in chief because he was elected to be the commander in chief.

[08:45:07]

And this is one of the reasons why it's tough to dictate foreign policy from the halls of Congress, because the truth is, most members of Congress do not have all the detailed information that the president of the United States has.

BERMAN: The Constitution, of course, says it's the Congress that has the power, the exclusive power, to declare war there. How much military force would you be willing to support to acquire Greenland?

DONALDS: Well, first of all, I'm not interested in using military force. So, I want to be clear on that.

BERMAN: OK. DONALDS: But let's also talk through what you just said. Congress does have the ability to declare war. You are correct. But the constitutional convention, they actually had a major debate about declaring war or making war. And there are two words that were used. And in the constitutional convention they removed from the original draft of the Constitution the word "make" to move towards the word "declare." And the reason why was because the delegates at the -- at the constitutional convention 250 years ago, what they realize is that you cannot dictate foreign policy, military maneuvers from the halls of Congress. And at the time, the initial House of Representatives was slated to be around 65 to 70 seats. And at the time the framers even understood that was too many people to be -- to be debating whether military action was going to be used. That's something that has to be reserved for the executive branch. That's why our Constitution is written the way it is.

And so, the president does have these authorities. But I would also stress to the American people, look at Donald Trump's track record when it comes to foreign policy. Has he been dropping troops all across the globe doing a, b, and c? No, he has not. He has actually pursued peace through strength, trying to end global conflicts, which is a stark contrast from the previous administration, which inflamed global conflicts.

BERMAN: I will note, in just the last week, the president has, despite what you said, dropped troops in Venezuela. But it is always nice to speak to you, Congressman Byron Donalds.

DONALDS: Well, real quick, John. Hold on, John. John, John, real quick. John, real quick. Real quick.

BERMAN: I'm not arguing with your point. I'm just saying, he hasn't been doing it. He did it last week.

DONALDS: To that point. Hold on, John. No, it's not the point. But it's a -- it's -- John, it's a -- John, it's a clarification. The Biden administration put a $50 million bounty -- I think it's $50 million on Nicolas Maduro.

BERMAN: Go ahead (ph).

Donald: Democrats on Capitol Hill wanted Nicolas Maduro out of Venezuela. And the only reason why they're complaining right now is because Donald Trump actually did something.

BERMAN: I'm not talking about complaints. You just said that he hasn't been dropping troops. He just did.

Congressman Byron Donalds, great to speak with you. Thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Your next blackjack dealer may not be human. A look at the possibility of what you could see in the future. A new A.I.-powered player. And later in the show, one of the stars of the show everyone is

talking about, "Heated Rivalry, joins us here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:01]

BERMAN: A kindergarten teacher who lost her classroom in the Palisades Fire is now rebuilding it from scratch. Elizabeth Lam, they call her the Disney teacher there, and her room they call T.K. land. Not sure what T.K. stands for. She used her classroom to put all of her Disney treasures on display. You can see pictures of some of them there, including a special cookie jar from her late mother and a mug from a former student. The only thing she managed to save before the rubble was swept away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIZABETH LAM, TEACHER: It was emotional because I feel like part of washing it off was washing off some of the memories.

I'm not really sure yet how I'll put it together. I think it needs some love and some clay.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Lam tells CNN affiliate KCBS that recovery and healing is a process, but there are still smiles to be found.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: The breaking news just this hour, a source tells CNN a U.S. military operation is underway to seize an oil tanker linked to Venezuela. An oil tanker that Russia now claims to own. The Coast Guard has been chasing after this ship for two weeks now after it tried to evade the U.S.' partial blockade around Venezuela.

While this pursuit has been underway, the crew aboard the tanker painted a Russian flag on its hull. It originally was called the Bella One and was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2024 for operating within a shadow fleet of tankers transporting illicit oil for Venezuela, Russia and Iran. Also key here now is that Reuters reports that the Russian military vessels were in the vicinity as this operation is taking place, including a Russian submarine. "The New York Times," "Wall Street Journal" reporting that Russia dispatched vessels to meet and escort this oil tanker, deepening in a real way confrontation now between the U.S. and Russia over this situation.

Joining me now is former U.S. ambassador to the European Union during President Trump's first term, Gordon Sondland.

It's good to see you, Ambassador. Thanks for coming in on this breaking news.

What's your reaction?

GORDON SONDLAND, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: Good morning, Kate.

Well, it's a novel way of reflagging a tanker. You know, you reach over the side and paint a new flag on it and, voila, you have a Russian registration instead of whatever the old registration was.

I think this is a whole lot of nonsense. And what President Trump is trying to do by chasing what is now called the Bella is to take one after another these shadow tankers out of circulation and continue to squeeze both the Iranian, Russian and Venezuelan economies until he gets the results he wants. And I think they'll launch that operation against the tanker whether the Russians are escorting it or not.

BOLDUAN: How dangerous is this moment? I mean this isn't just taking on Russia vis-a-vis taking, you know, taking out the ally that it had in Venezuela. This is taking over a ship that Russia now claims.

SONDLAND: Well, Russia claims a lot of things, including portions of Ukraine.

[08:55:03]

Look, it's time to poke Russia back. And this is all interconnected with the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

We have had incredible restraint in terms of giving Putin the latitude he needs to have multiple off ramps and make a deal. And I think we're at a point now, and President Trump made a comment the other day, as I'm sure you picked up on, where he, quote, asked Putin permission to send tomahawk missiles to Zelenskyy. That was a little bit tongue in cheek. But the bottom line was, look, if we get to a deal with Zelenskyy where we think we, the west, thinks that what Zelenskyy is asking is fair and you're still a no, we're going to arm him to the teeth and then you're going to have to deal with a fully armed Ukraine with no constraints on the use of those weapons.

BOLDUAN: That's an interesting take. You can -- you see what's happening right now in the Atlantic Ocean, vis-a-vis this, this tanker and this confrontation in the United States attempting to seize this sanctioned tanker, you see this as being motivated, I don't know, by -- more might be a stretch, but at least motivated in part in order to gain more leverage over Russia in the negotiations over Ukraine.

SONDLAND: Yes, Kate, I don't think that having a tanker escorted by a few Russian naval vessels, when we've made it clear that this is a wanted and sanctioned vessel, is going to dissuade our U.S. military one iota. When they decide it's strategically ripe to seize the tanker, they'll seize it. You know, maybe they're waiting for the right sea conditions. Maybe they're waiting for the right equipment to arrive. Who knows? But they'll take it. And Russia will be pissed off, and Putin will make some strong statement about our belligerence, and then we'll go back to the real issue, which is what kind of a deal is Putin going to make with Kyiv?

BOLDUAN: You know, on this military operation that played out in Venezuela, I've heard from multiple people from Congress and also beyond that, if the intent was to stop Russia, China and Iran from securing a foothold and bigger influence in Venezuela, in kind of the hemisphere, that they believe it backfired. Angus King was one of them who said this to me. Let me play this.

SONDLAND: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): He's basically saying, we have the authority to do whatever we want in our neighborhood, quote/unquote. And he's already talking about Greenland, talking about now in Venezuela, talking about Colombia. Well, what does that say to Putin about eastern Europe, about the Baltics, about Ukraine, about Poland? And what does it say to Xi Jinping about Taiwan? Because basically 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 the other great powers do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Ambassador, do you see that?

SONDLAND: Oh, I'm drowning in his indignation. Unbelievable. Look, in Venezuela, China and Russia have already established a beachhead. You combine that with the billions of dollars that Maduro and his regime are raking in. It's the cocktail for a very, very powerful anti-U.S. setup. And what President Trump has done by taking out the top -- he hasn't changed the regime yet. In fact, he's leaning into the current regime because he knows it's only a member of that current regime, in this case vice president, now president, Delcy Rodriguez, who can sort of tame the beasts. Bringing in Machado today with no armed support and with a whole bunch of arms pointed at her will do nothing but turn into a bloodbath.

So, he's taking it one step at a time, gradually. But the goal at the end of the day, Kate, is for Russia and China to exit Venezuela, for Venezuela to be more independent, to have more democracy, not less and to have all of these thugs disarmed. And that's not going to happen overnight. But it's a laudable goal. And, you know, we get so impatient in this 24-hour news cycle, we expect it all to happen, you know, in five minutes. And it's not.

BOLDUAN: Ambassador, very interesting take. Hearing from more and more people, this isn't about the oil. It's actually about those nations that you just listed out and their threat in the hemisphere.

It's good to see you. Thanks for coming in.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

New details this morning on the man suspected in the Brown University mass shooting and subsequent killing of an MIT professor. Officials now say Claudio Neves Valente left behind a series of videos before he died by suicide. In them they say Valente admitted to the killing.

CNN's Danny Freeman joining us now.

In the transcripts that police have released, what did he say about the motive here? Did he say -- give a reason?

[09:00:01]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, unfortunately, Sara, he did not say much about the motive, at least according to the transcripts that were released yesterday.