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U.S. Seizes Venezuela-Linked Oil Ship Russia Claims to Own; Poll: Americans on taking Over Greenland; Hockey Romance "Heated Rivalry" Becomes Cultural Phenomenon. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired January 07, 2026 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:30:00]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is a vessel currently claimed by Russia. What's Russia's role in Venezuela at this moment? What has it been over the last several years?
CHARLES SHAPIRO, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO VENEZUELA: Well, it's it's been very little, to be frank. Russia is tied down in Ukraine. If you want to keep Russia out of the Americas, you know -- I'm a guy who follows Latin America closely. Not -- I'm not a specialist in Europe, but if you wanted to keep Russia out of the Americas, the best thing to do is keep them tied down in Ukraine. They don't they have a plane, a bomber that visits Venezuela once a year.
They have a ship that sometimes will make a port call, but Russia doesn't have the wherewithal to play a big role anywhere in the Americas. And you've got this contradiction where on the one hand, we're saying, oh, we're friends with Russia and Ukraine, but Russia is a strategic enemy when it's in Latin America. I mean, that's illogical.
BERMAN: So one of the things that President Trump said overnight is that Venezuela was going to hand over 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to the United States. How much of -- how much would that mean for Venezuela if that were to happen?
SHAPIRO: Well, their production is down. So they're producing right now about a million barrels a day. So that would be a month's production, a 12 -- you know, a 12th of the yearly production at current rates. And then you can do the math at $60 a barrel. But what it means to Venezuela is a dramatic drop in government revenue since it's the state that owns all the oil in Venezuela.
And whether it's a U.S. company or a Venezuelan company producing the oil, they're paying royalties to the Venezuelan -- essentially to the Venezuelan treasury.
BERMAN: How complicated will it be, or would it be, for the United States to turn around the Venezuelan oil industry, which it says it will do? The president's going to be meeting with oil executives Friday, I believe.
SHAPIRO: First of all, you have to keep in mind, we all need to keep in mind, the United States, as in -- we do not drill for oil anywhere. We buy oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and that's it. It's U.S. companies that deal in oil.
And so, you know, this company X, Y, or Z, they've got to see that it's profitable for them to be involved in Venezuela. And can they make money in Venezuela? If you go online, you'll see -- I'm not an oil expert, but there are plenty of experts out there that say this would require 10 billion, an investment of $10 billion a year over 10 years.
So are the U.S. oil majors willing to invest that sort of money in Venezuela when next door in Guyana, there's oil with less political risk? We do believe that Venezuela is going to be stable for the next 10 years, that it will take to complete rebuilding the Venezuelan oil industry. You know, they'll they'll they'll be evaluating all of that.
The other thing that's going on is understand that there's some sort of bureaucratic maneuver that the administration is telling the oil companies where they would get a tax benefit from investing in Venezuela and it would increase their returns on investment. But through this tax benefit, you know, is that what we want to do? Then clearly the administration can do that. But is that what we want to do as a nation?
BERMAN: That's our Charles Shapiro, great to get your insight on all of this. Thanks very much for being with us -- Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, coming up, new doorbell footage captures a neighbor's heroic rescue of two children and their mom as their home was engulfed in flames.
And we're going to the cottage. One of the stars of the surprise hit show, "Heated Rivalry," joins us in studio.
[09:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BERMAN: New this morning, President Trump says he wants Greenland. White House aide Stephen Miller tells Jake Tapper he wants Greenland. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will not rule out using the U.S. military to get it. And now the Europeans, we're told, they're taking it all very, very seriously.
With us now, Chief Data Analyst Harry Enten. So the Europeans taking it seriously. What about the prediction markets?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, are people in the public taking it seriously? The people who are putting their money where their mouth is, they're absolutely taking it seriously. I mean, take a look here.
The chance that Trump buys any of Greenland by the end of his term on Friday, it was just 12 percent. Whoa, way up there now to 36 percent, a tripling in less than a week. My goodness gracious, they are very much taking what happened in Venezuela, adding on to the comments from the Trump administration of what they might want to do with Greenland.
Absolutely taking it seriously. Not a majority chance at this point, but way, way up from where we were less than a week ago.
BERMAN: All right, so three times as much as it was. That's for buying Greenland, buying. What about by other means?
ENTEN: Yes, by other means. So you mentioned the buying at 36 percent right now anyway, in any way, 43 percent. So of course, there's a chance we could acquire Greenland.
[09:40:00]
The United States might try to acquire Greenland not through buying it, but maybe through military means, which is something that we've heard reported as a possibility. And so we're talking about here is we're talking about more than a two in five shot that those who are putting their money where their mouth is think that the U.S. will acquire part of Greenland by the end of Trump's term.
BERMAN: That's a pretty high chance. A lot of people make bets with numbers like --
ENTEN: Oh, yes, that's a very high chance.
BERMAN: All right. Now, that's the betting markets. In terms of public opinion, what Americans say about whether or not the United States should go get Greenland?
ENTEN: Yes. OK. So right at this point, we're saying, hey, there's a really decent chance that Trump will try and get Greenland in one way.
But the American people, at least in the polling that we have before, of course, this entire escalation didn't want it. What are we talking about here? Well, we're talking about 73 percent, 73 percent Americans oppose the idea of taking over Greenland.
Just 27 percent favor it. And then this nugget, which I tried to make big because I thought it was rather important. Even 51 percent of Republicans or those who lean Republican oppose the idea of taking over Greenland.
I wouldn't be surprised if that number drops and the support rises as Trump's comments come out. But at this point, at least going into this, we were talking about a slight majority of Republicans and those leaning majority even opposed the idea of America taking over Greenland.
BERMAN: and we're talking about Americans here.
ENTEN: Yes.
BERMAN: What do people in Greenland actually think about it?
ENTEN: OK, so you see that 73 percent oppose. What about Greenlanders on the idea of the country joining the United States? 85 percent, 85 percent of Greenlanders, as of last year, opposed the idea of their country joining the U.S. Just 6 percent -- one, two, three, four, five, six percent favored the idea. There are more Americans who believe that, in fact, we fake the moon landing than Greenlanders who favor the idea of joining the U.S.
So there's not a lot of political support for it. But at this point, it looks like quite the high possibility.
BERMAN: Eighty five percent. If you're asking them, they're saying no.
ENTEN: No, they are saying no, no, no.
BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much. You got a lot of news on this front, a lot of other fronts as well.
We'll be right back.
[09:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Take a look at this video out of Baltimore, a doorbell camera captures a neighbor racing across the street to help a family that was trapped in their home as it went up in flames. Just watch this. A man actually ended up catching the woman and two children who were stuck on the second floor and had to escape through the window.
They suffered minor injuries. Everyone will be OK. They believe a pet dog, though, did die in the fire. What started the fire is now under investigation.
There's also new video in showing a man crashing his car into a gas station in Wisconsin. Follow this because this is wild. Police say the driver was going over 80 miles per hour and they tried to pull -- when they tried to pull him over.
He then took off. Police followed, then ended their chase because of the danger that they believed he was -- it was all posing to other motorists.
The man then crashed. The car even went airborne and nearly hit someone who was just standing nearby. And then even then, when they tried to catch him, he ran off.
He was eventually caught. He is now in custody and facing multiple charges.
And let's end here with an Elvis Fest, a 33rd -- the 33rd year of the annual Elvis Festival in Australia. According to the festival, it is one of the top three festivals and events in Australia, attracting over 25,000 fans every year, gathering to, well, what do you think? Share the love of the legendary artist, dressing up, paying tribute all along the way. And it just kicked off today. The festival is held the second week in January to coincide with Elvis Presley's birthday -- Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, it is the number one show on HBO Max, which, of course, is owned by the same parent company as we are. "Heated Rivalry" is about the competition and relationships between gay and bisexual hockey players, and it's getting an extraordinary amount of attention. In part because of its steamy scenes.
Based on the best selling books by Rachel Reed, "Heated Rivalry" follows 2 elite hockey rivals, Canadian star Shane Hollander and his Russian counterpart Ilya Rozanov as a decade long secret relationship unfolds on and off the ice. The show is fueled by intense competition, chemistry and sex.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Canada Russia final showcasing the two most talked about prospects in the world, Canada Shane Hollander
HUDSON WILLIAMS, ACTOR, SHANE HOLLANDER IN "HEATED RIVALRY": Shane Hollander. I wanted to introduce myself.
CONNOR STORRIE, ACTOR, ILYA ROZANOV IN HEATED RIVALRY: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Russia's Ilya Rozanov.
WILLIAMS: You're an awesome player to watch.
STORRIE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ooh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good at hockey.
STORRIE: The best, probably.
We will be seeing each other a lot.
WILLIAMS: Yes, Boston and Montreal play against each other often.
Roz, you ought to see this.
STORRIE: He's like a huge movie star.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are there any gay hockey players?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None that have said it publicly.
STORRIE: Yes, so, what's my name going to be?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translated text): Not even Jane?
STORRIE: Jane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translated text): You've been texting for years. I thought maybe it was serious.
STORRIE: This is such a bad idea.
WILLIAMS: You want this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: There it is, y'all. Joining us now is Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander. Thank you so much for being here.
One of the star roles in all of this. Look, this is about a very steamy relationship between --
[09:50:04]
WILLIAMS (on camera): Yes.
SIDNER: -- someone who is bisexual, someone who is gay, and hockey is all mixed into this. What do you think that is fueling this popularity? And it's really become kind of a cultural phenomenon at this point.
WILLIAMS: Yes, I think the the spice definitely gets people in or kind of piques their interest, but I do think they stay for just the really tender romance at the center. There's a lot of yearning and these men are forced to communicate with each other, which is sometimes a little unheard of.
BOLDUAN: Really. Hello John, my name is Kate. Hudson, this is your breakout role and the success of this show to a lot of people was sudden and just absolutely massive. How has it changed your life?
WILLIAMS: It's crazy. It definitely feels like an overnight rapid success. You know, there was kind of a sprinkle of like, oh, maybe it'll do well, or maybe it'll sell, you know, overseas. And the kind of level of the stratosphere it's reached is -- it's a little overwhelming and definitely the privacy feels weird. You know, the relationship with the fans is like, you know, you have to kind of draw the line at points. So it's --
SIDNER: Because they've seen a lot of you.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, they've seen every crevice and every pore. You guys like never skip leg day. Like my my main takeaway -- sheee, you know.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Setting the bar real high.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
BERMAN: It's very impressive. Look, you say it happened very quickly. This thing didn't get posted on HBO Max --
WILLIAMS: Right. BERMAN: -- until in the United States, until like Thanksgiving, right? I remember I, you know, I surfed looking for good streaming shows all the time. I'm going through like, oh, a hockey show.
WILLIAMS: Yes, right.
BERMAN: And it turns out it is super fun. It's not necessarily the hockey show that I thought it was going to be when --
WILLIAMS: Right.
BERMAN: -- I just clicked on it, but that was like five weeks ago. And now it's it's honestly, you hear people talking about it everywhere.
WILLIAMS: Wow. Yes, none of this like Connor and I were both like, are we in a bubble? Like is this actually people are talking about? But it is crazy when you start to go to places you're like surely no one will recognize me here. Talk about it and they're like.
SIDNER: I do want to talk about a little bit serious issue here that the first hockey player ever to come out as transgender did a cameo on the show and I'm curious if you spoke to Harrison Brown and others as you were preparing for this role. And whether things are uncomfortable for you, you're doing this in the studio in front of people and you guys are not just getting close. Y'all are getting down.
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes, Harris. I got to talk with him on set, but I found out retroactively of of like what he means to community. And then I was like, oh, but he was just a lovely person to talk with. And then talking with people is more about just talking with Jacob about the character that he adapted because it was, you know, based on this book. I felt like the specificity was really the thing I just wanted to nail.
Because to like try to like comment or understand everything of, you know, trans, gay, you know, bisexual. I was like, OK, no, that's too overwhelming. Let me focus on just this one character and then -- yes, what was the last part of your question?
SIDNER: You ever feel uncomfortable or shy?
WILLIAMS: No, this, I'm just, it's, I'm too comfortable. I think other people -- I was making sure other people were comfortable.
BOLDUAN: Wait, wait, wait, because how any actor approaches, there's a lot of, the sex gets a lot of attention, but how any actor approaches intimate scenes is always a fascinating thing because you -- there are people everywhere, there are angles everywhere, there's all sorts of just considerations to be made, how did you approach it?
WILLIAMS: Well, you know, I'm in some vulnerable position, someone might say, and things can be exposed. And I just approached it like I didn't want to be there, say, on something exposed where someone like goes to fix a light and then they see something that no one should be subjected to. So it's more like my fear of just like, oh, I don't want to make someone just adjusting the light uncomfortable. BOLDUAN: That's actually, its not about you being uncomfortable. Its
about making other. Like I don't know about you being uncomfortable.
WILLIAMS: They say, Hudson, stop touching the robe.
BOLDUAN: It's time for clothes we have, but we are done with this scene now.
WILLIAMS: We're not shooting.
SIDNER: I love that you're that comfortable. I think it's great.
BERMAN: All right, I would say one of my main takeaways I like I really do like a good love story and this is. And it is -- it's almost like a at a certain level. It's like a boring relationship. It's an incredible, right? Talk to me about that a little bit, because yes, you have two hockey stars, two male hockey stars falling in love, which on its face would seem, oh my God, this is explosive.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
BERMAN: But then you watch you two guys interact, and it seems like it's meant to be so almost mundane.
[09:55:01]
WILLIAMS: Right, because, you know, you kind of have this boring square of a person in Shane. And then you have this unexpressive Slavic guy in Ilya.
BERMAN: From Texas, it turns out.
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes, from Texas, from Odessa. So it's definitely like, you don't think it would be as exciting or kind of like as enticing as it is to watch, but I think somewhere there they just find this, you know, communication and way to exist even when they're not talking, which I think kind of drives the relationship, which is really interesting.
BOLDUAN: Quick, we got to get it. Season one, congrats. What's happening with season 2?
WILLIAMS: I hope I find out when we're shooting that. I'm like, come on.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: People are yelling at me and they're like, we need season two. I'm like, OK, let's just film it tomorrow.
SIDNER: It was OK, let's do it.
BERMAN: Hudson Williams, congratulations on the success.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
BERMAN: It's well deserved. Beyond everything else, great performances in this too, so congratulations, great to have you here.
WILLIAMS: Thank you, guys.
SIDNER: Thank you, appreciate you.
BERMAN: All episodes of Heated Rivalry are now streaming on HBO Max.
SIDNER: All right, thank you guys for joining us, thank you Hudson for joining us at the CNN NEWS CENTRAL, "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
