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DHS Says Two Shot In Portland Linked To Notorious International Gang; White House Defends Ice Agent Who Killed U.S. Citizen; Minnesota Officials Say FBI Blocked Them From Ice Shooting Probe; Venezuelan Government Begins Releasing Political Prisoners; Utah Launches First State-approved A.I. For Prescription Renewals, State Will Rigorously Evaluate Platform's Clinical Safety, Patient Experience And Effectiveness. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 09, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": We are following some new developments after a federal Border Patrol agent shot two people in Portland. The Department of Homeland Security says the agent opened fire after the male driver allegedly tried to run over agents during a targeted stop yesterday. A woman was also inside the vehicle.

DHS says the two suspects who were hospitalized with gunshot wounds have alleged ties to a notorious international gang, Tren de Aragua. News of the shooting setting off protests outside Portland's ICE facility, the site of tense demonstrations last year. And that's where we find CNN National Correspondent, Nick Watt.

Nick, state officials say they'll be investigating. What more can you tell us?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They will, Brianna. I mean, we now have photographs and names of those two suspects released by federal authorities. They are Luis David Nico Moncada allegedly an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, came into the country in 2022 and, as you mentioned, suspected to have ties with Tren de Aragua. He also, we're told, has a final order of removal against him. The woman, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, also from Venezuela, also allegedly illegal, came in 2023. And she, we're told, was involved in a prostitution ring connected with Tren de Aragua and was also, we're told, potentially involved in a recent shooting here in Portland.

So CBP doing their jobs, going after illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds. So, the FBI will assume custody of the pair once they are released from the hospital. He apparently shot in the arm, she in the chest. They are, the FBI and the ATF, investigating an alleged assault on those officers during that targeted traffic stop when the male driver allegedly weaponized his vehicle and tried to run over the agent.

Now, the mayor of Portland, he says, listen, the federal government has their version of events, but we've learned not to take them at their word. So, the Oregon Department of Justice is also investigating and investigating whether these CBP officers potentially exceeded their legal authority. Now, you mentioned protests. There were protests right here last night. That's the ICE facility you mentioned. Six arrests, minor offenses, mainly for people loitering, hanging out in this street and stopping traffic.

So right now, no protesters. This is still early in Portland. No protesters or observers, media, not a single protest, but it is early here. So we'll be keeping an eye on whether things pick up later in the day. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, Nick, we know that you will continue to follow that. Thank you. It's been a tense week of protests and a week of competing messages in the -- certainly competing messages. So let's talk now about former -- let's discuss this all with former Fox News Host and NewsNation Correspondent-at-Large, Geraldo Rivera. Geraldo, it's great to have you and get your perspective on this.

Just hours after the Minneapolis shooting, you were hearing what we heard. Secretary Noem declaring the ICE officer acted within his training. He called -- she called Renee Good a domestic terrorist. We saw the president quickly taking to social media, saying that Good was very disorderly, obstructing and resisting, accompanied by a front- angle video of the incident. Is the administration's attempt to control the narrative here working?

GERALDO RIVERA, FORMER FOX NEWS HOST AND NEWSNATION CORRESPONDENT-AT- LARGE: I don't think so. I think that people are hearing what they want to hear. They're seeing what they want to see. Brianna, it's great to be with you in these troubled times. But I really do believe that no minds will be changed by any release of video.

The scene now has been covered at every single angle you can think of. I understand there's new body cam footage that is more perhaps sympathetic to the shooter. But I go back, if I could, just give me a minute here.

This is the DOJ, the Department of Justice, use of force policy. Agents may not fire at a moving car that is threatening them unless no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, which includes moving out of the path of the vehicle. I mean, that's the federal policy. That's the DOJ policy. You're supposed to move. You're not supposed to fire at a moving vehicle.

I really do believe that this woman, she may have been a smartass. Maybe her wife or colleagues joined in, in razzing the ICE officers who are deeply unpopular there, at least among half of Minneapolis, I would suggest. And then there comes something that made her want to escape.

[13:35:00]

And then she hits the officer. It's a tragedy. I hate that it happened. I hate most of all that she's dead and her six-year-old and the other two children are without their mom. But I don't think that I -- and I think the broader lesson is that the president's move, his crusade to rid the nation of undocumented immigrants by any means necessary is failing.

Maybe there's hundreds. Maybe there's thousands who are being deported. There are many other thousands who are hiding out as if they were Jews in World War II, hiding in closets, hiding, not going to work, fearful of sending their children to school, fearful of going to restaurants. I think that this is -- this whole thing is a big mess. And the president alone can mitigate it, Brianna.

KEILAR: And how should he do that?

RIVERA: My suggestion is he has succeeded beyond expectation on the southern border. President Trump's policies have undone President Biden's catastrophic, let them all in kind of policy. I'm exaggerating. But President Biden failed on the border. The border was broken. The border was almost non-existent.

Trump fixed it. Illegal immigration over the southern border is now stopped. It is near zero. Now I suggest to the president, now you've stopped the supply of undocumented immigrants. Now you occupy effectively Venezuela. They're not going to be sending -- they're not going to be sending anybody our way anytime soon.

Why not be compassionate about those who are here? Why not be more circumspect, more prudent, more reasonable in your approach? It's not -- you're not after everybody who happens to be here without proper documentation. You told us you were after the worst of the worst. So go after the worst of the worst and leave Mamacita alone. Leave, the gardener, the snow shoveler, the agricultural worker, the poultry processor, the meat packer, the dishwasher, leave them alone. Give them -- cut them some slack.

Let's get through this problem together. Let's get an immigration policy that is both compassionate and pragmatic, working for the country. It is obvious that what he's setting up here, what he has set up in Portland, my own daughter out of her window in Greenwich Village last night seeing the New York protesters. Every town in the country understands that this policy is draconian, and unnecessary. That's what I would I would advocate. Just cool it. Let's cool it down.

KEILAR: Geraldo, I do want to ask you. You mentioned Venezuela and the president, obviously, there's more than just what's going on in Minneapolis. But I want to get your reaction to him telling The New York Times when asked if there were any limits on his global powers. He said, yeah, there is one thing, my own morality, my own mind. It's the only thing that can stop me. What do you think of that?

RIVERA: I've known him forever. He's very self-assured. He has a hugely inflated sense of himself. And he's also riding some fair winds here. He has done the impossible. He has pulled off these very highly- complex, high-risk military endeavors in Iran with the nuclear facilities and in Venezuela, where he plucked the president right from the midst of his own -- his Praetorian Guard.

It is amazing. He's -- the president is riding all these victories. Europe is humbled. They are paying up on the five percent they owe NATO rather than the two percent they've been paying up until now. But I worry about him, the success, it's funny, going to his head. Now he wants the Greenland. And everyone thought Greenland was a joke. And now, we don't think it's so funny anymore. But he's had these flashes of brilliance, followed by policies that I at least assess to be reckless and aggressive, Brianna.

KEILAR: Geraldo Rivera, always interesting to get your point of view. Thank you so much for spending time with us.

RIVERA: Thank you.

KEILAR: President Trump says that he has canceled a second wave of attacks on Venezuela now that local officials are cooperating with him. We're going to talk to a former Venezuelan official now living in exile here in the U.S. about this cooperation and what it means for the people of Venezuela.

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[13:44:18]

KEILAR: In less than an hour, President Trump is scheduled to meet with big oil and gas executives at the White House to urge America's largest energy companies to return to Venezuela following the capture of its president, Nicolas Maduro. This meeting happening just hours after the U.S. seized another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. And President Trump announced he's calling off a second wave of attacks on Venezuela because the country's acting government is now cooperating with the U.S.

Let's bring in Freddy Guevara, who is a former Vice President of the Venezuelan Parliament, who's currently living in exile in the United States. He's also a Democracy Fellow at Harvard's Ash Center.

[13:45:00]

I'm just curious, Freddy, overall what your observations and concerns are right now with the status of Venezuela's current government and this arrangement that the Trump administration is outlining for Venezuela's oil?

FREDDY GUEVARA, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE VENEZUELAN PARLIAMENT: Well, I think we have a very big opportunity to achieve a democratic transition in Venezuela. However, this is not free of risks. Of course, the people that are still in charge, the people that are, let's say, managing the Maduro's leftover, will try to convince some actors in the United States that they can have kind of a Saudi Arabia or China in Latin America.

This means a country with a lot of investment, foreign investment, but no freedom at all for the people. And this is something that we have to fight back. If Marco Rubio's path, the path that he expressed is the one that is going to be followed, well, I think that that will allow us to have freedom soon. But we cannot trust the regime that is still in place in Venezuela, because they're going to do everything in their hands to change the game in their favor. KEILAR: So, you have called freeing hundreds of political prisoners the number one priority. Venezuela has begun releasing prisoners today, including opposition politicians. You were previously imprisoned at this facility where some of them are now being released. Do you know any of those released? And what can you tell us about them?

GUEVARA: Yeah, for sure. For sure. For sure. I mean, there's 800 political prisoners. I can tell you that at least now, like at the top of my head, I know at least 20, at least 20 by name. And probably I saw many of others when I was doing politics in Venezuela or running in the streets. And they are not only in that prison. They are in many different prisons around the country.

We believe that this is a very important step. But first, we have to be clear that, for now, the regime has been deceiving (ph) the administration because only 11 political prisoners have been freed. They saved hundreds of political prisoners, by now 11.

So I think it's very important that American society keeps vigilant to see if they're complying or not. But second, the other thing that is important is not only about the freedom of political prisoners. For sure, these people are having a very bad time. I lived it there, but there's people that have been living in way worse than I lived.

But it's also to stop the machinery of oppression because what these people do is that they free 100 political prisoners and they put 200 political prisoners in jail again. So, what we need is like a full compliance in the terms of stop repression. And that will start normalizing the situation in the country, that will help us align American interests and Venezuelan interests.

KEILAR: You have so much distrust of the current regime there in Venezuela.

GUEVARA: For sure.

KEILAR: The -- our reporting says the CIA assessment of the leadership in Venezuela was that it would have been very difficult for the opposition to maintain stability and rule Venezuela. And that factored into President Trump's decision to maintain what is essentially the Maduro regime minus Maduro. And President Trump says now that Opposition Leader, Maria Corina Machado is coming to Washington, D.C. next week. However, previously, they hadn't spoken since October.

So, what -- how are you seeing that relationship? What concerns you have and what would you like to see coming out of that meeting?

GUEVARA: I think the most important thing after the freedom of all political prisoners, it's a commitment and warranties that the Delcy regime will allow to have the return of leadership in Venezuela and to do politics. So, people and citizens in general can dissent and not be imprisoned. And why is this? Because if we really want to build the path for a democratic transition, it needs Venezuelans. It needs the Venezuelan leadership, the legitimate Venezuelan leadership that is embodied in Maria Corina Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez, who won the last presidential election. But how can you build the ties? How can you make these negotiations? How can you create trust with people that are still in the armed forces or the police that aren't necessarily trusting Maduro, but that they are afraid of what might happen to them?

For that to happen, we need to be in the country and we require the support of the American government to ensure and pressure the regime to accept that everyone returns and be able to do free, you know, without any persecution politics.

KEILAR: Freddy Guevara, thank you for being with us.

GUEVARA: Thank you very much.

KEILAR: And next, a new pilot program in Utah allows artificial intelligence to write prescriptions. We'll discuss that next.

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[13:54:15]

KEILAR: A first-of-its-kind partnership will allow artificial intelligence to refill prescriptions in Utah. The state announced an agreement with Doctronic, an A.I. health platform, to give patients with chronic conditions a faster way to renew their prescriptions. But some doctors cautioned taking these decisions out of the hands of medical professionals could be dangerous.

However, the state explained in a statement, it will rigorously evaluate the platform's clinical safety protocols, patient experience, and real-world effectiveness. I'm joined by the Co-Founder of Doctronic, Dr. Adam Oskowitz. All right, Dr. Oskowitz, talk to us a little bit about this.

Why do you think prescription renewals may be the right place to introduce A.I. into medical decision making, starting here in Utah anyways?

[13:55:00]

DR. ADAM OSKOWITZ, CO-FOUNDER, DOCTRONIC: First of all, thank you so much for having me. Medication renewals is a really great entry point for A.I. in clinical decisions for a number of reasons. First and foremost, it's a safe entry point. So if you're starting with a renewal, the patient has already taken that medication which means that it's safe for them, and a doctor has already decided that they should be on that medication.

The other thing is it's a really big pain point for a lot of people. Medication non-compliance costs the U.S. government about $100 billion every year, and that comes in the form of poor health outcomes, or it can come in the form of an emergency room visit because you haven't been able to fill your medication. So we're able to solve a big problem, and we're able to do it in a safe and effective manner.

KEILAR: So, how does your A.I. determine when and how a prescription can be safely renewed?

OSKOWITZ: Yeah, so it does the same thing that a doctor does, right? When you go see a doctor, it is going to ask you -- they're going to ask you a number of questions about your health. They're going to ask you about your medication and whether you're taking it -- whether you're having any side effects, and then they're going to ask you whether or not the medication is working.

So the A.I. system is designed to do that, but we actually take it a step further and we do about a dozen safety checks on the back end, things like making sure that the dosage is appropriate, things like making sure that drug-drug interactions are accounted for. And by doing all that, we think that this is actually safer than going to visit your doctor for a renewal.

KEILAR: Well, explain that, because a doctor could, I think, there are many people who will be concerned about this. They'll say, but I'm more comfortable going to a doctor. I feel like there are eyes on me. They can make a clinical observation. What do you say to them who -- you're detailing the safeguards, but they may feel that a doctor can sort of make those human observations that perhaps A.I. cannot?

OSKOWITZ: Yeah, I think if you feel more comfortable seeing a human doctor, I think that that's all right, and I think you should be able to do that. And importantly, our system is built for that kind of care, so the system can always actually say, you know what, this isn't right for an A.I. renewal. We're going to actually get you to a human doctor. And if a patient is using the system and they say, you know, I don't actually feel comfortable with an A.I., it can be escalated to a human doctor as well. So there's always that option, but doctors aren't always available.

We know that there's this supply-demand mismatch within medicine. People have to wait two weeks or two months to go see a primary care doctor, and so it's important to be able to give people access as well.

KEILAR: So, you're saying this might be better than a doctor? Do you mean because doctors may not be available, or do you think that this may do a better job, and why?

OSKOWITZ: I think both. First, doctors aren't available, and I think we all know that. It takes a long time to get to see your primary care doctor. But the second thing is that doctors are busy, right? They don't have time to do all the things that need to be done sometimes. So, does a doctor have time to go through all the safety checks that are needed to make sure that the medication is safe and effective? You would hope so, but oftentimes, they're so pressed for time they can't do that. And so because of that, I think that this system will both be safer and provide more access.

KEILAR: And if A.I., I mean, just in an instance where there may be a mistake made by A.I., how do you catch that? OSKOWITZ: Yeah, I think it's really important for people to understand this isn't like a traditional product that you would use, like going to ChatGPT or going to Claude. While the system uses A.I., there are actually guardrails in place. So you can't get a medication prescribed by this system if you haven't been on it already. We actually check your electronic health record to make sure that you've actually been on that medication.

You can't get a medication prescribed outside the dosage range because we actually have guardrails in place to prevent that. So while the system is powered by A.I., you can't coerce it or make it do something that it shouldn't do.

KEILAR: Do you envision this ultimately though, moving away from just refills and people being able to get new prescriptions from this kind of technology?

OSKOWITZ: I think as we sort of progress, it's natural to think that this is going to actually start automating more tasks. And yes, I do believe that if you think five years or 10 years from now, A.I. will be handling a significant portion of our medical care. And it's going to be the things that are algorithmic, the things that are guideline- based. It's not going to be replacing the human conversations that need to be taking place between a doctor and a patient.

KEILAR: All right. I have so many more questions, but we are out of time. Dr. Adam Oskowitz, it's been really great to speak with you. And this story, no doubt, is going to continue. Thanks for being with us.

OSKOWITZ: Thanks for having me.

KEILAR: A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.