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Protests Over ICE Killings in Oregon and Minnesota Sparked Outrage Across the United States; Iran Cuts Off Communication Lines as Anti-Government Protests Spread Across the Country; Goretti Experienced Snow and Winds in Much of the United Kingdom. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired January 09, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

Just ahead, news of multiple people shot by federal agents has many communities on edge in the U.S. Border patrol agents opened fire on a couple in the state of Oregon.

And this comes just a day after a woman was shot and killed in an encounter with ICE agents in Minnesota. Her death sparking protests across the U.S.

And Russia says it has used one of its most advanced weapons in Ukraine. The strike on Lviv hitting as Britain and France promise to send troops to Ukraine if peace is achieved.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kristie Lu Stout.

LU STOUT: Now the mayors of two major American cities are telling immigration and customs enforcement agents to get out of their communities. This comes after federal agents opened fire in Minneapolis on Wednesday and in Portland on Thursday.

The Minnesota shooting killed an American mother of three. We don't know the status of the victims in Portland, but we're told they're a married couple who were hospitalized and later arrested.

Now the violence unleashing protests in both of those cities and across the country. In Portland, the Department of Homeland Security says border patrol agents were going after a Venezuelan gang member during a targeted vehicle stop. They accused the couple of trying to ram the agents with their car.

Local leaders are condemning the shooting and the ongoing presence of ICE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR KEITH WILSON, PORTLAND, OREGON: We are calling on ICE to halt all operations in Portland until a full and independent investigation can take place. Our community deserves answers, our community deserves accountability. And most of all, our community deserves peace.

GOV. TINA KOTEK (D-OR): My message to the federal government is this. We demand transparency. We demand your cooperation with Portland Police and the Multnomah County D.A. Because we need to investigate this incident efficiently and effectively so we can rebuild trust with our nation's government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Now tensions are rising in Minneapolis after the deadly shooting there involving an immigration officer.

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Protesters are calling for justice for Renee Good, who was killed when an ICE agent shot into her car. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is raising concerns that the investigation into the shooting won't be fair. State officials said the FBI blocked them from joining the probe.

We're also learning new details about Renee Good. Now CNN's Omar Jimenez spoke to some of her neighbors who shared their memories of the 37-year-old mother.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mother of three, a partner and a poet, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, as described by those who knew her.

Her neighbors now mourning their loss.

KIMMY HULL, NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: If we can help, we're going to help you. You know, that's the community.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): She was shot and killed near the site of an immigration enforcement operation Wednesday after dropping off her six-year-old son at school, according to the Associated Press. Multiple videos obtained by CNN show the moments before she was shot at about 9:30 a.m. that morning. Video shows her car driving up to the scene about three minutes before the deadly confrontation with ICE agents.

JIMENEZ: This is the South Minneapolis neighborhood where Renee Good lived. There's just a few blocks from where the shooting happened. And a day removed from the shooting, it's quiet.

We get the sense that some in this neighborhood are on edge, heartbroken over what happened so close to them here. One of the neighbors we spoke to who didn't want to appear on camera describes Renee Good's family as a really sweet family, that her children would ask to pet the dogs that the neighbors would walk here in the community. And we get the sense that Renee Good wasn't in this community that long, but clearly already made an impression on many here.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): While Clark Hoelscher didn't know Good personally, they live a few houses down and would see her kids' sidewalk drawings during the summer.

JIMENEZ: When we were talking earlier, you know, about Renee and about her kids, you were getting emotional.

CLARK HOELSCHER, NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENT: Yes.

JIMENEZ: What was going through your mind? What were you thinking?

[03:05:04]

HOELSCHER: Oh, I mean, I just, I'm a parent. I've helped raise five children. I have two, you know, kiddos that are my own.

And just, I can't imagine, like, that they, you know, came home and their mom, you know, isn't going to be there for them anymore.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Good was a Colorado native who moved to Minnesota last year, living in the Twin Cities with her partner. Of her three children, according to the A.P., a six-year-old boy, whose father, a military veteran, died about three years ago, according to "The Washington Post."

And two other children, 15 and 12-year-olds from her first marriage, her ex-husband told the A.P. He said she was a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips when she was younger.

And she briefly lived in Kansas City before moving last year. Her former neighbor there says she wasn't a terrorist nor an extremist, as she's been described.

UNKNOWN: That was just a mom who loved her kids, loved her spouse.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): She graduated from Old Dominion University in December 2020 with a degree in English.

A growing memorial near the site of the shooting now bearing posters with her image. Candles and flowers left in the snow where she died.

JIMENEZ: And here in Renee Good's neighborhood, we've been watching people who actually have been putting up makeshift barriers at the closest intersection to where Good was shot and killed. So we showed you that one. This side also blocked.

And then this side as well, where she was shot and killed, was just beyond where these tents and these protesters and really this fire is going right now. And it really comes on the tail end of what we've seen to be protests on in various parts of the city, reflecting a lot of anger, a lot of pain and a want for a lot of accountability.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Minneapolis. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Accountability for Renee Good's death appears to be in short supply in the Trump administration. The U.S. Vice President and others are suggesting that she was responsible for her own demise.

Kristen Holmes reports from the White House.

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KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's administration making it clear they stand behind the ICE agent in Minneapolis today. Vice President J.D. Vance coming to the podium in a somewhat impromptu press conference with press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying in no uncertain terms that this was the fault of the driver, not the ICE agent who pulled the trigger.

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The reason this woman is dead is because she tried to ram somebody with her car and that guy acted in self-defense. That is why she lost her life. And that is the tragedy.

HOLMES: Now, I tried to ask the Vice President during this briefing if the federal government is already come to this conclusion, this determination of who was at fault.

And what exactly is the point of a federal investigation? Are they doing any kind of investigation into this ICE agent, into the events that led up to this?

Because now we're starting to hear a lot of concern from the state officials that there's not going to be a fair investigation, especially because the federal government seems to have already made up their mind.

Now, Vance deflected on that question, saying the Department of Homeland Security would be conducting an investigation and then moved on fairly quickly. But there are still quite a number of questions as to whether or not this investigation is going to be thorough. And that's what you're hearing from those state officials on the ground.

At the same time that Vance was saying this, we saw an article, an interview in the Associated Press with the ex-husband of Good, the woman who had been killed the day before, in which he said she was not an activist, that she, as far as he knew, had never been part of any sort of protest, that she was on that street because she had been dropping off her six-year-old at school.

And to be clear, we don't know the details of that either. We don't know if that is an accurate portrayal of who Good was.

But the questions remain that this would all be solved or at least be investigated if there was a formal investigation. And that is why there is concern that the government or the federal government has already made their mind up on what the outcome is here.

Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House. (END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, in the last hour, I spoke with CNN law enforcement contributor and retired FBI supervisory special agent Steve Moore, and I asked him what we can learn from the eyewitness videos of the ICE shooting in Minneapolis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR AND FORMER FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: What you're seeing are little quotes out of context, if you will. You don't see the entire situation, you don't see the motivation of why the woman was there, you don't see the motivation of the officer and whether he was reasonable in his belief that his life was in danger.

[03:10:02]

There's not enough on these videos as they stand and as they've been released to prove anything in a court of law, which is why it's troubling that people from both sides have been declaring somebody guilty or innocent. Like the mayor of Minneapolis calling self-defense B.S. without seeing the factors in it.

LU STOUT: Or Kristi Noem calling this an act of domestic terrorism on the other side.

MOORE: That's what I meant when I said both sides, yes. But we had already played Kristi Noem, and you have to see both sides.

LU STOUT: I understand that, sir. And these are very different narratives that are out there. And the core question in regards to Minneapolis is whether the ICE agent was justified in using deadly force.

I want to get your expertise here. What are the guidelines for federal agents when it comes down to using deadly force?

MOORE: If a reasonable agent believes that their life or the lives of others are in imminent risk of losing their lives or grievous bodily harm, they may use deadly force. And that is what we're going to have to determine, is whether or not this officer's belief was actual and whether it was reasonable. You can have somebody who believes that their life is in danger, but it's an unreasonable belief.

So what they're going to have to determine is whether this officer believed his life was in danger and whether that belief was reasonable or not.

LU STOUT: I want to ask you now about the shooting in Portland. Border Patrol agents, not ICE, were involved in that shooting, two people were wounded. There is now very much heightened tension at the moment.

What needs to happen now to just turn down the temperature?

MOORE: I think you have to try to come up with some kind of bipartisan investigation. I think neither side trusts the other to do a fair and unbiased investigation, so there has to be some kind of cooperation on the investigation of both of these so that it's an open and transparent investigation that's going to go forward.

The problem is, I haven't met a single person who hasn't decided already on the basis of what they previously believed about the validity of the ICE whole policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: That was Steve Moore speaking to me earlier.

Now, Russia is confirming that it has just used one of its most advanced weapons in Ukraine. Its defense ministry says it has struck the city of Lviv with the hypersonic Oreshnik missile.

Now the weapon has multiple warheads and it flies up to 10 times faster than the speed of sound. Moscow says the launch was a response for Ukraine's alleged attempt to hit President Vladimir Putin's home last month, but the CIA has already assessed his residence was not targeted.

Now Ukraine says the Kremlin also launched a drone attack on Kyiv overnight, killing at least four people and leaving 10 injured. A CNN crew reported strikes on residential buildings before parts of the city plunged into darkness.

Now meanwhile, Russia is doubling down on its stance that any Western troops would be legitimate targets if they come to Ukraine. The statement came after Britain and France signed a declaration of intent to send their troops when peace is achieved. Now earlier, CNN contributor Jill Dougherty spoke to me about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, FORMER CNN MOSCOW BUREAU CHIEF, AND ADJUNCT PROF., GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: Essentially, this really is a declaration of intent to do that. But as you said, you know, the linchpin is having this is some type of ceasefire. And Russia so far is not going along with that.

We can talk more in detail about their view of it. But that is that's the problem. So essentially, this would be they're calling it really reassurance and reassurance and regeneration force.

So reassurance in the sense that it would protect Ukraine from any possible incursion again from Russia. And then also it would be regeneration, which is helping the Ukrainian military to come back online, because ultimately they will be the guarantors of security in the future if there is this ceasefire.

LU STOUT: The language being used here is really interesting, a reassurance and regeneration force. But what about the U.S. role in all this? You know, Washington has ruled out boots on the ground in Ukraine. So can any security guarantee work without U.S. involvement? And what at minimum does that need to look like? [03:15:06]

DOUGHERTY: Well, the United States has one big advantage, which is intelligence and the ability to monitor, to get information and to see if that ceasefire goes into effect, how it's working. So it would be monitoring and verifying whether or not there actually is a ceasefire.

And that is crucial. This has been the big sticking point for quite a long time. What would the United States role in this be?

And it appears that this -- they're calling themselves the Coalition of the Willing. It appears that that is now what the United States is willing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: And that was CNN contributor Jill Dougherty.

Now, anti-regime protests are picking up steam in Iran despite a government crackdown.

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Still ahead, concerns grow that the government is preparing a new move to try to end protests like these.

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LU STOUT: Now, we are getting video of anti-government protests in Iran, even as authorities there move to cut Internet and phone lines. The protests have spread to more than 100 cities across the country and showing no signs of abating.

Now images are showing crowds setting fires on streets and sometimes calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And this footage shows a car plowing into security forces facing protesters in Khamenei's hometown on Thursday.

Now for more, CNN's Nada Bashir joins us now live from London. And Nada, these protests are surging. Could you tell us more about them? What is fueling this widespread public anger in Iran?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kristie. They are absolutely gaining momentum since protests began in late December.

Initially sparked by rising inflation and plummeting currency and people struggling with their day-to-day necessities with the dwindling and increasingly difficult economic crisis in Iran. But this has really gained momentum and grown into something so much more. We have seen demonstrators taking to the streets in over 100 cities. Many are now not only calling for economic reform, they are calling for a complete overhaul of the political system. Many are calling for an end to the theocratic Islamic regime in Iran. And as you've mentioned, we have really seen these protests growing and spreading across the country, not just in the capital, Tehran, where they began as organized protests being carried out by business owners, merchants and students.

Now they really are large, widespread demonstrations across the street and we have seen, of course, in response, that crackdown by the Iranian regime as we have seen so often in the past. Now, since Thursday evening, Iran has been plunged into a total nationwide internet blackout. Now, of course, the goal of such a blackout, as we've seen in the past, is to prevent protesters from organizing, to prevent the spread of videos and images from these large-scale demonstrations.

But also a more sinister, perhaps, goal is to prevent international scrutiny over the Iranian regime's violent crackdown. We certainly have been hearing indications of that violence taking place across many of these protests, where we have seen a heavy presence by Iranian security forces on the ground, according to geolocated and verified video.

We've also been hearing from the Iran Human Rights Organization, a Norway-based NGO, which has reported at least 45 people being killed over the course of these protests at this stage, including eight children. That is just the number that they have been able to verify. But they've also reported in their latest updates that hundreds more have been injured and around 2000 are believed to have been detained.

So we certainly are seeing that crackdown now by the Iranian regime, but that really hasn't dispersed the protests, that really hasn't put an end to these protests. In fact, we've been hearing calls online for more demonstrations to take place today.

On Friday, in fact, we've been hearing from the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who's taken to social media to call on protesters to once again take to the streets. In a post on X, he has said, join your fellow countrymen on Friday night so that the regime's ability to suppress will be even less.

And of course, it's unclear how much support Pahlavi has actually within Iran. But certainly that call for an end to the Iranian regime seems to be growing louder.

LU STOUT: Nada Bashir, thank you very much indeed for that update. And also incredible to see those scenes of protests coming out of Iran, especially given the government-imposed digital crackdown. Nada Bashir, thank you.

You're watching "CNN Newsroom." And up next, as protests erupt across the United States, we're beginning to learn more about the woman killed by an ICE officer in Minneapolis.

And lawmakers push to limit the powers of President Trump in Venezuela, saying there'll be no more scenes like this, at least not without the say-so of the U.S. Congress. Details next.

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LU STOUT: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Kristie Lu Stout. Let's check today's top stories.

A law enforcement official says a married couple was hospitalized and arrested in Portland, Oregon after being shot by Border Patrol agents. Homeland Security says the agents were conducting a traffic stop and fired when the suspects tried to run them over.

Now protests are flaring up in Minneapolis after an immigration officer shot and killed 37-year-old U.S. citizen Renee Good, the Trump administration is defending ICE and says that the agent opened fire in self-defense.

[03:30:06]

Iran's exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi is calling for more anti- government protests on Friday. The demonstrations have spread to more than 100 cities despite a government crackdown. State media reported scattered protests in Tehran and other cities overnight.

And communities in two U.S. cities are on edge after separate shootings involving federal agents. In Oregon, the Attorney General says state officials are now launching a formal investigation into the shooting of a husband and wife in Portland. Officials in Minnesota say the FBI has blocked them from joining the probe there.

And we're now learning more about Renee Good following the fatal shooting in Minnesota. Brian Todd has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Renee Nicole Good's father said his 37-year-old daughter was a wonderful person telling the "Washington Post," quote, "she had a good life but a hard life."

One of Good's college professors recalled his conversations with her about dealing with those challenges.

KENT WASCOM, TAUGHT RENEE GOOD AT OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY: She was pregnant and working and balancing both of that with getting an education. So we had to work together to be able to make class attendance and assignments accessible and possible for someone who's carrying a child.

TODD (voice-over): Renee Good was a mother of three, according to the Associated Press, with a 15-year-old daughter and a 12-year-old son from her first marriage and a six-year-old son from her second marriage. Her father said she spent most of her life in Colorado and briefly moved to Kansas to live with her parents after one of her husbands, a military veteran, died about three years ago.

Good graduated from Old Dominion University in 2020 with a degree in English and during her time there won a prize for her poetry. Her professor says her work in his class was unique.

WASCOM: She wrote outside of her circumstances. A lot of times young writers write about themselves, right? You write what you know.

Renee wanted to write about other people. She wrote about elderly people and about people from other places and in circumstances that were unlike her own.

TODD (voice-over): Good's ex-husband, who asked not to be named, told the Associated Press she was a devoted Christian who took part in youth mission trips to Northern Ireland and loved to sing. On an Instagram account appearing to belong to Good, she said she was, quote, "Experiencing Minneapolis" and posted a pride flag emoji.

CNN spoke to one of her Minneapolis neighbors.

HULL: She was a very welcomed member of the community. Somebody is always going to be a daughter, a son, a mother, a brother, a sister, a child, a grandchild. You know, I mean, each and every one of us here, we're one of those to somebody else. You know, it matters.

TODD: Renee Good's ex-husband told the Associated Press she had just dropped her six-year-old son off at school on Wednesday and was driving home with her current partner when they encountered the ICE agents. Her son's grandfather told the Star Tribune there is no one else in the child's life.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now, meanwhile, five Republican senators broke ranks and voted with Democrats to rein in the president's war powers in Venezuela. They advanced a resolution that would limit future U.S. military force in that country, meaning troops can't go in again with guns blazing without congressional approval.

Manu Raju has more.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a big rebuke to Donald Trump's Venezuela policy, five Republican senators joined with all 47 Democrats to vote to say next time that Donald Trump wants to move ahead with hostilities toward Venezuela, he has to come to Congress first.

Now, this bill is now on course to pass the United States Senate next week. And Donald Trump is furious. He put out a post on social media blasting those five Republican senators: Josh Hawley, Todd Young, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, and Rand Paul, and saying that they should all be voted out of office, should never win another reelection. Most of those Republican senators we talked to simply shrugged it off,

saying that they had no issue with it. Senator Todd Young told me he's got no concerns. Senator Josh Hawley says that he loves the President and says that the President may not endorse him, but he endorses the President.

And then Senator Susan Collins, who's in one of the most difficult reelection races in the country, said that it appears that Donald Trump may want Janet Mills to win, referring to the Democratic governor there and a potential opponent in the fall.

Now, this came in the aftermath of Donald Trump making some comments in the "New York Times" that it could take some years, potentially, of U.S. involvement in Venezuela, particularly when it comes to rebuilding its vast oil reserves and digging into those vast oil reserves and building that oil infrastructure.

And that's caused a lot of alarm on Capitol Hill, particularly among Democrats like Senator Mark Kelly, who's pushing back.

[03:35:06]

RAJU: Trump said that U.S. could be involved in Venezuela for years.

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): Yes, isn't that?

RAJU: What do you think about that?

KELLY: We're also involved in Iraq for years, and a lot of U.S. service members lost their lives because of it. These things don't go as we expect them to.

We tried regime change in South Vietnam. We tried it in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba. It doesn't go well and he has no plan.

RAJU: Now, this will also come up in the United States House. We expect a vote could happen this month. A similar version that is expected to pass the Senate will also come up in the United States House.

It could pass the House, given that Speaker Mike Johnson has the narrowest of Republican majorities, and at least a few House Republicans are signaling that they plan to vote for it. So this could be a reboot for Donald Trump.

However, symbolic, because Trump could still veto this measure and is not going to have a veto-proof majority in either the Senate or in the United States House. But nevertheless, a sign of concern among at least some Republicans about Trump moving ahead with an escalation in Venezuela without the consent of Congress.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now Venezuela's National Assembly president said Thursday that the government will release a "significant number of prisoners" as a gesture to seek peace. The immediate releases will include Venezuelans and foreign nationals.

Since the U.S. raid that kidnapped President Nicolas Maduro, American officials have been working to establish an interim government. One of the Trump administration's demands is that all political prisoners be released. And Spain has confirmed five of its citizens have been freed.

Now, let's go live now to Paris, where senior international correspondent Melissa Bell is standing by. And Melissa, tell us more about who is being released in this so-called gesture of peace.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, pretty anxious times for the families of those still imprisoned in Venezuela.

Remember that there had been this wave of repression after the 2024 presidential election. Stolen, said many Democratic observers of the election by Nicolas Maduro, that had led to a wave of some 2000 arrests. And it is those political prisoners that we're keeping a particularly close eye on.

Some have been released in pretty tearful scenes. There's a couple of the most prominent.

I'm thinking here of Enrique Marquez, who was one of the presidential candidates, but also Biagio Pialieri, I'm sorry, who was a former lawmaker. They were let out of prison last night to be greeted by their family members.

Others are simply waiting to find out whether their loved ones will get out, because for now, and this is something that the organizations that represent political prisoners has been complaining about, there's been a lack of transparency about exactly who will get out, when they'll get out, how many of these political prisoners will get out. One of the organization estimates there are still many hundreds in Venezuelan custody.

Now, amongst those, as you mentioned, we heard from the president of the National Assembly that there would be not just Venezuelans, but foreign nationals released as well. We've had the confirmation from Spain that their five nationals have been released.

But just a few days before the removal of Nicolas Maduro from power by the United States, there had been news given to CNN by an administration source that the United States claimed there had been five American nationals that had been taken into custody in the months before last week's events.

The Trump administration believed as a form of leverage in order to try and find agreement with the U.S. No word yet on whether they will be released or when.

LU STOUT: And Melissa, quite a number of foreign nationals, as you just reported, as well as prominent political prisoners, could very well be part of this anticipated prisoner release. And this is coming just days after the capture of Maduro.

You have millions of Venezuelans, Venezuelan refugees in particular, wanting a better Venezuela. But at this moment, after the capture of Maduro, can this happen?

BELL: That's right. I think there have been so many questions about what this decapitation of the regime would mean for the rest of the regime that had been left in place.

What we saw initially on Monday, just after the news Saturday of the capture of Nicolas Maduro, was a hardening of the system. Political prisoners or prisoners, rather, had been told, had been banned from any contact with the outside world. Relative visits had been banned.

So there had been an instinct for repression. This now, no doubt under the pressure of U.S. administration officials, we understand they have been urging this interim government to act in this way and to show this gesture of goodwill. That appears to have borne its fruit, since what we understand is that this is a move to try and take a step towards national unity.

How far it will go, how complete the liberation of the political prisoners specifically will go, is yet unclear.

[03:40:05]

But certainly the fact that it has begun, a source of some relief to the very many families waiting for news, Kristie.

LU STOUT: Absolutely. Melissa Bell, reporting live for us. Thank you.

Will Freeman is a fellow for Latin America Studies with the Council on Foreign Relations, and he joins us now from New York. Will, thank you so much for joining us.

WILL FREEMAN, FELLOW FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: My pleasure to be here.

LU STOUT: Now, after the capture of Maduro, Trump now says that the U.S. will, quote, "run Venezuela for years." Why that long, and what exactly is U.S. asking Caracas to deliver?

FREEMAN: Why that long? Well, first of all, Trump and Rubio are saying that this intervention is going to proceed in three phases.

Stabilization, which means making sure the country doesn't plunge into chaos under its new leadership. Recovery, which is getting U.S. investment into the country and restoring political rights, they say, for the opposition. And third, transition, which means some kind of negotiation to get back to democracy in Venezuela, back to a democratic system that runs on its own.

That's what they tell us, right? And that is a very ambitious agenda. I think Trump is honestly being pretty straightforward and realistic when he says that none of that is going to happen in just a few months. It's going to take time. I think that things just stall out at that stabilization phase, and

you have essentially still an authoritarian regime, very much authoritarian in Venezuela, that simply turns a bit more pro-U.S. Trump and Rodriguez, the now interim president, work out a modus vivendi, and life goes on.

The United States gets oil. Maybe the new government in Caracas stops more migrants and drugs. But fundamentally, you don't have the kind of change that the Venezuelan people have been seeking for so many years.

LU STOUT: Let's talk more about Delcy Rodriguez. Again, she's the interim president. She's the former vice president under Maduro.

She may cooperate with the Trump administration, but can she maintain control of Venezuela?

FREEMAN: Well, she has to play a very difficult double game right now. One, she has to convince the Trump administration that she's working with them to their ends cooperatively, but she also has to convince hardliners in the Maduro regime, other figures like Diosdado Cabello, a very powerful man who has wielded great influence over the police and armed gangs called colectivos.

She has to convince him, the military as well, that she's not going to sell them out. So we're going to see how long she can walk that tightrope. Just today, you saw her and her brother announced the release of hundreds of political prisoners.

No, I don't think they're doing that because they suddenly woke up today and decided they're human rights advocates and great people and Democrats. They're doing it because they're under pressure from the United States, 100 percent.

LU STOUT: What about the fate of Cuba? And I know you have some really interesting thoughts on this. You shared this in your article for Foreign Affairs called "The Shock Waves of Venezuela."

I know that Cuba already an economic disarray. This is a nation that has been desperately dependent on Venezuela. What could happen next?

FREEMAN: Well, as you underscored, Cuba is in its most acute economic and social crisis in decades. We're talking about 10 to 20 percent of the island's population, 1 to 2 million people estimated that left between 2020 and the present day.

We're talking about a tourism sector, and that's the motor of the Cuban economy that's shrunk to half its pre-pandemic size. And we're talking about chronic shortages of food, of medicine, of electricity, which is right now being rationed. Some provinces going without electricity for 20, 22 hours a day.

So I say all that to underscore that Cuba is already in a very fragile place. And right now, one of its few lifelines has been a stream of oil from Venezuela, which keeps the electric grid running, keeps the state functioning, if you will. Now, the U.S. naval blockade off of Venezuela has already cut off a

lot of that oil flow. Mexico continues to send oil to Cuba, but I think that we'll also see pressure to end those shipments.

So the gamble the Trump administration is making is leave Cuba more economically miserable than ever, cause potentially the breakdown of the power grid, plunge the island in darkness, and see if there are mass protests that back the regime into a corner.

The problem is the people with the guns in Cuba, the military, have everything to lose. If there is a transition, they lose their control of the economy, probably many of them go to jail, they lose all their political power.

So they're going to resist it tooth and nail. I'd be very surprised if there's not a harsh crackdown in that case. So I'm not so hopeful about the case of Cuba, unfortunately.

LU STOUT: Well, the fate of Cuba, definitely one to watch. But what about Colombia? We know that President Trump has threatened direct military force against the country. Is he going to make good on that threat?

FREEMAN: This is the biggest puzzle of all, because President Trump, since at least 2020, has been badmouthing President Petro, who was then just a candidate in Colombia, as a narco-trafficker, now he calls him a sick man, as a fabricator of cocaine, all these things and more.

[03:45:08]

Until just yesterday, when President Trump said he had a great phone call with Petro, that he was honored to speak to him, and that he'll be inviting him to the White House. So I think we're all wondering, what did Trump threaten on that call? And or, what did Petro offer up and put on the table?

Colombia is just months away from a presidential election. So that also puts a lot at play. And I do think the Trump administration sees Colombia as a key chess piece on this board, as it's trying to assert a new Monroe Doctrine, and assert U.S. geopolitical dominance over the hemisphere.

You can't do it without Colombia. And so I think they'll be very focused on that country.

LU STOUT: That's right. Will Freeman, thank you so much.

FREEMAN: Thank you.

LU STOUT: Now the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is set to meet with his counterparts from Greenland and Denmark next week in Washington. That comes as President Donald Trump ramps up his threats to take over the world's biggest island. Top diplomats from Denmark and Greenland met with White House officials on Thursday, and the diplomats repeated their message and continue to insist Greenland is not for sale.

You're watching "CNN Newsroom." And still to come, it is a bleak market out there if you're looking for a job in the U.S. What a new survey has to say about employment opportunities after the break.

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[03:50:00]

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LU STOUT: Welcome back to CNN and this is your Business Breakout.

First up, a quick look at the markets here in Asia. They just ended the day higher. You could see the Nikkei ended up 1.6 percent, the Hong Kong Hang Seng gaining about 0.32 percent, and the KOSPI in Seoul gaining 0.75 percent.

And these are the business headlines. We'll start with this.

Top energy executives, they are meeting with President Trump on Friday to discuss Venezuela's oil output. Now he wants companies to make massive new investments to rebuild energy infrastructure there. But first, the U.S. would have to lift sanctions, and oil companies would have to provide resources to move the nation's heavy crude oil.

President Trump announced his plan to drive down the cost of interest rates and monthly mortgage payments. Mr. Trump posted online on Thursday that he has ordered his representatives to buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds using funds from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

And General Motors says it will lose another $6 billion as it pulls back on manufacturing of electric vehicles. The automaker lost $1.5 billion late last year. Automakers are taking serious hits after President Trump ended federal subsidies for zero emissions vehicles.

Now, future technology is on display at the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. And CES is an annual trade show for new innovations like LEGO's interactive smart brick.

It is shaped like a regular LEGO brick, but it uses sensors and a built-in microphone to interact with other bricks and tags. LEGO says that they will be a part of a new line of Star Wars sets.

Now, another CES display features the alternative to nail salon appointments. Okay, well, the digital beauty brand, it's called iPolish, unveiled smart color-changing press-on nails. And they can flip between more than 400 colors in five seconds.

And what would CES 2026 be without the biggest trend? A.I., of course.

A healthy tech company, rather a health tech company, debuted its $600 A.I.-powered smart scale. This is called the Body Scan 2. And the company claims it can catch early risks to high blood pressure and pre-diabetes. Now, new data shows bleak prospects for Americans on the job hunt. A

survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that the probability of finding a new job hit 43.1 percent in December. And that is a record low.

In the coming hours, the Labor Department is set to release the final jobs report of 2025. And economists' estimates vary widely about what to expect.

Now, parts of Northwest Europe look like a winter wonderland. But the pretty scenes that came with travel setbacks. Coming up, how the weather left some commuters checking train schedules for days.

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[03:55:00]

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LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, winter weather hit parts of Northwest Europe. Storm Goretti, as the system is called, brought snow to central England on Thursday, blanketing the streets of the town of Walsall. Some residents braved the cold to throw snowballs.

In the snowfall, it caused wider transport disruptions for train service across the region. And drivers had to deal with slick roadways.

Now, NASA is bringing the four astronauts of SpaceX Crew-11 back to Earth early because one of them has a medical issue. Now, the unnamed crew member is in stable condition and is not expected to receive special treatment during the trip back from the International Space Station. Now their return is expected in the coming days, more than a month ahead of schedule.

NASA revealed the issue on Wednesday after postponing a spacewalk. NASA's next four-member team was set to take off for the space station in mid-February, but could launch sooner.

And the University of Miami football team is headed to the national championship in their home stadium. Quarterback Carson Beck led the Hurricanes to a 31-27 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels.

It was an epic fourth quarter with four lead changes, but Miami landed the final punch, a rushing touchdown from Beck in the closing seconds of the game. Miami will now take on the winner of Friday's Indiana- Oregon game for the national championship on January the 19th.

And thank you for your company, I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. "Amanpour" is next.

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