Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Moves Military Carrier to Mideast Amid Iran Tensions; Trump Meets Venezuela's Machado; South Korea's President Sentenced to Five Years; Trump Threatens to Invoke Insurrection Act in Response to Minneapolis Protests; Tensions Over Greenland Growing; Russia Relentlessly Strikes Ukraine's Energy Infrastructure; Ugandans Wait For Results After Voting Ends; Prosecutors: 26 Charged For Rigging Basketball Games. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 16, 2026 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Washington is moving military assets to the Middle East as international pressure grows over the Iranian regime's crackdown on protesters. That's despite signs of demonstrations slowing down. President Trump meeting Venezuela's opposition leader at the White House and accepting her Nobel Peace Prize medal. And tensions run high in Minneapolis, Minnesota as President Trump considers invoking the Insurrection Act.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber."

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Donald Trump is taking his rhetoric against Iran a step further after threatening military action over its crackdown on protesters. Right now, a U.S. carrier strike group is headed to the region, according to a source familiar with the matter. That's usually done when political friction is escalating. The White House says hundreds of scheduled executions over the anti-regime protests have been halted, but is making it clear that Trump is keeping all options on the table. But the U.N. Security Council, an Iranian diplomat, said if any military action is coming, Tehran is ready. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GHOLAMHOSSEIN DARZI, IRANIAN DEPUTY AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Iran seeks neither escalation nor confrontation. However, any act of aggression, direct or indirect, will be met with a decisive, proportionate, and lawful response under Article 51 of the Charter. This is not a threat. It is a statement of legal reality. Responsibility for all consequences will rest solely with those who initiate such unlawful acts.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Iran is also pushing back on estimates that well over 2,000 people have been killed since the protests began. CNN got in touch with some residents near the border with Iraq who experienced the crackdown first down. Ben Wedeman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It does appear that the tempo of anti-regime protests in Iran has lowered somewhat. At this point, we're hearing from international human rights organizations that as many as 2,500 people were killed in the course of those week-long demonstrations. We did hear from Abbas Araqhchi, who's the Iranian foreign minister, insisting that the death toll from these weeks of protests is much lower. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBAS ARAGHCHI, FOREIGN MINISTER OF IRAN: The exact figure would be announced very soon, perhaps tonight, by our authorities.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So, you're saying it's less than a thousand people?

ARAGHCHI: No, no, no, hundreds of people. I certainly, you know, deny. The numbers and figures they have said, it is an exaggeration, it is a misinformation campaign, only to find excuses to do another aggression against Iran.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: Nonetheless, we have been in touch with people inside Iran, including one man who said that in a very small town near the border with Iraq, that families took away 19 bodies of demonstrators killed in those protests from the morgue at the local hospital. But given that the internet blackout continues, that telecommunications are very impossible, very difficult with Iran, there's no way of knowing reality. And, of course, international journalists are not allowed into the country as well.

Now, overnight, Wednesday into Thursday, it was widely expected that the United States would launch some sort of airstrikes or attack against Iran after, of course, President Trump said that help is on the way. It does appear he has changed his tune now, saying that he understands that the killing of protesters has ended, that there will be no execution of those protesters who have been detained.

But, essentially, the underlying reasons for these demonstrations are the same. The Iranian economy is in shambles. The rial, the local currency, has lost more than 80 percent of its value. The country is essentially bankrupt.

[02:05:01]

And, therefore, there is perhaps a slowing down of the pace of those demonstrations, but it's only a matter of time before they flare up again. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from northeastern Iraq near the border with Iran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: For more on this, I want to bring in Maha Yahya, who's the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center. She joins me now from Beirut in Lebanon. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, as we heard, President Trump has been threatening military action for days now, hasn't taken it off the table, and we've seen the U.S. military moving a carrier strike group to the Middle East. Do you think the pause on executions is enough of an off-ramp for him to step back, do you think?

MAYA YAHYA, DIRECTOR, CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: Honestly, it's not clear. With President Trump, his unpredictability is kind of his mantra these days. So, it's not clear whether those agitating and pushing for the U.S. to bomb Iran will win out or whether reason and logic will win out. It's -- I mean, he's basically -- President Trump has walked himself into a corner. He has made it very clear. He has encouraged Iranians to protest. He said that the U.S. will come to their aid.

However, the kind of sustained military action that is needed, the kind of investment needed to bring about the regime change that he more or less is promising is far more intensive than the U.S. is willing to commit to. This is not Venezuela, despite the narrative of Iran and Venezuela being the new axis of evil. But this is not Venezuela. It's not you don't go in taking the head -- take out the head and then, you know, you can work with whatever is left. This scenario will not play out in Iran. In some ways, it's a much more complicated environment to be working in. So, it's not clear.

And the threat, if he does act out on this and do a one-time bomb, I believe many of his advisors are already telling him, it's not a question of you kind of go in, bomb once, leave, and you'll achieve the results that you want. On the contrary, this has the potential to create far more problems within the region and it could trigger much broader conflict.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. And this is much more complicated. As you say, it's not Venezuela. The regime has survived crackdowns before. But on the other hand, I mean, you've got thousand dead. As our reporter mentioned, the economy is in free fall, the population furious. I mean, how fragile is this regime right now?

YAGYA: What we're seeing, at least to the extent that we can see from afar, is that the regime is holding together. On the contrary, you know, in the initial days of the protests, we were hearing different narratives from different figures in the regime.

President Pezeshkian was more understanding, saying that we understand the reasons why people have gone to the streets. There was an attempt to placate by saying, we'll give $7 a month per -- you know, as a kind of a subsidy. So, there were small -- it was an -- there was an indication that they were trying to be more understanding.

What we're seeing today is everybody in close ranks. There are no cracks in the security sector, which would be one of the first indications of a potential regime fall. On the contrary, again, there is a consolidation. So, I'm not seeing this as a regime that's about to, you know, fall apart.

More importantly, even if it were, who are you going to be working with internally? Again, we haven't seen a credible opposition emerging internally. It's not clear who's opposing who within the system. And the danger of just a regime fall without a kind of a backup plan is significant. Iran is a huge country. You're talking 80 to 90 million people with diverse ethnic and sectarian groups.

So, it's the kind of danger it poses should the regime fall and Iran begin to fragment. The danger it poses to just its immediate surroundings, we're talking Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, et cetera, the Gulf countries, is significant.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Let me ask you that with our minute left. As you say -- I mean, so many regional implications, which is why you have so many countries warning against intervention. I mean, what are some of those repercussions in the region, if you can answer such a complex question with only a minute left?

[02:10:02]

YAHYA: I'll just name two for now. One, of course, is if Iran is bombed, they still have enough capacity to inflict pain. They could very well target U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq. They could very well decide to target the U.S. bases in the Gulf. We've seen the panic around the evacuation of Al-Udeid (INAUDIBLE). That's one.

The other -- the other danger is internal fragmentation. We're far from that. But there has been agitation within predominantly Kurdish areas, but also predominantly Baluch areas, Azeri, etcetera.

So, trying to kind of feed, externally feed secessionist impulses which would then lead to a much more chaotic environment within Iran with significant implications then for the region, not just about -- it's not just a question of refugee flows, but it's also a question of sovereignty, what this means for, you know, idea of a state sovereignty, states remaining whole. We're seeing this question come up in Syria, among other places. So, the repercussions are quite big.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. We'll have to leave it there. Always appreciate your analysis, Maha Yahya. Thank you so much.

YAHYA: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Venezuela's opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, gave President Donald Trump her Nobel Peace Prize during a meeting at the White House. Now, Trump has long coveted the international award, but the Nobel Committee says the prize isn't transferable. Apparently, in return, Trump gave her a swag bag with his signature and a general statement of his support for a new, genuine electoral process. CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has more on the meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It has been a very busy Thursday between Washington and Caracas. In D.C., the Venezuelan opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, was received for a private lunch by the U.S. president, Donald Trump, and she brought him a present.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, VENEZUELAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I presented the president of the United States the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: Trump has made no secret that he has coveted the Nobel Peace Prize in the past. And it seems that although the Nobel Prize committee had warned Maria Corina Machado that the prize could not be handed over or transferred, she still intended to present it to Donald Trump as a way to sway the U.S. president in her favor as she's presenting her pitch for a new Venezuela.

But it was almost a split-screen situation because just as Maria Corina Machado was in Washington, D.C., her arch nemesis, the now acting president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodriguez, delivered a State of the Union address to the Venezuelan Parliament. When she addressed the crowds and the lawmakers, she hinted that even eventual meeting with Donald Trump would have to occur for her, it would be very, very different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELCY RODRIGUEZ, VENEZUELAN ACTING PRESIDENT (through translator): If I ever have to go to Washington as acting president, I will do so standing tall, walking, and not crawling. I will walk there with the tri-color flag in my hand, with the glory of the people beating to the rhythm of my heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: And what we're seeing playing out in front of our eyes is these two leaders, these two women essentially laying out two opposite visions for their own country, for Venezuela, in front of Donald Trump's eyes.

On one side, Delcy Rodriguez represents the status quo and the stability with enhanced business deals and investment for U.S. oil firms trying to enter the Venezuelan market. On the other side, Maria Corina Machado is pitching a full democratic transition and the return for Venezuela into the number, in the circle of the free western world.

Of course, the White House has not given us much of an update after Trump and Machado spoke. However, Karoline Leavitt, the spokeswoman for the White House, had said that although Donald Trump is in favor of a new cycle of free and fair election for Venezuela, that will have to wait and there is no timeline for that to happen.

CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. Military has seized yet another oil tanker in the Caribbean Sea. According to U.S. Southern Command, the vessel called the Veronica was boarded by troops and taken on Thursday.

[02:15:00]

The American military has justified its actions, saying that only oil is -- quote -- "coordinated properly and lawfully will be allowed to leave Venezuela." This is the sixth sanctioned vessel the U.S. has seized.

Cuban leaders presided over a guard of honor on Thursday for 32 soldiers killed during the U.S. military operation in Venezuela. Former Cuban President Fidel Castro along with the current president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, paid their respects to the fallen soldiers before holding vigil over them. The soldiers were killed in combat when U.S. forces raided Venezuela to capture President Nicolas Maduro. Earlier on Thursday, thousands lined the streets of Havana as a motorcade carried the remains of the soldiers to the Armed Forces Ministry.

We're following a developing story out of South Korea. A court has sentenced disgraced former president Yoon Suk Yeol to five years in prison. The charges stemmed from Yoon's botched attempt to impose martial law in December 2024. The Seoul Central District Court says it found Yoon guilty of obstructing authorities from trying to arrest him among other charges.

I'll get right to CNN's Mike Valerio in Beijing. So, as I mentioned, this is developing. What more are we learning about this?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're really learning that this is half the sentence, Kim, that the prosecutors wanted. They wanted 10 years for Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea's ex-president, for essentially using his bodyguards on January 3rd of last year to prevent investigators and Seoul police officers for arresting him. This all stems, as you mentioned a couple seconds ago, from South Korea's former president back on December 3rd, 2024 declaring martial law, shocking not just the country, but the democratic world.

And to catch up our viewers in case you just peripherally heard of this story, the ex-president declared martial law because in essence, he was in a political logjam. So, he made it illegal to engage in political activity across South Korea. The legislature said no way, we're not going to allow that to happen. And they came back to the heart of South Korean democracy in the middle of the night, and they voted to overturn that declaration of martial law where the military is put in control of law enforcement. Again, politics was outlawed.

So, that was only lasting for six hours in an effort to hold him accountable. Investigators tried to arrest him. And he said, no, I'm not going to leave my home. So, there was a standoff. Investigators tried again 12 days later, and they arrested him, which was a year and one day ago, Kim, a year and one day ago today is when South Korea's ex-president, Yoon Suk Yeol, was arrested and now found guilty on those charges.

He was also found guilty of leaving his cabinet in the dark because when you declare martial law a serious matter, you're suspending democratic rights. And according to the South Korean body of law on this subject, you have to call in your cabinet and essentially make sure that the agreement of the cabinet is there. That did not happen. And he was also found guilty on another charge of forging a document.

So, certainly, a hugely consequential verdict. This is not the first time that a South Korean president has been found guilty and sentenced to prison. Park Geun-hye is the latest case who was sentenced back in 2021 and was pardoned a short time after. But, certainly, just astonishing for so many observers how quickly people can be held to account in South Korea even when you're the ex-president.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's right. We still await what's going to happen for that insurrection trial as well. Mike Valerio live in Seoul, really appreciate you bringing us the latest on this.

As the Trump administration pushes to take over Greenland, Denmark is showing solidarity with the territory and several European nations are sending military personnel. We will have a live report from Greenland. Plus, President Trump threatens to invoke the centuries-old Insurrection Act over protests against his immigration crackdown. CNN is on the scene in Minneapolis. We'll bring you that next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: President Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops over protests in Minneapolis. CNN was on the scene Thursday night as authorities deployed what appeared to be tear gas, pepper spray and smoke on anti-ICE protests outside a federal building. Minneapolis City Council president says some of the tactics used by federal agents like smashing car windows, covering their faces, and using physical force violate people's constitutional rights. The videos out of Minneapolis and other cities raise the question, how far can ICE agents go when confronting crowds?

CNN's Josh Campbell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid growing controversy over the tactics being used by immigration agents, a stamp of approval coming from the top.

KRISTI NOEM, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: They're doing everything correctly. Every single action that our ICE officers take is according to the law and following protocols that we have used for years.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): On Wednesday, in Minneapolis, an agent shot and injured a man that Homeland Security officials say was assaulting law enforcement. Protests erupting in the street over the use of force.

CAMPBELL: Many have asked when federal agents can use force. They're arresting a suspect. You can only use the amount of force necessary to get that person to comply. If the person poses a threat, that can escalate.

[02:24:57]

But when we're talking about demonstrators, federal agents can only lay a hand on someone if they're actively interfering with that immigration operation.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Many activists are also sounding the alarm over immigration agents demanding random people prove their citizenship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: I'm a citizen. I'm a citizen, man.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Like this woman filming agents who stopped her in Minneapolis.

UNKNOWN: OK. Do you have some I.D. then, please? If not, we're going to put you in the vehicle and I.D. you.

UNKNOWN: I am a U.S. citizen.

UNKNOWN: All right. Can I see an I.D., please?

UNKNOWN: I am a U.S. citizen.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): CNN reached out to Homeland Security for comment on the incident.

UNKNOWN: We're doing an immigration check. We're doing a citizen check.

UNKNOWN: This is -- this is -- this is --

UNKNOWN: And we're asking you where you were born.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): The DHS secretary defending the questioning of bystanders in certain situations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and having them validate their identity. That's what we've always done, asking people who they are so that we know who's in those surroundings.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): According to legal experts, questioning can't be indiscriminate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: It's illegal and it's unconstitutional to require people to show their citizenship papers without some other basis to make a stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Meanwhile, Minnesota is on alert as Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act, a move that local officials say would only inflame the situation further.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LATRISHA VETAW, MEMBER, MINNEAPOLIS CITY COUNCIL: You know, I'm just speechless from hearing about this, but I really hope that the president does not do that. Our city needs a plan for how government can work together to make sure that ICE can do their business and the citizens of Minnesota and Minneapolis are safe.

CAMPBELL (voice-over): Josh Campbell, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Moscow is pushing back against the Trump administration's claim that Russia and China had plans to occupy Greenland. President Trump has vowed to take over the territory for national security reasons, claiming Russia and China wanted it. But the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the crisis over the territory showed the inconsistency of the West. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA ZAKHAROVA, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): We stand in solidarity with China's position on the unacceptability of references to certain activity of Russia and China around Greenland as a reason for the current escalation. Before they accuse others in emerging rifts between them, NATO and E.U. bureaucrats should first acknowledge their own responsibility for deep and quick erosion of global security and global legal framework.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, as President Trump pushes to acquire Greenland, U.S. Senator Chris Coons is leading a bipartisan delegation heading to Denmark's capital of Copenhagen. And in a show of solidarity with the territory, Denmark's parliament will fly the Greenlandic flag on Friday. That's according to a statement posted on the parliamentary website.

CNN's Nic Robertson has more on what's happening on the ground in Greenland.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The tempo of military activity here at Denmark's Joint Arctic Command has picked up over the past 24 hours. Denmark says it's increasing its security presence here. They flew in overnight a C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, a military transport aircraft here into Nuuk. We've also seen arriving here some French troops. We've also seen Norwegian troops arriving here. Not entirely clear yet what their precise mission will be.

We also understand that the Fins, Finland is sending in a couple of military personnel. They'll be looking at training opportunities here, they say. The French are sending forces to engage in training operations in the Arctic region.

So, NATO really sort of increasing its presence here. The Germans say they're sending 13 forces here. Those troops, they say, will be here to look at this for reconnaissance reasons, not per se to figure out how many troops to send in the future, but to assess how they might combat what they describe as a threat in the Arctic region from Russia and China, not specifying Greenland.

But the overall picture here, NATO stepping up its presence. Increased security threat is the language that's being used. But it does seem to be an effort to send a signal to the White House, to President Trump, that NATO is looking at how to address his concerns about the security environment in and around Greenland.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Nuuk, Greenland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The lights are out in many parts of Ukraine and so is the heat. These brutal conditions created by unrelenting Russian strikes. Look at how Ukrainians are coping. Plus, President Trump says he's backing the newly-appointed Board of Peace in Gaza or that why Israel isn't in agreement with phase two of the ceasefire deal. Those stories and more coming up. Stay with us.

[02:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:34:27]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

A recent Russian drone strike hit a monument in the western city of Lviv. Have a look at this. Now, the statue honored Ukrainian nationalist who fought Soviet forces. Lviv's mayor said shockwaves from the blast hit a worker who had been clearing snow in a nearby playground.

Meanwhile, parts of the country are shivering through bitterly cold temperatures. Russia keeps attacking energy facilities, knocking out electricity and heat to hundreds of thousands of households in the Kyiv region.

CNN's Clare Sebastian has the story.

[02:35:02]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's nowhere to hide from the cold in this Kyiv apartment. This is day five without heating for Kateryna Skurydina. Day three without power.

KATERYNA SKURYDINA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): It's very difficult mentally, especially since everything that kept you going before is falling apart. For example, when there is no electricity, sport keeps me going. I go to the gym which runs on battery power. Yesterday, they even canceled the gym.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): She says, in a moment of desperation, she ordered everything she could to stave off the dark and cold -- power banks, rechargeable candles. They make it cozy, she says. A Ukrainian clay pot hand warmer, even a heated blanket for her cat, ironically named Pushok or fluffy, a still life of survival in Russia's escalating war of attrition.

Kyiv has become hardened to attacks on its energy grid, but a huge wave of strikes late last week, combined with a severe cold snap, took it into uncharted territory.

PETRO PANTELEEV, ACTING FIRST DEPUTY MAYOR OF KYIV (through translator): The decision was made to suspend the heating system in 6,000 buildings. This is an unprecedented measure in the history of the central heating system.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): On the streets, the rumble of ever more generators, the soundtrack to Ukraine's fourth winter at war. No one is spared, not even the repair crews working 24 hours a day to bring power back online.

"We do not even know at home whether there is electricity," says Erasmus Simka (ph), as he works to fix a damaged cable. "We are all living in this situation."

Destruction often outpaces repairs for Ukraine's biggest private energy company.

SEBASTIAN: What happens at DTEK behind the scenes when there's a major attack?

OLEKSIY POVOLOTSKIY, HEAD OF ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE RECOVERY OFFICE, DTEK: Actually, the attack may take just a few minutes, but to recover after the attack, you need months or even years. So, we don't have spare time.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): DTEK power plants have been attacked eight times since October. The company says a recent strike blowing a hole in the roof of this one, letting in the snow.

POVOLOTSKIY: This winter, maybe because the Russians, they are not very progressing on the battlefield, they decided to put Ukraine into the humanitarian crisis.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): It's a fate Kyiv is racing to avoid. More than 1,300 shelters, known as invincibility centers, have been set up in the capital for people to charge devices and get warm.

The lamp hasn't charged for some reason, says Tamara Viktorovna (ph), who's in her 70s. Everyone here learning survival skills.

In another heatless apartment across town, Kateryna Voronina, who's 72 and has trouble walking after hip surgery, is struggling to stay positive.

KATERYNA VORONINA, KYIV RESIDENT (through translator): It's scary, of course. I'm holding on. I'm not complaining at all. But yesterday, after the lights went out, I had what you might call an acute stress reaction. I was crying here all by myself. My friend called me. I couldn't stop.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): She says she regularly scrapes off the ice forming on the inside of her window, and waits.

Clare Sebastian, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER; For more on this, I want to bring in global affairs analyst Michael Bociurkiw, who's a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and founder of the World Briefing Report on Substack.

Good to see you again. Thanks so much for being here with us.

So you're in Odessa. Walk us through what it's been like on the ground there in the past few days, as temperatures have dropped to minus 15 Celsius.

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Sure. Happy new year to you, Kim.

Well, Kim, it is bad. It is very, very bad. I mean, here in Odessa, at least were further to the south. It's a little bit warmer, but I hate to tell you this, but the cold snap that is ongoing right now, the worst is yet to come. Temperatures forecasted to go down to as low as minus 20 Celsius. And this cold snap is going to be lasting another week or ten days.

And of course, with power outages like Clare described, especially in Kyiv. This has also affected not only the power but also the heating and water supplies. And also folks living in tall buildings. The other thing that's happening simultaneously to the damage that

already happened are the recurrent strikes. I mean, the other night, Tuesday night right outside my window here, it was very bad.

We had a massive, massive wave of Russian drones and two drones evaded radar systems and did not even trigger the air raid -- air raid sirens. Meaning people didn't have a chance to escape. And those are the two that inflicted a lot of damage, including on an amusement park not far from me, and also on the Odessa headquarters of the United Nations.

[02:40:05]

BRUNHUBER: So, it must be just absolutely terrifying. Glad you're all right.

For more on the situation with the power, I mean, we got a good overview from our reporter, in Kyiv, and we heard President Zelenskyy declare the state of emergency. You wrote about an opposition MP going after the Zelenskyy administration this week saying officials need to answer for why people still don't know when the power is coming back. And he also raised allegations that money that was meant to protect the grid was stolen.

I mean, how much is this energy crisis becoming a political problem for Zelenskyy on top of everything else that he's facing?

BOCIURKIW: Enormous, enormous. That was Alexei Goncharenko (ph). He's the opposition MP from here in Odessa. And yes, he did the right thing. He slammed the government for its incompetence for the biggest problem. And this is coming not from me or from him, but from people on the ground that I talked to is very, very little information coming, number one.

And number two, people can no longer plan their lives because the power -- the schedules of power outages just aren't believable anymore or are not being issued. And Goncharenko said that instead of dealing with the crisis, a lot of the officials that were part of Zelenskyy circle are in the Maldives and elsewhere, warming -- warming themselves.

He did announce a special commission, but that's too little, too late. And yes, a lot of people here are linking their current problems with the outages to the $100 million corruption scandal money, which was meant to go to protect power plants. So, it's a big, big mess for Zelenskyy right now.

BRUNHUBER: Looking big picture I mean this is the third straight winter where Russia has gone hard after civilian infrastructure. You know, we heard in that report from that that older woman who was you know, she was really down about this, how it was all affecting her mentally. I mean, you've been in Ukraine since before the invasion. Youve got family ties there.

I mean, how do ordinary Ukrainians talk about all of this privately? You know, when the cameras aren't around. Do you get the sense that this strategy is wearing Ukrainians down?

BOCIURKIW: Oh, no doubt. It is really bad. You know, that's the part, Kim, that is difficult to illuminate or document, if you will, is the tearing of the social fabric here. So many families have left. And I got to tell you and, you know, many, many times I've said on CNN that Odessa is really the capital of entrepreneurship and resilience in Ukraine.

And I'm seeing people who have held on for as long as they can starting to leave. In fact, I'm also reevaluating whether it's safe to stay here. A lot of people agree on one thing is that no inch of Ukraine is safe anymore. And that goes back to what I said earlier. If the armed forces are running low on ammunition, Patriot missile systems and the Russians are using new technology to evade those systems, you can be hit any time, anywhere. And that that is not a very good feeling.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Well, we'll have to leave it there on that -- on that bleak note, I'm afraid. But really appreciate getting your honest assessment of how things are there.

Michael Bociurkiw in Odessa, thank you so much.

BOCIURKIW: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: President Donald Trump says he's backing the new Palestinian technocratic government in Gaza. It's part of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement to start in the U.S. announced on Wednesday. Now it comes despite opposition from Israel, which says Hamas isn't following through on disarmament. The militant group is yet to release the body of the last remaining deceased hostage.

The second phase is expected to be far more difficult to implement, and includes the creation of an international stabilization force and Hamas demilitarization.

Four years of power put to the test. Voting ends in Uganda's high stakes presidential election. Still ahead, well look at the significant challenges Ugandans face ahead of this crucial day.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:48:48]

BRUNHUBER: The president of Uganda is confident he's staying in office despite Thursday's contentious election and the popularity of his challenger. President Yoweri Museveni has ruled since 1986. Voting concluded on Thursday, ending a campaign season marred by violence, allegations of vote rigging, heavy security and an Internet blackout.

CNN's Larry Madowo reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Voting is manual in Uganda, but the process of identifying the voter the polling station is digital. But on election day Thursday, the biometric voter verification kits failed in many places, leading to delays and long lines in certain places. The electoral commission extended voting by an hour, but the opposition candidate, Bobi Wine, sees foul play in this. He alleges massive ballot stuffing in parts of the country and claims that some of his party's agents were either abducted or chased away.

BOBI WINE, UGANDAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Internet has been switched off across the country. This is done in order to facilitate the intended rigging of the regime. We are confident that we are winning this election.

[02:50:01]

But also know that the military and all security agencies are up to help the incumbent to rig the election, which we encourage the people of Uganda to resist.

MADOWO: Bobi Wine is also concerned about the Internet shutdown. The government shut down the internet two days before the election, and it remains off throughout the country, ostensibly to avoid the spread of fake news to avoid the calls for incitement to violence and also any possibility of vote rigging, according to the government.

President Yoweri Museveni also alleges vote rigging and accuses the opposition of having rigged the last election, which he won convincingly. This is how he explains the process where the vote is counted immediately after polls close at every polling station.

YOWERI MUSEVENI, UGANDAN PRESIDENT: We thought it would eliminate cheating. And it can, but it depends on one thing -- vigilance. The agents to really be vigilant. But many the agents are not -- are not vigilant. They are -- they are not vigilant. So still, like in the last election, opposition infiltrated 2.7 million votes. Those votes which they say opposition were not they didn't -- they never got those votes.

MADOWO: President Museveni is widely expected to win this election. Bobi Wine told CNN this week that if Museveni rigs the election, as all the signs point to him doing, the people of Uganda must rise up and defend their victory. I covered part of this campaign. I followed Bobi Wine to the campaign trail. I saw the brutality that his supporters faced, the tear gassing, the shots. Sometimes live rounds used against his supporters. That's the environment for this.

Some human rights groups have been banned from operating. Opposition members have been arrested, and that is the environment that Uganda has gone into in this election. As now, citizens across the country await the results.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And stay with us. We'll have more CNN NEWSROOM coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: Twenty-six people, some of them players, have been charged with allegedly rigging American college basketball games as well as basketball games in China. Prosecutors say the scheme involved a fixer who would pay off players to underperform.

CNN's Don Riddell has details on what's being called an international criminal conspiracy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, another day, another sports betting scandal I'm afraid.

[02:55:01]

This one involving professional basketball games in China and college games in the U.S.

As you say, more than a dozen college players have been charged with fixing games. In total, 26 people are in trouble with the feds who say they've uncovered a scheme that involved players being lured with a promise of payment in exchange for underperforming during their games.

And there was a pretty big incentive to do so. The bribe payments to the players, ranging from $10,000 to $30,000. According to the indictment, the fixers would then bet big against those players teams defrauding sportsbooks and, of course, other bettors among the defendants, 15 of them played for D-1 NCAA schools during the 2024-25 season. Several of them are still playing this year, and in fact, four of them have played in the last few days.

According to prosecutors, the fixers began targeting Chinese games in 2023 and after successfully manipulating results there, they brought it to the college game here. The charges, which have been filed in Philadelphia, include bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. And this, as I say, is just the latest betting scandal to have rocked the sports world recently.

Sports gambling has been legalized in many states over the last few years, and through the first three quarters of last year, it was an industry worth more than $11 billion. Sadly, this kind of corruption seems to be a byproduct of gambling in sports.

DAVID METCALF, U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA: Criminals pollute the purity of sports by manipulating competition. It doesn't just imperil the integrity of sports betting markets and imperils the integrity of sport itself. And everything that sports represent to us -- hard work, determination and fairness. And when that happens, the Department of Justice will step in to protect what is a sacred institution of American life.

RIDDELL: And that is such an important point. Beyond the crime here. Many of us love watching sport just for the thrill of it. But if we can't believe that what were seeing is legitimate and fair, then sport as entertainment pretty quickly loses its value.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, just one month after Australia implemented the world's first ban on social media users under 16, companies say they've collectively deactivated nearly 5 million accounts belonging to Australian children and teenagers. And the ban is being watched closely around the globe, with other countries saying they're considering similar laws. Officials say it's designed to protect young people from addictive algorithms. Online predators and digital bullies

All right. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please stay with us.