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WH Briefs As U.S. Seizes 2 Oil Tankers Linked To Venezuela; Now: Top Trump Officials Briefing Full House On Venezuela Plans; Rubio: U.S. "To Execute On A Deal" To Take Venezuelan Oil & Sell It; Minneapolis Shooting Involving Federal Law Enforcement. Aired 12- 12:30p ET

Aired January 07, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Welcome to Inside Politics. We're going to start the show and get straight to the White House. Karoline Leavitt, the Trump spokeswoman, is addressing reporters in the briefing room for the first time since Saturday's military operation in Venezuela.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're getting it out of Venezuela into the United States?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, that's exactly right. So, as you know, Ed, as the president announced last night, this was the sanctioned oil that was basically just sitting in barrels, sitting on ships because of the effective quarantine of the United States of America. And these -- the interim authorities have agreed to release that oil to the United States, so it will be arriving here at home very soon.

The United States government has already begun marketing Venezuela and crude oil in the global marketplace for the benefit of the United States, engage the world's leading commodity marketers, key banks to execute and provide financial support for these crude oil and crude product sales.

All proceeds from the sale of Venezuela and crude oil and products will first settle in U.S. controlled accounts at globally recognized banks to guarantee the legitimacy and integrity of the ultimate distribution of proceeds, and those funds will be disbursed for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people at the discretion of the United States government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It sounds like it requires a lot of private sector engagement and agreement from the oil industry and the banking industry. Do you have that yet?

LEAVITT: That's right. There's a lot of private sector engagement that's happening right now. As you know, Secretary Wright, our energy secretary, who is heading up this big project is in Florida today, meeting with some of these oil executives. And as we confirmed earlier, they will also be at the White House later this week.

So, they are absolutely eager to invest. They're eager about these opportunities. And Secretary Wright is a very well knowledgeable guy when it comes to oil and energy and he's the perfect man for the job.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- a real quick on Iran.

LEAVITT: Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, just to follow up on the oil, 30 to 50 million barrels is an initial trunk, if you will. And then what happens after that?

LEAVITT: I won't get ahead of the plans that the president and his team are currently speaking with the interim authorities about. But rest assured, there is a long-term plan here. Secretary Rubio and the entire team are working diligently on, and this is just sort of the first action that you all are seeing. Ed?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, in order to get these oil companies to invest billions in Venezuela, how will the U.S. reassure that their workers will be safe in Venezuela? Could there be troops involved?

LEAVITT: At this point in time, as you know, there are no troops on the ground in Venezuela. The president, of course, reserves the right to use the United States' military if necessary. It's not something he wants to do. Diplomacy is always the first option, as you saw, he tried that with Nicolas Maduro, but unfortunately, he was an illegitimate dictator and an unserious person.

And so, President Trump authorized this law enforcement operation, and now Nicolas Maduro is sitting in a prison cell in New York. So, certainly the president is going to do what's in the best interest of the American people, and that includes workers from our energy and oil industry as well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Metting tomorrow -- with that meeting tomorrow, what is the message the president is going to give to the oil executives and what does he want to hear?

LEAVITT: Well, the meeting is on Friday, and it's just a meeting to discuss, obviously, the immense opportunity that is before these oil companies right now. Steven?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, congratulations again.

LEAVITT: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The New Yorker had a story yesterday on the vice president, and it questioned his quote, notable absence on Venezuela. And the sub headline asked was the vice president's exclusion from the operation in Venezuela, an expression of his anti-interventionist ideology or political calculation? Would you be able to discuss the vice president's role in Venezuela policy?

LEAVITT: I did see that report in The New Yorker, and quite frankly, I laughed out loud because it's very clear, it's a fake report that's trying to sow distrust and division amongst the president and his team. Let me just be very clear. The vice president has been involved in all policy. He is the right-hand man of the president on all policy matters, including Venezuela policy. He was, of course, read in and deeply involved in this operation from the very beginning.

And he was present on the night of the operation via secure communication at a different location as to not damage the operational secrecy of this mission that was so incredibly important to ensure that this mission could be carried out successfully without endangering our troops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline?

LEAVITT: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. seized a tanker recently. Russia specifically asked the United States not to seize that tanker. Does this action risk a larger conflict with Russia?

[12:05:00]

LEAVITT: I believe you're referring to the Bella 1 tanker that was seized this morning. The Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security in coordination with the Department of War, did announce that seizure this morning for violations of U.S. sanctions. I've spoken about the enforcement of our sanctions policy at the podium prior to the new year, and this administration is going to fully enforce the sanction policy of the United States.

The vessel this morning was seized in the North Atlantic pursuant to a warrant issued by a U.S. Federal Court after being tracked, and this was a Venezuelan shadow fleet vessel that has transported sanctioned oil. And the United States of America under this president is not going to tolerate that.

I would also just add the vessel had a judicial seizure order and the crew, so that means the crew is now subject to prosecution for any applicable violation of federal law, and they will be brought to the United States for such prosecution if necessary. Kelly?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, Happy New Year to you.

LEAVITT: Thank you. You too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want talk to you about a couple of things real quickly. The first question about the Venezuelan people. As you know, there's some eight million Venezuelans here, some of them celebrating in the streets. There are Venezuelans on the ground who are concerned about their safety. What does the Trump administration -- what is it doing to actually help people in Venezuela understand that they will be secure throughout this transition?

LEAVITT: I think the fact that this president actually followed through on the long-held promise of the United States of America. The bipartisan promise to take down the illegitimate Maduro regime should give assurance to the Venezuelan people and also Venezuelan-Americans who fled this communist regime for a better life here at home, that this is a president who is serious about taking down illegitimate regimes and who is also serious about securing the security of the United States of America, including the Venezuelan-American people.

And I would just add that this is something that not just Republicans and President Trump have talked about for a very long time, but it is also something that Democrats have advocated for in 2020. Chuck Schumer said that at the time, President Trump had not brought an end to the Maduro regime. The Maduro regime is more powerful today and more entrenched today than it was when the president began.

Now you hear Chuck Schumer out there saying, this is reckless. The American people and the Venezuelan people should be in fear, but this is something that Chuck Schumer has long advocated for. Senator Chris Van Hollen, same thing had said that the United States is going to use its leverage and influence to push for negotiations to transition to the truly elected leader. This was under President Biden.

We know Maduro and his cronies don't want to go quietly into the night. The U.S. needs to work to ratchet up the pressure. Now, Senator Hollen says it's an illegal act of war to get rid of Nicolas Maduro. So, the hypocrisy is really astounding here. And thank you for giving me an opportunity to point it out. Kayla? I mean, sorry, go ahead. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Trump administration is demanding that Venezuela cut ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba. Can you confirm?

LEAVITT: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reports that the administration has essentially demanded that Venezuela cut ties with China, Russia, Iran and Cuba. Can you confirm that?

LEAVITT: Well, those alleged demands were made in a classified briefing by Secretary Rubio, and I know that there's a lot of leaks coming out of these classified briefings. So, I'm not going to confirm or deny or get into what the secretary has said in classified settings to members of Congress. But I think that the administration has made it quite clear to the interim authorities in Venezuela that this is the Western Hemisphere and American dominance is going to continue under this president.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There have also been reports that the U.S. could potentially buy Greenland as one potential option on the table. What would such an offer look like? Is there anything monetarily, you could provide a detail there?

LEAVITT: Well, that's something that's currently being actively discussed by the president and his national security team. And I would point out that the acquisition of Greenland by the United States is not a new idea. This is something that president's dating back to the 1800s have said is advantageous for America's national security.

The president has been very open and clear with all of you and with the world that he views it in the best interest of the United States to deter Russian and Chinese aggression in the Arctic region. And so, that's why his team is currently talking about what a potential purchase would look like. Chucky?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Karoline, (inaudible), why not rule out taking it --

BASH: OK, we're going to continue to monitor this briefing happening at the White House, and while we do, we just want to take a moment here with our terrific reporters to talk about where we are right now. Because there have been a lot of developments, not only in this briefing that we've been watching, but also on Capitol Hill with the Secretary of State, Pete Hegseth over at the Pentagon on the Hill, briefing both Senators and House members.

[12:10:00]

Tyler, I do want to start with you. I think you were the first to report on this on Saturday, when you spoke to President Trump at 4 am or whatever time it was. Do you have a sense from your sources that this is either they're playing catch up in the plan that they're now divulging to Capitol Hill and what we just heard from Karoline Leavitt? Or that it just -- this maybe was sort of in the ether, but now they're finalizing it and putting finer points on it.

TYLER PAGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: I think that's a great question and we're sort of seeing it evolve in real time. We've seen the different ways in which the president and Marco Rubio have talked about whether or not the U.S. is running Venezuela or if it's more of a coercion campaign.

I think the finer points are still being figured out. We know that there are some general baselines that the secretary of state has told members of Congress, he wants to make sure the new Venezuelan interim government abides by. But I also think I spoke with Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Saturday and asked him this very question. How are you measuring success when it comes to Venezuela and cooperation? And he said, well, we're taking it days and weeks. It's not an immediate decision.

So, I think there's going to be multiple stress tests over the next few days and weeks when the U.S. makes demands or when the president says something that he wants. But in terms of the exact specifics, I think each day we're learning a little bit more of exactly how this arrangement is working.

We saw late last night the president announced the U.S. was going to have access to some of this oil. But now there are continuing questions about what exactly the regime is doing inside Venezuela, the treatment of its own people.

BASH: Right. And just to sort of, one of the points that you just made is measuring success. It's hard to measure success when your goals are not clearly stated. And we heard from the very beginning the president talking about drugs and talking about oil, and you know, really nothing about democracy, which is something that we are used to hearing in situations like this from past presidents.

David, quickly, what's your take? And then I do want to -- after that I want to play what Marco Rubio said on Capitol Hill.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF & POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yeah, because I think --

BASH: I'm going to play that first.

CHALIAN: Why don't you play that first because I think that's sort of their mission today.

BASH: OK, so let's listen. So, Marco Rubio was in classified briefings, Senate and House. And then he came out to cameras, and he laid out three phases of his strategy. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: Step one is the stabilization of the country. We don't want it descending into chaos. Part of that stabilization and the reason why we understand and believe that we have the strongest leverage possible is our quarantine. As you've seen today, two more ships were seized. We are in the midst right now, and in fact, about to execute on a deal to take all the oil, they have oil that is stuck in Venezuela. They can't move it because of our quarantine and because it's sanctioned.

We are going to take between 30 and 50 million barrels of oil. We're going to sell it in the marketplace at market rates, not at the discounts Venezuela was getting. That money will then be handled in such a way that we will control how it is dispersed in a way that benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime. So, we have a lot of leverage to move on the stabilization front.

The second phase will be a phase that we call recovery, and that is ensuring that American western and other companies have access to the Venezuela market a way that's fair. Also, at the same time, we begin to create the process of reconciliation nationally within Venezuela, so that the opposition forces can be amnestied and released and from prisons or brought back to the country and begin to rebuild civil society. And then the third phase, of course, will be one of transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: David?

CHALIAN: I mean this, I think, gets to your initial question at the top of the show of, are they playing catch up? Clearly, the administration. If you listen to Karoline Leavitt today, listen to Marco Rubio on the Hill. The goal here today is to answer all the questions that were coming from both sides of the aisle about this day after plan and what is to happen here.

And so, what you see Marco Rubio trying to do here is put sort of a narrative framework around like, this three part plan, give it names and hopefully, from his perspective, keep at least everyone on his side of the aisle fully on board with this, beyond the success of the military mission and into supporting the plan here.

What is unclear to me at this moment is, is this an actual plan? I mean, the proof will be in the pudding here, or is this simply, you know, just some dressing that's being at around this moment for them to try to get through this day-by-day.

BASH: And I just -- as you come in here, I just want to just say out loud what we heard and just point out what we didn't hear. I mean, it was stabilization of the country with regard to oil. We're going to -- we the United States is going to take over with regard to oil. We're going to deal with the marketplace with regard to oil. And then, you know, try to figure out how to get the opposition groups in to ultimately have a transition. And that is talking about the elected government. Nothing about drugs and other issues. It's oil, oil, oil, oil.

[12:15:00]

SUSAN GLASSER, STAFF WRITER, THE NEW YORKER: Yeah. I mean oil, by the way, is not how you -- is not the entirety of how you run a country. And I think this gets to this idea that we're seeing very clearly here an administration that has at best concepts of a plan, which will be familiar to people who have seen Trump's approach to other issues, sending out his officials, whether it's the secretary of state/national security advisor, offering up his version of what our policy is, or the White House press secretary.

What I'm hearing from this is not a plan. What I've heard from those two officials this morning is walking back of what Donald Trump told the country and the world. Donald Trump told the country and the world very explicitly, repeatedly over the weekend, that he was in charge of Venezuela, that he was running Venezuela, that the United States had taken control of this country.

What his officials are saying, and you know, take out all the language. What they're saying is, oh no, actually, we're not. And they're using this word, I think it's not an accident, leverage. You heard both Secretary Rubio and Karoline Leavitt say, we have leverage. We have maximum leverage. OK, that's Donald Trump speak.

They're, once again, they're not speaking to the Venezuelan people. They're not telling the world what's actually happening in this country, whose leader they have deposed by force. What they are talking about is Donald Trump. OK, we have to walk back your language, but don't worry, we have maximum leverage.

BASH: And just to be clear, they deposed or they arrested the leader by force. The regime is still very much and in place. But I just want to say that when you said Donald Trump says he's running the country, it sort of occurred to me, and I want to know your take on this, that when he says he's running the country, he thinks like a businessman. So, when he says I'm running the country, he just means the oil, which is what his aides are confirming. PAGER: And I was in that room at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday when he said, we're running the country. And immediately I asked him, what does that mean? What is the mechanism by which you run the country? And to Susan's point, it was very clear that there was not a fully formed plan because he could not articulate one.

We repeatedly asked, me and my colleagues, our colleagues in the press corps, what's the mechanism? Who are the people? At one point, he's like these people behind me. At another point, he said, well, we're figuring that out. It was always clear from the beginning that there was not a well-formed plan.

And in the days since, Rubio has articulated various metrics by which they want to see the interim government meet. But each day, it sort of seems to change. And in part, Donald Trump is making it more challenging, because when he speaks, he says different things and the officials have to respond.

BASH: I want to go to or play some sound from Capitol Hill. Senators are beginning to speak to reporters about their take on what they heard behind closed doors from secretaries Rubio and Hegseth. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it sends a very powerful message to folks around the world, our adversaries around the world, the capabilities of the U.S. military in support of this law enforcement operation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard no detailed plan. Obviously, things are getting more chaotic in Venezuela as the hours proceed. Their plan seems to be to steal the oil and use the leverage over the oil to try to micromanage the country on a day-to-day basis, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: I mean, David, the way that Chris Murphy described the plan and in different language, the way that Rubio laid it out, they're the same.

CHALIAN: Yeah, I mean, they're not terribly different. Karoline Leavitt was saying, close coordination with interim authorities, their decisions will be dictated by the United States. Close coordination, but total dictation by the United States, I think, is how they perceive what this leverage produces and what that means to run the country. And then she had to say what Chris Murphy clearly isn't buying. She just said from the podium. Rest assured, there's a long- term plan here.

But again, I think what you're hearing from Chris Murphy and others, and obviously, I'm sure the senators will play the type and go to partisan scripts here, but, but you're hearing not a lot of belief that there is a solid long-term plan.

GLASSER: But just to make the point, like running a country, it doesn't matter. You know, the people of Venezuela really don't care what the Democratic senator or Republican senators spin in Washington is. The fact on the ground is what matters. And I think that's getting left out of a lot of the conversation right now.

The fact on the ground is that the United States of America seized the leader of another country, left in place that government, the vice president of that country, who may or may not have made a vaccine deal with the United States is now been sworn in as the acting president of that country.

The regime is in place. There are credible reports from the ground that people are being arrested, that there is a crackdown underway. The contours of that are not clear. The president of the United States has disavowed the potential for the leadership of the Democratic opposition, despite the United States having said, she was the rightful winner of this election.

[12:20:00]

And we talk about running the country. As if, like, well, selling $50 billion worth of oil is amounts to running the country. That is not the test of who is in charge of a government who sells its oil. And I think that's really important right now, that we are missing the fact that the United States of America has gotten rid of its national security decision making.

As my sources have said, and Tyler has reported this, there is no meaningful national security process akin to that run by any other previous Democratic or Republican administration. The result of which, right now is that policy is being formed by Donald Trump's social media posts and what he says at press conferences.

BASH: I want to go to Melissa Bell, but I just -- there's one other point that I didn't get to before. It's really noteworthy that Karoline Leavitt said, I think, more than once, in this order, the oil for the benefit of the American people and the Venezuelan people. In that order, it's oil that is in Venezuela, a very oil rich country.

I do want to go to Melissa Bell. Melissa, I know you're monitoring other developments, related developments, two tankers seized. Walk us through what's happened there. One of the tankers was bearing a Russian flag.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is a tanker that was known previously as the Bella 1. We understand that the United States Coast Guard, Donald had tried to board it as it left Venezuela a few weeks ago, failed when the tanker fled at some point during its crossing and before it was captured today, about 190 miles of southwestern Iceland.

We understand that the crew had painted a Russian flag on the hull. Shortly after that, the ship had appeared under a different name, the Marinera, inside the Russian registry of its ships with Moscow now demanding that the crew be returned and well-treated.

Now, that tanker we understand, that status is disputed by the Trump administration. They believe that is stateless, but still, the fact of that re-registry of it under a Russian flag certainly threatens this to create a diplomatic row between Moscow and Washington. Literally, not a recent example of the United States seizing a Russian flagged tanker, Dana.

BASH: And Melissa shortly after we learned about that tanker being seized near Iceland. U.S. officials confirmed the second tanker was seized in the Caribbean?

BELL: That's right. U.S. south command -- Southern Command confirmed that tanker was seized and is now being escorted back to the United States. We understand from industry analysts that this is the M Sophia with about 2 million tons of crude oil aboard, now back on its way to the United States. But certainly, what these two seizures show is that far more forcefully than it had before. The United States is enforcing that full blockade that remains, of course, in place, Dana.

BASH: Melissa, thank you so much for that reporting. Really appreciate it. And up next, we have more breaking news involving what appears to be a shooting federal law enforcement in Minneapolis. CNN is on the ground. So, we'll get reporting about that. Plus, I will speak with a Republican senator who just got out of one of those classified briefings on Venezuela. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BASH: Following breaking news in Minneapolis, where city officials confirm a shooting occurred, reportedly involving a federal ICE agent and a civilian this morning. You see the live pictures right there. Our Whitney Wild is there on the ground. Whitney, tell us what's happening right now.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Dana, we're in the heart of Minneapolis. We're here on East 35th and Portland Avenue. Let me show you first. I'll show you who's on scene. That is Mayor Jacob Frey. He's the mayor of Minneapolis. To the side here on the left side of your screen, that is Police Chief Brian O'Hara. There is an enormous law enforcement presence here from multiple different jurisdictions.

Our photographer is going to show you what the crowd looks like here, Dana. Mayor Frey is now leaving. I think you're probably starting to hear people yelling to him, but he is now leaving. He had spoken with some people on the edge of the crowd when he first arrived, according to a man who had video of it. He did not come back to the crowd. Now a crowd is following him down the street, but what you're looking at right now is the law enforcement response here.

So, you see Minneapolis police. You see the Hennepin County Sheriff's department. We've also seen the U.S. marshals here. We've seen customs and border patrol. But let me bring you up to speed with what we know. As you said, we know that there was a shooting involving federal law enforcement near East 34th Street and Portland Avenue. That was according to the city of Minneapolis. We do not yet know for sure what the extent of any injuries are or what prompted this.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has weighed in, saying, my public safety team is working to gather information on an ICE related shooting this morning. Again, Mayor Jacob Frey is here. This is all in the context of this ramped up immigration enforcement that DHS has been touting. They say this is the largest immigration crackdown to date. 2000 agents spread throughout the Twin Cities. This has been going on for a couple of days now.

We know that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem was here in the Minneapolis area yesterday. And what we see now is this real peak moment here where -- based on our understanding, there was a shooting involving federal law enforcement here, and as Governor Tim Walz said, involving an ICE agent.

We are learning to, you know, trying to learn as much as we can. But let me just get you, you know, another picture of the crowd here, because this is a city where these George Floyd riots are not far in the rearview mirror.

[12:30:00]