Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Iran's Regime Cracks Down on Protesters; Trump Weights Iran Military Intervention; Lawmakers Push for War Powers Vote as Venezuela Escalate. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 12, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And some of those, holy biblical Torahs were burnt in the process and completely destroyed. So, heartbreaking indeed. Rafael Romo, thank you very, very much.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Very sad. Well just ahead, President Trump says he plans to meet with the acting president of Venezuela soon as the U.S. tries to assert war control over the country and tap into its massive oil reserves.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now, Iran's regime is cracking down on protesters, big time, in the country as President Trump weighs potential U.S. military intervention. CNN reports the president was briefed in recent days on different possible plans. Here's what he told reporters last night. Listen.

[10:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There seem to be some people killed that aren't supposed to be killed. These are violent. If you call them leaders, I don't know if they're leaders or just they rule through violence. But we're looking at it very seriously. The military's looking at it. And we're looking at some very strong options. We'll make a determination.

The leaders of Iran called. They want to negotiate. I think they're tired of being beat up by the United States. Iran wants to negotiate, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss this and more, Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington State. She's a member of the House Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Committees. Congresswoman, thanks very much for coming in. What's your position on potential, potential U.S. military intervention in Iran?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, Wolf, what's been happening in Iran is absolutely horrific. This regime, the Iranian regime, has continued to crack down on basic rights of the Iranian citizens. And the Iranian people are demanding legitimately a government that is accountable to them. That is absolutely true.

And any military action in Iran needs to come to Congress. We have seen this now multiple times, where in Venezuela most recently, threatening action in other countries. This is a congressional authorization situation. And we need to be really conscious of all the things that might happen if we do have military action in Iran. It could actually inflame tensions against the United States at a very, very difficult moment in the Middle East. So, I think that this is a discussion that Congress should have if we are contemplating military action.

BLITZER: But do you give President Trump any credit for his willingness potentially to stand up for peaceful protesters in Iran?

JAYAPAL: Well, I think that diplomacy is always the way that we should go. And if you remember, there was an Iran nuclear deal that was negotiated. Trump pulled us out of that. I think what we need to do is consistently think about how we are building those coalitions in any situation, whether it's Iran, whether it's Venezuela. And we should not be threatening military might. I mean, this is really sort of, I feel like we're coming to the worst of American imperialism again, where it's about greed and power and not about diplomacy.

I certainly hope that the Iranians are willing to negotiate and that we sit down and we discuss what the path forward is without military intervention. That would be the ideal situation.

BLITZER: We'll see if that happens. On Venezuela, another key issue. I know you're looking into that closely.

JAYAPAL: Yes.

BLITZER: President Trump said last night that the U.S. is, quote, "talking to Cuba" hours after he pressured the country to make a deal with Washington and said it won't receive any more money from Venezuela's oil industry. Would you support a U.S. deal with Cuba to steer it away from Venezuela's influence?

JAYAPAL: I mean, look, this is all so complicated because, once again, the strikes on Venezuela were illegitimate and unconstitutional. And Trump is now saying that we are going to take over Venezuela for potentially four years. I don't believe that Trump can run the United States of America. Health care premiums are spiking in the United States. And instead, he's talking about running Venezuela, now threatening Cuba.

This goes back to what is the United States' relationship to countries around the world and how do we negotiate for safety for the American people for the long-term. And remember, the American people are picking up the costs of this Venezuelan operation, which in classified briefings, in non-classified briefings, we have been unable to get an actual estimate of the cost that the American taxpayers are paying for, quote, "running Venezuela." BLITZER: The U.S. Senate, as you know, is expected to vote this week on a resolution limiting President Trump's war powers when it comes to Venezuela without formal congressional authorization. If this passes with Republican support, how can you ensure it gets a vote in the House?

JAYAPAL: Well, look, we're just going to have to use the public pressure and the pressure of the Republican senators who have enough of a spine to stand up and assert congressional authority. And I have not been able to understand why somebody would want to be elected to represent their district, 700,000 people on average that we represent, and then give up all the power that is in the Constitution for Congress to have these kinds of discussions.

So, I hope it's a big vote in the Senate. I hope it's not just a minimum number of senators, but that we have a bigger vote of senators who recognize that this is extremely dangerous, what's happening now, the threats to Greenland, the threats to Colombia, Cuba, Iran, all of these places around the world, and the fact that none of this money or effort is going into helping the American people afford their lives and livelihoods.

[10:40:00]

BLITZER: While I have you, Congressman, I want to turn to the fallout from the fatal ice shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis. I know you're watching this. You're going to be going there in the coming days. You led a letter requesting the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, release additional materials related to that incident. Have you heard back at all from the Trump administration?

JAYAPAL: No, we have not. And I don't expect to because what we are seeing right now is Kristi Noem and Donald Trump and J.D. Vance lying to the American people about what we all saw, what you aired on footage across the country for days now. And there is no sense that there will be an independent investigation that is fair. I spoke to Attorney General Ellison, Keith Ellison, from Minnesota just a couple of days ago, and he told me that the federal officials are not sharing information with Minnesota State law enforcement.

And I watched these pictures, Wolf, and I think it's important that we remember this is over 2,000 agents, Border Patrol agents and ICE agents, that have descended on Minnesota and just shot, an ICE agent just shot a woman, 37-year-old, mother of three, including a six-year- old child, who was driving away and her last words were, I'm not mad at you, dude. And then an ICE agent shoots her three times.

That kind of lawlessness and all of the incidents that are coming out, I just saw a video this morning of ICE agents battering down a door of somebody to go into somebody's home. No warrant from a judge that would allow them access to that private property. They just battered it down and went in and pulled out a woman.

BLITZER: We're showing the pictures right there.

JAYAPAL: It's stunning, because remember the Fourth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution actually require that you apply those amendments to both citizens and non-citizens. There's no distinction. This kind of lawlessness, I saw another video of 50 agents going into a public library to get one person. I don't even know the circumstances of that person.

The violence, the complete impunity with which these agents are operating, despite court orders in many cases that have said this is unlawful, you cannot do this. We need to make sure everybody has an arrest warrant before somebody is picked up. We need to make sure that these people are not masked. We need to make sure that there is real accountability in all of these investigations. There are many guardrails, and I think that we as Democrats should not, cannot vote for more money for this unaccountable Department of Homeland Security that is terrorizing people across the country.

Not the worst of the worst. U.S. citizens, residents, people who have been here for 20 years without ever committing a crime. It is absolutely outrageous, and it breaks my heart as an immigrant myself to see what is happening on the streets of the United States of America.

BLITZER: Yes. It breaks my heart too as a child of immigrants.

JAYAPAL: That's right.

BLITZER: All right. Congressman Pramila Jayapal, thank you very much for joining us.

JAYAPAL: Thank you.

BLITZER: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, the U.S.-based human rights group says more than 500 demonstrators have been killed in Iran as anti- government protests entered their third week. We should note that CNN cannot independently verify these figures. President Trump says he's now weighing all options including potential military action.

With us now is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, former Middle East and North Africa coordinator for the National Security Council. So, I just mentioned the president said that he is weighing all military options in Iran. Listen to what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: These are violent. If you call them leaders? I don't know if they're leaders or just they rule through violence. But we're looking at it very seriously. The military's looking at it. And we're looking at some very strong options.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, bring us into what those options the president might be weighing, what that looks like.

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND FORMER MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: First of all, it's a grim situation. I think, look, we have to be on the side of the Iranians in the streets. Every one of them is risking their lives. That death count, if that's right, I remember the 2022 Women Life Freedom protests, about 500 Iranians were killed in those protests over a period of months. So, this is a massacre going on, if that is correct.

So, what are the options? Number one, if I was advising the president, you're in the situation room, you want to do all you can to support the Iranian people. So, that means do all you can to help them get around the blackout that the regime is putting on cell service and internet access. That's extremely difficult. We worked in 2022 with Starlink, with Meta and others. At the time, you had to have a user terminal for Starlink to work. Now, there's some new technology, kind of direct-to-sell technology. So, you want to be talking to the tech companies about what you can do there, that's number one.

Second are, you look at sanctions options. So, Iran right now is still exporting, it's amazing, 2 million barrels of oil a day by most public accounts, despite the U.S. policy to drive those exports down to zero. So, you want to look at that. You want to look at allies. To date, no European country or the U.K. has designated the Revolutionary Guards Corps, the repressive apparatus of this regime, as a terrorist organization. That's something that you can do. And then you get to military options.

[10:50:00]

I think -- you know, this is a difficult question. And I think the president will find, unlike in June, where you had an option to strike, which we discussed a lot at the time back then, that strike against the Fordow nuclear facility, that was a military operation that had been planned and rehearsed over a period of years, kind of ready to go. Here, it's much more uncertain and dynamic in terms of what the targets would be, what the objective is, what the possible unintended consequences are, and also whether our military is actually postured in the Middle East for something like that.

BROWN: Yes.

MCGURK: So, those are the options you're looking at, and then you try to come up with a policy to support the Iranian people, because this right now is an extremely serious situation.

BROWN: It is, very serious. And, you know, as the president weighs these options, two U.S. officials told CNN that there is concern in the administration that U.S. military strikes could backfire and undermine the protests and Iran has warned that U.S. troops could be targets if the U.S. launches a strike. What do you think about that?

MCGURK: That's a possibility. That's what Iran knows how to do. That's why, again, you want to be -- if you were to take a military strike, and I would want to see, you know, what are the options. Remember in the June -- the 12-day war in June, the Israelis actually did strike the headquarters of the Basij militia, the internal repressive apparatus of the Iranian system, so there are targets like that. There could be leadership targets. That could open up a huge Pandora's box.

But in any case, if you were to take a military strike inside Iran, you have to be prepared for Iran to then respond and then for the U.S. to possibly have to respond after that. That's why you want to be postured with, for example, an aircraft carrier in the region. Right now, we don't have one, and other defensive measures.

So, I think right now you want to look at all the options. I understand this meeting's going to happen tomorrow. I'm sure they're pulling together all options now. Discussion's ongoing with European partners, also with the Israelis, who will have a lot of intelligence information about what is going on inside Iran. And then you try to put together a policy, again, to support the Iranian people. I think this regime, I mean, this system is coming undone.

You know, I've talked to the Iranians a lot. I've negotiated with them. I've done hostage deals. And I once said to one of my Iranian counterparts, they always say to us as the U.S., why can we do a deal with a democracy? You're always changing your government. And I said to him, your system has lost support of your own people. You're ruling by brutal repression. Eventually all governments like that collapse. You look at history. And his answer was very menacing. You know, we -- he said, as Iran, as the Iranian regime, we have a critical mass of the population, and they have all the guns, and they're willing to use repressive force. And that's what they do time and again. Protests in 2009, 2015, '16, '17, and again 2022. And now, you're seeing it again.

This system is going to ultimately collapse. When it happens, whether it's imminent, I don't know. But we need, as the United States and our partners, have to be on the side of the Iranian people. And I tell you, something else, dealing with the crisis since October 7, 2023, and those Hamas attacks in Israel, Iran made the choice to join in that mayhem. And it was a fateful choice, and the repercussions are playing out now. The regime is weak, and I very much hope they're on their last legs.

BROWN: All right. We'll see. Brett McGurk, thank you.

MCGURK: Thank you.

BROWN: Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. Also happening now, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is speaking about the future of the Democratic Party at a National Press Club event here in Washington, D.C. You're looking at live pictures. And after, she'll join our friend and colleague, Dana Bash, on Inside Politics that starts right here at noon Eastern. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00] BLITZER: It's been over three decades since the Buffalo Bills won an away playoff game, but my big, beautiful Bill, Josh Allen, was ready to put an end to that yesterday. I want to go live to CNN sports anchor and former Buffalo Bill, Coy Wire, himself. You know, Coy, this was an amazing game.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: I'm happy that Pam is there to help you keep containment today after that Bills win, baby. Good to see you guys.

This is the best start to the playoffs I can remember. The first four games were decided by four points or fewer. All had a game-winning touchdown in the final three minutes. And for Buffalo, you knew if they were going to get a win in Jacksonville, it was probably going to come down to Josh Allen with the game on the line. They were down four. He hits Brandin Cooks. He went 28 of 35 on the day. And then came the tush push of all tush pushes. Wolf said, this is the moment. He stood up and said, go, Josh, go. They were imposing their will. They would score on the very next play.

And then Tre'davious White and Cole Bishop seal the deal. Interception, Buffalo wins 27-24. First postseason road win of Josh Allen's career. First as a team since 1992. They travel to Denver to play the Broncos next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH ALLEN, BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK: To have the wherewithal to, again, not blink. And I think that's just the mantra that we have adopted this year of we've got time left and we got the ball, we got a shot. And you saw that there today. Same time, again, that just means that we get another game. And we got to go find a way to put our best foot forward this week in practice, put together a good game plan, go out there and execute again next Saturday or Sunday, whenever we play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Let's go, Buffalo. Now, the 49ers, they suffered a huge loss in their game against the Eagles. Their star tight end, George Kittle, leaving the game with an Achilles injury. The Eagles started to gain momentum. They went up 16-10. So, the Niners needed some life and they got it. Jauan Jennings, their receiver, throwing a touchdown past Christian McCaffrey. Incredible play call and execution by San Francisco to take the lead, and they held on.

[11:00:00]