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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
Exclusive: CIA Drone Strike Targets Port Facility In Venezuela; GOP Rep. Greene Details Furious Trump Call Amid Epstein Files Push; Pelosi Predicts Dems Will Retake U.S. House In 2026 Midterms. Aired 9- 10p ET
Aired December 29, 2025 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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CHEVY CHASE, AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: I know you're not going to put that on the air, and I hope not. But my answer is, I'm complex, and I'm deep, and I can be heard easily, and I react spontaneously to people who want to figure me out as it were.
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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: There you go. Again, you can catch "I'm Chevy Chase And You're Not," New Year's Day, 08:00 p.m. Eastern Time, right here.
The news continues, of course. I'm Jim Sciutto. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: And we do start tonight with breaking news, and CNN exclusive reporting, this evening, that the CIA has carried out a drone strike in Venezuela. This is the first-known U.S. attack inside the country.
And two sources are telling CNN that the strike, which has not been reported previously, happened earlier this month. The target appears to have been a remote dock on the coast, which we're told the United States government believed was being used to store drugs, and then move them onto boats for shipping. These sources tell CNN that no one was at the facility at the time of the strike.
And today, as he was welcoming the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to his Mar-a-Lago Club, we heard from President Trump, confirming that there was some sort of action, without going into specifics.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: There was a major explosion in the dock area where they load the boats up with drugs. They load the boats up with drugs. So we hit all the boats, and now we hit the area. It's the implementation area, that's where they implement, and that is no longer around.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Was the facility taken out by the U.S. military or was it another entity like the CIA?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that. I know exactly who it was, but I don't want to say who it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The President didn't confirm there, when asked by my colleague, Kevin Liptak.
But we are reporting tonight that it was the CIA that carried out this strike. And of course, the important backdrop for this new reporting, this evening, is how the Trump administration has made it a point to boast about the more than 100 suspected drug smugglers that it has killed.
And just tonight, we're hearing from the Pentagon, announcing another deadly strike on what they says -- they say, was another drug boat. Now, this is the video that you're seeing here. It shows the strike in the Eastern Pacific. It was released within hours of that strike that the Pentagon says killed two people in this attack.
And this move, though, now to attack targets on land, could mark a significant escalation in this, given that is something that the President has repeatedly telegraphed in recent months.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to start doing those strikes on land too. You know, the land is much easier. It's much easier. And we know the routes they take.
Or if we think they're building mills for -- whether it's fentanyl or cocaine.
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COLLINS: Now this news tonight about the CIA's drone strike in Venezuela comes amid a double header that we have seen, of meetings with foreign leaders in the last 48 hours in Mar-a-Lago. The President has been seeking to highlight his own efforts when it comes to peace, not just in the Middle East, but throughout the world.
Today, he was sitting down at lunch with the Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu. And during that moment, as the reporters were in the room and the two leaders were speaking, the President was heard on camera with a microphone, again making the case that he believes he should have gotten the Nobel Peace Prize.
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TRUMP: 35 years of fighting, and they stopped. Do I get credit for it? No. They gave--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No--
TRUMP: I did eight of them. India -- how about India and Pakistan? And then -- so, I did eight of them. And then I'll tell you the rest of it.
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COLLINS: My sources starting us off tonight with this breaking news include:
The former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Beth Sanner.
And The New York Times White House and National Security Correspondent, David Sanger.
And David Sanger, just given this confirmation that we now have here at CNN, about this CIA drone strike in Venezuela, I wonder how significant you believe this move is, given what we've seen with the boat strikes that we've seen playing out repeatedly, what do you make of this news tonight?
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, THE NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, AUTHOR, "NEW COLD WARS": Well, Kaitlan, it's fascinating that they have finally done a strike on the land. The President has been talking about this possibility for months, and we knew, and he confirmed, that he had authorized the CIA to take action inside Venezuela.
I guess what I'm still a little puzzled by, Kaitlan, is this. That, we're still getting varying rationales from the administration about what their ultimate purpose here is. Is it simply to retaliate for dumping gang members in the United States, as the President initially said? Is it about stopping drugs? Is it about bringing the Maduro regime down by choking off their oil revenues?
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We just -- the President has never sort of sat down and laid out to the country why he is taking military action that so far has cost over a 100 lives, and now involves at least sabotage on foreign soil, without really explaining what it is he's trying to bring about as an end result here. And that's new, that's new territory.
COLLINS: Yes, it is new territory.
And the President had basically been asked about this, Beth, in a -- he kind of alluded to it a couple of days ago, in a little-noticed radio interview that he did, I believe, it was on Friday. And now that we're learning more details about this, including that the CIA is who carried out this attack. I wonder, as the former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, how you're looking at that. BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Yes, and I was also a CIA officer in working on Afghanistan, so I'm really familiar with these drone strikes.
And the question for me, I mean, adding to David's question, is, why would you want to use CIA if you were going to, in the end, talk about it anyway? Because you have all of these military assets in the region with the same kinds of systems, they can use these drones. So why not just use them, if you're going to talk about it? What's the purpose of using a covert activity that you want to protect the sources and methods of that, and not just go straightforward, you know?
And I think that this basic question, Kaitlan, of like, why, if you really are going after immigration? Well, you've already shut the border. If you're going after drugs, well, there's a reason that the last 13 of the 15 strikes on boats have been in the Eastern Pacific, because that's where about 75 percent of the cocaine route is. So, yes, we don't know.
COLLINS: I mean, given that, David, obviously, that is the question. Because when Trump was asked by Kevin Liptak today, he said, obviously he knew who carried out the strike, but he didn't want to actually say. We've now learned it was the CIA.
Given how they've talked about the boat strikes and that they have been so proud to tout those, what do you make of the fact that this happened earlier this month, and this is how we're learning about it?
SANGER: Well, a few things.
First, we've seen the President expose classified intelligence before, when he thought it bolstered his view. Remember, in the first term, he suddenly tweeted out a satellite photograph, a spy satellite photograph of a launch site in Iran that had exploded. Had not been an explosion led by the United States, but took people by surprise. We've seen him do this in other cases.
I think part of the answer to Beth's question may be that had the military struck Venezuela on Venezuelan soil, not taking out boats in international waters, it would have been essentially an act of war. Think if somebody had struck a port site in the United States with a drone of some kind, and it had been state action. And that, in some ways, it's easier to explain as an authorized covert action.
But nothing exposes a covert action faster, as Beth points out, than having the President of the United States announce it, and just as he announced that he had signed the finding, the secret order that enabled the CIA to do this.
COLLINS: Yes, because we wouldn't have necessarily -- I mean, we may not have known at all about it, had he not said something in the radio interview, that caused questions and follow-ups about what exactly had happened, including those today.
And Beth, on this line of, if it's the Pentagon doing it, if it's the CIA doing it. Trump was asked recently about basically this happening, because he's been telegraphing it, and whether or not he needs to go to Congress to get authorization for this.
Here's what he told reporters, earlier this month, about this.
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REPORTER: Mr. President, will you be seeking any authorization from Congress for any land attacks on cartels in Venezuela?
TRUMP: For any what?
REPORTER: For any land attacks on drug cartels in Venezuela?
TRUMP: I wouldn't mind telling them, but, you know, it's not a big deal. I don't have to tell them. It's been proven. But it wouldn't -- I wouldn't mind at all.
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COLLINS: I'm not sure everybody on Capitol Hill sees it that way, Beth. I mean, where is that line actually, of when he does need to go to Congress?
SANNER: Yes, so there is a notification process for covert action. He doesn't need to seek approval. And this gets to David's point of the difference. Whereas, technically, this act of war should be part of an authorized military operation, and that should be approved by Congress.
So, this is kind of a way of doing a notification to the top eight members of Intelligence and Armed Services, called the Gang of Eight, and that notification can happen after the fact. So, it is not something that really is a big requirement on him.
COLLINS: We've also got the former Ambassador to Ukraine here with us, Bill Taylor.
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And Mr. Ambassador, I mentioned this flurry of activity that's been happening at Mar-a-Lago, in the last 24 hours. Netanyahu is there today.
Yesterday, it was President Zelenskyy, who was sitting down with President Trump, for several hours, as they're trying to bring that war to an end. There weren't any huge breakthroughs during that moment.
But when you look at that, and then there was a call today that Trump had with Putin, right after that meeting. And he came out, when he was with Netanyahu, told reporters that Putin claimed Ukraine was trying to strike one of his residences in Russia. Ukraine has emphatically denied that.
But I want you to listen to how the President described this today, when he was talking about it.
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TRUMP: No, I don't know about it actually, and I don't -- I just heard about it actually, but I don't know about it.
REPORTER: Did you speak with--
TRUMP: That would be too bad. That would not be good.
It's a delicate period of time. This is not the right time. It's one thing to be offensive because they're offensive. It's another thing to attack his house. It's not the right time to do any of that, and can't do it. And I learned about it from President Putin today. I was very angry about it.
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COLLINS: How does Zelenskyy hear something like that, after his meeting with Trump?
WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: So, as you say, Kaitlan, they had a pretty good meeting there yesterday, and they agreed on, both sides have said, like 90 percent of what they're trying to work out. And that 90 percent also includes the Europeans who are on board on this thing.
So, that undoubtedly spooked Putin, and he doesn't like to see that agreement between the Americans, and Ukrainians, and the Europeans. And so, you hear this story about an attack on a residence, which is, as President Trump even said, very unlikely. It's bad timing.
It, in my view, didn't happen. This is the guy, Kaitlan, who, when he -- Putin, when he sent troops into Crimea, in 2014, he denied it. Said there are no Russians there. This is the guy who, when he was about to invade Ukraine, in 2022, said it was ridiculous to think that they would invade Ukraine. They lie. They lie. So, my bet is this is in that same category.
COLLINS: Well, and David. Don Bacon, a Republican, got asked about this today. He was speaking with Jim Sciutto. This was his assessment of basically how the last 24 hours has played out.
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REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I don't understand how this President is so blind to who Putin is. I watched this whole stuff with Netanyahu. On one hand, President Trump has done a great job, I think, with Israel, and Iran. But he's been absolutely bad on Ukraine. There's a moral blindness here. There's a moral ambiguity. I do not get it.
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COLLINS: What do you make of that, David Sanger?
SANGER: Well, first, the President, you may remember, back, just before Thanksgiving, basically took a document that looked like it had been written in the Kremlin -- in fact, parts of it had been -- and gave the Ukrainians until Thanksgiving to agree to it. Now that got wrenched back (ph).
And now that the discussion that they were having, on Sunday, at Mar- a-Lago, was over 20 very different points that looked like a much more balanced kind of way to end the war.
So, at various moments, the President has sided with Putin. Then, wanders back to the middle again, often under pressure from the Europeans, or from the Ukrainians themselves, or from the recognition that he is looking like he is repeating Kremlin talking points.
And then, and I, actually, I agree with Bill. This was a really constructive meeting, yesterday, and I think they're getting very close on a proposal that is reasonable enough that Vladimir Putin will almost certainly reject it.
And so, when you got a declaration about the drone strike on one of Putin's residences, and the only real answer for an American president to give was: This is the first I've heard of it. Let me ask my intelligence services to look into it. If the Ukrainians were responsible, that could be a very serious matter, but I don't know anything about it.
Instead, what he said was that he got very angry at the Ukrainians. Well, he may just want to slow down here, and wait for the facts a little bit.
COLLINS: I mean, Bill Taylor, do you think anyone in Trump's orbit is giving that advice to him?
TAYLOR: To slow down and get the facts? Probably so. But you know, he makes his own decisions, Kaitlan, as you've reported over and over.
COLLINS: Yes, I mean, that's certainly true.
And the other part of this, Beth, as this was playing out today. This wasn't surprising, but Netanyahu came out and announced that he is awarding Trump a prize that typically an American president would not get -- would not get. Typically, no non-Israeli would get this.
I want you to listen to what he said today after this meeting with Trump.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Well, President Trump has broken so many conventions to the surprise of people, and then they figure out, Oh, well, maybe you know he was right after all.
So, we decided to break a convention too, or create a new one, and that is to award the Israel Prize, which, in almost our 80 years we've never awarded it to a non-Israeli, and we're going to award it this year to President Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: I mean, that obviously came after Trump was talking about the Nobel Peace Prize, how much he wanted it, how he didn't get it.
What do you make of Netanyahu's step here?
SANNER: Well, clearly Netanyahu was in a position where, when he came to Washington, he was the one who needed support from President Trump. Politically, Netanyahu is not in a great position right now at home, and he did not want the pressure that the President's team was putting on Netanyahu, to move forward with phase two, without Hamas fully disarming. They haven't even started disarming.
So Netanyahu, like every other leader in the world, has figured out -- I read somewhere, they talk about an arms race in awards, and my question is, what are you going to give him next year? Because all these awards are being given out, and they're going to run out of fodder, so they're going to have to be creative.
COLLINS: Well, FIFA did create a new prize for him. So, there is some creativity at play here.
Ambassador Bill Taylor. Beth Sanner. David Sanger. Great to have all of your expertise here tonight on this breaking news.
And still ahead here on THE SOURCE. We have explosive new revelations coming out of -- coming from Marjorie Taylor Greene, in a new interview that she did. And the furious phone call she says she got from President Trump, where people in her office could hear him yelling because of what she had said. And why she says the President was so angry at her, during that, when she told him this.
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REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I had also told the President at one point that the women, those women should be brought into the White House and welcomed in, and they should be supported, instead of some of the people he brings in there.
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COLLINS: That was part of our conversation when we last sat down with Marjorie Taylor Greene. We now know what she is saying, and how Trump's response went. That's next.
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COLLINS: As the Trump administration is continuing to face backlash over its handling of the release of the Epstein documents. Republican congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor Greene, is revealing new details about her falling out with President Trump, in part over her push to release those documents.
Greene is officially going to leave Congress, next week, and she told The New York Times Magazine, about an explosive phone call that she had with the President, not long after this news conference alongside Jeffrey Epstein's survivors.
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TAYLOR GREENE: I will tell you, I'm not afraid to name names. And so, if they want to give me a list, I will walk in that Capitol, on the House floor, and I'll say every damn name that abused these women. I can do that for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The Times reports that Trump called Greene to voice his displeasure. She was in her Capitol office, and according to a staff member, everyone in the suite of rooms could hear him yelling at her as she listened to him on speakerphone. Greene says that she expressed her perplexity over his intransigence. And according to Greene, the President replied, quote, "My friends will get hurt."
My political sources are here tonight.
And Karen Finney, when you look at this, it's from that same call, according to Marjorie Taylor Greene in this reporting, where basically she urged Trump to invite some of his survivors to the Oval. But The New York Times says that he angrily informed her that they had done nothing to merit the honor.
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, SENIOR ADVISER, 2016 CLINTON CAMPAIGN, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yes.
COLLINS: What do you make of that?
FINNEY: Well, it reinforces something we know about Donald Trump and his just despicable nature, that he believes billionaires and millionaires deserve to be in the White House. And ordinary everyday folks, and particularly women who were harmed by Jeffrey Epstein don't deserve to be there.
I mean, it's -- and it really goes to the heart of what the Epstein -- and I thought her comments really go to the heart of this, which is, are you on the side of protecting these powerful men which have -- long-thought that this is not just about Trump, and I think we focus too much on Trump. That comment is really important. It will hurt some of my friends. I think this is about a number of these men protecting each other for decades.
And her -- I really appreciate that she's one of the people, the few who have really stood up for these women.
COLLINS: Well, and Doug, I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene is -- it's not just about the Jeffrey Epstein stuff. She's basically going out, guns blazing here, amid this fallout between the two of them.
I want to read you another quote that she gave to The New York Times, where she talked about Mar-a-Lago itself, where the President is right now, obviously, having dinners every night, having a big New Year's Eve party coming up. She said, quote, "I never liked the MAGA Mar-a-Lago sexualization." She said, I believe how women in leadership present themselves sends a message to younger women. Marjorie Taylor Greene said, I have two daughters, and I've always been uncomfortable with how those women puff up their lips and enlarge their breasts. I've never spoken about it publicly, but I've been planning to.
I mean, she's not just going after how they handled the Epstein documents.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: She is going after this entire kind of orbit, basically, that she has surrounded herself with, including in recent years.
DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes, so Kaitlan, you've asked me a question that I have to answer very delicately, if honestly as well, because I don't want to comment on people's physical appearance. That will get me in very big trouble.
[21:25:00]
But clearly, the world of Mar-a-Lago, she has a problem with, and I think some of that is very understandable. As we see so many things that Republicans, and I say this as somebody who was the Republican National Committee communications director, would never have allowed Barack Obama to do, or any other president.
When I worked at the RNC, and in House leadership, we talked about the imperial presidency of Barack Obama, all the executive orders. And the number of executive orders that Donald Trump does now makes that Obama number really look small and almost quaint.
But what I struggle with, with what Marjorie Taylor Greene said, and I agree with some of her comments, especially about the Epstein files, is --and Karen knows this. When you're meeting with a first-time candidate, and you're talking about them of why they're running for office, one of the questions you might ask is, When you retire on your last day, what do you have want to accomplished? What are your two or three things that you want to get done? And usually for that member of Congress, it's something in their hometown, something in their home state.
And it's not clear to me why Marjorie Taylor Greene is leaving at this point, or what ultimately her legacy will be? She's spoken -- spoken out on Donald Trump, on some things, where maybe some other Republicans haven't, though the Epstein files has been an opportunity for other Republicans to do so as well. But, again, as I look at sort of the ballot of Marjorie Taylor Greene that we've seen over the past few years, what is ultimately the legacy here? And I'm just not sure.
COLLINS: Yes. I mean, I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her--
FINNEY: Right.
COLLINS: --in terms of where this is going. But we'll see.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: And Karen, this is our political panel.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: The huge thing that's exploding on the other side of the aisle is this scandal in Minnesota.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: We know the FBI, DHS, they're now conducting a sweeping fraud investigation. A federal prosecutor has predicted it could run into billions of dollars. And all this is happening with the Trump administration's backdrop--
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: --of their immigration crackdown. It's focused on the Somali community around Minneapolis. It's the largest in the country.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: The U.S. Attorney's office there says among those accused of running schemes to get funds that were meant for child nutrition, housing services, autism programs, 82 of the 92 defendants are Somali Americans. And these are fraud allegations. I know people were saying that no one's been covering it. CNN has been reporting on it since before last year's election--
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: --that obviously had Governor Tim Walz on the Democratic ticket.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: The New York Times had that deeply reported piece last month.
Now we're hearing from Vice President JD Vance, from the Attorney General, talking about a YouTuber's video for what they say was basically shining a light on this situation.
Here's the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK SHIRLEY, YOUTUBER (on camera): What's crazy about this is that last day care center is that green building right there, and the other day care center right now is right here. These buildings should be operating as they're receiving literally millions of dollars.
SHIRLEY (voice-over): I knocked on the door, and to my surprise, somebody actually answered the door.
SHIRLEY (on camera): Hello, can we speak?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SHIRLEY (on camera): I would like to check a child into daycare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
SHIRLEY (on camera): Can I speak to a manager?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not in (ph).
SHIRLEY (on camera): Where can I get paperwork to file for my son? I wanted to put my son, Joey (ph), in daycare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: Now, I should note, we haven't independently verified the specific claims in that video.
But this is a big investigation.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: It's been underway since 2022, when Merrick Garland was the Attorney General, and Biden was in office. But if it's a problem that's very real, and obviously is the result of these investigations, I wonder what you make of, of how it's being handled and playing out now, politically?
FINNEY: Well, politically, it's -- and let's be clear about what this is. I mean, these investigations have been going on, frankly, since about 2020. I mean, I looked it up myself. And according to the Inspectors General before, I guess they were fired by the Trump administration, hundreds of people have been prosecuted. There are hundreds of these cases.
And unfortunately, thousands of people abuse what should have been about delivering aid and services to people in need. And that, to me, is the most disgusting thing about this. It means that maybe children and some of the folks who are disabled, who were supposed to receive services, didn't.
But politically, I think the reason the MAGA folks are jumping on this is pretty obvious. It's Tim Walz. It's an opportunity to go after not only Kamala Harris' former running mate, but a Democratic governor who is up in an important state. And so, look, I'm sure it's not the last that we're going to hear of this particular case.
But I think we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that, again, there are hundreds of these cases across the country. So, I hope they're pursuing all of them, quite frankly, not just the ones in blue states or with Democratic governors. Because one of, unfortunately, the hallmarks we saw in the aftermath of COVID is that there were these kinds of abuses and frauds. [21:30:00]
But the last thing I just want to say. Donald Trump never misses an opportunity to just let his racism show. Because the fact that maybe 82 out of the 92 people happen to be Somali Americans, or Americans of Somali descent, that has less to do with the fact that they're Somali. That has nothing to do with it.
What it has to do with the fact that people abused the system, and there is fraud in the system. And so, using this as an opportunity to call people disgusting, and say they should be removed from the country? I mean, that's just absurd, and it's just the kind of nastiness that I think people are really sick of.
COLLINS: Well, I mean, Doug, but on this front, Tim Walz is putting out a statement, saying that he had worked for years to crack down on fraud, asked the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action, and that he hired an outside firm to audit payments to high risk programs and shut down one entirely. I do -- and supported criminal prosecutions.
I mean, there are real questions, though, about how this was handled. And given fraud of any kind is wrong, fraud with taxpayer dollars is wrong. But the numbers here seem to be quite staggering actually.
HEYE: Yes, staggering is exactly the word, Kaitlan.
And the first time I heard a Republican use the term, Waste, fraud and abuse, was in the House of Representatives in 2003. I was at a meeting with colleagues, and the Communications Director for the House Budget Committee, a guy named Sean Spicer, said, We are going after waste, fraud and abuse.
And we could always find the waste. We could always find the abuse. The fraud was really hard to find. And this is part of why this story is blowing wide open, is it is not just fraud, but rampant fraud.
And what I would tell you is I disagree with some of my Republican colleagues here. I don't think this is what ends Tim Walz's national ambitions, if they exist. I think those were done the day after the election. But the reality is, this is still a real problem for him. And the question for Walz isn't, is he going to be a national political figure, but will he be able to run for reelection with this hanging over his head? Because the fraud is very, very real.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: Yes. We'll see how he handles it and questions that are obviously going to continue.
Doug Heye. Karen Finney. Stick around, because I'm going to bring you both back here to join us again shortly, with Harry Enten.
We also have more tonight on that breaking news that we started with, as our CNN team is reporting, the CIA has struck inside of Venezuela, as we're seeing a new strike on a boat at sea. That's what you're watching here. I'm going to get reaction from a top Democratic senator on Foreign Relations, and his thoughts, next.
[21:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: On that breaking news here tonight on CNN, our sources are telling us, the CIA has now carried out a drone strike on a Venezuelan port facility. It's an attack that happened earlier this month, we are told, and it marks the first-known U.S. attack inside the country since President Trump began threatening strikes on land weeks ago.
The strike, which reportedly had no casualties, is said to have targeted a dock that is used by Venezuelan gang to store drugs and move them onto boats for onward shipping. That's in line with the few details that we got from the President today, as he was standing next to the Israeli prime minister.
And the President first revealed this operation during a radio show in recent days that's hosted by a major Republican donor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And we just knocked out - I don't know if you read or you saw, they have a big plant or a big facility where they send the - you know, where the ships come from. Two nights ago we knocked that out, so we hit them very hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Joining me tonight is Democratic senator, Chris Coons, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
And so, it's great to have you here, Senator.
Because one, I wonder, what you make of the President seemingly first revealing this on the radio show, as he did there. And also, what you make of this reporting tonight, confirming, yes, it was a CIA drone strike in Venezuela.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Kaitlan, thanks for a chance to be on again.
I was really stunned that President Trump chose to celebrate Christmas by launching drone strikes on Nigeria. Apparently, the Christmas kicker was he had also already ordered drone strikes on Venezuela on land.
I have no independent confirmation of your reporting of a CIA strike on a Venezuelan dock facility. But frankly, it's pretty stunning that President Trump would reveal a covert action like this by bragging about it, both to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and on a radio show with a donor friend of his.
This is not an appropriate way to handle highly sensitive and classified information. But this is, after all, our president who took boxes and boxes of highly sensitive documents with him and stored them in his bathroom in Mar-a-Lago. So, I'm not that surprised that he's been casual, even reckless with classified information.
The larger question, Kaitlan, really is, what's our goal in Venezuela? What is President Trump trying to accomplish? Because he has now struck more than 30 boats in the Southern Caribbean, Eastern Pacific, using very sophisticated and expensive American military capabilities, killed more than 100 people. But his claim is that this is all about interdicting drugs.
[21:40:00]
In the briefings I've had, there's never been evidence produced, that these Venezuelan small boats moving east in the Pacific -- in the Caribbean, are actually carrying drugs to the United States. And if that was his principal concern, then why did he just pardon the former President of Honduras, who was convicted of trafficking 400 tons of cocaine--
COLLINS: Yes.
COONS: --to the United States.
COLLINS: And--
COONS: I think Susie Wiles, his own Chief of Staff, said the quiet part out loud. This is about regime change.
And so, Kaitlan, I think President Trump's New Year's resolution ought to be to keep his promise to the American people. No new stupid foreign wars.
COLLINS: Well, and just to be clear, so Democrats on your committee haven't gotten any notification or heads-up about this drone strike from the administration. Is that right?
COONS: I'm the senior Democrat responsible for appropriations for intelligence and defense. I have asked for and not received any update on this strike, yes.
COLLINS: So, we had reported before that the President had expanded the CIA's authorities to conduct operations in Latin America, including inside Venezuela. So, do you think that would cover this drone strike that we're reporting on, on this boat dock?
COONS: I'm not going to speak to any intelligence or covert activity.
I will just tell you more broadly, Kaitlan, that the President is capable of reaching a national security finding and directive that would encompass this kind of strike. But he should provide thorough briefing to the oversight committees, to the relevant members of Congress, who are responsible for funding and authorizing such action. And he has not done so.
COLLINS: And as we're speaking to you tonight, Senator. And obviously, we'll wait to see what the administration says, publicly and privately, to Congress about this. We're also coming on the verge of the New Year 2026. Everyone's going to be talking about the midterms and what that's going to look like for your party.
We heard from the former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. She's predicting Democrats will take the House, and pretty confidently at that. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN KARL, ABC NEWS CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: So if the Democrats win the House back--
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Yes. No, no, when. When the Democrats win the House back, and we will.
KARL: So, how does the next Democratic speaker of the House deal with Donald Trump? What would be your advice? You've been there. You've done it.
PELOSI: Be yourself. Just do your own thing. Just be yourself. Hakeem Jeffries is ready. He's eloquent. He's respected by the members. He is a unifier. And he will have the same effect (ph).
KARL: But you have no doubt it will be Hakeem Jeffries?
PELOSI: None.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Do you share that same confidence for Democrats going into 2026?
COONS: Kaitlan, we're going to have to work hard to earn the votes of the American people. We lost in the last presidential election all seven of the key swing states, not by a lot, but we lost them.
And we need to be clear-eyed about the fact that the Democratic brand is almost as bad as the Republican brand right now. So, I think we need to show that we're willing to fight for folks' opportunity, for their security, for justice, that we're going to deliver real, accessible, concrete plans on what we'll do, if we are so fortunate as to win back both the House and the Senate.
We've got great candidates. I am optimistic about some of the races where I am already involved in states in my region, where I think we can pick up the seats to win back the House.
But frankly, Kaitlan, we have to remember that the American people voted for Donald Trump, based on him promising to lower your costs, make America healthy again, release the Epstein files, and avoid new foreign wars.
He had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to release the Epstein files, and the Department of Justice still hasn't met that goal.
He is sleep-walking into a new war with Venezuela.
And frankly, two days from now, health care costs are going to skyrocket for millions of Americans.
And I don't know what your experience was at holiday shopping, but I didn't see prices going down. I saw way too many prices going up. And I keep hearing from Delawareans, their concerns about the cost of housing, and groceries, and health care.
So, I do think we have a good chance at winning control of the House and possibly the Senate, next year, in the elections, Kaitlan. But we have to stay focused on what matters to the average American, and we have to show up with clear and positive proposals for what we would do differently than what Republicans have done.
COLLINS: Senator Chris Coons, thank you for joining us tonight.
COONS: Thank you, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: And up next, as I promised, Harry Enten is here. He has brought his crystal ball with him. Not literally. But what do the prediction markets have to say about our burning political questions, going into 2026? Harry will tell us, right after this.
[21:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: As we look ahead to the New Year, and what it could look like into year two of the second Trump administration. Our data partner, Kalshi, which is the world's largest prediction market, has been looking at some of the most burning political questions for 2026.
One of those is whether or not President Trump is going to take over Greenland, as he has repeatedly suggested he wants to.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We need Greenland for national security. And if you take a look at Greenland, you look up and down the coast, you have Russian and Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for national security. We have to have it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was just a week ago.
[21:50:00]
I want to bring in CNN's Chief Data Analyst, Harry Enten.
When people look at what the President says there, Harry, do they think he's serious?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Donald Trump talks a huge game when it comes to Greenland. But the people who are putting their money where their mouth is, whether they think we'll take any part of Greenland come the end of Trump's term. The answer is no, they don't think so. What we're talking about is only about a three in 10 shot, at least according to those who are putting their money where their mouth is, on the prediction markets, that in fact, we will take any part of Greenland before the end of Donald Trump's term in office. It's not just next year. We're talking into 2029.
COLLINS: The other thing that he has been talking about and promising are these rebate checks, basically tariff checks, that he says people will get to see, to see the benefits of that. Do people actually think they're going to see those and get those in their bank accounts?
ENTEN: Well, maybe they will eventually. But if you look even by the end of 2026, the answer is no. In fact, what we see is, get this, just 43 percent of those who are putting their money where their mouth is think that, in fact, the stimulus will be -- checks will be sent out before 2027. Another thing, Donald Trump talking a big game, but Americans, at least those who are putting the money where their mouth is, are not convinced of.
COLLINS: OK. Third one. Everyone's going to be watching this. I'm going to be watching this.
ENTEN: Yes.
COLLINS: Zohran Mamdani is getting sworn in soon.
ENTEN: Yes.
COLLINS: He's going to become--
ENTEN: January 1.
COLLINS: It's about to get real.
ENTEN: Yes.
COLLINS: We're going to see what this actually looks like now that he's governing.
Billionaires, wealthy people have been threatening to leave New York if he won. What is the chances, what's the likelihood that people think of these people actually leaving New York, now that he will be in office?
ENTEN: We spoke about one billionaire in the first two questions here, Donald Trump talking a big game. I think that these billionaires themselves are talking a big game, and they won't follow through. And that is, in fact, again, what we see in the prediction markets.
The chance of three or more, in fact, billionaires leaving New York City in the next year? Get this. Just 31 percent. Just 31 percent. And of course, we have more than a 100 billionaires living in New York City. Maybe one or two will leave. But the idea that there's going to be this mass exodus, Oh, my God, it's coming down? Nah, that doesn't look too likely, at least at this point.
COLLINS: OK. Speaking of big games and Bills.
ENTEN: Yes.
COLLINS: What are your predictions for the Bills, Harry? This is a really sensitive subject. That's what everybody says (ph).
ENTEN: This is, this -- I think Sean McDermott was absolutely right. I'm looking into the camera right now. I'm looking into the camera. Sean McDermott was absolutely right. Going for two points yesterday, going for the win, that kicker is adios amigos. He couldn't make an extra point to save his life.
This year, going into 2026, I think the Bills, although we're going to have to go on the road to do it, we're going to finally do it. We're going to go all the way. You heard it right here, first, on THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS.
COLLINS: Karen. Doug. Help me out here.
Doug, what do you think? Are the Bills going to go full way, as Harry claims?
HEYE: Listen, I'm more focused on what the Steelers are going to do, next Sunday, if they won last night instead of choking--
ENTEN: Oy vey.
HEYE: --and playing the worst offense I've ever seen. Then--
ENTEN: Uh-huh?
HEYE: Then I'd be in a much better position.
ENTEN: I mean--
COLLINS: Karen, where are you? Are you an NFL person? What's your -- who's your team?
FINNEY: I mean, you know, I'm -- I'll be honest. I'm kind of here and there, sort of pay attention around the Super Bowl. But I will say, I am always a little bit pulling for the Buffalo Bills because of our very own Wolf Blitzer.
ENTEN: Yes.
FINNEY: Because I know how much he's--
COLLINS: Not because of Harry. Just because of Wolf.
ENTEN: Yes.
FINNEY: Sorry, Harry.
ENTEN: It's fine.
FINNEY: But you know, our very own Wolf, because he loves the Bills, he talks about the Bills. And I would love for them to win the Super Bowl, because I think it would just make Wolf so happy.
COLLINS: And because of his socks.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: He always posts his Bills socks.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: Harry, what's going to happen with my team this week? We're in the playoffs. Are we going to win, you think?
ENTEN: You know what the truth is?
COLLINS: Make a prediction there.
ENTEN: You've won so many times before, I'll give it to you. I'll say you win a game. But the truth is, don't get greedy, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: You know what, Harry?
ENTEN: Don't get greedy.
COLLINS: You know what, Harry? I hate that argument, because it's, it's -- people say, Well, you've won enough.
ENTEN: Yes.
COLLINS: And it's like, Well, if you've deserved to win--
FINNEY: Right.
COLLINS: --you should keep winning.
ENTEN: I think the Bills have deserved to have won many a times, and it hasn't happened. You don't always get what you deserve. You just get what's coming to you.
FINNEY: Oh.
COLLINS: Yes, well we may not deserve to be in the playoffs, and we've made it.
ENTEN: Yes, the fair -- there you go.
COLLINS: We've made it and proved ourselves. We'll see what happens here, going forward.
Doug, any predictions for you, for 2026, you want to share with us?
HEYE: Well, what I'm interested in, in the question about the Trump checks. That's dependent on whether or not the tariffs are still in place. And I go unpredicted (ph) every day, and I saw this morning, 81 percent of people said, they don't -- they think that the Supreme Court will strike down the Trump tariffs. Makes it very hard to send out tariff checks if the tariffs aren't in place. COLLINS: Well, also because they've said that the tariffs are paying for so many different things. I mean, that it's going to have real, huge implications if the Supreme Court does strike it down. I mean, that's a -- that's a really good question to be paying attention to, in 2026.
FINNEY: Yes.
COLLINS: Karen, what do you think?
FINNEY: Well, I agree with that. I also think if people don't believe that those tariff checks are coming, how does that impact the way they might vote in 2026? That's something to watch, and I'd love to see what the stats on that end up being.
But look, I'm curious to see how Zohran Mamdani does.
COLLINS: Yes.
FINNEY: I mean, I was born in New York City, love New York, and it's in my heart. So, I would like to see him do well, because I'd like to see the city do well.
[21:55:00]
But look, he's made a lot of big promises. I agree with Harry, and I agree with the -- I don't think we're going to see the mass exodus of millionaires, but they might try to move their money in other places. I don't think they're going to move out of town. But it'll be interesting to see how he handles all the big promises that he made.
And let's be clear, at the end of the day, you are a successful New York City Mayor, if you get the snow off the roads and the garbage off the sidewalk. So, let's see how he manages the range of things that have to happen.
COLLINS: Yes. It's going to be a fascinating watch here in 2026.
Harry. Karen. Doug. So great to have all of you here. Thank you for joining me tonight.
HEYE: Thank you.
ENTEN: Go Bills.
FINNEY: Thank you.
COLLINS: And Roll Tide.
Up next for us here. Mariah, of course, might be the queen of Christmas. Beyonce, though, just got a billion reasons to be very merry this season. Harry, you'll just stick around to find out why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:00:00] COLLINS: It's safe to assume tonight that one of the most decorated musicians ever is crazy in love with her newest title. Billionaire. Beyonce has just joined a list of legendary music stars turned billionaires, a list that now includes her husband Jay-Z, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, and Bruce Springsteen.
Thanks so much for joining us.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts now.
