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The Source with Kaitlan Collins
ICE Agent's Video Shows His Perspective Of Deadly Shooting; Trump Deflects When Asked If Receiving Machado's Nobel Peace Prize Would Change His View Of Her; Trump Warns Iran Against Killing Protesters: "You Better Not Start Shooting Because We'll Start Shooting Too." Aired 9-10p ET
Aired January 09, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRETT MCGURK, FORMER MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA COORDINATOR, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It was a decapitation of the leader. The whole system is still in place, apparently now doing our bidding. But we have to see. I think this has some ways to go.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, ANDERSON COOPER 360: Yes. Brett McGurk, we always appreciate talking to you in times like this. A lot to watch for in the streets in Tehran and elsewhere, as you said, all throughout the country of Iran.
MCGURK: That's right.
COOPER: Brett McGurk, thanks.
That's it for us. Have a good weekend. The news continues. "THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS" starts now.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST, THE SOURCE WITH KAITLAN COLLINS: New cellphone video from the Minnesota shooting showing those pivotal final moments from the view of the ICE agent who fired those fatal shots.
I'm Kaitlan Collins. And this is THE SOURCE.
And as we come on the air tonight, the demand for accountability that has been growing, as you've seen here in Minneapolis and other protests in other cities across the nation. As there's new video tonight that shows the events before and after an American mom was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis.
This angle, unlike the others that we've been showing you ever since this shooting happened, which were taken by witnesses, this was actually captured by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good.
As he approached Good's vehicle on that day, the agent here, Jonathan Ross, held up his phone and was recording. Less than a minute later he was still recording when he drew his weapon and fatally shot her as she accelerated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RENEE GOOD, BECCA GOOD'S WIFE: That's fine dude.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, show your face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
R. GOOD: I'm not mad at you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Show your face.
R. GOOD: I'm not mad at you.
BECCA GOOD, RENEE GOOD'S WIFE: That's OK. We don't change our plates every morning, just so you know. It'll be the same plate when you come talk to us later. That's fine. U.S. citizen (inaudible) country (inaudible) You want to come at us? You want to come at us? I say go and get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get out the car. Get out the car. Get out of the fucking car. Get out of the car.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (inaudible).
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fucking bitch.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: CNN's John Miller is going to walk us through that new video and what he sees from a law enforcement perspective in just a moment.
The White House is responding to that video by arguing that it proves that the ICE agent fired in self-defense.
Vice President JD Vance reposted the video that you saw there and wrote, Watch this, as hard as it is. Many of you have been told this law enforcement officer wasn't hit by a car, wasn't being harassed, and murdered an innocent woman. The reality is that his life was endangered and he fired in self defense.
In the meantime, as plans for a joint FBI and state criminal investigation into Wednesday's shooting were derailed, with officials in Minnesota arguing that the FBI is blocking them for participating in that interview or seeing new evidence.
I asked President Trump today about this unusual decision to freeze out local law enforcement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The state officials there have said that the FBI is not sharing evidence with them. Typically, they would conduct a joint investigation, as you know. Do you believe that the FBI should be sharing evidence with state officials in Minnesota? DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Well, normally I would. But they're crooked officials. I mean, Minneapolis and Minnesota, what a beautiful place, but it's being destroyed. It's got an incompetent governor, fool, I mean, he's a stupid person. And it looks like the number could be $19 billion stolen from a lot of people, but largely people from Somalia. They buy their vote.
It's a very corrupt state. I feel that I won Minnesota. I think I won it all three times. Nobody has won it for -- since Richard Nixon won it many, many years ago. I won it all three times, in my opinion. And it's a corrupt state, a corrupt voting state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The President did not win Minnesota any of those three times, I should note, despite what he said there.
And I am going to speak with the state's top law enforcement official about those allegations, in just a moment.
In that new video, though, I should note, from what you saw, the woman at the back, you saw Becca Good, that is Renee Good's wife. She's outside the car, also filming and taunting the ICE agent before that fatal shooting took place. She is speaking out tonight.
And in a statement to Minnesota Public Radio that was shared with CNN as well, she says, in part, quote, "We thank you for the privacy you are granting our family as we grieve. We thank you for ensuring that Renee's legacy is one of kindness and love. We honor her memory by living her values: rejecting hate and choosing compassion, turning away from fear and pursuing peace, refusing division and knowing we must come together to build a world where we all come home safe to the people we love."
My lead source tonight is CNN's Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst, John Miller.
And John, as we look at this new video, this is the video people have been asking to see, because you could see that the ICE agent was holding up his phone, when all this happened, when he was near the front of the vehicle.
What do you see from this perspective?
[21:05:00]
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT & INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: First, I see a situation where there's not a lot of high tension or danger in the air.
He's walking by her. She's saying, I'm not mad, it's OK. She's smiling as he approaches the back of the car.
He seems to be documenting with his phone, she's blocking the road, here's the plate of the car. This may be in anticipation of an arrest for interfering with federal agents. When he goes by Becca, she's saying, We don't change our license plates like you do, and says, I'm a veteran, big boy, why don't you go to lunch? So there's that back and forth.
It's when he gets to the front of the car, two things happen. One, the agents pull up in the other vehicle. They pull on the door, and she refuses to get out. Two, the car backs up. Once that car goes into drive, he unholsters that weapon.
And two things could have changed everything. Instead of unholstering the weapon and stepping out of the path of the car, maybe nothing would have happened, except they would have found her later. If she had gotten out of the car and complied with the order to get out of the car, maybe nothing would have happened at all. We don't know.
But the things that this video bring to the table are, number one, it's a new angle. We haven't seen that side before.
Number two, it's probably the closest thing we have to agent Jonathan Ross' point of view as to what he was seeing, and you can see from his camera that the car starts to move towards him, and he is just about in the front of it.
Number three. You don't see, because the phone goes down as the gun comes up, but you hear a thud and a groan almost simultaneously with the three shots. So it leans into the claims by DHS and other officials that the car struck him.
COLLINS: Right. And that's why we've seen the White House saying that it backs up their narrative.
When you look at that, though, one thing that stood out to me is the phone captures all of this, I mean, until when the car hits him and he fires those shots, and then her car accelerates and drives off. I was thinking of this. He never puts his phone down as he pulls out his firearm.
J. MILLER: No.
COLLINS: Which is--
J. MILLER: And you know, he's a firearms instructor. He's highly qualified. He's on the tactical team. He's a war veteran. The idea of not using a two-handed stance, which is what they're trained for. He shoots this with one hand. And even after the shots are fired, he's still holding the phone. It seems like she was not expecting to get into that engagement at the time. It happens very quickly.
COLLINS: Well, and it also raises questions about the environment. If he's looking at his phone, as often people are doing when they're recording something, and not aware maybe fully of -- because the other agents pull up really quickly as he's walking around the back of that car. It all happens, I mean, the video is less than a minute long, basically.
J. MILLER: Right, and this whole thing occurs in roughly four seconds. COLLINS: Yes. All right, John, we'll see if we're going to get any of that -- because they're not wearing body camera footage. So is this the closest we get to body camera footage, you think?
J. MILLER: This is the closest we get to body camera footage. But we shouldn't assume that this is the last video we're going to see. As these video canvases and door to doors, continue, and the Minnesota officials ask for people to give video they may have, we may see more angles. But I think it's when you put them all together, is when you start to get the total picture.
COLLINS: John Miller, thank you, as always, for breaking that down for us. I really appreciate that.
J. MILLER: Thanks.
COLLINS: I'm also joined tonight, as I mentioned, by the Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison.
And thank you, sir, for being here.
Can I first just ask you your thoughts, when you see this new angle, and what we're hearing out of the administration saying that they believe it does back up their argument that he was acting in self- defense.
KEITH ELLISON, (D) MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, I think it's important for a person in my position to encourage everyone who may have any evidence bearing on this case to bring it forward. We need as many angles as we can get. We need as much in the way of testimony, eyewitness testimony, video, other types of evidence needs to come forward, and we need a thorough investigation. We need an independent investigation.
And so, I'm going to resist characterizing the -- that particular video. I'm going to let investigators do it, and potentially, one day, a jury may have to do it. We'll see. But at the end of the day, I think a prosecutor in Minnesota should not be commenting on the evidence.
But I think that there are certainly -- I think there are certainly things to disagree with, when it comes to the characterization by the administration. I don't necessarily agree with what they say it shows.
COLLINS: Yes.
ELLISON: But I'm a little reluctant to say this is what it shows.
[21:10:00]
COLLINS: It sounds like you think that this could still ultimately lead to charges potentially. Is that right?
ELLISON: Potentially.
COLLINS: Potentially? ELLISON: Yes. Yes.
COLLINS: You called for an independent investigation. What did you make of the President's answer, when I asked him about whether or not the FBI should be cooperating and working with state officials? He said he doesn't think they have to, because, in the words he used, your state is corrupt.
ELLISON: Yes, and then he went on to talk about how he won Minnesota three times in a row, but then -- but we said he didn't win, so we are corrupt.
Actually, what really occurred to me is that he's punishing us because we didn't vote for him, and that seems to be the most prominent thing on his mind. Not Renee Good. Not the neighborhood. Not even Jonathan Ross. But just, Minnesota didn't let me win, so I'm going to do this to them, and because they didn't let me win, they're corrupt.
And so, I mean, I just thought it was somewhat of a shocking answer. Because, even though it's completely untrue, we have a great election system with tremendous integrity, I mean, basically he's caught up on the fact that he lost our state, and is bitter -- embittered by that. And so, that's what, what struck me.
Also, corrupt? I must confess that I did immediately think, isn't he the guy who got a $400 million plane from the Qataris? And didn't he get a bunch of crypto stuff from the Emirates? And doesn't he have sweetheart deals on golf courses around the world? And didn't he get like, $130,000 gold bar from the Swiss?
I mean, corrupt? My goodness. I don't think there's ever been a president in the history of the United States who's gotten more inducements and emoluments than this one, and he's running around calling people corrupt? I thought that was somewhat shocking, to tell you the truth.
COLLINS: So, you basically think that he's holding his election losses in your state against you, when it comes to working with state officials on this investigation?
ELLISON: Out of his own mouth. Yes, I do. That's what occurred to me. Because it seems so irrational.
And I will -- can I just say, Kaitlan, that we have great relationships with our local federal law enforcement. I mean, I have nothing but praise for the local FBI, the local ATF. We work together. And I -- for them to say, We can't work with you, struck a -- you know, strikes me as unusual, because we always work together. So, it seemed like the kind of decision that probably did come from Washington, and it sounds like that's exactly what happened, because we didn't vote for him.
COLLINS: Well, can I ask you on that? Because he mentioned something that everyone had been talking about, and a lot of people have been talking about in Washington, the allegations of fraud happening in Minnesota. You talked to Laura Coates about this, this week. For our viewers who missed it, I just want to remind them what you said to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLISON: We're serious about convicting people for stealing money that is going or supposed to go to poor people. It's a serious issue. But we're not getting serious partnership. What we're getting is political theater, like you just saw with the Homeland Security Director.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Can I ask you about that? Because last month, you talked there about not getting partnership. But your office issued a press release, in December, touting a successful partnership with federal law enforcement when it comes to fraud. You said the administration had worked closely with your office's Fraud Control Unit.
So, are you getting partnership from them, or are you not?
ELLISON: Well in the Feeding Our Future case, our office worked with the federal authorities and that has led to mass numbers of convictions.
What I was referring to is the fact that some of our state legislators were and I -- were having a lot of hearings and things like that, but we couldn't get them to help move bills that we -- I believe would curtail fraud in our state.
So, it was really two different things that we were talking about right there. One had to do with a particular case of Feeding Our Future, where there was a lot of cooperation. And the other one had to do with some of our state legislators who I was arguing, were trying to use this as a political tool, as opposed to coming together to pass the more robust anti-fraud measures.
COLLINS: Minnesota Attorney General--
ELLISON: So, you see, it's sort of--
COLLINS: Yes.
ELLISON: --different things.
COLLINS: Keith Ellison, thank you for your time tonight. Thanks for joining us.
ELLISON: Thank you.
[21:15:00]
COLLINS: Still ahead tonight, we have a lot more to catch up on. One part of the saga that's unfolding in Washington. Remember the Epstein files? They were due a very long time ago. Lawmakers who wrote that law, that the President signed, to force their release, they're now leading a new charge to force the Justice Department's hand. I'm going to speak with one of those lawmakers tonight about their efforts.
And also, we're following the chaos in Iran as these anti-government protests are growing. The President has issued a warning to Iran's leaders, tonight, saying, if they shoot these protesters, as the President put it, quote, "We'll start shooting too."
And also, what the President said when I asked him about his quest to get that Nobel Peace Prize.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I can't think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me, and I don't want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:20:00]
COLLINS: As he was surrounded by several major oil executives, in the White House East Room today, President Trump declared that he will personally decide which companies will be allowed to enter and rebuild Venezuela's energy infrastructure.
Those same oil executives, though, left the White House without making real, firm commitments when it comes to a Trump-backed oil deal in Venezuela. Obviously, there's a lot of concerns about going in there, the lack of infrastructure, the lack of government stability.
We'll see what plays out. It's only been less than a week since U.S. forces captured the country's president, Nicolas Maduro, and brought him here to New York. And there are still questions about the White House's preferences when it comes to who's going to lead Venezuela in the future.
I was there in the room, the East Room today, and I asked the President, because he's having an upcoming meeting with Venezuela's opposition leader, that is the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Corina Machado.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: On Venezuela, and you're meeting with Machado next week. If she gives you her Nobel Peace Prize, will that change your view about her running that country?
TRUMP: Well, I have to speak to her. I mean, I'm going to have to speak to her. She might be involved in some aspect of it. I will have to speak to her. I think it's very nice that she wants to come in. And that's what I understand the reason is. Because Norway is very embarrassed by what took place.
I can't think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me, and I don't want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars. Obama got the Nobel Prize, he had no idea why. He still has no idea. He walks around, he says, I got the Nobel Prize. Why did he get a Nobel Prize?
So in theory, you should get the Nobel Prize for every war you stopped. Every one of them was major. But I don't care about that. What I care about is saving lives. I've saved tens of millions of lives. You know, the Prime Minister of Pakistan came here, and he made a very public statement. He said that President Trump saved minimum, 10 million lives, having to do with Pakistan and India, and that was going to be raging. So, you know.
But I'm honored that she's coming here. I look forward to meeting her. Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: I'm joined by my top political sources tonight.
Jamal Simmons.
And Jonah Goldberg.
And Jonah, I wonder what you made of that answer. Because, basically I asked the question because, after Maduro had been captured, there was a question to the President, last Saturday, about Machado, someone that the President had been speaking with, had a relationship with. People thought maybe she is going to be the next leader. And he said she didn't have the respect or support to do so.
And now she's coming to the White House, next week, and has said, in essence, that she is willing to give him her Peace Prize.
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, CO-FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN- CHIEF, THE DISPATCH: Yes, I find the whole thing pretty embarrassing.
Look, it is entirely possible, and if you talk to serious people about Venezuela, some of them will tell you that if they tried to put in Machado, you would get elements of the regime, the military, security services, breaking off, and there would be violence. So, they made a very cynical move about using Delcy Rodriguez, the Vice President, who is as much of a Chavista as Maduro ever was, to run the regime. So, it's not regime change. It's just replacement of the boss. And so, you can make a cynical realpolitik case for that.
There was no need for the -- for Trump to humiliate Machado, and talk about how she's weak, and she can't do it. And now he's making her grovel and offer her Nobel Prize. That is entirely gratuitous and unnecessary, and it undermines what's left of any moral authority we have to talk about democracy around the world.
COLLINS: Jamal, when you listen to that answer, what stood out to you?
JAMAL SIMMONS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN, CO-HOST, TRAILBLAZE PODCAST: Well, what stands out about all of this is the split-screen that we're seeing right now, of a president who is acting in the Western Hemisphere with great intensity and with violence to accomplish his goals, if he wants to. While in Ukraine, what we see is a president pulling back and restraining American allies, and then talking about going after Greenland, which is property of another ally, in Denmark.
So, the fact that we have a president who will use his power, when he thinks it's up to something that is what he wants, but won't use it when it goes to the alliances that have kept America safe for the last 80 years? It's something that I believe is concerning.
COLLINS: Yes, well, and obviously, Jonah, the whole reason they were there today, all these major oil CEOs, was so the White House could get them to commit to that. The instability is a big part of it, in terms of their real hesitancy about going into Venezuela, investing tens of billions of dollars into something that they don't know is a sure thing at this point.
They actually brought up several issues, I thought, kind of surprisingly, in front of the President, and in front of the cameras when we were in there. This is, for just those who missed it, a taste of what they said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARREN WOODS, CEO, EXXONMOBIL: If we look at the legal and commercial constructs -- frameworks -- in place today in Venezuela, today it's uninvestable. And so significant changes have to be made to those commercial frameworks, the legal system.
[21:25:00]
RYAN LANCE, CEO, CONOCOPHILLIPS: The debt needs to be restructured in the financing to deliver the billions of dollars that are required to restore their energy infrastructure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Ryan Lance there, had noted they had a $12 billion loss from when they had to pull out, when Maduro was leading Venezuela. And the President said pretty clearly, they're not going to get it back, maybe they could write it off. And he maybe jokingly, maybe not so jokingly said, It's already been written off.
I mean, it just went to show you, Jonah, the concerns that they have and not ready to commit yet, it seems like.
GOLDBERG: Yes, I mean, so what the -- the tie in from the first part of this about the Nobel Prize, and the stuff that Jamal was talking about, is that at the end of the day, Donald Trump does foreign and domestic policy based upon his own sort of self-aggrandizement. What makes him look good? What makes him be able to say, I was right all along?
So, his tariff policy is the stuff that's been frozen in amber since the 1980s, you just swap out Japan for China, it's the same arguments. Similarly with this, Take the oil thing. He was saying that about Iraq for a very long time, he always thought it was most brilliant thing and -- you know, you could say.
And the problem is, is that whatever logic, as cynical or imperialistic there might have been, whatever logic it might have made 20 years ago, to take oil from another country, however, that you're supposed to do that? We've had this energy revolution in this country with fracking. We went from a net world's largest importer to exporter.
And one of the things you hear from people in the oil industry is he's screwing the domestic American oil industry with his desire to sort of flood the market with cheaper oil, when the price of oil is already so low, thanks to how efficient we are. It's just based on really weird almost 19th century, forget 1980s, economics, and I just don't think he understands it.
And none of these companies are particularly dying to clamor into Venezuela, the way they might have been 25 years ago.
COLLINS: Well, and speaking of the U.S. economy, what that looks like. The jobs report came out today.
And Jamal, I asked the President. Because last night, if you were watching Truth Social, as I normally am, it was about 08:20 p.m., and the President posted some numbers. Now they might not have stood out to everyone initially, but those numbers actually mirrored exactly what was in the embargo jobs report that came out this morning at 08:30.
And I asked the President, did he inadvertently or purposefully post that data. This is what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: On the economic report that came out today, Mr. President, one, can you respond to that? And two--
TRUMP: Yes, an amazing report. The amazing -- and the most amazing thing is government jobs are way down. And yet the employment came -- unemployment, or the employment numbers are very good.
COLLINS: Mr. President, you posted some numbers, actually on Truth Social, last night. People saying you posted the job data early when you're not supposed to obviously share it till the next morning. Did you do that on purpose?
TRUMP: No. No. I don't know if they posted them. I said post them whenever you get a chance. I don't know. They gave me some numbers I -- when people give me things, I post them. But the numbers, the numbers are amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: When people give me things, I post them.
SIMMONS: Well--
COLLINS: I think some staff is like, Yes, that was the problem.
SIMMONS: That's probably true, right? I think we can all probably agree that that is true.
Listen, when Joe Biden was in office, there were 2 million jobs created in 2024. Looks like there's about 584,000 jobs created in 2025. It's a big deal.
Back in the Clinton administration, when I was in the Commerce Department, we got the GDP numbers. It was a huge, huge deal about keeping those numbers safe and keeping those numbers away from the public until they came out. Markets move based on these economic numbers. Whether it's--
COLLINS: Yes, people can make a lot of money off of them.
SIMMONS: Absolutely. The Labor Department has numbers. The Commerce Department. All these different agencies have these numbers. So, the fact the President is just sort of like willy-nilly putting them out on his social media accounts goes to the kind of incompetence, I think, we've seen in a lot of places, including the Secretary of Defense, who famously was sending information to a reporter on one of his social media.
COLLINS: Jonah, what did you make of that?
GOLDBERG: Well, so it's funny, where originally he was talking about this oil meeting in the White House, he did something very similar there. Marco Rubio wrote to him -- wrote him a note, not for public consumption.
COLLINS: Yes.
GOLDBERG: Said, Go take a question from the -- go back to the Chevron guy.
COLLINS: Yes.
GOLDBERG: And Trump just reads the note out loud. It's very -- it's sort of analogous to his Truth Social thing. He was speaking -- it's one of the rare times he was just telling the blunt truth. You give him stuff and he posts it. You give him stuff and he reads it out loud--
COLLINS: Yes, he said--
GOLDBERG: --have a Ron Burgundy thing.
COLLINS: We watched -- we watched Marco Rubio write that note, and then he passed it to the President. Because, I was curious what he was writing on it, because sometimes he writes it, and there's a big foreign policy development. Handed it to the President, and he says, Marco tells me I need to go back to Chevron. And then he went to Chevron. I mean, it was quite a moment.
Jamal. Jonah. Great to have you both here tonight. Have a great weekend. And thank you for joining.
SIMMONS: Happy Friday.
GOLDBERG: Thank you.
[21:30:00]
COLLINS: Up next. There was also a blunt threat that was made against Iran today at the White House. We've seen these anti-government protests playing out across the country. They are growing tonight. I'm going to ask CNN's Fareed Zakaria, what does he see and what is playing out on the streets of Iran?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I just hope the protesters in Iran are going to be safe, because that's a very dangerous place right now. And again, I tell the Iranian leaders, you better not start shooting because we'll start shooting too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That was President Trump's threat to Iran's leaders today, after the 13th straight night of anti-government protests across the country. Those protesters in Iran's southeast were heard today chanting, quote, Death to the dictator.
In the capital of Tehran, massive crowds have taken to the streets, where demonstrators have been blocking the roads and setting fires, as Iranian officials have now, in turn, cut off internet access and phone lines, leaving the country largely cut off from the outside world.
[21:35:00]
Iranian state media is reporting that the Revolutionary Guard is warning protesters of, quote, Retaliation.
My source tonight is CNN's Fareed Zakaria, host of "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" every Sunday here on CNN.
And Fareed, it's great to have you, because I want to know what you make of these 13 days of protests. It's obviously impossible to ignore to see how much it's growing. What is your sense from what we can see, and what we do know, of what we're seeing play out in Iran tonight?
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: Kaitlan, ever since the Iranian Revolution, there have been many protests, and there have been many very widespread protests. The regime is very good at tamping down these protests, using brutal repression, using forms of patronage.
But all that said, I do think this one seems different, and it does feel like the regime is at a turning point. And the reason for that is conditions in Iran are terrible. The military has been devastated. The economy is devastated. And also, you have the reality that President Trump has now issued a kind of warning, which means the regime has to be careful of the kind of crackdowns they do, which they've tended to do in the past with a bandit (ph).
So you put all that together, and it does feel like either they are going to go down a path of really extraordinary repression. Maybe they do it in a way that isn't as easy to televise, but that will still -- you know, that will be something the population will see, or they will have to give in, in some way. But it doesn't feel like this is going to get diffused very easily.
COLLINS: So, how does the President factor into all this? Because, I mean, obviously you saw his threats today. If they start shooting the protesters, the United States is going to start shooting.
I saw the Supreme Leader today was telling Trump he should focus on his own country instead.
But how do they hear the threats from the President of the United States?
ZAKARIA: Oh, I think they take them seriously. Because, the President of the United States is the leader of the most powerful military in the world, and a military that showed Iran that it can extend its reach right into Iran, with its most prized possessions, its nuclear program.
And I think that, look, the regime has always used this mixture of patronage and repression.
Patronage for rural communities, more religiously-minded people. They have a -- you know, they have had a base of support, not a majority, but some kind of base.
And then brutal repression every time there is some kind of protest, every time there is some kind of dissent. And that repression is very substantial. And even if there are liberals within their own ranks, they repress them. Remember the Green Movement. This is -- this is a regime that is very skilled at repression. Because, I mean, in a sense, they came to power through revolution, Kaitlan. They know they're not going to let another revolution take place on their hands.
But this time, it just feels like the economic conditions are bad. The regime is broken, militarily. They face the Trump threat. They face an Israeli threat. It's, you know, this is -- this is looking like a perfect storm that Iran is going to find it very hard to navigate through.
COLLINS: One, as we're watching them try to navigate through it. The son of the former Shah, who was overthrown in 1979 during that revolution, he's been thanking the President. He says that he's promising to hold the regime to account. And I know protesters were heard there chanting for his return.
I want to know, do you think that's realistic? Or, given your extensive experience in this -- in this area, how do you view that? ZAKARIA: It's difficult to imagine the return of a monarchy. But I think Reza Shah, the man you're talking about, whom I know is a very decent man who has often said that he would imagine a purely constitutional role. And is it conceivable that he could play some part like that, like the Spanish monarch did when democracy came back to Spain, where he kind of helped facilitate a transition to democracy? It's absolutely possible.
I think that the truth is, the Iranian people have lived through one of the great totalitarian nightmares of the 20th century, now into the 21st century. And so, there's probably a great longing for change.
[21:40:00]
But I do want to emphasize, Kaitlan. The regime has power, has money, has guns, and has shown itself unwilling -- you know, quite willing to use them. So, I don't -- I don't think they're going to go down without a fight. That's my gut.
COLLINS: Well, Fareed Zakaria, we'll trust your gut on this, and obviously be watching to see your coverage, this Sunday here, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS," at 10:00 a.m. Eastern.
And thank you for joining me tonight. I really appreciate it.
ZAKARIA: My pleasure.
COLLINS: And up next here. Weeks after the Justice Department has blown through that deadline to release all the Epstein files in its possession. I'm going to speak with a lawmaker that has a new plan to force the Justice Department to do just that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: It has now been three weeks since that deadline expired, for the Justice Department to release all the files they have on Jeffrey Epstein. It has been 21 days overdue. The DOJ has now released less than 1 percent of what they have. Yes, less than 1 percent. They still have more than 2 million documents that are under review this evening.
The two lawmakers who led the charge to force the release of these documents are now asking a federal judge to step in. One of them, Congressman Ro Khanna. And Thomas Massie.
[21:45:00]
They've asked for a Special Master and an Independent Monitor to force the DOJ's compliance in releasing all the Epstein documents, arguing, We have urgent and grave concerns about the Justice Department's failure to comply with the Act... and Absent an independent process, as outlined above, we do not believe the DOJ will produce the records that are required by the Act.
And Ro Khanna, the Democratic congressman, joins me now.
And thank you, sir, for being here. What are you hoping exactly that this Special Master would be able to do, in regards to the millions of documents that are still in the Justice Department's possession?
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): I hope the Special Master will make sure that the Department of Justice complies with the law, that we finally see the documents that will hold the rich and powerful men who were on Epstein's rape island accountable. Most importantly, we need the survivors' statements to the FBI, where they named who these individuals were, and we want to make sure that there's not excessive redaction.
COLLINS: And do you think you're going to get a Special Master here? What's the likelihood of this?
KHANNA: Well, Judge Engelmayer has been very fair and very diligent, and he's been in correspondence with Pam Bondi.
Pam Bondi said, Look, we realize we haven't complied with the law. We still have millions of documents. We're complying.
So, what we said is, there is an independent process. He can appoint a Special Master, and they should go through the documents and make a determination.
I believe that Judge Engelmayer is going to do the right thing, which is, how do we protect victims, how do we protect survivors, but also comply with the law? So, if there's anyone who can help resolve this, it is him.
COLLINS: Well, I think the biggest thing that's come through is people are going to say, Why haven't they released them yet?
I know the argument from the Justice Department is, they told the court, We've got over 400 attorneys working on this. Extensive redactions are needed in these 2 million documents that are remaining.
Do you think that they have a point? Is that fair, in any way, from your perspective?
KHANNA: I don't know the technology at the DOJ. I'm in Silicon Valley. I mean, an A.I. program could figure out very quickly where the redactions are. I don't see why it's taking so many attorneys and so long.
But Massie and my concern is less about the time, and our bigger concern is that the documents that the country wants are not being released. They're not releasing the FBI 302 statements where survivors actually named these powerful men. They're not releasing the prosecution memos, which explain all the counts against Epstein and why they were dropped. So, I do think that the Judge can, with a Special Master, require that and expedite the process.
But this month, we'll see how much good faith the Department of Justice is showing. I mean, they've got two-thirds of the Southern District of New York working on that. That's the most important district in the country. It's the one that's prosecuting Maduro.
COLLINS: Yes.
KHANNA: They've literally got two-thirds of the attorneys. So, let's get the documents out.
COLLINS: Well, and on this front, we've talked about this before, what y'all believe the consequences should be if you don't get your hands on these documents, and how the DOJ handles this.
Part of that has included holding Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, in inherent contempt of Congress. That could mean daily fines for her until she complies. It would require a vote in the House. Do you think you'd have the Republican support to do that?
KHANNA: We're building it. In candor, we don't have the votes yet, though Thomas Massie and I are likely going to introduce it in the next few days. When we did the discharge petition, we had very few votes. And the reality is, there is a lot of anger at Pam Bondi right now, Republicans and Democrats. And if this continues, and they continue to stonewall, then we will get to the votes, just like we did on the discharge petition.
But they have an opportunity, over the next few weeks. And it's less about the quantity of what they release, and more about, are they going to release the documents that name the rich and powerful men who were involved, were named as co-conspirators, who showed up on the rape island, who abused or raped these young girls. That's what we want to know. And so far, they've released none of those actual documents.
COLLINS: If you get inherent contempt, could you see this leading to impeachment proceedings?
KHANNA: That's the final thing on the table. And yes, I mean, it could lead to impeachment.
But neither Thomas Massie or I really care ultimately about going after Pam Bondi or the Deputy Attorney General Blanche. I mean, our interest is to see justice for survivors who were abandoned for decades, not just in this administration, for many administrations. I mean, Maria complained to the FBI in 1996, and nothing was done. They ignored it. And for decades, she was called a liar.
[21:50:00]
And I've gotten to know, as I know you have, Kaitlan, some of these survivors, personally. I see the trauma. I get stopped at airports with people who have faced sexual assault, saying, Finally, we feel seen, please make sure that something is done, I want these files out. That's what I care about.
COLLINS: Yes.
KHANNA: And it's time we get this to happen.
COLLINS: Maria and Annie Farmer, they've been very straightforward and upfront with their concerns, how long they were ignored by the FBI.
Congressman Ro Khanna, thank you for joining us tonight.
KHANNA: Thank you, Kaitlan.
COLLINS: And up next here. From the daring capture of Maduro, to that ICE shooting that happened in Minneapolis and the aftermath, I'm going to take you behind the scenes of a dramatic start to this New Year for the Trump administration, right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:55:00]
COLLINS: From a secret mission to capture the President of Venezuela. A fatal ICE shooting in Minneapolis and the aftermath of that. And also today's meeting with oil executives at the White House. It's a busy first week of 2026 for the Trump administration.
Here's a look behind the scenes at our week in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: The United States proved once again that we have the most powerful, most lethal, most sophisticated and most fearsome military on planet Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank God for Donald Trump. He has liberated the Venezuelans.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Monday, January 5.
TRUMP: It was so complex, 152 airplanes. We had a lot of boots on the ground.
And think of it, nobody was killed. And on the other side, a lot of people were killed.
STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: The United States is using its military to secure our interests, unapologetically, in our hemisphere.
COLLINS: Stephen, you were part of that group, the select group that the President said is, his staff that is running Venezuela. What exactly are your day-to-day responsibilities?
S. MILLER: It's a big team, a group of people. Everybody is working great.
COLLINS: Do you think that Marco Rubio, Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, and JD Vance should be running Venezuela, as the President puts it?
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, BUSINESSWOMAN AND FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: Venezuela belongs to the Venezuelan people. They should elect their own government leaders.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Tuesday, January 6.
COLLINS: It's the fifth anniversary of the January 6 attack here on Capitol Hill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That election was stolen. That's why I went to D.C.
COLLINS: Probably more cops than there are protesters.
The people the President pardoned, at least some of them who were convicted for their actions on that day, were here in Washington on this fifth anniversary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're free. Pardoned.
(CHEERING)
ON SCREEN TEXT: Wednesday, January 7.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
(GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame.
MAYOR JACOB FREY, (D) MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: A 37-year-old woman is dead. She was shot by ICE. This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying.
KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: It was an act of domestic terrorism. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him. She was hit and is deceased.
PROTESTERS: Say her name.
PROTESTERS: Renee Good.
PROTESTERS: Say her name.
PROTESTERS: Renee Good.
COLLINS: The comment that probably stood out the most from your press conference, telling ICE to get the eff out of your city.
Secretary Noem responded and said they are not pausing operations in Minneapolis, in light of this woman's death.
What is your response to that?
FREY: What ICE is doing is terrorizing our community.
It's a problem. And my ask continues to be that they need to get out.
COLLINS: Would you be comfortable, as someone who's been in leadership, calling it domestic terrorism this quickly, before she was even publicly identified? MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: Well, we don't know what was happening before then.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Thursday, January 8.
JD VANCE (R), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The way that the media by and large has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace.
Everybody who has been repeating the lie that this is some innocent woman who was out for a drive in Minneapolis when a law enforcement officer shot at her, you should be ashamed of yourselves.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Kaitlan, a remarkable address--
COLLINS: That's one word for it.
TAPPER: Yes, I'm being polite. Address from the Vice President.
COLLINS: He was attacking CNN. He read a headline aloud over our coverage that has happened in the last 24 hours. I went and looked up the headline. It was relatively straightforward. It was certainly accurate about--
TAPPER: It was just that there was outrage in Minneapolis after the shooting.
COLLINS: Correct.
TAPPER: Which is--
COLLINS: That's like literally what the headline was.
TAPPER: --a fact.
PROTESTERS: Show your face. Show your face.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you doing this?
PROTESTERS: ICE out now. ICE out now.
COLLINS: You called this a murder.
The Mayor in Minneapolis hasn't yet said that.
Why go that far before the investigation is completed?
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (D) NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK STATE: That was the conclusion I came to just in watching that video, and I think that many Americans came to that same conclusion.
No matter how many times this is mischaracterized by others, we will see right what is in front of us.
ON SCREEN TEXT: Friday, January 9.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: TV pool (ph) TV stills (ph).
COLLINS: On Venezuela, and you're meeting with Machado next week. If she gives you her Nobel Peace Prize, will that change your view about her running that country?
TRUMP: I can't think of anybody in history that should get the Nobel Prize more than me, and I don't want to be bragging, but nobody else settled wars. Obama got the Nobel Prize
COLLINS: On Minneapolis, Mr. President, I have a follow-up for you. The state officials there have said that the FBI is not sharing evidence with them. Do you believe that the FBI should be sharing evidence with state officials in Minnesota?
TRUMP: Well, normally I would. But they're crooked officials.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And that was Behind the Scenes this week.
Thank you so much for joining us every night this week.
"CNN NEWSNIGHT WITH ABBY PHILLIP" starts right now.
