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What We Know with Max Foster
Anti-Regime Protests Intensify In Iran Amid Government Crackdown; Trump Hosts U.S. Oil Executives For Talks On Venezuela; ICE Agent's Phone Captures Fatal Minneapolis Confrontation; Russia Strikes Ukraine With Oreshnik Ballistic Missile; Pope Leo Warns "War Is Back In Vogue". Aired 3- 4p ET
Aired January 09, 2026 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:29]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Iran's leader says the government will not back down amid the largest anti-regime protests in
years.
I'm Christina Macfarlane. This is WHAT WE KNOW.
A warning from Iran's Revolutionary Guard. State media reporting the elite military unit is threatening retaliation against widespread dissent.
Demonstrations have ramped up across Iran over crippling economic conditions. The southeastern -- in southeastern Iran video from a pro-
reform group shows women marching and chanting death to the dictator, a human rights agency said at least 45 people have been killed, Tehran's
prosecutor said Friday that some protesters could face the death penalty for their actions, while exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi is said the
regime plans to use ongoing Internet blackout to kill demonstrations. Pahlavi is the son of Iran's last shah. He was 19 when his family toppled -
- was toppled in Iran's 1979 revolution.
Well, Pahlavi is asking the U.S. president to intervene. Donald Trump has already threatened to attack Iran if security forces kill protesters, the
country's supreme leader said Friday the American leader should focus on his own problems.
Nada Bashir reports
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A stunning show of defiance against the Iranian regime.
In Mashhad, the hometown of supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the flag of the Islamic Republic is lowered and torn to pieces. Protesters here
have a clear message. They want the regime gone.
What began as organized demonstrations in Tehran's bazaars and universities over the country's dire economic crisis, with inflation soaring, a
plummeting currency and everyday items becoming unaffordable, has now become a large-scale protest movement against the Islamic republic.
In this video, protesters are heard chanting "death to the dictator".
According to the Norway based Iran Human Rights NGO, dozens of protesters, including children, have been killed since demonstrations began in late
December. With state security forces reportedly using live ammunition in some locations to suppress the protests, hundreds more have also been
reported injured and over 2000 people detained, the NGO added.
In a televised address on Friday, Iran's Supreme Leader blamed, quote, "agitators who want to please the American president for the unrest
gripping the country."
The video shared online by protesters across the country shows the scale and force of the movement, with protests gaining momentum across more than
100 Iranian cities.
Roads blocked filled with crowds of protesters, buildings set alight. Iran security forces, in one instance, targeted in a counter attack.
But the country has now been plunged into a total internet and communications blackout. A tactic often used by the regime to suppress
demonstrations, making it more difficult to organize and to share videos, evidence from the ground.
And while we have yet to see the full force of Iran's security apparatus unleashed on protesters, there are fears the blackout could be an indicator
of more violence to come.
The threat of a potential U.S. attack, meanwhile, continues to loom large. With U.S. President Donald Trump warning again on Thursday that if
protesters are killed, the U.S. may once again attack Iran.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think they're going to get hit very hard.
BASHIR (voice-over): Nada Bashir, CNN, in London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: So what we don't know is, will protests in Iran lead to regime change?
Joining me now is Sina Toossi, senior nonresident fellow at the Center for International Policy.
Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
So, look, there is no doubt that these protests are significant and serious. As we were saying, there are at least 45 protesters have died and
the regime does appear to be stepping up their aggressive crackdown. This blackout now has been in effect for over 24 hours, which is obviously going
to maybe slow protests, curb coordination.
Where do you see this headed at this point? Are we witnessing a turning point?
SINA TOOSSI, SENIOR NONRESIDENT FELLOW, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL POLICY: Yes, I think this blackout, as your report said, is an indication of the
seriousness of these protests from the regime's vantage point that this an Internet blackout that is the most severe since 2019. And when there was
protests that were triggered by a hike in the price of gasoline. And for ten days back then, the government shut down access to the Internet. Now,
since last night, in many ways, this internet shutdown has been even more strict in terms of even some domestic networks that were previously online
or have also been kind of intermittently offline.
In terms of the -- what's next, I mean, there's multiple potential scenarios. I think the most important barometer for judging where these
protests go is if, A, they can bring a critical mass of Iranians into the streets, like crowds, you know, beyond just in the hundreds or thousands,
but in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, which there is a precedent for in protest movements against the Islamic Republic in the
past. And also, if there's defections from the government and the security establishment
MACFARLANE: Sina, I'm so sorry to have to interrupt you, but the U.S. President Donald Trump is meeting with big oil executives today at the
White House and is speaking now. So, we're just going to go there to the White House. Thank you.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And do come out with no deaths and the loss of no equipment. It was pretty amazing. Nobody's seen
anything like it.
I was called by the leaders of numerous countries I won't go into which ones, but the biggest and the strongest. And they said that was very
impressive. They're all impressed.
But today, I'm delighted to welcome almost two dozen of the biggest and most respected oil and gas executives in the world to the White House. It's
an honor to be with them.
We have many others that were not able to get in. I said if we had a ballroom, we'd have over a thousand people. Everybody wanted. I never knew
your industry was that big. I never knew you had that many people in your industry. But here we are.
And if, in fact, if you look, come to think of it, wow, I got to look at this myself.
Wow. What a -- what a view. This is the door to the ballroom. How did you.
Unusual time to look, I figure we might as well do it. If the fake news would like to go back and take a look. You can, but you'll see a very big
foundation that's moving. We're ahead of schedule in the ballroom and under budget.
It's going to be -- I don't think there'll be anything like it in the world, actually, I think it will be the best we want from this is, as you
know, our biggest room, which would seat 100 for dinner maybe, if you're lucky, if you're nice and tight, and the ballroom will seat many. And it
will also take care of the inauguration with bulletproof glass, drone proof ceilings and everything else. Unfortunately, that today you need.
So we're going to discuss how these great American companies can help rapidly rebuild Venezuela's dilapidated oil industry and bring millions of
barrels of oil production to benefit the United States, the people of Venezuela and the entire world. And yesterday, the number is 30 million
barrels. I can't even is that a correct number?
Thirty million barrels. You hear that, Peter? Of oil was given to us by Venezuela. That's a lot of oil. It's about $4 billion worth. And it's on
our way to -- it's on its way to the United States right now.
And we want to thank Venezuela for that. And we're working very well with them, obviously. They wouldn't have been so generous, but they respect us,
again. They didn't respect us at all before.
So that's money that goes to the United States. Some will go to Venezuela, and some will go to the oil companies. But not that, because that's already
been extracted. So you're not getting any of that. But when you start extracting, you'll get what it's a tremendous reserves among the biggest in
the world. Some people say it is the biggest in the world.
And we're going to be working with Venezuela. We're going to be making the decision as to which oil companies are going to go in, that we're going to
allow to go in, going to cut a deal with the companies. We'll probably do that today or very shortly thereafter with Chris and Doug.
And we're dealing with the country, so we're empowered to make that deal. And you'll have total safety, total security. One of the reasons you
couldn't go in is you had no guarantees, you had no security, but now you have total security. It's a whole different Venezuela and Venezuela is
going to be very successful.
And the people of the United States are going to be big beneficiaries, because we're going to be extracting, you know, numbers of -- in terms of
oil, like, you know, a few people have ever seen actually.
[15:10:12]
So, you're dealing with us directly. You're not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don't want you to deal with Venezuela.
Let me thank Vice President J.D. Vance, who is doing a fantastic job. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, likewise, a fantastic job. I have good
people. I like them better than my first group. But we had a great -- despite that, we had a great first term. We had some great people there
too, by the way, but we had a great -- a great first term.
We had the greatest economy in the history of our country in the first term, but this is blowing it away. And you haven't seen anything yet.
Everyone's been shocked by the numbers -- 5.4 percent GDP, and that's despite the fact that we were badly hurt by the Democrat shutdown, of which
they'd like to see if they could shut it down again.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, who is fantastic. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright recommended by Doug as being the greatest oil man
anywhere in the world because I wanted Doug for that job, energy. And Doug said, no, sir. There's a man named Chris Wright. I said, who the hell is
Chris Wright?
He said, he's the most talented oil man anywhere in the world. I doubt you can get him because typically oil men make a lot of money and women, they
make a lot of money. But Chris came.
You took one of the greatest salary cuts probably in history, Chris, right?
But he's a fantastic person, loves our country and many other important members of this team. And I want to thank them for their efforts. As you
know, last week, the United States armed forces performed one of the most spectacular military operations in American history, apprehending the
outlawed dictator Nicolas Maduro for his crimes against the United States, crimes for which he has now been indicted and is in federal court awaiting
trial and he killed many people, millions of people actually, and allowed jails, prisons, mental institutions, insane asylums, drug dealers, drug
addicts to pour into our country totally unchecked because of sleepy Joe Bidens policy of open borders. The stupidest thing I've ever seen. We're
getting them all out.
The departure of Maduro makes it possible an incredible future for both nations. Venezuela and the United States, in which we will more closely
integrate the economies of two major energy powers in the Western hemisphere energy coming out of Venezuela was very small.
One of the things the United States gets out of this will be even lower energy prices. We have people now getting gasoline for $1.99, $1.96, $1.95,
$1.92. Yesterday, somebody, and it used to be $3.5, $4, $5 a gallon. Think of that, $1.99.
Decades ago, the United States built Venezuela's oil industry a tremendous expense with American skill, technology, knowhow and dollars. But those
assets were stolen from us, and we had presidents did nothing about it.
This president is much different than your other presidents. They did nothing about it. They stole it. Some of the people in this room were a
little bit younger when that happened, but not that much younger. Wasn't that long ago, but they stole our assets like we were babies. And the
United States said absolutely nothing about it. So, now, we're doing everything about it. Now we're doing 500 percent about it, but it's a long
time after the act took place.
So, they stole from us, and it was taken by socialists and communists at the time. And Venezuela was going bad, really bad oil, as they have.
They're producing almost nothing, almost nothing, which is just a system.
So we're really -- if you look at it, we're taking back what was taken from us. They took our oil industry. We built that entire oil industry started a
long time ago, but they took it and they were very ungracious to this country. But now, they're being very nice.
American companies will have the opportunity to rebuild Venezuela's rotting energy infrastructure and eventually increase oil production to levels
never, ever seen before. When you add Venezuela and the United States together, we have 55 percent of the oil in the world. The United States is
number one. We have them drilling.
"Drill, baby, drill" was my campaign, and Doug and Chris, I think we're setting records on drilling right now and taking oil without Venezuela.
[15:15:06]
That's how we're getting the oil prices down. The plan is for them to spend -- meaning our giant oil companies will be spending at least $100 billion
of their money, not the government's money. They don't need government money, but they need government protection and need governments security.
That when they spend all this money, it's going to be there. So, they get their money back and make a very nice return.
The plan is for them to spend at least $100 billion to rebuild the capacity and the infrastructure necessary. Venezuela has also agreed that the United
States will immediately begin refining and selling up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil, which will continue indefinitely.
We're all set to do it. We have the refining capacity was actually based very much on the Venezuelan oil, which is a heavy oil, very good oil, great
oil. It's fantastic for certain things like asphalt roads. Best there is in the world for asphalt roads and other things.
All of the companies here today are going to be treasured partners in bringing the nation of Venezuela back to life, restoring its economy and
generating great wealth for their companies and for their people, and also great wealth for the American people. And tremendous wealth for the
companies that are going in, the companies that are going in. And if you don't want to go in, just let me know, because I got 25 people that aren't
here today that are willing to take your place.
So, I just want to thank these are people that I either know or I know of by reading lots of business magazines and journals and papers. These are
the greatest oil people anywhere in the world.
Harold Hamm, I see, is here. Harold, you know, there's a story about Harold Hamm that he can look at a piece of land, put a straw into the land, and
oil pours out. Is that true about you? Whereas some of you guys have to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to find that oil.
So, we can't let that story be true. But they say Harold puts a straw into the land and oil comes gushing out. So, you're not a big R&D person, are
you? Huh? He's called instinct for oil.
Now he's got other problems. But we won't talk about those problems. But he's been a great supporter of mine for a long time, haven't you, Harold?
So, congratulations.
But we have, and I think Harold would agree we have the greatest oilmen and women anywhere in the world sitting in this room right now. And we have a
lot of people that will be back to see us sometime next week. We're going to have another meeting for another group, but we're going to do this very
quickly. We can have this done almost immediately.
So I'd like to thank you all for being here. I'd like to invite Vice President Vance to say a few words, followed by Secretaries Rubio, Burgum,
and Wright. And then we'll have a few words from representatives that are here and to discuss their ideas, a couple of them.
We have chevron, which has been -- where's Chevron, where are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the far right,
TRUMP: No, I thought you'd have a better location. You were the only one that was there for -- for all that I used to call you and say, what the
hell is going on with Venezuela? He stuck it out. I don't know if you made money or not, but you stuck it out. You got to give you a lot of credit for
that.
Mark Nelson, thank you very much.
Exxon CEO Darren Woods -- Darren, thank you very much. How's Exxon doing? Okay.
They'll do a lot better now won't they, huh? Exxon's been amazing. It's been an amazing company.
And ConocoPhillips CEOO Ryan Lance, thank you very much.
MACFARLANE: You have been listening to President Donald Trump there, speaking at the White House surrounded by oil executives in a meeting
touting the successes of the previous week, not just the capture of Maduro, but the venture he is embarking on with U.S. oil companies to restore and
extract oil from Venezuela, all of which, he says will bring benefits to the U.S. people.
Let's bring in our Jeff Zeleny for a reaction to this.
And, Jeff, I mean, we know that Donald Trump has been quite explicit that he wants those oil companies sitting around him to invest at least $100
billion in this venture. Did we learn anything new there about if and what these oil companies may have committed to?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I don't believe we have learned anything new at this point. This is the beginning of the
meeting. And clearly, President Trump is still wanting to spend much more of his time looking backward at that extraordinary military operation on
Venezuela, which is now just a little bit more than a week old.
It was a week ago this evening here in the United States, when President Trump gave the green light for that. So, he is still very much focused on
the operation and less so on the details going forward. But that is precisely why the oil executives are gathered there in the East Room of the
White House.
[15:20:11]
And there are significant challenges here, which President Trump has also sort of glazed over or not focused on, about just the difficulty in which
the next steps of this will be. He talks about the oil -- the 30 billion or million barrels of oil, et cetera. But the reality here is what oil company
executives are eager to hear is about questions about stability, about security going forward here.
So, President Trump is nearing the end of his first year in office. He'll be there only three more years. This is a much longer endeavor than that.
So that is what the oil company executives are looking for. Some assurances, if you will, about the reason for investing billions of dollars
into Venezuela when there are so many questions about what comes next for that sovereign country.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. And, Jeff, I'm sure you would have seen this, but just actually ahead of this meeting, Donald Trump put out a post on Truth Social
saying that they had actually, the United States has actually moved to seize another oil tanker. This is after the fifth oil tanker was captured
in the Caribbean, I believe, earlier today.
In a post, I don't know if we have it, we can show our viewers, he said, "Today, the United States of America, in coordination with the interim
authorities of Venezuela, seized an oil tanker which departed Venezuela without our approval. This tanker is now on its way back to Venezuela, and
the oil will be sold through the great energy deal, which we have created for such sales."
I mean, Jeff, significant in the fact that this appears to have been in coordination with Venezuela.
ZELENY: It certainly appears to be a joint operation, the details of which are not yet clear. But this would represent the first such instance of
this. We've seen the U.S. really throughout the week, finding oil tankers, in various places, as some that have been really, on the move for several
weeks and seizing the oil.
But this is the first that that I have heard of there being a joint operation with Venezuela. So, it does signal and we can hear Marco Rubio,
the secretary of state there on screen talking right now. He's been really leading this dialogue between the U.S. and the Venezuelan officials. But it
is still a regime, and there are still questions about where the oil money would go to.
But this is why this all has to be worked out. The question here, I think leaving this meeting is, or the oil company executives are effectively
going to take the U.S. president at his word and invest here without really knowing what comes next for the country. So much to be learned from the
substance of this meeting. It's unclear if that will be apparent this afternoon or not, but there are many, many questions about the next steps.
But again, the president prefers to spend most of his time talking about what's happened over the past week.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and the ballroom, it seems, Jeff, we appreciate it. Thanks very much for joining us.
ZELENY: Sure.
MACFARLANE: And we will be right back after this quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:26:18]
MACFARLANE: Video obtained by CNN a short time ago shows the confrontation between a Minnesota woman and an ICE agent from the officer's perspective.
A Department of Homeland Security official confirms that it was recorded on the agent's cell phone camera. It was originally obtained by conservative
Minnesota media outlet Alpha News. Thirty-seven-year-old Renee Good was killed in the incident on Wednesday.
We do want to warn you, some viewers may find this video disturbing,
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's fine. Dude, I'm not mad at you. Show your face. I'm not mad.
That's okay. 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) if you want to come at us, you want to come at us. I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Out of the car. Get out of the car! Get out of the car - - oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Senior correspondent Josh Campbell is a former supervisory special agent with the FBI.
And, Josh, this video gives us an entirely new perspective here on what happens. Just walk us through, from your perspective, what we're seeing and
what stands out to you.
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a lot of critical details that we are learning from this video. As you mentioned, this is the vantage
point of the officer. He's walking around that car holding his cell phone up and recording.
Now we see his interaction at the beginning with Renee Good. She's, you know, being pleasant. There's another woman that the officer then
encounters on the other side of the car. She, you know, she's a little mouthy, right? It's a little, little bit of a tense situation.
But up to this point, you know, no one is you know, seems to have done anything untoward, but it's when he comes around the front of the vehicle,
what we see is that Renee Good is ordered out by that agent's partner. She then turns the wheel to the right and then drives away. Now, on this
vehicle, we don't actually see the vehicle striking the agent, but from other angles we've seen, it does appear that he was indeed struck by that
car.
He then opens fire as the vehicle then drives away. You can hear either that agent or another agent actually using profanity towards Good as she's
driving away.
Now, there's a big question here. Two things I'll say, big questions. The first is, you know, what was going through that agent's mind? Federal
agents here in the United States, they can use deadly force, but only if there is a threat of an imminent danger to their life or a serious bodily
injury to themselves, to someone else.
And so that will be the big question here. Even if the agent could have opened fire under policy, were there other options available, such as
stepping out of the way? And then the second major thing that I'll note is that and this we haven't seen this before up until we got this video. But
look at what is around that car. Not only was that other woman that encountered the agent appearing to stand behind the car, there were also
bystanders on that sidewalk, apparently in the direction that the officer was shooting.
I'm a former federal agent. I can tell you. Every FBI agent, every federal agent has to be responsible for every single round that they fire. And to
the extent they can, if time allows, to try to get an understanding what is beyond your target before you actually shoot.
Here it looks like the officer opened fire and there were people standing behind the car. We know, thankfully, no one else was hit, but I think
that'll be part of this investigation as well. Was he actually acting on that training that officers are taught to make sure that you know what
you're shooting towards before you actually open fire?
MACFARLANE: Yeah. And it's actually just so striking, as you mentioned, at the top, like how calm this scene seemed to be and how quickly it changed.
[15:30:04]
Josh, you still with us? Yes. So, one thing I want to ask Josh. I mean, the officers themselves don't appear to be wearing body cameras. I mean, this
was a handheld phone, you know, that took this video. And we see others around all holding their phones. I mean, is it likely that other footage is
being assessed right now and could also come forward, that there could be more to come?
CAMPBELL: Yeah, it's quite possible. And you know what we've heard both from authorities. They want anyone with video of this situation to come
forward and provide that you know, these scenes are, you know, they could be quite complex. Whenever you have an officer involved shooting. And
that's why investigators typically won't just rely on one vantage point, for example, a lot of police officers wear body worn cameras here in the
U.S. Federal agents often don't, in the immigration field.
But we are seeing other people who were filming that day as well, providing that angle. And when investigators tried to determine whether the agent was
justified or whether he was at fault here, they will be looking at all of that, trying to understand what they call the totality of the
circumstances, what that agent may have been seeing, what other people, you know, may have been seeing as well what the subject of the deadly force
here, Renee Good what she may have been seeing.
So all that critical, critical evidence as this investigation continues, but finally, a point that point out that there have been serious questions
raised about how thorough this investigation will be and how transparent, because we heard the president of the United States, we heard several
senior officials, including the vice president, they've already come out and cleared the agent. They said that he was completely justified. He was
about to be run over. That is unusual in, to say the least, in a federal shooting investigation to have politicians weighing in.
And so that's the big question that we're seeing here. Will there actually be a thorough investigation when he's already been exonerated? And then we
just learned yesterday that initially this was being worked both by the federal government, the FBI, as well as state investigators in the state of
Minnesota.
Yesterday, we heard that the federal government locked out the state officials. They pushed them away from this investigation. They no longer
have access to it. We've heard them complain quite vociferously, raising questions whether they think this will actually be thorough.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, we had those Minneapolis officials coming out earlier, once again pressing for full access to this investigation. We will wait to
see if they get it.
Josh, thanks for breaking it down for us. Appreciate it.
Okay. Still to come tonight. Russian attacks hit. Kyiv's energy infrastructure. We'll talk to a reporter in Kyiv about the feeling on the
ground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:35:58]
MACFARLANE: Russia's attacks on Ukraine intensifying with one of its most advanced weapons, an Oreshnik ballistic missile. While Russia has not
confirmed where the missile hit, Ukrainian authorities report damage to a critical infrastructure facility in the western city of Lviv, leaving
hundreds of thousands in Ukraine without power, including more than half a million people in the Kyiv region.
So, what we want to know is what is life like in Kyiv right now under Russian assaults?
Joining me now is Jared Goyette, deputy editor of the war desk at "The Kyiv Independent".
Thank you so much for joining us. What looks like in the dark there?
Look, we know this was a night of --
JARED GOYETTE, DEPUTY EDITOR, WAR DESK, THE KYIV INDEPENDENT: Quite literally, yes.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. Massive strikes, not just the Oreshnik missile I mentioned there in Lviv, but multiple strikes where you are in Kyiv to.
Just talk to us about the damage that has been reached across Ukraine today.
GOYETTE: Yeah, this was one of the worst attacks on critical infrastructure since the start of the war, especially for Kyiv, the Kyiv in particular.
You know, it was -- it was hard. It was a hard night. I didn't sleep much. There was continuous explosions.
And, you know, right up until today, I had been operating on a schedule of electricity where I could know, like, many other people could know when I
was going to have electricity based on an app. But now the app has stopped working, like, I'm supposed to have electricity now I don't, and there are
thousands of people in the same situation.
And neither in the situation, like in this apartment. I don't have heat when there's no electricity because the water pump doesn't work. And a lot
of people are stuck without heat and without electricity. And, yeah, its temperatures have dropped, and that's not a coincidence. It seems that
Russia. This is like the -- this is the coldest day of the winter so far. And I don't think it's a coincidence that Russia timed its attack on
heating infrastructure just as it was about to arrive.
MACFARLANE: Yes, this happens every winter, doesn't it? And it makes us wonder what Ukrainians are going to have to endure this winter. And look
over in Lviv, of course, we saw the use of this Oreshnik missile. This is actually, I believe, only the only the second time this missile has been
used since it was targeted on Dnipro in 2024.
How have Ukrainian officials been viewing that, been responding to that today given I mean, this this, from what I've read, was actually a dummy
warhead. It wasn't actually filled with explosives, even though it did still cause damage.
GOYETTE: Yeah. It's kind of become a meme missile, in the Ukrainian public, in the sense that people laugh at it, in the sense it's hyped up to be this
big thing, but it's actually not more powerful and it's a destructive force than any other missile that's launched any other day. It is harder to
intercept, but when you're firing hard to intercept dummy missiles, what's the point? It seems to be a show for domestic consumption in Russia.
But of course, it is a show of force, and it is a show of force to Europe. Considering that before they fired at Dnipro, now they're firing at Lviv.
They're getting, and there's a message in that. That's why President Zelensky has called for a response from Europe.
But yeah, it's domestically here. It's kind of the missiles, kind of a meme while Russia sees it as a -- as a -- as an all powerful weapon.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. And, Jared, just to get back to you where you are in Kyiv, and you're saying that this was one of the worst nights of attacks
that you and Ukrainian people in Kyiv have endured? What are people doing right now to respond to this energy infrastructure collapse where you are?
Clearly, you are struggling with the lack of energy, a lack of light, a lack of power. I mean, are people being advised to leave the city? How are
people responding?
GOYETTE: You know, there was a comment from the mayor today that caught a lot of people's attention where he was like, if you can leave, if you have
a place to go where there's energy and where there's heat, maybe consider going, up in Ukrainian context. So that was like, if you have a dacha, if
you have a little home somewhere you can go to in a village, maybe go. I don't think there's no mass exodus happening right now.
People were prepared for lack of electricity. They knew this was going to happen. People have their power banks, people have their routines.
You know, it's -- and no one likes to be bullied, right? Like this. These kinds of attacks, just people make people more defiant and more angry at
Russia. There's not a sense among Ukrainians that their government is to blame or that their government is being intransient about negotiations.
They squarely brain Russia for this, and that makes them more stubborn. I have, though, like impressing with friends the heat situation I think is
going to be key. If that continues to be bad, I think some people will consider -- you know, moving, going west going to places like Lviv that are
a little bit less in the target and still have functioning heat.
MACFARLANE: So Ukrainians defiantly and admirably staying put right now. But the winter is long. What fear is there right now for what Ukrainians
might have to endure this winter, given we know those energy sources are constant target?
GOYETTE: You know, I think that this isn't this. On one hand, this is a new like everyone here knew that this winter was going to be hard. Maybe the
hardest. And now we're seeing that come to fruition. People are gritting their teeth. They're going about their lives, and they're trying to find
ways to you know, enjoy them.
I -- you know, videos of people having, lightsaber like, Star Wars style lightsaber fights in the dark or snowball fights, you know, people find
ways to enjoy and to find joy in these moments of darkness.
But yes, it is going to be a long winter. And there's real concerns about getting the heat back online, but there's an old -- there's an old lady in
my apartment. The elevator stopped working. She has to go up the stairs herself. What's the heat like going to be like for her?
There's a lot of vulnerable people. Here is what I'm getting at. That this will directly impact this. This lack of electricity, this lack of heat
directly impacts people with disabilities, senior citizens, people that are most vulnerable. And I think there's got to be a lot of attention on making
sure that they're taken care of.
MACFARLANE: Absolutely. And we hope, of course, that people can continue to find those moments of joy so important. And you too, Jared. We appreciate
you joining us here this evening. Thank you.
GOYETTE: Thank you. I'm going to finally get some sleep.
MACFARLANE: Good luck.
Now war is back in vogue. That's the blunt assessment from Pope Leo in his first state of the world address. He says zeal for war is growing, urging
ambassadors not to undermine international law and human rights.
Our Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a strong intervention by Pope Leo. He raised his concern about conflicts taking
place across the world, called for diplomacy based on consensus rather than force, lamenting that war seems to be back in vogue and is concerned about
the post-Second World War peace settlement potentially unraveling. This is what he had to say.
POPE LEO, CATHOLIC CHURCH: War is back in vogue and a zeal for war is spreading. The principle established after the Second World War, which
prohibited nations from using force to violate the borders of others, has been completely undermined.
LAMB: Now, Pope Leo was addressing diplomats in the Vatican ambassadors who represent their country to the Vatican. Amongst those in the audience on
Friday, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See and the Venezuelan ambassador.
Pope Leo emphasizing the importance of international law and countries coming together to resolve problems. Those remarks, striking a contrast
with President Donald Trump, who recently told "The New York Times" that he feels constrained simply by his own morality and was dismissive of
international law. The first U.S. pope, Pope Leo, striking something of a counterbalance to the president of the United States.
Now, Leo's speech was long and wide ranging. He condemned abortion, surrogacy, euthanasia. It was a state of the world address that covered a
number of topics. He also warned against the erosion of the freedom of expression in the West, talking about the rise of Orwellian language.
[15:45:05]
Leo chose to speak during this address in English, a significant decision that he will hope ensures his words get transmitted as widely as possible.
Christopher Lamb, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Well, it's the final moments of trade on Wall Street, and stocks are up. The Dow has been higher, actually for most of the day.
This is our Business Breakout.
Fridays U.S. jobs report showed the economy added 50,000 jobs in December. That means that last year was one of the weakest years for job growth in
decades. Manufacturing jobs in particular, are struggling with health care and hospitality being the only sectors seeing major gains.
Meanwhile, on a Truth Social post from Donald Trump on Thursday night appeared to leak some of those job numbers early. One post included some
data from today's release, which is typically shared under embargo with some officials.
The market sensitive nature of the report and the potential for insider trading means there are rules about disclosing it early. Though the White
House says this post was inadvertent.
Some more positive data though Americans are feeling better about the U.S. economy, that's according to a University of Michigan survey, which shows
consumer sentiment is up for the second month in a row. Most of the improvements came from lower income Americans, who are becoming less
worried about tariffs.
And we want to take you back now to the White House, where Donald Trump is speaking amidst his meeting with oil executives. And let's listen in to
Marco Rubio.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Dramatic choice. And it's one we hope to make the right one. We don't have an interest in a destabilized Cuba,
but that would be their fault because they refused to allow the people of Cuba to have either economic or political freedom, for that matter.
TRUMP: And you have a -- you have -- you have a lot of people in this country that want to go back to Cuba and help Cuba. A lot of people have
left, you know, they came in penniless, they didn't have anything, and they become very rich people in our country, and they want to very much go back
and help Cuba. So that's something that Cuba has that a lot of other places don't have.
Peter?
REPORTER: President Trump, thank you. I do want to ask you about Minnesota. But first, just more on topic. President Zelenskyy said that he was
watching what the rest of the world as you made this order to go and capture Nicolas Maduro. And he said, if that's how it works with dictators,
then the United States knows what to do next.
Sounds like he wants you to go and capture Vladimir Putin. Would you ever order a mission to go and capture Vladimir Putin?
TRUMP: Well, I don't think it's going to be necessary. I think we're going to have a -- we've always -- I've always had a great relationship with him.
I'm very disappointed.
I settled eight wars. I thought this would be in the middle of the pack or maybe one of the easier ones. And I don't know if you know, Peter, the last
month they lost 31,000 people, many of them Russian soldiers and the Russian economy is doing poorly.
I think we're going to end up getting it settled. I wish we could have done it quicker because a lot of people are dying and mostly soldiers, you know,
they get hit in Kyiv and they get hit a little bit here and there. And people are dying there, too.
But largely, it's the soldier population. When you have 30,000, 31,000 soldiers dying in a period of a month, 27,000 the month before 26,000 the
month before that. That's bad stuff.
So, as you know, President Biden gave $350 billion to Ukraine to fight. And we would never get that back, although I did make a rare earth deal to get
it back. So we will be getting it back.
But shouldn't have done that. It was a bad thing to do. I will say that right now, because I was able to get NATO to up GDP from 2 percent to 5
percent.
NATO's got a lot of money and they're paying for everything. We're not losing any money. We're making a lot of money, I guess, if you think of it,
because we're selling our military equipment.
They're probably giving it to Ukraine, but we're selling them to NATO military equipment. We're getting full price and all of that. But that's
not a big deal to me.
What is a big deal is stopping a war where 30,000 people are being killed every single month.
REPORTER: On Minnesota, the vice president yesterday suggested that Rene Good, who was killed by this ICE officer, was part of a broad left wing
network. What has your team told you about this broad left wing network? Who is in charge of it?
Who's part of it? What what's it called?
TRUMP: Well, I haven't seen the vice president's statement, but he's generally very accurate. I hate to say it. Look, I watched that yesterday
and there are a lot of a lot of different forms to it. But there was a woman screaming, shame, shame, shame, shame.
She was a agitator, probably a paid agitator.
But in my opinion, she was an agitator, a very high level agitator, so professional she wouldn't stop screaming. I said this isn't a normal
situation.
[15:50:01]
This is a professional troublemaker because you heard it and I had it now.
I will say this. The news sort of turned her down, turned her off because you're trying to watch. She was so loud and so crazy and just not normal.
When somebody sees something like that, they don't go screaming and screaming and the same words.
So I guess you could say professional, but I didn't think she did a very good job. You have agitators and we will always be protecting ICE and we're
always going to be protecting our Border Patrol and our law enforcement. Yes.
REPORTER: Mr. President, in your conversations with these oil executives today, do you provide any security guarantees so that they can do their
work safely in Venezuela? And separately, Mr. President --
TRUMP: They will have those guarantees. Yes.
REPORTER: And separately, Mr. President, I'm curious in terms of the future of Venezuela. Do you see Venezuela now led by Delcy Rodriguez as an ally of
the U.S.? Is that the way that you view that country?
TRUMP: Well, right now, they seem to be an ally, and I think it'll continue to be an ally. And we don't want to have Russia there. We don't want to
have China there.
And by the way, we don't want Russia or China going to Greenland, which if we don't take Greenland, you're going to have Russia or China as your next
door neighbor. That's not going to happen.
REPORTER: Mr. President, thank you. You just said that these companies would have security guarantees if they go in on the ground in Venezuela.
TRUMP: They will have.
REPORTER: And what is your plan there actually for these companies and those Americans who are going to be on the ground working for these
companies?
TRUMP: Well, there are going to be Americans. I assume they're going to be using a lot of Americans, but they're going to be using a lot of people
from Venezuela and other places, I would imagine. But I would think that mostly they'll be using Venezuelan workers.
They have a lot of great workers. They have a very high unemployment rate, and they have workers that are very familiar with taking oil out of the
ground. Yes.
REPORTER: How long do you think the Ayatollah will be in power after what we've seen play out on the ground there? When is the U.S. going to get
involved now that reports of protesters being killed on the ground?
TRUMP: So Iran's in big trouble. It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few
weeks ago. We're watching the situation very carefully.
I've made the statement very strongly that if they start killing people like they have in the past, we will get involved. We'll be hitting them
very hard where it hurts. And that doesn't mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.
So we don't want that to happen. There have been cases like this where President Obama totally backed down. But this is something pretty
incredible that's happening in Iran.
It's an amazing thing to watch. They've done a bad job. They've treated their people very badly, and now they're being paid back.
So let's see what happens. We're watching it. We're watching it very closely.
All right, next. Yes, go ahead.
REPORTER: Thank you so much, Mr. President. Do you have any comments on reaction to the recent attacks by the Syrian government alignment groups
against U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Aleppo, Syria, which killed dozens of civilians and displacing many families? Does your administration bring
peace between the Kurds and the Syrian government?
TRUMP: I want to see peace. Yes, I do. The Kurds and the Syrian government, we get along with both, as you know very well. They have been natural
enemies over the years, but we get along both, and we want to see Syria succeed.
And so far, I think they are succeeding, but this is just breaking out, and we want to see that stopped.
Go ahead, please.
REPORTER: Mr. President, you're meeting with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, in a few weeks. Do you hope this meeting with Gustavo Petro
marks a new chapter, a new beginning in the benefit of the U.S.-Colombian relations?
TRUMP: What country?
REPORTER: Colombia, with the President of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, you're meeting.
TRUMP: Yes, I had a very good talk with him yesterday, and he's been very hostile to us and to the nation and to me, called me a dictator and lots of
other things. Called Biden some terrible names, far worse than he called me. But he called yesterday through people, and he wants to meet, and
that's fine with me.
I've made up with people also, you know. So we're going to have a meeting with him. We had a very good conversation.
The people of Colombia are incredible people. Marco would know that better than anybody because he's married to a woman from Colombia, and I don't
mean Columbia University. That would be, I'm not sure.
I think I like Colombia, the country better, if you want to know the truth. The people, the people are, the people, hold it, hold it, hold it. The
people, the people are great people.
I look forward to meeting with them, going to meet in the very near future.
REPORTER: Would you meet the President, Interim President of Venezuela here in the White House?
[15:55:01]
Would you greet her to discuss the fate of the oil?
TRUMP: Well, I'm going to meet a lot of people and we're going to meet, you know, we meet a lot of people. We've when you end eight wars, you get to
know a lot of people. And I think it's very important as an example.
We have over $18 trillion. Think of that $18 trillion coming into our country. A lot of that's coming in from foreign countries like Saudi Arabia
and Qatar and UAE and others.
And I get to meet a lot of people. But I will be meeting with various representatives of Venezuela probably pretty soon. We haven't set that up.
But the relationship that we have with the people that are currently running Venezuela is very good. We also have a young lady that received the
Nobel Peace Prize. She's going to come in and pay her regards to our country, really to me.
But, you know, I'm a representative of the country, nothing else. And she's coming in sometime next week. I think Wednesday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
And we'll see how that is. But no, no, we're going to be we're dealing with the people from Venezuela. We're dealing with them very well. I think
they've been very smart in the way they've dealt with us, frankly, because that whole place could have been obliterated with one more strike. And we
didn't want to do that.
REPORTER: Mr. President, thank you so much. I have a question for you on Minneapolis, but on Venezuela and your 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 mean, they're getting decimated. Look, whether people like Trump or don't
like Trump, I settled eight wars, big ones, some going on for 36 years, 32 years, 31 years, 28 years, 25 years, some just getting ready to start like
India and Pakistan, where already eight jets were shot out of the air.
And I got it done in rapid order without nuclear weapons. 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?
He got it almost immediately upon attaining office. And he didn't do anything. And he was a bad president.
So I mean, you should get the Nobel Prize for every war you stopped. These were major wars. These were wars that nobody thought could be stopped.
President Putin called me and he said about two of the wars that he's been trying to stop them for 10 years. He wasn't able to do it. He couldn't
believe it.
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. Go ahead.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: On Minneapolis, I have a follow up for you. 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?
TRUMP: Well, normally, I would, but they're crooked officials. I mean, Minneapolis and Minnesota, what a beautiful place. But this 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.
They vote in a group. They buy their vote. They sell more Mercedes Benz's in that area. Imagine you come over with no money and then shortly
thereafter, you're driving a Mercedes Benz.
The whole thing is ridiculous. So they're very corrupt people. It's a very corrupt state. I feel that I won Minnesota. I think I won it all three
times.
Nobody's 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.
And the Republicans ought to get smart and demand on voter I.D. They ought to demand maybe same day voting and all of the other things that you have
to have to a safe election. But I won Minnesota three times and I didn't get credit for it. I did so well in that state.
Every time the people were -- they were crying every time after. That's a crooked state, California is a crooked state, many crooked states. We have
a very, very dishonest voting system.
The last time I won '24, the one that just took place, I won because it was too big to rig. You couldn't rig it. It was too big. But I won the state of
Minnesota. It's a corrupt voting system.
END
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