Venezuela Oil Deal, Tupac's Killer Convicted, Flock Camera Backlash | The Wrap Up

Trump strikes the biggest oil deal in history with Venezuela. But even some of his own allies have questions. A Nevada jury delivers a verdict in the 30-year-old murder case of rapper Tupac Shakur. States and cities across the country move to outlaw flock cameras over growing privacy fears. And two Tennessee police officers are being hailed as heroes after saving a newborn's life. We'll get into all of that and your Quick Hits now. What's up, guys? Welcome to The Wrap-Up, where we break down the biggest stories of the week that you might have missed but definitely need to know. I'm your host, Ari. We begin in Washington, D.C., where President Trump just announced what he's calling the biggest oil deal in world history. And on paper, it's a massive win. The U.S. now controls a stake in 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil across 17 oil fields, one of the largest untapped supplies on Earth. A new joint venture will run it, with the Pentagon getting a 35% ownership stake and guaranteed rights to buy oil at cost. The deal was signed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Why does this matter? The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the country's emergency gas tank, has been running low for years, and this deal helps refill it. More supply generally means lower gas prices over time, though not overnight. The deal only exists because the U.S. military captured Venezuela's dictator, Nicolas Maduro, and flew him back to the U.S. to face drug trafficking charges. Venezuela is now run by Maduro's former VP, Delcy Rodriguez, who thanked Trump, saying that the deal could bring in over $200 billion for Venezuela over time. Economically, this looks like a clear win for the U.S. Cheaper gas potential, a refilled reserve, and a foothold in one of the largest oil reserves on the planet. The bigger question is, what happens to Venezuela? Even some of Trump's strongest allies are asking that out loud. Texas Senator Ted Cruz called the deal very positive over the weekend, but within days was pushing for real elections in Venezuela by the middle of next year. Florida Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar raised similar concerns and now deleted posts on X. She was worried this deal could end up cementing Rodriguez's grip on power. Their point isn't that the deal is bad. It's that toppling a dictator was supposed to be step one, with real democracy as step two. And step two hasn't happened yet. So here's where we stand. A strong oil deal for America today, and a real question mark hanging over Venezuela's tomorrow. Up next, a Nevada jury just closed one of the biggest unsolved murders in music history. On Monday, jurors found Dwayne Keith D. Davis guilty of first-degree murder in the 1996 killing of rap icon Tupac Shakur, nearly 30 years after the crime. Jurors deliberated less than three hours after nine days of testimony. Born in New York before settling in Oakland, Tupac broke through in the early 90s and became one of the most influential voices in music history. He sold tens of millions of albums. He also built an acting career, playing a gang member in 1992's Juice, then a soft-spoken mailman opposite Janet Jackson in Poetic Justice. But this is also a cautionary tale. Tupac's career came at the height of a bitter rivalry between East Coast and West Coast rap factions. That rivalry mixed real gang ties with lyrics that talked openly about violence. What started as tough talk on tracks turned into something far more dangerous. Rappers and the gangs around them began actually targeting each other in real life, and many lives were lost. And on September 7, 1996, a gunman in a white Cadillac pulled up next to a BMW carrying Shakur and Death Row Records boss Marion Shug Knight on the Las Vegas Strip and opened fire. Shakur died six days later. He was only 25. Prosecutors say Davis didn't pull the trigger, but planned the hit as a leader of a Compton Street gang. It became one of the most talked-about unsolved crimes involving an entertainer in American history, fueling decades of rumors and conspiracy theories. Davis is set to be sentenced next month and could spend the rest of his life in prison. After nearly 30 years, it's a reminder that even the coldest cases can still end in justice. In our next story, a growing number of states and cities are pulling the plug on flock safety cameras, the license plate readers that have been quietly spreading across the country for years. This week, Florida became the latest to push back, banning police from installing these cameras on state highways. On Monday, the Florida Department of Transportation revoked every permit that let local police install these cameras along state roads. Agencies now have 30 days to take them down, or the state will remove them. Governor Ron DeSantis pushed for the ban. Well, I've been on the record as saying that what we don't want in the state of Florida is to have a digital AI surveillance state where everything we're doing is being tracked at all times. Here's how the cameras work. They scan every license plate that passes, snaps a photo, and logs where and when your car was there. That data gets uploaded into a nationwide database that any police department with a flock contract can search. Critics say that it lets the government track ordinary people's daily lives without a warrant, and the misused cases keep piling up. In Kentucky, police arrested an officer who reportedly used the system to track his ex-girlfriend more than 2,000 times. Over 200 of those searches happened after she got a protective order against him. In Arizona, the city of Tempe turned off all 33 of its flock cameras last week and ended its contract entirely. The risk of misuse is too great, said Tempe Mayor Cory Woods. Chandler shut its cameras down after finding an anomaly in an audit. And Cave Creek ended its contract after privacy concerns and a camera theft. And don't forget about Texas. Governor Abbott cut off all state funding for these camera systems. Nationwide, close to 100 local governments have shut theirs down too. The pattern is hard to miss. State after state, city after city, officials on both sides of the aisle are deciding the risk to your privacy outweighs the benefit of the flock. And in our final story, two Knoxville, Tennessee, police officers are being credited with saving a baby's life. The body cam video of it is going viral, and for good reason. Officers Clayton McWilliams and Victoria Jackson responded to a 911 call when a one-month-old baby was unresponsive and not breathing. The body cam footage shows Officer Jackson sprinting from her patrol car toward a group of people outside. Then, the baby was placed into Officer McWilliams' arms. Both officers immediately went to work clearing the infant's airway. From the moment that baby was placed in McWilliams' arms to the moment that you hear that first cry was only 25 seconds. Moments like this happen more than people realize. Police officers are almost always the first ones on scene, arriving well before an ambulance can. That head start is often the difference between life and death. Knoxville police confirmed the family took the baby to the hospital afterward, just to be safe. The department praised both officers, saying, We are grateful to Officer McWilliams and Jackson for their decisive actions and composure when it mattered most. Officer Jackson and Officer McWilliams didn't just do their jobs that day. They saved a baby's life. And now it's time for Quick Hints. Uber is rolling out live video for its teen accounts. If a driver enables it, parents can watch their teen's ride in real time through the driver's front-facing camera. Both the teen and the driver get a notification the moment a parent starts watching. So nobody's being secretly monitored. Uber says it can't watch the live feed, but an encrypted copy stays on its servers for 14 days in case of a safety report. A Washington homeowner heard mysterious banging in the house and called 911. Officers showed up to find a growling bobcat perched at the top of the stairs. Police cornered it in an isolated room until wildlife officials arrived to sedate it. The bobcat was later released near a creek close to where it likely came from. Tennessee wants to rename Nashville's airport after Dolly Parton. This comes just days after the country music icon died at age 80. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee and the airport's top official both backed the idea. It could go before the airport board later this month. If it happens, Parton would become the first woman with her name on one of America's 50 busiest airports. A Siberian husky in China decided a robot dog wandering through a park was a new friend. Footage from Jiangsu province shows the husky walking right up to the four-legged robot dog and playing with it like it was real. At least the robot dog won't steal its snacks. Nicki Minaj is joining a White House Shark Tank style competition where entrepreneurs will pitch their business ideas for a shot at $1 million prize money. Superman actor Dean Cain will host the September 18th event, while Minaj will help judge alongside investor Grant Cardone and Airbnb co-founder Joe Jebbia as part of the Trump administration's Freedom 250 celebration. That's it for this episode. We'll see you back here next week on another episode of The Wrap-Up. Thank you for watching The Wrap-Up. To make sure you never miss an episode, subscribe at PragerU.com. We'll see you back here next week on The Wrap-Up.