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Man in Custody After Windows Broken at Vance's Ohio Home, His Family Was Not in Ohio at the Time of Incident; Trump Administration to Brief Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Tonight on Venezuela; Venezuela's Acting President Calls for Cooperation With U.S. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 05, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:31:01]

ERICA HILL, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Vice President Vance is calling the person who allegedly damaged his Cincinnati home overnight a "crazy person," and thanking the Secret Service and local police for their response. Authorities have detained a man, but they have not released his name at this point. CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House with more for us. So, Alayna, the vice president and his family were not at the home when this happened. Obviously very concerning, though. What more do we know about the incident?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, that's right, Erica. They were not in Cincinnati, according to the vice president and some officials for his team. They were actually already back in D.C. This incident occurred just after midnight this morning. And Vance is actually currently at the White House. We saw him arriving earlier this morning. But look, there's some questions about the security operation, of course, around the vice president's home.

And it comes as there have been some other concerns throughout the past year or so about the level of security that are protecting officials like Vance and others at the top levels of the Trump administration. Now, what we've heard, Erica, from the Secret Service is that an adult male who has not been identified was detained for "causing property damage," including breaking windows on the exterior of a personal residence associated with Vance.

I do want to make a note here that we are not actually showing these images because Vance had requested that they not be shown the damage to his home to protect his children. But we do have some audio -- some audio -- the scanner audio from the dispatch officers who responded to this incident. I want you to take a listen to what you can hear from it.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They do have them at William Howard Taft and Heather Hill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, they have the subject then? Got it. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Erica, briefly, I do want to read for you just what Vance had posted today in response to all this. He said, I appreciate everyone's wells wishes about the attack at home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. We weren't even home as we had already turned to D.C.

And, Erica, authorities are now investigating whether this person, the suspect that they have, was actually targeting Vance or his family. It does not appear, they said, that he was actually able to breach and enter the vice president's home.

HILL: Yeah, it's just a lot of questions there. Alayna, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, the Trump administration officials set to brief now a select bipartisan group of lawmakers on Venezuela later today. What could they learn? Stay with CNN.

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[13:37:48]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Just hours from now, the Trump administration will deliver a classified briefing on the capture of Venezuela's president to a select bipartisan group of lawmakers, including the Gang of Eight.

Many Democrats have been harshly critical of the White House, saying they've been kept in the dark about Saturday's military operation and the U.S. plan going forward. Joining us now to discuss is Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, whose 25th District includes a large number of Venezuelan Americans. We should also note that she is Co-Chair of the Congressional Venezuela Democracy Caucus.

Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us. Just to give some background to our viewers, you posted on social media that the arrest of Maduro was long overdue, saying that he should be tried not only for drug trafficking, but also for crimes against humanity. I want to ask you about your Democratic colleagues, many of them saying that this is an illegal act of war, even a kidnapping.

I wonder what you think the disagreement is there between you and your colleagues. What makes you believe this operation was justified?

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, (D-FL) CO-CHAIR, CONGRESSIONAL VENEZUELA DEMOCRACY CAUCUS: Boris, thanks for having me. My focus is on my community here in South Florida, who are absolutely elated at the removal, the departure finally of Maduro, but -- and I have spent a lot of time over the last few days talking directly with leaders in our community and a significant worry, where we're kind of moving to cautious optimism and now even closer to real concern that all that has happened is that the cronies from the Maduro regime are in charge, that now actually Trump seems to have recognized, which is the first time that's happened, that recognized a regime official as the head of Venezuela, even though he's saying that he is going to be running Venezuela, and that political prisoners have not been released. And worst of all, things seem to be getting worse in Venezuela.

[13:40:00]

A decree was issued by Delcy Rodriguez, the Acting President, today, who I certainly don't recognize in that role, to have the police start arresting -- searching and arresting individuals who are caught promoting or supporting the removal and arrest of Maduro. They're searching cars. I've seen video of that happening. They are searching cell phones of Venezuelans. So things actually appear to have gotten worse, not better. And that has to be the focus.

We need a transition to democracy. We need to make sure that there is prosperity and liberty that is restored to Venezuela. And that just doesn't appear to be on Donald Trump's priority list. And that's what they're concerned about.

SANCHEZ: Would you say, Congresswoman, that you agree with Secretary of State Rubio when he says that this action in Venezuela and what is coming for Venezuela's future is different than U.S. interventions, say for example, in Libya and Iraq or Afghanistan?

SCHULTZ: Well, I mean, they're clearly different because they were under different circumstances. I mean, as I said in my statement, Maduro committed crimes against humanity. He was a narco-criminal that was under U.S. indictment. But the problem is that Diosdado, who is also helping to lead this new regime, new phase of the regime, is also an indicted criminal with a $25,000 bounty on his head.

So, I mean, we seem to have swapped one head of the snake for another, and we absolutely have to make sure that what the result -- that the result from the arrest and removal of Maduro, who was illegally holding office and who violated U.S. and international law, that we move towards a transition that helps ensure that Edmundo Gonzalez and Maria Corina Machado's opposition party are able to transition to take their rightful place as the leaders of that country.

Or at the very least, that a plan soon is laid out for new elections that would allow all candidates to run and that political prisoners be released, and that people who hold TPS in this country certainly aren't sent back because Trump revoked their protective status to a country that is unstable and dangerous. Can you imagine, Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: If they send people who had TPS here because they needed that protection back to Venezuela and they're arrested when they get there? That could happen very easily. It's mind-blowing that we don't have our priorities straight here.

SANCHEZ: I'm curious about your view of this transition to a democracy and specifically, one led by Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the winner, the international consensus is that he won the last election in Venezuela, and obviously Maria Corina Machado, who helped him win, she was barred from running. She eventually won the Nobel Prize. SCHULTZ: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: The administration has argued that right now, that is impossible because the rest of Maduro's regime still holds the levers of power. I've spoken to some of your Republican colleagues who make the case that the military would simply rebel against them and that having Delcy Rodriguez and some of these other folks in place right now and putting pressure on them would lead to a transition.

But you're essentially saying that they're just replacing Maduro, that that doesn't actually get Venezuelans anywhere.

SCHULTZ: Boris, those were all the things that were said when Maduro was in power. He was a sanctioned individual, heavily sanctioned individual. They used pressure to try to make sure that there was a transition. There was even an election that was part of a negotiated settlement with Maduro, which is obviously garbage because he had a very rigged attempt in the carrying out of that election, which Maria Corina Machado and her party had so much support that they still got 70 percent of the vote, even in a rigged election.

So of course, we have time to help them transition to the rightful elected leaders or at least establish a process. But Donald Trump isn't even mentioning the word democracy. He's not mentioning the possibility of transition to democracy. And he's left the regime with indicted leaders in charge.

And so essentially, not only has nothing positive happened for Venezuelans and I realize it's only two days, but on top of that, they are actually issuing new policies that would --

SANCHEZ: Yeah.

SCHULTZ: -- allow the police to search and arrest people who have protested or promoted or supported the departure of Maduro. Things got worse, not better so far.

SANCHEZ: Quickly, Congressman, do you have any indication that Delcy Rodriguez has entered into some kind of deal with the United States, perhaps even before Maduro was ousted from power, that there's some guarantee of protection for her if she complies with the U.S.?

[13:45:00]

SCHULTZ: Well, that's a good question. I wish I knew, but I don't because the executive branch has not briefed Congress or consulted Congress in any way. We have the power in the Constitution to declare war, and we must be briefed. I mean, especially because the president is threatening a follow-up secondary action. In order to ensure that we have our co-equal branch of government, the people who are elected to represent the people, involved in this, we need to be fully briefed so that we can weigh in and have input on this.

But most importantly, we have to make sure that life is better for Venezuelans and that there is liberty and prosperity and opportunity in a transition to democracy, the release of political prisoners. And certainly, if we're in charge there, then why aren't we preventing decrees like Delcy Rodriguez issued, stopping them from searching and arresting people for being supportive of the removal of Maduro? It's an outrage.

SANCHEZ: It is a good question. Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you so much for the time.

SCHULTZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still ahead, Maduro's rise to power in Venezuela was not a traditional one, but it is one that ultimately proved costly for Venezuelans on so many different levels. We'll take a look at the human toll of his reign next.

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[13:50:48]

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CROWD: Thank you, USA. Thank you, USA. Thank you, USA.

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SANCHEZ: Venezuelans chanting "Thank you, USA" at a rally in Atlanta following the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro. For millions of exiled Venezuelans, Maduro's ouster is emotional, a sign of relief.

HILL: And according to the United Nations Refugee Agency, widespread human rights violations by the Maduro regime have led to the largest exodus in Latin America's recent history. More than 7.9 million people have left the country just since 2014. That's an average of 2,000 people fleeing per day. CNN's Brian Todd is back with us. Brian, walk us through, remind us again, how Maduro came to power.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica and Boris, it was kind of an unconventional rise for Nicolas Maduro. He was once a bus driver in the Caracas metro system. Then he became a union leader and kind of started to rise through politics in that realm. But it was really when he got in with Hugo Chavez in the early '90s, after Chavez staged an attempted coup in the early '90s, that's when Nicolas Maduro really started to rise even just -- even faster in Venezuelan politics.

He is known as the political son of Hugo Chavez. When Chavez had cancer in 2012, there was all sorts of maneuvering behind the scenes to see who would be the hand-picked successor to Hugo Chavez. And Chavez basically hand-selected Nicolas Maduro to be his successor. Maduro being sworn in, in April of 2013 after Chavez died of cancer. But a very meteoric and kind of an unconventional rise for Hugo Chavez in Venezuelan politics.

Basically, he owes everything -- he owed everything, his assent to power, almost all of it to Hugo Chavez.

SANCHEZ: Brian, the U.S. argument for his arrest and his subsequent case rests on the idea that he is the illegitimate leader of Venezuela. Talk to us about election fraud, specifically last year.

TODD: Right. Well, you know, guys, he held elections in 2018 and in 2024. It was this election in 2024 that really propelled the U.S., the State Department, the U.N. to accuse Maduro of manipulating the vote and basically being a fraudulent president. These were the two opposition figures who stood in opposition to him, running for president in 2024, Maria Corina Machado.

She is, of course, now the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. And Edmundo Gonzalez, who kind of took over that campaign for her later in that year. Maduro claimed to have won that election but that was, of course, disputed by just about everyone, including the United States. This is a CNN headline from November of 2024 saying the U.S. recognizes Edmundo Gonzalez as the President-Elect of Venezuela.

It was never really considered a legitimate victory at all by Nicolas Maduro in 2024, and even back in 2018 when he won that election, guys.

HILL: And Brian, there have also been so many documented instances and so many stories that have been told by Venezuelans, long-sighted human rights abuses. Just walk us through what we know.

TODD: Right, I mean, since Maduro has taken power, this is now more than 12 years. Basically, from the time he came into office, his regime has been accused of this list of things, among other things. Arbitrary and unlawful killings, disappearances, torture, cruel, inhumane treatment of political prisoners, forced labor.

There were -- this is a montage. Well, this is not a montage. This is a group of people holding signs of political prisoners who they are either related to or they know who were put away by the Maduro regime. I've got to warn viewers ahead of time about the video we're about to see. Some of the incidents where his regime just crushed protesters are really disturbing to watch.

This was one in 2019, some disturbing video here. Look at these armored personnel carriers just kind of running over protesters in the streets of Caracas at that time. This is another one, again, warning people about this disturbing video. This is water cannon being turned on a protester being knocked over there in May of 2017. He was badly injured and then carried away by people there.

Again, this was what Maduro has been known for, for years now. And he, of course, has denied these allegations of human rights abuses, but they are widespread and they come from entities like the United States government, the State Department, and the United Nations.

[13:55:00]

A long, long history of allegations there, guys.

SANCHEZ: Brian Todd, thank you so much for breaking that down for us. Let's dig deeper on this with CNN Correspondent, Rafael Romo.

Rafael, we talked about this over the weekend, the elation that we saw from a lot of Venezuelans in the United States, Venezuelan Americans. There's still concern though about what comes next, and specifically the fact that Delcy Rodriguez is in power, someone who is an avowed leftist, someone who was handpicked by Maduro.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right. And she is very powerful. And Boris, we can describe the Venezuelan regime as a multi- headed monster, as people in Caracas have told me in the past. As of today, that monster is still in power, although we have heard a more conciliatory tone from Delcy Rodriguez, who now says she wants to work with the United States.

After she became Acting President, she said she's inviting the United States to work together on what she described as, "a cooperation agenda" geared towards shared development within the framework of international law and she said, to strengthen lasting community coexistence. What she means by that is a mystery, but we need to remember that Chavismo is still very much in power in Venezuela, although somewhat weakened after Maduro's capture, Boris.

HILL: Yeah, absolutely. It is so frightening, and people really holding their breath in a lot of ways, just saying.

SANCHEZ: Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

Still ahead, we have new details on Nicolas Maduro's first appearance inside a U.S. courtroom. Stay with CNN, we've got the very latest.

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