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Maduro, Wife Plead Not Guilty to All Federal Charges; Maduro Does Not Seek Bail; Hegseth Addresses Operation To Capture Maduro; Sources: Around 2,000 Federal Agents Deploying To Minnesota; MN Gov. Walz Ends Reelection Bid Amid Welfare Fraud Scandal. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired January 05, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The eight men and two women were also found guilty of making multiple malicious comments, including equating the 24-year age gap between the first lady and her husband, the president, Emmanuel Macron, to pedophilia. The ruling comes as the Macrons pursue a separate defamation case in the United States against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also claimed that Brigitte Macron was born a man.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts in just seconds.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for sharing your afternoon with us on Boris Sanchez alongside Erica Hill in the nation's capital.

And we have breaking news on ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Just a short time ago, Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, making their first U.S. court appearance, both pleading not guilty to federal drug and weapons charges. Maduro addressing himself to the judge as the President of Venezuela, also, quote, a prisoner of war.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the 48-hour since his capture, President Trump has insisted that the U.S. is in charge of Venezuela. Global leaders today convening an emergency meeting at the U.N. CNN's Evan Perez and Laura Coates are joining us now from live outside the court where Maduro was arraigned a short time ago.

Laura, we're also just getting some of those first sketches in from court. Walk us through what happened earlier today.

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: It was an outstanding and shocking moment in American history to watch the self- proclaimed President of Venezuela and his First Lady in a Manhattan courtroom. After years of awaiting arraignment in this federal case, it includes four charges for Maduro and, of course, three for his wife.

He stood steadfast. He was self -- he was confident. He was very stoic. He had some difficulties getting up and down out of his chair, bracing himself on either arm of his chair. If you remember that so- called perp walk from the helipad, he seemed to have some problem with his left leg. And that appeared to be continuing to bother him as he tried to sit and stand repeatedly. His wife, far less confident, far more demure, much more soft-spoken, both proclaiming their innocence. She had visible injuries on her face that her lawyers addressed, including on her temple. There were bandages, and on her forehead as well. They alluded to severely bruised ribs as well.

He said he was innocent, began to talk immediately and describe that he had been captured and taken, abducted, and was a prisoner of war. He had one request, that was for the consulate, and also to have the notes, they were copious notes that he was taking, to be with him and also respected. But they did not ask for bail at this time.

SANCHEZ: And Evan, what's next for Maduro and his wife?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the next time that we're going to see them in federal court is not till March. And so, until -- between now and then, there's a lot of legal work, the beginning of the legal work that you started seeing today. Barry Pollack, who is a well-known attorney in Washington, who is representing Maduro.

We expect that -- well, one of the things he mentioned was that he is going to be making that bail request. Of course, not -- that did not happen today. But obviously, one of the first places that I think the legal team is going to go is the detention. We know that, as you -- as we've discussed before, they are being held at this very grim place, which is the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. It's a place where there's catalogs of some of the inhumane conditions. These are the words of federal judges who have discussed this about some of the defendants that are being held there. There is a problem there with medical care that the Justice Department itself has documented.

That is going to be an issue because one of the things that Cilia Flores, his attorney today, mentioned was that she has some injuries. I don't know if that -- those injuries were sustained during the raid that plucked them from Caracas and brought them here. Again, those are things that are going to be laid out.

One of the things we heard, Laura, today from the -- from the -- from the lawyers was the -- the complexity of some of the issues in this case. Obviously, the indictment is a pretty straightforward indictment. It talks about narco-terrorism and -- and cocaine importation charges. But the more complex part of this is the fact that he believes and he says that he's still the -- the leader of Venezuela. Under international law, he believes that this -- this was an illegal abduction that happened today. So, that is what is going to play out in court beginning in the next few months.

COATES: And can I just tell you guys, to set the scene for you, around us all day, there have been protests right off -- off camera where there were people who were debating the legality of having removed him from Venezuela, others who were talking about free Maduro, others who were talking about no blood for oil. There's a variety of opinions. But inside that courtroom, one of our news associates witnessed a protester at the very end, as they were being escorted out, stand up and confront Maduro and essentially tell him, you will pay for what you have done.

[15:05:07]

Maduro responding to this person, pointing his finger up towards the sky, telling him he is a man of God and remains the president of the Republic of Venezuela.

SANCHEZ: A really stunning moment inside that courtroom. Laura Coates, Evan Perez, thank you both so much.

Joining us now to discuss further is CNN Legal Analyst and National Security Analyst, Carrie Cordero.

Carrie, thank you so much for joining us, as always.

You posted your thoughts on Substack about this case and -- and particularly the more broad legal risk that the U.S. faces with some of its moves in Venezuela. What do you see as those risks?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, so I think there's a -- it -- it's important to separate the criminal case against the Maduros and their co-conspirators from the broader geopolitical issues that are at play, that were described, you know, covered in the U.N. discussions today and the questions that U.S. policymakers and the public has about a -- a potential long-term engagement in Venezuela, whether that's military or political or -- or -- and so forth.

And so, I think there are a number of risks with that broader engagement that -- that the president has launched in this particular case. So, on one hand, with respect to the legal risks, the fact that the U.S. government took this action could potentially signal to other autocrats, dictators throughout the world, that they too can just unilaterally go in and remove a head of state.

And so, it's important as the United States continues this effort to distinguish between the criminal case that they've brought against the Maduros, the United States will obviously continue its arguments that it has executed a law enforcement activity, not just a military operation when it arrested and captured the Maduros, and separate that from potential military engagement or what the President described in his press conference over the week, that the United States was going to run the country.

SANCHEZ: Right.

CORDERO: And I think that's diplomatically where there is potential risk that if the United States is interpreted as simply stepping on the sovereignty of another country, that will have consequences globally.

SANCHEZ: How does this case stack up with the comparison to Manuel Noriega in Panama, another leader that the United States ousted and then that was convicted in U.S. court?

CORDERO: Yes, I think the Noriega case is really the closest example that we can look to in modern American history for a sitting de facto government head of state that is removed from their position to then face criminal charges in the United States for drug trafficking.

It was a different operation that took place. That was an actual military invasion that the United States engaged in versus this very discreet arrest and capture operation that the United States conducted over the weekend against the Maduros.

So, there is that difference, but it is someone who was purporting to be the head of state and -- in both circumstances, and then was brought to the United States to face justice under an indictment. The similarity is that they are being prosecuted, one was -- and then these are being prosecuted for drug trafficking and related crimes. In the example of Noriega, he actually took the case all the way to trial. And so, there was a several weeks long trial and he was convicted and was sentenced to U.S. prison. Then, he was extradited many years later to France and ended up back in Panama where he died. But there is a track record. These aren't obviously frequent cases, but there is at least that historical example.

SANCHEZ: The judge obviously has to weigh the argument that Maduro already made in court that he is the legitimate president of Venezuela. And therefore, you would imagine his lawyers will argue he should receive some form of diplomatic immunity. The U.S. has basically argued that he fraudulently kept power during the last election in July of 2024 when -- I mean, globally, it's pretty much agreed upon that the opposition won that election. How do you see the judge weighing those arguments?

CORDERO: Well, I think that's the question I have for the process of this criminal case is will the judge allow the defense attorneys to litigate out that issue, which is really going to be an issue of -- and issue of law, whether or not the sovereignty applies to him and whether or not he can be excused from the case altogether. Or whether that proceeds on a separate track and the case goes forward as a matter of proving the actual facts that are alleged in the indictment. And we'll have to wait to see how the judge handles those issues.

SANCHEZ: There's also the question of whether this engagement with Venezuela is a war in itself, because Maduro has said that he's a prisoner of war. He -- he made the argument.

[15:10:05]

It's unclear exactly how his defense attorneys might pursue that, but there is an argument to be made that the United States, in its own rationalizing the attacks on -- on these drug boats, they're saying that they're at war with Venezuela. Do they now have to contradict themselves in order to say he's not a prisoner of war?

CORDERO: So, the administration in its public messaging, in my view, has been unclear. And -- and as these two issues, both the military engagement and the diplomatic efforts with respect to Venezuela and the criminal case proceed, it is going to be incumbent upon the Trump administration to get its story straight, because the issue of being at war is also relevant to Congress and whether or not there are actual hostilities --

SANCHEZ: Right.

CORDERO: -- in place and whether then Congress has a role to authorize the military activity. So, far over the course of the last several months, when the administration has been targeting these individual boats, they were arguing that hostilities were not taking place and therefore the Trump administration did not need congressional approval.

But if there is more substantial U.S. military engagement required of Venezuela in the future, for example, to secure oil facilities, if that's something that the president is thinking about engaging in, then that is going to place U.S. troops in harm's way and then we would be in a situation where there potentially could be hostilities.

SANCHEZ: A fascinating legal case, not many like it. Carrie Cordero, thanks so much for walking us through it.

CORDERO: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come this hour. The mission to capture Nicolas Maduro and his wife, an enormous military endeavor planned out for months. We're going to take a closer look at the details of Operation Absolute Resolve.

HILL: Plus, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz ending his re-election campaign. He's been facing growing controversy over fraud in government spending. He says the buck stops with him. More on that decision from the governor ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:00]

HILL: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth just moments ago, speaking about the operation to capture Nicolas Maduro, we just are bringing this in. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Nicolas Maduro got to meet some great Americans wearing night vision goggles three nights ago. He didn't know they were coming until three minutes before they arrived. In fact, his wife said, I think I hear aircraft outside. They didn't know. You know why? Every single part of that chain did their job and they did it flawlessly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: That secret plan known as Operation Absolute Resolve was months in the making. It began at 10:46 Eastern on Friday night, involving more than 150 aircraft from 20 different bases on land and at sea. We're told the jet fighters -- with those jet fighters in the air, joint air components soon began dismantling and disabling air defense systems in Venezuela.

Just after one in the morning, U.S. apprehension forces descended into Maduro's heavily fortified compound in Caracas. The Venezuelan president and his wife were then dragged from their bedrooms by the U.S. Army's elite Delta Force before the couple was able to flee, though they tried, to a nearby safe room.

And then by 3:30, the return force was over, in water with the Maduros, and they were taken into custody by the Department of Justice, whisked away to an amphibious assault ship in the Caribbean.

Joining us now for more perspective is Eric O'Neill. He's a former FBI counterintelligence and counterterrorism operative, and also the author of the book "Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime: Cybersecurity Tactics to Outsmart Hackers and Disarm Scammers."

This is such a remarkable, right? And I think we've talked about this a lot over the last couple of days, what a remarkable operation it was, as you just heard from the Defense Secretary, that it was executed flawlessly. You called it, in the break when we were talking, the most efficient and effective espionage operation that you've seen. Why so?

ERIC O'NEILL, FMR. FBI COUNTERINTELLIGENCE & COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIVE: Certainly. So, this required the CIA to embed themselves in Venezuela, not get caught, and also work sources within Maduro's close network in order to create a -- an idea of where he went, what he did, who he met with, and most importantly, where he would be when they chose to strike.

They had to have him in pocket perfectly. And what amazes me is, one, nobody knew it was happening, including the very astute Cuban intelligence services that were surrounding Maduro, and they were able to use a combination of human intelligence, so recruiting sources, being on the ground surveillance, and cyber intelligence, cyber espionage, to see where he was going to be and to know when to launch that strike.

HILL: In terms of, you know, the -- the months and months of planning that went into this, how long it would take to, you know, for CIA operatives to establish, though, that trust to be able to get that information, I believe it was October when the President said he'd authorized CIA action in Venezuela. Did that concern you at all when you heard the President say publicly that he had authorized CIA action somewhere?

O'NEILL: Well, as someone who did undercover work and did counterintelligence and counterterrorism and was responsible here in the United States for creating these profiles of people, yes, that raised an eyebrow. Because if you're an intelligence officer embedded in a foreign country, and then the president of the United States is tipping off, hey, we're here, you know, you've got to be even more careful, because then they start looking for you.

So, not only are you hiding, you're playing hide-and-seek while they're trying to find you, so even better for the CIA.

HILL: What does this tell you in the way that the operation unfolded -- how quickly it unfolded? What does it tell you about the focus right now for the U.S.?

O'NEILL: Right. Well, right now the focus is on what comes next. That's the most important thing. So, the FBI, or the United States and the FBI did what was probably the biggest FBI escort I've ever seen, right? FBI agents go in, part of the hostage rescue team, their elite FBI, with Delta, after the military clears a pathway for helicopters to fly over a foreign country.

Now, that's incredible in of itself, because they dismantled all of the air defense systems using a combination of cyber and kinetic attacks.

[15:20:03]

Then, land and arrest the -- the sitting president who we've never confirmed as legitimate from the United States perspective of the foreign country and bring him back to stand trial. So -- so here, you know, what comes next? Really the proof is going to be not in the court case with Maduro, but in what comes next for Venezuela. Do they democratize?

HILL: Yes.

O'NEILL: Are they going to have a fair and open election? Will there be international oversight into the election? And will some of those 8 million people who fled after the regime took power brutally, will they come back to vote?

HILL: Yes, a lot of questions about that, especially as we're even seeing this decree today that is telling security forces in Venezuela to go after anybody who is celebrating the capture of Maduro in Venezuela, right? They're very quiet on the streets as they wait to see, to your point, what happens.

You talked about the disabling of the air defense, and also, you and I were talking, and also the fact that they took the lights out. That was really key, too, to this mission.

O'NEILL: That's something no one's really talking about, but so important to me. Because I've been saying for quite some time that the United States has to demonstrate that we are able to engage in cyber warfare just as effectively as opposition countries.

So, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, they attack us all the time. But I think we've shown, with this attack, a cyber-attack that is combined with a kinetic attack. We turned the lights out in Caracas. We disabled most of their early warning radar and defense systems. That had to be a cyber-attack.

Now, there's been innuendo. Trump sort of said it, but didn't say it in a very Trumpian way. But I suspect that we launched a very effective wide-scale cyber-attack on the country, turning the lights out in Caracas, and then that allowed our kinetic soldiers to move in under cover of darkness.

HILL: Eric, it's great to have your perspective, your insight. Thank you.

O'NEILL: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Still ahead here, new orders from President Trump to send some 2,000 federal agents into Minnesota on the heels of a welfare fraud scandal. More on that just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:09]

SANCHEZ: Just in to CNN, the Trump administration is sending around 2,000 troops to Minneapolis as part of an immigration crackdown. The deployment is on the heels of a welfare fraud scandal that has rocked that state. It's also happening as Governor Tim Walz is ending his bid for re-election.

Let's get right to CNN's Whitney Wild. Whitney, what are you learning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, there had been criticism of Governor Walz for years that ramped up in recent weeks when a YouTuber came out in the days after Christmas and said that he had found rampant fraud in the Somali-American community at Somali-run daycares. State investigators went to those daycares and found that they were operating as expected, that there were children inside. Four of those daycares are going to be subject to an ongoing investigation.

That was really that -- what thrust these fraud allegations, which are very well-known in Minnesota, onto the national spotlight. And it really became this firestorm for Governor Walz that he had been unable to shake, but was limited to Minnesota, and then became a national major problem for him. The criticism simply was that he did not do enough to stem an unprecedented flow of fraud in the state of Minnesota.

Today, he is not announcing that he is dropping out of the race, saying simply that he cannot continue to do the job of the governor in the way that Minnesotans expect and need him to and are entitled to if he continues to focus in any way on running for what would have been, Boris, an unprecedented third term. Here's more from Governor Tim Walz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. TIM WALZ, (D) MINNESOTA: Make no mistake, we should be concerned about fraud in our state government. We cannot effectively deliver programs and services if we can't earn the public's trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: And critics say he is responsible for losing the public's trust. And Boris, when you look back over, you know, the last few weeks, it is not just the YouTuber that caught national attention here. There was also a case that was announced by federal prosecutors on December 18th, an enormous, they think a multibillion-dollar case that could have stretched from 2018 to 2024. That was another example of fraud really infiltrating Minnesota's public assistance -- public assistance programs.

And when federal prosecutors announced another round of indictments related to that case, it was the next day that Governor Walz seemed to dismiss the math that federal prosecutors were using, that federal prosecutors would presumably have to defend. And so, while in that press conference, he did say he took responsibility for it. He -- he basically said the criticism was politicized.

And so, that is really the context here. Now, we are seeing how far the fallout stretches. And now Governor Tim Walz saying he is not going to seek a third term in Minnesota, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Whitney Wild, thank you so much for that reporting.

Still to come, members of Congress calling for answers about the mission to remove Nicolas Maduro from power, the latest reactions from both Democrats and Republicans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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